Prem Rawat: Medicine For Peace
At "Medicine for Peace," an event held at RML Hospital in New Delhi, Prem Rawat spoke with doctors and staff, encouraging them to find the "pill for peace".
Thank you very much. A few days ago, I was wondering what I was going to be saying at this forum. Medicine for Peace. I mean, that's a nice headline but is they're really a pill for peace?
Because that would be nice if there was a pill for peace. So you just take it and you have peace. So I started thinking, is there a pill for peace? And all of a sudden I realized that there was. There actually is a pill for peace Now, I know you're sitting there going, What? We're doctors? We have never come across a pill for peace. That would be too good. We could just hand you the pill and we could take a whole bunch, right, as doctors, and what Harish Gupta was talking about, Dr Carr was talking about, that you know, that we, as doctors, also need. I'm not a doctor, but we as doctors also need peace. That would be great. But there is a pill And what is it? Well, it's called consciousness. And to tell you about it more, I will quote the Ramayana Maharaj. (Hindi) "Everybody's asleep." That's the pill for peace. "Do be awakened." You have something exceptional going on. Something amazing is happening. What is it?
For approximately 4.5 billion years, you were dirt. That's the age of the Earth, 4.5 billion years. So for 4.5 billion years you were dirt. Now some scientists figure that it'll be about 15 billion years. Twenty billion years. The Earth is going to be around and after that it'll disappear. So for the next fifteen billion years what are you going to be? Dust. You were dust and you're going to be dust. What are you now? You are alive. The dust talks. The dust smiles. The dust dances. The dust cures other dust of ailments. The dust thinks about going to Mars. The dust wants to discover the universe. You being alive is the exception to the dust. Dust you were, dust you will be. Being alive you are an exception. The question is, is this exception exceptional? Is it exceptional? Or do you have the same excuses as everybody else on the face of this Earth? I don't have time. That's the best excuse that we have been able to come up with. I don't have time . I don't have time for my family. I don't have time for my friends. I don't have time for my work. I don't have time for my patients. I don't have time for God. I don't have time for me. I don't have time. I don't have time. I don't have time. Listen, next time you say I don't have time. You are forecasting your own future. Be very careful. Because that's exactly what's going to happen. Once you become dust again, time doesn't matter. Time only matters when you are alive. As dust it doesn't matter. It does what it does. It blows around. It is the ultimate state of all things that came from it, go back to it. All the stones were made from it and will go back to being it. Don't forecast your future that way. Think, be awakened. Be awakened. Because this what you say of so many things in your life.
You say because you are actually inebriated. Not with alcohol, but with ignorance. Problem is, when you are inebriated with alcohol, after the alcohol goes away from your body. You will become sober. But the inebriation of ignorance does not leave your body. You stay that way. Every day that comes by, what is its meaning? What is its value? This is the possibility for you to be you, for you to be alive. For you, for you, as a doctor be first a human. Its very easy to don the coat. This is who I am. This is what happens to people. I … you know there I am, in the morning I get up. I take my shower. I have nothing on. I take my towel. I dry myself. And the day I'm going to go to fly I grab my pilot's shirt and I put that on and I become something. Now I'm the captain. The doctor grabs his stethoscope. Grabs his coat. Walks into the premises of the hospital. Who am I? I'm a doctor. But who are you? You're a human being. That's your fundamental first step. You are a human being. If you forget that, if I forget that, and if it's only about the four stripes on the shoulder or if its about the stethoscope or if its about the jacket, I've lost the point. Look at this world. Look at this world. People are not behaving like whom as human beings exactly. They're not behaving as human beings. They're behaving as anybody else but human beings and with all the advancement in science as human beings is taking us backwards. We have more educated people on the face of this earth today than we ever did. There are more schools on the face of this earth today than they ever were. There are more universities on the face of this Earth than they ever were. And we have taken and we are missing the key ingredient called humanity. Maybe the pill to peace lies in you being a human. Not in somebody's pocket. Not on top of some mountain. Not in some pledge and indeed maybe not even on any paper or ink. But it lies, the answer that you are looking for, lies within you.
