The life, this existence, is pure by nature. You are pure by nature. That is your nature. But there are things that come in and cause doubt and confusion. That’s why it is so important to have someone who can clean, who can help you straighten out your priorities, put you back in touch with your heart, with what is important.

We look at our situation and say, “It’s hopeless.” I look at it and say, “No. Wash it. Here is the soap.” When you wash it, the dirt is gone. Cleanliness isn’t poured over the shirt. No. Soap has the capacity to bind with dirt and take it away as it is washed. And purity returns.

Let me give you an example. There is a tiny mouse that lives in Africa. This little mouse doesn’t have big teeth or big claws to defend itself against the eagles or hawks that attack it. It has only one thing—speed. It can run really fast. But by running fast, it is very easy for this little mouse to stumble and fall and get swooped up. So this mouse has a strategy.

The strategy is to use what it has been given—speed—and to make sure the road is clear so it doesn’t fall. It has researched all the routes from its home to the places it needs to go for food. Meticulously, it keeps those tracks clean—no twigs, no rocks, nothing. When it spots a hawk, it runs fast and makes it back home. The strategy works because they’re still around.

It’s only a cute little mouse, but can we learn something from it? That’s what we need to do in our lives, too—keep those tracks clean. If we can keep those tracks clean, when that time comes that we need to use them, we’ll make it.

There are people who will tell you, “Chant this mantra and clouds won’t come.” I say, “No matter how hard you try, clouds will come, and it will rain. You cannot change that. So carry an umbrella—the umbrella of clarity. When it rains, simply open up the umbrella.” Why do you want to change the clouds or the seasons? It’s going to rain. When it does, open up the umbrella, and you won’t get wet. Go out, but take the umbrella.

Some people say, “I don’t need any help—my life is going nicely, my business is doing really well.” I stand at the crossing and say, “It’s going to rain. It’s going to rain.” Some people who don’t know about the umbrella say, “I don’t understand what he’s saying. I don’t get his message.” Those who know say, “Thank you for reminding me. Let me go get my umbrella. I don’t want to leave home without it.”

There is so much that is waiting for you. Inside of you, there is joy, peace, fulfillment. Accept that. It can be there always, but remember, if it is raining, it is not just a question of having an umbrella. One, it has to be open. Two, it has to cover your head. You can’t just hold the umbrella and say, “I had the umbrella open in my hand and I got wet.”

I can just remind you. I cannot do it for you. I will never walk behind you with an umbrella. I don’t do that and have never done that. But I can remind you, I can show you, and I can guide you.

Maharaji
   

What I have to say is really quite simple because it deals with every individual. I go around the world telling people that they are alive and that’s what means the most. And it needs to mean the most to you. You, yourself, need to understand the preciousness of your existence.

Peace begins with the understanding of what we have been given—this life. This existence needs to mean something. When it means nothing, human life—the one thing that is irreplaceable—has lost its value. Causes become greater than life itself, and life becomes a meaningless commodity in this great market where things are being traded all the time.

Today the sun rose, and you awoke. What did you think about? Your responsibilities. How do I know this? Because that’s what we all do. I’m not excluding myself. I need peace, too, like you. I am in the same boat as you are, and that’s what qualifies me to talk about it. If I were in some other boat, it would just be ideas and theories, but I am in the same boat.

You hear about the frailty of life. Yesterday, somebody told me that a very good friend of mine passed away. I stopped and thought about it. And I understood in that moment—once again—how precious life is and that no day can be wasted. I understood once again that, of all the gifts I have been given, the greatest is the breath that comes into me every moment.

Every day is like one lifetime: the sun rises and I am born. All these things happen. Some things happen that I am in control of, and some things happen that I am not in control of. Some things happen that I like; some things happen that I don’t like. But whether good or bad, right or wrong things happen, the sun does set again, the eyes close, and I fall asleep.

I want peace every day. This is my ambition. Everyone has their definition of what they are looking for, and they look in so many places for the one thing that is within. What we’re looking for is happiness, what we’re looking for is contentment and the avenues to get to it. So we search, and we search, and we do what is necessary. And in all our searching and all our doing—who do we forget? Ourselves.

Whatever the equation is that you have created, please include yourself in it, because without you, without your heart, without peace in your life, there can never ever be peace in the world. The solution lies within—in understanding that, yes, peace is a possibility. Peace begins with you. Peace is possible for you. Yours is this life—the gift you have been given. Awaken and accept it.

You are a tourist, and you have come here on an incredible vacation. What are you doing? Are you enjoying this existence in its truest sense? Or are you busy saying, “Let me fix the carpets, the walls, the window. Once I am through with this, I will really enjoy my vacation.” By the time you fix all that, the vacation will be over.

Don’t wait. This is your time. Grab the request in your heart for peace and find that contentment in your life. Peace is beautiful. Peace is real. Peace is that passion for existence when I am caught up in a feeling, an understanding, of what life means—every day, every hour, every breath. Then I can begin to savor what peace is all about.

Maharaji