Prem Rawat: Miami Dade College, 16th June 2006

Prem Rawat: Miami Dade College, 16th June 2006

Thank you. Well, let's see if we can keep up with this. Um… Hello, everyone. Um… You've already heard a lot, and I'm here to add my two cents to it. Of course, one of the most important things that you might have read is, peace is possible. Now, that's a catchy little phrase, peace is possible. But it has incredible significance. For me, for you, for everyone on the face of this earth, to even begin to believe or begin to see the hope that peace is possible is tremendous. Peace, in this day and age, and in fact, somebody made that comment. I was recently in Italy talking about peace, and somebody said, oh, you know the world situation, the way it is, he's just kind of, you know, going along with it. I've been talking about peace since I was very, very young. I have seen wars. Yes, indeed, we used to do this drill. It was a lot of fun. When I was going to school, and they would simulate a siren, and all the kids had to go and duck under the desks. It was fun. I didn't understand what it really meant, but it was fun. At least you got off studying for a little while. But for me, every human being, and I'm not talking in terms of societies, and I'm not talking in terms of countries, but every human being that is alive on the face of this earth has been given a gift, has been given a possibility. Look at us. Who are we? Look at these eyes. They can see such a spectrum of color. And if that wasn't enough, these ears, that can hear such an array of sound. The tongue. The skin. And it keeps on going. It doesn't stop there. It keeps on going. The smell. And to top it all off, something very special that we have. And what is it called? It's called a heart. We have a heart. Not just a beating heart, but a heart that inspires us to be fulfilled. A heart that tells us every day, reminds us, be in that peace. These are my premises from which I speak tonight, or I speak to the millions of people around the world, that yes, peace is possible. Not of the things that we don't have. This is not a formula. This is not about the things that we could create. But I'm talking about the things that we do have. That simplicity in each one of us to be fulfilled. To be fulfilled. I see that as an aspiration.

I see that as the engine that drives this world. When I see a big, high-powered CEO, or I see a man who has got a little basket on the side of the road, and he's picked some fruits from somewhere, and he's trying to sell them, I see an ambition. An ambition to be fulfilled. I see an ambition, a drive. And we give this all too many words and meanings and definitions. We say success. What does success really mean? Does success mean that you are driving on a road, and you are there, and you're doing your job dutifully, but the car is falling apart? And I have an analogy for this. You know, in this analogy, I must tell you how it came about. A lot of people have nightmares. Well, sometimes at night, I'm speaking to audiences in my sleep. And in one such occasion, I was telling this story. And the story is cute. It's simple.

There was a person, and he went, and he bought a little parrot egg. And he wanted to hatch this egg and have this parrot from the very start and teach this parrot amazing things. And this is how it went. And not only he got one, but he got two, and he got three eggs. He incubated them. He hatched them. And right from the onset, right from the start, he started teaching them all these things. He'd put on his tapes, and there were lectures, and the math tables, and trigonometry. And by the time these parrots grew up, they could recite some amazing stuff. Amazing stuff. And so one day, the fellow died. His friends came, took pity on the parrots, what are we going to do? And so they took the parrots and opened the window and placed them on the tree right outside. And the parrots got out on the tree and started looking around. They looked up and looked down. This was all very different because they'd always been in this little cage. They looked up and they saw another parrot. They said, hey, how are you? The parrot looked down on these three cute little parrots and said, hey, I'm fine, I'm good. Who are you? Oh, well, we are these three wonderful parrots. We know everything. And he said, oh really? He said, oh yeah, ask any question you want, and we got an answer. And he said, well, you know, I don't even know where to begin to ask you a question. I'm not educated. And they were carrying on this whole conversation back and forth, and these three parrots were feeling pretty fluffy. Because they knew so much more than this other fellow. And during this conversation, the parrot sitting up top looked down, and he sees a cat. And this cat is starting to climb up the tree. So the parrot sitting on top said, oh, by the way, you guys, do you know how to fly? He said, sure. We know how flight works. Wind passes over the wing. Low pressure is created on the top, high pressure is created on the bottom, and up goes the wing. He said, no, no, no, no, I'm not talking about formulas. Do you know how to fly? So we know everything about flight. Of course, we have never flown. We've been in a cage. But we know everything there is to know about flight. He said, no, no, I'm talking about, do you know how to fly? He said, no. We don't know, but we don't need to know because we know everything else. He said, well, you know what? Because he took flight. He said, I wish you knew how to fly because right now, that's what you need because that cat is going to pounce on you any second. I know this story can be articulated much better. Get around to it someday.

