Homecoming

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 Charis Cooper, currently residing in Kent, UK.

Hi, my name is Charis. I’m 36 and from the UK. I asked for the gift of Self-Knowledge from Prem Rawat when I was 25.

At the time, I had just finished university and was supposed to be going out into the big wide world to start a career. It should have been an exciting time. However, I had this horrible feeling that I really didn’t know what I was supposed to be doing with my life. I didn’t know my place in the world and, even worse, it looked like everyone else seemed to know how to slot into society. I desperately needed something meaningful, and the world was not offering me this.

I was starting to notice that a piece of my puzzle was missing – a painful but vital realization. Thankfully, somewhere in myself, I remembered that I had come close to that missing piece when I had seen Prem Rawat speak a few years earlier. I decided to explore this further and listen more at home on my own, and as I did, I remember feeling myself lighting up from the inside because I knew I was on the right track.

I was in the process of rediscovering the missing connection to myself. It felt more real and more satisfying than anything else I had previously tried to fill the void with.

I was in the process of rediscovering the missing connection to myself.

At some point during this process I decided I was ready to receive the techniques of Self-Knowledge – a way of focusing on the peace already within me. After a failed first attempt, due to transport issues, I had a profound realization of how much I truly wanted this. A week later I found myself in Barcelona where I finally received Knowledge.

At first I thought, what do I do with this? It was like being given an instrument I had completely forgotten how to play but instinctively knew at the same time. I noticed that the more I persevered with the practice of Knowledge, the more familiar it became. And the more familiar it became, the more I started to notice the benefits it brought to my life. 

I began experiencing a new sense of feeling at ease within myself rather than the usual inner “strugglesville” I had sadly become accustomed to. That feeling of ease was refreshing, like a breath of fresh air or drinking water when I’m really thirsty. I noticed that my perspective was more grounded in reality rather than made-up ideas I probably borrowed from someone else. I also noticed that I changed as a person – because I was becoming connected to something real within myself. Other people around me noticed a difference too.

I had attended events with Prem Rawat before receiving Knowledge and enjoyed it because he spoke to my heart in a way that I hadn’t experienced before. However, I didn’t always understand everything he was talking about, and sometimes my mind wandered. But once I started practicing Knowledge, I began to understand him in a more profound way – because I was experiencing it for myself. 

I’m grateful to Prem Rawat for doing what he does.

Practicing Knowledge is not always easy for me. Sometimes I let it slip down my priority list and let my to-do list come first. When that happens, I notice myself moving back into inner “strugglesville.” Thankfully, I always know that the answer is to come back home to myself – to a place where the volume on the prolific mental chatter starts to lower, to the place where I really belong.

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