Prem Rawat, "Staying Focussed" Johannesburg South Africa, 2014

Prem Rawat, "Staying Focussed" Johannesburg South Africa 2014

So, I made it. I know it's been a really long time but sometimes things get very busy in other places and so that starts to occupy the time. But I've been talking about peace and I've been talking about people understanding what this life is all about. Because we really lose the perspective. We're here, we do things, a year takes as long as it does, a week takes as long as it does, a month takes as long as it does and our perspective gets skewed. We don't understand that what we call a year, that what we call a day is really taking something that is so important and that important thing is that we are alive and chopping it up. I've been alive for this many days, I've been alive for this many days, it's going to be a year when I see this again or it's going to be this way, it's going to be this way. But it's not. And so I go and I try to really remind people of what the reality is because the reality is very different. You know, we have all our concepts, we have all our ideas, we have ideas, there's ideas about heaven, there's ideas about hell, there's ideas of what we should be doing here, there's ideas about everything because people have had a long, long time sitting doing nothing. So they just sit there and they think up something, something, something, something. But there is a reality. And is it good news or is it bad news? And this is how people want to break it down. Is it good news, is it bad news? If it can be broken down to good news and bad news, it's not reality. Reality by definition is what it is.

Not good, not bad, that's just how it is. So what is the reality? Now, I know that, you know, like that interviewer was going into that spiritual thing and I had to. It's okay, you know, you're into spirituality, fine. You're not into spirituality, fine. It's like somebody owns a piece of land and this land is all quicksand. And every time somebody goes there, they start to sink. So out of the goodness of the person's heart, he has opened up a cafeteria. And when somebody starts to sink, because it is relatively slowly, he offers them cappuccino, coffee, chai, samosa, parota, you know, all of the things to make the time more. And this has now become a fashion. So people come and they jump into the quicksand knowing that they will get delicious cappuccino, delicious coffee, delicious samosas, delicious parotas, delicious food. And it's become the thing. And so I come along and I say, excuse me. You don't want to do that. Because what you really should be concentrating on is not your samosas and cappuccinos, but how to get out of here. You need to get out. Then you can enjoy your samosas, no problem. But to be stuck in this quicksand, because this will kill you. And most people are like, no, no, no. It may kill me, but it will be an enjoyable death. Okay. And that is the contrast.

Because what is the reality? Once upon a time, this earth was not there. It wasn't. It wasn't. And then dust came together and started winding up, spinning, compressing because of gravity. As more gravity happened, more dust pulled in, more and more and more and more and more. And there you have this compressed dust. And it kept compressing and compressing and compressing and compressing and compressing and compressing and compressing. And a lot of this compression caused super heating to happen. Super hot. And the core of this planet earth is still hot. It's a magma. And everything that exists, the only elements that were available to nature to create something out of was this dust. That's all there was. So from this dust, all that you see has emerged. The dinosaurs, the trees, and you. So the question, how old is this earth? 4.5 billion years. For 4.5 billion years, you were just dust, lying dormant. That was it. And then something incredible happened. Incredible. Absolutely amazing. In fact, so amazing, so amazing that it truly qualifies as a miracle. Hydrogen, oxygen, carbon, calcium, nitrogen, and phosphorous. You walk all over that stuff every day. 99%, not 2%, not 3%, not 4%, 99%, that's what you're made out of. And the miracle was that this hydrogen, oxygen, carbon, calcium, nitrogen, phosphorous began to move.

It was alive. It could think. It could understand. It could talk. It could listen. It could see. It could hear. It could feel. It could be. It could admire. It could hate. It could love. And then, one day, it's going to go back to dust, has to, has to. How long will the earth stay earth? Some scientists give approximately 15 to 20 billion years. After that, no more earth. Forget about coming back. Nowhere to come back to, "Oh, yes, I'll come back as, you know." Forget about the train station. There will be no train. Einstein said everything that has been created, everything that is created will be destroyed. That also goes for this entire universe, known and unknown. The only one thing that will not be destroyed is that one thing that was never created. But if it was created, it will be destroyed. It applies to the moon. It applies to the sun. It applies to the earth. It applies to Venus, Mars, everything. And you, you are not separated from this universe. You are a part of this universe. You have to obey the same rules as the universe does. Now, this is why I call it a reality.

