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(Prem Rawat) You live in a world where you are in debt. And you need to go to work every single day, not for you! But for other people who you have borrowed the money from to have your house, to afford that vacation, to maybe even afford the husband or wife that you have.
And every day you go because you owe! You owe; you owe; you owe; you owe; you owe. You go to a super-store; you go to the supermarket. You buy a banana, one banana, and you are in debt.
Because you can’t pay for it in cash; you pay for it with the credit card. And as soon as you pay for it with the credit card, you’re in debt till the bill comes and you pay it. Then you’ll be relieved of it. This is the world we live in. How did we get here?! Is this right? Is that how it should be?!
That you pursue nothing else – except every single day, you worry about paying off your debt. You need to work every single day so you can pay your debt. This will bring your food home; this will make sure you have a house, and this will make sure you have a car; this will make sure you have a wife; this will make sure you have a dog; this, you’ll have a cat; you have a – everything.
You go to debt; you go in debt to feed your cat, to feed your dog, to feed your fish! You go in debt to clean … . To buy the materials that will clean your toilet, you go in debt. You go in debt to buy the toothpaste that can clean your teeth! You go in debt to buy clothes that will keep you warm!
You are not indebted to the one who you should be indebted to – that power, that beauty that comes and fills you – that gives you the gift of life, free: not being in debt. No debt. Just gratitude, “Thank you.” You got a gift that is given to you every single day, without incurring any debt. Free.
There are three things – three things. There is this one that was, is and will be, called “the infinite,” everywhere – powerful! Gentle? Amazing. Gentle as a drop of water. As powerful to move mountains, literally – literally move mountains! Rage? Giant rivers.
And this that was, is and will be, does this. And will keep doing it. Will keep doing it to the end of time and beyond, the time and space you cannot even begin to imagine (because you are not very well equipped to imagine it).
So, there is that. Then there is you. What’s your qualification? You weren’t. You are – and you won’t be. That’s your qualification.
So, let’s say that at the left of you is the infinite, (was, is, will be). You’re in the middle: you weren’t; you are; you won’t be. And what is on the right of you? This world. And what’s the qualification of this world?
You want to listen to some wonderful people like Kabir? Like Guru Nanak? They say, “It wasn’t,” (and this’ll get you), “It isn’t! And it won’t be.” This is an illusion! It isn’t! So, left of you? “Was, is and will be.” Your qualification: “Wasn’t, is, won’t be.” And you are completely infatuated with “Wasn’t, isn’t and won’t be.”
And are you infatuated? Oh, yes, you are, very infatuated. You live for it from the morning till evening. So, what is this? What should you be infatuated with? (What does “infatuation” mean?!) All right; here is an example.
You, one day, see a girl. Ladies, you see a man. And this man is just wonderful! Men, you see a girl; she’s wonderful! Your relationship goes on and on and on and on. And one day, the day comes when you’re going to meet the parents, meet the whole family.
Of course, now when you, the lovers, meet, you give each other a really nice juicy kiss, as you, (you know), come together because, you know, you’re in love, right?! You think you’re going to do that to the girl’s father? Give him a juicy kiss across his lips? Or the girl, kissing the father-in-law, again, just like a really nice juicy kiss? No!
You like the father; you like the brother; you like the mother; you like the sister because of whom? That person you are in love with. So, you’re infatuated with that person; you are connecting with that person. You are including the rest of the family only because of that person; the connection is still with that person. And the day that connection breaks? You will keep visiting that family? No.
That’s what’s got to happen here. That’s what’s got to happen here! Your connection should be to that one that was, is and will be, always, because that’s the one you’re going to spend the most time with! When you were not here, that’s where you were! Now you are here! And when you go away, that’s where you’re going to be!
What a magnificent description of the infinite: “Was, is and will be.” And then? Everything comes together. Life comes together. Joy comes together. You see the irrelevance of what is irrelevant, and you see the relevance of what is relevant. That’s how life has to be.
That’s what life is all about! You, dancing on the stage of life. You, expressing in your heart, the gratitude! Every day, every moment that you’re alive, those three things that I talk about, “Know yourself. Live your life consciously. And to have a heart filled with gratitude” – this can be for you! Then you have made the choice, the right choice.
There are two parts to you. There are two parts to you. And this composition is what makes you human. And one is the infinite. And one is the finite.
Right now, you have very little understanding about the infinite, extremely little. I mean, pathetic. And you have a tremendous amount of information on the finite. You know, (poof!) about your pots, your pans, your spoons, your rug, your house, your brick, your this, this – everything that is finite, more or less, you know about.
And you’re fascinated. You’re fascinated by the finite. (Well, I know I am.) Say, I’m walking by a shop and I see televisions on the showroom; it’s like, “Whoa, like, where’s the latest and the greatest?” And of course, you know, we get that; we see a new thing that has been invented and we’re like, “Wow, that’s really cool. That’s going to have a profound impact.”
I mean, it wasn’t that long ago, you couldn’t put those phones, (the cell phones that they had), you couldn’t put them in your pocket. And today you can watch movies! You can see another person. You can have conference calls. Amazing, but (hah-hah-hah!). But, it’s all information that you have about the finite.
That phone of yours is finite; I’m really sorry to tell you this, but your phone is finite. And if the manufacturers of the phone have anything to do with manufacturing and designing those phones, they have made sure that they are finite. Obsolescence is built right into them, so they will become obsolete.
And obsolescence, (oh boy), is built into you too. You will become obsolete. You will! It’s by design! So! Now, let’s talk about this other thing – that is also a part of you, but you have no knowledge of such. And it is called “the infinite.”
Knowing that infinite is in you brings you hope. It is bigger – that infinite is bigger than the sum of your problems at any given time. That infinite, to it, all the problems of this world, (your problems inclusive), have no significance; they don’t mean anything to it.
