Baba says, ‘be a number one businessman and use all the treasures‘.

Knowledge is easy, Baba says. Everyone and that includes even little children can explain the knowledge very well but that doesn’t make them yogis. A yogi is a number one businessman. He doesn’t just know of his treasures, he uses them and grows them. There are many, Baba says, who are good at describing the points of knowledge but when it comes time to put the points into practice, they are unable to. There in, He says, lies the difference. One who uses the treasures, grows it and becomes rich. He lives a rich life. Those who simply store the points in their intellect remain poor and live a poor life. It’s not that they don’t have wealth, they do. But they don’t ever use it and so live poor.

I was begging before I met Baba, I was truly poor completely bankrupted by Ravan of my treasures. Baba, the Lord of the Poor, came and gave me my inheritance. He reminded me of who I am and made me belong to Him. To belong to God is to go from being a beggar to a prince. Check, He says, where you are on that spectrum. Am I living the life of a prince? Am I becoming a prince? or do I talk about the life of a prince?

This is Ravan’s world, there is no debate about that. Souls agree, God agrees and Ravan agrees. There will be storms, there will be obstacles- it is the characteristic of Ravan’s world. But how do I handle myself through them?

There is worry, conflict, jealousy all around me. I cannot change that but I can pay attention to not allow it to enter me. There are people who constantly manipulate to get their way, betray, don’t keep their promises, let me down. There is politics at work- I’m made to look bad, not treated fairly, it’s ruthlessly competitive. Yes, it’s true but I don’t have to let it affect my attitude. As a yogi, I pay attention to not incur losses to myself. To be at my best when everyone and everything around me is conducive is ordinary. But to be my best when nothing is working out- that requires light and might. It requires self-respect which comes from being firm in the awareness of who I am and Whom I belong to.

Am I able to take the high road despite the politics and the betrayals? Am I able to maintain my good wishes and pure feelings despite the opposition? Not grudgingly, but truly. Do I feel compassion knowing that souls are struggling, that their sanskars are dictated by the fear of losing what they believe to be their identity? I now know better, I feel compassion, not anger. It doesn’t mean that thoughts of ‘why did they do this to me?’, ‘why me?’ won’t arise. They will. But a yogi will recognize it to be the quicksand that it is and rise above. Once I get sucked into the questions of ‘why’ and ‘how’, I cannot get out. It drains the soul because I cannot rest until I find the answer. I recognize this to be a bad investment of my treasures of time, thoughts and energy. It can only bring me a loss of peace, happiness and contentment.

But if I can use the knowledge I have been given and trust the drama and God and know that if this has happened, there is a reason, then I have taken a high jump. I have made a good investment and reaped a return. Drama and God are both on my side, maybe they just helped me settle an account…in any case, this is a great opportunity to practice the powers. That’s what I focus on rather than on what happened.

Sometimes, I remember mistakes I’ve made, sorrow I’ve caused and it gnaws at me. There is shame, guilt, regret. Rather than hide or suppress it, a yogi will want to get rid of the burden. I will take it all to the Father and tell Him as it is. He has already forgiven me but telling Him enables me to experience His forgiveness, love and acceptance. It enables me to forgive myself. Then, when those thoughts come again, I have the power to stop them because I have unburdened myself. Repentance is not whipping myself, it is acknowledging and changing.

I am not meant to live a life of labor, of hustle, of burden, carrying regret or bitterness and resentment in my heart. Negativity drains me out, makes life tasteless and hard. Life is not about constantly putting out fires, being lost in the many mini dramas of who did what to me and what happened. It is not about second guessing myself and others. I don’t have to live life like a victim feeling frustrated, powerless and hopeless before people and situations. That is not becoming of the child of the Almighty Authority. It is not the style of a yogi. Living this way keeps me from my destiny. It is a life of poverty.

When I am a yogi, I live in the faith that nothing that belongs to me can be taken away from me. Not by a person, not by a situation, not by circumstance. If an opportunity passed me by, then it was not mine to begin with. If something unbeneficial happens, even because of my own mistake, that can take me away from my destiny then God will change that unbeneficial situation to a beneficial one.

A yogi is rich with all the treasures, faith-filled and therefore carefree. I am steadfast in the awareness that God Himself is my companion, that time is on my side. I know beyond a shred of doubt that He is here, He is watching over me, that He is responsible for me. No problem or situation or person is bigger than God. And He just happens to be my Father. All I have to do is keep my mind clean and clear by staying focused on Him, on His treasures…not on the situations or other people. If I can do this and be still, remain at peace, I show my trust in God. God can then do His work on me, for me.

So everyday, I invest, I use my treasures and grow them. I make myself more knowledge-full, powerful, more faithful, more stable. I come closer and closer to claiming my full inheritance, my throne of self-sovereignty.