A Higher Conversation: Another Way to be Human is a beautiful book that takes one on a ride to understand themselves better. It is essentially an encapsulation of the conversations Chan had with his metaphysical being. In a candid conversation with Bookish Fame, Neil David Chan talked about his book, his writing, his thoughts on being an author, and his future plans.
- Please introduce yourself to our readers.
I am Neil David Chan, author of my book “A Higher Conversation. I live in Toronto, Canada, with my wife. We have two adult children. I love life and the experiences I get from it. I enjoy my conversation with my soul and through this conversation, I have access to a higher library and higher understanding. Anyone can get this access; it is freely available to everyone.
- When did it dawn upon you that you wanted to be a writer?
I started making conversations with my soul three years back. Slowly, and very gradually I began to grasp what this meant. Over time, I became a scribe. From this activity, my book started to take shape.
- What inspires you to write books? What are the things which catch your attention?
The wisdom, one receives from a conversation with your soul is amazing. It teaches you to be peaceful, loving, and joyful, the three basic ingredients of life. From this state of mind, it becomes easy to share this, with the world we live in. Consider it like an open-source code freely available to everyone. The passion to do this gives you the energy to write. When we see the amount of pure selfishness and the overpowering need to be happy using your body alone, I feel sad that our mind and our soul are neglected and abandoned. This catches my attention powerfully.
- Tell me something in brief about your book? How long did it take you to write it?
I am going to say about three years.
My book is a conversation, I had with my soul on human subjects that we have absorbed over 3000 years. The human subject matter is covered in 11 chapters. Each human activity we pursue in these 11 chapters gets an interpretation from my soul from higher ground. Each activity is analyzed from a human point of view and then given a meta-human layer to allow it to be broken down and seen with a new filter and new lens. This allows a higher viewpoint to emerge and gives you – Another way to be human.
- What were some of the challenges while writing and publishing your book?
In writing I did not feel or face any challenges, the feelings and the words came out naturally. However, when it came to publishing, it’s a very different world. Multiple commercial aspects come into play. Projecting revenue from book sales is a major decision driver for the publisher. My book genre is metaphilosophy circling on the border of metaphysics and close to metaspirituality. A not so fun subject matter for anyone. So, I faced multiple rejections from publishers, but I kept pursuing, and finally, it happened.
- Do you have a set routine for writing or does it vary? And how do you manage it with your full-time work?
I write late into the night when the world is fast asleep. Everything is quiet and silent. In the quietness of this still world, the feelings in you are powerful. This part of the time is free and stays out of the full-time work I do.
- How do you think being a writer has helped you as a person?
I had to become a full being first, in order to write. And when you become whole again, that is when you synch in your body-mind and soul, it becomes easy to be a writer, or a painter or anything creative. This future state helps you to become a great person.
- What was one of the most surprising and interesting things you learned while creating your book?
I learnt as I wrote. Ancient wisdom tells us that when you teach another, you are actually learning what you are teaching. The act of giving to others brings the giving back to you. Because you have it in you to give, the universe replenishes what you give with more of it. This is metaphilosophy.
- Do you read much and if so who are your favourite authors?
I do not read much anymore. I access my higher library and data and re-member with it. This is how I understand and remember. This is how we should all remember. Human knowledge can only make you human not anything more than that. Meta-human knowledge is something we should strive and seek.
In the past, my favourite books/authors were:
- The Hindu Upanishads for sure.
- Eckhart Tolle’s “The power of Now”
- Alan Watts – “Does It Matter”
- Joseph Campbell’s “The power of Myth”
- Dalai Lama’s “The Art of Happiness”
I also read fiction and my favourite authors are Ben Bova and Brad Thor.
- According to you, how the landscape of reading changed over the years? Do you think reading books is still in vogue?
Book reading is slowly changing to online digital reading. Younger generations love the digital world. There is nothing wrong with the trend, it is a good trend. This is a futuristic trend leading us away from analogue to digital and then to the final state of Feelings. Words are very confusing, languages are deceptive. One can hide their true feelings inside and use words that make people happy deceptively. This is because we rely too much on a spoken word and we need our ears to receive this, meaning using our body only. One day we will all learn that feelings are pure and truthful, and we will be able to use feelings to communicate rather than words. At this time books will be of no use. Moreover, books can only give you human knowledge. And the only need for this in the current context is to make money, collect material and get more things. Really! How will this help us to become another way to be human?
- Any advice you would like to give to aspiring writers.
Write what you feel, write with passion, and write something, anything that can help humanity to upgrade from a current state to a future state.
- Are we going to hear more from you in the future?
Yes, certainly. My second book is nearly completed. I am on my last chapter. I fictionalized my first book to write a story of how we could live on a faraway planet with the concepts that are presented in my first book. It is a metaphysical Sci-Fi, story of two children, a boy and a girl who are born on a faraway planet. The story expands on how they are taught and raised in a metaphysical environment, enriched in metaphilosophy. Please visit my website www.neildavidchan.com to get a glimpse and short preview of my second book – SEREN- Another Way To Live.
*We wish Author Neil David Chan all the best for his future endeavors.*
Connect with the author:
- New Book:”A Higher Conversation” – Available at amazon.com and Kindle stores, worldwide.
- Website:www.neildavidchan.com
- Instagram: @neildavidchan
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/authorneildavidchan
- Twitter: @CgsnNeil
Bookish Fame 
Interesting interview. Great questions…
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