Baba says, ‘spin the cycle of self-realization‘. Spinning this cycle defeats Maya, He says.

For half a cycle, we have been separated from our own truth. I have attached my identity to my nationality, my role, my relationships…everything, but me. And because my very identity was these things, I spent all my time focusing on them. I have strategized endlessly for that promotion at work because getting that new title, that new role would fulfill me. I spent countless hours on that relationship because if that ‘failed’, it means that I failed. I need that person to approve, to be happy so I can be happy. I attended events, socialized with people whose values didn’t align with my own, all because being seen with them would up my social status.

In other words, I spent half the cycle spinning the cycle of ‘other’ realization.

Baba does not tell me to give up my job, my relationships and become a recluse. Quite the contrary, He tells me to stay at home and shoulder all my responsibilities. He teaches me to do it the right way.

Whether it is a role at work or a relationship, they work well when I am well. And so it makes sense for me to focus on being the best version of myself. Only then will I be able to show up well to any of my interactions and have them work well. Baba is my reference point in all things – when I observe how He operates, I find that He is not focused on my flaws, my behavior as much as He is on how He shows up. Maybe I’m having a bad day, a clumsy moment and I react, He doesn’t reflect that back to me by getting angry. He is Himself no matter what. His thoughts, words and actions are not based on mine, they are based on His values.

He is always seated firmly in the realization of who He is. He never forgets it. And He brings that to every interaction.

Let me do the same. Rather than spend the time strategizing about how I can get that promotion by getting into the good books of the right people, let me instead focus on myself. Let me work on becoming aligned with my own truth. That will make me content, confident and enable me to respect myself. When I realize who I am, when I touch base with my own elevated destiny, I am no longer defined by a role or a relationship. I am defined by my own qualities, my character and that naturally attracts the right roles and healthy relationships. I find that when I get at the root- me- I no longer have to work as hard on the hundred things outside. They all fall in place automatically.

Baba says, transform your outside-in approach into an inside-out approach. Spin the cycle of self-realization, get in touch with yourself, seat yourself there firmly and then step outside. It’s what He does and so even though He comes at the very end of the cycle, into a world full of sorrow, where souls have completely succumbed to Ravan’s sanskars and lost their entire inheritance, He still remains The Ocean of Peace and Love. He still remain The Purifier. He still smiles and makes me smile.