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I thought this was kind of interesting, because I just today received a letter from Argentina—and so I’d like to read it to you; I brought it with me.

“Dear Mr. Prem Rawat, we’ve been watching the Peace Education Program for three months running. And we would like to thank you, because your message helps us know ourselves. When we listen to you, we forget that we are in prison. Thank you very much.

“With respect and love, we would like to invite you to this prison unit. It would be an honor for us to meet you in person and talk with you about what we have learned. Kind regards, Men’s Prison, Buenos Aires, Argentina!”

So, there I am at this prison; I said, “Okay, you know, you realize, God is the only one in this entire creation that can’t go from here to here.” And you should have seen their faces; it was like, “Huh? Of course God can go from here to here.”

I said, “No, it’s impossible for God to go from here to here. Why? Because if God leaves here to go here, it’s not possible, because he will always be here. And he is already here, so how can he come here? Can’t go from here to here!”

And when they heard—it was like, it takes a little while, right? Just, “dit-dit-dit-dit-dit, dut, dah-doo, dut, dit-dit-dit....” And then it’s like, “Damn, he’s right!”

Because I’m using that same logic. The problem isn’t the logic. The problem is the thing that created that logic—about “going,” about “coming,” about creating—not God creating us in his you know, shadow, but we creating God in ours. And giving God exactly the same attributes of jealousy, fear, anger, everything else.

“If you don’t do what I tell you to do, I’m going to destroy you.” Well, excuse me, that was the plot all along. So, what’s the news here!? I mean, isn’t that, in the creation, how it’s laid out? “I was, I’m going to be born, and one day I will be destroyed.” So what is this thing of “destroying?”

And it’s like, “Oh, well, if you don’t do these things, they’ll send you to hell.” Well, why do you have to send anybody to hell; it seems like we can create our hell right here all by ourselves; you don’t need a separate department. We, when everything is perfectly good—but there we are, suffering. And you wonder why. “Why are you suffering?”

“Oh, this happened, and then that happened....” So? So? Are you not concerned about what opportunity you have right now? Why are you attached to what happened yesterday—when yesterday has graciously said, “I’m out. I’m out of your life. You will never be able to get to me again!” And you’re like, “Yeah, well that doesn’t matter.”

You’re trying to contemplate, “What’s going to happen tomorrow; what’s going to happen tomorrow? What’s going to happen tomorrow? What happened yesterday; what happened yesterday? I don’t like this guy. I don’t like that guy. I, da-da-da, what’s going on here? Yeah.

“How, how come I’m not with that woman? How come I’m not with that man? How come I don’t have that car? How come I don’t—I’m not rich like that?” Day and night! “How do I get out of my problems?”

So, you see this letter, and the reason why I brought it is that they’re in the prison. They—and it’s not like, “Oh, we heard you and we got out. You know, there was a seven-question quiz and we passed from everything you had said, and then now we’re out.” No, they’re still in prison.

But when they listen and they savor that clarity, the bars are lifted; prison is opened. You’re no longer a prisoner; you are free. And that freedom is felt from within you. It is not sitting there and daydreaming, “Oh, yeah, I’m free.” Reality and dream are not colliding.

Because—and many times I’ve seen that first event that I—the transcript from that first event ever, when I was four years old—the satsang I gave, or the talk I gave. And it’s like, “You have to realize what this opportunity is”—this is that four-year-old talking—“you have to realize what this opportunity is, what you have been given here.

“And in realizing that opportunity, you shall find peace; you will find peace. In acknowledging that, you will get peace. In that clarity, you will find your freedom.”

Because freedom is not an independent state. Freedom is not an independent state; it is merely for those ties, those bonds that bind you to be severed. And when that happens, when that process happens, when those ropes, those anchors that bind you, when they are severed, you automatically go into freedom. It’s, that’s it; that’s how—the only way you can get there.

But the question is, who binds you to these? You do. Other people offer you the rope, but you tie the knot. And who suffers? You do. And then you hear me say, “Cut it,” and you go, “Oh, that’s really difficult.” It wasn’t so difficult tying the knot, was it? Was it? It’s like, “Oh, yeah, okay, another rope. Wow, this is good; this is good.”

Because, you see, when you come to the realm of Knowledge, this is what’s really awkward about it—and really, really—and I have seen this since I was very, very young.

