University of California, Berkeley, USA, 30th April 2003

Maharaji in a Rented Hall at the University of California, Berkeley, USA, 30th April 2003
The Unchangeable

Maharaji, as Prem Rawat is widely known, speaks to people around the world about the possibility of finding inner peace and contentment. He started addressing audiences when he was only three years old. At the age of thirteen, he was invited to address audiences in London and Los Angeles [as Guru Maharaj Ji, The Lord of the Universe]. Since then, he has presented his message to over 5.5 million people in more than fifty countries. Speaking at the United Nations Conference Center in Bangkok, Thailand, he recently said, The peace that we are looking for is already in the heart. It needs to be felt and I can help you get in touch with it. For those who wish to make inner peace a reality in their lives, he offers a practical way, which he calls Knowledge.

Well, thank you. Sit back, relax. I'll do the talking. You just enjoy yourselves, because what I'm talking about is very, very simple.

In a way, it's about you, but not in a way that you have heard it before. Because people come and people address other people, and what is talked about is how it could be. And I'm not here to talk about that. I'm here to talk about how it is. See, there's a big difference in the two. Because we could sit here, and we could dream, oh yeah, it would be nice if it was like that, and it would be nice if it was like that, and it would be nice if in my life I had this, and I had that, and all those things. But what I'm here to tell you, that it is better than your wildest imagination, and everything you need to make that dream come true, you already have. And it is within you. And this is a wonderful and exciting reality. I'm not here to quote from books. Sometimes I do. I'm not here to tell you, yeah, you know, walk backwards three miles a day and everything will be fine. I'm not even here to tell you to lower your cholesterol. But recognize what you have been given. And my analogy is a little bit like this.

You're walking along, and everything is fine, and you got nice shoes, and you really were looking forward to this walk, and everything is kind of going nice. And all of a sudden, a rock, a little rock, a little, little, little rock, somehow finds its way where it shouldn't. And it's in your shoe. Now, all of a sudden, every step you take, you feel this thing. And it would be easy enough for you to just sit down, take your shoe, take it out, shake it, get rid of the rock, and be on your way. But that's not what people do. Instead, they go, hmm, what happened? How did this rock get in my shoe? I didn't invite it. Is it karma? Why me? I wonder why this rock chose me. Could have chosen anybody else. Wonder what this rock really looks like. You know, I realize that the pain is getting very intense. So you pick up your cell phone, and you call home. And you say, you know, I've got a problem. My foot is hurting, and I'm walking. And I think it's a rock. I'm not sure. I can't really verify that, because I haven't taken my shoe off yet. But I think that's what it is. Could you call the doctor and see what I can do about it? And of course, your next of kin calls the doctor. This person is walking out there, and they've got a terrible pain in their foot. And the doctor says, can they take some Tynanol? And so your next of kin calls back and says, I packed some of those in your first aid kit. Take some Tynanol. And all this time, this pain is just getting worse and worse and worse. And what are we doing? We're analyzing the pain.

We're analyzing why this is happening. We're analyzing why is it? Why does this happen? Why does this have to happen? We're redesigning the shoe in our mind. Somebody should have redesigned the shoe where there's a sock that kind of goes and absolutely prevents anything from entering, because this is so uncomfortable. And now, I mean, now it goes on. And if this were to happen in the future, I mean, of course, now you're on the web with your little tiny phone out in the middle of nowhere with a super high speed internet connection, and you're doing your research. And part of the research is, how many more people are experiencing this? Am I the only one? So the next thing you know, it's like, well, this is terrible. This is horrible. This is absolutely disgusting. And you, walking on the same track, you come across somebody, and you say, can you help me? And the person says, sure, what's the problem? So I've got this terrible pain in my foot, and I think it's a rock. What should I do? And the person says, sit down. Let's take the shoe off and take the rock out. And hopefully, things will become better. And the immediate reaction is, well, how can it be that simple? After hours of research, hour after hour of enduring this agonizing pain, how can you come along and belittle the situation by saying, just sit down, take off your shoe, and get rid of the rock. Things should be better. This is oversimplification of such a complex problem. And you are wrong, sir. And then the limping begin, and the limping goes on. Now, it sounds funny.

I didn't intend it to be funny.

