Here is a riddle: There is something that we have all been given plenty of, but it’s never enough. We want more. Everybody goes around pretending they don’t have enough of it. We’re given this one thing, but we can never keep it. What do you suppose it is? Time.

We say, “I don’t have time. I don’t have time. I don’t have time.” And it just keeps coming and coming. All the time we get is ours, but we don’t get to keep any of it. It slips through, and the only thing we are left with is what we do in that time.

So what is it that we should do in that time? Don’t underestimate this little question. This has been debated for centuries: What should we do? We are such “do” creatures that we forget certain fundamental things.

The thirst for fulfillment is innate; it is within you. If you feel the thirst, you are doing what you should be doing. We are driven to do so much in our lives. We think we have to do so much. All our responsibilities, all our ideas, all our thoughts—it’s, “Do, do, do.”

But once in our lifetime, it would be nice to sit down and feel what we really want to do. The quest for doing it would come from within, not from the outside. It would not be driven by this world. So much of what we think we have to do comes from somebody else.

What does the bathroom cabinet of life look like? All the fixes: “Take this anti-stress thing. Go for a walk, go for a jog, go do this, go do that.” Nobody says, “Why are you getting stressed?” It’s something to think about because there is one more element to living that we have not included. It’s not about going to the moon, and it’s not about accomplishments, and it’s not about what we could do.

There is another quest within each human being, and that is the desire to be fulfilled, not in thought or imagination, but in earnest. It is the desire to be in that one place which is surrounded by certainty, peace.

Life is not about solving problems. Every time you solve a problem, there will be another one. In fact, some days you feel that you better not solve problems because that is the only way to avoid new ones.

People make excuses why we cannot have peace, but how many recognize that the quest for peace has been going on for an extremely long time. We have had a dream for a really, really long time. A spectacular dream, a dream that said to be in peace—not fear, doubt, pain, sorrow, or confusion—a dream to be in clarity.

Peace is to be in clarity, to feel that understanding, to be in joy not sorrow. And there dwells reality—not a theory, an argument, a definition—but a feeling. True reality is a feeling, to know in clarity.

Peace is the reward. Joy is the reward. A life fulfilled—one at a time. That is the most incredible reward you can ever have. It’s the highest honor, the most noble quest—the quest for peace. It is always noble because there’s no end. Those who have felt the peace rejoice. The truest victory for every human being is not all the deserts you could cross or the mountains you could climb. It is about feeling, joining, admiring the place within. This is life, not the things that happen in it.

Each breath is a blessing. Be a fisherman. Somebody can show you how to cast that net within and catch as many of those blessings in your life as you can. Reel them in. Fill this vessel, understand, and rejoice. Feel free, really free. Feel the ultimate feeling. Feel happiness, peace every day. Feel the gratitude in your life every day. That’s what life is about.

Prem Rawat

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Maharaji, as Prem Rawat is widely known, talks about understanding the difference between juggling daily activities and the need of the heart to feel fulfilled. “Living is a celebration,” he says, “And you need to thrive every single day that has been provided to you.” Watch a video clip

Technorati Tags: human nature, life

Photo courtesy of Daniel Benah

Los Angeles, April 11, 2007 — More than 10,000 residents from four remote villages in Ghana now have a source of clean drinking water, thanks to a grant The Prem Rawat Foundation made to the National Council of Women of the United States a few months ago at a special event held at the United Nations in New York. A few days ago, representatives of the two organizations joined village elders, residents, and local officials in ceremonies commissioning the wells. Mary Singletary, president of NCW-US, represented her organization. TPRF was represented by Emmanuel Adjei, from Ghana.

A proverb in Ghana says, “He who brings water brings life.” Speaking at a ceremony commissioning a hand-operated well in the village of Azzar, home to 1,000 people, Mohammed Issah, an official of Ghana’s Eastern District, said, “With clean water, we can go about daily life without having to worry about waterborne diseases.” Another well was installed in Amagama, a village of the same size. These villages have no electricity, so the wells had to be dug by hand in rocky soil. 

