I travel a lot and talk to people about peace. People have so many different interpretations of peace. Using the analogy of a lamp, we want to see lit lamps of peace on the borders of India and Pakistan, Beirut, Israel, Palestine—wherever it may be. But peace is a little more than lit lamps. And that’s what we have to consider.

The body of an oil lamp is made of clay. In the lamp is a cotton wick, and in the bowl is oil. If you light the wick, it will burn for only a few minutes before going out. If you want the lamp to stay lit for a long time, you need oil. You may not actually see it, yet it is the oil that is helping the wick to stay lit and give light.

There is a peace that is not just a surface peace—not just a peace of ideas or conditions, but a peace that goes far beyond those things. The peace that we need to get in touch with and that we should be discussing around the world today is the peace we would like to see reflected on the borders of nations.

People not fighting each other is just a reflection, a consequence of something else that happened. Not the real thing.

A mother or father would like to see their child smile. It’s a wonderful feeling. So how should they go about that? Pull their cheeks? Put a piece of wood between their lips?

This is what we try to do. We have created a qualification for peace, and that is: no wars. But “no wars” is a consequence of something, just like war is a consequence of something. Peace will happen when every one of us can feel that feeling of peace within us.

If you want to light a room, you light the lamps. Each lamp is a human being. If you want peace on this earth, you will have to light these lamps called human beings.

We have fundamental needs, and unless they are fulfilled, it really doesn’t matter what we do. We have traded today for tomorrow. Today was spent planning for tomorrow. But tomorrow will never come because tomorrow always comes as today. How will tomorrow be spent? Planning for the next day.

The world is in a rut. We have traded peace for prosperity when the formula has always been peace first, then prosperity. Not prosperity, then peace. We think that all we need is prosperity. If everybody had food, everything would be fine. But even when people have food, they still have needs.

There is something that has been the quest of every civilization on the face of this earth. The thirst for peace. The thirst for peace lies within you, and peace is also within you. Begin with yourself. Begin with respecting what today means to you, instead of trading it for tomorrow. What does this moment that you are alive mean to you? Your life is like a necklace—one moment, another moment, another moment, another moment.

You are the first step. Peace begins with you, not somebody else. All our lives, things have come from somewhere else. But the process of peace begins with you. It begins with you understanding the possibility that being alive brings.

So much happens that attracts our attention. Maybe one other thing should attract our attention, and that’s the possibility of peace. So much happens that distracts us. Maybe there is one thing we should never be distracted from, and that is the possibility brought by life itself.

I present people with the possibility of themselves. I remind them to pour the oil in the lamp. It’s fine to decorate the clay, and you need the wick, but don’t forget the oil. There are many priorities and demands, many things that have to be done. But begin with the very simple formula of peace and prosperity. That formula was laid out a long, long time ago. And peace begins with you.

Maharaji

Technorati Tags: peace, peace within, The Prem Rawat Foundation

Just over a year ago, The Prem Rawat Foundation (TPRF) inaugurated Food for People (FFP), an innovative food initiative, in a remote area of Jharkhand, in northeastern India, where tribal people have historically struggled just to survive from day to day. Situated on six acres of land, FFP is a newly constructed, impeccably clean 10,0000-square-foot facility, equipped with a large kitchen, separate storage and food preparation rooms, a spacious dining area, and modern sanitation facilities. During its first year of operation, FFP served over 150,000 hot, nutritious indigenous meals to children and adults.

Before this facility was built, children scrounged for grub worms and sought out the nests where rats store food for their young, snatching what they could for themselves. Many adults suffered from general weakness or illness and were unable to earn enough money to take care of their families. Children dropped out of school at a very early age to begin working in exchange for food. The population as a whole, generally overlooked by the efforts of larger charities, has been caught in a devastating cycle of poverty and disease, causing a high rate of infant mortality and short life expectancy.

What a difference one year has made. Gaining better health from regular nutritionally balanced hot meals, many previously unemployed adults have been able to get jobs in nearby villages and are now providing their family’s evening meals at home.

The children are noticeably healthier as well. School attendance and children’s ability to concentrate are both improving, and there is reason to expect that more young people will stay in school long enough to develop marketable skills, which will help them earn a better living. In time, they could be able to support their aging parents, as well as provide a better, more stable life for their own children. And equally important, people are beginning to feel hope that their lives can improve and that their children will have a future far better than the villagers have had for many generations.

Prem Rawat’s vision is straightforward and simple: if food aid can be offered while respecting local customs and the individual’s dignity, adults can then take steps to earn an income and children can be educated. Everyone can have the possibility of a more stable and healthy life. From the inception of this project, The Prem Rawat Foundation has involved the villagers in numerous ways and has consulted the village elders in the development and administration of Food for People, including meal planning that is based on the recipes of their traditional food.

