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We want our children to be good. We want our children to grow up well. What do we tell them when we see them in the morning? Monday or Tuesday, what do we tell them? "Are you ready? Are you ... You're late, you're going to be late. Get ready." We don't tell the, "I love you.“ We don't tell them, "I love you.” "So good to see you."

I know, in some cultures, women, men are shy to say, "I love you.” But can't you say the same thing another way? "So good to see you today." Aren't you glad to see them that day? Aren't you? Do you say it?

And what do you want? You want everybody in your family to be happy. After all, all the men that are here, you work very hard to make everybody happy in your family. Don't you? Don't you go to your job from morning till evening? Don't you work really, really hard to make them all happy? And do you once tell them you love them? No.

Strange! I find that very strange. Why is it wrong for you to be human? Aren't you human? Relationship of darkness, light. Relationship of absence, presence. All the things you imagine you are, you are not. But what you are, you don't know. So you imagine yourself to be a doctor, a lawyer, a housemother, a wife. An I.T.––"it". IT technician. It. "It" is referred to people without life, things without life. It. I.T. It means you go into a room, and try to plug wires and see if something works or doesn't work.

You ask somebody, "Excuse me, sir. Who are you?" "Oh, I'm a salesman." Really? You're not a human being? This relationship of absence and presence. We don't understand the presence. The presence is real. Absence is nothing.

What is the presence? The presence is, this breath just came into you. This is the presence. Do you understand the meaning of this breath? Do you understand the value of this breath? When you were born ... when you were born, when you came out of your mother's womb. Yes, all of you came out of a mother's womb. You better have come out of a mother's womb. Otherwise, you should be stuffed and sent to a museum. You all came out of a mother's womb.

In our societies we don't respect women. Women have one thing over every man. A woman can give birth to a man or a woman. A man can't do that. And we forget. We forget, we forget because we are playing the wrong game. Not of the presence, but of the absence.

And so far we keep this ... this is the game my friends, of ignorance. And what you are looking for, that word "Peace" indicates knowledge. Not ignorance. And the world is trying to figure out in the world of ignorance what knowledge means. Impossible. I say, impossible. Impossible.

Never figure it out. That's why the world doesn't know what peace is. Because we're playing a game of ignorance with ourselves, and wars that we hate are a result not of knowledge, but of ignorance. So, which world do you want to live in? Which world do you want to live in? The world of presence or the world of absence?

When you live in the world of absence, you have to have beliefs. Believe it's there, believe that's there, believe this there, believe this there, believe this there. Believe that Gods live just slightly above the clouds.

I'm a pilot. When I travel around the world, I fly myself. So you're climbing above the clouds going, "Hmm! Anybody there? Anybody there?" There's nothing there. Clouds, more clouds, more clouds, more clouds, more clouds, more clouds, more clouds.

We live in the world of present, in the world of knowledge ... Where? Where? Where? Then the answer is here, here, here, here.

- Prem Rawat

Prem Rawat:

Just imagining that day—because people got up in the morning—and I don’t think anybody was really expecting to die... Going about their business.... Standing here today, looking at that, I wonder, “What have we learned? When something like this can happen where, instantly, hundreds of thousands of people are just wiped out from the face of this earth?”

And it isn’t just those people that are wiped out. It is their generation that they would have given birth to, and that generation, and that.... The wars are still happening. And there’s no one thing that’s going to solve the problem.

Onscreen text:

Prem Rawat, Peace Ambassador

Prem Rawat:

But every human being taking on that responsibility of knowing themselves, and establishing peace for themselves, that’s the only solution that has not been tried.

And here, the river still flows—and here’s a tree, and here’s that building, a reminder—we are human. And we are on this beautiful planet Earth, and there has to be some understanding of what it means to really be alive. We have woken up to the world, but we haven’t woken up to life!

[rings bell four times]

Onscreen text:

Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park

Cenotaph for the A-Bomb victims

Flame of Peace

Atomic Bomb Dome

The Hall of Remembrance

Bell of Peace

Earth is 4.5 billion years old. We have been on this earth as modern human beings–only as "modern human beings" for around six thousand years. What have we done? What have we done? What have we done?

On one hand, we stand at the brink of extinction. As human species created— this problem created by ourselves, not by somebody else, not by Martians, not by people from moon, but by us.

And on the other hand, we are here today to talk about Kind Malaysia. We're not here to discuss war. We're not here to discuss the extinction of mankind. We are actually here to talk about the very fundamental thing that can make a huge difference in this world. What this world needs is kindness, compassion, understanding.