Many people in rural Ghana face disease and death just to get the water they need for drinking, cooking, and washing. Fetching water is the responsibility of old women and young girls, who must rise early each morning to walk to streams which may be five to fifteen miles away. They return balancing huge buckets on their heads. Young girls have no time to go to school. Water from these sources often spreads disease, because it is also used for bathing, laundry, and watering animals and crops.

Photo courtesy of Daniel Benah

For residents of Klo-Agogo, Okornya-Somanya, Amagama, and Azzar, in Eastern Ghana, this deadly cycle has finally ended. “The people of the villages are happy and relieved that at long last, one of their major problems has been resolved with the provision of the wells,” said Quawo Nanye, a member of Ghana’s national assembly.  

A teacher in one village said she was grateful girls could now come to school promptly—not three hours after the boys. “This will give them a chance to complete their education and give them a better start in life.”

Electric-powered wells were installed in two larger communities: Okornya-Somanya, with 3,000 residents, and Klo-Agogo, with 5,000. In Klo-Agogo, a regional trading center, dignitaries took turns sipping the first water from the well, as villagers cheered.

Regional Minister Yaw Barimi, governor of Ghana’s Eastern Region, spoke to a large crowd at the ceremony. “This well will improve the lives of our people,” he said. “We are thankful to The Prem Rawat Foundation and the National Council of Women of the United States for their generous contribution of this well.” 

Photo courtesy of Daniel Benah

Photo courtesy of Francis Ahore

Photo courtesy of Francis Ahore

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Let me begin with this: What makes a cow happy? I’ve been around cows, and I can tell you one thing. When a cow is being a cow, the cow is the happiest. When is an alligator happy? Being an alligator. You can put a diamond-laced chain on the neck of that alligator, put lipstick on it, tie it onto a very expensive chair, and say, “You look beautiful.” But the alligator doesn’t really care about those things. It just wants to be an alligator; it just wants to do the alligator thing—whatever that is. Being a cat is what makes a cat happy. Being a dog is what makes a dog happy. So what is it that makes the human being happy?

The question is: what makes you happy? Before you answer that, keep one thing in mind. The alligator is not dependent on anything else—just being itself is what makes it happy. For the cat it is being a cat.

It would be a sad day if your happiness depended on someone else or something else. If it did, you’re in trouble. Now your life is dedicated not to enjoying happiness, but to having that person around who makes you happy or preserving that situation that makes you happy.

People ask: “What are we doing in this world?” We try to preserve all that we think is good, that we like. The whole world is busy trying to make that happen. Nobody’s enjoying themselves because enjoyment is not important now; what has become important is to make sure that those circumstances are there, that those people are there.

Can true joy be dependent on anyone else? Is that a harsh or a sweet reality? For those who have felt true joy, it is the sweetest reality. It’s a reality that says, “I exist. I am alive. The most beautiful gift, most incredible wealth of breath is being given to me and I am conscious. I am aware. I have not only a yearning to be happy, but I have the source of happiness within me.” Both things. Having the yearning to be in peace and the source of peace within you are both important. A lot of people want to know about peace and ask me, “So where is it? How can we get it?”

I tell them, “Peace isn’t the problem. Peace is inside of you. I know that. And in fact, you know that. The problem isn’t peace; the problem is the yearning.” Standing in the middle of the farm where you have tomatoes, eggplant, oranges, and a peach tree, the problem isn’t food. The problem is hunger. Peace is innate. The issue is your desire for peace.

How can I be dependent upon myself when I don’t even know who I am? Who am I? An alligator knows who an alligator is. A cat knows who a cat is. A dog knows, “I’m a dog.” The human being, who has the biggest brain per body size, who has the run of the earth and the surface of the ocean, asks: “Why am I here? What am I doing here? Who am I?”