I'm not really a comedian, but you see, when you talk about life, there are things that are very funny about it, and the reason why they're funny is, one, they're true, and two, what is so simple has been made so complicated. How does it all begin? Well, you really know, because you had no clue. You kind of appeared, and one day, you could look at something and go fall. One day, you could get up and take your little wobbly steps and make it somewhere. One day, of course, in retrospect, looking back, you remember that one day where you kind of found yourself to be, and from there on, it has been an onslaught, onslaught. This, this, this, this, do this, do this, do this, do this, do this, do this, do this, do this, and it has been. Either do this, or do it this way, and how you do things wrong, and what did you do right, and approval, and pat on the back, and how you need that pat in the back, and the pat in the back is good. I'm not here to judge that, and certainly, nothing I can do is going to change that, because the recognition of me existing does not exist. Recognition of everything else existing, and me acknowledging that recognition definitely exists.

You are my friend. You are my neighbor. You are my dog. You are my cat. You are my father. You are my mother. You are my uncle. You are my aunt, and what name do you have for you? The nameless, the one that will be, the one that was, the one that is, the one that is not so easy to understand, not even by you, that one that has a cry, that has a desire, that has a want of its own, and the desire is no less than the desire to be happy. Happy. Now, if you're offended by the word happiness, because some people definitely are, they think that trivial thing called happiness, I mean, look at this world, the situation in the world today, how bad it is, and here he is talking about happiness, so let's talk about fulfillment. Then there are people who are definitely offended by that, when he's talking about fulfillment, and there's all these people who are unfulfilled. Well, let's talk about peace then, because it is the same exact thing.

Whether you call it peace, whether you call it fulfillment, whether you call it anything, it doesn't matter, even if you haven't decided on a name yet, doesn't matter, because it is not the name that creates it. Name is only for identification purposes, and for you to realize that peace exists within you, that this is a process of discovery, not creation. This is a process of witnessing, not molding and folding. Take away from the rock all the little bits that belong there, and what do you have? A beautiful statue. How can it be as simple as that, that take away? Yes, take away, because it is unfolding. What is unfolding? Let me tell you about what is unfolding.

There is one thing that happens that is so incredibly simple, and yet it happens, and it happens, and it happens, and it happens, and thank God it happens, and it's called this breath. It comes without an appointment, thank God, because if it was only with an appointment that we would take this breath, we would miss it many times. "Sorry, I was a little late. I'm having a bad hair day. You know, I couldn't do anything about it. My airplane got delayed." But it comes, and it comes without any judgment. It comes when you have been good, and it comes when you have been bad, and it comes when you think about it, and it comes when you do think about it. But just for a second, think about what it brings you. What does it bring you? It brings you life. It comes, and it touches you, and you are alive. And because you are alive, there is everything else in the world.

Because you're alive, you can scream. And because you're alive, you can yell. And because you're alive, you can stand there and say, what a wonderful sunset. And because you are alive, you can smell a smell and go, that smells really good. And because you are alive, there's the color purple. And because you're alive, there's the color red. And because you're alive, you can smell the onions frying. Because you're alive, garlic is good. Because you're alive, the drumbeat is fantastic. Because you are alive. Because you're alive, you have friends. Because you are alive, you have relatives. Because you are alive, you may be caught in a traffic jam. But because you are alive, you feel pain. But remember, because you're alive, you can feel joy. Because you are alive, there's inconveniences. Because you are alive, there is smooth sailing. Because you are alive, you can go up to the window and look at the rain and go, when is it going to stop? What a gift.

What a gift. And what is this gift pursuing? What is this gift pursuing? What is the desire? What is the core desire? Core desire. The core desire is to be happy.

Because, and I said this recently at one of the events, I said, you know, when you're having a great time, when everything is wonderful, you're happy, you go, when is this going to be over? But when you're having a miserable time, it's like, when is this going to be over? And people go through great lengths. Things are not right, they go, they pray to God and ask for forgiveness. Nobody does it when they're having a good time. "God, you know, I'm really sorry. Whatever I did to get so happy, please take it away." But there has to be a recognition that this desire to be content is incredibly innate. This is not a learned thing. This is not a learned behavior. It is innate. And because it is innate, unless it is satisfied, it will be a rock in your shoe. It doesn't matter how expensive your shoes were. It doesn't matter how good your cell phone is. It doesn't matter how many doctors you employ directly. It doesn't matter how many drugs you are carrying in your backpack to take care of your pain. It doesn't matter how many band-aids you put on top of the shoe. None of this is going to make a difference if that innate place is not addressed. And that's what I'm saying. Address that.

