Baba says, ‘if you want to become elevated, follow shrimat fully. Not following shrimat is the biggest weakness.’

God adopts me at this auspicious confluence age. When a father adopts a child, he knows that this is his heir to his whole property. The father has everything and the child has nothing and just like that, just by virtue of being the child, it becomes the heir. God is the greatest Father, He is the Father of all fathers. He comes and wills me the full inheritance. What is the inheritance? Sovereignty of heaven! Just so happens, I have been adopted by not an ordinary human father, I have been adopted by the Creator of Heaven. So He wills me heaven!

The moment before I was adopted I was an orphan living an unrighteous and degraded life because I didn’t know any better; I didn’t have the right guidance. As a result of wrong thinking and actions, I had no peace, happiness or contentment; just sorrow, worry, and anxiety. But the moment I was adopted, everything changed. I was given a new name: child of God, elevated guidance for every aspect of life: shrimat and a new nature: the Godly nature of righteousness. I became the master of all virtues and all powers. All this…in one second! My Father didn’t hold anything back, He gave me everything He has.

But here’s the thing: every single child of God is a ‘rightful heir’ but not everyone inherits. There are different types of children, Baba says. Some come off the street into the palace and realize the opportunity they have been given to make a new life for themselves. I am grateful for this turn in my fortune because I can see the contrast of what was and what I can be. I stay close to the Father to learn from Him everything I can to be a worthy heir- how to think, speak, act; I observe and emulate Him in every thing. I prepare myself to take on responsibility of my Father’s business; I accept that it is now mine. But then there are others who also come off the street but don’t fully appreciate the fortune they have walked into. I don’t feel like I fit in and am constantly pulled by the street, to the old life. I know that the happiness there is fleeting at best, that it is a life of hustle but it’s what I’m used to; I find the new life to be too much pressure and the destination, too high.

‘Indeed‘, says Baba, ‘many are called but only a few make it because only a few are willing to study.‘

Everyone wants to be Lakshmi and Narayan but not everyone is willing to do the work they did to get there. They didn’t become who they are by taking the broad and easy path, they got there by studying hard and transforming their lives to become equal to the Father. They dedicated themselves completely to the process of transformation- they learnt from the Father, and they applied it in their lives. The Father says, ‘if you want to become elevated, follow shrimat fully. Not following shrimat is the biggest weakness.‘ As a child of God, I cannot live the way I did when I was in the old world and get away with it: I cannot live by my feelings and say: ‘I don’t feel like forgiving them…’ or ‘I don’t feel like staying silent…’. It doesn’t matter what ‘I feel like’, I do something because it is the right thing to do. I cannot talk and behave with others any way I want to; here, I treat others the way the Father treats me. I cannot wait for others to respect or appreciate me before I decide to respect them; here, I give before I receive; in fact, I learn that giving is receiving!

Yes, the ego will throw a fit every time I try to switch over to God’s way in any aspect of my life, but as God’s child, I have the power to overcome. Besides, I have the knowledge that the old way leads to destruction and the new path leads to victory! Sometimes I think that maybe if I attend just another workshop, or increase my yoga by another hour, then I’ll be able to change. But the truth is that change doesn’t come from doing some outward things like I did in bhakti – more chants, more coconuts, more worship time- it comes from a deep love and respect for the self and for God. Do I respect myself enough that I want to become the elevated human being that my Father is telling me that I can be? or will I shortchange myself into settling for less? Do I love the Father enough to want to give Him my very best? Do I appreciate all the effort He is putting into me enough to allow Him to make me and mold me into the person He wants me to be?

I had nothing, He has willed me everything; all I have to do is claim it. The Father says: ‘Now become worthy by following shrimat and become the masters of heaven.’ 

I start the day with a full stock of peace, joy and contentment. Then as the day goes on and those triggers come in the form of situations and people, I just easily give my power, my inheritance away. Yes, what they said was rude and insulting, but was ‘putting them in their place’ worth giving away my peace? and did I actually succeed in teaching anyone any lasting lesson? Baba says, ‘what is right is right and what is wrong is wrong but don’t keep the feelings in your heart‘. To reflect back what was given to me doesn’t require effort or talent, it’s what worldly people do. But to remain in my truth no matter what, to refuse to give away my power no matter what is to honor the self and God.

‘Every thought, breath and second is a treasure‘, Baba teaches me, ‘so, use it in a worthwhile way‘. This is how I accumulate in my account for heaven. If I continue to live the ordinary life, I will still come into heaven but how long will I experience it for? My status in heaven or my sovereignty in heaven depends on my self-sovereignty here; it depends on my ruling and controlling power over myself here; it depends on whether I have learnt to live a victorious life here. Heaven is liberation-in-life. The longer I live laboring and battling here, I longer I delay my destiny. God has a great and wonderful destiny for me that I cannot even wrap my imagination around. How much of it am I tapping into?

I have heard the knowledge; in fact, I am way over educated than my level of obedience. I don’t need another class, another workshop or more blessings; I need determination and a will to claim my full inheritance. God has adopted me! I am one of the handful of souls He has adopted as His own. He hasn’t adopted me to give me a little, to make me a little better off than I was. No! He has adopted me to change me from beggar to prince, from 100% insolvent to 100% solvent, from thorn to fragrant flower, from degraded to worship-worthy. Let me dare not settle for anything less than complete transformation, for anything less than my full inheritance.