Prem Rawat:
All stories begin with “Once upon a time.” The story that I really want to tell you also begins like this, but there is a small difference—and the difference is, “Once upon this time there lives you.”
Onscreen:
Once upon this time there lives You.
ONE 2 ONE WITH PREM RAWAT
NO. 12
Prem Rawat:
Hello everyone; I hope you’re all well. I want to talk to you about something. And I was thinking about this last night. We have covered, actually, quite a few topics; there are, I’m sure, quite a few more to cover.
But I know that at this time of this whole coronavirus pandemic, and all kinds of problems that I’m sure people are facing—and, you know, it can be disheartening; it can be a little bit gloomy; it can be, you know, “What is it going to be like?”
And then, people are afraid of a lot of things. So, it would be, I think, appropriate to call it like a big cauldron of emotions. And a lot of them are negative emotions, and they’re just being stirred at this time. A lot of people haven’t seen their friends or their relatives in a really long time.
So then I was thinking; it’s like, “Wouldn’t it be nice just to talk about something that is incredibly pleasant?” And not that that’s going to change anything out there. It’s still going to go on and whatever is going to happen is going to happen.
But sometimes when a light can hit something, an object, a path, a certain way—and it can illuminate in a particular way, maybe you will see something that you didn’t see before. And this is what I’m talking about.
So, what is the most pleasant thing to talk about? I mean, is it—is it about heaven? Because that’s—that’s just people’s ideas. And in many ways, it’s exactly opposite of what people don’t like on planet Earth.
And what difficulties they may have had in their lives, what they don’t like, then they have created a place in their imagination, and this place is void of all those problems, all those issues.
Why should paradise, why should heaven be like that? I don’t know! I mean, why should the temperature always be a perfect seventy-five degrees Fahrenheit? Why not some days a little warmer, some days a little cooler? But people imagine that “Yeah, no, no temperature variance. Everybody is fine; everybody gets good food….” (Food can be incredible here too!)
But we create this paradise; we create this place—in our desperation, in our dislike of what we see around us: “I wish I was somewhere where everything would be a certain way, a perfect way,” whatever. And so we’ve created this. And hell is exactly opposite of that. So everything we don’t like, that’s what that is all about.
But then, the most pleasant thing that I can think of is the coming and going of this breath, of this existence. That when you, as a human being, in your life, accept this gift of life, of what you are being given every single day, (without fail, without bias), that the day you begin to accept those things, that that’s incredibly pleasant. That’s incredibly beautiful.
Because that fills the heart with this gratitude. Then you begin to live your life consciously, being aware of what you have. And appreciate its beauty, appreciate its joy. Appreciate what it means to have those little things that are around you.
Not—you know, we get so caught up in the fulfilment of our dreams. So, it’s like, “Okay, you need to dream.” Should you dream; of course you should dream. That’s besides the point.
But then we get so caught up in trying to fulfill those dreams—that we neglect to see those dreams that have come true. We stop appreciating those dreams that have materialized—in the most fundamental sense of it, that you exist, that you are alive.
And this isn’t a mental game; this isn’t a social game. I’m talking about you as a human being, even without the society around you.
And now, of course, the question is going to be, “Are you going to be able to survive—without this society?” Well, the reality is, for thousands and thousands and thousands of years, you did! You didn’t have this kind of society. You didn’t have supermarkets. You had trees giving fruit. You had rivers that were clean. You had air. You had sun.
And this is the human dream, of like, “Yeah-oh, yeah, and you know, and I wish I could just go in one place and I don’t have to go gathering food from the ten different places, twenty different places.” Of course, that kept you in shape….
And so, we have blindly taken our dreams and tried to fulfill them, and we try to fulfill them every single day, these ideas that we get, these dreams that we get.
And we forget about those dreams that have come true. They’re very simple; they’re very fundamental. They’re about you. They’re about you being in the face of this earth. They’re about you having this dream, a dream to be fulfilled, a dream to be in peace, a dream to be in joy, a dream to be in clarity, a dream to be able to understand what is important to you.
And when those things come true, it is so beautiful, so incredible. And they’re so simple. You don’t have to climb mountains for it. You don’t have to try to become a billionaire for it. You don’t have to have recognition for it. But those are the things that you already have inside of you.
That at any given moment, you can look around you. And if it’s daytime, the sun, the clouds, the flowers. The sky. And if it’s at nighttime, the stars, the moon. And however it is, just to look around you in the most simplest of ways. And know that “This is irreplaceable.” That your existence, your existence is irreplaceable, cannot be replaced.
You know, there’s, (uh-huh), the world’s becoming more and more full of bean counters. And they look at—they measure everything; they weigh everything, “You know, what’s, and this is important; this is worth this much money; this is worth this much money; this is worth this much money.”
And I suppose that’s a very practical way of looking at things—but that’s not the way a human being is. It’s fine, if you are trying to run a society, that you do, and you measure everything’s worth in some form. But that’s not what a human being is.
Before a war, I’m sure the generals sit down and come up with some statistical number of what the casualties would be, based on the past. But you’re not a statistic. You’re not a statistic. And once you are gone, there’ll be nobody like you.
And how beautiful it is, not to cry over this or to feel sorry but to feel so fortunate—that your existence is unique, irreplaceable. Nobody can compete with it; nobody can put a price on it; nobody can tag it; nobody can put a statistic on it; nobody can put a value on it. Because every breath that comes into you cannot be, cannot be replaced.
That when you are in that joy, you are priceless! That every human being is priceless. That the potential that they have inside of them to feel peace, that is priceless.
