Maharaji, Searching For Answers 2004 E102

Words of Peace: Maharaji, Searching For Answers 2004 E102

Prem Rawat, widely known by the honorary title Maharaji, has been travelling the world for more than 30 years, bringing a unique message of peace. He gave his first public addresses at the age of three, and by the age of 13, he was responding to invitations to speak in the United States and Great Britain [as Guru Maharaj Ji, The Lord of the Universe]. His message is from the heart. He speaks about the possibility for each person to find peace within, regardless of circumstances. Addressing a distinguished audience at the invitation of the United Nations Association of Malaysia, he recently said, Peace is a fundamental necessity and begins with each individual. And yes, peace is possible. Through the Prem Rawat Foundation, he also spearheads significant humanitarian initiatives [rubbish:: TPRF gives aid of $0.5 million p.a.] aimed at improving the lives of people most in need. From large cities to remote villages, millions of people around the world come to him for inspiration and guidance. Even as his audiences increase, Prem Rawat's message remains directed to each individual. If you are looking for fulfillment and peace, he says, the solution lies within. If that is what you want, I can help.

All of us in this world, we're looking for something. We want to know, we want to find out. Some people think what we're looking for is something old. So this search in the old, this search in the antique, that gives it credibility to them if it is something old. But they're still searching. Some people, they think what they're looking for, they will find in the new. So they look for it in the new. They look for it in technology, in new inventions, new things. Some people think it must be out in the outer space. So they search for it there. Some people think it's in India. So they go to India. And this search, some people think what they're looking for, they will find it in a very quiet place. No distractions, no challenges. So they make a monastery and they look for it there. But in all this looking, one, they're searching for something. Something. Isn't that fascinating? start to already in your mind, figure out what it is that they're looking for. do that yet. But just try to understand that we are looking for something. We need something. We want something. So that's the problem.

The whole world is ready to tell you what it is that you're looking for. Big billboards, big advertisement. Buy this. And if you buy this, you will have what you're looking for. This is not a mistake. This is a science. Millions and millions and in fact, billions of dollars are spent to entice you. Because all these people, they know you are looking for something. They can reach you. They can reach you by putting that message on the radio. They can reach you by putting that message on the TV. They can reach you by putting that message in the newspaper. They can reach you by putting that message on a billboard because they know you are looking for something.

Now, what is it? What are we looking for? So, some people say, to be successful. Some people say, peace. Some people say, love. Some people say, tranquility. Some people say, enlightenment. So, what are we looking for? Why, if it is the same thing that we are all looking for, why does it have so many names? Why does it have so many names? Because it is a thirst that we have. We know what it is that we need. If you are hungry, you need food. Not water. If you're thirsty, you need water. Not food. If you feel that you need love in your life, you're going to be looking for love. If you have confusion, problems, turmoil in your life, you look for peace. You see, it is the same thing. It has been given many names of how people have approached it.

So, why are we here? A lot of questions today. Why are we here? Hopefully, to understand just a little bit, little bit. I'm going to try my level best, because I only have about an hour to talk to you on a subject that people have devoted their entire lifetimes to.

I only have an hour to talk to you on a subject that civilizations have dedicated themselves to. I have only an hour to talk about something that century after century, year after year, for going back as far as you can go, people have been searching for. So I have an easy task here tonight. Books have been written on this subject. Philosophies are all about it. Recently, I was having an interview with somebody, and they said something really good. They said, what's the difference between this and philosophy? And I said, you know, philosophy is if, if, if, if. This isn't about if. So the person said, so philosophy is about questions, and this is about answers. I said, yes, exactly. This is not about questions. This is about answers. The answers that may not even have questions.

Let me explain a scenario that I… I talk about this a lot. I talk about thirst a lot.

We have language and we're very proud of our language. Every culture you go to has their own language and, you know, there are people who devote their lives to getting it right. So, you have this person who all their lives they have devoted themselves to speaking this language perfectly. One day they end up in a desert, lost, and they're very thirsty and they're dying of thirst and they want some water. So, they're saying, water, water, water, and eventually it gets to a point where they cannot even say the word water. They can't pronounce it. What's going to happen? This person who has dedicated his life to language now is in a position where he cannot use the language, but he must communicate. He must communicate. Must. This is a very fascinating thing because sometimes, you know, people fall down and rescuers come to rescue them and the first thing they say to the rescuers, help me.

