Baba says, ‘you children are the instruments of peace and happiness‘. Where there is peace and happiness, there is by definition, no upheaval.

At this time, Baba says, both nature and humans are instruments of upheaval in the world. There is upheaval because the soul is uneasy, uncomfortable in its current state. It is in misalignment with its original values. Having forgotten who it is, it has taken on a wrong identity – mistakenly thinking of itself as the body. It find itself struggling with attachment where its original quality is love, it is struggling with ego where it originally rejoiced in self-respect, it is filled with greed where it originally shared. The soul that was once pure is now burdened with impurity.

Baba is The Purifier, He comes to purify the soul, wash away the toxins and take it back home with Him. He purifies by reminding me of who I am, that I am a soul, not the body. That the body is simply a costume I wear to play my part on this physical stage. But although I hear this every single day, it is also something I easily forget. I have been identifying with the body for half a cycle and deep beliefs and habits are hard to change.

So Baba prescribes the 1-second exercise.

1 second is all I need to change the situation, the thought pattern, the belief I am holding on to at any time. He says- 1 second, 1 thought. In that 1 second, I go inward and step outward. I remember who I am and I check my thought- is this really what I am? is this really what I want? I check and I change.

But this works only when I do it consistently throughout the day, every day. As I go through the day, many things happen- good, bad, unexpected things happen. They do happen, there’s no denying it. I protect myself, my feelings and my attitude from upheaval by doing the 1-second exercise many times during the day. That then helps me have a good day, save time otherwise used up by waste thoughts and maintain my self-respect. This in turn ensures I have a quality Amritvela the next day. It’s a virtuous cycle.

To become an instrument of peace and happiness means to be able to give that to others, to radiate it into the atmosphere. To be able to do that, I need to be stocked up on peace and happiness myself first and that comes from maintaining a stable stage, from being in my self-respect, from being pure from waste, negative and the ordinary. The 1-second practice is a must to get there.

Do you see your brothers and sisters in pain? in confusion, crying out for peace?, He asks. It is your duty to give it to them, to share with them your peace and happiness and for that it is your duty to be peaceful and happy yourself.