Prem Rawat in Asheville

Prem Rawat in Asheville

People are understanding something, having peace in their lives, and you can be a part of the magic regardless of where you are.

Hello everyone, I have a few things to tell you because, you know, obviously there's a lot of different kind of people in this world, but if one was to just simplify the categories, that would be that there are some people in this world who don't know and don't want to know. And then there are others who don't know and want to know. Now, which category you fit in, I don't know, but I certainly hope for the sake of existence that you are the one who, even if knows, wants to know more. Not the other one who doesn't know and doesn't want to know. Because this message is about the shortest, most complete sentence in the English language. And you know what that is? I am. That is the shortest and it's complete. I am. You are. And what does it mean to be here, to be alive, to exist? Nobody can come up with a magic answer to this question, because there isn't one. Nobody can come up and say, well, this is what it means to be alive, because when you look at who we are elementally, the most oxygen, second, carbon, third, hydrogen, fourth, nitrogen, and then a whole bunch of other ones, but they're too small, they're almost getting down to trace. 70% water. I mean, basically, this, this, the biggest part of it is just gas. Just gas. So when you look at this and you go, well, wait a minute. How can gas think that we can think? How can gas love? How can gas adore? How can gas want fulfillment? How? And so you are not just one layer of something. You are three dimensional.

There's many, many, many, many layers to you. You live in this world, and most of us who live in this world live in societies. We have a love and hate relationship with societies. We need them. We need society, but we don't really like society. But there isn't one single thing that you can put your finger on and say, this is who I am, because it isn't about the composition. It isn't about ideas. It isn't about a bunch of theories. But it is actually about a very profound reality that you are here, that you exist. And it is the most profound for you, if you can understand it. It is the most complete for you, if you can accept it. Yes, accept it. Because I see people too busy in pondering what they were in their last lifetime. And of course my question would be, why are you so interested in that? If you go to buy a car, a used car, it is true that you want to know its history. You do. Has it been in Iraq? Where has it been? What's happened? Da, da, da, da, da. But then there is something that you must do, which is to obviously look at the car as it is. If somebody says, you know, right now you're seeing just a little part of the car, because that's all there is.

But this was once upon a time the most beautiful car in the universe. The obviousness is, as the car sits in front of you, it better be complete. You're still going to kick the tires. You're still going to look at the body. You're still going to look at, does it run? Because maybe you want to know the history. But even if you didn't have the history, where does the car sit at will speak for itself. If somebody comes to you and says, I want to sell you a house, you show up where the house used to be. This is the parcel of land, nothing there. You say, well, you know, this is the most beautiful house. Let me show you the pictures. It's like, yeah, well, this is fine. The history part of it is fine. But obviously it's not there. I can't move into it. I can't live in the pictures. Well, it's the same way. What is the obviousness to you as you are today? Not yesterday, not day before that, as you are today. And the other thing that preoccupies us, what's going to happen to us? What is going to happen to us? And we are so attracted by these two things, what happened in the past life, and what's going to happen after we die, that we forget all about it. And that to me is wrong, wrong. Just plain, plum wrong, because you, as a human being, should understand the value of that shortest, most complete statement, sentence in the English language. It is not who I was, what I will be, but it is. I am. Because if you need peace in your life, you're not going to get it from where you will end up and you are not going to get it from where you were. You're going to get it from where you are. Where are you? Where are you? And today, you are on this most magnificent little planet called Earth, which is so incredibly unique, that it's unbelievable. People look at the pictures of Mars and they get excited, wow. And I look at the pictures of Mars and I go, if you gave me money to buy real estate on Mars, I am not interested.

You see what happens? Where the interest should be in enjoying, in understanding, in adoring the magnificence of this Earth that we are on, the focus is, oh, look at that, the moon. But you're not on the moon, you're here. Oh, we need to discover other planets because we may not be here one day. Is that why everybody is hell-bent on destroying this little place? (laughter) Because it may not be here one day? Would you do that to your car? Would you do that to your house? Well, you know, one day it's not going to be here, so I'm destroying it now. So my prophecy can come true that it's not going to be here. Because the emphasis is lost on what is.

