The Heart of the Matter
May 31, 2012
Prem Rawat in Chicago: July 19th

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There are two things you probably don't know about Chicago: 1) It got its name from the French rendering of the Native American word shikaakwa (meaning "wild onion"); and 2) Prem Rawat will be speaking to 1,400 people there on July 19th.

If you are interested in his message, you are most welcome to request an invitation. The event is open to everyone. Admission is free.

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Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 11:28 PM | Comments (0)

May 29, 2012
We Love Howie Kent

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Our beautiful friend, Howie Kent, passed away today, a gem of a human being -- full of love, devotion, humor, and soul. We will all miss him. Travel well, Howie, and know that you have left your mark here!

The funeral is this Wednesday, May 30th, at 12 noon
Weinstein-Garlick-Kirschenbaum Chapels
1153 Coney Island Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11230
1-718-377-4848
Burial after at Wellwood Cemetery, on Pinelawn Rd. in Farmingdale, LI

If you'd like to send a gift; the family requests donations be made in Howie's name to https://www.wopg.org/en/give

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 02:07 PM | Comments (0)

Prem Rawat in Washington, DC

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Prem Rawat, widely known as an "Ambassador of Peace", will be speaking in Washington, DC, on July 15th.

If you are interested in his message, you are most welcome to request an invitation.

The event is open to everyone. Admission is free.

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Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 10:06 AM | Comments (0)

May 27, 2012
When the Heart Is Full...

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Quote: Prem Rawat
Graphics: Birger Pohl

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Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 09:46 AM | Comments (0)

Audio Poem of Praise #1

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Please click the link below.
It is an experiment,
a new attempt at communicating
how I feel about the realm
from which poetry springs
and the recognition
that all words are
basically
leaky boats of babble.
(Better a leaky boat,
I say,
than no boat at all).

More audio poems to come...

Audio Ditkoff

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 12:22 AM | Comments (0)

May 25, 2012
Prem Rawat in Birmingham, June 18th

How to request an invitation
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Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 09:03 AM | Comments (0)

May 24, 2012
A Simple Wish

Prem Rawat in Birmingham, June 18th

Producer: Pierre Boquie

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 10:25 PM | Comments (1)

May 23, 2012
Believe in the Strength of People

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Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 10:57 PM | Comments (0)

May 22, 2012
Prem Rawat TV Interview in Lima

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Prem Rawat, internationally known as an Ambassador of Peace, will be appearing, on TV, in Lima, Peru, on May 25th.

A known humanitarian and international speaker on the subject of personal peace, Mr. Rawat recently gave two presentations in Lima, as part of his 2012 World Tour -- a tour that also included four other South American cities: Santiago, Sao Paulo, La Plata, and Guayaquil.

During his visit to Lima, he gave an exclusive interview to the well known journalist and interviewer, Cecilia Valenzuela, from the Peruvian TV channel, Willax TV.

Ms. Valenzuela, a Peruvian lawyer, newspaper columnist, and journalist is currently the host of the "Look Who's Talking" program on Willax TV, in Peru.

Elisa Cabal, who translated the interview, shares her impressions:

"In this extraordinary interview, Prem Rawat expresses his unique and very personal views on the human heart, peace, and his commitment to taking his message to all who feel that need in their lives. I heard him speak of human dignity in terms I had not ever considered; very clear and so profound. He answered questions about the current state of the world and spoke of the endurance of the human spirit, of all that humankind has lived through and about the power of hope."

The TV interview will be aired in Peru, on Willax TV, on Friday, May 25th at 10:00 pm. It can be viewed by the rest of the world direct through http://willax.tv/vivo

NOTE: The interview will also be retransmitted at 2:00 am -- which is 9:00 am in Madrid on 5/26 and 5/27. Starting on Monday, 5/28, the interview will be posted on the Willax TV website (on Cecilia Valenzuela's blog).


More about Prem Rawat's message

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 09:02 AM | Comments (0)

May 20, 2012
Some Might Call It Dancing

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Some might call it dancing.
I call it stumbling closer to God,
the unrehearsed falling forward
into love
as if the world was tipped.
Operatic in my cells, amazed,
I am taken to the place
where dancing is infinitely less
about movement
than being moved --
for when the world is tipped
and we, drunk to our eyes in
love's ballet, are willing,
there is nothing not dance,
no one not dancer,
no place not stage,
no breath
not a standing ovation before God.

(From the soon-to-be published FULL MOON AT SUNRISE)

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Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 11:07 PM | Comments (1)

Prem Rawat Coming to Milan in June

Request an invitation
Music and producer: Stuart Hoffman

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 04:07 PM | Comments (0)

May 16, 2012
Prem Rawat Coming to Milan

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Time to visit Milan!
Graphics: Birger Pohl

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 08:52 PM | Comments (0)

May 15, 2012
The Seed Once Sown, the Rune

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I talk too much, too loud, too soon,
like one who pulls a sword from stone
and speaks
before the King has had his turn.

My words are ghosts of moments gone,
the poetry you want to hear '
is not my own,
but yours, the sacred sound
long buried in your bones --
the seed once sown,
the rune,
something born within you to be told.

This is what you want to hear,
the perfect eloquence of one
upon the throne,
whose prayer, these words, are heard
before a single word is said.

Live there! Breathe deep! Fly!
Free the priests and, if the angels die,
know you'll be dancing in the air.
That's the poetry you want to hear!

What you really want is this:
The lyrical flood of fullness within,
the drowning in bliss,
the letting down, like mother's milk,
of all there ever is --
the place where all the poets you have ever loved
are riding homeward on a train, alone,
looking out a window on a perfect summer day.

