"There are people who are so busy trying to figure out what's going to happen to them when they're not alive anymore," says Prem Rawat, an internationally acclaimed voice for peace known by the honorary title Maharaji, "that they have forgotten how to live. They are so preoccupied with heaven after death that they have forgotten the heaven on earth.
"There is a heaven on earth, and you are fully equipped to take full advantage of it. With this body that has been given to you, you can truly enjoy."
Maharaji speaks of a universal thirst for joy that all human beings share. He has addressed this thirst before audiences around the world for a number of decades. His message focuses on discovering this joy, which he says resides within everyone, in a place called the heart.
"Where is this heaven?" he asks. "It's not in some building. This heaven is in the heart of every single human being on the face of the earth."
Since he was a child in India, he has addressed more than 10 million people in 51 countries, and his message has been made available in 70 languages in 97 countries.
In addition to the inspiration his words express, Maharaji offers assistance in turning towards the heart. "I offer the possibility of knowing you, so that you can be you," he says. "It's important for you to know yourself so that you can be as happy as you can be.
"When you can experience joy in your life, then you have truly begun to understand what life is. When I am me—who I really am—that's when I am happiest. That's when I feel gratitude in my heart for being alive."
Jul 11, 2007
Heaven on Earth
Jun 14, 2007
May 5, 2007
Peace Is Human Nature
Conflict is not a part of human nature, says Prem Rawat, known to many as Maharaji—peace is.
"There are people who say that all the things that happen in this world are examples of human nature—all the wars, all the conflicts," he says. "I disagree. When we're centered, when we're placed in that true equilibrium where our hearts are full, then our true nature shines. The true nature that we have is beautiful."
The solution to predicaments is not to chase the problem, he says. "The solution lies within the heart of every single human being."
Maharaji spoke publicly before he began the first grade at school in India, saying it's not nations but individuals who need to experience peace. He was invited to speak in the West in his early teens and since has shared his message with more than 10 million people in 97 nations.
"When the heart is full," he says, "then the human being is fulfilled. Then, automatically, a person is out of duality, and there are no questions, only answers. It is then that people favor the simple over the complicated. That's how we need to be. That's our nature."
To those who think peace is not possible, Maharaji suggests a re-examination of what peace really is.
"Some think it's when no one in this world ever gets angry with anyone," he says. "That's not going to happen. People get angry even with other members of their family. Yet some people think that’s what has to happen before peace can manifest. The peace I am talking about is the peace that can be experienced in the middle of a battlefield, and that peace is at our very essence."
Apr 8, 2007
A Peaceful Solution
Solutions to the world's social problems will come when individuals are experiencing peace, says Prem Rawat, an influential voice for peace widely known as Maharaji.
"Police departments and governments try to assure that society runs well," he says. "It seems to me such a simple thing. When human beings are content, everything runs well, but when individuals are not content, nothing runs well, in spite of all the police and rules and regulations in the world. Nothing runs well when the human being is not running well.
"So don’t you think it is now time to focus on each individual? To look at the reality of each human being?"
The reality Maharaji talks about is an experience of peace that he says is at the core of human nature. Since childhood he has dedicated his life to making people around the world aware of this experience, and encouraging them to embark on a journey of self-discovery. He offers his help to those who respond to this message.
"People say, 'We need solutions to our problems,''' Maharaji says. "As soon as I say the word peace, they say, 'Oh, yes. The world needs peace.' And I say, 'No. You need peace, not the world. Forget about the world. You need peace.'
"The formulas that we are using in this world today—economic solutions, ideas of what war means—have been tried for many, many years. How much money do you think is spent preparing for war? Billions and billions. How much for peace? Very little. Sometimes people hold a conference to discuss peace. Peace needs to be felt, not discussed.
"We need to look at the possibility of how true peace can be brought to people. The good news is that true peace is already inside every single human being."
