Baba says, “The Father is offering to carry whatever burdens you have. Do you not know how to hand them over?“

This is a journey, Baba tells me. To be able to finish the journey and even more importantly, in order to be able to enjoy the journey, I need to pack light. If I am carrying a lot of baggage, then it becomes a burden that tires me and compels me to come to a standstill often during the course of the journey. It delays me from my destination and sometimes, I might get so tired that I may never make it all the way.

Baba says, “Become double-light. To be double-light means to constantly experience the flying stage.” To be double-light means to be free from burden because if I am burdened, I will remain down here; I will be prevented from flying high.

Most children have a double responsibility- that of the lokik family and the responsibility of being God’s helper in the task of world transformation. I want to do more service but I feel tied in the bondage of my lokik responsibility. That’s the wrong way to see it, teaches Baba. Don’t look at the lokik family as a ‘bondage’, rather, remember that you are not a householder anymore, you are a child of God. A child cannot have a household; a child is free of any responsibilities. To be a child is to consider myself a trustee, then I won’t be tired. It is when I consider the family and the responsibilities to be ‘mine’ that I experience it to be a burden. However, when nothing is ‘mine’, there can be no burden.

“Always hand yourself over to the Father and you will always remain light“, He says. Baba cannot take my burdens without taking me first. The first step therefore is to surrender myself to the Father, that is, to become the child. “Surrender yourself with your intellect. If you surrender with your intellect, there won’t be anything else in the intellect. That is all, everything belongs to the Father, everything is in the Father and then there is nothing else.“, He explains. Double-light means I am not even burdened by self-effort, by my nature or sanskars. Baba shows me my areas of weakness and it is good to have the determination to make a change. But I have to realize that He is the Purifier, I am not. Even for something that God wants me to do, I cannot do it without His help. And so when some changes take longer than expected, then surrender means I keep believing, I stay in faith, I never give up…I trust the Purifier. I have a mind of determination but along with that, I also have a double-light stage. Only then can I make the journey in happiness and remain free from obstacles.

Sometimes, I make plans for my journey. I want to do these kinds of service projects because I have those skills, or I want to live in this city or stay at this center because it has the kinds of opportunities that I believe will move me forward. While it’s okay and human nature to plan, surrender means that I don’t hold on to those plans tightly; I keep my grip loose. In other words: “I think this is good for me but Baba, You know best. I want to do what You think is best for me.” So if that means I have to change my plan, then so be it. When I hold on tightly to the plans, that’s when there is heartache, disappointment, feelings of having lost or failed etc. These negative emotions are a heavy burden to carry along on my journey; they often bring me to a standstill. To live surrendered means I allow God to lead the way and I simply flow. Even if the circumstances don’t seem favorable, I trust that that they are here because I have something to learn from it. It’s a feeling of lightness and relief in knowing that I am always on the best path with God, no matter what it might seem like externally.

Sometimes, I have an expectation for the outcome of a particular project I’m involved in. I think it should be implemented a certain way but when I see others have different ideas that might take the project in a different direction, I feel afraid that the project might fail; I feel stressed, my attitude towards the souls changes as I start to see them as threats to the project’s success. Let me realize that this is Baba’s domain, it is His project, He will get it done in the right way. My duty is to play the role of being the master and child accurately. Then, I will remain unburdened and light.

Not to have any burden- even of waste thoughts- is called lightness, teaches Baba. It is essential to fulfill my responsibilities, but the greater my responsibilities are, the more double-light I need to be. While fulfilling my responsibilities, I remain beyond being burdened by them in any way; this, Baba explains, is called loving the Father. How so? Because it shows my trust and faith in Him. To think “Should I do this or not?”, “This is very difficult to do..” etc. is also to be burdened. When my intellect is filled with faith, then I constantly remain double-light in the awareness of Who is in-charge; I am carefree. I am in the flying stage. The flying stage is the highest of all stages. The feet of the intellect of such souls, Baba explains, would not touch the ground. Not touching the ground means to be beyond body consciousness. Those who always remain above the ground of body consciousness are always angels.