Baba says, “To be a master bestower and give co-operation, love and sympathy is the sign of a merciful soul.”

Ravan teaches me to take, God teaches me to give. For half a cycle, my attitude was: “I will only be good if others do this.”, “Let them change a little, then I will consider.”, “They owe me an apology for what they did. Let them apologize, then I will be good to them.” Now at this most auspicious confluence age, God teaches me to become a master bestower and give co-operation, love and sympathy to all irrespective of who it is. The very meaning of Brahmin life, He tells me, is: To give is to receive. The receiving is merged in the giving. My self-respect is not based on whether I can get someone else to change or do as I think right; my self-respect is based on being a master bestower.

“Whatever you have taken from the Father, give that to others. Don’t have any expectation to take from souls.“, teaches Baba. Indeed, when I hear ‘master bestower’, often the question that gets in the way is: “But what about me!?” At this point in the cycle, it is futile to expect right behavior from souls. Everyone is at the end of their journeys and are tired and empty. They don’t have anything to give me, they themselves are looking for the same things that I expect them to provide me with. And so the love, respect, and appreciation that I expect from people, let me learn to get it from God. I take what I need from God and with people, I only give without any expectation to receive. Take from God and give to people. This, is mercy.

Mercy, by definition, does not expect a return. Mercy is giving, bestowing openly, freely, with a generous heart. At the present time in the world, people are most hungry for selfless love and imperishable happiness. For a long time, they have only received selfish love that was based on expectations being met. They have only experienced fleeting happiness- when they get something they want, they are happy; else, they become unhappy. “Be merciful and give everyone the co-operation of your virtues and powers, be generous hearted.“, teaches Baba. If someone is in the grip of anger, let me not reciprocate with more anger; rather, let me give the co-operation of tolerance. If someone insults me, let me give the co-operation of maintaining my good wishes and pure feelings for them. Let me not turn away from them. If I am in the midst of a crisis, let me model strength and courage before others such that they are inspired by it and find strength to face whatever they need to. To be tolerant, show restraint, stay calm, maintain good will- these are not a sign of weakness; it is power. To get angry or insult someone who insulted me is the easiest thing to do and requires no power at all. But to remain positive when the atmosphere is negative and then change it to positive through my own demeanor – that’s power.

That is also self-respect. Only when I know myself truly and respect myself for who I am can I be a bestower of virtues and powers. If I think of myself as one of the many body conscious titles and relationships- a team-mate, boss, junior, senior, mother, friend etc. will I find it hard to rise above the situation or sanskar. I will instead find myself a hostage. But when I realize and remain aware that I am an elevated soul, a most beloved child of God, that He loves and respects me deeply; when I deeply experience this, then I don’t get caught up in trivial matters, I easily rise above and become a bestower. “To the extent you give to others, it will accordingly continue to increase. Perishable treasures decrease by giving them away, but imperishable treasures increase by donating them. Give one and receive a thousand-fold.“, teaches Baba. Indeed, when I show tolerance, when I continue to be kind to those who insulted me, I receive blessings from the heart of both the soul and the Father. These blessings enable me to move forward on my journey. I also feel happy, cheerful and light.

“Always have the awareness: I am a child of the Bestower, a constantly great donor soul.”, says the Father. The Father is the Ocean. An ocean means unlimited, it never ends. Similarly, you are master oceans, He reminds me, not rivers or canals. So continue to give altruistically, same as the Father. At the time of peacelessess, become master bestowers of peace and give peace to others. Don’t be afraid, because you know that what is happening is good and what is to happen will be even better. People, Baba says, will continue to fight under the influence of vices, because that is what the vices compel them to do. However, my duty, He reminds me, is to give the donation of love, peace to such souls. Why? because I am a world benefactor and that is what I do. I give unto others what I have. And so to the extent that I stay in the right awareness of who and Whose I am, to that extent I will remain full of all attainments and become a master bestower of those attainments. This is the duty of the children of God, teaches the Father. To give co-operation, love and sympathy to everyone is to receive.