Prem Rawat at Nova Southeastern University, Florida, USA
The faculty at the Peace Studies Department of the Graduate School of Humanities and social Sciences at the Nova Southeastern University in Florida invited Maharaji to address a distinguished audience of students, faculty and guests.The university is the largest independent institution of higher education in the Southeastern region of the United States and is the sixth largest not-for-profit independent university nationwide.
Brief excerpt from the event:
What I have to talk about is something very simple because it has to do with each one of us, with our existence, with the feeling of being alive. We do so much in our lives to fulfill ourselves on the outside. We create massive structures and institutions, all so we can be fulfilled. But do we have fulfillment in our life?
Within our society we surround ourselves with niceties. And we also know that when it gets down to the sharp end of things, we must prioritize. My favorite color might be red, but if my house is on fire, any bucket will do. We all have dreams and aspirations, but what is our real situation?
For each person, one thing that is real is the cry of the heart to be fulfilled. And inherently in the heart of every human being lies the possibility to be fulfilled. There is both the thirst to be fulfilled and the water that can fulfill the thirst. This is our true nature.
So what is our priority? Often our priorities are the ones that the have established by the people we want to be like. But what is my own quest, my own desire, my own mission in life? As a human being I have a bias towards peace, towards joy. It is inherent, and it transcends the barriers of language and culture. Peace is not in far distant corners of this world; peace is within me. I don’t need to go to a mountaintop to feel it, or to turn down the boom box, or to travel to distant corners of the world. My peace is within.
How do we connect with that peace? There is no formula. It begins with recognizing what it means to be alive, the importance of life itself. Peace begins with recognizing that the heart wants peace, that people have always wanted peace. This is not a new request. And peace is possible. Peace is a very possible dream, but it does not begin with nations or institutions. It begins with each one of us. When we start to say, “Yes, I need peace in my life, and let it begin with me,” we begin to perceive life differently. We begin to take responsibility for our innermost priority. And if the heart can be placed before everything else, what we have is a winning life.
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