The Making of Hear Yourself
Here is the six-minute back story of Hear Yourself: How to Find Peace in a Noisy World -- Prem Rawat's wonderful new book.
THE CHALLENGE OF COMMUNICATING THE INEFFABLE
Ever since I received the gift of Self-Knowledge from Prem Rawat in 1971, I have been trying, in various ways, to communicate something about the experience he reveals, how the practice of what he teaches benefits a person's life, and what his ongoing role is in the grand adventure of "knowing thyself."
As a poet and writer, I have a high regard for the power of language to convey and evoke that which is difficult to translate. But beyond that, I know deep down inside myself that, ultimately, it is not really possible -- not unlike the way my Zen friends describe the phenomenon of trying to speak truth into existence.
"It's like a finger pointing at the moon."
Prem Rawat has spoken of this phenomenon, as well.
Continue reading "THE CHALLENGE OF COMMUNICATING THE INEFFABLE"
Paint Outside the Boxes
"Weve been given the opportunity to express ourselves -- to paint beautiful pictures with the strengths we have inside. Each new morning, we can choose to be the most fantastic version of ourselves. Ignore the numbers. Paint outside the boxes. Paint what's in your heart. Paint the most dazzling version of who you are." - Prem Rawat
Illustration: gapingvoid
Easy to Love
PremRawat.com
The Hostage Situation
A few days ago, Rabbi Zoe B. Zak from Temple Israel of Catskill asked me to write something for tonight's Sabbath service -- something that spoke to the hostage situation in Israel.
This gave me pause and one more opportunity to reflect -- specifically on what, if anything of value, did I have to say about this great tragedy and from what persona of mine would I speak?
As member of this temple? A Jew? An American? A man? A father? A poet? A Democrat? A peace advocate? A lifelong seeker of truth?
There are so many ways to look at things, so many points of view, so many sides of the story.
At first blush, like all of you here tonight, my heart goes out to the hostages and their families. I can only imagine if it were my children who had been taken hostage... or my friends... or my parents. I have no words to describe the feelings I would be having, never having lived through this nightmare myself.
Nor do I have words to describe the feelings of the hostage-takers and what drove them to such an action in the first place.
Here's what I know: thoughts and prayers are not enough to heal the pain that the people of Israel and Palestine are experiencing. Nor is political posturing, protest marches and whatever cease fire or truce is eventually agreed on -- especially since we all know that whatever cease fire or truce is agreed on will only be temporary and that the deep-seated hatred and antagonism that both sides have for each other -- along with their own "proof" for why their stance is well-founded -- is likely to continue.
Here's what else I know:
We were not born to hurt, fight and kill each other. We were born to experience love, kindness, compassion, consciousness and true humanity.
Demonizing the so-called "other" is easy to do. It has become a sport on planet earth -- which, as far as I can tell, is a planet of duality, one of the great challenges facing all of us -- the apparent dance of opposites:
Up and down... in and out... black and white... good and bad... East and West... North and South... hot and cold... male and female... light and dark... now and later... hard and soft... you and me... us and them... Israel and Palestine.
This duality, deeply embedded into the DNA of every single person that walks this earth very much affects our perceptions of life. "Otherness" rules us in just about every aspect of our lives. And this otherness blinds us to our common humanity in such a vile way that it makes it insanely difficult to experience each other as brothers and sisters... or children of the same God.
We have all been taken hostage by this mindset of otherness. We have all been kidnapped by an invisible force that makes it extremely difficult to come from a place of love instead of hate, compassion instead of destruction, kindness instead of killing.
Personally speaking, I have seen and felt a lot in my 76 years.
I almost died at 21, just three seconds away from drowning. Three years later, when I was 24, I met a great being and experienced my timelesss, true nature beyond the circumstances of my life. I saw an angel when I was 27 -- not in my imagination, but in my room. I worked in an Islamic school for a year -- the only Jew among 1,000 Muslims. I have walked the halls of power in corporate America, for 35 years, invited by that curious slice of humanity to open their minds to new possibilities. I have brought two children into this world, written seven books, and watched Fiddler on the Roof six times.
Speaking of which, there is a scene in that movie that has always stayed with me -- one that has relevance to the world we now find ourselves living in. Perhaps you remember the scene.
