Prem Rawat // Maharaji - News, Excerpts and more

Days of our Life

mblogs — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 12:17:00 -0800

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

The Prem Rawat Foundation Gives Grant of US$26,000 to Aid Indonesian Earthquake Survivors

mblogs — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 12:17:00 -0800

Nutritious food to be provided immediately to over 2,400 survivors in remote areas

Los Angeles — After two consecutive earthquakes struck the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia, The Prem Rawat Foundation (TPRF) is providing immediate food aid to over 2,400 survivors in remote areas. TPRF is working with the Yayasan IDEP, a local non-profit organization, which reports that thousands of survivors in the Padang Pariaman area have not received “help whatsoever to date” and are “homeless and desperate for food and clean water.”

According to their reports, IDEP is targeting people in the outer vicinities who have been impacted not only by the earthquakes but also by massive landslides. The report stated: “Helicopters carrying food and medical supplies had been dispatched to the highland, but they are not carrying enough supplies to fulfill needs on the ground. The few that have received help to date have only been provided with some instant noodles, not nearly enough to help people survive. They have not had any proper food for more than a week now, and are getting weak and desperate for immediate assistance.”

Over the next two months, using small trucks and vehicles, volunteers from the local Lumbung Derma Coalition, a coalition over 10 NGOs from the West Sumatera region, are partnering with IDEP to directly distribute rice, eggs, tea and milk to at least 2,400 people, with special provisions for children, pregnant and lactating women, and the elderly. Additional provisions of enriched milk will be provided for children who are malnourished and ill. This emergency response support will help reduce immediate suffering and the ongoing impact of disease and malnutrition for the affected homeless people in the area.

TPRF has provided several grants to IDEP after earthquakes, mudslides and a tsunami. IDEP Executive Director, Petra Schneider, said: “We cannot begin to express the depth of our gratitude for this excellent working partnership that has resulted in the relief of thousands of people in plight to date in Indonesia. Your support will make an incredible difference in relieving some of the suffering and helping people to build up their strength and ward off potential disease, especially children and the elderly.”

Photographs courtesy of Yayasan IDEP / Lumbung Derma / Taufik Hidayat.

The Triumph of a Human Being

mblogs — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 11:05:00 -0700

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

Forgotten Opportunity

mblogs — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 09:16:00 -0700

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

The Prem Rawat Foundation Makes Two Grants to Provide Relief in Pakistan

mblogs — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 09:14:00 -0700

Non-profit organizations Shirkat Gah Women’s Resource Centre and ActionAid International USA both receive funding to help Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) during the country’s post-conflict period.

Northwest Frontier Province, Pakistan — The Prem Rawat Foundation (TPRF) has granted over US$65,000 to provide food, medication, cattle and livestock provisions, and fruit plants to aid over 10,000 persons affected by the country’s recent internal conflicts, which have displaced over 650,000 people. (World Food Programme, July 2009)

Thousands of families were displaced in May and June of this year due to the escalation of conflict between the Pakistani Army and the Taliban. Now they have returned to their homes to find waterways destroyed, crops and livestock gone, and no seeds to plant for the next harvest.

TPRF has given a US$30,000 grant to Shirkat Gah Women’s Resource Centre to provide food and medication. In the village of Kahzano Dheri, Marden, 2,600 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) will receive rice, beans, rice tea, and oil for one month. In the IDP camps in Kachi Garhi, Peshawer, in the Swabi and Buner districts, 5,000 women will receive medication and supplements for two months.

A second grant of US$36,800 was made to ActionAid International USA to provide long-term food security and livelihood rehabilitation. Nearly 3,000 people returning to their devastated homes in three areas of the Buner district, North West Frontier Province, will receive seeds to replant their destroyed crops, construction and rehabilitation of reservoirs for crop irrigation, livestock, and fruit plants to help them rebuild their lives.

Both foundations expressed their appreciation. Dr. Saman Yazdani Khan, Regional Director for Shirkat Gah, states, “[Shirkat Gah] is delighted that The Prem Rawat Foundation has been able to respond quickly to its appeal to help the IDPs and assist its effort in providing much-needed relief. It will ease the discomfort and desolation of their unwelcome situation.” Peter O’Driscoll, Executive Director for ActionAid, said, “This work is powerful. And, without your support, it would not be possible. Thank you.”

The Greatest Show

mblogs — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 13:48:00 -0700

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

The Prem Rawat Foundation Has Been Awarded The Highest Rating By America's Premier Charity Evaluator

mblogs — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 13:32:00 -0700

Charity Navigator congratulates the Foundation for achieving the coveted Four-Star rating for sound fiscal management.

Los Angeles, CA: "As the nonprofit sector continues to grow at an unprecedented pace, savvy donors are demanding more accountability, transparency, and quantifiable results from the charities they choose to support with their hard-earned dollars," states Ken Berger, President and CEO of Charity Navigator, in a letter to The Prem Rawat Foundation (TPRF). "Approximately a quarter of the charities we evaluate have received our highest rating, indicating that The Prem Rawat Foundation executes its mission in a fiscally responsible way and outperforms most other charities in America."

Charity Navigator's unique evaluation method of applying data-driven analysis to the charitable sector has been praised by such publications as Forbes, Business Week, and Kiplinger's Financial Magazine. The New Jersey-based organization evaluates ten times more charities than their nearest competitor and attracts more visitors to their website than all other charity rating groups combined, making them America's largest independent evaluator of charities. The Charity Navigator website provides important information on charities to help donors make confident choices.

"This 'exceptional' designation from Charity Navigator differentiates The Prem Rawat Foundation from its peers and demonstrates to the public it is worthy of their trust."