Why do so many people not understand what Kabir was talking about? You know why? Because that's exactly what Kabir says. Why are you lost when the miracle of all miracles is taking place here now? What is the value of now for you? What does this mean to you? Anything? Life pulse through you? Were you alive? Yes. Do you understand what this means? That's too short.

Too short. I want to look at my life as a context from the time I was born to the time I die. Well, how long is that? Do the math, okay? Now, I know nobody told you that you needed to do math to come here tonight. This is really simple, okay? It's really simple, I promise. Even if you live to be a 100 years old, okay, the chances of that are slim, but wishing you the best. Even if you live to be a 100 years old, all you have to do, it's very simple. Add a couple of zeros to 365. You know how long that is? 36,500 days, that's it. It's not a lot. If you told your wife that you bought her a house for $36,500, she's not going to be impressed. She'll look back at you and say, I knew you were cheap. If somebody came to you with a band playing and you won the lottery, you won the lottery, how much? 36,500, you'll come. Big deal. In a 100 years, that's how many days you got, which you know the chances of you getting that is fairly slim. Let me add a little bit of spice to that stew. Most of that 36,500 is already spoken for. Now, the rest of the math is a little bit more complicated. You'll have to get out your calculator for it, and so we're not going to go there. It's not much. Either way you slice it, it is not much. That is why it is important for you to ask the right questions and get the right answers. Don't ask other people's questions. Yeah, the most popular question these days are, what was I in my last lifetime? Frankly, I don't care. I really don't care. If I'm being punished in this lifetime for something I did in my last lifetime, even human beings have determined that justice would be served if the person knew what they were being punished for. So that's going to have to come and tell me, hey, the reason why you're being punished is because you kicked that beat. Whatever. But I don't know what I did. Then all the good ones, I don't know what I did. Then people are off, oh, but what about karma? Don't you believe in karma? Yeah, I do. But yesterday's. If I didn't sleep well last night, I'm not going to feel too good today. You believe in that? If you ate raw beans yesterday, karma will be afoot today.

It's as simple as that. The question you should ask is, what can I do today to be in peace now? Do you concur that that's a pretty good question? Instead of all the frivolous questions that people go around asking, Egyptians were there. They thought when the king dies, he's going to need his chariot, and his slaves, and his wife, and his gold, and they buried all that with him. Were they right? Because there's a museum that says so, they weren't right. Scratch that one, because that gold is still there. The bones are still there. His clothes are still there. His wives are still there, kind of dead, but they're still there. His chariot, very unusable. Great history though, great past, but you couldn't get on it. I mean, even his teeth are still there. He couldn't even take his chompers with him. God, I mean, this has got to be applesauce, that's heaven, baby food. Because his chompers are here. You can see them in the museum.

So what? But Kabir says, that's exactly what happens. All this stays here. Something else that is truly responsible for you being alive leaves. Healthy heart, healthy mind, healthy brain, healthy kidneys, healthy lungs, healthy liver, but something is not there and the person is. So don't you think an appropriate question would be, that we should be asking, what is it that keeps me alive? I'm a little different. I'm a little different. Why am I different? I don't believe in the hocus-pocus. I believe in reality. Somebody comes to me, shows me a picture and an apple and says, I have given you this apple. I say, that's not an apple, that's just a picture of an apple. I want the apple, not the picture. Because the picture is not going to satisfy me, the apple will.

When people carry the picture of the sun in their pocket going, whenever it gets dark, all I have to do is, see, I've got the picture of the sun. I say, well, that's not going to light anything up. That sun, the picture of the sun that you carry is so pathetic, it can't even light itself up. You need light to see that. But there are people in this world, here, somebody actually wrote this as an answer. And the question was, what's more important, the sun or the moon? And this is what this person wrote. The moon is more important, because it gives us light at night. The sun, on the other hand, is totally redundant, because it comes out at daytime. I'm not being funny. When I read this, I went, wow. Just wow. This is a little book that has been put together by a teacher, and these are the real answers from quizzes and exams that were administered to the students. And there are other funny ones, too. But this one was like, wow. Wow! And here's the most beautiful part of it all. The answer, the one that you are looking for is inside of you. That I am is starting to sound very nice. I am. I am. I am. I'm not a sum of knots. I'm not a sum of somebody's imagination. I'm not a sum of somebody's ideas. I'm not a sum of theories. But I am. And there is a lot more to me than I realize, because that, that is the most real, is residing within me in this moment. And when I can put away my rationales, you see, here's one thing that's very interesting. To love someone, truly love someone, conditions have to go. They just can't be. Just, they don't exist.

