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When you were born, in the whole room they were only focusing on one thing—not if you are a boy or a girl, not your palm of your hands, of what your fortune is going to be. Only one thing: “Are you breathing or not?” This is how it is. If you’re not breathing, the doctor slaps you, “Breathe!” Again, “Breathe!” You go, “Aaaaa!” Doctor is happy; you are breathing.

All your life you’re going to breathe! Do you know how they will figure out you’re gone? “Are you breathing or not?”

In the hospital, if they have a machine and the machine says you are dead, but you’re still breathing, what do you think the doctor is going to hit? You or the machine? The doctor is not going to come to you and say, “Hey! The machine says you are dead!” No, the doctor is going to hit the machine! “You are broken.”

– Prem Rawat

When I first went to the West, I was only a teenager. In fact, it was my first year of being a teenager—thirteen. And all these people would come—much older than me, much more educated than me. And they would sit down, and they were very proud of the fact that they were searching for peace.

And I would say to them, “Why are you searching for peace? Why are you searching for peace when peace is inside of you?” Search not for peace, but search for the way to be able to get in touch with what is already inside of you.

And so the question becomes, “Well, you already have peace, right?” Do you? Or don’t you?

Because nothing is missing. There is nothing missing from the equation. You have in you—this is the way you are made—all that you need you have, and you have been made to take advantage of it.

Maybe you don’t have a temple for it. Maybe you don’t have a song for it. Maybe you don’t have a garland for it. Maybe you don’t have a light for it. Maybe you don’t have a location for it. But it is here, in you.

And if you are unaware, then you’re unaware of something fundamental. And this is ignorance. What is ignorance? It’s a play of words in English, but “ignorance”—where does ignorance come from?

Generally, when somebody does something bad—a little child or something—we say, “Oh, it’s okay. He was ignorant.” 'Ignorant' generally is considered to be an excuse to forgive the person, because “they were ignorant.”

But that’s not where the word comes from. The word actually comes from “ignore.” “Ignorance"—ignorant comes from the word “ignore,” which has to be done on purpose.

See, we say ignorant. "Oh, he’s ignorant; it’s okay.” But “ignorant” actually comes from the word “ignore,” which has to be on purpose—that you ignore something.

Ignorance in this world...we think, “Oh, people are ignorant.” No! If they are ignorant, that means they’re, on purpose, ignoring that which is real. Not a fluke! Not a fluke.

And people go, “But I don’t see it!” You’d talk about the Divine, “But I don’t see the Divine!” So, do you see gravity? Do you see the earth spinning? Does that mean it’s not?

You cannot, in this life, merely live in tangled beliefs. Yes, this is the first time I’m using this, “tangled beliefs.” Because beliefs will get tangled. It is their nature because they are so open to interpretation. But knowing is not open to interpretation.

The Divine, in the same way, is everywhere, and by “everywhere” meaning, also in you. To me, when I hear the word “everywhere”—when I hear the word “omnipresent,” it doesn’t mean just omnipresent. It means “in me as well.”

And if that reality is knocking in me, if that reality is residing in me, what am I doing in my life to feel it, to acknowledge it, to understand it? Because if you want peace in your life, that’s the only way you’re going to get it.

– Prem Rawat

You know, I say—and I have said this at many, many events with hundreds of thousands of people there—and what I say is this: “All the major religions in the world, if they just did one thing, which is to tell their people, their followers, ‘If you want to go to heaven, first make it heaven here.’”

That’s all, that’s all. Nothing has to change. Just add one more thing: “If you want to go to heaven, make it heaven here.” And we would have a different world.

– Prem Rawat

There are many, many, many interpretations of this story, or many ways this story has been put—but there is a new one. And a man came...and he came to the Master. The Master had a very beautiful palace that he lived in, a beautiful city that he lived in.

So the Master told the guy, he says, “Oh, you have come?” And he goes, “Yeah, I’ve come to you; I want to talk to you; I want to learn from you; I want to be enlightened by you.” The Master said, “No problem. But first, go enjoy—enjoy my gardens; enjoy my palace; enjoy the city—it’s really beautiful, really, really beautiful.” And the man said, “Okay, I will.”

