Baba says, ‘souls have been gradually covered with rust like a needle‘. That rust can only be removed by staying in remembrance.

For half a cycle, I lived thinking of myself as a body rather than a soul. That fundamental flaw meant that I got trapped in the expansion of that consciousness – the many forms of ‘I’ – gender, name, fame, nationality, appearance, role, title, status and ‘mine’ – relationships, material possessions, accomplishments etc. Then life became about protecting these ‘I’s and ‘mine’s lest I lose them and become poor, a misfit, unsuccessful, insignificant etc.

This body consciousness is the rust that has accumulated on the needle of the soul and the only way to get rid of it is through dipping the needle in the kerosene of remembrance. The more I remember, the cleaner I become.

The key to remember though, is that it is a process. Becoming ‘bodiless‘ is not an overnight thing. The first few times when I try to sit in remembrance, my mind will race, wander here and there, get caught up in any number of things…do everything but remember God. The mind has been untethered for a long time and the intellect who needs to stand guard has gone to sleep. This journey is about training the mind and the intellect to do what I would like them to do, it is about taking back the reins such that I am the ruler of my mind, not the other way around.

‘Don’t give up‘, says Baba, ‘you mustn’t have heart-failure‘. There are a few things that help.

The reason I come into body consciousness is that there is the attraction of one or other aspect of ‘I’ or ‘mine’. Body consciousness is the rust but in a way, it is also the magnet that pulls me toward it against my will. So to protect myself from this pull, I either have to move far away from the magnet or put something in between myself and the magnet. The way to move away is to remember the self in the original form – as a soul, as an elevated being. I remember my own qualities, I spin the discuss of self-realization and see myself in the many roles I have played through the cycle. I am clearly not the body, I have taken on many such bodies to play many roles! I, the soul, am the same one that has traveled this whole distance to get here and now I am playing a part alongside God Himself.

The thing to keep in between myself and the magnet of body consciousness is the code of conduct or the disciplines that Baba has given me – Amritvela, Murli, purity in lifestyle including a pure diet, keeping good company, keeping a chart to motivate me to pay attention to my thoughts, words and actions through the day. When I follow this code of conduct strictly, it helps reduce the attraction to the magnet tremendously. And yes, I do have to be strict, no excuses. And really, I would want to be strict because I realize that these are disciplines designed to protect me.

‘You have to become a shakti‘, says Baba. ‘Don’t become careless by thinking of yourself an easy yogi‘, He cautions, ‘be a form of Shakti and rid yourself of all attractions of ‘I’ and ‘mine’‘.

So with remembrance of the self and following the disciplines, I move forward on my journey of remembrance. As the rust of body consciousness comes off, I come close to the Father, the Magnet. He is the Magnet I do want to be pulled toward. Only clean and pure souls automatically come close to Him. If even a slight part of the needle is covered with rust, it cannot be pulled that much. The more I stay in remembrance, the more the rust will be removed. Just as the rust accumulated gradually over half a cycle, so it will continue to be removed gradually, He says.

Getting rid of the rust also means I become a magnet to attract other souls to the Father.

Day by day, there are more and more reasons why peacelessness is increasing and will continue to increase. Even if I myself am not peaceless, the peaceless atmosphere and those vibrations of others will pull me towards them. The peacelessness in their walking, living, eating and everything they do will not allow me to stay in my peaceful stage, I feel pulled by my duty to bring my brothers and sisters close to the Father like I was able to.

Become a spiritual magnet, says Baba, then, you can reach many right from where you are.

Just as a magnet does not have to say: Needle, come! the needle is automatically pulled, similarly, a spiritually attractive stage automatically attracts others; I don’t need to make effort. When my thoughts are pure, clean and filled with good wishes of peace, and my stage is of an embodiment of peace, I spread rays of peace everywhere. I have to create such a powerful form that peaceless souls experience peace wherever they are. This is making the mind powerful or becoming a magnet.

It is time to return home, says Baba, I have come to take you home. Let me ensure I, the needle, am clean and pure so I stick to the Magnet and go home with Him. Let me ensure I, the magnet have helped other needles stick to Him too.