Changing Times. Timeless Truths.

 Changing Times. Timeless Truths.

Celebrating 60 years of Prem Rawat's enduring invitation to discover the peace that already exists within.

 

 

Echoes: Prem Rawat on the Importance of Being in Peace

 

Testimonial: the experience of Knowledge techniques shown by Prem Rawat

I feel that practising the techniques of Knowledge shown to me by Prem Rawat over 50 years ago has led me a feeling of contentment in my life and enabled me to feel a blessed peace within, and escape from the everyday noise that otherwise fills my mind.

 Prem Rawat offers a wealth of video resources to inform and inspire. 

 

Prem Rawat Teaches Self-Knowledge:
Techniques to Experience Personal Peace

Prem Rawat teaches a simple method to help turn your senses from the outside world to an inner experience of peace, an experience unique to each person. He offers guidance and practical tools he calls the “techniques of Self-Knowledge”, or just “Knowledge.” Practicing these empowering techniques daily helps you to better understand your true self, revealing an ever-evolving experience of heartfulness and contentment.

Throughout this self-paced video course, Prem Rawat facilitates a journey of self-discovery. Rather than describing or defining personal peace, the course materials engage you to reach your own understanding.

The self-paced course aims to help you get in touch with your inner strength whether you opt to learn the techniques of Knowledge afterwards or not — the decision is all yours.

My Piece of Peace 

 

The Living Legacy - Make the most of being alive. Enjoy the self.

https://youtu.be/5nopdlaa8tU?si=JYpDoMgOIAOAJMlb

My Piece of Peace - my story towards the gift

 

Available through Amazon and on Kindle throughout most of the world or order through on street or on line booksshops - visit the page and see the comments in the featured post - please share the page = all commissions go to good causes such as feeding hungry people

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100083367275975 

http://www.buffry.org.uk/abefreepublishing.html 

Simply talking about peace does not bring lasting peace

Simply talking about peace does not bring lasting peace, talking about love does not bring true love, talking about joy does not bring fulfilling joy .... , just like when you put an unlit candle close to a lit candle. Iit will not light unless they make contact and then and only then can the lit candle light the unlit candle, so that the unlit becomes lit and can go forth to light others.

Neither will the unlit unlight the lit!.

One lit candle can light many.

WE need to find a way to make contact with the peace that is within, then we will become lit up by that peace and can help inspire others to do the same. Prem Rawat is a lit candidate offering to light up those that make contact within themselves. That is my experience and that is my Truth.

My Prem and The Key

WE tend to chase after so many ideas that our minds and the minds of others through up under the belief that it will help up satisfy our souls.

Whether it be seeking riches, fame or glory or getting a new car, new job, new house or new partner, there we go putting so much effort into achieving what we have already done before, over and over again.

The mind is like a genie that can achieve so much yet disappoint us so much; sometimes it just won't stop, telling us this or that plan, worrying about the future or regretting the past. It can be like a genie that we can no longer control; it must keep busy for that the nature; even when we sleep! It can distract us from what we try to focus on.

And what ought we focus on?

Surely not things that we really know will not bring lasting peace and joy and a sense of real fulfilment?

Of course we need to know first is there anything that will bring us those things and that will last?

Some say follow your heart, not your head. That's not the heart that beats no more than it is the head that sits on your neck. It means the heart that feels and not the head that thinks. Of course that does not mean to stop thinking or to stop using our brains (the genie), but it means stop letting our minds control everything we do and everything we strive for.

So where is that heart, what is that heart! Our minds will of course try to tell us. It may try to think up feelings of peace or joy. It may try to build us up or tare us down, and we will go up and down with it. One day we feel good about life, one day we feel bad. One day we feel everything will be OK, next day we feel we are all doomed.

Such is life, some may say.

It's like the surface of the earth, up the mountains and down the valleys, and we go with it on our journey. Remember of course that most of our planet is sea, and that does not go up and down in quite the same way. We can, nowadays, use a helicopter or submarine, which would make our journey maybe more level. We need to fly above or float below the surface.

How lucky the human that has learned to be. How lucky the human that has found the heart, for in that place is the peace and joy we seek.

We do not need to stop living in this world or live in isolation in a cave to do that.

We just need to be shown what we once had, that knowledge of self My teacher Prem Rawat was the one that showed me.

https://www.youtube.com/premrawatofficial

https://www.wopg.org/the-keys/

Introduction to the Keys

Finding Peace in a Noisy World

Have you ever wanted to find a quiet place where you can simply relax and feel peace away from the problems and hassles of the world, yet when you find it you still hear the ramblings of your mind? That noise which often acts as a barrier to the feeling of peace within is the noise that Prem Rawat talks about and writes about in his book £Hear Yourself: How to Find Peace in a Noisy World”.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hear-Yourself-Peace-Noisy-World/dp/006307074X/webbook05

So how can we stop that noise or at least stop listening to it, in an easy way?

That is what Prem refers to as the Techniques of Self-Knowledge.

To receive the gift of those techniques is a simple process of preparation. Prem’s on-line program called PEAK is a series of short videos that a person can watch as their own rate on phone or tablet, available for free at the TimelessToday website

https://www.premrawat.com/peak-know-yourself/

Here is my own story of my life leading up to and after receiving that gift of Knowledge back in 1972.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1838440127/

 

 

NOTE TO SELF: WHAT I NEED

 NOTE TO SELF: WHAT I NEED

First, what don’t I need?

I don’t need people telling me how bad the world is, or that we are doomed with no hope, or telling me about problems that I cannot solve.

I don’t need people, governments or even my own mind telling me what I should do or not do, or should have done or not have done.

I don’t need to do things that I do not “feel” are the right things to do. I don’t need to follow my mind down roads that will lead nowhere, or into trouble, for no good reason.

I don’t need to wallow in misery, despair or fear, mine or somebody else’s.

What I do need is to follow my heart, not just my head.

I need to use my mind and my abilities to achieve something positive, not be led by my thoughts, just like a person driving a horse and trap, he needs to guide the horse where he wants to go, not just let it run wild, unless of course he wants a magical mystery tour and is prepared to face the consequences without moaning about the horse.

I need to try to help people but not those that refuse help. I need to listen but I need to be listened to – we need to learn from each other and acknowledge that there are things we know and things we don’t know, and learn from our mistakes and the mistakes of others.

I need to focus on problems that I can solve, alone or with others, and find satisfaction in those solutions. I cannot feed the world or bring world peace but I can feed a hungry person or try to help them simply to feel better.

I need to focus on what lifts me up and makes me feel good.

I need to appreciate the good things in my life, past and present, not moan and grumble about the bad or what I don’t have or what others do have. 

Vast fortunes, power, fame and glory, the love or hate of others? Well, just look at the people that have those and ask, are they really happy or are they just exercising their face muscles into smiles. And if they are happy with their lives and what they have, why do they want more?

Sometimes I have thought I’d be better of if I did such and such, or lived in another place even a cave, but I need to accept that those are just thoughts.