Tevye, the town milkman and also the town wise man was walking through the town square when he encounters two villagers arguing loudly about a transaction they recently had. Apparently, one of the men sold a horse to the other, but the other man is now insisting it was not a horse, at all, but a mule. When they see Tevye, each of them turns to him and vehemently makes their case.
After the first man tells his side of the story, Tevye strokes his beard and says "You're right!"
Then the second man, with an entirely different story of the transaction, makes his case to Tevye.
Tevye listens, strokes his beard and says. "You're right!"
A third villager, standing close by, who had been watching the argument play out for the past ten minutes then turns to Tevye and says, "Wait a minute, how can he be right (pointing to the first man) AND he be right (pointing to the second man)?"
Tevye listens, strokes his beard, and exclaims "YOU'RE RIGHT!" Then he starts dancing, embodying in that highly-charged moment, something far beyond right and wrong.
This story may sound cute to you or not at all applicable to the awful situation in the Middle East. But it is neither cute or naive. There is a lot of truth in it.
Until and unless, we -- as a species -- get to a place beyond our cultural perceptions of right and wrong -- we will always be fighting, always killing, always taking others hostage and more fundamentally, taking ourselves hostage.
What I am talking about has nothing to do with the laws of mankind. It has to do with the laws of life and the almighty -- that which not everyone agrees on, selectively quoting from their favorite scripture or interpretation of their favorite scripture to support their own point of view.
What can YOU do in regard to the hostage situation in Israel? What can you do in regard to the horror show going on in the Middle East these days -- and let us not forget the war between Russian and Ukraine.
That is for you to decide.
You can send thought and prayers. You can send money. You can send ambassadors. You can protest. You can write letters. You can come to services like the one here tonight. And all of these approaches, of course, have their place and time.
But ultimately, all of us -- you and me and everyone else who is not in this room tonight -- will need to find our own way back to peace -- the promised land that is not a physical place, but a state of being, a state of consciousness -- one whose natural attributes are love, kindness, empathy, compassion, selflessness, and the recognition that all people, regardless of their apparent differences, skin color, religion, language, politics, education, or perceptions are children of the same God -- all here to experience true love and forgiveness.
For now, before I take my leave, I invite you to close your eyes, take a long slow breath, and get in touch with one step you can take, one move you can make, to bring more love, kindness and understanding into this world -- starting tonight, in this room right now, in your home when you return there, and tomorrow in your community or wherever you can reach out to someone with love in your heart and the timeless recognition that we are all in this together.
Shalom! As-salamu alaikum to you all!
The Miraculous Border Crossing
What follows is a chapter of a memoir-in-process by Joan Apter about her four-year overland-to-India adventure: 1967 to 1971 -- one that led her to the home of Prem Rawat (known as "Maharaji" at that time) when he was only 12 years old.
It was late in 1969. I was 21-years old and my bus from Pakistan to India was approaching the border.
I had left America in 1967 without a plan, feeling that it was time for me to bail from the chaos and darkness of the Vietnam war, the violent race riots and the assassination of my generation's heroes. Many of my friends were already fleeing to Canada.
Simply put, I was looking for a place to settle that made more sense, having already "turned on, tuned in and dropped out," quitting college after my second year.
Continue reading "The Miraculous Border Crossing"
The Epitaph
Now 76 and increasingly approaching the expected lifespan of an American male, I wonder from time to time what inscription I would want on my tombstone -- something not quite as goofy as WC Fields' ("I'd rather be in Philadelphia"), but very much to the point. And I think I have it. Just two words -- eight and a half times shorter than a haiku, but hopefully as memorable -- at least for the gravedigger who I doubt I'll ever meet. Ready?
"Thank you!"
That's it. Short and sweet. No wasted words. "Thank you!"
Continue reading "The Epitaph"
Fill Your Bucket Now and Drink
Everything on the outside changes -- our lives a kind of time lapse photography from the moment we are born to the moment we exit, stage left.
A seed is planted. It sprouts. It flowers. Bees come. Night comes. The flower closes and eventually its petals fall to earth, nourishment for whatever comes next.
