Prem Rawat in London 2014-06-29

Write Your Own Story
Prem Rawat in London 2014-06-29

Prem Rawat is not a man who writes speeches in an organised way with logical arguments and appropriate stories. Actually he proudly boasts that his speeches are from the heart, unrehearsed and unique without concepts, formulae or questions. This speech is even more chatoic than his usual disorganisation. Actually he doesn't quote Socrates, he's like Polly who wants a cracker, he says "Know thy self." He pretends to believe that Socrates said this and when translated correctly from the ancient Greek by someone who truly knows it is the same message that Prem Rawat gives

Hello everyone. It's nice to be here. It's raining outside. At least it's nice and dry. And of course, you've heard the word peace now repeated a few times. And don't be surprised if it's repeated a few more times. Because that's what's important. And it's important to understand why peace is important. And what does it mean to us as human beings on the face of this earth? Because we work so hard to fulfill our dreams. I mean, that's what people are doing. You go and look at websites for holidays. And it's like, yeah, very enticing. Come here and look at this water. And I know in some of those places, the water is nothing like that. But to offer you a dream and then tell you that you must fulfill this, this is possible.

But the question is, do you already have a dream that remains unfulfilled? And shouldn't you be fulfilling that dream, taking the resources that you have and fulfilling that dream that is already present within you? And for this, it takes some very simple understanding. Very, very simple understanding. Who are you? Who are you? You're alive, obviously. There you are. Each one of you has a name. Not necessarily unique, but you know, sometimes when I come across Johns, it's just like one after another. And I was like, you know, your dads all got together and decided to name you the same exact thing. I mean, how randomly must this have happened? But it's like, John, John, John, John, John. And then, you know, a few days later, it's Tom, Tom, Tom, Tom, Tom. And you have occupation and you have an identity and you have a family and you have this and you have that and you associate with all of those things. But is that who you are, truly? And the analogy that I can give you, and you've seen this many times, a river flows. A river, not a riverbed, a river with water in it, it flows. And maybe it starts, maybe there never was a river there and it starts and it makes its way. And as that water is in that river, things start to happen. And maybe the first thing is you have tiny bits of grass growing on the banks. Readily, just need a little water, some seeds are there, grass starts to grow. Next thing you know, there's some bugs that would like to eat that grass. Next thing you know, there are bugs that would like to eat those bugs. And next thing you know, there's birds that would like to eat those bugs. And next thing you know, there's birds coming there, carrying all different kinds of seeds. And And then those seeds germinate, and next thing you know, there's trees, and there's fruit, and all of this stuff is there. And when you come along, you look at that, and you go, wow, look at that, there's fruit trees, and there's palm trees, and there's grass, and there's birds, and there's this, and there's that, and there's that, and there's that. But do you know why? And there is an explanation, probably, that can be given for every single thing that exists there, how it came to be. And maybe none of those explanations would actually take into account the fact that all that exists because there is water. Without the water, there are no insects. There is no grass. There are no bugs, no birds to eat the bugs. And the whole ecosystem would collapse if there wasn't. Same way, in your life, there's all these things that are the grass, that are the bugs, that are the trees, that are the birds, the fruits. But all that is there because of something. And without that, your viewpoint, your vantage point of this, your life, it would collapse. And do you know what that is? Life, life makes it possible, something makes it possible for all of these things to be. Without it, none of these things would be. And in that life, in that life, what do you want? You. Not your son, and not your father, and not your mother, and not your uncle, and not your neighbor, and not your country, you. What do you? In reality, you should have an answer that is like that.

Absolutely, I know what I want, but the reality is, people don't. And when people are not looking at that, then they're not looking at themselves, who they really are. And if they're not looking at themselves, who they really are, then how are they going to fulfill that dream, that day? Not somebody else have for them, but that day. Many times, I quote, I have quoted Kabir, Ram, Khalil Gibran, Socrates, so I would like to quote some quotes. I didn't memorize them, so I wrote them down. It's very unusual for me to read things, but I'm going to read these quotes. And I think they're interesting. See if you think they're interesting. Bigger than our destiny is our choices. What do you think? Okay? There is no greater gift than the possibility to be happy within. I mean, I'm not trying to do the Chinese fortune cookie thing here. This is, in my opinion, quite a few notches above that. Listen and silent are spelled with the same letters. I need to choose hope and peace in my life. Every day, we ignore the fact that we have the power to write our own story. Done. So, who are these really wise people who came up with these quotes? Actually, wise they are. This came to me as emails. And all these quotes are from people who are incarcerated. Some are in prisons that are very severe, high security prisons, locked away for a long time. And yet, in their email to me, having listened to the peace education program, this is what they came up with. It wasn't a contest. It is their expression of what they felt. Their understanding.

