[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.17.6″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”0px|||||” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.17.6″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.17.6″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.17.6″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]A Matter of Choice
\nLisbon, Portugal<\/p>\n
Prem Rawat:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n It is good to, once in a while in this life, sit back and understand what is going on. Even if you live to be seventy years, that\u2019s 25,550 days. If you live to be a hundred, that\u2019s only 36,500 days.<\/p>\n You were born\u2014and one day you have to go. Being born was the culmination of all these things that are around me, the oxygen, the hydrogen, carbon, calcium, nitrogen and phosphorus\u2014this is what we\u2019re made out of.<\/p>\n All these elements came together, all this dirt, all this oxygen, all this air, all this water, all this stuff came together\u2014to create\u00a0<\/span>me<\/em>. Me\u2014you, me. And now, all this is going back to where it came from. So, it\u2019s not like\u00a0<\/span>this<\/em>. It\u2019s like this! Where am I going? This is where I came from.<\/p>\n So, arrival was local\u2014and the departure is also local. But it is this circle that separates the two. And this circle is called \u201clife.\u201d And it is the fundamental core, backbone of this being called \u201cthe self\u201d\u2014you, me: \u201cthe self.\u201d<\/p>\n And then you, of course, hear, \u201cKnow thyself.\u201d And most people, (and I can say this because I\u2019ve been doing it for fifty years, so I\u2019ve got experience), most people find that very mysterious, very philosophical.<\/p>\n After all, Socrates was a philosopher\u2014so, philosophical: \u201cI mean, and it\u2019s just, what is the practical thing of, \u2018Know thyself\u2019? I mean, what? Of course I know myself. My name is dah-dah-dah; this is my cell phone number; this is my email\u2014that\u2019s my cat; that\u2019s my dog; that\u2019s my house. That\u2019s my suit; that\u2019s my shoes; that\u2019s my belt.\u201d<\/p>\n But think about it. If you truly knew yourself, you would know\u2014you would\u00a0<\/span>know<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>what all is in you\u2014the good and the bad. But here comes the issue, \u201cHave you made your choices? Have you made your choices? Have you actually made…?\u201d<\/p>\n You are on this journey (if you want to call it \u201cjourney\u201d or whatever). But you\u2019re in this ring now. You were born\u2014obviously. And so, life is afoot. Have you made your choices, by the way? Have you made your choices? Or are you ad hoc?<\/p>\n You get up in the morning\u2014\u201cAnd, ahh, I don\u2019t feel good. I don\u2019t like that guy; I don\u2019t like this; I don\u2019t like that; I know that, yeah, this is not right. I don\u2019t want to go there; I don\u2019t want to, yeah, but, ah-duh-duh-duh, duh-duh-duh….\u201d Or have you made your choices? Have you made your choices?<\/p>\n It\u2019s a very, very interesting question: \u201cHave you made your choices?\u201d You\u2019re going to be living\u2014that\u2019s what the ring is\u2014are you going to live this life without making any choices? Or are you going to live this life with a very particular set of choices?<\/p>\n But how can you make the choices if you don\u2019t know what you have? So let me shed some light on what you have. You have in you, ignorance, fifty percent\u2014and you have in you, knowledge, fifty percent. You have in you, darkness, fifty percent; you have in you, light, fifty percent.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t give yourself too much credit\u2014it\u2019s fifty percent. Don\u2019t go, \u201cForty-nine\/fifty-one.\u201d No, no. No, it\u2019s just not true. It\u2019s exactly fifty percent.<\/p>\n And by the way, the fifty percent that you have\u2014is more than enough for you to live a life incredibly. Or\u2014or that bad fifty percent is more than sufficient to destroy you\u2014totally. And you have both. You have both.<\/p>\n You have in you, fear\u2014and you have in you, courage. Fifty percent. But if you truly know this, then you can make a choice. You can make a choice: \u201cI want in my life\u2014I want to choose courage, not fear.\u201d<\/p>\n So, instead of living in beliefs, you have to start to live in the \u201cknow,\u201d in the knowing, in the knowledge. And this takes courage. And that\u2019s the choice you have to make: \u201cDo I choose courage? Or do I choose the fear?\u201d<\/p>\n Fear is easy; nothing doing, it\u2019ll…. Just lie on the bed and keep imagining the monster\u2014and he just keeps getting bigger, and bigger. And the fangs get bigger; the nails get bigger; the eyes get bigger, and it gets more hungry, and it gets dangerous, and it\u2019s under your bed, and it\u2019s going to eat you without the ketchup.