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Ultimately, the person who lives every day and admires every moment, cannot possibly have fear of death. Because he knows this very simple thing – this came to me one day, how simple it was. Because people call me. Somebody close to them dies; they are dying; they call.

I was in Honolulu; I didn’t want to do an event – because I wanted to save it. Should have done it, well, not saved it but – ended up talking to a lady who was diagnosed with a very severe disease. She wanted to meet me; I met her and I talked to her.

I said, “It’s simple as this. If I’m not here, I’m somewhere else.” Right? Right? [Audience: Yes.] Do you understand that: “If I’m not here, I’m somewhere else”? So, before I came out here, I was not here; I was backstage. Before that, I was at my house. So, if I’m not here, I’m somewhere else!

Okay, don’t overthink; it’s really simple. If I’m not here, I’m somewhere else, right? [Audience: Yes.] There is your answer: “If you’re not here, you’re somewhere else” – if you can understand that. It’s profound. But it’s so incredibly simple. Because I have understood the “I” in the “am.” I have understood the “I” in the “I am.”

And when you understand the “I” in the “I am,” then you understand, “If I’m not here, I’m somewhere else.” A lot of you are dumbstruck, going, “Why’-wha’-wha’, wha’-wha’-why’-wha’?”

I just solved the quandary for you of “What happens to me when I die?” I just did. Because when I am not here, I am somewhere else. Because that “I” in the “I am” is indestructible. And that is what it means to know the self: you understand the “I.”

You were trying to understand the whole package: “I am.” “I am” will not be around. When you die, you will not be “I am.” The “am,” (a-m) will stay. The “I,” if it’s not here, will be somewhere else.

You have a propensity to want things your way. You want everything to be your way. Right? You want to always win an argument, don’t you?

Do you ever argue to lose an argument? You want to win that argument. You want to be always right!  You know you are not going to win the ultimate argument.

The day Death comes to get you, there will be no argument. And guess who’s going to win every single time? Every single time for every single human being that ever has been on the face of this Earth, it was Death that won. They’re gone. You won’t be able to have it “your way.” No way will you be able to have it your way; it’s not a happening thing, so wake up! 

Because you’re not going to win the argument, “A few hours more, please, few minutes more, or this, that, that.” This is why it is heaven. You can experience. You can be. It’s going to happen. Don’t be sad. You weren’t sad when you were born. Were you? Maybe you were. Maybe that’s why you were crying. It’s not about sadness. Whatever you were, you were no more when you were born. And like I said a while ago; I said, “If you’re not here, you’re somewhere else!” But did you learn to trust? Did you learn to accept? That’s the big question. If you trusted, if you accepted every day, you will accept. 

You’re not ready for it; nobody wants to talk about it. It’s going to happen. How do you prepare?

By accepting today. Everybody wants to know, “When will it happen?” Nobody can pinpoint unless you’ve got a death sentence. Even then, they can’t pinpoint. Because sometimes they do it and nothing happens.

Learn to accept. It’s okay! If it wasn’t okay, then don’t learn to accept. But it’s okay to accept.

Prem Rawat:

In this life, people start off, “I’m going to do this, and I’m going to do this, and I’m going to accomplish this, and I’m going to accomplish that,” and all the million things that they want to accomplish. And then it comes down to that one day where if you took another breath, you have accomplished a lot.

I have seen it with my own eyes. I have seen it with my own eyes. It was a long time ago—he was a friend of mine, I guess. Yeah, well, also a very rich man. So, I finally get the message, “He’s on the deathbed; he’s dying. Would you please come say goodbye to him?” I happened to be going from Miami to LA. I said, “Sure, I’ll stop by.”

I stopped, went to the hospital where he was. He was not a tall person. But lying on that bed, he was hooked up to a heart-lung machine. And he was about this big; that’s all. He was curled up. He was already gone. He was hooked up to the heart-lung machine; the heart-lung machine was doing everything for him.

After I left, they asked his then-girlfriend/wife, “Should we pull the plug?” She said yes. They did; he was gone.

He didn’t open his eyes; he didn’t say hello to me. And there was no one cent that could have done anything for him. Success is, (maybe you believe me; maybe you don’t believe me)—but I say to you honestly, “Success is when you are lit.” That’s your success.

You have imagined heaven? I’m sure you have imagined heaven because you have been told so much about it. But I’ll tell you what heaven is. Heaven is when you are lit. That is heaven. That is true heaven. That’s true understanding.

Somebody just told me a person I had just seen not too long ago, passed away. And he knew he was going to go. But that wasn’t the issue. That was not the issue! The issue was that he was going to be in that joy as long as he could, regardless of his situation. I was not shocked. Because I was looking at a lamp that was lit. That’s what happens.

It’s not about all the mundane things. It’s about this life, this life, this lifetime. And when you can see that, when you can understand that, then you understand all there is to understand. Maybe you don’t know the chemical composition of the moon. But you see the kin-ness of all that is dirt. Then you see and feel, truly, the glimpse of the divine.

That’s why you want to be lit. You want to see all that that the darkness hides. And when you are lit, no longer can the darkness hide that. And you can see how beautiful, how incredible this is, this journey, your existence, your opportunity. Make effort to be lit. To understand.

