PARADISE
An introduction
MAN has unlimited desires. He spends his entire life in trying to fulfil his desires, only to finally discover that he could not fulfil them. Man is destined to remain unsatisfied, both before the fulfilment of his desires as well as after their apparent fulfilment. This is the case for everyone, rich and poor.
The reason for this is that man’s desires are unlimited, while the present world is a limited world. This makes it impossible for anyone to build the castle of his desires in the present world. Every such castle is destined to ultimately prove to be a graveyard of desires. However, human desires do have a positive role. These desires are actually an introduction to paradise in advance. These desires are indicative of how beautiful the world of paradise will be, where all beautiful desires will be completely fulfilled.
Man, can gather all types of pleasures around him, but it is impossible for him to cross the barriers of his limitations which come in the way of unlimited enjoyment.
The secret of success in the present world is ‘desire-management’. The quest for desire-fulfilment will remain unending and fruitless. The present world is not for man to create his paradise here. This world is only for man to prove himself worthy for an entry into paradise, by his righteous deeds. If these desires are understood positively, they will prove to be a great incentive for deeds that will earn him paradise.
Our desires give directions to our endeavours; they do not tell us the destination of our endeavours. History shows that this destination is not achievable. The story of everyone’s life is one and the same. It is to seek the fulfilment of desires and to die without ever achieving their fulfilment. The fulfilment of any desire requires an enormous number of factors, the gathering of which is beyond human power, even if one lives for a thousand years and controls the world. For instance, a man can build a house, but he cannot prevent the onset of an earthquake.
Man can develop a healthy body, but it is not possible for him to change the laws of death. Man, can gather all types of pleasures around him, but it is impossible for him to cross the barriers of his limitations which come in the way of unlimited enjoyment. Man can gather around him all types of external things for his comfort, but due to his inability to change the laws of nature, he cannot save himself completely from disease and accidents.
These experiences prove that man only has the power to act, but he does not have control over the consequences of his actions. In such a situation, any person who seeks the fulfilment of his desires proves only that he is utterly unrealistic. And unrealistic thinking can produce no real results in this world.
Man should recognise that while he can and should act, the results of his actions are the prerogative of the Creator.
Keeping this reality in view, man should recognise that while he can and should act, the results of his actions are the prerogative of the Creator.
According to this law, our pre-death period, spent on this earth, is the period of action for us, and the post-death period is the period of reaping the consequences or fruits of our actions from the Creator. If you accept this reality, you will have two benefits at the same time.
Firstly you can get rid of tension forever. Tension emerges because your actions do not produce the results that you hope for. You do something but fail to get what you hoped for from it, and so you become tense. But if you act while leaving the result to God to arrange for as He pleases, you will automatically save yourself from getting tense.
Secondly, in doing this, you will also secure a certain guarantee; that after death, your deeds will earn their rightful results. You will achieve the desired result of your deeds, and will become the owner of evergreen gardens of happiness.