We can try to put a number on everything—and we do! We do. You know, it’s like, they give—oh, they always give this statistic, you know, “It’s safer to fly than anything. That you’re more—well, you could be hit by lightning more times than have an accident in an airplane.”
Well, so, when that happens, (because it has happened in the past), what do you say? It’s like, “This isn’t happening”?
Because you feel what you feel! When you’re in sadness, you’re in sadness, but when you’re in joy, you’re in joy. And no matter what happens to you and where you go and what transforms around your existence, the joy, the beauty is always inside of you.
What wavers is to accept its preciousness, to accept its importance. And to say and to know for yourself that “I cannot let anything come between this, of who I am.”
Because one day, all this won’t be here; all this will be gone. But that is not the impetus that I need to remember to enjoy it. I need to enjoy it for the way it makes me feel right now. That having my heart full, it isn’t about me leaving this world; it is me experiencing this moment that I have right now—and how it fills me, how it brings me joy, how it brings me that beauty.
Because I do have a lot of beauty around me; so do you! And all you need is to open the eyes of this heart and to look—and listen. And know that this moment, it may appear that it has come again, but doesn’t. It is another one.
You look at your watch—and you see the second-hand glide by. But every time it does, it is another second. And it is of the hour—which is part of the day, which is part of the month, which is part of the year that will never come again.
And when my heart sees the simplicity; when your heart sees the simplicity of being alive—that it is no mistake to be in this experiencing machine—and it is no mistake; it is not by chance that there is the experience of the infinite that is inside of you.
In you! And that here you are, this experiencing machine. The three things. That which was, is, and will be. Beautiful. (Is that spiritual; no. Is that religious; no.) “Was, is, and will be.” Beautiful, beautiful description.
You, (beautiful description): “Weren’t. You are. And you won’t be.” You weren’t; you are; you won’t be.
And then our fascination of this world—and what is the definition of this thing that we have created? In which we fight, in which we have anger, in which we have fear, where people are made to feel fear if they don’t feel fear? And I mean, just the most absurd things! Most absurd things, as human beings, that we do.
Our societies. And our focus is all about that. Not where the answers are. Our focus is not to dig up where the answers are; our focus is to somehow fix it by somebody’s imagination of what, how, and how a society should be, how a country should be. And this is what everybody is busy trying to do.
And here’s the big question: “Are they succeeding?” Oh, no, no, please, none of this stuff: it’s like, “Well, it’s not perfect but that’s about as perfect as we can get it.”
But can you imagine, if you are born—if your child is born—and they’re “almost perfect but not quite.” The outside perfection? Inside perfection—which one are you looking at? Maybe outside, they’re not perfect. But inside, they are who they are.
And so many times, people will just look at the silliness of this world, and what they will say? “Oh, but this is as close as we can get it.” Well, then it isn’t right—that that’s, and that is not how perfection works.
Here on this planet Earth, we, the human beings, have the possibility of being fulfilled, of being in that joy. And when that rain of clarity begins to bounce, (the drops bounce off of us), there’s a dance, and the dance begins. And it’s a beautiful dance. It’s a dance of life.
And every day, the thirst, the understanding, the clarity, the joy that just wants to express itself every day, wants to be thankful for being alive every single day, needs to be unleashed! Not for other people; then, just for you! Every single day, to feel that gratitude—and feel the priceless that you truly are.
Everybody has their ideas: “This is not what we are here to achieve”—fine. But this can be achieved. It is not about making statements of “This can’t be done and that can’t be done and that can’t be done and that can’t be done.”
But this is a possibility. That you, like Kabir said—“That a drop is in the ocean, everyone knows. But that there is an ocean in the drop, very few know.”
And what if that drop, one day, took the step of feeling the ocean that’s in the drop? What, what would happen? Wow! When that drop was in the ocean, it wasn’t a drop; it was the ocean. And now that it is not in the ocean, it is a drop. And in the drop is the ocean—and very few know about it.
Well, you know, I want to know about it. I do. And I want to experience that ocean—because I can. This is my opportunity! This is my opportunity—to see.
I am engrossed, 24/7, preoccupied by the world, the illusion! There’s a word for it, (and I was thinking about this), and the word for it is “maya. Maya.” So if you broke that up in English, it would be “my, yeah?” Like, “This is mine, yeah? That’s my, yeah? My, yeah?!” Yeah for “yes?” And ma, “mine? My, yeah? Mine, yeah?”
And that’s exactly what maya is defined to be: “This is yours; this is mine.” The division happens.
But there is a place inside of you which has nothing to do with this division. And no matter how times this division takes place—there is a place inside of you that is all about joy, that is all about rejoicing, that is all about being fulfilled, that is all about being happy, that is all about being in that beautiful place.
And regardless of what is going on on the outside, regardless of what is happening on the outside, regardless of how dark it gets, how bad it gets—the celebration of life is afoot. And it needs to be joined by you. You’re the guest. And all those beautiful things are waiting to dance with you, to celebrate with you, your being a drop.
That’s what life is. All too short? All too long? No need to compare. But it is! It is not the infinite—and you’re not the infinite, but the infinite is in you. And one day you will go join the infinite. And when you do, you will be gone—and the infinite, who is always infinite, will be there.
So far you are you, there is a possibility of this celebration. And who are the other participants? The clarity, the understanding, peace, joy—are waiting, waiting for you, to celebrate with you this most magnificent of moments called “life.”
So, instead of being depressed, maybe this will uplift you a little bit, give you a little hope. Maybe you’ll join a party—and enjoy, enjoy the self—and most importantly, enjoy the divine, the infinite in the self.
So, take care of yourselves, and I’ll talk to you soon.
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