We can only be free if we remember where we came from

Once, Saint Baba Maharaj Arvikar was speaking to Saint Madhav Swami and a few other sadhaks in his hall in Machnur. The hall windows had netting on them. 

All of a sudden, a black bee flew into the hall through the door. It flew all around the room and for a while, kept trying to leave through the window. But, it would just keep hitting the net, falling and making sounds. 

Then, Baba said, “Look at this here. This black bee, seeing the open world outside, is desperate to go there. But why does it matter? The bee can freely move inside and it can freely move outside, so how is it stuck? The door is open. It is just that the bee has forgotten. It has lost its memory. It can only be free if it remembers where it came from or how it got here to begin with. This is what we have to study.”

Once, when Baba was providing guidance on this study, he said, “So what, if the world wasn’t created by humans or intellect (buddhi)? It is an ‘extension of oneself,’ the way that waves must be made of the water they are in, similarly the droplets of essence are fundamentally embedded in the universe. One truth, one essence. Regardless of what shape it takes. But when the understanding of what the foundational essence is becomes contingent on the form/shape it takes, our senses create a distinction where there is none. 

Now, the the intellect (buddhi) and mind to which this false impression has happened, has becomes restless. The restlessness must be addressed. The wind must stop. Air (Vayu) must stop. Ocean (sagar) should become stable, be still.

What does it mean to be still? To be still, is to stop being in the business of creating the universe through the forces of flaws (vikar), desires (vasana), faulty conjectures (vikalpa), will (sankalpa), and doubt (sandeha). 

There is only one solution. Stop the inner restlessness and strength your mind. 

Restlessness manifests because of the impurity of the mind. Purity starts to increase stability. Accepting the divine and turning towards it, means turning away from our worldly desires, faulty conjectures (vikalpa), and thoughts and feelings rooted in flaws (vikar).

We must distance ourselves from this. We must get out of the restlessness and as we take steps away from it, we will get closer to being free of the false impression.