Baba says, ‘Brahmin life means to be naturally yogyukt and constantly yuktiyukt. The spirituality, specialty and reason for being loving and unique in Brahmin life is that you are yogyukt and yuktiyukt.’

To be a Brahmin is to know who I am, Whose I am, and the story of the cycle. When I have this awareness constantly, I am liberated-in-life, that is, I live life free from all bondages. No situation, sanskar, circumstance or person can make me subservient to them; nothing can shake me or bring me into upheaval. And so Baba says, ‘Brahmin life means to be constantly yogyukt’, that is, to remain aware or connected or tuned-in. When I am yogyukt I am free from bondage and the more I free myself from bondages, the more yogyukt I can be- it’s a virtuous cycle.

When I am aware of who I am, I no longer hustle for limited attainments- name, fame, appearance, title, bank balance, relationships. It doesn’t mean that I renounce my home and job and move into an ashram. Rather, it means that I remain detached, disentangled from the ‘I and mine’ness of it all. I don’t base my worth and value on my physical appearance or job title or how much money I make; I recognize that I am the soul and my worth comes only from the fact that I am a child of God.

Maybe I have a special needs child or elderly parents in my care. Rather than be bogged down by the responsibility, I recognize that they too are souls and children of the same Father, that He is responsible for them, not me. I am simply serving as His instrument in His task. That shift in awareness ensures that while I still shoulder the responsibility, I don’t feel the burden on it anymore. This is what Brahma baba did, He never forgot Who is in charge. When that situation comes suddenly- that betrayal from a close friend, a pandemic that forces the business to shutdown- rather than become overwhelmed by it and think: ‘why did this happen?’, ‘why me!’, ‘what will I do now?’, I simply trust the Father like Brahma baba did. Baba faced situations, opposition, crises that most of us never will and yet each time, he remained carefree in the awareness that he is just the instrument of the Father; He is the Protector and Benefactor and will take care of things.

Maybe I’ve been asked to take on a project for which I have neither the training nor the skill. Again, rather than worry: ‘how am I going to get this done?’, ‘what will others think of me if I fail?’, I simply remember Who is in-charge; He is Karankaravanhaar and He never asks me to do something without first equipping me to do it. This was Mama’s specialty; she always remained in the awareness of Who was getting everything done and so no matter what she was asked to do, she never wavered or allowed it to overwhelm her. She knew that this is God’s domain, service will get done, all the child has to do is co-operate.

Maybe I’m tired of my temper and would like nothing more than to rid myself of this sanskar. If I focus on the anger, it’s as if I make it my God and place it on my heart-throne. Instead, I always pay attention to only and only seat Baba on my heart-throne and trust Him, the Purifier, to do the work of purification in me. I do my part and co-operate with Him by staying open to what He is showing me and following His promptings.

A sign of being yogyukt is equanimity in the face of praise or defamation, success or failure. When someone praises me, is my attitude toward them different than when someone corrects me? Does my stage remain stable when the project goes well and gains appreciation vs. when it does not and no one even knows what I did? It goes back to soul consciousness which gives me the ability to separate my who from my do. Without first being firmly grounded in who I am, I cannot respect myself. Without the foundation of self-respect, there cannot be unconditional respect for others…it feels too hard, it feels unfair, it feels like I have to ‘tolerate’. The project may have failed but it doesn’t make me a failure but that distinction is hard to make when I don’t know who I am and I base my value on accomplishments and approvals. When I am secure in the knowledge that who I am never changes no matter what happens externally- mistakes, failures, defeats, losses- then, I have the power to accept the situation, learn from it and move on.

And so Baba says, ‘to be yogyukt, remain seated on your special lotus seat‘. Hatha yogis sit on a special seat when doing tapasya; in fact, they have a variety of seats. But yours is the lotus seat, He points out, you have to make yourself light and also be the form of light. A lotus is so gyan-yukt! never leave your seat of awareness of who you are, He teaches. Without learning to be stable on this seat, I cannot attain the throne of the kingdom of heaven because heaven is liberation-in-life. And so whatever burdens – be it the burdens of thoughts in the mind, or a burden of sanskars or a burden of attractions of the perishable things of the old world, or a burden of attachment to worldly relations- finish all these various burdens and bondages, He says.

When I surrender my mind to Him, when I change the ‘mine’ to ‘Yours’, when I get myself off my mind and make Him first in my life, then life is not hard or burdensome, it is an easy yogi life. And that’s how Brahmin life should be, easy! It’s how I honor God by remaining easy, light and happy no matter what because I never ever forget that He is with me and that I am His child. When I am in such a state of lightness and easiness, then each word I speak and action I perform will automatically be appropriate, or yuktiyukt; one that unburdens others too by awakening their awareness of who and Whose they are. And so Baba tells me daily: The Father says: ‘Manmanabhav!, become soul conscious and remember Me alone.‘