The Charity Navigator website has designated a web page showing the evaluation for The Prem Rawat Foundation that led to their four out of four-star rating.

The Arena of Knowing

mblogs — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 12:26:00 -0700

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

Prem Rawat Named Ambassador of Peace in Potenza, Italy

mblogs — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 12:19:00 -0700

Los Angeles, CA — Humanitarian and world-renowned advocate of peace, Prem Rawat was given the title of “Ambassador of Peace” for the province of Basilicata, Italy, after addressing a distinguished audience at an event on July 3rd. The invitation was extended to Prem Rawat by Basilicata President Vito de Filippo, and Mr. Rawat was welcomed by lifetime Senator Emilio Colombo, a former Prime Minister of Italy and former President of the European Parliament.

In his introduction at the event, titled “Peace: Human Heritage,” in the famous Conservatorio di Musica in the ancient mountainside town of Potenza in southern Italy, Governor de Filippo said, “Indeed, we look forward to this high level of thought from Prem Rawat. I believe deeply that embedded in our souls is the most solid foundation for bringing peace. Tonight an important seed will be planted that we will nurture and grow, for this is a land of peace.”

Senator Colombo greeted Prem Rawat: “My salute to you, for you are indeed an emissary of peace. Potenza is just a stage for you on your continued journey, and I hope it is a good one.” He quoted Mr. Rawat as saying, “If you want peace, then prepare for peace.” Prem Rawat thanked the Governor and President and said that neither technology nor education would bring peace; only people could do that. Alluding to the world population, he added that he had not just one million, but seven billion reasons for peace. “We have to learn to come together,” he said, “and that can only happen when we see the necessity.”

Mr. Rawat continued, “Do you want to do something really fun? Work on bringing peace on earth. One lit candle can light a thousand. However many of us there are, if we can raise the interest for peace in this world, something beautiful will happen.” After being awarded a memorial plaque in recognition of his work as an advocate for peace, Prem Rawat was given a standing ovation.

Notable guests also included Renato Cantore, Chief Editor of TGR News Media, the regional ministers of Health, of Industry and Tourism, of Infrastructure and Transport, as well as local Potenza business leaders, students from the Conservatorio di Musica, guests of the speakers, and several international attendees from Australia, Israel, and the United States. The event was broadcast for five days on the local TV channel, La Nuova.

Something Is Going On

mblogs — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 09:32:00 -0700

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 Prem Rawat Foundation Donates US$30,000 for School Lunches in Soweto

mblogs — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 09:28:00 -0700

July, 2009—For most children in schools around the world, school lunches are part of their daily routine. But not at the Emndeni Junior Secondary School in Soweto, South Africa. This high school, located in an impoverished settlement area, had no feeding program at all and no cooking equipment. Now, thanks to a grant of US$30,000 to the African Children’s Feeding Scheme (ACFS) by The Prem Rawat Foundation (TPRF), 500 of the poorest students at the school will be receiving nutritious lunches.

The 500 children selected were those who came to school without lunchboxes, the poorest of the poor. A gas stove and steel pots were purchased so that nutritious meals prepared by an industrial catering company could be cooked each day. The meals consist of a variety of vegetables such as carrots, onions, potatoes, and green peppers. They include basic protein such as Grade-A minced meat, chicken fillets, or a special mixture of red speckled beans, yellow split peas, and barley, a specialty of the area and very nutritious. Carbohydrates such as macaroni, maize, and rice are also served, forming completely balanced meals.

To ensure the success of the program, the homes of the children were visited in order to involve the parents. Then, to continually measure the effectiveness of the program, the nutritional quality of the food and the progress of the students will be monitored. Community health workers, nursing sisters, and social workers work hand in hand with educators to monitor the program. Some of the teachers are also ACFS volunteers, who will examine the rate of absenteeism and truancy and the students’ progress in school.

The Executive Director of the ACFS, Sister Rejoice Nkutha, wrote, “On behalf of the African Children’s Feeding Scheme, I would like to thank The Prem Rawat Foundation most heartily for the grant of $30,000 which, when converted, came to R239,000 South African money. This will provide nutritious food to 500 children in Soweto through to December 2009, thus improving their quality of life. We also thank Prem Rawat for his message of peace to people around the world and providing essential humanitarian aid to the people in need.”

Mind over Matter?

mblogs — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 11:36:00 -0700

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

Prem Rawat Receives Key to the City from Mayor of Tainan

mblogs — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 11:33:00 -0700

Los Angeles, June 2009 — On May 23, at the invitation of Mayor Tain-Tsair Hsu of Tainan, Taiwan, Prem Rawat, known as Maharaji, attended a ceremony where he was awarded the Golden Key to the city as well as an emblem of the Sword Lion, a symbol of the cultural capital of Taiwan. The ceremony was held at the National Tainan Living Arts Center. Over 800 people attended including guests of the mayor, dignitaries from other towns in Taiwan, as well as international and local students of Prem Rawat.

After a brief introduction from one of the Mayor’s staff and a video, Mayor Hsu said how honored he felt to receive an “Ambassador of Peace” in Tainan. Prem Rawat was awarded the title of Ambassador of Peace at the International University of Peace in Brazil because of his worldwide efforts over four decades to bring a message of peace to millions of people.

“Today the Peace Ambassador has finally arrived in Tainan City,” said Mayor Hsu, “and we have to collaborate with him to contribute to peace and harmony in this world. We have to encourage each other. We have to trust in peace. We cannot wait for peace to descend. We have to have the confidence in ourselves that there is a source of peace within us that is not only for ourselves but for everyone in this world.”