Mar 31, 2007
A Very Big Adventure
The most challenging quest anyone can undertake in life has nothing to do with climbing the world's highest mountains. It's finding out who you really are, says Prem Rawat, popularly known as Maharaji.
"The biggest adventure," he says, "is not climbing
Each life, Maharaji says, is like a story unfolding. "What should your story be?" he asks. "Should it be about suffering, pain, anger, and all the things you don't have? Shouldn't this life really be interesting, an adventure?"
To know yourself, he says, you have to tame the dragon of anger and desire that's within all human beings.
"If you don't tame that dragon, it'll destroy you," he warns. "If you do tame that dragon, you get to fly on its back to wherever it is you want to go."
Even before he started school, Maharaji began talking publicly about the need within every individual to be at peace. He traveled to the West in his early teens in response to invitations from people who had heard him speak in his native
"It's fun. Here it is —you are never, ever far from yourself. The closest you will ever be to anyone is to yourself. Yet the one you don't know is you. You know everybody else. What you have to do is find yourself, the one person who is closest to you."
While many people find Maharaji's words inspiring, there is more to what he offers. If you choose the adventure of discovering you, he says, "I'm here to help. I can help."
Mar 12, 2007
Every Breath Can Be Filled With Peace
Regardless of the circumstances in which people may find themselves Prem Rawat also known by the honorary title Maharaji, says, everyone can be at peace now, and the way to find inner peace is to look within.
'To make this life successful is not about tomorrow,' he says, 'it is not about retirement, not about ten years from now. It is about this time, in this life. But for that, we need inner peace. And inner peace is not a matter of words. Peace needs to be felt. It is a matter of experience.'
Prem Rawat started speaking to audiences at the age of three and gave his first published address at the age of four. Since that time, millions have come to hear him in more than 250 cities in 50 countries. Today, he speaks to people around the world about the possibility of knowing inner peace and contentment. His message is profoundly simple:
'The peace that you are looking for is within you, and I can show you how to get in touch with it.'
Prem Rawat’s focus is on helping individuals find peace and fulfillment within “When people are at peace, there will be peace in the world.” While many people speak about peace, Prem Rawat offers a practical pathway to inner peace, which he calls Knowledge.
Those interested in Prem Rawat’s message come from all walks of life. Prem Rawat’s addresses have found growing audiences in the Indian subcontinent as well as on all the other continents. His message is now heard in 80 countries in over 60 languages.
Mar 10, 2007
Thought and Feeling
While thinking is the right tool for problem-solving, it's no good for understanding what will satisfy the heart, says Prem Rawat, a long-time voice for peace also called Maharaji.
"Tools are very important," Maharaji says. "But more important than the tools themselves is knowing which tool works on what. The wrong kind of screwdriver will not work; the wrong wrench will not work."
Similarly, he says, in life it's important to know whether thinking or feeling is appropriate to what we're trying to do. "Thought is a tool. Feeling is a tool," Maharaji says. "Thought satisfies our curiosity, satisfies our mind. Feeling satisfies what we are yearning for from our heart."
Maharaji has been urging people not to forget the importance of feeling since he was very young. Feeling is the tool we need, he says, to unearth the feeling of peace necessary to a full experience of what it is to be alive. He has dedicated his life to introducing the possibility of feeling peace within, and to offering his encouragement and assistance to those who wish to pursue it. Although his efforts have earned official recognition from many governments, he reminds people that the need for peace is individual, not institutional.
"I travel the world to bring this message to people," he says. "I'm not preaching, nor am I teaching. All I'm doing is presenting a possibility. Peace is important to me, and I hope that peace is important to you."
"Once we have understood that it is important in this life—that it is necessary in this life—to achieve completeness, to achieve fulfillment, that is the day we begin to understand the necessity of peace. You have to feel peace in your life."
Mar 5, 2007
Crystal Clear
What does this existence mean to you? It cannot be explained. It can only be felt.
If you understand that, then a whole different door opens up to you.
Then you begin to understand.