But while we're here (and we are here!), let your flower bloom. Let it open to the sun. Be as beautiful as you are. Enjoy the sky overhead and the ground below. Indeed, enjoying this moment is what it's all about -- not what happened before or what you think will happen next. This is the moment we were born for -- to enjoy it in full glory, to sprout, to bloom, to let go.
Continue reading "Fill Your Bucket Now and Drink"
Enchanting Song by Cara Tower
Going Beyond Words
This just in! This morning, after breakfast, I began writing an article about the challenge of communicating anything meaningful via words -- how to give voice to the ineffable, how to give shape to that which has no form, how to evoke the deepest feeling of wonder beyond the limitation of language.
It would be way easier for me to wash the dishes in my sink (which I will get to later today), but I am moved to write this piece -- the ultimate Zen Koan -- trying to see my eye with my eye.
I know it cannot be done, but I am going to do it, anyway -- kind of like John Cage's definition of poetry: "I have nothing to say; I am saying it, and that is poetry."
And yet words, at least sometimes, have value. They do. As does music, art, dancing, photography, and a myriad of other forms of self-expression. Indeed, that is a big part of what it means to be a human being -- to step up to the plate or off the cliff and make the effort to give voice to that mysterious, deep-seated, beyond-language essence of who we are at the core of our being.
What follows are some inspiring quotes I found this morning on this fasinating topic. If you have a few minutes, please take a look and let me know, in the comments box below, which quotes move you the most. Merci! Gracias! And a big thank you from the bottom of what I have no words for.
Continue reading "Going Beyond Words"
When the Red Sea Parts
Two days ago I had a very interesting experience upon walking into the town of Catskill for my morning coffee and scone. Halfway there, I started feeling like I was on my death bed -- the time of life when I was preparing to leave this world.
Much to my surprise, it was totally blissful. There was no fear, no holding on, no bargaining, and no regrets. Free. I was absolutely free. Gone was the drama of everything. In it's place, only pure being.
Nothing was undone. Nothing needed to be done. There was nothing I had done that I wished I hadn't done. Perfect. It was all perfect, this feeling, that is -- the feeling of just how perfect everything is, was, and will be.
This moment, upon walking into town for my latte and scone, was a great liberation, a moment out of time, a visitation from the other side of sense-making -- not so much a "sneak preview" of what's to come, but the EXPERIENCE, however brief, that behind and beyond the various scenes of my life I've played out with varying degrees of skill, surrender, gratitude, struggle, doubt, drama, and laughter was a place of perfect peace, a realm of existence needing nothing to make it better, different, or more than it already was -- or should I say, IS.
In this moment, no effort was needed, only consciousness -- not the kind of consciousness that had to be attained, accessed, or climbed like some kind of spiritual ladder -- but a consciousness that is everywhere, always, and forever.
Free Parking in Monopoly. Home base in a child's game of tag. An infinite Sunday where not only the Lord is resting, but all of us, including me, are in perfect repose -- a resting most arresting. Yes, there was a sky overhead and ground beneath my feet.
And yes, there was somewhere I was going and somewhere I had come from, but none of it mattered -- not because the sky and the ground and the various longitudes and latitudes of my life didn't matter, but because, in this liberated death bed state of walking into town, they were all just stage props.
"All the world's a stage," wrote Shakespeare. "And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances, And one man in his time plays many parts."
Yes, indeed, Willie, my man! Many parts! And while those many parts are being played, there is the inevitable moment where the Red Sea parts. "Cut" yells the Director. "It's a wrap!"
And so it is. And so it shall be for each and every one of us -- here, on planet Earth, for just a little while even if it often seems like a loooong time.
So many actors! So many scenes. So much popcorn, the audience either clapping, snoring, or wondering where to have dinner when the show is over -- which, of course, is ALSO part of the play.
I'm not exactly sure how this stuff works, but when it comes right down to it, life is a GIFT, a big, beautiful gift. Do we deserve it? I'll leave that question to the pundits. All I know is this: life IS a gift, a precious gift, a holy gift, a divine gift -- and all of us -- you, me, the people you like and the people you don't like, get a chance to open it.
The soy latte, by the way, was quite delicious and so was the scone, no thoughts of "I really should be eating something healthier" anywhere in sight. And with that, my friends, I wish you well no matter what you do or don't do today, no matter where you go or don't. Yes, the journey you are on may be a long one, but know this: each step is also an arrival.