And for anyone that is happy and feeling peace, however achieved, good on them – I need to feel happy for them.

I need to appreciate that I am fortunate enough / lucky / graced to know that there is nothing in this world that will bring lasting peace, joy, clarity and understanding.

I need to acknowledge that when I do feel peace and joy, I feel it inside of me, not as a thought or a wish but as an experience. I need to appreciate that I have been shown how to look for that place where that experience happens, within in side of me. I thank Prem Rawat for that.

 

The Scarecrow Dies

by Alun Buffry

A storm outside,
Where fear abides,
The thunder claps,
The lightning zaps
The scarecrows in the fields.

Inside is calm,
Peaceful and warm,
It feels of love,
Soft Light above,
The scarecrows finally yield.

Throughout ones life,
We all feel strife,
Darkness and confusion,
Amidst the world’s illusion
With which we daily deal.

But please don’t cry,
One day we’ll die,
Life is for here and now,
The scarecrows will all bow,
As life is but a wheel.

The scarecrows are the sinners.
The lovers are the winners.
As hatred outside dies,
And peace inside will fly,
And gratitude we’ll feel.

Norwich, 2021.  https://www.buffry.org.uk/poetry.htm 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1838440127

Peace, Love, Prem Rawat

Within these pages lies the answer to the question of how do we find peace.

When one finds peace, one avoids fear, greed and confusion. When that happens we can help others find peace. Who know what that will achieve in this world.

It's never been so easy!

Peace is Possible. Love is the answer. Find that love that is only ever found inside us.

Love and Peace are partners.

I did not write that because I believe it.

I wrote it because I feel it and know it.

https://hearyourselfbook.com/

A Convenient Truth by Alun Buffry

To those that have yet to find peace and fulfilment in their lives - in essence we are all the same, that peace is within us all.

When we have felt love, peace, joy and fulfilment, we have felt it within ourselves, not outside by whatever seems to have enabled it to be experienced.

When we have not felt it, maybe because external circumstances are not the way we want them to be, it is still within us - sometimes it takes just a sigh to feel it again, sometime we cannot. Maybe we are not then able to look in the right place. Maybe, like most things in life, we need help and guidance.

So who will show us, where should we look and how - and maybe important to some, how much will it cost, how much effort will it take, how much will be have to sacrifice? and will it actually work for me?

It seems maybe too good to believe, that peace is possible; we have our doubts. so much in this world has promised so much but has already let us down.

So when somebody comes along and says, listen, I can show you, we are so reluctant.

Even though we believe so much advertising, so many empty promises and even though if somebody we know and trust says "taste this", "smoke that", go there, listen to that, read that, watch that film, we so readily take their advice.

Religions don't always work - they often cause people to live in fear or under strict rules: much of science too, is a religion, maybe not with so much fear or so many rules, but requiring beliefs and, a shame, that so often those beliefs do not give us the peace and fulfilment we want.

Think abut it, why do we do what we do, go where we go, follow instructions and ambitions - where are we hoping to go, what are we looking for? Peace? Joy? Love? Freedom? Satisfaction? Knowledge? just how far will we go, just how long a journey would we make, just how much would we do, or even pay, for those things, those feelings and experiences.

So if somebody says, listen, I tell you in truth - this is the way to go - and it costs nothing but a little effort and patience - to be shown how to achieve all that, to find what we want, what everybody wants, that is already within just waiting to be experienced again - who will listen?

Who REALLY wants to KNOW?

A message of peace, love, joy, contentment and understanding

 

Seems to me that so many people live their lives in fear - that is why insurance business booms. People are scared to not take a vaccine and others are scared to take it. People that know cannabis will help ease their suffering are scared to try it. People buy make up and deodorants because they are scared they may look ugly or smell natural (try washing!). People are scared of groups of youths on the streets, or foreigners, scared of not conforming. And government and advertising agencies perpetuated that.

Why do we live our lives in fear. Christianity tells us God is within, as does Islam, Hinduism, Jains and Jews; Buddhists tell us the whole universe is within. Why then do people feel weak and vulnerable.We know life ends, inevitably, for all of us

We know that this world will never give us the love and peace and freedom that we all want. Even the most rich and famous and powerful, healthy and strong, never get what they want from this world.

Most of us have felt love and peace and contentment and it is so obvious that we felt it inside ourselves, not outside. Maybe outer circumstances enabled us to experience those inner feelings for a while and doing more and more of the same thing or relying on outer circumstances does not work.

So why does it take us so long to WAKE up and realise that the smell of the coffee, or whatever,maybe outside but after a while it wears off and all along it was the APPRECIATION that was vital.

When will we learn that those inner experiences exist all the time, every second, if we can only tune into them without having to change the outer world. That we can feel love and peace EVEN when there is no love or peace outside. That we can feel joy and contentment even when not everything outside is perfect.

So the only question is really - HOW? Who has that key and how can we get it.

There may be lots of ways, maybe lots of people that can show us how, give us a gift we already have.

I know of only one in my lifetime and what he showed to me is still of such tremendous value to me which is why I want to help others to find it, within themselves. His name is Prem Rawat

https://www.premrawat.com/peak-know-yourself

Peace

 It seems that so many people think that they can find peace by putting the world right but apart from the difficulties in that, what may be "right" for some will not be right for everyone. 

In TRUTH peace lies within us all - that is where we can find it, that is where we FEEL it and that is where we must LOOK for it - then we will have peace in this world, even if not everyone else does too. Peace is an individual experience that we need to prioritise and realise. 

But I do "wish" it on everyone, even warmongers.

The Answer Within Peace Is Possible

The Answer Within

Peace Is Possible

Manchester, UK

Prem Rawat:

What I want to talk about is the reality of us, of what it really means to be alive. Who are you? You pride yourself on being different; I can see, so many people are wearing just, different kinds of jackets and ties and have their hairdo differently—it’s not like you’re all looking the same from here.

But what if I was to tell you that all of you are going to go through this one thing—you came through one wall and you’re going to hit the other wall and you’re going to be gone.

I deal with this. People write to me. People want to talk to me. I just talked—I just saw a lady in France. She wrote to me, said, “I’m ninety-eight years old. I have been with you since 1972—and I just want to shake your hand.” So I said, “Sure.”

So, when I was in France I called her. I was—I have to say, I was shocked. I was shocked. She looked younger than me! And I’m like, I thought, you know, she’d be like, eighteen people holding her—no! Just.... Then she started to tell me her story.

For four years she was in the German concentration camp—lost her mother, lost her father there. Showed me her tattoo.... And a smile on her face. She said, “I knew there was something more”—that that horror, whatever that was, “That wasn’t it!”

You think having gratitude in this life is a small thing? Not for, “thankful for your job, not thankful for your car and your cat, your dog”—but to be thankful to be alive. My friends, I’m talking about “alive,” the difference, the difference....

The difference between you and I isn’t about coming through that wall and going to hit the second wall. It is what we make between the two walls, that’s what makes us different. That’s the difference between the devil and the angel.