<\/p>\n But\u2014knowing. \u201cI want to know! I want to feel….\u201d Because one thing is very obvious. One thing is very, very obvious. Life is incredible; life is precious; this breath is an incredible gift\u2014since you don\u2019t push a button for it, it is an incredible gift; it is given to you freely. Shouldn\u2019t you be filled with gratitude? Naturally?\u00a0<\/span>Are\u00a0<\/span><\/em>you?<\/p>\n (I ask too many questions.) This life, should it not be filled with gratitude? But why isn\u2019t it? Why isn\u2019t it? Why is all this stuff that I\u2019m talking about just not obvious? Shouldn\u2019t it be obvious? Why isn\u2019t it? Because maybe the choices have not been made.<\/p>\n You\u2014had a phenomenal amount of courage. When you were a baby, you did something. You did not have a college education; you were not a scientist. You were not a physiotherapist; you were not a doctor; you were not a psychologist; you were not a psychiatrist; you were not an athlete, and you were not an athletic coach.<\/p>\n And you decided\u2014you made a choice; you wanted to walk\u2014so you tried. You tried\u2014and it didn\u2019t work. It failed;\u00a0<\/span>you\u00a0<\/span><\/em>failed! But you were not a failure. And you know why you were not a failure? Because you tried again.<\/p>\n And when you did, you failed. You failed but you were not a failure\u2014so you tried again. And you kept doing this\u2014till one day you did it; you walked.<\/p>\n Nobody could help you. Because the sense of balance is very personal; it has to be in you. Could it be that you were very clear, as a baby, of what you wanted to do? And now you\u2019re not. Could it be that that one thing that can empower you is to know yourself? To know that you have choices?<\/p>\n Do you know you have choices? In your pain, in your suffering, in your confusion, do you know you still have a choice? Do you? That you have a choice\u2014you always have a choice. And you can choose not to choose. (You even have that choice.)<\/p>\n And most of the time, have you not chosen not to choose? (The little masala of destiny….) What is in your destiny? If you don\u2019t do anything, you are born; you will live the amount of days you will live\u2014and then you will, \u201cCct,\u201d go back. The elements will go back wherever they came from. You\u2019ll be disassembled; when you were born you were assembled, and then you will be disassembled.<\/p>\n No. When the choices have been made\u2014and from those choices, comes the gratitude because one witnesses the value and the amazing existence of this being on the face of this earth….<\/p>\n When the eyes are open, when the heart is full, when there are no dualities, when the questions have become answers, when there is a sweetness and a serenity that dances in one\u2019s life, then peace manifests itself. And when that peace is felt, the heart overflows with gratitude\u2014overflows with gratitude.<\/p>\n Find that heaven, the heaven that is in you\u2014your heaven. Transform, awaken! Enjoy! Be! Exist! Adore the simplicity. There\u2019s wisdom in that. There is wisdom in that.<\/p>\n When I first came to the West, everybody was like, \u201cWe don\u2019t want to hear about peace; tell us how we can be rich.\u201d And that\u2019s such a game. I was asked\u2014I was a teenager! I was a teenager! I was like, thirteen years old. I was asked, \u201cAre you rich?\u201d<\/p>\n And I happened to be in a really good mood and I said \u201cYes, I\u2019m really rich. I am really, really, really rich\u2014in the heart.\u201d Money-wise, I only had twenty-five pounds. That\u2019s all I could bring from India\u2014and they wouldn\u2019t allow any more; they gave everyone twenty-five pounds and that\u2019s all we had.<\/p>\n What is twenty-five pounds? What is twenty-five thousand pounds? I mean, somebody could just have a little news\u2014and that could be nothing. One day you have more than you owe, and one day, you owe more than you have.<\/p>\n I mean, I just love the certainty\u2014you know, just, the certainty of this world is just amazing. If this kind of certainty was exhibited by my car, I would never drive it. And here this breath comes like clockwork, incredibly dependable.<\/p>\n You want to understand the definition of \u201cdependable\u201d\u2014think about your breath. (Not about your dog.) Because it\u2019ll come. It is the very thing that allowed you, if you were born in a hospital, to come home. And it is the breath, if you were born at home, allowed you to stay home.<\/p>\n Because if this breath was not coming, you were not coming home\u2014and if this breath was not coming and you were born home, you were going to the?\u2014hospital, pbbt. This is how it is. It\u2019s simple; it\u2019s profound: \u201cKnow thyself.