विषय
I’m alive! This is not a joke. This is not about a debate. This is not about questions. I am alive! My goodness, time is, it’s happening! The band is playing; the audience is there; everything is happening—better get on with it. Whatever it is that you’re going to “get on with it,” get on with it!
Instead of, “Uh, what should I be doing? I wonder why I am in this world today. I mean, and oh, what, dah-dah-dah-dah, and there, rah, I need to read that book, and oh, I should go to that place, and oh, I should do this, and oh, I should contact this person, and oh, neh-neh-neh, neh!”
Get with it. Get with it. I am going to say something you may not like, but it is the truth. Two most important things happen in your life: one is birth; one is death. One’s already happened—you’re already here. So, guess what the next one is?
And are you ready for it? Absolutely not. No, nobody’s ready for it. But it’s going to happen. Should you prepare for it? Absolutely not. Should you write a date on your calendar? Absolutely not. But if you’re going to do something, do this. Know the rain will come; be ready to bloom.
Don’t be distracted by death. Don’t be distracted by death. Don’t be distracted by your problems. People go, “Oh, I have a problem.” You know what I say to people? “This problem has bothered other people before you. The problem doesn’t change; the victims do. You are now the new victim—that the same problem is bothering you.”
Do you want to be the victim? If you don’t know yourself, you are vulnerable to becoming a victim of all these problems. If you know yourself, you have the strength, and you are no longer vulnerable to the problems of this earth—only if you remember it. If you forget about your strength, you will have a problem.
Problems will come, but I want to be strong when they come. I cannot stop the problems. When it rains, I cannot stop the rain, but I can carry an umbrella. That’s my philosophy: carry an umbrella. And when it starts raining, open it.
And what will it do? Will it stop the rain? No. It’ll stop you from getting wet. That’s all it’ll do. That’s good. That’s what you want. That’s what you need.
- Prem Rawat
Life is the most amazing gift that you have. My friends, this is the most amazing thing that will ever happen to you. Don’t you know? It’s the most amazing thing that will ever happen to you.
You’ve been transformed from just being dirt to dirt that can smile, can see, can appreciate. This did not happen so you could be miserable—that’s pointless. That’s pointless! Pointless! Illogical!
The way I look at it is, there are two walls. One wall I crossed. Where I came from, I don’t know. I.... So, what is wrong—to tell the truth once in a while, right? So, I don’t know where I came from.
But when I was born, I crossed that wall. Before that wall, I don’t know what I was. But when I crossed that wall and I came to this side of that wall, possibilities began for me. And on the other end of it, there is another wall, and through that wall I have to go. And when I do, where I’ll end up, I have no idea.
I know I was dirt, and to this dirt I will go. And when new babies are born, the weight of the earth does not increase, and when people die, the weight of the earth doesn’t decrease. Uh, what does that tell you? We don’t go anywhere.
So, you know, it’s like, “Well, where did he go?” Well, he’s still here. Now he can’t do all the things he could do when he was alive. But his laughing, his crying, his talk, and everything else is playing in your memories, and it’ll be there till you are there.
And it’s amazing; everybody is headed for the same wall. And we have tons of differences, right? The rich, the poor? “Oh, and but, you’re a woman.” “No, you’re a man.” “Oh no, you have this preference. You have that preference. You’re different!”
Well, how different can you be if you’re going to all end up on that wall? And it’s not like one goes to the top of the wall and one goes to the bottom of the wall. No, it’s like the same bloody hole! And whether you like it or not, that’s the hole you’re going through.
So, how different can you be?
- Prem Rawat
So, here you are. You’re alive—and here is the situation—and this is an analogy. One day you receive this lottery ticket. And you have won! And the ticket allows you, entitles you to go to this shopping mall. And there are beautiful shops in this shopping mall; there is a grocery store in this shopping mall; there’s clothing in the shopping mall; there is everything you could possibly imagine in this shopping mall.
And you are excited: “Wow! I get to go there?” And not only do you get to go there; you can have anything you desire. If Bentley is your thing, they have them. If Rolls Royce is your thing, they have them; if Mercedes is your thing, they have them. And you get to have it!
