Baba says, ‘now remove your intellects from the trap of attachment to your old relations, who have made you so unhappy and remember Me‘. While living with them, connect your mind to Me. Constantly remember the mantra “Manmanabhav!” and you will claim a high status in the new world.

Time is moving fast, when I realize this, it brings a sense of urgency and focus. This is my student life right now but it won’t be forever. God is preparing me for my future now. How well I do in the rest of the whole cycle, the quality of my part depends entirely on how well I study now. This is God’s school and I have a clear aim and objective- to become Lakshmi and Narayan. That is the highest prize or status. I am establishing the new world, He says and it’s very name is heaven. There, there is only peace, happiness and prosperity, no sign of sorrow. Sure, I can just float through and come into heaven just by recognizing God but that is not what a student does. A student studies aiming for the highest. And in this case, the reward is so high, why wouldn’t I make the effort?!

The effort is to stay focused on the aim. If I am going to reach my highest potential, I have to remove my intellect from the old world and turn it toward God. This is what they show in the image of Krishna, my aim- he is shown kicking the old world and facing the new world. That’s a clue for what I am required to do, to be him. I cannot afford to be distracted by things that are keeping me from my purpose. My time is too valuable to waste worried about what people think about me, to respond to every critic, every negative comment, try to convince people that I am okay. Everyone won’t like me or accept me. Let me stop trying to make someone understand me, make someone like me. Let me realize that I don’t need everyone to fulfill my destiny. God and drama have/will ensure that I have the right people in my life that will cheer me on, and stick with me.

But that’s exactly what Maya tries to distract me into doing. She distracts me into trying to win over people who will never be for me. Too often, I am trying to convince people to be my friend, I think I need that friendship to get to where I need to be. But people are not my source, God is my Source, He is the Father and I receive my inheritance from Him. I don’t have to play up to people, don’t have to let them manipulate me, hope that they call, maybe they will include me in their group… No! the people that are part of my destiny don’t have to be talked in to liking me, they will value me as I am and co-operate with me willingly on my journey. Let me not waste another minute trying to convince anyone to like me, call me, visit me. If I have to work hard at it, it’s not worth it, that is a distraction.

Maybe someone at work is talking bad about me, they are trying to discredit me, let me realize that it is not my job to straighten them out. That’s bait, let me recognize it. Let me not fight battles that are not between me and my destiny. Most things that come our way are simply distractions. I have to keep my intellect turned toward God. It takes discipline to say I am not going to respond, I’m not going to waste my valuable time, I have a destiny to fulfill.

Sometimes, I think that to not engage is a sign of weakness, it’s actually just the opposite. Avoiding a fight is a mark of honor. It’s easy to take offense, be upset, pay people back…that doesn’t take any discipline. Avoiding a fight, not being drawn into conflict, not taking the bait, that takes discipline, and maturity. It requires my intellect to be toward God. So the next time something comes against me, let me ask myself- is this a battle worth fighting or is this a distraction. That coworker that’s discrediting me, leaving me out, do I think they can stop my destiny?, that relative who thinks I’m on the wrong path, are they worth wasting time over? do I believe that somehow they are powerful enough to keep me from what God has for me, to snatch away my fortune? The only way that can happen is if I get baited into conflict. Best thing I can do is ignore it, not give it the time of day. I have to get comfortable with putting my foot down- you may have a problem with me, but I don’t have time to have a problem with you. I don’t have time to play petty games.

Paying someone back by making them look bad will certainly feed my ego but it distances I, the soul, from my destiny. But often this is what I do- I fight too many battles that don’t matter. They are talking badly about me, let me go straighten them out! After I do that someone else will start talking. People will always talk about those that have a great destiny. No one great became who they are without great opposition. Here, God has me helping make history, change the world, so yes, people will talk. But let me not take the bait, let me stay focused on my purpose. This is what Brahma Baba did. There were many who tried to discredit him, defame him, threaten him…but each time, he simply forgave and moved on. He didn’t engage, he recognized that those things were just side scenes on his journey, they were distractions. He remained focused on his assignment, stayed on the straight road and got to his destination is the short time that he did. Let me follow father.

Then, there will be those people that will demand a lot from me- they expect me to heed their every beck and call, meet their every demand but when I need help, they are too busy. It’s a one sided transaction. Let me stop swimming across the ocean to be good to someone that won’t even jump across a puddle to be good to me. If they get offended because I wasn’t there for their every beck and call, no problem, they weren’t my friend to begin with. That’s a distraction, move on. I wasn’t created to be controlled, I was created to be a sovereign.

When I come to the end of my life, I won’t give an account to people of what I did with my life, my time, and my resources…I will give an account to God. He is the One Who has entrusted me with the treasures, I am His trustee. The only thing I owe people is to love them. If I think that I have to keep everyone happy, call this friend everyday, play up to my coworker…then, I am carrying a debt that I don’t owe. Why should you become trapped in this trap of attachment?, Baba asks. You take so much sorrow from your old relationships. Baba doesn’t tell you to leave them. Simply connect your intellects in yoga to the one Father and you will become the masters of the world.

Let me not go through life trying to keep everyone happy. If I do this, the only person that won’t be happy is me. Let me come out from under that debt and stop being a people pleaser. It’s freeing when I realize that I’m not responsible to keep others happy, I am responsible for my own happiness. This does not mean that I become indifferent, reserved or aloof, but it does mean that I don’t take on a false sense of responsibility that other people’s happiness depends on me. If someone is controlling me, it isn’t their fault, it’s mine. My attitude should be: I love you but am not responsible for you. Let me not try to drag people along, else I will be left behind. People might mean well, but they don’t know the gifts, dreams, the calling God has on my life. They don’t know what God whispered to me at night. I have to have a boldness to follow what God has for me. If they get upset because I’m not taking their advice, not my problem. People will try to keep me in their box, try to make me what they want me to be.

It’s like the story about the grandfather, his little grandson and the donkey. They were going to another town and started with the boy riding the donkey and the grandfather walking alongside. Some people saw this and commented: ‘look at that boy riding that donkey making that old man walk’. So the man took the boy off and got on the donkey. After some time, some people said: ‘look at that man riding the donkey making that little boy walk’. So the man took the little boy and put him on the donkey with him. After some time, yet another group of people said: ‘how cruel of the two of you to place that heavy load on that donkey’. By the time they got to town, the old man and the boy were carrying the donkey! Moral of the story: Everyone has a right to their opinion and I have the right not to take it. No matter how hard you try someone will not understand. Am I carrying the donkey? Am I being pressured into doing what people want me to do. It’s time to put the donkey down. Let me have the courage to start running my own race, following what God put in my heart.

God is doing a new thing, He has a destiny for me that is beyond anyone’s imagination. He is taking me further than anyone has ever gone before. No one can hear God’s direction for my life other than me. God won’t give anyone else more insight into my destiny than he does me. He speaks directly to the soul. Sure, people may get upset when I break out of the box. But let me not be pressured by: ‘What will they think!’, ‘what if they don’t accept me!’….I don’t need it! The Creator has already approved and accepted me. Like Krishna, let me turn my intellect toward God. No more falling into the traps of attachment – trying to please others, fighting battles that don’t matter- this is my hour, my time. Let me make up my mind and focus on the aim of my study, let me become that which God has created me to be.