Baba says, ‘change from thorns into flowers.’

All human beings at present, Baba points out, are body conscious and this is why the world is called a forest of thorns. Body consciousness is selfishness, it is living life caught up in the limited ‘I and mine‘. I think of myself as so many things – name, position, nationality, bank balance, status etc. and spend my life chasing material pursuits – my job, my home, my car, my title, my talent, etc. Because I think of myself in a limited way, I chase after limited things to keep myself happy…even if that means hurting others. I hustle, I elbow, I push, I fight, I contest….whatever I need to do to ‘win’, to ‘take’. When I do win i.e. when a limited desire is fulfilled, I am happy and when I ‘lose’, I become unhappy. Then, I take it out on others around me, making them unhappy. Sometimes I live my life trying to impress someone because I believe their approval determines my worth and happiness. When they inevitably leave one day or change their preferences, I feel shattered. Then, I look for another anchor to latch on to.

Baba says, ‘Maya has made human beings into animals. They fight and quarrel amongst themselves like animals; there is strife in every home. This is an impure and corrupt world.’

I come to make this world righteous again, I come to change this forest of thorns into a garden of flowers, says Baba. I do that by changing you souls from thorns into flowers by teaching you Raja yoga. The Father is also my Teacher and my Satguru. He adopts me and sustains me as my Father; He teaches me the knowledge of the Creator and the creation as my Teacher and guides me at every step as my Guru. He says, ‘surrender your intellect to Me and I will make you into the master of heaven.’

To surrender my intellect to God is to follow only His directions without mixing into it the dictates of my own mind or the opinions of others. As my Father, Teacher and Satguru, He is the Purifier; He purifies the soul by cleansing it of all the waste, the false and the unrighteous. He teaches me everything afresh- from what to think, what to speak, how to act. He gives me a set of disciplines to follow. ‘They will keep you safe from Maya’, He explains. When I am in the process of learning the new way to live, the old body conscious ways will try to pull me back to them; at that time, if I steadfastly stay within the line of the code of conduct, I will remain safe. Maya will make a very convincing argument for why her way is better and more rewarding and why following Baba’s way will hold me back. At that time, even if I don’t fully understand God’s way, if I can, by faith, simply stay behind the line He has drawn, I will live another day; else I will be gobbled up by Maya.

And so Baba says, ‘May you have a long life! May you remain immortal!‘ His directions are the best. Human beings give many directions but as half a cycle’s worth of experience proves, it will only make me lose everything I have, not gain. Baba gives me His directions and makes me into the master of the world. So why wouldn’t I follow His directions?

‘In fact‘, says Baba, ‘you people of Bharat were the masters of the world. It is a matter of just yesterday, it used to be the kingdom of Lakshmi and Narayan. Bharat was heaven and there were nothing but flowers there. That same Bharat is now a jungle of thorns.’ Only the Father creates the garden of flowers. To become a flower means to become a deity. While becoming flowers, some go into bad company and become spoilt, Baba cautions. They fall for the false promises, the false splendor of Maya and think: ‘I want to get married’ or ‘I want to take on that high paying job’ or ‘I need to focus on my business for the sake of my children’ etc. Baba says, ‘the world is changing, those who don’t change will be left behind.’

The world is changing from hell into heaven right now, in this very short confluence age. God Himself has taken up this contract- so I know it will happen. As His child, I have a golden chance to become the master of His creation, to become the king of kings. For this I have to first become a Brahmin i.e. surrender my old intellect to God and receive in exchange a divine intellect. This allows me to imbibe His teachings and become an embodiment of them, that is, change from a thorn into a flower, from a human into a deity. If I remain busy in Maya’s world, I will remain a thorn and all that will happen is that when the jungle catches on fire, which it will, I will burn along with it. I will miss all of heaven and only ever experience the old world cycle after cycle. But if I can for this one birth focus on becoming pure by following the Father’s shrimat, then I will become a flower i.e. a king of kings cycle after cycle.

And so, Baba says, prioritize according to the significance of the present time. Is it wise to become a householder and become buried in those responsibilities? is it wise to become carried away by a job, a promotion, the titles and recognition of the old world that is ending? Sometimes, Maya comes dressed like a saint. I think of getting involved in what I consider a good or noble act like- starting a school or doing social service etc. Baba says, ‘that too is not for this time. There are others and the worldly government to take care of those things.‘ I now report to the Godly government, therefore, I have to follow only Godly directions. My sole focus at this time should be, Baba says, to change from a thorn into a flower and enable others to do the same. Unless I am free from the bondage of body consciousness myself, unless I am liberated-in-life myself, I cannot become God’s instrument to liberate others.

To become a helper of Maya while being sustained by God is to disregard God, He says. Many think: ‘I belong to Baba anyway..’ and then live life on their terms, their priorities. Then when things get hard, they run to Baba. Let me realize that God is not a dump for my problems, He is my Father. He doesn’t take my problems until He takes me first. In other words, when I live as His child, as His trustee, following only His directions, only then is He responsible for me, not otherwise. It is sung that it didn’t take God long to change humans into deities. It is sung because it happened. Let me realize the call of this time, the precious opportunity I have and claim my full inheritance from the Father. Let me change from thorn into fragrant flower, from a beggar into the king of kings. It is now or never.