And that... as Datuk said, the word that hit him is ‘noble.’ And that indeed is noble. Because those people who understand the necessity of compassion carry a bigger burden on themselves than those who don't.

And this is what I mean. There is a law, a very fundamental law of nature. And you really have to understand this law because this is the law behind that one word called ‘kindness,’ of what it means.

There are so many NGOs here, so many people with good wish and will to help humanity. And I know that sometimes it's very disappointing. You make your effort–you make your effort day after day after day after day–and nothing happens. Or seemingly nothing happens. Another war takes place, more innocent people get killed–stupidity. And you wonder, is it going to make a difference?

I started speaking about peace when I was 4 years old. I started taking this responsibility of spreading the peace, first in my native India when I was 9. I was around 13 years old when I went to the west, to England, America and brought this message to outside of India. So, here I am, and I'm sure there's a lot of people, "Oh, Ambassador of peace, Ambassador of...". What does "Ambassador of Peace" mean anyway? You're all Ambassadors of Peace, don't you know it? I'm not the only one. You're Ambassadors of Peace. And it is your responsibility too, to make sure that the peace spreads in this world. Because what other option do we have, by the way? What other option is there?

So, what is this law that I am talking about? This is what gives me heart. My effort that has been going on for such a long time. This is what gives me heart. And what is this law? Here's the law. If you take two candles - a lit candle and an unlit candle, and bring them together. Guess what happens? The lit candle will light the unlit candle–not the other way around. That's the law of nature. A lit candle will light the unlit candle–not that the unlit candle will put out the lit candle. No. Not even 50-50. Every single time, the lit candle will light the unlit candle.

- Prem Rawat

Do you know what it took to put you in that seat that you're sitting on? Do you know how many species went through evolution so you could be like you are?

We all take it for granted. "Oh, here I am!" But do you have any idea of how much evolution it took, how many experiments it took, so today you could sit in that chair?

What is the world that we live in? What is this world that we live in? Think about it. There is more food available today than there ever was. One of the points that I'm trying to make is, there was a time when people thought that if we had enough food we would have peace. Well, guess what? We have enough food, and we still don't have peace.

Once upon a time, people thought that if we would have enough wealth we would have peace. Guess what? We do have more wealth now than we've ever had. There is more wealth in this world than there ever was, but there is no peace.

People said, "If people were educated there would be peace." There are more schools now than there ever were, and there's still no peace. People said, "If we could communicate with each other, there would be peace." Boy! Do we know how to communicate with each other! So, we have more means of communication than we ever had, but do we know what to say? So, that's the problem.

The only equation we haven't tried is that peace begins with you. That the kindness needs to be surfaced. We need to have a society in which we are mindful of our kindness. We are mindful of our compassion, we are mindful of our capability to be able to help the ones around us, if they need help–and that help will begin by first helping ourselves.

— Prem Rawat

So, when I say “we,” when I say to you, “you can make a difference,” do you believe me? 

Why? Shouldn't I prove it to you? Should I prove it to you? I can prove it to you. I can. You want me to prove it to you? Yes? 

Come on, yes or no? There you go. See, in the world of absence, you can just go “Uhm….” And in the world of presence, you go, “Yeah, prove it to me!” So, there is a fundamental rule. This is my proof. There's a fundamental rule of nature. 

Bring…. Take two candles. One candle is a lit candle, and one candle is an unlit candle. Two candles. Okay? Unlit. Lit. Bring them together. What will happen? 

Huh? When is unlit and one is lit. And when you bring the two candles together, what will happen? Aha. You see, the world of presence, and the world of absence. 

What will happen? The lit candle, the lit candle will light the unlit candle. 

Not the unlit candle will extinguish the lit candle. Do you agree? 

This is how you, how you have a chulha at home. You know what a chulha is? That's how your stove works. Your gas, your cooking gas, you light a match. It's unlit. You go “Ech!” and “Boomf!” Sometimes too much “boomf” and that's how it works.

So, that is the proof that you make a difference if you are a lit candle. You have this incredible, incredible, incredible power to light an unlit candle. Now, how big do you have to be? How big does the unlit candle have to be to get lit? And how big does the lit candle have to be, even if it is right down to almost nothing, but it's lit. 

It's good. It can light an unlit candle. Doesn't have to be this big. It doesn't have to be this big. It doesn't have to be decorated. It doesn't have to be green. It doesn't have to be purple. It doesn't have to be yellow. It doesn't have to be any of those things. All it has to be is lit.

