One Answer From God

This is one of the articles in a book I have written on spirituality. The book is available on Amazon.com.


The Spirit Of Spirituality


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Suppose a situation arises and God is in front of us. Let’s assume that the Lord in all his kindness gives us an opportunity to ask him one question, the answer to which will give us supreme happiness, what will that question be? Well, God does not announce that he is coming to give you sufficient time to think of an answer. I request my readers to pause here, be honest with themselves and write out one single question to God.

Ok, let me think. How, if I ask, “Please tell me how I can turn whatever I touch into gold.” The benevolent person that He is, he will tell me the answer. Wow, I scream in joy and touch the table and it turns into a shining piece of gold. I then touch my house which turns to gold. I am already dreaming of becoming the richest man soon when I turn hungry and touch the bread. Oops, it also turned to gold! Let me drink some water soon. Alas, it also turned to gold! Even if somehow the edible things did not turn to gold, am I happy that I became the richest guy? Now what? What more do I need? If riches were the only way to happiness, Mr. Gates would not have given it up for charity. So obviously asking God the answer to this question will not give me supreme happiness. Now what?

I always dreamt of XYZ as my dream girl. What if I ask God to tell me the secret to get the dream girl as mine? God will probably chuckle and give the lovely XYZ as my wife. I am the happiest man till she starts nagging! Once she starts her nagging, am I still the happiest man? Don’t I want to run off to the Himalayas for peace? So, maybe asking how to get the lovely XYZ as my wife was not the right question. What next?

Look at the piquant situation where God is offering to answer that single question which will give me supreme happiness and I do not know what to ask. Let’s ask some intelligent person what to ask in such a situation. Luckily I know an intelligent person, intelligent not from the world’s basis, but in the true nature of things. He told me that the best question to ask is, “Please tell me that, knowing which, I will know everything”. This question left me baffled.

Why do I feel unhappy or unfulfilled? Why do I worry? Why am I afraid? Why do I fear the future? Even for the wealthiest person with the most beautiful XYZ as his wife, the above questions are definitely there. So if I find an answer which addresses these questions, will I not be supremely happy? So I decided to ask God this question. The Lord replied very tersely, “That Thou Art” and vanished. 

I again went back to the intelligent person to decipher this answer and am summarizing below the response. All of us are unhappy, bewildered, and moving around in circles not knowing what to do because we do not know our true nature. When does fear come? When there is a second person and I fear that person will harm me or take away my possessions. When does grief come? When there is a second person and I fear that person will leave me or I have to leave that person.

If a mass of gold is made into multiple ornaments and let us say, I am the measly ear-ring standing next to a costly necklace. Now thinking of myself as the ear-ring and looking at the necklace, I would feel miserable and have a low esteem. If, I see my fellow ear-ring being melted by the goldsmith, I would cry in grief at the departure of my friend. If I see another ear-ring, which is my girlfriend being married to the lovely necklace, I would feel miserable.

Now, what if I was told that my true nature is supreme bliss and I have forgotten it in this world due to ignorance? What if true bliss was the only reality and nothing else existed? Why would I worry about anything or why would I be afraid of anything? If I realized I was not the measly ear-ring, but actually gold, why would I be belittled by the necklace? Why would I be afraid of my friend being melted and becoming gold, which I am anyway? Why would I be jealous of my girlfriend marrying the necklace, since both are me anyway? Finally, why would I worry about my own imminent departure as an ear-ring after being melted by the goldsmith? Once melted, I lose my form and name, but my true nature as gold does not change.

So by knowing my true nature, if I am not afraid, I am not angry, I am not jealous and I do not even fear death, is that not the greatest answer to get from the Lord? Incidentally, the Bhagwad Gita, the greatest philosophical work from India starts with the word, Dharma, which also means “nature” or “essential characteristic”. The last word in the Gita is “Mine”. So, in effect, the Gita’s 700+ verses show “My Essential Nature” and what is my essential nature. The answer is, “That Thou Art”. I am the essential spirit, the enlivening principle, the Supreme happiness. 

As readers may be aware, 3 of my books on spirituality are available on Amazon.com.

I invite readers of my blog to try any of the books and give me feedback so that I can make changes in the next edition.


1. My Humble Understanding  Of Spirituality


My Humble Understanding Of Spirituality

2. Attain Infinite Bliss

Attain Infinite Bliss - A Spiritual Guide

3. The Spirit Of Spirituality

The Spirit Of Spirituality