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University of California at Berkeley address
by Prem Rawat - Excerpt
Following is a brief excerpt from an address
by Prem Rawat at the University of California
at Berkeley.
I travel all over the world, but I
don’t
go to see countries. I have never seen
a place I could call a country. What
I see
is people. We may relate to ourselves
by our language, our culture, or our
religion,
but we are essentially the same. We
have the same aspiration. We all want
peace
in our lives.
We have thousands of explanations
for war, but not one why we should have
peace. We’ve
got a problem here. When it comes to war,
there is a lot of active participation.
We create new weapons and train people
to use
them.
When it comes to peace, we wait for
the clouds to part or a magic wand to be waved
so then
there shall be peace upon earth. I don’t
understand. If war requires active participation,
which it does, then peace requires active
participation as well. And that active
participation is not going to happen by
having a lot of
debates. It is a matter of uncovering and
looking at the reality of people, at what
people want whether they are rich or poor.
We have learned about how we are different,
but we haven’t learned how to look
at another human being like ourselves.
We forget the nature of who we are and
the treasure we have been given, and we
cannot
afford to do that. We cannot forget that
our heart is knocking every day and calling
to us, “Be in peace, feel joy, because
that is a reality that can happen.”
It
takes active participation, and that begins
with recognizing our own thirst.
Once we
can recognize our thirst, water becomes
important. What kind of thirst is this?
The thirst that
says, Understand the preciousness of life,
of each breath. How does that happen? It
is like learning to ride a bike. You get
on and you are told to pedal, look forward,
and balance, but you can’t do it
all and you fall. Then comes a moment when
you
have it. You take off, and there is no
looking back. From that moment on, you
have achieved
your sense of balance.
This is what I am
talking about. Achieving that sense of
balance in your life. The
very thing that says, Get in touch with
your self,
or what Socrates calls, “Know thyself.” Do.
When you find that balance in your life,
it makes a difference.
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What People Say
Read what notable people say about Prem Rawat
Conversations with Prem Rawat
Watch short excerpts from interviews of Prem Rawat by TV journalists Marta Robles and Burt Wolf
The Lamp that Needs to Shine
Read an excerpt from Prem Rawat's address at London's Guildhall
About Peace
Read the transcript of an interview where Prem Rawat answers questions about peace
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