FIND YOUR PURPOSE – When You Feel Depressed & Lost, LISTEN TO THIS! with Neale Donald Walsch

Neale Donald Walsch 0:00
Try to avoid making a judgement. Try all you can to not go into your mind and he's just going to use it to buy some drugs or alcohol or bla bla bla you know what? Maybe he will buy a bottle of alcohol to help them get through the day. Stop your place in my humble view to decide what's best for him. He's asking you for some help.

Alex Ferrari 0:39
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I like to welcome to the show Neale Donald Walsch, how're you doing Neale?

Neale Donald Walsch 1:13
Now I'm doing great. Thanks for asking. I hope you are as well.

Alex Ferrari 1:16
Thank you so much for coming on the show. This is such a treat. I've been a fan of yours for a while I've not only read obviously your books, but I watched your the film on your life. And we'll talk a little bit about that. And, you know, your story is so inspiring. And so interesting to say the least. Can you tell everybody how you got started on your spiritual journey, which was not a straight arrow? If I'm if I understand correctly?

Neale Donald Walsch 1:41
No, no, it wasn't? Yeah, well, that's a huge question. How I got started on my spiritual journey was I was born. Fair enough. And then I was I was started on my spiritual journey. Now, in the context that I think you mean, I was started on my spiritual journey when I was around seven, seven, or eight. And I don't mean that facetiously. I really mean that because I was raised in a Roman Catholic family, not a strict not a strict religious environment, but Catholic environment nonetheless. And I was sent to a Catholic Elementary School. And there I was told all about God, as, as Catholics understand God to be the sisters in the school and told me all about God, and right and wrong, and all the rest. And I began to have a huge interest. I thought, well, this is fascinating. There's this great big, you know, being in the sky, I'm seven years old, I'm hearing all of this. And then I was told about venial sin and mortal sin and going to hell and going to Purgatory and the whole, the whole process of that religion that Some religions teach us each in their own way. Incidentally, by the way, as an aside, there are 4200 religions on the face of the earth right now, which most people don't really know. But that's an actual count, I didn't make the number of Google that just type into Google, how many religions are there on the earth, and they'll tell you over 4200 religions, so this is not a small thing. And depending on what religion you're born into, you will step into your own spiritual journey in a particular way. So my spiritual journey began when I was around seven years old. And then I began questioning some of the things I was told. And, and then finally, as I got older, I set aside what I had been told and just dropped the whole idea, because I couldn't believe that what I had been told was true. Specifically, I couldn't believe that God would punish us for some of that with everlasting damnation, and no less for some of the things of God, that I would that I was told that God punished us for. So I set aside that whole thing and, but then I kept on coming back to it, Alex over and over again. I would read a book here and there, here, a speaker or whatever. And back and forth. I when I, I started attending other churches, churches of other religious denominations, but still in the Christian tradition, if you will. And then I began even to step outside of that tradition, I attended some services at some Jewish synagogues and some temples and I started exploring other religious traditions. So you've asked a pretty big question about you know, how When did your spiritual journey begin? But the answers that came to me that brought my spiritual journey toward a conclusion concluding in the sense that I was no longer searching. Those answers came to me when I had my conversations with God, and that was about 27 years ago or so. When I was in my early 60s. My late 50s I've lost track exactly, but I had my first conversation with God What started that just to make a long story even longer? By the way, you'll discover that you don't want to ask me 32nd questions, because if you asked me a 32nd question, I'll give you a 30 minute answer. Fair enough. But but this is where it gets interesting. Alex, my life fell apart. Oh, when I was around 49 years old or so, my relationship with my then significant other who's still a significant person in my life. Now my ex wife ended. And she asked me to leave which I said, Okay, I would then and by the way, I hadn't done anything horrible. We didn't have an affair. I didn't have nothing going on like that. We simply weren't making it wasn't we weren't getting along. So she said, You know, I'm not having any fun anymore. How about if we just don't, don't be together? i Okay. But then Alex, within five days, I lost my job. I was let go, I was downsized in the corporate wording was the last person hired. So I was the first person to leave, I had no seniority as they were trying to cut expenses in a corporation that I worked for. So now I'm out of working out of a relationship all within the same five day period. But wait a minute, that wasn't enough. God said, let's give him the triple whammy. So I'm driving down the road looking for work, actually. And an old guy in his car decides to turn ahead of me. He's an 89 year old man, God bless him. And he admitted afterward, he had made a terrible mistake it was he agreed the police agreed everyone agreed it was his fault. He turned he made a left turn right in front of me. smashed into my car pretty badly. And I was I sustained a broken neck. I mean, as soon as it happened, I heard it. I heard that. Oh, my God, I thought that can't be good. And of course, the ambulance came. They rushed me to the hospital. And they saw that I had a broken neck and not a hairline fracture. There. I was told I had a three quarter inch avulsion fracture of the seventh cervical vertebrae posteriorly Alex, that's a breaking your neck large enough to put a pencil through. So the doctor said to me, you know when I came to, you have no right to be alive. Most people who suffer that large of a fracture in your neck, especially at that seven cervical vertebrae position, almost always suffered spinal cord complications and almost always die. And if not die, if they don't die, they certainly are paralyzed. He said you've you've escaped both outcomes. It's a miracle. He looked me straight in the eye. He said. So what are you going to do with the rest of your life? Because my friend, you've been given a huge gift today. shouldn't even be here. Wow, that stopped me in my tracks. But I couldn't find work anywhere. I was told to wear a Philadelphia caller had a therapeutic device, one of those large plastic collars. And because the doctor said imagine a basketball being head of being being held held up by a pin. That's what's going on when your neck right now. So you're not to take off this collar. For any reason. You were 24 hours not even just sleeping, showering. You keep the collar on at all times. And I'm trying to find a job Alex, no one will hire me. Because as soon as I walked in, they saw me as one guy was funny, honest enough to say, you know, he said, you know, Mr. Walsh, you're walking insurance claim, make one wrong move, we can see as you're badly injured, you make one wrong move, and we're paying your your medical bills for the rest of your life. And we can't do that. I couldn't find work anywhere I wound up finally being ejected from my apartment. And I wound up living on the sidewalk living on the street, not for a couple of bad weeks or a couple of bad months. But for an entire year of my life. I'm living on the sidewalk sleeping on the ground. My ex wife did was kind enough to give me my tent or camping tent. But that was it that kept me out of the rain. Fair enough. But didn't keep me out of the cold, not very warm in a tent. And I'm lying on the ground. Sleeping on the ground and walking the streets during the day was my handout to people anything would help anything. I remember one guy even said to me, he said I just I have a couple of quarters in my pocket right now. I happened to just you spent the last cash I've got I got some loose change. I said you know what? If everybody I asked today gave me a couple of quarters, I could actually have a hamburger and some french fries before the day was out. Please. Even a couple of quarters. He said okay pal here this is that's how I live for a year. I I walk in the streets asking for money, no place to even go to the bathroom. You want to talk about losing your dignity. I had nowhere to go to the bathroom. I was trying to try to sneak in restaurants in the sleeping, you know, slip in to the bathroom as fast as I could and slip out of there. But I was caught by the manager of one of those restaurants even one time. She stopped me at the front door. She said no, please, please. No, no, no, no homeless people. Because at that point, I was on the streets. Six months. My hair's done in the middle of my back. I don't smell very good. I don't look very good. I mean, I'm, I got one pair of jeans, two shirts, a pair of shoes. And that's it. That's my earthly possessions. So I walk into this restaurant and she stops me. She happened to be at the front door. No, no, no, no, please. No street people. This is a lovely restaurant. I said, I really, really need to use the bathroom. I swear I swear. In and out, I'll be in and out. You won't even know I was stare. She just rolled her eyes. All right, whatever. I had a big my way into the bathroom. Because of course you knew you were going to spend any money in there. So