Who are you? Who are you? In this equation of all those other people—who are you? You don’t know. You know them—but you don’t know you.

If you had to get a message across to you, how would you do it—seriously? If you had to get a message across to you, how would you do it? You cannot “self-SMS.” How would you do it? Your silly little device doesn’t know.

You need to tell yourself, “Be happy. Be content. Be in joy. Be in love.” Please, please send yourself this message. You need to send this message to yourself—you need it.

You need to tell yourself, “It’s okay.” You need to tell yourself, “Be thankful.” You need to tell yourself, “Be content.” You need to tell yourself, “Be in clarity.” You need to tell yourself, “Enjoy.”  You need to tell yourself.

What’s your number? What’s your number? What’s your handle? What’s your dot-com? Do you have the email of “dot-heart”? Do you have the email that ends with “dot-wisdom”? You don’t—you don’t—and you need to.

This happened to me—in London. So, I’m stuck in the famous London traffic jam, compliments of progress. (I came to London in 1972; believe me, there weren’t traffic jams like that....)

So, I’m sitting in the car and I see this man walking, and he’s got a stick—and so I realized that he couldn’t see; he was challenged, visually challenged, so he can’t see through his eyes, so he’s just using his cane. But I realized he was really clipping along. He was just, “Whshew, chu-chu-chu-chu-chu-chu-chu....”

And of course, I had nothing else to do except, sitting in the car, stuck in a traffic jam—and he would absolutely, completely pass us, and then we would catch up and I would start looking again; it’s like, “Wow. Man, he’s really moving. What’s he doing? How is he so sure?”

Then I realized, “Oh my God. This man is not looking for something, but one thing and one thing alone—he’s only looking for a clear path.” He doesn’t care about Westminster; he doesn’t care about the traffic jam here, the traffic jam there; he doesn’t care about the time on the Big Ben; he doesn’t care about all the pretty boats on the Thames.

All he cares about: “Is the path clear?” And not the whole path—just enough for him to pass, that’s how much he’s scanning with the stick. That’s all he cares about: “If that’s clear, keep walking.”

And then I realized, “Oh my God. He doesn’t care about the obstacles.” You would think he cares about the obstacles; he doesn’t care about the obstacles; he only cares about a clear path.

So when problems come in our life, do we look for a clear path—or do we look at “how we’re going to overcome the obstacle”? You don’t have to overcome the obstacle—if there is a mountain in front of you, figure out a way to go around it. And go around it. Don’t have to try to go, “Oh my God, how am I going to climb that mountain.”

I mean, is that what you do when you come across—you’re driving and there’s a huge building in front of you? Do you go, “But and, how am I going to drive through that building? And that’s, that’s really going to hurt my car—and me and, and, and everything....” No, you look left and right and you say, “Well, yeah, there’s a road; just go around it.”

Does that make sense? [Audience: Yeah.] Just today? [Audience: And yeah, that’s right.] Just today? No! You always knew this. And this is garnering wisdom; this is wisdom: “Don’t try to go over it; go around it.”

You have problems? You’re going to have problems. Of course, you’re going to have problems. Why are you going to have problems? Because you always try to go on top of the mountain. That’s why you’re going to have problems. I’m telling you, life is sweet—just go around.

Like that man, he taught me so much, taught me so much, just in that little time. Now, now I actually look forward to traffic jams in London. I can learn something—“Wow, what am I going to learn today, you know?” Because it’s going to happen....

They told me, “Oh, yeah, but oh, but it’s going to take two-and-a-half hours to, you know, go twelve miles.” I said, “No problem; let’s go!”

My friends, these are the possibilities. Are you ready to engage with the seed of clarity? Are you ready to engage with the seed of joy; are you ready to engage...? Because if you’re not, you need to send yourself a message—to be ready, and to do so. You need to send yourself a message.

And when that happens, imagine what you will have in your life. Imagine how beautiful that clarity is. That’s the power of light—“Turn on the light; turn on the light; turn on the light; turn on the light. Enough darkness.” And where does the light need to shine? In your neighbor’s yard—or yours? Try yours. That’s where it needs to shine—because there is a light inside of you. Discover, uncover.

This is what I help people do—those people who don’t know their number, I have a special software; I call it “Knowledge.” And it goes through and finds your number and it connects you to it. And it’s pretty good software; it’s very, very good software.

But even that software requires wisdom to use it, unfortunately. And me coming and going to all the places in the world, I am sharing my wisdom—because without that wisdom, it is very difficult to take and make proper use of Knowledge.

This is what I do. People listen to me and they go, “You make sense.” (Thank you; that’s what I do; that’s what I’ve been doing.) I was doing it since I was four years old—that’s my gift. That’s my gift. That’s my gift. And today, this is my gift to you.

FOR YOUR LIFE: What you’re looking for is inside of you. The joy that you need in your life is inside of you.

Lockdown with Prem - Day 62

Prem Rawat: [voiceover]

What you’re looking for is inside of you. The joy that you need in your life is inside of you.

You have not been put on this earth without the tools that you need to get the most out of this life.

This time that you have begins with you; your understanding begins with you; your use of the tools that you have been provided begins with you.

You find yourself. You understand, finally, in your life that perhaps, “There is a self that I do not know.” My thing is, take it in! Chill with it.

FOR YOUR LIFE

Peace Is Possible Event

Pasadena, U.S.A.

Prem Rawat:

People come to me, “Oh, I want to be happy.” You want to be happy? Do you want to be happy? Do you want to be happy? You want to be happy? [Audience: Yes.] Get eight hours of sleep.

 “So, if you are not offering happiness, what are you offering?” I am offering peace. “What, happiness is, peace is separate?” No, peace can make you happy too—but so can eight hours of sleep make you happy as well! But eight hours of sleep can bring you happiness but not peace. And what I am offering is the peace that already is in you.

Understand, see. Don’t look at this world, don’t look at your life as all these other criteria—they’re not; there are no criteria. This is the stage you’ve got. You’ve got to work with it and dance and dance the most magnificent dance you can.

And dance every day of those 36,500 days. Dance from your heart; dance because you’re celebrating your existence.

Celebrate being alive. People—“Oh, my birthday today.” Only once a year? And what is the bad part of celebrating a birthday every day? You would get really old really quick. But celebrate your existence every single day. Feel the life.

Not your issues. This is real stuff. I’m faced with issues: “What do you want—what do you want, Prem? Problems?”

Just because you have life doesn’t mean you know how to live it. Because if you want to live your life, you need wisdom. You have to garner wisdom. Knowledge is great to acquire, but if you don’t acquire wisdom, you will not be able to do what that knowledge can allow you to do.

A simple example that I give—that “pilots know they have a checklist in the cockpit; wisdom is to use it.”

So, you gather knowledge—but you don’t gather wisdom. If you don’t gather the wisdom to use, to be wise: “Wow, my priorities—what are my priorities today? What do I want to live for? What is my focus; what should be my focus?”

