Prem Rawat in Melbourne 2011-09-11

Prem Rawat in Melbourne 2011-09-11

Well, we are here this evening and the subject that I want to talk about is really very simple. I know there's a lot of people here and when it comes to the subject of peace or any one of these things, people have a tendency to get very uptight, I don't know why. Because by its nature, peace is something that brings a lot of joy, it's beautiful, and it is something that we need. It's not a concept, it's not an idea, it's not a luxury, it's a necessity. The desire for peace does not come from thoughts, the desire for peace does not come from books. The desire for peace comes from every single human being. Because the way I look at it, it's like a garden. And first of all, what makes a garden a garden? It is the content of what exists there. Nobody goes to the desert and says, wow, look at that beautiful garden. Just, I haven't heard that. Because things do grow, but there's like one over there and one over there and most of it is filled with sand. But when we go to see a garden, we expect to find flowers, something beautiful. And so I was thinking about flowers. And what is this fascination and this love that we have with flowers? What is this thing? The husband takes off wife, wife gets upset, husband sends flowers, sorry. Somebody gets sick, we want them to get better, we send them flowers. And if our wish didn't come true and they died, we send them flowers. If somebody's getting married, we send them flowers. If we're thinking of somebody, we send them flowers. In many, many, many, many civilizations, cultures, when they go in front of God to make an offering, they think the most appropriate thing to bring is flowers. We like to look at flowers, we like to have flowers at our home. People sell flowers on the roadside here, last minute shopping to appease your better half. But what is a flower? What is it? I mean, this is not a botanical class so it's not going to get too serious, you know, and there won't be a quiz afterwards so it's all right. But what is a flower? And it is this thing that at once is so delicate, so delicate, and so beautiful. And in its delicateness, you would think, what could it do? It doesn't have legs.

What could it accomplish? But amazingly enough, some of the flowers, they feed many. Feed! Can you imagine? This little thing that only blooms for a very short period of time has worked it all out. How big of a brain do you think a flower has? But it's worked it out, completely worked it out, with its affiliation, with its relationship with the sun. I mean, my goodness. Try the moon, it's a little closer? No. The sun. That could destroy it, but it has actually struck a relationship with the sun. It feeds many, it attracts, it smells wonderful, and even its colors are particular to the insects that it wants to invite to it. I mean, we're talking sophistication here. And so, a seed is sown, it sprouts, it becomes a flower. And this bloom is the word, is it not? Bloom. When it comes to its full potential, when it comes to its full beauty, bloom. And that's what it's about. It's not about the seed stage, and it's not about what's going to happen later. But it's that bloom, bloom that is so attractive. So, since this is not a botany class, why am I telling you about flowers? In my opinion, we too are flowers, and we need to bloom. In this garden that we exist in, the flowers have come up with excuses of why we shouldn't bloom. Ah, what's the point? We're all going to die one day, right? So, what is this blooming business? Just bide your time, stay intact, forget about the blooming business, forget about feeding anybody, forget about everything, forget about the sun, that's what's going to destroy you. Just bide the time and survive. So, when I go around the world and I talk about peace, I really feel I am this person who's going around to the flowers and saying, forget about your excuses, bloom. Will you please bloom? Just bloom. Because that's when you are the most beautiful. That bloom, that bloom is why you are here. That's why you are here.

Not to go to the moon, that's fine. You go to the moon, that's fine. If you go to Mars, that's fine. But you as a flower cannot forget to bloom. Because if that happens, that you forget, then that is the greatest tragedy. So, let me tell you a little bit about you. Am I qualified to tell you about you? I don't know. I don't know. But here it goes. I don't know your name, I don't know your occupation, I don't know where you live, I don't know when you were born, so am I qualified to tell you about you? I don't know. But I'll try. Because I am no different than you. And if I can express my aspiration, perhaps you too have the same aspiration in you. And that aspiration is the aspiration to be fulfilled. To be in peace. To have the ultimate expression of life called joy. Joy. You know sadness. You do. And you hate it so much. You hate it so much. You will do any and everything possible to avoid it. In fact, now bear with me. In fact, I think your definition of success, success, really means to be able to successfully avoid sadness.

