MAN, KNOW THYSELF — Purpose of Life

People behave as if they are totally unaware of the fact that there is a life after death, whereas, in fact, the real life only commences after death. If they only realized that when they enter the grave, rather than being buried, they were being ushered into another world, they would be more worried about themselves than about their children’s future. The fact is that most people whether religiously or agnostically inclined, expect to discover some form of life after death. They also believe that this afterlife would be more consequential than the present one. Two factors cause one to have doubts about life after death. Firstly, on dying, every human being turns into dust and all traces of his body are effaced. How then can he subsequently be revived? Secondly, the life after death is not visible to us. The world of today is an observable phenomenon, but this is not the case of the afterlife. The question arises that if the afterlife is not observable, how then can we place implicit trust in its advent? Let us analyze these points in the following paragraphs. Life After Death “When I am dead, will I then be raised up again?” This question may hover on the periphery of the consciousness of even those who do not have any deep convictions of the reality of life after death, but the fact remains that very few people give any direct attention to the question of the afterlife. The plain truth that tomorrow’s life is not willingly and eagerly contemplated in the present world is surely an indication of conscious or subconscious doubt as to its existence. The everyday concept of success is the immediate acquisition of commodities, and the enjoyment of leisure and popular acclaim, while failure, means to be deprived of these things. If, however, we give serious thought to this reality, it becomes easily comprehensible. God, wishing to put us to the test, has not divulged the secrets of life after death to us, but has spread His signs throughout the world which, if pondered over, can lead us to a true realization of the essence of all things. This universe is a mirror in which we can gaze upon the image of the next world.