Baba says, “You first have to know the soul. Realize the self. The Father has to come Himself to make you realize yourself.“

The very first lesson I learn after taking Brahmin birth is – I am a soul, not the body. This one thought changes me from a shell into a diamond…but only when I actually realize this deeply. Even in the world, many know and speak of the soul; they too say, “We are souls”. There are even those who have had a vision of the soul – they see a light. But there is no benefit in having visions, clarifies Baba. It is one thing to say the words or even have a vision and a whole other thing to actually realize.

That requires a far-sighted and broad intellect, a divine intellect and this is a gift that only the Father gives me right at birth. Then, He says, “Now, consider yourself a soul and remember Me alone.” At this time in the cycle, He alone is the reference point for what it means to be a soul because everyone else is body conscious. He alone never forgets who He is and remains forever conscious. But God is extremely subtle, not to mention invisible. However, says God, you don’t need to ‘see‘, you simply have to ‘recognize‘ and ‘realize‘. The murli is the most tangible form of God, it offers in-sight into who God is, His nature and character, how He thinks and operates. With that as my foundation, I connect my intellect with Him, I experience His pure consciousness, His unconditional acceptance of me, His love. It is only His love that is the alchemy that absolves me, the soul, of all sins and restores me to brand new. Such is the power of His remembrance.

But before I can connect with Him, per the instruction, I first need to consider myself a soul. So, I first move inward and then move upward. But often when I move inward, I don’t go deep enough: I simply scratch the surface and stop there. But all I find on the surface are the impurities and defects that Ravan put there. I see this, get afraid of the darkness, feel shame and retreat. Then I complain that I cannot meditate. But Baba has not asked me to meditate, He has asked me to ‘remember‘. When I step inward, let me pay attention to not stop at the surface but, based on the foundation of knowledge from the murli, go all the way in and touch base for there lies the truth of who I truly am- a pure deity soul, a child of God that has all His virtues and powers. This is recognizing and realizing. Then, from this place of truth, I can move upward and connect with the Supreme Father and experience Him.

But if I fail to realize the self – as I am- and instead get stuck in the falsehood that Ravan has fed me, then I will lack the power, the courage to connect with the Father. Thus, He says, unless you realize the self, you cannot realize the Father. When I connect with Him as the child with rights, I experience His unwavering support, His company and companionship, His guidance at every step. I cannot help by be inspired by His nature and want to be like Him. Without the realization of the self as a pure, elevated soul, a child of God Himself, I will lack the power and courage to transform. I might understand the knowledge, may be able to teach the course well, even give great lectures, but there will be no transformation. And when I don’t see myself transform, those wasteful thoughts come: “maybe this isn’t real after all…”, “is there really a heaven?”, “does this study even work?”. And just like that Maya drags me back into the old world. Unless the points of knowledge in my intellect have been digested, they will not help me; in fact, they will block the intellect.

When I do see myself transform, I also recognize and realize the present time more deeply. I realize that I am not in the golden age yet, but neither am I in the iron age. I experience myself in that preparation time in between- the most auspicious confluence age where I experience the consciousness shift from iron-aged to golden-aged, where I experience the Father, the contrast between sorrow and happiness, where I develop the ability to be liberated in life even whilst living in the old world. To the physical eyes, I look the same and the world looks the same but through the third eye of the divine intellect, I realize that nothing is the same. This is realization. “You first have to know the soul. Realize the self.“, teaches the Father. He comes Himself to make me realize myself.