I have a grandson, and he is something else. He truly is something else. His mother calls him Shiva. As he goes around the house destroying everything in sight. He's incredibly passionate about washing machines. He will stand there and look down into a washing machine for hours. And so, clothes have to be washed that have just been washed. He's always happy, most of the time. Sometimes he gets very mad, and he scolds people. He's built like a tank, so there's no problem for him to destroy anything. And the other day I was thinking, because I came up, and he was there, and something wasn't right, and he wanted me to go right back down. And he's like, no, don't go away. And I said, sorry. I have to keep on going here. And then I started thinking about it. Five minutes later, everything was fine. Calling my name, and coming, and everything is fine. But I realized, that when you love, there are no reasonings. There are no conditions. Why did you do that? Oh, you're like this. Sometimes his nose is running, and he's just as cute. He doesn't do his hair. Sometimes he takes a nap, his hair is sticking out. He's just as cute. Sometimes he's just running around in his diaper. He's just as cute. It's not like, oh my God, you don't have any manners. How could you? How could you be out in front of everyone with just your diaper? I would never be caught dead. No, it's not like that. Love is like that. But when it comes to loving that self, how many conditions do you have? Well, one is, what is the self? You see, it's absolutely amazing. How can you fall in love with the self, but you don't even know what the self is? No idea. Oh, yeah, well, you know, I have over the years gotten to know myself, and sometimes I get mad. Most of the time I'm okay. You think that's the self? You think that's the self? What is the self? Interesting question, huh? What is the self? You've heard, oh, you should know yourself. Know thyself. What is the self? I and M, which denotes existence. I and M. What is this I? Do you know? Do you know? And because you don't know, anybody can come and give you an idea. I think you are da-da-da-da-da-da, and that's what triggers here.

Not here. Here. Oh, yeah, I read. That's one of our weaknesses. That is our weakness. If we read it in a book, it has to be the truth. How did that happen? How did that happen? We live in a world, my friends, where people lie without hesitation. They don't even, like, think for a second. Just flows. The same group of people are supposed to sit down behind a typewriter and all of a sudden start speaking the truth. Whether it is said, written, or thought, it is being sparked by the same mind. But that's what we think. I remember when I had kids, people were trying to show us these books, you know, read this.

The famous doctor who had written the book. And I looked at the book and I said, this is stupid. And of course, the immediate comment was, how can you say this is stupid? You're not a doctor, this person is a doctor. I said, you don't even know he's a doctor. Go to his office and ask him for his credentials first. And they do this in India all the time. All the time. The guy puts a little board in front of his shop and it says doctor on it and everybody lines up. Doctor so and so. He's not a doctor, he never went to school. He doesn't even know what a bicycle pump is. But he's a doctor. Why? Because it says so. And what happened to knowing? Knowing for yourself. It's gone. It's gone. It's gone. It's gone. It's gone. It's gone. It's gone. And I'm here to bring it back. If people want peace, if you want peace, you will find it within you. Nowhere else. Nowhere else. And let me tell you this, don't believe a word I say. Don't. Don't. Don't know for your own self. Experience. Oh yes, you're good at thinking. Very good at thinking. How about experiencing? Can we bring experiencing back? Where you feel, where you feel you're leaving home, your wife or husband says, I love you. And the answer is, I love you too. And what's going here? Oh my God, I gotta finish that report.

I mean, otherwise I'm gonna get fired. What's going on? What is this? What is that? Oh, this is nice. I love you. I love you too. And now you SMS and there is the heart. Ding. That's it. I love you. Because you feel that love. Because you feel that love. I am thankful that I am alive because I feel alive and I feel thankful. Good morning because I savor the goodness of this morning. Good day because this I understand. This I feel that this is a good. Can you just imagine? Just imagine how rich your life would be if these simple trivial things were felt and acknowledged by you. But most importantly felt. There is no age restriction to this. Love you can feel regardless of age. Love you can feel regardless of age. Kindness you can feel regardless of age. And so truth you can feel regardless of age. Joy you can feel regardless of age. In this life you have choices. There is doubt. There is clarity. Doubt can bring confusion. Clarity can bring joy. Pick one. Just pick one. Now we started off with talking about some of this karma stuff. And what did you do in your last lifetime? I don't know. But what about in your life? Did you keep choosing doubt over clarity? Because if you did it would be good to change the track. Of course it would explain a lot of what's going on because if the predominant has been doubt not resolved. Unresolved doubt. Who am I? I don't know. I don't care. That's not unresolved doubt. That's still doubt.

