00:02:33
Simple is Extraordinary
Duration : 00:02:33
That dirt that you don’t like so much is what you’re made out of
The six things that we are made out of—oxygen, hydrogen, carbon, calcium, nitrogen, and phosphorus—this is what we’re made out of. This composition was possible because it was available here.
How ordinary do you think oxygen is? It’s everywhere; you’re sitting on it. Carbon? It’s everywhere! All over the place. Calcium? Everywhere. Hydrogen? Abundant! All of these things that you are actually made out of, they are all over the place!
So, the composition is you—of the same exact stuff, the composition is, you-you-you-you, you-you-you, you.
I’m telling you, “Hey, know about being alive—know about being alive, because you’re the only one who can know about being alive whilst you are alive. Because it is a most beautiful thing that there is. And if you do know, you will enjoy being alive. You will be in peace.”
The “simple” word, in your vocabulary, actually denotes something inferior—“Ah, that’s too simple”—when it should be, “Wow! That is so simple. It’s elegant!” And just that would make it, not just a life, but something extraordinary.
Play on words: “Extra, ordinary”? Extraordinary. Because there’s nothing wrong in the ordinary, and there’s nothing wrong in the extraordinary—because that dirt that you don’t like so much is what you’re made out of.
– Prem Rawat
00:03:38
Peace Begins with You
Duration : 00:03:38
You have to understand the difference between need and want.
We live in this world. Technology has changed; so many things have changed. But we are still human beings. We are still human beings. And the issue here is, “What is a human being?”
Human beings have forgotten who they are! And not only have they forgotten who they are, but what are their true needs! What is it? You have to understand the difference between need and want. Need is something without which you cannot exist. That’s your need. You need air; you need warmth; you need food; you need water.
The first thing: I am a human being—the first thing. That’s the first thing I was when I was born. And when I take my last breath that’s what I’m going to be, a human being.
And in between, I can think of all the things—who I am, what I am, what I would like to be. I can have all the titles; I can have all the things. But, I didn’t have them when I was born, and they’re not going to help me when I die. I cannot say, “Oh, but I am so-and-so. You can’t just come into my house and take me.” No, no!
And I will give them all the value; I will give them all the importance, as the world gives importance to all that we do—but we do not give importance to what we truly understand.
And for us on the face of this earth, the challenge is to get in touch with what we fundamentally are. Not of who we want to be. Because this is what we have gotten lost in. We are lost in this fake world that we have created for ourselves, and in that fake world we are super-beings!
We’re not. We are human beings. And we are not all about money, but we are about kindness; we are about generosity; we are about love; we are about feeling; we are about understanding. And these are the gifts that you can give, not only to yourself, not only to your fellow human beings, but to your family, and to anyone you want.
And the beautiful thing about the gift of generosity, the gift of love, the gift of kindness, the gift of understanding is, the more you give, the more you can give, because it’ll only increase, not decrease. The gift of understanding, the gift of love, the more you share, the more you will have.
Peace begins with you. Simple as that: peace begins with you—you understanding who you are. It is no mistake what Socrates said, “Know thyself.” To know who you are.
– Prem Rawat
00:05:23
Looking in the Mirror
Duration : 00:05:23
You are these attributes of knowing, of wanting peace
There was a man, and he was on his way to his fields. And as he was walking along, he came across an object. Now, this village that he was from was very, very remote, and hardly anybody ever visited. This village was also very isolated from any technology, any new things.
So when this man came across this object, he picked it up and he looked at it. And he was very surprised! And he said, “Wow, what a beautiful painting of this beautiful person! How beautiful is this painting; how beautiful is this face. How incredible.”
So he took that, and he put it in his bag. That day he came home; he pulled out the so-called “painting” and he put it on his dresser, and he just sat there and watched and watched. He was mesmerized at how beautiful this painting was. This was so gorgeous!
The wife saw him sitting and gazing at this object, and she was very confused. So when the man went to get some dinner, she snuck into his room, and went and looked at this so-called “beautiful painting.” And she was shocked.
She was shocked because she saw in this object the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. And immediately, being of a suspicious nature, she said, “Ah-hah! Now I understand why he’s been sitting here and watching. He is in love with this woman, and indeed, he would be in love with this woman because she is so beautiful!”
She became furious—started fighting with her husband. “What is the matter of this? You know, why are you not faithful to me? I mean, what is wrong with me, and why…why do you…why do you fall in love with this other woman?”
The father, the owner of the house, the elder, he came, and he said, “Why are you two fighting?” She said, “Well, because! He has this painting of this incredibly beautiful woman on his dresser.” And the man said, “No, you’re lying.” So, the elder, the father, decided to go see for himself
And when he looked at this painting (so-called painting), what he saw is this man, beautiful gray hair, beautiful eyes, beautiful flowing beard. He said, “Oh, my God! This is a picture of God himself!”
And now, all three of them are fighting. And they’re fighting, fighting, fighting, fighting, fighting. Finally, a wise man happened to be passing by; he peeped in, and he said, “Why are you guys fighting?”
The man said, “Listen. You’re looking in a mirror. This is no painting. This is called a ‘mirror.’ All it does is simply reflect. What you saw was not any other man but you yourself! And what you saw—as he turned to the wife—it was you. You don’t have to be suspicious—that was you!”
And he turned to the old man and he said, “Old man, that’s no picture of God. That’s you.”