\u201d<\/p>\n Onscreen text:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n To learn more visit: An extensive library of content is available at: A Matter of Choice Lisbon, Portugal Prem Rawat: It is good to, once in a while in this life, sit back and understand what is going on. Even if you live to be seventy years, that\u2019s 25,550 days. If you live to be a hundred, that\u2019s only 36,500 days. You were born\u2014and one day you […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":2579,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":" A Matter of Choice<\/p>\r\n Lisbon, Portugal<\/p>\r\n Prem Rawat:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\r\n It is good to, once in a while in this life, sit back and understand what is going on. Even if you live to be seventy years, that\u2019s 25,550 days. If you live to be a hundred, that\u2019s only 36,500 days.<\/p>\r\n You were born\u2014and one day you have to go. Being born was the culmination of all these things that are around me, the oxygen, the hydrogen, carbon, calcium, nitrogen and phosphorus\u2014this is what we\u2019re made out of.<\/p>\r\n All these elements came together, all this dirt, all this oxygen, all this air, all this water, all this stuff came together\u2014to create me<\/em>. Me\u2014you, me. And now, all this is going back to where it came from. So, it\u2019s not like this<\/em>. It\u2019s like this! Where am I going? This is where I came from.<\/p>\r\n So, arrival was local\u2014and the departure is also local. But it is this circle that separates the two. And this circle is called \u201clife.\u201d And it is the fundamental core, backbone of this being called \u201cthe self\u201d\u2014you, me: \u201cthe self.\u201d<\/p>\r\n And then you, of course, hear, \u201cKnow thyself.\u201d And most people, (and I can say this because I\u2019ve been doing it for fifty years, so I\u2019ve got experience), most people find that very mysterious, very philosophical.<\/p>\r\n After all, Socrates was a philosopher\u2014so, philosophical: \u201cI mean, and it\u2019s just, what is the practical thing of, \u2018Know thyself\u2019? I mean, what? Of course I know myself. My name is dah-dah-dah; this is my cell phone number; this is my email\u2014that\u2019s my cat; that\u2019s my dog; that\u2019s my house. That\u2019s my suit; that\u2019s my shoes; that\u2019s my belt.\u201d<\/p>\r\n But think about it. If you truly knew yourself, you would know\u2014you would know<\/em> what all is in you\u2014the good and the bad. But here comes the issue, \u201cHave you made your choices? Have you made your choices? Have you actually made...?\u201d<\/p>\r\n You are on this journey (if you want to call it \u201cjourney\u201d or whatever). But you\u2019re in this ring now. You were born\u2014obviously. And so, life is afoot. Have you made your choices, by the way? Have you made your choices? Or are you ad hoc?<\/p>\r\n You get up in the morning\u2014\u201cAnd, ahh, I don\u2019t feel good. I don\u2019t like that guy; I don\u2019t like this; I don\u2019t like that; I know that, yeah, this is not right. I don\u2019t want to go there; I don\u2019t want to, yeah, but, ah-duh-duh-duh, duh-duh-duh....\u201d Or have you made your choices? Have you made your choices?<\/p>\r\n It\u2019s a very, very interesting question: \u201cHave you made your choices?\u201d You\u2019re going to be living\u2014that\u2019s what the ring is\u2014are you going to live this life without making any choices? Or are you going to live this life with a very particular set of choices?<\/p>\r\n But how can you make the choices if you don\u2019t know what you have? So let me shed some light on what you have. You have in you, ignorance, fifty percent\u2014and you have in you, knowledge, fifty percent. You have in you, darkness, fifty percent; you have in you, light, fifty percent.<\/p>\r\n Don\u2019t give yourself too much credit\u2014it\u2019s fifty percent. Don\u2019t go, \u201cForty-nine\/fifty-one.\u201d No, no. No, it\u2019s just not true. It\u2019s exactly fifty percent.<\/p>\r\n And by the way, the fifty percent that you have\u2014is more than enough for you to live a life incredibly. Or\u2014or that bad fifty percent is more than sufficient to destroy you\u2014totally. And you have both. You have both.<\/p>\r\n You have in you, fear\u2014and you have in you, courage. Fifty percent. But if you truly know this, then you can make a choice. You can make a choice: \u201cI want in my life\u2014I want to choose courage, not fear.\u201d<\/p>\r\n So, instead of living in beliefs, you have to start to live in the \u201cknow,\u201d in the knowing, in the knowledge. And this takes courage. And that\u2019s the choice you have to make: \u201cDo I choose courage? Or do I choose the fear?\u201d<\/p>\r\n Fear is easy; nothing doing, it\u2019ll.... Just lie on the bed and keep imagining the monster\u2014and he just keeps getting bigger, and bigger. And the fangs get bigger; the nails get bigger; the eyes get bigger, and it gets more hungry, and it gets dangerous, and it\u2019s under your bed, and it\u2019s going to eat you without the ketchup.<\/p>\r\n But\u2014knowing. \u201cI want to know! I want to feel....