

Prem Rawat's Gifts
In his teachings Prem Rawat stresses the many gifts a human being has:
- the gift of the breath
- the gift of love
- the gift of life
- the gift of existence
- the gift of being aware
- the gift of Self-Knowledge
- the gift of the Master
- every beautiful thing in this world
- every incredible thing in this world
- a chance to exist in this world
However, ordinary people do not value these gifts as they should and have no way of accessing the joy and bliss inherenet within them. That is where Maharaji comes in. His role is to explain, teach and allow anyone to practice peace in their lives.

- If we never understand the meaning of the gift that we have been given, we will try to look for meaning in everything else - Ancient Wisdom
- To receive the gift of Self-Knowledge in our lives is the greatest honor. It is the greatest reward, the greatest medal. To accept Self-Knowledge and to practice it in our lives is the greatest achievement that a human being can ever have - Nottingham 17 June 2001
- To me, the greatest gift you can have is truly to be alive, and a greater gift still is to recognize that. Then, it's beautiful - then, you understand. That's when gratitude begins - Amaroo 25 April 2001
- Of all the things I can do, there is one that is the most precious I can appreciate the gift of this existence. When I begin to see that this life is a gift, then that is the day I have prepared myself for peace. And the day I start accepting this existence, that is the day I will find myself in peace - Bangkok, 12 September 02
- that's the possibility. And your life, your existence should mean everything to you, because it is. It is the most precious gift, most beautiful gift that has been given to you, that already has been given to you - and you're the caretaker. How fortunate you are that you're the caretaker of the most magnificent gift there ever can be - and it's called "life." It's called "a human being" - that aspires to be free, that aspires to be content, that aspires to be in peace. - www.premrawat.com, August 2020
For those who listen with attention Maharaji teaches that there is a specific way to achieve this possibiliity and it is through a process called "Self-Knowledge" or just "Knowledge." It is not airy-fairy, vague or mystical. It is as material as your fingers, as your eyes, as your ears, as your tongue.
you have the most incredible gift of life
being alive in the human body is the greatest gift of the creator. Then the purpose of the human beings also must be the greatest one
simple gift of being aware, of feeling,
I need to accept the gift of my Master in my life. And what is the gift of the Master?
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
Within you is the ultimate gift
being given freely every single day.
And it is the most precious thing on the face of this earth
We sing the praises of God, but we don't accept his gift
Self-Knowledge, like love, is the subtlest of gifts. Someone can come and say, "Give me love; I want it." But somehow, it is when the "I want, I want, I want" is gone that what we have always wanted comes rolling through and is poured upon us
To receive the gift of Self-Knowledge in our lives is the greatest honor. It is the greatest reward, the greatest medal. To accept Self-Knowledge and to practice it in our lives is the greatest achievement that a human being can ever have
When Self-Knowledge is given to a person who is ready, it is a gift that is given with no expectation of anything in return because nothing can be given in return. But when a person who has experienced that beauty, that joy, in their life realizes that love is the greatest gift they can give, and then gives that they will receive that love tenfold more than they ever imagined
What I offer is a practical way to be in peace within.
It is about appreciating the gift that we have been given. It is about being alive!
This is an opportunity. This is a gift. It cannot be bought or sold
Today, a breath came into me and brought me the gift of life. For this, I am filled with gratitude. For this, I'm eternally thankful because today I am alive
every beautiful thing in this world, that every incredible thing in this world that exists is a gift of the Creator and to simply give us life, to simply give us this breath, to simply give us a chance to exist in this world is a gift.

Maharaji's father taught that life is dependant on an external force.
The Real Name of God is also ever-existent and self-dependent in all living beings. It is the only life generator. The difference between a living body and a dead body is the presence and absence respectively of the Holy Name.
Naturally the young Prem Rawat aka Guru Maharaj Ji believed the same:
That thing that is making things alive is the most constant thing in the world because it is the power of God, and this is making everything alive. This is the body, this is a frame. One day something will go out of it and the whole body will become like a plank of wood.
During the 1970s Maharaji continued to reiterate the need for the "Energy Keeping You Alive," the Holy Name and the Word of God. He tried to leave his Indian millenial religion and his media disgrace behind in the 1980s and his language altered. He renamed his organisation from Divine Light Mission to Élan Vital adding what he thought was intellectual respectability to his idée fixe that a separate power or energy was required to keep people alive.
Breathing is a natural physical process. Rawat tries to make it sound transcendant, mystical, deep and meaningful and insinuates its a gift that he gives. Wikipedia: Breathing is the process of moving air into and out of the lungs to facilitate gas exchange with the internal environment, mostly by bringing in oxygen and flushing out carbon dioxide. Every breath is individual, temporary and we are not usually conscious of breathing.
Maharaji's "reasoning" is based in simplification, extravagant hyperbole, straw man arguments and ignorance. This is particularly evident in his increasing obsession with 'breath' from the early 2000s on.
I understood once again that, of all the gifts I have been given, the greatest is the breath that comes into me every moment. It is the most non-judgemental gift that I receive
That breath! The simplest of all actions and yet, the most profound of all actions. Profound because that's where it begins. That's what keeps happening, all throughout your existence. And when that process stops, you no longer exist
If I say to you that the greatest gift you could have is the gift of the breath, would you believe me? Or a little doubt? But it is true. It is the gift of gifts,
so abundantly given, without you ever having to pray for it
You and I - as human beings - have much in common. You are fundamentally no different than I am. I am alive; you are alive. A breath comes into me; a breath comes into you.
Breath - the coming and going of this breath - out of nowhere it comes and to nowhere it goes. From this breath comes the gift of life.
I am this temple through which the most glorious of all things that can ever happen to human beings, this gift of breath, flows.
The gift of breath will be given to you freely and abundantly. … And the least will be about your breath, the coming and going of this gift.
The gift of breath is given to you by kindness. And all that that you're given every single day is a gift of incredible kindness.
What we are given every day - the gift of life, of breath, of awareness, understanding, clarity, serenity - you can't buy.
From nowhere breath comes and brings the gift of life to you. Then disappears, then comes again, and brings the gift of life again, and again, and again.

Prem Nagar Ashram, Hardwar, November 24, 1971
From where is your breath coming? Who is making your breath alive
there? Just observe it. You weren't breathing at night, were you? You never thought to take a breath at night. You never
said, "Well, I am going to sleep, but yet I will be taking a breath." You just went to sleep. And still your breath was
going on. The Word was helping this breath to go further ahead. If we realize that Word, it will be quite clear before us
what is making us alive every moment. And what is making leaves alive. What is making birds alive. What is making
animals alive. What is making the whole world alive.
Reflections on an Indian Sunrise, 1972

May, 2006
That incredible thing - in it everything is, but that incredible thing is in you, too. You are the drop. Not the liquid drop, you are the drop. The ocean is in you. And yes, you can feel that. I understand that, because
the same energy that is everywhere comes in me in the form of breath - touches me, brings the gift of life.
Voice of Maharaji website
One breath. Just one breath - coming and going - what is the value of it? It is priceless. There is no amount of money or gold or diamonds in this world that is equivalent to the value of just one breath. People have made so many different advancements. They have gone to the moon. But who can bring back a breath? Nobody.