DJ Fresh:
With our show, every Wednesday we deal with conflict resolution—because that’s what we believe everybody needs.
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DJ Fresh
MetroFM Radio Presenter
DJ Fresh:
I don’t think people enjoy being confrontational; I don’t think people enjoy being violent. But generally, on the radio, we don’t offer people solutions either. And you know, we don’t say to people, “Here are tools that you can use to maybe fix the situation.”
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Metro FM broadcasts to over 10 million listeners
throughout Southern Africa.
DJ Somizi
Mpho Maboi
MetroFM Radio Presenter
Mpho Maboi:
I think Prem’s message is not just pertinent to South Africa, but to the world as a whole—because we live in a very violent society.
So, when someone teaches you that, “You know what; peace is a part of your life; peace is not something that you can march towards or that you can look for externally—it’s something that you find within you,” I think a lot of people will actually—it will help a lot of people.
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METRO FM LIVE RADIO
DJ FRESH + DJ SOMIZI
INTERVIEW PREM RAWAT
Johannesburg, South Africa
DJ Fresh:
This is Sands on MetroFM with Tigi. Six-forty, you’re welcome to Fresh Breakfast. Every Wednesday we talk conflict resolution, in the hope that we will arm you with tools that’ll enable you to deal with whatever conflict you may be dealing with.
And we’d like to welcome to Fresh Breakfast this morning, Prem Rawat. He was presented with the International BrandLaureate Lifetime Achievement Award, previously given to only three other people in the world, including uTata Madiba and Hillary Clinton.
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Prem Rawat
Global Peace Ambassador
DJ Fresh:
The core of Prem Rawat’s teaching is that the individual’s need for fulfillment can be satisfied by turning within to contact a constant source of peace and joy. He has millions of followers throughout the world and he’s in South Africa briefly. Good morning, sir.
Prem Rawat:
Good morning; it’s great to be with you.
DJ Fresh:
May I call you “sir”—I don’t know; what’s protocol when it comes to you?
Prem Rawat:
You can call me Prem.
DJ Fresh:
How are you doing, sir?
Prem Rawat:
I’m good; how are you?
DJ Fresh:
We’re good. Now, please, before we get into this, give us a brief history of the inspiration behind your teachings.
Prem Rawat:
Well, it’s not really teachings; it’s just, for fifty years I have been talking about peace and traveling the world. [DJ Fresh: Yes.]
And I see that people have such a power inside of them but they don’t know how to tap it. They have so many solutions inside of them, but they’re not aware of them. And as Socrates said a long time ago, “Know thyself.” And that holds more value today than ever, because we are so distracted.
DJ Fresh:
Why do you think we’re failing to know ourselves—and as a result, it impacts on how we deal with other people?
Prem Rawat:
Well, of course, we—because we don’t know ourselves, we are focusing on the outside. We are focusing for those things that really need to be coming from inside of us—for instance, peace. We’re looking at the outside world to find peace. You’re not going to find it there. It’s not there!
DJ Fresh:
Sure.
Prem Rawat:
You’re going to find it inside of you. And unless you know how to turn inside—and unless you know how to get in touch with yourself…. And that’s exactly what that is, “Know thyself; find yourself; be with yourself.”
DJ Fresh:
From what age do you think we’re able to start looking at our inner thoughts, ourselves in that way?
Prem Rawat:
Well, you know, it’s like, that’s like saying, “Monkey see; monkey do,” type of thing.
DJ Fresh:
Sure, umm, sure….
Prem Rawat:
From a very young age, we start emulating our parents. And we start looking around our world and we start emulating it.
And when that world is all going gung-ho on the outside, we too start to think the same way. We start to think like, “Well, we’re going outside; we’re—well, that’s where everything is. I want this; I want this; I want this; I want this.”
And all of a sudden we see our parents, we see people we like, all caught up in greed. And so the greed comes to us too.
DJ Fresh:
Sure.
Prem Rawat:
But, at a very young age, this all begins, because the seed is being planted then. And it’s very, very important to understand, to have that environment for our children where they can independently grow, not grow with the influences that are contaminating us.
And we, we don’t like them; we don’t like them. [DJ Fresh: Sure.] But we are doing nothing to turn to our younger generation and saying, “You know, you don’t need to be involved in this.”
DJ Fresh:
But, in a practical way, how do we break that cycle?
