Baba says, ‘Become detached observers and see what effort each one of you makes, and to what extent you follow Baba.’

One of the greatest dharnas that I need to have in order to be able to make fast effort is the ability to be a detached observer, teaches Baba. This is in fact the seat of the Father. He watches everything as a detached observer. Sometimes, I hear the term detached and think that it is rather harsh, I think it means staying aloof or being indifferent. But in reality, being detached is just the opposite. Unless I am detached, I cannot be loving to all because I would be overinvolved. I would see someone’s defects or mistakes and immediately judge them based on it. Then, my attitude and vision toward them would change thereby affecting my behavior. Consequently, relationships get damaged.

Instead, Baba teaches me the art of observing everyone and every scene in the drama while being detached. What is right is right and what is wrong is wrong but He teaches me to not let it take root in my heart. That’s where I need to be detached. Otherwise, my stage immediately falls and then it takes both time and effort to get back up on my feet and get going again. Baba sees everything: He knows what I’m like, sees the mistakes I make, sees the old sanskars emerge…everything. But because He stays detached, He remains free from any bondage of karma. He doesn’t get impressed when I perform good actions and get angry or develop dislike for me when I perform wrong action. He knows based on knowledge that this is my part at present, that I am under the influence of one or other sanskar. Because He is able to remain objective in this way, He is then able to be loving by offering me the co-operation of good wishes and a deep desire of wanting to see me transform.

But at no point does He stop loving me or even increase or decrease His love for me. His love is constant. He doesn’t give me love as much as He is love and He is able to be that because of His ability to remain a detached observer of everyone and everything. ‘You have to be a conqueror of the bondage of karma’, says Baba, ‘by practicing this over a long period of time, you will receive a reward for a long period of time.’ To be knowledgeable is to be detached and thereby constantly loving. This is the stage of being equal to the Father.

And it’s not just others that I need to be detached from, it is also my own self. Sometimes, I get impressed by my own self: ‘I am so talented’, ‘my intellect is so sharp’, ‘I am so virtuous’, ‘I do good service’ and other times, I am also self-critical: ‘I just can’t seem to get this right’, ‘I am such a loser’, ‘I guess I’m just an angry person after all’. ‘You have to detach from even your own body‘, teaches Baba, ‘forget the consciousness of the bodies and practice being bodiless.‘ If I am trapped in either my talents or weaknesses, I won’t be able to become bodiless. I am neither my talents nor my weaknesses, I am a pure soul, a child of God. Yes, the sanskar came but I don’t need to be impressed by the sanskar and think: ‘O anger, you are so mighty and I am so weak, I cannot overcome you’ nor do I need to do the old world thing of measuring my worth in terms of talents and achievements. I need to detach from all things body conscious and touch base with my truth, with the purity of I, the soul.

Sometimes, it’s situations and circumstances that trap me. Something happens and immediately I think: ‘why did this happen?’, ‘can this too happen’, ‘but how can this have happened to me!’ etc. Again, Baba teaches me to not be impressed by the situation and simply apply a full-stop. What has come will also go. Baba says, ‘situations are smarter than Brahmins. They come and go but you hold on to them forever.’ The fact that it has come means there is something there to help me move forward. Let me observe the scene/situation, learn what I need to and move on.

‘Brahmin life is a life of ease, not difficulty. It is a life of lightness, of experiencing the flying stage.’ , Baba teaches. Angels remain light and fly; they are able to do so because they are detached and loving like the Father. They come, do the Father’s task and leave without getting trapped in the bondage of the outcome. They neither internalize criticism nor wait for applause. ‘It is the Father’s task, I am simply the instrument following instructions.’ – this is their attitude and so they celebrate every moment with the Father. ‘Become angels’, says Baba, ‘no matter what form Maya comes in, don’t allow yourself to be caught up in her spinning. When you get caught up in Maya’s spinning, you either get afraid or disheartened or confused or impressed. So let her come in any form but you must not come down from your elevated stage; let the scenes change but your elevated stage must not change.’

To increase this practice of being a detached observer means to bring time and perfection close, says Baba. So, constantly watch as a detached observer and constantly remain a companion of the Father, that is, become an angel.