Prem Rawat’s New Book – “Breath: Wake Up to Life”

Feb 18, 2025

} 5 min read

In the world today, there are 6,500 spoken languages, 4,200 religions, 196 countries, 31 kinds of government, 12 astrological signs and 5 major branches of philosophy. That’s a lot of differences.

At the same time, all 8.1 billion people in the world have something very much in common: Breath. Everyone is breathing.

And yet for most of us, we take our breath very much for granted – and because we do, we often miss out on what it means to be a joyful, grateful, peaceful human being.

To enjoy each breath one at a time…
this is the true art of living.

– Prem Rawat, “Breath: Wake Up to Life,” p. 83

Prem Rawat, in his recently published book, “Breath: Wake Up to Life,” aims to do something about this. And he does so in a very compelling way: providing great insight and inspiration for people to more thoroughly enjoy life’s greatest natural resource — the breath keeping us alive every moment of the day.

The official launch of the book took place on January 28 at an author’s event in New York City where Prem Rawat introduced it to a highly appreciative audience of several hundred people – some of whom had traveled from thousands of miles away to attend.

Of all the relationships you have,
do you have a relationship with this breath?

– Prem Rawat, “Breath: Wake Up to Life,” p. 42

The backstory to the book

Almost 15 years ago, David Passes, a London resident and longtime student of Prem Rawat’s – presented him with a prototype of a book he had created to celebrate the vital importance of breath. The book included a wide variety of quotes on the topic that David had selected from a selection of his teacher’s presentations over the years.

While the time was not right for the book to be published then, a seed was planted.

Then, in 2014, the CEO of Bunya Publishing in Japan, Mr. Kinishita – upon viewing a variety of Prem Rawat’s videos – reached out to one of Prem’s representatives and asked if anyone had published his work.

“I see that humanity has had a terrible history in the 20th century,” Mr. Kinishita explained. “Prem Rawat’s message is a vital way to lead humanity forward in the 21st century.”

Mr. Kinishita’s heartfelt vision led to a five-day exploratory meeting with Prem Rawat in Los Angeles in 2014.

On the final day of their series of meetings, Prem Rawat invited Mr. Kinishita to his home for lunch. Towards the end of the meal, a prototype of the book that David Passes had put together a few years earlier was presented to Mr. Kinishita.

“Is there anything you can do with this?” Prem asked.

Several years passed.

Inspired by Prem Rawat’s life-changing message, Mr. Kinishita’s company proceeded to publish “Splitting the Arrow” in 2016. Two other Bunya books followed: The Pot with the Hole and “The Stone Cutter.” Then, in 2021, Harper Collins published “Hear Yourself: How to Find Peace in a Noisy World” – Prem’s groundbreaking book that went on to sell almost a quarter of a million copies in addition to it becoming a New York Times bestseller.

Then COVID came.

The song of life is played on the instrument
called breath.

– Prem Rawat, “Breath: Wake Up to Life.”, p. 31

It was at that point, in 2022, that Mr. Kinoshita expressed his interest in publishing “Breath: Wake Up to Life” in Japan – an opportunity to feature a wide variety of Prem Rawat’s inspired insights about the topic. One year later, the book was published in Japan.

Two years later on January 28, 2025, the book – complete with 64 exquisite line drawings by award-winning Japanese illustrator Ms. Akiko Kunisu – was published in the United States by St. Martin’s Essentials (an imprint of Macmillan).

How “Breath” is different from “Hear Yourself”

“Breath,” in many respects, is a very different book from Prem Rawat’s previous book, “Hear Yourself.” To begin with, it is a lighter read – only 18,000 words compared to 65,000. Additionally, it focuses primarily on one main topic – breath – whereas “Hear Yourself” focuses on 12. And finally, it is illustrated.

People will tell you to enjoy your meal, enjoy the view, enjoy the movie, enjoy the song, enjoy the flight. Who tells you to enjoy your breath?

– Prem Rawat, “Breath: Wake Up to Life,” p. 83

– Prem Rawat and NYC author event MC, Alex Pepperman

The Challenging Publishing Landscape

Each year, approximately 2.5 million books are published around the world. That works out to about 6,800 books per day! When you consider all of the other demands on our attention by the exponentially increasing phenomenon of information overload, no wonder why so few books become bestsellers.

And yet, Prem Rawat’s books are doing very well.

His books have been published by the top three publishers in the world – Penguin Random House (#1), Harper Collins (#2), and Macmillan (#3). Mr. Rawat’s previous book, “Hear Yourself,” was not only selected as a New York Time’s bestseller, but it has been translated into 16 languages and has sold more than 240,000 copies to date.

Early indications are that “Breath: Wake Up to Life” is on a similar track. Already, the book has made USA Today’s bestseller list. And it was rated #1 on one of Amazon’s Hot New Book lists.

About the Audio Version of the Book

If you prefer listening to books rather than reading them, you’re in luck. “Breath: Wake Up to Life,” narrated by the author himself, is available as a 2 hour and 16-minute audio book. Not only can you breathe while listening to it you can also drive, exercise, cook, garden, walk, laugh, and hug someone. Buy the audio book here.

Getting the Word Out

In addition to Macmillan’s ongoing efforts to market “Breath: Wake Up to Life,” there are other outreach initiatives underway via TimelessToday, two media and marketing companies, and various grassroots efforts. If you would like to participate in one or more of the grassroots initiatives, here’s how: