Baba says, ‘You must never engage yourself in thinking about others.’

The time of this very auspicious confluence age is invaluable, Baba reminds me daily. I know this to be true and yet the time for making effort of often goes to waste. No one wants this to happen; everyone wants their time to be used in a worthwhile way. Yet, in-between, sometimes half-an-hour, sometimes fifteen minutes and sometimes even five minutes are wasted.

Baba says, ‘this is because while continuing to move along, you mix the dictates of other souls with shrimat.’ Someone may have told me something and I think that the person who told me is a very good, honest maharathi. I even have faith in that soul, and when such a soul relates something to me, I listen to it with great interest. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it; after all, I reason, it’s good to know the news. ‘Just as you love listening to the news of the world, so too’, Baba observes, ‘you love listening to the news of the Brahmin world.’ So having faith in that soul, I merged whatever they told me within myself. I didn’t stop them, I listened. And sure, whatever they told me may in fact be true; it may be honest. ‘But‘, asks Baba, ‘what is the Father’s direction to you?’ The Father’s order is not that I may listen to news ‘as long as it’s true’. No! His direction is: ‘whatever you have no connection with, don’t listen to it.‘ Even if it is interesting news, when I have no connection with it and I cannot do anything about it, if I heard it, that news enters my intellect and so my time is wasted. And thus, I mixed the dictates of others with the shrimat that I received from the Father.

Baba says, ‘Those who follow shrimat very well claim a number ahead, whereas those who mix the dictates of their own minds with shrimat because of the influence of body consciousness claim a number towards the end.’ 

The Father’s shrimat is: ‘while listening, you should not hear.‘ So then why do I still hear the news? Baba says, ‘it’s because you have instilled the habit of doing so.‘ For instance, someone relates some news to me once and I enjoyed that very much because it was something new. And so, they now come to me again to tell me the news. ‘You just became a dustbin for them’, points out Baba. Rather than listen to them with interest, explain to them and liberate them from such things, teaches Baba. And if you did listen to them, then, He says, have the strength to apply a full-stop for them and for yourself for all time. That means that there shouldn’t be the slightest feeling of dislike, jealousy, or anything else through my thoughts or vision for anyone who shares the news or for the person about whom they share the news. However, says Baba, more often than not, rather than apply a full-stop, I collect rubbish, little by little and it makes a difference in my behavior and activity.

Then even if there is nothing else, I will not have any feeling of serving that soul, rather, there will be heaviness. This, Baba explains, is mixing dictates of others with shrimat. Even BapDada listens to the news, He says, but the intention does not change. On the other hand, when I listen to the news, my intention often changes. Even in relating something, the intention changes. One person says: ‘I saw that these two were speaking.’ Hearing this, the second person says: ‘They were standing there but not standing very nicely.’ So that is an addition. Then, a third one says: ‘They always do that…’ And so, Baba explains, whatever their feelings and intentions of the conversation were, they changed. So this dictate of others spoils the atmosphere. Therefore, the reason that time is wasted, Baba says, is: Firstly, by following the dictates of others and secondly, by thinking about others. It almost never happens, Baba points out, that I listen to something and then don’t relate it to eight or ten others! This should never happen, He instructs. Sometimes, even when someone is a far-away country, I call them up to tell them what happened and I say: ‘I’ll tell you more when you come here!’ So, what is this?, asks Baba. It is thinking about others.

If I tell four people about someone, then I spoil the feelings those four people had for the person about whom I tell them. Then once the thinking of others starts, its speed becomes very fast and carries on for a long time; it doesn’t finish in a few seconds. And when I relate the news, I tell it in the form of a story – ‘this happened, then that happened..’ such that, it becomes that much more interesting to listen! Then, the other person starts to think: ‘what happened next? yes, it must have happened like this…’ No matter how much someone tries to hide it, Baba says, BapDada knows everything and sees everything. No matter how much I might say, ‘No, I never do this..’, BapDada has a register, He points out, about how many times I did something, what I did and at what time I did it. Just because He remains quiet, Baba says, don’t think BapDada doesn’t know. That is why it is said: ‘Only the jaggery and the bag containing the jaggery know how sweet the jaggery is.’

When someone has the habit of thinking about others, Baba says, even when they make a mistake, such a person would deflect the blame onto others and make up stories. They would blame others and continue to prove themselves right. ‘Such a soul can never have thoughts about the eternal self‘, Baba explains. To have thoughts about the original self is not just repeating the points of knowledge or relating points of knowledge and hearing points of knowledge. Rather, to have thoughts of the original self, Baba explains, means to finish my own subtle weaknesses and little mistakes by thinking about them i.e. by identifying them and then transforming them. It’s not enough to simply churn the knowledge and relate it to others, teaches Baba. But I have to first have thoughts about the original self and transform the self. Only self-thought leading to self-transformation brings about world transformation. Thinking about others doesn’t; that, Baba stresses, is a waste of time.