But it proves a little point that for our lives to be truly successful, peace has to be a part of it, not divided, not missing, not subtracted, that in our formulas, peace has to be there. That the part of that fulfillment that we are looking for, that we all aspire for, includes, includes that fundamental thing that is called peace. To be, to feel every day, not only our burdens, and I said not only because we will, but every day to feel peace. Peace in our lives. Every day. Some people think peace is one of those things, you know, you just kind of feel it one day and it's good for the whole life. Nothing works like that. Food isn't like that in your lives. You don't eat just one day and go, I'm set for life. No, you're not. You got to eat. Anytime you get hungry, you've got to eat. Thirst is not like that. You don't drink a glass of water and say, well, I'm set for life. I don't need water. Whenever you feel thirst, you need that water. Look within you the need for your peace. Look within you for those resources that are calling out to you for the real success in this life. Not the quantity, but the quality. Not the make-believe, but indeed the reality. Not taking the sum of all the things and saying everything is fine now, but to feel fine. To feel fine. To feel fulfilled. Not saying, well, aren't I fulfilled? I have this, I have this, I have this, I have this, and constantly having to take an inventory of everything that is around you. And God forbid, God forbid if something is lost. Most delicate of balances get maintained in this life. Nothing can be out of place. There is no room for adventure. There is no room for the new. There is no room for the change. But who are we? We change. We change whether we like to change or not. We change. We are in the motion. Time has set a foot. Things around us, things within us, our understanding, the way we perceive, all of this is constantly changing.

And in this world of constant changes, what are we trying to look for? We're trying to look for stability. We're trying to look for that safe harbor. We're trying to look for that one little dock that we can really tie up to. A lot of people say, I'm not looking for that. I've got everything. I'm not looking for that. I don't need that. And I say to you, remember who you are. Remember who you are. You are none other than a vessel. A vessel floating on this water of this world. And yes, we all need a haven to come back to. That's where peace resides. That's where peace resides. Peace is not a formula, but peace is a feeling. A feeling that is not contrived by thought, but a feeling that has to be real. Real. Who's going to be the judge of whether you have peace in your life or not? Who? This is a very interesting question. Because people say, well, you know, you tell me when I have peace, right? No, you are the one. You have to be the judge to know whether you have peace in your life. What kind of peace am I talking about? I'm talking about a rope tied to that dock that does not come off when the waves go up and down. That's the peace I'm talking about. The peace that is there when I am in the middle of the turmoil. Not lack of the turmoil. Not lack of the turmoil. Take away all my problems and I will have peace. No, but that peace that exists even in the middle of my problems.

That is the human tenderness. You have come here today, not only to hear about peace, but to contribute towards those programs that can help people. Why do people want to help people? Because we recognize in ourselves the similarity that exists amongst us all. We can look at our differences or we can look at who we are. Tied and bound by the same exact rules that govern every person on the face of this earth. We have come, we are alive, and one day we have to go. Is that good? I don't know. Is that bad? I don't know. Is it so? Yes, I do know. Wisdom is not about good and bad. Wisdom is about understanding. Somebody can debate, is snake good or bad? It doesn't matter. If you never came to the conclusion of whether a snake is good or bad, so far you know it's poisonous. And you don't exactly want to go and go, hi. It's not about good and bad. It's not about right and wrong, because this is what we have done to our world. We have chopped it up into little pieces going right, wrong, right, wrong, right, wrong, right, wrong, right, wrong, right, wrong, right, wrong. And what are these right wrongs have done is divided us. They haven't brought us together. They have divided us even further. And every day they divide us even further, and they wedge differences between us. It is not about that. It is about feeling, feeling the peace. People say, what about the rich and poor, good fate, good fortune? I will tell you about good fortune. I will tell you what is good fortune. Good fortune is that you are alive. That is good fortune. You are lucky to be alive. People say that only after somebody survives an accident. You're lucky to be alive. No, I feel I'm lucky to be alive, period. Period. Because I have understood. I'm not claiming I understand a lot of things. I don't. But I've understood what it means to me to be, to exist.

That yes, there are problems. And I have never in my life looked at the magic wand that can erase my problems. I haven't. And it isn't about that. It is about the facts. And the fact is that I am alive. And something very precious in me inspires me every day, inspires me every day to seek out that peace. Like it does in you. What have we gotten good at? Accepting, acknowledging, or ignoring? You know, we learn this about our family. In family situations, a lot of people learn to ignore. And the way they do it is very nice, very subtle. And there are cartoons about it and we laugh. There are cartoons, you know, somebody comes home and the other partner is talking, talking, talking, talking, talking, and the other one is like, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm. A little valve opens up between the ears and we do have that valve. It's called ignoring. Maybe it's for survival. I don't know. (laughter) But we all have that valve. We become masters at ignoring facts. We count our blessings by what is hung on the wall and ignore the blessings that flow through us every minute, every second, every day. (applause becaquse its deep) Where, where logically do you think that kind of ignoring will lead you?