Hey, that's why they're there. Why do you have to say help me? Why? What is the reason? You are in a life raft in the middle of the ocean, finally the helicopter comes, drops the line, you see the guy come down from the- they're not there to save anybody else. You're the only one for miles around, miles and miles and miles in that little raft, and here they come and the first thing is, help me, save me, save me. Because the need in that moment is so clear that all the protocols that we have in our daily routines are discarded. They're no longer valid. Now comes the time when it has to be as clear as it can be, and if language is not available, then this gesture will do.

So far, we are caught up in protocols we know. So far, we are caught up in our ideas of how this should be. We know. So far, we carry the burdens that have been placed on our back, not by us, but by other people. We're caught in it, and we're like, oh yes, I would like a glass of water, please. But when the need, when the necessity becomes so clear, you see, I'm not using the word when it becomes so intense, because it is not a matter of intense. It is a matter of so clear that we cannot afford to have any obstacles between us and the fulfillment. Then we can, and only then, can we begin to understand what it is that everyone is searching for. Only then, when the passion of understanding has become real, not a protocol. I talk to people about peace, and a lot of people are like, yeah, that's nice. It's okay. Good, good. You talk about peace. That's you see, it's exactly backwards. The world doesn't need it. You need it. You are the world. You are the world, and you are definitely your own world. Your world. And if there is turmoil in this world of yours, then the peace needs to be in this world. Peace, peace, because that is how we are meant to be.

This is who we are.

Let me explain something. You can take, I'm going to, one of my favorite fruits is mango. And one of the reasons is because I grew up on them. We used to have many, many fruit trees, mango trees, and we used to just, about now was the season. And we had four or five different varieties of mangoes in our yard, and we would feast on them. I mean, just feast. Almost ridiculous. You can take plastic, you can take porcelain, and you can indeed create the most magnificent mango tree. Perfect mangoes. Every leaf perfect. The bark perfect. The structure perfect. The foliage perfect. The branches perfect. And you can even put little bugs here and there. Perfect. You can even put little wasps. Perfect. So, I ask you, is that a perfect mango tree? Well, it's perfect. Ah, it may be perfect visually, but it is not perfect because it's not really a mango tree. Nobody can eat those fruits.

That is the difference. You can be successful, and you can be this, and you can be that, and you can have this, and you can have that, and you can have all of it. And visually, you could be perfect. But are you, if there is no peace inside? Because this vessel, my friends, is only made to contain one thing. And when it does, its purpose is fulfilled. It looks well, it looks beautiful, it looks divine because peace resides in this vessel. That's when you will look really beautiful. We all try, and we do all the things we do to look presentable, but I will tell you that you will become truly presentable when this heart is filled with peace. When this heart is filled with that love, then you will look good. When this heart is filled with that joy, then you will look divine. Divine, because you wear those things well. They suit you. Confusion does not. Sadness does not suit you well. Anger, you look good in it. Wrong color. Wrong color. Sadness, mm-mm, very unattractive. And that also happens to be the very thing that this heart desires. This is what I want in my life. This is what all those people who dedicated themselves for finding the truth, only reason why they wanted to find the truth was so they could find the truth and have the peace. Truth became more elusive as more people jumped into the word called truth. The more untruthful it became. So in this interview that I just had, I was also asked the same thing.

Well, why is it that here we're looking for all these wonderful things and we can't find them and it gets crazier and crazier? So I said, if I'm looking for something, and that thing that I'm looking for is in my pocket, and I can't find it, what am I going to do? I have to, you see, I have to rationalize this. The fact that I cannot find what I'm looking for is not so easy that I can just say, oh, okay, well, mm-mm. Especially if it's important. I can't do that. So I have to rationalize. And here we go. Here are the rationalizations. I wonder where I put it. I have looked, I have looked everywhere and I couldn't find it. Now I'm going to start going to people who are around me and saying, have you seen it? Amazing, huh? Isn't that amazing? I had a very nice watch a long time ago and I lost it. I lost it. And I was like, I wonder where I lost it. I wonder where I put it. And I had been traveling so many places. It was like, well, when I get there again, I'll ask, I'll look. And one day, quite by accident, I dropped something behind a cabinet. So I put my hand back there. And what I had dropped didn't come up, but guess what came up? My watch. And I wasn't embarrassed. In fact, I even remember if I put my, I was so excited that I, I think I put my hand back there and picked up what I had dropped. It didn't matter.