This coronavirus means nothing to the infinite. Absolutely nothing. All these human beings on the face of this earth freaking out: “Ab-ab, aie-aie-aie, what’s going to happen; what’s going to happen” means nothing!
You must understand the one fundamental rule: to the infinite, you mean nothing. To you, the infinite means everything. To the finite, you mean nothing! And to you, it means a lot. (Perspective.) This is what being a human is all about. You would gladly sit down and say, “Oh my God, this is so wonderful; the infinite really cares about me” – no. The timeless?
You are bound by time. Nothing happens to you, you cannot do anything that is not in time. Do you think the timeless works that way? So then, why is it called “timeless”? Why is it called “infinite”? You going from here to there means whatever it means to you – but to the infinite, it means nothing.
But to you, to you, that infinite means everything. To you, that infinite means everything. And knowing yourself is a part of that equation – that to me, knowing that timeless, knowing that infinite means everything, and I’ve got to pay attention in my life.
You have a choice now – and this is where consciousness comes in. You can either form a pact with that which was, is, and will be, for your joy, for your happiness (that you require). Unquestionably, you need that; you need fulfillment. You need to be stimulated. Or you can try to get that from that which isn’t – wasn’t, isn’t, and won’t be. So, you’ve got a choice.
If you try to get it from that which wasn’t, isn’t, and won’t be, you’ll be constantly trying to chase the happiness. And it’ll be like, “I think I’ve got it. Oops, no I don’t. I think I’ve got it. Oops, no, I don’t. Oops. Oops!”
A bit like this. You’re trying to catch a mosquito. Right? (You’ve done this, right?) You’re trying to catch a mosquito and you go like this! And you think you got it. Right? And you look. And guess what? You don’t got it. You don’t have it. And you try it again! And you try it again.
And to be able to catch that mosquito, you have to have really good eyes. And if you don’t have good eyes, there’s no way you’re going to catch that thing. And the thing is, that mosquito is so small that when you actually move your hand, the air pressure you cause in front of your hand moves it away from you.
So, you have to be very careful. Same thing with flies – if you’re trying to catch a fly, the first thing a fly is going to do is move backwards. So, you have to come in from the back to be able to catch it or kill it. Because that’s how a fly takes off. It can’t take off forward, has to take off backwards.
So, when you are going for the joy that you need – you need joy; you need to be happy; you need to be content; you need to be in peace – there’s no question about it. But when you try to get it from that which wasn’t, isn’t, and won’t be, it’s a bit like trying to catch the mosquitoes, and you keep looking at your hand to see if you caught it. And unfortunately, you don’t have it. You just think you have it.
Or you could hedge your bets on that was, is, and will be. And those same people, (let’s see), those same people who out of the goodness of their heart, said “This isn’t” to the finite – also said that “If you make that connection to the infinite, you will be fulfilled, that you will have, you will have the joy. You will have the peace. You will have the fulfillment that you cannot even imagine.”
When you’re connected to the right source, having your heart filled with gratitude is “no action required.” It is automatic.
You know, in our lives, we have learnt a lot of things. As we are today, this is not the way human beings used to be. We have learnt how to make buildings; we have learnt how to make airplanes; we have learnt how to make cars; we have learnt how to make this, have that—everything that you have in this world—even wars. We have learnt how to make wars. And we have learnt how to make the instruments for the wars, but we have not learnt how to be in peace...how to be in peace.
Not how to make peace. You have to be very careful what words you use, because if you have to make peace...? If human beings were responsible for making peace, they would do something so completely bizarre with it, that it would be unbelievable.
How to be in peace—because peace already is in the heart of every single human being. Being so close, and being so far.
But for those who are interested in peace, there is a whole another chapter. There’s a whole other field. There’s a whole other thing to understand, of how we can be fulfilled. That this life is not about just birth and death. That this life is about fulfillment; that this life is about peace; that this life is about understanding; that this life is about clarity; that this life is about feeling that gratitude.
Gratitude is the highest expression of a human being. But it can only happen when there is truly a reason for it. If you’re not thankful...? Just by saying it, it’s empty. What are you thankful for in your life? What are you thankful for?
Oh, see, it’s very strange. You tell people...they sit down in a room. You ask them, “What are you thankful for?” And it’s, “Oh, I am thankful for so many things. I am thankful for my family; I am thankful for my job; I am thankful for this, and I’m thankful for that, and I’m thankful for that, and I’m thankful for that, and I’m thankful for that.” And all I have to say is, “Really? Really? Really? Really, are you thankful for being alive? Are you?”
How many times during the day do you say, “My goodness! I am alive. Thank you for this life”—during the day? Do you really, really, really, really—you get up in the morning and the first thing you say is, “Oh my God. I am alive.” Or is it, “What time is it? What do I have to do?”
How many times during the day do you feel gratitude for being alive? How many? Once? Once a day? Twice a day? Three times a day? Four times a day? How many times a day do you feel thankful for being alive?
How many? Once a day keeps the doctor away? At least...and sometimes not even that? At least he’s honest. If he is honest, he can learn! He can learn. Because that’s the reality. Once is not enough; two times is not enough. Every time you feel alive, your heart will fill with gratitude. You see, you don’t have to make your heart feel full of gratitude. It needs to be naturally filled with gratitude. And naturally being filled with gratitude only happens when there is a focus in your life.
– Prem Rawat
In this segment, Prem takes a deep look at what it means to be a dreamer. From the day you are born, until the time you have to go, you are living your dream. So what defines your dream? The answer goes back to the heart of Prem’s message. Look within to understand what defines you. This is your dream, this is your existence—live it to the fullest!