This book, as the title suggests, is a recording of a question-and-answer session held at the Vedanta Society of Chicago in 1982. The session covered a wide range of subjects relevant to modern world such as reincarnation, incarnation of God, the guru, the role of Advaita Vedanta in the present world, the relation between science and religion, the problem of conversion in religion, the caste system, the position of women in India, and so forth. The author's lucid and refreshing replies, which are given in the light of modern thought, addresses the pressing problems of the present day.
I have been asked many times, Why do you laugh so much and make so many jokes? I become serious sometimes--when I have a stomachache! The Lord is all blissfulness. He is the reality behind all that exists. He is the goodness, the truth in everything. You are His incarnations. That is what is glorious. The nearer you are to Him, the less you will have occasions to cry or weep. The further we are from Him, the more will long faces come. The more we know of Him, the more misery vanishes.
-Swami Vivekananda