Baba says, “Practice becoming bodiless.”

I am a soul, not a body– this is the first thing the Father reminds me of when He comes on to this physical plane at this most auspicious confluence age. This is not new knowledge He teaches me, rather, He reminds me of something I know but forgot. For half a cycle, I remembered I am a soul and operated based on that consciousness, that is, I operated based on the qualities of the soul- purity, peace, love, wisdom, spiritual power and bliss. This is why world was then heaven, it was a land of peace, happiness and prosperity. There was no name or trace of sorrow there. Even death didn’t cause sorrow. In fact, there was no death, so to speak- the soul willingly left its current body when it was time and took on a new body. There was no unhappiness and crying either for the soul or for the family members. The soul was happy, looking forward to its next role while the family members rejoiced as well- happy for the soul to be moving forward in its journey.

Indeed, I, the soul am like an actor– I play a role in a particular costume, then when it’s time-up for that role, I take off that costume and don a new costume for a new role. But, having taken birth after birth after birth, about midway through the cycle, I forgot that I am a soul, the actor, playing various roles; instead, I started to think of myself as the role itself. Rather than: I am a soul, playing the role of so-and-so, my consciousness became: I am so-and-so. I thought I am what I saw in the mirror, I thought I am the position, the bank balance, the trophies, the degrees, the social status and the relationships. I measured my worth in terms of people approval, likes, possessions, net worth etc. In other words, I identified with everything temporary and measured myself on the basis of everything temporary and subjective. When I think of myself as something temporary rather than as eternal and immortal; when I base my worth on something subjective, rather than on the fact that I am a pure soul, a child of God, there can be only one result- immense sorrow. Temporary, by definition, doesn’t remain; I lose it. The Father says, “There is the difference of day and night between body consciousness and soul consciousness. Soul consciousness makes you into the masters of the world whereas body consciousness makes you poverty-stricken.”

When I am soul conscious, it means I am aware of who I truly am and live accordingly. Because there is alignment, there is peace. But when I am operating in the wrong consciousness of being a body, then I am still a soul but am now living not based on the qualities of the soul but based on the vices- lust, anger, greed, attachment and ego. There is mis-alignment and that causes peacelessness, discomfort, and restlessness which leads to sorrow. And so the Father says, “Now, practice becoming bodiless.” While being in the body, I practice being a bodiless soul. While living in a world full of bodies, I practice seeing souls, not the bodies. This feels like spiritual acrobatics but the easy method, Baba reminds me again, is to simply think of myself as an actor. I am the actor, not the role. No matter what may be going on in the drama- whatever the circumstances or situations, whatever type of souls- my thoughts, feelings, attitudes, words, or actions are based on who I am, not on the event or the person or what they did. I keep the alignment. If my friend or family member is rude and insults me, I don’t think: “how can my own son do this to me? after all I’ve done for him!” or “how can my friend betray me like this?”. No, I stay in the awareness that I am an actor, not a relationship and they too are actors. My duty is to play my role accurately, not worry about what others are doing. How do I know what to do? The Father who is also the Director of this drama is giving me directions. I simply follow those directions accurately.

He tells me to give respect no matter what, to be tolerant, to speak only sweet words, to have a benevolent attitude, to perform elevated and righteous actions. But as soon as someone says or does something, if I forget I am an actor and slip into the awareness of being the role, then everything goes wrong: “Who do they think they are! Am I any less?”, “I too will show them what I can do!”, “Everyone loves my ideas, my lectures”, “I teach the course very well”, “I deserve that promotion, I did the best work” etc. etc. Instead, if I remain firm in the awareness that I am an actor, then no matter what happens, my goal is: I have to play my role accurately, as per the directions from the Director. Then, even when someone is angry, I remain calm and offer them the power of coolness; when someone is being slow, I offer the virtue of patience; when someone is being rude, I offer tolerance, not a face-off.

Hatha yogis believe that the body is to blame for all the sorrow and so they try to forcefully control it. They cause it harm, do all kinds of unnatural acts to cool the senses. They move away from their homes and families to the forest. But the body itself is neutral, it is non-living, it is matter. It is when I, the soul, operate in the consciousness of the being a body that things go wrong. So leaving home or harming the body won’t help with that; for that, Baba teaches, practice being soul conscious. While moving around and going about my activities, I practice being an incorporeal soul performing my actions through the body. During social interactions or during service, I remain in the awareness that I am an actor, I am performing my role with my co-actors. Whatever happens, it is drama; whatever someone says/does, it is their role. I have to play my role.

The Father says: Children, may you be bodiless. May you be soul conscious. Consider yourselves to be souls.