The most important thing that I can do is to cause you to reflect, contemplate what you have been given, and make you think about the possibility of  having peace in your life.

In some ways, you are very much like me. As human beings, we have a need. It is not a need created by society or by religion. It is a fundamental need to be fulfilled, to be in peace. It is easy to toss around the word “peace.” But what is peace? Is it just hearing wind chimes? No traffic? No airplanes or trains buzzing by? To some people, that’s exactly what peace means. And it’s sad that external noise pollution becomes so irritating that when we find ourselves in the absence of it, we call it “peace.”

Or is peace a feeling? An undeniable feeling not born of thought. Everything that comes to us is born of thought. We get good news, “Things are going my way.” We get bad news, “Why is this happening to me?” It doesn’t take much for us to get unsettled. It happens when we’re in traffic and somebody honks their horn. Even if they are honking at somebody else, we get irritated, “How dare you honk at me.”

Your son or daughter tells you, “I failed,” and you get upset. So is peace simply not being upset? It’s sad but true that some people think when you don’t get upset you must be in peace. Well, there are people who are in a vegetative state, and they don’t get upset over anything. So, what is peace?

Something that is not born of thought, but felt. Something that resides in the ocean of answers, not in the ocean of questions. We have learned to question everything, but we have not yet learned how to accept the answer. Your life. Your being. What does it mean to be here, to be alive?

People read books. I’m not against books. One wall of my office is just filled with books. But what am I looking to the books for? Can they really give me that answer? Can a book really satisfy my hunger? There are beautiful books of water scenes. Can that satisfy my thirst?

You cannot just say, “I’m not hungry. I’m not hungry. I’m not hungry.” The other day, I got up early, had a small breakfast, and went to speak. And my stomach was growling. I was thinking, “You’re not hungry, you’re not hungry…” but it didn’t quit. You can say, “Oh, it’s mind over matter.” But not for the basics, not for those things that really matter.

One time, my father visited a place where there were a lot of holy men. One of the men was standing on one leg praying to God. There was a sign saying he’d been standing on one leg for so many weeks and hadn’t spoken a word. My father went right up to him and said, “Oh God, why did you give him a second leg? He doesn’t use it. And why’d you give him a mouth? He doesn’t use that, either.” This man got so upset he said, “How dare you say this!” And the second leg came down.

So, what is peace? I can’t tell you what it is. I have felt peace, and I can feel it every day, but I can’t tell you what it feels like. Just like I can’t tell you what sugar really tastes like. If you want to know what I am tasting, you need to taste it, too. Then and only then will you understand what I am talking about.

This life is a gift. I want to understand it as clearly as possible before I lose the ability to understand it. I want to know what this miracle is. A miracle requires an eye to behold it—a person who truly understands what a miracle is. The most amazing miracle is the coming and going of this breath. Out of nowhere it comes, and to nowhere it goes. From this breath comes the gift of life. And life makes all the other miracles possible: You can be. You can admire. You can be thankful that you exist. You can feel and give kindness.

To know in life that all is well. We only think of this in times of trouble. Do you know that you’re fine? You always were and always will be. We live in a world of fear. But there is something within you that you should not be afraid of, and it is the ability to enjoy this life, to appreciate this life.

Prem Rawat

Los Angeles, June 2009 — On May 23, at the invitation of Mayor Tain-Tsair Hsu of Tainan, Taiwan, Prem Rawat, known as Maharaji, attended a ceremony where he was awarded the Golden Key to the city as well as an emblem of the Sword Lion, a symbol of the cultural capital of Taiwan. The ceremony was held at the National Tainan Living Arts Center. Over 800 people attended including guests of the mayor, dignitaries from other towns in Taiwan, as well as international and local students of Prem Rawat.

After a brief introduction from one of the Mayor’s staff and a video, Mayor Hsu said how honored he felt to receive an “Ambassador of Peace” in Tainan. Prem Rawat was awarded the title of Ambassador of Peace at the International University of Peace in Brazil because of his worldwide efforts over four decades to bring a message of peace to millions of people.

