A Seed That Grows

Almost everyone is looking for something, running after one thing or another. It can get really frantic. But the person who is longing for what the heart wants has everything. That person has no need to be sad. Good wishes come every day in every breath. The person who feels gratitude for that celebrates each breath, each moment.

Traditionally, we celebrate birthdays with a cake and candles. However old we are, we place that many candles. We get very excited to blow out the candles, but what is being represented? If you think about it, it is all the years that are gone that are being blown away. And it's not just one year that's gone, it's every day—every breath—that passed by. How many moments, how many breaths, have we saved and appreciated? What we lose, we lose for a lifetime. Those moments will never come back. And what we save, we save for a lifetime.

This is about hope. You have the possibility to enjoy each moment. Look at the trees and plants that you see around you. They are the ones that made it. They came from the wisdom of the seed that grew. There were other seeds that didn't grow. They were in the same place as the trees you see, but they didn't take. You can be a seed that grows.

The whole world around us is made from what grew, not what didn't. Don't pay attention to what isn't. Pay attention to what is. So, what is? In the middle of our pain, our suffering, we have this life, this body. In the middle of all that, there is the breath that is coming in and out. We need to pay attention to that, to what is, not to the time that has passed. That's gone.

We don't have the time that hasn't come yet, either. We only have today. Tomorrow will come, and what will happen then? A breath will come and then another breath will come. The coming and going of this breath is the gift. It's not about what's gone; it's about appreciating this life, one breath at a time. It's about you—your life—not the life of the other people around you. It's just about you.

What is important is recognizing the gift you have. When you go to an airport or train station to meet someone, you wait until you recognize them before running up to greet them. Recognition is important. When there is no recognition of the heart's thirst to be fulfilled, what I am talking about doesn't make sense. When your heart starts to recognize that thirst, you can move toward joy in your life.

— Prem Rawat