Baba says, “Never be disheartened by upheaval or fluctuation. Do not lose courage. Be courageous and you will automatically receive the Father’s help.“

This is the great Mahabharata war, Baba explains. There is God and His children- the Pandavas, on one side and Ravan, Maya on the other side. God is my Charioteer as I fight this war. He does not pick up a weapon and fight Himself but He guides me at every step. In addition to teaching me about myself, He also teaches me about the enemy- how strong or weak they have become, what they might do next, how to protect myself and win against the enemy. In one such revelation, He informs me that after half a cycle of roaring and ranting, Maya is now at the end of her strength. She has lost almost all her power, He points out. Having fought Maya for some time now, I am no longer afraid of her trivial forms but when she gathers all her strength and comes in a fearsome form, then sometimes, I find that my legs tremble, my palms sweat and I feel as if the air has left my lungs. Then I say things like: “How could this happen?”, “What will I do now?”

“You don’t have to be afraid“, Baba tells me. “You can easily defeat Maya.” But the key is to remain stable in the stage of a detached observer. If I am not detached, then as soon as Maya comes, I become afraid; I feel caught in the situation. “Maya no longer has any strength. Externally, she has the form of a lion, but in fact, she is not even a cat.“, reveals Baba. In order to make me afraid, she adopts a huge form and I think: “What will happen now?” but my Charioteer teaches me that to think this way is to be defeated. I already know that whatever is happening is good, whatever is to happen will be even better. In fact, to become a Brahmin means that everything is good!

Sure, most things happen suddenly, they catch me off guard. Something I never even dreamt of happens, things that never happened before knowledge happen now. Maybe my business always did well before, now there is fluctuation. I was always healthy before, now suddenly I fall ill. If I am not careful, I start to think that maybe this is happening because I came on to this path and that perhaps I ought to leave. “However“, says Baba, “whenever any situation comes, simply consider that situation to be your teacher for a short time.” They are here to teach me two specific powers, He reveals: 1) the power to tolerate, to have detachment and become a conqueror of attachment and 2) the power to face, so that I learn something for the future. My duty as a Godly student is to learn the lessons the situations are teaching me so that I can move forward on my journey. When I remain stable in the awareness that God is in control of everything, then I know that no matter what is going on, everything will work out well and I become carefree. This, Baba says, is known as being an embodiment of power.

“Don’t ever become disheartened whenever there is a physical illness, a storm in the mind, a physical upheaval of your body, any upheaval in nature, any fluctuation in service or, in fact, any type of upheaval. Become those who have big hearts.“, He says. There are so many things that the Father has to tolerate and face in any given moment- children don’t understand what He teaches them, some leave and become traitors, some do disservice due to their egos, people in the world commit crimes routinely in His name etc. etc. But the Father has an immensely big heart, He never becomes disheartened. But children become disheartened easily with even the smallest things. If I become ill, I start with: “I am in so much pain, why is this happening to me, just my karma…” “Is being disheartened a medicine?“, asks Baba. “Will it increase and decrease the pain?” Disheartenment not only brings no benefit, it actually increases the suffering. But if I instead show courage by remaining firm in my stage of a detached observer, then the Father helps.

But often, what ends up happening is that not only do I allow myself to become disheartened, but I actually make it worse by thinking: “Why isn’t Baba helping me? Can’t He see the pain I’m in? He just helps the seniors, why would He have time for me anyway!” Baba says, “you remember the part about the Father’s help but forget the first part about having courage.” The principle is that when the child shows courage, the Father helps; the courage part comes first. When a situation comes, I need the power to discern and decide but when I allow myself to become disheartened, I lose that ability and even if the Father tries to help me, I don’t hear Him, my mind is too cluttered. I stay confused and feel alone. So what if there is fluctuation in wealth, these things are bound to happen, that has nothing to do with knowledge, explains Baba. This is Maya who tells me these lies, she tries to get me to leave the Father. But when I have firm faith, if I am true and honest, then I know in my heart that Baba is responsible and will feed me roti (bread) and dal (lentil) no matter what the circumstances might be. But if I claim that I am tired from working and simply sit down waiting for Baba to feed me- that is laziness and carelessness; it is also dishonest and the the Lord is pleased with an honest heart. Cleverness doesn’t work with Him.

In a family, there would of course be problems, Baba points out. Also, according to the time, everything is now going to the extreme, it is the time of settlement. So yes, there will definitely be problems in the family. But to think: “Why is this happening, my name will now be spoilt, I will be defamed because of this”, “this is my wife, my child…” etc. is to be a householder, not a trustee. To think in terms of ‘I and mine’ is to think like a householder. “Check this”, says Baba, “for as long as you have this consciousness, then everything becomes even more confusing. You have made a firm promise that you are God’s children. Even Maya cannot shake you from this!” So if even God’s children have confusion, have fear and experience disheartenment, then who would be the ones with big hearts, He asks. So now, He says, become those with courage. Where there is courage, you will automatically receive the Father’s help.