Excerpts from Events
Prem Rawat speaks about September 11 [07:08 min]
Are we vulnerable to things?When I think about it, America was just as vulnerable, before September 11th as it was on September 11. But did you know? No. Did you care? Absolutely not. Were you concerned? Not at all. Then it happens. Terrible. You see it happening in front of your eyes on television and it's too much. And then all of a sudden, everybody gets very friendly. People are not cutting each other off on the highway any more, they are actually letting you come in. That was cute. Because that is so much the nature of unconsciousness. And let me explain, because the people who are conscious, do it everyday.
People go along in their lives, merrily pretending. "Oh, I will live forever.". And then something happens, and everyone is like, "Oh, my God, I really got to live my life consciously." I hear this, and whenever somebody comes and says this to me, I never make fun of them, I never joke with them. I say "Good." But then I see, and what do I see? I see consciousness fade away, and unconsciousness walks in and everything else is back to normal. We are not talking about ,"It would be great some day if you could be conscious." We are talking about, you starting, you starting now, and starting to become conscious. And not conscious about your neighbour, and not conscious about your pet, and not conscious about this and that, but conscious about being alive. Neighbour and pet and everything else will fall in place, if it needs to.
Consciousness is like that light in darkness, wherever it is, it has it's radius, it has it's circle, it has it's influence. And darkness will not come there. It will stay away just that far, and take it wherever you can. And the darkness dare not impede in it's path, thats what consciousness is, thats what reality is, thats what realization is. And even if you can do it once in your life. Atleast the candle is lit.
Kabir- No-nonsense, no philosophical mumbo-jumbo, straightforward poet [05:53 min]
There are people are far more infatuated by only two questions- Where did I come from?
- Where am I gonna go?
- Why am I here?
- Who am I?
To put this in perspective I'm going to quote Kabir. My favorite no-nonsense, straightforward enlightened poet. No philosophical mumbo-jumbo. Kabir says:
diya Kabira roye
jo sukh saadhu sang mein
so baikunth na hoye
Preserving the unpreservable [02:53 min]
Prem Rawat speaking in Los Angeles California, USA.You don't understand what young is? There is only one thing that can be young, and it stays young forever. And that is inside of you. You're trying to preserve what is un-preservable.
Thirst and focus [02:39 min]
Prem Rawat speaking in Mexico City, MexicoLive your life with the thirst and focus, and you'll succeed in whatever you want. Find the water- the water that dwells within you. The answer that is waiting to be recognized.
You're looking for peace, and peace is looking for you! And what do you need to do? Be still; stop running around.
King Janak and Ashtavakra [06:44 min]
Maharaji quotes a story from Ramayana. The story of King Janak, who was father of Sita. Sita was married to Ram of Ayodhya. The story speaks about King Janak’s dream, following which he made a declaration to give away his kingdom as a prize to the person who could answer his question. Through these unfoldings, King Janak met his young master, Ashtavakra.There was a king. I'll abbreviate this. This is an Indian story. There is this king and he is dreaming. He is dreaming that he has lost his kingdom. He is dreaming that he has been defeated. He is dreaming that he is running into the jungle. He is dreaming that he is really hungry. The jungle is cold and wet. He comes across this hut. He knocks at the door and says, "Do you have anything to eat?" An old lady says, "I don't have anything to eat. But I have some rice and some lentils, I will give it to you. You can cook it and satisfy your hunger."
The wood is all wet. He gathers the wood, lights the fire. The smoke is running into his eyes. I mean its a mess. Finally he gets enough of fire going. He puts the pot on. He puts the little bit of lentils, he puts the little bit of rice. Boils it together. It is too hot for him to eat, so he takes a big leaf and puts it on the leaf, to cool down.
In the meanwhile, while he is waiting for it to cool down, two bulls come, fighting, and take what he has made, and plough it into the dirt. In this desperation, the king begins to weep. And he weeps and weeps. And the tears rolling down his eyes, wake him up. When the dreams sometimes get so intense, you wake up. So, he wakes up. He looks. There are the guards. His bed, beautiful bedroom. And he thinks to himself, "What is real? What I was just feeling, was that real? Or now, that I am lying here, is this real?"