He said, “Before you go, take this lamp with you.” And he filled the lamp completely full of oil, right to the top, right to the brim—and he said, “Here, take this with you when you go seeing everything, and make sure you don’t spill a drop. Don’t spill a drop.”

The man went seeing, appreciating the palace, appreciating the gardens, appreciating the city. And when the man came back, the Master asked, “How was it?” And he goes, “Well, my whole attention was on not spilling a drop from this cup. I really walked around aimlessly. I didn’t really enjoy anything because my focus was here, instead of where it should have been.”

The Master said, “Okay. Now, go again! Leave the...leave the lamp behind. Don’t worry about the lamp.” He came back: “How was it?” “Oh, oh, I enjoyed—oh, and the statues were beautiful. Oh, that was...it was just marvelous; the garden was incredible; the flowers were incredible; the statues were incredible; the paintings were incredible; the marble was....”

The Master said, “Look, all that existed then too, but you were not focusing on that. Your focus was somewhere else.”

Where is your focus? In your life, where is your focus? You should be enjoying being alive. Do you enjoy, just enjoy being alive? Just being alive? Do you enjoy being alive?

I know, I know, I know you enjoy parties; I know you enjoy going to your friend’s house; I know you enjoy your songs; you enjoy your movies; you enjoy this; you enjoy that. I know you enjoy all of that. But do you enjoy being alive? Just being alive?!

Because if you don’t, you’re focusing on the wrong thing. Because this is the garden; life itself is the garden of the Divine. Its beauty is unparalleled. It is full of the reflection from the Divine. It is fine; it is beautiful; it has colors....

That’s where truth resides—a truth that is non-confrontational, a truth which is simple, a truth that’s embracing, a truth which is real, a truth that brings peace. That’s where this heart wants to dance.

– Prem Rawat

Rahim, another poet at the same time Kabir was, he said, “This thing of feeling, this thing of understanding—the deep understanding—is something that you feel. You don’t talk about it. You don’t talk about it.” And then he says, “People who do, don’t feel it. And people who do feel it, don’t talk about it.”

And you know, it goes, “Rahim [speaks in Hindi]. It’s not something that you can say and hear—[speaks in Hindi]. [speaks in Hindi]—the one who knows, who feels, he says nothing. [speaks in Hindi]—the one who says…talks [speaks in Hindi]…doesn’t know.”

Understood! I mean, talk about a concept-breaker! It’s coming from that old… People had these—that’s why he wrote this! He knew there were people going around saying, “Oh yeah, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know”—but didn’t know!

And he wrote this because he saw that…hey! Those who truly know? They know there’s nothing that can be said, because it’s about feeling. It’s not about talking.

You don’t bring religion into this. Let religion be. Religion has its need, has its purpose. Let it be that. This does not need to mix with religion.

You don’t have to be negative against religion. That is what I say, “If you’re a Muslim, be a good Muslim. If you’re a Christian, be a good Christian. If you’re a Hindu, be a good Hindu!” If this is what you want to do, do it, and do it right. Do it good.

This is totally different—totally different. And its presence is not because this lacked something—but its presence is on its own. It is what it is. It is to know. It’s the Gnosis.

You know, there were people who were called Gnostics. And they talked about knowing—Gnosis—that the spark of the Divine was inside everyone. This is what they talked about: the spark of the Divine was inside everyone, and it was possible to turn within and feel this spark.

Now, how do I know? One day I am in my office, and I have the TV on, and a National Geographic documentary is playing! I’m doing my work—once in a while I pay attention to what they’re saying—back to doing this, then.

All of a sudden, the commentator said, “Yes, they were Gnostics. And they believed that the spark of the Divine was in everyone, and it was possible to turn within and feel this spark.” I mean, the way he described it, you could not have described it more perfectly.

So, this is about that: the spark of the Divine is in everyone, and it is possible to turn within and feel that.

– Prem Rawat