Now, how many of us truly believe that we have the power to write our own story? How many of us truly believe that? Did we even try ever sitting down and writing our own story in our lives? Look, peace isn't about coming together and saying nice things and getting lost in a few more dreams and a few more dreams and a few more dreams and a few more dreams and a few more dreams and a few more dreams and a few more dreams. And if that's not enough, a few more dreams. No, there is an urgency. There is a priority. And the priority has to go to the dream that already is there. Excuse me. I am not talking about making peace happen so that everybody in the back of their bumper is going to have what I call the upside down Mercedes sign. That's not peace. The next time I am speeding and the police officer comes up to me and hands me a ticket. After that, he goes, Peace. You see, there are so many people in this world they are throwing out more dreams and more dreams and more dreams and I think those dreams distract for us from the fundamental dream that we have. Socrates says, know thyself. Why? You can say anything. Look at the clock tower. Visit the Parthenon. Keep Parthenon clean. Any one of those things would have been fairly wise. Dress warm when it's cold. Only go swimming in the ocean if you know how to swim. That's wise. Look both ways before you cross the road. That would have been wise. And here is the person, right? With all the questions, questions, questions, questions, questions, you should question everything. And what is he going about? Giving an answer.

Know thyself. What does it mean? What could that possibly mean? Know thyself. One person, this is a story. One person, one day found himself extremely confused. Extremely confused. And he said to himself, wherever I go, people say, the divinity that I am looking for is everywhere. How can that be? How can that be? So he said, okay, I better go find a wise man. So he found a wise man and he goes to the wise man and he says, I have a question. You say the divinity is everywhere. How can that be? I don't see it. I don't touch it. I mean, if not, like, you know, every time I touch something, it pops out. The wise man said, okay. He said to his assistant, he says, go bring me some salt. So he brings the salt. Bring me a bucket and bring some water in the bucket. So all these things are there. There's a bucket full of water. There's the salt. He takes the salt. He says, take the salt, put it in the bucket and mix it up. Mixes, mixes, mixes, mixes, mixes, mixes. So now, where's the salt? The man says, well, it disappeared. He says, now taste the water. Taste the water. And he did. He said, there it is. There it is. That, the answer that we are looking for is not going to be recognized by identifying the question. When you are hungry and you come across food, do you really ask, am I hungry? You don't. You feel the hunger. You find the food. And if it's yours, you eat it. You don't go, hmm, am I really hungry? Should I go to the wise man and find out if I'm really hungry? Call your friend up on the Twitter. It wouldn't be this anymore. It'd be, am I really hungry? Go on the Facebook, am I really hungry? Do I look hungry? Do I look like hungry? Because I have some food right here and I'd love to eat it. Eat it. This is what happens. This is what happens to us.

But where is the... I found the answer, but I don't know the question. The geniuses who search, they're searching for what? That which you are looking for is inside of you. And now they're going, what am I looking for? And they come to people like me. My situation was a little bit different. It was my first year of being a teenager. Being attacked by adults who were going, what are we looking for, by the way? We found something, but we don't know if that's real.

Where is the question? You don't need the question. Because you have to understand that you need to be able to recognize the answer, even if there isn't a question. That's living life like a human being. Like a human being. I mean you can just imagine, one human being saw another guy up on a tree, sleeping, and went, that's a good idea. I think I'll try that too. That's good. Animals won't eat me. After a little while, I'm sure they came to the conclusion, you know, this doesn't really work. They keep falling off. And what a trip it must have been. Every time they just wanted to use the potty. I mean, oh no. And somebody probably said, you know, animals live in the cave. Why don't we? Maybe we can shoo them out and we can move in. Genius! Genius. When you are on your bed, and you are turning to find a comfortable spot, and you finally find the comfortable spot, do you really go, is this the comfortable spot? No. It feels comfortable. It's fine. It's the answer. It's not a question. You don't need the question. I'm not saying it is bad to question. But you need to know the difference what you should question and what you should accept as an answer. Understand as an answer. Then, you begin to live. You begin to exist. You begin to thrive. And most importantly, you begin to feel the thirst for peace. It's incredibly impossible to try to explain to somebody why you need it. People go, people say, would you like some water? No. I don't want. I don't want any water. I'm okay. I'm okay! I don't feel thirsty. I don't want any water. But when I'm thirsty, please, please, give me water.

