THE POWER OF QUESTIONS

The quality of answers in our life depends on quality of questions we ask.

Special prerogative of the human mind is that it can think and ask questions. Given a problem, we have the ability to find solutions. The ability for making inquiries is in-built in us. That's why one of the most important medium of knowledge comes through questions and answers. It's not astonishing then to understand why both the most important Vedic scriptures - the Bhagvat-Gita and the Srimad-Bhagvatam are in a question-answer format.

But not everyone is interested to ask questions and find solutions to problems that they face. Most people prefer to embrace a life of unthinking - "of playing dead", they prefer to run away from problems rather than find solutions to them. Why? For the simple fact that the answers - the truth may not always be palatable and the more difficult part is that, it may be demanding of us. We may have to leave our comfort zone and tread an unknown path. The ego reasons "Who knows what the path of truth will be like? At least this path even though may not be the best but at least it's not scary".

This mentality is like that of an ostrich which buries it's head in the ground when it sees a tiger attacking it. What it doesn't know is that closing it's eye to the problem is not the solution but the very problem itself. We emerge much stronger when we face our problems head-on rather than run away from it. Only the bold dare to question and seek solutions and only they are the recipients of success. As a Chinese saying goes - "If you ask a question, you may be a fool for five minutes but if you don't ask one, you remain a fool for a lifetime."

Let us see a few real life stories of people who were courageous enough to ask the right questions even though it was difficult. The result - a life of freedom, a life of success, a life of greatness.

STORY 1

One of the best ways to control our focus is through the power of questions. Do you know that asking the right question can actually save your life? It saved Stanislavsky Lech's life. The Nazis stormed into his home one night and herded him and his family into a death camp in Krakow. His family was murdered before his eyes.

Weak, grieving, and starving, he worked from sunrise to sundown alongside the other prisoners of the concentration camp. How could anyone survive such horrors? Somehow he continued.

One day, he looked at the nightmare around him and decided that if he stayed there even one more day, he would die. He decided that he had to escape. And most important, he believed that even though no one before him had escaped, somehow there was a way.

His focus changed from how to survive to asking instead, "How can we escape from this horrible place?" He received the same answer over and over. "Don't be a fool! There is no escape. Asking such questions will only torture your soul." But he wouldn't accept this answer. He kept asking himself, "How can I do it? There must be a way. How can I get out of here?"

One day, his answer came. Lech smelled rotting flesh just a few feet from where he worked: men, women, and children who had been gassed and whose naked corpses had been piled into the back of a truck. As the sun set and the work party left for the barracks, he pulled off his clothes and dove naked into the pile of bodies while no one was looking.

Pretending to be dead, he waited with the sickening smell of death all around him, the weight of all the corpses pressing upon him. Finally, he heard a truck engine start. After a short ride, the mountain of bodies was dumped into an open grave. He waited until he was certain no one was nearby, and ran - naked - the twenty five miles to freedom.

What made a difference between the fate of Stanislavsky Lech and that of many millions who died in concentration camps? Clearly there were several factors, but one difference is that he asked a different question. And he asked it over and over, certain that he would receive an answer.

We ask ourselves questions all day long. Our questions influence our focus, how we think, and how we feel. Asking the right questions can be a major way to turn our life around. Instead of asking, "Why is life so unfair?" and "Why don't my plans ever work out?," we may ask questions that could give us useful answers.

STORY 2

Michael Jordan was born in 1963, in the slums of Brooklyn, New York.

He had four siblings and his father's earnings were not sufficient to provide for the whole family.

One day, his father called Michael, who was 13 years old and handed him piece of used clothing and asked: "What do you think the value of this outfit would be?"

Jordan replied, "Maybe one dollar."

His father asked, "Can you sell it for two dollars? If you can sell it, it would mean that you are a big help to your family."

Jordan nodded his head, "I'll try, but no guarantee that I'll be successful."

Jordon asked himself again and again "How can I sell this cloth for two dollar?". An idea dawned on him. He carefully washed the cloth clean. Because they didn't have an iron, to smoothen the cloth, he leveled it with a clothes brush on a flat board, then kept it in the sun to dry. The next day, he brought the cloth to a crowded underground station. After offering it for more than six hours, he finally managed to sell it for $2. He took the two dollar bill and ran home.