The Mayor welcomed Prem Rawat to the stage where, after receiving the key to the city, he spoke about the early human being’s fundamental questions that are still being asked today. “Maybe he could not imagine cell phones or cars. He could not imagine nations or flags,” he said. “But he asked the questions: ‘Who am I? Why am I here?’

“Do these questions intrigue you?” he continued. “And yet, where do you find the answers? In a book? In some philosophy? On top of a mountain? No. The answers exist in one place only, and it is in the book of your heart. What you are truly looking for—whether you call it peace, contentment, happiness, or joy, these are all names for one thing—that thing is your truth. You begin to live the day you embrace the peace that dwells in your heart. You begin to live the day you acknowledge the fundamental question of who you are. When that question is answered, clarity prevails, because you have witnessed the source of peace in you. That is the day your thirst will be quenched.”

After speaking, Prem Rawat returned to his seat while the Mayor led the audience in a standing ovation.

Prem Rawat’s visit to Taiwan was part of a speaking tour that began in February in Italy, and continued to India, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, China and Taiwan. His efforts have been recognized by public officials and private organizations. He founded The Prem Rawat Foundation in 2001, which has a dual purpose of bringing his message of peace to people worldwide and providing essential humanitarian aid to those in need.

A Simple Story

mblogs — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 11:51:00 -0700

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

TPRF’s Grant of US$50,000 Provides Eye Care for 9,700 People

mblogs — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 11:45:00 -0700

Los Angeles, January 2009 — The Prem Rawat Foundation donated $50,000 to sponsor five eye clinics in poor, rural areas of India during November and December, 2008, with its partner, Premsagar Foundation India.

Clinics were held in Ranchi (four days), Hyderabad (three days), Jaipur (three days), Dausa (two days), and Delhi (four days). Doctors and optometrists examined nearly 9,700 people, giving eye drops for infections to over 8,500 and providing over 6,400 pairs of glasses. Cataracts were identified in over 1,000 people, who were referred to specialists.

“This camp gives eyes to the blind,” said Maheshwari Devi, one of the attendees, “I was given spectacles after my eye examination. Now I shall be able to do my routine work without difficulty.”

Over 15 million people in India suffer from blindness, and it is estimated that 75% of them could have preserved their sight with the proper care. (“The Times of India,” October, 2007.) Yet the country continues to suffer from a severe shortage of eye-care professionals and lack of eye care for its poorest residents, resulting in limited educational and economic opportunity for them.

“It’s an honor to be a part of this camp serving people who don’t even have primary health care services,” said Dr. Ratnesh Kumar, one of the attending physicians who donated his time to provide care. “This eye clinic offers selfless service to a needy population in their own neighborhood at no charge.”

For the past five years, TPRF has regularly held eye clinics throughout India, with doctors and eye specialists who have donated their services. To date, nearly 30,000 people have had their eyes examined, nearly 18,000 have received eyeglasses, over 22,000 have received eye drops, and 2,400 instances of cataracts have been identified and referred for further medical care.

“It has been difficult for me to read and identify words, but now it is easy for me to see things,” said Mr. Hari Narayan, from the village of Lakhana. “I was even given eye medicine. Now I can do some reading and writing work.”

Emptying the Bucket

mblogs — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 11:02:00 -0800

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.”

I’m not saying that’s good or bad. I’m saying this is your bucket. At least, it should contain what you think should be in it. Because this life is about you. This gift of life has been given to you. When you accept this gift, it fills you with amazing joy. It brings unparalleled clarity. And then your life is filled with gratitude, gratitude to be alive. Could you think of a better story? Could you think of a better ending to a day? Could you think of a better start to a day than to be filled with gratitude? This is the ultimate gift.

Prem Rawat

Food for People — Interview with Linda Pascotto

mblogs — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 10:53:00 -0800

Many people have expressed an interest in The Prem Rawat Foundation’s (TPRF) model program, Food for People (FFP), whose first facility in Bantoli, India, was inaugurated almost three years ago. This 10,000 square-foot facility is located in a very rural area in northeastern India and has become a central part of the life and well-being of several villages in the area. TPRF president, Linda Pascotto, has recently returned from a visit to this facility, and we’re happy to share with you her interview with the Inspire staff.

Please tell us about your recent visit to the Food for People facility in India.
I was in New Delhi and realized that I had just enough time for a quick “unofficial” visit to the Food for People facility, which is located about an hour-and-a-half drive from the Ranchi airport in Jharkhand. From the moment I got into the car, I felt I was being taken into a completely different world from the one I live in, with all that was familiar fading rapidly away as my expert driver navigated rough roads that became increasingly narrow and more rutted, weaving and swerving to avoid hitting other vehicles, people, cows, goats, and chickens, and always moving at great speed whenever he could.

What prompted TPRF to create a facility like this?
This program is the result of Prem Rawat’s vision to help people in need in a way that would offer them a chance to live independent lives in dignity. Several years ago, when he flew by helicopter to this area to speak at events, village children would crowd around the landing site. On one visit, Prem Rawat invited the children to come and see the helicopter close up. He noticed that, although they seemed well cared for and happy, they were very, very thin. He did some research and found that these indigenous Indians had been pushed back into an arid, rocky land in northeast India where it was very difficult to eke out a living. Through the years, they had adapted as best they could but often went hungry because of the limited food available, and they suffered from a variety of illnesses common in such rural areas. Often young children had to work in exchange for food, particularly when one or both parents were too sick to work themselves. He was touched by the shy smiles and curiosity of these malnourished children, and he wanted to help them.

