विषय
There would be quite a case to be made if there was no clarity! There would be quite a case to be made if there was no joy. There would be quite a case to be made if there was no understanding. There would be quite a case to be made if there was no compassion. Because this world then would be very empty, very empty.
But there is compassion—and it’s in you. How much? Limitless. As much as you need. All you have to do is use it. How much love is in you? How much love do you think there is in you? Oh, my God! That you could never measure it. All you have to do is use it! And when you use it? Multiplies. It’ll never ever go down.
Unfortunately this is true for anger, too! How much anger is in you? Oh, my God, no limit! And more you use it? Tank will be full all the time. It’s not like if you got angry, angry, angry, angry, you would use up your anger. You won’t! You can never use it up.
You can never use up kindness. More kind you are more kindness there will be. This is—this is who you are! This is what it is like to be a human. And that heaven, and that hell? Well, when you are in heaven, you’re not in hell! And when you are in hell, you’re not in heaven.
And of course, you know, I ask all the religions—I say, “Okay, whatever you teach people, where heaven is, where hell is, fine. But just do one thing. Just do one thing. It won’t change anything in your religion—just do one thing. Declare ... that ‘If you want to go to heaven ... then first you have to make heaven here.’ That’s all. [applause] That’s all.”
Your life evolves every second. And if you’re not evolving with it, there’s going to be disharmony; there’s going to be discord; there’s going to be a separation. That’s how it is. Whether you are young, whether you are old—you’re changing! And of course, you’re allergic to changing. You don’t want to change! Why don’t you want to change? Because you think you’re perfect. I know some of you laughed.
And the trouble is, deep down inside, you think you are perfect—way, way, way, way, way deep inside. You make no mistakes, really. Now, in your perfectness, you are also humble enough—because you’re perfect, see—so you’re humble enough to accept that you are sometimes wrong, but not really.
So, telling the perfect one, “You’re changing,” is a bit of a strange news. It’s like, “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, I’ve…”—you’ve heard that, right, “You’re always changing”? You’ve heard that. Do you believe it? No!
Why? Because you’re going to go home, and you’re going to do exactly what you do every single evening. Tomorrow you’re going to get up; it’s going to be a duplicate of one of the days in your life—and then one day, it won’t be duplicated.
When you will understand—not learn like a parrot—but understand the value of being alive, value of being… Do you know the value of being alive? How many of you do? Come on, raise your hand. Really? Really!? How many don’t? Okay, there are a few who don’t; there is hope for them. Very little hope for Mr. Perfect.
This is the infinite blessing. There is more joy in being alive than you can ever fathom. There is more happiness in being alive than you can ever realize. There is more clarity in being alive than you will ever, ever be able to gauge. And there is more peace in being alive than you can ever imagine.
– Prem Rawat
Forgiveness doesn’t mean accepting mediocrity, accepting the other person’s mistake. That’s not forgiveness. You know what forgiveness is?
The day you decide to move on. That’s forgiveness. You’re not going to be victimized by this person’s actions, but you want to move on—no more struggle, no more fighting.
When two things oppose each other, that’s a struggle. “Struggle”—because that person still has their hooks in you. And you’re trying to break free, and you’re not able to.
Forgiveness is the day you say, “No. I’m not going to have the struggle. I want to move on.” This is your strength. This is your real strength. And that’s the day you have forgiven. That’s the day you have forgiven.
– Prem Rawat
A king was going to attack his neighbor. So, all night long, you know, he’s thinking to himself, you know, “I’m going to go; I’m going to attack. I don’t know if I will survive. I might die. If I die, will I go to heaven? Will I go to hell? Will I go to heaven? Will I go to hell?” Then the question bounced in his head, “What is heaven? What is hell? What is heaven? What is hell? What is heaven? What is hell?”
So, the next morning he gets up; he gets ready in his shining armor, and he’s got his horse, and he’s got his army behind, and he’s marching—and up here he’s going, “What is heaven? What is hell? What is heaven? What is hell? What is heaven? What is hell?” And he sees a wise man coming the other way—takes his horse, goes over to the wise man—and he says, “Wise man, tell me, what is heaven? What is hell?”
The wise man said, “I don’t have time. I’m busy. I’m on my way, and I don’t have time to sit here and explain to you, ‘What is heaven, what is hell’” And the king became furious. “How dare you! Don’t you know who I am? I’m the king! How dare you tell me you don’t have time to explain to me a simple question that I have asked you, ‘What is heaven? What is hell?’”
The king is fuming—and the wise man says, “King, right now you’re in hell.” The king stops; starts to ponder: “Oh my God! It really is hell. And I don’t feel good; I’m fuming; I’m angry. I’m in hell. Wow!” He gets off his horse, gets on his knees: “Thank you so much for clarifying this. In a moment you have removed such a doubt from me. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.” And the wise man said, “King, now you are in heaven.”
