Prem Rawat in Pasadena, 2014-07-19

Prem Rawat in Pasadena, 19th July 2014

Well, thank you and a nice, warm, good evening. We've come to hear what we have come to hear, but there was once a wise man was asked, how do you become wise? So the answer that the wise man gave is that when you are in the company of somebody wise, listen very attentively. That stands to reason. But then the second part of it was when you are talking and someone is listening, also listen attentively. You listen attentively to you talking. What are you saying? And certainly, one of the issues that I see wherever I go is the ability of people to listen. Listening is an art. And if you cannot listen, there isn't a whole lot that's going to happen in your life. I think the creator in the infinite wisdom made sure that there was no way you could close your ears, didn't put a lid on them or anything like that, so you could listen. But people don't have the ability to listen because they're already full of preconceived ideas. Oh, this person, what is he going to say? What's he going to talk about? Peace? I already know peace. Do you? In fact, that's what people expect of me. Talk to them about peace. But I find that that's pointless. What you really have to talk about is to just give everyone an understanding, if it is possible, to what does it mean to be alive? Just what does it mean to be alive? And a lot of people don't know what it means to be alive. They live, they are there, but they don't know what it means to be alive. They're caught up in their endless game that we all play. I'm not excluding myself. I'm not the wise man. I have to also listen to what I am saying because you're listening, I hope. And in this world, that's what's going on. People are there. They find themselves up in the morning. Sometimes they can't fall asleep all night long, but then they have to get up. The alarm clock goes off. It is time to go. It's time to go to work. This is how it is. It's the responsibility. I'm not here to debate that. But I'm here to point out that there's something dramatically beautiful going on here in this thing called being alive. Incredibly beautiful and incredibly short. Dreams are long. Life is gone in a flash. For billions of years that it has taken to get us to where we are here today, in relation to that, even if you live for a hundred years, that's too long. I calculated that. That is too long. It's shorter than that, relative to how long the earth has been here, of how long you are going to be here. It's faster than that. And one day, I was watching this documentary and, you know, it seemed like a nice documentary about the universe. It's like, wow, this is nice. My Blu-ray player, put the movie on, turn it on. And usually, I watch these things sometimes because they're a great way to fall asleep. They've got a monotone voice. You know, a lot of the things that are being said are just, I mean, it's not like, you know, somebody says a billion years and I can go, yeah, I know exactly how long that is. But then this guy started talking and he said, by the way, everything you see, everything that there is in this universe, the sun, the moon, the earth, the stars, the galaxies, everything that's in this universe, will one day be gone. I mean, that's not very reassuring. I'd like to hear him say, you know, and then, yeah, it just kind of all just transforms into something else and we will all be around in some form.

Maybe it'll be dust and maybe it'll be this and maybe it'll be that. But this guy goes on with a smirky little smile on his face to say it's all going to be gone. That currently, currently, the sun is in the process of destroying itself. And I'm like, hmm, do I fall asleep or do I think about this stuff? Because I like to fall asleep. That was the hidden plot in watching this thing. And now here I am going, hmm, it's all going to disappear. So if it's all going to disappear, I mean, I think the guy, you know, it's not one of those comedy shows where it's like, then the guy comes out and says, did I scare you? I was just kidding. No, everything that has been created will be destroyed. And of course, then he went on to say it's going to take trillions and trillions and trillions of years. And I went, aha. But the fact is, and this is the fact, and for this fact, I don't have to go to a holy place. For this fact, I don't have to read a book. For this fact, I don't have to seek out a wise man or a woman or a child. And the fact is that however it happened and whatever the future is, right now, I'm alive. And this will not happen again. Because happening again and again and again would be predicated on everything is going to hold equal, but everything is on the way of going chow, the big chow. Everything that is, is and will not be. Now you can take this two ways, boo hoo, oh my God, or wow, wow. When something happens in your life that you know will not happen again, how do you treat it? For some people, getting married for the first time is something, they don't know it might be second, it might be third. They go for it like it's going to be one and only. And I know they have this TV show, they used to have this TV show, where the bride would be fried, because they wanted everything to be just so. The cake to be just so, the dress to be just so, the decorations to be just so, the table settings to be just so, the invitations to be just so. Now let me ask you a question, when you wake up in the morning, do you treat your life, that day, that you're going to have, just so? Just so? No! Most of us get up, walk into the bathroom, look at ourselves in the mirror, and go huh. And the whole focus, brushing the teeth, washing the face, taking a shower, doing whatever, the focus is to get the coffee.