What was your first impression when you came to see a meal in progress?
I noticed that a large group of children arrived an hour early so they could watch more of the educational television programs that are shown daily during mealtime. FFP is the only building with electricity in the area, and they are drawn to the big-screen television with pictures and stories of things they would never be able to imagine. The children walked in from all directions and then, after their meal, left for school in small groups of pals with arms linked, vivacious and happy. They had eaten a meal they really liked and had been exposed to something that fascinated them. Life was good.

Tell us about life in these villages and what difference Food for People has made.
There are eight villages that use the FFP facility. Some villagers have to walk at least three miles to get there. I visited the nearest village late one afternoon, along with two local FFP administrators from our partner organization in India, Premsagar Foundation. A cluster of mud houses about half a mile from FFP, the village was the most rural community I have visited in India. Adults were performing their end-of-day activities, some carrying home baskets of food from small plots of land where they grow what food they can, and children were scattered around playing in the narrow lanes between their homes.

It looked like a normal village scene. Later, however, I found out that during the two-and-a-half years FFP has been open, it has made a big difference to the whole community. The villagers’ lives have gradually improved: There is more understanding of good hygiene, and, as a result, less illness. Adults are working more regularly, providing food for themselves and their families in the evenings, and the children are now attending school consistently.

How has the program changed over time in response to the villagers’ needs?
The program adjusts to the villagers’ needs under the guidance of the village elders. For many months, we provided two meals each day for children and one meal a day for adults who were too ill to work. As the health of the adults improved, they spent their days working and stopped coming for food. At this point, they decided that they preferred to have the evening meal, meager as it was, at home with their families. So food is now served only once a day to the children, the sick, and the elderly. The time of the daily meal varies with the seasonal changes of the school schedule. The village elders determine the time that works best for those benefiting from the program.

Did you have a chance to speak with any of the children, their parents, or the elders? If so, what did they say to you?
Yes, it was fun to speak to the children and some of the parents. At first, they were shy around me, a stranger who was tall and blonde and didn’t speak their language. But through a translator, the children were soon bubbling with enthusiastic comments about how much they liked the food, smiling happily as they spoke about their favorites. Rice, subgee, or dahl were mentioned repeatedly. It was clear that the nature programs and other educational television shows were extremely popular as well. With few words, parents expressed that the daily meals brought better health and stability to the children’s lives.

What does FFP offer beyond a healthy meal for the day?
After talking to both villagers and administrators, I began to appreciate what a big difference being able to rely on healthy food, clean water, and a regular schedule really made. The consistent FFP meal structures the day in many ways, and it makes regular school attendance the norm. Hygiene, fresh water (often toted home in small quantities), and an orderly process for getting food and eating together are examples of fundamentals that were missing in the children’s lives before. So while they may not even notice, children now have a certain stability in their lives, which, in addition to nutritious food, opens the door to new possibilities in education and future work.

Also, some adult villagers work in the facility, not only earning money for their family’s needs, but learning hygiene, skills of food preparation, and organization. Others work in the fields owned by the facility, where much of the food is grown. They learn good methods for successful farming. What staples are not grown on the land are purchased from the local markets, and this helps the local economy.

For the children, the educational TV shows offer the only contact they have with other people, animals, landscapes, and ways of life outside the world of their very isolated villages. And with this view comes the possibility of considering further education and new opportunities. Walking or riding an old bicycle on rutted roads is the only transportation these rural people have. The villages are scattered throughout the area and are several miles apart from each other and even further from larger villages. Cities are completely out of reach for almost everyone.

It sounds as though FFP is playing a significant role in the possibility of a more hopeful future for these people.
There has certainly been progress toward that goal, but it isn’t one that will be reached quickly. The pace is slow and change is slow, but in the relatively short time the facility has been opened, one can already see a difference. Children and adults have gained weight and are healthier. Some of the children are beginning to think about continuing their education beyond the elementary level available locally, even if it means living away from home.

FFP has clearly had a successful beginning. Is the Foundation planning to build facilities in other places based on this model?
TPRF and its partner, Premsagar Foundation Nepal, have begun building a new facility in a rural area in Nepal. Some of the Nepalese people who are involved in the project have visited the FFP facility in Bantoli to understand more about how to run this type of program and to see for themselves the high standards that need to be achieved.

TPRF hopes to continue building facilities like this in other areas. We have come to understand that Prem Rawat’s vision to provide people in need with nutritious meals of the local cuisine is a way to help people prosper naturally and with dignity. With better health and more education, the children are growing up with many opportunities for their future. The cycle of poverty is being replaced with the possibility of a future that they could not have imagined before Food for People came to their area. It is heartening and rewarding to be part of this unique model program.

About The Prem Rawat Foundation
The Prem Rawat Foundation was created in 2001 by Prem Rawat, known also as Maharaji, and has a dual mission of bringing his message of peace to people around the world and providing essential humanitarian aid to those in need. TPRF partners with other humanitarian organizations to bring food, water and rapid disaster relief where it is most needed.

A Moment Forever

mblogs — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 10:42:00 -0800

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

TPRF Funds Breakfast Program for Elementary School Children in the Yucatán

mblogs — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 10:41:00 -0800

Los Angeles, December 2008 — The Prem Rawat Foundation (TPRF) has extended its work with Compartimos Bienestar y Salud Para Los Niños Maya I.A.P. in Mexico to provide a breakfast program for the 59 students of Alfredo Peniche Erosa elementary school in San Pedro Chenchela, Espita, Yucatán, through the end of the school year in June 2009.

San Pedro Chenchela is a small Mayan community with only one elementary school. Typically, the children there come from families trying to cope with severe poverty. They arrive at school hungry, as the only breakfast available to them at home is a hot drink made from soaking burned tortillas in water and sugar, simulating a kind of “coffee,” sometimes accompanied by a taco with a little tomato. Malnutrition in the area is rampant.