“Today the Peace Ambassador has finally arrived in Tainan City,” said Mayor Hsu, “and we have to collaborate with him to contribute to peace and harmony in this world. We have to encourage each other. We have to trust in peace. We cannot wait for peace to descend. We have to have the confidence in ourselves that there is a source of peace within us that is not only for ourselves but for everyone in this world.”

The Mayor welcomed Prem Rawat to the stage where, after receiving the key to the city, he spoke about the early human being’s fundamental questions that are still being asked today. “Maybe he could not imagine cell phones or cars. He could not imagine nations or flags,” he said. “But he asked the questions: ‘Who am I? Why am I here?’  

“Do these questions intrigue you?” he continued. “And yet, where do you find the answers? In a book? In some philosophy? On top of a mountain? No. The answers exist in one place only, and it is in the book of your heart. What you are truly looking for—whether you call it peace, contentment, happiness, or joy, these are all names for one thing—that thing is your truth. You begin to live the day you embrace the peace that dwells in your heart. You begin to live the day you acknowledge the fundamental question of who you are. When that question is answered, clarity prevails, because you have witnessed the source of peace in you. That is the day your thirst will be quenched.”

After speaking, Prem Rawat returned to his seat while the Mayor led the audience in a standing ovation. 

Prem Rawat’s visit to Taiwan was part of a speaking tour that began in February in Italy, and continued to India, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, China and Taiwan. His efforts have been recognized by public officials and private organizations. He founded The Prem Rawat Foundation in 2001, which has a dual purpose of bringing his message of peace to people worldwide and providing essential humanitarian aid to those in need.

I am here to tell you a story that is simple. This story is not about animals or kings and queens. It is not about the fulfillment of somebody’s fantasy. This story is about you and me — as we exist, as we are.

It’s not a story about aspirations, because people’s aspirations depend so much on where they find themselves in this world. If somebody lost their child, they wouldn’t pray for money. They would pray for one thing and one thing only: “God, can you please have my child returned to me?” That’s it.

If somebody has been told by a doctor, “You have cancer, you’re dying,” what do they pray for? Do they pray for higher education? Do they pray for another child? No. They say, “God, either make this as painless as possible or take away my cancer.” And if somebody finds themselves poor? They pray for money.

Where we find ourselves in our lives dramatically changes our viewpoint on what our needs are, what the world is all about, what religion is all about, what God is all about — what everything is all about.

But there is a reality: the reality that you are alive. This is the most beautiful reality there is. Whether you are poor or you are rich — what do you really want? In this story, this story about you and me, we have a chance to fulfill our real want. If we want this story to be nice, to have a happy ending, it can be so. So the question becomes, “What is our want?”

Do you know what you want, what you have always wanted, what you will always want? Other people’s opinions and your own needs are two different things. If you have not looked at your real need, your want, all the opinions in the world are not going to take care of it. They are just opinions. What do you want?

Let me tell you about a possibility as one human being to another. I propose that what you want in your life does not need a name. You can call it peace, you can call it happiness, you can call it liberation, you can call it joy — not a problem. Why? Because these are just different names for the same thing. When the heart is content, there will be joy. When the heart is content, there will be peace.

What is the difference between darkness and light? In darkness, you cannot see. When you cannot see, you cannot avoid the obstacles. All of the stumbling blocks, all of the obstacles on the road do not disappear when the sun rises in the morning. But you can see them, and, because you can see, you can avoid them. Light doesn’t take away obstacles; light illuminates them.

What do I give? I give an umbrella. I do not take away the rain. Rain cannot be taken away — it will rain. But that’s not a problem if you have an umbrella. Without one, you will become wet, and you don’t want to get wet.

I give an umbrella. Do I take away people’s obstacles? No. I give them a lamp so that they can see, so that they can avoid what they want to avoid. That’s how it is. That’s what you need.

