October 16, 2025
Imagine you come across a magic lamp. You rub it and, just like in the stories we know, a genie appears and grants you three wishes. What would your wishes be?
At first glance, this question may seem like just a game, but it holds a profound opportunity for self-knowledge. Let me explain: the desires that arise from your heart are a mirror of what’s happening in your soul.
They reveal much about the state of your inner life — and your outer life as well. In other words, they say a lot about your current moment. If you want to understand more deeply what lies behind this, I invite you to keep reading.
I know that when thinking about these three wishes, some will wish for peace, others for love. Still others will wish for success, health, money, or purpose. But the most important thing here is not the content of the wish — it’s the quality of the consciousness behind it.
I say this because many times we believe we are asking for something noble, such as to serve divine will. But deep down, there’s still a desire to bargain with existence.
I call it bargaining because the human being carries this will to surrender — but only as long as things happen their way. That is nothing more than control in disguise. It is the spiritual ego trying to take charge of life’s paths.
That’s why, even though it’s a simple question, it can serve as a valuable diagnosis, revealing where you are on your journey. With honesty in your self-inquiry, you can evaluate which “psychological selves” within you are making the wishes.
So, I invite you to go deeper, using this question as a key to explore how you’re doing in the main areas of your life. They work as a map that helps us see where there are blockages, lacks, excesses — and where love is flowing.
Let me help you recall the main areas of life:
When you look at these areas and notice where your desires — or even your frustrations — come from, you begin to identify which inner characters are in charge. Who is wishing: your Real Self or a “psychological self”?
Spiritual psychology teaches us that we are inhabited by a multitude of “individual selves.” Some are easy to recognize: the jealous one, the vain one, the one who needs approval.
Others are more sophisticated — true “generals” in disguise — such as spiritual pride, which dresses in light but feeds on the need for control or recognition.
Understand that these “individual selves” are not your true self. They are constructions of the mind, shaped by wounds and limiting beliefs — characters that occupy your inner space and block the flow of the truth of your essential being.
That’s why I consider that one of the main tasks of the spiritual journey is to identify and transmute them: transforming fear into trust, lust into devotion, hatred into compassion.
Here, it is fitting to recall the symbolism of the Bhagavad Gītā, where Arjuna represents the “conscious self” amid an inner battle.
This battle has, on one side, the Kauravas — the habits, fears, addictions, and beliefs that imprison you. On the other, the Pandavas — your virtues, gifts, and soul qualities. And in the middle of it all lies the challenge of discerning what is real and what is not. Krishna, the Higher Self, is the great guide of this journey.
Bringing this journey into real life, at the beginning of the path we deal with the foot soldiers: more visible emotional patterns such as irritation, jealousy, or envy.
Over time, the challenges deepen, and we face generals disguised as consciousness — parts of us so sophisticated that only divine grace can help us see them.
This entire process requires courage, surrender, and silence. It is the path of self-knowledge that leads us, step by step, to let go of what we are not, until what we truly are is revealed.
This is the essence of Jñāna Yoga — the yoga of knowledge — the sharp gaze that recognizes the false to make room for the real.
As we become attentive “hunters” of these inner forces, these “psychological selves,” we create space for something new to emerge. In this way, we update our system, untying old knots we have carried for lifetimes.
Then everything becomes lighter, for it becomes possible to unlock dormant gifts and align with the true purpose of this incarnation: returning to the home of Presence.
What would your three wishes be for the genie in the lamp?
And, more importantly: who within you is making those wishes?
This reflection may be the beginning of a great turning point in your spiritual journey.
“You are what your deep desires are.
As your desire is, so is your will.
As your will is, so are your actions.
As your actions are, so is your destiny.”
— Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (IV.4.5)
Namaste
Prem Baba
