I travel a lot, and I have to cross borders. Some days, I go through three or four immigrations checks. Someone asks me, “How long are you going to be here?” “Just a few hours.” “What are you going to do?” “I’m just coming to speak.” He has to look at me and look at the passport and say, “Okay. That’s you.” But I am me. This is somehow to verify. There is some practicality to it, but couldn’t it be another way? Where my integrity is intact not because I have a little piece of paper saying I’m really me? But that’s how it is.

When you go to school, you are tested on the subjects somebody else has decided you should know, not on what you do know. And if you know everything else except what this person thinks you should know, you fail. Maybe you just forgot one thing, but you have to prove to someone that you know it.

It seems we live in a world that is diametrically opposed to the integrity of just one individual who desires to be fulfilled. I remind people: what you are looking for is inside of you. If you need somebody to hold up a mirror, this is what I do, not define how you should look.

What qualifies me? Well, I don’t have a rubber stamp. I started when I was very young. My feeling was, “Maybe I can bring some happiness, some joy to people.” My perspective is very down to earth and simple: One, you are alive. This is the best news you will ever receive. Secondly, you didn’t come with a manual, but one was built into you. No need to have a printed manual when within you has been placed the want to be fulfilled. Can this want be fulfilled? Yes. So you are alive, the want has been placed within you, and the wish that you carry within can be fulfilled. What’s the problem?

Perspectives. Why has the most fundamental need of fulfillment been so drastically changed to, “It’s not possible”? People don’t address their needs; they address their ideas. And today, ideas have become more important than our needs.

It begins with every individual. No world leader is going to come, shake your hand, and “ta-da,” it’s done. No. The next time you look in the mirror, understand that lighting this world begins with one candle—you.

This world is said to be an illusion. The illusion is “me and mine, you and yours.” The problem with illusion is it looks so real that you can’t point out what is fake. For all those people who perform magic, what is the key to their illusion? Distraction. They have to distract you. You look over there while they do the switch here. So, in your life, are you distracted? Oh, yes.

If you have never understood the value of breath, you’ve been living in a state of distraction—the greatest illusion. You came, and all too soon, it will be time to go. When you were young, the clock ran slow. Every five minutes, you asked, “Are we there yet?” Then, as you get older and older, whoosh, another year is gone. I know that time doesn’t change; it is our perception of time that has changed.

Here’s a little story about that. Once there was a man who prayed and prayed to God. And one day, God appeared. “You’ve been praying to me. What do you want?”
The man was shocked, but he had some questions. “God, How long is your day?”
God replied, “Well, actually, millions of your years are but a second to me.”
“So God, how much wealth do you have?”
God said, “If you took all the wealth in the universe and multiplied it millions and millions of times, that would be just one cent to me. Anything else?”
So the man said, “God, could I have a cent?”
And God said, “Just a minute…”

The want, the wish, the perspective of time. Do you know that you live on the most special place in this galaxy—the most amazing planet around? And, amongst all the creatures that exist on this earth, you are included. All that looking here and there is the distraction. Look within you. Understand the pulse of your existence. Understand what you’re about. Understand your thirst. Enjoy that feeling you have inside of you. Live your life fulfilled, not in some idea but in reality. You will find the reality of this life to be extremely beautiful.

Prem Rawat

Who are you? Let me give you a bit of an economy lesson here. If I were to say you were going to receive $25,550, is that a lot of money? For some people, it’s a lot. For some, it’s not. It won’t buy you a house, a car, a refrigerator, a washing machine, and pay for your food for too long. These days, $25,550 is just not that much. If this is all you had, it’s not going to last that long.

What does the number 25,550 have to do with you? Well, if a human being lives for 70 years, which is an average, that’s how many days you get. That’s it. That’s it? Only 25,550 days?

That’s what my calculator says. A measly 25,550 days, some of which just blew past while walking around in diapers and trying to learn how to walk. Then others blew past me as I was trying to learn how to count up to 25,550. Then when you get to the last 550, it comes in nickel and dimes. You just go day by day, and that’s it. And every day I lose a dollar. There’s nothing I can do to hang onto it. All I have is 25,550.

When I speak, I don’t want to make people feel guilty. I just try to give a sense of urgency because people have so much going on that I want to call their attention to themselves and their existence. After me, will this world go on? You bet. Will flowers bloom? Yes. Will rain come down? Yes. Will the sun shine? Of course. But the thing is, I won’t be there to enjoy it.

And so, 25,550 is a good way to bring it to a point where you can start to see the urgency of this life—how precious, simple, and beautiful it is. Whether you decide to spend it or not, the dollar will be gone. What do you want to buy with the dollar that you get every day for 25,550 days? Me? I want to buy the truest joy, the sincerity that only a human being can have towards the infinite that resides in me. I want to be free.

A person who is happy can spread happiness. If you want to do some good, learn how to be fulfilled. Finding a way to be fulfilled is the most incredible art there is. Why? Because what you are looking for resides within you and always has. That’s how the 25,550 came to be. And the departure of that thing will be the end of the 25,550. But though you never lost it, you search for it.

Many people tell me, “I’ve been searching for a long time.”
I say, “But you never lost it.”
“Oh, good. Then show me where it is. Is it in that drawer? That cabinet? The glove compartment?”
“No. No. No.”
“Is it in my bedroom? Is it in my car? Is it over there?”

The more places you have searched, the longer your list is because you want to verify that it’s not there, not there, not there—because you want to be able to say, “Well, I’ve already looked there.”

Where is it? Within you. And what I am saying is you need to know it. In this life, you have to know. There are no other alternatives. You are like an amplifier. Amplify the knowing. Amplify the fulfillment. Amplify the joy of this heart. Bring into your life the beauty of existence itself.

