“We are on this magnificent earth,” says Prem Rawat, “a show of all shows. And for me to exist in this time, I cannot help but feel gratitude. We have forgotten what it means—the opportunity to be alive, to have the privilege to be able to take this breath.”
TPRF has made grants to Shirkat Gah Women’s Resource Centre and ActionAid International to help many of the 650,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Pakistan affected by the country’s recent internal conflicts. Dr. Saman Yazdani Khan, Regional Director for Shirkat Gah, states, “It will ease the discomfort and desolation of their unwelcome situation.” Peter O’Driscoll, Executive Director for ActionAid, said, “This work is powerful. And, without your support, it would not be possible. Thank you.”
“In the arena of knowing, there’s no make-believe,” says Prem Rawat. “You experience. It’s not a fantasyland. There is a longing within a human being so deep that it leaves you dry and, in the same moment, fills you up. It’s a magical dance of quenching the thirst within.”
Prem Rawat talks about the shoots that appear in spring: “If that tree was human, it would say, ‘Why are we doing this? Winter’s going to come again; I’m going to have to shed these leaves.’ Something that transcends logic. These little shoots … a drive that is powerful.”
Prem Rawat was given the title of “Ambassador of Peace” for the province of Basilicata, Italy, after addressing a distinguished audience at an event called “Peace: Human Heritage.” He was invited by Basilicata President Vito de Filippo, who said in his introduction at the event, “We look forward to this high level of thought from Prem Rawat. Tonight an important seed will be planted that we will nurture and grow, for this is a land of peace.”
Prem Rawat talks about the simplicity of life: “Something is going on here, isn’t it? You can move, you can talk, you can think, you can smile, you can cry. Something is going on here, and one day it won’t be. What is this thing that is going on?”
Thanks to a grant of US$30,000 to the African Children’s Feeding Scheme (ACFS) by The Prem Rawat Foundation (TPRF), 500 of the poorest students at the Emndeni Junior Secondary School in Soweto, South Africa, will be receiving nutritious lunches. Executive Director of the ACFS, Sister Rejoice Nkutha, wrote, “This will provide nutritious food to 500 children in Soweto, thus improving their quality of life. We also thank Prem Rawat for his message of peace to people around the world and providing essential humanitarian aid to the people in need.”
Prem Rawat talks about fundamental needs. When you are hungry, he says, “you cannot just say, ‘I’m not hungry. I’m not hungry. I’m not hungry.’ You can say, ‘Oh, it’s mind over matter.’ But not for the basics, not for those things that really matter.”
On May 23, at the invitation of Mayor Tain-Tsair Hsu of Tainan,Taiwa, Prem Rawat was awarded the key to the city and spoke to an audience of 800. “The Peace Ambassador has finally arrived in Tainan City,” said Mayor Hsu, “and we have to collaborate with him to contribute to peace and harmony in this world. We have to trust in peace. We cannot wait for peace to descend. We have to have the confidence in ourselves that there is a source of peace within us that is not only for ourselves but for everyone in this world.”
Prem Rawat talks about the miracle of life. “You want to know how to recognize a miracle? Then understand that today was a miracle,” he says. “And, if tomorrow comes, that is going to be a miracle. And the coming and going of this breath is a miracle.”
“I am here to tell you a story that is simple,” says Prem Rawat. “This story is not about animals or kings and queens. It is not about the fulfillment of somebody’s fantasy. This story is about you and me — as we exist, as we are.”
TPRF donated $50,000 to sponsor five eye clinics in India during November and December, 2008, with its partner Premsagar Foundation India. Clinics were held in Ranchi, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Dausa, and Delhi. Doctors and optometrists examined nearly 9,700 people, giving eye drops for infections and providing glasses. Maheshwari Devi, one of the attendees, said, “This camp gives eyes to the blind. I was given spectacles after my eye examination. Now I shall be able to do my routine work without difficulty.”
“Your life is associated with your jobs, with the things that happen around you. That is not your life,” says Prem Rawat. “The core is you. You exist. And because you exist, there are certain things that also exist. And at the hub is your existence, your life.”
Prem Rawat talks about how we have filled our buckets with everyone else’s ideas. “Empty your bucket,” he says. “This is your bucket. At least, it should contain what you think should be in it. Because this life is about you. This gift of life has been given to you.”
The Prem Rawat Foundation model program, Food for People (FFP), is a10,000-square-foot facility located in a rural area in northeastern India that has become a central part of the life and well-being of several villages in the area. TPRF president, Linda Pascotto, recently returned from a visit to this facility and spoke to Inspire staff.
TPRF has extended its work with Compartimos Bienestar y Salud Para Los Niños Maya I.A.P. in Mexico to provide a breakfast program for the 59 students of an elementary school in the Yucatán, who arrive at school hungry because their families face severe poverty. Maria Jose Medina Diaz, President of the Mexican nonprofit organization, said, “The teachers told us that the children were becoming more attentive in class and, in general, appeared more content.”
“What kind of road is life?” asks Prem Rawat. “Some parts are hilly; some are flat; some have a nice, gentle slope; and some way too much slope, slippery,” he says. “Walk. The key is not to measure how many miles you have come, but to enjoy every single step you take.”
Prem Rawat talks about the need to “try every day, consciously, to be fulfilled.” “When I have come home to this moment called now,” he says, “I have no quest for tomorrow, or even the moment yet to come, because it is a moment that I could live in forever.”
Prem Rawat says, “A long time ago, someone said, ‘As far as your eyes can see, consider it to be an illusion.’ Why am I talking to you about illusion and reality? Does it matter that this is an illusion? Does it matter that there is a reality? Yes, it does.”
The Prem Rawat Foundation has made a grant of $25,000 to ORBIS UK, a beneficiary of the 2008 Lord Mayor of the City of London’s Appeal, to support ORBIS UK and the Lord Mayor’s Childhood Blindness Programme in India. Wendy Lloyd, director of the Lord Mayor’s Appeal 2008, said, “This donation will certainly make a real contribution in achieving our aim to make the lives of future generations brighter. It is enormously encouraging to receive such fantastic support.”
