"The Importance of a Drop"

Today, we are here to listen. It’s good to listen, to think, but I always say that people should experience. When I was a kid, someone in my family used to buy lottery tickets. After buying the tickets, he would say, “We’ll definitely get this number, and then we’ll buy this, we’ll buy that.” There was no end to our happiness as kids, because whatever dream we could imagine, we thought it would happen. Day and night we talked about what we would do. And the day the numbers were in the newspaper, and our number was not there, everything closed down.

This also happens to us. We make our plans. We have big dreams: “We’ll do this; this will happen; that will happen.” Human beings have a brain and can think. Sitting here, through my thoughts I can reach America, Australia, England, Sri Lanka, Delhi. But where am I actually? Then one day, the time comes to go from this world.

Everyone has to go. No one can stay here. You have made things yours, but those things have not accepted you as belonging to them. The car that you say is yours doesn’t say it’s your car. The house that you say is your house doesn’t say that you belong to it. Once you are gone, that home will be someone else’s. Your wealth remains as it is. It just goes from here to there. These are the rules. I did not make them; I’m just talking about them.

A drop falls in the ocean. We don’t give much importance to a drop, but so many rivers are there, and all of them started with a drop. When it rains and there is a flood, even the rain comes drop by drop. And when all the drops come together, they become rivers. A drop cannot harm anyone, but when a drop joins with others, it can destroy cities and countries.

In our life, we are like a drop. We want to unite with the ocean of joy in our heart, but we don’t know how to do it. We can be united with such an ocean; the heart is there in all of us. As long as you are alive, you can experience that joy. Life is about experience, not just words. We have a mind, and we think a lot, but we never think that there is something that is beyond this mind and thought. How can we catch that with this mind? That is why we need to have an experience from the heart.

People say, “You come in this world empty-handed, and you’ll go empty-handed.” I say that you came empty-handed, definitely, but you don’t need to go empty-handed. Take something with you. Take that enjoyment with you. Recognize that supreme joy and then go.

When you understand just how important that is in your life, you will understand your thirst. And the day you experience your thirst, you are not far away from water, because thirst is within you and the water to quench it is also there within you.

I tell people, “Look for it everywhere. Wherever you go, look for it. Find it.” It’s about finding. For the thirsty, it’s about water not the well. I don’t have a well. I have a map. And I have a big spring. Those who are thirsty, come, jump in it.

Being a human being, you can fulfill your life. As long as you have breath, you can fulfill your life. Fulfill your life now. What will happen later on, no one knows. If someone wants help, I can help. You only need to understand your thirst.

I don’t just talk. For those who really want help, I’m ready to help them. I go to different places, and I want there to be happiness in people’s lives. I cannot make your house good or get you a promotion, but you can be happy in your heart. This should happen in everyone’s life.
Prem Rawat(Maharaji)

"The Face in the Mirror"

Everybody has their own definition of peace. Some people think peace is an absence of noise. Some people think it is absence of wars. Some people think it is a beautiful scene.

If that’s what peace is, there is no shortage of beautiful places in this world. And there are places that are extremely quiet. So why isn’t there peace? Is peace a manifestation of something that happens inside a human being or is peace something on the outside only? This is where we have to slow down, because the definitions are abundant. What is peace? Where does the desire for peace come from? Was it that somebody sat down at their dining room table one day and said, “Good idea to have peace in this world”? Or is peace and the desire for peace innate to every single human being?

This, in my opinion, is the pivotal question because if the desire for peace is innate and fundamental to every human being—like food, like breath, like sleep, like water—then without it, we cannot be. Without it, everything is out of balance. If you put someone in the most beautiful room with an incredible sofa, nice wallpaper, and a view but no air, will they enjoy that room? Or will they bang against the door for someone to let them out?

You cannot explain to them, “Look. Air is a small part of the scene. You have the wallpaper, the room, the sofa, a television. Relax! Enjoy yourself. Why do you care if there is air in there or not?” You can’t see it. But when something fundamental is needed, explanations alone are not sufficient. You cannot explain to a hungry person, “It’s okay.” When you are trying to address something that is very basic to a human being, there are no compromises.

Peace is the same way. A human being without peace is not complete. You were never taught the desire for peace, just as you were never taught to cry. The baby knows how to cry, how to laugh, how to be. These are fundamental things nobody has to teach. The desire for peace is also fundamental. This is who we are. This is our foundation—a need from our heart pushing us to be content every day, to find that missing piece of the puzzle.

