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(Prem Rawat) There is a thirst in every human being. May not be scientifically proven, but it does not require any faith. See what I'm saying? It's like when something cannot be scientifically proven for it to exist, some faith is required but thirst is not one of those things.

Somebody comes to me and says, "I am thirsty. Can I have a glass of water? If I tell him, "Prove it." "I don't see 'thirst' written on your forehead. Prove it."

The only way he can prove it is when I give him the water and he goes, glug, glug, glug, glug.

"Oh! You were thirsty."

The thirst for clarity is innate. If you did not have that, do you realize? If you did not have that, you would self-destruct. You would self-destruct. If you did not have a powerful thing in you that moves you to exist, to live on, to go on, you would self-destruct.

If you did not have this want for clarity in your life, you would self-destruct. If you did not have a liking for wisdom, you would self-destruct. There'd be nothing left of you. But you do. That's why you need wisdom. That's why you need wisdom. That's why you need clarity so you can navigate these paths that are so difficult, that the world has made so, so difficult.

And more rules, and more rules, and more rules, and more rules. All this changes. What doesn't change, don't you realize, is you? You don't change. You're still a human being. You still have

those fundamental needs and wants in your life. Need to be happy, need to be clear. Need to be… thriving. Need to be in prosperity. True prosperity. This is your need. If you didn't have this need,

you would self-destruct. You would self-destruct.

Without that clarity, without that wisdom, without that understanding you no longer play the role of a human being on the face of this earth. This is what it means to be here. You see… You're part of such a magic. Of this incredible drama that is taking place. And that's why your existence on the face of this earth is so profound.

That...Oh! I mean, what can I say? What can I say? This is what's happening.

Prem Rawat:

Let me ask you a question. Have you really been looking for perfection in an imperfect world? Have you? You’re not going to succeed – sorry! You’ve wasted your time. You’re not going to find it. Not outside. The only place you’re going to find it is within you.

Make sure that your objective is very clear to you every single day! And your objective is what? To be in peace. To have a good time! With the little time that you’ve got left, have a good time!

I mean, just have a great time. This will really upset your enemies–seeing you happy. Oh, that would drive them crazy. Because they work so hard to make sure that
you don’t have a good time – and there you are.

And this is what that one couplet says, “That when you came in to this world, you cried and the world laughed. Do something so the world cries and you laugh.”
Do you have a choice? Do you have a choice?! [Audience: No.] Oh, of course you have a choice; you can absolutely make yourself miserable. Absolutely.

And I hope that you, if you are one of those nitpickers, like, “Ah, yeah, and ah, this chariot is a little too big. And it’s a little too small. It’s not enough, hasn’t any headroom. And it doesn’t have this, and it doesn’t have a horn, and it doesn’t have a radio, and it doesn’t have a CD player, and it doesn’t have a DVD player, and it doesn’t have a hard drive,” that you abandon that attitude.

Just abandon it for good. Open your eyes and see how things really are, because they are just incredible. Just incredible. People’s lives being transformed is not trivial. It’s not trivial by any stretch of the imagination.

So now let me tell you about the good and the bad. The good is like this—like a pyramid. Just a little bit at the top, and a lot the further down you go. The bad is like an upside-down pyramid. You see all the consequences; you see all the problems; you see all, “Oh, this is terrible, oh....” But if you get down to the bottom of it, it’s just one little thing.

And the good is the same way, but upside down. You hardly see it, that it’s good. It’s so little on top; you hardly notice there is anything good. But keep digging; it gets better, and better, and better, and better, and better.

Next time, look carefully—because that’s how you keep missing the good and falling into the trap of the bad—because the bad is huge. It comes with its problems blaring right in your face. And how does it resolve itself? It turns out to be a little thing, tiny little thing.

Tiny little thing. The good? Inversely? All you get to see at first is this tiny little thing, but if you accept—and most of the time you will overlook it, what is the good.

Let me give you an example; this will maybe clarify the two pyramids. You wake up in the morning—you wake up in the morning, right? You come to your kitchen or family breakfast area, and there is your family. And you notice that one of your kids, he’s just angry.

“Dah-deh-deh-deh-deh-deh, dah-deh-deh-deh-deh-deh, this is wrong; that’s wrong; I don’t want to go to school; I’d, I’d, I’d, I’d, I hate school; why do I have to go to school, Dad?” You’ve seen all this. Get to the bottom of it: “I didn’t do my homework.”

