Music / Expressions

Questions, Answers, and Perspectives [19:30 min] I go around the world and talking about peace to people. I've understood one thing, people don't have a clue what peace is. Peace, without which we would lose the very fabric of who we are. Peace that dances in the heart of everyone- that's the peace I'm talking about. Even in the middle of the war, a person can experience peace.

Doesn't this fascinate you that at your very core, you've the capacity to feel joy and the capacity to feel anger? When you feel joy, you don't mind. Nobody goes to Church and Temple saying "God I've had enough joy, please take it away". Nobody commits suicide saying "I was way too happy, goodbye happy world!" You should be intrigued by this fact. Your ability to feel joy is unique. Understand that this is your nature and a part of you - Aversion to suffering and attraction to joy. Then, find in your life the joy that never ends. The joy that you carry with you wherever you go.

I see people and I see them looking, this is my perspective. People are sitting on roadside cafes and they are looking. And I wonder that they are looking for something. Searching. Not knowingly- unknowingly. A nature of a human being trying to find a comfort. Trying to find joy. Not even knowing that that's what they are looking for. Perhaps, much deeper; looking, searching for a peace, tranquility. A peace yet undefined. A peace that perhaps can play out even on a battle field. Looking for a freedom even in the middle of a prison and finding it. Looking for friendship not defined by friends, but one which feels real. Perhaps looking for reality, in a world which we think it is real. But something inside says "Not really". Looking for stability in a world that is so changing. Perhaps looking for a breath that just came and changed my life forever.
And if you are looking for peace, it is within us. If you are looking for joy, it's not far from us. If you're looking for that friend, it is always, always has been and always will be, within inside of us. If you are looking for the place that doesn't change, then that place is also inside of us.
And you know what? You know this!

Thank you for the Peas! [05:24 min] It's all about the good days. It's not about the seeds that did not germinate, when you look at that mango tree. When I look at you, you are here. I see people here, I recognize some of the faces. I don't recognize all the faces, but you are here. Some of you may have received knowledge couple of days ago, some of you may have received knowledge a long time ago. I don't know, but you are here. That's good. Thats a good day. It's a good day. From the 70's there have been few dark hours, there have been not so dark hours, but you hung on with knowledge. Good. You're the one who is going to benefit from it.

Feeling of Joy- A conversation [06:45 min] This is an expression of a man who expresses his gratitude to Maharaji for knowledge. At the same time he raises his concern that the kids in the school where he teaches, drive him a lunatic and all the peace, all the joy that he had experienced, sublimes!
Maharaji answers:
There are two things. When you are in this feeling it is beautiful. Further and further when you move away from the feeling, everything else takes over. The outside circumstances will try to get to you. But you should decide. You need to excercise kindness to your existence. Knowledge does work so far you stay in that experience.
Don't be confused about it. You always have the decision to allow those things to take control of you. Lot of people think, it is not in their control. But it is. When a person in prison can feel the peace, then you should have no limits.

Ram and Bhilni [07:11 min] This was when, Ram was exiled and he was in the jungle. His wife had been stolen by Ravan and he was in the conquest to get her back. Ram was travelling through the jungle. There was this lady, and her name was Bhilini. She had heard, that Ram is going to go through here on his way, in that search.

Now, she hadn’t heard that Ram is gonna come and stay here. It was just going to be a passage, he was going to go through. And she started to prepare. And her preparation, was so intense, that everybody who saw it, only made fun of her. Because everyday she would clean the road. Everyday she would put flowers on it. Everyday she would go and gather the fruit from the jungle. Everyday, she would prepare and prepare and prepare. Preparation. In that preparation, she found her joy. It was not laborious to her to prepare.

And even though people laughed, because they did not understand, because she had no date of when Ram was to come. She just knew he is gonna come. So, she just started preparing every single day. And people saw this happening day after day after day and they said, "She is crazy."

And everyday people would go to their work, would go where they were going, but she would wait. She wanted to be prepared.

One day Ram came, and she was ready. Not that everybody did'nt want to see Ram. Everybody wanted to see Ram, but they hadn't prepared and they weren't ready. And Ram came and when he came, she was, she greeted him. Took him to the room, offered him food, offered him rest. And everybody was everywhere else. Then Ram left and the only difference they saw that she no longer prepared for him. And they asked here, have you given up. And she said, no, he came and he is gone. And she was exorbitant happy.