Recognition. What do you recognize in your existence? The other day, I was thinking, all the major religions of this world talk about heaven and going to heaven. And you can argue with them, but you won't get anywhere. What are the coordinates of heaven? How do you get there? They'll tell you how to get there. And you look at the world, and we have made this earth far from heaven. So I was thinking, if all the religions could just add one little thing, which is, the way to get to heaven is by making it heaven here first, this world would be a different place. Because this is like borrowed time. You don't really care what happens. Just do whatever it takes to get in the big place. But just the way to get there would be if you could make heaven here on earth. You couldn't do it now, you don't get in. Well, the component of threat has to be there. Because that seems to be an incredibly big motivating factor for us. We thrive on threat. And when somebody threatens us, it's like, oh, yes, yes, yes, absolutely. Do you really try to threaten somebody for peace? How can you? What would you do? What would you do? People are happy. People are happy in their ignorance. People are happy not understanding the value of this breath. Do you know the value of your breath? Do you? What allowed you to come home from the hospital when you were born, if you were born in a hospital? What allowed you to come home from the hospital? And what finally gets you kicked out of your own house? Oh, people are like, that's weird. That's weird. He's talking about breath. Why are you talking about breath? I do it all day. All right, I've got another one for you.

How long do you think you will live? Average. Even if you live to be a hundred years. That's getting there. That's only 36,500 days. How do you like that? Does that perk you up? No, because you were completely content in going, oh, it has to be in hundreds of thousands, right? Sorry to bust your bubble. It's only 36,500. How excited would you get if you got a lottery for 36,500 pounds? Just pounds. And in Italy, the days of lira, 36,500 lira, or the yen, 36,500. They wouldn't even buy you air for your tire. But that's what people think. Oh, I'm going to live hundreds of thousands of days. No, 36,500. You're on top of the whole situation, aren't you? No, no. How many of you get bored in traffic jams? When the traffic is not moving? So slow. In that moment, check this out. The Earth is going at a speed of 1,040 miles an hour. That's just going around and traveling at a speed of 67,062 miles an hour around the sun. Do you know how fast a 9mm bullet travels? At 900 miles an hour. At 67,000 miles an hour, you're going faster. You are in a universe which is evolving and expanding and expanding and expanding and it's not in the same place and neither is the Earth. Every single day is unique. Every single human being on the face of this Earth is unique. So I'm really glad you, you know, all this all sorted out. Yep, I know 36,500 days. If I get to be 100, I've got it. I've got it. I'm living my life that way.

No, you're not. Another Monday. Yeah, same old, same old Monday. Mundane Monday is here. Same old, same old broken record. Where am I going? What's going to happen to me? What could happen to you? The reality is you came from the elements that exist from this Earth. There was no spaceship. This stork thing is not true. And believe me, these storks don't go into outer space and go, okay, a baby, a delivery time, here we go. No. Do you know where you come from? Any idea? You're made up of the elements that you walk on every day. You're build up of the elements that every day you try to take off your body called dirt. That's what you're made of. So, what makes this dirt not? Do you know? This isn't just dirt when it is just dirt. I can feel your gears spinning. I hear the crunching noise. There is something that is making this dirt not just dirt. Oxygen, hydrogen, carbon, phosphorus, nitrogen, keeping it glued together. And it's that same thing, the same thing, the same thing, this keeping that allowed you to come home and will eventually get you kicked out of your own house. From the beginning to the end, this is the game that you don't think anything about, think you should. Because you have a mission.

