Question: When a child asks you, "Who is God?" what is the best answer to give him?

Sri Chinmoy: When you tell a child about God, do not speak about Him as an old man. Always make the child feel that God is somebody of his own age. If the child is three years old, then God is also three years old for him. Tell him God is his good Friend, his eternal Friend. Tell him to be prepared for God. God is coming to him as his most intimate Friend, so he has to behave well.

But the best answer is to tell the child to look into a mirror and to smile as soulfully as possible. The word 'soulfully' the child may not understand, but the child can easily see how beautiful he looks. Tell the child to try to give absolutely the most beautiful smile and then to look at himself. The child will know whether it is a beautiful smile or just an ordinary smile. The more beautiful the smile, the more his divinity will come forward. An adult may have to pray and meditate and develop a divine consciousness, but a child can do it easily. When the child looks at his most beautiful, glowing consciousness, you tell him that he is seeing God and nobody else.

Who is God? God is our own highest reality. If you can give a soulful smile that will immediately illumine yourself and the whole world, that smile is nothing other than God. Let the child remain in the consciousness of his most beautiful smile, a smile that pervades the length and breadth of the world. For a child, this is the easiest answer for him to understand and also the most effective and convincing answer. And at the same time, it is absolutely true. You are in no way fooling the child.