What can I get out of that story in my life? That I too, in my life need to be prepared. And I need to be prepared for that clarity to come my way. And that preparation that I need, needs to be immaculate.

And I cannot let the doubt makers come and say, "You are crazy. Yur clarity will never take place." I cant. I cant afford that. Lately, have you, have I, have we taken a look at things that are important to us? How long ago, have we made such a list, taken such an account? When was the last time? When was the last time of all the things that we do of quote unquote normal in this world? When was the last time we took and account of what is really important to you and me? When did we say that this breath is important to me? Whether it is or it isn't, only you know.

None other than you [02:50 min] This is your existence. Sometimes we forget, what is under process. What is being created here? What is being made here? This construction site is no ordinary construction site. Done well, it will be better and more beautiful than Mona Lisa. Done well and chiseled well, it will be more grand than the statue of David. It’ll be more magnificent than the Sistine Chapel.

And who will be the judge of this? Who will be the admirer? Who will be the one that stands back and say, "Yup! This is good!" None other than, you!

Then prepare yourself to have those eyes of simplicity that can truly admire the magnificence that is possible. Then prepare those eyes of simplicity. That heart, and understanding of simplicity, so when you stand in front of that portrait that you have managed to paint, you will be able to admire it. Admiration and simplicity are the guardian angels of this beautiful experience called peace.

Two Frogs [04:03 min] This is an interesting story of two frogs. There was a little frog, "Wellie" who had always lived in a well. Whether he had good days or bad, Wellie always felt very proud of his well. One day he encountered another frog "Laky" passing by..

Wellie: Hello, I live in this well! Jump in, the water will refresh you.

Splash! Laky jumps in.

Wellie: So, where are you from?

Laky: Well, I live in the big lake!

Wellie: Is the lake as big as my well?

Laky: No, It's a little bigger!

But, Wellie did not believe. He swam and made a little circle on the water.

Wellie: Is your lake this big?

Laky: No, its even bigger than that!

This time Wellie swims across the circumference of the well.

Wellie: Is it this big?

Laky: No! It's bigger than that!

Wellie laughs out loud.

Wellie: This is not possible. There is nothing bigger than my well.

Laky: If you want I would be very plesed to show you my lake.

Wellie: Ok, I accept it.

So, Laky takes Wellie, to show the little well frog, his lake. When Wellie sees Laky's lake, he is surprised. He cannot believe his eyes. He has never seen anything like this.

Wellie: Uauhh, this is big, really big! It's fantastic! This is amazing and unbelievably beautiful!

Prem Rawat speaks to young gang members [06:58 min] Good evening. My name is Christina Recalde
It's a pleasure to be in front of you
I had seen you on videos and
I'm amazed to be standing here asking you a question.
I am a gang leader and
also part of Peace and Respect on the Street Program.
We have seen our brothers and friends die
and we wanted all that to end.
As it says in the videos, we have our own angel which is within us,
and personally, that message has changed my life.
Thank you.
What I would like to say to you, again, is very simple. It's very simple.
You are a human being.
When you got up, I didn't know who you were,
but I knew you were a human being.
That's who you are. Learn to respect yourself.
You see, even when you were robbing people,
you knew one thing if somebody robbed you, you didn't like it.
When somebody stole something of yours, like your, you know, stole your earring or something
- "Where is that thing?!" So you knew but, it's like, you were somehow different than
the people you were robbing. But you're a human being.
Do you know that the breath that comes into you is the same breath that comes into me?
The breath says "OK, I'm coming into you." Not going "You've been bad, so, OK, 'time out'."
No! No. To become beautiful, from inside. To become strong, from inside.
If you want to be wealthy, then learn to be generous.
If you want to be strong, then learn humility.
If you want to be smart, learn simplicity.
That's what it takes. Learn simplicity.
Learn humility. If you want that strength, learn that gentleness towards yourself.
A candle has one thing that it can do, and that is, it can light other candles.
All you have to be, is the candle that lights the unlit candles.
It's better than robbing them.
Because, you know, either way they will remember you!
But one way they will remember you with fear,
and the other way they will remember you with gratitude.
You know you ended up being a gang member because you could be anybody you wanted to be.
You chose that. Can you change your mind? Of course! That's the beauty of it.
That's the beauty of it. But this time be pure of heart.
This time be pure of heart,
and that will be your strength.
Belong to the 'gang' of the really cool!
So, anybody and everybody can help, and everybody needs to. Everybody needs to.
This is a noble cause and it has been dreamt by every single civilization,
and it has been dreamt by every single society, and it is about time that it happens.