This is nirvana, it's like ahh. I'll confess, it's so bad with me, that the other day I was very excited, I found this outlet, it's like an outlet, and you just plug it in, into another outlet, and then you can control this with your iPhone. So I'm like, I could plug in my coffee machine, into this, and whilst I am, you know, getting ready, this is my coffee, when I come out my coffee will be ready, wow. So I have that, at home, but it's not, I don't spend enough time there to really take full advantage of it, so it's like I want it like that everywhere. And then, off I go. Is it just so? No! This wedding, is destined to be a disaster, because nothing has been planned. It's an act of severe randomness, with, oh okay, there is no just so. I'm not a wedding planner, but I'm here to tell you, you better get something going about that just so for today, because once it's gone, it will never, ever, come, ever, and ever, and ever, is a very, very long. Here we are, most of us, heaven, yeah I want to do everything right so I can get to heaven. Am I doing everything right? Am I doing everything just so? Well, oh God, most of us go to the house of God on Sunday, God's day of rest. No donuts, no coffee, nothing, I mean, day off, sorry, I'm closed, heaven, oh heaven, heaven, heaven. So, a king was in this predicament, he had to attack his neighbor kingdom, and all night long he knew that, you know, he could die. This was the old days, when the kings were the first ones in the front, and the idea of war was not very lucrative, I mean, these days, they're sitting some in some room with a telephone, I think that tradition of being the first person on the battlefield should not have been changed, but it's like, you know, I can say this a million times, it's never going to change, and they don't, you know, what is the problem, they don't listen to each other, they just don't listen, they don't even know how to talk, apparently it's supposed to be, you're supposed to be able to talk, but anyways, here's this, let's talk about this king, otherwise we're going to be here all night long, going in circles, so, you know, he's concerned, he wants to go to heaven, and he's wondering, what is heaven, what is hell, what is heaven, what is hell, what is heaven, what is hell. Next morning, he gets up, he's all in his armor and everything else, and he's marching out, the army is following him, it's quite a sight to behold, and he's still in his head going, what is heaven, what is hell, what is heaven, what is hell. In the distance, he sees a wise man walking, he takes his horse, runs, gallops over there, and says, hey, wise man, I have a question for you. He says, well, what? He says, well, I want to ask you something, would you answer it? He goes, no, I don't have the time, I'm on my way, I don't have the time. He said, do you know who I am? The king says, I'm the king, how dare you tell me you don't have the time? The guy says, well, you know, I just don't have the time. He says, look, it's a very simple question, I want to know what is heaven, what is hell. The guy goes, look, I just really don't have the time to tell you this. He says, how can you say no to me? I'm the king! And the king just gets angrier and angrier and angrier and angrier, and he's screaming at him, don't you know, don't you know, he calls himself a wise man, and da da da da da da. And the wise man said, wait, wait, wait. King, right now, you're in hell. The king stops, he goes, wow, you're right, I am, I'm angry, I'm upset, I am in hell. Gets off his horse, he says, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you for pointing that out.

I mean, you really opened my eyes. I am in hell, and I just can't thank you enough. And the wise man says, king, now you are in heaven. Because you feel that gratitude. Do you feel gratitude in the just so of your day? Or have you got a thousand complaints? Thousand complaints of everything that isn't right. 99.9% of them to do something with that power that put you here. Why didn't you make me rich? Why didn't you make me taller? Why didn't you give me this? Why didn't you do this? Why didn't you do this? Why didn't you do this? Why didn't you do this? Kabir, this Indian poet, he says, if you didn't sow yourself, if you didn't sow yourself, if you didn't remove the stain of ignorance from yourself, if you didn't cleanse the inner part of you, what is the point of taking a shower, taking a bath, washing the outside but not the inside? Since I heard that, I think about that every time I take a shower. Wow! Wow! What soap will cleanse the stain of ignorance from me? What do I do to appreciate today? What do I do to greet every moment? What do I do to be in heaven? Because you know, we're told, oh yeah, you just do this and this and this and this and don't, no, no, don't, don't do this and don't do this and follow this and follow that and do it this way, do it this way, do it this way, and then you will get to heaven. Well, that heaven has a catch. And the catch is you have to die. In my book, that's a big catch. It's too big. No warranty. I mean, those people who tell me all this, are they going to come with me and go, okay, we were sorry. It really didn't work that way. And we will arrange for you to go back and have a ball. All the things we told you, you couldn't do. No, no, it behooves. In my understanding, in what I know, that if I cannot create a heaven here, when it's over, it's over. You know, this is one thing I've been saying is if all the religions in the world said one thing, just one thing, and this will actually not impede in whatever they're trying to do. But if they just said, if you want heaven after death, you have to make heaven while you're alive. That's all. If they just said that, this world would be a different place. Nobody would be fighting with each other.

