Baba says, ‘First, there has to be effort.  Don’t think that you will receive whatever you are to receive. ‘

All children have infinite love for BapDada but Baba says, ‘you have to have greater love for effort.’ In fact this is the proof of having true love for BapDada- to have love for effort such that I am able to turn myself in the direction Baba wants me to. To simply profess love through words, cards, letters, etc. is common but true love means I become that which the Beloved wants me to become. ‘Those who have love for effort‘, Baba says, ‘will have love for everyone and will be loved by everyone.’ Even my love for BapDada, I have that love because He inspires me to be better, to be like Him. The fact that He believes in me that much, has the faith that I can become equal to Him, to God, is what makes me love Him so much. Only when I first have love for effort will I have love for the reward.

I cannot give or take from the divine family until there is love for effort. It is only when I have love for effort will I make the effort to become worthy to claim love from one and all. It is the effort of this time that creates the reward for the entire cycle. When asked what is the main effort I have to make, my answer usually is: ‘I have to become more introverted.’ The more introverted I am and the more I spin the discus of self-realization, the more I am able to change. If there is a lack in my effort, the main reason is that I become easily disturbed by external situations. I create my stage (sthiti) with the support of the situations (paristhiti). I don’t change the situation through my own stage; instead, I think that I will be able to create my stage when the situation changes. ‘But‘, says Baba, ‘those are external situations whereas your stage is your own. You have the power of your own original stage through which any situation can easily change.‘ And so the effort is to not come to a standstill by being influenced by external situations but to stabilize myself in my original stage through yoga. Then, I receive power. When I don’t, I become easily influenced and lose power.

A lot of children, Baba observes, say: ‘Baba, put this right, then I’ll be able to become like this; there is hinderance because of this aspect.’ But there are just a few, He says, who actually reveal their own courage to overcome situations. Even if I did make the request to Baba, do I then put the advice He gives me into practice? or is it too hard? Baba says, ‘the main thing is to have love for effort. First, there has to be effort, then comes the reward.’ I cannot expect Baba to put things right and simply sit back and enjoy the reward. I have to make things right through my own stage and that takes effort. In fact, when asked, I say: ‘I am an effort-maker’ but then when it comes to actually making effort, I push it off to Baba and wait for the reward. ‘This is a school‘, Baba reminds me, ‘there is an aim and object and it is clear to all‘. Now, the duty of the students is to look at the aim and object and on that basis, remove any and all defects and weaknesses within themselves instantly. This is what Brahma Baba did. He imbibed the aim, had the realizations and made the changes instantly- not later, not tomorrow.

Many times, I say: ‘I will take some time off from work later this year to practice this…’ To wait this way is carelessness. I have to prepare myself rather than wait for time. Sometimes I wait for time in this way, sometimes I wait because of an obstacle, sometimes due to relationships or sometime because of this body. However, no matter what something is like, whatever is in front of me, whatever the situation, I have to become perfect in this birth, in this body. I have to keep this aim and not become dependent on things. When I become dependent, I go to Baba during Amritvela and say: ‘Baba, if I didn’t have this physical illness, then I would make a lot of effort…’. or ‘Baba, remove this bondage’ but because I don’t develop my own power to overcome, when Baba removes this bondage, another will emerge and then I once again stand in line to make the request. The effort is to develop my own strength, my own power. To depend on BapDada or to think that things will change ‘with time’ is carelessness.

Let me not become slack in my efforts and let this precious time slip through my fingers. ‘Do you know how many breaths you take?‘, asks Baba. ‘They are countless‘, He points out. ‘Each breath and each second should be used in a worthwhile way. And so, have love for effort and increase your effort.’