Prem Rawat: 25550 Days

Prem Rawat: 25550 Days

People are understanding something, having peace in their lives, and you can be a part of the magic regardless of where you are.

Thank you. We have come here, obviously, to hear about peace, but let me begin this evening with a joke. Now, the way the joke goes is there's this guy, he's standing on the side of the street, and he's watching these two other guys, and what they're doing, he just can't believe, because he sees them, and one is digging a hole, and the other one is filling the hole right behind him, and they keep going down the street. One's digging the hole, and the other one is filling the hole. And after a while, the guy just could not stand it anymore, so he went over to them and said, "What are you doing? I mean, I've been watching you for such a long time. You keep digging the hole, and this guy behind you keeps filling the hole." And he said, "Yeah, I understand, it looks really odd, but the fact of the matter is that we are a team of three. And I dig the hole, and there's another guy, he plants the tree, and then this other guy fills the hole. But today, the guy who plants the tree called in sick. So we're just continuing without him."

So, in any case, why did I tell you that joke? Yeah, good point. Because there's a quintessential element, and if that element is not present, then whatever we are doing in our lives can be a bit like that joke. And that quintessential element is peace. Whatever we do, that's not the issue. To a lot of people, that's the issue. To me, no, that's not the issue. What is the issue is do we have peace in our lives? Not the other guys. Because so many times I hear it said, "They need peace." No. We, I, need peace in my life. If I don't have it, then the essential ingredient is missing. It's not about the telephones. It's not about the cell phones. It is not about going to the moon. It's not about space exploration. It's not about economy. It's not about politics. It's not about all the things that people get into. But the question really is, do you, as a human being on the face of this earth for a limited period of time, have peace in your life? Imagine, if you will, a guitar that is beautifully crafted. Mother of pearl inlays, gold knobs for tuning, the most exquisite wood, but no strings. What can you do with this guitar? You can play it like a drum. Hit somebody over the head. Use it as a table. Let's see, what all could you do with this guitar? You could sit on it, if it's not too delicate. You could definitely beat out a rhythm. If somebody was trying to steal your luggage, you could hit them over the head. Well, basically, you can do anything you want to do with this guitar. Anything you want to do with this guitar, save one. And you know what that is? Play it. If it doesn't have the strings, that's the thing you cannot do. Everything else you can do, but for everything else, this wasn't made. It was made to be played. And that's how it is, that without peace, we can do all the other things. But in a way, is that what we were made for? Is that the reason that we are here for? Is that not our potential to experience peace?

Food does not need a plate. It doesn't. You're hungry? You can eat without a plate, no problem. Especially thanks to McDonald's. You don't need a dining room, your car will do. The drive-in, you feel a little hungry, just drive right up, give the order. Oh, it's so silly, giving that order. And I would like and there's, you know, you're trying to read it and everything. Yes, I'll have two big milkshakes and I'll have two big cokes or I'll have two orders of french fries and I'll have this and I'll have that. And then off you go and come up to the window and there it is. And of course, there's no plate. Food does not need a plate, but the plate needs the food. No food, the plate's never going to get used. Peace may not need us, but we need the peace. It is when the peace dances in our heart that we become beautiful. You know, right now, if the peace isn't there, oh, you've got to get the lipstick, you've got to get the powder, you've got to get, you know, the magnifying mirror, you've got to get everything. And of course, you can't shave without a mirror. It could be disastrous. Why? Because there is a want in us to look beautiful. Why? Because we all like beauty. We do. People go, I don't care about beauty. Yeah, you do. You do. You really think that that rose is trying to attract you? The rose doesn't want you. You will destroy it, you will devastate it, and you are not a good pollinator. Because you don't go around rose to rose, you know, putting your head in there. A bumblebee is a perfect pollinator. Everything that the rose is, is for that bee, is for that butterfly, is for that, so that it can help pollinate. So why do you find it beautiful? You look at a mountain, why do you find it beautiful? It's just rock. Next time you think you are in love with rock, go to a quarry and pick one up and bring it home. No. It is that setting, it is that composition, it is that, because there is something in you that is beautiful and it connects to beauty and it wants beauty. What is it in you that likes to hear good news? Do you like to hear good news? Or are you one of those that just gets thrilled when the police officer says, I'm going to give you a ticket for speeding and now that I see your license is expired, I'm also going to arrest you. And because today is Friday evening, you won't be out of jail till Monday morning. And you go, oh man, that's the best news I've had all week. No. You want to hear good news because that good news is something that favors you. Favors, not opposite, but favors you. If you heard your neighbor won the one billion dollar lottery, will this be considered good news? The wife comes home one day and says to the husband, honey, pack up.

