Prem Rawat in Long Beach 2014-01-29

Prem Rawat in Long Beach, California 29th January 2014

So here we are. At the last event that I had in Miami, I gave a bit of a trivia, which is that a bumblebee can fly on one gallon of honey around the world. So I figured I'd give you another trivia today. And that is that when you get to the end of your road, that's it, end of your road, nowhere to go, things look pretty hopeless. That's what it is, the end of the road. Turn around, because that's the beginning of another road. And that's what this life, this existence has to be. It has to be fulfilling every day. It has to be. It has to be clear every day. It has to be beautiful every day. Now I know I may sound like I'm preaching you, telling you that's the way it is for me and it's not for you, la-la-la-la-la-la, but that's not true. These are my objectives too, that I want every day to be as beautiful as it can be. I know people like things that are unique, limited edition. Only so many of these were made and people go, wow, that's really precious. Every day that you live, that you exist, that's it. It doesn't come back. Does that make it precious for you? Does that make it real for you? Do you understand the dynamics of every single day? Do you understand the dynamics of one lifetime? Do you understand the dynamics of every breath? Do you understand the dynamics of existence? Existence, to exist. You, me, every one of us, at times, we measure our life by, oh, it's a great day today, today's sunny, today's warm, today's this, today's that, da-da-da-da-da, and sometimes we measure our life, oh, I don't have that and I don't have that and I wish I could have that and I wish I could have that, and gee, that would be great, and that would be great, and how come I don't have a house like that, and how come I don't have a car like that, and how come I don't have a girlfriend like that, and how come I don't have a wife like that, and how come I don't have a husband like that, and how come I don't have a boyfriend like that? And this drama of ours, the only way I can describe it, that there are two forces in your life, two forces. And you are in the middle of these two forces pulling on you. You have to learn the art, and it is an art, you have to learn the art, which one to resist and which one to let you pull. It's really important. It's really, really important. Some of you who do live in Southern California, tides, rip tides along the ocean.

If you get into a rip tide, what you're supposed to do is just let it go. Don't fight it. And it'll take you out, but then you'll be out of it, and then you can try to get back. What you resist and what you let go, you have to know the difference, and you have to know what you're doing. When clarity pulls on you, do not resist. Don't, just let go. Let it pull you. When frustration tugs on you, resist. You know this, right? All of you know this. So how come you're not great at it? I mean, gee, what do we got here, the youngest person, 18, 19, 20? See, I have 20 years to it. I mean, gee, what do we got here, the youngest person, 18, 19, 20? Work it out. How come you're not just, all of us, not just experts at it? Because of the most incredible human disease, it's eating away humanity. There's a disease. I'm not a doctor. There's a lot of doctors I know are sitting here. I'm not a doctor, and they will not qualify this as a disease. But it is, and it is eating away humanity. It's deadly. It is deadly disease. It's eating away. And not one single country, island, cave, nook, cranny, avenue, street, building is exempt from it. And this disease is called unconsciousness. And it's a bad disease. Once you get it, it's really hard to kick.

Just a few days ago, do you know where I was? I was in jail. Yes, that jail, the one you saw in the video. That's where I was. And I had the most marvelous time you can imagine. Now I speak in front of a lot of people. Sometimes it's 500,000, 100,000, 60,000, 70,000, 10,000, 5,000, 3,000, 2,000, whatever. And I had the greatest time because when I said the word unconsciousness, I had an audience that went, because, oh, because we have the luxury to agree and not agree. I've been doing this for so long, I can hear people thinking, yeah, that's not the biggest disease, unconsciousness. I can think of three or more other disease that are worse than that. They have come, some people come to the audience to disagree. As though if they're going to get an award at the end. I'm sorry, there is no award for disagreeing with me or for agreeing with me. All I am trying to do this evening is to draw your attention to certain things that you usually don't pay attention to, even though you know them, like clarity, like understanding, like simplicity, like fulfillment, like heart, you know these things, but you don't acknowledge them, not always. You have honed this. This, it's like a person who has two legs, but only walks on one, only walks on one. And so one leg looks like Popeye, and the other one looks like Olive Oyl, and I don't care what they think, but they limp. It's called limping, they limp. And you can tell a person who limps, you can hear them limping. When they put their foot, the Popeye foot down, it makes noise, and the other one kind of just drags along and then, you know, all of us at some time or the other have a sprained ankle or something like that, and we hobble along, and it's a particular signature, you just kind of know. And if you have had your foot broken, and you got a cast on it, well, then it's a very, very particular signature, you know. Does that sound like how we walk in this path of life? Absolutely. Limping along. Everyone, all those people who believe in God limping along, where are you? How come I don't see you? Come on down. We're waiting for you.