What I had was more important. So what happens? Then people are asked, have you looked within you? And this is exactly the same reaction you get. Are you kidding? Within me? Where? Where? And then? When the need is clear, the need. No protocols. Need is clear. Can you help me to look inside? And when they find it, what is the reaction? The reaction is, I didn't know it was within me all this time. I'm happy. I found it. It's not like, oh my goodness, you know, I wasted 20 years. When I found my watch, did I say, well, I haven't had it for five years. I better put it back. I found it. I've got it. And in that moment, like it is for the thirsty, when the water starts to pour, the weeks of torture from the thirst disappears. Doesn't matter. Then that person says to the person with the water, thank you. Not, where were you? How come it took you a week to get here, you idiot? No, thank you. And in fact, most of the time, what is said is I cannot thank you enough.

The level of gratitude in this heart, gratitude in this heart reaches that level, that proportion that no longer through the regular protocols can it be expressed. It's the same thing as then the thirst became so clear that all that needed to be was this, nothing else. And the gratitude proportionally is so clear. You see, this is what's so nice about clarity. When you are clear, it all makes sense. All of it. No more mysteries. No more ideas. No more doubts. No more questions. You find yourself swimming in the beautiful, crystal clear waters of clarity and you can let go. You can swim. You can drink and you can enjoy and you can be. Be once again who you are meant to be, who you really are. Not a puppet of protocols.

There are people who have come to me and say, I am so afraid to be in love because I have been hurt so many times before. Next time I hear that, I am going to give them this analogy. For one week, you were being tortured, water, water, water, water, water, water. You got it. And what are you going to say? I want your water. I have been tortured so much because of this bloody water. I'm giving it up. This water is stupid. All it has brought me is pain and suffering. I want it.

You see, I was recently in India back in April and I was watching this channel and this guy was giving this discourse. And in his discourse, he was saying, we should not be attached because attachment brings us so much pain. We should be detached. I started thinking about that. Thinking, it bothered me.

Something was not right. To have loved and felt real love is a million times better than the separation from that love. To have seen something so magnificent that it made the heart content is far more precious than to miss it today. To feel with that fervor, to miss it, to even enjoy missing it. But when the heart has never been filled, what is it like? What is it like to be detached but not be detached from that very thing that causes sorrow? To be detached but not to be detached from the very thing that causes pain? To be detached but not be detached from the very thing that causes confusion? To have had a thirst only to discover a dry well. And the thirst will not be quenched.

Your life is a magnificent reality. I'm not here to make you just feel good. I believe in those feel goods. I believe in that thing where people say, smile. I say, give me a reason. And you have to ask me to smile. Give me a reason, I will smile automatically. And I say that yes, you are a magnificent reality in a magnificent world. And within you is the immeasurable peace. Within you is the immeasurable peace. Within you is the immeasurable joy. It is not in the antiquity, and it is not in the modern science. It is not up in the heavens, but it is in the heavens inside of you. That's where it is. And when the need to find that becomes clear in your life, come see me.

If the need is not clear in your life, I am talking nonsense. That's how it is. That's how it is. If the need is not there, water, water everywhere, who cares? When the need is not there, you can have a whole swimming pool full of clean fresh water, and you may not even want to dip your toe in it. And in the middle of the desert, when the thirst becomes apparent, then even half a glass is the most precious liquid. Put in front of a person all the gold and half a glass of water, and watch which one he goes for.

This is not something you have to learn. You see, this is not something you have to learn. You do not have to learn how to be thirsty.

