Excerpt: The Greatest Truth Of All
Prem Rawat's 2013 book "The Greatest Truth Of All" consists of edited sections of his speeches formatted to look deep and meaningful. It contains many phrases pretending to be aphorisms but falling short as they fail the "truth test." It is made up of speeches as edited and formatted and for merly published in the Prem Rawat Foundation's ADI magazines available in online and print versions. The editor is long time ageing Danish premie, journalist and author, Ole Grünbaum who also edited the ADI magazines and No Ordinary Box. It is sold on Amazon and the reviews are uniformly glowing. After all, they are written by Rawat's devotees because who else would have heard of the book or would be bothered to read it? One review is particularly sleazy.
Rawat has honed his message over the decades bringing it to a point where he concentrates on the most basic aspects of life. He stresses the things we rightly take for granted and speaks as if he can provide some deep experience of them. 'Life', 'feel' and 'peace' are some of his most commonly used words. Obviously anyone seeing the book has to be alive. Whether this is "the greatest truth of all" or something completely banal and pointless depends upon whether Rawat can provide some meaningful, unique and incredible connection to life though his teachings. He claims to have techniques and the power to allow anyone to go to a "place inside" where you connect to the source of life, the heart, peace, the truest of all joys though the word 'meditation' is never used in this book. However these claims are specious and this is obvious once we know the methods he "teaches" to "go inside." His secret Knowledge is 4 meditation techniques that are basically poking your fingers in your eyes, pushing your thumbs into your ears, thinking about your breathing and rolling your tongue backwards. He claims these techniques are useless without his inspiration and he could have this power if he was an incarnation of God but he has denied this possibility for 30 years even though he claimed he was the one and only incarnation of god for decades before that.
English is Rawat's second language, it took him decades to become proficient. The table shows his usage in this book of his most commonly used words (and variants of those words, eg happy/happiness/happily).
Who am I? Who are you? We have a singular quest to better ourselves–to evolve, to move forward, to improve upon all that can be improved. To make it better.
My message is about the possibility of the ultimate betterment of a human being–not of mankind, not of a country, not of a social belief, but of a human being. And it is not through religion or doctrine, not through ideas or concepts. Neither is it through hearsay or repetition.
It is through each individual exploring and finding the beauty within themselves.
–Prem Rawat
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION 7
PART ONE: WHO AM I?
The reality of existence 12
Capture the day 21
The potential 31
Fact number one 37
What is this "I"? 43
More beautiful than any fantasy 55
PART TWO: LISTEN TO THE VOICE FOR PEACE
This quest is real 67
Listen to the voice 75
The river 81
In you is a treasure 89
What makes you happy? 94
PART THREE: DON'T EXPLAIN IT–FEEL IT
Believing, reasoning or knowing 106
I think I had a sandwich 114
The seeds of life 125
What is good for you? 131
Don't explain it–feel it 139
PART FOUR: YOUR HOME OF EXISTENCE
Living in an ever-changing world 149
Tranquility in a violent universe 160
We were born and fell asleep 169
Your home of existence 179
Spring has come 189
ABOUT PREM RAWAT 196
INTRODUCTION
Prem Rawat has travelled the world speaking to audiences for more than four decades. Born in 1957, he discovered at a young age that he had a gift to touch the hearts of people with a message about a unique possibility of life.
In his own words:
It is my privilege, my joy, my honor, to go around the world and tell people about the possibility of being in peace.
It is a message of the heart. I don't prepare my speeches. I come, I open my heart and, with a sense of clarity, a sense of understanding, and hopefully with humility, I present what I have to say.
Talking to people face-to-face is Prem Rawat's hallmark. He never speaks from a script; he always speaks extemporarily.
His words are living words to live audiences: words not only about peace, but words that have the capacity to evoke the feeling of peace, a personal peace within each person. Many people have commented that when they heard him speak, even though it was to a large gathering, it was as if he spoke to them individually.
This collection of twenty-one edited talks is compiled in the hope that the reader may not only sense the voice that spoke, but also engage in the most intriguing conversation of all times based on very simple questions like "Why am I alive?" and "What is possible in a human life?"
This book is not a work of suspense that one needs to read page by page until the end finally reveals the answer to the riddle. The stories can be read in any order. Right from the beginning pages Prem Rawat makes clear that the answers are not to be found in thought and logic, or in words, but only in a feeling, and that this feeling is never far from anyone.
In my own experience, the feeling of peace that Prem Rawat speaks about is the most exquisite of all, and at the same time the most needed ingredient to make sense of life and to live happily.