I've learned how to deal with that experience of the loss of everything. I wasn't able to see my children. Were going to take them I was homeless. My wife didn't stop me from seeing the kids back. Oh, I forgot to say my car was stolen. Obviously. I'm not making this story up. My car was stolen right off the street, where I parked it. And so I went to the police. They say when did you miss it? I said last night. I mean, they said last night, this is the first time we say anything to you said that car has been parted out by now doesn't even exist in one piece anymore. So man, so I'm on foot. I'm lying on the ground. I'm living in a tent. And I have no money at all that didn't not a nickel, I'd spent all the money I could spend to try to get through life and my savings were all gone. So that's my story. Now, I found a little part time job. And I got it. It was a weekend job. It two days a week, I could work as a weekend fill in. At a local radio station, I got a job. I had just enough money from that two days a week job to get a little place to live tiny, little, tiny little garage kind of an apartment in the back of somebody's house that they turned into turned into a little bachelor pad in there I hung up. That's when I woke up Alex in the middle of the night. Now, by the way, I'm not a young man, this is not going on when I'm 2535 or even 45. As I said, I am almost 50 at this point. When I wake up in the middle of the night at 430 in the morning, and of crying out in my mind. All right. All right. All right. What does it take to make life work? What have I done to deserve a life of such continuing struggle? Can somebody tell me the rules y'all play? I will play this stupid game. Just keep it a rule book. Come on. And once you give you the rules don't change. Because the rules of life are changing every other week. What's so what does it take to make life work? Alex, I began hearing like there was a voice in the room. Answers in my head. And there are so fascinating I started writing them down on a yellow legal pad. And I started asking questions on the yellow legal pad question answer your question answer your question. So I kept a written record because it was so fascinating to me the experience I was having at 430 in the morning when I got up out of this set of anger that I was experiencing. I'm experiencing this question answer process. So I'm thinking, wow, this is fascinating. And I'm really feeling better. And tears are rolling down my face because it was making me feel so good, frankly. And this went on for several weeks. This whole process I just described. And then I was told in this process. You will make up this one day a book. And it will be read by many people. Right? Right. I could just imagine, I'm going to send my middle of the night, mental meanderings to a publisher who's gonna say stop the process. We got a guy here is talking to God.

Alex Ferrari 14:50
On paper, it sounds like a fantastic pitch.

