In a recent meeting a gentleman was again and again pointing towards the sky when speaking of God. It is also a fact that generally when we pray we look towards the sky or upwards. On a discussion board- I, therefore questioned - Do you think/feel that God resides somewhere 'there?' A friend replied- guess not...I believe that God resides in us, in our Souls, in our being, Suresh, like u said in another thread of this forum, that "it is only when mind is very quiet that you can really observe/listen- mind is sensitive then. Talking to God is that state of mind." so here in this state of mind when u talk/listen to God...it is nothing else but conversing with our Soul.

To which I said-  Thanks for responding. No offence meant, but don't you think that we speak all this because we were/are told so. Soul and God are two (I will not call them concepts as such) which are least experienced, but much talked about. You are right that I said so earlier, but come to think of it, was I also not merely repeating, without really experiencing? But at the same time I believe?????? and mean that listening/talking to God is traveling inwards instead of flowing out which we generally do. Our five senses (may be more), all crave for and respond to outside entities and we spent a large amount of energy in acquiring or thinking of acquiring them (desires). In the process, we travel away from our core, to the extent that, we forget our-selves, our basic nature, and act in contradiction to the same (at least not in tune with it). When we realize this it is too late and then we regret. The sense of guilt also engulfs us then.

I have read and heard a lot about 'meditation' but finally found out????? that, it is one of the most simple thing to do and practice- just sit quietly and observe your thought process. Some people wrongly equate meditation with concentration, but it is almost the opposite. In meditation let the thought process go on. You are merely observing but not indulging. Slowly, you reach a point of thoughtlessness, by this I mean that there may be thoughts but not at the conscious level, at least not as denser/thicker as they were before. In these moments you tend to see things (although eyes closed)- and think more clearly- get a clarity of vision. You are closer to you self, call it soul, atma or by any other name. This clarity of vision further helps us in going deeper and helps us solve certain problems with which we may have been struggling with. People say that all great ideas have erupted/sprung from this state of mind and Archimedes was also in a state of meditation when the great idea/principle of buoyancy stuck him. The Great Buddha [earlier Siddhatha] left his palace, his wife, child, parents and his people, in search of peace. He went to so many places, wandering with sadhus, met so many learned people of his times, heard them and debated, tried virtually everything but did not get 'peace'. It was only after he surrendered and sat down under a tree (now Boudh Gaya Tree) he got the answer, he attained Nirvana. I am told the first sentence which he spoke out was- Stop searching and you will get peace.