Topics

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

I’m not the first one to ever say, “What you are looking for is inside of you.” So, if you are looking for peace, that’s inside of you; if you are looking for hope, that is inside of you; if you’re looking for clarity, that is inside of you. If you’re looking for joy, that is inside of you.

And the question is, “Why is it easier said than done?” Because we don’t know ourselves. We don’t know what our strengths are. We don’t know what our strengths are. You are stronger than you realize. Even in the face of calamity, you are stronger than you realize. But because you don’t know yourself, you’re ready to surrender to the calamity—and you do!

You are worried about all those things you don’t know. And in the list of all the things you don’t know, you also don’t know yourself.

We look for strength, but not in us—in other people. People come to me, and people ask this question, “So, when you have a problem, what do you do?” They think I’m strong.

I’m only strong when I’m connected to the strength inside of me. Otherwise I am weak too. I’m a human being, and I have to remember, there is an incredible strength inside of me. When I don’t tap into that strength, nothing is strong. When I do, I am strong too. Same thing for you.

It’s simple! It’s not complicated. We can make it complicated, but it’s not complicated. It’s very, very simple.

- Prem Rawat

Kabir is referring to all of us, not the renunciates, not the fellows with the long braided hair—no, no, all of us because we are all seekers of that truth, of that peace: “That your lord, your Divine is also within you.”

So, don’t underestimate me when I say “an unopened gift.” Don’t underestimate me. I am talking about the gift of all the gifts.

The peace that you seek is within you. The Divine that you seek is within you. The truth that you seek is within you. The clarity that you seek is within you.

- Prem Rawat

Comedy or humor has a bit of truth—otherwise it’s not funny!

And it is funny that in everything else, in everything else that we do ... You go to a bank? The line, where it starts, we know. You go take a number, ticket number. You know—and you watch the counter, “Okay, what is the number?” So you know! And when it comes to the self, no idea!

And when I propose this, a lot of people go, “What do you mean, ‘Knowing yourself?’ Of course I know myself. My name is bla-bla-bla-bla-bla.” Really? Was that your name before you came out? When you were born, what was your name? Just when you were born?

Because you didn’t exist! Officially you did not exist; your birth certificate hadn’t been signed yet. You did not have a piece of paper validating you exist—but you existed. On what strength did you exist? Do you know what that is?

The wisdom that you seek from the world is actually inside of you. Do you know that? You are wiser than you realize. Do you know that?

So, if you don’t, don’t you think it’ll be good to know yourself? Then you would know who you are, the strengths you have, how you can go forward. And of course, when it comes to loving, if you don’t know yourself, how are you going to love yourself?

- Prem Rawat

I see what’s happening in this world and it’s not good. It’s time we change it. But the change—the change can only begin with us. And right now, what we want is the change to begin with other people, not us. Because we don’t know who we are. We’re just like them. We’re just like them. Knowing yourself has a lot of value, believe me, a lot of value.

So, this is the possibility. Your desert too, however “desert-y” it may look, does have the seeds. It is going to rain. It is. And when it does, your desert can bloom as well.

Beautiful, beautiful things in the “Store of the Divine.” Don’t be shocked if all you get is a bunch of seeds. Don’t be shocked because that’s the way they come.

Are you ready to invest a little bit in those seeds? Are you ready to take all that knowledge and give it a little wisdom—and use it wisely? Because if you do, even if you think your life has changed, it can still transform so much more than you could ever imagine. There is no limit; there is no limit.

So, how beautiful, this opportunity. How beautiful, this chance. And how beautiful when the desert blooms. Please let your desert bloom. That’s what it’s all about.

- Prem Rawat

We are talking about, “Oh, what does that person think of me? Do they like me?” No! Do you like yourself—of truly who you are? Have you gotten in touch with that part of you that wants to appreciate? Have you gotten in touch with that part of you that wants to enjoy clarity in life? Have you gotten in touch with that part of you?

Have you gotten in—listen to what I’m saying. Have you gotten in touch with that part of you that likes peace? Have you gotten in touch with that part of you that wants to be content? Have you gotten in touch with that part of you that deeply respects knowledge? Have you gotten in touch with that part of you that wants to express the sincerest kindness?

Have you gotten in touch with the part of you that wants to celebrate this existence? Have you gotten in touch with the part of you that wants to feel that gratitude? Have you gotten in touch with the part of you that holds these as the highest achievement of your existence?

Because you exist, you can be a warmonger. And because you exist, you can be in peace.

Have you gotten in touch with you? Do you know your self? Do you know that you are the carrier of light? And by “light,” I do not mean lux! “Light” means wisdom; “light” means knowledge. “Light,” indeed, means understanding.

- Prem Rawat