Baba says, ‘you have to become the master of the world while staying at home‘. You can do anything you put your mind to, He says. You have to make the effort.

Each morning, Baba tells us about the new world or more aptly, the real world, the way it originally was – happiness and prosperity for all, peace as the religion, respect and appreciation for each other.. We listen and nod because it talks directly to the soul, ‘yes, I recognize that world, it is what I dream of, it is the world I want to live in’.

But if I don’t make the effort to usher in that world, it will not appear on its own. Baba says, ‘don’t ask me for mercy, you will receive none’. This is a study, you have to learn and make effort.

There are a few things that get in the way of my effort.

I know that it is God teaching me but I take Him for granted. He is just Baba, that’s my Father. I know Him, He loves me and I love Him. There’s nothing more to it. Baba reminds me daily that He is not just my Father but also my Teacher and Guru. I have to follow the instructions of my Teacher, do my daily homework. At every step, I have to take advice for the only true Guru as opposed to forget that relationship as we usually do and run to friends and relatives for advice. They don’t know my journey, the ONLY One that does is Baba, not even I know my whole journey as well as He does. When I forget this truth, I deceive myself.

Baba tells me every day to remember – who I am, Whom I belong to and what it is I am here to do. But it is so easy to get caught up in the mundane – I and mine, right vs wrong, duties, responsibilities…the stuff that keeps us ‘busy’ that we forget or are too tired to remember. But in fact, it is because we don’t make the 5mins to remember that we have such a hard time getting through the day, we find life complicated, we lose the joy in relationships. If we did take time to remember, we’d develop perspective, know what’s important and approach life differently.

One of the consequences of not remembering is the fact that I can crumble under the weight of past/present bad karma. The long cycle of conditioning that the soul has been subjected to needs a power wash. I cannot do it unless I accumulate power through remembrance. I make a mistake and I start to blame myself, I think I am the worst student, I expect to be perfect overnight and when I am inevitably not, I feel like a failure and reject myself. All of this are signs of deep body consciousness – identifying with accomplishments and man-made standards. I have to build up internal spiritual power to break through and accept myself, to deeply realize that I am a child of God and that I am deeply loved.

In solitude, let me open up to God, be honest with Him about everything in my life. He says, ‘tell me everything, don’t be embarrassed or afraid. I am your Father’. Let me approach Him confidently, with love and tell me everything – good, bad and the ugly. Let me unburden myself. His love is the alchemy that heals, let me open myself to it. He will as my Teacher also give me tools and as my Guru give me remedies to follow. Following them and transforming myself is my true repentance, not feeling depressed or disillusioned or rejected. Those things take me further away from myself, preventing me from atoning.

Let me break the barriers, let me make the effort to step into my truth. Let me accept Baba’s vision of me and see myself as that. Let me, while living at home, while shouldering all my responsibilities, become a self-sovereign and the master of the world.