Everything out there has a set of rules, and you have to buy, accept that set of rules. If you don’t, you’re not going to graduate.

What do you want out of your life? Do you want that clarity? Do you want that simplicity in your life? Do you want that beauty that is possible in your life? And I was saying, “This is what’s different about Knowledge.” So, here’s what’s different about Knowledge.

Everything else requires you buy into that set of rules. If you don’t buy into the set of rules, “no go.” So anything you come to, like, “Okay, I want to be this,” or “I want to be that,” or—“Okay, here are the rules; here are the rules; here are the rules; here are the rules.”

Knowledge: no rules. “Just get in touch with your thirst.” If you’re not thirsty, no big deal—till you are! And when you are, look me up. If you are, let me help you.

No rules! This is befuddling to people. “Whaat? No rules?” No rules. “If I practice, just...?” Excuse me. “If I stop practicing Knowledge, will I go to hell?” No! “What? No rules?”

And believe you me, people try to create rules. “There have to be rules, so let’s make some rules. How can we not have rules? If the Christians have rules, if Hindus have rules, if the Jewish religion has rules, if the Moslems have rules, we have got to have rules.” And it’s like, “No. No rules.” And then, like, “Oh my God. What am I to do?”

So people ask, “What’s next?” The answer is, you are. You are next. Because, instead of focusing on everybody else, and everything else that is none of your business.... Instead of focusing on everything else and everyone else which is none of your business—this is not why you’re here—you need to focus on yourself. That’s your business. And that should be the only business you have.

And you are next! And you’d better be next on your agenda, my friends.

- Prem Rawat

People say, “People are not born with a manual.” I disagree. The manual is so good; it’s innately built inside of every human being. You don’t need to read anything. It’s innately there. And what does this manual say to you? “Listen! Be the bird, not the wind.” Because the day you try to be the wind, you will realize that you will never be successful.

But what you can do is be the bird, extend your wings, and fly. That’s your relationship. Be the bird, not the wind. Be the bee, not the flower. Don’t try to be a flower, because that’s not your nature—you are the bee. Go from flower, to flower; and you have the expertise of extracting the nectar!

Do it! The good! The beautiful. The adoration for peace is your nectar from the flower of every day—you be the bee. You be the bee, and every day that that flower comes to you, extract the most amazing nectar from it.

Be the candle, not the light. Be the candle, not the light. Too many people try to become the light. Uh-uh-uh-uh-uh, be the candle. When it is lit, light will be there. That’s who you are. You are the source! What is not in you? Do you know what is not in you?

Do you know that love is in you? Do you know that? Love is in you? The other person is just a catalyst. Love is in you. Hate is in you! Questions are in you; answers are in you. Understanding is in you; misunderstanding is in you. There’s more in you than you realized. Lies are in you; truth is in you. Confusion is in you; clarity is in you. What don’t you have? What don’t you have? And yet, what do you practice?

Driving here today, I was looking at the rivers and the waterfalls and the mountains. And I looked at the rocks, and I said, “The rocks have the rigidity and the firmness. The water is supple and liquid. The rocks, rigid and strong—solid! But, at the end of the day, guess who wins? Not the rock. The water. Water carves the rock.

Do you know the art of water? Water has patience! Water has patience. Do you have patience? Have you understood your own patience? Have you acquired the skill for patience—to understand, every single day, every single day, the possibility that is presented to you? Simple! But profound.

- Prem Rawat

My strategy is very simple. And my strategy isn’t to have world peace. I said it. “Aagh,” pin-drop silence. Because that’s not possible.

But this is what’s possible—you, be, first in peace with yourself. It’s just you. Nobody else is involved. You be in peace with yourself. And how can you be in peace with yourself? One—and that’s why we are here tonight: “Journey to the self”—you must know yourself.

And once you know yourself, you then must gain victory over the self. Not victory over your neighbor, not victory over that person, and that person, and that person, and that person, but victory over the self.

And when you are victorious over yourself, then you can be in peace with yourself. And when you are in peace with yourself, then you make peace with the world.

And when enough, enough people make peace with the world—because they have made peace with themselves—then, vaguely, the idea of world peace starts to come into view.

When every war happens and the innocent die.... Same way, when you are at war with yourself, the innocent moments of your life are being slaughtered. Because they’re innocent! They can be anything.