What does this being really want? This being has the most amazing aspiration it could ever have — to feel the infinite. This is the highest ambition: when a mortal wants to reach and touch and feel the immortal. That’s an incredible but beautiful ambition.

Prem Rawat

Los Angeles, January 2009 — The Prem Rawat Foundation donated $50,000 to sponsor five eye clinics in poor, rural areas of India during November and December, 2008, with its partner, Premsagar Foundation India.

Clinics were held in Ranchi (four days), Hyderabad (three days), Jaipur (three days), Dausa (two days), and Delhi (four days). Doctors and optometrists examined nearly 9,700 people, giving eye drops for infections to over 8,500 and providing over 6,400 pairs of glasses. Cataracts were identified in over 1,000 people, who were referred to specialists.

“This camp gives eyes to the blind,” said Maheshwari Devi, one of the attendees, “I was given spectacles after my eye examination. Now I shall be able to do my routine work without difficulty.”

Over 15 million people in India suffer from blindness, and it is estimated that 75% of them could have preserved their sight with the proper care. (“The Times of India,” October, 2007.) Yet the country continues to suffer from a severe shortage of eye-care professionals and lack of eye care for its poorest residents, resulting in limited educational and economic opportunity for them.

“It’s an honor to be a part of this camp serving people who don’t even have primary health care services,” said Dr. Ratnesh Kumar, one of the attending physicians who donated his time to provide care. “This eye clinic offers selfless service to a needy population in their own neighborhood at no charge.”

For the past five years, TPRF has regularly held eye clinics throughout India, with doctors and eye specialists who have donated their services. To date, nearly 30,000 people have had their eyes examined, nearly 18,000 have received eyeglasses, over 22,000 have received eye drops, and 2,400 instances of cataracts have been identified and referred for further medical care.

“It has been difficult for me to read and identify words, but now it is easy for me to see things,” said Mr. Hari Narayan, from the village of Lakhana. “I was even given eye medicine. Now I can do some reading and writing work.”

When I travel and talk to people, what is my challenge? Of course, what I say has to come from my heart. It’s not a written speech; it's not from a book. But my challenge is for you to empty your bucket.

It’s not about saying wise things, believe me. People think I will tell them something that’s going to help them. And I do, apparently, because people write back and say how they've been helped since they’ve been listening to me. But that’s not what I try to do, because I cannot push wisdom into somebody’s head. All I try to do is to help people to empty their bucket.

Our biggest limitation is our imagination. I’ve never said this before because I know people will immediately say, “No-no-no, we can imagine some outrageous things!” Yes, you can. But there is something so amazing that exists beyond your capacity to imagine. I call it the peace and joy that reside in your heart.

The brain is a funny thing. It tries to fill in as much as it can. If we see an object that we have never seen before, our brain gets very confused. It responds, “What is this?” Imagination can only take you so far. But in the realm of the heart, in the realm of this inner beauty, there is something that is indeed divine, not by our making, but by its very nature.

I’m not talking about conjecture. You see, I’m not going to answer your questions. Is that a favor to you? You bet. All I will keep saying is to empty your bucket, and when you do, you will finally make room for answers to come. Because you see, the answers are inside of you.

Do you believe that? We live in a society where if we want to know something, we search on the Internet to find out. But have you found out?

Where is the understanding in this world? People are more educated now than they’ve ever been. Everybody has their reasons for why things are as they are. But understanding is not about reasons. Understanding is about what you have understood, what you have felt. It’s not about preaching. It’s about reaching and grabbing the answer and realizing, “Yes, now I understand.”

That’s what I want for you. I don’t want you to say, “Now I have been given the answer.” That’s pointless. I want you to be able to say, “Now I understand. Now I know.” That's the way it needs to be—because that is the cry of your heart.

There is an opportunity, a simple opportunity—if you can see it. How can you see it? Empty your bucket. How do you do that? It’s easy. Just start throwing out all that’s not yours, and I guarantee you the bucket will be very, very empty. Because nothing in that bucket is yours.

