Wisdom

What I have to say deals with you as an individual—one human being on the face of this earth. It doesn’t deal with ideas. It doesn’t deal with philosophies. It doesn’t deal with religions. It deals with one simple thing—this life, this existence.

We have come to believe in our differences. I want to tell you about the similarity of each human being wanting to be fulfilled. Besides all the things we do, all our responsibilities, we have one more responsibility, and that is to recognize the gift of life, to recognize the joy and beauty of life, because it is the only thing that can truly fulfill us.

We all have the same need to be content. We need to have a peace in our life that we can actually feel every single day. Every moment in our lives is the most precious, because it is the moment we have. Wisdom is not realizing the preciousness of something when it is gone. Wisdom is recognizing the preciousness of what we have.

There’s a beautiful Chinese saying: “It is good intelligence to know your friends, but it is true wisdom to know yourself.”

Outside, you are always changing. On the inside, there is no change. I have seen people who have gotten old—their face, their body, looks different. Inside, they’re the same. Their heart is the same.

Why not find out what is within you? Why not get in touch with the perfection that is within you? Why not understand what your heart is trying to say to you? Why do we ignore our inner self and only try to do what the outer self wants to do? The inner self is a part of us, and if we have not heard that simple request, we have not heard the whole story of this life.

On this journey of life, make sure the heart is fulfilled. Experience peace. When you can experience peace, that’s when peace will come into your world. People say, “In this world, there needs to be peace.” I say, “No, in your world there needs to be peace, because if there isn’t peace in your world, there isn’t going to be peace in this world.”

War does not grow on trees. War grows in the hatred in people’s minds. Peace does not grow on trees. Peace grows in people’s hearts.

That’s where you will find peace. It is within you. Look for it. Do whatever is necessary to find peace in your life and be content. You have known this since you were a little child, but you forgot because everything else became important. I remind people what is important—to balance this existence. Feel the joy within you and be fulfilled.

When I say to people, “Peace is possible,” people say, “No.” All I know is, if war is possible, peace is possible, because it is the other side of the coin. You cannot have a coin with one side only.

If there can be war, there can be peace. And it begins not with countries. It begins not with nations. It begins not with governments. It begins with you, with me, with each one of us. This is what I can give.