And then you flip the ticket over; there’s a caveat. And the caveat is, "You can have anything you want, but when you leave the shopping center, you cannot take anything with you."
"Wow! Aaagh!" Would you be disappointed? I see some people shaking their head. I mean, my God, beautiful things, incredible things.... And you can have them! All yours! But you, when you leave the shopping center—which you must—there’s a time, you must leave the shopping center, and when you do, you don’t get to take anything with you.
What am I talking about? Ta-dah! Here you are—in this most amazing, incredible shopping center. There are the oceans, the mountains. And you can have anything! And one day you have to leave the shopping center. But when you do, you don’t get to take anything with you.
Now, the issue is strategy. Simply that: What are you going to do? What is your strategy going to be? Are you going to stay home, and get angry at this ticket? “How stupid! How weird! I get to go; I can have everything I want, but I don’t get to take it out with me? I mean, that’s really stupid!” Or are you going to say, "This is the divine joke. Ha-ha-ha"?
What is your strategy? What do you do? And it is precisely the strategy that you must have—you must have a plan. And you must not only have a plan, but you must execute it perfectly. Perfectly!
And in this plan, it is not about lamenting, and it is not about “I wish it was this way; I wish it was that way.” No! It is afoot! Here is your ticket; there’s the shopping center. This is the time you get in, and this is the time you get out. And there are no “ands, ands, buts” about it. That is it.
So, I’m not here to preach to you. I’m not here to tell you I am better than you. I’m not here to tell you, “I have a plan; copy my plan.” I’m not here to sell you a plan. But I am here to share with you fifty-plus years of experience, and that’s it.
Because I have seen plenty of people who go, "This is stupid. This is weird. This is strange. Why me? This is a torture!"
And I’m here to say, "But, look. One, you have no limit for enjoyment." Right? Just simple stuff, right? Simple stuff? You have no limit. Because nobody has temples or churches or any of the holy places where you go to say, "Dear Lord, please remove some of this happiness; I just can’t stand it." It’s always about sadness, "Please remove the sadness." But happiness? That was like, "Bring it on!"
We are here. "Is it afoot? Do I want to be a part of it; don't I want to be a part of it? What is it all about; where do I go; where did I come from?" But that’s not what it’s about, folks. You’ve got a ticket. And the ticket says, that’s the shopping center—and you are in the shopping center now, by the way.
By the way, you’re in the shopping center, and it's an opportunity of a lifetime, and you have no strategy, no plan! And so I say, "Keep it simple; you’re in. This is what’s been given; this is the opportunity you’ve been given. Have a blast."
Why not? Why not? You feel hungry? Go to the supermarket and eat. Feel thirsty? Go to the supermarket. Drink. Feel like sleeping? Go to the bed section. Find a comfortable bed and rest well. Feel like exercising? Go to where all the cardio equipment is; find a treadmill and go at it. Because you get to do it all.
- Prem Rawat
You have something exceptional going on; something amazing is happening. What is it? For approximately 4.5 billion years you were dirt. That’s the age of the earth, 4.5 billion years. So for 4.5 billion years you were dirt.
Now, some scientists figure that it will be about fifteen billion years, twenty billion years the earth is going to be around; after that it’ll disappear. So, for the next fifteen billion years, what are you going to be? Dust! You were dust; you’re going to be dust. What are you now?
You are alive. The dust talks. The dust smiles; the dust dances. The dust cures other dust of ailments. The dust thinks about going to Mars; the dust wants to discover the universe.
You being alive is the exception to the dust—dust you were; dust you will be—being alive, you are an exception! The question is, “Is this exception exceptional?”
Is it exceptional? Or do you have the same excuses as everybody else on the face of this earth, “I don’t have time.” That’s the best excuse that we have been able to come up with: “I don’t have time.”
Listen. Next time you say, “I don’t have time,” you are forecasting your own future. Be very careful. Because that’s exactly what’s going to happen. Once you become dust again, time doesn’t matter.