Of course you have to think about this. Because you thought, well, it is to have this and have that and have this and have that. No. I mean you realize the whole insurance thing is based on that, right? You watch these commercials about insurance, and you know why I'm smiling? I lost my job. And you're looking at the TV going, you lost your job and you're smiling. But I had insurance. And it's paying for it. Success, for us, becomes to successfully avoid our troubles, our pains. Because when that pain comes, nothing makes us more miserable. But here's the gotcha. Here's the gotcha. The gotcha is that even if you successfully avoided the pain, that does not necessarily mean you have the joy. Ouch. You cannot, in a dark room, take a bucket and say, I know how to get light in here. All I'll do is fill this bucket with the darkness and throw it out the window. And I'll keep doing that till there is light. You can't do that. Light is a presence. Darkness is an absence. If you have secured your place in this world where you will not be bothered by problems, that doesn't mean that joy will automatically say, oh yeah, there's the trouble-free zone, here I go. No, it won't. So, one formula that the world applies is, build your life in such a way, have it in such a way where you are assured no problems. Whilst there have been those in this world who have said, assure that there is joy in your life. And I think you are so much like me, because you too want the real joy in your life.

Now, what does that mean? Go around smiling every minute? I mean, is that what joy is? Yeah, a lot of people think that, you know, look at these people who are enlightened. They wear different clothes. They might have saffron or a white robe. They've got this face and they've got nice gray hair and maybe an Indian tilak. When I see those people, I'm going to tell them a joke. It's like, lighten up. Lighten up. Do you know what that means? Lighten up. Don't be so heavy, right? But it also could mean lighten. Because inside of you, of course there is questions. But inside of you, there is answers too. Inside of you, there is the possibility of feeling pain. But do you know that there is a limitless, limitless possibility of feeling happiness, joy? You have no limit for joy. Your tolerance for pain is very small. Your tolerance for joy is off the scale. When you're having a good time, nobody says, stop this. And when you're in pain, God, here I come. Help me out. This is who we are. This is who we are. Good, bad, right, wrong is not the issue of what I am saying to you does not have implications with your family, your business, this and that. No, none. You can be successful in your business and not be successful in your life. And what I am saying is that if you truly, truly want the ultimate success, it has to include both.

It has to include both. It's like this. Is there anything wrong with rain? Nothing. Rain is good. But not when it's raining inside your house. So far as outside is great. Inside, no good. Where does this happen? Where? Who is happy? Somebody out there? Oh yeah, that person is happy. That person is in peace. What about you? Do you not have the thirst to be fulfilled? Has nothing inside of you ever stirred and say, wow, I want to be fulfilled too. You see, what I talk about, you already know. And the reason why you already know what I am talking about is because that is your very nature, flower. You have a relationship, a long relationship with being content. How many books are there in this world today? Here we have internet. So much information. Can you imagine somewhere long, long time ago, some caveman stood on a hill, looked up, saw all the stars and said, especially after a good dinner, why am I here? What is the purpose of my life? And do you know that people still ask the same question? And people have tried to address it in books. But no, people still ask the same question. Everyone asks the same question. And in my opinion, it's only a matter of those who have and those who haven't yet. Sooner or later you will ask that question. Why am I here? What is the purpose of my life? And so, I cannot tell you in one statement, oh by the way, the purpose of your life is to be happy and peace. I can't do that. That would be stupid. Because that would be coming from me.

It has to come from within you. Do you know how to listen? Do you know how to listen? The thing is, we don't. We know how to hear, put devices in there, do this, say that again. But we don't know how to listen. Listening is an art. If the politicians, the leaders of the world listened to people, this would be a different world. If the husbands listened to their wives, this would be a different world. And dare I say, if the wives listened to their husbands, this would be a different world. If the parents listened to their children, this would be a different world. And if the children could listen to their parents. But we don't listen. When the call of the heart comes, be fulfilled. We don't listen. Our obsession with time. Oh, I don't have time for this stuff. Obsession. Aren't you obsessed with time? Time for this, time for that, I don't have time for this, I don't have time for that, I'll try to make time for you, I'll try to do, time, time, time, time, time, time, time, time, time, time, time, time, time, time, time, time. Biggest misunderstanding there is, you have no control over time. Time's got all the control over you. Time's got your number. You don't have time's number. Time's got your number. You think you can control time? Time's got you with a really nice short leash. What do we have? And I was recently, a few months ago in Portugal, and I was addressing a very nice crowd.

