Maharaji in Quito 2006-09-10

Maharaji in Quito, A Gift of Understanding, 10th September, 2006

Prem Rawat, widely known by the honorary title Maharaji, has been travelling the world for 40 years, bringing a unique message of peace. He gave his first public addresses at the age of 3, and by the age of 13 he was responding to invitations to speak in the United States and Great Britain [as Guru Maharaj Ji, The Lord of the Universe]. His message is from the heart. He speaks about the possibility for each person to find peace within, regardless of circumstances. Addressing a distinguished audience at the invitation of the United Nations Association of Malaysia, he recently said, Peace is a fundamental necessity and begins with each individual, and yes, peace is possible. Through the Prem Rawat Foundation, he also spearheads significant humanitarian initiatives aimed at improving the lives of people most in need. From large cities to remote villages, millions of people around the world come to him for inspiration and guidance. Even as his audiences increase, Maharaji's message remains directed to each individual. If you are looking for fulfillment and peace, he says, the solution lies within. If that is what you want, I can help.

So, today we have this opportunity to listen, to try to understand a little bit more about what has been given to us. This is extremely important to understand what has been given to us. Because what we are doing with it is not going to yield results. So much that I see around the world, so many things that people do, and in that light, I have a story for you.

Now, it was a few days ago, whilst I was asleep, that this story came to me. And it's never been told anywhere, so it's the first time in Quito to get to hear it. There were three brothers, and they had been brought up quite well. But as they got older and older, their parents died, they lost all their money, and they became very poor. So, in their state of being very, very poor, they had to beg for food, they hardly had any accommodations. So, they decided that they would go up into the mountains, up into the rivers, and pan for gold. I'm sure you're familiar with it, where people go into the rivers and they put these pans into the river and they shift and they get little bits of gold. So, all three of them decided to go do this. As luck would have it, all three of them got equal amount of gold. And they took it to their shack, little temporary hut that they had made, each one his own. And a little bit of time passed by, and so all of a sudden, they all decided that maybe they want to come together and meet again. It had been a long time. The first brother was very religious. So, he took the gold that he had found, and he made a little altar. And he put the gold on the altar. And every day, he would pray to the gold. Sing the praises of the gold. How the gold had the power to totally eliminate, totally, totally eliminate this man's poverty. That this gold, if it could listen to the prayers, hear the prayers, could eliminate this person's suffering. That he would never have to beg. That he would never have to do any of those things that he didn't want to do. That he would have food, he would have clothing, that he would have housing. But that's all he did. He prayed. The second one was very educated, very educated. So, he took the gold and he also put it on an altar. You have to understand this. Not much of a difference between the two. He was very educated. He also placed the gold on the altar. But instead of praying to the gold, he would write essays on the power of gold. Small difference. And he would write poetry in honor of the gold. And he would write how the gold had the power to remove his hunger. How the gold, so beautiful, had the power to give him clothes. How the gold, so shiny, had the power to put a roof over his head. See, we all think that's a big difference. At the end of the day, you really have to examine what the difference is. But then the third one. The third one took the gold and he sold it.

Unthinkable, he sold it. And from the money that he got, he bought himself a farm. And he grew vegetables. And he planted fruit trees. And he would eat whatever he wanted to eat. What he didn't need, he would sell. And from the money that he would use to sell the vegetables and the fruit, he made himself a beautiful home. And amazingly enough, those three things that those other true brothers wanted, the third one got. He got food. He got his shelter. And he got his clothes. He got it. So when they all met together, they asked each other, how are you doing? And the first one said, oh, it's beautiful. I pray, I pray every day. I pray, I pray, I pray. And I pray to the almighty gold, that almighty gold, please make available to me clothes to wear, a house to have, food to eat. And one day, he said, one day, I am sure. One day. One day. Someday. In the future. Because of my sincerity, the gold will respond. The second one said, I also write beautiful things about gold and I am sure that someday, pleased with my praises, the gold will bestow upon me all my wishes. Seeing their devotion and dedication to gold, the third one kept very quiet. The two turned to the third one and said, and what do you do? I can see you have good clothes on. You look quite healthy. Not like us where we have to beg, wear these torn clothes. What happened? Were your prayers answered? He said, well, actually, I hate to tell you this, but I sold my gold. Got the money. Bought a farm. I work on my farm. And somehow, that gold made it possible for me to have clothes, to have food, and to have shelter. Then they realized that the first two had the same amount of gold, but they didn't really do anything about it. The third one did something about it. So, we are here today. And I tell you this story. It's a loaded story. Because you can have discussions on this story, I'm sure, for hours. Why? Because this is the condition of the world. We have been given something. We have been given something. But we understand its value.