A few days later, his father again gave him a piece of used clothing, "Can you think of a way you can sell this for 20 bucks?"

Aghast, Jordan said, "How is it possible? This outfit can only fetch two dollars at the most."

His father replied, "Why don't you try it first? There might be a way."

Jordon asked himself repeatedly, "How can I sell this cloth for twenty dollars?" After breaking his head for a few hours, finally, he got an idea.

He asked for his cousin's help to paint a picture of Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse on the garment. Then he tried to sell it in a school where the children of the rich study.

Soon a housekeeper, who was there to pick his master, bought that outfit for his master. The master was a little boy of only 10 years. He loved it so much and he gave a five dollar tip. 25 dollars was a huge amount for Jordan, the equivalent of a month's salary of his father.

When he got home, his father gave him yet another piece of used clothing, "Will you be able to resell this at a price of 200 dollars?" Jordan's eyes lit up.

This time, Jordan accepted the cloth without the slightest doubt. He didn't give up, he kept straining his mind to find the solution. Two months later a popular movie actress Farah Fawcett came to New York for her Movie promos. After the press conference, Jordan made his way through the security forces to reach the side of Farah Fawcett and requested her autograph on the piece of clothing. When Fawcett saw this innocent child asking for her autograph, she gladly signed it.

Jordan was shouting very excitedly, "This is a jersey signed by Miss Farah Fawcett, the selling price is 200 dollars!" He auctioned off the cloth to a businessman for a price of 1,200 dollars!

Upon returning home, his father broke into TEARS and said, "I am amazed that you did it My child! You're really great! Now, you can achieve anything in life"

No wonder that he went on to become the greatest basketball player of all times.

Jordon wasn't looking for excuses, he was looking for solutions. If we keep looking for answers we will find it. As the Bible says - Seek and you shall find. Knock and the door will open.

STORY 3

Srila Prabhupada, was ordered by his spiritual master to print spiritual books and spread the message of Krishna Consciousness in the western world in the year 1922. For forty years, he kept this instruction in his heart and kept trying to fulfill it. He kept asking himself, "How can I carry out the orders of my spiritual master?" Because he was sincere in finding a way to fulfill this order, God helped him in ways beyond his expectation. There is great power in sincerely seeking out solutions. One definition of sincerity is - given an instruction, we don't try to find excuses but we find solutions.

The Lord within our hearts reveals answers to questions we are eager to find answers for. It's up to us to ask the right questions - empowering questions.

I will end this article by quoting a section from the purport to Srimad Bhagvatam 1.2.5 written by Srila Prabhupada, which not only succinctly sums up this topic but takes it to the crescendo.

"The whole world is full of questions and answers. The birds, beasts and men are all busy in the matter of perpetual questions and answers. In the morning the birds in the nest become busy with questions and answers, and in the evening also the same birds come back and again become busy with questions and answers. The human being, unless he is fast asleep at night, is busy with questions and answers. The businessmen in the market are busy with questions and answers, and so also the lawyers in the court and the students in the schools and colleges. The legislators in the parliament are also busy with questions and answers, and the politicians and the press representatives are all busy with questions and answers. Although they go on making such questions and answers for their whole lives, they are not at all satisfied. Satisfaction of the soul can only be obtained by questions and answers on the subject of Krishna.

Krishna is our most intimate master, friend, father or son and object of conjugal love. Forgetting Krishna, we have created so many objects of questions and answers, but none of them are able to give us complete satisfaction. All things -- but Krishna -- give temporary satisfaction only, so if we are to have complete satisfaction we must take to the questions and answers about Krishna. We cannot live for a moment without being questioned or without giving answers. Because the Srimad-Bhagavatam deals with questions and answers that are related to Krishna, we can derive the highest satisfaction only by reading and hearing this transcendental literature. One should learn the Srimad-Bhagavatam and make an all-around solution to all problems pertaining to social, political or religious matters. Srimad-Bhagavatam and Krishna are the sum total of all things."

- Achyut Gopal Das