Baba says, “The main thing is this study and your character. From your register, one can tell about your behavior and how well you study.”

The main test to my character comes from my interactions with people, from my relationships. This is where the rubber meets the road and it becomes clear how much I have imbibed the knowledge and made it my natural nature. Just because I have recognized God, people won’t just automatically start being nice to me. In fact, in this last birth, I am setting all of my past accounts. So there will be ‘difficult’ people- within my lokik family, the Brahmin family, within my friend circle and among my co-workers. Someone will get on my nerves, that co-worker will be jealous, that relative will be rude, that friend will turn and oppose me. How well I handle these situations will determine how high I will go in reaching my aim of becoming Lakshmi-Narayan, the masters of heaven. If I treat difficult people the way they treat me, then I will get stuck. If I am disrespectful to them for being disrespectful to me, then that will keep me down.

God teaches, “No matter what others are like, just give them love from your heart. Give them good wishes and have mercy for them. Become humble, keep them ahead of you and enable them to move forward.” This is building my character to be like that of golden aged deities. I cannot overcome disrespect with more disrespect, I can never get ahead by treating others the way they treated me. That’s a test of my character. God is seeing what He can trust me with- can He actually trust me with His world? Will I be the bigger person and overlook the insult or will I get baited into conflict? It takes a lot of energy to stay bitter, stay offended, to dwell on what someone did/said and plot revenge. That’s energy needed to reach my destination that I am wasting on the things that drag me down. I cannot control how anyone treats me but I can control how I respond. When someone is rude, it doesn’t have to upset me. If someone cuts me off in traffic, that doesn’t have to cause me to fly into a rage. When that co-worker leaves me out of that meeting, plays politics, that doesn’t have to have me feeling helpless, angry and bitter. I can still stay in peace knowing that God is in-charge and that drama is beneficial.

When I take the high road, I not only stay peaceful and enjoy life more myself but it also demonstrates to God that I am mature enough for Him to trust me with more responsibility and influence. If I allow that same co-worker to keep stealing my peace and joy day after day, that relative to continue making me feel defeated, then that’s ordinary, that’s living in mediocrity. “The register of the student shows how well the teacher has taught them.“, explains Baba. If I want to reveal the Father, Teacher and Satguru to the world, then my register has to sparkle. People may not change but God says, “you change.” But when I am steeped in body consciousness, my sanskars are those of feeling hurt, bitter, helpless and revengeful. The Teacher says, “As long as you are body conscious, you cannot imbibe divine virtues. So now become Manmanabhav.”

To become upset when someone is rude, to become angry and revengeful when there is opposition or betrayal takes no power, that’s easy! In fact, what that behavior demonstrates is that I have handed over my power to others. God comes to teach me to take back my power, He comes to help me develop my controlling and ruling power. No one can make me get upset unless I give them permission to upset me. Next time they display bad behavior, it is entirely up to me to stay determined: I am not going to lose my peace. I’m not going to allow them to steal my joy. I am going to remain happy. Rather than get defensive, I can use my controlling and ruling power to stay on the offensive: They may be rude to me but I’m not taking the bait and letting it pollute my heart. I am going to maintain my good wishes and pure feelings. I’m going to be respectful no matter how they treat me. If my boss recognizes everyone except me, gives other credit for the work I’ve done, no problem! I don’t work for people, I report to God. He is in-charge. He sees everything and knows what to do. He has not instructed me to take the law into my own hands, His instruction to me is: Pay attention to your character.

To follow through on that direction though, takes a lot of ruling and controlling power and that can only be built up through remembrance. Only the experience of God’s love is the alchemy that can fill the soul, make me so content, satisfy all my needs and wants such that nothing else remains. I have attained what I wanted to attain, nothing else matters. Then, I won’t try to take from other people, I won’t expect or demand or need or desire from others, I am so full with what I have received from God that I will only want to give to others. The more I give, the more I accumulate- that’s the spiritual law. When I spend more time with God, I learn to see like He sees, listen like He listens. Sure, externally, someone is being rude to me but what I see is the insecurity, the fear that’s causing them to behave that way. I hear the angry words as a cry for help from an empty heart. Then, like God does, I too automatically only feel mercy. I too am quick to forgive.

In today’s world, it is especially easy with social media for people to express their opinion, to ‘cancel’ each other out, to say things that are derogatory and try to discredit one another. If I spend time with it, allow it to get inside me, then it will act like poison. Over time, it will change who I am– I will become defensive, sensitive, fragile. I will try to prove to people that I am good, that I am not what has been said about me. All of this is me handing over my power to others, it is me engaging in battles that aren’t mine. I have a destiny to fulfill– that’s what I need to be focused on. Check, He says, how much time and thoughts are you wasting feeling offended, upset, allowing others steal your happiness? It’s time to get focused, avoid all the negative and wasteful and run my race with clear purpose and determination.

Yes, every soul in the world is body conscious right now. God says: “Don’t you see their suffering, don’t you hear their cries? You children now have to awaken the whole world. You need so much power of yoga.” While the world has falsely thought of God as being omnipresent, it is really the five vices that are omnipresent. It is the vices that act out through souls that have forgotten who and Whose they are. “But the Father has reminded you of who you are, Whose you are and of the time”, He explains. So, why would I, having realized how precious, most valuable this present time is, waste it on needless battles, on fighting old sanskars of the self or of others? Why would I, having realized who I really am, allow myself to think, speak and act in ways that create a blemish on my register? “Look at who you are”, says God, “you are the future emperor/empress of the world.” God is about to entrust me with an enduring dynasty, with His kingdom, why would I blow it by engaging in taking revenge, or being bitter or in other behavior unbecoming of who I am?

God says, “You have to move completely away from the five vices. I am telling you the true Gita and making you into Lakshmi and Narayan. You are now going to go into the first grade. ” It is only with the power of yoga that I can establish heaven every cycle. Establishment takes place with the power of yoga whereas physical power – anger, bullying, taking revenge, rejecting others, being cold and indifferent etc.- only leads to destruction. The Father says: “You children have to become very sweet. Only when you stay in yoga will you become sweet. “Shiv Baba is decorating me.” Remember this firmly. There is a lot of benefit in remembering Shiv Baba. You have to surrender yourself to Him. Only those who study well and pay attention to their character will receive a scholarship.“