Time only matters when you are alive. As dust, it doesn’t matter. It does what it does; it blows around. It is the ultimate state. Of all things that came from it, they all go back to it. All the stones were made from it—and they go back to being dust.
Don’t forecast your future that way. Think! Be awakened. Be awakened. Do you have the desire to look at yourself? Do you have the desire for peace? Or is peace just a word to you?
For most people in this world, “peace” just means another word. And the foregone conclusion is—what I come up against all the time—“Impossible!” The diagnosis that the doctors of this world—not the medical doctors—the doctors of this world have made for peace—“It’s dead.” And the only place where it comes into play is on a headstone at a graveyard: “Rest in peace.”
If that’s the only time we’re going to find peace, we’re in big trouble. We are in big trouble. Peace has to be in our hearts, dancing in our hearts, now. Today! Not when we’re dead.
To feel. To feel! And not just the word. But when somebody says to you, “peace,” you go, “I understand what you mean by ‘peace’—because I too understand my thirst for peace, and that I want peace in my life. Not just a hood ornament, but something real. I want that feeling of being fulfilled every single day.”
– Prem Rawat
There are certain things which we don’t accept—and they don’t change, whether we accept or we don’t accept.
If we don’t accept, it isn’t like, “Well, no, I have four kidneys; only two bad. I have two more.” Fine. You can believe that all day long. But you only have two. And maybe they’re both bad.
We don’t understand—this is a formula. “We weren’t. We are. We won’t be.” This is it! This has been playing out on the face of this earth ever since it all began.
In fact, the scientists say that this earth is not going to be around; the moon is not going to be around; the sun is already devouring itself—it’s getting bigger and bigger and bigger, and hotter, and bigger. And pretty soon it’ll get so hot that life on earth will not be able to sustain itself. This is our future.
“Should we get happy? I mean, what’s the point!? Well, why should people get married? I mean, it’s not going to last....”
Ah, but that’s not what it’s about. It’s about understanding that joy can be experienced not only every day, but every moment of that day. But your moment of making it exceptional is to accept every moment that you have, and to be in peace with yourself—not in peace with your wishes, but in peace with yourself.
– Prem Rawat
This is it—this is my day! How many of you know about tomorrow and believe in tomorrow? Not one? Gee, how are you going to make your flight back home? No, no, we’re all believers in tomorrow. But look at it. You can wait for tomorrow all day long. And just when you will be the closest to tomorrow, at 23:59:59...
That’ll be as close as you can get to tomorrow, 23:59:59, twenty-three, (or, eleven ... fifty-nine ... fifty-nine.) You know what it’ll become? Today. So you’re actually stuck in one long “today.”
And the most disgusting thing is, you have a strategy for tomorrow, but you have no strategy for today. So you’re reading the wrong map. You’re in Australia. You’re…you’re in Australia near Peak’s Crossing, looking at a map to go to the Brisbane International Airport ... and the map you have is of Los Angeles.
And you cannot find Brisbane International Airport. YBBN doesn’t show up on your map! And so now you question, “Is there actually a country called Australia? Is there really an airport called Brisbane? If it is, why don’t I see it?” This is what people ask me. “If there is peace, then how come I don’t already know? If it is in me, how come I don’t really already know?”
But that’s how it is. What you’re looking for is inside of you. But in your map, that’s not the map you’re looking for. So you find it’s not inside of you. So now, the whole thing of “believe” and disbelief begins. “Is there a God? Is there a heaven? Is there a hell?”
Yes, there is a heaven, but it’s here. It’s here, in your being. And yes, there is a hell! If you’re not in heaven, then guess where you are. There are no neutral territories.
So, what’s your strategy? How are you going to tackle this? You know, I… to me, it’s not a question that - “Should you be happy? Should you be sad? Should you be this, should you be that?” No. You should achieve your fullest potential. Fullest potential. And in that potential, you will realize that that requires for you to have peace. Without peace, a human being cannot achieve their potential.
And there is a desire, just like there was that desire, that thirst, the want to…to get up and to walk. It’s the same thirst to be fulfilled. But you cannot be fulfilled if you don’t have peace. Prosperity requires that you have peace.
- Prem Rawat