Baba says, ‘the greatest power and authority of all is truth‘. Truth is both truth and imperishable.

The power of truth is an authority of the soul. It makes the soul fearless because there is nothing to hide. When I relate truth, I stand on firm ground because there is nothing to worry or strategize about, it isn’t about whether someone will like it or not, if it is convenient or not. It is what it is, there is nothing else. It is the truth.

But sometimes, we think, truth can be harsh, some might even say, bitter. God, through His own example, teaches me that it doesn’t have to be. He comes as my true Father, true Teacher and true Guru. He comes to tell me the truth – everything from who I am, to Whom I belong to….and, everything I did and am doing wrong. ‘You have become impure and degraded’, He tells me. ‘By following the dictates of Ravan, you have become stone-intellected’, ‘don’t be naïve and think that the atmosphere is responsible for how you feel. It is you who needs to be powerful and change the atmosphere‘ etc etc. But when He speaks the truth, He speaks with both authority and deep love for His children. At no point do I get even the slightest whiff of arrogance or condescension. I experience my Father’s love and care, I experience a Teacher’s dedication and effort for His student, I experience a Guru’s tireless service. Consequently, rather than experience bitterness or harshness, I feel inspired to change and be like Him.

Truth is also imperishable and constant. It is always true and never changes or transforms. Human beings claim a number of things to be ‘true’ only to find something else to be ‘true’ as time goes by. Even scientists who claim to be ‘fact-based’ postulate…until the next scientist disproves it and postulates something different. Our ‘truth’ changes as our world-view or our understanding changes or evolves. Hence, only God is called Truth because only He actually knows the truth. He does not have ‘opinions’ based on studying the scripture or text books, He doesn’t have any teachers. He is the Ocean of Knowledge, the Source. What He tells me is the same today as it was yesterday and will be tomorrow. Only He is in constant realization, never forgets Who He is, who I am or the story of the world.

And so only He is uniquely qualified to establish the kingdom of truth, the golden age. In a kingdom, by it’s very definition, there is one king who is the authority and he sets the rules. Everyone else follows those rules.

At this time in the world, there are too many people and too many authorities – politicians who claim their authority is superior, scientists who claim they are the ones who actually know anything, religious figures who claim they get to set rules about right vs wrong and then, there’s all the rich and famous who think they are the real power brokers who enable these so called ‘authorities’. No wonder, the world is in the state it is in today- a world of orphans, ignorant, with no guidance, fighting amongst themselves.

God comes at this time to transform this world of orphans to a world of princes and princesses, from a world of falsehoods and untruths to a world of truth, from hell to heaven. He does so by giving us code of conduct and Shrimat- the elevated directions. This is how you used to live, He reminds me, you just forgot. Now, you have to return to that original truth, to the righteous way of living. In His world, there is no need for a court of law because everyone understands and follows the same rules, the truth. There is no room for interpretation. In His world, everyone is fearless..in fact, they are ignorant of even the word ‘fear’. Everyone is constantly carefree, free from worry, fears, biases, rumors, and therefore souls dance in happiness.  

Fear and worry are a characteristic of this world, the world of falsehood evidenced by the immense sorrow and suffering. There is worry of even my own weaknesses. Because the soul is innately truthful, when it acts based on Ravan’s sanskars i.e. based on weakness, there is upheaval due to the misalignment with truth. No matter how much I try to hide, or put on an artificial smile, the power of truth is such that it will reveal to me my weakness. I fool neither God nor myself.

On the path of bhakti, there is the picture of Krishna dancing on a snake in the middle of the ocean. While I didn’t know it then, Baba helps me understand the true meaning of the image. It is a snake, but with the power of truth, even the snake becomes a stage on which to dance.  No matter how fearsome a situation might be, how fearsome the form of Maya might be, how much distress relations and connections might cause, how polluted the atmosphere might be, someone who has the power of truth makes all of those a stage on which to dance in happiness.  

This is your image, He tells me. None of the elements of matter, Maya, people or physical comforts can shake souls with the power of truth.  They would make Maya their stage like in the image of Krishna or their bed like in the image of Vishnu. Those with the power of truth can never drown. Yes, there will be storms of opposition but while the boat of truth can rock, it can never sink.

If, even now, after receiving the truth from Baba of who I am and Whom I belong to, despite being in the company of Truth Himself, there is still upheaval or fear, then together with truth, there is also falsehood. Therefore, check, says Baba: Is there the unshakeable power of truth in your thoughts, vision, attitude, words and relationships? Ask yourself: Since you are a child of the true Father, to what extent have you imbibed the power of truth?