Your mission is to capture every single day. You know that. Being bored is not your mission in life. Sunken in disappointment and doubt is not the mission in life. It's to shine with clarity is the mission of life. To walk with certainty, not uncertainty. To be, to exist, to savor and enjoy every moment of this existence. That's your mission in life. And people go, but if we all did that, wouldn't the societies collapse? Right? Well, we don't do that. Should I say it? We don't do that. And guess what? The societies are collapsing. Think about it. You come out, boy, girl, boy, girl. You think your mother could tell when she was giving birth to you if you're a boy or a girl? When you were actually coming out. Could she? Absolutely. Next thing you know you're out. Oh, who are you? Not a human being. Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah. Not a human being. You're this, you're that. You're rich, you're poor. This shirt is cotton. You know where cotton grows? Do you know what even it looks like? It's a plant. It opens up. It's this fluffy little bit. So ask the plant, would you rather be worn by somebody rich or by somebody poor? By somebody educated or by somebody not so educated? Why do we have all these things? Does it really matter to the sun? Does it matter to that little plant? The only thing that mattered to that plant was the water and the sun. That's all.

And today, all the differences. Are they right? Are they right? So what do you think? So if they're not right, why do you keep perpetuating them? Why do you keep believing them? Ah! Destiny! Destiny! It was my destiny! Remember the quote? We have the power to write our own story. Sounded really good. But now it doesn't sound so good because it's like, whoops! Are we exercising? That power to write our own story. Every single. What does all this got to do with peace? You want to create peace? It won't work. Peace cannot be created. Peace is already there inside of every single human being. If I gave you a seed of mango, a mango seed, do you know what's inside that seed? Do you know what's inside that seed? There's a mango tree inside that seed. And if I say to you, bring it out, how would you do it? Crack it open? Crack it open? Cut it with a hacksaw? Pull it out? So is there a mango tree inside the mango seed or not? Well, how do you get it out? Plant it. Plant it in the right place, not here in England, but plant it in the right place where it can get some... sunshine? Sunshine. Where it can get some sunshine. Where it can get some warmth. Where it can get some water. And sure enough, there's a mango inside that seed. Same dilemma I have. I say to people, pieces inside of you, and they say, how? Crack me open? Give me some magic formula so I can walk out there and try it on my wife. It's not going.

People say, in fact one person said to me this, give me a glimpse of it, so I can just have some proof. What can I do? The tree is in the seed, but I can't open the seed and show you the tree. And if you, in the soil, in the farm of your heart, plant this seed, give it the water of understanding, the sunshine of clarity, and the tender care of kindness, it will. It will. It will. And not just a tree. Not just a tree. The tree has the potential for thousands of seeds, and each one of those seeds has the potential for another tree which has the potential for thousands more seeds, and on and on and on and on it goes. My friends, we are not talking about proving about one tree. We're talking about a bloody forest. So people ask me, what is your strategy? You want to bring peace to people. What is your strategy? And I tell them, one at a time. And they look at me like, you're crazy. There's 7.5 billion people on the face of this earth. 7.5 billion times you're going to do this? You see, it really paid off. Loving mangoes when I was growing up. Because I learned a lot from those mangoes. All you need is one seed, and you have the possibility of a forest. If you keep on going, and going. In fact, there have been more mangoes on the face of this earth than 7.5 billion. Each person could have had a mango by now. So, in your understanding, in your own comprehension, what is the value of the peace for you? What is the value of that peace? What does it mean to have peace in your life? What does it mean to feel free? What does it mean to have hope, hope in your existence? Does peace bring hope? People who were incarcerated in prisons, pretty hopeless place, I would say. I've been there. I've been there.

Just, you know, one of the facilities I went to, the Zondervater in South Africa, it just kind of strikes a fear in you, just approaching it. And this is from the outside. Like super sharp barbed wire just rolled and rolled and rolled and rolled and rolled. And then a fence with big signs on it. Don't touch this. It's electrocuted. And more of the barbed wire wrapped up on top of the fence. And then more barbed wire on the other side of the fence. And guard gates with the guards not exactly waving to you and not flying a kite, but both their hands are on a machine gun. You look at all this and you go, and you just want to make sure you get out. You go in, terrible conditions. I mean, they are what they are. They're not supposed to be a five-star luxury hotel. And hope? What hope? Your days are numbered. You're in there for 10 years, 8 years, 9 years, 12 years, 11 years. I mean, that's your hope. In any case, 10 days, 20 days, 30 days, 1 year, 2 years go by, and every day it is the slam of the bar. Boom! Line up. Line up to get your meal. I mean, very close to McDonald's, but it's not quite the same thing. You got to line up. So when I went there, they were smiling. And I observed them smiling, and I'm like, why are they smiling? It's not right. They shouldn't be smiling. Then they start talking to me. So glad you could come. One of them said, I had told everybody you would never come here. Never, ever come here. And now you're here. And I'm so glad. Glad. And here's the message. My message is very, very simple. And my message is, what you are looking for is within you. That's it. That's my message. You realize what it implies. It implies you're looking for something.