The Editor
PS. There are many opportunities available to hear Prem Rawat speak, either through live events, television programs or online videos and audio clips. See www.wopg.org.
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I know that the words alone are quite nice,
but it's not about the words.
It's about breaking through the wall of words
– into reality.
THE REALITY OF EXISTENCE
I talk about something very simple. Of course,
people hope that they will hear something they
haven't heard before, because somehow we have
equated "new" and "different" to "exciting." But
new and different have nothing to do with exciting.
Exciting is exciting. It could be new, it could be old,
it could be different, or it could be very familiar,
and that wouldn't make any difference, because the
excitement has to come from the inside.
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I have been talking to people for four decades, and that's a long time. I started very young. I've traveled the world, and I've spoken to a lot of people in different places in their lives, from incredible sadness to incredible joy. From having the idea that "Everything is fine; I don't need anything more," to, "I have nothing." The variety and the space and the spectrum has been incredible.
MANY REALITIES
For me, there are perhaps many realities that manifest during a day. If bad news comes, that's a reality. If I have responsibilities to take care of, that's a reality. But I also know that for all the realities that are ever-changing, there is one reality that always remains exactly the same. And that reality addresses me.
We get very confronted by these realities. We're prepared for so many things in our lives, but when a new one comes, it is totally unexpected. It drops in our lap like somebody is saying, "Handle this!" Because we're unprepared, we say, "Whoa. How am I going to take care of that?"
I remember so clearly this lady I passed on the freeway when I was in Boston. She was going off for the weekend in her SUV with skateboards and bicycles and coolers, as though she was going to have a party. Somehow the bicycle fell off, and there was a police officer standing there, looking at her as she was trying to put it back on the car. You didn't even have to see it. As you drove by her, you could feel the frustration.
WHO AM I?
I know how you look at yourself. You look at yourself in a totally different way than you actually are. This is not nice. It's okay, but it's not nice. Who am I? If I see one of my kids in front of me, I become a father. "Everything okay? How are you doing? What's up? Where are you going? When are you going to be back?" There is that part of me, and I become that. Then I walk into my office and I've got all this paperwork and things to do, and I become that. But who am I, really? People call me by a name. I associate that name with myself. But who am I? What am I? Am I the complicated one that I see? Is this life of mine really as complicated as I have made it?
All that I weigh and measure my life with, the good and the bad, is that really me? The person who's going through a crisis, the person who's going through a vacation, the person who's going through this, and the person who's going through that? Or am I something else?
What am I? If I could see that it is not the complicated, but it is indeed the simple that is within me–not the scales, not the weights, but an ocean of joy–then I would realize this is who I am. Simple. Beautiful. And with one simple thirst. The thirst to be content. The thirst to be in peace. The thirst to be in joy. The thirst to understand. I've become very good at questioning, and I question everything. But my ability to question has not diminished my ability to understand, and I want to understand,
13
not just keep questioning. I want answers, not just questions. How does that work? I'll give you an analogy. A car is broken; all the rods are blown, and the pistons have big holes in them. The cam is broken, and the timing chain is destroyed. This engine is not going to start. So somebody brilliant comes along and says, "Aha. We can see that there is a problem here. The problem is that the car is rusted, the paint is peeling, the windows are shot, the tires are flat. So, let's help you fix this car. Let's repaint it."
Now this machine looks good. New windows, new polished chrome, new paint job. Nice brand-new tires. The car has been brought into incredible shape, and you say, "Oh, thank you very much for fixing it all up! Thanks!" But you still have a problem, don't you? It won't run. Before, you had an ugly car that didn't run. Now you have a beautiful car that still doesn't run. Why did you want the car in the first place? To be beautiful or ugly, or to go somewhere, which will obviously require that it runs?
What is the point of this analogy? The point is that all that we do is to be happy. We want to be happy. This includes going to the moon. It includes sending out signals to extraterrestrials, digging for oil–all the things we do.
We have many excuses for the things that we do, and fundamentally at the bottom of all these excuses is that if somehow, more joy could come our way, that would be very nice.
You hear a lot of things. You hear, "Good days come, bad days come." I use that. I call it "ups and downs." But there is a place inside of you that is neither up nor down. There's a place inside of you that is steady. There is the beautiful miracle, the beautiful symphony of existence taking place.
