Our Nature

Prem Rawat / Maharaji

What I talk about is very simple because it’s about you. Most of us think about ourselves, about what we are doing here, in the most complicated ways. Ideas abound. But if you can begin to understand your nature—who you are—maybe some simplification can begin to happen.

Simple as it is, it’s worth observing what our nature is. Why is it that when you are content, when you are happy, you actually become kind? You forgive. If somebody cuts in front of you on the road, it’s okay. When you are not content, when you are frustrated, if somebody cuts in front of you, you honk your horn.

Contentment, peace, joy, fulfillment—when we have that, we actually act and react to things totally differently. How we talk, how we react, how we actually cope with problems is totally different. The child comes up and says, “Dad, Mom, can I have some money? I want to buy ice cream.” “Sure, and while you’re at it, get me one, too.” The outlook is different: Things are good. The sun is shining—even on a cloudy day. Food’s burnt in the kitchen? “No problem. Let’s order pizza and have fun!”

But when something inside is not fulfilled, any little thing is intolerable. If you concur even slightly with that, what should you try to work on? What should you try to do in your life? The keyword is try—to make some effort towards feeling that peace, that contentment.

Prem Rawat /Maharaji

The idea of peace did not start yesterday. This goal was set a long, long time ago. Civilizations are very proud of what they have achieved, but that goal that was established a long time ago for the whole of humanity has not been accomplished. Going to the moon has been accomplished. But peace has been ignored.

Whoever came up with the idea of “world peace,” did a great disservice because it took the burden of peace off of us and put it on the world—this myth called world. Peace is the responsibility and charge of every single human being. And it is that individual peace that needs to be sought, acknowledged, and achieved in this lifetime. This is what has to happen.

Where is that contentment? It is within you. What you are looking for is within you. People spend thousands of dollars trying to alter their behavior, and yet it is so easy. Be content and your behavior automatically alters. Outlook? Positive.

Audience

You weren’t made with a cookie cutter. But someone, something, created all these people, and no two are alike. Not even twins. That is so personal—to craft every single being with so much care. Every day to have that breath come—that is an amazing amount of detail. Every day, to have the heart sing out a song that is never the same—and always the same.

How do you begin to say thank you? How do you begin to feel that magic in your life? How do you begin to celebrate that kind of beauty? The answer: Look within. Listen. Listen to your longing without fear. Listen to how sweet it is, how delicate it is, how strong and persistent it is.

There’s only one life—many days, but one life. From the bottom of your heart, enjoy every single day. It is the most priceless thing there is. Every breath that comes into you—you cannot buy it, you cannot exchange it, you cannot give it. It is yours.

— Prem Rawat