Now children arrive 45 minutes early for school to be served a nutritionally-balanced breakfast. The new program has become a community effort. Each school day, two teachers supervise the meal and four different mothers come to prepare the food while learning, in the process, the basics of clean food preparation and nutrition. While the meals are now quite substantial, initially they were small. Since the children were accustomed to eating so little, they might have become sick from too sudden a change.

Maria Jose Medina Diaz, President of Compartimos Bienestar y Salud Para Los Niños Maya, was moved to tears when she first saw the eager smiles on the faces of the children as they ate with such obvious enjoyment. “The teachers told us that the children were becoming more attentive in class and, in general, appeared more content,” she reported. “And the mothers often smiled and laughed as they learned to prepare the breakfasts. They seemed to be very happy for their children.”

TPRF first partnered with Compartimos Bienestar y Salud Para Los Niños Maya I.A.P. in 2006 to provide the supplies needed to replace roofs on water- and wind-damaged homes in two farming communities in the Cancun area after Hurricane Wilma, and later in 2007 to bring relief to flood victims in the state of Tabasco.

Photos Courtesy of Maria Jose Medina

About Compartimos Bienestar y Salud Para Los Niños Mayas I.A.P.
Compartimos Bienestar y Salud Para Los Niños Mayas I.A.P. is a nonprofit organization under the laws of Mexico which provides, in collaboration with other national and international foundations, services and goods to children and families suffering from malnutrition problems and extreme poverty in the Yucatán State of Mexico.

A Matter of Reality

mblogs — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 14:19:00 -0800

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

TPRF Gives US$25,000 to Reduce Blindness in Rajasthan, India

mblogs — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 14:15:00 -0800

Los Angeles, November 2008 —The Prem Rawat Foundation (TPRF) has made a grant of US$25,000 to ORBIS UK, a beneficiary of the 2008 Lord Mayor of the City of London’s Appeal, to support ORBIS UK and the Lord Mayor’s Childhood Blindness Programme in India.

According to ORBIS UK, India is home to almost 20% of the world’s blind children. Over 320,000 children under the age of 16 are totally blind, while even more are visually impaired and at risk of losing their sight. At least half of these children could likely be cured with proper care, yet only 1% of India’s ophthalmologists are trained to treat children.

“This donation will certainly make a real contribution in achieving our aim to make the lives of future generations brighter,” says Wendy Lloyd, director of the Lord Mayor’s Appeal 2008. “It is enormously encouraging to receive such fantastic support.”

The TPRF grant will support ORBIS UK and the Lord Mayor’s Childhood Blindness Programme in the development of two children’s eye care centers, in partnership with local hospitals in Jaipur and Udaipur, areas in the state of Rajasthan where there are now no pediatric ophthalmologists. These centers will provide eye screening for 200,000 children, with an estimated 23,000 receiving medical treatment; 2,000 receiving eye surgery; and 10,000 families educated about detecting problems and protecting their vision. Equipment and personnel will be provided to sustain long-term eye care services for children in poor local communities.

It is estimated that the economic impact of blindness in India is approximately US$4.4 billion annually. Blindness and visual impairment limit education and life choices and place a heavy burden on families and the wider community. Blind and visually impaired children in India almost never receive an education, get married or live independent lives.

Photographs Courtesy of ORBIS

About ORBIS UK
ORBIS UK is a London-based affiliate of ORBIS International, a nonprofit, global development organization whose mission is to eliminate avoidable blindness in developing countries by strengthening the capacity of local eye health partners to prevent and treat avoidable blindness. ORBIS has pioneered the introduction of pediatric ophthalmology services in seven rural districts of India. It also operates a DC-10 Flying Eye Hospital that brings the gift of sight to developing countries around the world.

TPRF Gives US$20,000 to Provide Eye Care for Thousands in Gaza

mblogs — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 10:59:00 -0800

The Prem Rawat Foundation aids St. John of Jerusalem Eye Hospital, treating over 17,000 people in war-torn Gaza

Los Angeles, November 2008 — The Prem Rawat Foundation (TPRF) has made a contribution of $20,000 to help St. John of Jerusalem Eye Hospital continue providing care in conflict-ridden Gaza. The only charitable provider of eye care in Gaza, St. John is open to all patients, regardless of race, religion or ability to pay.

St. John Eye Hospital is one of the few medical care institutions currently functional in the Gaza territory, where all infrastructure, including the healthcare system, is in nearly complete collapse.

It is now estimated that over 80% of the population of Gaza is dependent on humanitarian assistance. According to a March 2008 report* by a consortium of humanitarian agencies including Amnesty International, Oxfam and Save the Children UK, 70% of households in Gaza subsist on $1.20 a day, almost half the $2.30 that denotes “deep” poverty. Despite these conditions, the St. John clinic has managed not only to remain in operation, but to treat over 17,000 people in 2007, which is 3,600 more than in 2006.

Dr. Jom’a El Jazzar, head of the St. John Eye Hospital Clinic, said, “The donation from The Prem Rawat Foundation will have a very real and demonstrative impact on our ability to broaden and deepen our much-needed humanitarian services.”

The St. John primary and secondary care clinic in Gaza runs five days a week, offering surgery four days a week. When eye disease requires treatment that the clinic cannot provide, St. John coordinates the successful transfer of patients to its hospital in Jerusalem—a difficult feat in the volatile region.