Analogy, you're flying in an airplane. All of a sudden, you hear a loud noise and some pilot comes on and says, it's okay. You know, there's that wonderful little story about airplane is flying along and pilot comes on and says, "We just lost an engine. We'll be one hour late." Some passenger says, "Oh my goodness." Then a few hours later, the pilot comes on "We lost our second engine. We're going to be two hours late." And the passenger says, "Well, I hope we don't lose a third engine because if we do, we'll be here up all night."

When you don't listen to the facts of your own self, things happen. Things happen, which are unexplainable. How can people on the face of this earth go hungry when you have already just heard that there's plenty of food? Do you have to be a rocket scientist or a mathematician to do the math on that one? There is plenty of food. But people are going hungry. I am a very basic person, believe me. You know, to me, I have been, I've been flying since I was very young too. That's one of the things I really enjoy. I have almost 11,000 hours of flying. I've flown many jets and I fly across the world. And to me, everything has to be really simple because I'm not a rocket scientist. The airplane has red lights, orange lights, and blue lights. Blue lights, okay. Orange lights, be careful. Red light, you're in trouble. This is how I look at it. What's gone wrong? When we cannot acknowledge the simplest things in this world. Who have we, who have we been ignoring? And I'll tell you who we have been ignoring. That ignoring begins with ourselves. Because we have been ignoring the fundamental call of this heart to be fulfilled. That's where the ignoring begins. The outside wars can stop for moments called ceasefire, but the inside wars go on. When you see a movie being projected on a screen and you don't like because something is going weird with the movie, you don't like it. Don't fix the screen. Fix the projector. Fix the film. Because it is the film that is being projected on the screen. It is not the screen that needs to be fixed. World wants to fix things.

Begin with the simplest of things called listening to that simplicity that is within you, that is wanting that peace within you. Peace does not begin by getting two neighbors to stop fighting. Because for the ultimate war, you don't need two neighbors. All you need is yourself. And peace begins with every human being, not by all the changes. Because when I say peace is possible, people go, nope, it is not. I know that. I've been told that. One time I was coming across the customs and the customs officer asked, where were you? So I was, you know, in that country. What were you doing there? I was giving a lecture. What? Peace is possible. He goes, it's not. And when you look at what the concept of peace is for people, end all the wars. Or maybe not. But where peace becomes a real possibility is when you start to look at every single human being on the face of this earth. That there is a potential for them to experience peace in their lives. Every single day. Every single day. And that that's where the peace begins from. And yesterday when I was speaking at one of the meetings, I said, you know, Socrates said, know thyself. Know your self. And maybe the statement doesn't go on to say, and it's really important. But the fact that it is quoted so many times by people around the world. Well, one can assume that it is important to know yourself. Because in you lies the compassion. Maybe you have been introduced to all your other traits, anger, fear. Let me introduce to you some of your very basic other traits. The compassion, the love, the understanding. The want and the desire for peace. The want and the desire to be fulfilled. These are important things. They're important elements. And if they're missing from our formula of success, then believe me, no success will be successful. Benchmarks will be created. And that's all.

How deep is the ocean? Two frogs met once. This is just a story. It didn't really happen this way. But two frogs met once. They got talking. Where are you from? One said, I'm from the ocean. And where are you from? I'm from the well. They both got talking. The frog from the well invited the other one. Come on. Let's go and visit my house. He went in. Just a story. He went in. Got talking some more. How big is your ocean? The guy said, it's pretty big. He didn't want to embarrass the frog from the well. He said, it's pretty big. So the frog from the well made a little circle, jumped around, as the frogs do. Is it this big? He goes, no, it's bigger. He made a little bit bigger circle. He said, this big? He said, no, it's bigger. He made a little bit bigger circle. Finally, it kept on going for so long. The frog from the ocean said, come with me. Let me show you. Let me take you there. And indeed, when he did, just a story. Don't get technical. The frog from the well could see there was no end to it inside. Feeling, experiencing, understanding in this life, enjoying.

Look at us. We need entertainment. We need entertainment.

Boy, do we need entertainment. The worst possible punishment, just shy of death penalty, is solitary confinement. God forbid, we had to live with our selves. Boy, nobody to talk to. Nobody to boast to. Nobody to tell, you know what I did today? Just you. Horrible thought. But you come alone and you go alone. And of all the people you know, the most fascinating will always be you. Most fascinating. Only if you knew yourself. Only if you could understand the possibility that you have been given. If you could understand that the greatest gift, the greatest gift you will have is this existence. This life. People say, well, you know, and because I go around the world and there's all these people that come with their different religious baggage and some people go, well, what about next lifetime? I said, well, I'll tell you what. Here's my email address. If you and you give me yours and you go before me and if there is one, send me an email. If there isn't one or if I go before you, you know, I'll send you an email. Because I don't know. I'm not going to sit here and pretend. I don't know. But I do know about this one. And I don't want to waste it in speculation. Because even if there is another one, that does not diminish the value of the time that we have now. Now.

