Catch the Wind

wide shotI would like to talk about something very simple. I would like to talk about what you have, not what you don't have. Somehow, we live in a time, in a society, where the belief that we all have to improve ourselves is very prevalent. We have to become better. There are seminars, books to read, places to go, all based on the premise that we have to improve ourselves.

There was a gentleman who had a ranch in Australia. He was very poor. He had to sell many things just to stay afloat. Then came a time when he couldn't really afford anything. Ultimately, he decided that he was going to sell the ranch itself. Things had become so bad for him that his family had to eat whatever was available in nature, as there was not enough money to buy food in a store. On one of the very last days before the ranch was to be sold, out of frustration or whatever it was, the man started digging. When he started digging, he found a gold mine.

This gold mine had always been there. Nobody put the gold mine there on the very last day. He needed to dig, and when he dug, he found something beyond his imagination, something he couldn't comprehend. All the time he had been involved in his drama, in his yearning, in his prayers to make things better, all that he had been looking for was right there. It always had been.

Digging was the one thing he hadn't done. Maybe he had prayed and searched and asked his friends for help. He had probably spent many a night lying sleepless on his bed, hoping, wishing, "Please, give me better times. Give me the power to continue on." But nothing happened. There were no signs, no writing in the sky, nothing. Everything just kept evolving. The day finally came when he was going to sell the ranch, but with a little bit of digging, all his prayers and questions were instantly answered.

I cannot help but feel that each one of us is exactly like that. We have this ranch of life. It has seen good days and bad days. It has seen times of prosperity, rain, and bumper crops—and it has seen drought. We, the farmers, have spent many a night lying in our beds, wishing, hoping, thinking that the good days will come again, that somehow things will improve again.

This story can take any shape you want. The farmer can be lying there hoping that somehow he will be a better farmer—something many people do. They want self-improvement. But all it really takes is to dig within and find the gold mine. Peculiarly enough, we have the ambition for self-improvement, but we are not really qualified for it because we don't know the self.

AudienceWe get caught in trying to visualize what the improvement might be, but if we don't recognize the self, how can we improve it? What has to be discovered and understood is that all we are looking for is within us.

If we have ever desired peace, there is an infinite mine of peace within every single one of us. If we have ever desired unconditional love, within every single human being there is an infinite supply. If you have ever desired joy in your life, within you is immeasurable joy—deeper than the ocean. There is immeasurable joy within every human being.

This is the reality. Peace and joy are not new. They have been talked about again and again throughout history. This little drama that we find ourselves caught in is nothing new. The suffering you are trying to run away from, however big or small it may be, is the same. Generations change. I know that a hundred years from now, people will be playing with gadgets I cannot even imagine. When the gadget doesn't work, the frustration will be exactly the same as it is today.

If what we are trying to run away from is within us, then what we are trying to run toward is also within us. What we don't want is within us, and what we do want is within us. Understanding of the self is not complicated. What it means is the understanding of you by you, not by somebody else.

MaharajiListen quietly and hear. Hear what your heart is saying. It is not going to ask you to go to the moon. It is not going to ask you to buy a new car. Your heart is going to ask you for peace. It is going to ask you to be filled with joy. It is going to say to you, "Do that which will bring gratitude to me today." Will today be that day? Can today be that day? Shouldn't today be the day I have been waiting for in my life?

We think we have the luxury of this thing we call time. We don't understand how little time we have until we run out of it. When we are not running out of it, we think we have all of it. When we start running out of it, we wonder, "What happened?" Nothing new happened. This has been happening to everyone. When our thirst becomes so clear that we are no longer involved in luxuries, it becomes simple. We don't even need to speak the language to ask for water.

There comes a time when thirst becomes so great that the need for water supersedes all barriers. It is clear. It is like flying a kite when there is no wind. As long as you run with the kite, it goes up, but as soon as you stop running, it comes right back down.

As long as the wind is blowing, you can fly the kite and make it dance. When the wind stops, there is nothing you can do. The wind has to be there. The wind is your thirst, and you are the kite. If you want to fly, there has to be wind. Catch the wind and go. As long as the wind is there, fly. You belong there. You don't look good wrapped up in a box. You look good flying. That's how it needs to be for everyone.

I say this to you because it is possible to be fulfilled in your life. It is possible to have understanding and peace in your life.

— Prem Rawat