Your life cannot be just for the fulfillment of the ideas of what life is about. The show that you are attracted to will go on. You are walking in this fairground of life. When you are gone, others will come, and they will continue to come for a long, long time.

Understand the opportunity that you have been given. In this vessel, the most amazing gift of breath comes. What will tomorrow be like? In one sense, it will be no different than today and no different than yesterday, but if you are fulfilled, it will be unique. And then you won’t have to count the 25,550 because it won’t matter. Each one is making you infinitely rich.

To have lived a lifetime and not know is a tragedy. In your life, know and be fulfilled. If you don’t find it, I’m here. But the main thing is to find it. What you are looking for is inside of you. If you are alive, that’s your lottery ticket. You won. On average, it’ll come in 25,550 times. You don’t ever have to be poor again. This is the gift: 25,550. It still gives me shudders every time I think about that number. That’s all? It’s not enough! But whatever you have is the ultimate blessing in your life. Kindness has been given. Capture it. Be in joy. Be fulfilled.

Prem Rawat

Have you ever heard someone say, “You won’t believe what just happened to me”? We hear this and think, “Somebody’s going to tell me something that happened to them, but why are they saying, ‘You won’t believe what just happened to me’?” The keyword is believe because if you had been there, you would know and not have to believe.

Now, belief is okay, but you give it much more credence than it deserves. Knowing deserves the credence you give to belief. Knowing is certain. It’s clear. There are no ambiguities, no hypotheses. This is what happened. But when you don’t know, is belief sufficient?

I can just imagine a long time ago, a person standing on a ridge, looking at the stars, wondering: “Who am I? Why am I here? What is this all about?”

I call these the questions. Even though since then there have been a myriad of religions, textbooks, stories, ideas, philosophies, wars, contemplation, inventions, exploration of outer space, these questions still exist. They are asked in one way or the other by every human being. Maybe they’re asked in times of trouble or in times of plenty—but they are asked.

Until these have been answered for you personally in a clear, concise way, you will not understand the need you have for peace, the need you have to be happy. And once you understand that the desire for peace is innate—not learned—you will pursue it.

Ultimately, you came into this world and you’re going to leave this world. And you have a belief system. You do. And whether you have courage to hear it or not I have the courage to tell you that you are here to experience heaven. You have always believed that heaven is something you’re going to get to after you die, if you are good. You learned this. The desire for peace, to be happy, to be in joy—nobody had to teach you. You have had this since you were a little baby.

You have been given this body—the ultimate experiencing machine. That’s all it does all day long: “Wow. Beautiful. Hot, cold, soft.” If you were to make a list of the sounds, the smells, the tastes, the touches that it can appreciate—that list would be huge.

You have this most incredible thing called life. All of a sudden, you can move. You can understand. You can dance. You can smile. You can cry. You can think. You can feel. All this has come together, and while you are alive, you can know. And when you know, peace comes, the truest joy comes. Your life has to evolve around knowing—not just believing. Clarity. Your life has to evolve around this desire from your heart, from within you, to want to know.

What does your life want? People make all kinds of effort, “I have to do this, and I have to do this.” Then tragedy strikes, and they lose everything. Then they say, “I just want to be happy.” Maybe that’s how it is supposed to be. The building block of your achievements needs to begin with the achievement of peace, of joy. Build on it a tower as high as you want, and it’ll never fall down because it is built on solid ground. It is tied to the most stable thing in your life. You have taken care of the essentials in your existence. And then, having gratitude is natural. It’s not a belief, “I believe I’m happy.”

Truth isn’t some mysterious thing sitting on top of the mountain. Truth dances in you. Clarity is not something you dig out of a goldmine. Clarity and understanding are not buried somewhere; they are inside of you. They need to be evoked. They need to be invited into your life. They need to be called upon; they need to be nurtured, they need to be truly invited and welcomed. All the answers you want are inside of you. All the wealth you want is inside of you. All the wisdom of the ages is inside of you.

Understand, accept—discover those things that are inside of you. When you experience that joy in your life, it is something special. And when you experience peace, it is the triumph of a human being. You have won every war. You have succeeded. The moment you feel peace, you have fulfilled your destiny.

Prem Rawat

I hope what I have to say is going to help you in this journey of life. If it could simplify your life even a little bit, that would make me very happy. I’m talking about something that is so simple—your life, your existence, the gift of breath that comes into you, leaves, and comes again. The fact that you’re alive is so simple.

How did it get so complicated? Even though I can say it’s simple, and it is simple, how is it that it doesn’t feel simple, that it feels very complicated? There are all the things that you have heard, that you think about, that you look forward to or don’t look forward to. How does it get so complicated?

Look at the simplicity, and it’s there. The breath comes. You wake up in the morning, and you find yourself alive. It’s not like you have to put in a bunch of coins: “Let me be alive, I’ve got the money.” You find yourself awake. Then you start thinking about all the things you have to do that day, all the schedules you have to keep, all the things you have to remember, all the things that are important and not important. Thus begins your day. And somewhere, the simplicity of being alive is lost.

Make it simple. Exist, accept, understand this moment now. What’s going to happen, what’s not going to happen—just take it one moment at a time. Begin with the basics of who you are.

Look around you. Do you realize there is no other planet like earth for light years around? There are planets that are full of dirt, too hot, too cold, too far, too strange, too violent. The one you live on is magnificent. This one glows blue, has beautiful clouds, lightning you can see from outer space.

Can you ignore and not be thankful for even one minute, one day, that you exist on this beautiful planet? That you are who you are? On this beautiful earth you are alive. See the goodness in you; recognize the goodness in others. You and I get to be alive. People say, “Nah, I’ve got this problem, that problem.” You are devotees of your problems. This is what you think about.