People come to FFP from several villages within a ten- to thirty-minute walking distance. During the meals, educational TV programs are shown in their native Hindi language, introducing the children to the world beyond their village, showing people of different cultures, as well as animals and landscapes they have never even imagined existed. For many of the children and adults who visit FFP, this has been their first exposure to using modern toilets, washing their hands before eating, waiting in line for their turn to be served, and being able to count on a hot nutritious meal at least once a day, year-round.

After attending the one-year celebration in India of the Food for People program, Linda Pascotto, president of TPRF, witnessed firsthand the truly amazing changes that had occurred in a single year. The somewhat glazed look on many children’s faces had been replaced by alertness, hollow cheeks had filled out, and sounds of chatter and laughter were everywhere. It was summertime, and school began in the cooler early morning hours to avoid the extreme heat of the day. The children came for their main meal on their way home from school. Orderly lines formed effortlessly as children washed their hands and picked up a thali (traditional rimmed food plate) that would soon be filled with delicious hot food.

“The elderly, the children, and the parents have all expressed their appreciation,” she reports. “One thirteen-year-old boy told me, ‘The food always tastes good. I am feeling better now and am starting to do well in school.’ A young father told me, ‘You are doing a good job. Our children and parents from the village are getting healthier. We are so happy with what you are offering.’ Another told me, ‘Now that I have enough to eat, I am gaining back my ability to work. Without food, I was too weak to work. Now I have enough strength to support my family.’”

Villagers are clearly proud of this facility and impressed by how clean it is and how well it works. And they are part of the effort. FFP is staffed by local people—some hired and some volunteers—who have been trained to run the facility, keep it clean, cook and serve the food. As much food as possible is purchased from local markets, which helps the local economy, and some vegetables are grown on the few acres of FFP land. The village elders recommend the schedule of meals according to the season and help to envision future possibilities. In a new initiative, family members will be able to fill up tiffins, metal meal containers, with hot food to take back to the sick or elderly who are unable to come themselves.

There is general agreement that the first year has been a complete success, full of promise for the future. It will take time to evaluate the long-term impact on the community, but already there are signs that the chain of destitution is being broken. For Linda Pascotto, “We have been in operation long enough to see that once people have the health and strength that comes from regular access to nutritious food, the adults can work in the villages and the children can remain in school. As families become more self-sufficient, they need less help and are proud to regain their independence. It is a process of reversing the downward spiral that so many have been caught in for so long. We are already beginning to make plans to expand this model in new locations, initially in Nepal and southern India.”

 

“What do you practice in your life?” Maharaji asks. “Whatever you practice, you’re going to get good at. If you practice peace, you’re going to get very good at it. If you practice knowing yourself, you’re going to get very good at it. And you will know who you are.” Watch a video clip of an excerpt of this address by Maharaji

Technorati Tags: human nature, peace within, The Prem Rawat Foundation

Not too long ago, I had an interview with a magazine. The interviewer was saying that people have so many explanations. I agree. Who is considered good? The one who can come up with the best explanation. People want to explain God. People want to explain life. People want to explain what is good, what is truth, what is salvation. And these are things that can only be felt but not explained.

You cannot explain what life is. You need to feel it. You cannot explain breath. You need to breathe it. You cannot explain water. If you are thirsty, you need to drink it. You cannot explain food. If you are hungry, you need to eat it.

You cannot explain what this existence means. It can only be felt. If you understand that, an entirely different door opens up to you. You begin to understand by feeling — not through explanations. You begin to understand the preciousness of life, the joy, and the truest responsibility to be in gratitude to the most magnificent power that has made it possible for you to be alive. That’s what it means to be alive. Not doubt. Not confusion. Not pain, not suffering, not misery, not darkness. Not sorrow and lamenting and wishing. Being alive means to be crystal clear.

You have imagined this entire existence and what it means. Day after day after day, this monster that you have created could never survive except that you keep feeding it with explanations. Every day, you have to explain what happened, what it means to be alive. Every day, you have excuses for why you were unable to feel gratitude, why you lived another day unconsciously. And before you know it, you run out of days. And then you finally know without a doubt all that you should have done. But now you don’t have the means to do it! People have explanations for that, too: “Life is cruel.”

When you live in the world of explanations, what will you hear? More explanations. And what I am telling you is that more explanations is not what you need. What you need is real water to quench your thirst, not another explanation of water. What you need is real food to satisfy your hunger. Otherwise, you’re going to go hungry from here on out. Satisfying your hunger is not about explanations or ideas or being close to food. If that were the case, hungry people would lean on restaurant walls and be satisfied.

