Baba says, ‘you have come here to realize yourselves‘. Without first realizing the self, you cannot realize God.

Self-realization means to discern and to know the self. When I discern who I am, I let go of the misconceptions, labels and beliefs that I’ve been carrying around about me. I often look at myself as my relationships, my sanskars, my nature, my weaknesses, my accomplishments. In other words, who I am is always tied to or in bondage to something else. Sometimes we have everything physically and yet, there is a lack of contentment. When I don’t know who I am, it doesn’t matter what I have, I will be discontent. Identity and belonging are the foundation of a soul- when that is unclear, there cannot be peace or stability, only fluctuation and sorrow.

God comes and gives me knowledge of who I am and Whom I belong to. He tells me- you are a pure, peaceful soul and you are My child. When I realize this truth about myself, I set myself free from all the false bondages. To realize the self, therefore, is to liberate the self, is to stabilize the self.

Often, though, I hear what God is telling me but I don’t allow it to penetrate deeply. I hear Him tell me what kind of a soul I am – how elevated, how pure, how virtuous I am. I hear Him tell me that I am a deity soul, that I am the master of the world. I hear all this but it’s as if it bounces right off me. This happens because I get caught up in the ‘how‘. I hear what He says and immediately I think: ‘but look at me, I still can’t get rid of this sanskar, how could I possibly become the master of the world’, ‘but I am no one important, look at all the seniors, at what they’ve accomplished and look at me, how could I..’, ‘but I live at home and have a family and all these responsibilities, I cannot give myself in the way I ought to in order to achieve such a high status, how could I…’. I think based on the now, based on logic. I forget who I am and Whom I belong to.

The Father says: Consider yourselves to be souls and listen to Me, the incorporeal Supreme Father, the Supreme Soul. This conversation can only take place when souls meet the Supreme Soul.

Yes, when I think like an ordinary human-being, the ‘how‘ certainly looks impossible. But if I’m listening to God, I understand that He has never ever asked me to figure out the ‘how‘. He has only ever asked me to remember the ‘who‘. He only ever says: ‘remember who you are and Whom you belong to’. The how is not as important as the who and what’s more, the how isn’t even my job. It’s God’s job and He doesn’t need my help with it. He does, however, need my help in remembering who I am.

I am not an ordinary human-being, I am the child of the Almighty Authority, I am the child of the Creator. If I focus on the how, I will be worried and discouraged. But if I listen to what God is telling me about myself and receive that, if I allow it to sink in, if I really look deep within me as He asks me to do and really touch base, I will find that He is telling me the truth. Yes, I’ve made mistakes, yes the circumstances are tough and sanskars are deep but let me not define myself by them. None of these bind my Father! There is no obstacle too big, no sanskar too deep for Him.

Shiv Baba says: Remember Me! I am the Almighty Authority, the Purifier. The Purifier comes to play His part of purifying the impure.

I don’t have to worry about ‘how‘ the purification will happen, I don’t have to keep inventory of all the impurities I have to convince God that He has a tough job. The impurities are not who I am. He is telling me who I am, let me accept that and realize that. Spin the discus of self-realization, He says, and look at your elevated story. Let me not look at a few isolated scenes of now and decide that I dislike the whole story.

Do I believe I am the child of God? Do I believe the story He is telling me about myself? It takes childlike faith to let go of the how and rest in knowing that the Father will take care of that. I just rejoice in knowing who I am and Who my Father is. I honor Him by remembering Him, by remembering that as His child, I am automatically blessed, empowered, powerful and restored. I don’t have to be perfect, have a list of accomplishments to prove myself – I am blessed just because I am His child. The praise is only of the One Father.

When I believe and realize what He is telling me about myself, that opens me up to receive His blessings, His knowledge, His inheritance. It makes me ready to be molded and restored. It makes me ready to be healed. When I remain in bondage i.e. in my own mini-drama of what’s not right in my life, when that’s the narrative I buy into then it ties God’s hands. He is pouring but I am not receiving.

Let me focus on getting the who right and leave the how to God. Ravan wants me to go through life with my ‘who‘ messed up convincing me to focus on the how. Let me discern and not take the bait. God chose me before I chose Him. When I recognized God, I was born into His family- I cannot get unborn because of mistakes I made or something else. God knows my journey, He knows who I am more than I do myself. No mistake was/is a surprise to Him. I have to trust Him, not my emotions, not the scriptures, not the circumstances, or the friends and relatives.

Let me only listen to Him, touch base with my originality and keep that in my vision just like He does. When I do this, I will see God show up in my life in ways I can’t even imagine. When I show faith, take the limits off Him, I will see Him perform miracles and catapult me into my destiny. You see, God doesn’t do things logically, His ways are His ways! Those obstacles that seem impossible- He will enable me to overcome them. His power will make things happen that I cannot even fathom. He will take me to where I cannot go alone.

When I realize who and Whose I am, I take the pressure off myself. I release myself from the bondages and allow myself to be taken across. Unless I do that, I cannot realize God, see His wonders, see what He is capable of doing in my life. You have come here to realize yourselves, Baba reminds me. Consider yourselves to be souls and listen to the Father, the Supreme Soul. Practice remaining soul conscious. Now, whether you do this or not is up to you.