I want, every day, to be in touch with who I truly am. Because when I get in touch with myself, I also get in touch with the divinity that exists inside of me, the simplicity that exists inside of me, the joy that exists inside of me.

There is something within you that is constant, and there is something that is always changing. What is changing is in the outside; what is constant is on the inside—what do you want?

On the outside everything will change. Will you look the same? I wish I had a time-lapse camera, “Chook, chook,” on, right here: “Chk, chk, chk, chk, chk, chk....”

What does it all look like now? I started at nine years; I started talking about peace when I was four—started sitting on the stage and talking behind a microphone, thousands of people.

There was a time, I was the youngest. Of course, in my family, I was the youngest—and pretty much, wherever I went I was the youngest.

It’s not like that anymore. These eyes have seen change. And this heart has experienced the timeless. And the changeable is fascinating—is fascinating. The timeless is magnificent.

The changeable: “Wow. Boy, look. Oh my God, did you see that person; you see that person; you see that person?” And the heart, opening the eyes and seeing, “I also see the timeless in each one of you.” That’s the recognition. When you recognize the one in you, you recognize the one in each one. Because so it is. So it is.

The way this world is, where greed can have so much power, so quickly.... And this world is being run by greed. Everywhere you look, greed-greed-greed-greed, greed-greed-greed-greed, greed.

If we human beings do not bring the formula of the human back in—and replace greed—we’re all doomed. The stakes are very high now, where we won’t even have a planet to be on. We punish, through our actions, polar bears—who have done us no wrong. We punish the penguins—who have done us no wrong.

The other day I saw somebody who had gone to Africa and shot a beautiful lion. And I was like, “Hey, you know what? If this guy really wants to go hunting, he should be allowed to. But without a gun.” Even keel.

It’s not fair. The poor lion doesn’t have a gun. He doesn’t know how to use a gun—you do. And where is that little wisdom, “The strong shall protect the weak”?

No. The stakes are much, much higher. The world is becoming enslaved to a device that, it is still called a “smartphone.” It should not be called a “smartphone”—because the least amount of thing that thing does is phone. And it’s not smart. There’s nothing smart about it—all the people who you don’t want to receive calls from, call it. How can it be smart?

So, make every step you take on this stage of life count. Make it count. You owe this to life. And one day, you will be rewarded with the most beautiful gift called clarity, called gratitude, called understanding—and your life will never be the same again.

 

Life is this stage. Play, play this symphony; play this dance every day. Your heart yearns for it.

What if the bad wolf ate the good wolf?

Prem Rawat:

It’s been a while, but here I am again. And doing a lot of things, as you can see; this is all a new setup getting ready for the PEP. And, you know, taking care of things, and as slowly, things start opening up, the possibilities of starting off and going different places are looking better and better, whenever that happens....

The most important thing, of course, is to stay safe—for you, for me, for all of us. You know, and if it’s two more weeks or four more weeks, or whatever it happens to be, it’s okay. You know, just stay fluid like water. Remember that tree that knows how to bend, how to flex in the wind—and by that flexibility, it is actually assuring itself a long life—so that’s really wonderful.

Anyways, so what inspired me to come out here and talk to you? Well, I was saving the questions—but there was one question that came up that got me thinking. And let me begin with a little story. So, I hope you’re not bored with this, but this could be, you know, your mouth could start salivating—but let me talk to you about a samosa. And so, what is a samosa?

So, it’s a thin dough—and it’s whole wheat dough, but it’s thin. And you make a filling. And one of the very popular fillings in India is potato. And you add, you know—everybody has their own version of samosa filling.

So, why am I talking about a samosa? Well, so it hit me that there was a time when I was a little boy—and I remember this particular day, because what happened was all my brothers and my mother and some other relatives, they all decided to go to the movies. And they weren’t going to take me; I was too young, I guess.

So I stayed home—but I was devastated. I remember I was absolutely devastated that I wasn’t going to get to go. And I was crying and it was terrible.

So, my father happened to be at home—which was rather rare, because he would always be traveling somewhere—but he happened to be home that day. And he was, you know, a little concerned that I was crying. And so he said, “Why are you crying?” And I said, “Well, you know, they didn’t take me. So, I’m, I’m”—I was heartbroken. (I didn’t tell him that, but I was.)

And he says, “Okay, you and I will go and have a good time.” So I said, “All right.” It wasn’t going to be the good time that I had imagined—because it was a real suffering from my idea of how it should be—they didn’t take me and I was, you know, I was devastated....

So, he took me, and we ended up going to this restaurant—and I was a little boy—and I remember this. And I remember he ordered—he looked at me and he says, “Would you like to eat something?” And I said “Yes,” and he said, “Okay, how about a samosa?” And I said, “Oh, that sounds good.” And I said, “I’m also going to have some ice cream.”

So, believe me, I have had a lot of samosas and I do have ice cream—but that day, that particular day, that samosa and that ice cream, I remember.

Do I remember the filling of that samosa? Absolutely not. Do I remember what kind of ice cream was it that I had that day? Absolutely not. I don’t know if it was vanilla, it was strawberry or it was chocolate. But, boy, I tell you, it was the best samosa and it was the best ice cream that I have ever had in my life.

Now, I had—another time I had samosa, and it was really delicious. And, you know, samosa having that thin dough and then it’s deep-fried, the caramelization happens and it gets crispy. And it’s just, the aroma, the—you know, it’s just amazing. Umami is just amazing.

And this particular day, I was traveling—I was older—I was traveling. And the people where I was, where I had started from had forgotten to pack the lunch—they had packed the lunch but they had forgotten to give it to us.

So I was really, really hungry and so we pulled over, and there was a little place on the side of the road. And this samosa filling I remember—and it was this, just the simplest samosa filling—it was the potato, a little bit of black pepper, salt, little bit of chilies, (chopped green chilies and a little bit of red chilies), and coriander.

And so it was just, when you bit into it, that umami of the fried bread was there; the dough—and the potato, you could taste it, the coriander, the pepper—and the salt and the chilies. And all of these flavors and the smells were there. So, anyways, my mouth is watering; I don’t know about yours.... But it was just something that really hit the spot.

So, now, why am I telling you about samosas? Well, you see, that other one, that other samosa I had that was the best samosa I’ve ever had—and the best ice cream I have ever had—had nothing to do with the flavor, had nothing to do with that particular stuffing. It had to do with the company that I had—and how much it meant to me.

And so, sometimes we don’t understand what “good” is. So, anyways, now let me come back to what caused me to, you know, what—this question that I saw and it really got me going....

So, the question was, “What if the bad wolf ate the good wolf?” So for, (if some of you don’t know this story), I’ll just very quickly reiterate the story. A little boy traveling with the tribe came to the chief and said, “Chief, I have a question.” Chief said, “What?” He goes, “Well, why is it that some people who are good sometimes are bad the other times?”

