Following is a brief excerpt from an address by Maharaji at Nova Southeastern University in Ft. Lauderdale. Florida.

A Winning Life

"What I have to talk about is something very simple because it has to do with each one of us, with our existence, with the feeling of being alive. We do so much in our lives to fulfill ourselves on the outside. We create massive structures and institutions, all so we can be fulfilled. But do we have fulfillment in our life?

Within our society we surround ourselves with niceties. And we also know that when it gets down to the sharp end of things, we must prioritize. My favorite color might be red, but if my house is on fire, any bucket will do. We all have dreams and aspirations, but what is our real situation?
For each person, one thing that is real is the cry of the heart to be fulfilled. And inherently in the heart of every human being lies the possibility to be fulfilled. There is both the thirst to be fulfilled and the water that can fulfill the thirst. This is our true nature.

So what is our priority? Often our priorities are the ones that the have established by the people we want to be like. But what is my own quest, my own desire, my own mission in life? As a human being I have a bias towards peace, towards joy. It is inherent, and it transcends the barriers of language and culture. Peace is not in far distant corners of this world; peace is within me. I don’t need to go to a mountaintop to feel it, or to turn down the boom box, or to travel to distant corners of the world. My peace is within.

How do we connect with that peace? There is no formula. It begins with recognizing what it means to be alive, the importance of life itself. Peace begins with recognizing that the heart wants peace, that people have always wanted peace. This is not a new request. And peace is possible. Peace is a very possible dream, but it does not begin with nations or institutions. It begins with each one of us. When we start to say, “Yes, I need peace in my life, and let it begin with me,” we begin to perceive life differently. We begin to take responsibility for our innermost priority. And if the heart can be placed before everything else, what we have is a winning life. "

Following is a brief excerpt from an address by Prem Rawat at the University of California at Berkeley.

Finding the Balance

"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."

Following is a brief excerpt from an address by Prem Rawat (Maharaji) at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

It Is Your Journey

"Whether playing golf, flying airplanes, or thinking about frying chilies—whatever we do is made possible by the courtesy of this thing called life. We can do very little if life is not there.

In this journey of life, we pick up a lot of luggage, and walking becomes miserably slow. Someone comes along and says, “Maybe you don’t need to carry all of that. Look at the simplicity of your existence.”

What is calling us? What is the aspiration of every single human being regardless of who they are, where they live, what they do, and what they think? What has our heart been saying through all the good and bad things that have happened?

We have had a thirst, a desire, since we were very young. And no matter how old we get, that child is still there with the same thirst. Hope is within the heart of everyone wanting the same thing—to feel peace, joy, contentment. “Show me a way to turn within and feel for myself. Not some theory or nice words, but feel for myself, as real as feeling water in my mouth when I am thirsty.” Theory is great, but someday it has to become real.

Could it be that we go along in our lives looking at our future and our past, not paying attention to the present? Yet we are stuck in the moment called now, and this is where we will be for the rest of our lives. All our tomorrows will come as now. We can only go one step at a time on this journey.

We have the most priceless gift—breath. All the money and technology in the world can’t touch it. We cannot give it to someone else, steal it or borrow it. Breath comes freely, day and night. Because it does, we can dance, look, talk, dream—all the things we do. Some people ask why. But to the thirsty person in the desert, it doesn’t matter who built the well. All that matters is water and quenching their thirst.

For those who are thirsty, I can help. It is your journey. I cannot make it faster or slow it down. I can offer you a mirror so that when you want to see your self, you can. Someday you may feel a need for a joy. And when you do, look me up. I can help."