I just won the one million dollar lottery. And the husband said, where are we going? And the wife said, not we, you are leaving. Who? I mean, of course, you know, there are people who are very passionate and very kind and very considerate and to them it's like, yes, yes, you know, my neighbor won the one billion dollar lottery. I am happy for him. I can tell you one thing, you'd be a heck lot more happier if that winner was not the neighbor, but you. Because you wouldn't go around saying, I'm so sad my neighbor didn't win it. Good news, something that favors you. So, of course, if you talk about peace, it is all good news because something has favored you. And as this breath comes into you, you are being favored. Is that too simple? I mean, I say that at so many events that I do. And I see sometimes people's reactions like, that's boring. You saw 25,550 video. That's about the average age of 70. So people say, well, no, 70, that's too young. I want to live to be 100. Alright, fine, 100 it is. So how many days? 100 years. How many days? 36,500. You think that's a lot? I don't think so. Because we all live under the illusion we're going to live for a million years. A zillion years. No. And what do you think is going to happen? Well, maybe to find out what is going to happen, let's start with what happened a long time ago. Your mother gave you birth.

I hope. No pun intended. And what were they looking for? Were you breathing or not? Because if you weren't breathing, the doctor will take this, you know, they've got the syringes these days. In the old days, they used to just hold you upside down and give you a nice whack. That gets things going. So you went, ouch! And then you started breathing. What a start. But it was important that you were breathing. Extremely important that you were breathing. If you weren't breathing, you think you'd come home? Morgue. So then you came home and you played and you discovered and you were sent to school and you just took to it and then you went to high school and then you went to college and you graduated and you were the best at it and so immediately you got this job and you got promoted. I mean, I'm talking ideal stuff here, but bear with me. Things just happened and happened and happened and you got very famous and people were just lining up to be, you know, just touch you, nothing else. I mean, there you were. You were the superstar. You were the success story. People looked at you like, wow, that's who I want to be. You were the top of your game at the apex of the curve. The expert. And what will be the fate that belies you? One day, this breath will be no more. So then there's another kid and he comes out and he's breathing too and he hates school and if success is a bell curve, he is the point where the ding ding attaches. The bottom. He never succeeded at anything. Nobody wanted to be around him.

Failure was too nice of a word for his life. What fate lies for him in wait. Same exact one. One according to this world took this route. Another one took this route. They started the same way and they're going to end up the same way. And what is common to them? Money? No. This guy has too much. This guy doesn't have enough. And this is the government standard, right? Because this guy pays taxes like you wouldn't believe. This guy is exempt because he can't. This guy is successful. This guy is unsuccessful. This guy was voted most likely to succeed. This guy was voted nobody wanted to vote. But as human beings, this and this remains the same. So when I say that you are being favored, I am saying that you are alive. And guess what? That makes you this, regardless of this. Success, not a failure. And in this thing called existence, there is a need for peace. Because without that, empty-handed you can't and empty-handed you are going to. The only thing that will outdo you is your headstone. Because it's made out of stone. It will bury your name until somebody cleans it up and puts somebody else's name on it and reuses it.