We are on this magnificent earth, with technologies you cannot imagine: vapor rising from the salty ocean, wind blowing it and carrying it over land, then sweet fresh water raining down. A planet so incredible that all you need is a few seeds and a little water, and it’ll feed you. It’ll take care of you.

Here, the perfect distance from the sun is a beautiful light for night called the moon; the breeze, the ocean, the birds, the fauna and the flora—divinity dancing in the wind. Beauty. Out of nowhere. A show of all shows. And for me to exist in this time, I cannot help but to feel gratitude. Don’t ask me for whom. The gratitude wells up, a letter that needs no address. It is a matter of the heart from where this letter comes and to whom this letter will go. But it is my letter to express my gratitude every single day. We have forgotten what it means—the opportunity to be alive, to have the privilege to be able to take this breath.

A lot of people say, “That’s too simple. Talk to me about something my brain can dig into.” I don’t want to. Your brain has already done enough damage in your own life. You have forgotten what you were searching for. You look, and every day you hope. Then all of a sudden, everything comes tumbling down. This is what is going on right now. Optimism and dire panic. Failure and non-acceptance of failure. Greed. Economic crises happen because of greed. As long as there is greed, there will be crises happening again and again and again.

When you recognize this breath, your heart will fill with gratitude, and when it does, you will be successful. That’s true success. Not doubt, not fear. But clarity, simplicity, understanding. I want to enjoy every day I have, all the days I can.

Prem Rawat

This is a fact: today is whatever date it is. Here is another fact: it will never come back—never, ever. It cannot happen.

What does that mean to you? You woke up; it’s another day. We look at our calendars—the years, the months, the weeks—like it doesn’t mean anything. I talk about “the moment called now.” Well, by the time you finish saying “the moment called now,” it’s not “now” anymore. It’s gone. Time is a force that is so powerful, it just moves, moves, moves. And it touches you. But the question is: what do you do in this time?

Do you act like a human being? Or do you try to be somebody else? A robot. Acting. We are all actors, acting someone we are not. You might think, “I’m not an actor. I’m a responsible person. I have my duties, my schedules, my agendas.” But we pretend, “I am so-and-so.” On the scale of this universe, you are nothing, absolutely nothing. And yet, in your universe, you are the supreme leader. You want to shape, understand, and control your destiny.

What is your destiny? If you want to know your destiny, you can. But the destiny you have is the destiny of a human being, and you will have to become a human being first, not an actor. Not the imaginary king of an imaginary kingdom in an imaginary time far, far away from the kingdom of reality.

What do I do? I’m not here to preach to you. I have some tickets to the greatest show on earth. I look for people who want the tickets, and they look for me. You are the venue, but you need a ticket. I have one. I’m not selling them; I’m giving them out—compliments of one human being to another.

Who’s playing? The most magnificent is playing in this theater for a limited time. How long? As long as you are alive. When can you see the show? Whenever you want. Will you like it? It is a performance of performances, the impossible drama playing out. The infinite, the Divine, has decided to come and join you on this journey.

Recently, somebody asked me, “Why is life difficult?” I said, “Suppose you have a brand new car right out of the factory that runs fine. Then you take the tires and put them on the roof, take the engine and put it in the trunk, take the gas tank and put it where the engine is, and ask the dealer, ‘Why doesn’t this car run?’”

What have you done to your life? Please, come down to earth. It’s not a bad place. Being a human being is not so bad. It’s actually very good, very profound. You can accept. You don’t have to live in a world of make‑believe.

Sometimes I give this example. Make believe there is a cow—black with white spots, cute, small. Does this cow have problems? Yes. It’s there, but it exists only through a belief. Can this cow give milk? Yes, but you have to believe it; you can’t drink it. In belief, it even moos, winks, has big eyelashes. In belief, this cow is just gorgeous, and she gives a lot of milk, but not any that you can put in your tea. And her milk makes a lot of butter for toast, as long as you believe it’s there. But you and I have no use for an imaginary cow. It can’t give milk that we can drink.

If this is the only place you’re going to live all your life, what’s the point of the rest? You are so fortunate to be alive. This is the grandest of all blessings. Make-believers don’t understand this. They’re looking for the make-believe toast so they can have the make-believe butter from the make-believe cow that gave the make-believe milk. They dream of heaven when they are already in heaven: “I have to work really hard. I have to do this, and I have to sacrifice this, so when I die I’ll go to heaven.” You know what the big problem with that heaven is? You have to die.

The beauty of this heaven is: You don’t have to die. All you have to do is open your eyes. Stop dreaming, start looking, and you will see what a heaven this is. You don’t have to make believe. Truth, joy, is within you. Inherent kindness is ever-present. Every day. Explore the gift you have. It’s about discovering, feeling. You really should consider that ticket. It will take you to an incredible show of shows. Within you.

Prem Rawat

I’d like to talk about something very beautiful: you are alive. That’s incredibly beautiful. And when we talk about the self, we are talking about recognizing, understanding who you are. When you think, “I am an Australian; I’m a New Zealander; I am English, Scottish, Irish,” you are forgetting who you are. You are a human being.

We hear about superheroes who have reached the ultimate state of being. What if I said that you have reached the ultimate state of being? You are alive. That’s the ultimate state of being. There isn’t a higher state than being alive. This is it.

People go to the movies to be entertained, for some action, some drama. They have a whole ritual of getting their popcorn, their candy, their soft drinks. Talk about planning! The army could learn a thing or two about discipline from these people. They know exactly what and how much to get. Then they sit down in their chosen seat. The movie starts, and the line between reality and the artificial blurs. Some people even start crying. If they could see the real shoot, they’d be laughing, because what they’re looking at is maybe the fifteenth take of the same scene.