Never have I seen more innocence, in a moment of existence.... It’s, totally, as it comes to you, it’s innocent—just brings you possibility, anything you want—like a baby, like a baby.

You can mold it; you can fold it; you can destroy it; you can create a monster out of it if you wish. Or you can have it as the most tender-est, gentle time—the time with you, listening to that feeling which fills this heart and causes the gratitude to emerge.

- Prem Rawat

MC and host: [Sara Powell]
I just want to get straight stuck in if I may. Something that we’ve had a couple of questions about, and something that really spoke to me from what you said, was “the noise”—that chatter that is constantly there. And I wondered, “What’s the best strategy for coping with it? How do we quieten it down, the noise?”

Prem Rawat:
Well, these are the questions you have sent—I mean, over 200 questions came in—and some of you who have, probably, cell phones that are from different countries, probably are still coming in through, you know, because they go round robin, yeah....

MC:
Yeah, you’ll be getting them till Wednesday, yeah!

Prem Rawat:
And, yeah, exactly. So, the question is, where does this noise come from? I mean, who is the perpetuator of this noise; who is the generator of this noise, and where is the stage that it ultimately plays out on?

So, the stage where it ultimately plays out on is you! But where does it come from? Well, it is something that started a long, long time ago, right from your parents.

Because, whose voices are there? They are included too, and the friends are included, and the boss, and the friends, and the friends of the friends, and the, everybody who has two-cents-worth of advice, and it just gets recorded,

But then the question becomes, “Why did it get recorded? Who had the record button pushed in?” Right? And we allow this to happen. We don’t think we have a choice. Because we don’t live our lives by that tactile feel.

I was watching a show where they were showing this person who was challenged with the sight. And as he moved around the room, he had to feel everything—and where it was and how it was—and there were no assumptions.

And we, the ones who have eyes, are most likely to have that chair pulled out from underneath us or even miss the chair. But not this man, because he knows he has to have that feel. Every step that he takes in his life is taken deliberately. Not just, “Uh, let me see what’s over there.” Do we live our lives like that?

You know, and maybe the noise is a consequence of living a very unconscious life. That if there was a conscious life, then you would say, “Okay! Since I have a tape recorder....” Don’t fault the tape recorder, by the way. That’s really good that you have a tape recorder. It’s the content of the tape recorder that’s bad.

“So, can I put in nice stuff? If I’m going to have noise, let me have some really lovely noise, something that inspires me, something that gives me courage....” Because we all need courage. That’s why courage is there—hmm—because we need it!

Because in life, the mountains that you have to sometimes cross, that we have created for ourselves, are no ordinary hills. Mind you, they are indeed mountains of extraordinary proportions, and it requires nothing shy of courage to even take on the challenge to do so.

So, you know, this is, in a way, what I do. Because, you look at the Peace Education Program—and when it goes to the prisons, their voice, their tape recorder is going, “I am here, and it’s the fault of that person, and that person, and that person, and that person.”

And they go through the Peace Education Program, and they start to realize, “Hey, look at yourself.” And when they do, then they realize that they are standing at a threshold where they can change.

And it is no mistake or an accident that people who go through the Peace Education Program—at least, the inmates who go through the Peace Education Program—have the lowest rate of return back into the prisons.

So, we’re not inmates, are we? I mean, we’re not in a prison system, are we? The prison system you are currently in.... The other prison system, they’ll get out after two years, three years, four years, five years. The prison system you are in, you don’t get to get out till you die—sorry. Huh! You’re in for life.

Folks, it’s really time to start creating your heaven, because there are no options here. The wall is there—and there are no options! And getting rid of that noise and putting the nice noise on is up to you. It truly is—because you’re the one who is doing it: who’s buying into this noise and keeps: “Ah, push play again, please.” And, you know, and has it on “repeat,” so it just keeps repeating and repeating and repeating and repeating.

Life has the possibility of creating your own playlist—your playlist that you like. Do you want to accept that challenge? You know, the issue isn’t just the noise. We can replace it with something beautiful, something wonderful, something you like. Not what I like—you like! Because I want to create my playlist of something I like. You create your playlist, something you like.

- Prem Rawat

What questions do you ask?

What questions should you be asking?

Do you ask the question, “Am I blessed? [From audience: No. ... Ha!] And if I am blessed ... do I feel it ... every single day?”

