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You have to choose. And do you know that at every intersection of my life I had a choice? This is hindsight; it's 20-20. Believe me, I can't explain it. This feeling came over me that every intersection, every inch, every mile that I have traveled on this road of life, I had a choice.

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Choice

Prem Rawat:

Yes, things came my way, but I had a choice. I accepted them. Good things, bad things came and I chose even those things that brought the consequence that was. And of course I can plead ignorance; I didn't know. But I chose. Should I have chosen without knowing? No.Hindsight's 20-20. But I chose.

Those of you who want that peace inside, you have to make that choice. In your life, doing the same thing again and again and expecting a different result is not going to work. And people who do, little rocky to say the least.

In the same grind, hoping that one day everything will change. How? You have to make a choice. If you want that change, you have to make that choice. Do you want peace in your life? You have to make a choice. People will say to me, "Is it that easy? No searching, no going to the top of the Himalayas, no surrendering everything, burying your head in the snow for eight years? I mean, none of that stuff? Just have to make a choice?" Of course.

You have looked outside; maybe it is time to look inside. You have believed in many things; maybe the time has come to know. You have made many excuses; maybe the time has come to make the choice. Make a choice. Most importantly, make the connection.

It is not about lamenting the past. I made the wrong choices or the right choices. It is—wow, I get to choose? Tomorrow I get to choose? Yeah! And the day after that you get to choose. You want to be happy or you want to be sad? You want to be fulfilled or you want to be empty? Choose.

- Prem Rawat

You are a human being. You have a certain power. You have a certain strength.

Problems are like clouds. They come; they go. Sometimes they’re big; sometimes they’re small. Sometimes they’re not there. Sometimes they’re there everywhere.

But the mountain that sits on the ground does not move with the clouds–doesn’t become bigger or smaller with  the clouds. You are the mountain; clouds are your problems.

– Prem Rawat

If action comes from thought, thought is changeable by nature. It is variable by nature. It can be influenced, and it can be changed at any time! Any time. Any, any given time, a thought can be changed—and there’s no trace of it.

If I’m going to steal something—and I go, like, “I think I’ll steal it”—and then I change, “I’m not going to steal it,” what have I done? I have not stolen! I ... even though I had a thought, “I want to steal something,” I did not steal it, and therefore what really happened is, I never stole it.

We are responsible for our thought. When our thought is clear, so is our action and so is the consequence of that action. When that thought emerges from understanding–emerges from light, emerges from knowledge–then the action also carries the attributes of that thought.

When that thought is born of doubt, of confusion, of anger, then that action too bears all the traits of the confusion, of doubt, of fear.

What have I seen in my life? I have seen darkness that you could never even fathom. I have seen desperation that you cannot even imagine. I have seen confusion that virtually has no bounds. I have seen desolation in a human being that would be hard to speculate.

And I have seen joy in a human being that would make the universe look small. I have seen wisdom! In my life I have seen wisdom ... that is so huge, so big, so large, that it truly could encompass countless universes and beyond. And I have seen light in the eyes of human beings.

I have seen the impossible made possible! And I have seen the very possible made impossible. I have seen courage. And I have seen the possibilities made real because of that courage.

So when I talk about the fifty years of experience, this is what I’m talking about. Because, whatever happens in our lives, the consequences of our actions will affect us. We don’t want that; we don’t like that. We don’t want that to be that way. But that is one thing that will never change; has never changed, and will never change.

And if you don’t understand your strength, your courage, then unfortunately, you will be weak; you will give in! Your thoughts will bear children and these children that will be born could ultimately become the very cause of your demise.

Or, your actions, born from your strength, from your clarity, could be the children that you bear that will ultimately be your partners in victory.

– Prem Rawat

What do you focus on every day? Is it things that make you angry? Is it things that you don’t like in your life? Are you a complainer? Do you complain, “This isn’t right; that’s not right. This should have been this way; that should have been this way; why is this this way; why is that that way? And, ababla-bla-blable, ablabla-blablalba.....”

“Why me?” Are you one of those “why me’s”? So, if you are a “why me”—good luck. That’s not a nice note to end with, “Why me? Nothing is right. Why is everything so unjust?”

Remember Yudhishthir! Same thing, he’s caught in the injustice and he cannot go. He’s caught. The cycle of birth and death, the inconvenience of the birth, and he’s caught in it. Because he’s also caught in his concepts of “what is right, what is wrong, what is right....”

He’s caught up in his concepts of what is right and what is wrong. And this is then driving him to start looking at what is just and what is unjust. And so far he’s going in his life, going, “This is just; this is unjust; this is just; this is unjust,” he’s caught in fear; he’s caught in anger; he’s caught in all those things that he doesn’t really want.