Not through explanations, but by feeling the preciousness of this life. The joy.
The truest responsibility is to be in gratitude to that most magnificent power that has made it possible for you to be alive.
To actually feel in this life the eternal gratitude. Because thatís what means to be alive. Not doubt. Not confusion. Thatís not being alive.
Being alive means to be crystal clear.
Maharaji in Barcelona, Spain
March 4th, 2007
Feb 22, 2007
Focus Like a Flower
To understand the value of life, human beings need the determination of a sunflower tracking the sun, says Prem Rawat, known around the world by the honorary title of Maharaji.
"A sunflower does not have a global positioning system, maps, or instruments," he says. "Yet at night it somehow turns around to be ready for the sunrise the next day. Even if the weather is cloudy, it faces in the right direction. Clouds won’t stop that sunflower, because ultimately it isn't the clouds that are permanent. It's their relationship to the sun that's permanent. Whether those rays are visible or not, there is a connection."
The daily trials and triumphs people get caught up in, Maharaji says, are like clouds to that flower––temporary. He suggests instead a greater focus on something more permanent: the feeling of being alive.
"People need to understand the importance of their relationship with existence," he says. "Then and only then can we begin to understand the value of being able to go within to feel the peace that's inside."
Maharaji began speaking publicly before he started the first grade about the need for individuals to feel peace within. In response to invitations, he took his message to the West at the age of 13. Since then, he has talked about personal fulfillment to more than 10 million people in 97 nations. He emphasizes that he doesn't just talk, but can show people a way to experience inner contentment.
"That is what I give to people who want it," Maharaji says. "We need to know what we have, because the path to peace within begins with opening our eyes and seeing things as they are, not how they could or should be."
Feb 4, 2007
Completion
"If a painting is not complete, its true expression will never come to bear. A symphony, if it is not complete, will not express what the musician wanted to express," says Prem Rawat, who is known in many countries as Maharaji. "Here's a very simple question—what makes a human being complete?"
Maharaji has been talking about the universal human need for completion, for fulfillment, all his life. Since his early teens he's devoted most of each year to speaking to large audiences around the world about the possibility of satisfying that need, and offering his help in doing so.
"Fulfillment is not a joke," he says. "Look around in this vast world. That's what people are trying to find. For centuries, some people had a dream of flying. Now that dream has been fulfilled, and it's getting to the point where the skies are getting too crowded.
"There's one dream that goes much further than the dream of flight. That is the dream of having peace on the face of this earth." The peace that Maharaji talks about is not something brought about by treaty, he says, but a feeling within every human heart. It's the dream of "those who have studied the passion of the heart and come to the conclusion that peace is necessary in their lives because they want to be complete, not incomplete. They want to accept the gift of being alive in its entirety, not in little bits and pieces."
The need for peace, he says, "needs acknowledgment—and most importantly, it needs to be fulfilled. We need to turn within ourselves to find peace. Because until this dream is fulfilled, it doesn't matter what else happens: Something will not be complete."
Jan 31, 2007
The Joy Within
“People say, ‘no news is good news,’” Prem Rawat also known as Maharaji says. “The news I have for you is you’re alive. And that should be the best news you’ve ever heard.
Prem Rawat, who began speaking about finding joy within as a small child, left his own homeland at the age of thirteen. Since then he has dedicated most of his time to traveling the world offering to show people how to reach that joy.
Prem Rawat says he offers a practical way, which he calls Knowledge. “So what is Knowledge?” he says, Knowledge is four techniques that take your attention from the outside and place it on the inside. It's a very good way to put you in touch with yourself. “The Knowledge I offer is about being fulfilled. It's about being in joy. It's about coming home. Will that make you happy? It’s up to you.”