You were not sent on this Earth unarmed. Every creature, every living thing. on this earth has its niche. Otherwise it would be lost. You know, this is a huge laboratory. An experiment goes on all day, all night, all day, all night. We call it evolution. Things are trying to evolve if they have a niche. If they have a purpose. If they can find that niche on this earth they get to be. If they don't, even as large as dinosaurs, were wiped out. Had no reason. Had no purpose anymore. Gone. All we have now is the giant bones. We look at them. We marvel.
Have you ever wondered what your niche is? You have to have one otherwise you wouldn't be around. What is your niche? Find that niche. Find that understanding. Find that clarity. Find that being awake. (Hindi) Think, we all come out, yeah I'm awake. Are you? Are you really awake? Not according to ???? (Hindi) "Everybody is asleep." (Hindi) "What should it be like?" (Hindi) "Eyes open and that's enough." That's what we think. What is the formula? (Hindi) "One cup of tea. I'm awake." Not according to ???, you're not. You're not. "One cup coffee and I'm awake." Not according to ???. You're not. "My eyes are open I can see" not according to the ya ya, you're not. You're still sleeping. Sleeping in that sleep of ignorance. People say to me "What is enlightenment?"And I say knowing about others is wisdom. Knowing about the self is enlightenment. Do you know you? At the end of the day you might I have a patient and you have run 10 tests on him, got him an MRI and this and this and this. You know more about that patient than you know about yourself. Yeah he's got this problem, he's got this disease and this is how many years old he is. He's from this village. He's married to so and so. His father's name was so you know more about him than about you. To make grounds fertile for peace it has to begin with you, not for somebody else, not with somebody else. If you do not realize the value of you you, know we have great respect in our culture for gurus. But in my opinion all the guru can give you is a mirror. and that's what he gives you. He gives you a mirror, look at yourself. But if you have no desire to look at yourself, what's a mirror gonna do. If you have no desire to look at yourself. Do you have a desire to look at yourself? Do you have a desire for peace? Or is peace just a word to you? Most people in this world, peace just means another word. And the foregone conclusion is? What I come up against all the time. Impossible.
The diagnosis that the doctors of this world, not the medical doctors, the doctors of this world have made for peace is dead. And the only place.where it comes into play is on, is on a headstone at a graveyard. Rest in Peace. If that's the only time we're gonna find peace, we're in big trouble. We are in big trouble. Peace has to be in our hearts. Dancing in our hearts. Now, today, not when we're dead. It cannot just be a fancy word. Medicine for Peace. Sounds good. but it has to mean something. And that's why I wanted to quote ??? for you this evening because to be awake, to be conscious, to realize what the possibility is. You have all that you need. (Hindi) This is what I was saying. You have a niche too. You have everything you need. But you need to understand and nurture the thirst. The thirst, the understanding, the need for peace in your life. Will it help you become a better doctor? I don't know. I'm not a doctor. I don't know. But it'll help you become a better human, that I do know. Does a better human make a better doctor? You're the doctor. You should know. Because like Dr Carr was saying, it becomes mechanical. Yes, yes, yes. This is what's wrong with you. Here's the, here's the drug. Let's do another blood test, another blood test. You know my advice to doctors is that red stuff called blood should stay in, not go out. That's what I tell the doctors. What happens very very recently.
A funny thing happened. Well, actually it wasn't that funny. My doctor my personal physician had to have surgery. Had to have surgery. And I'm very glad to say everything went fine. So I went to visit him. I went to visit my doctor. I asked another doctor, I said "How is he doing?" He was, he wants to go home and all the doctors don't want to let him go home because they want to keep him under observation and he wants to go home. So when I came in I was armed with the best joke. Right? Which is "Doctor, how does it feel to be a patient?" (Laughter) You wanna go home? That's exactly all your patients want to do. All your patients. They wanna go home like you do. You wanna go home too? They want to go home too. Oh, but they don't know. They know one thing you wanna go home. And so does when you are on the other, when the shoe is on the other foot, what does it feel like? What does it feel like? And this is exactly what you need to understand that sometimes it is so easy in the interests of professionalism, in the interest of all the isms, we forget what it is like to be human. We forget the value of this breath. We forget what an incredible miracle it is. Incredible. Incredible miracle it is that this breath comes into us. You know, I, I, one analogy I give a lot, I say you're lying in a hospital and you've got that monitor hooked up to you and the monitor shows you're dead. Everything flat-lined, everything. Oxygen flat-lined. Blood pressure flat-lined. Heart rate is flat-lined and the doctor looks at the patient, he's still alive. What do, who do you think he's going to hit? The patient or the machine? Do you think he's really going to go to the patient and say "Hey, you idiot. You're dead. Stop breathing. You're dead. You're clinically dead." No, he's going to go to the machine and hit it. You're wrong because he is alive. The miracle, miracle of existence. Existence is also happening for you. For you, each one of you. There's something taking place which is not letting you be just the dirt. But you're alive. You're awake. You can see. You can feel. You can understand.