Oops, you gotta make heaven here. I mean, people would actually learn to get along with each other. People are so fascinated by outer space. I don't have any problems with it. I really don't. I like technology. I like technology. And what are they looking for? They're looking for life. Send me an email. Because I know of a place where there is life. And lots of it. And it's beautiful life. And they need water, and they need food. They need clean air. They need clean water. I was thinking about it the other day. And it's like, all of a sudden, everybody is buying bottled water. Now, I grew up in India. Having bottled water was like, water and air, they used to say, are at least free. That's not true anymore. Water costs money. And people started saying, your water is not clean. If you want clean water, you have to buy it. So I started scratching my head, going, who made the water unclean? Who made it unclean to begin with? The same people that are selling the water.

And we are like, oh, yeah, look, it's really good water. And half of it, read the label. From the municipality water supply, it has been RHO'd, and run through the ultraviolet, and therefore, it is safe. I remember when I went to India one time, after a long time, I saw this guy sitting there, filling the water bottle with the city water, and closing the cap, like, hey, it's clean. So, in the interest of making this life, making this day just so, to wash that stain, what can you do? This is where it gets very interesting. First, understand the value of who you are. The value of this breath. The value of this moment. The value of this existence. The value of life. The value of the value of being. That is the most profound gift. If there is anything holy, it's being alive. If there is anything sacred, it is being alive. If there is anything divine, it is being alive. If there is anything profound, it is being alive. If there is anything precious, it is being alive. Being. Existing. Feeling. This existence. Because this is what fills a person with joy. See, we all know we want joy. We know that.

I mean, it's like, yes, we know that. We know we want to be happy. We know that. You don't have to, you know, by the way, you want to be happy. No, you don't have to tell anybody that. But what we do is try to reverse engineer joy. We know that when you are happy, when you are in joy, you might smile. So what do we say to people? Smile. Excuse me, that's not gonna work. Long time ago, they had a book. And this book had cutouts. And the cutouts were of Concorde tickets, the supersonic jet, passport, Rolex watch. And the idea was that you could take these cutouts and put it on your coffee table, take a picture, you know, with you in it. And it would look like you are rich. Man, this guy is loaded. He's got his Rolex and he's got his Concorde tickets and his passport. If being rich was that easy, that book was like $1.99 or something like that. We could all be rich. I am saying that when the heart is full, when there is an understanding, when there is a clarity, when there is true joy emerging from inside, no lessons have to be given. Smile or don't smile. Nobody has to write a book on it and how to be happy. I saw that. Somebody wrote a book, you know, a few steps to happiness or something like that. I'm like, really? Really? You see, I'm of the opinion.

I shouldn't even be doing what I do. I shouldn't come out here and talk to you about happiness. I shouldn't come and talk to anybody about peace. I shouldn't come and talk to anybody about being fulfilled. I'm not, I'm not kidding. This is what I think. I think it's really sad that we have forgotten those fundamentals and somebody has to come along and say, you should be fulfilled. Frankly, I think it's stupid. That's like trying to teach a dog how to be a dog. You are a dog. Trying to teach a chicken, you're a chicken. Hold the mirror in front of it. You see, you're a chicken. Chick, chick, chicken. Do you not have the thirst in your life to be content? Do you not have a thirst in your life to be happy? Do you not have the thirst in your life to experience peace every single day, not just once, but every single day that you are alive? Do you not? Do you not? Do you not? You can do something about that. And what you need to do something about that is to undo. That's what you have to do. You have to undo. This is where I differ from everybody. Because everybody tells you, no, you have to do something. I say, no, you have to undo it. Undo. Listen, not to me, but listen to your heart. Listen to that thirst that says to you, be fulfilled.