Knowledge is all about going beyond the scale. I’m saying, welcome to a world where you will not be judged. Welcome to yourself — to your world — not a world on the outside. In this world, you get to have it as it is, with peace and with joy. The gift of Knowledge has shown me that every day that I have been given is beyond good and bad. Each day that I have been given has its meaning and its own beauty. And with Knowledge I can get in touch with that beauty
Pursuing Peace Means Knowing Where to Begin
You may already have all the tools you need for happiness and success, you just need to look for them – and that place may be closer than you think. “The peace we look for is within us," says Prem Rawat also known by his honorary title, Maharaji.
We try to live our lives by reason and logic, but there is more. We don’t have to reason everything; we can feel, too. We have been given a valuable tool: we are able to feel. Peace is a feeling, and it is inside of us. If we can awaken to that possibility, we start to enter the realm of self-knowledge.”
Considered a leading voice for peace, Maharaji has spread his word for three decades, to more than 10 million people in over 50 countries. Along the way, he has collected keys to the cities of New York, New Orleans, Monterey, Miami, Detroit and Kyoto, Japan. He established the non-profit Prem Rawat Foundation in Los Angeles to help his message across to even more people.
“I teach people how to discover what they already have,” Maharaji explains. “The first step is to fall in love with the possibility that there is peace inside. We can value each breath, each moment. Each breath can be full of peace. It’s only hard because we have gone so far off the course.”
The journey toward the inner peace-and, ultimately, world peace-begins with that first look inside. As Maharaji puts it, the key to social change is change in an individual, not the other way around.
Jan 28, 2007
Success in Contentment
The trouble with putting too much importance on being successful is that success is defined differently according to country, region, and even district, says Prem Rawat, known by many as Maharaji.
"If you live in a certain area," he says, "your success may be defined by owning a house on a certain street."
Instead, he suggests a standard of success that is not defined by other people's judgments. "There's something in all of our lives that's not defined," Maharaji says. "It exists, and it's real. Contentment is not a matter of definition. It’s a reality."
Maharaji has been officially honored by leading organizations, including the United Nations, for his worldwide efforts to guide individuals toward an inner experience of contentment and peace. He began talking publicly about the need for each person to find inner fulfillment before he started school, and has since addressed more than 10 million people in 97 nations on the subject.
" Every human being has a strength to plow through the roughest oceans," Maharaji says, "It is your heart, and it is your wisdom—the truest wisdom. Of all the know-how that you can accumulate in this world, the greatest would be to know your own self."
While worldly success may prove elusive, he says, contentment can be found within the heart of every human being, "a place within that is free from the noises of this world. It's where we can be free from doubt, free from pain, and free from suffering."
Maharaji says he can show people how to experience what he talks about. "I say these things, but these are not words alone," he says. "The difference in the things that I say is that I am willing to back it up. That's the difference!"
No Restrictions
Life isn't all about suffering, says Prem Rawat, known widely as Maharaji. "There's a misconception that everything good comes after great effort, great pains, great suffering," he says. Instead, he calls life "a process of discovering what you have been given."
The discovery he talks about is a personal one. He urges people to make a priority of searching for peace within themselves.
"Amid all the pain and suffering that could be, and all the joy and laughter that could be," he says, "there is one more thing that also could be, and that is the possibility of feeling peace within.
"The peace that I am talking about is the peace that exists innately inside every single living being on the face of this earth—no holds barred, no restrictions."
Maharaji, who first began speaking about this personal experience of peace as a preschooler, addresses audiences of every size and nature, from villagers in remote outposts to university professors and diplomats in the world's major cities. In every case, he says, his message is addressed to the heart of each individual.
"I have been all around the world," he says, "and it doesn't really matter what kind of social cross-section you come across—whether they're rich or poor. They all have the same need to feel—not talk about, not read books about, but feel—this peace in their lives. Nobody has to put a banner up that says, 'You need peace in your life.' Everybody knows that."
Maharaji doesn't stop at encouraging people to find peace for themselves. He also freely offers assistance in the process. "You need to have peace in your life," he says. "With my help or without my help, I don't care. Find it. If you can't find it, I can help."
