Charles' conversation with God

“God, I am in serious trouble. Please help me. You know that my mother and my father have gone crazy. They have an Indian Guru. First of all, I have to tell You what ‘Guru’ means. It means ‘spiritual teacher’. My parents go to his house very often. I must say he is a nice guy. What I want to tell You is that my parents want me to get an Indian name from their Guru. I tell them, ‘What is wrong with my own name?’ God, don’t You like my American name?”

“Certainly I do.”

“Then why do my parents tell me that I need another name, a silly Indian name?”

“You are right. And now I ask you one thing. If I have two ripe, delicious mangoes for you, would you care to have both the mangoes, or would you be happy and satisfied with only one?”

“God, do You think I am a fool? I would immediately grab both of them.”

“It is just the same with your name. If you have two names instead of just one, you will enjoy yourself more.”

“Oh God, I forgot to tell You that my father’s Indian name is Ramakrishna and my mother’s Indian name is Parvati. The other day my father told me that his name means two gods. Rama is one god, and Krishna is another god. I told him that he was wrong. There can be only one God. The Father in the church has taught us that. My own father knew he had made a mistake and he kept quiet. The same thing happened with my mother. The other day my mother told me that her name, Parvati, is the name of a goddess. I told her right away that she was all wrong. The only goddess is our Virgin Mother. That is what the Father at our church always says. My mother knew that she made a mistake, so she kept quiet like my father.”

“What else did the Father at your church tell you?”

“He told me something very important. He told me that only God knows everything. God, I tell You that he is a nice Father. He told me that he himself does not know everything; but he says God knows everything.”

“So you know that I am that God. I want to tell you that your parents were not wrong. They told you the right thing. There are as many gods and goddesses as there are men and women on earth.”

“That means that the Father in the church was completely wrong.”

“No, he was not completely wrong. Let Me explain it to you. Just look at that tree. It has thousands of leaves. When you look at the countless leaves, you know that it is a tree. Again, just by looking at only the trunk of the tree you can also tell that it is a tree. So, you can see that God is one, and at the same time, He is many. The same thing is with the Goddess. She is one and at the same time, She is many.”

“God, thank You very much. I shall tell my parents all that You have said to me just now. I am sure they don’t know a thing about gods and goddesses. Now, before You run away God, tell me one thing more. Is it necessary for me to have an Indian name?”

“Yes, you should and must. Tell your parents’ Indian Guru that I have given you your Indian name. It is Ranajit. It means the Conqueror in the Battlefield. This name will give you Victory in the inner battlefield of your life, as Charles gives you Victory in the outer field of life.”

“God, what are the things that I have to conquer in the inner battlefield of life?”

“You have many enemies in your inner life. Among them, fear and doubt are extremely dangerous. When you conquer them, I shall be deeply pleased with you, and be highly proud of you.”

“I promise, I shall do that. Thank You God.”

Sri Chinmoy, Children's conversations with God, Sri Chinmoy Lighthouse, New York, 1971