And all those who don't believe in God, I knew you didn't exist. The only difference is, one is the left one, Popeye, right one, olive oil. And the other one's the right one, Popeye, left one, olive oil. Limping along. You know, we have more information available to us now than we ever did, thanks to, thanks to the www worldwide web. Web is the key word here, web. We have more wars. We have more hungry people. We have more ignored people on the face of this earth. We have more educated people now than we ever did, ever, ever. I mean, you don't even have to have an affinity towards education these days. It'll just fall into your head somehow. Why this abandonment of humanity? I have seen human beings imitate a chicken. They cluck like a chicken. They try to walk like a chicken. And in fact, there are some people who are so good at it. They really take on a personality of a chicken. I mean, they jock their heads around, you know, and if you have seen a chicken, but I've never seen a chicken ever trying to imitate a human being. And this is usually contributed to the size of the brain. People say that chickens have a very tiny little brain. They can't figure this out, how to emulate a human being. It's either that, or they're so smart. That they go, you know what? I'm not going to emulate a human being. Those things eat me.

Those things cause havoc, problems. So there I am in jail. I'm talking to these people. I have nothing to sell. I am mentioning that peace is inside of you. And they concur. In the most unlikely place, in the most unlikely place, we are having a conversation about peace. I mean, my God, you know. We should be talking about what's going on out there, you know. And you know, there's things happening, and you guys are missing out on this and this. No, no, no. We're not doing that. We're talking about peace. And we're actually enjoying it. They're enjoying it, and I'm enjoying it. I'm talking about peace. Enjoying talking about peace. And they are understanding what I am saying. Because believe me, I have been with audiences who had no clue. They're like. And that's why I have to tell a joke once in a while, so they'll close their mouth in case a fly or something flies in. No clue. So what is this thing about peace? What is this thing about this disease called unconsciousness? Because believe me, if you want to get to peace, you got to cure the disease of unconsciousness. And there's only one cure for this disease of unconsciousness.

And that cure is consciousness. Do you want peace in your life? You can have peace in your life. Why? How? Because peace is in you. Not somewhere else out there. Not in some book. No. No. Nobody has to bring peace to you. You have peace already inside of you. You have consciousness in you, and you have unconsciousness in you. You have hate in you, you have love in you. You have clarity in you, you have compassion in you. You have confusion in you. You have mortality in you, and you have the immortal in you. Talk about everything. Right there, you cover it. The mortal in you, and the immortal in you. What you need is not a piece of paper. You need a mirror to understand what is happening. To turn within, and in the quietness of you, listen not to words, but that feeling. Wanting to appreciate the feeling of being alive. Have you ever given a chance to those things that are good within you? Those things that seek out clarity, and become happy at the thought of having clarity, and become elated at the presence of clarity. Of course you have. Of course you have.

But is that what you nurture in your life? I have a favorite story I tell. Once, I'll cut it short, really short. People don't have a long attention span these days. I wonder if anybody has sent me an SMS. When is my email coming? And you're free. Free from what? You're not free. You're not free. Your thoughts. Are not serving you. They're serving somebody else. I wonder what he thinks about me. So, I'll cut it really short. This guy, he's an archer. He goes, he exhibits. Goes from village to village, town to town. Shows how good he is. Pulls out his bow, pulls out his arrow, and target after target. You know, splitting arrow after arrow. He's really good. And everywhere when he goes and he shows how good he is, everybody comes and applauds and it's great. One day, this man who used to sell oil, you know, carry a bamboo and a pot on one end, a pot on the other one to balance. He goes around also from village to village selling oil. Happened to be in the back. Watching this archer exhibit his fine archery.

