Baba says, “Instill the habit of churning the ocean of knowledge.“

Brahmin life means to be cheerful. The memorial of this time is shown as the image of Vishnu lying down on the ocean. He is churning the ocean of knowledge and is cheerful. Vishnu means the dual form of Lakshmi and Narayan. I am now changing from an ordinary man into Narayan and from an ordinary woman into Lakshmi. Only those who churn the knowledge can remain cheerful like the deities. No matter what the circumstances, or the situations, I have to remain cheerful. What about when the body is unwell? Then too, Baba says, if I have instilled the habit of churning the ocean of knowledge, I, the soul, can remain cheerful even though the body is ill.

How do I churn? Baba makes it simple. Churning is nothing but speaking to myself based on the points of knowledge I receive from Baba. When I am unwell, for example, I speak to myself in this way: “I have now completed my part of 84 births. This is an old shoe. I have to settle my old karmic accounts and I will then become free from all types of illness for 21 births.” This instantly makes me light and cheerful. But if I don’t have the habit of churning and suddenly I try to do it, I find it to be very difficult. And so Baba says, throughout the day, let the intellect churn the knowledge. The hands might be busy with a physical task but the intellect is busy churning the knowledge. In fact, this practice should begin as soon as I wake up in the morning because that is when I have my heart-to-heart conversation with the Father: “Baba, I promise You that I will definitely claim my full inheritance from You. Baba, You are so sweet! By remembering You, all my sins will be absolved.” Let me talk to myself internally in this way; this is called churning the ocean of knowledge. “I am now becoming satopradhan from tamopradhan. Only then will I claim the golden-aged kingdom. Baba, I will constantly remember You. I have committed so many sins in 63 births, this is such a burden on my head. But by remembering You a lot, all my sins will be burnt away. Baba, when I cook my food, go for a walk or do my chores, I will stay in Your remembrance. I will definitely claim my inheritance from You while alive.” Even as I churn in this way, my sins continue to be absolved. Under all circumstances, I must stay on this pilgrimage of remembrance.

Many of us do churn the knowledge. I do wake up in the morning and speak to myself, I remember the Father with a lot of love. And yet, it feels as though my circumstance, or the illness is more powerful, I cannot seem to remain cheerful and happy. The reason for this, Baba explains, is one small mistake. No matter how good a medicine might be and I might be taking the right dose as well, but along with that, if I am also taking something I am forbidden to take, then I am unable to get well. Here too, I might be churning the knowledge, having the heart-to-heart conversations, doing service, attending the classes i.e. taking all the right doses. However, the first precaution or the first code of conduct is to belong to the one Father and none other. I have to remain powerful in this awareness. If I deceive myself constantly thinking: “I belong to Shiv Baba anyway, who else is mine?”, then that doesn’t work. The effort has to be to become a practical embodiment of this remembrance such that apart from the Father, no other person, object, relationship or connection, or any facility enters my awareness even in my thoughts. But when I get careless in observing this precaution and follow the dictates of my own mind, because of the influence of the atmosphere or because of the influence of the company, I am unable to remain an embodiment of remembrance at all times. I am an embodiment in the early morning, then gradually, I allow myself to be distracted by what he/she did/said, I judge others, allow myself to get offended by something, speak angry words, get bitter, and lose my peace. In other words, as my attention reduces, my power also reduces.

“You children should live with one another with great love. People in this world only give vice to one another and it is as though they are each other’s enemy. Here, you give the treasures of the imperishable jewels of this knowledge. Because they have stone intellects, it is as though they throw stones at one another. But you have to sustain one another by exchanging jewels of knowledge.“, teaches Baba. While living in the household, I have to learn to interact with everyone with tact. Nothing and no one must be allowed to take away my peace because then my connection with the Father is broken. Instead, if I keep full attention constantly by ensuring my intellect is always busy churning the knowledge like a cow is constantly chewing cud, then I remain safe from Maya and my stage is powerful.

“Whether you are in business or you go to the office or whether you serve at a center, whenever your intellect is a little free, repeatedly increase the practice of churning.“, says Baba. “Now is the time to make intense effort; it is the time to fly. Therefore, keep your intellect busy with churning power. Through this churning power, stay absorbed in the power of remembrance. Churning makes it easy to stay in remembrance. Churning makes you a conqueror of Maya and frees you from all waste thoughts. Where there is no waste and there are no obstacles, you automatically have a powerful stage, the stage of remaining lost in love.“