We believe. Let’s believe for a minute that there is a cow in front of you, and the cow moos. Maybe there’s no harm in believing in it, but when you need milk, remember one thing: If this cow does give milk, it’s only make-believe milk. It’s not real. You won’t be able to drink it. You can imagine it, you can pretend you’re drinking milk, but it won’t satisfy your thirst. Everything about it has to be make-believe, because it’s all a fantasy.

In the arena of knowing, there’s no make-believe. You experience. This is what I talk about. It’s not a fantasyland. There is a longing within a human being so deep that it leaves you dry and, in the same moment, fills you up. It’s a magical dance of quenching the thirst within.

Have you ever had water when you were really, really thirsty? Water becomes sweet. The focus is on nothing else but to take that water and drink, drink, drink. After you finish drinking, you say, “Ah!” You’re satisfied.

What is water? It’s something that has no identity. It isn’t square and it isn’t round. It takes the shape of whatever contains it. It has no color. It flows out of the ground, sometimes out of rocks—unbelievable places. If you were to try to describe water for its physical appearance, you could not do a good job, because it would always sound insignificant. Yet its power is so incredible that nothing can stand in its way—no mountain, no rock. Over time, water will carve what we think could never be carved. Yet water has tenderness, gentleness, softness. It’s the softest feeling, and it can destroy mountains.

The lack of water has wiped out civilizations. Yet water has a clear understanding and sense of purpose. It comes from the ocean, it travels through the land, but water clearly knows its destination. It knows it has an appointment, a love affair with the ocean. When it merges with the ocean, its identity is gone. It’s stripped of all that it was. It’s home again.

Why am I telling you all this? How is this going to help you? Because you can learn from it—about the passion, the desire, the want in your life. You have a thirst in you. You have a thirst to be fulfilled, but many people don’t acknowledge it because they’re afraid. Why? Because they don’t know what will happen to them. They have some concept that if they really acknowledged this thirst in their lives, they might become a vegetable, they might become irresponsible, or they might not be able to hold down a job.

What you do in this world, you do. It has nothing to do with your inner passion, because it will never satisfy that inner passion. They are two different things.

I’m here to tell you to listen to that sweet thirst. How could you not desire true peace in your life? Understand the passion for peace and satisfaction in your life. You have been thirsty. Throw your bucket in the well. And when that bucket is full, reel it in, and you will have a reward. Your reward will be satisfaction.

Prem Rawat

Life is simple. This existence should be simple. True love is simple. All the things that are good—in you, about you, and around you––are simple.

Peace is also simple, but if I ask, “What is peace to you?” everyone will give a different answer. If I ask, “What is God?” the answer will be based on your religion, your upbringing, what your parents told you, what your friends and other people told you.

You have always wanted to feel good. Your desire to feel good goes back a long way. In fact, it goes back to when you were an infant. You wanted to feel good—that was it. You didn’t have big agendas. When you didn’t feel good, you cried.

Who taught you to cry? This started from day one. When most people are born, the first thing they do is cry. If you didn’t, a doctor held you by the legs and gave you a little slap until you did. And most importantly, who taught you to be quiet when all was well? When you are satisfied, nothing needs to be done or said or expressed. All is well. This is you.

This is essentially the way you still behave. When all is well—great. When all is not well, it’s, “Why did you leave that door open? What’s wrong with you? Why are you looking at me? Why are you talking to me?” The very existence of another human being whom you actually may love can irritate you, just because all is not well. When all is well, everything is very simple, because life is simple.
Some people say, “You cannot say my life is simple. I have all these problems. My cat has left me, my wife is threatening to leave me, my kids keep sending me their bills…”

The complications that we bring into our lives—the good and the bad, right and the wrong, love and hate, doubt—are what make our lives so complicated. We all want simplicity. We have a relationship with joy, and simplicity has a unique way of bringing joy. The question is, how do we get it?

There is a joy that comes from the outside, and there is another joy that comes from inside. I’m not ignoring the joy that comes from outside. But there is a joy that comes from the inside, and it only comes when there is simplicity in your life.

It’s simple because since the day we took our first breath, this energy resides in us. All this time, even if we don’t know about it, it continues to reside in us. How utterly simple is that?

Life wants to be content. Life wants to be happy. You want to be happy. Something is going on here, isn’t it? You can move, you can talk, you can think, you can smile, you can cry. Something is going on here, and one day it won’t be. What is this thing that is going on? Is it your appointments? Is it your job? Is it all the things you do? Is it all your likes and dislikes?

There is something that keeps happening in my good days and in my bad days. All the things that I call good or bad are irrelevant to the fact that something else is going on. The coming and going of this breath is automatic, and due to this magnificent thing, I am alive. All the complicated will one day go away. So will you. The challenge seems to be to find the simple and hang onto it for dear life while you are alive.

Does this sound like a challenge––to find it and hang onto it for the rest of your life? It is possible. The joy that you have in you needs to be honored. The love needs to be honored. The greatest of all gifts, this most subtle and most beautiful breath, needs to be honored. Recognize it for what it is worth. Acknowledge this most magnificent but simplest of things in your life.

What happens when you honor this life within you? The energy within returns those honors, and the homage that is paid to you is called peace. Peace is your reward. It’s also called joy, understanding, clarity. This is how simple it is.

Prem Rawat

The most important thing that I can do is to cause you to reflect, contemplate what you have been given, and make you think about the possibility of  having peace in your life.

In some ways, you are very much like me. As human beings, we have a need. It is not a need created by society or by religion. It is a fundamental need to be fulfilled, to be in peace. It is easy to toss around the word “peace.” But what is peace? Is it just hearing wind chimes? No traffic? No airplanes or trains buzzing by? To some people, that’s exactly what peace means. And it’s sad that external noise pollution becomes so irritating that when we find ourselves in the absence of it, we call it “peace.”