The good? You come downstairs and that child says—now in good mood because you let them stay out of school, so they could finish the homework, and then they can—“Good morning, Dad.” There is your opportunity, in that “good morning, Dad.” If you took it: “How are you today?” you have just converted raw strings into metal chains of relationship, of love.

But most of the days, you just, “Yeah, good morning.” You missed it; you have missed it. Somebody says to you, “I love you.” And what are you good at? “I love you too.” You, you just missed it. Just missed it.

And here comes a breath into you, and maybe you took that one minute, sat down somewhere, and you went, “Hmmmh, hmmm....” Just that one breath—you missed it. You missed it, because now you’re thinking about this and you’re thinking about that. But you just could have sat down, as you are, as you did and understand you have the gift of life.

And you keep going; it’ll get more and more and more and more and more and more and more, and you will begin to fill with gratitude. And from then on, it’s like fireworks. “Vvrr-vvrr-vvrr-vvrr, vvrr-vvrr-vvrr....”

The bad, we go for; good—we have not learnt how to detect that little, little, little thing of good. So, your dharma, or dharm, begins to be that duty that you have to the self, to not miss those little things in your life—the opportunity to fill your heart with gratitude, the opportunity to acknowledge what you have been given.

Aren’t you good at knowing when the problem is coming your way? “Aye-aye-aye-aye!” Are you also that good at knowing when the good is coming your way? Because if you were, you would realize, it’s so much good just keeps coming, and coming, and coming, and coming, and coming, and coming. That’s life!—the gift that you have been given.

- Prem Rawat

Prem Rawat:

Let me ask you a question. Have you really been looking for perfection in an imperfect world? Have you? You’re not going to succeed; sorry! You’ve wasted your time. You’re not going to find it. Not outside. The only place you’re going to find it is within you.

Didn’t I tell you that a long time ago? [Audience: Yeah.] So then, why were you looking for perfection in an imperfect world?

What is this? What is this? We stand at the cusp, at the threshold, of such a possibility to truly change people’s lives. And not just change people’s lives who have a comfy living room. But to change people’s life who are in the midst of that hell.

When I go to South Africa – which I really enjoy going to. Because I know I am helping those people who truly are in that burning hell.

There’s one lady in South Africa lives almost homeless. Very bad living conditions. Living in the Soweto ghettoes, and the ghettoes there are horrible. But a heart so pure. And she wants to help others. She wants to take the Peace Education Program to others.

Not complaining about herself. Not complaining about her situation, not complaining about her living conditions. But a heart of gold.

 And this? And you know, ah! I know a lot of people, a lot of you don’t do this but some of you do! Nitpick, nitpick, nitpick, nitpick, nitpick, nitpick, nitpick. Why?! You don’t have to.

You know, one time I read this story; I was in India. And somebody went into the temple and took off Krishna’s clothes on the statue, and put jeans on him. Now, of course, I love this story. From everything that I have seen about Krishna, he was cool. So, obviously, he would have worn jeans if he was now.

And people were so upset – and that was, to me, so entertaining. Do you really go and worship Krishna in your temples? Or do you really go and worship his clothes? If you don’t worship his clothes, then what difference does it make what he’s wearing – or if he’s wearing nothing?

 What do you worship? Why did you come to Knowledge? So you can become nitpick experts? Well, I guess Knowledge has helped you with that too. Because some of you are experts at it.

 And so, yeah. My recommendation? Don’t try to make bread out of the little flour that’s on your clothes. Just brush it off. Move on! Make sure that your objective is very clear to you every single day! And your objective is what? To be in peace.

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.

Many people in their lives, they see things not going their way; they start losing hope, and the next thing you know, calamity. But it takes courage to have hope; it takes courage to have clarity. And when there is that courage....

This is what’s beautiful. If you get angry, you know what you will be rewarded by? Anger. Just think about it, right? You get angry; you’ll be rewarded by anger. What is the reward of anger? Either you will get more angry.... Maybe, maybe you begin by being angry with your friend, and the next thing you know, you’re also angry with yourself—for being angry at your friend.

Anger rewards anger; anger begets anger. Fear rewards fear. You get afraid of being afraid—and that’s when it really sets in. It’s more than the boogeyman in the closet. Now, you’re afraid to be in the room; you’re afraid to be alive. “Oh my God....”

But...but what is the reward of hope? It brings you more hope. What is the reward of joy? It brings you more joy. What is the reward of happiness? It brings you more happiness. What is the reward of knowledge? It brings you more knowledge. What is the reward of being content? It brings you more contentment. What is the reward of knowing? It brings you more knowing.

This is how it is. This is how it’s always been.

– Prem Rawat