Subject: Chat with GOD...

God : Hello. Did you call me?
Me: Called you? No. Who is this?
God : This is GOD. I heard your prayers. So I thought I will chat.
Me: I do pray. Just makes me feel good. I am actually busy now. I am in the midst of something. God : What are you busy at? Ants are busy too.
Me: Don't know. But I can't find free time. Life has become hectic. It's rush hour all the time.
God : Sure. Activity gets you busy. But productivity gets you results. Activity consumes time. Productivity frees it.
Me: I understand. But I still can't figure out. By the way, I was not expecting YOU to buzz me on instant messaging chat.
God : Well I wanted to resolve your fight for time, by giving you some clarity. In this net era, I wanted to reach you through the medium you are comfortable with.
Me: Tell me, why has life become complicated now?
God : Stop analyzing life. Just live it. Analysis is what makes it > complicated.
Me: Why are we then constantly unhappy?
God : Your today is the tomorrow that you worried about yesterday. You are worrying because you are analyzing. Worrying has become your habit. That's why you are not happy.
Me: But how can we not worry when there is so much uncertainty?
God : Uncertainty is inevitable, but worrying is optional.
Me: But then, there is so much pain due to uncertainty.
God : Pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional.
Me: If suffering is optional, why do good people always suffer?
God : Diamond cannot be polished without friction. Gold cannot be purified without fire. Good people go through trials, but don't suffer. With that experience their life become better not bitter.
Me: You mean to say such experience is useful?
God : Yes. In every terms, Experience is a hard teacher. She gives the test first and the lessons afterwards.
Me: But still, why should we go through such tests? Why can't we be free from problems?
God : Problems are Purposeful Roadblocks Offering Beneficial Lessons (to) Enhance Mental Strength. Inner strength comes from struggle and endurance, not when you are free from problems.
Me: Frankly in the midst of so many problems, we don't know where we are heading.
God : If you look outside you will not know where you are heading. Look inside. Looking outside, you dream. Looking inside, you awaken. Eyes provide sight. Heart provides insight.
Me: Sometimes not succeeding fast seems to hurt more than moving in the right direction. What should I do?
God : Success is a measure as decided by others. Satisfaction is a measure as decided by you. Knowing the road ahead is more satisfying than knowing you rode ahead. You work w ith the compass. Let others work with the clock.
Me: In tough times, how do you stay motivated?
God : Always look at how far you have come rather than how far you have to go. Always count your blessing, not what you are missing.
Me: What surprises you about people?
God : When they suffer they ask, "why me?" When they prosper, they never ask "Why me" Everyone wishes to have truth on their side, but few want to be on the side of the truth
Me: Sometimes I ask, who am I, why am I here. I can't get the answer.
God : Seek not to find who you are, but to determine who you want to be. Stop looking for a purpose as to why you are here. Create it. Life is not a process of discovery but a process of creation.
Me: How can I get the best out of life?
God : Face your past without regret. Handle your present with confidence. Prepare for the future without fear.
Me: One last question. Sometimes I feel my prayers are no t answered.
God : There are no unanswered prayers. At times the answer is NO.
Me: Thank you for this wonderful chat.
God : Well. Keep the faith and drop the fear. Don't believe your doubts and doubt your beliefs. Life is a mystery to solve not a problem to resolve. Trust me. Life is wonderful if you know how to live. "Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments that took our breath away!"

My comments on some parts of the conversation:

> God : Sure. Activity gets you busy. But productivity gets you results. Activity consumes time. Productivity frees it. -- This is not God, this is a business management Guru. Productivity is "efficient activity", but the yardstick of "efficiency" is very tricky. What makes this world crazy is often NOT inefficient activity, but excessively efficient activity whose object is detrimental. Being busy is a choice; its motive force is sometimes invisible to the conscious mind.

> God : Stop analyzing life. Just live it. Analysis is what makes it complicated. -- Excellent point, God!

> Me: Why are we then constantly unhappy? -- Wrong. We tend to be more aware of our unhappy moments than of our happy moments. That's why. When I don't have a headache, I don't even notice I have a head.

> > God : Your today is the tomorrow that you worried about yesterday. You are worrying because you are analyzing. Worrying has become your habit. That's why you are not happy. -- Wrong question, right answer? Hardly.

> Me: But how can we not worry when there is so much uncertainty? -- That's a very good point. That's why the answer immediately above is flawed. Being able to worry is a faculty we have that has evolved over millions of years (from a Darwinian point of view) or a faculty invested in our species by God (from a creationist point of view). It's very useful. You shouldn't overdo it, that's all.

> > God : Uncertainty is inevitable, but worrying is optional. -- Yeah, depending on how you define "worrying". Being "alert" is a form of "worrying". Try and live without alertness!

> Me: But then, there is so much pain due to uncertainty. -- What? I see a blinding lightning descending from the skies and whether or not I'll be hit by it is uncertain… but there's no pain whatsoever, until it hits me. So, it's not the uncertainty that causes pain; it's the certainty of being hit by it that does.

> > God : Pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional. -- This is a good answer to a bad question, although it's clear that the author posed the question in order to lead to this answer. I can't agree more.