Oh this is all eastern philosophy. I'm not interested in eastern philosophy. Sunrise is in the east. You're not interested? What has east got to do with it? Are we the seekers of truth? Absolutely not. Oh no, no, no, no, no, no. Absolutely not. Columbus sailed. He wanted to go to India. He really did. He wanted to go to India. He ran into a little bit of navigational difficulty. He ended up in America. And how delighted he must have been at his navigational error. India. Wrong Columbus. Excuse me. You were wrong. This is not India. You have to keep going. And keep going. And then you will hit India. You're right that it was round. But you just need to be a little bit more genius and go. Keep going. Keep going. And you will come to India. So what did he call? Indians. Now we know America is not India.

I hope. In fact a lot of Indians would like to come to India but can't. I mean if this is India and they called Indians. I mean that's what he called them. Indians should be allowed to come to India. No, no, no, no. You won't get a visa easily. Well what do we today call the natives who were living here? Who had their own name? They didn't call themselves Indians. They weren't like Columbus looking for India. Oh, Indian. No, they had their own names. They had their own nations. We still today call them Indians. And here's the killer. Go on Google search and search for Indian songs. And you will come up with American Indian songs. Let the truth be revealed. It has been. Do we believe it? No. But this is what we call. That's what this guy called. That's what we're going to keep calling. One person made an error. Let's all make an error. I mean why stop? Who's going to stop? And who's going to stop it? No one. Absolutely no one. And this is how it will go on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on. Because it is an error when you do not know yourself. This is an error. The first thing you should know is the self. Then everything else. Now you know everything else. But not the self. Who are you going to have to live with? With everyone? No. With yourself. And yet the most beautiful thing happens.

Regardless of the circumstances. Because aren't we the ones that chase the circumstances? If my circumstances were better I could be happier. So now go figure this. You just watched that video right? These guys are in prison. And at least one of them is dreaming big. Big. And all I know that the start of most things happens with that one thought. And the thought is if there could be peace in prisons the world would be shocked. I mean on one hand you have to think about how dare this guy dream so big? How dare? So far the society is concerned. You did something wrong. You're out. America is the only country where they play baseball with this stuff. Three strikes and you're out. I mean excuse me is this a game? Out. They've been thrown. Gone. And all of a sudden guess what they find? Joy. In the beginning of the year I was in San Antonio after that I was in South America and I was in the women's prison in Argentina and this is what this lady said to me. She said now I know why I was in prison so I could hear your message. The next day she was going back home. She had to release orders everything. She was going back home which was very far away. Back to her country but this is what she says to me. How can it be? If circumstances is it then these people should never even be thinking about peace. But not only that they've got smiles on their face. A heart that is delighted. A heart that is delighted and a hope that is supreme. This is the dance of the self. When the self is invited on the stage the self dances and it is the most elegant dance you have ever seen because it is of understanding. It is of clarity. It is of gratitude. It is the deepest wisdom. It is the ultimate collaboration of this and the divine that makes up the self.

There is your answer of what the self is. Not 60% water. Not oxygen and carbon. You know where oxygen is going right? It's gas. It's going back to being gas. It is. The carbon? Well it's going to become carbon. Will it reassemble? Of course. Are you recycled? Absolutely. And will you be recycled again? Of course. And that does not compromise or comprise the self. It is this collaboration between the divine that makes up the self. And that's why it's really, really, really, really, really important to know that self because you can. Not as some floating oxygen. No. Hydrogen? No. Nitrogen? No. But so far this collaboration is happening. Amazing possibilities exist. That's why you're alive. That's why you have this gift of breath coming into you and pulsing and pulsing bringing forth every day, every moment, every day, every moment the most gracious thing making it possible, the existence, the existence, the existence, the existence. This is how it all began. You don't believe me? That's how it began, my friends. That's how it began. You can go to any hospital and find out. That's how it happens. How does it begin? It begins with the first breath in. In. Not out. There's nothing to go out. It comes in. And the last one is out and not in. And you will be judged by this.

