THE ROAD TO PARADISE

Perhaps it is this divine plan which has thus been alluded to by Jesus Christ in these words: Pray to God in these words: Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. (MATTHEW 6: 9-10) The present world is just an introduction to Paradise. It is not Paradise in itself. The present world is a passageway and not the destination. It is the place for preparation, and not for reaping the harvest. The present world is full of limitations. It does not have the means to fulfill the unlimited desires of man. It has all the means of subsistence at the animal level, but does not have the spiritual necessities of the higher level for man. In this world everyone suffers frustration and failure. The reason is that everyone wants to find his desired world here itself, whereas the present limited and ephemeral world is not created for this purpose. That is why, despite all efforts, one fails to find one’s dream world in this life. The present world, in fact, makes Paradise understandable to us. It is not Paradise. But man often mistakes it for his destination, and his life thus becomes one of missed opportunities. It is a waiting room and not the final destination of the journey. The question, “Who am I?” is asked by everyone, consciously or unconsciously. The answer is: "I am a traveller to Paradise". This world is a pathway and Paradise is its final destination. Man has come here to tread this path while on his way to eternal bliss. The animals have no consciousness of tomorrow. They live only in their ‘today’ and die in their ‘today’. Whereas, man has a sense of tomorrow. Man cherishes a very pleasant consciousness of tomorrow, an aspiration towards a better day, or the fulfillment of his dreams. All human beings strive hard to make their tomorrow better and better. But they do not find this ‘tomorrow’. The reason being that this ‘tomorrow’ is not to materialize in this world, but will come into existence in the eternal life to come, i.e. in the Hereafter. However, the entry to the Paradise of the next world is not open to all, being on a selective basis. It is only those who, in their life before A paradisiacal person, that is, one fit to inhabit Paradise, is such an ardent seeker of Paradise that he begins to feel as if he is living in Paradise while remaining physically in this world.