Is it good? Is it bad? Well, some people will find it. "Oops, that's terrible.I want to live forever. I like the other possibility, other possibility where I come back. When I'm really good, I come back." Great idea. You know, if we just took Africa and turned it upside down and moved it closer to India, then every time I come to India, it will just be a short, short, short flight. This is what I say to people. How long is it going to take? Oh, that's a really long flight. I say, well, you know what we could do? We could just take England, put some anchors on it, cut it, and just tow it close to America. Then your flight will be very short. Great idea, but it's not happening. So what does that mean? That means that you, not your uncle, not your papa, not your mama, not your friend, you, and only you, have to make the most of every single day that you have. That's what it means. That's what it means. You cannot let a day go by without it meaning something wonderful for you. You cannot let an hour go by without it meaning something wonderful to you. You cannot let, indeed, indeed, you cannot let a minute go by without it meaning something wonderful to you. So what does it mean to wonderful to you? Where you are fulfilled. Where you feel clear. Where you understand. That's what it means. And that's a reality. Are you willing to do that? It's not about how many days you wasted. It's how many days you catch. How many days you don't sit there and go, oh, my karma.

There's a beautiful couplet in Hindi. Don't worry, I'll translate it. "In times of trouble, what do we do? Lament. Oh, my God." Sir dhuni dhuni. This is sir dhuni dhuni. We beat our head. Pashta. Kalahi, karmahi, Ishwara. This one is important. Kal, it can be the moments that have gone by or death. Karmahi, our actions. Ishwara, the Creator. We blame them for everything. It's a powerful couplet because it alludes to the possibility. It alludes to the fact that they're not the things responsible for what's going on. This is where spirituality really starts to go, "Uh-oh." Because in spirituality, that's what you, yeah, ah, cool. I got something to blame. God, my actions of the past. And that couplet says, "No. It's wrong." And it says it's wrong by saying, falsely being accused. Mithya dosh lagam. Falsely being accused. So all this time, it wasn't your karma. It was you. Wow. Wow. This is enlightening. Because the world said, "Yes, yes, yes." And here I am, 2014, almost up. And I'm saying, no, no, no. That it's up to you. It is up to you to be awake. That it is up to you to understand. That it is up to you to set your standards. And it's up to you to say, "Yes, I am not going to allow another day to go in confusion. That when I find myself in confusion, I'm going to opt for clarity. Clarity. That I'm going to live my life with clarity."

When you're in clarity, you don't make excuses. I don't have time. Because it's true. Your prophecy will be fulfilled. When you say, "I don't have time," it will be fulfilled. You're prophesizing that. You won't have time. You don't have time. Because one day you won't have time. Time will abandon you. Gone. Back to dust. Eat this. Look good. Look good. Being dust. Because that's how you're going to spend most of your time. You've already spent 4.5 billion years being dust. For a few years you're not. And then you're going to spend another 15 to 20 billion years being dust. Get some good lipstick. The one that really endures. Get a good haircut. Because that's according to the science, that's your destiny. That's what's going to happen. That while you're alive, it's everything. Because you can know. You can feel. You can understand. You can accept. You can be. How should you be living your life? How should you be living your life? Another couplet. See, I've just come from India, so I'm coupleted in. Dariya soya sakalja. The person who wrote this couplet, his name is Dariya. Dariya soya sakalja. The whole world is asleep. Jaagat nahi hai koi. No one is awake. Dariya soya sakalja. Jaagat nahi hai koi. Jaage mein fir jaagna. Those who are awake in being awake. Who are awake in being awake. Jaaga kahiye sohe. That's the one that's awake. Are you awake? This event was going to happen at 3.30 this afternoon. So we were flying, and this person asked me the question, is it okay with you if we do the event at 3.30? And I said, why do you want to do it at 3.30? So all the, because of this, because of this, because of this, because of this, because of this, because of this. And I said, "Well, if that's the reason, why do the event?" Because one of the reasons was so people can get to their home early enough. I said, "if you don't do the event, they'll be at home. So we're doing an event. What is the point of the event?" I mean, is the point of the event to pull you out of your house, put you in a hall for a few hours, and then send you back home? I mean, that's the whole point of an event? So I said, "What is the point of the event? That people come and people listen. So you're coming up with all these times, but none of those times are conducive to actually listening, because at 3.30 after lunch, oh, my God." Especially if you have traveled, and, you know, it's unusual. Not everybody goes to halls every day. So you're standing in line, you're getting there, you're doing this, you're doing this, and here comes 3.30, and usually it's pretty nice, quiet, mellow. And the best of them, I mean best of them, just agree with everything I'm saying. So to me, I mean, okay, fine, you know, you fall asleep, you fall asleep. Can't help it. But if the whole purpose is to come here and fall asleep, stay home. You know, it's a rainy day today, get under the bed, get some hot chocolate, and get under some nice comfy sheets and just go to sleep. So then, luckily, they came up with this time. So I hope you're awake, basically. And by the time this event is finished, you'll have plenty of time to get back home and everything else.

