The Challenge of Man

LIVING IN GOD’S NEIGHBOURHOOD He should awaken within himself the consciousness that he will never attain the ideal life of his dreams in this limited world. He should search for the perfect life he desires in the unlimited world of the next period of life, that is, in the Hereafter. In this situation, the true lesson one should derive from unpleasant experiences is that man should remember Paradise of the next world. He should awaken this thought: “Let me not suffer in the Hereafter that I have suffered in this world.” Prosperous is he who, while in the temporary world, has recognized the eternal world, who, in the failures of the present world, has discovered the secret of the lasting success of the next period of life. God made the present world according to a plan that every person should be engaged in ‘toil’. But, Paradise in the next eternal world will be totally free from sorrow, and only those with whom God is pleased will get a place there. Not understanding this fundamental point about life creates the problems mentioned above. If you view the issue in the light of God’s creation plan, you will discover that the root of all human problems is that people want to make their ‘paradise’ in the world before death; whereas here, the conditions needed for this purpose are not present. Just as on sand or quicksand, no building can stand; in the same way, in the present world, no one can build his ‘dream palace’, his ideal world. When man fails to create a perfect world for himself here in line with