THE ROAD TO PARADISE

The qualifying factor is for man to discover God who is in the unseen and voluntarily surrender himself before Him. death, come up to the standard of the citizenship of Paradise, who will be granted an abode in this perfect world. Entry to this world of Paradise has been restricted. It will be given only to those pure souls who have brought with them the necessary qualification. What is the necessary qualification and who are the pure souls? The qualifying factor is for man to discover God who is in the unseen and voluntarily surrender himself before Him. He should adopt divine ethics without any external pressure to do so. He should develop his intellectual and spiritual being to such an extent that he produces in himself, the ability to inhabit the refined world of Paradise. Of the inhabitants of this world, only those will find a place, who have succeeded in maintaining a high moral character. One who is able to discover Paradise, begins his life in Paradise from this world itself. Here, he will have the pleasure of its intellectual discovery; and after death he will have the pleasure of actually experiencing it. Today, he is blessed with peace of mind; tomorrow he will experience this peaceful life in his external world also. Today he has the full satisfaction of conviction at the intellectual level, tomorrow he will find an opportunity to live in the pleasures and comforts of practical life. Today he is living in a world of limitations, tomorrow he will find an unlimited world in which to live forever, in total freedom. Today he finds Paradise in the intellectual sense, tomorrow he will find it in the practical sense. Indeed, there is nothing greater than this for man. Such are the souls who have discovered God, and whose greatest concern is the Almighty. They worship only the one God, and devote their lives to improving their intellectual and spiritual abilities to a high degree. They have shunned the life of falsehood and adhered steadfastly to the way of truth, staying away from hypocrisy and remaining resolutely on the path of sincerity. They have adopted the path of honesty throughout their lives; and have of their own imposed the divine discipline upon their words and deeds. They reserve their feelings of love and fear exclusively for God. Their life and death is for truth. They do not live their lives for anything less than the higher cause. Their activities are Hereafter-oriented rather than world-oriented. They succeed in steering clear of all negative feelings such as hatred,