So my point of giving you that example of the time is that this is your time, and are you doing things so that you are awake, or are you asleep? Sleep. What does sleep mean? How do you sleep in life? I mean, okay, we know about the one where we close our eyes, but how do you really sleep? Well, you fill yourself with concepts. You're asleep. You have no idea, your eyes aren't open anymore. You don't realize, you don't understand. Clarity means nothing. It's always muddled. What is a day? What is a minute? What is a second? What is this breath? What is this breath? Ah, ah, ah, yeah, it's my breath. Do you think about your breath? I do. I do. It is the power of this breath. It's phenomenal. Phenomenal. It holds death at bay. No can come. It holds destruction. Do you know how powerful destruction is? Do you have any idea how powerful destruction is? Do you know how prevalent destruction is? Everywhere, it's everywhere. Rocks. There was one sand that got compressed, became rocks, are busy becoming sand again. Destruction. The sun. Do you know the sun is actually getting bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger? Because that's how it destroys itself. Its surface is just eating it up. It's in the process of being destroyed.

The earth. You. Every second, a dead cell, skin cell, falls off. Most of the dust you clean in your house, you know where it comes from? From you. It's you. Gather it up. Memorabilia. That was me. You hate it. I need a powerful vacuum cleaner to suck all this up. It's not clean. Ah, look. It's here, though. Bizarre. It's called falling asleep. No more seeing, knowing what is really going on. Eyes are closed. You've gone. Something happens. You don't really see it. Don't really hear it. Don't really know it. And this, sleep, is the most dangerous sleep there is. Dangerous. Once it grips you, such a false sense of security, eyes closed, and away the person goes. And no more seeing. Oh, my God.

My life is coming into me. Blessings. Looking for blessings. This is the blessing. This is the blessing. Most incredible blessing. The most powerful. Most powerful. And the gentlest. So, you'll see it. Everyone bringing life to you. Do you know? So far, this is happening? You're not dust. I mean, how much dust do you think there is in this universe? Oh, my God. I don't know if it can even be calculated. And so far, this is coming. You are not dust. Is that powerful enough for you? Is that powerful enough for you? Tell me of another thing you know of that's that powerful. So, you just got blessed. What did you do? What does it mean to you? You just got blessed again. Do you know how to accept it? How do you give thanks? For such a gift? How? If you don't know how, you've been asleep. Obviously.

Wow. Just a few more weeks and people will start up on Christmas. And what do they tell the little kids? "Oh, yeah, Father Christmas is going to come through the chimney." And what if you don't have a chimney? In India, most houses don't have chimneys. But maybe that's why Father Christmas doesn't visit India. That often. There's no chimneys. Nothing. Just descend down. Plus, you know, all the traveling passengers have to go through an international airport first. Clear customs and immigration. And I don't know if Santa is going to do that. And I wonder what the Indians would leave out for Santa. Would it be milk and cookies? Or parota and, you know, some lassi? Father Christmas bringing you one made-in-China gift. Where they don't even believe in Father Christmas. And the father of all fathers is blessing you with this breath every single moment. And you have no clue. I mean, Santa's father, technically, is blessing you with this gift every moment. And you're like, well, I'm busy. I don't have time. That's being asleep. Oblivious to the reality. Oblivious to the facts.

How strong are you? How fragile are you? I know that. You know, your temperature margin is just a few degrees. If your body temperature drops about two or three degrees, you'll be very close to death. If it increases a few degrees, not good. That's how fragile you are. No, but you don't think so. Do you? Do you? I mean, you are Dr. So-and-so. You are this lawyer so-and-so. You are this person so-and-so. You're Mr. So-and-so. And you have this. And you have that. And you have accomplished this. And you have accomplished that. And you have been there. And you have been there. And you have done this. And you have done this. And all the while, there is your temperature range. God forbid you go a little over or a little under. Go a little under, you have had it. Go a little over, you have had it. That's being asleep. Dreaming. Dreaming. And who does it? The rich. In their nightmare, in their dream, but nightmare, they become poor. And the poor, in their dream, become rich. That's the game of the dream. Your wants of this. Not of your heart. Your wants from this world manifest. And you dream. And those dreams in which there is fulfillment, you go, oh, I had such a nice dream. And those dreams where you are empty, oh, I had a nightmare. So what do I say to you? Be fulfilled. Whilst you're awake. If it can feel so good to be fulfilled in your dream, imagine what will it feel like to be fulfilled when you are awake. That's why I say to you, be fulfilled.