WRITTEN LAST YEAR AT AMAROO
What follows is something I wrote at Prem Rawat's five-day "Focus 5" retreat in Amaroo, Australia last year. (It just popped up on Facebook, so I thought I would share it with you now.) I hope it communicates a little bit of the essence of the experience of what the illustrious Mr. Rawat is helping people access. It is not "spiritual". It is human. And it doesn't matter what path you walk, skip, hop or jump.
And now for what I wrote last year (that still applies today)...
"It is some time in the very early morning here, but I cannot tell you what time, specifically, because I never changed the time zone on my iPhone, nor do I want to turn my iPhone on.
Let's just say it's the time when the birds begin singing and the first light of day is upon us. It's my second day here with Prem Rawat and 2,800 people who have traveled from who knows where to unplug from just about everything else except what really matters: being in the moment... feeling deeply... and letting go of whatever it may be for any one of us that obstructs and obscures the very best of who we are.
Last night Prem spoke to all of us in the outdoor amphitheater.
So relaxed he was. At ease. Radiant without trying to be. The definition of chill. He spoke. We listened. He laughed. We laughed. He told stories. We went on the adventure with him. You know the expression, "the bottom line?" Well, for me, that was happening, big time. Home base. Showing up. A come as you are party that he keeps throwing.
So much fun. So easy peasy.
This isn't about the mystical or esoteric. This is about life -- what exists at the heart of everything. No need for huffing and puffing. Water seeks its own level and so do we.
Prem has a way of making this universal, non-denominational phenomenon more accessible to everyone. Love is a natural law. Like gravity. You don't really have to do anything to experience gravity. And, where Prem is coming from, you don't have to do anything to experience love -- other than letting the knots that have been tied inside you come undone and focus on what it truly worthy of your attention.
Ahhh...
If I was hitchhiking, I'd want him to pick me up. If I was bummed out at my local bar, I'd want him in the seat next to me. If I was playing poker with the boys, I'd want him at the table, me looking his way for tells. But when I look into his eyes, only one message would be apparent. "Go all in!"
Yes, indeedy! He wants me to put all my chips in the middle of the table, not so he can clean up, but so I can. He wants me to win the big pot. And I do. And yet his stack never goes down. I don't really understand how this works, but it does.
What he is talking about, coaxing people towards, reminding us of every minute of the day, is how to experience the absolute best out of life. And that absolute best, by the way, is already within us. It's not on mountaintop (unless, of course, you happen to be on a mountaintop). It's not in a church or temple (unless, of course, you happen to be in a church or temple). And it's not at the end of a pilgrimage to wherever it is you think you need to go.
And, by the way, there is absolutely nothing wrong with going on a pilgrimage. Just like there's nothing wrong with yoga, finding your soul mate, buying the home of your dreams, or having all the money you want. It's just that the absence of these doesn't really matter.
None of those things can give you what you already have.
What Prem is saying has been said by many great teachers since the beginning of time. "What you are looking for is within you." It doesn't get much simpler than that.
It has nothing to with how many degrees you have or what your astrological sign is or how many holy books are in your library. It has to do with if you know yourself. It has to do with a heart full of gratitude. It has to do with consciousness -- your consciousness.
Somehow, this man (who like the rest of us used to be 13), has the ability to help people get to this place -- to make the journey from head to heart -- to feel how lucky they are -- to trust, to enjoy and experience the great gift of life.
What do you call someone like that? Well, that's really up to you. In the end, it really doesn't matter.
"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet", Shakespeare once said.
Words are just words. Names are just names. The menu is not the meal. What Prem is here to do is help each and every one of us enjoy the meal that is our life. And though, we are all different, with our own sets of quirks, beliefs, strengths, and preferences, at the center of the center there is one beating heart.
If a double rainbow appears over your head, it doesn't matter if you are a Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, Hindu or Jew. You look up. You marvel. Time stops, worry takes a back seat, and you experience pure wonder.
This is my experience of what Prem's work is all about. But instead of saying "look up" he's saying "look within". That's where our treasure is. That is the seat of our power. That is where all journeys begin and end.
And it's simple, folks. It's really simple. You don't have to leave your home, abandon your relationships, and become an ascetic. You don't need to do any hocus pocus, join a club, and complicate your life.