You carry this power. If you're a lit candle, you can light an unlit candle. And how many times can you do that? Is there a limit? Till your lit, you can keep lighting. 

It's no, it's not like, Oh, I'm too old. I can't light anything. No. If you’re lit, that's all it takes. Keep lighting. Keep lighting. Keep lighting. Keep lighting.

This law, by the way, is 4.5 billion years old.  It was there.  Not 200,000 or 6,000 years old—4.5 billion years old.

And this is the possibility. This is the possibility. In your life, goodness awaits. The Divine for you awaits to be discovered. Joy, treasured.

Hey, listen, you have no limit for joy. Pain, you do. After a little while, it's too much. “Ahhh, I want out.” Joy? No limit.  You can be joyful every day for the rest of your life, not a problem. Not a problem, not a problem.  Sadness every day? You will find a big cliff somewhere.  That's what people do.  A lot of people think they're insignificant. Right? “I’m nothing.”

Ahh, but this is where the Divine lives. This is where the light lives. This is where the goodness lives. This is where compassion lives. This is where kindness lives. 

What are you talking about, insignificant? 

The only reason why you would want to pretend to be insignificant is so you can offload your responsibilities. “I'm not good…I can't do anything.”

You know when you go to bureaucracy, go to office, you're getting something, you want something done and the person doesn't want to do it.  “Oh no, no. I'm just junior. You have to go see the senior.” But you say, “Okay, 10 rupees?” “Okay, okay, I can do it.”

So why are you abdicating your responsibility in life?  But you don't need to do that. Why? Why are you not understanding what this possibility is, called life?

- Prem Rawat

One woman said to me when I was in the South Africa—I was in Soweto; we're doing an event. She says to me from the prison, she wrote me a question. “I killed my children. I killed my children. Is there hope for me?” She was in prison for killing her children. “Is there hope for me?” So you know what I said to myself? I can give an answer. It would be pointless. Nobody would believe me. I said, “Why don't I talk to the audience? Why don't I have them give the answer?” So I said, “Okay, here's the question, ladies and gentlemen. Here is the question from this lady who is in prison. She killed her children and she is wondering if there is hope for her.” And I said, “What do you say?” That's what they said. That's what they said. Somebody said, "No!" I heard that. Still have good hearing. Somebody said, "No!" You would be right, my friend, if you said, "No." The day that rule changes where a lit candle does not light an unlit candle. 

Of course there is a hope; otherwise, we are done! The amount of unconsciousness we live with in our life, if there is no hope for us, it's pointless. It doesn't matter. This is what I tell people because I know it is true. I know. I don't believe it's true; I know it is true because of that law.

Whatever has happened in your life, move forward. That's what...this is what this life tells you every day. Move forward, not backwards. Forward. 

What is forgiveness? Oh, you should hear my definition of forgiveness. It's very different, very different. Forgiveness is not forgiving other people's actions; that cannot happen. You know what forgiveness actually is? It’s actually to cut that cord that is still tying you to that situation and saying, “No more will I be the slave of that situation. Bye-bye.” That's what forgiveness is.

Because you need to move forward. Understand in your life, the possibility. Bring! I want all of you to be happy even though you don't know why. I want you still to be happy. I want you to be in peace because peace is already inside of you. It's there now. It is there now. Your light goes with you wherever you go; you cannot go any— so far as this breath is coming into you, you cannot go anywhere without your light. Let it shine. That's the difference. That's where that peace is. Let it shine.

Not only you, I wish this peace, I wish this happiness, I wish this joy—and I have means to make it possible—for all the citizens of Sri Lanka, and India, and Nepal, and Tibet, and the whole world. 

And because I'm a great knower—and I remind you I didn't say believer—great knower of that law of the candles, while this candle is still lit, I'm going to go try to light as many candles as I can. And for every candle that I light, I better my chances—mathematically you can figure it out by how much—but I better my chances for the whole world one day to be lit—for every candle to be lit. 

The world doesn't need peace. You do. 

So that's peace is possible. That's my definition of why peace is possible. And as much as I can, the time will permit—because my intent when I came here 14 years ago was the same. I wanted to light the candles. I'm still lighting the candles. And I hope and I pray, I keep lighting the candles. And for every candle that I light—another one, another one, another one, another one, another one, another one—well, we're getting better at those chances of lighting all the candles in this world.

- Prem Rawat