While 80% of blindness is preventable with early diagnosis and proper treatment, blindness is 10 times higher in Palestine than in most Western countries. Blindness has economic consequences for an entire society—decreasing educational opportunities, raising unemployment and consequently decreasing tax revenue, while adding the burden of providing additional humanitarian and medical care.

Photos courtesy of The St. John of Jerusalem Eye Hospital Group

* “The Gaza Strip: A Humanitarian Implosion,” March 9, 2008, Amnesty International, CARE International UK, Catholic Agency for Overseas Development, Christian Aid, Medecins du Monde UK, Oxfam, Save the Children UK, Trocaire.

Photo courtesy of Steve Sabella

About St. John of Jerusalem Eye Hospital
St. John of Jerusalem Eye Hospital, established in 1882 for charitable works in Jerusalem, has become the main center for expert eye care service in the region at the Main Hospital in East Jerusalem and satellite clinics in Gaza and the West Bank. St. John of Jerusalem Eye Hospital’s fundraising appeal for 2008 will support the Gaza Clinic, which has been operating since 1992. http://www.stjohneyehospital.org/

Prem Rawat - "Keep What Is Yours"

mblogs — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 16:46:00 -0800

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

TPRF Gives US$15,000 Grant to Provide Clean Water to 60 Schools in Pakistan

mblogs — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 16:38:00 -0800

TPRF Gives US$15,000 Grant to Provide Clean Water to 60 Schools in Pakistan
TPRF and Pakistani Rotary Club bring clean drinking water to 20,000 students

Press release

Los Angeles, October 2008 — The Prem Rawat Foundation (TPRF) has made a contribution of $15,000 to the Rotary Club Lahore Mozang, which will add $5,000 in matching funds, to provide clean drinking water for 60 schools in the Punjab region of Pakistan serving approximately 20,000 elementary through high school students.

“An estimated 250,000 child deaths occur each year in Pakistan due to waterborne disease,” according to USAID. “Waterborne infections such as cholera, typhoid fever and dysentery also burden the public health system and can impose significant economic losses.”

The Rotary Club will purchase a water pump and cooler for each school and provide them to the Ghazali Education Trust (GET) for installation. The water system will become an ongoing community responsibility, expected to benefit students as well as their families and their communities by decreasing the spread of disease and improving educational opportunities.

Established in 1995, GET is a nonprofit government organization operating 270 schools in impoverished and rural areas of Pakistan, many of which have no access to piped water. Within four months, 60 schools will benefit from new water pumps with electric motors, purifying equipment and cooled storage tanks, essential in a country that has summer weather nine months of the year.

Photos Courtesy of Ghazali Education Trust

About Rotary Club Lahore Mozang
Rotary Club Lahore Mozang, a nonprofit organization, is an individual Rotary Club belonging to Rotary International. A worldwide organization of more than 1.2 million business, professional and community leaders, Rotary Clubs provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help build goodwill and peace in the world. Clubs are nonpolitical, nonreligious and open to all cultures, races and creeds.

Prem Rawat - 'What’s the Point?'

mblogs — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 13:22:00 -0800

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.

To me, fun is where truly the heart is entertained, where a person is filled with gratitude, where the dirt is filled with joy. Turn within and feel this blessing of breath. This is the most incredible miracle there is! Dirt can dance. Very unnatural, but with so much charm and grace that it is completely natural—the dirt can speak, the dirt can think, and the dirt can feel the ultimate.

Prem Rawat

TPRF Provides US$40,000 to Feeding America for US Hurricane Victims

mblogs — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 13:16:00 -0800

Assistance will provide more than 65,000 meals for people returning to devastated homes

Los Angeles, October 2008 —The Prem Rawat Foundation (TPRF) has contributed $40,000 to Feeding America, formerly named America’s Second Harvest, to provide truckloads of food to help people returning to their homes in devastated areas of Texas after Hurricane Ike.

Hurricane Ike and its predecessors Gustav and Dolly struck in regions already struggling with high poverty rates, stretching the resources of Feeding America’s network of food banks and other relief agencies that were already seeing a nationwide increase of 15% to 20% for relief services before the hurricanes hit.

“Disasters put yet another strain on families who face hunger issues every day,” noted Vicki Escarra, President and CEO of the Feeding America Network. “Thanks to the support of The Prem Rawat Foundation, local residents will have emergency food and supplies to help make it through these difficult days.”

Immediately after millions of Gulf Coast residents were evacuated, the Feeding America Network began delivering ready-to-eat food to them as well as to those who were able to remain in their homes but had to contend with massive damage and lack of water and electricity. As evacuees returned to their homes weeks later, many were confronted with the expenses of major structural damage, spoiled food and mounting bills, as well as depleted financial resources and jobs lost due to evacuating.

TPRF’s grant provided approximately 2,600 boxes of food to help families restock their pantries and replenish supplies destroyed by the storm or subsequent power outages. The Feeding America Network expects to provide assistance for those affected for at least four to six weeks.

Photos courtesy of the Houston Food Bank

About Feeding America (previously named America’s Second Harvest)
Feeding America is the largest charitable domestic hunger-relief organization in the United States. Through its network of more than 200 member food banks, Feeding America annually provides assistance to more than 25 million people in need, including more than 9 million children and nearly 3 million seniors in 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Each year, Feeding America secures and distributes more than 2 billion pounds of donated food and grocery products to support feeding programs at approximately 63,000 local charitable agencies, including food pantries, soup kitchens, emergency shelters, after-school programs and Kids Cafés. http://www.feedingamerica.org/.

Prem Rawat - 'A Singular Quest'

mblogs — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 16:02:00 -0700

Many times, I ask, “Does light really know about darkness, and does darkness really know about light?” This is a very interesting question, because maybe we wonder, “Isn’t there some point where the two meet?” Think about it. Does light know about darkness? They have never met. Can they ever meet? I don’t think so, because their natures are so fundamentally different.

