On Being Human
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Prem Rawat:
Today there are problems, a lot of problems. People are blowing up each other, killing each other, cheating each other, robbing each other. And everybody wonders what’s going to happen. Economic problems plague the world. People don’t feel safe.
And so you wonder, “Why? What happened? How did we become like this? Is this our nature; is this who we are?” Or is something else going on—that maybe we are so separated from our true self that we don’t understand our nature anymore.
And so, the question, “Who are you?” Not “What are you”—not “What are you,” (a doctor, a lawyer, a pilot, a farmer, an office worker). No, not “What are you.” “Who are you?” (Not “husband, wife, daughter.”) No, who are you? Who?
As a human being that you are, do you realize what you are, what you have been given?
On one hand, you are made out of six things: hydrogen, oxygen, carbon, calcium, nitrogen and phosphorus. Where do you find these things? Everywhere. Everywhere. You walk on it. You spit in it. And this is the stuff that, every day you come home, you try to get rid of it by washing yourself. But that’s what you’re made out of.
But truly, who are you? You have the capacity to know; you have the capacity to understand; you have the capacity to be fulfilled. You have the capacity to be in peace. You have the capacity to understand. You have the capacity to feel—to feel. You have the capacity to express. You have the capacity to smile. This is you. This is me.
So, the question is, “How fulfilled am I? How fulfilled are you?! How fulfilled are you?” If you have the capacity to be fulfilled, the question would be, “How fulfilled are you?” Because if it is not a hundred percent, something is wrong. If it is not a hundred percent, why not?
You have the capacity to feel in peace—and are you in peace? Every day? Have you really grasped what it is to be human—and have you brought this to the apex? Even a tree—even a tree tries to bring its fruit to an apex. What about you? What about you?
Or are you caught in the same formulas of anger, fear, frustration—confusion—with peace as a hope somewhere over here, way back here, “Someday…?” When the peace is always inside of you.
Anger is inside of you; forgiveness is inside of you. Hate is inside of you; love is inside of you. Joy is inside of you; sadness is inside of you. Confusion is inside of you; clarity is inside of you.
What is yours, is yours and only yours, and you cannot give it to anyone else because it is only yours—selfish or not selfish. It’s a fact. So now that it is yours and only yours—and you are the custodian till this breath comes in and out of you, what are you going to do with it? Are you going to be in peace?
So, people, you know, always go, “So where is peace?” In you. “Well, how come I don’t know?” Have you looked? Have you? Have you!? Or are you one of those people…?
Because I know there are a lot of people waiting for an angel that’s coming. (They’ve been waiting for that angel for three, four, thousand years….)
Peace is not the issue. You choosing the peace is the issue. Because the day you do—it’s within you! And people go, “No! No, it can’t be”—but, what do you think it is? You know, and exactly where do you think it is? In outer space?
So, when the astronauts are up there, they must feel really peaceful. “Duk-duk, duk-duk, duk-duk, duk-duk, duk-duk.” Every time a light comes on, every time something doesn’t work, “Ah-ah, oh my God…..”
You have that power—because you are human. The Superman is in you! You don’t need a Superman. You don’t need a miracle. You know why you don’t need a miracle? You know why? Because you are the miracle.
Dirt—can love? Can smile, can laugh, can understand, can have compassion? That’s not a miracle? Then what is? What is?
This? Not here forever. “Come. Go.” “Go where?” Right here.
I say to people—they look at me like, “What?” And I say, “What do you think—when you were born, the earth got heavier? And when you die, the earth is going to get lighter?” Uh-uh, it stays the same. It does get a little heavier, but that’s because so much dust keeps falling from space…. (To make a new eggplant, to make a new tomato, to make a new you!)
But it is to understand the power of this breath. It’s about you! This is the gift that you have, that is being given.
I say the word “gift.” This goes, “From whom?” Really? Really? Really?! There you are in the middle of the ocean. You have been swimming for two days—nothing around. All of a sudden, all of a sudden, there is a life preserver.
Are you really going to say, “Which ship—is it from my ship that crashed? Or is it—I mean, who does this belong to? Anyone? Anyone?” Really? Or are you going to go, “I cannot be so selfish as to take this life preserver. There may be another one behind me….” No! “Ahh, thank you!” Who are you thanking? Who are you thanking?
This is understanding. This is a process of simplicity. And this is the process of “knowing thyself.” (That’s what Socrates said, “Know thyself.”) This is the process of knowing yourself.
However, we have made it our occupation to know everybody else. “Let me, let me introduce you to”—and “so-and-so.” Have you been introduced to you?
So, “talk about peace, this and….” This is what I do. I introduce people to themselves. That’s what I do. And that’s all I need to do.
“Is that going to bring world peace?” The world doesn’t need peace. Believe me, there’s nothing wrong with the world. It’s, we human beings need peace.
This idea of “world peace” is bizarre. Hey, I’ve been doing this for fifty years—fifty years. I started…. I started when I was nine years old. And this year is the fiftieth anniversary. So, this comes from a lot of experience—the world doesn’t need peace; people do. The world doesn’t feel hungry; people do. The world doesn’t kill anybody; people do.
It’s about people. People have forgotten people. Politicians have forgotten people. In the name of “this and the that,” we have forgotten human beings—human beings. The peace happens to be in human beings. To understand it, it’s simple.
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