In your life, you were told things and you said, “Okay.” Every time you agreed, something was placed in the bucket, again and again. Unfortunately, it has gotten to a point where there’s no room for anything else. It’s full.

What’s in the bucket? Part of all that goes around in this world. People fight over God. Nations get polarized. Human beings express anger towards one another just for their opinion. We have created a world where, instead of saying, “Okay, we’ll never be able to figure God out. Let’s just feel God, respect God, and sing God’s praises.” No. It can’t be as simple as that. “Let’s give God a gender.” Do you think God needs a gender? “Let’s give God hands.” Does God need hands? That power, that energy is everywhere: nowhere to come from and nowhere to go to. Does that power need legs? Think about it.

Maybe I’ve inspired you to empty your bucket. Or perhaps I've given you a notion to at least look at your bucket and see how full it is. See if you can recognize that those things are not yours. You never put them there. They are the voices of the people before you, who told you how it had to be. And you said, “Okay.”

I’m not saying that’s good or bad. I’m saying this is your bucket. At least, it should contain what you think should be in it. Because this life is about you. This gift of life has been given to you. When you accept this gift, it fills you with amazing joy. It brings unparalleled clarity. And then your life is filled with gratitude, gratitude to be alive. Could you think of a better story? Could you think of a better ending to a day? Could you think of a better start to a day than to be filled with gratitude? This is the ultimate gift.

Prem Rawat

Many people have expressed an interest in The Prem Rawat Foundation’s (TPRF) model program, Food for People (FFP), whose first facility in Bantoli, India, was inaugurated almost three years ago. This 10,000 square-foot facility is located in a very rural area in northeastern India and has become a central part of the life and well-being of several villages in the area. TPRF president, Linda Pascotto, has recently returned from a visit to this facility, and we’re happy to share with you her interview with the Inspire staff.

Please tell us about your recent visit to the Food for People facility in India.
I was in New Delhi and realized that I had just enough time for a quick “unofficial” visit to the Food for People facility, which is located about an hour-and-a-half drive from the Ranchi airport in Jharkhand. From the moment I got into the car, I felt I was being taken into a completely different world from the one I live in, with all that was familiar fading rapidly away as my expert driver navigated rough roads that became increasingly narrow and more rutted, weaving and swerving to avoid hitting other vehicles, people, cows, goats, and chickens, and always moving at great speed whenever he could. 

What prompted TPRF to create a facility like this?
This program is the result of Prem Rawat’s vision to help people in need in a way that would offer them a chance to live independent lives in dignity. Several years ago, when he flew by helicopter to this area to speak at events, village children would crowd around the landing site. On one visit, Prem Rawat invited the children to come and see the helicopter close up. He noticed that, although they seemed well cared for and happy, they were very, very thin. He did some research and found that these indigenous Indians had been pushed back into an arid, rocky land in northeast India where it was very difficult to eke out a living. Through the years, they had adapted as best they could but often went hungry because of the limited food available, and they suffered from a variety of illnesses common in such rural areas. Often young children had to work in exchange for food, particularly when one or both parents were too sick to work themselves. He was touched by the shy smiles and curiosity of these malnourished children, and he wanted to help them.

What was your first impression when you came to see a meal in progress?
I noticed that a large group of children arrived an hour early so they could watch more of the educational television programs that are shown daily during mealtime. FFP is the only building with electricity in the area, and they are drawn to the big-screen television with pictures and stories of things they would never be able to imagine. The children walked in from all directions and then, after their meal, left for school in small groups of pals with arms linked, vivacious and happy. They had eaten a meal they really liked and had been exposed to something that fascinated them. Life was good.

Tell us about life in these villages and what difference Food for People has made.
There are eight villages that use the FFP facility. Some villagers have to walk at least three miles to get there. I visited the nearest village late one afternoon, along with two local FFP administrators from our partner organization in India, Premsagar Foundation. A cluster of mud houses about half a mile from FFP, the village was the most rural community I have visited in India. Adults were performing their end-of-day activities, some carrying home baskets of food from small plots of land where they grow what food they can, and children were scattered around playing in the narrow lanes between their homes.