It is the same way in the world of the heart. There are principles that guide and dictate the heart, and then there are principles that guide and dictate the mind. Do the two know about each other? I don’t think so, because their natures are so fundamentally different. One does not rely on feeling or understanding. The other does. There is something in you that, just by reading a description of food, can say, “That’s good.” But your nature is that only after food has touched the tongue and the aroma has reached the nose can you say, “Wow! This is good!” So for one part of you, description is good enough. For another part of you, something has to be real. Then, and only then, is it accepted. In that part of you that belongs to the realm of the real, there is something very beautiful called the heart. In the realm of the heart, description means nothing.

Imagine that you’ve bought a house, you’re cleaning it, and in the corner, you see a shiny diamond. You pick it up, and your first reaction is, “I bet this is fake.” But, if in that corner, there’s a beautiful box with a fake diamond in it, your first reaction will be, “I bet it’s real.”

Aren’t you curious which part of you dictates your life? Both are parts of you, no question about it. Which is the part that makes decisions for you? It’s a very simple question, but it has incredibly profound consequences.

I’m not talking about decisions of what to eat, what movie to see, what clothes to buy, or even who to marry. I’m talking about the decisions that really matter to you. The heart is incapable of making decisions in an illusive world. It does not understand it. The mind is quite capable of making decisions in this world. It does understand it, because it created it. “We need this, we need this, we need this….” The mind has made the world situation confusing. But in the realm of the heart, there is no confusion. There never was and never will be. In the realm of the heart, there is only one thing: To be fulfilled. To find that joy, to find that feeling—not a description of the feeling. What I talk about is not dogmas, theories, descriptions, explanations. This is about finding the joy in your life. And not just once, but to have that joy available to you every single day for the rest of your life. That’s it. If you’re looking for descriptions, explanations, rules, something to believe in—you won’t find them here, because this is the realm of the heart.

In the realm of the heart, there is knowing. To know, not have faith. To walk in clarity, not in doubt. People say, “Have faith, and that will overcome doubt.” I say, “Have clarity, and that will overcome doubt.” Which one? Faith or clarity? Clarity. Not just, “I hope, I wish, I pray.” But, “The next step will be taken with clarity, not wishful thinking.”

The joy that you seek already exists in the heart. All you have to do is awaken to this possibility. Understand. Feel. Do you understand who you are? You are conscious. Because you are conscious, you can feel the infinite. And when you do, joy happens—the truest joy. Not “Happy Birthday” joy. Not becoming a dad or mom joy, graduating joy, finding a job joy. It is the joy that happens when the consciousness experiences the beauty inside—that joy. The joy of being full.

So, while you have this consciousness, feel the joy in your life. This is who we are. Come and accept clarity in your heart. Pay a little attention to this other world that is also a part of you—the world of the heart, the world of knowing, the world of clarity, the world of simplicity. I guarantee you that you will feel good—a good that cannot be described in words. And then, walk every step with clarity, with confidence. Every day that you have, of all things that you can do, you can also be fulfilled.

Prem Rawat

TPRF Gives Grant of US$10,000 for Permanent Water Wells in Niger

mblogs — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 15:58:00 -0700

TPRF Gives Grant of US$10,000 for Permanent Water Wells in Niger
Grant to Sierra Vista Rotary Club Provides Clean Water for 40,000 Nomadsr

Press release

Los Angeles, October 2 2008 — The Prem Rawat Foundation (TPRF) has made a $10,000 grant to the Sierra Vista Rotary Club Charities in Arizona to aid 40,000 Nigeriens by providing sustainable and permanent sources of clean water at the Tamesna Center for Nomadic Life in the desert Region near Agadez, Niger, West Africa. These grant funds will be matched by other Rotary Clubs and The Rotary Foundation, potentially bringing together over $61,000 for this project.

“Niger is one of the poorest countries of the world. Many live on less than US$1 per day,” says Ernie Montagne, Rotary Foundation Director of the Sierra Vista Rotary Club Charities, Inc. “The number one need in this area is access to clean water. People often walk miles each day to draw water from unclean open sources where pigs and cattle drink.”

Contaminated water, laced with E. coli, Guinea worm, Vibrio cholerae, giardia lamblia and poliovirus, sickens and debilitates millions each year. One in five children in Niger die before the age of 5.

Headed by Sidi Manane, President of The Rotary Club of Agadez, the project will provide a permanent source of clean water for nomadic tribes, helping to reduce disease, improve the health of people and livestock, increase educational opportunity and allow villagers to grow their own produce. The wells will be hand dug by local residents, and a local construction company will complete the process. TPRF’s grant will help purchase an electric pump, solar panels and a water tower.

This is the third grant from TPRF to aid people in Niger. In April 2008, the Foundation gave $10,000 to Koulawa NGO to provide food aid for disabled schoolchildren and adults. In September 2005, TPRF provided a grant of $30,000 to Friends of the World Food Program in support of the UN World Food Programme’s emergency relief efforts.

About Sierra Vista Rotary Club Charities
Sierra Vista Rotary Club Charities is part of Rotary International, which is an organization of service clubs around the world, made up of business and professional leaders whose purpose is to provide humanitarian service, encourage high vocational standards and help build peace and goodwill in the world. There are over 1.2 million members worldwide in 33,000 clubs.

Touched by the Magic

mblogs — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 11:51:00 -0700

You know, as human beings, there is a lot that is good. But there are certain habits we have that are not so good. And one of the bad habits we have is that we are so attracted to distractions. Any minor little distraction somewhere, and that’s where our attention goes.

