The World of Here and Now and the Hereafter

The World of Here and Now and the Hereafter

1989 11 November 10 The World of Here and Now and the Hereafter (385) A shopkeeper once remarked that he opened his shop every day, although it cost him a hundred rupees a day to do so. There were the employee’s wages to pay the electricity bill to foot and a whole array of other miscellaneous expenses. Then why open his shop at all? It was because he knew for sure that by spending a hundred rupees a day, he was going to earn one thousand rupees in return.

This is a typical human attitude. A man will divide his time and energy to any given pursuit only so long as he is convinced that he is going to receive more from his activities than he expends on them. If people were over to lose this conviction, much of our moral human activity would come to a standstill.

It is also a regular feature of human existence that people exert themselves far more in matters of this world than they do in the spiritual affairs of the Hereafter. What is the reason for this? It is because the result of worldly investment is immediately obvious. When one invests in matters of this world one feels certain that by spending ‘One hundred’ one will receive ‘one thousand’ in return. But in matters of the Hereafter, the result is not instantly forthcoming. One is never sure, therefore, that what one expends is going to be returned with interest. While the act of ‘spending’ in this world is synonymous with ‘investment’, the act of spending in the cause of the Hereafter very often seems no better than the squandering of wealth.

But we should never forget that while the full ‘return’ on one expenditure will be received in the Hereafter, a part of it is nevertheless available to us right here in this world.

This worldly return is of a psychological nature. That is to say that this ‘return’ comes to man in the form of thankfulness, contentment and trust. In being imbued with these states of mind, he experiences superior spiritual feelings. In giving to others, he receives from God. Through monetary donation he receives spiritual wealth. When he suffers losses, he is given the taste of discovery. In short, the Hereafter which he will meet on a physical plane tomorrow, will come to him today on a purely sensory plane.