Every single day? “Am I alive? Do I feel alive every single day?” Or, (would) do I feel (th’) in my emotions ... jealousy ... anger ... fear ... doubt? (Ha!)

If you don’t ... feel ... jealousy and fear and anger and doubt, you should be put in a museum. [laughter] You should be stuffed ... and put it [in] a museum to say, “Here is a person who doesn’t feel anger, fear, doubt, confusion!” [word, whispered: “Come!”]

But the thing is ... that if there is fear in you ... there is freedom in you. If there is anger in you, there is compassion in you. If there is confusion in you, then there is clarity in you.

If there is pain in you, there is joy in you.

In you! Do you understand what that means, “In you”? Most people hear what I am saying, but it doesn’t compute: “In you.” Because for most people ... who are the believers, for them this comes from up there.

Uh-uh! People say to me ... “Where will I go?”—(I mean, everybody, right?) So, what, what will happen to you when you die? What will happen to you when you die? Are you going to go to heaven? [audience reaction] I’m just asking! [laughter]

So if you’re going to go somewhere ... if you’re going to go somewhere ... that means ... that when you were born, (and say, you weighed five pounds,) the earth, the weight of the earth increased. [laughter] Right? [Inds.: (laughter) Yes.]

And when you’re going to go ... [laughter] the (e’,) weight of the earth will decrease! [Inds.: Yes. (words)] Right?! Does it? [From audience: No. No.] [after translation, laughter, “No. (words) No. No. (words) No.”]

This is the belief system. This is the belief system: “Oh, I want to.... A’, yeah, I’m doing everything I am doing, you know, (I,) by the book, by the law, because I want to go to heaven. I want to go to heaven; I want to go to....” And do you want it expedited?

[From audience: Yeah. Yeah! (laughter, words) No. Okay! (laughter) yeah!]

Look! Longer you are here, the more chances you have, (m’) [of] making mistakes. [laughter, words]

So, best not to make mistakes—[From audience: Yeah. Um-hmm.] right?

20:15
So you want to go early? [From audience: Yes! No.] “Mmmmmmmmm-nnnnn-no!” [laughter]

So now you’re contradicting yourself! If heaven is such a wonderful place ... why the wait? [laughter]

“Ahhh! Eeee-yessssss” ... and “Ahhhh, nn-no!” Because you also know ... where heaven is. And you know ... that heaven is right here. And you want to be in heaven. And you also know what hell is. You know what is hell? Very simple. Very simple. It’s not about (by,) boiling pots. When you are ... not in heaven ... [Inds.: words] that’s hell! That’s hell

You know, you come here; you sit down and you listen—and things start clicking, maybe? And some people are like, “Well, it doesn’t click for me”—because you haven’t made it your business! You are not your business; that’s why it doesn’t click. You’re still caught up in everybody else’s business, which is none of your business.

“How can I,” people go, “how can I have a happy home?” Why are you trying to make your home happy? If there is ever a reason why your home is unhappy, it’s because of you and you alone—because you’re focusing on making your home happy. Home doesn’t need happiness. You need happiness. If you focused on yourself to become happy, your home would automatically become happy.

“How can I make my kids happy?” The only reason why they’re unhappy is because of you. There’s no other reason in this whole world. Because you keep poking your nose where it doesn’t belong. And they want you as far away from them as you can get. And Mars is not far enough.

Nobody is interested in figuring out, feeling in their lives the blessing of coming and going of this breath—but we want the new iPhone. The latest and the greatest gadget—and just like I was saying, when the guy has nothing to say, changing the microphone isn’t going to help.

That’s why, in social media, so much anger prevails. Because the word “social” means “how we get along together.” This is how we don’t get along together. And everything gets manipulated. And then there are the social media experts—and if you’re not one of them, pfft, forget it. And they can make and break the fortunes of millions.

Greed hasn’t gone; nobody has captured greed. They have given another avenue to greed, to proliferate, to go. Meanwhile, whether the greed, no greed; anger, no anger, and just, social media, no social media, new iPhone, new Android phone....

So, stop the noise by hanging onto the clarity, not losing it. How quickly can you lose the clarity? I go that-a-way; you go that-a-way; you walk two steps—gone.

Is that how vulnerable you are? Then where is your strength? Then where is your strength? Where is your strength? Your strength is in that tolerance. Your strength is in the kindness.

- Prem Rawat