Maharaji, Value Of A Moment 2005-07-04 E171

Maharaji: The Value of A Moment E171 (27:00)

Prem Rawat, widely known by the honorary title Maharaji, has been traveling 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. 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, Through the Prem Rawat Foundation, he also spearheads significant humanitarian initiatives 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. I can help.

Tonight I'd like to begin a little reference to a little drop from the oceans as vapor to form clouds to move over land to rain down upon the mountains as snow and then slowly begin the process of melting. One drop at a time and collecting and collecting and collecting and then all the drops somewhere joining together to make a mighty river. When you look at that river and you look at its might, you get a clue that this began with a drop.

How can you? Drop, a drop can change the shape of the mountains, form canyons that are unbelievably deep. A drop can take large boulders, stones, and toss them like they were a little toy, break them down to make sand, create civilizations and destroy civilizations. A drop does this and then mysteriously to go and join the ocean again and lose all of its identity as if it did not exist. No more flowing, no more ebbing, no more turning, nothing to go and join the ocean.

Why am I talking about a drop? What has this got to do with inner peace and Self-Knowledge?" Well, wait a minute. Let's just get down to the ground level here. Because the Creator has given us feet and really seems like he wanted us to kind of stand on those and not other things. So let's stand on our feet for a while andd take an inventory of what we've got. What have we got? A few seconds come together and make a minute and before you know it a few minutes come together and make an hour and before you know it a few hours come together and make a day and before you know it a few days come together and make a week and before you know it a few weeks come together and make a month and a few months come together and make a year and a few years come together and make a lifetime.

But forget as those seconds came together, forget what it is that is sewing this fabric of creation, sewing this fabric of life. What is it that's making it evolve? What is it that's making it change? What is it that's making it transform? What is that wish, what is that desire to transform? And whether you like it or not, you transform. Coming here, driving, it was very interesting. Come through one area and it was very nice, nice houses, clean, wonderful. Then you'd come to another area, disrepair, dirty, garbage everywhere, graffiti on the walls. People walking around not caring. Drive a few more yards, it seemed like, and somewhere else. So I asked my driver, I said, what is it? Why is this place in such disrepair? Oh, terrible things happen here.

I can see that, but can I also see it in my life? Are there places that I have forgotten all about? Those places that have fallen in disrepair? Have I forgotten those little things that mattered the most to me? The most.

Those seconds. I know that there are children who get into this mode of asking why, why they won't stop. And if you are a parent or you've been a parent, you will know that when it comes to trying to explain to them about tomorrow, it is such an alien concept for a child. I want my toy now. But no, you'll get it tomorrow. Why? Why? What is tomorrow? We all know about tomorrow. Why is it the child doesn't understand that concept? Food, yes. Water, yes. Sleep, yes. Awake, yes. Need, yes. But no theories, please. No theories. Something real has to be woven into this life. This life cannot be just a bunch of speculation of what it might be like or what it must be like, a theory, a philosophy. No. Somebody asked me that question, what is the difference between what you teach and philosophy? And I said, this is not about questions, this is about answers. Because it is.

Your life is about answers. Your life is about feeling. Your life, your existence is not like a mantra repeating "peace, peace, peace." No, it is about having the peace manifest in this life. Pick up a newspaper and see, a little article, yes, and I feel very good after jogging. All my tensions are relieved. Is that what life is about? Is that what existence is about? Is that what you were given? Is that what manifests in one second? Is that what that drop is all about? That one drop. That's who you are. No matter how fast the river flows, no matter how strong the river gets, it will be the composition of those drops. And you know what? When the drops slow down, so will the river. That relationship will never change.

And when the drops dry up, it's almost a tongue twister, but when the drops dry up, so will the river. When you cease to acknowledge the value of each moment in your life, then that desire, that want to transform, carries no meaning. Because now, it is just a meld of a bunch of seconds coming together, coming together, coming together, coming together, forming that hour, and the hours coming together, and forming that day, and so on, and so on, and so on, and just one lifetime.

And then we sit, and we plan. Yes, I want to retire at this age, and this is what to do. And the question becomes, you retire. Why do you retire? You ask people, why are you retiring? So I can do what I've always wanted to do. So what is it that you have always wanted to do? Always wanted to do. What is it that you wanted to do when you were three, and you were four, and you were five, and you wanted to do? And what is that? Can I tell you? If I tell you, you will say "No, that's not it." So I won't tell you. But I know, you know. I know you know that something within you thirsts to be content. That something within you thirsts to trade curiosity for knowing.

I always had a question in my heart, like, I know why I'm here. I felt very, very empty, very lifeless. I felt like a zombie when I was in my teens and in university.

I had a lot of activities to keep me going. I kept very, very busy with things that I like to do. I was passionate about acting, singing, doing a lot of sports and all that.

But I felt inside I was getting emptier and emptier. And now I feel that I've realized that it's actually like I was trying to keep myself busy so that I wouldn't feel the emptiness in me. And I wouldn't say that I was actively searching for a meaning in my life, but I was searching for something.

I'd read some books and kind of got into some Indian religions and Zen and that, and what they were describing about this identity of the true self that had nothing to do with your job and your situation in life, if you like, but just who you are as a human being, just that simple fact that we're all here on this earth. But I never found anything. When I was reading the books, it was like, oh yeah, this sounds good.

