विषय
So in this existence, there's going to be—in your life, there's going to be many battles. But there is only going to be one war.
I don't know why, but as human beings, we are obsessed with winning the battles, and we are so obsessed with winning the battles that we forget everything about the war.
What is the objective? What is the final war? The final war, my friends, is to be content. That's the war. The battles you fight are your formulas of how you can be content. "I have to have this in my life; I want this in my life; it has to be this way in my life; this person should be this way; this person should be this way; this person should be this way; I want that to be there; I want that to be there; I want this to be this way; I want this person to talk to me like this." I mean all of these are battles. They are. And you are obsessed with them because you want to win the battle, win the battle, win the battle. And I'm here to tell you: don't care about the battles. If you win a few, good. If you lose a few, fine. Don't even think twice.
How many of you have witnessed, somebody said something wrong to somebody and that somebody got very upset? And that could be mother-father, husband-wife, daughter-mother, son-mother, son-father. Right? And they are not talking to each other, and they are mad at each other, and they're upset with each other and you are obsessed to make it right.
And when you obsess with the battles, you lose track of winning the war. Every day of your life you have to understand that you must win the war. Nothing in this world ultimately should be able to take away your serenity. Nobody should be able to take away your clarity. Nobody should be able to take away your peace. Nobody should be able to take away your understanding. Nobody should be able to take away your joy.
Regardless of what happens, then you are the victor and you have won the war. And to have won a few battles does not make you a victor. The war still goes on. You are the warrior. Do you know that? Do you know you are a warrior? And do you know, you have to fight? You have to. Because you have to claim what is rightfully yours. Do you know what is rightfully yours?
Peace is rightfully yours. Rightfully. Tranquility is rightfully yours; truth is rightfully yours; light is rightfully yours. Rightfully. Rightfully! Belongs to you! Rightfully. You are the heir, but you must fight.
Prem Rawat
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
There is a dragon. What form does the dragon come in? Oh, any form you like. Any form you like. The doctor tells you, “You’ve got two weeks to live; you have incurable cancer.” “Grrrr!” Here it is! Comes out of its den breathing fire, breathing confusion, looking at you, showing the teeth. "I get to eat today.”
Somebody you love—really been close to all your life, and they pass away. Powh! Here it comes. Boss says you’re fired. Kkkch! Here it comes. The dragon approaches, breathing fire. This is the weapon of the dragon—confusion.
So, there you are. And you are going to be the most afraid when that dragon is in front of you. It’s powerful. It’s breathing fire! Confusion is just pouring out. Its teeth! Enough to put fear in anybody. Its size. And all this is making you feel totally inadequate.
And in that moment you want to win, but you know you can’t! And it is precisely in this moment when you need to draw your sword and engage the dragon. Sounds like fun, huh?
And if that dragon smells fear in you, it will breathe even harder and show his teeth even more. And its claws.
So, do you practice with your sword? Is your sword familiar to you? Are you at ease with your sword? Do you have enough confidence in yourself to be able to take on this dragon? Because that’s what you’re going to need. That’s what you’re going to need.
Because that dragon is so huge, there is not enough muscle-power in you to ever be able to defeat it. So, the only way to win is to show the dragon your strength so it just backs down. Because if you think your sword is bigger than its one nail in the claw, that’s only because the dragon is not close enough yet.
But if you can show that strength, show that you are completely willing to fail, without ever accepting failure, this, to that dragon, is the most intimidating thing. Any dragon. When it has understood you’re not going to back down….
There is a dragon, but you don’t have to be afraid of it. Because if you call upon your wisdom, upon your experience of you, that’s one thing that that dragon cannot fight—it knows that. It will get defeated. It will get defeated. It knows—it has never been able to fight that. Ever!
– Prem Rawat
I really hope, like that first flight of 21 seconds and 120 feet that changed the world, that what gets launched out of this platform is truly revolutionary, and it makes a difference for the people of this world.
And more than anything else, all I want you to do is think about something that I may have inspired in you. Give it a thought, because how many people do you think looked at those Wright brothers and said, "this isn't going to work"? But these two guys only knew how you work with bicycles. They were bicycle repairmen. They were tinkerers. They had an imagination and they did not understand the word "no." Regardless of how many people told them, "No, no, no." They didn't acknowledge the word "no." That's called persistence.
