The Heart of the Matter
December 26, 2022
Winter's Light

Beautiful new song by Barry Ollman.

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 09:15 PM | Comments (0)

December 17, 2022
Snow Day!

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Growing up in New York, there were three things I found utterly amazing: the accents of people from other places, baseball, and snow days. If you're from California, Mexico, or Hawaii, you probably know what the first two are all about. But the third? Allow me to explain.

A snow day is an unexpected day off from school granted by a benevolent universe. You go to bed at night, dreading your history test the next day and wake up with three feet of snow outside your window -- your mother telling you that school is closed.

Hooray! It's a snow day!

Somehow, while you slept, the whole world shut down. Everything came to a halt. The only thing you can see out your window is a solitary bird looking for food and the kid next door, arms outstretched, making snow angels. You jump for joy! Yahoo! Hallelujah!

Gone is the need to rush through breakfast. Gone is the need to catch the bus. Gone is the need to perform. All bets are off. Your time is your own. You are free! You look out the window and everything is white. The jagged edges of the world have been softened, curved, and relaxed. Everything is completely still, as if the God you've heard so much about in Sunday school has just hit the pause button.

You have time to slow down, time to do nothing at all and feel really good about it. After all, this isn't a sick day, it's a snow day -- a complete and utter gift, an unexpected bit of grace, an inheritance you didn't realize was on its way.

For me, the gift that Prem Rawat gives is a bit like that. And the ultimate beauty of the whole thing? You don't need to wait for an "Act of God," while you sleep, to enjoy its benefits. It's with you every second of the day.

Every. Single. Second.

Video excerpted from the Practical Peace Libary
Also posted on Medium
Photo: Gabriel Tovar, Unsplash

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 06:01 PM | Comments (0)

December 04, 2022
What a Good Educator Does

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"I don't know you. I don't know your name. But I do love you because you are a human being. That is sufficient for me to open up my heart and bring forth to you all that I know." -- Prem Rawat

When people ask me who Prem Rawat is, I usually describe him as an "educator". Which makes me, I guess, his student -- though he has no school, no curriculum, and no exams. What he does have is an extraordinary knack for accelerating a person's education. About what? About life and how to get the most out of it.

A clue about Prem Rawat's approach comes from the word itself. "Education" comes from the Latin word "educare" -- meaning "to bring out." That's what a good educator does -- brings out, from the student, the desire to learn, the thirst to know.

A good educator does not stuff the student with facts, formulas, and information. A good educator unstuffs and helps remove the obstacles that get in the way of learning -- then finds a way to encourage, inspire, and guide his students to find out for themselves.

What Prem Rawat brings out of a human being is innate wisdom -- direct contact with the inner experience of knowing or what some people refer to as "knowledge of the self."

Here's the paradox: Even though Prem Rawat teaches and has a lot to say, he'll be the first to admit that what his message is about goes far beyond words -- words, amazingly, that have been translated into more than 70 languages and are considered daily by thousands of people worldwide who pay no tuition, only attention.

Because what he teaches is free. Which makes perfect sense when you stop to consider that what he's teaching is all about the fine art of becoming free.

Learn more about what Prem helps people learn
Prem Rawat's Official YouTube Channel
TimelessToday
His humanitarian foundation

Photo: Courtesy of TimelessToday

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 10:06 AM | Comments (3)

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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