Oh, I almost forgot. It's free. There is no charge for the service he provides. Zero. Nada. Zilch. As he has said on more than one occasion, "How can I charge for something you already have?"
Well, dear friends, that's it for now. If I can, I will log on again tonight and babble on a bit. There are four more days of Amaroo, Prem speaking twice a day for those four days.
Whoo hoo! It's a bubble of love here, lots of kindness in the eyes of everyone I meet, laughter, ease, and gratitude. And it's a bubble of love where YOU are, too, by the way, no matter where you happen to be. Indeed, that's the whole kit and kaboodle -- the so-called "secret of life."
Be where you are! Bloom where you're planted! Feel the gratitude! Embrace yourself and your life right now. It's all good.
Michelangelo's Reply
When asked how he created his iconic statue, DAVID, Michelangelo, as the story goes, said the following:
"I simply took away everything that wasn't."
The statue, you see, was ALWAYS in the stone. All it took was the sure hand of a master sculptor to remove whatever was not the masterpiece. Simple? Yes. But not necessarily easy.
In my brief time here on planet Earth, I have never met anyone quite as masterful as Prem Rawat in the fine art of removing the unnecessary. Listening to him speak his truth in ways that are utterly enchanting, the inconsequential falls away and what remains is the Masterpiece -- who we truly are behind the stone surface of our lives.
And as if THAT wasn't enough, he provides a simple way for people to stay connected to this experience wherever they happen to be at the time.
PHOTO: TimelessToday
PremRawat.com
Sweeping the Path
As a middle class American male with a healthy dose of resistance to household chores, the broom has never been one of my favorite tools.
While I've certainly appreciated its timeless design and universal appeal, the act of sweeping has always felt like somebody else's job.
This belief radically changed for me one fine Spring day in 1980. That was the day I got word that Prem Rawat was coming to visit the house I was living in -- a funky old dwelling on Detroit Street in mile high Denver, Colorado.
Clearly, my housemates and I weren't ready. The kitchen was dirty. The bathrooms were a wreck. The lawn needed mowing. Mucho stuff needed to be done.
My task? To sweep.
Continue reading "Sweeping the Path"
Quotes on Longing
All of us long for something -- the almost insatiable thirst of the spirit for union, expression, and the experience of love beyond words. What do you long for?
"There is a space between man's imagination and man's attainment that may only be traversed by his longing." - Kahlil Gibran
"This hunger is better than any fullness; this poverty better than all other wealth." - C.S. Lewis
"We are homesick most for the places we have never known." - Carson McCullers
"Feeling and longing are the motive forces behind all human endeavor and human creations." - Albert Einstein
"Is there anything better than to be longing for something, when you know it is within reach?" - Greta Garbo
Continue reading "Quotes on Longing"
Kim O'Leary Time!
You are Invited to Subscribe to My Facebook Group, "Unspoken Word"
If you have been enjoying "The Heart of the Matter," there is a very good chance you will also enjoy my newly launched Facebook group, "Unspoken Word."
There you will find a wide range of poetry, readings, and quotes from an inspired mix of poets, movers and shakers, including Rumi, Kabir, Hafiz, Leonard Cohen, Mary Oliver, Billy Collins, Bob Dylan, Dylan Thomas, Mirabai, Rainer Maria Rilke, Lao Tzu, Charles Bukowski, Allen Ginsberg, Meister Eckart, Oscar Wilde, Clark Strand, yours truly and many others.
It's free. And it's likely to inspire you to access and express the poet/artist within you.
The Glass of Water
I first heard the following story many years ago from Prem Rawat. I loved it then and I love it now, as it brings me back to a simple place of appreciation for life
What follows is my retelling of this tale. If I have messed it up in any way, please forgive me. It won't be the first time. If you enjoy it and would like to know more about my teacher and his message, click here or here or here. If you don't feel like clicking, no problem -- just savor whatever this story evokes in you.
ONCE UPON A TIME there was a young disciple of a great Master who found himself wrestling with a very difficult question -- one that would not go away no matter how much he contemplated it. Though he had asked all the senior monks in the monastery that had been his home for the past 20 years, no one had an answer that rang true to him. And so, one fine Spring day, gathering up all of his courage, he decided to approach the Master himself.
