Prem Rawat:
Well, hello, hello, hello, everyone. I hope you’re faring well. And over the weekend, I figured this would be a good time to answer some questions—so I’ve got some questions here.
And the first question we are going to deal with is from Sanjay, from, (I don’t know where he exactly is; he doesn’t say). But he says, “I would like to thank you for sharing your thoughts and ideas on lockdown situations. It has really helped me understand the reality”—well, that’s good—“given strength and hope.” That’s exactly what I want—you to have strength, and I want you to have hope.
“Government officials, people are giving so many directives and suggestions for being physically safe from coronavirus. It would be very nice to hear from you for the same. Sanjay.”
Well, thank you for writing, Sanjay. And what I’d like to tell you is this. Look, I’m no doctor—and I’m not a virus expert by any stretch of the imagination—and I don’t do that.
But I can tell you one thing. Of everything that I have heard and I have gathered, two things: “Don’t give it to anyone—and don’t get it from anyone.” That’s it. Don’t give it to someone if you’re a carrier—and don’t get it from someone if they are a carrier.
Whatever that takes, very, very simple. Wash your hands. You go out; you wash your hands. Take it easy. Feel good; feel hope; feel safe. Have patience. You’re going to need patience. Patience is required. And have patience; feel good. And deal with this from courage. Not from weakness, but from courage.
So, I hope, you know—and again, you know, what I’m talking about here is for you to have a good time even in this situation. Because the “good time” that I’m talking about is inside of you. And tap into it.
So, you know, have a good time! Be coming from that place of patience and having courage—and having two goals, “Don’t give it to someone—and don’t get it from someone.” Whatever that takes. So, that’s it.
“What about those people who are essential workers; do you have any words for those, this time?” From Casey. Well, thank you for writing, again. They’re doing an incredible job; they’re really risking their lives so that the rest of us can go on and have some sense of normalcy in this situation.
So, one, I would like to thank all of those people around the world who are doing this. And two, I think—and like I said for Sanjay, [sp] we really all need to come from courage and patience. And those two things, we need to all exercise as human beings on the face of this earth, especially in regards to coronavirus.
That’s what it takes. You know, it takes approximately fourteen days for the quarantine to go on. And to spend that time, not go stir-crazy. And it takes patience.
So, I really—well, one, again, I would like to thank all those people who are doing this and providing that. Be safe. Obviously, you have a lot of courage. And please, be patient—and keep doing what you’re doing, so that the rest of us can go on being and having some form of normalcy in our lives. And, again, “thank you” from me.
“Thank you for the lifeline of wisdom you are sharing. I have a question. Although for many, this is a time of forced isolation, for many others it means being cooped up indoors with an active child, children, and no time to yourself and increased stress and irritability. Children don’t understand what’s going on and want to see their friends and go out and play.
“I hugely appreciate your parenting advice and perspective. Do you have any advice during this time? With love and thanks, Wendy.”
Well, my advice is, children will pick up on your irritation. Don’t be irritated. If you are irritated, something is wrong. When they start to smell the “wrong,” it’s over. Believe me, it’s over. At that point, it’s like a frustrated parent, you know, picking up a child and going, “Do not cry!” I mean, that child’s going to cry.
So, calm down. It’s okay. They’re your children; you’re around them, whatever. Engage with them. They have the sweetest way of seeing this whole thing. They don’t see the problem; they see much more of a solution; the solution is, “Why can’t we have a good time?”
You can have a good time. Coronavirus has no—you know, it doesn’t attack “good time” by any stretch of the imagination. You just have to discover what that good time is. And we have gotten so used to these routines of “good time” that we have forgotten how to tap into “good time.”
There was a time when there was no television. There was a time when there was no form of these “entertainment,” quote-unquote. There was a time, there were no iPads; there were no iPhones; there were no, you know, cellular phones; there weren’t these super-computers, nothing!
And so, what did people do? Well, people took it upon themselves—and even “time of silence” was great, was wonderful. But now that’s looked at as a punishment.
I mean, it’s really, really bizarre but a child, you know, will do something wrong and it’s like, “Well, go to your room and sit down and think about it!” Excuse me. That’s a good thing. You’re using it as punishment, but that’s a good thing, for somebody to sit down and think, think it out, think out your day because you’re going—everything is going so fast.
So, you may have to reinvent what once you and everybody knew—but now you have forgotten it, so it’s a question of actually reinventing that time with a child and having a good time!
And maybe taking a story and looking at it different ways and understanding different things, sparking the imagination—that’s all that a child needs. So far their imagination stays sparked, so then, that’s really good. But that’s what I think, anyways.
You know, so—but it’s not like I am a parenting expert or anything like that. So, I hope you understand where I’m coming from. And thank you, thank you for writing.
Here’s another question, “How can I choose clarity more? How can I choose serenity, kindness, compassion, love more? How can I afford to live a well-cared-for life of security, peace, joy and happiness that focuses on what is real, more and more?”
Look—well, whoever you are, thank you. Your name isn’t here, but—it’s a good question. And the most important thing is that these things that you talk about, “kindness, compassion,” they are in you. They are in you.
You know, you know exactly what anger is and what does anger look like. This is this emotion; it comes in and it explodes; you turn red; your blood pressure goes up; your heart is pounding; you’re mad; you’re—you know! You know exactly what anger is like. And after that anger is past, you can, of course, look back and say, “Yeah, that made me angry.”
