Baba says, ‘Praise is only of the One.‘

Not even the deities are praiseworthy, says Brahma baba in his immense love for the Father. Only the children can praise their father for only the children would know their father. This Father is extremely subtle, and invisible. Only a handful out of billions recognize Him as He is and they cannot stop singing His praise. While other fathers would at least accept and acknowledge their good work when praised, this Father is completely selfless and altruistic. He never sings nor accepts His own praise. He says, ‘I come to perform my duty. I come every cycle to serve you. There is no need to say thanks in this.’. He is great as He is humble, there is no one else like Him.

1. The Father is the Ocean of Love.

The very character and essence of God is love. He is the Ocean of Love– unconditional, selfless, boundless love. And He lavishes it on this children. He loves me more than I can ever know or even imagine. It is everlasting love, not based on how good I am or what good I did. He doesn’t love me because I am lovable; He loves me because He is love. Even if I’ve made countless mistakes which I have over half a cycle, the very first thing He does is adopt me as His own child which is to say, He chooses me! He reaches for me, chases after me, and chooses to live in my heart. Such is His great love.

2. God is Faithful and Righteous.

He is righteous in all His ways and faithful in all He does. In the world, loyalties shift all the time but the Father is always faithful to His word. What He has started in my life, He will finish. He will never forsake nor abandon me. He is the Boatman that will take me across no matter how bad the storms are or how high the seas are. All He asks is that I be faithful too and stay in the boat. He is righteous. He never imposes His will on souls, He never gets ahead of the drama to get His way, He works with souls and with the drama…patiently. At this point in the cycle, only He knows what righteous living is and He teaches it to me. He gives me Shrimat and a code of conduct that covers every aspect of my life- from my thoughts, words and actions to my diet and lifestyle. When I follow, I too can get back to living righteously again.

3. God is Almighty Powerful.

The devotees think God is Almighty Powerful because He can bring back the dead and make the leaves move. But this is not the case. God is Almighty Powerful because His mere remembrance can melt the most hardened heart, can transform the biggest sinner. His love is the alchemy that burns away the alloy of sins and makes me pure gold. He shows me a way where there is no way, He seats me on His heart-throne and carries me through the toughest of storms. He reminds me that there is nothing impossible for Him. He is not limited by time, by my circumstances, or the mistakes, weaknesses and brokenness of our my life. He works right through it all, drawing me closer to himself and making me capable to serve in His unlimited task.

4. God is Trustworthy.

Sometimes it can feel hard to trust that God’s ways are better. I find myself waiting for something to change or for a door to open and I start to wonder: ‘Has He forgotten about me? Why isn’t He doing something!’ or I think: ‘this is just my karma! Why will God help me, He has bigger things to take care of’ or I start to tell God what to do and how to do it because I think I know better- like God needs my help! I feel like time is wasting away and nothing’s happening.

But the longer I live, the more I realize again and again that God’s ways are always better than my ways and His timing is impeccable. No, He hasn’t forgotten about me; No, He doesn’t need to be told what to do, He knows; Yes, He knows exactly what is going on and what I need to move forward on my journey better than I do. What He does may not be what I expected but it will be better for me because it will be what I need.

5. God is Karankaravanhaar, He is in control.

Nothing I have done or will do is a surprise to God, He is in-charge, He is not saying: ‘oh no! why did they do that.. now how am I going to get them through this mess!’. No, He will never allow me to get in a situation that He cannot get me out of. If the situation has come, He has allowed it because that situation has something I need to move forward on my journey. If I have been asked to do something that I have no training or skills for, I don’t need to panic – God never asks me to do something without enabling me to do it first. He is the One Who does and inspires me to do. He says: ‘I make this hell into heaven through the innocent mothers. The world dismissed them as useless and hopeless but they will open the gates to heaven.’

And so I never have fear of ‘how am I going to do this?’ nor arrogance of ‘I did this!’ because He is getting everything done through me.

6. God is Compassionate.

He is compassionate and gracious, forgiving, and full of love. He knows every trouble and hard struggle I’m going through and He walks through it with me. He understands the pain of loss, and He sees my heart when I feel broken. He knows and reaches out with the comfort and care of a loving Father. He makes me feel secure, wipes away every tear.