If it won’t work with food, why would it work in the inner realm? Is the hunger for peace an illusion? Or is it real? Is the hunger to be content an illusion? Or is it real? A very good question. And the answer is: It’s not an illusion! It touches every single human being on the face of this earth, and it has been an issue since time immemorial. What people have done is to learn how to evade the issue — not tackle it but evade it.

I tell everyone who will listen to me that you don’t need to evade it. Peace is real, joy is real, contentment is real, and there is a way to get to it. I know. I’ve been talking to people about it for a long time. Don’t take my word for it. Find out for yourself.

Somebody told me, “Here is a person who is very independent.” I said, “He is dependent on being independent.” We would all like to be “independent” because we are so dependent on being independent. Another explanation.

We’re drowning in our own explanations. Why do you have so many explanations? You cannot explain it. Who can? Everybody has an explanation. Why are there people dying? People have explanations. Why are there people hungry in this world? People have explanations. But why do you have so many explanations for these things? Nobody knows.

Feel at home in peace, not in confusion. Feel at home in the feeling, not in explanations. Feel at home in your true self.

If you want to be independent, then be independent of confusion. Be independent of doubt. Be independent of all that is not yours. And feel. Feel reality in its magnificence. Not from fear. Because fear is not yours, either. You were made to behold joy. This is what belongs in this vessel, in this human body. This is what it was made for. Not all the other stuff.

Who you listen to is up to you. That’s always your choice. You can listen to the voice inside of you that says, “Everything is wrong.” Or you can listen to the voice that says, “Be. Be free. Be clear. Enjoy this life.”

Many people will tell you that you don’t have a choice. I know you have a choice. Every day that you hear the two voices, you have a choice which one to listen to. You won’t be able to stop hearing them. But which one you pay attention to is up to you. Know. Understand. And be fulfilled. Every day. No excuses. No explanations. Be fulfilled every single day.

When I talk, people say, “I have never heard that explanation before!” I tell them, “This is not an explanation. I’m offering you the real thing.” Feel it. Feel that peace in your life. This is the real thing. The magazine interviewer asked me, “So, do you just go around showing people pictures of wells?” I said, “No, I make sure that their thirst is quenched. This is the possibility that I present.”

Prem Rawat (widely known as Maharaji)

Technorati Tags: human nature, peace within, The Prem Rawat Foundation

Los Angeles, May 9, 2007 — About 2,400 Indonesian villagers, stranded by floods in the Aceh province of Sumatra, received emergency supplies for two weeks in January, thanks to a grant from The Prem Rawat Foundation. The grant was made to the Yayasan IDEP Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides disaster relief while working for environmentally-based improvements in Indonesian food production. 
Last December, torrential rains in Aceh and North Sumatra triggered flash floods and landslides, forcing thousands of people to flee their homes. Rivers of mud and debris poured over villages, destroying thousands of homes. Some villages were cut off from help when the floods washed out roads and bridges. Villages in remote jungle areas were hit hard by the floods, especially in the areas of Tamiyang and Besitang that have suffered serious deforestation.

Within days of the flooding, Yayasan IDEP turned to The Prem Rawat Foundation for assistance. TPRF responded quickly with a grant that helped bring emergency food and water to families who had not been reached by other relief efforts. 

Volunteer teams from Yayasan Bahari, an Indonesian partner organization of IDEP, used boats, off-road vehicles, trucks, and motorbikes to rush relief to remote jungle areas. When the teams arrived, they found many villagers stranded on their rooftops. People had not eaten for days. The floods had destroyed all their food and crops.

In the village of Desa Kampung Lama, a mother named Ibu Ale cried as she accepted supplies for her family of five, including three small children. The family received fresh water, rice, noodles, high-protein biscuits, cooking oil, kerosene, and other vital supplies. The father, Pak Ali, a subsistence farmer, was so moved by the aid that he immediately joined a local relief team helping to restore fresh water and stop the spread of disease. Village wells had been clogged with mud, and volunteers worked around the clock to clean them. Teams pumped out as much mud as they could, then clambered down into the wells to haul out the rest in buckets. The TPRF grant helped bring clean water to about 5,000 people.

“We would like to acknowledge and express our sincere thanks to The Prem Rawat Foundation (TPRF), for the very timely support that has been provided for the victims of the flash floods and landslides in Aceh and North Sumatra provinces of Indonesia,” said Petra Schneider, executive director of Yayasan IDEP.

 

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