If you are in a hospital and the doctor walks in and the machine says, everything is flat, flat, flat, flat, flat and you are there breathing the doctor is not going to come up to you slap you in the face and say, what are you doing? You're supposed to be dead. Stop breathing, for God's sakes. No, he's going to go slap the machine. Something wrong with it. So far you are breathing. You've got the ball in your court. It's simple. And it is divine. And I'm not asking you to believe anything. I want you to know. Know the beauty of being alive. Know the beauty of existence. Know the beauty of what it means to be here on this earth. Because unbelievably one day this will not be. However magnificent the show is however incredible this is one day it will stop. It has to. But that doesn't mean that you shouldn't fill this bowl of existence with joy. Overflowing.

Overflowing. It's a beautiful saying in India that when you came into this world the world laughed and you cried. Do something so when you go you laugh and they cry. Be fulfilled. That's the way to laugh. That's a different laughter. This is not orchestrated. It is real. It is true. And unstoppable. That's how every moment of your life should be. And people are already saying I can hear it. Oh no, no, that's... That's how it should be. We should be collaborating with ourselves for our own happiness. Don't you think so? I mean, you think really it takes a genius to figure that out? But we're the non-collaborators. We're like, no, no, I'm not touching that happiness stuff with a 10-foot pole. You don't want to collaborate with yourself for your own happiness? No wonder Socrates said, know thyself. Then he figured, that's got to be a start. Because this is what people have forgotten. They've forgotten who they are. We have forgotten our humanity.

We have forgotten our humanity. We use religion to defend our agendas. Oh my God. OMG. For some of you who will never understand what OMG means but OMG they know. OMG. How can you be using religion to protect your agendas? You want to protect your agendas? Talk sensibly. Debate the issues. Talk. You know, somebody a long time ago in China, and there was a lot of Chinese and they had a long, long time because they had their civilization going on for a long, long, long time. Some genius sat down and said, let's have fireworks. So this genius came up with fireworks. To celebrate. To make sky look nice at night. Have flowers. Have bang in the sky. To chase away the evil spirits. So everybody can live in peace and harmony.

Some other genius went, I know what we can do with this. We can kill each other. And so was born guns. Cannons. Look, I have nothing against guns. I have nothing against bullets. I have nothing against all that stuff. But please can we not use them to kill each other? There are countries there are countries in such pathetic shape that nobody would want them. Truly. Nobody would want them. They would be inheriting such a headache. But even there, we gotta protect ourselves. My question to those countries is from whom? From whom do you want to protect yourself? Nobody wants you. Nobody comes here. Have you been to the airport? Have you seen your immigration line? I mean these officers are just yawning. Nobody comes. And the two odd people that do show up every week absolutely want to make sure they return home. And the only way they're going to stay here is if they die here. But yeah, no, we gotta protect ourselves. We've drawn up little arbitrary lines so this is my country. Have you looked at the earth from outer space? It doesn't seem to have those lines.

What have we done to each other? Do we care about each other the way we should be caring about each other? Isn't that the purpose of the society? So what kind of societies have we created that don't even care about human beings? Peace begins. That's all I know. I don't know how to cure the societies, believe me. I didn't start the mess and I don't know how to cure them. But I know one thing. This I know for sure. I'm not guessing on this one. I know one thing. That peace dances in the heart of every human being. And if we want peace, it has to begin with us. Not with somebody else. If you're waiting for some angel to arrive out of the heavens, then I have news for you.

The angel is here. And you know who the angel is? You. You are most qualified most qualified to save yourself. I mean the way I figure even the savior had to come down and he'll have to go, oh yeah, so what's wrong with you? You already know that. No interview would be necessary. Get on with the business of finding the peace in your heart. Get on with the business of being a human being. Get on with the business of enjoying the self. Get on with your Get on with your. I'm sure the oxygen is just dying to meet up with the rest of the oxygen. Carbon, the same. Hydrogen, the same. And nitrogen, the same. And this will happen. But in the meantime, till it does till it does, get on with your life. Thank you very much. Good night. Thank you.