Or is peace a feeling? An undeniable feeling not born of thought. Everything that comes to us is born of thought. We get good news, “Things are going my way.” We get bad news, “Why is this happening to me?” It doesn’t take much for us to get unsettled. It happens when we’re in traffic and somebody honks their horn. Even if they are honking at somebody else, we get irritated, “How dare you honk at me.”

Your son or daughter tells you, “I failed,” and you get upset. So is peace simply not being upset? It’s sad but true that some people think when you don’t get upset you must be in peace. Well, there are people who are in a vegetative state, and they don’t get upset over anything. So, what is peace?

Something that is not born of thought, but felt. Something that resides in the ocean of answers, not in the ocean of questions. We have learned to question everything, but we have not yet learned how to accept the answer. Your life. Your being. What does it mean to be here, to be alive?

People read books. I’m not against books. One wall of my office is just filled with books. But what am I looking to the books for? Can they really give me that answer? Can a book really satisfy my hunger? There are beautiful books of water scenes. Can that satisfy my thirst?

You cannot just say, “I’m not hungry. I’m not hungry. I’m not hungry.” The other day, I got up early, had a small breakfast, and went to speak. And my stomach was growling. I was thinking, “You’re not hungry, you’re not hungry…” but it didn’t quit. You can say, “Oh, it’s mind over matter.” But not for the basics, not for those things that really matter.

One time, my father visited a place where there were a lot of holy men. One of the men was standing on one leg praying to God. There was a sign saying he’d been standing on one leg for so many weeks and hadn’t spoken a word. My father went right up to him and said, “Oh God, why did you give him a second leg? He doesn’t use it. And why’d you give him a mouth? He doesn’t use that, either.” This man got so upset he said, “How dare you say this!” And the second leg came down.

So, what is peace? I can’t tell you what it is. I have felt peace, and I can feel it every day, but I can’t tell you what it feels like. Just like I can’t tell you what sugar really tastes like. If you want to know what I am tasting, you need to taste it, too. Then and only then will you understand what I am talking about.

This life is a gift. I want to understand it as clearly as possible before I lose the ability to understand it. I want to know what this miracle is. A miracle requires an eye to behold it—a person who truly understands what a miracle is. The most amazing miracle is the coming and going of this breath. Out of nowhere it comes, and to nowhere it goes. From this breath comes the gift of life. And life makes all the other miracles possible: You can be. You can admire. You can be thankful that you exist. You can feel and give kindness.

To know in life that all is well. We only think of this in times of trouble. Do you know that you’re fine? You always were and always will be. We live in a world of fear. But there is something within you that you should not be afraid of, and it is the ability to enjoy this life, to appreciate this life.

Prem Rawat

I am here to tell you a story that is simple. This story is not about animals or kings and queens. It is not about the fulfillment of somebody’s fantasy. This story is about you and me — as we exist, as we are.

It’s not a story about aspirations, because people’s aspirations depend so much on where they find themselves in this world. If somebody lost their child, they wouldn’t pray for money. They would pray for one thing and one thing only: “God, can you please have my child returned to me?” That’s it.

If somebody has been told by a doctor, “You have cancer, you’re dying,” what do they pray for? Do they pray for higher education? Do they pray for another child? No. They say, “God, either make this as painless as possible or take away my cancer.” And if somebody finds themselves poor? They pray for money.

Where we find ourselves in our lives dramatically changes our viewpoint on what our needs are, what the world is all about, what religion is all about, what God is all about — what everything is all about.

But there is a reality: the reality that you are alive. This is the most beautiful reality there is. Whether you are poor or you are rich — what do you really want? In this story, this story about you and me, we have a chance to fulfill our real want. If we want this story to be nice, to have a happy ending, it can be so. So the question becomes, “What is our want?”

Do you know what you want, what you have always wanted, what you will always want? Other people’s opinions and your own needs are two different things. If you have not looked at your real need, your want, all the opinions in the world are not going to take care of it. They are just opinions. What do you want?

Let me tell you about a possibility as one human being to another. I propose that what you want in your life does not need a name. You can call it peace, you can call it happiness, you can call it liberation, you can call it joy — not a problem. Why? Because these are just different names for the same thing. When the heart is content, there will be joy. When the heart is content, there will be peace.

What is the difference between darkness and light? In darkness, you cannot see. When you cannot see, you cannot avoid the obstacles. All of the stumbling blocks, all of the obstacles on the road do not disappear when the sun rises in the morning. But you can see them, and, because you can see, you can avoid them. Light doesn’t take away obstacles; light illuminates them.

What do I give? I give an umbrella. I do not take away the rain. Rain cannot be taken away — it will rain. But that’s not a problem if you have an umbrella. Without one, you will become wet, and you don’t want to get wet.

I give an umbrella. Do I take away people’s obstacles? No. I give them a lamp so that they can see, so that they can avoid what they want to avoid. That’s how it is. That’s what you need.

What does this being really want? This being has the most amazing aspiration it could ever have — to feel the infinite. This is the highest ambition: when a mortal wants to reach and touch and feel the immortal. That’s an incredible but beautiful ambition.

Prem Rawat

When I travel and talk to people, what is my challenge? Of course, what I say has to come from my heart. It’s not a written speech; it's not from a book. But my challenge is for you to empty your bucket.

It’s not about saying wise things, believe me. People think I will tell them something that’s going to help them. And I do, apparently, because people write back and say how they've been helped since they’ve been listening to me. But that’s not what I try to do, because I cannot push wisdom into somebody’s head. All I try to do is to help people to empty their bucket.

Our biggest limitation is our imagination. I’ve never said this before because I know people will immediately say, “No-no-no, we can imagine some outrageous things!” Yes, you can. But there is something so amazing that exists beyond your capacity to imagine. I call it the peace and joy that reside in your heart.