But so far you are alive. You must understand your need for peace. Peace is very ill-defined in this world. When you talk to people about peace, they don't actually know what you're talking about. Some people say, oh peace, yeah the world peace, world peace. Then they say, what is the next statement? It's never going to happen. Great! One misidentified person that needs peace, not you, the world. On top of that, to make matters worse, it cannot happen because there's too much greed, there's too many problems, there's this, there's that, there's that, there's that, there's that, and that's why I say it is not the world that needs it, it is us as individuals who need the peace. And where is it? Where is peace? Most people are waiting for the heavens to part some angel figure with wings and of course rays of light would be nice, the Jacob's ladder in the background, descend upon this earth, which is always problematic because the earth isn't flat. So everybody can't see this person. So if this happens over Australia, Indians, Europeans, and Americans will totally miss it. And then of course you've got the time zone factor, because I'm sure this angel would come and light has to be there for the Jacob's ladders. Well, a few hours this way or that way and it's dark. But people are waiting for this. The fact that people are waiting for this isn't the problem. The problem is how long they've been waiting for it. That's the problem. Some have been waiting 2,000 years. Can you imagine? You're at the airport to catch your flight and say, ladies and gentlemen, your flight has been delayed for 2,000 years. What do you think you would say to yourself? If you're flying in an airplane, the captain comes on and says, ladies and gentlemen, the airport is congested, the weather is bad, we will be holding for about 2,000 years. I mean, isn't there anybody who would say, are you serious? That's ridiculous. Holding for 6,000 years, 2,000 years, depends. Where are you from? Some on this planet Earth have been waiting for 6,000 years, some have been waiting for 4,000 years, some have been waiting for 2,000 years. But all of them are going into thousands.

So you go on a date and you have been told that there's this really beautiful girl and the date has been set up with this really beautiful girl and she will meet you at this really nice restaurant. So you get ready and you go and the time is being given, it's like 9 o'clock, be there. So there you are and you're waiting and 10 o'clock comes and she's not there. 11, no. 12, no. 1, no. 2, no. Morning, a.m. 3, no. 4, no. 5, no. 6, no. 7, no. 8, no. How long are you going to wait? Seriously. Some may go to the extent where the restaurant closes. So maybe at 12.30, 1 o'clock, sorry sir, we can't wait for you here. Can you imagine waiting for thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands of years? And here's the ridiculous part of it. The peace that you are looking for is already inside of you. See I told you peace was all about good news. It's about good news. The peace that you are looking for, the joy that you are looking for, the simplicity that you are looking for, the understanding that you are looking for doesn't matter what you call it. It is not offended by names. It's already inside of you. So what do you have to do? What do you have to do? Hang on.

Just a minute. I will explain what you have to do. You have to open your eyes wide open and look at reality. Not some dream. Not some fantasy. You remember? Maybe you used to do it, but you're sitting in a classroom, the teacher is going on, and you're daydreaming. And all of a sudden, you're so caught up in your daydream that you don't hear the teacher maybe you didn't do it, but maybe you saw other kids doing it. There's 7 billion people on the face of this earth. Can you believe it? There's a lot of those billions daydreaming. Total disregard for what is happening. No understanding. How many of you get bored when you get stuck in traffic? How many? But next time, I've got a cure for this. Next time, you get stuck in traffic because the traffic is moving too slowly. Just understand one thing. You're not going slow. This planet Earth is going around the sun at a whopping speed of 67,062 miles an hour. A 9 millimeter bullet travels at approximately 900 miles an hour. Concord went approximately 1,200 miles an hour. And wasn't it a thing of beauty? You, on this earth, are going at a whopping speed of 67,062 miles an hour. Don't honk that horn. Relax. You're going somewhere. And you're not going to get a ticket for going that. And your BMW, Mercedes, Holden, Citroen, Peugeot, whatever you drive, would simply burn up at that speed.

Look at the reality, because it is simple. What is the first reality? You are alive. You are alive. No, you haven't been taught to understand that. You have been taught the birthday that comes once a year, that's the special day. Most of the relatives will come together on two special occasions for you. One is when you get married, and two when you die. I want to teach you to understand the value of every single day that you are alive, because it is irreplaceable. That's the reality. That you weren't, you are, and you won't be. That's the reality. And this isn't about death. This is about living, existing, and knowing what it means to be. Not daydreaming, oh yeah, Jacob's ladder, that's nice. But the angel has come. You are the angel. Who is this savior? Who is this savior for? This savior has come for you. You, I think, are eminently more qualified to save yourself than anyone else, because you know everything about you, and exactly where you need to be saved, and where you can do without. And nobody has to second guess you. And you are the eminently more qualified to say, yes, I think I've been saved, than anybody putting words in your mouth, I think you've been saved. So, open your eyes. Start to see. Start to hear the celebration of taking this breath. Because it brings life.

