Acceptance

Audience

We all want to have fun, to enjoy. The most fun of all is to be alive. Not everybody understands that, because we get caught up in what “fun” is, what life is, and how that should be defined. And all of a sudden, we find ourselves coping with what is happening around us rather than enjoying.

Coping is totally different from enjoying in the truest sense. I’m not talking about parties and balloons, but about something so essential to a human being—the fun of the heart.

People say, “Life is terrible. If you think life is fun, if you think life is about joy, then you need a reality check.”

What is your reality? My conviction, my understanding is that of all the days you have in this life, if just one day you are fulfilled, then this life was worth it. If it was just six hours, three hours, one hour, one moment, one second of being able to realize what you have been given—this life was worth it. You cannot realize what you have been given until you have accepted it from your heart. Look at what you have been given in its entirety. Even if it is for one second, it is so beautiful, so precious, that it is indeed enough.

Prem Rawat

When the call from within comes, when the heart says, “Be fulfilled,” we ignore it. We think it is not significant enough, or we say, “I don’t have time for this stuff.”

We think that, as this breath has been coming and going, it will continue to come and go, and that there will be no end to it. Excuse me, there is. And the humility that it evokes is so amazing. It’s not like a hammer falling down. It’s a fine line. One day, I have to go. And when that becomes certain, the value of this time, this life, this breath becomes clear.

It’s not about the beginning or the end of life. It is that one day, one minute, one second you are touched by the pure joy, the pure reality, that resides in you 24/7, that never abandons you. Wherever go, whoever you are, the gift keeps coming. All you have to do to put your world right is to accept it. That’s all. You don’t have to ferment it, reshape it, cut it, wash it, frame it.

Do you know what the greatest form of worship is? Acceptance. In that acceptance, in that understanding, clarity begins to come, not confusion. What comes with joy is clarity. These things are paired. Clarity is paired with joy, not with confusion. Confusion comes with doubt, anger, fear—all the things we don’t like and don’t know how to get rid of.

Prem Rawat

What is being offered is not just to feel that joy for one moment—which would be enough—but to feel it whenever you want to. There is no question that whenever you turn within—be it your last breath or not—you will be rewarded with joy, with peace.

What do you want? Look at your heart. It hasn’t changed. You may have gotten older, but your heart has not changed. What you desired when you were very little, you still want today. And it’s not the toys. It’s the joy of being alive—to wake up, to want it, to grab it, to accept it in earnest.

I want you in your life to feel that feeling of fulfillment. That’s all. I’m not here to confuse you or tell you that everything you know is junk. I’m not here to say you should follow a religion or not follow one. Do whatever you have to do. But of all the things you do in your life, do this one, too: feel fulfilled. And of all the things you do, do this one also: accept the gift that has been given to you so abundantly.

This breath, accept it. The day you do, that will be the most incredible act of worship you will have ever done. Your heart will instantly fill with gratitude. And when your heart is filled with gratitude, there is no greater heaven on the face of this earth. Time stops; worries are gone. The heart is filled with gratitude. The heart is the best. It will bring you back home.

— Prem Rawat