The brain is a funny thing. It tries to fill in as much as it can. If we see an object that we have never seen before, our brain gets very confused. It responds, “What is this?” Imagination can only take you so far. But in the realm of the heart, in the realm of this inner beauty, there is something that is indeed divine, not by our making, but by its very nature.

I’m not talking about conjecture. You see, I’m not going to answer your questions. Is that a favor to you? You bet. All I will keep saying is to empty your bucket, and when you do, you will finally make room for answers to come. Because you see, the answers are inside of you.

Do you believe that? We live in a society where if we want to know something, we search on the Internet to find out. But have you found out?

Where is the understanding in this world? People are more educated now than they’ve ever been. Everybody has their reasons for why things are as they are. But understanding is not about reasons. Understanding is about what you have understood, what you have felt. It’s not about preaching. It’s about reaching and grabbing the answer and realizing, “Yes, now I understand.”

That’s what I want for you. I don’t want you to say, “Now I have been given the answer.” That’s pointless. I want you to be able to say, “Now I understand. Now I know.” That's the way it needs to be—because that is the cry of your heart.

There is an opportunity, a simple opportunity—if you can see it. How can you see it? Empty your bucket. How do you do that? It’s easy. Just start throwing out all that’s not yours, and I guarantee you the bucket will be very, very empty. Because nothing in that bucket is yours.

In your life, you were told things and you said, “Okay.” Every time you agreed, something was placed in the bucket, again and again. Unfortunately, it has gotten to a point where there’s no room for anything else. It’s full.

What’s in the bucket? Part of all that goes around in this world. People fight over God. Nations get polarized. Human beings express anger towards one another just for their opinion. We have created a world where, instead of saying, “Okay, we’ll never be able to figure God out. Let’s just feel God, respect God, and sing God’s praises.” No. It can’t be as simple as that. “Let’s give God a gender.” Do you think God needs a gender? “Let’s give God hands.” Does God need hands? That power, that energy is everywhere: nowhere to come from and nowhere to go to. Does that power need legs? Think about it.

Maybe I’ve inspired you to empty your bucket. Or perhaps I've given you a notion to at least look at your bucket and see how full it is. See if you can recognize that those things are not yours. You never put them there. They are the voices of the people before you, who told you how it had to be. And you said, “Okay.”

Prem Rawat

This life, in a way, is too short. It would be nice if you could make all your mistakes, get it all together, show up somewhere, and say, “Okay, I’ve figured it out, and I’m ready.”

But it doesn’t work like that. We’re given some time, but we don’t know how much. In the beginning, we just want to be happy. That’s all we know. We don’t know about responsibilities. We don’t know about right and wrong. We don’t know about being human. But we know that we have the thirst to be happy—whatever that means.

Good things happen; bad things happen. As a child, the level of optimism is at an all-time high. Whatever happened yesterday happened, but today is today. No memories are kept, no blame. Whatever we did in that state was not pre-planned. We call this innocence, and to each one of us, this state of being is very beautiful.

And then we go through the period of learning—the grinding, pounding of information into our heads. The alphabet—A, B, Cs. You don’t know why A is A. It just is. You don’t know why one is one. It just is. And you are tested on it.

This keeps on going; you are being prepped for this world. What does that mean? It means that you have given up on your ideas, and you are now ready, willing, and able to take on the ideas that the world will give you, including how you believe in God. This is defined as responsibility. I call it “the giant leap of faith.”

And then an amazing thing happens. It doesn’t happen to everybody; it happens to some people. They meet someone who says, “No giant leap of faith necessary. You don’t have to jump. Just feel—feel your own thirst.”

“What?” They find this idea to be novel, but they see in it their own innocence.

“The happiness, the joy, that you want in your life is within you, and the thirst for that feeling has to be within you, too.”

Then they ask, “Could something really be so simple?”

Yes, it could. Because you need to hear, you have ears. Because you need to breathe, you have a nose. You need to be able to see, and eyes have been provided for you. If you need this fulfillment—not want, but need—the thirst for it has been provided for you as well.

Find the thirst. That is the first chapter—recognizing, understanding your own innocence. And not by concept, thought, ideas, or prompting from someone else. The need for fulfillment is embedded within—not in your logic, but in the innocence of the heart. That’s where you will find it. And that’s where you have to begin. If we are thirsty and go looking for water, we won’t get distracted: “Did you see that bird? Did you see that rock? Oh, look at that contrail in the sky.” No. Water, water, only water. It is a need, a passion.

A human being’s true passion is to be fulfilled. And that passion has survived all our discoveries, turmoil, successes, failures, disasters, catastrophes. However fragile it may seem, it has survived. As human beings have become busier and busier with weapons of destruction, going to the moon, mapping the earth, inventions, discoveries—you might have thought this would have been forgotten. Languages have been forgotten; customs that survived for thousands of years have been forgotten. But somehow, the quest to be fulfilled has survived.

Why am I telling you this? It is a bigger need than you realize. It’s huge. And you get to try every day, consciously, to be fulfilled, to be happy. There is no rewind button.

When I have come home to this moment called now, I feel my heart dancing with gratitude. Perhaps tears come, but they are of joy, not sorrow. Every fiber in my being rejoices to be alive. I have no quest for tomorrow, or even the moment yet to come. And that’s good, because it is a moment that I could live in forever.

Prem Rawat

There is a lot going on around the world. But I want to talk to each one of you about this life, about this time that we have. It’s not often that somebody points out the importance of life itself. We live in a world that sees it very differently.

I’ll give you an example. Today, I wanted to know about the latest hurricane. So I turned on the TV. They were talking about how many people might get hurt, how many millions of dollars in damages the last hurricane had caused, and how much damage this one could do. 

