Why This Heedlessness of Death?

both in this world and in the life after death. This requires us to come out of our programmed way of thinking and to move to higher levels of thinking, based on reality. The mission of the prophets is to help every person develop the capacity for this lofty thinking and lead a life that can bring us eternal success in the Hereafter. One reason that many people do not seriously think about the inevitable fact of their having to die one day is because death seems to them simply as the cessation of life. Consciously or otherwise, they are unaware of the fact that death is not the end of life at all and that, actually, it is the beginning of a more meaningful stage of life. If they come to know this, their entire way of living will change. Their focus will be on how to live here in the right way so that they can become successful in the eternal life that unfolds after death. Consciousness of the fact of our own death can thus become the greatest incentive to lead a truly meaningful life here and now. Remembrance of death doesn’t make a person inactive and listless. On the contrary, it can make him much more active, in a very positive way. Remembrance of death can inspire us to do as much meaningful work as possible right now because such opportunities for action will not be available after death. Death is not the end of life but, rather, the end of opportunities for action. After death, we will not engage in actions but will be reaping the consequences, sweet or bitter, of the actions, good or evil, that we engaged in while in the pre-death phase of our life. If we are aware of this fact, remembrance of death can become a very strong motivational force for positive action. He who created us—God—has made us as eternal creatures. In this sense, a person’s true place of residence is the eternal world of Paradise. After birth, a person is kept in this present world for a limited period. This temporary place of residence is a place for him to be tested. During our short stay here, we are being tested to see who among us passes the