Individual: [reading question]

“I have done something in my life that I cannot forgive myself for. I killed two of my children and nearly killed myself because of the abuse I was suffering. I want to feel the peace that you are talking about, but I think I have lost the capability to feel it. Is there any chance for me?”

Prem Rawat:

Well, do you think there is any chance for this person?

Audience:

Yes!

Prem Rawat:

There is the answer. Sometimes you may have walked too far away from your home. And when she did what she did, she walked a little bit too far away from her home. But her home is still there. And it may be a long journey, and it may take a little while, but the home is still there.

– Prem Rawat

MC: [June Sarpong]

So, the next question is quite a poignant one—and again, this is from an audience member. And then she says, “My mum just died. Someone I loved so deeply is no longer here. I feel the pain of parting. Can you help me come to terms with this?”

Prem Rawat:

Yes, I think I can help. When she was alive.... And first of all, you know, my heartfelt condolences, because it is very difficult to lose somebody that you love. And there is a process of sorrow—and of course, you should go through it—because that’s when, in this sorrow, you reconcile your existence.

But understand something—that when she was alive—and sometimes she would get up and go somewhere else! Right? And when she would do that, you knew she wasn’t here, but she was somewhere else! Right?

Well, not that much has changed. One, she will always live in you—always! In your memories, she will be. She will laugh; she will dance; she’ll call you affectionately. This you can embrace. This you can embrace.

And make peace with yourself; make peace, because this is the law of nature. And nobody can change it. Knowing yourself—knowing yourself is also understanding her—because she lives in you.

And it is not the final story by any stretch of the imagination. We are a part—she was once a part—you weren’t born then—but she was a part of this earth. She had no shape of her own; she had the shape of the earth.

And you, do you know, right, that you’re seventy percent water? That’s mostly all of you—I mean, that’s thirty percent left for everything else—that includes guts and bones and nails and hair and eyeballs and—I mean, you’re seventy percent water!

And that’s what she was; she was this earth, indistinguishable—the dust, the water that flows in this, on this earth. And from there, from this, temporarily emerged this being—gave birth to you.... And now she has gone back to being exactly who she was, part of this earth.

When you celebrate your existence, you celebrate her existence. When you celebrate your joy, you celebrate her joy.

Do not underestimate how concerned a tree is for its seed. The strategies that trees have adopted to make sure that that seed exists and goes on; it is unbelievable, unbelievable. The only difference between us and trees—well, you know what the difference, really, the only difference—and this is coming from an expert, not from me, an expert—is we move; they don’t.

And the strategies that they have adopted so that they can live on—and this is you! You see, you, you, you, you—your mother was the tree; made you—and you live. And so far you do....

And when you thrive, she thrives—because she’s inseparable. And when you are happy, she’s happy—because that tree made you. And when you express kindness and when you express appreciation and when you express joy, she expresses joy. Don’t you see how connected you are?

So, now you are in sorrow because you see the separation—right? And the day you start seeing reality, you will see the connection. And when you do, the world will change—for you. Make the connection. Make the connection.

There is a saying in Hindi. One day it started to rain gold—and it was raining gold everywhere. There was a washerman. He said to himself, "My goodness, it’s raining gold outside. And this is my house! And this is my house. And whatever gold is raining by my house is mine! So nobody’s going to come and get it."

"But where I wash my clothes, that’s on the banks of the river—and that’s not really my place, but it’s raining gold. So, I’d better go there and get the gold first." So, by the time he got to the bank of the river, the gold had been picked clean. There was nothing left for him. And he went, "Naah, not, not to worry. Nobody would have taken the gold at my house."

So, he went back. By the time he got to his house, all the gold had been picked clean. So it rained gold, and he didn’t get any, neither at home nor at his workplace. So, the saying in Hindi goes, "Na ghar ka, na ghat ka." And, “ghat” is by the bank of the river; "ghar" is “home.”

Would you like your condition to be like that? "Na ghar ka, na ghat ka." Came here; had the opportunity to enjoy, to have that bliss, to have that beauty in your life. But you said, "Oh, well, let me work hard"—like an idiot, like a donkey, day and night.

At night, what did you think of? Your job. In the morning, what did you think of? Your job. In the evening, what did you think of? Your job. And at night, what did you think of? Your job. And then when you got sick and tired, you started thinking about retirement.

And then you got to retirement. And then you started looking at your whole life that had passed by. And then you start to smell, "sniff-sniff, sniff-sniff, sniff-sniff, what is that peculiar smell? Ah, that’s the crusty old wall." You smell it.

Knowledge offers that opportunity to enjoy that heaven now, while you’re alive, every single day. And you don’t have time for that? You’re in the wrong body, son! You’re in the wrong place! You should have been on Mars. In one of those other planets, some frozen amoeba, seven thousand feet under the surface, waiting for an opportunity.

Because this is very different. Here, the blessing comes, blesses you; leaves, comes again. Leaves, comes again. Leaves, comes again. Leaves, comes again. Leaves, comes again. And each time that it comes, it is new and it is fresh and it is real.

And that’s how elegant it is—elegant! Knowledge is elegant. Not a set of rules—elegant! You accepting it, you understanding it, you opening it, you taking advantage of it, you enjoying it. You.

- Prem Rawat