Conversations with God : An Uncommon Dialogue (Book 1)

Read out of curiosity...and it's tragically funny. Reminds me of a line said by Matthew Broderick's character Phillipe Gaston in the 1985 film "Ladyhawke": "Sir, the truth is, I talk to God all the time, and, no offense, but He never mentioned you."

Anyway, accounting for the rating: three stars for making me laugh plus three stars for an imaginative tale. Subtract four stars for trying to pawn off things like these as words of his God:

"Your job on Earth, therefore, is not to learn."
[Strike one...you're out. No discussion.]

"Yet there are no victims in the world, and no villains."
[Um, okay]

"In the largest sense, all the 'bad' things that happen are of your choosing. The mistake is not in choosing them, but in calling them bad. For in show more calling them bad, you call your Self bad,
since you created them."
[Riiigghhhtt]

"I have never set down a “right” or “wrong,” a “do” or a “don’t.” To do so would be to strip you completely of your greatest gift—the opportunity to do as you please, and experience the results of that;"
[Really? Did we read the same bible, Mr. Walsch?]

"...because My promises are too good to be true."
[No comment.]

"There is no coincidence in the universe —only a grand design; an incredible 'snowflake.'"
[Cute philosophical BS.]

"I am not pleased by suffering, and whoever says I am does not know Me.
... I have put an end to it. You simply refuse to use the tools I have given you with which to realize that. You see, suffering has nothing to do with events, but with one’s reaction to them."
[ Apparently, whoever wrote Your book did not know You either.]

And so on... Oh, also subtract two stars because Walsch wrote two more books on the same subject that I can't muster the will to read. Add one because zero stars implies no opinion and I certainly have an opinion on his fiction. show less

Of all the books I've read in my lifetime, this one is perhaps the most difficult for me to review. For starters, I'd need a special tag to describe it as "once influential, now unreadable."

I was 19 years old and curious about my spiritual place in the world. I had recently left home for the first time and had a number of eye-opening experiences that shook up everything I thought I knew. So it was during this period of existential uncertainty that I discovered Neale Donald Walsch's Conversations With God. And just like that, my entire worldview changed overnight—torn down and ready for rebuilding.

Reading Walsch's book was such a pinnacle moment in my life that everything around me took on this aura of affirmation. Here was a way of show more understanding the world that I'd never previously considered, and the insights I gained propelled my life in new directions, both delightful and frightening. Up until then I was like a corked bottle, brimming with possibility and unknown expectations, and then Conversations With God changed everything.

The irony is that several years later I outgrew the book. When I read Walsch's words now I don't derive anywhere near the same joy I once did, and just as frequently I disagree with him. That seems a disheartening thing to say about one of the most important books of my life. show less

This book is very thought provoking ... my favorite kind. It is the story of a man who says he was writing his nightly letter to God. Angry, depressed, searching for the meaning and purpose of his life. He asks God questions and states that God answered him and told him to write the entire conversation down and publish it. The book is amazing! It makes you stop and think, not only because the questions he asks are common questions to everyone, at least everyone I know, but because the answers make SO much sense, maybe TOO much sense. He refers to the "Buddha" as a Saint, he refers to common beliefs as human twists on what the Bible was really supposed to say and he states there is NO DEVIL or Hell. He says the Ten Commnadments are not show more commandments at all, they are His (God's) commitments to us as his creation, His promises to us. He insists that He is misrepresented and His words also. He reminds us that the Bible was written by men who interpreted it the way they THOUGHT it should be and picked and chose what was included in the Bible. He talks about mind, spirit, body. He talks about our control over our own circumstances and even over world circumstances. Most interesting, to me, is that if you believe the book (and the jury is still out), God has a sense of HUMOR and delights in our individuality and our desire to learn, grow and most importantly, CREATE. This book has to be one of THE most thought provoking books I have ever read. Religion is not what God wants, God wants what we want. He doesn't punish, the end is already written. The book makes you want to know more, wants you want to know and makes you ask questions, which to me is the best part of the book! I would recommend this book to anyone who has the desire to learn, the open mind required to entertain another "take" on things and anyone who enjoys thought provoking reading! show less

Not my kind of read, but interesting and if you have extra time, worth considering.

"Belief in revelation is a great temptation for those who prefer a shortcut, who want to leapfrog the tedious labor (as they deem it) of thinking."

Pantheism = all things are manifestations of divine substance, without a personal God

Nondualism = all things are illusions since there is nothing but the divine substance

Stoicism (a popular form of pantheism) = what's happening is merely what's happening. How you feel about it is another matter. Every catastrophe is a welcome opportunity to grow more virtuous. (p. 105 of conversations w god) similar to Christian Science denial of reality of pain.

There is no coincidence, and nothing happens by accident. Every show more event and adventure is called to your self by your self in order that you might create and experience who you really are (p. 51-52) is stoicism through the all-permeating Logos of God crossed with non-dualism as ones nature is the same as the divine Brahman.... All to remember our own divine identity and origin.

The goal then is the experience of self discovery, not simply the knowledge one is thereby discovering. Much like the great Sufi mystics who taught that God created Man, the heavenly Man of Light, in order to behold his own glory. As individuals become aware of their ultimate identity with Allah and seek to experience it again, they grow closer to the divine prototype oh humanity (the Prophet Muhammad being the perfect historical manifestation) they come to contemplate through the inner eye to behold the glory from which they stem and on which they partake, and in that moment, God knows himself through their eyes... The most profound depth of conv w God

Your asking is a statement of lack, and yor saying you want a thing only works to produce that precise experience - wanting - in your reality. (p. 11) Instead of "I want success,' think 'I have success."



"Belief in revelation is a great temptation for those who prefer a shortcut, who want to leapfrog the tedious labor (as they deem it) of thinking." show less

"Conversaciones con Dios 1" de Neale Donald Walsch es el primer libro de la serie, donde el autor relata un diálogo con una voz divina que responde a sus inquietudes sobre la vida, el propósito y la existencia. La obra invita a cuestionar creencias y explorar nuevas formas de vivir con mayor conciencia espiritual.

Phenomenal book!! I have read this book before but I was at a different point in my life, I was younger and less experienced then, so I took from it only what was relevant to me at the time and I am reading it again to renew and further my knowledge as I am in a different point in my life again so other parts and points in the book will apply to me now!!! There are those that will say the book is blasphemy etc etc yada yada yada but I don't read the book as my gospel I read it because whether he was genuinely communicating with GOD or not I agree with a lot of what is being said in the book. The book spoke to the things that I already knew in my heart and soul but couldn't put it into the "least effective communicators...WORDS" Pg3.

I have always believed that books find us when we need them. That was the case with Conversations With God. This author said what what I needed to hear at that time so it was a powerful, thought provoking experience. I reread chapters from time to time and it still brings me comfort and something to ponder. I like how the author relates to God. I haven't decided which way I lean yet - but I like the idea of a collaborative, loving creator. I also liked the idea of us as creators.