Neale Donald Walsch 14:52
Yeah, of course it's not going to happen. I knew it wasn't a chance in the world. But in fact, one of The five publishers that I sent it to small publishing house on the East Coast, then a small publishing house. Now fairly big ones. Thank you very much. They published it. And I called it Conversations with God. And, and the book, they didn't want to call it by the way that first of all, he wanted to publish it as a work of fiction. That was a great fictional story. I said, Well, when I go in there, this is not a fictional story. This is actually happening in my life. This Yeah, yeah. But But nobody's gonna believe it. I said, You know what, then don't publish it. Just because it's not a work of fiction, and I will not have it represented as a work of fiction. It's a work, okay, we can be at least change the title, because no one's going to have conversations with God. I mean, really, I said, No, we're not changing the title, either. We're going to call it that, or you're not going to publish it, a nonfiction book called Conversations with God. The point of which I said to the publisher, in case you haven't read the material, is that we're all having conversations with God all the time, we're simply calling it something else. women's intuition, a moment of inspiration, and Epiphany, you know, whatever, whatever we can get away with. Nobody would call it but I'm calling it Conversations with God, because that's exactly what it was. He said, was not going to sell very many copies with that kind of a title, because people are going to find themselves pushed back from that. I said, Well, yeah. And then it won't, that it won't, but don't put it out. He said, okay, okay, relax, like, we're gonna put out a few 1000 copies. And he was right. I didn't sell very many copies. Only 15 million in 37 languages, in every country of the world. So you go figure it out. So I began to listen carefully to what I was being told, because I was told you will make up this one day a book, and it will be read by many people. So I started very seriously looking at this experiences, this experience that I was having. And the experience, by the way, didn't stop. It didn't stop simply because I sent a bunch of pages to a publisher, it was ongoing in my life. So I continued to keep track of what I was, I want to say receiving in this way. And that resulted in eight more conversations with God books, called by different titles, some were called friendship with God communion with God, the new revelations, but there were nine dialogue books that ultimately moved through me, and that were placed into the marketplace of ideas. Since then, I've written altogether 39 books, nine of which were conversations, dialogues, and the other 30 books are extrapolating and expanding and exploring the messages in those nine dialogue books. So that's my story. And I'm sticking to it. Sorry, you asked.

Alex Ferrari 17:59
And not at all, not at all is, as a fascinating story. It was such a fascinating story that it was turned into a movie that I've watched multiple times over the course of my life. And I just have to ask you, when someone came to you, and like, you want to make a movie out of your life story. What was that? Like? What was it like the process? And what was it like? Seeing your life being portrayed on screen? I mean, was it surreal?

Neale Donald Walsch 18:26
Yeah, surreal is the word we both said the words the same time because that's exactly what it was utterly surreal. First of all, it was made into movie by a person I had come to know, before the offer was made. The books had been out for a while, and had been read by a lot of people all over the world, as some people were, you know, fairly well known. And, you know, Robin Williams read it, loved it. Charlie Bird wrote me a bunch of bunches of people whose names we all know. And they had read the book. So I was invited to a, I was invited to the premiere of a have a movie called What Dreams May Come in which Robin was one of the stars are my favorite movies of all time. I love that movie. Yeah. And so I was invited to that premiere by the director and producer of the film, a man named Steven Simon. And so I was invited there. And Steven and I became friends. We just kind of became we were just acquaintances. At first we kind of hit it off really well together, and we became good friends. So I had this really nice, nice friend down there in Hollywood. And then one day, about a year and a half later, he called me and he said, You know what? You'd like to make a movie of your life. I say, You're kidding me. So no, no, I wouldn't kid about tick marks. I would. We'd like to make a movie of your whole life and this whole experience you've had. I said, well come on up. Let's talk about it. So he flew up to where I was living in for I still live in Southern Oregon small city called Ashland. And he flew up. And we sat down and talked about it for about three or four days. And he brought with him a screenwriter. And the screenwriter sat down with me and listened to my old story that I just explained to you. But he asked me many, many questions, and got lots of details about my life. And by golly, went down back down to Hollywood and produced a screenplay. And they made the movie. And then I was invited to go watch the premiere of the movie. Now, I'm not attending the premiere, I'm watching the movie of my life, on a big cinema scope, movie screen. And it was surreal. I mean, the back of the room that night, I didn't want anyone to know who I was some way in the back of the room in the dark, dark of the theater, watching this movie of my life. And it was totally, totally surreal. But they did a wonderful job of screenwriter did a terrific job capturing all I had shared with him. And the director, Steven, he directed the film himself, he produced and directed it, he had done many other movies, what he had done, what we've read, comm is done in Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure is well known in Hollywood. But he made this movie, and he did a terrific job with it, I saw it and really captured the essence of my experience.

Alex Ferrari 21:18
It was a fantastic film I've got I've gone back to the multiple times in my life, because it's just such an your story is so inspirational. And, and when you feel that you've, you're going through a bad time you go back and you watch something like your life story, you're like, Well, maybe I'm not having that bad of a time. Because Because you're experienced as you so eloquently put, it was just you you hit the bottom. I mean, there was they took everything, almost everything from you almost just and just gave you just enough to keep, keep going just enough to keep keep walking a little bit here and there. You know what kept you going that year when you were homeless, like, what got you up other than just pure survival?