It looked like a normal village scene. Later, however, I found out that during the two-and-a-half years FFP has been open, it has made a big difference to the whole community. The villagers’ lives have gradually improved: There is more understanding of good hygiene, and, as a result, less illness. Adults are working more regularly, providing food for themselves and their families in the evenings, and the children are now attending school consistently.

How has the program changed over time in response to the villagers’ needs?
The program adjusts to the villagers’ needs under the guidance of the village elders. For many months, we provided two meals each day for children and one meal a day for adults who were too ill to work. As the health of the adults improved, they spent their days working and stopped coming for food. At this point, they decided that they preferred to have the evening meal, meager as it was, at home with their families. So food is now served only once a day to the children, the sick, and the elderly. The time of the daily meal varies with the seasonal changes of the school schedule. The village elders determine the time that works best for those benefiting from the program.

Did you have a chance to speak with any of the children, their parents, or the elders? If so, what did they say to you?
Yes, it was fun to speak to the children and some of the parents. At first, they were shy around me, a stranger who was tall and blonde and didn’t speak their language. But through a translator, the children were soon bubbling with enthusiastic comments about how much they liked the food, smiling happily as they spoke about their favorites. Rice, subgee, or dahl were mentioned repeatedly. It was clear that the nature programs and other educational television shows were extremely popular as well. With few words, parents expressed that the daily meals brought better health and stability to the children’s lives.

What does FFP offer beyond a healthy meal for the day?
After talking to both villagers and administrators, I began to appreciate what a big difference being able to rely on healthy food, clean water, and a regular schedule really made. The consistent FFP meal structures the day in many ways, and it makes regular school attendance the norm. Hygiene, fresh water (often toted home in small quantities), and an orderly process for getting food and eating together are examples of fundamentals that were missing in the children’s lives before. So while they may not even notice, children now have a certain stability in their lives, which, in addition to nutritious food, opens the door to new possibilities in education and future work.

Also, some adult villagers work in the facility, not only earning money for their family’s needs, but learning hygiene, skills of food preparation, and organization. Others work in the fields owned by the facility, where much of the food is grown. They learn good methods for successful farming. What staples are not grown on the land are purchased from the local markets, and this helps the local economy.

For the children, the educational TV shows offer the only contact they have with other people, animals, landscapes, and ways of life outside the world of their very isolated villages. And with this view comes the possibility of considering further education and new opportunities. Walking or riding an old bicycle on rutted roads is the only transportation these rural people have. The villages are scattered throughout the area and are several miles apart from each other and even further from larger villages. Cities are completely out of reach for almost everyone.

It sounds as though FFP is playing a significant role in the possibility of a more hopeful future for these people.
There has certainly been progress toward that goal, but it isn’t one that will be reached quickly. The pace is slow and change is slow, but in the relatively short time the facility has been opened, one can already see a difference. Children and adults have gained weight and are healthier. Some of the children are beginning to think about continuing their education beyond the elementary level available locally, even if it means living away from home.

FFP has clearly had a successful beginning. Is the Foundation planning to build facilities in other places based on this model?
TPRF and its partner, Premsagar Foundation Nepal, have begun building a new facility in a rural area in Nepal. Some of the Nepalese people who are involved in the project have visited the FFP facility in Bantoli to understand more about how to run this type of program and to see for themselves the high standards that need to be achieved.

TPRF hopes to continue building facilities like this in other areas. We have come to understand that Prem Rawat’s vision to provide people in need with nutritious meals of the local cuisine is a way to help people prosper naturally and with dignity. With better health and more education, the children are growing up with many opportunities for their future. The cycle of poverty is being replaced with the possibility of a future that they could not have imagined before Food for People came to their area. It is heartening and rewarding to be part of this unique model program.

