Compiled from several interviews of Prem Rawat by journalists.

A person in your position will be described or defined by many people. How would you describe yourself?

I’m me. I am a human being. Many things have been said about me. Many of these things have come from people’s own emotions, good or bad. I’m proud to be a human being. I am very happy that I have this life. I’m happy being me. Some people would love to put labels on me, but I am just me.

What solution or help or hope do you bring?

Some teachers say, “Let’s see what you can accomplish. How can we make you a success?” I focus much more on the person. Rather than show people what they could do, I say, “You have been given the gift of life. You have been given a treasure within you. Why don’t you address your own treasure? Why don’t you address your innermost feeling?” What are your needs? Not the needs of society, but your needs? What is your aspiration?

There is a fundamental aspiration true to every human being regardless of who they are, where they live, what they do, or what they think. Every being has an innate desire to be content. What I offer is a practical way to address that deepest desire common to us all. It is an individual process for personal success in enjoying life, independent of circumstances.

What qualifies you to be this messenger, to deliver this?

What qualifies me? The heart. The people who listen. They’re the ones. If I’m able to deliver, then I’m qualified to deliver.

What motivates you to do this? Why are you spreading this message?

I have been given a gift. I have had this gift since I was very young. I used to speak before my father would come out to begin his talks. Other times, my father would ask me to get up and speak, and as he looked at me, he would become very, very happy. This gift has been there for a long time.

You are known as a leading voice for peace. What do you mean by “peace”?

Peace is innate. It is within all of us. But before we can actually feel peace, we need to feel the thirst for peace. This is something we can do—open ourselves to feeling that thirst. Once that thirst is felt, it becomes simple, and it becomes easy to understand what peace is. Otherwise, my words are just like many words we have used for centuries about what peace is and should be. Peace can only be understood once you have understood the thirst that is already within inside of you.

Can you describe what you mean by thirst? It is one of those elusive concepts that may be difficult for some people to grasp.

If you start to analyze it, it becomes elusive. But thirst is fundamental. Everyone has felt a thirst for water. When you feel the thirst for water, there is no research to be done. You want to find it and drink it. The beauty of this thirst is that the water people are looking for is inside of them.

How do I know when I’ve found peace?

It is like drinking that glass of water and quenching your thirst. First you need to feel that thirst from within. Slow down a little bit. Try to experience the call from within you. What is the cry of the heart? What is the request of the heart? What is within inside of you that has been knocking again and again and again? Listen to that knock.

Does a person need to renounce this world to find peace within?

There are people who actually say: “Go and live on some mountain, in some remote place where you’re not distracted.” I don’t think it works like that. Your commitment to listening to the inner voice can be done in the noisiest city in the world; it has nothing to do with what goes on outside. The two have nothing to do with each other. The focus that you need in your life within is not going to compromise the focus on the outside. The outside focus is very loud, clear, colorful. It will always distract you—it’ll be there. The inner focus is much more silent, much more quiet. It is much more simple. And the attention needs to be paid to the inner focus.

What gets in most people’s way?

Themselves—preconceived ideas of how this should be. You are you. You are so different from everyone else in this world that you would be shocked if you really sat down and started to look at that. You are such an individual. That is hard to imagine because you want to be like somebody else: “I want to be like that person.” Your path, your smile, your understanding, your ideas, your way of looking at things are unique to you. It is the same for everyone, and yet, it is so unique and so different for each person.