Neale Donald Walsch 22:05
I mean, mentally, I think at first it was anger. I was angry at life. And anger is an interesting energy, it can actually motivate you and move you forward. But then after the anger subsided after, you know, three or four months, I thought, well, whatever. I guess this is an eerie thought, This is what my life was going to be. For the rest of my life. I honestly, I could see no way back because no one would hire me. And oh, what's interesting is the insurance company would not pay, they were haggling with me. They agreed. The driver agreed the police report said everyone and there was no disagreement that it was the drivers fault, the other driver's fault. But his insurance company was which insurance companies sometimes do haggling with me because they saw that there was I broke my neck, I was out of work and couldn't get a job. They were looking at a huge, huge award. And they didn't want to pay the audit. So they had an adjuster working with me. And he would not come to an agreement no matter what I suggested to him. So it took two years for them to come to an agreement with me on what they felt that the accent should pay off in terms of insurance benefits to me. In the meantime, I had no way of no way of earning a living. So I got through that year was anger at first at both that had happened the system, you know, the insurance company and the whole the whole way the world worked. But then I finally you know what, Alex f1 They just thought, Okay, I'm just I'm going to be here for a long time, I'm going to be a street person. I'm gonna live the great American nightmare. I'm going to be outside living in a tent to God, at least I have that. And that's it. And I finally relaxed into kind of a benign acceptance. I'm a street person. You know, I smell terrible. I can't even afford, you know, the dollar and a quarter to take a public shower. I mean, okay, that's how it is. And I allowed myself to just step into that and stop resisting it.

Alex Ferrari 24:14
But all the time still looking for a way out like a job something to get you out of the circumstance that you've

Neale Donald Walsch 24:21
After a while I even almost gave up on that. I really, I really did think towards the end. After this was going on now for nine to 11 months. I thought, okay, key until the insurance company pays off. I'm going to be out here. Right? And who knows when that's going to be so and they and the insurance company. They got wind of the fact they knew I was now on the streets. So they were of course now they're really low balling me because they realized that if they gave me if they gave me five bucks, I'd be happy. So the worst condition I was in, the less they wanted to give me as an award for this terrible accident. So here's how the economic system to work, so I totally get it. I understand it. But so I'm out there. And I finally even gave up trying to get a job. Every I had been told no by one too many people and I thought, Okay, I'm just gonna be going hand to mouth. Ask him people, you know. And I see people now, of course all over the place with the same message on their little cardboard sign. When I get off when I get off the freeway, and there they are at the top of the exit ramp, or maybe next to the grocery store in town. Anything helps me when I see a sign that somebody has got hold, it is holding up on cardboard, anything helps, believe me. I know that's not, they're not kidding. I know, experientially, that's not a sales pitch. That's absolutely what's true for that person. So I make sure and I invite everybody who is listening to me right now to do the same thing. Never leave the house with a couple of $5 bills or a couple of tendons in your pocket, I mean, loosely in your pocket, that you can reach in and grab quickly. And when you see a person on the street, asking for help a man or woman, just ask him for some assistance. Try to avoid making a judgement. Try how you can to not go into your mind. And he's just going to use it to buy some drugs from alcohol or you know what, maybe he will buy a bottle of alcohol to help him get through the day to stop your place, in my humble view, to decide what's best for him. He's asking you for some help. So I always make sure I have a five or 10 or even a 20, loosen my pocket. And when I encounter a person like that, reach in and grab it and give it one or two of those to that person. And they do and they look at me and they say thank you so much. Thank you. I go, Hey, you know what? I've been there, done that. I know exactly what you're going through.

Alex Ferrari 27:11
I heard you want to talk about the incredible formula of getting out of any bad space. Which is, I think a little bit about what you're talking about. Now, can you kind of delve into that a little bit?

Neale Donald Walsch 27:24
I have no idea what you're talking about.

Alex Ferrari 27:26
The incredible, the incredible formula of getting out of space is by helping if you're in a bad space, helping someone else.

Neale Donald Walsch 27:33
Yeah. Which almost has the same process of you forgive me focusing there 39 books and he asked me to pull one particular line out of it. But now I know that I know it was referring to Yeah. I was told in conversation, it's got to whatever you want to experience, whether it's get out of a bad space, or whatever else you want to experience in your life, D the cause of another person experiencing that CMC. You want to experience more abundance in your life, causing others to experience more abundance than bears. Want to experience more humor in your life, more love in your life, more companionship in your life, cause another to experience those things in their life, or to experience getting out of a bad spot. help another person get out of a bad spot, be the source. Here's what God said to me now. I don't want you to be the seeker anymore. It's not your place to be a seeker be the source in the life of another of that which you were seeking for yourself. And as you do that, you will experience that you already have it to give that it was there all along with some magic formula. It's really incredible. And it works. By the way, every time. So I've decided to be the source of that which I choose to experience in my own life. Or to put it another way, some guy said a few years ago when he was walking around the planet. He said Do unto others as you would have done unto you is

Alex Ferrari 29:11
He was a pretty interesting guy, that guy.

