Limitless Wisdom

Prem Rawat:

Why should you know who you are? Because between that time that you are born and the time that you go, you’re going to try to be something. You’re going to try really hard to be something. And it’s not what you’re going to achieve that you’re going to really try for—but it is to be happy; it is to be content—you’re going to try really hard to be content.

I see that in tiny little babies; I see that in grown adults—everybody is going to try to be happy. Whatever makes them happy, they’re going to try.... And not only are they going to try, (like we all do), but we’re going to look towards the outside for our happiness. 

But we will try. We will try to be content; we will try to be happy—and here is the irony. Sometimes we will succeed for a fraction of a moment—and then the rest of our lives, we’re going to try to repeat that moment, hoping we would get the same thing out of it again and again and again and again and again....

And some of us will end up filling our lives with disappointment—because we are looking for that contentment through our relationships; we’re looking for that contentment towards the country: “The country will give us that contentment. That, the leaders will give us the contentment; the relationships will give us the contentment.” And when we don’t find that contentment, we end up filling our lives with nothing but disappointment.

And here’s the irony. The irony is that if you only knew yourself, you would realize that you carry in you joy that has no limits. You carry in you the mine of contentment that has no end. You carry in you the lake of serenity that nobody yet has measured the bottom of. You carry in you a tree that gives so much shade—that underneath it, to sit down is the most restful thing a human being can do.

You carry in you a sun that has the warmth unparalleled—that on those cold days, to go within and bask in that sun and feel its warmth—and feel revived. You have in you the ocean of clarity. One dip and the dirt of confusion is washed away. This is who you are. This is who you are—and this is the possibility. That’s why I am here to tell you this.

Two things—I want to tell you this news. And here’s my point of it. What I want to tell you—I don’t want to tell you anything new; what I want to tell you is what you already know. And secondly, I want to tell it to you in a way so that it comes as news to you. That’s my challenge—that what I want to tell you, you already know—because you also have in you, unlimited wisdom.

So, in your life, in your existence, you have to feel the pain; you have to feel the joy. Something inside of you wants to feel happy, wants to feel content, rejects the idea of pain, rejects the idea of sorrow.

So then, who better to look towards, for the source of that joy, than you? The source that you carry everywhere you go? It doesn’t matter where you go in this world, the source you carry in you wherever you go?

That’s what this book is, trying to point to you—and give you some understanding of you, putting the emphasis on you! Because nobody else does. Everybody is; the emphasis is, “You must do this; you must do this. You must accomplish this; you must accomplish this; you must accomplish this.”

And I’m saying “First, let’s put the emphasis on you.” You are the foundation of this building called “you.” You are the foundation of this building called “you”—and when you are weak, so is this building. And when you are strong, so is this building.

Question: “Why does this building need to be strong?” Why does this building need to be strong—because earthquakes will come. Earthquakes will come; fire will come.

This morning I see the rain, rain, rain. Very nice—Madrid needs rain; all this area needs rain—and it’s been tinder-dry. And I’m looking at the rain, thinking about the rain, and I realize—and I still have more thinking to do about this—but water destroys everything man-made. Just, powkh, destroys it.

If the building gets wet on the inside? Forget it. Your electronics? Forget it. Water is a powerful destroyer. And it is also one of the most powerful creators—holds in it those two possibilities; it can destroy; it can create.

You, too have an immense possibility, the possibility of feeling life, of embracing life—of understanding the value of each breath that you take, the value of each day that you are alive, the value of each moment that you have.

And the day you begin to exercise, to practice the wisdom that you have within you, that’s the day you will be wise. And that’s the day you will understand the value of life, the value of being alive.

You do not judge yourself by what you have. You haven’t been taught that. You have not been taught to judge by what you have—you have been definitely taught to judge by what you don’t have. Everywhere. “I don’t have that. And I don’t have that. I don’t have that. I don’t have that. I don’t have that.”

I mean, can you imagine a storefront which has all the familiar things? No, they’re all things that nobody else has. “Oh. No, I don’t have that. Oh, I, yeah, I don’t have that—and I don’t have that, and I don’t have that, and I don’t have that, and I don’t have that.” And now here I come and I say to you, “Peace,” and you go, “Uh-uh, yeah, I don’t have that.”

But you do. You do! You have peace—inside of you! But you don’t know how to access it. You have wisdom inside of you, but you don’t know how to access it. You have love inside of you, but you don’t know how to access it. You have understanding inside of you, but you don’t know how to access it. You have kindness inside of you, but you don’t know how to access it. 

You have forgotten that so much is so amazing—for you. That you come here on this earth, not alone, but with peace—that you come with hope, that you come with joy, that you come with understanding, that you come with wisdom. But these are the things that we don’t talk of, we don’t discuss....

What do we discuss? We discuss our problems. You know what’s wrong with discussing our problems, after a certain point? It doesn’t help. It doesn’t help.

If there is somebody and they’re sitting next to me on an airplane and their nose is broken—and I say to them, “Your nose is broken”—and they go, “I know. I know.” And then, fifteen minutes later, I say to them, “Hey, your nose is broken.” And they go, “Yeah, I know. I know.” And then fifteen minutes later, I go, “Hey, your nose is broken.”

After, I think, about ten times, this person is going to be looking for a new seat—because they will be convinced I’m crazy. Right? Don’t you think that would—you would find that obnoxious? And you would definitely entertain the fact that “This person may be cuckoo? Nuts? Keeps repeating, ‘Yeah, you, you know, your nose is broken. Your nose is broken.’”

If you went—if you’re in the airplane, and you, “kkch,” push the call button; the flight attendant comes and you say, “We’re flying.” And she goes, “I know. I know; we’re flying.” Few minutes later, “Ah-brring, brrung,” “We’re flying!”

But that’s what we do! Our expertise is to come up with a better way to express the problem—and still keep repeating it. What about the solution? And the solution, beautifully, lies inside of you.

That’s what, to me, this book fundamentally goes for. It does it in a very different way, using the stories, using the different analogies—but that’s its message: “That you have in you, what you are looking for.” And if you can understand that, your life will change.