Baba says, ‘sit firmly on My heart-throne‘. You have to be careful when you take The heart-throne.

‘Are the feet of your intellect touching the ground?‘, He asks. Be sure, He says, to seat yourself carefully and firmly on My heart-throne. If I am not, Maya drags me away.

To sit on Baba’s heart-throne means to be removed from this old world. I am untouched by the ways, behaviors and manners of this old world. I am safe. But more often that not, I am not seated properly on the throne. I see something shiny on the ground and I feel tempted to check it out…and then Maya drags me with her.

Those shiny things are a title, a role, a project, a relationship, any number of material possessions etc. It promises me name, fame, belonging in this world, fun….it feels as if I will accomplish something. So I inadvertently leave the throne and chase after the shiny promise and more often than not, it doesn’t pan out the way I thought it would. Then I feel disheartened and a failure.

So, is it wrong to want a purpose in life, to want to have good relationships or enjoy oneself. Absolutely not! In fact, God wants nothing more than happiness for His children. And He is helping me get it….I have to follow His directions.

You have to start by realizing who you are, He says. If I go into the world thinking of myself as something I am not, things are bound to fall apart. Remember that you are a soul, a child of God, He reminds me. You have divine qualities that are innate to you. You haven’t used them in a while having acquired wrong sanskars along the way – it’s time to unlearn what you’ve acquired and touch base once again with the original sanskars.

‘Consider yourself a soul and remember Me alone’, He says. When I do, He becomes my reference point and reminds me of who I am, of the right way to be. He shows me and guides me. Be a student first, He says and then you will be set up for success. This confluence age when God is here is my student life. This short time in the cycle is the only time I can learn what I need to transform from the only Teacher who can teach it to me. Let me take this time to study, to learn.

He teaches me to check my thoughts – are they ordinary? If they are, then you’ve stepped down from the throne, He says. Why, when you are My heir, would you engage in the petty and mundane? He teaches me to think good thoughts and have pure feelings. He teaches me to speak sweetly, to perform elevated karma. He teaches me manners that are becoming of a child of The Benevolent One. It doesn’t matter what someone else said or did, He says. How did you respond? Did you respond with mercy and compassion or did you simply reflect back what you saw?

He teaches me to be a soul, the real me and look beyond the ordinary expansion of the body. He teaches me to create an atmosphere of spirituality by being in the consciousness of a spirit, with my attitude. His remembrance burns away the mixture – the prejudices, the beliefs, the neediness, subtle and gross dependencies, past wounds…. – and makes me into pure gold. It molds and shapes my character to be that of a sovereign.

Then, when I step back into the world, I step into a new world changed by my own self-transformation. I see new, I hear new, I speak and do new. Then, my relationships will be different because I will approach them differently – with love rather than expectation or attachment. Then, I will approach my roles and responsibilities differently- as a service rather than as a vehicle to fame and glory.

So let me beware of the tug of Maya as I study and prepare myself. Let me seat myself firmly in the fortress of Baba’s love, on His throne and keep my eyes on the new world. There is nothing on the ground that is worth it, no matter how shiny.