On the Road to Prem Rawat

A story about my recent journey to attend his event in Miami

Photo by Sachin Amjhad on Unsplash

Three days ago, I flew from Albany to Fort Lauderdale on my way to attend a Prem Rawat event in Miami on March 5. This was not the first event of his that I have attended over the years and, hopefully, not the last.

Since 1971, when I first heard about him, I have listened to him speak in the following places: New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, Orlando, Montrose, Asheville, Dallas, Houston, Basking Ridge, Kansas City, Atlanta, Portland, Seattle, San Diego, Los Angeles, Malibu, Oxnard, Montreal, Toronto, Gainesville, Miami, Miami Beach, Denver, San Antonio, Washington D.C, Albany, Pasadena, Long Beach, Woodstock, Anaheim, Baltimore, Tucson, Phoenix, Kissimmee, Rome, Brighton, Amaroo, India, and a bunch of places I cannot quite remember.

As you might imagine, I have been asked more than a few times why I have traveled so frequently to see him — the implied question always being “Don’t you already know what he is going to say?”

An understandable question, indeed.

Then again, one might ask the same question about a lot of things — why I’ve listened to Beethoven’s Fifth so many times, or looked up at the full moon more times than I can count, or eaten ice cream again and again, hugged my kids whenever I can, write poetry, sing in the shower, go for long walks, celebrate Thanksgiving, and a whole lot of other “things” I’ve done more than once.

Don’t I already know what’s going to happen? Technically speaking, yes.

But my experience of listening to Prem and being in his company is not a technical thing. It’s a heart thing. Indeed, it has nothing to do with how many times I have seen him, but the kind of timelessness that opens up for me in his presence.

And yes, he will be the first one to tell you that what he’s talking about does not require being in his physical presence. It doesn’t.

OMNIPRESENCE

What he’s talking about is omnipresent. It is everywhere. It is with you now and wherever you are at any given moment of time. And yet, somehow, someway, this man has a knack for helping people remember and experience this — especially in a world that…