Question is, what are you looking for? Every day that you exist, a little kindness. Does it feel good to you? Does it? Just a little kindness. How does it feel to you when a police officer pulls you over and says, you know, I'm not going to give you a ticket today. Drive safely. And have a great... Not really. Not really. I mean, you go like, Hey, listen. Give me a ticket. I don't believe in any of your kindness stuff. I want my ticket. And then you turn around and you say, Thank you. What is that all about? What is it about? Have you ever had one of those... I just was wondering. Have you ever had one of those days where you just feel good? I mean, there's no particular reason. It's not like it's a Sunday or it's like, you know, somebody's birthday. It's not even your birthday. You just feel good. I mean, just you feel good. Just good. For no reason at all. Just feel good. And maybe your son comes to you and says, Dad, I didn't do my homework. And instead of eating him up alive, you go, give a little smile and say, It's okay. All of a sudden, because you're feeling good, you become kind. Hey, that's weird. Isn't that weird? You're feeling good and you become kind. And maybe somebody is grabbing your parking spot. And you go, Come on, it's okay. Weird. All of a sudden you're acting weird. Is that weird? Have you become a vegetable? Have you? Have you become a vegetable at that point? I mean, it's like, oh my God. And somebody drops their wallet. You pick it up. You tap them on the shoulder and say, Here. Where did that come from? All that niceness. I mean, nobody taught it to you in particular. Goodness gracious. Is it possible? True human nature? I was born in India. I shouldn't say this, but holy cow. That's human nature? That's human nature? To be kind? To be caring? To respect life? To feel good because you're in peace? To feel good because you feel good? To feel good because you feel good? If that is human nature, then only you can judge this. How far are you from that? How far are you from that? And what was it that made you feel good? I bet you don't even know. Just get up one day and you feel good. Then I submit humbly to you that that's the way you should feel every single day. Now, the question I'm sure some of you are asking is, Do you feel like that every single day? The answer is, of course not. Absolutely of course not. I'm not here to be holier than you and therefore I am preaching to you. No! I am one of those people who is just very happy and proud to be a human being.

I have no need to be anybody's hero. I have two puppies. And when I give into their demands, I am their hero. But only when I give into their demands. They're two palms. So they have demands. And what their demand is every day, I have to sneak into my office. Because if they see me going into the office, that's it. They're there. And they're like, give us something. And it is something to eat, not play with, something to eat. And I have to be very careful. Because I don't want to, you know, make them huge. So, it isn't about these things that we think it's all about. It is about the much simpler things in life. Us trying to be something that we are not. Because how do I change the elements that I am made out of? What do I do about that? And they just so happen to be that they're just like you. Just like you. Just like the 7.5 billion people on the face of this earth. The effort is my privilege to try every day to garner that clarity in mind. The cloudy days do not take away the importance of the sun.

The sun does in all ways its importance. It is the giver. I too need that sun in my life. The remover of darkness. To bring light into my life every single day. So I can see. So I can understand this life that I have that is so limited that I made an attempt to forge it so that my river flowed. And there were gardens all around my river. And that my river never ran dry. Because all that you see is only because there is water. And I want that water of wisdom. I want that water of understanding. That water of kindness. To flow. So that this garden on both sides of this river can be. Then one day like everyone else I too will be gone. Then they will be gone. Then they will be gone. And as the scientists say one day even the earth do you know that? The sun too one day will be gone. And the moon will be gone. And this most spectacular circus ah, you know if I say the word divine I know some people go off oh divine they go off into spirituality and this and this and this and this.