Why is that a bad habit? Because it robs us of the essential things we need to make this life a beautiful occasion. And this is the possibility. This is what you can do—you can make this one lifetime the most incredible time. How?

You are in this world; you exist. One day you weren’t here; today you are; and one day you will die. I can guarantee you that you don’t understand what that means—because of the distractions. When the time comes that you lose the capacity to be distracted—and such a time does come—then and only then will you begin to understand what life is about.

How do I know this? Have I reached that time in my life where I’m not distracted? No. But I also know that there was somebody who was kind enough to show me. Because when I get caught up in my own tune, in my own definition of what life is, I become careless.

Look at a person living an “exciting” life—bungee-jumping. This is what some people think is exciting. They actually challenge death, “Take me on!” And they think that’s excitement. Or they climb a vertical rock without any safety lines, just using their fingertips and powder. The only reason Death doesn’t take them on is because it is laughing so hard—just bowled over with laughter. One day Death sobers up. And just like that, they’re gone. Their body becomes dirt again.

So what is life about? Is it about the excitement? Or is it about feeling a heart full of joy?

All the things that we think are important will one day turn around and become unimportant. I have been reading letters from people who are either at the very front of the line or maybe two or three people from the front of the line. The other day, I was talking to somebody, and he said, “Oh, so-and-so is close to dying.”

I said, “Well, we’re all in the process. Join the line.” I guess some people are more in the front of the line, and some are a little further back in the line. But there is a line, and everybody is headed that way. That is the law of existence. And the law states: “You are here, but for a limited time.” And no one—no one—gets to change that law.

People say, “Oh, but there are cryogenics and all those things.” Excuse me, but this earth is made out of dust. The metal cylinder that holds the cryogenic agent and your head is made out of compressed dust. And the innate vulnerability of dust to return to the state of dust is tremendous. The miracle is not dust turning into dust. It is: How come it hasn’t already? That’s the miracle. Destruction should’ve happened a long time ago. I mean, all that needs to happen is for one small celestial body to head this way and get a little too close, and it will be pulled towards the earth. And when it does, it will obliterate this planet.

This dust is more fragile than a gold or silver leaf. Have you ever seen a silver leaf on a piece of paper? In India, they put them over dishes and foods. That silver is so delicate that, if you breathe the wrong way, it will just go all over the place. That is how delicate it is. And from this dust, many, many things have been created, like rocks and mountains.

I am here to tell you what I have been telling people all my life: Don’t let another day go by without being touched by the magic of what has been placed inside of you. Don’t let another day go by that is filled with doubt, anger, and confusion. Don’t let another day go by without feeling the fulfillment of this heart. It is possible to be fulfilled in this life. It is possible to be in peace. It is possible to be conscious. It is very, very possible.

Prem Rawat

TPRF Provides US$4,500 to Bring Prem Rawat’s Message of Peace in Native Peruvian and Ecuadorian Quechuan Language

mblogs — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 11:49:00 -0700

Los Angeles, September 2008 —The Prem Rawat Foundation (TPRF) has donated US$4,500 to Mountains of Hope (Montanas de Esperanza or MdE) to translate and produce DVDs, CDs and text materials to bring Prem Rawat’s message of peace to 20,000 indigenous people in the northern highland areas of Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia.

“This message is very beautiful. It helps the families here stay together, and that is why I want the message to stay in the community,” says one village leader. Currently, Prem Rawat’s message is available to more than nine million households in South America via Infinito TV and other cable networks airing the award-winning Words of Peace (WOP) series.

Leaders in several Quechuan villages in Ecuador have requested DVDs featuring Prem Rawat’s message in their own language after events introducing it were held in the mountain villages of Tucara, La Esperanza, Aqualongo and Otavalo, Ecuador. Word has spread to villages in Peru, which have joined in the request for materials in their language.

Mountains of Hope, a nonprofit organization focused on educational enrichment, cultural exchange and sustainable community development for children and adults in Ecuador, has offered to take on the translation project. To date, four video presentations of Prem Rawat’s message have been translated to Quechua and have generated interest in Andean communities. TPRF has agreed to provide the funds to translate, produce and duplicate six more DVDs as well as text materials over the next four to eight months, some in Peruvian Quechuan and some in Ecuadorian Quechuan.

MdE will work in collaboration with the grassroots efforts of local volunteers to translate, produce and duplicate the new materials that will be used for village events, regional Quechua TV, radio programming and individual distribution, in order to maximize the outreach.

The popularity of WOP is increasing across the world. Since the first U.S. Words of Peace broadcasts in 1999, cable and satellite stations throughout Europe, North and South America and Asia have aired Prem Rawat’s message of inspiration and hope to millions of households, with subtitles or translation in more than 20 languages. Currently, 875 screenings are available to 25 million households in the United States.

Prem Rawat reminds people, “The peace you are looking for is within you. Peace for each human being is not impossible, but very, very possible.” According to Paul Murtha, Executive Director of MdE, “The Quechua peoples are very appreciative that such an important message comes to them in their native language. They are culturally well-aware that these days are a crucial passage for humanity to a renewal of the human heart.”

The Quechuan language (written also as Quichua and Kichwa) was widely spoken across the central Andes long before the time of the Incas, who adopted it as the official administration language for their empire. Quechuan is spoken today by some 10 million people throughout regions of Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Argentina and Chile. Including its two main dialects (Peruvian and Ecuadorian), it is the most widely spoken language of the indigenous peoples of the Americas.

Photographs Courtesy of Ecuador – Mountains of Hope (MoH)