Feel the fulfillment within this life. Because this treasure called life is not by any stretch of the imagination a unlimited resource. It is a limited resource. What has to be done, has to be done now. Now. Now whilst you're alive, whilst you can feel, whilst you can say thank you, whilst you can smile, whilst you can feel, whilst you can understand, whilst you can touch, whilst you can explore, whilst you can discover, whilst you can say, ah, this is beautiful.

I was listening to a CD. And in this CD, one of the passage of this beautiful poetry was that this life is a dream. And like in a dream, you may have dreamt that you have become really rich. Or in a dream, you have dreamt that you have become really poor. But then in fact when you wake up, you haven't lost anything. Or for that matter, gained anything. So I started thinking. This is obviously very true. That when I dream, I dream. This is what I'm doing, I'm dreaming. When I wake up, I may have dreamt that I fell down 30 stairs. But when I wake up, I find myself quite intact. So obviously, is it that there is no consequence or is there a consequence? Very interesting.

I know one thing, that when I have a nightmare, and I wake up from it, and if in that nightmare I was bewildered, then I wake up and I feel bewildered. And if in that dream I dreamt everything was incredibly beautiful, then I feel beautiful. Even though, if there was a car in that dream, it's not like I have it sitting outside. But the feeling, I get to take the feeling from the dream. I get to take the dream with me, I get to take the feeling of the dream with me. Now if this life is a dream, you get to take the dream with you, but you do get to take the feeling with you. So it becomes very important, this better not be a nightmare, this better not be a bewildering dream, because I want to go out there going, huh, what happened? And I want to wake up in the freshness of life, because that freshness I can take with me. I want to feel that joy, the joy of fulfillment, because that I can take with me. I go around, I talk to people, it's beautiful.

A lot of people look at me and say, well, I understand what you're saying. And I say, fine, it's okay, get bothered, because I'm not here to sell you anything. I'm not here to sell you anything. I'm here to hopefully put you in touch with a thirst that you have in your life, a thirst for that fulfillment, a thirst for that beauty, a thirst that you have always had. Always? Yes. When you were two years old, you had it. When you were four years old, you had it. And so what is it that you have to do? Well, let me talk a little bit here about this one little thing, it's called peace. You see, for wars, we first of all have 1,001 different explanations, 1,001, well, did I count them? No.

But you know, that Arabian night thing, 1,001 stories, I mean, it kind of just sounds, because they're all made up. We have 1,001 explanations of why we should have war, and not one why we should have peace. We've got a problem here.

When it comes to war, we all have active participation, yes, we will create this weapon, and we will use it this way, and we will have training, and we will do this, and we will do that. When it comes to peace, it is the most airy-fairy thing I've ever seen or heard. The clouds will part, and there will be a magic wand that will be waved, and there shall be peace upon this earth. I get it. I get it. To me, if war requires active participation, which it does, then peace requires active participation. And that active participation has to happen. And it's not going to be in a lot of debates. It is uncovering and looking at the reality of people, what people want, whether they are rich or whether they are poor, because we have learned how to make distinctions, but we haven't learned how to look at another human being like ourselves.

And I'm not trying to preach you any religion. Somebody just asked me that in L.A., which religion do you follow? I said, well, I have any middlemen. And I'm not here to tell you how you should lead your life. What you want to do, how you want to do it, do it. Because you're going to do it anyways. You are. But what I'm here to tell you is do whatever you have to do, but forget the thirst of your heart. forget your innate call. forget your own nature of who you are. And forget what a gem and a treasure you have been given. Now, people say, well, you know, but I need, I need somebody to tell me I should be a vegetarian. Become a Hindu. I can't really give you references, but there's a tons of places where you can become a Hindu. Even though the Hindus know you can't really become a Hindu, because you have to be born a Hindu. I mean, let's face it. And this is true really in just about every religion, because there's one part of it you can always convert, but then there's the authentic stuff. It's like Mexican food, you know. Who really cooked it? Was it a Mexican? So that's not the point of it.

