Baba says, ‘Lakshmi and Narayan are called a goddess and god. No one knows how they received their kingdom.’

Lakshmi and Narayan are called a goddess and god. When I look around at the world today, it’s impossible to imagine that Lakshmi and Narayan could be born to parents of this world and turn out the way they are. Even if their parents were the most saintly people of this world, even if they attended the best school and university there is, still, it is impossible to imagine that they would grow up to be a ‘god’ and a ‘goddess’. So something else must have happened that led to them becoming who they are.

When I learn that God came to this earth around that time and that He intervened, now, that explains a lot! In fact, that has got to be the only explanation- it would take God Himself to take souls of this world, of this time and make them a ‘god’ and ‘goddess’. No one else or nothing else could make that transformation happen. He says, ‘I come at the end of the iron age and teach you Raja yoga. It is through this study that you become masters of heaven.’ Now that’s a study that, again, only God would even think of teaching! No school or university in the world could even imagine offering such a degree. It takes a lot more than a campus, books and teachers to make me a master of the world!

In worldly education, there is a teacher who teaches me a subject in class, then I study by myself at home. Sometimes, people pick up a subject simply by reading books or these days through online videos. In the case of Raja yoga too, there is a classroom where I learn from the greatest Teacher – the Supreme Teacher, God Himself; here too, I go back home and reflect on what I was taught that day, I read the Murli and other literature available to me, I attend workshops and seminars. But that’s where the similarity ends. Unlike worldly education, here, knowledge alone does not bring me results. The Murli and the workshops will open my intellect, but it alone cannot change me from a human-being into a deity. Sanskars that have been with me for half a cycle cannot move simply by understanding them. That requires a removal expert! ‘Only I am the Purifier’, says the Father. People call out to the Supreme Soul: ‘O Purifier, O Bestower of Salvation, Liberator, Guide, but they don’t know how He liberates us, becomes our Guide or where He takes us. They simply continue to cry out. God, the Father, has now come and is guiding you children.‘

It takes the Purifier Himself to open the lock on my intellect so that I can imbibe the knowledge that He is teaching me and become able to apply it in my life. It takes the Purifier, the Supreme Surgeon, to pull out the tumors and ulcers that have been causing me pain, that have been causing me to behave I way I have for half a cycle. Only He knows what the disease is and only He knows how to cure it. He uses the situations in the drama and people to pull out these tumors and as with any surgery, the recovery is more painful than the surgery itself. When I come face to face with what I had in me, I can’t believe it! I had been so ignorant for so long, living in darkness, being selfish, mistreating people, thinking, speaking and acting without exercising any self-control. Now, the Purifier pulls out these attitudes, these toxic behaviors one by one and teaches me the new way to behave. The better I am at partnering with Him, the quicker the recovery and progression. Unlike worldly schools, I never fail in God’s school; I just get to take the same test again and again and again until I pass! The only scenario where I would fail is if I gave up and left school.

Lakshmi and Narayan not only stayed at school, they trusted the Teacher completely. Whatever He asked them to do, they did. They allowed Him to guide them through every step of their study- what to think, what not to think; what to say, what not to say; when to speak, when not to speak, how to behave. Did they get things wrong? Of course, they did! but they never allowed their mistakes to define them, they didn’t allow the corrections offered by the Teacher to condemn them. Instead, they learnt to receive the love of the Father and the Teacher which allowed them to offer themselves wholeheartedly to the study. But even more foundationally, they believed steadfastly in their aim: ‘I am studying to become a god/a goddess. I will claim my full inheritance.’

The Father comes not to offer incremental improvement- the religious founders and sanyasis managed that! He comes to offer complete transformation– from beggar to prince, from prickly thorn to fragrant flower, from completely impure to completely pure, from human into deity! He comes to offer complete liberation-in-life by freeing me from all bondages and strongholds. He, is all in, the question is: am I? or will I allow laziness: ‘yes, I will get to it later’, carelessness: ‘look at the seniors, they too have these flaws. So it’s not a big deal!’, weariness: ‘this is too hard’ to set in and slow me down? ‘God teaches you and makes you into Lakshmi and Narayan and so you should study well. Simply remember the Father and the new world and you will go to the new world. Then, if you study well and teach others, you can become kings and queens, according to the spiritual service you do.‘, says Baba. Let me heed His advice. The best way to stay active and combat weariness is to serve others. The more I pour into others that which I am receiving from the Father, the more blessings I receive. It doesn’t have to be a lecture, maybe it’s offering to help someone with their workload, maybe it’s forgiving someone, maybe it’s just a smile. When I do this, I stay happy and the blessings I receive push me forward on my journey. And always remember, says Baba, that this is a pilgrimage; this study continues till the end. Until my last breath, I will keep on learning and as long as I am making progress, I am on the right track. Let me not look to the left or to the right- comparing and competing with anyone else- let me instead keep my vision on the aim, on the road straight ahead.

Sanyasis adopted a different route; they left the world and moved to the jungle looking for peace and liberation. But God says: ‘why would you do that!?, peace is your natural nature, it is the original religion of the soul‘. Now, that’s something I wouldn’t know unless I enrolled into His school and studied! No matter how hard I try- become a sanyasi, a saint, a religious leader, a scientist, or even a determined Brahmin for that matter- I cannot become pure or receive my inheritance of purity, peace, and happiness without a personal relationship with God. Liberation and salvation, just simply, isn’t something I can acquire based on my own strength, will-power or determination and I certainly cannot give others something I don’t have myself. God, and only God, can give me my inheritance by purifying me and helping me awaken my truth.

Only the Father comes and makes those with stone intellects into those with divine intellects. ‘You are now becoming deities.‘, He says, ‘this is the only study to change from an ordinary man into Narayan. This is Raja Yoga.’