Lockdown with Prem Rawat – Day 1

“Offer each other kindness and understanding. This is the time for empathy, clear thinking, and courage.” — Prem Rawat

Audio

Prem Rawat:

Hello, everyone; Prem Rawat here. I just thought I’d take this time and address everyone.

We’re in the midst of coronavirus. And it’s very hard and very trying times for a lot of people. And if, some way, I can alleviate the load, the burden, the concern—of course, we all need to be concerned, but if I can somehow alleviate the burden that people feel on their shoulders, then it would be wonderful.

So, what’s going on? Well, it’s a little, little virus that’s taking over. And there are so many commentaries; there are so many ideas that people have; there is so much misinformation. There is good information; there is bad information. And somehow, there is very little clarity. There is very little understanding of what really it’s all about.

Now, has anything changed? Well, in one way, everything has changed. But every human being wants to feel secure; everyone wants to feel good; everyone wants to feel free. So, in that sense, nothing has really changed because this is, when everything was fine, when coronavirus was not an issue, people wanted to feel that too.

But today, because this burden is upon us and it’s like, the fear—the fear comes in. And of course, you can let the fear take over, and fear would love to take over. But let me just remind you of something.

There is something really wonderful inside of you, and it’s called “courage.” In these dark times, in these very concerning times, we need to be using courage, not fear, to live through this. We need the light that shines from within our hearts to illuminate this very dark jungle out there.

We need to live every day with a sense of purpose, a sense of clarity, a sense of understanding, a sense of just, not doubt, but clarity—and this is what I talk about all the time. But in these times, these elements that we have inside of us really need to shine—every day!

It’s not a question of, you know, “Today is not important.” No, today is important. All of a sudden, the world being in pretty much, a lockdown, just locked down everywhere, just about—what do you do? What do you think about?

And there’s just so much misinformation—on television, on social media and so on and so forth. But there is a truth inside of you—and you need to let that truth come out. There is a reality inside of you and you need to let that reality come out.

So, the contrast, I would say, is immense right now because there is so much that is, well, real concerning stuff that is going on, this coronavirus—that we need to isolate ourselves. And that we need to make sure that we are healthy. But we have to be healthy, not only physically, but we have to be healthy here too, in our minds.

So, all of these issues really come into play; it’s like, “Okay, how do we do this? How do we take the good and make the good really come out? How do we enjoy ourselves in these dire circumstances?”

So, sometimes, you know, you really have to just step back and say to yourself, “Well, what is this all about? I am here; I am a little part in this puzzle.” Of course, you don’t want to hurt other people, so you don’t want to go and become a person who contaminates more people. And the best way to do that is to isolate; the guidelines are being provided. And some of it makes complete sense.

What do you rely on? Well, for once, you also have to look at inside of you. You have to rely on yourself too, your heart, your understanding, your desire for clarity, your desire to be happy. You have to—you have to rely on that. You have to accept that, that this is a very basic thing.

Not just be drowned in fear, drowning in, like, “Oh my God, what’s going to happen to me?” Now, you should be concerned, but by the same token, there is something very beautiful that is being said from your heart, from yourself.

And you need to include yourself in this one. Don’t exclude yourself; you need to include yourself in this one. You need to include that beauty that you have inside of your heart on this one.

Because, what’s going to happen? Well, you know, we saw, we see the numbers from China—and this is where the epidemic started. But by the same token, they clamped down and were able to manage it to the point where, at this moment, anyways, the numbers of people dying and new cases have significantly dropped down!

“Can we do this; can we win this war?” Yes, we can win this war. The only thing is, it would be nice if we didn’t have such high numbers or, you know, these enormous numbers were not there for people dying.

But we human beings have to bind together; we have to come together, and we have to come together in a very funny way—and we have to come together by being together ourselves. Even in isolation, we have to be complete; we have to be whole and not do silly and stupid things.