The point of it is we cannot forget what this breath is all about. What we cannot forget is what this heart is knocking every day and saying to us, be in that peace, be in that joy, because that is a reality that can happen. That can happen. No, it takes active participation and that active participation begins with recognizing our own thirst. wait, please. wait for the clouds to open up and some magic wand to appear and then go, now you will have peace. You wouldn't do that with your stew. No, this is active participation. You buy a microwave oven. You just put your coffee in there and stand in front of it going. No, it's active participation. And if you know how to operate it, it's every button is fair game. This is what I mean by active participation, because even though I know some people who do not know how to operate the microwave oven, that does not deter them. Because they just say, well, you know, God, I need to heat my coffee. I know how this thing, no, it's like every single button is being pressed. And they only kind of give up when it stops beeping because the ultimate kill death switch has been pushed. So then they go and reset it and then go back at it again, and then they get really frustrated and then it starts and they go, oh, it's okay. This

Active participation begins with the recognition of thirst. And once we can recognize our thirst, then the water becomes important. Because without the thirst, water has no importance. Without the hunger, food means nothing. And what kind of thirst am I talking about? The thirst that says, understand the preciousness of each breath. What a thirst. Each breath. Ah, that's impossible. Well, so is the microwave oven. That didn't stop you from trying. Remember how daunting it was to get behind the steering wheel of a car? Shift this, turn. Everything was like an added burden. Give me an indicator. Look in the rear view mirror. Look in the side view mirror. Accelerate. Now let go of the gas. Now change. Shift. Push the clutch. Push the brake. And I was like, oh my God. Can I get this thing just to roll down the road? People say to me, well, tell us what it is. And I say to you, explain to somebody how to ride a bike.

Because that's exactly the same question you asked, right? How do you ride a bike? You got your first bike. How do you ride a bike? I've got training wheels. No problem. I can do this. Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da. But the day the training wheels came off, you were on ground zero. Had to begin all over again. And what was dad saying? Pedal, pedal, pedal, pedal. Balance, balance, balance, balance. Look forward, look forward. And it was like, huh? And the most weird thing was the asphalt kept moving. It kept coming close to your face. And then, all of a sudden, one day, one moment, you had it, and you took off, and there was no looking back. And from that day, you have achieved that sense of balance, that balance. This is what I'm talking about.

Achieving that sense of balance in your life, the thirst that says, recognize the value of each breath, the very thing that says, get in touch with yourself, or what Socrates says, know thyself, do. And if you want help with that, I can help. I'll do it for free. I can help. Why? Because it is the most wonderful thing to watch something so beautiful unfold in a person's life. A lot of people say a lot of things to me and about me and this and that, and all I have to say is I know I have made a big difference in so many people's lives. I'm not coming from, you know, one of the hard, you know, there's two things that is really hard to do. One is to pat yourself on the back, and the other one is to kick yourself in the butt. Both are impossible, almost. You need somebody else to do that. I'm not patting myself on the back, but I know I have made the difference. Because this is a potential that is waiting inside of you. All I did was remind you of what you already knew. You know, this is the thing. You're going to walk away from here tonight, and you would have heard what I have said, and you will debate it, and you will talk about it, and you'll think about it. But let me tell you, all it has been is a reminder. Because everything that I have said today, you already knew, and you have known. But maybe somebody has to be there to say, this is what you really look like? Really, really look like, and it's beautiful, isn't it? Because it's like, no.

World tells me I'm ugly. I must be an ugly duckling. Someday I will become beautiful. And here I am saying, no, beauty is always inside of you, and you are incredibly beautiful. You're a gift, incomparable. Remember one thing. Things will always change around you, because that is their nature, and there is one thing inside of you that will never change, because it is its nature. Find the unchangeable, and you too can enjoy this ride of life like you never imagined. Never imagined. And you have good imagination, I know. If you say, well, I want any help from him, fine. That doesn't change anything. hat doesn't change the thirst. That doesn't change the importance of the thirst. That doesn't change the breath, nor does it change the importance of the breath. Doesn't. Get with it. Get with it. Get with the program. Because there is so much waiting for you. Thank you very much. Thank you for coming this evening, and good night. Thank you. Thank you.

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Premies or Lovers was the term given to devotees of Guru Maharaj Ji in the 1970s and this was replaced by People With Knowledge (PWK) in the 1980s.