The celebration of this moment. Of today. Of tomorrow. Because the one that opens their eyes, they have to plan so many things, because they have to plan how they're going to celebrate tomorrow as they have done. To wish from the depth of your heart to be fulfilled, and to know that in no uncertain terms that that wish will be. To wish for wisdom, for you know that that wisdom that you seek resides in. In a way, all I'm telling you, please put some strings on the guitar. Could you play that guitar if it had finger smudges on it? So far it had the strings, of course. Could you play that guitar if it didn't look all shiny? Of course. Because it's beauty, it's purpose gets completed when that twang of the perfectly tuned strings and the fingers roll across those bars as the strings are strummed. And music, music is played. The smile, your being, your gratitude is your music. But it'll come when the guitar has the strings. Does the water need the glass? Does the glass need the water to look good? You carry peace every day. To know that peace, to feel that peace will fill your heart with gratitude for thankfulness, for being alive. That's reality, not your explosion of anger. That's not reality. When you are not in that reality, then you are a victim to everything else. What? Anger, fear, doubt. Are these things real? Is anger real? Of course. Is doubt real? Of course. But their reality is the absence reality, like darkness. Darkness in itself is nothing except the lack of. Darkness is very real, but it is an absence.

Court! Then clarity! Court! Then understanding. Court! Invite! Invite in your life that sweetness of existence. To be aware, to be conscious, not unconscious. Today in this world, you say the wrong word and you could start riots. People go, we have to say this. Why? Because freedom of speech. So I say to them, is keeping quiet also freedom of speech or not? Is keeping quiet speech? Of course it is. All you who are married know this. That's how your wife talks to you when she is mad. And you get it. You get it. We don't know how to live with our neighbor. We don't know how to be in this world drunken. Some are drunk in the liquor of technology. You know who the coolest guy was a long time ago? I mean, genius. The guy who invented smoke signals. I'm sure hundreds of people must have come up to him and said, man, you are so we think this is it. How can it get better? Technology. Now you don't even have to do this. You can talk. Does it work? Only if you're alone. Because all of a sudden if somebody hears you talking into that thing saying, I would like to know what the weather is like in Melbourne and somebody heard you, they'll go, what are you saying? And of course that thing will say, I did not understand what you said. Technology. Drunken with technology.

Some are drunken with power. They cannot have enough. Some are drunken in their ideas. This is the way the world is? Nah. People have come tonight. They have heard me. I've talked about reality and they say, nah. This is reality. This isn't reality. This looks like reality. Your home. What you call your home had somebody else in it before you. And they called it their home. And after you, it'll be somebody else's home. My home? Home doesn't care about you. You care about it. That's reality. All this technology. People are going to look at us and go, man. They really got off on that little thing that they would carry around. And laugh at us. Don't you see all this has happened before? The Roman chariots. Oh man, that's a cool chariot. Look at those wheels on that thing.

All this has played out on this planet before. If the planet was to look at us, it would do nothing but laugh. Here we are the ones. Yes, we are human beings. The master. This planet has seen the dinosaurs. And you would be lucky if you could be as big as a toenail of some of those dinosaurs. I mean, some of those things have teeth. You could be used as a floss pick. But they went too. They're gone too. Do you know the moon is slowly pulling away? Do you also know that the sun is getting bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger as it's destroying itself? And do you know? Oh no, it's not going to happen tomorrow. I'm not a doomsday guy. In fact, a few months ago, there was that whole thing of the doomsday, doomsday, the world's going to end tomorrow. And somebody actually said that to me, came to me and said, so you think it's going to end tomorrow? And I said, come on. Do you have any idea how many people have predicted it's going to end tomorrow? And they've all been wrong. Is it going to end? Yes. That's what you need to understand. You need to understand your strength and you need to understand your vulnerability. Your strength lies when you recognize and understand that reality and your weakness lies when you ignore it. That's ignorance. Ignorance, the word ignorance actually comes from the word ignore. Do you know that? When you ignore something, we say, oh yeah, he's ignorant. We think that he didn't know.

