Baba says, ‘Now that I have come to take you to the land of happiness, why are you still waiting here? Why are your hearts attached to the land of sorrow?’ 

For half a cycle, I called out to the One to come and liberate me from sorrow; to take me away from this land of suffering into the land of peace. The Boatman is here now. He has His boat ready and waiting for me to get in. The question is what am I waiting for?

In this kingdom of Ravan, Baba says, there is happiness as well as sorrow. One moment there is happiness and the next moment there is sorrow. When a child is born, there is happiness, but if he dies there is sorrow. This is why sannyasis say that happiness here is like the droppings of a crow. And yet, because this gross, temporary happiness is what I have been used to for half a cycle, I find it hard to let go. I even know that the next moment there will be sorrow and yet, I cling on. I continue to have attachments and as a result, expectations – of family members, of friends, of co-workers, of the government, everyone. When those expectations are met, I am happy; when they are not, I am sad. Not just sad, but surprised! I know by experience and Baba has told me that this world is old, that it has become extremely decayed, that it is body conscious, and yet, each time something wrong happens, I feel surprised by it, I take sorrow from it: ‘why did this happen?’, ‘how could they do this?’, ‘can this too happen?’

It’s time to become sensible, says Baba. The world doesn’t know what they receive from God, but then they are still in ignorance. What is my excuse? The Father Himself has come and told me: ‘I come to give you constant happiness. I have come to show you the path to the land of peace and happiness. It is your duty to follow the path. Simply follow Shrimat!’

The #1 shrimat is ‘Manmanbhav!, remember Me alone’. But Maya constantly makes me forget. This is a play of remembering and forgetting, says Baba. Knowledge is easy, it is the remembrance that Maya creates obstacles in. Why? because when I remember the Ocean of Happiness, I become happy and set sail to the land of happiness. Now, why would Maya want to allow that to happen! But, says Baba, you should know her tricks by now. It is when I am about to sit in remembrance that Maya reminds me of that ‘important thing’ I need to take care of right then; it is when I am in remembrance that suddenly, out of nowhere, Maya brings back the memory of that betrayal from the past and just like that, all that peace and happiness is gone. Sometimes, she reminds me of what happened at work- how that co-worker left me out, how so-and-so is so selfish….how I need to teach them a lesson. And again, just like that, happiness changes to bitterness and resentment.

‘You have wasted your whole life battling and quarrelling‘, says Baba. ‘I show you a straightforward path: Remember Me alone‘. Remembrance doesn’t just happen, neither is it that some people ‘can just remember’; no, it comes from practice. Sure, Maya will work overtime to break my link with Baba and my duty is to reconnect. And Baba shows me various ways to remember: I don’t always have to remember the Point, through the day while I am engaged in tasks, let me relate to Him as my Friend, Companion. Let me speak to Him sweetly as I prepare and eat my meals. Sometimes, let me remember the present time of this auspicious confluence age, this precious time of ascent. Let me spin the cycle of self-realization and see my elevated part throughout the cycle- yes, it is I who am the golden-aged deity; yes, it is I who is worship-worthy. Let me remember the golden age- how will all those palaces be built? how will we live there? The more creative I am with my remembrance, the easier it becomes and the more I enjoy it. And not just that but the quality of my Amritvela also depends on this- how I spent the day, on what I remembered.

My order is: Remember Me, your Father, because you now have to return home.

He comes to establish the new world and destroy the old world of Ravan. He comes to once again make me the master of the new world. I don’t have to fight anyone for it, I don’t have to undertake any treacherous pilgrimages nor enter into any contests. I receive the sovereignty of the new world as inheritance from my Father; it can’t get an easier than this, says Baba. All I have to do is remember. Let me not fall for the false pomp and show of Maya again and again; let me not fall for her hollow promise of happiness through temporary name, fame and recognition; let me beware of her tactic of getting me to stand against my own brothers. Sometimes, she comes as pangs of attachment to my husband/wife or kids- my intellect is constantly immersed in them, my feelings and emotions are controlled by them. ‘You first have to break the attachment in your heart‘, says Baba, ‘there is no use being attached and then calling out ‘Liberate me!’‘ Those who are obedient, firm in their faith and complete helpers of the Father, Baba says, know that the old world will be destroyed. It is now time to break away all attachments, let go of all grudges and expectations and settle all accounts.

People of the world think that many new things are being invented and that heaven is being created here through them, Baba points out. However, only you children know that all of this is a game of magic. Just as they polish old gold and make it shine, in the same way they paint this old world and make it beautiful. Only you Brahmins know that the old world is to be destroyed. So, while they are busy burying their wealth underground to protect it, I know better than to waste time doing that. My focus is on earning the wealth of knowledge, it is on claiming my unlimited inheritance of heaven from the unlimited Father for half a cycle. Look, everyone has to die. But do I want to die in such a way that I take rebirth again in this old world of sorrow or do I want to die such that I take birth in heaven? My final thoughts will lead me to my destination. Therefore, Baba says, let go of all attachments to your body, bodily things and relations that pull you toward them and to whatever extent possible, continue to remember Me alone.