And the chief said, “Because there is a good wolf in us and there is a bad wolf in us, and they fight.” And so the boy thought about it, and then a few minutes later he said to the chief; he says, “Which one wins?” And he said, “Well, the one you feed. So if you feed the bad wolf, it gets strong; if you feed the good wolf, it gets strong.”

So, when I first read the question, I giggled—I mean, I’m sorry but I giggled, because it’s like, well, you know, here I talk about these stories; I give these analogies—and here is somebody giving this analogy back to me, “What if the bad wolf ate the good wolf?” I mean, “Ate the good wolf?” And then I started thinking about it—“Is that even possible—the good and the bad?”

So, that’s where the samosa example comes in—and by the way, samosa is not from India; it’s from Persia, and it was developed at the court. A lot of people used to come and they would be standing all day long to hear the verdict of the king, you know, and in different cases, and so there was nothing for them to eat....

Somebody came up with the idea, “A little bit of bread, fry it; stuff it with something,” and it became samosa. And of course, when—anything that makes it to India becomes Indian very quickly. And Indians have made it their own—and done a fabulous job of it.

So, good is much bigger than you realize. And the bad is much bigger than you realize—it is more than the sum of your life—it’s huge; it’s massive. This unsettled war of the good and the bad has played out on the face of this earth as far back as stories go—they are about the good and the bad. It is all about the good winning over the bad.

And how far does that go? (Not in terms of time), but how big is that good? Because if that good wasn’t good—and that good wasn’t big, then in this life, things become uncertain. If truly it was possible for the bad wolf to ever eat the good wolf, we’re in trouble; we’re in serious, serious trouble.

But then, if you remember what Krishna says, “That even in your darkest moment, I will not abandon you.” There—that’s about the good: “You will not be abandoned,” even if it seemed to you that the bad wolf is eating the good wolf or has eaten the good wolf—as dark as it gets!

Because for me, that day when I didn’t get to go with my family, (my brothers, my mother), I was devastated. You know, there wasn’t the good wolf coming along and saying, “No, it’s, you know, it’s all right; you don’t need to worry about it; you don’t need to be bothered.” I was very bothered; I was crying.

And it had such an impact on me, the bad—and then, going to the good, the most wonderful samosa and the most wonderful ice cream; I mean, my goodness, you know, that flavor.... That you’ve got that hot samosa, the crispy samosa, the salty samosa, and then you take a bite of that cold ice cream. I mean....

You know, and of course, the temperature of the ice cream has to be right. Because if it’s too liquidy, it won’t taste good. And if it’s too cold and it’s like a brick, it won’t taste good—so, everything was just right. But more than that—it was the company.

So there is something that is good that goes beyond the scope of everyday activity that you’re involved with. That everything that happens in your life, for whatever the period is, five years, six years, two years, one day, one minute, one second, whatever, there is a good that prevails. And it’s much, much, much, much bigger than you realize.

Never underestimate the value of darkness; it’s huge. It is very powerful; it’s very potent. But for us human beings on the face of this earth, whatever our challenges may be, there is a good—and that good is more powerful, is backed up by more. There is a power behind it. There is a strength behind it. And this is the strength that we have to, in our lives, latch onto—the strength of the good.

To remember that even in my darkest hour, I am not abandoned. I may feel abandoned, but I’m not abandoned. Because I haven’t latched on; I haven’t made it my home, the goodness that is in me. I haven’t made that good wolf my companion. Not just something that I feed, but that that goodness becomes my companion.

And that that other wolf is something that I stay away from. Not only is a question of feeding it, but I stay away from it—because that’s something that I don’t want a relationship.... I want my relationship with the good, with what is powerful. Because this is who I am.

You know, what is the difference between day and night? Not much. There are the stars; there is the planet Earth, still going around and round and round. But there is a huge difference. And that difference is that during that day, there is the light of the sun and I can see. And that seeing makes all the difference—that I can be, now, awake. It’s not just that I can see, but I am awake too.

And that I have a fundamental need to sleep—and it works very well when the darkness comes because I need that darkness to be able to fall asleep in.

So, one great disadvantage is that when it is dark, I don’t know what’s out there. I need to know that. If somebody is challenged visually, they use a stick to figure out what’s out there. But we need to know what is out there.

And the same thing about the good in our life. That is the beautiful, truly the beautiful, amazingly the beautiful that resides in the heart of every single person that is alive.

Now, you know, of course, there are people—I’m sure they’re going off on this tangent of, “And this could have happened, and that could have happened and, you know, there are people out there that have done horrible things, that have done terrible things.”

True. I’m not saying that that’s not true. But as a human being, we always carry in us the possibility of a change—that we can go from darkness to light. That this war that we engage in can be won. That it isn’t about winning every single battle, but it is about winning the war. And we can win that war. We can win.

I mean, I know that we’re faced with this challenge—and, you know, seeing this, how governments are reacting to it—absolutely unbelievable.

I mean, here is a moment in which humanity needs to come first, not politics. Humanity needs to come first—that those people who are going off and harping on these politics and politics and making this a game and making this a terrible thing, really need in their lives to understand that they are, first of all, they are human beings.

And their decisions of how they handle things affect so many other human beings. So many people that die—and now, I read, so, and they want to manipulate the data! I mean, okay, they’ve been manipulating the data ever since, so it’s not going to be a big shock to anybody.

Because, you know, one of the things is—and this is true, that not all politicians are like this—but I think they all take an oath, or most of them who are just, have got their head buried somewhere else, take an oath that—they take an oath of telling the truth all the time, that they will always lie. (And something like that.)

Because it seems to be so confusing, with “Do this and don’t do this; do this; don’t do this.” And it’s all about ego....

But here is a chance to do something good. And if—and here is my point of it. If they can’t do it, you can—because you find the goodness in you. And you keep safe—and you keep your neighbors safe. And you keep the people around you safe—because the good is in you.

And what are you doing to do when this coronavirus is no more, and everything goes back to, quote-unquote, “being normal”? Are you going to remember this period? Are you going to bring out your best? Again, not measuring how much, but bringing out your best—because it is in you? Are you going to let that shine? Are you going to let that manifest?

Or are you going to be like, “Well, I don’t have the time for it”—another excuse. You have time to make excuses—and as human beings, we are very good at excuses: “I don’t have the time; I’m too busy; I’m this; I’m that.” And yet, your life; you make the decision.

So, going back to my samosas and ice cream and everything else, just to remember how powerful this possibility is. And one thing that I have to say—and my father used to say this; I’m saying it—that the seed is never destroyed; the seed is always there.

So, yes, the seed of bad is never destroyed—but the seed of good is never destroyed. You can hold your head and go, “Oi, you know, it’s all over,” or “the seed of bad is never going be destroyed,” but the good news here is not that—the good news here is that the seed of the good will never be destroyed. And you carry that good inside of you.

And it’s much bigger. However long you’re going to live, however, whatever is going on in your life, the seed and the cycle of the goodness is more, is bigger than you. It’s huge; it’s massive.