And every time the audience claps, the guy with the oil goes, it's only a matter of practice. And first time the archer hears it, it irks him a little bit. But he goes on. She keeps going. And then audience applauds again. And it's only a matter of practice. Irks him even more. And this happened throughout his whole exhibition. And he couldn't stand it anymore. And he went over to the guy with the oil. And he said, what's with you? I am such a fine archer. I can do this. People come to watch me, to see me. They applaud me. And you're just sitting in the back going, it's just a matter of practice. What do you mean it's a matter of practice? I'm really good at what I do. Don't you understand? And the old salesman said, okay, let me show you something. So he takes out a bottle. And you remember those old coins that used to have a hole in them a long time ago? Have you ever seen one of those? Maybe you're too young. But a long time ago, they used to, just like a donut, put a hole in it for some reason. I guess you could string it on a string then and keep them around your neck or around your pants or something. But they put a hole in them. And they were pretty small. So he took one of those coins.

He put it on top of a bottle. Lifted up this great big pot of oil. And start pouring it. And not spilling a drop. And the oil would go in this fine line right through the center of the coin and into the bottle. And after he had shown that, he said, now you do it. And the archer understood that he could not. And that, indeed, it was a matter of practice because the archer practiced archery. And he was good at it. This guy practiced pouring the oil. And he was good at it. Cute story. Better when it's embellished because it's so little. But question, what do you practice? Because the point of the story is, whatever you practice, you get good at it. We know that. Whatever you practice the most, you get good at it. So what do you practice? What are you good at? Getting angry? How long does it take you to get angry? Very quick. Today I saw it. I saw it. We're coming. And this guy is trying to make a u-turn. There's too many cars. And I guess we didn't yield to him. Didn't have to.

He got very upset. And he was like looking at the person who was driving. And you could tell he was not saying nice things. And I'm sitting there going, gee, that guy got angry. I mean, he's really angry. I mean, why is he so angry? And I'm driving here. And the time that I was given to leave where I'm staying was not long enough. And then I'm looking at my watch going, uh-oh, I'm going to be late. Now I'm starting to get. Angry. And I said, you know what? It'll be OK. Not that I want to be late. It'll be OK. Because as part of planning these events, we plan for contingencies. Sometimes there's too much traffic out there. The audience doesn't show up. So we have to delay it. We can delay it. Sometimes I don't show up. That is on the rare side. But once or twice it has happened. Over a span of 40-some years. But the point is, what do we practice? I know one thing we practice every single day is unconsciousness. I thought of a word today.

And I looked up its meaning. It's an interesting word. It's a very common word. Very common. But what does it exactly mean? That's what I was interested in. So the word is restless. You're familiar with that word, right? Restless. We all get restless, don't we? You know what it means? It means exactly that. Restless. No rest. That's what it means. No rest. What rest are we talking about? Then in this beautiful ocean that resides within you, come and rest. Within you is the resort of resorts. Within you is the most comfortable place you can ever experience. I know there are people who are very afraid. I was like, well, well, well, if I, if I, if I, if I was to go inside, I mean, what, what, what, what, what, what would I find? Gee, don't you hope it's good stuff? It's inside of you. What do you want to find inside of you? Horrible stuff? Oh, it might be, I mean, geez, you know. No. Inside of you is the most comfortable. As this is the mortal so is within the immortal. As this can be confusing, within it's clear. As this is a drama. Of course it is.

