The Ocean in the Drop

Audience

Recently, I was speaking in India at a lot of events expressing that the most important thing we have is this existence. When you are born, you’re presented with an experience called life. And in this life, what do you have?

You have a breath. You have a day. You have an hour. You have a minute. You have a second. These are your realities. This is not fiction. This is not some concept. What I talk about, what I want to experience in my life, and what I want you to experience is not fiction. It is reality. Reality that you can touch, that you can feel, that you can understand. Acceptance in your life should be of that which you know, understand, feel. Not in thought, but feel.

There’s a beautiful couplet from India: “That the drop resides in the ocean, everyone knows; but that the ocean resides in the drop, very few know this.” I want you to be those very few who understand this.

That incredible thing—in it everything is, but that incredible thing is in you, too. You are the drop. Not the liquid drop, you are the drop. The ocean is in you. And yes, you can feel that. I understand that, because the same energy that is everywhere comes in me in the form of breath—touches me, brings the gift of life.

Prem Rawat /Maharaji

To so many people, life means, “You have a job, you have a kid, you have a house, you have a cat, you have a dog….” That’s not life. Those are things in your life. There are all those things that are relative, and there is one thing that is absolute, and that is within you. You have life. It is absolute. One day it won’t be. But as long as you are alive and you have the capacity to be conscious, be conscious of that which is the real life. Be aware of this existence that you have because being aware of that existence brings joy, being aware of that existence brings peace. Real peace.

What is real peace? Some people say, “Give it all up, then you will have peace.” No, it doesn’t work. If giving it all up made people peaceful and happy, they would immediately shut down the prisons, because this would be a reward: you do something wrong, and instead of being punished, you’re placed in an environment where you’re peaceful and happy. So that proves the point: giving it all up doesn’t do it. But regardless of any circumstance, there is a place inside of us, and if we can access that place, we can feel that peace.

This is who you are. This is who I am. Truly in this drop that we are resides an infinite ocean of peace. Be one of the very few who know this, because it is an achievement unparalleled. You need peace, you need happiness, because you are a human being. This is your nature. You cannot fight it. This is not a problem that you have to solve.

Audience

That request to be happy comes from within you. Don’t underestimate it. For as long as you are alive, that request to be in happiness and in peace will be there.

How convenient it is that the ocean resides within you. Wherever you go, it is there. One day the drop will go and reside in the ocean. But for as long as this miracle of breath is happening, the ocean is residing in this drop that is you, that is me. When the drop mixes with that ocean, it will no longer be a drop. It’ll just become the ocean. But for a relatively brief period of time, something incredible has happened.

The miracle of miracles has happened. The drop is separated from the ocean, and the ocean has moved into the drop. This is reality. This is what is happening. Grab it. Be fulfilled. Follow that nature. Be in peace. Be happy.

If sorrow is a knife, then happiness is the healer. Be in happiness. You have a lot of wounds, and those wounds cause pain. You do not need to be in pain. Be. Exist. For as long as this miracle lasts, behold it. Don’t budge, because it will all be over way too soon. Find the source of joy inside of you. Have that peace in your life every day.

— Prem Rawat