If you are putting together a puzzle, and you know there is a piece missing, not which one, you keep trying. That’s what the world is doing. Somebody comes up with a better formula, a better word, a better description, a better book. And people say, “This will do it.”
“If we could all come together and set aside our differences. . .” Great theory. Hasn’t worked. Why? Four kids cannot do it. Have you seen four children come together and put aside their differences? I haven’t. All it takes is one ball, one ice cream, one candy bar…

When we look at a person, we say, “Young, old.” These are our qualifiers. “Indian? American? Italian? Chinese? Japanese? African?” We say, “Where are you from?” We have forgotten how to view a human being. And we have forgotten how to view ourselves. We see a face in the mirror, and we don’t look at the face. We look at the imperfections of the face: “What’s this? What’s that?”

That you exist is a miracle. That this breath comes into you every day is an incredible miracle. And you feel and know and understand. That’s a miracle. In the heart of every human being dances the desire to be in peace. If we want social peace, the first thing that needs to happen is that the cause of the turmoil be taken away. Who fights? People. That’s where the turmoil comes from. If that turmoil has to be taken away, first it has to be taken away in people. People like you and me.

There are people trying to bring peace. Peace does not need to be brought from anywhere because peace exists inside of you. Very humbly, I say to you that what you’re looking for is within you. Peace for you as a human being is entirely possible. Turn within and you will feel it. How? Start with appreciating every day of your life. There is only one thing that can stop the onslaught of unconsciousness, and that is a little bit of consciousness. Live this life with a little bit of consciousness. Be aware of your existence, because all too soon, you won’t have it.

There is no magic wand, because the magic formula has already been unfolded, and it is us—each one of us on the face of this earth. With all our needs and wants, there is one more that has not been identified yet, and that is peace. That’s what we want. Unquestionably, I don’t care who they are—rich or poor, educated or non-educated, tall or short, dark or light—as long as they’re human beings, that’s what they want.

Give it a thought. It’s a very, very special subject to discover in your life.

-Prem Rawat (Maharaji)

" Fulfillment in Every Breath"

Every day that we exist, there is one wish from within that never changes—the wish to be content. No matter what we have gone through. No matter what we have had and not had. No matter what people have been in our life—loved ones who are there or have gone. With all the changes we have been through, that one inner desire to be fulfilled has never changed. And it will never change. we can count on that.

we have the ability to see; we have the ability to understand. Look at our life. Open our eyes. Open our heart. Open the gates of our understanding. It isn’t a question of analysis. It’s a question of observing what is. Understand what we have been given. we’ll never be able to analyze it, but we can observe it. we can admire it. we can see its beauty, its simplicity.

If we’re going to build our house, that is the place to lay the foundation. Don’t lay the foundation in quicksand and then say, “What happened to my house?” Our house will be gone. Find that solid surface—the desire to be content. And build your house on that—as big as you want. Make big plans. Make it huge. It doesn’t matter, because this is one ground that’ll take anything you throw its way.

People think courage is required. It is, but what courage? Our ability to overcome our fear is our courage. There are thieves who have courage. Is that a good use of courage? There are people who climb buildings vertically. They overcome their fear. Is that what courage is? For what? There is an elevator. I can come up and down too.

This is how our world is set up. If somebody does something that most of us can’t do, that’s really special. Most people can talk, so if we hear somebody talking, it’s not a big deal. But not all of us can sing, so if we hear somebody with a good voice, we think, “Wow! That’s good.” And it goes like that. If somebody went to the moon, we think, “Wow! they’re really special; they went to the moon.” Everybody wants to be special in their own way. They want to be different: “I can do something that nobody else can do.”


But there is something that we can do and everybody else can do, too—that we can enjoy and everybody else can enjoy.We can find our satisfaction, our joy, our fulfillment in every breath. It is better than a song. It really is better than going to the moon. It is better than the best. And every human being on the face of this earth can accomplish that. That’s what makes us special. Not just that we can sing, because one day we won’t be able to sing.

Recently, I saw some old‑time singers. They were singing, but they were out of tune. I’m sure they were incredible once. When all that goes, what remains? There is a connection with something within that will be there till the very end. Then being old doesn’t matter because the heart is full. Fill this existence with that. Fill the life with that beauty.

I’ve learned a number of things over the years, and one of them is that not much actually changes. There are people who love their life, but they still love to complain. They complain because this is what they have practiced, and they’ve gotten good at complaining. I just wish they would have gotten used to appreciating, to gratitude, and practiced that. It’s really important.