Baba says, ‘when you become firm and yogyukt, the service you do will increase and you will become instruments to uplift everyone.’

To become yogyukt means to become an embodiment of awareness. When I am an embodiment of awareness, then my every action will be tactful and appropriate i.e. yuktiyukt. Unless I am yogyukt and yuktiyukt, Baba says, service cannot increase or be successful.

The opposite of being yogyukt is being body conscious, I have forgotten who I am and the Father. When I am body conscious, I am too busy seeing defects of others, judging whether they are right or wrong, if they are following shrimat or not; I am too busy being surprised by situations and events: ‘can this too happen?’, ‘why did this happen to me?’, ‘this is not fair!’ etc. In other words, I am subservient to people, sanskars, events, everything external and they dictate my stage, they dictate what occupies my time, energy and thoughts. These treasures are no longer mine, I have handed them over to Ravan just as I had half a cycle ago. When I have lost my treasures and as a result forfeited my peace and happiness, I have nothing to give to others.

Brahma Baba was was God’s #1 instrument for service and he lived and dealt with souls of all kinds of sanskars. In the face of the strongest opposition, baba was always yogyukt by following two main yuktis or tactics: 1) he remained in the awareness of a charioteer and 2) he became an observer.

Each soul is a charioteer who drives a chariot, the body. This consciousness automatically makes me detached from my chariot and it’s consciousness. ‘When there is no consciousness of your body‘, Baba says, ‘it’s easy to become yogyukt and you naturally become yogyukt and yuktiyukt in every action’. By considering myself to be a charioteer, all of my sense organs- physical or subtle- remain under my control, that is, I develop controlling power. When Maya attacks, she attacks me through a sense organ- I either see or hear something that bothers me or I remember an event from the past that triggers something etc. Once one vice or evil spirit such as ego or anger is triggered, then all the others follow! Soon enough, I am in the midst of a full blown showdown or a meltdown or a fit. Then, I remember that I am the ‘charioteer’ and then battle to chase away all the evil spirits. ‘This stage of battling cannot be called the yogyukt stage’ points out Baba. This is why I then come to a standstill. ‘A charioteer‘, Baba points out, ‘is someone who does not come under any influence but rather is one who controls his chariot as he drives it. So check’, He says, ‘do you have enough controlling power?‘

As you walk, as you move, check this, He says: Am I a charioteer? That is, am I the one who makes everything move? Am I stable in the stage of being detached and loving? Check this every now and then, He says. Sometimes, I check only at night before bedtime as to how the day went. While this is a good practice, it also makes sense to check during the day. If the whole day has passed by and I lost all my treasures due to a lack of awareness of being the charioteer, it isn’t useful to simply record that at night; it is much better to catch myself during the day so that I can course correct before losing everything. Make these sanskars of checking natural and automatic, teaches Baba. So what am I checking for?

If I still catch myself thinking or saying: ‘I didn’t mean to say or do that but I did’ i.e. if I find that even against my conscious wish, I am still influenced by my old sanskars, that they don’t allow me to be the person I’d like to be, then that’s a sign that I lack controlling power; I need to course correct. A charioteer is naturally an observer. ‘While doing everything – seeing, thinking and doing – as a detached observer, you will remain beyond any influence, that is, you will be detached from any effect of Maya’, Baba teaches. Only when I become immune to Maya can I become an instrument to serve or uplift my brothers; else instead of serving, I oppose them or dislike them. Now, follow father, says Baba, practice being yogyukt.

In addition to being yogyukt, you also need to be firm, says Baba. Firmness comes where there is unshakable faith. In what? in Who’s teaching me. If I have 100% faith that this is God Who is teaching me, then I will obey His every direction. I won’t compromise, become careless with my time, with what I think, see or do because I know I cannot afford to invite Maya in and then battle to chase her away. Instead, I build up my yoga power so that I remain beyond influence. I realize I have way too many brothers and sisters who are struggling out in Ravan’s world that need to be helped, I have no time to waste. When I have faith that this is God, then I also have the intoxication that this is the only shop that all have to come to, no matter who they are – householders or sanyasis. Then I relate the message with full confidence because I believe in it myself; I also relate my own experiences so that I can help build faith in others.

You children should be thinking night and day about how to increase service, says Baba. Those who are body conscious will not be able to serve. You have to become soul conscious. God’s children need the might of yoga. Yoga is might, so be firm and yogyukt.