When he frees himself from that, severs those.... I like the word “sever”; just to, “Kkkch,” indiscriminately. Not like, “Where should I do it?” No, just do it. It doesn’t really matter, if you’re going to cut a rope, whether you cut here or you cut it—and just cut the thing.

And then, then that comes; then comes the freedom. Then comes the freedom. And the freedom? And, when you are free, you can feel. Now you are free to feel this life; now you’re free to feel the gratitude; now you’re free to feel what that beauty is.

The life should never be about, you know, three things only. Life is giving you a lot more than three. Take it all! “No, no, we should only have....” Not one.

“What is the most important—well, what is that one most important thing to you?” God knows who started that. But it’s the same people who said, “Take that little ball and put it in the little hole.”

Trying to explain to the aliens, you know, again, “Yeah, they just—somebody has four important things, but this guy only wants three!” I won’t mention your name, Mitch, in case there is an alien.

So, just to keep that focus and continue to enjoy this life, this is what it is. And that is the best way to pay the tribute to what is the past—whatever you have learnt that is good, keep it, and move forward with it.

- Prem Rawat

There is something in you that wants to be generous. See, it’s not only that you have generosity in you, but there is something in you that wants to be generous. Not only that you have love in you, but there is something in you that wants to love—and something that wants to be loved. But this is buried under garbage.

In life, as you grow older, you always have to keep focus and perspective on what is important.

This garbage that we accumulate in our lives, what does it do? The biggest harm it does is it frustrates us. And when a human being starts to feel the frustration inside of them, they can no longer see straight. They can no longer prioritize. They can no longer understand. They can no longer see beyond the realm of their problems.

And that’s why problems become the biggest thing.

And the things that are important will get buried in garbage. Got to keep your house clean every day—if you can—every day! Every hour if you can! But if you can’t, at least, every two days. That’s to sit down; be with yourself!

And say, “Okay. What is important to me?” Not to the world. Not, world’s expectations of me. But, “What is important to me? I want to feel good; I want to be in peace.... And I want to help the ones I love—that I want to be there for them.” Once you have this? This is your “house cleaned.” You know where everything is—and do it! Because you can.

And that’s the simplest wisdom, you know? Simplest wisdom—and you have that in you. You—of course you have that in you. You always have that in you—you have the ability to vacuum clean up, and make your life shine—and that’s what you should do!

Not be victimized by all the garbage that everybody keeps—because once the room, once the house looks like garbage, people are going to dump more garbage in it! That’s what’s going to happen. And then everybody will come, “Oh, we know a place to dump the garbage....” And that’s what happens.

Clean, clean, clean. That’s called “conscious,” being conscious, being aware.

- Prem Rawat

People go, "Well, you talk about peace. Tell us how we can be in peace." What I have to say is shocking. Shocking. Why is it shocking? Because you don't have to do anything. Peace is already there inside of you. You don't have to do anything. And if there is anything you have to do, it is to give up the idea of doing anything.

What you will see in the mirror when you hold it in front of your eyes is your own face. When you open your eyes, you will see; you close your eyes, you stop seeing. Will the mirror stop reflecting? No. Will you stop seeing? Yes. What has to happen? Simply, you have to open the eyes. You don't have to wind up the mirror; you don't have to put batteries in the mirror, "Oh mirror, please reflect." No.

Do you realize how simple it is for you if you want to see? Open your eyes. If the lights went out—and I hope they don't—if all the lights went out, would you all disappear? Are you sure? But I won't be able to see you and you won't be able to see me. So we all disappear? No, you're still there. Light doesn't create you. Light allows you to see what is there. That's the value of light.

People think, "Oh yeah, let there be light." Boom, something will be created. No, that's not what light does. For a wise person, enlightenment isn't to have a road free of obstacles. For a wise person, they're not looking, they're not looking for a road free of obstacles. They merely want the light to be able to see the obstacles because they know when they can see the obstacles, it's no sweat to go around it—no sweat whatsoever. But if you can't see, that's when, my friends, stubbing of the toes on those rocks, twisting the ankle on those rocks, is the pain you so desperately hate. You don't like it. And when you get enough of those toe bumps and twists of the ankle, you consider yourself unlucky, and you feel that you don't belong.

Don't pray for a road free of obstacles. Don't pray for that; that's not necessary. Pray for the light, because you've been given the possibility to see. Go this way and go that way. And I guarantee you when you start doing that, you discover new things.

- Prem Rawat