Part I — Men and women:

• Question: Is there a distinction between man and woman in the soul's world?
• Question: Are women different spiritually from men?
• Question: Is there any particular reason, or something inherent in women, which makes spiritual Masters like Sri Ramakrishna and the Buddha not want to accept women as disciples?
• Question: I have noticed that most of the highly spiritually developed souls that I have read of or known seem to be men, and I have wondered why this is so.
• Question: Are there more single women today because they want to work rather than take care of a family?
• Question: How do men and women compete with each other?
• Question: I think it's wonderful if women go into men's fields; but if they do, don't men and women take on each other's weaknesses?
• Question: Are women beginning to compete with vital power too, now that they are trying to compete with men?

Part II — Family life:

• Question: It is said that in the Kali Yuga one should cultivate devotion rather than follow the Vedanta philosophy. Is this an unqualified statement for everybody or is it just for householders?
• Question: Do you think that if one is going to lead a vital life, then he should get married; and if he is going to stay single, that he should be completely celibate?
• Question: What is the best way to root out sex thoughts from the mental world?
• Question: Guru, how can the husband feel happy when his wife is working for you and he is not?
• Question: What if the wife goes outside for a job for the sake of sanity and hires a maid to take care of the home?
• Question: Would you like to say something about these general abortion laws? Is abortion spiritually acceptable?
• Question: Is the reason you discourage your disciples from having children because children hinder parents' progress?
• Question: When we have children, how can we best remember the Supreme without letting the children interfere?
• Question: Can a bad mother make her son great?
• Question: There is disharmony between my parents and myself because my father is an atheist.
• Question: I just visited my family and they are not particularly aspiring. I am curious to know whether you would encourage us to visit our families, or should we attempt to avoid a lot of visits if it is hard on our aspiration?
• Question: It seems that if you really love someone, then you ought to go against what they initially want for themselves and give them what they don't even know they need.
• Question: What if your child is very active and his energy is taking away from your energy? You really can't speak to him, because he doesn't understand, so what do you do to try to calm his vibrations?
• Question: How can I stop being so attached to my physical family?
• Question: Christ said in the Gospels that he was about his Father's business. He said this to his own mother when she went out and looked for him. Is this what you are trying to bring out — that if the soul knows it has a mission and it meets with opposition from the parents, it must calmly put the parents aside, not unjustly so, but because it must fulfil something, even though the parents don't understand?
• Question: When they go to the soul's world, do parents realise that their children were doing the right thing by accepting your path?
• Question: If parents sincerely accept the spiritual life, do they try to be detached from their children's lives, or do they still retain the attached love?
• Question: Is having pets anything like having children?
• Question: What is the best thing I can give to my child?
• Question: What is the best way to bring up a child to realise God?

Part III — Education:

• Question: Could you speak about the education of young children, particularly in a society where spirituality is not emphasized?
• Question: How should I meditate before I enter a classroom to teach?
• Question: How can I best serve the Supreme in the children that I teach?
• Question: When we have a choice between using our time for our studies or for spiritual things, which should we choose?
• Question: I'm a student. How can I study and still keep God before me?
• Question: Many disciples are teachers and some are planning to be teachers. How can we best offer our spirituality to the children we are with?
• Question: Is it necessary for my growth to study anything?
• Question: At this point I am planning to go to college next year, and the only living arrangements I can really afford are in a dormitory, where the only room they will assign me is a double room with another person. Is this bad?

Part IV — Technology and science

• Question: Matter is made up of atoms. Is spirit also made up of certain atoms?
• Question: Does a strong involvement with technology mitigate against our realisation of God?
• Question: You told us about a disciple of yours who is a psychiatrist. Why does she believe in spirituality?
• Question: As far as psychology is concerned, where do the subconscious mind and the superconscious mind or the intuitive mind fit into your philosophy?
• Question: If a student is studying science and is leading a spiritual life, how should he view science?
• Question: An anthropologist studies his brother human beings, but does he know anything about the soul?
• Question: I was talking with a scientifically minded friend of mine regarding creation versus evolution, and he was on the side of creation rather than evolution. He was saying that there are not any links between species. Each species is intact. Is this true?
• Question: These people say that between fish and reptiles there is no link, that they don't grow into birds or mammals.
• Question: Does an invention exist in the inner world before it is discovered outwardly?
• Question: When somebody invents something, is the Supreme giving it to him?
• Question: Can man speed discovery?
• Question: What about bad inventions, like the hydrogen bomb?
• Question: What part does imagination play in scientific discovery?
• Question: I would like to know if the advent of the electric light has had any effect on people's inner light.
• Question: Is it always best for doctors to keep people alive as long as possible, or does it depend on the individual case?
• Question: If the doctors kill a patient who is supposed to remain alive, will they get bad karma?
• Question: There is a girl who has been totally unconscious for weeks. She can live for years with no consciousness. What about a case like that?
• Question: They're not trying to bring her back to consciousness; they're just keeping her body alive. They say her brain is not functioning at all. There are no brain waves.
• Question: Is there any reason for this kind of experience?
• Question: Are we really responsible for the extinction of animals, for pollution and for the destruction of the world? We are rationally physically killing ourselves and the world. Is this God's Will?
• Question: Is God worried about the population explosion?

Part V — Drugs and alcohol

• Question: Do drug experiences have any validity at all?
• Question: Should marijuana be legalised, so you can buy it in stores instead of having it be illegal?
• Question: Can you explain to us in what way marijuana is worse than alcohol, which is legal, because there is a big debate going on that marijuana is no worse than alcohol?