Then, all of a sudden, there was an advertisement saying, “Are you overweight? Would you like to lose five to ten pounds? Then this medicine is for you!” And I’m thinking, “Wait a minute. Half of the United States is in trouble, and we’re talking about being five to ten pounds overweight?” That’s the world we live in. What reality is and what it is not has become an incredibly fine line. So fine, in fact, that it is almost indistinguishable.

A long time ago, someone said, “As far as your eyes can see, you can consider it to be an illusion.” In our little world, we have made compartments for everything. So when we hear a deep statement like this, we don’t really want to act on it. If we did, the consequences would be amazing. You’d come out of your garage and realize, “My house is an illusion.” You’d look at your wife and say, “You’re an illusion, honey.” You’d look at your kids and your car in the same way. I mean, it would be almost paralyzing. You’d wonder, “Wait a minute—as far as the eye can see, it is all an illusion?”

So, we have compartments, and we say, “Well, this is one of those deep thoughts.” And then we move along. We go on our way because we don’t really want to change. If it means saying, “Oh, I love changes,” and not having to change, we say that, too. And people actually make these declarations, “I love changes.” As long as nobody causes them to change, it’s okay.

I ask people, “Do you have peace in your life?” “Yes.” “Really?” “Oh, yes, yes. I read scriptures, I go jogging every day, I do yoga. I have peace. Now, where is the ice cream?” And that’s it.

Why am I talking to you about illusion and reality? Does it matter that all this is an illusion? Does it matter that there is a reality? Yes, it does. Why? Because I see myself in relation to all the things that I am surrounded by. If I didn’t see any relationship between those things and me, then it wouldn’t be a problem. But when I see that relationship, I am caught.

The point is that all we consider to be real is not. We have our relatives or “relations” and all the people we love. There will be a time when all these relationships will come to an end. There will be a time when they can no longer reciprocate our love. So, why am I talking to you about this? My point is, if you’re going to have a relationship, have a relationship with something inside of you, too. If you’re going to have loved ones, find the love that is inside of you as well, because this is the one that transcends the limitations of this world.

I hope you understand what I’m trying to say. When you go to somebody’s house for dinner, what do you carry away with you? Well, you still have food in your stomach, but you also carry the memory of the enjoyment you had. Learn how to truly enjoy, because when you know how to enjoy, you take that with you in a heart that is full.

Wherever you go, whatever you do, whatever situation you go through, you carry a joy with you. But if you have not understood and included your true self in this life of yours then, yes, you live in a world of illusion. Somehow, you think that this will all be here forever. But it won’t.

There is something real in you. There is something beautiful in you. If you want to be mesmerized by beauty, be mesmerized by the beauty that is within you. If you want to understand something, understand yourself. If you want to love, love this beautiful breath that comes into you. If you do this, you will be given a gift of peace, joy, love—not in thoughts, not in words, but in feeling. And that is no ordinary gift.

Prem Rawat

A fifteenth century Indian saint used to talk about how all the trees that grow around a sandalwood tree begin to smell like sandalwood. They aren’t sandalwood, but as they grow, they take on that beautiful scent.

So is it possible that if I keep the company of the most beautiful thing in my life, I will begin to take on its characteristics? Yes. That’s the significance of the analogy.

If keep the company of ignorance, I will take on the characteristics of ignorance, but if I keep the company of clarity, I will begin to take on the qualities of clarity. If I want to have the beautiful aroma of understanding, I need to keep the company of understanding.

If this is even remotely possible, what a possibility exists for me in my life!

Kabir, another fifteenth century saint, says, “We are like cloth that is washed with the soap of clarity again and again until it sparkles. You need to sparkle, to shine, because that is your potential.” You are not sandalwood, and you won’t become sandalwood. But can you take on some of the beautiful, beautiful aroma of sandalwood? Yes. Therein lies your hope.

I hear from people around the world. Many are in difficult situations. Some are in prison, some with life sentences. My message goes to them, and it’s an incredible dynamic, because what hope can they have? Even in that situation where there is so little hope, they are looking for hope. They are looking for joy. They are looking for clarity!

We become busy doing so many things that we think are important. But listen to the human being that you are. What is your truest need? Your truest need is to be content.

We go along the highway of life saying, “I need this, I need this, I need this.” Some of it is what we think, and some of it comes from other people telling us, “This is what you need this is what you need, this is what you need.”

I have heard people rave about Krispy Kreme donuts. I hear that the bakeries have a light that goes on when the donuts are fresh out of the oven and that people actually slow down as they pass by the shop in case the light will go on. And if it does, no matter what they are doing, people will stop to get a donut and satisfy that desire for something delicious.

It’s tempting. Sometimes the thought comes to me, “Hmm, maybe I should try a Krispy Kreme donut.” Then I realize, “I don’t want to.” Does it matter? No.

But everything in this journey of life does matter: what is mine and what is not mine; what I know and what I believe; my thirst and the thirst that has been superimposed upon me. This is a big subject. The way we talk, the way we think, the way we imagine things is directly influenced by the society around us, not us.

What is our true thirst? Who are you? Are you just a puppet, built with the papier-mâché of concepts—one layer of paper over another and another? Or are you something more than that? Pray that the answer is “Yes,” because if the answer is “No,” we’re in trouble.

The good news is that we each have a thirst. We each have a quest to be fulfilled, to be in peace. You may not be aware of it, but deep down you know about it.

Keep the right company, and you will soak in their traits. Keep the company of light, and you will begin to glow. This is the transformation of a human being becoming a true “be-ing.” Simple, conscious of existence.

There is a beauty within you that you can be in touch with for the rest of your life. It’s ageless. Timeless. Beautiful. Simple. There aren’t too many things like that in this world.

If you want to keep the company of that, I can help.