But I never found anything that actually gave me that experience. I'd been looking for something that I knew was there, but I didn't know where to find it. I knew there was something more to life and it was very good.

It was something very beautiful to be discovered, but I didn't know where to find it. And that was from a little girl's age, probably about the age of four, I remember memories thinking that there was someone, there was something there that was looking after you. There was some very beautiful aspect to life that as I got older, I knew there was something I should find.

And I didn't know who knew what it was or where to find it. And when my friend told me about Maraji and I came and listened, it just seemed to make my heart blossom. And I just thought, this is what I've been looking for in a very short time.

It was so familiar and yet so much more beautiful than I ever thought. Just felt right.

So here, what I am referring to is not thinking, it's feeling. You know why? Because that is the first greatest gift you have. That is one of the most incredible powers you have, because you can feel and when you place in front of that power to be able to feel doubt, then you feel doubt. Its very simple. And when you place in front of that power anger, you feel angry. But, when you place in front of that power peace, ah yes, then you feel peace. When you place in front of that power to be able to feel understanding, then yes, you feel understanding.

It's not really that difficult. Peace is within you, always has been, and always will be. What you are looking for is within you, always has been, and always will be. Are you kidding me? (laughter) What I've been looking for all my life, I've had it within me and "Well, yeah." Because that's what's beautiful. That
yes, there is the thirst. And
yes, there is the thirsty. And
yes, there is water.
Yes, there is the breath.
Yes, there is this existence. And
yes, within this existence is the thirst to want to know, to be fulfilled. And
yes, yes, there is fulfillment.
Yes, there is the desire for joy. And
yes, there is joy.
Yes, there is that want to be in that tranquility. There is tranquility.

So, maybe you say, well, I have heard this before. This is good. Pretty good. Inspiring stuff. This is what I have to tell you. This is the news. If you are thirsty, I have…

If you don't feel thirsty, whatever I've said to you this evening makes no sense whatsoever. Just like to a person who's not thirsty, you offer them water. No, I care. When you are just a little bit thirsty, water is a good idea. What water should I get? Let's go. Let's go to the supermarket. French water. Australian water. Glacier water. Roaring 40s water. New York City water. I know which one to buy. Let me check the mineral content. I've done that because I wasn't thirsty. I'm just playing games. What about that person in the desert who's dying of thirst? Which water would you like? Give me water. That's what I want. I'm thirsty. Water. Not water that quenches the thirst of my mind, because that thirst is never going to get quenched. That is its nature. But the thirst of my heart is what needs to be quenched.

I was quite surprised, I mean, to find that a person like Maharaji exists. I was like, wow, this guy is different. He's not really talking about religion, he's not talking about, well, not really concepts, but he kept emphasising "the Breath."

That's my first impression, and he talks about things that make sense to me, like things that I've always thought in everyday life, and nobody has ever mentioned them or talked about them openly or anything like that. It was like, all my thoughts seemed to be in secret, in hiding, until Maraji brought it out. At first, it is really, I really questioned him about, in my mind, I just questioned him about this.

Is it true? How is this possible? Is it really going to work? At first, I really doubted about it, really, because I've seen everybody else, they're really enjoying it. So I said, why they are so enjoying about this? So I started to listen more and more, and I began to understand, and I can feel something here when I speak. I feel like he really relates to me on a personal level.

You know, he really touches me on a personal level, like he was, you know, like a friend or even a member of my family, and it seems ridiculous because, you know, there he is, like usually far away on the stage, but what I'm experiencing inside me is that his message is directly related to what I'm experiencing, and it really helps me with whatever I go through in my life. You know, he sets it right, he sets it in perspective for me. For me, it's a pleasure to have Maraji in my life, to have him to remind me all these things, to remind me that I need to be happy and that I have the possibility to be happy.

The need of your heart, of your thirst, of your life. You are the only one who is privy to that. No one else knows and no one else needs to know. But the day you have felt that thirst and the day you have decided, you have decided that in your life, you want this thirst quenched. Look me up. I can help. That's what I do. I don't come here to say nice words, inspiring words, something you can go and sit and talk over coffee and go, "Well, thirst. Now that's fascinating."

The possibility is real. But, but before you can begin to take even the smallest step, you have to be thirsty. If you feel the thirst, go looking for water. You're going to get lost. You know why? Because you're not thirsty. You're going to look at something and go, nice car, nice this, nice girl, nice boy, nice house.

You see, because you're not thirsty, all those things make a lot of difference. And pretty soon you're going to find yourself on some crossing, scratching your head. Why did I come out here anyways? And then maybe you would have gone for so long that you would become thirsty. And then your search would begin. Because without saying it, there is something that you have always wanted to do. Do it. And that's my message.

Is it simple? Yes. Because life is simple. How simple is it that this breath comes? How simple is it that this breath goes? And how simple is it that it comes again? How simple it is that every second that comes together to form the minute, the minute to the hour, the hour to the day, the day to the week, to the month, to the year, before you know it, it's a lifetime.

Embrace the joy in your heart. Wherever you go, whatever you do, whatever you decide to do, live this life a little consciously. See if you can strike that place in you where you can be thankful for each day. You know why? You know why? Because there's something you've always wanted to do. Do it.

Thank you very much. Good evening.