Finding Your
Inner Strength
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Visible onscreen, sign:
#peaceispossible
Prem Rawat:
I’d like to tell you a story. In the old tradition, the way learning happened is those students who wanted to learn something would find a teacher—the teacher would sit down and tell them. Books did not exist; tradition was oral—and a lot of the teachers really didn’t want to write it down because they said “Writing it down would not allow it to be current.”
But this provided a beautiful background in which discussions happened and wonderful things happened. And so there was this wonderful teacher, and he wanted to drive a point home to his students. So, one day he got a glass of water—and he says, “How much do you think this glass of water weighs?”
And the students being students, started to, you know, take their guesses: “Oh, it weighs, you know, twenty ounces, this, this, you know, half a pound, or this,” or whatever, whatever came to their mind.
And he said, “Well, you know, it’s only a glass of water; it’s not that much, right?” And it’s like, “Yeah, it’s only a glass of water.” “So well, do you think—is it a big problem to hold this glass of water?” They said, “No, it’s not a big problem to hold this glass of water. It doesn’t weigh that much….”
He said, “But for how long? Because if you keep holding it with your arm stretched out—the same glass of water, without adding any more water to it—guess what will happen? It’ll keep getting heavier and heavier, and heavier, and heavier, not because of the water, but because your arm will start to get tired, and more tired, and more tired—and there will come a time when you won’t be able to hold the same glass of water.”
That’s the story. But what does it mean for you? You look at a problem in your life—and you say, “I’ll deal with it later. I, I can take care of it; I—it’s okay; it’s okay, I can, I can deal with it.”
And you’re holding onto it—and it’s getting heavier and heavier, and heavier, and heavier, and heavier—till that same—without the problem becoming any different, you can’t hang onto it. You can’t hold it anymore. What do you have to do? What is the solution? It’s very simple; put it down. Put it down. Let it go.
In our life, too, we are so impacted by all these problems that we get—and what’s wrong about that—that truly, the fundamental human nature is not to be in anger. The fundamental human nature is not to be in confusion; the fundamental human nature is not to be in darkness—the fundamental human nature is to enjoy.
To feel gratitude every day of your life, to understand its preciousness, to understand the value of this breath that you have been given—this is the blessing. This is the reality—for you, this is the reality.
I always say it; there are two walls—and you came through one wall—the day you were born, you came through one wall. Now you are alive; you keep going, keep going, keep going, and you’re going to hit the other wall. And when you do, you’ll disappear, “whitchew”; gone through it. Where to? Nobody knows; they’re still trying to figure it out.
Then comes the whole complex saga: “Heaven—are you going to go to hell; are you going to go there,” and everybody has their definitions on it, “And this will be this way; this will be this way; this will….”
I’m not here to argue it; I’m not here to change your mind about it; I’m not here to say “That’s not the way it is.” All I’m saying—is that it’s also possible that this time that you have between the two walls, you can also create your heaven here, now—that’s all.
So let me tell you that these problems that you deal with are like that glass of water—put it down. Give it a break. That’s not what your life is for. Open your eyes and see. Understand—not just imagine, but understand. To see the beautiful reality of existence, for you. For you.
The day you understand about the richness of your existence, after that you will never be poor—never, never! Because that is priceless. Priceless.
The day you understand your strength—this is what I was talking about before. The day you understand your strength, you will realize that indeed, you can move the mountains—not the physical mountains, your mountains.
Your mountain is the darkness. Now having said that, I want to tell you something else. From darkness to light there is a clear path. From pain to joy there is a clear path—find it; don’t look at the obstacles; don’t look at your problems. Everybody has learnt in this world to look at problems. “What do you do?” “I talk about peace.” “Oh, there can’t be any peace in this world.”
Oh, yes, there can, if you know how to find the path…. Not the problems—not the problems. Not the obstacles and the overwhelming, being overwhelmed by the obstacles, but find that clear path and just stay with it—and you can achieve incredible results in your life.