Neale Donald Walsch 29:15
I have found him interesting, for sure. A bit different from what I thought what I thought was true about him. When I was hearing about him at the age of nine, when I was nine years old, the priest came into my classroom. They came in once a week every Wednesday for catechism, which is a fancy word meaning the teachings of the doctrines and the dog was sent to church and the priest came in and told us in third grade children you have to remember to go to Mass on Sunday. Because if you miss mass without a good excuse, if you're caring for a sick parent or fair enough, or if you're an adult and you have to go to work Okay, if you don't have a good excuse, just decide not to go to Mass. If you should get hit by a car, God forbid on Monday and die, you will be sent to Hell for everlasting damnation, because missing mass is a mortal sin, not a venial sin. Not a spiritual misdemeanor, a mortal sin, you thought. And as it happened, Alex, that was the very week that I did mismas. I was I was going to mess almost every Sunday. It was a really devout young, little lad. But you know, that was the weekend and we had our big playground world series, a World Series of playgrounds was our playground against the playground across town. And we were having a little softball game. And it was the big the big tournament came, and I had to I had to go I wanted I was in the game. And I wanted to go so as mismas is that, of course, that would be the week he came in and told us that's not that's through the fear of God. And maybe, if you don't think that I was racing to get to confession, because he did allow that if I was confessing my sin, and I was given absolution, that I wouldn't be, I'd be erased from that sentence. But if I didn't get I'm racing to confession, because he's telling me this. I'm nine years old. And of course, they don't have confessions in my parish, except on Saturday. So I had to live through the rest of Wednesday, the rest of Thursday, the rest of Friday and on Saturday morning. I'm not exaggerating, I'm petrified. If you don't think that'll make you look both ways as you're crossing the street. And I saw, God forbid, God forbid, I'm saying your prayers. I was taught as a child. Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep and If I should die before a week, I pray the Lord my soul to take I was afraid to go to sleep. For fear something would happen to me. And I didn't have a chance to go to Confession yet to relieve myself of the awful sin of missing mass one Sunday in my life. Now folks, you may be listening to additionally we see well, Neal Neal's exaggerating. Or they might say, Well, fair enough, Neil, but that was back in the 50s. And things aren't that way anymore, do you think not. Check it out. Check it out. I checked it out just a few months ago, I wanted to check to see what the Roman Catholic Church's teaching was on this day of our life in the year 2022. And the teaching hasn't changed. Missing church on Sunday is a mortal sin, payable by death. And I mean payable after death, by hell and damnation for eternity.

Alex Ferrari 32:49
So you can kill somebody and miss church and they're both semi equal as far as the severity.

Neale Donald Walsch 32:57
Unless you go to confession and the premises are solid, you're solid. Or maybe in the old days, give enough money to the church, because then you could get a an absolution I got another one of Catholics mad at me. This just a God that we've been taught about by many of the world's religions of God, who is judgmental, condemning and punishing. It's as simple as that.

Alex Ferrari 33:28
Whenever I was raised Catholic to kneel, and I never I even had those questions. I was like, This doesn't make sense to me. Even as a young man, I was like, This doesn't make any sense to me. I mean, I can sin all I want on Friday night, but then Saturday morning, I can go and get I tell somebody my sins and you're all good after until a couple of Hail Marys and our fathers, I'm like, that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me even back then. And then you just started digging into it critical thinking about these ideas, just like how can one handle God that you're talking about love you eternally. But God forbid, if you don't? Do you know, did you step out of line he will throw you in hell for the rest of eternity.

Neale Donald Walsch 34:10
Yeah, I love you if

Alex Ferrari 34:12
Exactly it is like it's, it was so it didn't make any sense to me. So that's why I kind of eventually started to go away from organized religion and started to experiment and start reading and started looking at all sorts of spiritual teachings and religions in the Eastern philosophies, and, and just trying to figure it all out until I found my path as well. And that's why I do this show. And this is why I try to put this kind of energy out to the world.

Neale Donald Walsch 34:40
You know what, Alex? Honestly, I could be wrong about all of this. I don't need anyone to believe me. You know what I'm saying any more than they would believe or accept what the priest says. Right? We all have to find our own way to God. But my understanding is that God rejects no one because she has nobody She says she has no need to do

Alex Ferrari 35:03
It makes no like, if I have I have kids, I would, I would never do anything, I wouldn't just because they talk back to me, or break one of my rules, I'm not going to throw them into hell for the rest of their, or excommunicate them like that makes no sense. So even just the love of a father or a mother to a child, is, is eternal? How could God? How could God?

Neale Donald Walsch 35:27
And you know? And beyond that, how could God even be hurt? Offended? Is your damage angered or frustrated in any way? If God really is all that is the all power in the universe, the almighty power? What in the world would cause God to be so offended because you miss church on Sunday? To send you to hell for? But of course, it's not true. The Church used it as a tool, just, you know, fear, to keep you to keep the pews filled with people will of course, because if you're a good person, you're a God fearing man. I'm a God fearing man. And, and so

Alex Ferrari 36:06
It makes it makes it makes no sense. Which I wanted to talk to you about your new book, The gods solution? How did this come to be? And what's the what do you want this book to, to do and help the world with?

Neale Donald Walsch 36:19
Well, I'm inviting people to create a new definition of God, the gods solution is my answer to the god dilemma. The book starts by claiming by declaring what the gods dilemma is, the gods dilemma is I see is, you know, if there really is a God, and eight out of 10, people believe there is some kind of higher power. It's really his higher power. Then why is the world such a mess? Why doesn't God just come down here at six it make everything better?