But at the same time, will human beings win this race, win this war? And, yes, you know, yes, we have to; we have to. We have to go on. And the way we can win it is to be sensible, to be clear, not be in doubt, not be anger, not be in frustration, not be finger-pointing at each other. It is time.

This little virus—which is not a living thing; it’s just some RNA wrapped around in some fat—it has done, for this world, something really amazing.

It is calling upon us, in its very unfortunate and harmful way, to come together—all of us, helping each other around the world, spreading good news, not rumors, not wrong information, but spreading the news that “Use courage! Use clarity. Use that good stuff that you have in you.”

And then and only then, I really feel that not only can we win this, but we can really win this war, really, really win—and not be shortchanged by it, not be smacked by it, not be hurt by it, but come together.

And it is time to rely on yourself to do not silly things. As the guidelines are, you know, “Isolate; stay home. Don’t spread this to other people; maintain your distance”—to follow these simple guidelines.

But by the same token, also be visiting our heart, visiting ourselves, visiting our understanding—and just, from clarity, coming out from clarity, to be able to see that, “Yes! I’m still alive and my aspirations have not changed.”

So, whatever it may be. And people, you know, have their ideas of “how this is going to happen and how that should happen.” And doctors are coming together; medical staff is coming together to help people. And we need to be helpful towards them; we need to be helpful towards each other.

It is time for humanity to really kick in—and for us humans to really take on those super-nice attributes that we have as human beings and offer that to each other, offer each other kindness, offer each other understanding. This is the time for empathy. This is the time for clear thinking; this is the time for courage.

And if we can have that, then I think we can make a huge difference for ourselves, for every single day that we are alive, even without the coronavirus. Because our world needs to be—with or without coronavirus, we need to be in that clarity.

So, I hope, of all the things that I have said, something makes sense to you. And you take that to heart. And no reason for fear because fear doesn’t do anything, you know, except just clamps you down.

What you need is courage. Understand the complexity of the problem; understand the severity of the problem, but instead of giving fear the rise, give clarity the rise; give courage the rise; give understanding the rise, not the doubt. And these are the things that can make a difference in every single day that we have.

Now, I’m going to try to communicate with you as much as I can—and this is the first attempt at it. I’m doing this, you know, in a very simple, very simple way. I set up my little tripod; I set up my little iPhone—and this is what it’s recorded on. I don’t have extra lights; I’m just in this room—and it’s a pretty plain background.

So, to me, background doesn’t matter. You know, the lighting doesn’t matter—just so far I can reach and give you some comfort, give you some understanding, give you some clarity so that you can have a better time of this, you know, because these are trying times. There’s no question about that.

And not have to be living in fear, but come from courage, come from clarity, come from understanding. And yes, we will win; we will win. We will win.

I have been affected by this, very much, just like everyone else. I had gone to Europe. I had done a few events. And then, Europe was coming into a lockdown, so I decided, well, I’ve got some time and may as well go to South America. Because, not much, in terms of coronavirus, was happening there.

So I flew to Brazil. And then when I was in Brazil, amazingly, the next day or so I was supposed to go to Argentina–and Argentina went into lockdown.

No more meetings, no more this. So, okay. And I really didn’t want to go to Uruguay, because, again, I didn’t want to be doing meetings and spread this thing.

So, lot of these things have been happening. And finally, not too long ago, I got to the United States. I haven’t yet been home. So, I’m still a few thousand miles from home. But I am in America and I hope I can get home soon.

And–of course, of course–I’m going to isolate myself. But that doesn’t mean that I can’t talk to you. That doesn’t mean that I can’t send this message out to you, wherever you are.

And maybe, maybe I can make a difference. And I will certainly make as much time as I can available to you.

And I hope that these broadcasts get to you, and you can enjoy them, like them, and have a good time with them.

So, yes, we will win this. But let’s win it with dignity; let’s win it with clarity; let’s win it with understanding. And I will certainly make as much time as I can available to you. And I hope that these broadcasts get to you and you can enjoy them, like them, and have a good time with them.

So, thank you. I’ll see you later.