Baba says, ‘Everyone continues to make mistakes so I come and make everyone free from making mistakes.’ 

For half a cycle, I had forgotten who I am – I considered myself to be the body rather than the pure soul. Due to this fundamental mistake, I performed wrong actions that were rooted in wrong consciousness. Baba comes and reminds me of who I am- I am a soul, His child. That is lesson one. The rest of the study is the actual shift from body to soul consciousness, it is to realize not just that I am a soul but also what type of a soul I am. But while this shift is taking place, I continue to make mistakes based on old beliefs, old sanskars that I either haven’t recognized yet or are deeply engrained.

In the past, these same actions would appear to be justified, even normal to me but now, because of having received the knowledge of who I am, I realize them to be mistakes. They now create a burden on me that makes it hard to fly, to make fast progress. The more times I make the same mistake, the more the burden accumulates and I lose my happiness, my enthusiasm for service, the closeness with the family. And so even as I work on clearing out the debt of past wrong actions, this added burden of new mistakes piles on. And so Baba gives me Shrimat– the elevated directions to protect me from performing wrong action now. I might not yet understand why He is saying what He is saying, but when I obey in faith, I avoid making new mistakes while working on clearing the debt of the old.

‘Many ask what can we do to return Baba’s love‘, He says. ‘The return He wants is for you to turn yourself. That is all, this is the return. Are you ready to follow any orders that the Father gives? Are you 100% in love? Are you ready to turn yourself?‘ Devotees, Baba points out, are ready to cut off their heads but here I don’t have to cut off my physical head, rather, I have to cut off Ravan’s head. Take care, He cautions, that you don’t leave any of the five heads on him. Cut them all off!

Baba gives me directions on how to do this. ‘I come to establish the original deity religion, that is, to change you from human to deity.’, He says. The very first direction or Shrimat He gives me is ‘forget your body and all bodily relations and remember Me alone.’ The more I remember Him, the more the past debt is cleared – I am able to forgive myself, accept myself by receiving His great love and compassion. Simultaneously, I learn to check with Him before performing any actions now. Is this a thought, word or action BapDada would think, say or do? Do I feel peace within me? If not, I don’t do it. The more I remember Him, the deeper my relationship is with Him, the more fine-tuned my intellect is to His touchings. This is not a pilgrimage or journey I take alone, God is my partner. He is with me at every step as my Satguru, prompting me, guiding me. Right when I am about to tell that person off at work, I hear His voice saying ‘keep your peace, let it go’. Am I going to listen or give in to the body conscious impulse anyway? The key is to obey quickly. The longer I wait, the weaker my determination becomes, and the more time I give myself to ‘reason it out’, to ‘justify’ my own dictates or behavior.

The first time I obey, it feels really, really hard. The next time is a tiny bit easier and the third time, even more easier and soon enough, I hardly need to make effort. That specific shrimat has worked itself into a sanskar i.e. it has replaced the old behavior and become my new, natural behavior. God is the Purifier, He comes and works on correcting the wrong behaviors in His children. He works on different areas in each one of us- what’s holding each of us back is different. He puts His finger on something- maybe anger that gets me in trouble the most- and wants me to change it. I can try to duck and hide and ask Baba to work on something else but He won’t let go until He gets me through it. The sooner I co-operate with Him, the better off I’ll feel! Let me do what He’s asking me to.

In remembrance, I find the power to do the right thing even when the wrong thing is happening. I remember my Father’s virtues, how loving and merciful He is. I remember how He forgives me when I do wrong, how patient He is with me. As His child, I remember that I have those same qualities. As I watch Him, I too am inspired to be like Him. I want to be His helper in His task of turning this old world on it’s head and making it new again. ‘I didn’t create this world‘, He points out, ‘the Father didn’t create the world to cause you sorrow‘. The world He created was heaven, the land of truth, the land of peace and happiness. He cannot accomplish His task of establishing the new world unless I change. Yes, what they did to me is not right, it’s hurtful but just like my Father, I have the power to forgive anyway. I have the power to love anyway. Remember, He tells me, who your enemy is. In body consciousness, I mistake my brothers and sisters to be my enemies and oppose them when in fact, it is Ravan using them and working through them just as he used me. Oppose Ravan, Baba teaches. I do that by accepting the soul and rejecting the sanskar. It’s what Baba does, it’s what I need to get good at.

Let me no longer support Ravan in his task of dividing and conquering us, let me support Baba’s task by helping Him unite us against our common enemy– Ravan. When I obey Shrimat when it’s hard, when I love when it’s hard, when I forgive and accept when it’s hard, souls are touched. They realize themselves, they are salvaged. That’s how I help Baba win the great war against Ravan – by getting more and more of my brothers from Ravan’s side onto Baba’s side. Then the old world ends, and it’s heaven again!