Baba says, ‘Practice performing actions in the awareness of your body and then become soul conscious‘. No one in the world, other than you children, can practice this.

The first lesson I learn in God’s school is that I am a soul, not the body. I am a tiny point of light situated in the center of the forehead. But simply to know this is a common thing, says Baba; many in the world also know that they are more than the body, that they are spiritual beings. And yet, despite this knowledge, the cumulative sins in the world is increasing, not decreasing; the state of the world is going from bad to worse.

The reason, Baba says, is that they don’t have God’s introduction. Without knowing the Father, the sins cannot be absolved. He is the Almighty Authority; His mere remembrance burns away sins, melts the alloy of impurities and returns the soul to its original, pure state. And so, Baba says: ‘Remember Me alone!’

He is the Incorporeal One, the Bodiless One. To remember Him requires that I become bodiless too, except I have to become bodiless while in the body. It’s a bit of spiritual acrobatics and requires practice but it is a practice that pays huge dividends on this spiritual path. The more I remember Him, the more I automatically practice becoming bodiless, the more firm the first lesson becomes that I am a soul, separate from this body. It goes from simply being a point of knowledge I hear in the Murli to an actual experience. I start to become aware of it. The more I practice being a point, the fewer mistakes I make due to being in the wrong consciousness. As the remembrance burns away old sins, I avoid creating new ones.

But the success of this practice depends on my doing it throughout the day, not just at an appointed time. If I allow myself to become careless during the day and then try to experience the bodiless stage in the evening or at Amritvela the next day, I will be disappointed with the results. I will find that thoughts about people, or events, or things or something else will pull me down. The key is to practice this throughout the day while walking, moving around, preparing meals, eating, cleaning etc. ‘While performing actions, remember the Beloved‘, teaches Baba. ‘Your hands may be busy but let your heart be connected with Him’.

This is called practicing the stage of ‘belonging to the One Father and none other‘. When I make Him my world, I do everything with Him and for Him. There is no scope for Maya to interfere. If I instead hold expectations of people or situations, I expose myself to Maya. For example, if I cook for a person or work on a project hoping to please a person, then if they are happy, I am happy; else, I am disappointed. Then, that’s what I think about. Instead, I cook for Baba and eat with Him, I am given the project by Baba and I submit it to Him; He is my Boss. Then, not only will the quality of the meal or the project be great but I am not attached to others’ opinions. I enjoy the process. This is protecting myself from Maya. This, of course, does not mean I ignore the people around me. On the contrary, I allow them the freedom to be themselves without having to cater to my expectations. By fulfilling all relationships with Baba, I build up my own self-respect such that I don’t seek it from people. I don’t become hurt or upset when someone disagrees with me, I’m open to feedback. I am able to give respect and move forward.

When I am able to be detached in this way, I am able to be loving to the Father. I am able to move inwards to touch base with my eternal form and then move upwards to connect with the Beloved. I am able to do it when I want and for however long I want because there is nothing else pulling me. ‘You have come here to claim your inheritance of purity, peace and happiness and that can only be received from the Father‘, He reminds me daily. I experience it when I remember Him. Let me not deceive myself into thinking that I will find peace and happiness in the corporeal world from people or achievements or things and allow myself to get caught up in it. I have performed this bhakti, seen this show for half a cycle and know what it got me. That is now in the past, back when I had forgotten God; But now, I remember. ‘Only those who know the Father very well make effort to claim the inheritance. My name is the Remover of Sorrow and the Bestower of Happiness’, He says.

By remembering Him, I am healed, all my sins are absolved and I become light, I am liberated in life, my sorrow is removed and I receive peace and happiness, I go to the new world. And so the Benevolent One says, ‘Manmanabhav!, belong to Me in your mind‘.