When I make a mistake, when I disobey His direction, He still loves me, never keeps my wrongs in His heart. Tell me everything truthfully, He says and I will help you through all that’s bothering you. Only He is the Supreme Surgeon that has the right medicine for any and all illnesses.

7. God is Good.

Just because I am a child of God doesn’t mean I won’t face storms or fires, I will. In fact, I will face more and bigger storms than others. But here’s the thing: the Father walks through every storm and every fire with me. And when I come out, I find that the only thing that was burnt were the bondages that were holding me back. I come out with a stronger character, increased faith, a boldness and confidence to face any storm that comes my way. He is good. His ways are good, I only need to trust Him. He can take the worst mistake I’ve made and somehow work it out for my benefit. And so I never fear the hard times because I know He is with me, in control of my life and is/will work everything out for my good.

8. God is Ever Pure and the Purifier.

To remain in the midst of impurity and serve is purity. Only He is Ever Pure and the Purifier. He comes in an impure world, in an old, impure body to serve His children who have become impure. He knows that this is not the world He created, He didn’t make the mess but He never turns up His nose at me and think: ‘it might be better if I just stay at home where it’s clean and do what I can from up there. It’s too dirty down here..’. He comes for His children, He finds them from every corner of hell and says, ‘Don’t worry, I am here now. I will make you pure and take you back home with Me.’

He comes into a body to teach, to meet His children but He never comes under the influence of the body. He remains detached from the body and it’s conscious. He uses it as the Master and leaves when He’s done. Similarly, He loves His children to pieces but He is not attached. He doesn’t feel insulted or devastated when I disobey His direction or make mistakes. He understands and accepts. He works with me patiently, allowing me to arrive at the realization.

9. God is Forgiving and Merciful.

No one is more insulted than God; He faces insults and defamation right from the path of devotion and yet, He forgives and shows mercy. Even now, on the path of knowledge, when I disobey despite knowing what I need to do, He still forgives and shows mercy. He says, ‘show mercy to yourself, obey shrimat. It is there to protect you.‘ For half a cycle, I did wrong things and I carry the burden of all that sin on my head. He says: ‘consider yourself a soul and remember Me and all your sins will be absolved.’ To be absolved of something is to say that I am no longer responsible for what happened i.e. it’s as if I never sinned! He has already forgiven me and He now helps me to forgive myself, to unburden myself of all the guilt, shame, regret of half a cycle. I can only do that through His remembrance, by experiencing the power of His unconditional love, His mercy and acceptance. Let me never assume that the pit I’m in is too deep for Him to reach me. It isn’t. His mercy is big, and His love and power to forgive is unimaginable.

10. God is our Refuge and Help, He is with His children.

God’s remembrance is my canopy of protection, my fortress, my safe place, my refuge in the storm; He is my help in times of trouble. He is the only One who is constant, He never changes, He doesn’t shift in difficult circumstances, or crumble when things gets hard. He is my everlasting rock, and I am secure when I run to Him. Yes, in Ravan’s world, there will be troubles, that is a guarantee. But nothing takes God by surprise, no trouble is big enough to defeat my Father. He is steadfast, immovable and I can find help and protection in Him always.

The world often leaves me feeling alone, overlooked and disregarded but God is the only One who is always with me. He never leaves me alone to fend for myself. He carries me when I feel like I can’t go on anymore, He makes a way where there is no way, He opens the right doors and closes the wrong ones.

He also shows me when I do wrong so that I can correct myself. He doesn’t ever condemn, He shows and teaches. He corrects me not so that I can become worthy of His love but because He loves me too much to allow me to stay the way I am. He longs to be good to me, to be involved in every tiny aspect of my life. He says, ‘I am your Father and you are My long lost and now found child. I love you very much.’

It is sung that the praise of the Father is such that even if the whole ocean were turned into ink and all the forests into pens and the earth into paper, it still wouldn’t suffice. And the Father says: ‘every one of the Father’s praise is your praise’. But that’s only because He is my Father, He puts His nature in me.