 

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About The Prem Rawat Foundation
The Prem Rawat Foundation was created in 2001 by Prem Rawat, known also as Maharaji, and has a dual mission of bringing his message of peace to people around the world and providing essential humanitarian aid to those in need. TPRF partners with other humanitarian organizations to bring food, water and rapid disaster relief where it is most needed.

 

This life, in a way, is too short. It would be nice if you could make all your mistakes, get it all together, show up somewhere, and say, “Okay, I’ve figured it out, and I’m ready.”

But it doesn’t work like that. We’re given some time, but we don’t know how much. In the beginning, we just want to be happy. That’s all we know. We don’t know about responsibilities. We don’t know about right and wrong. We don’t know about being human. But we know that we have the thirst to be happy—whatever that means.

Good things happen; bad things happen. As a child, the level of optimism is at an all-time high. Whatever happened yesterday happened, but today is today. No memories are kept, no blame. Whatever we did in that state was not pre-planned. We call this innocence, and to each one of us, this state of being is very beautiful.

And then we go through the period of learning—the grinding, pounding of information into our heads. The alphabet—A, B, Cs. You don’t know why A is A. It just is. You don’t know why one is one. It just is. And you are tested on it.

This keeps on going; you are being prepped for this world. What does that mean? It means that you have given up on your ideas, and you are now ready, willing, and able to take on the ideas that the world will give you, including how you believe in God. This is defined as responsibility. I call it “the giant leap of faith.”

And then an amazing thing happens. It doesn’t happen to everybody; it happens to some people. They meet someone who says, “No giant leap of faith necessary. You don’t have to jump. Just feel—feel your own thirst.”

“What?” They find this idea to be novel, but they see in it their own innocence.

“The happiness, the joy, that you want in your life is within you, and the thirst for that feeling has to be within you, too.”

Then they ask, “Could something really be so simple?”

Yes, it could. Because you need to hear, you have ears. Because you need to breathe, you have a nose. You need to be able to see, and eyes have been provided for you. If you need this fulfillment—not want, but need—the thirst for it has been provided for you as well.

Find the thirst. That is the first chapter—recognizing, understanding your own innocence. And not by concept, thought, ideas, or prompting from someone else. The need for fulfillment is embedded within—not in your logic, but in the innocence of the heart. That’s where you will find it. And that’s where you have to begin. If we are thirsty and go looking for water, we won’t get distracted: “Did you see that bird? Did you see that rock? Oh, look at that contrail in the sky.” No. Water, water, only water. It is a need, a passion.

A human being’s true passion is to be fulfilled. And that passion has survived all our discoveries, turmoil, successes, failures, disasters, catastrophes. However fragile it may seem, it has survived. As human beings have become busier and busier with weapons of destruction, going to the moon, mapping the earth, inventions, discoveries—you might have thought this would have been forgotten. Languages have been forgotten; customs that survived for thousands of years have been forgotten. But somehow, the quest to be fulfilled has survived.

Why am I telling you this? It is a bigger need than you realize. It’s huge. And you get to try every day, consciously, to be fulfilled, to be happy. There is no rewind button.

When I have come home to this moment called now, I feel my heart dancing with gratitude. Perhaps tears come, but they are of joy, not sorrow. Every fiber in my being rejoices to be alive. I have no quest for tomorrow, or even the moment yet to come. And that’s good, because it is a moment that I could live in forever.

Prem Rawat

Los Angeles, December 2008 — The Prem Rawat Foundation (TPRF) has extended its work with Compartimos Bienestar y Salud Para Los Niños Maya I.A.P. in Mexico to provide a breakfast program for the 59 students of Alfredo Peniche Erosa elementary school in San Pedro Chenchela, Espita, Yucatán, through the end of the school year in June 2009.

San Pedro Chenchela is a small Mayan community with only one elementary school. Typically, the children there come from families trying to cope with severe poverty. They arrive at school hungry, as the only breakfast available to them at home is a hot drink made from soaking burned tortillas in water and sugar, simulating a kind of “coffee,” sometimes accompanied by a taco with a little tomato. Malnutrition in the area is rampant.