Just recently I was in Hyderabad driving to the prison. Yeah, I went to jail. Why are you laughing? I was there. I was there to talk to them. I see a temple locked up. So why is this temple locked up? Is it so the God won't leave? Like, why? Or the thief won't steal? And the implications both ways are amazing. Either way. Because if the God wants to leave and God's locked up, that's kidnapping. And it's definitely a punishable offense. And what kind of God are you protecting that cannot even defend itself from the thief? But this one, no lock. No lock. None required. Go anytime you want. Anytime. And experience. Divinity.

Do you have time for a movie? Of course you do. Because you will be entertained. By what? Total lies. Have you seen those action-packed movies? This guy is supposed to be good. He's got two machine guns in his hand and he cannot hit anything. And he's shooting for hours and he can't … I mean, who gave him these arms? He is not trained. I mean, it's like not one single bad guy is getting it. You think that's the truth? You think that's the truth? Here's this guy driving down the road at a hundred miles an hour and there's no police chasing him. That's right? No. You will gladly be entertained by lies. The guy's name isn't there. I mean, in Indian movies, you change channels. And I mean, in one, the same guy is getting married to this girl and you change and then you come across him and he's getting married to this girl and he's in love with this girl. It's like, whoa. Like, wow. That's amazing. This guy really goes around. I wonder what his secret is. In one, he just got killed. You change channel, he's still alive. This could put doctors out of business. So this is what happens. Yeah, we have time to be entertained by lies, but we don't have time to be entertained by truth. So are you asleep or are you awake? You know? In those dreams where you fly, you're flying. It's just a dream. Don't try that in real life. I've had those dreams quite a bit. It's cool. But it's like, whoa. What is real? That I'm alive.

What is real is that I have been blessed. What is real? That I am. What is real is that I can see. What is real is that I can think. What is real is that I can feel. And I want to take this power to feel. I want to feel with it the divine. This is my chance. 4.5 billion years of being in dust. And another 15 or 20 of being dust again. This is my opportunity. Do you understand? I mean, you've heard the word opportunity, haven't you? When I talk about opportunity in life, this gives the word opportunity a whole different meaning. So, if you are all the way on the side of reality, it is good news. But you really have to understand reality. Reality is impartial. We say to somebody, oh look, he's not as fortunate as we are. Nobody. One from Kabir. (Hindi) You know what that means? Translation? Yes, yes. There's nobody that's unfortunate. There's nobody that's hungry or poor. Everyone has this beautiful package of that divine wealth. But they have forgotten to open the package. And that is the reason they are in poverty.

There's poverty in this world, physical poverty. And that's really bad. Poverty in this world is the root cause of so many problems on this planet Earth. And it's very simple. What a human being needs. They need to be comfortable. As defined by nature. As defined by nature. They need to have nourishing food. It doesn't need to be 60 course meal. Just what will fill the belly when it's hungry. Good clean water. This is all defined by nature. Three minutes without air. It's important. Incredibly important. Three minutes without air. That's if you're trained. This should be good. Clean. Three hours without the right temperature. Either you'll get hypothermic. Or hypothermic or hypothermia will set in. Too hot, too cold. Three days without water. And possibly three weeks without food. The air is taken care of. The water is taken care of. The comfort is taken care of. The food is taken care of. Basic things defined by nature. Then an opportunity to be able to learn and engage the mind. That's very important.

And I'm going to be trying a project with TPRF. Because people need the opportunity. So already we have food for people program that has been incredibly successful. I mean it has been beyond successful. And we have one in Dading. And we have one in Ghana as well. In Africa. So. And the impact that it has had has been. When we first opened the facility in Ranchi we really didn't have any idea that it was going to. What the changes would be. And it's for the first time that the kids are growing up healthy. Their lifespan is increasing. The crime rate dropped. Because again people didn't need to steal. When I first went to Ranchi people said open up a school. I said no way I'm not going to open up a school. I have my reasons for it. And they said okay open up a hospital. I said no I'm not going to open up a hospital. And I have my reasons for it. And I said okay I know what to open then. If you guys don't. Let me open up a food for people facility. Where we'll give them really good clean food. So as a result the health has dramatically increased. Good idea. Didn't need a hospital. Didn't need a school because there's plenty of schools around. And now for the first time they're graduating and going to college. First time. And they're so healthy. And the last time I was there which was in March. Something like that February, March.

