Baba says, ‘Where there is remembrance, there cannot be complaints‘. So, stop complaining and become a natural and constant yogi.

There can either be remembrance (yaad) or complaints (fariyaad) but not both, teaches Baba. There are complaints or appeals only when I forget who I am and Whose I am.

There’s a recording constantly playing in my mind about who I am. Something that’s always telling me that I am not talented enough, that I’ve made too many mistakes, that I don’t have what it takes, that my sanskars are terrible and that I’ve fallen behind. Some of this started in childhood when I was perhaps told that I wouldn’t accomplish much, or that I didn’t have the right skills. I’ve let this recording play over and over in my mind and now I believe it to be the truth, it has become a sanskar. The good news is I control my recording. I don’t have to continue to let the negative play. I’m free to turn off the old, play the new – what God says about me. He tells me that I am unique, valuable, a sovereign.

Baba says, ‘spin the discus of self-realization’. To be a spinner of the discus means to have a vision of the self and to remain happy and content for all time. If I don’t have the right vision of the self, then instead of being content and happy, I become one with many questions.

Let me pay attention to what’s playing in my mind. Let me not go through life being against myself. Too many of us don’t like who we are- if I don’t love myself, I won’t love others either. I won’t have good relationships if I feel less than, insecure, like I’m not up to par. I have to be at peace with myself to have peace with others. If I am hard on myself, I will be hard on others. If I find fault with me, then I will be critical of others. I owe it to myself and others to turn off the negative recording. It’s poisoning who I am. When I feel good about myself- when I remain in the awareness of who I truly am- then I will love myself and love others. Let me take inventory of what’s playing – any defeating thoughts, unworthy, not good enough thoughts- let me delete them and then start a new recording. It’s amazing what happens when all through the day, I replay what God says about me.

He says- I am one of a kind, a treasure, all-powerful, a sweet child. He tells me that every one of His praise is my praise too. He tells me that I am of the most elevated Brahmin clan, that I am His beloved child. Imagine what would happen when I go through the whole day with those words playing over and over in the mind – I am an amazing, wonderful, child of God. But often, I am not bold enough to believe that good about myself but have absolutely no problem believing all the negative – how unworthy I am, all the faults I think I have, the mistakes I’ve made, how I don’t measure up. That’s Maya working overtime to keep me from playing the new recording I am trying to play. She doesn’t want me to feel good about myself because then she would have no power over me. If I want to be all that God wants me to be, then I have to get in agreement with God. I cannot go around in agreement with Maya – with a defeatist attitude, feeling intimidated, average, believing that I don’t have anything to offer. Let me dare to put on the right recording, the things God is telling me every day.

He is Truth because only He knows the truth about me– the beginning, middle and end. He hasn’t withheld this information from me; in fact, He revealed it to me on day 1 and continues to remind me of it every day. Whether you imbibe this or not is up to you; it depends on your efforts, He says. When I believe the wrong things about me, I make life hard for myself and then appeal to Baba: ‘Baba, make Maya go away!’, ‘Baba, give me this experience!’, ‘Baba, give me peace and contentment’, ‘Baba, finish this obstacle!’, ‘Baba, please get this done!’.  It isn’t that Baba would bless any of you or have mercy for you, there is no question of asking for mercy here, He says. Mercy, blessings – these are words of the path of devotion. Here, you have to make effort.

Maya wants me to feel wrong about myself, God wants me to feel right about myself. I am a child of God – I am well able, well equipped, highly favored, blessed, strong, one of a kind. I am no ordinary creation. Is this what I’m telling myself or am I allowing something else to play? What plays in my mind is extremely powerful. If it’s the wrong stuff, it can mess up my life. I know this for a fact based on half a cycle’s worth of experience! A change in recording is way overdue! Sometimes I think if I fix the outside, I will feel good inside- so I dress well, put on makeup, drive well. I think that’s what’s going to give me confidence, and security. But in fact, as Baba teaches me, reality is just the opposite. If I fix the inside, the outside will fix itself. A pretty face can’t hide low self-esteem. Let me take 5mins every morning to prepare I, the soul – for the day. Let me remind myself: I am blessed, valuable, healthy, amazing, a child of God. Let me take time to make these positive affirmations over myself so that I can get the recording started off in the right direction. The more I do it, the more it will penetrate the soul and become a sanskar. What I feed, grows. Just as the negative can hold me back, the positive will push me forward. Let me make a list of some of these affirmations and put it on my computer, on my phone, on my bathroom mirror. Several times during the day, let me read them and get it down into my bones. The more I dwell on the right thoughts, the less room there is for the negative.

Become conquerors of Maya, says Baba. The Father Himself gives you multimillion- fold more than you thought of yourself. So don’t be a beggar even in your thoughts.  This is known as having a right.  Have you become those with a right in this way?  What song do you sing? Do you sing: “I have attained everything” or do you sing the song of complaint: ‘I have yet to attain this, I have yet to attain this?’

The lies of Maya have played in my head long enough, it’s time to start playing what God is saying about me. He sees my beauty, I need to start seeing it too. If I feel intimidated, less than, then it will show up in my personality and body language. The right recording exudes attainment, strength, confidence and ability. The way I see myself is how others will see me too. Let me stop putting myself down. When I criticize myself even internally, I am criticizing God’s creation. I have enough people and circumstances against me, let me not be against myself. When the negative recording comes up, let me hit delete and play the right recording.

I cannot replay negative, defeating, limiting words and expect to reach my highest potential. Thoughts are powerful, they are seeds. When we believe them, dwell on them, they take root, they can grow and bear negative, bitter fruit. Maybe a close friend or family member or a someone else told me that I don’t have what it takes but let me remember that people don’t determine my destiny. Sometimes people who said those things were dealing with their own issues. Negative words have power only if I give them power. When I believe that I am exceptional, blessed, that I can do all things through God, then I am taking power away from the negative. Let me get good at deleting the negative and keep playing what God says about me. Let me protect my recording, let me not allow it to get contaminated by what he/she said, or what ‘I feel’. Let me go ONLY with what I know God is saying about me.

The Father is now giving you musk as a gift for your intellects, because intellects have become completely tamopradhan, He says. They are now becoming clean. Let me pay attention to the strongholds in my mind, those lies I have allowed for so long. The good news is I can get rid of it. I don’t have to spend another minute playing that recording. If I start playing what God says about me, it will heal the places that have been hurt. The more I believe that I am a precious, pure, wonderful child of God, then that recording of truth is the fragrance, the musk for my intellect. Then, I will go through life feeling free, secure, confident, healthy, blessed, successful, and rise up to be what God created me to be.

Let me get started today with a new recording: I am blessed, I am elevated, I am the master of my own mind, I am creator of my thoughts, I am talented, I am creative, I am forgiven, I am free, I am valuable, I am equipped, I am beautiful, I am amazing, I am wonderful, I am the child of the Highest-on-High, I have seeds of greatness within me, I am God’s heir child, I am victorious, I am what God says I am and I WILL become all that He has crated me to be.

Where there is remembrance, there cannot be complaints. Where there are complaints, there cannot be remembrance. With complaints there are question marks, whereas, in remembrance, there is just a full-stop.