Prem Rawat:
From understanding ourselves. And truly, this is the most practical way. We know one thing: “If I have my eyes, I can see your face; I can see everybody’s face. But if I want to see my face, these eyes are no good for it; I need a mirror.”
And so that mirror becomes our understanding; that mirror becomes that knowledge. Not believing, not just thinking about things—but actually, the knowing of it is so powerful. It’s so powerful in knowing—because we’ve become believers: “Believe in this; believe in this; believe in this.”
We’re all waiting for the angel to come, the heavens to part—and the angel to drop down. And I say to people, “The angel has come and you are the angel. And you are here to save yourself—save yourself,” do the angel bit.
DJ Fresh:
“Take responsibility for yourself.”
Prem Rawat:
Take responsibility for yourself; understand yourself; know yourself; be yourself.
DJ Fresh:
Is it as simple as you make it sound to be?
Prem Rawat:
Well, this all depends. “How long is the walk back home?” Well, how far have you been walking away from the home? And so, the further out we get, the longer that walk is going to be.
And of course it is simple, because it is a walk back home, home to you. You are your home; you will always be your home. And you need to know you!
You know, when you have a huge map in front of you, and there are all the writings on it—but you don’t know where you are on that map, that map isn’t going to help you. [DJ Fresh: Sure.] The first thing you need to know is, “Where are you on that map?”
DJ Fresh:
A five-year-old comes up to you and says, “Uncle Prem, Uncle Prem, who are you; what do you do?” How do you explain who you are and what you do—that a five-year-old would understand?
Prem Rawat:
Well, my daughter was asked that question once and she said, “Oh, he just travels around and he talks to people.” But, the best way to explain that really would be that “I have this feeling, that I have this gift that I can talk about peace and I want to take that gift….”
DJ Fresh:
Yes.
Prem Rawat:
Because if you don’t give a gift, it’s not a gift anymore. [DJ Fresh: Ummm.] And so I want to take the gift of talking to people about peace—and causing them to think; that’s all I need to do.
You know, I don’t need to go there and hand-hold them or do anything like that. All I need to do is get them to start thinking about themselves, about the possibility of peace in their lives, and that is more than enough to start the tree.
DJ Somizi:
Let’s get into your philosophy, especially looking at love. You know, people, (some people, most people) choose to fight for relationships, choose to physically fight if there’s a conflict in that relationship.
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DJ Somizi
MetroFM Radio Presenter
DJ Somizi:
Can you subscribe on how they should handle things? Does this inner peace play a huge role into maybe just walking away? And say, “You know what, I’m bigger than this”—and you are able, within that turmoil…?
Prem Rawat:
Well, yeah, peace always plays a beautiful role in everything, but let me just put it this way. Are you falling in love with another person, or are you falling in love with your expectations of that person? [DJ Somizi: Umm-hmm?]
Because if you’re falling in love with that person, then you will be in love with that person and there will be no conflict. But if you’re falling in love with the expectations that you have of that person, then surely, at some point in time, if that person is not capable of delivering what your expectations are, there is going to be the big C, the big conflict.
DJ Somizi:
Umm! Umm, umm.
DJ Fresh:
So, I’m that guy, let’s say, who, you know, whether it’s a low self-esteem or insecurity—or “You hurt me before, therefore I feel you might hurt me again”—that when I see my partner with someone else, or even just talking to someone else, maybe I lose it. [PR: Yes.] Or, I even, maybe, want to, you know, become violent.
How do I help myself—and applying what you’ve said to us?
Prem Rawat:
Well, very, very simple. It is called the “law of attraction.” A flower does not do anything but offer the bee some nectar—and the bee comes from miles around, hovering on that flower.
And that’s what you have to become—you have to become that flower. You have to be whole; you have to be complete; you have to be strong; you have to be who you truly are—and that’s when you become attractive!
It is not the Porsche that’s going to do it; it’s not the ideas that are going to do it. It is not all the other things that are going to do it. I mean, Porsche is very nice, but [DJ Fresh: Yes.] you can be so much better. You can be that flower. And you will become attractive.
DJ Fresh:
But how do I start being that flower?
Prem Rawat:
First, by knowing yourself, who you are.
You see, in the forest, you look at the trees—and then you sometimes see a vine that is choking the very host it’s riding on. [DJ Fresh: Yes.] And what’s going to happen, the tree’s going to die—and then the vine will die. And it’s, nobody is the winner.
