Baba says, ‘The Father explains that your behavior isn’t right. The Father shows you the way to earn an income. Then, it is your fortune whether you do it or not.’

A lot of what happens in my life is based on my obedience to God. There is a connection between obedience and the status I receive or the level of fortune I claim. The highest status is 100% purity, peace, happiness and wisdom. Anything lesser means that there is still unrest, discontentment, sorrow that I experience. God is not just my Father, but He is also my Teacher and my Satguru. He loves and as part of that love, He also disciplines me, He points out to me that which is wrong so that I can correct it. Why? because it’s what’s holding me back from claiming my full status or fortune. And so discipline is something I need to love rather than resist and hate. I can listen to the Murli each morning, attend classes and workshops all I want but that knowledge has to applied in my daily life for it to become sanskars. When I leave this earth to go home, I will not carry with me the points of knowledge, I will only be able to carry sanskars. And my sanskars will determine the status I receive.

We start out on the journey with God with the intoxication of being God’s child- I know God, He speaks to me directly!, I know Him directly!, I can’t believe the awesome fortune I have. But then I confuse it to think that knowing God means that I can now more easily get from God what I want: ‘God, give me this, give me that, do this for me…’. I don’t like it when anyone, including God, tells me what to do or how to behave. I think I know and if everyone would just do what I want, we’d all be happy. And that attitude of stubbornness and of ‘I know what’s best’ blocks me from my destiny.

Baba says, ‘this is a study for the future kingdom, not for this old world‘. I might know a lot about the old world, but I need to learn from Him what I need for where I’m going – the new world. He is not here to fulfill my impure or selfish desires of name, fame, recognition, possessions etc. for this old world. He is the Supreme Teacher, the Purifier and is here to teach me, to prepare me for the new world. That involves bringing my character up higher, flushing out all the vices in their various manifestations- anger, jealousy, frustration, irritation, impatience, etc. etc. And so He’s more interested in my thoughts, words and behavior-the stuff that actually goes to the new world with me. So when I go to Him with my demand for a new house in that neighborhood, I might not see much interest but He certainly is interested in how I respond when that co-worker is rude to me! I immediately hear Him whisper: ‘let it go, stay in peace’. Will I obey? I worked hard on that project and yet the promotion went to someone else. Feelings of jealousy, bitterness, rage and all the rest rise up within me and I hear His voice again: ‘remember who you are, your value doesn’t come from that promotion. You should accept the decision with your heart and congratulate your colleague.’. He doesn’t stop there, He goes on to say: ‘and you must co-operate with them’. I almost can’t believe it! Is this really God, my Father, telling me this!? How can He tell me this despite all that they’ve done to me! I know the knowledge, He has taught it to me every day but when it comes to doing, will I apply what He has taught me or do what I ‘feel‘ like?

Let me remember that everything He tells me to do is going to feel like going against the tide. He is preparing me for the new world. It is going to feel hard and unfair and painful because for half a cycle, I have been used to thinking, speaking and doing the old world way, the wrong way. It feels hard now but if I will do what He is asking me to do His way, I will reap the fruit of it later. Obedience is not selectively doing only what is convenient to me. Most of the times, I think I’m obeying God but really I am only obeying Him in the aspects that suit me, that feel comfortable to me. The Father says: ‘I show you the way to earn an income. Then, it is your fortune whether you do it or not.‘ And when I disobey Him, He doesn’t rebuke me or condemn me, He remains silent. And so I think well, it’s all fine. It’s not. Soon enough, the situation or the test comes again and again and again till I get it right. Each time, I can go back to Him and complain about how unfair something is, why it’s not right, that I don’t feel like doing it etc. etc. but God doesn’t change His mind just because I don’t ‘like’ something or don’t ‘feel’ like it. By running away, I delay my own progress because I won’t see new doors open until I do what I need to do to be prepared. ‘You don’t deceive the Father, you deceive yourself when you go against the code of conduct’, He teaches.

Then, there are times when I have to choose between what God is asking me to do and what a close friend or family member thinks I should do. I will be wise to always choose what God wants me to do even if it means losing that friendship or relation. I might feel alone for a season but then God will lead me to new and better friends. In the new world, there is only one code of conduct, one set of rules – the Shrimat He is giving me now. Let me ensure that’s what my sanskars are based on. He has given me code for every aspect of my life and He guides me at every step. Let me learn to obey.

And there are different levels of obedience too. There is obedience and then there is prompt obedience which brings far more power. The more I delay the obedience, the more I suffer because in disobeying, I am doing something that is misaligned with the truth. And so each time I disobey and perform a wrong action, my conscience bites and I lose self-respect . This is the cycle of descension I was caught up in for half a cycle and that bankrupted me. God is placing me in a cycle of ascension but I need to obey. I want God to enable and equip me to do great things, I want to be able to serve in His task in a big way but I tie His hands when I don’t obey. Until I can do the things I need to do to come up higher, He cannot open doors for me because I won’t have the character to handle what’s on the other side. And so my fortune, He says, is up to me. Can I give up that attitude He’s been asking me to give up? Can I stop being angry and irritated with family members? Can I be more respectful to everyone, no matter their position, title, education? Those who study well cannot remain incognito, says Baba. They make their lives like diamonds.

I will be able to obey God when I love Him more than I love myself, when I value Him more than the thing I’m having trouble giving up. Nothing is more valuable than God’s love, and my relationship with Him. Anything or anyone that gets in between me and God, is not worth it, I need to give it up. Yes, it’s not easy to be nice to someone that is not nice to me, it is not easy to give up what I’ve been used to keeping with me for a long time. But I can still do all those things because God is asking me to do it. My attitude is: Yes, this will hurt and yes, I don’t feel like doing it but I love God more, I want to obey my Father more than I don’t want to do it. When He asks me to do something, He also gives me the ability and the power I need to do it. I just have to take that step of courage and obey.

When I can obey, I will be amazed at how much God will do through me, for me, and in me. He wants me to have nothing less than world sovereignty- 16 celestial degrees pure, completely viceless, completely righteous, 100% peace, happiness and prosperity. This is Raja Yoga, He reminds me, those who pass with honors receive a scholarship. He is giving His 100% to make this happen for me, let me do my part and give my 100% by obeying His directions. Let me not quit when it gets uncomfortable and difficult. Let me not deprive myself of the immense fortune of working with God for the sovereignty of His kingdom. Let me no longer ask Him to ‘give me this, or do this’ in this old world, let me instead allow Him to mold me into what He wants me to be for the new world. It is now or never.