Do you respect that every moment that comes into you? Do you understand the value of being alive? Alive. Not just alive. Clinically alive, but Alive. But Alive. (Hindi) Alive, to feel. To feel. And not this just to work. But when somebody says to you 'Peace', you go I understand what you mean by peace. Because I too, understand, my thirst for peace and that I want peace in my life. Not just a hood ornament but something real. I want that feeling of being fulfilled every single day. You know, what makes you a good doctor? If you can fix a patient, send him home. Two people you really don't want to hear from "I'll see you soon." One is doctor and the other one is a police wallah. So, and yet so many doctors think that they can play against death. I wish you could. You try but it happens. You're trying. You're trying. You're trying and then the patient goes, "Aah, bye, I'm gone." And I've seen doctors who have tried and tried and tried and tried and then it didn't happen. It didn't work. And then the patient died, like wow. Maybe there's a shock for a minute. First time supposevly it's a real shock. And after that it gets a little less, get a little less and you get your pep talk "OK, it's OK, its OK. You know that. If you're gonna be a doctor you're gonna see this day after day and a hospital is one of those places, you know, there's people checking in and then checking out somewhere else. And yet in this, in this atmosphere of birth and death, birth and death, birth and death, still the most powerful thing is that life, is that breath, is the coming and going of that miracle.
If you want, peace doesn't need to remain a word. It can become something beautiful. What will it do for the world? I don't know. People are shocked when I say I don't know. But it isn't the world that need the peace. Huh? Isn't it the world that needs the peace? No, world doesn't need the peace. You do. We as individuals need the peace. If we the individuals had the peace, the world peace would be there The only people, only things that bother the crows, the whales, the dolphins. the tigers, the lions, the snakes are people, are people. They have nothing better to do. They'd rather go and they take pride on instruments and spend billions and billions and billions and indeed trillions of dollars spent in trying to invent machinery that will cause destruction. How much money do you think is actually spent for peace? How much money do you think is actually spent for peace? Zilch. This is how much we understand about peace. Peace has become maybe, someday when the skies will open. A big beam of light will come and then there will be peace, we're waiting for the angel to ascend from the skies to bring peace. Aagh. If you went to a restaurant and order a coffee and then the waitress said "Son wait for the skies to open up. Your waiter angel will bring you your coffee. "What will you say? Hey, I want it now. Not ten years from now. I want it now. When it comes to peace. Oh yeah, some day. Everybody on the face of this Earth has a reason why there is not peace. I invite you because I think it takes the same amount of brain horse power to figure out why there can't be peace as to figure out a way as how they can be peace. I invite everybody on the face of this Earth to change their thinking about from going not possible, to yes. Could you do that? People will. I'm sure some of you are thinking "No, no, no. Those guys won't do it. So why should I do it?" No, not come up with a reason for no. Come up with a reason for yes. What is possible?
