Baba says, ‘you have to be spiritually merciful‘. You have to make those without hope, hopeful.

When I came to Baba, I came with 0% self-respect and 100% insecurity. I came with fears, anxieties and worries. I came with a lack of identity and belonging. He embraced me and gave me hope when there was none. He gave me hope not by asking me what I wanted and giving it to me, He gave me hope by showing me that I already have all that I am seeking.

Remember who you are, He told me. He reminded me of my story, He reminded me that I am His child, He reminded me of my fortune and He showed me the path to claim it back.

Simply giving someone something is pity, it only goes so far. It gives them a temporary relief but to uplift a soul, to stand them up on their own feet again is giving them hope for the future. They feel: I can do this, I can move forward. When I stand up again, I find dignity, I respect myself again, the clouds subside and I see the rainbow.

To be merciful and compassionate requires love and purity in the heart. You have to be incorporeal in your thoughts, viceless in your words and egoless in your actions, says Baba. If I don’t have these qualities, then I am unable to give. When someone says something impolite, rather than try to understand the feeling behind it, I instantly feel insulted and say something back. When it comes to helping someone, I will question why I have to be the one helping when the other person doesn’t seem to be doing much. I will look at it as a transaction, as a bargain. A merciful and compassionate soul continues to give irrespective of whether the other reciprocates. Giving is their innate nature like the sun which gives light or like the rose that gives its fragrance, it has nothing to do with others.

And this is a spiritual mercy, a mercy that is grounded in knowledge. Without knowledge, mercy can work against me. I can get influenced by the other soul, get entangled in their situation, get stuck in my own journey. Spiritual mercy or compassion is based on Shrimat. When I step outside the line of Shrimat, I meet the same fate as Sita in the Ramayan and someone else has to then rescue me!

When I merciful to others, I am in fact being merciful to myself. I am able to step away from the three things, Baba says, that are the reason for most weaknesses – carelessness, jealousy and dislike.

When someone else is struggling with a particular sanskar, if I am merciful and compassionate, then I will not think: ‘this one will never change! nor will I have arrogance and think: ‘I am so much better, I would never do something like this..’. I would not make the other person feel that they are weak in any way. He didn’t keep my defects in His heart, He kept my original and pure form in front of Him and in His heart. Let me do the same with others. With the power of being merciful, Baba says, you must not imbibe the defects of other souls, but instead make souls forget their own weaknesses and make them powerful.

When I see someone else do well, let me applaud and appreciate genuinely. Let me encourage them to do more, be even better. Their success doesn’t take away from mine. When I become jealous, I shut down internally and block my spiritual progress. I forget Baba and instead get consumed by my jealousy. I even stoop to doing things such as bad-mouthing the person I am jealous about to others to create a bad impression etc. All I am doing is trading away my dignity, my self-respect because deep down I know I am wrong and that will prevent me from respecting myself.

You are the children of the Bestower, He reminds us. It is your duty to be compassionate toward yourself and others. They are your brothers and sisters. We are all one unlimited family.