Why the war? Because they didn’t know who they were. When they saw that reflection, they didn’t understand. And then, once it made sense: “That’s me!”
But what makes you, you are these attributes of knowing, of wanting peace, and recognizing the peace you have within you.
– Prem Rawat
00:01:46
Look At The Results
Duration : 00:01:46
Every single human being has to take responsibility for watering the good in the...
So, of all the things that we do in this world, we put emphasis on what we do, but we don’t put the emphasis on the result of the things that we do. We keep repeating things that bear us no result. We keep doing things that do not make the fruit. But now, it has just become a ritual.
So we look at our problems, and we say, “Oh, we have this problem. We should resolve this problem.” We don’t look at how this problem came to be—because we’re doing the same things again and again and again. Einstein said, “Craziness…lunacy is doing the same thing again and again and expecting a different result.”
If you want to improve the quality of all the human beings on the face of this earth, then you have to understand that you’re a human being—and how can you improve yourself? Do you know who you are? And I’m not talking about spirituality here. I’m not talking about philosophy here. I’m talking about something very, very simple.
That, in you there is good, and in you there is bad. This is what I’m talking about. And if you perpetuate the bad, the bad will get strong; if you perpetuate the good, the good will get strong. That’s all.
Every single human being…every single human being has to take responsibility for watering the good in them. And this is so incredibly important.
– Prem Rawat
00:06:09
Gratitude is the Highest Expression
Duration : 00:06:09
Gratitude is the highest expression of a human being.
You know, in our lives, we have learnt a lot of things. As we are today, this is not the way human beings used to be. We have learnt how to make buildings; we have learnt how to make airplanes; we have learnt how to make cars; we have learnt how to make this, have that—everything that you have in this world—even wars. We have learnt how to make wars. And we have learnt how to make the instruments for the wars, but we have not learnt how to be in peace...how to be in peace.
Not how to make peace. You have to be very careful what words you use, because if you have to make peace...? If human beings were responsible for making peace, they would do something so completely bizarre with it, that it would be unbelievable.
How to be in peace—because peace already is in the heart of every single human being. Being so close, and being so far.
But for those who are interested in peace, there is a whole another chapter. There’s a whole other field. There’s a whole other thing to understand, of how we can be fulfilled. That this life is not about just birth and death. That this life is about fulfillment; that this life is about peace; that this life is about understanding; that this life is about clarity; that this life is about feeling that gratitude.
Gratitude is the highest expression of a human being. But it can only happen when there is truly a reason for it. If you’re not thankful...? Just by saying it, it’s empty. What are you thankful for in your life? What are you thankful for?
Oh, see, it’s very strange. You tell people...they sit down in a room. You ask them, “What are you thankful for?” And it’s, “Oh, I am thankful for so many things. I am thankful for my family; I am thankful for my job; I am thankful for this, and I’m thankful for that, and I’m thankful for that, and I’m thankful for that, and I’m thankful for that.” And all I have to say is, “Really? Really? Really? Really, are you thankful for being alive? Are you?”
How many times during the day do you say, “My goodness! I am alive. Thank you for this life”—during the day? Do you really, really, really, really—you get up in the morning and the first thing you say is, “Oh my God. I am alive.” Or is it, “What time is it? What do I have to do?”
How many times during the day do you feel gratitude for being alive? How many? Once? Once a day? Twice a day? Three times a day? Four times a day? How many times a day do you feel thankful for being alive?
How many? Once a day keeps the doctor away? At least...and sometimes not even that? At least he’s honest. If he is honest, he can learn! He can learn. Because that’s the reality. Once is not enough; two times is not enough. Every time you feel alive, your heart will fill with gratitude. You see, you don’t have to make your heart feel full of gratitude. It needs to be naturally filled with gratitude. And naturally being filled with gratitude only happens when there is a focus in your life.
– Prem Rawat
00:03:40
Generous Relationships
Duration : 00:03:40
When, to your friend, you give friendship, that is generosity
Do you all know what generosity is? People get up in the morning; they have a family—they love, they love the family. Are they generous with them? Do you tell your family, “I love you”? Even smile for them?
“Where’s my breakfast!?” Wife: “You’re late!” Kids: “Daddy, we need some money.” “I don’t have any. Go to school!” “All right, I’ll see you later—bye!”
“Bring back some bananas when you’re coming home.”
And then you walk away from your house—and you meet the man who opens the doors: “Good morning.” And you say, “Good morning!”—like you know him. Like he even cares! He has been told, as part of his job, “Open the door in the morning and say ‘good morning’ to everybody that’s coming through here. Be nice.”
He’s being nice because he’s being paid. The question is, why are you being nice? You’re not being paid. You should have been nice at home—and you weren’t! But now you’re meeting a total stranger who you will probably never meet again, and you are completely ready to just…. Just shy of saying, “My long-lost love.” Why?
Is this generosity? No, that’s good manners! Good manners have nothing to do with generosity. “Manners” is one thing; generosity is another! Generosity—to the one you love, you give love! You give love! You understand that love. You feel! That’s generosity.
Because nobody is more hungry for your attention than your children! And when you give that, that’s generosity—not “the duty of a father or mother.” When, to your friend, you give friendship, that is generosity. Because that’s what a friend should give—of friendship!
When, as a human being, you treat another as a human being, that is generosity.
– Prem Rawat