So, he gets up in the morning, goes to his court and makes a declaration. "Whoever can answer my question, I will give him half my kingdom." People come. I am sure dream readers must have come. But, nobody could satisfy him.
Then this young master comes, and he says, "Are you ready to listen to me? So, if you are ready to listen to me. then listen king. Let me tell you. What you saw in your dream, was not real, because that was a dream. But when you thought you woke up, and what you saw was also a dream. Both are dreams.
Thats the point of it, that all that we consider to be real, is not. Then we have those, whom we feel, we are related to, our relatives. Then we have those, whom we feel we love, our loved ones. Are these real? Are these relations real?
There is a time, when all these relations come to an end. So, it is. The loved ones, there is a time, when no longer can they reciprocate this love. So, why am I talking to you about relations, love and all that good stuff? My point is, if you are going to have relations, have a relationship with something inside of you too. And if you are going to have loved ones, then find the love that is inside of you too. Because this is the one that transcends the limitations of this world. I hope you understand what I am trying to say.
The Heart Speaks [06:09 min]
Maharaji talks about the similarity in every human being: the want from the heart to be fulfilled. "Why not get in touch with that perfection that is within you?" he asks. "Why not understand what your heart is trying to say to you?"
Magnificent Monk [04:06 min]
The good news is "What you are looking for, is inside of you". This is the best news. If a mother loses her child, her fear is that something bad might happen. If someone informs her just this much- your child is fine. This alone is sufficient for that mother to feel calm. The journey to peace is not a solemn one. The journey to peace is full of enthusiasm and newness and discovery and openness and feeling beautiful. Some people say, to find peace you need to join monastery- No. If you want to find peace, go inside this monastery (pointing to the heart). Search if you need to, and if you don't find- look within. If you need way to look within, look me up!
The Pot and the Gardener [09:28 min]
Speaking in Brisbane Australia, Prem Rawat, known by the honorary title Maharaji, and around the world as the ambassador of peace, narrates a touching story of a pot and a gardener in context of the obvious.
What you're looking for, in your life, is already there. What does it mean to be alive? You got today, it's almost over. God-willing, you will have tomorrow. But what does that mean? Do you look at it, as I'm alive today. Or do you look as if you don't care?
Because You Are Alive [06:12 min]
Because you are alive, you will make a voyage and what will this voyage be like, no one knows, you are given a vessel, this human body and by the very fact that it exists, it will make a voyage, it will go truly where no one has been before. All the logic and reasoning precludes reality. And reality is what you have to deal with every single day. Even though you do the same job every day, No two days are alike. Every day is different. It is not just a question of good and bad. It is a question of how you view that. How do you make this voyage, how does it happen? Who are you and what is the purpose of this voyage?
Virtual World [06:06 min]
There is this place but it's not really a place, it's virtual. And in this place, everything is virtual. It's not real, it's virtual. And you can create an alter personality of yourself. You can fly, and you can do all the things that you always wanted to do, but could never do. But virtually. Not really, virtually. When you fly in this virtual place, you don't actually feel like you are flying.But, here is the fun part. In this virtual place people buy apartments. Make houses. Buy clothes for their avatar. That's what they are called, "Avatar". And in this virtual place when you buy the apartment, it's a virtual apartment but you pay for it in non-virtual money. It's not like play-money. No,no. It's real Euros, real Dollars, real Rupees. People meet in this virtual place and get married.
I am here this evening, I am telling you this. And I bring you a message. That message that ran true for Kabir, for Meera, for Sahjo, for so many, about reality. On one hand, a message says, that what you are looking for is inside of you. On one hand the world is making a complete idiot out of you.
Don't you think that has to be this virtual thing that you pay in real money for, the biggest trickster game ever invented. Because if you paid with virtual money, it's not, it's a game. And I should be telling you, you should choose. You should choose reality over this.
What are we? Who are we? What is our core? This is the day and age where we need to know this more than I believe any other time. Otherwise our choices would be virtual and consequences will be real. Consequences are never virtual, unfortunately. And choices made would have been virtual. Make believe.
So, who are you? What are you? What is your forte? What do you do the best? What is your real potential? What is this life?