Simple. Simple. But again, it’s a question of the habit. You have become so good at recognizing problems—that when solutions come, you can’t see them. Solutions come—and you can’t see them.
What habits have you given yourself? And, why…? Look, I’m not a psychologist; I am not a person who goes around giving advice of how families should be. That’s not—that’s none of what I can do.
But why am I telling you this? I’m telling you this—is because maybe one day, just one day, not being shy to say “I love you” to the ones you love—one day, one day you’ll be able to look at yourself and say “I love you.” And that day, I guarantee you your life will change.
Because you’re not loved by you; you’re judged by you. And I’m not talking about the wrong kind of love. I’m not talking about ego love; I’m not talking about, you know, “Yeah, I can do no wrong,” kind of love; that’s not the love I’m talking about.
True love: “I am in love with this breath—because it is a gift that I could not even ever imagine asking for.” Could you; could you? Could you ever, ever imagine asking for a gift like this breath? Could you? You would ask for a house; you would ask for a car; you would ask for a girlfriend; you would ask for a watch; you would ask for a shoe, or you would ask for a shirt—which you do.
Asking for a gift as incredible as the gift of this breath…. Understand and accept this incredible opportunity of life. Not be caught in some imagination, but see the reality, and see the reality, how beautiful it is. That this breath comes into you and it brings you life, and you are filled? And how beautiful it is.
And it’s not about that wall. That wall doesn’t win. I don’t want that wall to win. Because if I can understand the value, now, then I have defeated that wall. That even though this circus will pack up, but a heart will leave from this circus that will be full of gratitude.
Not empty. Not Alexander’s case, “Empty-handed you came and empty-handed you have to go.” “Empty-handed you came but empty-handed you don’t have to go.”
That when this heart is full of gratitude, when this heart has recognized, when this heart has understood the beauty of this incredible garden that I live in, of every day, the doors that open, the opportunities that come….
Hey, excuse me—I’m not telling you that’s the way it is for me every day. Do I get lost in my problems? Absolutely. Do I forget to put the glass down? Absolutely. But I need to keep making an effort to put the glass down.
Today, somebody came to me and said, “You know, could you talk about mindfulness,” (because I was talking about mindfulness at the Kind Malaysia event), “So would you talk about the, you know, the mindfulness…?” And I said, “Actually, there is a problem.” And I said, “The problem is….” So, I was talking to this person, talking to this person….
And I think I’ve coined a new word—and it’s not “mindfulness”—it’s “heartfulness.” Because I know what my mind is full of. I am very clear—well, I know what my mind is full of. So I know what my mind is full of—but I also am fortunate enough to know what my heart is full of.
And I want to be from that full heart, the heartfulness. Because that’s where I will recognize light, not the darkness. That’s where I’ll recognize compassion, not the anger. That’s where I will recognize clarity, not the confusion.
Because the problem is my mind doesn’t actually know about clarity, but it’s very clear on what confusion is. My mind doesn’t actually know about light, but it’s very clear on the darkness. And my mind doesn’t actually know about compassion, but it’s very clear on the anger, “and who you should be angry with.”
And my mind is very clear on what’s not going to work, half the time. But my heart is very clear on what is going to work. Heartfulness. In your life, heartfulness. Because that is the realm of going within and feeling who you really are. That is the fundamental step, the fundamental step to knowing yourself.
The rest? The grind goes on. You have come here—I thank you very much—you have come here; you have given me a chance to say what I wanted to say; you have listened to me; thank you. Will you remember it? Probably not. [Audience: Yeah.] And not most of it. But I must tell you that if you could implement just a little bit of what I have said, this can change your life—for the good.
This is an amazing pill; it’s called the “pill of clarity.” It is powerful. It is powerful. Those who have taken this have sung praises of, “How clear,” how that clarity brings that joy of the heart.