And so I began thinking about that. And I began rereading what I was told in conversations with God. And I wound up with a deep desire to put all of that into one book to create what I call the culmination devotee, literally the apotheosis of the conversation with God body of work. So I sat down and just wrote in about four and a half or five weeks, that book called The God solution. And I offered the possibility that there is a solution to the god dilemma. And the solution is this. Number one, why does some guy just come down and fix everything, because it's not God's desire to simply create a civilization of minions who simply do what she asks for what she demands, and then he'll make everything better. That wasn't God's intention, God's intention was to in fact, imbue all of God's creations, all of its dissension beings in the universe, in this case, every human being on the planet earth, and all sentient beings throughout the cosmos, to imbue each of us with the ability to create our own reality to produce the outcomes that we chose to produce. So when I asked God, well, why don't you just fix everything? God says to me, Well, why don't you just fix everything? And I said, No, no, no, you're the one who's supposed to do and you're the one who has the power to do it. God says to me, no, no, no, no, you're the one who's supposed to do you're the one who has the power to do it. But God, you're the one who has the answers, the ability to change everything. God says, Neil, you're you guys are the one who have the answers, the ability to change everything. So I got that God is given all of us that is the entire civilization, and each of its members free will to produce the outcomes we wish to produce. Now, here's where the screw turns, here's where the problem it can be solved. If we change our definition of God, we then change the underlying ethic, the moral foundation that produces our interactions and our behaviors with each other. So long as we imagine that God is judgmental, condemning and punishing, we will be judgmental, condemning and punishing that others but if we decide that, you know, we've got it wrong, actually, that's not the definition of God. God is not a judging, condemning punishing deity. Now, the god solution, therefore is to create a new definition of God. And the book offers a definition of God, a highly complex topic in two words, perfect love. Pure love. God is pure love. Now, Alex point when I give this little talk in front of an audience, there's always a guy in the back of the room inevitably who will stand up and say on the on the on the on the up, come on. I haven't listened to you for 20 minutes to have you tell me the great revelation of all time. God is love. I said, Whoa, wait a minute. I didn't say that. You didn't hear me say God is Law. You've heard me say God is pure love. All right? What's the difference? The difference is that pure love, needs, expects, requires and demands. nothing in return. Now, if we can embrace what is, in fact, a theologically revolutionary idea, an idea that runs counter to the teachings of almost all of the 4000 religions on the earth. But if we can be idea heroes, can actually be heroic enough to say, You know what, that's really the definition of God, the most accurate definition of God I ever heard. If we can do that, we will create a new ethical infrastructure, a new ethical foundation for all of our human interactions, for our political interactions, our economic interactions, our social interactions, and yes, our spiritual interactions will then come from a place where we say You know what, I need require demand and expect nothing in return. Now, we can no longer use God's behavior with us as our justification for the way we behave with other people. Suddenly, when we say I love you to someone else, it means something entirely different. They no longer means I love you. If it no longer means that if I give back what I assume I'm going to get back, if I love you, then I'll continue loving you. But if I don't get back from you, what I assume I'll get back from you, for my giving you my love them. The deal's off. We no longer have trade deals, like we have this company with nations, nations have trade deals with nations. Sometimes companies have trade deals with other companies, we no longer have trade deals. And I had to stop looking for that perfect Valentine's Day card. Because I never really found one that said, what I really wanted to say, when I was 29, my dearest, my darling, my sweetheart, I treat you very much. And I'll never stop trading. I'll be trading you until the end of time. But if you start trading me if I don't get from you what I'm supposed to get from you for what I've been giving you, the deal is off, because we have here our trade deal. And I thought you understood that.

Now we can say to our beloved, you know what I want to need to require, certainly demand nothing from you in return. That my bliss is in experiencing the flow of love from me to you. If I am experiencing the bliss, of flowing love to you to get love back from you, then I'm not loving you. I'm just simply loving me and using you as a tool as a vehicle for me to experience love. That's not love at all. That's self serving behavior. So we then pull the rug out from other institutions, countries, organizations, people, political parties, nationalities, economic stature, you pull the rug of justification out from under all the interactions, or at least the largest number of them, the dysfunctional interactions that we see between people on Earth, because most of our interactions are based on hey, you know what, you're okay with me? If, if. But if you don't do what I tell you to do, what if you don't agree with my point of view about something? Like if we even have a geographical disagreement on where the border between our countries should be, I will blow you to pieces. I will drop bombs on your cities, in your schools, in your churches, in your concert halls. I will destroy you. If you don't do what I think you should do. We have a disagreement. But you know what? I'm more powerful than you so I get to be right. After all, you've heard you've heard it said before and it's true. Might is right. That's what we've learned from our God. And in this case, I will be acting like god

Alex Ferrari 44:45
It's very, very apropos for what's going on in today's world.

Neale Donald Walsch 44:49
Hello. Ohh Wait a minute. No, Neil, you pull that example out of thin air.

Alex Ferrari 44:56
Nope, that's literally what's happening right now. And So, you know, when with what's happening in the Ukraine, I always thought that that was like, you know, okay, we're not we're beyond this point. Now we're not going to be doing it

Neale Donald Walsch 45:09
Not only in the Ukraine, but in grocery stores in Buffalo, New York, absolutely. Elementary Schools Uvalde, Texas. What are we doing? What are we doing with each other? So looking to each other.