So, I don’t know—I thought that there were so many questions being asked that are actually connected to this question. So, answering this particular question, (which, at first, I thought it was hilarious)—but then when I started thinking about it, I saw the depth of what it means.

This is the drama that’s been playing out—again and again and again and again; this is what Mahabharat was all about; this is what Ramayan was all about—that the good won. The good was victorious.

And at the end of the day, we always, all of us, have to make that effort to make the good win in our lives every day. And if it can be boiled down to that, sure.

Now, when pain comes, when trouble comes, you know, that flattens us. It’s like, pegged against the wall, “What are you going to do? Oh my God, oh, this is terrible; this is horrible.”

But—there is something else too—and that “something else” is bigger than the sum of all the problems that are on the face of this earth. And there are a lot of problems on the face of this earth, a lot; I mean, from small problems to huge problems....

And just imagine what’s happening in this world today. You know, whatever is happening in your little life is happening in your life, but imagine what is happening. Somebody was just born—just born. Another person was just born. Somebody just died. They’re gone—they’re gone forever. They’re never going to come back.

Somebody just became really rich. Somebody just became really poor. Somebody just lost their way. Somebody just found their way. The dramas that are going on all the time out there, they’re not trivial. They affect human beings deeply.

But the way that the good affects the human being is also very unique. And that goes back to “I don’t remember the filling of the samosa but it was the most delicious samosa; I remember that. I don’t know what kind of ice cream it was—but it was the most delicious ice cream I have ever had, bar none.” And I have had some good ones, but nothing as delicious as that.

So, stay safe; be well. Stay fluid. This thing hasn’t played out yet. You know, God knows—it’s, what some of the politicians are doing just to make a name for themselves—they have no interest, human interest in sight. That it’s just about their name, their fame, their two minutes of glory—at your expense. At your expense.

I don’t want to talk about that so much—because I can talk about the good that is in you. And that is much bigger than all those trivial little things that still have to play out with this coronavirus thing—this coronavirus thing has got everybody—it’s got everybody’s attention like you wouldn’t believe.

Now, if we give the attention to the good inside of us, we will have a different world, a beautiful world. So, again, be well; be safe. Take care of yourself. And I’ll talk to you soon. Thank you.

FINDING THE BALANCE

Finding the Balance

Hear Yourself Author Event

Madrid, Spain

Prem Rawat:

I know you have problems, troubles, challenges—and sometimes these challenges, these issues weaken you.

And I always remember that when we are faced with this big mountain, we look at the mountain; we look at the sheer size of the mountain; we look at the height of the mountain—and we’re overwhelmed: “What’s going to happen? How am I going to survive this? How am I going to be able to take care of the challenges that I have?”—whatever the challenge may be.

And in that moment, I want you to remember that nowhere, going on top of the mountain is the challenge. That’s not the objective. To get to the other side of the mountain is the objective. And to get to the other side of the mountain, you don’t have to go through the mountain, and you don’t have to go over the mountain. You can go around the mountain.

Because at the end of the day, the story becomes very simple, (even though it seems like it becomes very complicated). You, as a human being, need to understand what every day is. I know; I know it’s, that doesn’t sound right: “Every day?”

Well, wait till you hear what I really have to say. I go way beyond every day—I go down to every moment! Because every moment that you are alive, that you exist, is the most amazing possibility, most amazing occurrence that’s happening, most amazing thing that’s taking place.

What a blast; what a—what a trip to have come through that one wall and to be here—and then it goes on and on, every day, every moment....

You want to extend your life? You want to live longer? [Audience: Yes.] Yeah, there is a way. Cut it down to size, as many little pieces as you can, called “moment.” Get it as every moment—it’s going to seem a lot more. It just is!—because you’ve been enjoying every single moment.

To understand in your life that this gift of breath is unparalleled. And the wisdom to enjoy it, you have been given that too. Like I said earlier, you look at one mirror, but learn to look at another mirror that’s there. And in that mirror, you will see a lot more of who you truly are.

That you’re not without wisdom; you have incredible wisdom inside of you. You’re not without the thirst; you have incredible thirst inside of you. You are not without courage; you have incredible courage inside of you.

Why am I using the word “courage”? What has courage got to do with anything? Well, to accept wisdom, it takes courage—it takes courage. To love takes courage! To understand takes courage. To be kind, it takes courage. To be free takes courage. To choose peace takes courage.

None of this stuff is for the weaklings, no, no, no. This takes the real human being, that super-human that you are. That’s what it takes. It’s a reality. Your reality isn’t the pain and sorrow and the suffering. But on the other side of the coin of that pain and sorrow and suffering is the joy, is the clarity, is the understanding, is the wisdom—beckoning you, calling you.

This is why you have a heart! “What heart are you talking about?” Oh, you know that little thing—that says, “Yeah, be kind,” that says, “I love you,” that says, “It’ll be all right,” that says, “Don’t worry”—that’s called a heart. You have it.

And all you need to do.... I’m not saying to shut down the mind. I’m not saying that. That would be nice, but you can’t do it.

I used to say that when I was ten years, eleven years old; people used to come to me and every morning, you know, the setup—but I, but actually, I was thirteen then when I came to England—every morning, we would have a session; I would sit down; people would sit down. And they would ask questions every day.

And the questions were, “I can’t shut down my mind.” So but why are you trying? You don’t need to shut down your mind. You need your heart to come out and balance your life! If your life does not seem balanced, it’s because it’s all mind, no heart.

And what does the mind do? “You’d, you blew it. You didn’t do that right. Oh, you could have done it better. Oh, you are going to get it. Oh, you are not going to succeed. Oh, you will never make it. Oh, you are useless. Yeah, oh, and nothing good will come of you.” Already the tape is playing.

What do you think is that thing? You haven’t taken the test yet, right? You’re sitting there to take the test—and are you nervous? And why are you nervous? Because something has already introduced the idea of failure in you. “Failure. Failure.” And you have bought it; you have accepted it.

When was the last time you allowed yourself to adjust to the light that was inside of you—so you could see the courage; you could see the clarity; you could see the understanding; you could see the wisdom that you have in you?

But we do get bored—because we don’t have the patience to let these eyes adjust to the sight within. If you could have just that much patience, oh, so little patience, you will be the king of your universe for the rest of your life.

Just that’s all it takes. Then joy will be yours; understanding will be yours—and gratitude will be yours. To be thankful every single day—every single day, nay, every single moment will be yours. “Thank you. Thank you for this life. Thank you for this existence. Thank you for this breath. Thank you for joy. Thank you for clarity. Thank you”—for all that is good in your life.

What Do You Choose? Peace is Possible Event Los Angeles, CA, U.S.A.

What Do You  Choose?

Peace is Possible Event

Los Angeles, CA, U.S.A.

https://www.premrawat.com/pages/lockdown-with-prem-rawat/item/5584-lockdown-with-prem-rawat-56#!mediaplayer-5584

Prem Rawat:

What is this thing called “life?” What is this thing called “being here,” what is this thing called “peace,” what is this thing called “existence”?