They made this little machine that was incredibly flimsy. And I'm sure there were people, when this thing finally took off, who closed their eyes and said, "Oh God! They're going to kill themselves." This had never been done. This was a unique moment, but it happened. And the world has never been the same.
Please don't underestimate the power of being here today. Let's spark a revolution for peace. Let's spark a revolution for kindness. Let's spark a revolution that makes a difference in this world. Not only in Malaysia. Why not every country? Why not … why not you, who are sitting here, the participants? Be the makers, movers, and shakers of that incredible, incredible possibility.
— Prem Rawat
I’m not the first one to ever say, “What you are looking for is inside of you.” So, if you are looking for peace, that’s inside of you; if you are looking for hope, that is inside of you; if you’re looking for clarity, that is inside of you. If you’re looking for joy, that is inside of you.
And the question is, “Why is it easier said than done?” Because we don’t know ourselves. We don’t know what our strengths are. We don’t know what our strengths are. You are stronger than you realize. Even in the face of calamity, you are stronger than you realize. But because you don’t know yourself, you’re ready to surrender to the calamity—and you do!
You are worried about all those things you don’t know. And in the list of all the things you don’t know, you also don’t know yourself.
We look for strength, but not in us—in other people. People come to me, and people ask this question, “So, when you have a problem, what do you do?” They think I’m strong.
I’m only strong when I’m connected to the strength inside of me. Otherwise I am weak too. I’m a human being, and I have to remember, there is an incredible strength inside of me. When I don’t tap into that strength, nothing is strong. When I do, I am strong too. Same thing for you.
It’s simple! It’s not complicated. We can make it complicated, but it’s not complicated. It’s very, very simple.
- Prem Rawat
When you get angry.... Mmm, do you ever get angry? Only three or four people in Benin get angry? Wow! I’m moving here. I mean, come on! How many of you get angry? I’m raising my hand.
And when you get angry, where does it come from? Where does it come from? In you? Wow. So, that means.... Oh, do you get angry after you leave home, ever? Mmm? After you leave home, you can get angry? Yes or no? Yes? So that means you don’t leave an-ger at home.
That means, wherever you go, the anger goes with you. Wow! So next time you go in the bathroom and close the door and think it’s private, just remember, anger just came with you. Frustration came with you. Confusion came with you. Joy came with you. Clarity came with you. Understanding came with you. Kindness also came with you.
All these go wherever you go. Do you know that? Wherever you go! This is all... This is you. See, it’s not just you. You look at yourself in the mirror and you go, “That’s me.” No, no, no, no, there’s a lot more going on. There are other ones. There’s another one of you. It’s an anger. You don’t see it in the mirror, but it’s there.
And there is one that has joy, clarity, understanding, and beauty, and kindness, and all these things. And the opposites of all of them go wherever you go. Now, the question is, what do you practice the most? Do you know what that means?
What do you practice? Every day, what do you practice? How long does it take you to get angry? Oh, so you must...you’re good at it.
You’re good at getting angry. So, if you’re good at getting angry, what does that mean? You practice anger? Oh, how long does it take for you to get afraid? How long does it take for you to get afraid? Not very long. Oh, so you practice fear?
That’s why you’re good at it. How long does it take you to lie? Did I ask a personal ques-tion? How does it take you to lie? Not very much, does it? It can just flow right away.
At home, you don’t even say “bonjour” to anybody—your wife, your friends, your chil-dren. You go outside? And it’s “Bonjour.” That’s what you practice, telling lies? You have become good at it.
So I say to you, if you start practicing courage, you will get good at it. If you start practicing kindness, you will get good at it. If you start practicing understanding, you will get good at it. If you start practicing clarity, you will get good at it. And if this is what you want in your life, that’s all you have to do. Practice what you want.
If you practice knowing yourself, you will become good at it. If you practice peace in your life, you will become good at it. That’s the magic formula. That’s how you do it.
– Prem Rawat