And somebody actually asked me this question about, you know, what about ego? And I said, you know, it's an issue of real ego versus false ego. False ego will get you into a lot of trouble. And if you truly have real ego, you will understand the meaning of humility. So, what do we have? When everything is good, I did this, I did that, I accomplished this. And when things go horribly wrong, I don't know who did this. I would like to get to the bottom of this. There's a story. There was a doctor in India. And he knew that when death came, death was only allowed to take one person. That was the rule. So he worked and worked and worked very hard, and he made a duplicate of himself. An identical duplicate. So when the time came, he figured, well, time's up. He laid down and he put the duplicate right next to him. Death came. Whoa, what's this? Death realized it could only take one, not two. But there's two of them. Identical. So the doctor is lying there as still as he can. And the death is in quite a quandary. My goodness, who do I take? Who do I take? Who do I take? I can't make the mistake. So the death thought and thought and thought and thought and thought. And the death said, Doc, I've got to hand it to you. You're the best.

You even fooled me. My hat's off to you. But you made a mistake. Just one little mistake. The doctor is lying there going, what mistake could I possibly make? I'm the best. And as much as he tried to resist, he said, what? And death said, that. Because we don't listen. When bad times come, we don't listen to those bad times, what those bad times are telling us. They're telling us, hey, you forgot basics of life. Humility, kindness, understanding, clarity. You let those commodities run out of your house, and now you are in trouble. And when the good time comes, we forget the clarity. We forget the humility. How much humility do we need? Just enough to get along with ourselves. That's all. Because if you can get along with yourself, believe me, you can get along with your neighbor. If you can get along with yourself, you can get along with another person in this world. Because we can't get along with ourselves, we can't get along with anybody. And look at this world. We've been placed on the most magnificent place you can imagine. This earth is pretty special. How special? There isn't one like this around for billions of light years. That's a big area. And what are we doing? Busy destroying it.

Why? Because, well, heaven isn't here, is it? We have to die for it. And that's the biggest drawback of heaven. You have to die. Heaven sounds really wonderful. Almost. Almost. I don't like the idea of angels just running around playing harp. Is there a time limit? Or do they just do this day and night? And sometimes I like to wear sweaters, but the temperature is always perfect. So no sweater, just the same clothes again. And summer, summer, summer. It's like being on the equator. And so here is our concepts and ideas of heaven. You will be judged whether you can go to heaven or not. Somebody is watching you. This is how we have looked at God. God sits there and goes, make a mistake. Go ahead. You remember that American actor? He's made quite a few movies. And he always had his gun. Clint Eastwood was his name. Make my day. He'd be out there and he'd have his hand on the gun and the other guy would be reaching for his gun and he would say, make my day. The power that is the kindest, the most powerful, most omnipresent, the kindest, most beautiful power. We've turned that power into, make my day.

Make a mistake, I gotcha. I am watching you everywhere, 24-7. I am watching you 365. Even in your dreams you think about the wrong thing. You're going to have to answer to me. Wow. That's heavy duty. That's heavy duty. But have you looked around? You are in heaven. More magnificent than any that could have been described. More magnificent. Every single day is different. Every cloud has a different shape. Every snowflake that falls is unique. And every angel on this heaven, yes, there are angels here. There are 6 billion of them. Lots of angels. They're here. They just don't know it. Just don't know it. You are the angel that will set, that can set yourself free. And fly. And be. And exist.

You are the one. You're waiting one to come from the sky. That was pretty miraculous how you came. Nothing short of spectacular. I mean, from nothing, all of a sudden, in your mommy's tummy, there you went. And out you came. And you took your breath. And your whole world started to change. Begins with the first breath. You know that? You come out, you're blue. Takes the first breath. You take that breath, and everything starts to change. And the chemical signals are sent to your mommy through the placenta. No more blood. I am on my own. I'm here. The grand entrance. Then all your life, this beautiful, beautiful rhythm of this breath coming in, out, in, out, in, out. And you know how it ends? The symphony ends with the last breath. Out. Not in. Out. And that's it. And in this period, from that first breath to the last breath, what was it all about? What was this life? It was the possibility to be content.

It was the possibility to be fulfilled. This is existence. Existence in heaven. Here on earth, there's a lot of people that are very religious. And again. And again. They read the scriptures, but don't listen. Because if they did, this would not be the situation of the world. Where people are killing people in the name of God. That would not be happening. That would not be happening. Listen. Listen. The Lord's Prayer goes, Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thine will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Here, this is earth. This is what will happen here. People have already given up on that. Gone off. It's not possible. We're too greedy. Everybody got our eyes closed? What colors? What colors are you talking about? Open your eyes. What light are you talking about? Open your eyes.