That's a good thing, because if we had to learn how to be thirsty, oh boy, there would be so many books on the subject. Nobody writes books on this subject because nobody can teach, nobody has to teach it to you. Stare, uncover, discover, wonder, realize, wonder.

Huh, I wonder what it is, because the day you uncover your thirst, it will all make sense, as it did to me, and as it has to so many people. There is no mistake when it is said that approach this subject with the heart of a child, heart of a child, with incredible simplicity. It is not like a child does not have curiosity, and it is not like the child does not have fascination, but the child needs no definition to accept what the child needs to accept. No protocols. Look at the moon, and the child doesn't look at the finger, looks up at the moon, we look at the finger. Is this a valid finger? What makes your finger a valid finger? You know, Raji, there are so many people pointing their finger.

Whose finger is the right finger? And what do I say to them? I know. If you're that stupid that you're looking at the finger and not where the finger is pointing, you missed it, and then you probably have gone and made a porcelain finger, the perfect porcelain finger, and you have placed it in your living room, except you know which way to turn it, because you know which way it was pointing, what it is that it's pointing to. So every day you come and you turn it, and you turn it, and then you ask your friends, which way does it look better? Because that's all it is left at now. This is all it has become. A show. A show. This life is not a show. This life is real. This life is not a debate. It's marching on. It is marching on as sure as that rain marches on. It is marching on every single day.

Confusion? Nothing to do with it. Doubt? Nothing to do with it. Darkness? Nothing to do with it. Doesn't matter what it is. It marches on. Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom. Every day. And it's not just a day. Every moment. We're talking moments here. Moment. Yes, every moment. Something else marches through you, and it is called your breath, and it comes, and it is delicate. It is more delicate than a wing of a butterfly, and it is stronger than all the forces of this world, and it marches.

I was watching this documentary one time where this man is in a sailboat, they're sailing, and all around is this incredible lightning, incredible storms, and this boat is just getting tossed around, and this man is alone on this boat, and he's lying there, well, I guess there was a cameraman too, unless he had a camera mounted somewhere, and he's lying there, and he's just breathing, and I said to myself, wow, outside, incredible lightning, lightning is powerful, storms, wind coming, and churning the seas, and yet this breath, so faithful.

Next time you use the word faithful, think about your dog. think about your friend, think about your breath. Next time you think about trust, think about your friends, think about this breath. It's been there for you. How much do you know about it? What do you know about your breath? So, when the need to know your breath becomes incredibly clear to you, come see me. I know something about your breath. I know something about my breath, and I can put you in touch with that part of you that is the sea of tranquility, that is the peace, the peace that yet has not even been conceived by this mind. By its very definition, it is said that this is the subject away from this mind because it is the subject of the heart.

First time, a clear distinction. Look for it, search for it within you. Know thyself, what you are looking for is within you, that's where you will find it. Well, maybe it's your turn. This lifetime, maybe now, it's your turn. You, bridge that gap between the infinite and the finite. That's what this is all about. That's what you're all about. You are that bridge. This is what it is. Every day, this breath comes and it goes, much like paint. Paint, beautiful colors or not so beautiful colors, irrelevant. Then the palette, the brush, irrelevant, but the inspiration of an artist. Now these colors, they can come alive. They can paint a sunset. They can paint a sunrise. They can paint an ocean. They can paint the blue sky. They can paint the subtlety of a butterfly.

Oh, look, same paint and given to a monkey. I'm sorry. A long time ago, you know, they had this monkey do this painting. Everybody was like, wow, and I looked at it. I'm sorry. It didn't do it. For me, it didn't do it. You know, there are people who take the paint and they throw it and kind of all gets black. Some people love that stuff. Wow, look at the expression. What expression are you talking about? To take this paint, gob of paint, and throw it and not even know where it's going to hit. Some people think that's an incredible expression. More power to you. I think so.

The subtlety of that inspiration, when it becomes real, then everything starts to mix and then everything starts to dance, then everything becomes real. That's what I do. I go and speak about this. If you want peace in your life, it's definitely possible. Just one thing, your thirst needs to be very clear. Is that painful? No. Is it fascinating? Yes. Because remember, you've had this thirst all your life. And guess what? It'll be there for the rest of your life. Quench? It's a possibility.