We sing praises of God, but we accept His gift. We ask every day, we ask more from God, but we do not accept what He gives us. We think that someday, if we pray, if we do all those things, someday, someday in the future, our wishes will come true. We, listen, excuse me, we are talking about a genie. We have got a genie and God confused, incredibly. Fulfillment of our wishes. We need a genie, not God. The difference? God gives without asking. Genie, you have to rub the lamp, the genie has to come out. Then you have to, you know, you get three wishes. Then you have to think what you want and then cleverly ask them and maybe the genie makes it come true. But this is what happens.

But it is not real. If we do not accept what we are given every day, this gift of life, this gift of breath, this gift of awareness, this gift of understanding, the gift of clarity, the gift of serenity, you can't buy these. They have to be given. You cannot buy it. There is no store which says serenity sold here. There is no store which says clarity sold here. Is it given? There is no store that says buy breath here. Because if there was a store, there would be a long line, long, very long line of people from the hospital who are running out of breath would make a beeline for it. Me too. Me too. Especially being in Quito, 10,000 feet. But there is no place where this is sold. This has been given to you free of charge. All you have to do is do something about it. In the literary world, people talk about peace. Books have been written about peace. Essays are written about peace. Definitions are created of what is peace and how nice it would be to have peace. But nobody does anything about it. Nobody.

It's not like war. War people do something about it. Even as we sit in this hall, there are huge companies that are doing research on how to blow up a human being quickly. Accurately. The point is to make a bullet. The point is to make a bullet so that when you fire the bullet, it does not miss. They know the value of the bullet. They do not know the value of human life. They want the bullet to miss. They want every bullet to find a target. They want every bullet to be successful. The human beings. We are the ones who created the system. By the way, yes, we are the ones who created the system. By the way, we pay for the system. And it's all okay. All we have to do is say enemy. And then it's like, oh, enemy? No problem. We have explanations.

We have ideas. And oh yes, peace. That would be nice. But that's all. Nobody's doing anything about it. And what can we do about it? Bear with me. Because first of all, I want to clarify one thing. So that we're speaking the same language. I want to clarify something. What is peace? What is peace? What do you think peace is? Where everybody goes like this? When you're driving a car? There's two holes in the steering wheel and you can… Is that peace? What is peace? Everybody wears long, white, flowing robes. Flowers, smile, no more people jogging on the street. No, picking flowers, passing it on to the next person, next person, is that peace? What is peace? What, what does peace look like? What does it look like? Well, I can only ask so many questions. After that, I have to start giving you answers.

So, here are some answers, and these are not empty answers. These are not empty words. I stand behind each one of them. That's the difference. When I say to you, peace, I'm talking about the peace that you can experience that is in your heart, that is within you. And what does peace look like? I will tell you what peace looks like. Peace looks like your face, in contentment, in gratitude, in understanding, in clarity, in serenity, your face. That's what peace looks like, truly. Peace dances on the face of a human being. And when the face is filled with peace, that's when you look the most beautiful. You need makeup. You shave, shave, it doesn't matter. Now you're sitting there, some of you, not all of you, some of you are sitting there going, "Hmm, I know if that's true." Well, let me explain, let me explain. Once in a while, not very often, but once in a while, when you are content, when you are happy, your whole nature changes, completely. You become all those things you aspire to be. You become kind, you become courteous. This happens, I've seen it.