> Me: If suffering is optional, why do good people always suffer? -- Bad people suffer, too! But "good people" are those we like; "bad people" are those we don't like. Since we don't like "bad people", we can't bear to see them having even a moment's luck or happiness.

> > God: Diamond cannot be polished without friction. Gold cannot be purified without fire. Good people go through trials, but don't suffer. With that experience their life become better not bitter. -- Bad people also go through trials, and some choose not to suffer, but they allow their minds to be clouded by petty, selfish thoughts. With that experience, their life becomes bitter.

> Me: You mean to say such experience is useful?
> > God : Problems are Purposeful Roadblocks Offering Beneficial Lessons -- Let me rephrase it, God: Problems are comparable to roadblocks that MAY offer beneficial lessons, provided that you consider them as sources of beneficial lessons. Dear God, please don't take credit for what is naturally there. What is a problem? A problem is an obstacle you encounter when you try to alter the current mode of existence. A problem is the subject matter of an "effort". When something is moving at even speed and you go along with it, you have no resistance, no obstacle and, therefore, no problem. But if you wish to accelerate or decelerate the motion, you need to exert an effort and the moment you do that, you sense there is a "problem". It is pure physics and there's no "intention" or "will" behind the phenomenon, although we, as emotional beings, tend to read "purpose" into such a phenomenon.

> God : If you look outside you will not know where you are heading. Look inside. Looking outside, you dream. Looking inside, you awaken. Eyes provide sight. Heart provides insight. -- Here's a lovely story to echo this message: Once, an old woman dropped her needle. A passer-by saw her searching in her garden and offered to help. After looking for some time without success, the kindly stranger asked the woman exactly where the needle had fallen. He was amazed to learn that she had dropped it inside the house. "Then why are you looking out here?" he asked, "You will never find it." She replied, "My house is too dark, but there is more light out here." (Yoga Mind & Body, Vedanta Centre)

> Me: Sometimes not succeeding fast seems to hurt more than moving in the > right direction. What should I do? -- Again, an unconvincing, illogical and blatantly contrived question raised in order to lead to the answer…

> > God : Success is a measure as decided by others. Satisfaction is a measure as decided by you. Knowing the road ahead is more satisfying than knowing you rode ahead. You work with the compass. Let others work with the clock. -- This is a very condescending comment. Who is "you" and who are "others"? This is a very arrogant God. Of course he/she can afford to be arrogant, because presumably he/she doesn't need to be fed with physical sustenance, which is grown and harvested ONLY through hard work on the ground against the clock! I mentioned earlier that this is a management guru, not a spiritual god, because it is highly redolent of the rhetoric about leadership versus management, the hunter versus the herder. It's all very plausible, but one must strike a balance on the spectrum from inspiration to exertion. "Road ahead" and "rode ahead" is just a silly little play on words, which, I'm sure, the author was quite pleased with. The first part of the answer, though, is an equivalent of the Chinese adage, "Happy is he who is content".

> Me: In tough times, how do you stay motivated?
> > God : Always look at how far you have come rather than how far you have to go. Always count your blessing, not what you are missing. -- It doesn't answer the question, does it? Is this not called "resting on one's laurels"?

> Me: What surprises you about people?
> > God : When they suffer they ask, "why me?" When they prosper, they never ask "Why me". Everyone wishes to have truth on their side, but few want to be on the side of the truth. -- Another play on words, plausible and seemingly deep at first blush; but it stops making sense if you really go deep. And most of us ARE grateful for every little blessing we have, but we try not to make a song and dance about it, for valid reasons. When we are down, we ask "why me" because we feel the pain and we want sympathy. From sympathy, we siphon energy, which helps us get back on our own feet again. That's what community is for.

> Me: Sometimes I ask, who am I, why am I here. I can't get the answer.
> > God : Seek not to find who you are, but to determine who you want to be. Stop looking for a purpose as to why you are here. Create it. Life is not a process of discovery but a process of creation. -- The first part is existentialist. Not necessarily wrong, but it may be an expediential way of saying - I don't know what the purpose is. As for the second part, if discovery includes learning, then I'm afraid this applies to God only: we mortal beings have to "discover" and "learn" in this life, otherwise we don't even know what to create. Children are natural creators, but look at what they create… mostly fantasies based on REALITIES, the knowledge of which is acquired and accumulated in this life.

> Me: How can I get the best out of life?
>> God : Face your past without regret. Handle your present with confidence. Prepare for the future without fear. -- Excellent advice. This is the formula of "success", for good or for bad. So, maybe add a fourth sentence: Meditate and pray daily. This is to make sure that your success is conducive to your own health, emotional balance, spiritual well-being, and the peace and welfare of your society and the world.

> Me: One last question. Sometimes I feel my prayers are not answered.
>> God : There are no unanswered prayers. At times the answer is NO. -- Yes, agreed.

> Me: Thank you for this wonderful chat.
>> God : Well. Keep the faith and drop the fear. Don't believe your doubts and doubt your beliefs. Life is a mystery to solve not a problem to resolve. Trust me. Life is wonderful if you know how to live. "Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments that took our breath away!" -- Sigh… last quote ruins the whole message. What if my life is tranquil and uneventful, devoid of breathtaking moments? Does it mean my life is crap? Does it mean someone who is always living on the edge definitely has a better life than I do? Never mind, point taken.