Alex Ferrari 45:28
So what can we do to stop this destructive path to change our course?

Neale Donald Walsch 45:32
The answer is not to try to change our behaviors. See, what we've been trying to do is to change humanity's behaviors, but behaviors are not going to change, unless beliefs change. So you can take behavior mod, what they call behavior modification, throw it out the window as a first step, because it's not the first step. The first step is what I call belief mod, we have to change our beliefs about who we are, why we're here, the purpose and the function of life itself. And who God is for those of us who believe in God, which is eight out of 10 people who God is in relationship to us, and what God wants and what God demands. And what God does, if he doesn't get what she demands, we have to change our beliefs. When and if we change our beliefs, then our behaviors will change because behaviors simply reflect our beliefs. Or when our behaviors change, our experience will change. When our experience changes, our reality will change. And that's how we change the world by changing our beliefs, and here's the fundamental belief, to use a well chosen word that we have to change. We believe in the notion of separation. We've accepted the idea that we are separate entities, individual little entities out here on the earth. And the idea of separation means that we are separate from God, separate from each other. Separate from life itself in a metaphorical way, it's out there, and we're over here. And that separation is what causes us to do what we do, because after all, it's us against the world, I have to do what I need to do to get what I need to get, if that means I have to hurt you to get it. I'm sorry, but that's just how it is. But if we decided to set aside our idea of separation, to realize that we are all one, that there really is only one of us. Then we treat each other, we would like to be treated, we would finally decide, in fact to follow the golden rule, even if we disagreed with someone else. Even if someone else did something to hurt us. Even if someone was attacking us. We would decide, wait a minute. Maybe he was right. There was a guy who was walking around here a few years ago, who said to us, Bless you, bless you. Bless your enemies, pray for those who persecute you. And do good to those who do you evil. When a man slaps you on the right cheek, turn it off from your left. And when a man steals your coat, give him your shirt as well. And what a man asked you to walk one mile with him. Go with him Twain and Raise not your fist to heaven and curse the darkness not PLI light unto the darkness. You might know who you really are. That all those whose lives you touch might know who they really are, as well.

Alex Ferrari 49:11
Neale, there's, there's something going on in our world today. And there seems to be a shift I've talked about on the show multiple times shift happens to be a bumper sticker shift happens. So the the world seems to be going a little bit nutty at this point between environmental, political, economic, the pandemic there's so many things happening to the world that we're all feeling at the same time, which is a unique aspect to this it's not like just one country having an issue or another thing over here. The entire world's feeling it at the same time. I mean, the whole world shut down for a year almost like for a couple of months the literally the world shut down. So what do you think is happening right now? What

Neale Donald Walsch 49:58
Are we going to call the overhaul of humanity? Have you ever written a book about this? The book was written in 2011. It was very pressured. It was a book that was way ahead of its time. But the book is called the storm before the calm. Okay, play on words, we're used to hearing about the calm before the storm. But the book was called the storm before the calm in which I predicted, not in specific terms, but this particular kind of experience. And the book calls it the overhaul of humanity that we are in for an overhaul, not the destruction of humanity, any more than the overhaul of an engine destroys the engine. In fact, it repairs the engine, and makes it work better than ever before. But we are undergoing the overhaul of humanity. That book in 2011, described the overhaul of humanity and talked about how we can move through that process in a way that could stop it from in fact destroying us. And allow it to be the process by which we recreate ourselves a new in the next grandest version of the greatest vision ever, we held about who we are. So that's what we're going through. And when we see it as our golden opportunity to use these events to recreate ourselves, and our society, and our civilization in the grandest thought we ever had about what it's like to be human, then we can resolve that which separates us and produce the outcomes from which we have yearned. What will it take, as I said a moment ago, idea, heroes, enough people saying the same thing. Not just let's stop these behaviors, but let's look at the beliefs that have created these behaviors. And see if we can change those beliefs. When we enough, have enough idea heroes to produce that message, then the first domino will fall. And once the first domino is tipped over, the rest of the dominoes will follow. But that's how my dear Alex, all civilizations, not just those that have existed throughout human history on this planet, but all civilizations in the cosmos and of course, there are many, there's intelligent life in the cosmos, not here. But elsewhere in the cosmos, there is intelligent life. And that's how all civilizations have ultimately evolved through a series of experiences like we're having now to a series of, if you please overhauls where the entire society stopped what it's doing, and looked at itself and said, really? I mean, really? Is this the best we can do? Or is it possible, just possible that there's something we don't fully understand here? about God, about life, and about ourselves? The understanding of which would change everything?

