Swami blessing Misra Sir. Sports Meet of 1991 or 1992, I believe, since I had carried the 'house placard' with a similar design as seen in the photo here.
Our English teacher at school, Mishra Sir, asked me to comment on his blog posts on 'Imaginary conversations with God' and the ideas presented there. At first, I fobbed him off with a generic 'creative way of presenting Swami's teachings'. But he insisted on more comments. I mentioned that I had had bad experiences in the past, when I had shared critical comments with others a little too frankly, but he insisted. So, here goes.
My standpoint, or world view, can be called 'radical Advaita' - which is what You have told us all along - there is "no two, only One." And that life is a learning process towards the realization of that fact. At any point, if something needs to be done by one, it would be quite evident - we just have to do the right thing. So, I generally find questions of "Why is abc like this? Why is God allowing xyz to happen?" etc and detailed explanations based on "duality" to be just something to satisfy the mind - and I personally don't find these explanations and their intricacies very interesting at my present state of mind. But I do understand that for different people with different ideas ("Munde munde matir bhinnah" - there are as many world views or opinions as there are people in this world) many of these explanations would be useful.
Conversation 1 - Core message - to love someone/God means doing what pleases them/God. Nicely presented.
Conversation 2 - Core message - fight temptation with Love for God.
Conversation 3 - Explanation of the various types of devotee, aarti, arthaarthi, jignasu, jnaani. Very nicely explained.
Conversation 4 - Importance of obedience and faith. But in this post, I feel that the authenticity of the voice is missing - "I have not come to play silly little games..." etc Instead, this could be rephrased in Your words as "...I play with you so that you may feel kinship with Me, but ..." This conversation reads a bit like 'Swami is sternly asking the devotee to follow Him' while with students, Your method has been to win over hearts with Love. Of course, You would have spoken sternly to individuals, that is part of Your strategies individually crafted for each one ...
"If you do that, you obtain my love" - this reads a bit like 'follow my teachings, only then will I love you". Though the intention may be to convey: "If you do that, then you will be receptive to My Love, which is ever flowing. When there is a downpour, only if you hold a cup upright, can you receive any of the water."
Conversation 5 - Revisiting Prithviraj and Yudhishthira. 'Forgive thine enemy' has limited applicability? Rather, the greater good has to be kept in mind. Interestingly put, though there is some scope for misunderstanding.
Conversation 6 - Himsa is not just physical violence. Nicely crafted.
Conversation 7 - The journey to discipline with love. Again, well written.
Conversation 8 - Concepts like the pursuit of happiness through worldly acquisitions, and the way to choose the right path by practice. Nicely presented.
Conversation 9 - Life is a University.
Conversation 10 - Being in the world, but not of the world. Empathy without attachment. Admire, but do not desire. Personally, I often wonder if I'm being detached or hard-hearted. But in my experience, You will eventually make sure that I do the right thing.
Conversation 11 - More good illustrations on detachment.
Conversation 12 - Be careful what you pray for, and more. Well explained.
Conversation 13 - True meaning of prayer, and efficacy of unselfish prayer. And that is the route to transformation.
Conversation 14 - Fish is better than selfish, and more. I felt the tone was a bit strident, perhaps excessively martial for my taste, like in conversation 4 above. But the points are well explained.
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