If you want to be the winner, be the flower that offers, from a solidity, from a power…. Come, not with expectations, but offer love—love, companionship, understanding to each other. Otherwise, when the expectations get in there, it’s just grinding and grinding and grinding.
DJ Somizi:
Is like, for instance, some…. We’re listening to you—I sometimes think that, “When does it get to a point where it’s, you know, it’s not realistic?” Because there are some things that really, you have to respond in a certain way—like you miss your flight? You can’t just be going, “Oooh, oh….” [DJ Fresh: Yes.]
Like yesterday, there was load-shedding at my place—and because I’m so into this inner peace thing, I just switch on the candles and sat and waited. But I’m like, thinking, “Oh, when is it coming back now?” [DJ Fresh: Sure.] When are you…? Is it part—is being realistic to certain situations part of being peaceful inside?
DJ Fresh:
And my “add” to that, because for some people, peace to them is not necessarily a solution. “I feel better that I’ve lashed out.” [DJ Somizi: Umm.] Or I feel better that “I’ve shown that guy that was courting my wife.” It’s like, what do you say to those people that feel that the lashing out is when they find the inner peace?
Prem Rawat:
Yes. I visit a lot of prisons—[DJ Fresh: Yes.] and I see a lot of people who did exactly that. And I talk to them—and they are about as sorry as you can imagine. Now, I haven’t met anybody in those institutions where they exercised peace, [DJ Fresh: Yeah.] and then they are sorry about exercising peace.
See, there is a misconception about peace, a big misconception that you become a vegetable when you have peace. [DJ Fresh: Umm. Umm-hmm.] Peace is dynamic; peace is exciting; peace is wonderful! Peace is great.
I mean, some people think, “Oh, if I get peace, I mean, I’m just going be a vegetable sitting on some mountain looking at candles all day long.” Well, that’s not peace! That’s just somebody’s idea of a nice environment.
You know, we look at someplace where there’s the ocean; the sun is setting; there’s no wind; it’s a beautiful day and we say, “Oh, how peaceful it is.” That’s not peaceful.
Because, given one second of moment, the wind can start blowing. A one second of moment, you look at that sun that is making that beautiful light—do you know how violent that sun is? Do you know how violent the ocean can be? I mean, it can chew down anything it feels like it.
Peace is inside of you. Peace is exciting; peace brings a smile. [DJ Fresh: Yes.] And when a human being is strong, that is the most attractive thing. When they’re weak, they look for all…. To fulfill themselves, they start looking to other people: “You fulfill me; you fill this part in me; you fill this part in me.” And when that person can’t, problems happen.
DJ Fresh:
So, “Fill your own cup.” [DJ Somizi: Umm.]
Prem Rawat:
First be full. [DJ Fresh: Yes.] First be full. And if you are full, then the relationship is going to be meaningful! Otherwise, it’s not going to be one of….
DJ Fresh:
Because you’re not looking for validation, umm-hmm.
Prem Rawat:
You’re not looking for validation. [DJ Fresh: And, yes.] And this is so important—that is so important.
DJ Fresh:
Prem Rawat is in the country. Unfortunately, we are out of time—but maybe you can catch him somewhere else. Where are you going to be and why are you in town?
Prem Rawat:
I am going to be actually speaking in Cape Town—[DJ Fresh: Yes, sir?] on the twentieth, at the International Convention Center. And that particular talk, the topic on that is “Unlocking Hope.” And that’s so important.
And I just—I just, I love Africa; I love people here. Because there is a crisis. [DJ Fresh: Sure.] And they are going to overcome that crisis.
DJ Fresh:
What would you like to say to our leaders who think there isn’t a crisis?
Prem Rawat:
Well, “Open your eyes. Open your eyes and look around.” Ultimately, people need to start looking at themselves, not their leaders. The report card of all the leaders around the world pretty much would be, “failure, failure, failure,” and maybe one passed here and one passed there, but mostly it has been “failure, failure, failure.”
I say to people everywhere around the world, “Don’t wait for the leaders; don’t wait for that angel to come out of the skies. You are the angel. You become the leaders. You become the leaders in your life. You can make it happen. [DJ Fresh.: Sure.] You can make it happen and you can change the dynamics.”
DJ Fresh:
Where do people find you online, sir?
Prem Rawat:
TimelessToday.com.
DJ Fresh:
TimelessToday.com. TimelessToday.com. Ladies and gentlemen, Prem Rawat is about to leave the building.