Every day it's a drama. Well, I mean, what do you need a movie for? Just look out here. There is love. There is hate. There is suspense. There is adventure. There's mystery. As this is drama. Inside is reality. Constant, unchanging reality. Constant, unchanging and reality. Pretty good words. That's where you need to go. I was watching the Weather Channel. No, I'm not a geek or this or that. I mean, just watching the Weather Channel to see the weather. Because, you know, I'm going to be traveling and I had been traveling, so I just get my heads up. And they have a little segment these days called Wish You Were Here. And it's their reporters, you know, the Weather Channel's reporters, they go out to all these really beautiful places with a beautiful beach, crystal clear water. And they go out there and they're reporting back. And they're basically saying, wish you were here. It's like a little thing of, you know, coercing people to go take vacations. It's Jamaica and this and that and Caribbean. I can tell you one thing.

Every person that has been within has called out to the entire humanity and said, wish you were here. Because there is no place like home. And that's your home. And because it is a reality, it works. Even in the confines of a correctional institution. That's the facade. That's just the facade. A human being is a human being. And as long as there is a human being within them is this most precious thing that is available to them. Without it, without recognizing our immortality, without recognizing our immortality, all we are left with is mortality. And everybody hates it. You go into the doctor's office for a checkup. Am I OK? Because the doctors have terribly strong, you know. Yeah, you have six months to live. That's it. Six months to live. And if anybody told you that, anybody else told you that, like your husband. Honey, sweetheart, I have something to tell you. You have six months to live. You better, you better be wearing sophisticated protective gear everywhere. You may as well be in a suit of armor. And then just, you know, kind of open it up a little bit and go, Honey, I have something to tell you. You're only going to live six months. Or your wife comes.

Sweetheart, I want to tell you something. You have only six months to live. And immediately, are you going to poison me? You know, it was like that joke. Somebody was talking to this widow and said, Well, how many times have you been married? And she goes, Oh, about six or seven times. So what happened to the first husband? Well, he died of food poisoning. He ate some mushrooms and he died of food poisoning. So what happened to the second one? Well, he died of food poisoning, too. And what happened to the next one? Well, he died of food poisoning, too. And what happened to your last husband? Well, he didn't die of food poisoning. So what happened? He died of a concussion. Well, how did he get a concussion? He wouldn't eat his food. So if anybody told us, anybody told us, you have six months to live, we would be like, oh. And the doctor says, whom you pay? Of course, he's going to charge you for it, too. It's not like, OK, since you only have six months to live, this is complimentary. You know, I know you've already had bad enough news. And let me just make it a little bit easier for you by giving it to you for free. This is this checkup. And the only checkup you ever got for free happens to be the one with the bad news. But then it's like, oh, my God. Just because the doctor said it. I only got six months. You may only have six months to live, period. But if somebody else tells you, it's not acceptable. Doctor tells you, oh, my God, oh, my God, oh, my God.

And I can understand how terrible that would be. And then the person goes through this whole thing, you know, this can't be, this can't be, this can't be. Then they accept it. And then I've seen them. They become bubbly, bubbly, appreciating every day that they get after the six months because the doctor was wrong. Somebody actually came to me and said, oh, you know, the doctor has given me six months to live. And so I said, you better find a better doctor. And so through this whole network that we have, we actually took this person to a better doctor. And the doctor said, I don't see it stamped on your foot that you only got six months to live. I don't know where the other doctor read that from. Because there isn't actually a book that says, oh, you only have six months to live. You know, where he looks up your name and goes, oh, you only have six months to live. There isn't a book like that, I don't think. Maybe doctors have one. But then there's all these other people. I mean, they just keep six months one day, six months, two days, six months, three days, six months, six years, six months, 20 years, six months, 30 years. And then it's like, oh, wow, I don't want to be distracted. But gee, why does it have to be dire straits before clarity kicks in? Can't we have it kick in before the dire straits? And you know what that process is called? Being conscious. You've heard many people say, oh, today is really important. Why? Somebody had a sign on their refrigerator, you know, smile. I said, that's horrible. So what's so horrible about that? That's great. People will look at it and smile. I said, if that is why they will smile, that's horrible.