\u201d Because one thing is very obvious. One thing is very, very obvious. Life is incredible; life is precious; this breath is an incredible gift\u2014since you don\u2019t push a button for it, it is an incredible gift; it is given to you freely. Shouldn\u2019t you be filled with gratitude? Naturally? Are <\/em>you?<\/p>\r\n (I ask too many questions.) This life, should it not be filled with gratitude? But why isn\u2019t it? Why isn\u2019t it? Why is all this stuff that I\u2019m talking about just not obvious? Shouldn\u2019t it be obvious? Why isn\u2019t it? Because maybe the choices have not been made.<\/p>\r\n You\u2014had a phenomenal amount of courage. When you were a baby, you did something. You did not have a college education; you were not a scientist. You were not a physiotherapist; you were not a doctor; you were not a psychologist; you were not a psychiatrist; you were not an athlete, and you were not an athletic coach.<\/p>\r\n And you decided\u2014you made a choice; you wanted to walk\u2014so you tried. You tried\u2014and it didn\u2019t work. It failed; you <\/em>failed! But you were not a failure. And you know why you were not a failure? Because you tried again.<\/p>\r\n And when you did, you failed. You failed but you were not a failure\u2014so you tried again. And you kept doing this\u2014till one day you did it; you walked.<\/p>\r\n Nobody could help you. Because the sense of balance is very personal; it has to be in you. Could it be that you were very clear, as a baby, of what you wanted to do? And now you\u2019re not. Could it be that that one thing that can empower you is to know yourself? To know that you have choices?<\/p>\r\n Do you know you have choices? In your pain, in your suffering, in your confusion, do you know you still have a choice? Do you? That you have a choice\u2014you always have a choice. And you can choose not to choose. (You even have that choice.)<\/p>\r\n And most of the time, have you not chosen not to choose? (The little masala of destiny....) What is in your destiny? If you don\u2019t do anything, you are born; you will live the amount of days you will live\u2014and then you will, \u201cCct,\u201d go back. The elements will go back wherever they came from. You\u2019ll be disassembled; when you were born you were assembled, and then you will be disassembled.<\/p>\r\n No. When the choices have been made\u2014and from those choices, comes the gratitude because one witnesses the value and the amazing existence of this being on the face of this earth....<\/p>\r\n When the eyes are open, when the heart is full, when there are no dualities, when the questions have become answers, when there is a sweetness and a serenity that dances in one\u2019s life, then peace manifests itself. And when that peace is felt, the heart overflows with gratitude\u2014overflows with gratitude.<\/p>\r\n Find that heaven, the heaven that is in you\u2014your heaven. Transform, awaken! Enjoy! Be! Exist! Adore the simplicity. There\u2019s wisdom in that. There is wisdom in that.<\/p>\r\n When I first came to the West, everybody was like, \u201cWe don\u2019t want to hear about peace; tell us how we can be rich.\u201d And that\u2019s such a game. I was asked\u2014I was a teenager! I was a teenager! I was like, thirteen years old. I was asked, \u201cAre you rich?\u201d<\/p>\r\n And I happened to be in a really good mood and I said \u201cYes, I\u2019m really rich. I am really, really, really rich\u2014in the heart.\u201d Money-wise, I only had twenty-five pounds. That\u2019s all I could bring from India\u2014and they wouldn\u2019t allow any more; they gave everyone twenty-five pounds and that\u2019s all we had.<\/p>\r\n What is twenty-five pounds? What is twenty-five thousand pounds? I mean, somebody could just have a little news\u2014and that could be nothing. One day you have more than you owe, and one day, you owe more than you have.<\/p>\r\n I mean, I just love the certainty\u2014you know, just, the certainty of this world is just amazing. If this kind of certainty was exhibited by my car, I would never drive it. And here this breath comes like clockwork, incredibly dependable.<\/p>\r\n You want to understand the definition of \u201cdependable\u201d\u2014think about your breath. (Not about your dog.) Because it\u2019ll come. It is the very thing that allowed you, if you were born in a hospital, to come home. And it is the breath, if you were born at home, allowed you to stay home.<\/p>\r\n Because if this breath was not coming, you were not coming home\u2014and if this breath was not coming and you were born home, you were going to the?\u2014hospital, pbbt. This is how it is. It\u2019s simple; it\u2019s profound: \u201cKnow thyself.\u201d<\/p>\r\n Onscreen text:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\r\n To learn more visit<\/p>\r\n www.premrawat.com<\/a><\/p>\r\n An extensive library of content is available at<\/p>\r\n
\nwww.premrawat.com<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n
\nwww.TimelessToday.tv<\/span><\/a>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"