The Heart of the Matter
November 20, 2019
It's Not That Difficult a Question

m backstage.jpeg

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 his 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.

Joan was going to MC the event and I was going to do back stage security -- because, I reasoned, if I was backstage, I'd have a better chance of having a moment or two with Prem as he waited for his cue to take the stage. And besides, I sort of had a cold (sniff, sniff) and Joan, glorious Joan, would absolutely nail it as the MC.

Getting to the hall a bit earlier than Joan, I explained to the MC-selector lady that, today, I would NOT be the best choice to MC, given my cold (sniff, sniff, achoo!).

She agreed and, I gleefully took my position back stage. My role, I soon learned, was a simple one. When Prem entered the building, all I had to do was press a large red button on the wall to alert the sound and lighting guys that he had arrived. That's it -- notice when Prem walked into the building and push a big red button. No experience needed.

While Joan did her mic checks on stage, I practiced pushing a big red button back stage, hoping in my heart of hearts that somehow, I would have a moment with Prem -- not wanting, of course, to crowd him or get in his way or be goofy or uptight or screw things up. After all, the back stage waiting area at the Bearsville Theater was small. The more I stood there, waiting for Prem's arrival, the more it dawned on me how just how small a space it was -- just big enough, for him and... um...er... me, the security guy with a cold, having just pressed the red button 20 times.

Get the picture?

As the hall filled up, so did every ounce of my being with a feeling I had become delightfully familiar with over the past 48 years -- the feeling of anticipating Prem's arrival -- the one person in the world who astounded me the most. Usually, I was sitting in the audience, back in row ZZ or up in the mezzanine, but today... this sunny day in Woodstock... in the iconic Bearsville Theater once owned by Bob Dylan's manager... I was going to be closer, much closer, to the main attraction.

Time passed. And some timelessness, too. Then, walking up the stairs from the Green Room, I see Prem approaching, radiant, buoyant, and smiling.

"Hi Mitch," he says.

"Hi!" I reply.

"So why do you live in Woodstock?" he asks.

"Um..." I say, not at all certain that I know why I live in Woodstock. "Because it's so beautiful."

"No," he responds. "I know why.... because it's so remote."

Then he wanders away and just stands there, eyes closed, in what I imagined to be his way of getting ready to go out on stage. But then, with no warning, he pivots and walks back in my direction.

"So what's up?" he says, looking me straight in the eye.

And that's when I kind of lost it. Stunned as I was to be talking to him so casually, I could not, for the life of me, process his question. Suddenly, his two words, "What's up?" took on a kind of cosmic Zen-Koan-like quality. A gigantic space opened up inside me. Time stopped. My mind, like some kind of drunken sailor, stumbled around, searching for something to say, but couldn't find the words. I mean, I could have talked about my work...or my family.. or my writing...or my whatever... but it all seemed so silly... so distant... so not what I wanted to say.

Somehow, I found myself floating, disappearing into his eyes. He just stood there, absolutely still, saying nothing. I kept drifting. The space that had opened up was very large and I had no access to language, me having entered a kind of Stevie Wonder-land of intoxication.

I'm not sure how much time passed. I'm guessing only a few seconds, but it seemed like forever. Then Prem smiled, leaned closed, and spoke six words I will never forget, "It's not that difficult a question."

Boom! I was back.

I said something that seemed to make sense. He said something that seemed to make sense. Then I said something. Then, he said something. Then the moment passed and he went out on stage and shared his message of peace with 350 locals, eager to listen to what he had to say.

I stood backstage, leaning up against a wall, feet on the ground, head in the clouds, and very, very glad to be alive.

Responses to Prem's talk from Woodstock locals

PremRawat.com
Photo: Courtesy of TimelessToday

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at November 20, 2019 08:50 PM

Post a comment

Thanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (sign out)

(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)


Remember me?


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!

   Contact me   
© MITCH DITKOFF