Now children arrive 45 minutes early for school to be served a nutritionally-balanced breakfast. The new program has become a community effort. Each school day, two teachers supervise the meal and four different mothers come to prepare the food while learning, in the process, the basics of clean food preparation and nutrition. While the meals are now quite substantial, initially they were small. Since the children were accustomed to eating so little, they might have become sick from too sudden a change.

Maria Jose Medina Diaz, President of Compartimos Bienestar y Salud Para Los Niños Maya, was moved to tears when she first saw the eager smiles on the faces of the children as they ate with such obvious enjoyment. “The teachers told us that the children were becoming more attentive in class and, in general, appeared more content,” she reported. “And the mothers often smiled and laughed as they learned to prepare the breakfasts. They seemed to be very happy for their children.”

TPRF first partnered with Compartimos Bienestar y Salud Para Los Niños Maya I.A.P. in 2006 to provide the supplies needed to replace roofs on water- and wind-damaged homes in two farming communities in the Cancun area after Hurricane Wilma, and later in 2007 to bring relief to flood victims in the state of Tabasco.

Photos Courtesy of Maria Jose Medina

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About Compartimos Bienestar y Salud Para Los Niños Mayas I.A.P.
Compartimos Bienestar y Salud Para Los Niños Mayas I.A.P. is a nonprofit organization under the laws of Mexico which provides, in collaboration with other national and international foundations, services and goods to children and families suffering from malnutrition problems and extreme poverty in the Yucatán State of Mexico. 

About The Prem Rawat Foundation
The Prem Rawat Foundation was created in 2001 by Prem Rawat, known also as Maharaji, and has a dual mission of bringing his message of peace to people around the world and providing essential humanitarian aid to those in need. TPRF partners with other humanitarian organizations to bring food, water and rapid disaster relief where it is most needed. To learn more about TPRF’s humanitarian initiatives, Prem Rawat and his message of peace, please visit www.tprf.org.

 

There is a lot going on around the world. But I want to talk to each one of you about this life, about this time that we have. It’s not often that somebody points out the importance of life itself. We live in a world that sees it very differently.

I’ll give you an example. Today, I wanted to know about the latest hurricane. So I turned on the TV. They were talking about how many people might get hurt, how many millions of dollars in damages the last hurricane had caused, and how much damage this one could do. 

Then, all of a sudden, there was an advertisement saying, “Are you overweight? Would you like to lose five to ten pounds? Then this medicine is for you!” And I’m thinking, “Wait a minute. Half of the United States is in trouble, and we’re talking about being five to ten pounds overweight?” That’s the world we live in. What reality is and what it is not has become an incredibly fine line. So fine, in fact, that it is almost indistinguishable.

A long time ago, someone said, “As far as your eyes can see, you can consider it to be an illusion.” In our little world, we have made compartments for everything. So when we hear a deep statement like this, we don’t really want to act on it. If we did, the consequences would be amazing. You’d come out of your garage and realize, “My house is an illusion.” You’d look at your wife and say, “You’re an illusion, honey.” You’d look at your kids and your car in the same way. I mean, it would be almost paralyzing. You’d wonder, “Wait a minute—as far as the eye can see, it is all an illusion?”

So, we have compartments, and we say, “Well, this is one of those deep thoughts.” And then we move along. We go on our way because we don’t really want to change. If it means saying, “Oh, I love changes,” and not having to change, we say that, too. And people actually make these declarations, “I love changes.” As long as nobody causes them to change, it’s okay.

I ask people, “Do you have peace in your life?” “Yes.” “Really?” “Oh, yes, yes. I read scriptures, I go jogging every day, I do yoga. I have peace. Now, where is the ice cream?” And that’s it.