What possibility are you talking about? Open your eyes. Give your heart a chance. Give yourself a chance. See. Listen. Listen to that rhythm that is inside of you. Do you not understand that something pushes you every day to be better and better and better? Something pushes you every day to be lighter and lighter and lighter. Something pushes you every day to be clearer and clearer and clearer. Something pushes you every day to be in that heaven. And has it not since you were a little child? I love it when they say that through DNA now they can prove that Neanderthals never died out. And I'm like, wow, cool. That explains a lot. They just merged into us. Because how could we ignore? How could we ignore? A voice that is so strong inside every human being calling them to be fulfilled. How can you ignore it? How can you? What do you practice every day? Whatever you practice, you will get good at. So what do you practice? Do you practice frustration? Because you will get frustrated very quickly. And people do. What does it take to frustrate you? All it takes is a horn. Honk. Who did that to me? Who honked at me? If somebody comes in a car and cuts in front of you? You call your child and the child doesn't come? I said come here right now. Oh, I love this. People walk into a restaurant, they sit down, the waiter doesn't come. What kind of restaurant is this? Well, you're the one who walked in. Oh, but we have our expectations.

Do we not? I expect this in my life. I expect this in my life. I expect this in my life. And people come to me and they expect something from me too. Except I don't give it to them. They say, give me peace. And I said, what do I say to them? Sorry, but it's already inside of you. Ha ha. People say, I'm looking for peace. And I say, really? Why? You already have it? Why are you looking for it? That's a big blow up for them. Whoa. Yeah, that's why I say relax. It's okay. This is a beautiful subject. Good news all the way around. What you are looking for is already inside of you. Finished. Oh, but where should I search? You? Why? Why? You want to know why? Here's a clue. Because that's the only place you have never looked. Ever. It is easier to believe that the answer will come from there, from there, from that book, from that session, from that course, from that school, from this, from this, from this. But nobody ever said, here. Nobody. Till people come across me and I say, do you try this? Never did.

People are afraid of knowing. Who are you? People are afraid. If I get to know myself, what if I find something terrible? You have more reason to be scared opening your drawer at home, because there could be a snake in there, than looking within you. People really think darkness is an entity. They have been led to believe there is this thing called the devil. He's got a pitchfork. He wants you. He wants you. Because if you are a dropout, he gets to have you. Why? Because some priest a long time ago was really ticked off at the Pope at that time. So he writes this whole drama of what would happen to that Pope. And he would be boiled in oil. And since then, we have taken it upon ourselves. I don't want to be boiled in oil. Do you know that there is more sadness in this world? The sadness that exists in this world and the pain that some people suffer in this world is a lot, lot, lot graver than being boiled in oil. When somebody jumps out a window, can you imagine their state of mind? How much pain they must be in? And if you offered them a choice, boiled in oil, they'll go, when do we start? That we have taken. I mean, it's like somebody who goes in and out of a Cinderella story all the time. I mean, half the time, you're looking for glass slippers. And half the time, you're just looking for comfortable shoes. And then it's like, where's my pumpkin, where's my car, where's my rat, where's my doorman, where's my husband, where's my parking ticket, where's my chariot? Talk about the confusion that causes. Where's my prince charming? I mean, my husband, I mean, isn't he the prince charming? Why, he doesn't even look like a prince. What happened to my prince charming? Where's the ball, I mean, the dinner, I mean, the restaurant, I mean, the place where I eat, I mean, I'm hungry. I'll take an ice cream cone. And living in and out of all of this, when the reality is very simple, you are blessed.

People go, oh, you know, please, please bless me. People come to me and bless me. And it's like, why should I bless you? You are super blessed. Do you know that? Do you know you're super blessed? But next time you have any doubts you're super blessed, take a breath. Because that breath that comes in and out of you is nothing short of the most incredible blessing there is. You're blessed beyond belief, beyond belief. Do you know that you are made out of different minerals and water and different things? You know that, right? Do you know how much of that stuff is available on this earth? Lots. Lots. But of all that possibility, all that possible potential, you exist. You. Did you know you're unique? As unique as the snowflake? As unique as the flower? Do you know that? There's no one like you. And there will never, ever, again be anyone like you. Never. Ever. The way you smile, the way you think, the way you laugh, the way you cry, the way you sleep, the way you are awake, the way you think, the way you are when you're generous, the way you are when you're kind, the way you love. The way you receive, the way you understand. There will never, ever be another one like you on the face of this earth. Never. What does that mean to you? You're precious. To me? No. You need to understand your preciousness to yourself. See, that's where you begin to know who you are. As Socrates said, know thyself. That's when you begin to know, you begin to understand.

