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Prem Rawat at Harvard University's Sanders Theater

A Message of Hope

This article first appeared in Living Now magazine, Australia. It has been edited and reformatted for reprinting purposes.

We are all fascinated by the mysteries of the universe. Some of them are: "How did it all start? Who was the first person on earth? What was his or her life like: joys, sufferings, hopes? Where do I come from? What is this all about?"

While a lot may have changed on the outside since the first human being walked this planet, on the inside our lives are not very different from this first person's. We cry, we rejoice, we look for love, we seek satisfaction, joy, fulfillment. We have a natural affinity for feeling peace, tranquility, contentment. In many ways, our search for contentment is the same today as it was thousands of year ago.

The deepest questions human beings have been asking themselves are still awaiting an swers: "Who am I? How can I be happy? How do I find peace? How can I make the best of this life that I have been given? How can I find love, peace, harmony?" Many distinguished visionaries through the ages have attempted to provide answers to these questions, not only as part of their own quest for fulfillment but also to help others.

Prem Rawat, also known by the honorary title Maharaji, has helped people find their own answers to these questions ever since he first started speaking to audiences at age three, a child prodigy in his native India. He first was invited to speak in Australia in 1972 and has since visited the South Pacific many times.

His message has always been simple: "This life is precious. It is given to us for a purpose: to enjoy. To enjoy this life, we need to know who we are, and we can do that by turning inside. The peace, the satisfaction, we are looking for is within. Peace is a feeling. Peace can be known, regardless of circumstances. It needs to be felt. Peace is possible."

Ever since Maharaji left India for the first time in the early '70s, he has continued to travel the world, presenting his message of hope and peace to more than 6.5 million people in 250 cities and 50 countries.

What drives a human being to take up this age-old quest? "In everyone," he says, "lies a thirst - a thirst to be content, to be at peace, to be happy. To find happiness, we need to get in touch with this thirst. We have a body with cells, veins, nerves, a brain, teeth, eyes, ears. There is something inside that keeps us alive. When we pass away, the body may still be there, but something is missing - the thing that keeps us alive. Something incredibly critical allows us to exist and enjoy this life."

What is this thing? "The breath that comes into us," says Maharaji, "is the most powerful phenomenon one can possibly imagine. Because there is this breath and there is this life, there is a beautiful possibility - the possibility to be fulfilled. The love, the understanding, the clarity, the wisdom, the peace that we are looking for,

already lies within." He points out that while we rightfully value our belongings and worldly success, our true wealth and true success lie in recognizing the importance of life itself.

Melbourne resident Emily Field, Marketing Manager of a manufacturing and supply house of promotional products, and also a wife and mother, remembers distinctly when she first heard Maharaji speak. "In 1973, I was visiting a friend who was a foreign correspondent for the Manchester Guardian in New Delhi," says Mrs. Field. "I accompanied him to an interview with Maharaji, who was much in the news at the time."

Mrs. Field explains, "My initial thoughts were that this person was too young to teach me anything, and I did not pay much attention to his message. I continued to travel and explore, and it was only upon my return to Australia a year later that I thought again about him and listened again to what he had to say." This second time her understanding grew, and she decided to pursue her new-found interest. For

Field, it's a "subtle but powerful experience of peace within that I turn to as often as I remember and wish to do so." She adds, "In the midst of a busy daily life, there is a stability and comfort that nothing else offers me.

"I can now connect with a place of peace within myself that stays untouched despite all the things that happen around me. Good days, bad days: I do get affected, but remember that I have a choice. Deep within, I have found a place where I feel at home."

Singer/Producer Lindsay Field of Hawthorne East says he has found a lot of inner contentment in his discovery of the experience that Maharaji addresses. "What I enjoy most in my life is feeling that I am a happy participant in a journey towards greater love and happiness," he says. "Finding the peace within me that Maharaji talks about helps me do that."

Is this for everyone? Maharaji asks those who wish to pursue his message to be clear about what they want. "This is not about another

person," he explains. "It's about you. This is about trusting yourself. This is about trusting your breath, your existence. This is about trusting the very fact that peace is within inside of you. That's what it takes. If you wish to embark on the journey toward fulfillment, let there be a clear understanding that what you are looking for is inside of you."

Maharaji has spoken at such notable venues as London's Royal Albert Hall, New York's Lincoln Center, and Sydney's Opera House. In an address before international dignitaries at the United Nations Conference Centre in Bangkok, he reiterated the basic nature of our existence. "Of all the things we pursue, of all the things we investigate in our lives - or try to conquer or understand - which one will carry the most meaning?" he asked. "Not society, not the country or group of people who share the same beliefs as I do. I'm talking about this vessel of existence in which the breath comes. Something magnificent is contained within this vessel. Peace is within. Like a seed in the desert, it is waiting, wanting to be felt."

Maharaji acknowledges that seeking fulfillment within is not always an easy task. "It's difficult sometimes to remember that what we are looking for is within us," he explains. "Nothing else in the world is like that. If I want a glass of water, it's not within me; it's out there s omewhere. If I want food, it's out there somewhere. If I want a cappuccino, it's out there somewhere. If I want to watch TV, it's out there somewhere. The fulfillment of our superficial needs lies in the outside world.

"The thing that can fulfill our most fundamental need for peace is already within us. It has been there since the day we were born, and it will be there till our very last breath. This peace can be felt. Peace is possible. Fulfillment is possible."

To discover more:

www.tprf.org

www.maharaji.net www.contactinfo.net