What they see is only their reflection
and, just beyond, golden fields of hay.
Somewhere, in between them both, their breathing slows,
they close their eyes and pause,
clear they never have to write again or think.
This is the poetry you long to hear,
when all the poets turn for home
and all their blood has turned to ink.


Help me name my next book of poetry

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 01:02 AM | Comments (1)

May 13, 2012
Where It All Begins

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Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 09:06 AM | Comments (0)

May 10, 2012
Prem Rawat in Spain

Wonderful "musical slide show" video invitation to Prem Rawat's upcoming events in Barcelona (May 27) and Madrid (June 10). Music by Manuel Iman. Produced by Stuart Hoffman. Please forward to any one you know who might be interested in attending.

More (in English)
More (in Spanish)
Barcelona Facebook page

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 07:03 PM | Comments (0)

May 09, 2012
Go Beyond Your Imagination

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OK, movers and shakers, lovers of Knowledge, humbled ones, happy ones, gopis, fools, lunatics, learners, Luigis, and other assorted humanoids sometimes bummed by a crumbling economy, shaky world order, and the rising price of cappuccino -- it's time to realize that whatever difficulties you're experiencing these days are actually gifts -- each lovingly wrapped with silver linings beyond anything you can imagine.

Really. There's something in it for you. Know that everything happens for the best.

Say goodbye to the old. Let it go. The old forms are dying. Their time has come and gone. But YOU are still here -- YOU, the crown of creation!

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Mostly everything you've depended on in your life has revealed itself to be completely undependable. Your job? Your finances? Your relationship? Ha! Now you see them, now you don't. Seductions, one and all.

Security? Good luck! Helen Keller said it best. "Security is mostly a superstition. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing."

OK, maybe your cash flow isn't flowing, but that doesn't mean that YOU can't flow. YES YOU CAN!

Dudes and Dudinas of the world, it's time to say goodbye to whatever it was that's been propping you up or providing you with a temporary identity to trot out at parties in between the brie and the creeping conclusion you probably should have stayed home.

What remains when all the conditional stuff of our life is gone? What remains when the veil disappears and the show leaves town and everything we think we are or have reveals itself to be nothing but a few flickering shadows on a few flickering walls? Ah, Grasshopper, that is the question.

My big fat opinion?

I can say without a shadow of doubt or any unpaid speeding tickets that there is at least one human being on the planet who not only knows what remains after all the conditional stuff of our life is gone, but has the knack of awakening the rest of us to that place.

Is he the only one? God only knows. Maybe there's a million. Maybe there's 23. Maybe all these Wise Ones are break dancing in a cave in the Himalayas or maybe they're meditating in a mall in New Jersey.

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What does Prem Rawat have to say about this matter? "Go search the four corners of the world for this peace and if you cannot find it, come back to me. I'll be wherever you are."

In that primeval place, there is no past, no future, no Wall Street, no Wal-mart, no alimony, no acrimony, no cholesterol, no antioxidents, no anti-Christs, no waiting, no lines, no hanging chads.

In that place, everyone gets bailed out. And the currency is LOVE, sweet sweet love. Not love of this or love of that or love of him or her. Just love. Love with no bounds. Love with no agenda. Love with no strings.

That's it, folks! LOVE!

What everything comes down to. Love, the universal donor. Love, the back stage pass. Love, what you do everything for. What moves you... and where it moves you to.

So let it be and let it go and let it rip. Take the wonderful bull of life by the horns (or at least wave the red flag instead of the white).

Now's the time. Everything up to this point has been prelude, the universe clearing it's throat so it could say something, far beyond words, and say it through YOU!

Oh great people of the blogosphere, don't hold back. Sing it out! Dance it out! Write it out! Speak it out! Be your beautiful self!

And should it come to pass that you choose to ignore the lovely verbs in the previous paragraph because they sound like too much of a rant, so be it! No problem. Whatever. No matter. But whatever you decide to do or not do, do it all the way.

There, you have it in a nutshell.

Do it all the way! Do not hold back. Do not covet thy neighbor's lawnmower, i-phone, astrological signs, tax bracket, or URL. Do not worry about the Dow. The Tao? (No need to worry about that either). Your finances? Oy vey! Don't ask. Let go! Dive in! Have fun!

And remember... YOU ARE NOT IN THIS ALONE!

OK, so maybe no one's going with you when it's time to leave your mortal coil, but while you're here? Rejoice! Reach out! Connect! Find your tribe! And when you do, make whatever effort it takes to get in the groove.

In the words of that famous hip hop philosopher, Johann von Wolfgang Goethe, "Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it."

(Photo by Dujarandille)

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 12:03 AM | Comments (5)

May 07, 2012
HAFIZ: What Happens

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What happens when your soul
begins to awaken your eyes
and your heart
and the cells of your body
to the great Journey of Love?

First there is wonderful laughter
and probably precious tears
and a hundred sweet promises
and those heroic vows
no one can ever keep.

But still God is delighted
and amused you once tried to be a saint.

What happens when your soul begins to awake in this world
to our deep need to love and serve the Friend?

Oh, the Beloved will send you
one of his wonderful, wild companions --

Like Hafiz.

Excerpted from I Heard God Laughing
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Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 10:23 PM | Comments (1)

May 05, 2012
Something Good

Geoff's website

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 10:30 PM | Comments (1)

Welcome to Mitch Ditkoff's blog about what's really important in this life: Peace, gratitude, love, joy, clarity, and the effort required to wake up and smell the roses. Enjoy!

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