Alex Ferrari 53:13
Is that why we are so entrenched in our tribalism in our separation, that we need to separate ourselves from others? What is the cause of that? And what can we do

Neale Donald Walsch 53:26
Because we're afraid we're going to use our individuality? See, we hang on to the idea of separation. Because if we think that we're all one, we think we're going to be you know, homogenous, or we're going to lose our individuality. Ego, we will, the ego has gotten a bad rap. Actually, I was told in conversations of God, that ego has been given a bad rap, ego run amok is one thing, but ego in and of itself, serves us it helps us to see ourselves as other than, but not separate from each other. And when I asked God to explain that for me, I said, God, come on, I have kind of a pea brain here. I'm just a little guy down here. Help me understand. God said, Alright, hold up your hand. So okay. Gotcha. Don't look at your fingers. Okay. What about it? She said, are they identical? Not not identical. She said, You mean they're different from each other? I said, yeah, they're individual, they all have separate appearances, separate functions. She said, but are they separate from each other? Are they part of the same hand? So well? Well, they are, they are part of the same man. And she said is the hand part of the same body be able to have this part of the body? Oh, oh. So individuality does not mean separation. I see. I see. Got me a favor. Give me a hand here.

Alex Ferrari 55:08
God has a fantastic sense of humor,

Neale Donald Walsch 55:10
And a great way to play with words.

Alex Ferrari 55:13
Oh, wonderful. That's what I loved about your books. That the, the way God presents itself in the books is so unlike another representation of the representations of God that we've ever heard, as we've discussed in this in this conversation where, you know, the, you know, the angry guy, the vengeful God all this, this guy who was so loving and joyful and happy and, and answered the questions and was snarky at sometimes and was just like it was wonderful. It was just a wonderful way of of approaching this subject matter that

Neale Donald Walsch 55:51
God said to me, I will talk to you in your own language. I will speak to you as you speak to each other. Maybe now. You'll be able to hear me.

Alex Ferrari 56:02
Now, where can people pick up a Windsor? Windsor new book God's solution out and available? And where can people find out more about you?

Neale Donald Walsch 56:09
And well, the book has been off for a while, but I'm making copies of it available for free. And they can just download the book, on their computer, on their iPad or even on your phone. You can download the book at no cost. All you have to do is go to my web page at nealedonaldwalsch.com. And there you should find a link that allows you to download and if you don't find it there, just write me a note. Say just reading Neale at nealedonaldwalsch.com Send me an email. Neale at nealedonaldwalsch.com got spell the name right though the internet is unforgiving. one letter at a place and the email will not get to me. So look at how my name is spelled. It's all over the internet. You can't miss it. That send me a note, Neil at Neale Donald walsch.com. I want a free copy of your book. And I'll send you a link by return mail. You'll get within 24 hours. And you can download the entire book to your computer without spending a dime.

Alex Ferrari 57:12
Now, Neale, I'm gonna ask you two questions important,

Neale Donald Walsch 57:14
By the way, excuse me. One last postscript, please. That's how important I think the message is. I think I want you to have this message in your hand. Without having to spend a nickel to get there. Just do me a favor, read the book and pass it on.

Alex Ferrari 57:34
Now I'm going to ask him, Neale, two questions. I asked all of my guests.

Neale Donald Walsch 57:38
What? No, absolutely not. I can't tell you. How many times a week do you have sex? Why would you ask a question?

Alex Ferrari 57:44
I mean, I was always curious. What is your mission in this life?

Neale Donald Walsch 57:53
I have a three part mission that I was given, if you please invited to accept in the conversations with kind of dialogue, part one, Neil, go out there and change the world's mind about time to kneel, go out there and give people back to themselves. Three, Neil, go out there and awaken the species. So that's where raison d'etre is the French would say, That's my reason for being. And that's what I do. Virtually every day of my life. This is one of three interviews I've done today alone. It's free one hour interviews on just this single day, I do about 15 or 20. A week, in some weeks. And I'm constantly sharing with people, what it is that's been shared with me.

Alex Ferrari 59:03
And last question, what is the ultimate purpose of life?

Neale Donald Walsch 59:08
To announce to declare, to express and fulfill, to become to experience who you really are, to step into the demonstration of your true identity, to know yourself, as an aspect, and individuation of divinity. In the demonstration, that conceptually that you have a concept of got an IR one or whatever, as a demonstration as an actual expression, or to put it in one word, evolution you're here to evolve to the next grandest level of who we really are. It's really quite simple. The agenda of So it's really quite simple. We've come into physicality from the realm of spirituality that we might express that simply not simply know, but express who we really are. And the reason we've done it in the realm of physicality, as opposed to the realm of spirituality, is that in the role of physicality, we've created a contextual field, where the opposite of what we are, exists. Because if the opposite of what you are, did not exist, what you are, could not be experienced. To make it simple. Let's say you are the light, just just as a metaphor, I am the light, I want to experience myself as the light, I don't want to just know myself as the light, I want you to have an expression of it. So it can flow through me as me. And I can say I have actually expressed it, and demonstrated it. But you can't demonstrate who you are in the absence of what you are not. Therefore, if you see, here's a light you will create in your life, the darkness so that you can be the light in the face of the darkness. Therefore, Judge not neither condemn, but be a light on to the darkness, that you might be who you really are. I could, of course, be wrong about all of this. I don't think so.

Alex Ferrari 1:01:38
Neale, thank you so much for coming on the show and thank you for your message and all the amazing work you've done over the years and for putting this into the world. It desperately needs it now more than ever, so I appreciate you my friend and thank you so much for everything.

Neale Donald Walsch 1:01:56
Thank you, Alex for having me. It's been lovely to be here with you.