A Journey Inward

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Periodically, PremRawat.com publishes first-person reflections from people around the world who are experiencing the benefits of practicing the techniques of Self-Knowledge as taught by Prem Rawat – a simple way to turn one’s attention from the outside world to a place of inner peace. This month’s reflection is from Bill Milgrim currently residing in Melville, New York.

Earlier this year, I was playing in a fundraising golf tournament when I flubbed a routine chip. I was mortified! After all, I’m a Class “A” PGA Golf Professional who had just hit an “F” shot. I couldn’t even look at my three amateur partners. What the hell had just taken place?

“It had to have been a brain fart,” I thought.

I needed to quickly gather myself in order to play my next shot in just 60 seconds. What took place in the one minute that followed became totally exhilarating for me.

But first… before returning to the golf course, I need to rewind my story about a year or so.

My initial introduction to Prem Rawat happened in the Spring of 2023. That’s when a friend of mine emailed me links to six short videos of Prem talking about “looking within” in order to discover peace, joy, and gratitude. As I watched the videos, I noticed how he spoke in such a simple, easy-to-digest way. His words and delivery were as refreshing as a glass of ice water on a sweltering day.

Simply put, Prem was inviting me to look inward instead of focusing on other people to see what they were doing so I could fit in.

In the following months, my wife, Jill, and I watched videos of many talks Prem has given worldwide. During that time, I learned that Prem followed in the footsteps of his father, who had passed away when Prem was only eight years old.

There’s no way I wasn’t going to be fascinated by a child prodigy with the ability to capture the attention of adults and who, in 2023, set the Guinness World Record for the most ever to attend a lecture – 375,603. This number is not a typo. At his record-setting event, he spoke outdoors in his home country of India to the equivalent of five football stadiums full of fans.

Inspired by what he had to say, Jill and I methodically went through Prem’s PEAK (Peace Education and Knowledge) course, where he talks about uncovering the peace within.

After each of the nine chapters, we did some journaling and then participated in a series of discussions facilitated by people who Prem has nourished for decades. This became a weekly practice of ours for a few months.   

Thanks to Jill’s insistence, upon completing PEAK, we traveled from our home on Long Island to Stamford, Connecticut, to learn Prem Rawat’s techniques of Self-Knowledge.  

To be perfectly honest, I was hesitant to begin the meditative practice of Knowledge as my previous experience with meditation had been underwhelming and short-lived. I resisted for months until deciding it was time to jump in and give it a try.

I am happy to say that Prem has become part of my life journey as I discover my inner self and live more authentically. Like all human beings in our crazy world, which sometimes feels upside down, I welcome whatever inner peace I can discover.

For me, a part of Prem’s appeal is his storytelling and sense of humor. He frequently goes off on tangents, which can be as entertaining as the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at Disneyland. I often find him to be laugh-out-loud funny.

I am happy to say that Prem has become
part of my life journey as I discover my inner self
and live more authentically.

Returning to the golf event and feeling my embarrassment at hitting such a bad shot, I found myself needing to hit a 40-foot putt. Every golfer knows that you play one shot at a time. We’ve all heard this repeatedly, but it was always just words to me.

After one and a half years of listening to Prem, two images came to mind as I reached into my golf bag to get my putter.

Number one was that of a clock with the second hand continuously going around, never stopping, and never changing its speed. The second, related to the first, was about my current breath. There are no stale breaths. Each breath happens in the moment and is totally fresh.

For the first time in my life, standing in front of my horrible shot, I let go of my negative thoughts. Just like that, they receded into the background, freeing me to take on the current moment.

I took a few practice swings, allowing my arms and hands to relax and hang freely. I told myself to “be an athlete.” I stroked the putt, making pure contact. The ball rolled along as if it had eyes, dropping into the center of the hole.

This experience felt mysterious to me in a wonderful way. I felt like I was being rewarded for embracing the moment in a totally new way.

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