Pramukh Parva - Day 3

Virtues of a Best Friend

 

Activity - Odd one out:

Before we start let’s play a quick game. There are 2 challenges here, try to find the emoji that is the odd one out.

Did you spot it? Yep, that’s the one, In the first challenge it was much easier to find the odd one out and in the second challenge, it was much harder. 

Friendships are a bit like the emojis. As we have all heard, one rotten apple can spoil the bunch, and one not-so-great friend can affect our lives greatly. Mahant Swami Maharaj uses this analogy in his book “Swamishri - Our Best Friend”. 

It's crucial to surround ourselves with positive people and keep away from bad company. Because just like that one rogue apple, we may be thrown off the path of moksha and become distant from satsang. So remember to choose who you associate with wisely!

Let's embark on a journey to unravel the virtues of a true friend and draw parallels to the qualities embodied by Bapa.

 

Understanding True Friendship and Bapa's Guidance

It's essential to recognise what makes a bad friend

• those who break promises, constantly argue, lack patience, focus on materialism, indulge in gossip, are misled, misguided, lack ethics, morals, and goals, and struggle to distinguish right from wrong. 
• Allowing such individuals, who lack direction, to lead us is like the blind leading the blind on a road to nowhere. Fortunately, we've found Bapa, ensuring our journey is guided by someone with a clear vision toward permanent internal happiness.

 

Now, let's look at just 2 of the vast qualities we find in our Best Friend Bapa:

1. Nirmani (A person who has no ego)
   • Unlike friends with egos, Bapa's wisdom is ego-less. He guides us with pure, selfless advice.
   • Can you think of a prasang where Bapa showed Nirmanipanu?
     
      
2. Unconditional Love

Let’s have a look at this prasang:

Once, during the Bhuj earthquake in 2001, BAPS was giving out hot meals to all the survivors. All the other international organisations told BAPS that stop providing hot meals because hot meals may breed bacteria and can spread diseases. So, the santos who were leading the Bhuj project called Bapa to tell him about all these current events and what other organisations had told them about serving hot meals and told him that we should close down the hot meal camp and instead we should make pre-packed meals. After hearing them out, Bapa told the santos “if you go home at night and if there’s a cold meal waiting for you, your hunger will be satisfied but you will not feel loved, but if your mom gets up and makes the milk hot again you will feel her love more than the milk itself”. So, instead of closing down, Pramukh Swami Maharaj listed 11 different places where they should open other hot meal camps, and by the end of one month, The sanstha fed almost 2 million people. Now, can you imagine all the people at the camp have never met Pramukh Swami Maharaj and Bapa does not know who they are but still he takes great care? He provided them with hot meals. This shows his unconditional love for us all.

• When we compare the not-so-great qualities in friends to the fantastic qualities of Bapa, it's clear that while friends may have their flaws, Bapa's influence is a beacon of positivity and enlightenment.
• In our friendships, we might encounter moments of ego, jealousy, impatience, and lack of focus. However, with Bapa, we find a source of wisdom, love, patience, and unwavering guidance. It's like having a mentor who embodies the best qualities and helps us navigate the challenges of friendships with a sense of balance and understanding.
• However everyone is not completely bad, everyone has both good and bad qualities. It's essential to acknowledge that people aren't entirely bad. No matter who they are, we should take the time to figure out if they're the right people to be around. By recognising and appreciating the positive traits in others, we can make better choices about the relationships we build, ensuring they contribute positively to our lives.
• So, as we walk this path, let's strive to learn from Bapa's example and cultivate those positive qualities in our own lives, making our friendships and connections even more enriching. Whilst remembering that he is a friend who will never leave our side as he has said before:
  

His teachings instil faith in God, making him the ultimate choice as our best friend on this journey of life.