Baba says, ‘By being lazy in studying or in yoga, you won’t be able to claim a kingdom.’

Maya brings laziness in many forms as I move along this journey. With body consciousness too, the first form it adopts is that of laziness. When I am body conscious, I become lazy in taking shrimat and verifying something. As a result, body consciousness increases. Laziness comes in both ways- physically and mentally.

I think: ‘Ok, if not now, I will do it later at some point; what is the hurry?’ or sometimes Maya makes me think: ‘How is it possible to have an avyakt stage for six to eight hours in this life while we are still effort-makers? This stage can only come at the end.’ This too is a royal form of laziness, explains Baba. ‘I will do it later, I will think about it, I will see about it.’, all of that is laziness. ‘So now, check‘, says Baba, ‘is Maya making you move backwards through her royal form?‘ I do have to sustain my household but I have to do so with an attitude of unlimited disinterest, that is, without being attached. Often though, I remember only the first half of that equation, that I have to sustain my household, but I forget the disinterest part. I get engrossed in ‘my role’ and ‘my responsibilities’ and leave no time for spiritual progress. This too is laziness. ‘So check‘, says Baba, ‘in what form does laziness come to make me into an ordinary effort-maker from an intense effort-maker?‘

Some think: ‘There are very few fixed seats anyway’, and so when they see others making a lot of effort, they fix in their intellects that they cannot go that far, and so whatever stage they have reached is good enough. This too is laziness. Only when I check and change these things can I become a lawmaker, a peacemaker and the maker of a new world, teaches Baba. Unless I first make myself new, I cannot become a maker of the new world. The way to put intensity into my efforts is through making a firm pledge to myself: ‘If not now, then never!’ ‘Don’t think you will do something later‘, teaches Baba. ‘Instead, think that I will definitely become something, now.‘ To the extent that I make the pledge firm, there will be determination and courage. Then, where there is a step of courage, there will be thousand fold co-operation from Baba.

‘Always maintain your courage and remain enthusiastic‘, teaches Baba. With courage, I will remain constantly cheerful and with enthusiasm, laziness will finish; in fact, there is no better antidote to laziness than enthusiasm- be it enthusiasm with self-effort or in service.

When it comes to self-effort, enthusiasm means to not postpone things for later. I have the realization and I put the realization into practice immediately. In fact, the greatest power exists right at the moment of realization. To postpone something by saying: ‘Yes, I have to change that, I will do it..’ or to simply note something down in my diary to revisit at some point, is laziness that costs me power. ‘Don’t betray yourself in this way‘, cautions Baba. Do it right then, instantly. My intellect has already imbibed the knowledge and dharna I need but I postpone putting it into practice by thinking: ‘okay, I will do this from tomorrow..’, or ‘if the other person does it, I will also do it.’ or ‘I’ll think about it some more today and start doing it tomorrow’. Such thoughts betray me, they are the manifestations of laziness. ‘Whatever you want to do‘, Baba says, ‘do it now! Make as much effort as you want at this time. Don’t become careless and lazy.‘

Similarly, enthusiasm for service means I stay engaged in making different plans of service and fulfill them. I give the whole world the help of peace and power, I maintain courage and give others courage. ‘So the key is to always maintain the consciousness of being world transformers.‘, He explains. When I have this sense of responsibility, there is accountability that comes with it and enthusiasm to do something. This keeps me busy and safe from carelessness and laziness. To move forward when time shakes me is not a big thing but instead, I myself have to move forward and bring time close. Many times the question arises: ‘what will happen now?’ ‘However‘, teaches Baba, ‘change the question into a full-stop‘. Rather than ask this question, let me ask: ‘what do I need to do at this time? ‘what is my duty at this time?’ ‘Engage yourself in this service‘, says Baba. Firemen engage themselves in putting out a fire, they don’t stand around asking: ‘what happened?”. In the same way, I, the spiritual social worker have to engage myself in spiritual service, that’s all. Baba gives plenty of directions for service in the murli. ‘So never miss a murli‘, He says, ‘for if you do, you will miss the directions Baba gives. Then, you won’t be able to become a helper.’

Many times, I have the desire and also make the effort to do something but because there is carelessness, I am not able to make the kind of effort I should be making. Sometimes, the carelessness shows up in the form of cleverness: ‘I know…’, ‘I know I’m a soul…’, ‘I know the drama…’. This sense of ‘I know it all’ makes me careless and come to a standstill. That intense zeal and enthusiasm that I had in the beginning days to want to do something new, to learn something new, is gone. I have become complacent and think: ‘I have understood the knowledge, and am doing service anyway’. ‘You must let this go’, says Baba. Actually, I don’t much of anything. I might know a little of everything but the saying is: ‘If all the wood was turned to paper, all the ocean to ink, there still wouldn’t be enough to write all of God’s knowledge’. ‘Never let your enthusiasm for the study and for yoga decrease such that you become influenced by laziness and are deprived of performing further elevated actions‘, teaches Baba. ‘There should be that intensity, that fire of enthusiasm in your effort’, He teaches. In fact, those in bondage have this enthusiasm, the desperation to do something; they make intense effort, He observes; whereas those who are free become complacent and come to a standstill. ‘Check yourself‘, He cautions. Sometimes, I become disheartened about my effort and that makes me lazy too. ‘What can I do? I can only do so much! I can’t do any more than this! I am doing my best!’ ‘To get tired of making effort is also a form of laziness‘, explains Baba.

Some children, Baba observes, are in the deep sleep of laziness. When there is suddenly a loud noise, or when someone shakes me, I quickly awaken but I awake for just some time and with the thought: ‘What happened?’ and then gradually go right back to sleeping. I then pull over myself the sheet of: ‘This happens all the time’ and go back to sleep. ‘This is just a rehearsal, the final us yet to happen in the future’, and with this, I pull the sheet up enough to cover my face! ‘This is the deep sleep of laziness‘, explains Baba. ‘All of this was to happen and it happened. We are making effort anyway, and we will continue to in the future as well. We have to make effort till the end of the confluence age anyway. We have already done some of it, and we will do some more in the future.’ This is the attitude of those in this deep sleep. Then, I awaken and continue to watch others just like a person who has woken up would poke their head up from under the sheet and look around to see who is still sleeping around them. ‘Those who are so senior, so well-known are also moving along at the same speed as we are’. Seeing the laziness of others, rather than follow the Father, I follow brothers and sisters, even in their weaknesses.

Its time to wake up and stay alert, teaches Baba. This is no time for carelessness and laziness. This is the time to claim the full inheritance of the kingdom that the Father is here to give me. If I don’t make the effort to claim it now, it will be understood that I didn’t claim it the last cycle either and I wouldn’t be able to claim it in the future either. ‘So‘, says Baba, ‘pay attention to the study. By being lazy in studying or in yoga, you won’t be able to claim a kingdom. Make this firm- it is now or never!’