विषय
A lot of people want to be thankful. They want to have gratitude. But there is a problem. You cannot have gratitude without gratification. You have to have gratification. And you know what one of the meanings of gratification is?
One of the meanings: to be fulfilled. Fulfillment. If you want of feel gratitude in your life, great! How do people express that? Smile. Have a nice day! I wish it was that simple. Somebody says, “Have a nice day” And you go, “Oh! Great now I’m going to have a nice day.”
See, real gratification is what you need. And when there is real gratification, gratitude is automatic.
People ask me what should we be thankful for? It’s a trick question; it cannot be answered. If you don’t have gratification, trying to pretend that you are grateful will never happen. But when you have gratification, when you have that fulfillment in your life, gratitude is automatic. You don’t have to work on it. That just happens.
- Prem Rawat
There was a guy, and his job was to go every day to the mountain. And he would cut a piece of rock; he would take the rock, bring it back home, and he would make little things from that rock. He would make mortar-pestle, small statues—and he would sell them. And this is how he made his living.
So, one day he was very sad. And he was walking along the street—and he was just sad with his situation, because he saw no future, and he did not like his lifestyle. So he heard noise coming from behind the wall; he just heard some noise coming. So he stood on his tiptoes and he looked!
And it was a beautiful house! And they were having a party. And there were servants! And there were guests! And there was music! And people were dancing! And he went, “Wow! The person who lives in this house, he must be really powerful. I, I want to be like him!”
So he looked up, and he prayed. “God, I want to be like him.” It just so happened that that day, God was listening. And God said, “Okay!” And he snapped his finger—and the man had become rich!
And he said, “Now, this is more like it! I like this. I am powerful! I have servants! I have a house! I have rich friends! Ah, this is really good!” And he was enjoying it.
One day, a procession went by, and he just heard all the noise, so he came out of the house and he looked—and it was the king! And he was going.... And all the rich men were lined up bowing to the king! And he said, “Wow! This king is more powerful than me! God, I want to be like the king!”
Also that day, God just happened to be listening. Just like that, he was the king! Big army, lots of servants—everybody paying respects to the king.
One day, he came out to his balcony in the morning and he saw the sun rising. And as the sun rose, all the birds started to wake up. All the animals started to stir! It’s like, “Wow! This sun is more powerful than me!” So he looks up, prays, “I want to be like the sun!”
Just like that, he’s the sun! And one day he’s shining really bright; it’s really hot—and he sees there’s something between him and the earth. And he looked—and it was a cloud. And the wind was blowing and moving the cloud. “Wow! The wind is more powerful than me! I want to be the wind.”
Well, he becomes the wind. He blows! Nothing can stop him—he goes wherever he wants! He’s blowing, blowing, blowing, blowing, blowing! And all of a sudden he’s stopped! “What’s stopping the wind?” He looks—and it is a big mountain. “Ah! I want to be the mountain. More powerful....” He becomes the mountain.
Very happy. Most powerful. Mighty! Strong! And one day he notices that somebody is cutting the mountain! And he goes, “Who can be more powerful than this mountain? Cutting the mountain?” And he looks, and way down there is a stonecutter, just like him, cutting away at the mountain.
In this moment he realized that all along he has been powerful, but he did not know it. Same thing for all of us.
– Prem Rawat
The question becomes: is the focus to have that joy in this life? Is the focus to be content, to be fulfilled? Or is the focus on bewilderment? What do you entertain as a thought every single day? Gratitude? Or “I wonder what’s next?”
You have both possibilities. You have the possibility of being in a place where you entertain that one singular, most beautiful thought of gratitude, of fulfillment. Or you have the possibility of bewilderment.
Bewilderment will not bring you gratification. Never has, never will. Knowing, feeling, experiencing will. Don’t let them go to waste. Don’t. Live your life consciously in gratitude, in knowing, in clarity, in simplicity—and prosper! Of course, prosper! Absolutely, prosper! Bloom. Be fulfilled.
- Prem Rawat
Do I feel so fragile in my world that I feel that without the concepts, my house is weak? Is that why I need them?
Or can I be free? That word, "freedom"—freedom from what? Ask yourself, "Freedom from what?"
Now, you think.... When I talk about the inmates, obviously they see bars all day long. Goodness, the entire time I was in prison visiting them, that’s what I saw too—bars here, and bars there, and bars there and bars there, and bars there and bars there. It all kind of....
The only place where there weren’t bars was the front door—which only brought you to a little reception room, which was a waiting room. To go past that towards the prison, there were bars. And not one—two.
You came through one when they let you. Then you went to the security room, which was in the middle. And only when you had cleared security, that first door closed; second door opened, and you could go through. And then that’ll lead you to a hallway where they handed you your credentials, the one, the pass that you had to wear. This is the same in every prison.
Then you go somewhere else, and they have to open the gate—and they have to open, and a, “Who is it? Who is it?” And, “Who, what?” And, “You have to show your”—“It’s okay; I just was....” “Okay, okay, you can go.”
But one bar after another, after another, after another, after another, after another—well, you don’t live like that, do you? Do you? You don’t have any bars in your life, do you? Nothing that holds you back, right?!
So what’s the difference? You’re locked up too. You don’t think so, but you’re locked up too! And so far you’re locked up, there’s no difference between you and the inmates. The only difference is, they wear orange; you don’t. Unless somebody’s wearing orange here. That’s pretty much the color.
But when all that is gone, and when clarity settles in, heart becomes full, human beings are full of gratitude, then joy dances with you, and you dance with the joy! That elation wells from within—and it’s not conceptual. Not conceptual, not an idea, not a thought, but something very real, that you can begin to rejoice that you’re alive, that you breathe.
- 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
A guitar, a string, and it is out of tune. And in that state, can it be played? Yes. It will follow all laws of physics. But it will sound better when it is in tune.
When was the last time, my friends, you tuned your guitar? If your song doesn’t sound so well, don’t blame the song. Maybe it is your guitar that is out of tune. And without giving it a thought, you are playing, and you’re playing, and you’re playing—but no matter what you do, it doesn’t sound good.
I am here to encourage you to tune your guitar. It’s not that difficult. It’s not that difficult. All you have to know is what it should sound like when it is in tune. And turn the key and strum, strum, strum, strum. When it is in that harmony—harmony, that’s all! That’s the solution to your problems. All of them. All of them.
In you resides your problem, and in you resides the solution. The two are not separated. You are the coin, and you have two sides: that which is the problem and that which is the solution. You cannot have a one-sided coin.
Ignorance is no big thing if you understand that the other side is knowledge. Emptiness is no big thing if you understand—and only if you understand—that the other side is fulfillment. Lies of the world are not a problem if you understand that the other side is the truth. The badness of this world is not a problem if you understand that there is goodness on the other side.
So you may as well play this instrument whilst you’ve got it, because it’s not going to be available again—and I’m talking about this instrument, this time, this life, this existence.
This is a positive message, not a negative message. This is about you, understanding. Not going, “I wonder why that happened to me.” Because it did! It happened to you because it did. It didn’t happen to somebody else. It happened to you because it did.
Now, can you have control over the past? If you had control over the past, it wouldn’t be called “the past,” would it? Past means “passed.” What do you have control over? You have control over what happens today.
Steer it. Make something happen. Make joy happen in your life. Make peace happen in your life. That’s when peace comes, when there is that recognition and understanding within you.
– Prem Rawat