Personally I'm allergic to spirituality. But to understand divine all you have to do is just look up there. What else is it? Spectacular. But one day this whole circus and in fact there may never be a trace left that the human beings ever existed. But right now you do exist. This earth is 4.5 billion years very long. And comparatively that 4.5 billion years to how long you are going to be is this much. And that's a little a little too slow. What do you want to do? What do you want to do? You have choices. And one of the choices you have is to exercise the power to write your own story. For whom? For you. Just for you. Nobody else has to read it. Just for you. So, like I say the circus is in town. The circus is in town. You want to be a part of it? Up to you. Not to me. I want to be a part of it. I do. So I'm trying. I'm trying. Because I can really see the whole circus whilst I can. That's my message.

What has it got to do with peace? Go to the circus. You'll find peace. Go to the circus and you will find peace. I guarantee it. I guarantee it. My words are not just words. I stand behind my words. I do. And when I say what you're looking for is inside of you, I mean that. I mean that. What I offer is as simple as a mirror because that's what you need. You don't need the makeup. It's called just to know. Know. Know is Knowledge. And there is nothing better than a mirror. Knowledge. Because when you look, now you know. Now you know. That's why you have a mirror, right? Because what do you expect to see in the mirror? Somebody else? I mean really. I mean there you are and you look and you see Elvis and it's like wow! Elvis lives. You don't want that. See you how you are. People go, I'm going to need makeup. First look at yourself. Do you? Oh, but I must. I mean I... This is what happens. They look. You know what they say? Not, oh my God, I look terrible. No. This is what comes out of most people's mouth. Thank you. Because in that moment there is no fear. You understand. Because you know. Because you know. That's what it's all about. That's how you get to peace.

Now a lot of people, will that bring world peace? Why do they even use the word world peace? Polly, you want a cracker? They've heard it. When Polly says, Polly, you want a cracker? You think Polly really understands who Polly is? And does Polly really understand the meaning of want? And does Polly really understand what a cracker is? That it takes the wheat and massive combined harvesters to mow down this wheat to be shipped, to be milled to be baked at the proper temperatures with the right ingredients with the approval of the food agencies to be packaged into little package and re-transported onto public highways through these machines that have been tested by the manufacturers to no extent by the rubber that's on them that has come from the jungles of Brazil. Does Polly really understand what a cracker is? No.

But all Polly knows is that if says Polly, you want a cracker, the Polly will get something. Sometimes it's a cracker, sometimes it's a chili, sometimes it's nothing. But the Polly keeps trying.

So, people listen. "Oh, world peace, world peace. Oh yes, world peace, world peace, world peace, world peace, world peace." Why doesn't world have peace? Because of human beings. So, should the world get the peace or human beings? You know, your neighbor makes the noise and you go to the doctor, make me deaf. No, get the neighbor to stop making the noise. You don't have to be deafened. But this is what it is. This is what it is. We are the ones that need the peace. We're the ones that are bothering the whales. We're the ones that are bothering the cockroaches. Well, cockroaches could be an exception, but we're the ones that are bothering everything out there. Everything out there. We're the ones that are bothering. We're the ones who need the peace. And the strategy for peace is this mango seed. And inside, there is a tree. So anyway, this is what I wanted to do. What I do, basically, is to offer you this thought and to evoke this. It's real.

Hope has nothing to do with your circumstances. You've been working all your life to change your circumstances. And you think if you have a secure future, if you have a secure future, you will be happy when the entire future of the earth is uncertain. When the entire future of the whole galaxy is uncertain. When the future of the entire universe is uncertain, you are looking for certainty. And what I have to say, my friends, is good luck. What else can I say? Good luck. You are looking... There are people who have their head frozen when they die. They have it severed and frozen so they could live. The people have the dream to live forever. When the earth isn't going to be there, the whole universe isn't going to be there, my little comment to you is good luck. Because if you survive the decimation of the sun without getting toasted, please call me. Please call me. You have a trick that I could not have ever thought of. People go, we will go to other when they're not even going to be around.

Very simple. What Einstein said, what is created will be. However, in you, right now, life is pulsing. You exist. You can experience. You can understand. You can be clear. Live now! Live now! Don't wait for tomorrow. Because according, not according to me, but according to the scientists, this tomorrow thing is looking very uncertain. Very uncertain. Today is all you've got. Stick with it. Be fulfilled. Thank you very much for listening to me. Take care. Good night.