Are you asking this question out of love for God or out of curiosity?

If you have devotion and love towards God, then understand that God is supremely powerful. He resides within all beings. So He is simultaneously listening to the questions of all beings. Though 1000s of people may pray and ask Him for help at the same time, for Him - who is all pervading i.e. present in each and every one of us, - it is just one question! He can easily give the remedy in a moment.

Earlier, while counting coins, either in a hotel or from a temple Hundi, many people would sit together, separate the coins in accordance to denominations and count them. This task was laborious and would take a long time. Now what do they do? There are sieves to separate the coins based on their dimensions. Using this machine, instantly separates the coins. This is a simple invention by the human mind. If a human mind can have this capacity, then imagine the capacity of the Lord who created the humans?

He has only one mind to work with, one question to answer, at a time, since He exists within everyone. Only those who have excessive attachment towards their body have questions.

One who is not attached to the body, has no questions. There are Avadhootas, who will be simply seated in some corner. They eat if someone provides them food, else they don’t. They accept praise and criticism alike. Suppose there is a mad man. He has no attachment towards his body. We may feel sorry for him and out of compassion give him something. But he has no sorrow, no hunger and no thirst. He doesn’t care even for his life.

We are all attached to the body and listen to our senses. We wish to satisfy our senses all the time. We experience hunger, thirst, ego, itching etc. We want to protect ourselves and we cover our body with clothes. We cut our hair fashionably as we are not happy with the natural beauty given by God. All these are still devotees but do not have the right approach. We must give up excessive attachment towards the body and develop a firm faith that God resides in us.

All those who go to Tirupati pray, “O Lord, please give me strength to climb the steps.” Those who had a good experience may put some money into the Hundi. Even one who did not experience anything good may still put money in the hundi hoping for a better experience. One who thinks that no good happened to me, why should I put money in the Hundi, would not even travel that distance again. People travel that distance with some belief.

(The boy then questioned, “When does God rest?” )

You are asking like Namadeva. You sleep, don’t you? There is God in you. When you sleep, He rests. That is why you should always remember that God resides in you and live your life very carefully. You should not lie, you should not commit mistakes. You should not consume improper food. When you have this faith that ‘God lives in me’, then you become true devotee. It is not just saying orally, “O! God is my heart” and doing all the wrong things. Don’t you remember God’s presence in you then? He is within you all the time. You should pray for a good mind.

(Q&A Session 12 June 2016)