Listen. Listen to that want, respect that want that says, be in peace. Be in peace. How are you going to listen to anybody when you don't listen to yourself? What does Socrates say? He says, know thyself. He's the one who says, question everything. You know, more questions you ask, the better it is. And this one isn't a question. Know thyself. Doesn't sound like a question. Sounds like an answer. Maybe he finally answered it. You. What does Kabir say? There's people. There are people. I've got Kabir's poems. What do they say? What you're looking for is inside of you. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm searching. I have been searching. People used to come to me. I wasn't even a teenager yet. And they would come to me and they say, we've been searching. And I would say, for what? Oh, you know, for peace, for joy, for happiness. So pretty pointless.

Because it's in you. Searching isn't going to do it. OK. Analogy time. How do you search for your face? How do you search for your face? Climb mountains. Do the penance. It's right here. All you need is a mirror. Put the mirror in front and you will see your face. Search. What are you searching for? Do you know? Do you know who you are? That everything that you need, you have. The way we evolved, the way we evolved is based on all that we needed to evolve was there. It wasn't like, you know, you need water. Yeah, well, take a trip to the moon. That's where all the water is. None here. No. Water was here. Essential part of our existence. Water was here. Food? Here. Now, I know there's a lot of greed in this world. So people go, no, that's mine. That's yours.

And somebody define the illusion, the great word maya. Is this exactly that? Somebody comes along, divides the line. This is mine. That's yours. That's maya. Is that simple? You bet. You think wheat has somebody's name written on it? Rice has somebody's name written on it? Sugarcane has somebody's name written on it? Water has somebody's name written on it? It's all here. All that was needed for us to survive. The air? Here. The simple things that we are. How much do we work to be different? How much do we work to be different? My personality. Me. Me. Check this out. 99% of what you are made out of. Oxygen. Carbon. Hydrogen. Nitrogen. Phosphorus. Is what everybody is made out of. Trying to be different? Trying to be different? Oh, you are a woman. I'm a man. Tell that to the world.

Hydrogen. It's the same exact stuff. Same exact stuff. And everything you are made out of is abundant. And what is it? One day, what was it? What will it be? Dirt. Dirt. Clever dirt, but dirt, that's what you're made out of. The stuff you don't like. Dirty. Ever heard that? Dirty. Dirty. What you don't like? Dirty. I'm dirty. Oh my god, this is dirty. This is filthy. This is dirty. Get rid of it. That is what you're made out of. That dirty. That dirt. You think that's fiction? That's reality. That's reality. So, what's different? Something is different. Do you know the value of this breath that comes into you? Do you? I say this many times.

This is my favorite thing to say because I've seen it. I've witnessed it. What, say if you were born in a hospital, what allowed you to come home? Do you know? It wasn't the taxi cab. It wasn't the car. Do you know what it was? Because you were breathing. If you were not breathing, nobody wants you. Sorry. Sorry. You seem to lose it. Like, you become spooky. And god forbid you move. I mean, you know, so far this breath is coming into you. You dance and you look cute. And this breath is not coming into you and you start dancing. Whoa. This is serious stuff. That's what allowed you to come home. And that's what's going to be responsible for you leaving home for good. Did you know that? Did you? Did you? And how precious is that gift? Why am I calling it a gift? Because obviously you receive it and obviously you don't pay for it. So, if you receive it and you don't pay for it, it better be a gift. Otherwise you're stealing. But you're not. Because here comes the gift. Again and again.

And it begins with what? The first breath coming in. And you know it ends with what? The last breath going out. This is the, one of the things I say is if in the hospital room, you know, there you are and you're still breathing and the monitor that they have just goes flat. Everything is flat. Flat. And the doctor walks in and he sees you're breathing. Who do you think he's going to hit? You or the monitor? He's going to hit the monitor. Something wrong with it. Because you're still breathing. The doctor isn't going to come to you and hit you and say you're stupid. Look at the monitor. You're dead. You have no business breathing. In the old days, one of the things they used to do to confirm that you were gone is to put a mirror right here and make sure you're not breathing anymore. Now they have electronics but they still check sometimes. What does it mean? Nothing. The only time we pay attention to the breath is like, I'm out of breath. No, you're not out of breath. Because if you're out of breath, this is very serious. The focus is not on life, my friends. It's not on life. It's all the things that happen in life. And if there was a person driving you in a car going, oh look at that. Oh my God, did you see that? Did you see that? What advice would you give this person? Hey, please, just you focus on driving, okay? But when you are not focused on life and focused on everything else that is happening because of life, you are bound for a wreck.

