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My strategy is very simple. And my strategy isn’t to have world peace. I said it. “Aagh,” pin-drop silence. Because that’s not possible.

But this is what’s possible—you, be, first in peace with yourself. It’s just you. Nobody else is involved. You be in peace with yourself. And how can you be in peace with yourself? One—and that’s why we are here tonight: “Journey to the self”—you must know yourself.

And once you know yourself, you then must gain victory over the self. Not victory over your neighbor, not victory over that person, and that person, and that person, and that person, but victory over the self.

And when you are victorious over yourself, then you can be in peace with yourself. And when you are in peace with yourself, then you make peace with the world.

And when enough, enough people make peace with the world—because they have made peace with themselves—then, vaguely, the idea of world peace starts to come into view.

When every war happens and the innocent die.... Same way, when you are at war with yourself, the innocent moments of your life are being slaughtered. Because they’re innocent! They can be anything.

Never have I seen more innocence, in a moment of existence.... It’s, totally, as it comes to you, it’s innocent—just brings you possibility, anything you want—like a baby, like a baby.

You can mold it; you can fold it; you can destroy it; you can create a monster out of it if you wish. Or you can have it as the most tender-est, gentle time—the time with you, listening to that feeling which fills this heart and causes the gratitude to emerge.

- Prem Rawat

To be interested in peace ... to be interested in finding fulfillment in one’s life—that’s why you’re here. And that, to me ... deserves ... sincerest congratulations. Because that is a human being ... looking ... for the highest attainable ... thing that a human being can do, to be fulfilled.

To be ... human ... is ... the highest achievement a human ... can achieve. Simple as that—to be human.....

I say to people all around the world ... “Look, heaven is right here! Heaven is right here! And if you haven’t found it, you’re in hell!” (That’s my definition of heaven and hell.) It’s ... it’s not about getting baked.... It’s not about getting fried; it’s not about getting toasted; this is not a cooking show. [laughter]

There is a heaven ... and if you are not in that heaven ... then you’re in the other place. It’s as simple as that!

If you haven’t found your heaven now ... here! ... then you won’t even know what heaven is. Because it is here ... that you have ... that expression!—expression ... of life; this is what peace is.

(Yeah so, I know, I know-I-know-I-know—when I say the word “peace,” the first thing is like, “some vegetable ... like an okra ....”) [laughter]

No, that’s not peace. A person in peace is highly dynamic! A person in peace is highly dynamic. And they make that effort ... the effort ... to be ... a fulfilled human. No more. There’s nothing greater as a gift ... that you could be given.

The facts say, “For peace you don’t have to do anything.” Like, “What? For peace you don’t have to do anything? How can that be?” I mean, after all, everything ... you do, you have to something for it.... (Program your phone to turn on the coffee!)

Everything you do, you have to do something for it ... and for peace ... you have to do ... nothing? [Indicates something going over his head] Whssssht!

“How can that be?” How can that be? Because the peace is already inside of you!

In the core, in the core of your being, that’s where peace is!

When ... there is a possibility ... to be human ... to truly achieve what it is to be human ... then the question becomes, “What ties and holds back a human from achieving that? (What is the rope?”) There is a saying ... “To fly, you don’t need to sprout wings; you just need to cut the bondage....”

What binds us? What holds us back ... from achieving ... that simple thing called peace? ... when peace is inside of us?

It truly is a great honor to be here and to take a moment and talk about peace. I have been coming to Rome for quite a long time. In fact, when I left India, when I was a teenager, the first stop outside of India that I had ever come to was Rome. [Paolo Masini: Welcome back.] And then, of course, the flight continued on to England.

But my challenge, in the few days that I had, which was a vacation, a summer vacation—and I came, really, to explore the possibility of what would happen: “How would people react to my message?” I didn’t know if the West was going to be open to the message of peace.

And this is where I would like to clarify—we use the word “peace.” Having talked about this subject for over forty-nine years, I can tell you that the word “peace” does not mean the same thing to everyone. To some people it’s absence of war; to some people it’s a place up on a mountain.

And I don’t care what people call it. You know, when you are really, really hungry and you’re dying of hunger and you come across food, you don’t say, “What is this called?” You eat. If you come across water and you’re dying of thirst, you don’t ask the person, “What do you call ‘water’ in your language?” You drink.

It doesn’t matter what we call peace. But away from the ideas of peace, there is an understanding of peace. In fact, yesterday this is what I was talking about to the students, that, “Let’s just forget about the word ‘peace,’ and let’s just try to understand what it is.”

A place from where a person flourishes, where a human being comes to their full potential as a human being. Fulfilled, not filled with doubts and questions, but with clarity—in an understanding deep within themselves that emanates from their heart.

– Prem Rawat