Rewards of Joy

What I have to talk about is something very personal, something that has to do with you as an individual.

When I travel, people talk to me, and everybody seems to talk about the “world situation.” “There is this happening in this part of the world, there is this problem and that problem.” You rarely come across a person who says, “I’m very thankful because I am alive, because I have been given the gift of breath, the gift of today.”

When I talk to people about peace, I don’t talk about peace the same way that other people do, where everybody is walking around in an idyllic world with a big smile on their face, nobody’s arguing with anyone, and there are white robes and peace symbols everywhere.

When I talk about peace, it begins with every single human being on the face of this earth.

If we are not experiencing that peace, that joy, in our lives, it really doesn’t matter. The idyllic dream will stay idyllic and stay a dream. To realize it, we will have to go to sleep because that is the only time we can dream.

Prem Rawat

I am talking about being awake. Part of being alive is to be awake, not sleeping in an imaginary world, striving for an imaginary peace, living an imaginary life. Especially when what you have been given is so much better than anything you could ever dream of and infinitely more beautiful than you could ever imagine. That’s the life I am talking about—where there is a real enjoyment. It cannot be an imagination. It has to be real.

Peace is good, joy is good, being conscious is good, and if you can practice being conscious in this life, that would be a wonderful thing. Imagine the rewards of being conscious. Imagine the rewards of happiness. Imagine the rewards of joy. Imagine the rewards of a fulfilled life. Imagine the rewards of a life complete—not empty. Not half, not three-quarters.

You have to be proactive if you want peace in your life. You have to usher in wisdom and consciousness every single day. You have to have a way to be able to go inside, because that is where peace lies.

I offer a way to be able to go inside. I go around and I try to make a difference. I try to bring joy to people’s lives, to bring a little hope to people around the world.

Audience

Find peace in your life. A day without peace, without joy, is truly a waste of time. If you can’t find it, look me up. I’m here, there, somewhere—traveling around the world and bringing a message of hope. Not a lecture, but a hope in earnest to people around the world.

Put the meaning back in this life with every breath you take. Understand the value of breath while you still have it, because then you will be able to appreciate what you have. Wisdom is not a big thing. It’s in the small details of life. The smallest detail of your life is this breath that comes in and goes out. It is so incredibly detailed because your existence dances around it. This is you. This is your gift. Be fulfilled. It will make the difference in your existence.

— Prem Rawat