I was interviewing them. And one of the girls says the food doesn't taste good. And I'm like what? She goes yeah the food doesn't taste good. Because it's not grown with the organic manure. They're using artificial fertilizers. They're not using organic fertilizer. And I said to myself oh my God. You can taste that? I mean probably 100% of the residents of these famous metropolis cities. They would not be able to tell you the difference. But this one can. So I was very, very proud of her. And made sure that all the food is grown with natural fertilizer. Not artificial fertilizer. But this is what happens. And a big smile. And so one of the projects that I'm going to try is to teach people how to read. Just read. This isn't going to get you any degrees or anything. It's just so you can read. And I figured that if a person could read. They could read their. If they wanted to be a master in trigonometry. They can read themselves to that point. If they wanted to know everything about economics. They could do that. So just to read. And so it's going to be interesting of how this is going to be pulled. There's that poverty. And then there's the other poverty.

The inner poverty. The solution to the inner poverty is very simple. I don't need to experiment with that one. I know what that is. And that's called Knowledge. Amazingly enough. It's knowledge that's going to pull you out of the outside poverty. And it's a different kind of knowledge. And it is Knowledge that will pull you out of inner poverty. And it's a different kind of knowledge. One is the knowledge of this world. The other is the Knowledge of the self. And what is the difference? You have been trying to be wise. Knowing about others is wisdom. Knowing about the self is enlightenment. That's the difference. So knowing about you. That's what Knowledge is. Knowing about the self. Simple. Your opportunity. If you want to take it. If you want to take it. Because I cannot make you understand. I can talk about it. I cannot make you understand. That's up to you. If you want to understand or not. If you do. And you invest. In you. Invest in you. You will become rich. But if you don't invest in you. You will stay poor.

What is the formula to be rich in the world? It's very easy. It's very easy. It's really, really easy. If you want to be rich in the world. The formula is very simple. Because I read a book. It's called, you know, Being Rich for Dummies. What is the formula? Don't spend what you don't have.

What is the formula to be rich inside? Don't spend this time that you think you have. You don't. Don't spend it. Every moment. Stay focused. But you can. So, does that mean I am focused all the time? No. But I try. And that trying. Is what makes the difference. So many people don't try. Oh, I can't be focused all the time. Try. Oh, but it's too difficult. My mind bothers me. You bother the mind? Every time it starts to bother you. Tell it to shut up. I mean. In fact, I was talking to somebody. Who is a doctor. And, you know. Talking about sleep. And it's like all of a sudden. Especially coming this time. For some reason the time zone change really hit me. And, you know. Five o'clock in the morning completely awake. Three o'clock in the morning. Two o'clock in the morning completely awake. Thinking about this. Thinking about that. And I was like, "Yeah. I have to just tell it. Shut up. Go to sleep." And the doctor asked. "Does it?" And I said, "Yes." Because it does. Who is the Mmaster? In your life? You? Or just your ideas? If your ideas are your master. You've had it.

You will never understand 4.5 billion years. And then the saints say. You're better off as dust. What's the point? This golden opportunity. And you missed it. What's the point? You shouldn't miss it. You don't have to miss it. It doesn't have to be that way. It can be different. It can be simple. Every day. A little bit. Even a little bit. Is better. Than nothing. So. This is what I came to say. This is what I say everywhere. And I know. You know. Some people get it. They will make attempt. Then it will become too much. And they'll forget. Then they'll watch the same video. And they'll go. "Yeah. I remember that." And they'll make attempt for a few more days. That's all right by me.

That's all right by me. Because a sailboat. When it's sailing. Cannot go straight. Can't. It has to tack. Has to go here. Has to go here. It has to go here. And this is what a tack looks like. But the mean average. Of that tack. Is taking the sailboat. Towards its destination. That is what's most important. Not just looking at a heading. Saying well you're headed the wrong way. Because if you start to steer. That straight line. You'll never get there. That's what you have to do. You have to tack. You have to tack. Fine. You have to tack. You have to tack. But make the mean. Towards your destination.