Baba says, ‘You children have to make effort and become introverted. Souls are inside.’

Theirs’s is the power of science and yours is the power of silence, Baba says often. But even for the power of silence, the foundation is introversion. Without introversion, there is no power. ‘And so each and every effort-making child‘, Baba says, ‘first of all has to definitely adopt the stage of introversion.’ A lot of benefit is merged in introversion. It is only through adopting this stage that I can be unshakeable, constant, patient, humble, imbibe divine virtues and achieve a completely knowledge-full stage.

When I am not introverted, that is, when I am extroverted, I cannot achieve a completely knowledge-full stage. This is because there is too much noise in the mind and the intellect to be able to concentrate and imbibe the knowledge I am receiving. There’s too much: ‘what she said/what he said’, ‘you won’t believe what I saw…’, ‘did you know…’, ‘why did this happen..’, ‘this shouldn’t be happening…’, ‘why are they behaving this way…’, ‘this is not shrimat, this should not be allowed…’ etc. etc. In the midst of all that noise, it is too difficult, if not impossible, to keep the mind and intellect still enough to absorb what Baba is teaching me. I may listen to Murli regularly, but I forget what I’ve heard by the time I step out. It’s hard to apply something I can’t even remember! In short, I am receiving the most elevated versions from God Himself but to me, they become ordinary versions.

I might still read the Murli and give a lecture by repeating what I’ve read, but because I haven’t imbibed them myself, because I haven’t gone into the depths and experienced each point, the words ring hollow; they lack power. It sounds like a parrot repeating words it has heard somewhere but doesn’t understand. So instead of benefitting myself and others, everyone experiences a loss. And so Baba says, ‘O children, become completely introverted!’ My mind is like a temple, He explains. Just as there is always fragrance in a temple, in the same way, only when the temple of my mind becomes pure, will pure thoughts emerge.

Only deities, not devils are kept in a temple. What am I allowing inside the temple of my mind? If it’s waste and/or negative thoughts about the self or others, then that’s devilish. ‘You should decorate the temple of your mind with divine virtues’, teaches Baba. Those virtues are: to be free from attachment, free from greed, free from fear, patient and egoless because these, He reminds me, are my own divine qualities. ‘You have to make the temple of your mind very bright and clear‘, He says. In other words, completely pure. Only when this temple become so bright and clear can I go to the bright and clear heaven. ‘You are now trying to make your mind completely bright and so’, He teaches, ‘control your physical senses and your mind, which are all influenced by the vices.’ Not only do I have to serve myself but I also need to serve others, He reminds me.

To serve others is not just cautioning them about a mistake, no!. ‘You have to send them subtle vibrations of the power of yoga and burn away their impure thoughts‘, He teaches. This is the most elevated, true service. Together with that, I have to pay attention to myself too- not just to my words and actions, Baba explains, but I mustn’t have impure thoughts either, because the vibrations reach many others and subtly cause a loss, which would then create a burden for me. ‘This burden then becomes a bondage; so be cautious‘, teaches Baba.

‘Hold your royal court daily‘, teaches Baba. This was the practice Brahma Baba had till the very end. If any of my workers, that is, if any of my physical or subtle organs are causing mischief, then I get to discipline them. The discipline is to sit in introversion. ‘You must never become extroverted’, He teaches. If the mind and intellect comes out of the cave of introversion during the day, discipline them immediately and send them back in, He teaches. It’s like how I would instill a habit within a child. I would say to the child: ‘sit down and remember Baba’. The child will not want to, but I would again and again make the child sit down. No matter how much the child moves its legs, I would still say: ‘No, sit like this’. In the same way, ‘teach the mind and intellect to sit in the furnace of introversion by tying them with the thoughts of determination‘, teaches Baba. I don’t need any other string, the thoughts of determination are strong enough.

The Father’s #1 shrimat for me is: ‘Manmanabhav! consider yourself a soul and belong only to Me in your mind.’ When I came to Baba, I died alive from the old world. I became the Father’s child and made myself belong to Him. ‘Nothing is mine’, I said, ‘this body, mind and wealth is all Yours.’ To truly make the mind belong to the Father means to only think thoughts that are the Father’s thoughts, to use it for service like the Father does. The Father says: ‘Now follow Shrimat! Don’t waste your time here and there! Use it in a very fruitful way in remembrance of the Father!’ To remember the Father is to fill my apron with jewels, with powers, with divine qualities. He comes and teaches me how to remember Him: Step inward, He says, and touch base with your inner truth of who you really are. This is the first step. Often, I simply scrape the surface; But there I only see defects and so I get afraid and give up. The key therefore, is to touch base, that is connect with the truth of who I am, that Baba reminds me of daily. Then, I move upward to connect with the Father, the Source of all Power. This, Baba says, is true introversion. Our way of becoming introverted is totally unique.