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Prem Rawat: 

Is peace still possible? Yes, peace is still possible. Is joy still there, yes; your heart is still there, yes. Is the infinite still around? Of course. And so far the infinite is around, you’re set! If the infinite is gone, then you’re in trouble. But the infinite is around, and you are around? It’s all good.

When I was in lockdown, (hah, hah-hah), a long time ago, I, you know, in the 80s, I had turntables. I had records. So, I said, “You know, I had these wonderful, beautiful records. Where are they?” And couldn’t find them, couldn’t find them, couldn’t find them, couldn’t find them, and then one day, way back tucked somewhere, there they were, all my records.

And I brought them out, started cleaning them. And there they were! They were something that I had gone, I had bought. Some of them had been unopened; they were unopened albums. And there they were from the 70s, all this incredible music and – there it is! I realized, “I’m not going to take it with me. But I’m going to enjoy it, so far I can enjoy it.”

This life, my friends, is about enjoyment. And if you can enjoy the divine, that’s the motherlode. Because there’s nothing like the divine. Always there. Always was. When you were one, when you were two, when you were three, when you were four, five, six, seven.

Isn’t it nice to discover something that is from a long time ago in your life that you liked, and it was wonderful? (Like my records?) Well, the infinite is like that. The infinite was there when you were one, and two, and three, and four, and five – all the way to however old you are.

As we get older, a lot of us feel anxiety. And what does that anxiety come from? It comes from fear, not knowing what’s going to happen to us. 

There are things that make us afraid. If we don’t keep the doors of this,

the chambers of the heart clean, then all this garbage settles in. Because our propensity is to doubt that which we shouldn’t doubt.

And because we doubt that which we shouldn’t doubt, what happens? We don’t accept what the reality is. When we don’t accept what the reality is? Everything becomes fake. Everything becomes relative. 

Then what is the value of life? Are you thankful? Or not thankful? Which one is it? 

One day – and we talked about that here, first; this is one of those Amaroo exclusives:

“Two walls. You came through one wall; you’re going to hit the other wall.” And people are like, “Oh my God, I don’t want to hit that other wall.” Then you shouldn’t have come through the other wall. 

What should you be busy doing? You should be busy filling yourself with gratitude, being thankful for having had this opportunity to be here.

I mean, what a show it has been. Truly, what a show it has been. Magnificent. And all you had to do was accept it. The show that you accepted, filled you.

The one that you questioned and wondered and doubted, the moment fled, never, ever to come back. 

How do I see it? I see that people are just lost in their concepts.

Take that away… It’s all you have to do is take that away. And something becomes very apparent. Something becomes extremely clear. Something becomes incredibly obvious. That I am a part of that divine. That divine is in me. And that divine never came through that wall, and it’s not going to go through that other wall. That’s me too.  And yes, there is a part of me

that did come through that wall and is going to go through that other wall.

But which percentage am I in touch with? The one that goes through the wall? Or the one that doesn’t go through the wall? Which one? 

Because when you know, “Ah! There is a part of me that’s not going anywhere – has the same trait and characteristics of the divine: ‘Was. Is. And will be’” – have no reason for fear.

What is the undefined contentment? When you understand it is not based on anything – but it is to be content.

“I will have contentment if I have this!” That’s what happens in that world of “It isn’t, wasn’t, won’t be.” (I should keep it straight for my own thinking.) It wasn’t! Isn’t, and won’t be. The power! The power is not that that “wasn’t, isn’t, and won’t be.” The powerful is the one that was, is, and will be – forever.

Past the human species. Past! Was before there was anything called human, anything stirred, any dirt hadn’t even come around to form the earth. And it was there. Is there – even through this stupid pandemic, is there. And will be there even after this pandemic. Even after the human beings. Always.

When that is your source, now you have connected onto something incredibly meaningful. And when you have connected to that something incredibly meaningful – your life becomes meaningful. Every moment becomes meaningful. Because it is very hard to be conscious when you are in the company of nothing. But it is very easy to be conscious when you’re in the company of everything.

And the tragedy, the tragedy would be to be in the company, (because there is no way you can be anywhere on the face of this earth and be devoid of that company of the infinite) – and not to have recognized that, but rather have connected with all that that wasn’t, isn’t, and won’t be. That’s what I wanted to tell you. That’s what I wanted to tell you.

And if you want to give it a thought, give it a thought. There are two. Being conscious is: “What choice are you making? Are you connecting with that which it isn’t? Or are you connecting with that which is, and will be, and was?” And this is our opportunity. And it begins with each one of us.

Prem Rawat: When you take one candle and light it — and from that candle, you take that candle to an unlit candle and you light that candle. And then you take that first candle that you lit, and then you light the second candle. And the third candle, and the fourth candle, and the fifth candle, and the sixth candle, and the seventh candle, and so on. (All the way to ten.)

But isn’t the flame the same — that lights this candle, lights that candle, lights the other candle, and the other candle, and all the subsequent candles? But is it the same candle? Candles are different because there’s a number for the candle, “one, two, three, four,” but the flame is the same.

That’s the divine in action. That’s the divine in action. Seven billion candles, and the same flame — in each one! Flame: candle. Divine in action. Seven billion candles: same flame. That’s who you are. That’s who you are. That combination of the candle and the flame. What is the relationship?

Now, this candle is valuable. This candle gives light; this candle is precious. There is the candle; there is the light. Now, what I’m about to say, pay attention. And then I will stop. That candle, when it is lit, there’s one issue that you have to be careful of. I mean, it’s beautiful; it’s incredible; it’s great; it’s just all good. But you do have to be careful of one thing.

And that one thing that you have to be careful of is “Now, the candle is going to cast shadows.” And that is called “ignorance.” Whilst you’re alive, shadows cast is ignorance. When you hit that wall and disappear, you don’t have to fear. No more ignorance.

All you have to do is be careful. Pay attention to what is important. Pay attention to this breath. Pay attention to being alive, (which is you’re not hitting the wall). Pay attention to everything that is right in your life. Don’t be intimidated by the shadow. Rejoice for the light. And then, your life can be a celebration as it needs to be.

And I sincerely hope that your life, every day that you haven’t hit that wall, becomes a celebration for you. Because everything less than that is a compromise.

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

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