Baba comes to us at a time when there is a lot going on…everywhere. There are over 7 billion people on the planet, many countries, rules and regulations, major wars and petty arguments, families and friends, jobs and hobbies, movies and music, lights and cameras, phones and laptops, TV screens and theater screens.

So much to do, so little time. Feel familiar?

We genuinely are busy these days. Taking care of the home, working full time at the office or taking care of a business perhaps. That’s already a full day, then we have social circles- the birthday party, the kid’s school function, dinner with friends, the shopping that needs to get done, that new movie that came out that we promised we’d watch together…oh, what about working out? that’s important too. Then there are times, we are not busy doing but busy thinking… about that colleague and how they tricked us out of that promotion or how that friend betrayed us, or how so and so is better looking, richer than us, it’s like they have it all. Or about that good deed we did, an old memory perhaps. We cannot stop thinking!

Yes, so much to do indeed. Do I have time for me? The real me.

When I am in body consciousness, all I see is the million things that are all ‘important’, all the things that ‘I’ have to do or think about. When I am soul conscious, I look at what’s getting in the way of my relationship with myself and Baba and question if that’s worth it. No, this is not about quitting your job or becoming a recluse. But it’s about balance. Am I so preoccupied with my job that I have no time to pause and connect with myself and Baba? I have no time to listen to the elevated versions? I have no time to remember? That doesn’t feel right, feels skewed but we tend to justify it by saying, ‘well, I have to live in this world‘.

Sometimes we feel the pressure to perform well in the world because that’s what society measures us by- how much am I worth? what’s my job? where do I live? etc. Baba says, forget the ways of the old world, it’s false evaluations and judgments. Sometimes, we feel pressure to not just earn enough for ourselves but ensure we have enough in the bank for the next generations. Really? do we think that’s what’s important for them?

What I do, others will follow. So let me pause and assess what’s really important. Am I asking Baba to help me ‘make it’ here which is to say, am I asking Baba to help me build a palace on a graveyard that is this old world? or did I come here to help Baba in His task of world transformation?

If it’s the latter, then I prioritize self-transformation and service that follows from that. I CANNOT serve if my mind is always ‘busy’ with the million little and big things of this world. I CANNOT serve if I am physically ‘tired’ after a long day of trying to ‘make it’. I CANNOT serve if I am ‘busy’ catching up on the news, the latest gossip of my big friend circle, with my this and that. I CANNOT serve if I don’t have the time to pause, reflect and become the person I ought to be.

A pre-requisite to serve is to free the mind from the worries, the stresses, the tensions, the jealousies, the comparisons and everything else that comes from living a ‘busy’ life of trying to ‘make it’. Do I have the courage and faith in my role, my Father to make the changes I need to in my life, live it the way Baba is teaching me? or do I feel the pressure to ‘blend in’ with the old world?

It’s a choice we have at every step. Do you have a few mins or are you busy?