Peace then begins with us. Peace then is a gift that we have been given and we need to explore. Peace begins with every single human being on the face of this earth. And yes, indeed, to experience peace in the middle of the most ferocious war. Sounds like an oxymoron. But yes, if the peace is within you, war doesn't matter. War doesn't matter. Because turn in and feel that feeling inside of you. It begins with the simplest of understandings, with the simplest of steps, the simplest of acceptances, that you are alive. Because you are. Because you are. Why does it have to be that we only begin to recognize the meaning of these most important things when they're snatched from us? Here we have a friend and, oh yes, you're there, fine, fine, fine. And then all one day the friend is gone and we go, oh my God. I talk to you from personal experience. What I'm saying to you is not a speech that has been written on a piece of paper. This is not something I memorized. Nobody wrote it. I come to you from my experience, my experience. And I know that when something precious is taken away, I understand its preciousness. I don't want to make that mistake again. I want to understand the preciousness of all that is around me and within me while it is still there. While it is still there. That to me is wisdom. I have learned something. You will journey in your lives and you will learn much. In all those learnings that you learn, I hope you get to learn about you. There will be many books you will read. There is one book that is the book of your heart. Read that book too. In that book, there is nothing that is printed. You get to write it. As every day that you exist, you write something on that blank page. Write it. Write it well. Write it well. So that you can read and then it makes for the most interesting possible read there can be.

This is our time. This is our possibility. This is us. The reflection of all that is around us is us. This is what it reflects. To find the real film, to find the real bulb glowing, look within you. Understand. You have learned, I have learned. I love watches. I love watches and we have learned how to tell time. But we have not understood the value of time. And when we think that that second hand comes back to the same place again, so do we. No. If this human being on the face of this earth needs a watch, it would be a very, very wide watch. And the second hand would never come back again because it would keep on moving as it really does. And it wouldn't be about 12 and 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and 5 and 6 and 7 and so on. And it wouldn't be a calendar that just goes around and around in a circle with variations of 30, 31, 28 and 29. But it would be one day at a time that never comes back. It wouldn't be about Saturdays and Sundays. It would be about every breath that you take. No watch could ever be created. That way. But that doesn't mean that there isn't a watch that is running exactly that way. No calendar could be created that way, but that doesn't mean that there isn't a calendar that you are following that runs exactly like that. It's not about Saturdays and about Sundays and about Mondays. It's about day, every day that you have been given. Learn to live. Learn the compassion of your heart. Learn to receive. Learn to give. Learn to be in your lifetime every single day. Make that an aspiration to be had every day. Every day.

So many of you try so hard to accomplish so much. Then accomplish this journey inside too. No exclusions. A lot of people say, what do I have to give up? Immediately. Immediately we say, well, what do we have to give up? Good news, nothing. Why? Because you already have it. I'm not here to introduce you to a new idea. Ta-da, you know, brilliant thing happened last night. There I was, fell out of my bed and I had a vision. No, I didn't. I didn't fall off the bed either. No, this is something you've always had. The quest has always been there in your existence. Take the steps. This time, not only outside, but take the steps inside and feel that peace that is dancing in the beautiful halls of your heart. Thank you so much for giving me your time and for letting me present what I feel is very heartfelt message. It has to come from my heart. It cannot come from just my mind. It has to come from my heart. And wherever I go, from my own sincerity, I can bring this message to people. So thank you very, very much and have a pleasant evening. Thank you.

We have one very brief, but very gratifying chapter of this event yet to unfold. So please stay with us. I would like to invite back to the stage Prem Rawat and Karen Sendelbach. Miami Dade College and the Prem Rawat Foundation are proud to present to the Friends of the World Food Program a check for $25,000. And that check will go to a special program called School Feeding, which will ensure that little children do not leave their homes in the morning hungry. If I may offer a few thank yous before we leave. To Prem Rawat for including this city in his travels and bringing his message of hope and peace to our city. To Dr. Padron for his support of this event and for his foresight in bringing a message of peace to our city as well. To the Prem Rawat Foundation for its partnership in supporting this event. To Karen Sendelbach and the World Food Program. To all of our sponsors and one in particular, the City of Miami, which yesterday awarded to Prem Rawat the key to the city. And last but hardly least, to all of you who came here tonight, thank you for being here. Good night.

Audience begins a frenzied standing ovation for Ms Sendelbach and Mr Levitt