Prem Rawat - Hear Yourself: How to Find Peace in a Noisy World

Over the years, I have met and spoken with many people who are on a journey of self-discovery. Some have dedicated their lives to finding enlightenment and are constantly exploring ideas and techniques from around the world. Others have simply wanted to understand themselves a little better, to grow as a person or to experience a greater sense of fulfillment and joy in their life.

Travel with me for part of your journey and you might be surprised where we go. We are heading away from the realm of theories and beliefs toward a unique form of knowledge. To somewhere within you thats free of everyday distractions. To a place where you really can experience clarity, fulfillment, and joy. To a place of inner peace. Our path will take us through mindfulness and heartfulness to peacefulness. Whoever you are, peace is in youself-knowledge is what enables you to experience it, and this book will show you how.

I find there is a lot of confused intellectual noise around the topic of understanding the self, but the purpose of gaining self-knowledge could hardly be simpler: its about us experiencing that refreshing clarity, deep fulfillment, and profound, immeasurable joyand many, many other wondersby being at one with the universe of peace inside us. This feeling of peace is at the heart of who we truly are.

To be clear: my aim is to help you develop your understanding of peace and what connecting with the peace inside might mean in your life, but only you can make your journey from outer noise to inner peace. No one can give you peace; its something only you can uncover for yourself, within yourself. As you do so, you come to understand who you are in new ways. There are lots of things that are automatic in our livesthings that happen for us easilybut finding inner peace can take work! Being fully conscious requires effort. As Einstein said, Wisdom is not a product of schooling, but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it.

As the stories and ideas within this book unfold, I hope youll get to enjoy unexpected perspectives on something we all share, something I feel we should celebrate much more in our lives: our incredible human spirit. Theres also a remarkable character I particularly want you to meet and get to know. But more on that person in a moment.

Many people say they feel challenged by the rising volume of noise going on around them. In our crowded cities and busy, digitally enhanced lives, its often difficult to find time and space for the quiet simplicity of being. Progress is reaching ever further into rural areas too, bringing much-needed benefits and opportunities but also new demands on individuals and communities. Its quite a time to be alive, with innovation creating such wonderful possibilities, yet sometimes the noise that accompanies this progress can feel like an unwelcome distraction.

Actually, the noise going on out there is nothing compared to the noise we often generate within our own minds: the problems and issues we cant seem to solve, the anxieties and self-doubts we cant seem to soothe, the ambitions and expectations we cant seem to satisfy. We may feel irritation, resentment, and even anger toward others, and disappointment with ourselves. Or perhaps we feel were held back by a lack of focus or a sense of being overwhelmed, by confusion and procrastination, or by the mental acrobatics we perform each day in search of pleasure and security. In this book I will address the impact negative thinking has on us, and set out a way to reach a deeper, unchanging sense of our self that exists beyond our thoughts.

How do I know that my approach works? Because it has worked for me, and thats why I have the confidence to share it with you. I was thirsty and I came to a well, and then my thirst was quenched. Are there other approaches? Absolutely. Why didnt I go on and try them out? Because I was no longer thirsty!

You can use my approach to life regardless of your religious, ethical, or political beliefs (or, for that matter, your nationality, class, gender, age, or sexuality). Its not a replacement for what you believe, because its about knowing, not believinga fundamentally important difference Ill explore further. Knowing can give you a deep, deep connection with the best of your human spirit and enable you to experience your self in all its dimensions. Its up to you to decide how that relates to your beliefs.

Youll find that I invite you to treasure and trust your heart, and to not rely solely on your mind as your guide. The mind shapes much of our day-to-day experience, and it can be incredibly helpful to understand how it behaves (and misbehaves). Its important we recognize the minds positive and negative effects on our lives, embracing opportunities to enrich our ideas and sharpen our intellect. But too often our societies champion the mind at the expense of the heart. Brainpower cant do everything. For example, Im not sure our mind alone can provide a satisfying answer to the question Who are you? My mind has never taken me all the way to the place of inner peace within me. To function properly, our mind relies heavily on everything that is put into it, while the heart draws much more on the DNA of a human being.

Speaking of the mind, I have one request of you as a reader: only accept what I write in this book if you feel the truth of it for yourself. Whether your intellect is skeptical or accepting of my message, also open up to what your inner self is saying. Give this approach a fair chance. Rather than telling you what to think, the chapters that follow will present some possibilities for you to consider. Im not here to convince you with logic, just to share experiences, views, and stories that might provide helpful perspectives. Heartfelt words clearly expressed can act as stepping-stones to understanding, and I offer the words in this book as a pathway through ideas and beyondto the world of inner experience. Please do measure what I say in your mind, but also listen with your heart.

Before we go any further, I should tell you something about me.

I was born in Haridwar, India, in 1957, and grew up in nearby Dehra Dun, in the foothills of the Indian Himalayas. The source of the Ganges River springs from the mountains above the city, and its considered a sacred pilgrimage area by Hindus. In fact, Hari dwar means door to god. Its not a particularly large place, but every year millions of visitors attend holy festivals there. Its a remarkable thing to witness.

So, I was raised in a place where people have long taken religion very seriously and express their beliefs in powerful and evocative ways. My father, Shri Hans Ji Maharaj, was an eminent speaker on the subject of peace and drew crowds of thousands. From an early age he had traveled the mountainsand later visited many towns and citiesin search of holy men who could provide him with wisdom. He was often left disappointed.

The breakthrough for him came when he met Shri Swarupanand Ji, a Guru in what was northern India and is now, following the Partition, Pakistan. My father felt he had at last encountered a true teachersomeone with a profound understanding of the human spirit. This experience truly changed him. He had found what he was looking for: a deep understanding of the self and an almost indescribable sense of inner peace. I saw him weep when he recalled what it felt like to learn from the man he called his Master. He would often quote a couplet by the fifteenth-century Indian poet Kabir, who had experienced something similar with his own teacher:

I was being swept away in this river of darkness

of this world, of society

and then my Master handed me a lamp.

He showed me this beautiful place inside me, and now