Baba says, ‘The Father doesn’t cause anyone sorrow. The Father constantly gives happiness.’

For the last half of the cycle, it has been the path of bhakti. Bhakti is blind faith where I worship someone I don’t even know. Because of not knowing, I don’t have a relationship with God so much as I fear God or work to impress God. For example, when I need help with something, I run to God and do intense worship, observe a fast, maybe recite the mantras a few hundred times…whatever I think I need to do to please God. Then, when I get my wish, I think it’s because of all that worship I did…or I try to repay God with a big donation. On the flip side, when I make a mistake, I think that surely, now I’ve displeased God and that He will punish me. Then, when anything goes wrong I say: ‘O God! have mercy on me, I am a sinner, I have wronged but please have mercy and take away Your wrath’.

Baba says, ‘who made you so senseless?‘ I am your Father, I don’t cause my children to labor in order to win my love or favor, and I certainly don’t cause my children to suffer. I am the Remover of Sorrow, I only give happiness to My children.

God is my eternal Father throughout the cycle; He knows me well before I ever know Him. He chose me before I chose Him. He knows the beginning, middle and end of my story which means that He knows of my potential and He knows my weaknesses. He knows of every mistake I make well before I make them and what’s more, He has a plan for all my mistakes! He can take the worst thing I’ve done and somehow turn it into something good. He can use it to set me up to move forward toward my destiny. It’s one thing when others have put me at a disadvantage by being unfair to me but when I’ve made the mess myself, then Maya makes it ever so easy to feel guilty and condemned…not just in bhakti but even now, on the path of knowledge. Baba says, ‘The Father now sits here and teaches you. Maya makes you forget this again and again. Otherwise, because God teaches us and makes us into the masters of the world, there should be such great happiness.‘ 

Let me never forget Who is in-charge of my life. It’s no longer Ravan and Maya, it’s God. Sure, I used to be a follower of Ravan for a long time, no more! I am now a follower of ONLY Rama. It’s not as though, as soon as I mess up, somehow Ravan wins back control over my life, no! My Father is still in-charge and He will get me through….if I will stay in faith. Ravan gets control over me only when I hand it to him by agreeing with his lies of what a great mess I am- note how he never says I made a mess, he always says I am a mess. Let me never fall into his trap again.

God knows how to work my mistakes for my good, how to use it to teach and purify and bring me out better. He knows how to correct issues that are out of my control, how to resolve complications by touching the right people, how to make things work out that I could never have on my own. He is my Father, He loves me, He works in my favor, not against me. Let me never forget this truth. But this also doesn’t mean that like the bhagats I don’t take any accountability, that I get to live carelessly, keep making the same mistakes and then take a dip in the Ganges! No, God, my Father, expects me to learn and keep doing better. He wants me to keep my heart honest and sincere, one that wants to do the right thing.

And I am not on this journey alone, the Satguru is with me prompting me at every step about what to do. But He doesn’t expect that I will always do the right thing 100% of the time. If I were that good, I wouldn’t need God! No, He knows that although He is directing my steps, I will still falter along the way, but He will never allow me to slip or fall. He will never abandon me or give up on me saying: ‘you are such a mess! you are so slow! I’m done with you!’. God is not an iron-aged human-being. His love, mercy and kindness are limitless. It’s like the GPS in my car- it never says: ‘you are just too lost to ever get back on track’ and shut itself down! No, it is designed for people that make mistakes. No matter how many times I miss the exit or take the wrong turn, it always ‘recalculates the route’ and gets me back on track.

How much more kind and accommodating is my eternal Father? Ravan might try to make me believe that God will never forgive me for what I’ve done, that I’ve gone too far off course, that I am damaged beyond repair, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. I haven’t missed too many exits, my Father is not mad at me and He still has a way to get me to my destiny. And no, it won’t be second or third best because of my mistakes, He can still take me to my first best plan, to my most highest potential even now…not despite of, but because of my mistakes. And even when Ravan does have that occasional win by getting me to give up and turn my back on my Father, my Father will never turn His back on me. He will take me back out of Ravan’s clutches through something or someone. Let me dare to recognize the great love of the greatest Father, let me dare to stay in faith.

On the same token, when things do work out, when He does get me through or out of situations, when I get that loan when I least expected it, when I overcome that illness, when I become successful in that project I had no training for, let me never forget…again….Who is in-charge. Let me not make the mistake of thinking that ‘I’ achieved everything on ‘my’ own strength. Let me not forget that He made a way when I didn’t even see a way, that He showed me mercy when I made that mistake, that He covered my mistake and brought me out. Let me realize that it wasn’t just the talent or a ‘lucky break’, it was the goodness of my Father acting in my life.

God is the Supreme Soul, He is the Almighty Authority, the All Powerful, the Creator of Heaven and He is my Father! He has come to give me, His child, everything He’s got. He comes bearing the gift of heaven on the palm of His hand. He comes into Ravan’s kingdom to chase him away and take His children back home with Him. Let me never lose that amazement and awe of Who my Father is and how wonderfully He works in my life, how He helps me defeat Ravan at his games, how He brings me out better and stronger each time, how He protects me and sustains me. Let me never get confused about how good my Father is, about how unconditional and selfless He is. And most importantly, let me never ever forget or doubt how much He loves me.

The Father says: ‘when you say “My Baba” from your heart, then the eyes that have been closed by Maya making you unconscious will open.’