Baba says, ‘the biggest illness is body consciousness‘. It was through this illness that there was the downfall. Therefore, now become soul conscious.

The world was heaven and we were deities, we were self-sovereigns. Then, half way through the cycle, something happened…I forgot who I am and started identifying as the body.

Body consciousness is the greatest illness, says Baba.

Body consciousness makes me lose my sovereignty. It makes me a slave of my own mind. I feel tossed from one thought to the next because I am caught up in the endless expansion of I and mine. I see and judge myself relative to others, never as an individual. I never feel I quite fit in because I perceive myself as either superior or inferior to others. I feel either undervalued or undeserving. Negative emotions rule my mind and fill my heart and I reach for a variety of self sabotaging methods to numb the pain. I construct labels and masks which I change often as the goalpost moves. I perform actions that protect these labels, these false identifications not knowing that I am, in the process, suppressing the real me.

Body consciousness prevents me from accessing my elevatededness because it prevents me from accessing me. I am too busy acting against my own interests, I become weighed down and wonder about the point of it all. But, I drag on anyway. I blame, complain and criticize for the way I feel.

A body conscious lifestyle is undisciplined and ad-hoc. I wake up when I need to, do what I feel like- that often means simply going through the motions, stumbling through the day. My mind is constantly chattering something negative, wasteful or ordinary. There are moments when I feel like the king of the world and then the next, I feel like a slave being dragged through the woods. All the time my conscience tries to warn me something is off but I ignore it because it is too hard to listen to that still, silent voice. It’s way too loud outside, I’m way too busy. I seek love but I don’t recognize it, I get entangled in attachment instead. I feel empty, and on most days, I try to sleep to forget but then have to wake up again.

Body consciousness makes me think that my worth depends on the approval, appreciation and respect from others. So I make myself what others would like me to be which, of course, is different for each person. I am either manipulating or being manipulated constantly and therefore all relationships are unhealthy. My energy is drained trying to please and meet expectations, my happiness is stolen, it’s mostly giving or taking sorrow. I don’t know I can or how to protect myself. I am very sensitive, easily hurt or upset with the slightest provocation. My mind doesn’t help, instead making the pain bigger by dwelling on the offense. I generate more and more karmic accounts rather than settle.

Body consciousness robs me of my courage. I undermine myself, inadvertently. I know but I don’t know, I see but I don’t understand. I always have reasons and excuses- I had to because…, I couldn’t because, it was her and therefore…I am constantly paralyzed by dilemmas. I am anxious, stressed about my choices, I often choose not to participate in life because I am too scared. I lie and hustle my way in and out of things. I lose my sense of empathy, and become dogmatic. My heart no longer has a place for God, He is too distant, up somewhere and I don’t think He likes me or knows me.

In a sentence, body consciousness is the greatest illness, it is the greatest ignorance, it is the greatest self sabotage. Like the ant that enters the ear of the elephant and brings the mighty animal down, body consciousness brings me down from my highest stage of self-sovereignty and to the lowest stage of a beggar. A lot of damage is caused by being body conscious. A lot of punishment has to be experienced, says Baba. The whole world is body conscious.

The downfall of Bharat, which was so elevated, did happen, He says. It was heaven and now it is hell. The root of this downfall is body consciousness. When the sovereigns fell, so did Bharat and the world along with it. I am now Baba’s child, I now know this history and geography of the world from Him and yet, I am still body conscious. I understand it but I am too addicted to the old ways of living.

Baba asks, ‘do you understand Who is giving you directions?’ It is because of not remembering Shiv Baba that you become body conscious. Soul consciousness is the medicine to end this illness of body consciousness, He says. It is what gives me my power back – I am not swayed or influenced, I can navigate the scenes of the drama with faith and maturity. I thereby reclaim my birthright of happiness. I am light, I am aware. My life has a purpose and meaning and my conscience once again becomes my guide.

Remember, instructs the Father. Consider yourself to be a soul and constantly remember Me alone.