So, do you like that story? Good. Do you agree with the wise man? How many of you visit hell every day? Good lord! Why? On purpose? On purpose? Or you have no control? Which one is it? Or is it…or is it that you haven’t found anything really to be thankful for?
Challenging, huh? “Whoa! Yeah, yeah, I have a lot of things I’m thankful for!” But the problem is, sometimes they disappoint you! They disappoint you!
Is there something in your life that you’re truly, truly, unquestionably thankful for—day and night, in good times, in bad times, in riches, in poverty, in the days of plenty, and the days of rags, in the days when everything goes your way, and in the days when there’s nothing but frustration? On those days when the inner ocean is calm and in those days when the inner ocean is raging with fury, do you have something to be thankful for?
Unconditionally forever! Forever, till your last breath, without a question, without a doubt—do you? If you don’t, you’d better find it. And if you can’t find it, then understand how close it is to you.
Being alive is a blessing. This breath is a blessing. To have clarity in your life is a blessing.
– Prem Rawat
Peace—either you feel it in your life or you don’t feel it in your life. If you feel it in your life, enjoy it! If you don’t feel it in your life, find out how you can get to that peace. And that’s the only area where there is something to say: “How can you get to it?”
And the first step is, what is peace? What is this elusive thing that we are all trying to pursue? Is it an idea? You know, it’s like somebody who makes statues. Maybe they take a pencil and they draw their idea on a piece of paper, but that’s obviously not a statue—it’s just an idea.
And then they take the chisel and a hammer and a piece of marble that is the size of that statue that they want to be, and what do they do? They create a statue. Okay. But what is the process of creating the statue?
The process of creating the statue is to remove all the unwanted marble, so that what is left is the true expression of the artist, of what he really feels.
Could it be that peace is no different? That it is removing all those things that do not belong there, leaving only that that the intent of the artist has.The questions that begin to form are, “Is what we are doing what we really want to do?” Because, what has gone away from peace? Why do you not think that the peace is a happening thing?
The individual is missing from the equation of peace. Peace is not social. It’s an individual…it is an individual phenomenon. And this is what has to be understood! That, if we want peace, we have to look at our own thirst, explore our own thirst for that peace.
This is what will drive the drive that is needed to find peace in our lives. And we search—because we, as human beings, we do not want these wars. We, as human beings, do not want this confusion. We, as human beings, don’t want all of this stuff. All we want is the simplicity. All we want, truly, truly, truly….
It’s like that beautiful saying, “Give me a tall ship and a compass to steer by.” That compass…
– Prem Rawat
You go anywhere in the world, anywhere in the world—and so they have a pizza place. You can get pizza. So you go there and you read in the menu, “Pizza. Pizza Margherita.” So what does it say? It says “Pizza ... Margherita.”
So you order Pizza Margherita—right? The spelling of the pizza is the same. The spelling of “Margherita” is the same. Even in Italy—“Pizza Margherita.” “Pizza” is spelled the same way. “Margherita” is spelled the same way. You go to India—“pizza” is spelled the same way. “Margherita” is spelled the same way.
You think they will taste the same?
There. That’s the difference. Just—what you read said the same thing. So why don’t they just taste the same?
You go to Italy, pizza tastes completely different than in New York, than in Chicago, than in Los Angles, than in Hawaii, than in Japan, than in Australia. And the spelling is exactly the same: “pizza.” How can this be?
Because that’s the difference between living and theory. Theory can say, “Yeah, it’s the same.” But living says, “No, it’s not the same.”
In your eyes, in your feeling a snowflake is a snowflake. Right? Snowflake is a snowflake. Look closer, and each snowflake is different.
And then have you ever seen a whole field just full of white snow—maybe two feet deep, just snow, snow, snow, snow—have you? Imagine how many snowflakes there are in that field. And now imagine, each one is different. Reality. Theory? “The field was covered with snow.”
Do you feel cold? There you are sitting in a beautiful 70-degree room; the fireplace is lit; you’re sitting next to it. You’re reading the book, and the book says, “And the field was covered with snow.” You don’t feel cold.
But! In reality, you will feel what is there. In reality, even if you do not acknowledge it, each one of those snowflakes is different than the other. And all the snow in the world, it is not repeated in those flakes.
Is that something to wonder, “Wow....” This is where I live. This is where I am; this is where I’m alive.
So, you know—really—in your, in one’s life, I really think you have to pick how do you want to live, how do you want to be? Because, if you want to be in reality, it’s one thing. If you don’t want to be in reality, it’s another thing.
And then to always know the difference—always know the difference. I can read the menu, but I can’t eat it—that if I am hungry, I have to eat food, not the menu. That’s sanity. That’s sanity.
– Prem Rawat