Hey, everything that I'm stating is obvious. It's obvious. If somebody handed you a coin and said there is only one of these in the whole world, do you think that would be precious? Oh yeah. Oh my God. I'm so lucky to have this coin. There's only one of these in the whole world and nobody else has one. And when people do that, I'm like, you're so stupid. There's a whole thing of you that is unique and you are caught up in a coin? This is what awakening means because we are sleeping in this slumber where we are ignoring. So, you've heard the word ignorance, right? Haven't you? Ignorance? And what we usually associate ignorance with is dum-dum, stupid. But do you know the root word for ignorance is not stupid, but it is to ignore. All you have to do is ignore the obvious. And that is the biggest ignorance there is on the face of this earth. Ignore the obvious. What is the obvious? That you are alive. This is obvious. That you are unique. This is obvious. That heaven is within you. That is obvious. That what you're looking for is inside of you. That is obvious. That to remove the darkness you need to bring in the light. That is obvious. That peace that you look for is inside of you.

That is obvious. And that you are blessed beyond belief. That is obvious. But you choose to ignore it. But we want to go, you know, people go in the west, people go on Sundays to the church. In India it's the same thing. They go to the temples on Sunday. And I keep asking people, it's like, why do you do that? Isn't that God's day of rest? You should go on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. Not Sunday. That's when God's resting. And here's my other problem. I was driving in India and I came across, there was traffic so the car stopped and I'm looking and it was a temple and people were going in and coming back out. Now this really got me thinking. Got me thinking. And I could definitely understand them going in. Because after all they're going to God, right? So why are they coming out? I mean, okay, if you're like me, even a little bit, if you found God, say like you're coming back from your office or from McDonald's or something, and you found God, and there's God, what would you do? Stand around for a few minutes and say, nice seeing you God. But my french fries are getting cold. My wife's made this lovely ravioli tonight. I don't want to disappoint. I mean, what would you do? You found God. Oops, I might get a parking ticket. My meter might expire. See you later God. I mean, if I found God, that's that.

I am not budging. So why are these people going to God? I can understand that, but coming back out? It's a little logic question that hit me. Because it's a prearranged thing. Yes, we are going to see God, but not really. And so many people go to the house of God. If somebody told me that's the house of God, I'd go there. I'm not leaving until God comes back. If God is not there, I'm not leaving until God's back. And if God is there, I'm not leaving either. God is like, yes, this is, but let's be realistic. Go home. Look, it's fine. I did not go and start preaching to anyone. What are you doing this for? It's fine. It's perfectly okay. What you believe in, whatever you want to believe in. It's perfectly okay. Whatever you want to believe, it's fine. Because at the end of the day, what matters is what you know, not belief. What do you know? What do you know? What do you know? That's what matters. I can believe all day long, I'm Prince Charming. But at the end of the day also, no, I'm not. So what matters is what I know, not what I believe. In your life, whatever you want to believe, fine.

What do you know? What do you know? Do you know the value of this breath? Do you know the value of that blessing? Do you know how lucky you are, how fortunate you are? All of these things, that's what matters. So that's what I came to tell you is about the garden, and you're the flower. Bloom. Bloom. Please, bloom. Not for my sake, for yours. Bloom. Be exquisitely beautiful that you are. And this will happen. This will happen. When you find that joy inside of you. Not before. You came here tonight, I am very thankful. I'm thankful you listened to words of peace. It's not about 10,000 bulbs, it's each one of the bulbs individually. Because in the process of light, that's how it works. Every candle has to be lit, every lamp has to be lit, and every lamp that is lit can light other lamps. An understanding of peace, an understanding of each individual is what is so quintessentially required in this turmoil today. Ten years ago, something happened that was not very nice. Not very nice at all. I remember exactly where I was when it happened. I was walking from my, I had just come upstairs from my bedroom, I was walking to my office, and my son, my eldest son, was watching TV. And as I came across the room, I said, what movie is that? That's really good special effects. That's what I said.

I had no idea what was going on. I was like, "what movie are you watching? That is intense." And he said, "that's not movie dad, that's happening right now." And I was like, so, since then there has been such a turmoil, and there's only one thing that can help us. Whether this happened or didn't happen is to find our well inside of us. That's the only way, that's the only way never to go thirsty again. Because everything else, in a moment's notice, can change. The only thing that doesn't change is your strength. Your strength. Your beauty. Your joy. You, after all, are a human being. And to me, that's the name of an incredibly beautiful flower. Thank you very much, and good night. Take care. Thank you.