Baba says, ‘You are becoming residents of heaven. Hell will be destroyed. You also need to understand this.‘

Just like a physical pilgrimage, one of the things I experience on this spiritual journey, is weariness. I am being my best at work, keeping a good attitude and yet, it seems that my boss or co-workers keep being disrespectful, leaving me out of things, playing politics. That contractor I hired to finish that repair job not only didn’t finish the job on time but now expects me to pay for the additional time. I go to the doctor for a health issue and am charged for everything -even those tests I didn’t need to do! It feels as though everyone is just bent on doing what it takes to get their way, willing to betray, manipulate, cheat and mistreat. I’ve been doing the right thing for so long but now I’m just tired, I don’t feel like I can take it anymore, I’ve had enough.

Baba says, ‘This is a very dirty world, whereas the new world is first–class. The old world is completely third–class. This world is coming to an end.’ God Himself says that this world is hell even before I bother to say anything. This is Ravan’s kingdom, He reminds me, what do you expect?! Everyone is now impure, acting on the basis of vices and causing each other sorrow in the process. The good news is that it won’t stay this way for long. God says, ‘I come to establish heaven and make you into the masters of heaven’.

God uses the old world to change me from an impure human being into a deity. This is the only time in the entire cycle that you change from impure to pure, He explains, and this change has to sustain for all of the new cycle. As I go from birth to birth to birth, the degree of my purity keeps dropping and so if I only stock up a little now, I will run out pretty quickly in my journey through the new cycle. Sure, I will go to heaven if I have recognized Baba and heard the knowledge but if I don’t have a high level of purity, I won’t be able to stay in heaven for long before descending into hell.

And purity doesn’t just mean celibacy although that is foundational. Complete purity means purity in thoughts, words, actions, attitudes, vision, behavior…in every aspect of my life. If I can maintain such purity at this time in the cycle, in such a world, in such an atmosphere, with such souls – then, I’m in good shape for the new cycle! I won’t feel weary until the very end. And so while whatever others do might have been meant for my harm now, God uses that situation or that person to push me into my destiny. He uses them as sandpaper to rub the rough edges off me, to build resilience within me, to build tolerance within me, to build power within me. Let me not view people and situations as enemies but rather as instruments for my preparation for heaven. When I change my perspective, it takes the weariness out. I don’t see others as getting an upper hand over me but as serving me instead. I am not a victim of people and situations, I am the beneficiary.

‘You are the deities that are worshipped in the temples‘, He reminds me. No matter what the quality is of the devotee that comes before the idol, the expression on the face of the idol stays the same. The devotee could be someone that cheats, sins, manipulates but the idol remains unaffected. That is a memorial of your effort at this time, Baba reminds me. Only when I can get to such a stage can I enjoy the new cycle from the very beginning of heaven.

But what if I can’t do it? what if my sanskars are just too hard to clean out? what if I’m not able to face the storms after all? ‘First of all, have faith in who it is that is teaching you‘, says Baba. When I remember that it is God Himself that is my Teacher, it changes my perspective. Sure, those sanskars are tough and the storms powerful but God is All Powerful!, He is the Almighty Authority, the Purifier!, He specializes in making the impossible, possible. Not just that, but He and I have done this countless times before! All He needs from me is faith in myself and in Him. He says, ‘Always have good wishes for yourself. Believe that you will become Lakshmi and Narayan‘. Getting my mind going in the right direction is the first step to victory. ‘Maya is completely against you‘, Baba cautions. She works overtime to sow the seed of doubt in me but let me stay encouraged. Let me not count on others to cheer me on, I need to encourage myself. Let me rewind all my past victories with God, all those times when I did overcome when I thought I couldn’t, when I kept standing when I thought I couldn’t. When I remember it is God that’s working on me, I also remember that He is Faithful. What He has started, He will finish.

He says, ‘Become soul conscious’. I am not the role or the relationship and neither do the mistakes, the situations and circumstances define me. My only ‘definition’, so to speak, is that I am a soul, a child of God. That never changes, no matter what happens. ‘Every one of the Father’s praise is your praise‘, He tells me. Rather than focus on the situation or the person that’s causing me distress, let me dwell instead on the various titles I have inherited from my Father – I am a great soul, I am master almighty powerful…this too never changes, no matter what but I need to invoke it by remembering it, then, remaining in that awareness. This is my last birth before the new cycle starts, I have played many parts through the cycle- let me spin the discus of self-realization and look at those parts. My full story is wonderful, beautiful, and so elevated! These are just the last few scenes where I study and prepare for the next round of fun! And I don’t study alone, God becomes my Teacher!

And so next time, I sense that weariness coming, let me get perspective as to what is going on. I am studying, I am becoming and I will become, there is no doubt. Why? Because God is my Teacher. And what am I becoming? a golden-aged deity! Matter of fact, God is so sure of Himself and me that He challenges me to keep a picture of my future form in my pocket. Each time it feels tough to press on, pull out that picture, He suggests and come back into the right awareness, the right perspective. The old world cannot stop God’s work of establishing His kingdom. In fact, He is using it to get His work done! ‘You are becoming residents of heaven’, He reminds me daily of His plan. Then, when He is done, hell will be destroyed. ‘You also need to understand this’.