The Mirror [04:18 min] ONCE THERE WAS a remote little village. The people in this village were very simple. One day, a tourist arrived. The next morning, he took out his mirror and put it up on a wall so he could shave. He cleaned up and shaved, but he forgot to take the mirror off the wall before he traveled on.

An elderly villager with gray hair, bright eyes, and a beautiful shining face saw the mirror on the wall and looked into it. He had never seen a reflection of himself, so when he saw the face in the mirror, he was mesmerized, and he said to himself, "Today, I have seen the face of God." He left - completely happy: "I have seen God."

Then a young girl came along. When she saw herself in the mirror, she was taken aback. "I have seen the most beautiful woman on the face of this earth. When I grow up, this is what I want to look like!"

And then came along a man who had lost his father not too long before. He looked in the mirror and said, "Oh, my God! I have seen my father again."

Now, the three people who had seen themselves in the mirror started to get very upset. The older man wanted the mirror, because this is where he had seen the face of his god. The young girl wanted the mirror, because this is what she wanted to look like. And the third man wanted the mirror, because in it he had seen his father again.

They started arguing, and before long, fights were breaking out all over the village. Everybody was unhappy, because whoever went to the room and looked in the mirror on the wall- whatever they saw, they liked, and they all wanted the mirror for themselves.

Finally, a wise man happened to come by. When he saw what was going on in the village, he asked, "Why are you all fighting?"

Different people answered: "I want this thing because this is my god," or "This is who I want to be," or "This is my father," or "This is my this; this is my that."

So he asked for the magical thing to be taken down from the wall and brought to him. He looked at it and said, "Don't you know what this is? This is a mirror."

He called the old man, and he said, "You did not see the face of God. You saw yourself."


He called the young girl, and he said, "You did not see the most beautiful woman. You saw yourself."

He called the third man, and he said, "You did not see your father; you saw yourself. You look like your father, and that's why you thought you saw him, but it was you."

One by one, he called everyone and said, "What you see in this mirror, what you like in this mirror, is not the mirror. It's you!"

Now, how does this story relate to peace? You see, peace begins with each one of us. We have forgotten our own self, our own need. We like to talk about food, and we have become very good at it, but does that mean that we don't need to eat anymore? No. You can talk about food all day long. No problem. But sooner or later you've got to eat. This is my little bit of wisdom for you. Hunger does not look at anything else; it looks at being satisfied. And the hunger for peace comes from within you. It is not an intellectual idea.

Peace is the desire of the heart. Your heart. And it is as simple as the coming and going of the breath. Breath. This is how the movie of life begins. And how does the movie end?

Just recently, somebody's father passed away, and this person said to me, "We were all waiting till he had taken his last breath." Once again - breath. I know we're fascinated by the in-between part. This is what we live for, this is why we exist. That's all fine. I'm not criticizing that. But you should never, ever forget the importance of where your life began. And where it will end.

Humanity [05:58 min] Renowned peace teacher and speaker Prem Rawat joined us from our Sea Point studio in Cape Town where he spoke about humanity's natural state of peace. He was in South Africa speaking at two events, one in the mother city and the other in Johannesburg. Against all odds, we're doing an event in Las Vegas. Yesterday I was this book which most people have read. It is the most read book. I'm not talking about the Bible. And it is read across the most continents. It is the first book that you actually finished reading. You know what that book is? It is the book of alphabets! And it is one book you won't find in people's library. We've all read this book, but we forget about it. What does this book signify? It was indoctrination on how it should be on step into this world. There are people who say "The whole world is bad". Other say otherwise. To me, it is like a kitchen knife. It has the capacity to feed you, and also to hurt you.

A Lifetime [03:42 min] You have this life, that is important, true, and real.
Given that you have this incredible opportunity, what would you do with it?
Would you squander it away, or would you embrace it?
One moment lost, is not coming back; such is the severity of the subject.
This life has to be lead consciously.
What does it mean to open your eyes?
Delight, embrace this life!