Are you that familiar with kindness? You know what hate is like—but are you that familiar (as you are familiar with hate)—are you that familiar with kindness? Are you that familiar with compassion? Are you that familiar with peace? Are you that familiar with joy? Are you that familiar with happiness?
If you’re not, therein lies the problem because you should be. Those things are in you at any given moment. Those things exist in you at any given moment; it’s not like you leave your happiness behind. It is not like you leave your compassion behind. It’s not like you leave your joy behind. Wherever you go and whatever you do, it’s right then and there.
Just like anger, just like hate, just like confusion, we truly need to understand these attributes. And when we begin to really understand these attributes, then there is something inside of us that will begin to choose those attributes over the attributes that we, by default, choose now, which are anger and fear and everything else.
With so many people with this coronavirus, the biggest thing—people are afraid. And why are people afraid? “Oh, what’s going to happen to me?” And when you look at the numbers—and I was looking at them this morning—it’s far more people who have died of natural death than from this coronavirus.
But it’s not right; it’s not good—I’m not saying that. But when you look at the numbers in terms of just what happens every day, it’s not a huge thing! The numbers are not that big—even though they’re exponentially growing and growing and growing. And this is, again—a lot of the world leaders are not doing such a good job of leading people.
But regardless of that, what do you think being scared of this thing, of coronavirus, will do—absolutely nothing. All you need to do, like I said, is have that goal, “Don’t give it to someone; don’t get it from someone.”
So, we are very familiar with some attributes that we have—but we are not familiar with the other attributes we have. Knowing yourself then truly becomes knowing those attributes as well! Saying, “Yes, I have anger—and I don’t like anger. But I have compassion. I have joy.” And more familiar you get, easier it becomes to choose those.
Understanding that that’s who you are, your value—and this is an example that I give, is “What is the value of a box, of a small box?” And maybe all it has, that box, you know, all it holds is a ring—and the value of the ring is like 200,000 dollars. Then what is the value of the box?
Well, maybe the value of the box is fifty dollars. (Ten dollars, twenty dollars, whatever.) But so far that ring is in that box, the value of that box is also 200,000 dollars.
This is what you have to understand. Take out the ring from the box—and the value of the box is fifty dollars, (five dollars, ten dollars, whatever). So far that ring is in that box, the value of that box is equivalent to that.
And then? That’s the same thing that’s happening to you. So far in you, there is that thing called “life,” your value is infinite. Take that away—and of course, nothing; this is just a box. And this is what happens.
So, be more familiar with those attributes that you have; fall in love with those attributes. And then you can enjoy this life more and more and more.
Another question. “Thank you, Prem. Might you say something to those who have the virus? I have been texting the lockdown clips to many people who don’t know you. So fantastic for everyone.”
Well, all I can say is, look, again, the same thing. Do this—you have the virus; they’ve told you you have the virus—be patient. Feel good. Get good sleep. And face this thing with courage. Face this thing with courage. Not with fear. Face this thing with courage.
You will get better. People want you to get better. But you need to have that hope coming from inside of you.
Do this with courage; do this with patience. Let it run its course. Take the steps that are necessary. Feel well! Take those steps that are necessary. And I hope that you have an incredible, speedy recovery. And that would be wonderful.
Here’s somebody who writes, “Hi, Prem; I’d like to thank you for everything that you have shown me and for helping me.
“My daughter asked me a couple of years ago when she was seven or eight, ‘Dad, when I die will I remember you? And when you die, will you remember me?’ I didn’t want to BS her, so I replied, ‘Good question but I really don’t know.’ I’ve been thinking a lot ever since. So, the question for me became, ‘Does the heart have a memory? Or is it only aware of the moment now?’”
When you love someone and you are with that person, what exactly do you get out of them? What do they bring you? When you see that person, you love that person, they bring you joy. So what does that mean, “joy; they bring you joy?”
Well, what does joy look like? Has it got their name stamped on it? Or does that just make you feel good, being with that person, thinking of that person?
And that’s what the heart knows about, that feeling, that goodness, that joy that that other person might bring. Maybe the catalyst; they’re just the catalyst for it.
And of course, through whatever, if you have brought joy to each other, (she to you and you to her), then you will carry that joy, without any labels of names, forever! Because the heart is about being full.
And you may not be taking…. You know, when you to somebody’s house and you have a wonderful dinner, you don’t take that dinner with you wherever you go after one week, two weeks, three weeks. But you will remember that good time that you had at that dinner. And life is like that.
So, I hope that that answers your question—so, yeah, I’m not being very specific, I know. But the heart is about being full. And if she brings joy to you and you bring joy to her….
And this is what’s so important in the relationships, that we really understand that that’s what it is about, you know, “How can I bring joy to that other person and how can I receive the joy that that other person brings to me?”
Then, it’s really just that. Just that. And that’s a gift that you give to her—that has no value. Monetarily, you could never fix a value to it. The value of it is infinite. And the joy that she brings to you, the value of that is infinite; there’s no limit to it.
So, I hope that helps. So, thank you very much—and I’ll see you all very soon. There are quite a few more questions, by the way—but we’re going to keep the time about the same.
So, I’ll see you tomorrow! Thank you.