When the moon mission over foot. There were a lot of scientists said, "There is no way man go on the moon." That became a reality. Not because of those people who said it cannot be done. But because of those people who said that it can be done. And the same thing has to happen with peace. Peace is required, not only be appreciated, not only by the patients. Not only by the doctors, not only by your neighbour, not only by your family because you are not alone. You are shared by many, you are shared by many. You affect your wife. You affect your children. You affect your colleagues. You affect the person who is next to you. Stuck in the traffic jam. You affect the police officer for whom you didn't stop. You affect so many people during the day and night for that matter. You don't even realize you're constantly affecting somebody and somebody and somebody and somebody and somebody. And when you and you are not in peace, that's how many times all those things that are the absence of peace are multiplied. You when you are not in peace. Your wife may not be in peace. Your children may not end up in peace. Her father may not end up in peace. All, because of you. Your neighbour, your dog. But when you are in peace, Ah, and something beautiful happens. When you are in peace you have the ability to take someone who is feeling pain and anger and a little. I call it the 5 second heaven in your life. Try this. OK, try. Why not 10 seconds? Why not one minute? Why not one hour? Start with 5 seconds. Create. Try to create a 5 second heaven for someone you like. Just 5 seconds. Just 5 seconds. Try your wife. 5 second heaven for your wife. 5 second heaven for your child. 5 second heaven for your patient. Patient. How do you create it? Very easy. 5 seconds. Listen. You will not burn any calories. There's no penalty. Just listen Because in this world, husbands don't listen to their wives. Wives don't listen to their husband. Children don't listen to their parents. Parents don't listen to their children. Politicians don't listen to the public. Public doesn't listen to the politicians. Doctors don't listen to the patients. Patients don't listen to their doctors. Listen. 5 seconds. Just listen. 5 seconds. 5 seconds. Listen to your heart. Not the pump. Your heart. But listen to that heart, that is telling you to be in peace. That is telling you to be enjoy. Telling you to be free. Telling you to be content. Telling you to be awake. 5 seconds. Just 5 seconds. 5 seconds. Look at the person. Look at the person who is stuck in the traffic jam. Maybe you can pat his back. I don't think he'll appreciate it. Give him a smile. The day you begin.
What is? Have you seen those plastic candles? Those digital plastic candles they're about this big, you should have an on off switch. You can just put it. When I first saw that, I said "This Is It. This is. This is great." No fire danger. No problem. One candle. Just turn this on and now they even flicker then they do everything. But then I said to myself, there is something that a candle does that this can never do. You know what it is? A candle that is lit can light another unlit lamp. This digital candle cannot do that. You as a human being, if you are a lit candle, you can light another candle. The 5 second help. Maybe peace is not that impossible. Maybe peace is not that difficult if we can change our way of looking at peace. Because the most beautiful news is this. It doesn't have to be created, peace is already there. If it had to be created then we have truly a very big challenge. Afraid. The good news is peace doesn't have to be creative, it is dancing in the heart of every single human being. Regardless of religion, regardless of race, regardless of colour, regardless of whether they are rich, whether they're poor, whether they're educated, whether they are uneducated, whatever the circumstances may be, the peace is dancing in the heart of every single human being. It's here. Peace, my friends has to be discovered, not created. That's the peace that's going to make the difference. So I hope you find the value of peace in your life. Find the thirst for peace in your life. I thank you all very much for listening to me. This is my effort. I go around the world and I try to bring this message. I think what makes it unique? It is not hiding behind some religion. It is not hiding behind some other cause. It is being very honest. What I have experienced in my life. Yes, I started speaking when I was 4 years old so next month in December, I turned 57 and that will make it 53 years of how long I have been speaking about this subject. Now, have always people received this message and said "Oh yeah, we agree with you." No people disagree with me. That's not the point whether you agree with me or disagree with me. Think about what I said. Just give it a thought, just that's all I want you to do. Just give it a thought that it is possible. Look at it from another angle. You know, you take a coin, you do look both sides of it, don't you? don't you? And when you look at the other side you hope to find the other side. What if that coin had the same side on both sides? Thats a fake coin. If you only can think one way, you are a one sided person. You have the ability to think both ways and that's all I ask for is that you think the other way too. Because if I started thinking the way a lot of people think, I would have never spoken at 4 and I would be doing something else but instead I go because I think that there is a possibility that peace lies inside a few. I have heard this by many, many, many before me have said exactly the same thing peace that what you're looking for is inside of you and I know that that is true. Now you need to experience that too.
So thank you very much and I really appreciate you giving me this time. Thank you.