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 Mt. Everest. That's been done. The biggest adventure that will ever unfold in life is you finding you. You are the biggest mystery."

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 India, and has since spoken before more than 10 million people in 97 nations.

Maharaji says the adventure of finding yourself is both challenging and rewarding.

"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."

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.

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."

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