THE PERFUME OF GOD by Prem Rawat

THE OTHER DAY, I was thinking about what peace is. And I understood something: peace is the perfume of God. When God is close to you, you smell this perfume. and it is exquisite. It is beautiful. The senses dance, and in that moment life becomes complete. This beautiful aroma, this beautiful perfume, is what the heart desires. Again, and again, and again.

Now, having spoken about the perfume, let me spend a few minutes on God. Somebody I was talking to recently brought up the problems with all the religions. I said, "Excuse me. God is not the problem. definitions of God are the problem."

Look at the flower that blooms in this garden of life. Because this is what you are. This is who you are. And if you desire peace in your life, it is not an accident. If you require fulfillment in your life, it is not an accident. I know there are people who say, "peace? How can there be peace?- Do you have other options? What I am talking about is real. It's viable, and it can last for the foreseeable future. It's called peace.

REALITY OF EXISTENCE

War is not a viable option, because if people keep on fighting, there'll only be one person left. One. And that will be because he was hiding.

So, what is this peace I talk about? What is this fulfillment? The peace I talk about is the peace that resides in you, that resides in your heart. Because the reality of your existence is not what you think it is.

I'm sure there are doctors who are thinking, "What do you mean? I worked so hard. I went to college. After that, I went through internship. I did this and did that, and now I have a successful practice. How can you say I'm not all this?- Because one day - one day, even if a sick person walked up to you, you will not be able to help them.

drink until your thirst is quenched

eat until your hunger is satisfied

sleep until you are rested

search until you

have found peace and then - understand

And some people say, "You know, this is impossible.- I say, "You have your reasons for why there can't be peace, and I don't know how many you have - five, six? I have seven billion reasons why there should be peace.- Six point eight, eight, actually. I just checked this on my computer.

Six billion 880 million people. That's how many people are alive today on this earth.

The day you start to accept the sweet - sweet - reality of your existence, that is the day you will understand the importance of peace. That day you will begin to understand the simplicity of being alive. That day you will understand what this is about.

Some have said, "This body is made of dirt, and this dirt will one day become dirt again.- I know nobody likes to think about that. I don't either. But it puts me in my place.

Why is it that we understand the value of a person only when they go away? Why is it that we understand the value of breath when we cannot take one anymore? What is the value of breath? The value of breath is that it allows you to be you and not dirt.

Is that valuable? Yes. And what is it? It is a gift. From whom? From God. The one that cannot be defined - that God. So my question to you is: In this breath, have you smelled God's perfume? Do you want to? Would it matter to you to feel the presence of peace in this breath?

To feel the heart rejoice? To see with the simplicity of a child? To understand - not the question, but the answer?

LOVE HAS TO BE FELT

Till now, you have only understood the questions. That's all you understand. You don't actually have answers to those questions. You have just really understood the questions, and you are very proud of yourself. "I understand the question.- Yes, but that's the question. Do you have the answer? Have you felt that peace in your life? Not with your intellect, but in your heart? Have you understood that this life is not about definitions, that this life is not a riddle?

Why not just say it as simple as it is? I don't like unnecessary sophistication when it comes to things that can be simple. Sometimes, when I'm cooking pasta, I think, "How long does this pasta take to cook? Five minutes? Ten minutes? Is it fresh or prepackaged? Where is the wrapper? It's in the trash. I need to find it.- No, pick a piece of pasta up, let it cool a bit, and put it in your mouth. "It's not ready yet!- I like that. That's how understanding should be.

Love has to be felt; it cannot be a definition in words. Drink until your thirst is quenched. Eat until your hunger is satisfied. Sleep until you are rested. Search until you have found peace and then, understand.

Hey froggie, how do you know it's going to rain again?

Your life should be about experiencing what is good, what is beautiful, because this is what exists inside of you. Yes, you are dirt, ordinary dirt, until the rain of breath falls onto it. When the rain of breath falls on this dirt, it indeed is not dirt; it is a garden. And when the rain of life, of breath, stops falling on this dirt, it will become a desert again.

Maybe you have heard about the frog that lives in the desert under dried-out lakes. It's fascinating. How can this frog survive so long? Scientists say he changes his metabolism, he does this, he does that. I say, "Hey froggie, how do you know it's going to rain again? Because that is what your strategy is based on. Your strategy, that evolution that you went through, was not based on, ‘I will be able to do this; I will be able to do that; I'll be able to change my metabolism; I'll be able to cover my eyes; I'll be able to slow down my heart.' No, the strategy was, ‘I will have to wait, but the rain will come.' And the rain comes."

This is understanding. And for however many years of evolution it took to come to the conclusion that this could be safely done, the frog sticks it out, because rain will come. Do you know that the rain needs to come in your life, too? That this rain will allow your garden to bloom, will allow you to understand, to know? It will allow you not just to have imagined the perfume of God, but to have distinctly smelled it. Distinctly. To know. That's what knowing is about - understanding the opportunity of being alive.

IT'S RAINING

I suggest you get a totally different scale to weigh yourself with. So far, you have had a scale that somebody handed down to you. You have been on one side, and you have tried to put weights on the other side to achieve a balance. I suggest you get a different scale, the scale of understanding. If you want to, begin to see the good that resides in your heart.

Maybe all your life people have been telling you how incomplete you were. I'm telling you that you are complete. Maybe people tried to tell you how unreal everything is. I am telling you that maybe everything else is unreal, but you are real. And right now in this garden, it's raining. It's raining and it's raining and it's raining like you wouldn't believe. It began raining a long time ago, and it has not stopped raining. I suggest you take some seeds and sow them.

This is the time; sow them. Sow them while it is still raining and watch them bloom into flowers of the heart, flowers of clarity.

All of us have these gardens, and it's raining and raining and raining the sweetest rain. One day it will not rain anymore. But until then, plant these seeds of understanding, of clarity. Don't be afraid. People work very hard so they can end up in heaven. I tell them, "You know, there is one problem with this heaven business.- Do you know what it is? You have to die first. Dying is a pretty big thing; it is kind of final. People say, "I've had a near-death experience.- Well, yes, near death, but death is final.

Here, while you are alive, you can plant those seeds. You can say something that will praise that indefinable God in the most beautiful way - poetry that comes from a heart that is full. This is what can happen. The gratitude for this life can be experienced here and now. It is possible.

with all the movements in this world there is a magnificent stillness inside of you

The breath is coming in and out. It's raining, raining, raining. That's all I have to say. If you want to know more, you can. If you want to find the peace that I have found, you can. It's simple. When it gets dark, light the lamp. But you have to know where the lamp is and how to light it while it's still light. You don't want to be fumbling for the lamp and the lighter when it is dark.

That is called wisdom. Be still, and you will understand. Because with all the movement in this world, there is a magnificent stillness inside of you.

You don't have to give up your religion to find peace; you don't have to give up your family or your job. Why? Because it's already inside of you.

Open the door. Take a sniff, and I'll bet that, if you do it from the bottom of your heart, you'll smell a fragrance that is all at once the most magnificent, the most new, and the most familiar. Maybe you light incense so your house will smell good. There is incense already burning in the house of your body - smell it. It is the perfume of God. Smell it. And be satisfied, be content.

This is one in a series of edited addresses by Prem Rawat, known also as Maharaji. Prem Rawat has dedicated his life to bringing the simple and profound message that peace resides in each and every person.

There is incense burning in the house of your body

Open the door

It is the perfume of God