Maybe I will be happiest if I can just be me—if I only knew who I was. In your life, things change and have kept changing. There were things that were not good, and they went. And there were things that were superb, and they went, too—an indiscriminate throwing out of stuff. The only thing that has remained constant is the desire to be fulfilled.

When I am fulfilled, the desire to be fulfilled even grows greater. It’s like love. When you don’t love, there is no love. When you love, then you love even more, and then you can love even more. And then you can love even more.

A lot of people think the objective in life is to be fulfilled so that they won’t have the desire to be fulfilled. That would be a sad day. When you fall in love with someone, you don’t actually fall in love so that you can stop loving—do you? You fall in love so you can love even more, and that has remained constant.

You can truly enjoy your life. I offer the possibility of knowing you so that you can be you. Without knowing you, you cannot be you, and if you cannot be you, you cannot be happy—like the cat, the crocodile, and the cow. It’s important for you to know you so that you can be as happy as you can be. This is how simple it is.

Find out who you are so you can be who you are. Whenever, wherever, even in the dark hours, be who you are so you can be happy, so you can be content, so you can find peace. Yes, you have many, many important things that you have to do. Place this one at the top, and then all the rest will fall in place.

Prem Rawat

Maputo, Mozambique, March 30, 2007 — The Prem Rawat Foundation made a critical grant to The Foundation for Community Development (FDC), by supporting a program with the aim of providing relief efforts for the victims of the floods and cyclone that occurred in the central and southern regions of Mozambique.

The contribution is to be used to provide emergency food supplies for children and women in the Vilankulo and Caia districts affected by the cyclone and floods that occurred in the first two months of 2007. The funds will help make nutritious food available for 1,000 children and 300 women and their families.

In recognition of the Foundation’s contribution for flood relief, Graça Machel, FDC president of the board and Nelson Mandela’s wife, said: “We would like to express our sincere gratitude to The Prem Rawat Foundation for the help provided to the communities of Vilankulo and Caia districts affected by the recent cyclone and floods. Thanks to your support, children, pregnant and breastfeeding women, and their families in the benefited areas can now cope with the extreme difficulties posed by the natural disasters. On their behalf, FDC would like to express its heartfelt appreciation.”

FDC is a Mozambican non-profit foundation that aims to strengthen the capacity of disadvantaged communities with a view to overcoming poverty and promoting social justice in Mozambique by empowering local communities to take the lead in their own development.

Over the last 10 years, FDC has been present in all 11 provinces of Mozambique, contributing to community development initiatives by providing resources to improve people’s living conditions in the areas of education (with a focus on girls’ education), health (with an emphasis on the reduction of infant and maternal mortality), prevention of HIV/AIDS and reduction of its impact on infected and affected people, water supply, food security, and income generation. FDC also contributed to the strengthening of the capacity of civil society organizations and engaged in advocacy activities through co-financing and participating in several advocacy groups such as the Mozambican Debt Group, G20 civil society platform, Mozambican Education Network, Forum for African Women Educationalists - Mozambique, Regional Campaign against Child Abuse, Network of NGOs against Drugs, Land Tenure Campaign, Anti-Personal Landmines Campaign. During the 2000 floods, FDC made a significant contribution toward relief for the population affected in the Gaza and Maputo provinces and during the follow-up phase of reconstruction.

For further information on the Foundation for Community Development, visit:  
www.fdc.org.mz/.

The Prem Rawat Foundation supports significant humanitarian initiatives that improve the quality of life for people in need around the world by providing basic necessities such as food, water, medical care, and disaster relief. The Foundation also makes significant grants to effective relief organizations such as the United Nations World Food Programme.

In addition to its humanitarian activities, the Foundation also furthers the message of peace of Prem Rawat, widely known by the honorary title of Maharaji. Prem Rawat has spent the last four decades traveling around the world with the message that each person can find fulfillment by discovering “a peace that is already within, waiting to be discovered.”

 

Photos courtesy of Eduardo Valdivia

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