Continue reading "The Glass of Water"
It's Not That Difficult a Question
Prem Rawat has been speaking to people, all over the world, about peace, for the past 53 years or so. He is always in great demand and his audiences, in India, have sometimes been as large as 300,000. So, when I found out, in 2010, that he was coming to my little town of Woodstock, NY, I was quite surprised -- especially since the biggest venue in town, the Bearsville Theater, had a capacity of only 350.
No matter. His is not a numbers game. He goes where the love is and there was a lot of love in Woodstock drawing him there.
A few days before he arrived, I received a phone call from a woman whose role it was to select the MC and the backstage security person for the event.
Since I had MC'd some of Prem's events before, she thought it might be a good idea if I was available to MC the Woodstock event, but she told me she was also going to ask another person, Joan Apter, to be available, and then, on the day of the event, she would make her decision.
The person, she explained, who was not chosen to MC would do back stage security. Our responsibility, she went on to say, was simply to show up at the hall an hour early and then, at that time, she would tell us who was going to MC and who would do back stage security.
But I already knew the answer.
Continue reading "It's Not That Difficult a Question"
Adapt, Flow, Change & Respond
"It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change." - Charles Darwin
I don't think anything in my life has completely prepared me for the Coronavirus situation. But there is one experience I have had that partially prepared me.
The year? 1980. The place? Denver, Colorado. That's when and where I was asked to coordinate a public event for Prem Rawat. I had never coordinated any of his events before, but I was up for the challenge.
The task, as best I understood it, was going to be a demanding one, but definitely doable. There were teams to organize, a union contract to negotiate, meetings to conduct, things to figure out, and all kinds of planning to do, what with the security, ushering, ticketing, promotion, speaker selection, staging, and so forth. A stretch? For sure. But I was up for the game.
Continue reading "Adapt, Flow, Change & Respond"
November 2023, October 2023, September 2023, August 2023, July 2023, June 2023, May 2023, April 2023, March 2023, February 2023, January 2023, December 2022, November 2022, October 2022, September 2022, August 2022, July 2022, June 2022, May 2022, April 2022, March 2022, February 2022, January 2022, December 2021, November 2021, October 2021, September 2021, August 2021, July 2021, June 2021, May 2021, April 2021, March 2021, February 2021, January 2021, December 2020, November 2020, September 2020, August 2020, July 2020, June 2020, May 2020, April 2020, March 2020, February 2020, January 2020, December 2019, November 2019, October 2019, September 2019, August 2019, July 2019, June 2019, May 2019, April 2019, March 2019, February 2019, January 2019, December 2018, November 2018, October 2018, September 2018, August 2018, July 2018, June 2018, May 2018, April 2018, March 2018, February 2018, January 2018, December 2017, November 2017, October 2017, September 2017, August 2017, July 2017, June 2017, May 2017, April 2017, March 2017, February 2017, January 2017, December 2016, November 2016, October 2016, September 2016, August 2016, July 2016, June 2016, May 2016, April 2016, March 2016, February 2016, January 2016, December 2015, November 2015, October 2015, September 2015, August 2015, July 2015, June 2015, May 2015, April 2015, March 2015, February 2015, January 2015, December 2014, November 2014, October 2014, September 2014, August 2014, July 2014, June 2014, May 2014, April 2014, March 2014, February 2014, January 2014, December 2013, November 2013, October 2013, September 2013, August 2013, July 2013, June 2013, May 2013, April 2013, March 2013, February 2013, January 2013, December 2012, November 2012, October 2012, September 2012, August 2012, July 2012, June 2012, May 2012, April 2012, March 2012, February 2012, January 2012, December 2011, November 2011, October 2011, September 2011, August 2011, July 2011, June 2011, May 2011, April 2011, March 2011, February 2011, January 2011, December 2010, November 2010, October 2010, September 2010, August 2010, July 2010, June 2010, May 2010, April 2010, March 2010, February 2010, January 2010, December 2009, November 2009, October 2009, September 2009, August 2009, July 2009, June 2009, May 2009, April 2009, March 2009, February 2009, January 2009, December 2008, November 2008, October 2008, September 2008, August 2008, July 2008, June 2008, May 2008, April 2008, March 2008, February 2008, January 2008,