You should smile. Because something inside of you makes you smile. People pray to God. Oh, God, you know, please make my crops grow better. God, I've had a Mercedes, I need to move on to the rolls. Whatever. Because these days, everybody shoots a prayer. I mean, it's like, OK, let's pray. We're about to begin the football game. Let's pray. We're about to lose. Let's pray. We're about to win. Let's pray. We're about to go home. Let's pray. We're about to leave home. Let's pray. We're going to kill everybody. Let's pray. We're going to blow up known civilization. Let's pray. And that's it. Pray, pray, pray, pray, pray, pray.

You want to pray? Pray. Great. But what should your prayer be like? Santa Claus wish list. I've been a good boy. Can I have my teddy girl? I've been a good boy. Can I have this? I've been a good boy. Why don't I have this? I've been a good boy. Can I have a promotion? Or should the prayer, I mean, excuse me, should the prayer be, thank you. Thank you for this life. Thank you for this breath. Thank you for today. Thank you for this moment. But it isn't. And it isn't because there is no experience of today. Now, got up, uh, Sunday, I can sleep in. What is the experience of the moment? What time is it? That's the moment. You want to feel the moment? What time is it? You see the watch? Everybody has one. Like, oh, yeah, let's see. Look at my watch. There are some people, you know, they have watches that are like that thick, that could give you a concussion. If you went to scratch your head or something and forgot that the thing was there, you'd kill yourself. It should actually be outlawed from cockpits because it could be a lethal weapon. But there are people, look at the time, don't understand the value of it. Doubt.

What is it telling you? You want to know what it's telling you? You're not going to be here forever. And it always seems to go in one direction. You know, they do have joke clocks that go counterclockwise, but it just goes clockwise. You don't get a reprieve. It's not like you can turn back the hands and go, I got an extra hour. You don't. Understanding. What does that mean to us? Understanding, understanding what clarity means. Understanding, understanding, not, there are people who love to question. Question is good, good, good, good, good, good, good. It's good to question. But find the answer too. Without finding the answer, what good is it? I wonder, I wonder, I wonder, I wonder, I wonder, I wonder, I wonder, I wonder, I wonder, I wonder. Wonder, wonder, that's what people do. Wonder, and they wonder, and they wonder, and they wonder, and they wonder. Is there really a God? And some say, oh, definitely. You shouldn't be wondering if there is a God. And some people go, no, there is a God. There's no reason to go, ah. And some people go, well, if there is a God, how come there's all this crazy? They wonder why this happens. They wonder what happens, and they wonder what I was in my last lifetime. And there are people who go, don't wonder what you were in your last lifetime. I can tell you what you were. You were an elephant in your last lifetime.

It's like, ah, now I wonder why I have such a big appetite. Oh, my God. O-M-G-L-O-L. The stuff people have wondered up is unbelievable. I've got a God, a God, a God. He's been around for a long time. He must be old. God's a he, not a she. He. God is this. God is that. And this is how you get to him. And this is where you're going to go. And you're going to die. And then you're going to go up. And then a few months ago, yes, the Earth is ending. And everybody come on up. And we're all going to go up. And we're going to go down. And we're going to do this. And we're going to do that. And the whole world wonders. And no answers. No answers.

I say to you, it's OK to wonder if you have answers. It's OK to ask questions, but get answers. So where are the answers? What do you think? Since the questions came from within you, guess where the answers are? Within you. Within you. Within you is the vacation spot of the universe. Known universe. The vacation spot. The vacation spot in the entire known universe. And there's people who wonder if there's aliens. You know, go to the border. When you go to an international airport, just stand by the immigration. They have it for non-US. Just look at that side. They're all aliens. That's what government's official position is. Of course there is aliens. And they came from out there. Flew in, especially if you're at the airport. But are they out there? Are there aliens out there? Some people are like, absolutely, there are aliens out there. Well, maybe there are aliens out there. Maybe there are not aliens out there. What difference does it make to you? You are here courtesy of not aliens, but the courtesy of this breath. I know I can hear people thinking, going, no, no, no, no. Maybe, you know, scientifically, maybe it was aliens that came from out there.

