Los Angeles, September 20, 2007 — Immediately following the recent earthquake in Peru, The Prem Rawat Foundation (TPRF) took action to help the surviving victims. Within a week, TPRF partnered again with Friends of the World Food Program (WFP) to assist victims of a natural disaster. Karen Sendelback, President and CEO of Friends of WFP, wrote, “Your gift will go toward helping to save the lives of hungry Peruvians affected by the recent earthquake.”

On August 15, the south-central area of Peru suffered a 7.9 magnitude earthquake and numerous aftershocks. More than 500 people died. Massive destruction leveled homes, hospitals, schools, churches and government buildings, affecting over 60,000 people.

TPRF responded with a much-needed cash contribution to Friends of the WFP. It will fund delivery and distribution of food and other necessities both in rural areas and at shelters and refugee camps near Pisco, Ica and Huancavelica.

The total budget for the relief operation is approximately $3.5 million, according to Ms. Sendelback, who is also the fiscal agent for the effort. Much help is expected from in-kind donations of food and commodities, she says, but the cash donation from TPRF is critical to logistical efforts for the emergency operations.

WFP’s response began almost immediately after the earthquake struck and will continue for nine months to complement the Government's emergency response efforts. The needy receive ready-to-eat, high-energy biscuits, followed by a ration of rice, flour, beans and vegetable oil for home preparation. Small children, pregnant women and other high-risk groups get special food distribution and supplementary feeding. Approximately 80,000 people in rural areas, shelters and refugee camps will benefit.

Friends of the WFP is a “U.S.-based, non-profit organization dedicated to building support for the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and other hunger-relief efforts.” WFP is described as the world's largest humanitarian agency, feeding 90 million people annually (including 58 million children) in the world's poorest countries.

The humanitarian focus of TPRF is on providing nutritious food, clean water and eye care for people most in need. The Foundation often partners with other reputable organizations such as Oxfam or the Red Cross to bring food, water and disaster relief rapidly where it is most needed.

Those wanting to support The Prem Rawat Foundation’s efforts to give people in need a chance to rebuild their lives in a way that respects their dignity may do so on TPRF's Web site. Contributions go directly to provide essential aid where it is needed, whether it is assistance after a disaster or nutritious food, clean water or essential medical care for those in need.

 

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The Prem Rawat Foundation was founded by Prem Rawat, known worldwide as Maharaji, whose aim is to improve the quality of life for people in need by providing food, water, medical care, and disaster relief.

Discover more about Prem Rawat, his message of hope and peace, and the humanitarian initiatives of The Prem Rawat Foundation

Sometimes we get carried away with everything that is happening in the world, and it’s incredibly confusing. People tell you, “This is how it is.” They tell you about God, about afterlife, about before life.

Life is about now. Somebody told me once that I was an emperor in my last lifetime. So what? If you live your life by explanations, maybe it would important to know what you were in your last lifetime or what will happen after this lifetime. But if you live understanding the value of this life, all those things are irrelevant. The only thing that is relevant is that I am alive. Now.

When you live with explanations, only one thing is created. Confusion. When you live by the value of your existence today, what is created is clarity, simplicity, gratitude, understanding. Not speculation. If you say, “Explain to me why my tire went flat,” you will surely find someone who will explain it to you. There is no shortage of explainers.

Why? Because we truly do not know. It’s easy to say, “I am Jose or Maria or Patrick.” Excuse me. You are not that. You’re something else. It’s easy to say, “My mother’s name is this, and my father’s name is this.” But you’re something more than that. “I am a college graduate. I have a degree, I’m a doctor, I’m a lawyer, I’m a this, I’m a that.” No. You’re something more than that, too. “I’m a housewife.” No. You’re something more than that, too. “I’m a mother, a father.” You’re something more than that, too.

All these relationships you measure yourself by are relative. They are, and then they’re not. You are in the process of moving on. It doesn’t feel like it. You need to understand what is moving and what is not moving. In this river of life, you are sitting on a boat, and it’s moving. When you look out of the window, it looks like all the things you see are moving. They’re not moving. They’re there, and they willbe there. You are moving, and you won’t be there.

What is perishable? This vessel that you are in is perishable. One day, it won’t be. This vessel is moving. You are moving. Since when? Since you took your first breath. First breath. Most amazing thing. Before that, you were blue. Then you took a breath, and the process of life started to unfold. Powerful. And another breath and another and another.

The unfolding of the same power that unfolds the universe is what just came and touched me, bringing me this gift of life. Bringing me every day, every moment, every star. This is a miracle. Every baby that is born is a miracle. We do not understand that, and that’s why we suffer. Having everything, we think we have nothing. Burdened by our problems, we hobble through life.

Yet how beautiful it is in this moment. I cannot go back to yesterday, however hard I try. And no matter how much I try, I cannot go to tomorrow. To me, that is supreme wisdom. Here I am in this moment, and here, everything is wonderful.

Young people want to live in the future. Older people want to live in the past. Nobody wants to live in the present. And where has joy placed itself? Where has understanding placed itself? In the present.

So if you ever wonder why it is so hard to have understanding about life, maybe the answer is: You don’t live where it lives. You have gotten used to confusion, and it’s not nice.

What can you do? Learn how to live in today. And what is today? Another chance you have been given you to fully feel what it feels like to be alive. Amazing. And this is what life is all about.

Prem Rawat

Prem Rawat talks about the reality that comes with being alive: “This is the only reality, the only kind of reality that allows you to be rich and to be poor. Allows you to shed a few tears and to crack a smile. Allows you to dance and to sit still. Allows you to call others your own. Allows you to be an uncle, a mother, a dad, an aunt. Because without that reality, none of this is possible.” Watch a video clip