Prem Rawat

I have been traveling with the message of hope for people—that you exist, that you’re alive, that you’ve been given something that is so precious. I tell people that what they have—not what they need to achieve, not what they need to create, not their need to climb a mountain or swim an ocean—but what they have is the most beautiful thing.

For most people, the hardest thing to understand is that they already have everything they could possibly want. On one hand, there are desires, expectations, aspirations. We are told, “Do this, do this, do this.” Remember when you were young and your mother or father would tell you, “Study! Study hard so that one day you can become something”?

I understand the intent behind that statement. The intent is that parents want their children to succeed. But it also implies something else, which is: you are nothing. And that is simply not true.

I don’t really want to tell you that your mother was wrong. I want to be able to say that your mother was right. And maybe she was right about everything, except for that one thing—you are something. Not only that, but you are, in fact, something divine. And so, my message brings hope—not just making something up to give you good news, but real hope.

What is the reality? The reality is that within you the blessing of breath is coming and going. What does that mean to you? You judge yourself by what you have accomplished. You judge yourself by what you think your world is. Everybody is proud of something. There are mothers and fathers who are proud of their sons and daughters, children who are proud of their parents—and it goes on and on. Everybody’s proud of something.

But go beyond the expectations. Right now your bucket is full of ideas. It’s your bucket, but it’s full of ideas. And these ideas are not yours. It’s your bucket, so if it’s full of ideas, at least they should be your ideas, right? But that’s not how it is. It’s full of other people’s ideas.

We buy into the idea, “That’s how it is.” In this life, it’s important to put in your bucket only that which is tried and true—and good enough to bear your stamp. Only what you want to put in, not what somebody else wants to put in.

You think this only happened when you were young? No, it happens every day. You walk around with that bucket and people keep chucking things in it, keep chucking things in it—every day. That’s why this bucket is full of nothing—nothing that will help you.

What am I saying? Just walk this life on your feet, not somebody else’s. Understand its value for yourself, not because somebody else said this life is valuable.

What is really yours?  I’m only pointing this out because I think you should take care of it. What is really yours? This breath that just came, is really, really yours. It didn’t go into someone else. It came just for you. From the workings of the universe, something stirred, and this breath came exclusively for you. That’s yours.

So, are you going to keep what’s yours? Or only keep what’s borrowed? People who keep borrowed things end up without anything. Because it was all borrowed, one day it will be taken away. Those who keep what is truly theirs will be rich beyond belief. Keep it. It brings with it life. Live it. It brings with it joy. Grab it. Fill yourself with that joy. It brings with it hope. Squeeze out all of it. This is for you, and you get to keep it.

Prem Rawat

There is a lot to appreciate. One life, and in this one life, to understand what is real, to understand the quintessential, important thing: the value of this existence. Life is life. Breath is breath. To wonder is to wonder. To wander is just to wander. And when people wander, I ask them, “What are you looking for?”

I know that we seek to quench our thirst. We may never say to ourselves, “I’m thirsty.” But we are. We might say, “I have everything,” but we don’t—not unless we have found the water that quenches our thirst.

People ask, “If I acknowledge that I don’t have everything, does that make me weak or incomplete?” No. The water you search for is inside of you, and the thirst that causes you to search for it is also inside of you. You do not become dependent on something outside; it is within you. Understand what that means. You do not create anything; you come to know what is already inside of you. And not only know that, but fall in love with it.

When you know and have fallen in love with that one thing, you will be rewarded with peace. Many say, “Oh, when we stop fighting, we’ll have peace.” No. You will have exactly that—no fighting—but not peace. There have been times when people have not been fighting, and then they started fighting with each other, so could you say that peace leads to war, and war leads to peace? That would be a dangerous statement to make. What is peace? Is peace an absence of the external war or the internal war? You see, the peace you are looking for is from the internal war, the war that rages inside of you.

A lot of people read a beautiful book and say, “Oh, it brings me so much peace.” What did the writer read? The writer couldn’t have read that book till he had written it. I’m not against books, but books are not enough. That’s like hanging a picture of a well on a wall and saying it will suffice. You would never say, “I don’t really need a kitchen. What I need is some wall space where I can hang a picture of food, and every time I get hungry, I will look at this picture and be satisfied.” Yet, when it comes to peace, people do exactly that. “I don’t need anything. All I need is this little place in my house. I will hang this picture, put this book there, do this, do that. And then I will come and spend a few quiet moments.”

You have two ears that let outside noise in. But this mind has its own set of ears. It listens to things that were never said, sees things that never existed, talks to people that were never born, and goes to places that don’t actually exist. So, when you talk about being quiet, are you talking about a quiet room or real quiet, even here inside?

You have a thirst to be fulfilled, a thirst for peace. If you ask why, then may I give you my observation? There is all this dirt floating around in space. It’s compressed and brought into this beautiful planet called Earth. Then it goes through an amazing process. From dirt, dinosaurs come and go, this comes and that goes, and from this dirtcomes another dirt. And thisdirt is a little different, but it’s basically dirt.

Dirt makes goals and says, “This is what we should all achieve.” It says, “I have gone to the deepest ocean, the highest sky.” But there’s dirt out there much higher than you. It says, “I have ten degrees. I am the youngest at this, the oldest at this.” Amazing what dirt thinks. So, what is the point of this dirt being able to think, perceive, recognize, feel—when it will just become dirt again? When somebody will outdo you in whatever you do?

One day, my children wanted to go on an amusement park ride. I asked, “Why do you want to go on this ride? It goes round and round, and it’s just going to come right back here.” And the answer was, “To have fun.” I remember this, because it had a profound impact on me. I started thinking, “From nothing came this body, and to nothing it will go. What is the point?” Well, I will give you the same answer that a very youngperson gave me a long time ago: to have fun. It’s just my observation.

Prem Rawat