And like I say many times, you’ve got two walls. And I’m going to put this as simple, as simply as I can put it—you’ve got two walls. You came through one wall—that was when you were born. And there is a lot of stuff going to happen between the two walls—a lot.

And then, you hit the other wall—and it’s all gone; it’s all done; it’s finished. No more. No more drama. No more paying the credit cards. No more wondering about what life is about. No more wondering, “Is there really a Satan? Is there really a God?” No more wondering, no more philosophizing, no more—nothing! As quiet as a quiet, a person can be. And that’s it; it’s over.

You exist—but you don’t understand what existence is. You live—but you don’t understand what life is. You know certain things, but you don’t know what wisdom is. And all that you do in your life sooner or later comes back and haunts you, tortures you, bothers you—and you wonder.

Birth and death that encompasses the start to the end—has been going on on the face of this earth for thousands and thousands and thousands of years. And it doesn’t seem to matter what happens in between, whether you drive a Chrysler or you drive an Italian chariot—something has you figured out.

 

You were born; one day you have to go. Whatever you do in between, it’s up to you. And what have you chosen to do? What have you chosen to do?

Have you chosen in your life to experience joy, joy? Joy. Have you chosen in your life to experience peace? Have you chosen in your life to experience the serenity? Have you chosen in your life to swim the beautiful waters of tranquility? Have you chosen to sit in the shade of the tree of understanding, to bask in that simplicity of life, of existence, of who you are?

Elation, clarity. Not desperation. Not confusion. Not revenge. Not misunderstanding. Not anger, not fear. Not hate! Not judgment. (Don’t you love judgment?)

We love to be unconscious—but we don’t like the consequences of being unconscious, so we look for people who can give us a way out of the consequences that happen when we are unconscious. And I am saying, “That is not possible.” You want to avoid the consequences of being unconscious, then you will have to be conscious.

Is there a shortcut for clarity?—no. Can you have clarity in your life? Of course. Is there a shortcut for love?—no. Can you have love in your life, of course. Is there a shortcut for joy? No. Can you have joy in your life? Of course.

And what will it take? It will take that you will have to pay attention to yourself. You will have to learn how to go within you—and feel. And feel; feel the magnificence that dwells in you; feel the knowledge that you’re filled with; feel the simplicity of the child that you are; feel the gratitude of this heart that you are. Feel all that that is so good, that is so wonderful, that is so beautiful!

And that is the way to live this life—not burdened by problems. I say to you, this, not because I am sitting on this chair—but I have been burdened by problems, and I know what it is like, as it pushes on your shoulders, as it pushes on your body, on your being. And what does it do? Drives you so far from you, into another world, dark, dingy, weird, absurd. No hope. No hope.

And then you realize, “It’s not me. That’s not who I am. That’s not how I want my life to be.”

And you look, and you turn inside—and it’s like coming home; you come home. And everything that is the most familiar begins to greet you. There’s a welcoming that you have never experienced—and it’s to come home: “Welcome. Come on in. Come on in. Be, exist, flourish, nurture, rest, relax, understand, see, feel, think, experience, joy, love, understanding.” And it’s like, “Yes. Yes.”

And this welcoming is the most profound. And then my focus shifts from my problems to my life, to my existence. And now I know what is valuable. The valuable that I have is the day today.

The moment that I have been given—and the value of this moment is not the moment itself, but the fact that I can do anything in that moment—including being miserable, or being elated. That’s why a moment is powerful, my friends.

You want a ticket out of your problems? You have one: it’s called “now.” Because now holds the power. And you can have it either way—you can make yourself as miserable as you want, no holds barred—or as elated as you can be, no holds barred. 

The power of now is so powerful that if you want to connect with the divine that is in you, you can. (Wow.) So powerful, if you want to understand the oneness that you have with this universe.... (Universe? Yes, universe.)

In this whole game between the two walls, coming from this wall you had no choice, and when you hit that wall you won’t have a choice—granted. But everything else in between these two walls, you have a choice. What do you want?

Easy to say “I want to be happy.” Easy to say “I want to be happy”—hard to say, “I wonder how I can be happy.” And the day you can—easy to say, “I want to be clear,” but hard to say “I wonder how I can be clear.” And the day you say that: “I wonder how I can be happy; I wonder how I can be clear,” look me up—because that’s the day I can help you.

How do I do it? Very simple—very simple. I put the focus on you—not your problems.

There’s one journey that, all the things that are happening in your life—that is one journey—and then there is another journey that is happening in you. And it is the coming and going of your breath. That’s a journey too. Each breath comes in; what does it bring you? Oh, it brings you this thing called “life, existence, being alive”—brings you that.

There are a lot of people in this world—but there’s no one like you. You’re alone. Your journey, that’s what matters—and that’s what should matter to you, your life, your existence, your now, your now—and what did you ask your now to bring you? What did you choose in that now? When that now said, “Your wish is my command,” what did you choose?

Did you choose clarity; did you choose joy; did you choose understanding in your life? Because if you did, you would understand, then, exactly what I’m talking about.

I’m here to tell you about the power you have, the power of being alive, the power of all that is so good that dwells in your heart. Don’t forget that. Don’t forget that. Will you come across hard times? Absolutely. Will things look difficult, yes. Will there be darkness, yes. Does it have to continue like that? No.

Awaken; open your eyes; look around; see—and most importantly, see who you are. See the light that is in you—and the darkness will be gone.

Because the day you hit that wall, not everybody else is going to hit that wall. There’ll be other ones coming out of the other wall as you hit that wall. This is your story. The world’s trying to make it its story. You have to refrain from that happening; you have to make sure that it stays your story and yours alone.

No mixing, no meddling—that it remains your story. That’s what it has to be. Anything else is a compromise, not fit for existence, not fit for life.

There’s your heart: feel it, understand it, accept it—and you will then be so filled with gratitude, thankful, thankful to be alive, thankful to have this breath, thankful to have had this time on the face of this earth. Then it’s not about the two walls anymore. Then it all becomes about you, about the good, about the life, about the real, about the divine, about the universe that you are. That you are.

Unlocking Hope Prem Answers Questions Cape Town, South Africa

Unlocking Hope

Prem Answers Questions

Cape Town, South Africa

Graeme Richards Host

MC:

You talk about being attractive, and us generating this energy that is attractive to other people—but it has to start within oneself.

And this next question, I think, (as we were discussing which to take out of the multitude that came through), I think hit everyone backstage, and I think it’s going to hit all of you. And I hope that the person who wrote it really does light up now and take note of the response.

But the question read as such: “How can you love yourself when you’ve started to believe that you’re ugly and a failure?”

Prem Rawat:

Well, fortunately, it is not a fact; it’s only your belief. Beliefs can change. So, you know, really, you can believe anything you want—but what is the reality? What is the reality? The reality is that darkness is never far from light.

Last time you flipped on a switch and turned on a light in a dark room, how long did it take for that darkness to disappear? You turned on the light bulb, and it’s just like, djjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj, like, you know, a drain—or like a toilet flushing, schhhhhhhhh? No! Boom?—boomf.