When the father is in a good mood, feeling good, and the son says, Dad, I need new clothes. No problem. The wife says, I need a new dress. No problem. Wife says, I burnt your dinner. No problem. Let's go out. In fact, that's a great idea. Let's whole family, let's go to a restaurant and we will have fun. Vaguely familiar? Vaguely? You're standing in line for the movie theater, you're feeling good. Feeling good. And somebody says, can I cut in? When you're feeling good, if this sounds funny to you, and it is funny, because when you feel good, you become a human being. When you become a human being, you care, you like, you like. When you're feeling good, all those little things that bother you and bother other people about you disappear. And when you're not feeling good, even your child knows not to come near you when you are feeling bad. Is dad in good mood or bad mood? Because you are not the same. I need new clothes. Why? I burnt your dinner. I knew it. I knew it. One day that I am hungry and you burn my dinner. Forget about new clothes. Forget about new clothes. It's so little. And you change. When you change, you become so different. You still have your integrity.

And you shine. And you're most fun to be with. Most fun. And when that contentment is not there, nobody wants to be with you. Nobody. Not your wife, not your children, not your parents. Nobody wants to be with you. Go away. This is how important peace is. And this is how simple peace is. And this is how beautiful peace is. And where is it? Within you. Peace begins in the heart of all human beings. For me, I go to person to person to person to person.

Because if you want to light this world, then we are the lamps. Each one of us is the lamp. And each one of us has to be lit. One by one by one by one. And when we light, we give light. We give light. One little lamp in the darkness the darkness removes itself. That's what a lamp does. Little tiny light up somewhere in the mountain. And people can see it. Even though it's dark, it yields. It has to yield all the darkness, all the ignorance. All the ignorance yields to true Knowledge.

All the ignorance yields to true Knowledge. And what is true Knowledge? Not my words. Socrates. Know thyself. That's the ultimate Knowledge. The ultimate Knowledge. This is not only Socrates, but also in so many of the Shastras and the Vedas, this is what it says. That of all the Knowledge you can have, Knowledge of the self is the ultimate. Why? I'll explain.

This time, a little joke. A man was walking by and he sees a very old man sitting on the side of the street crying. Crying, crying, crying. So he went up to the old man and he said, what's the matter? Why are you crying? And the old man said, you know, it's amazing. I just got married to a 25 year old incredible looking girl. The man said, is that why you're crying? He said, no, no, no. I just bought a beautiful new house. Incredibly gorgeous. Two new cars. New boat. My house is beautiful. My boat is beautiful. My wife is beautiful. He says, well, old man, you know, you're very lucky. Why are you crying? He says, I forgot where I live.

It's the same thing with a human being. We have all these, but we forget who we are, what our true nature is, what we have been given. And then we wonder and wonder and wonder and wonder and wonder. And this is what the whole world is doing. Wondering and wandering. Wondering and wandering. And they wonder some more. And then they wonder some more. And they wonder some more. And people have been doing this for a really, really long time.

When the formula for this world was laid out a long time ago. And what was the formula? The formula? Peace and prosperity. That was the formula a long time ago. You want to be good? Peace and prosperity. So it begins. This journey of a million miles and a million footsteps begins with the very first step. And the very first step is you and you in peace. That's where it begins. You in peace.

What do you need? You need some kind of a tool that can take you from the outside and place you on the inside. And people say, why do we need a tool for that? Why do we need a tool? Why do you need a mirror to see your face? It just so happens that these eyes can see everything else except themselves. If you want to see these eyes, you need to place a mirror in front of you. Then you will be able to see your eyes. What is this called? This is what is called Knowledge. Something that brings you to yourself so you can feel the beauty that is within you. So that you can feel the peace that is within you. So that you can feel the tranquility that is within you. So that you can feel the clarity that is within you.

You have looked for the answers on the outside? Everybody does. Everybody has formulas? Young people, you talk to them, sometimes they say, no, no, no. I want to get involved with peace. Maybe when I retire. Because you see, everybody has a plan. And in our plan, when you are young, you die. In our methodical plan, we die when we are really, really old. But there is somebody up there, everywhere, that also has a plan. And when it comes to the two plans, the big plan and your plan, your plan gets cancelled. Always. Big plan remains. So people go. People go. How can this be? People go. Oh, but he was so young.