Is that wisdom? No. It's common sense. In aviation, they say, fly the plane. Forget about rest of it. Just fly the plane. Make sure you don't get this thing upside down and buried into the ground because you're in it. And this common sense goes right out the window when it comes to life. Oh, but this happened in my life. Oh no, this is happening in my life. I understand. I mean, things are painful are painful. But even in that pain, there is a fact. And that fact, my friends, is a lit candle in incredible darkness. In incredible pain and suffering, which is darkness. If there is anything that can be defined as darkness, that's it. Even then, there is a beautiful candle that is lit. And it is a beautiful thing. Even in that, you have not been abandoned. You have not been abandoned. You have not been abandoned. Go. Move. Move. Move.

There's a beautiful couplet that I read that said that when the net is thrown into the water, when the net is thrown into the water, the water just moves right away. Just moves out. But the fish get trapped. The fish get trapped in the net. When the net is pulled, the water just leaves. But the fish still thirsts to get back in the water. What it's saying is that the relationship between the water and the fish, you would think the water would say, I want to hang on to you as long as possible. But no, the water is like, it's okay, I'm gone. But the fish still longs. Whatever happens in your life, good times, bad times, right times, wrong times, long for clarity. Long for clarity. Long for joy. Long for this beauty. Long for this gift. Long to recognize this gift. Long to be fulfilled. Long to be in the light that is lit inside of you. You do not need to be afraid of the darkness of this world, because there is a light that you carry. And it is the light of knowing. Knowing that this is a gift. Knowing that you're alive. Knowing that you're so fortunate. Do you know? Do you know how fortunate you are? Fortunate. Fortunate to be alive.

To be given this incredible opportunity to exist. Why? I don't know. And I don't care. And who, whoever that is, knows. But I know what it is like, even in that incredible darkness, to find that little light. That little light that can illuminate. Show me. Show me. Show me what is real. Show me call of my heart. I want to hear. This is what these eyes thirst for. This is what I want to hear. Maybe there is a thousand problems. A thousand problems. This comes from experience. Maybe there is a thousand problems. And all have decided to strike you at the same exact time. Exactly at the same exact time. And there is nothing but bewilderment. Nothing but to know, will I be okay in the next moment? And hope. The power of hope is only being used to survive. Will I be okay tomorrow? Will I be okay in an hour? I mean, this is a full-on storm. And then, in that screaming storm, screaming, peltering storm, to hear one faint little voice that says, but all you want is to be content.

All you want is to be in peace. All you want is to be in joy. And it is nothing shy of a miracle. All of a sudden, I am not looking for a thousand answers. All of a sudden, I am not looking for a thousand solutions. All of a sudden, I know all I need is that peace inside of me. Because I am a human being. This is the nature of a human being. This is the nature. This is who you are. And when that is being manifested, when that is happening, it's a symphony. It's a symphony. Nobody needs to remind me, smile. I can do that on my own. I can do that on my own, because I have found simplicity. I'm not here to preach to you. I'm not here to tell you, I have solutions to your problems. I don't. I don't. But I know a place where there is a lamp, and it is lit. It's lit. And anytime it gets dark, you don't have to try to create a sun. A tiny lamp will do the job in you. That's all.

That's all. Good God. That's how simple it is. That I carry, yet you carry in you all the clarity you will ever need. You carry in you all the hate you will ever need. And you carry in you all the joy you will ever need. Do you know that? Hate doesn't come from somewhere else. It's in you. Anger is in you, and joy is in you. Whatever you practice, you're gonna get good at. You are. Whatever you practice. Practice being human. Practice being human. And you will find all that you're looking for. Practice being something you're not, and you will get so lost, you will never know. This is the time, your time, my time, for your life. And isn't that how I started? Do you know what it means to be? Maybe I've answered that question for you in a small way. In a small way. My journey, make the effort. This is all you need to do. Make the effort. Make the effort to recognize who you are. What I offer is the mirror so you can find your face that's in front of you.

To know. To know the self. To know others. To know others could be considered wisdom. You're a wise person. But to know the self is enlightenment. That's what it is. Enlightenment. The bulb is. Please, whatever you do, whatever you do, whatever you decide to do in your life, it's of course, it's up to you. But turn on the bulb. Turn on. You know a lot more things than I do. And so I say to you, of all that you know, also know the self. It just makes good sense to also know the self. That's what I talk about. And once you do, by the way, coming for what probably people told you you should come here for, these talks about peace, you know, ambassador of peace and this and that, then you will find peace. That's the address to peace. Thank you very much and good night.