The little amoebas and bacterias and then, yeah. But you are alive because of the courtesy of this breath. Courtesy of this breath. Don't you understand how simple it is? When you were born, that's what the doctor was looking for. Are you breathing or not? I mean, maybe you were born with all your teeth. And maybe you were born with sunglasses. And maybe you were born with a cowboy hat. And maybe you had the finest pairs of cowboy shoes on. And maybe you were born with the best jeans, pre-seasoned jeans available to mankind. And maybe you were born with the most sophisticated watch. But if you weren't breathing, that's it. Hello. And the doctor hits you, in case you weren't. Hits you in the back to get you to breathe. He takes that little vacuum thing he has, that pump, and sticks it into your throat to suck out any liquid so you can breathe. Thank you. And when you go away from this world, last form of verification will be, has he or she stopped breathing? Breathing. You know, E-K-E-E-G-E, or whatever they have there, goes flat. Everything goes baaaaaam. And there you are, just breathing away, then you're not dead. But everything else is, Oh no, you're fine. You're just great. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. Maybe two doctors playing table tennis, you know, electronic table tennis on the thing.

But you're not breathing. You're gone. With breath it begins. With breath it ends. And it is one thing you will practice every day. And how come you don't understand the value of it? You should. You should understand that this is the blessing of all blessings. There are people who say, oh there, you know, there are people who are blessed. Are you breathing? If you are, you're blessed. You are blessed. You are amazingly blessed. You're incredibly blessed and there can be no greater blessing. There. And of course, you know, it's kind of like that's what the dynamics of it were in San Antonio. Here they are. And they can take both tacks. They can see the hopelessness of it. And that's there. It's hopeless. I mean, it's not like, you know, somebody's just going to open the door and you just got to walk out. That's pretty hopeless. You're in there for as long as you're in there for. And it's not like, you know, HGTV, the home and garden TV is going to come in and redecorate it every weekend. And so you get a little change of pace or this or that.

No, that's not a happening thing. So there's hopelessness and there is hopefulness. And they found hope because hopelessness was inside of them and hope was inside of them. So it really sounds like the human being is full of treasures. And if those treasures have not been explored and used, they have to be used. Consciousness has to be used. You cannot just say, I have consciousness. I have experienced consciousness. No, because that's the fallacy people have about peace. You experience it one day and that's it. I definitely have experienced peace once. It was a long time ago when I fell in the bathtub and hit my head. I mean, it was very peaceful for a while. No, peace has to be felt every day. My God, every day, every hour, every minute, every second. And the time moment you're not feeling peace, something is wrong. Not right. Something is wrong. And I'm not just saying that that's only true for you, not for me. That's true for me, too. Believe me, when I am not in that place, it's not good. And it is wrong. It is wrong. So, I have just told you, everything you could ever want, need to live this life, to live this life to its fullest, you already have.

So, what do you think of that? Some of you? Some of you? I knew that. Come on. Don't say that. Because if you knew that, and then didn't use it, that makes matters much worse. I've read that before. So, you came across a true marker and you ignored it. A lot of people are, how do I begin? Well, common sense would dictate, common sense would dictate, that at least the first thing you can do is start accepting it. That it's all here. And quit wasting your time looking around. Because the one that you have been searching for has always been here. It's good news. It's really, really good news. But people don't want good news. They want interesting news. Sorry, I don't have interesting news. I just have good news. That's all. That's all I have. That's all I have. You have a gift. All of you have a gift. This is exactly what I told those inmates. You have a gift. Find it. Gift doesn't have to be something huge. It can be something that you make somebody smile. Make somebody laugh. Now, cry doesn't count. I know some people have that gift too. They can make some people really cry. But that doesn't count. But what counts is whatever your gift is in this life. And if that gift is to find that inner peace, hone it. Become good at it. That's all I have to say tonight. Thank you very much for coming. And good night. And Happy New Year.