Darkness is never far away from light; light is never far away from darkness. Joy is never far away from sadness and sadness is never far away from joy. They ride together.

When you go into a bathroom and you lock the door for privacy, do you think it’s private? No. Your anger, your fear, your doubt have come with you. Even though you book only one seat for yourself on a bus or an airplane, your anger, your fear, your doubt, they’re always there—always, always!

But so is kindness. So is understanding; so is gratitude; these things are also there because they are the other side of the coin.

You need to know this—that if you have only experienced your ugliness, then you haven’t flipped the coin. You need to flip the coin—because the other side of that coin is incredible beauty.

And what is the beauty? What is the beauty? Somebody who is symmetrically shaped? A star? What is the beauty? Because you know the reality of it is, how many movie stars that are drop-dead gorgeous, spend hours sometimes looking at themselves in the mirror, going, “Oh my God, am I? Am I?”

You are the beholder. If you feel, in you—and see, I keep going back to this—and this is a great question, because this gives me more ammunition for my book. That’s why you need to know yourself!

Socrates said “Know thyself”; you need to know yourself. Why do you need to know yourself—because that is when you will be able to experience the true beauty that you are. That’s why you need to know yourself.

There are a billion reasons, I think, 7.5 billion reasons on the face of this earth of why you should know yourself. Because if each one did, I think we would have a very different situation in this world—if the beauty that you conceive in your mind is beauty that is different than you truly are. And you have that beauty.

Whatever other people tell you, you are worse than them. Because you constantly sit there and tell yourself, “I’m not beautiful; I’m not beautiful; I’m not....”

This beauty will be gone one day. The same thing that people come and kiss, they’ll be like, “Huh-hah, no way.” So, it’s not here; this is not the “beauty” part. The beauty part is here, in your heart, in yourself.

MC:

I think a big part of that journey to self and that getting to that point of seeing the beauty within you, a part of that has to be about forgiving yourself.

And one of the questions that was posed is, “If forgiveness is difficult for you to begin with, (forgiving someone else is hard enough), turning it inward to the person that you know better than anyone else, the person that you probably judge more than anyone else—how do you forgive yourself?”

Prem Rawat:

Well, that’s a wonderful question—because that is so important, to be able to forgive yourself. And let’s just not even bring “you and somebody else” into the picture; let’s just talk about forgiveness, what forgiveness is.

And a lot of people think, “Forgiveness is granting license to mediocrity, granting license to somebody’s mistake.” That is not forgiveness. Forgiveness is to sever the relationship with that action that is dragging you down.

So, now, whatever—and, you know, somebody did something to you that was terrible. And that happened a long time ago, but that person still has a clutch on you. They still have a clutch on you. Because every day that you wake up, perhaps, and in a solitary moment, you curse that person; you think of that person; that person is still connected to you.

And forgiveness is saying, “No more. You will not have control over me. I want my life back. I want my life back and I do not authorize you any more to haunt me.” That’s what forgiveness is.

That’s what forgiveness is. Forgiveness is very powerful. It’s really saying, “No! I’ve got my life. Thank you very much.” Regaining—it’s regaining. Because if you don’t, then the clutches will still be there.

And it—and what it does to you; what this clutching does to you, these claws that are buried inside of you, it causes anger; it causes fear; it causes you to shut down; it causes you to stop moving forward; it stops appreciation....

And you cannot allow yourself to be a victim; you would—some of the things, you will never be able to say, “Oh, yeah, I’m fine with that.” But it’s up to you, whether you allow the talons of that person and that activity still to be gripping you. Because if you don’t, then use the sword of forgiveness and free yourself. You move on.

You know, and I understand. I mean, sometimes these stories are easier said than actually translated into your life. But at least, if you begin to chisel away....

I mean, maybe the rope is so thick that you won’t be able to cut it in one day. But at least, you start severing it, start understanding the dynamics that you have the power to sever that rope, that this is what forgiveness means—that ultimately one day you will weaken that rope; that it will, it’ll be severed. But you need to begin. You need to start understanding that.

Because whatever you practice the most, that’s what you get good at. You know, and practice, practice being yourself. But, then there is a problem with that, that if you don’t know yourself, how do you practice being yourself?

So, now it’s back to that “point one”.... [MC: Giggle. You go back to giggles; you’ve got giggles.] And, yeah, know yourself.

MC:

I’m so glad that you’ve honed in on—you mentioned a couple of words there, but the word “victim” came up so many times in so many questions: “And how we move beyond feeling like a victim,” which is very much a South African context, and as you’ve explained, I think, an energy that’s shared across the globe....

Prem Rawat:

Somebody has to keep trying—and be it the citizens of this country, that in the face of what is absolutely, absolutely, impossibly cruel and horrible—but the good has to keep trying. That’s the victory.

And there are two kinds of victory. In one victory, you win but somebody has to lose. But when the victory is of yourself, then you win and nobody has to lose. Nobody has to lose.

And so, yes, in the face of all this horrible stuff, there is hope. And if we humans can dip so low as to do things like that, then we humans can also climb so high as to make the difference to not let it happen.

So, it’s up to us. At the end of the day, it’s going to always come down—we play a part in it. We play a part in it. And we wait....

How many—I mean, I shouldn’t ask this question, because I know what the answer is going to be. But I sincerely, sincerely—because my platform is humanity, I sincerely ask you to ask yourself one question. “How many of you are waiting for the others to change?”

And that is the biggest disease worldwide—everybody is waiting for others to change. No, you have to change. With the others change or not, you change. And then they will see “the change is good.”

The time has come to take ownership, find peace in your life, know yourself. That’s the time. You want these things to stop; they can stop. They’re not.... This is not God at work. You know, this is not, “Oh, yeah, it was his karma....” Stupid explanations! (This is the fifty-year-old talking.)

How many of you disagree with that—“That it’s somebody else up there who controls the destiny; you are just a puppet”?

Because this is what we are taught; we didn’t know this—we’re taught this. Because it gives an explanation to all the unfortunate things: “Oh, yeah, God works in mysterious ways.” And we go, “God works in mysterious ways.” And I say, “That’s it? That’s your explanation? ‘He’s mysterious’?” I mean, why is God mysterious?

There is only one way you can take away darkness. You cannot get an empty bucket to take away darkness. An empty bucket, to fill it with darkness and throw it out the window won’t work—sorry. There is only one way to take away the darkness—and that is, bring on the light.

Do I see hope? I see hope. And I saw hope when I went to that school. And they were little kids—so cute—little kids. And I saw hope in them. And you need to find some too. And you need to find the end of uncertainty, end of that fear, so you can find the end of anger.

MC:

You’ve helped me to unlock hope tonight; you have—I can feel off this audience, helped them to unlock hope tonight. And so I hope you’ve received some of that love from us as well. What an absolute pleasure and a privilege.

Prem Rawat:

Thank you.

MC:

Thank you so, so much.