Arrogance, my friends. Arrogance. There was a doctor in the old days. And he realized it was his time coming to die. So what he did is he took different body parts and made an identical body, just like him. Identical. And they both lied down. Death came. Looked. The orders was for one. There's two. Which one? Both look amazingly identical. Identical. Identical. So the death is thinking, thinking, thinking. Comes up with an idea. Death says, Doctor, I salute you. You have done a magnificent job.In fact, your work is so good that it is flawless. Except for one little detail. And the doctor is lying there going, what? What could it be? My work is perfect. And the doctor got up and said, what? He said, that. Arrogance. Ignorance.

But there's something else. And that's clarity. You are blessed, my friends. You are blessed beyond belief. Let me point to you the greatest miracle that will ever happen in your life. You know what that is? The coming and going of this breath. It's the greatest miracle. It will happen under your nose. And you will not know it. And the day it begins to stop, you will recognize its value. Then you will know how important. It's not about death. It's about the living.The most beautiful miracle is from nowhere comes this breath and brings the gift of life to you. Then disappears. Then comes again. And brings the gift of life again. And again. And again. And again. This is your symphony. This is your story. One breath at a time. Not two. Not three. Not four. Not five. One. That's your beat. That's your beat. That's your rhythm.

Do you understand? Do you understand what a miracle this is? To you, the miracle is if the milk starts coming out of that wall. To me, that's a problem. Not a miracle. his is how it is. If the place is somewhere else and there's milk coming out of the wall, miracle. If it's your home, above your bed, milk is coming out, big problem. Doesn't this happen in your house? When all of a sudden water starts coming out of the wall, who do you call? A priest or a plumber? You call a plumber. Why? Because you know this is no miracle. This is the problem.

Miracle is your existence. Miracle is your life. Miracle is the joy that resides within you. Miracle is the peace that dances within inside you. Understand and feel. This is what Knowledge is. This is what I offer. Feel. Feel the possibility of having the peace truly dance on your face. Understand the possibility of feeling this life like it is meant to be felt. Like it is meant to be understood. Like it is meant to be learned.

Some people go, is that selfish? When a flower blooms, is that selfish? When the sun shines, is that selfish? When the moon shines, is that selfish? When a cool breeze blows in a summer's day, is that selfish? When a wave comes on a shore, is that selfish? Is that selfish? Your existence, your existence, but the coming and going of this breath, or is it a gift? If you think it's not a gift, it's selfish. But if you understand it's a gift, it's not selfish. Then it becomes a privilege and pleasure to accept every moment. On this journey of life, will you come again? I know. On this journey of life, does it happen again? I know. There is a 13th or 14th century writer around that time, poet Kabir. He doesn't think so. He doesn't think so. He thinks this is it.

Be fulfilled now. The possibility is there. And so I do not just offer words distinctly. I offer the possibility of peace in your life. And this is my caveat. This is what I say. Search for peace. You need peace. Period. Search for peace. Wherever you find it, good. But remember now, peace is not something you just experience one day. Peace you have to experience every day. Every day in your life. So search for peace. Wherever you find it, good. If you find it, come look me up. Come look me up.

I have given peace to many hundreds and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people. I know. I have talked to them. And they're very thankful for the gift of Knowledge that they have received in their lives. Whatever happens, whether you decide to find out more, get Knowledge, not get Knowledge, search for peace, search for peace, whatever happens in your life, remember one thing. Even if you're not looking for peace, peace is in you. Even if you're not looking for it, even if you want it, even if you hate it, peace will always be within you. Always. Always. Wherever you go, wherever you go, you will carry peace in your heart. You have lived by the rules of the mind, and they have brought you some success and a lot of failure. Report card wise, I would say things would be failed. Look at the condition of the world today. But listen to the rules of the heart. Nobody, nobody has ever been wrong when they have followed the rule of the heart. And the rule of the heart is only one. Be content. Be in peace.

And this is what I came to say to you in this city of Quito, so that you can also be happy in your life. I can't change much, but I can change one thing. I cannot get you a better job. I cannot improve your wife's cooking. The one thing I can do, I can put you in touch with that feeling that is inside of you. There is information available if you are interested. Rest. Have the most beautiful and enjoyable and pleasurable life in this existence. When you go, go with the feeling of it was good, not all the things I haven't done yet. That's a bad way to go. That's a bad way to go. So be fulfilled and be in that joy and happiness. Thank you very much. Thank you.