Prem Rawat Unrehearsed Poetry: Thirst

We are all searching for something
We want something.
What are we looking for?
Some people call it success, peace, love, tranquility.
It is all the same thing.
Why does it have so many names?
It is because we have a thirst and yet we don't know what it is that we need.
If we need love in our life, we'll look for love.
If we have problems or turmoil in our life, we'll look for peace.
What is the cry of the heart?
The cry is about fulfilling a request that comes from within.
It is about fulfilling a thirst that we have felt in our life.
The thirst is not created; it's already there.
Within this existence is the thirst to be fulfilled, and there is fulfillment.
There is the desire for joy, and there is joy;
there is the longing to be in tranquility, and there is tranquility.
We all have thirst.
We may ignore it, but we have all had that thirst since we were very young.
We have wanted nothing more than to be able to fulfill that thirst and to feel fulfilled.
Someone asked me recently, "What is the difference between desire and thirst?
We can be talked out of a desire, but we can't be talked out of thirst because that is its nature.
Maybe I want a new car.
That is my desire, but I could be talked out of it.
I can't be talked out of thirst because it must be quenched.
It is not a subject for discussion.
It is a matter of fulfillment.
I want peace.
I want the fundamental kind of happiness that doesn't change.
And this kind of happiness, this kind of peace that I seek, exists.
What my heart wants is possible.
Thirst is fundamental.
In life, when my thirst becomes clear, no one has to say, "Would you like peace?"
I have already felt it.
It is like the thirsty person in the middle of the desert who is crying, "Water, water, water."
The beauty of this thirst is that the water we are looking for is inside of us.
And the process of quenching is also available within us.
It is the thirst that causes us to search for Knowledge.
Then I know my thirst is quenched.
It is not because I believe it or because I think it's true.
It is because I know.
It is in the realm of experience.
It is based on my most fundamental reality.
It is a good thing thirst has such a powerful nature that it doesn't go away.
It marches through our lives.
Without that thirst, no toy would have been appealing.
It is thirst that causes people to go to the moon.
It is thirst that stirs this world on.
And when it is fulfilled, the result is peace unparalleled, joy unparalleled.