Why am I talking to you about illusion and reality? Does it matter that all this is an illusion? Does it matter that there is a reality? Yes, it does. Why? Because I see myself in relation to all the things that I am surrounded by. If I didn’t see any relationship between those things and me, then it wouldn’t be a problem. But when I see that relationship, I am caught.

The point is that all we consider to be real is not. We have our relatives or “relations” and all the people we love. There will be a time when all these relationships will come to an end. There will be a time when they can no longer reciprocate our love. So, why am I talking to you about this? My point is, if you’re going to have a relationship, have a relationship with something inside of you, too. If you’re going to have loved ones, find the love that is inside of you as well, because this is the one that transcends the limitations of this world.

I hope you understand what I’m trying to say. When you go to somebody’s house for dinner, what do you carry away with you? Well, you still have food in your stomach, but you also carry the memory of the enjoyment you had. Learn how to truly enjoy, because when you know how to enjoy, you take that with you in a heart that is full.

Wherever you go, whatever you do, whatever situation you go through, you carry a joy with you. But if you have not understood and included your true self in this life of yours then, yes, you live in a world of illusion. Somehow, you think that this will all be here forever. But it won’t.

There is something real in you. There is something beautiful in you. If you want to be mesmerized by beauty, be mesmerized by the beauty that is within you. If you want to understand something, understand yourself. If you want to love, love this beautiful breath that comes into you. If you do this, you will be given a gift of peace, joy, love—not in thoughts, not in words, but in feeling. And that is no ordinary gift.

Prem Rawat

Los Angeles, November 2008 —The Prem Rawat Foundation (TPRF) has made a grant of US$25,000 to ORBIS UK, a beneficiary of the 2008 Lord Mayor of the City of London’s Appeal, to support ORBIS UK and the Lord Mayor’s Childhood Blindness Programme in India.

According to ORBIS UK, India is home to almost 20% of the world’s blind children. Over 320,000 children under the age of 16 are totally blind, while even more are visually impaired and at risk of losing their sight. At least half of these children could likely be cured with proper care, yet only 1% of India’s ophthalmologists are trained to treat children.

“This donation will certainly make a real contribution in achieving our aim to make the lives of future generations brighter,” says Wendy Lloyd, director of the Lord Mayor’s Appeal 2008. “It is enormously encouraging to receive such fantastic support.”

The TPRF grant will support ORBIS UK and the Lord Mayor’s Childhood Blindness Programme in the development of two children’s eye care centers, in partnership with local hospitals in Jaipur and Udaipur, areas in the state of Rajasthan where there are now no pediatric ophthalmologists. These centers will provide eye screening for 200,000 children, with an estimated 23,000 receiving medical treatment; 2,000 receiving eye surgery; and 10,000 families educated about detecting problems and protecting their vision. Equipment and personnel will be provided to sustain long-term eye care services for children in poor local communities.

It is estimated that the economic impact of blindness in India is approximately US$4.4 billion annually. Blindness and visual impairment limit education and life choices and place a heavy burden on families and the wider community. Blind and visually impaired children in India almost never receive an education, get married or live independent lives.

Photographs Courtesy of ORBIS

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About ORBIS UK
ORBIS UK is a London-based affiliate of ORBIS International, a nonprofit, global development organization whose mission is to eliminate avoidable blindness in developing countries by strengthening the capacity of local eye health partners to prevent and treat avoidable blindness. ORBIS has pioneered the introduction of pediatric ophthalmology services in seven rural districts of India. It also operates a DC-10 Flying Eye Hospital that brings the gift of sight to developing countries around the world.

About The Prem Rawat Foundation
The Prem Rawat Foundation was created in 2001 by Prem Rawat, known also as Maharaji, and has a dual mission of bringing his message of peace to people around the world and providing essential humanitarian aid to those in need. TPRF partners with other humanitarian organizations to bring food, water and rapid disaster relief where it is most needed. To learn more about TPRF’s humanitarian initiatives, Prem Rawat and his message of peace, please visit http://tprf.org/pressrel/20081125_ORBIS.htm.