No, not from he didn't know. He ignored. When we ignore, we fall in ignorance. What happens to our life? Everything has to be conjured up. Books have to be read. Oh my God, that just drives me crazy. How can a human being not know innately how to be human? Why do you have to read a book? Chickens don't read books. They know how to be chickens. Rabbits know how to be rabbits. Wallabies know how to be wallabies. They're not out there throwing a house on. Let me teach you how to be a wallaby. You know, but you ignore. You know, but you ignore. Do you have a heart? You know you have a heart, but you ignore. You look for verification for things that cannot be verified. In your life, two questions are asked by people who love each other the most. Do you love me? And the other one, do you still love me? How can that be? Do you not know? What is this process of verification? Fill yourself. Fill your heart. Fill your understanding. Walk with surety in this life. This life is, my goodness, that's why the number 36,500. I'm here to say, excuse me. Excuse me.

This is all happening too fast. Not time to daydream. Rise and accept the reality. That's all. I'm not trying to scare you. I'm not trying to. I don't want to be scared. Once I was very young. It was really odd for me because everybody around me was much older, except when I went to school. Everybody was older than I was. Now, it seems like, except for a few people that I know are older than me, it seems everybody is younger than I am. There was a time, I remember very, very clearly, when I was really young, I wanted to grow up like that. I remember I would take shaving cream, in those days actually they didn't have shaving cream, and not in India. So I would take the brush and go like that, lather up some soap, and then take a tongue cleaner and go, ta-ta-ta-ta-ta, I'm shaving. I wanted to grow up like that. Now between losing hair and getting gray hair, it's like, what do you pull out? And it seems like that memory of when I remember, and I look at some pictures of myself when I must have been around two or three years old, and I remember the toy, and I remember when that picture was taken. And I remember that it wasn't that long ago, and a lot of time has gone by. And what? The dust that I used to make sure that my office was not dusty. I did not like dust. Till one day, I was reading something, a trivia book, and it said most of the dust that you clean in your house is you. I was shocked. Of course. I don't like myself. I want to clean myself.

I mean, my goodness. But I know that this is dirt. It will go back to being dirt. It'll be recycled. Maybe it'll become an eggplant. Maybe it'll become a tomato. I don't know. But I know one thing. And this one thing that I know is that I need to feel peace every single day. Do I feel it every day? No. Do I get angry? Yes. Do I have problems? Yes. Do I worry about things? Yes. But does that mean that I forget to feel peace every single day? And fortunately, the answer is how important it is to feel peace every... What am I? Work in progress. Whip. And the key word is not work. And the key word is not in. But the key word is progress. And I make progress. You make... Some say life is like a journey. I don't know. I don't know. I can't tell you. Is life a journey? Oh, it's poetic.

Life is a journey. But I know life is. And that's the key word. Not I believe. Not I have read. Not I think. Not I wish. I know. Like you should know. You should know that peace that resides in your heart. You should know that joy that resides in your heart. This is who you are. This is what you have been given. And if you don't have that peace, you're missing the tree guy. And it looks awfully funny. Don't be missing the tree guy. Look within you. Find the peace. Live your life with peace. Make that progress. Be in joy. And be thankful. Be thankful. Maybe you're not thankful right now.

Oh, what have I got to be thankful about? I've got my bills to pay. I've got to go to the job. I've got to do this. I've got to do that. My wife is leaving me. My cat already left me. My dog wants to leave me. Your wife leaves you and you go, oh, rejected. Rejected. You know there is going to be a final divorce. It's built into the contract. Till death do you part. I didn't come up with that. I remember. I remember very clearly. The priest who married me said that. Till death do you part. And I was like, jeez. You know what the definition of optimism is? You keep checking your marriage license to see if it's expired. Driver's license expires. Marriage licenses don't expire. But understand the value of life. And you will never feel rejected. Because for every breath that you take, you are favored.

You are favored. You're good. You're good. That's all I've got to say. I don't know what else to say. Because whatever you are looking for, my friends, is within, inside of you. That's the address. To all your questions. All your questions have an answer, and the answer is inside of you. Find it. Look here. Wake up. Open your eyes. It's a beautiful reality. Thank you very much, and good night.