AS YOU SOW, SO SHALL YOU REAP
An eternal principle is: As we sow, so shall we reap. The pre-death period of life is the period for sowing seeds, while the post-death period is like harvesting the crop.
Man’s life is divided into the pre-death and post-death periods. The limited period before death is for the test, while the eternal period after death is for obtaining the results of one’s performance in the test. Those who pass the test will be blessed with Paradise, and those who fail the test will be consigned to Hell.
This is the creation plan of the Creator for this world. However, the status of Paradise and Hell are not the same. The actual purpose of creation is to select the people of Paradise. As far as the people of Hell are concerned, they are just relative components of creation; they do not form any real part of the creation plan.
The world before death is made following the demands of the test. After the period of this test, there will be no need for this world, nor will there be a need for those who fail the test. After this period, only Paradise and those people selected to be settled in the ideal world of heaven will remain in the universe.
To make people aware of this creation plan, the Creator has made various arrangements. One such arrangement is that He has placed a deep awareness of the creation plan in the nature of man itself. Every person experiences that he does not obtain complete peace and satisfaction in this world. It applies to almost everyone, rich or poor, powerful or weak. Almost everyone lives in a state of dissatisfaction and dies in this condition. This general condition of dissatisfaction and frustration should remind us that our destination is somewhere else, that our desirable world is not the present world where we spend the pre-death period of life. This desirable or ideal world is somewhere else—in the Hereafter—and so, we should be motivated to make efforts to obtain it in the post-death period of life.
To make people aware of this creation plan, the Creator made this present world so that no one could acquire a life of complete comfort here. There are many problems—sickness, accidents, boredom, suffering, loss, etc. And then, after a short time, one dies. In this way, the unfavourable conditions of the world repeatedly remind man that he cannot make his desired or ideal world here. This world is insufficient to satisfy all his desires. This unfavourable situation continuously compels man to search for the truth.
In the same way, in this present world, many people undergo suffering, which serves as a warning lesson for others. For instance, a person becomes paralysed and is confined to a wheelchair. Alternatively, he falls victim to a disease without a cure and loses passion for life. People like them do the work of ‘signposts’ from God. They tell us how unreal life in this present world is. Such people silently convey that man cannot make an ideal world here according to his desires.
Some people have to face various unpleasant situations in life’s training course. On the face of it, those who get the chance to play the role of such a ‘signpost’ appear to be in difficulty, but there is excellent news for them. On the Day of Judgement after death, even their small actions will be accepted by God. Because of the difficulties they faced in this world, they were not physically capable of doing anything significant, and because of this, just accepting the role of ‘signposts’ destined for them will suffice. Therefore, while they remain in this world, they should adopt patience with all their difficulties. Then, based on observing patience and complying with God’s command, they will get admission into Paradise without any additional action. That is to say, simply by patiently surrendering to God’s will, without having to do anything else, they will get admission into Paradise after death.
This news is not something strange or novel for man. Through various means, man has been informed that he cannot construct the ideal world of his desires in the pre-death phase. Instead, whoever leads a righteous life here can obtain the ideal world of his desires in the post-death period. Paradise will be inhabited in the next world, but the paradisiacal man is being made in today’s world.
What is Paradise? One can understand what Paradise is like by looking at the present world. The present world is, in a sense, an introduction to Paradise. It is a miniature model of Paradise. Paradise is the complete and perfect edition of the present world. All the blessings available in the present world are present in Paradise. The difference is that the present world is imperfect, while Paradise is perfect. The present world is not ideal, while the world of Paradise is ideal. The present world is temporary, while the world of Paradise is eternal. There is fear and sorrow, noise and din, and other challenges in the present world, but it is not so in Paradise. The present world has limitations and disadvantages, while Paradise is free from these. In Paradise, man will obtain eternal fulfilment, unlike in the present world, where no one gets lasting satisfaction.
Hell is a place that is totally opposite of Paradise. In Hell, all those hardships will be gathered together, much more than we experience in the present world.
The pre-death and post-death periods of man’s life are intimately connected. Their relationship is like that of sowing seeds and harvesting a crop. The pre-death period of life is the period for sowing seeds, as it were, while the post-death period is like harvesting the crop. It is an eternal principle: As we sow, so shall we reap.
