Life is an exploration where what seems true at the beginning of the journey could change as we travel the path and gain experience. We can relate much of what we learned from our own experiences and from those brief moments of conversation with Agathiyar coming through others, to Neale Donald Walsch's selections from his "Conversation With God" series of books, carried in "The Wisdom of the Universe", published by Penguin Random House LLC, 2017.
Just as Agathiyar told us that there is no right or wrong, God explains to Neale, "that your sense of right and wrong only defines you, as "Who You Have Become from the totality of your experiences." It is right or wrong in our eyes and that of the community, society, nation, and its man-made laws. Neale says that we are always painting over, creating a new painting each moment, creating an ever-evolving portrait of ourselves as we evolve together with our definition of things like what is right and wrong. Neale goes on to say that "everything you think, say, and do is an act of self-definition."
Just as we have posted about how, contrary to the common belief that we are at the mercy of both the guru and God, in reality, we need each other for our upliftment in the former and for God to exist in the latter, Neale writes, "For centuries our country, religions, and societies have needed us to believe their truth in order for them to survive." Ramalinga Adigal who initially followed the scriptures went on to explore their truth rather than settling for them lock, stock, and barrel. This experiment with truth and the many experiences he had, had given birth to the treasure house in the form of his Arutpa. So did Bharathi break all the rules to arrive at the truth.
Most of the time we are at fault but blame the gods. When the lackadaisical attitude and lack of discipline in following up or keeping to a given regime do not bring the desired results we fault God. God does not interfere in our lives unless called for. The calling too can come from him asking us to surrender to him so that he can work on us to fulfill the purpose we came for. When the calling comes we begin to rewrite the stories.
"How many stories are we willing to rewrite," asks Asha in the movie "Wedding Season" citing how we can change others lives as in giving out loans and thence giving a new life to them, and similarly others' lives change our lives too. She says, "Our lives are better when their lives are better." God tells Neale too "What you do for your Self you do for another. What you do for another you do for the Self. This is because you and the other are one. And this is because..there is naught but you."
When Asha's boyfriend reminds her that he has seen her going through boxes looking for a story to believe in, he tells her that "I don't think you will find that story in the box." He tells her that she is the story.
When I entered my friend's auto workshop, he moved away from an elderly man who was engaged in vomiting his frustrations on the state of politics to attend to me. But the old man did not stop there. He continued his negative talk to me too tarnishing the blissful morning hours of that day. I told him to stop. I told him that he would have spoken the same to another earlier that morning over morning tea. He would have spoken the same the night before during dinner at a restaurant. He would have spoken the same over the past few days, or months. I told him to tell his story and speak something good about his family. Sadly he did not have anything to say.
God ask us to "recreate ourselves anew in every moment of now in the grandest version of the greatest vision you ever held about Who You Are" says Neale. How nicely put. God has a way with words I have come to realize as he brings the words to my mind too as I pen this blog. I go back reading them countless times, and sit back in awe at his mastery of words.