Baba says, ‘To keep a balance at every moment, in every action is the way to receive everyone’s blessings’.

In this spiritual journey, it is key to maintain a balance in every aspect of life in order to be successful. To be successful means contentment of the self, Baba and others. If there is a lack of contentment or unhappiness, chances are there is an aspect of my life that is out of balance because that is an open door to Maya. And a lack of balance in one area affects every other area of my life as well.

Sometimes, I lack balance between family time and service time. This happens because I tend to think that only the activities done at the center or related to the center constitutes as service. So I neglect my duties at home, I am gone too long and too often and my family feels neglected. There is strife and a lot of disservice where people start to blame the center or the organization for tearing families apart. ‘You are not sanyasis’, Baba reminds me. Sanyasis leave their responsibilities and move to the jungle or to an ashram. Baba teaches me to shoulder my responsibilities at home just as well as at the center. To that end, if I have to do a little devotion or need to attend a wedding to keep peace in the house, let me do it while in remembrance and as a detached observer. ‘You must never force anyone to give up bhakti‘, says Baba. Rather, through my own stage, my conduct and character, let me inspire them to come onto the path of knowledge. ‘Then, they will let go of bhakti on their own‘, says Baba. This is great service and is how I maintain balance.

Sometimes, there is a lack of balance between remembrance and service. For half a cycle, I got my value and worth from ‘doing’ and so that tends to carry over into my spiritual life. I get easily engrossed in service activities because it keeps me busy and when I am done with a task, I get recognized or appreciated. Remembrance on the other hand is incognito and so I do it ‘when I have time’. The fact is that service isn’t really service unless I do it in remembrance. ‘You are karma yogis‘, Baba reminds me. Sometimes, I deceive myself by saying: ‘service is remembrance. I was busy with Baba’s work and so it counts as remembrance’. It doesn’t. This is imbalance. One thing is to say service itself is remembrance, and the other is that there is remembrance in service. This slight difference in the method changes the result, points out Baba. Remembrance gives me the power to burn away sins, to face situations, to be loving with all and attain success. When I serve in remembrance, this is balance and then, there is very little effort and much reward.

Sometimes, I attain success in service and I am intoxicated. I think I did what I needed to do very well but I forget Who enabled me to do it. To believe I did my part well is good self-respect but to remember that it was Karavanhar Baba that enabled me to be the instrument to do it in the first place is humility. When there is balance between self-respect and humility, there is success but when there is a lack of humility, then that self-respect quickly changes to arrogance, cautions Baba, with the consciousness of ‘I’ leads to my spiritual downfall. So let me always remain in the awareness of being a humble instrument of Baba in His task and thus, maintain the balance of self-respect and humility.

Sometimes, in trying to shoulder responsibility, I become overwhelmed by them. Whether of the household or spiritual, the more responsibilities you have, the lighter you need to be, says Baba. This is trusting God, being loving to the One while remaining detached from the burden of outcomes. When I maintain this balance or detached and loving, I will be free from the worry of: ‘what if I can’t do this? should I do this or that? this is too difficult to do!’ etc. and actually be available fully to do what I need to do. I will have the energy, the zeal and enthusiasm and the confidence to do anything that comes my way and see success.

Sometimes, within service, I pick and choose what to do. I think that because I am a teacher or because I am a seasoned yogi, I will only do things like reading the murli, giving lectures, making decisions etc. I think that physical activity is not for me, that’s for someone else. This is also imbalance, says Baba. Everyone is responsible for everything, irrespective of whether I am a teacher or a student. There are many types of service, Baba reminds me. There is service of the mind, through words, through action and through relationships and connections. Let there be balance between all, He teaches. That doesn’t just mean I pay attention to all of them but it also means that I do them simultaneously- when I serve through words, let me also serve through the mind. Then, there will be success, He teaches.

Sometimes, due to a misplaced sense of service, I think I have to be doing something all the time. It is important, Baba teaches, to maintain a balance of self-care and service. I tell myself that I am busy with Baba’s work and so it is okay. But Baba never asks me to do anything at the expense of my health. If I fall ill, not only will I not be able to serve, it slows my self-effort, I pay financially and emotionally. This is more disservice than service. Let me ensure that I have adequate rest and recharge time factored into my schedule, just as much as work and service.

Sometimes, I think that I have arrived in my yogi life and that the stage I am at now is the ‘limit of perfection’. Baba says, ‘beware of this kind of carelessness’. You have to continue to make self-effort till the very end, He teaches, and so while it’s good to consider how far I’ve come on my journey, let me never get complacent. Let me continue to bring newness in my life every day. This is balance between attainment and effort, says Baba.

When you maintain such balance in every aspect of your life, Baba teaches, you automatically remain content and keep everyone else content as well. You receive blessings from BapDada and all souls.