Peace is within you. The thirst for peace is within you. Good news! What does it mean? It means you don't have to go search for it. So many people used to come to me–and still do–and say, "I'm searching." And, of course, I say, "What are you searching for?" If you really are searching for peace, you won't find it. Why? Because you already have it. How do you find something you already have? How do you find something you never lost? How do you find something that has been tailing you every day of your life? It lies in the realm where breath comes and goes and brings the gift of existence to you. This, my friends, is the miracle of miracles.
ABOUT
PREM RAWAT
Prem Rawat has spoken about peace from an early age, inspiring audiences with his unique perspective and wisdom. He speaks from the heart, without script or rehearsal, bringing simplicity to important issues that people often find complex.
Born in India to a prosperous family, Prem Rawat left his native land as a teenager to travel to Europe and America, with a desire to know the world. His driving ideal was to promote an optimistic vision of life and a vision of peace, both individually and collectively. This ideal continues as strongly today, some four decades later.
In pursuit of his life's goal Prem Rawat has maintained a challenging travel schedule since his first international journeys as a young teenager. In an average year, he flies more than 100,000 nautical miles. In 2011 alone he spoke to over 500,000 people at 78 live events worldwide. During that time, there were over 1.1 million downloads of his videos.
Prem Rawat attracts audiences from all walks of life, regardless of education, beliefs, age, or status. As well as speaking before intimate audiences and vast crowds – sometimes, in India, exceeding 300,000 – he has been invited to speak at a number of important institutional venues and forums. These include the European Parliament, the United Nations (UN), the Italian Senate, the parliament buildings of Australia, Argentina and New Zealand, the Young President's Organisation, and the Guildhall in London, as well as numerous universities worldwide.
RECENT ACHIEVEMENTS AND RECOGNITIONS
In November 2011, he was invited as keynote speaker and inspirer of the "Pledge to Peace" launched at the European Parliament, under the patronage of First Vice-President Gianni Pittella. The Pledge to Peace, a call to peaceful action, was the first of its kind ever presented at the European Union, and 37 institutions signed. The pledge activities, announced on UN Peace Day, continue to develop momentum.
In 2012, Prem was awarded the Asia Pacific Brands Association's BrandLaureate Lifetime Achievement award, reserved for statesmen and individuals whose actions and work have positively impacted the lives of people and the world at large. Other recipients of this prestigious award include Nelson Mandela and Hillary Clinton.
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In the spring of 2012 he was invited to launch the Third Festival of Peace in Brazil. This initiative, hosted by UNIPAZ (University of International Peace), which works towards world peace, involved more than one million people.
Speaking in a specially prepared video for the Nordic Peace Conference in Oslo, Prem emphasized the very real possibility of peace in our lifetime. He said:
There are people who are very greedy. There are people who don't care. But in my opinion, that is a minority. The majority of the people on the face of this earth want peace, and if this is true, then peace on earth is a very achievable objective. People say it's not going to happen. Well, let this time belong to those who believe it can happen, not to the ones who say it cannot.
In recognition of his profound impact on individuals and his contribution towards the world's understanding of peace, Prem has received many keys to cities and awards, and has been named an Ambassador of Peace by UNIPAZ and three other governmental organizations.
HUMANITARIAN EFFORTS
In 2001 he established The Prem Rawat Foundation, which provides humanitarian aid such as food, water, eye care and disaster relief to the most challenged areas of the world. Over the past 10 years, the Foundation has provided over 116 grants to aid people in 34 countries across five continents.
Prem Rawat has spoken at several prisons around the world and his peace education program, developed to help prisoners rehabilitate, is being conducted in 28 prisons. This program is helping transform and give hope to those incarcerated, and is now the subject of academic study due to its unusually high success rate in reducing recidivism.
PERSONAL
Very much a modern man, he embraces creativity and cutting-edge technology. He is an inventor and highly accomplished pilot, with over 12,000 hours flying time, most of it spent flying himself to events. Prem Rawat is married with four grown-up children.
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People involved in creating a book should not review it without mentioning their involvement and Peter Petrovich did the page layouts on the book.
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Profound message in a simple language January 11, 2013
By Peter Y. Petrovich
Format:PaperbackI have read many books on self-improvement, inspiration, success and many other wonderful things that a human being can achieve. This book is about knowing one's own self and is written for all those who seek to know the meaning of life and its great purpose.
The language is easy to follow and the reading is like picking up a story book, but for those who are inclined to know themselves, this is not like any other story book. When you concentrate on the words and the message in this book, you get the feeling that these discourses are being spoken to you directly.
Profound message presented in a simple language that even a child can understand.
Peter Petrovich