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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
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
Are we fully aware of the preciousness of each moment of our lives? The stage has
been set for a beautiful dance, what a tragedy it would be to have missed the show.
You want a challenge in your life? You want to do something really challenging?
Forget about triathlons. Try this. Try to be conscious.
It takes exceptional courage to be conscious in your life. To be aware of what is happening. To be aware of what is going on.
- Prem Rawat
What is your investment? I’m talking about this now, so I’ll tell you—three things. Three things. Maybe I’ll add a few more. Three things.
One, “Know the difference between wisdom and knowledge.” Acquire the knowledge. But use that knowledge wisely: wisdom! Without that wisdom—ha-ha!
So, there is a lot of technical knowledge in this world—a lot of technical knowledge—but without that wisdom, it’s being used by people to kill each other. Use it wisely, and it could be there to reverse the effects of global warming. Use it wisely; it could be helping the polar bears, as they’re losing their housing.
The ills that human beings have done, the same technology can reverse it—if wisdom was there. But no wisdom is there and it is used in a stupid way.
So, knowledge is good, but it needs to be used wisely.
Two! Two: “Know yourself.” Who are you? What is your strength? You lie, of course, in this desert, devoid of much color, devoid of any sustainability for anything living—and yet that tiny little seed, if the rain comes—which it will—can transform even the desert. All its monotony, all its problems—gone. “Know thyself.”
Third! Third: Everybody is into social media and this and that; we want to communicate with other people. That’s not what you need. It’s fine; I’m not saying one way or the other way; it’s up to you. You want to use—it’s your time. You know, it’s your body—if you want to throw it in front of a car because you were doing this while you were crossing, walking across....
You see, technology, knowledge, but no wisdom. So they got the phone, but no wisdom. They got the technology, but no wisdom. As soon as the traffic comes to a stop, you know what people are doing? They’re not looking that the car is moving. And so people start honking.
So, the solution, in my opinion, is what you need to garner is empathy. Not sympathy; empathy. This will make you far more sociably acceptable. You want to become socially acceptable? Sympathy isn’t going to give it to you; empathy is.
If something can stop the wars, it is if people could just empathize. They don’t do that anymore. No empathy—to be able to place yourself in the other person’s shoes. That doesn’t mean you agree with them; it doesn’t mean you disagree with them—just to be able to see their viewpoint.
- Prem Rawat
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.
Onscreen text:
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