Selection for Paradise
It was perhaps in 1998 when Dr. Sharma introduced me to a senior scholar, Professor Singh. After retiring from America, Professor Singh had returned to India. His house looked like a library! It exuded a scholarly charm. Professor Singh appeared to be a scholar in the true sense of the term.
During our conversation, Professor Singh mentioned that he had done his MA in Political Science. After that, he did his Ph.D. in International Relations. At that time, a university in America needed a professor in that subject and advertised for the post. Professor Singh applied for the job. Soon, he received a reply from the university, inviting him to America for an interview.
When Professor Singh reached America, a man was at the airport to receive him. The man said to him that he had been sent by the university so that he could guide him around. Professor Singh got into his car and they headed to the university, where Professor Singh was put up in the university guesthouse.
After this, the man would come to Professor Singh every day, and from morning to evening would take him around the vast university campus. In this way, he took him to all the various faculties and engaged him in various activities in the university.
A week passed this way and soon Professor Singh got apprehensive. He spoke to the Head of the Department, saying that he had been there for a week, having been called for an interview, and yet the interview hadn’t taken place as yet. The Chairman said to him something like this: “Your interview is over. We have selected you, and you can join us from tomorrow!” He explained to Professor Singh that the man who had met him at the airport and had been taking him around the university was a senior professor who had also been his interviewer!
The Chairman said that from the documents that Professor Singh had sent them it was clear to them that as far as his educational qualifications were concerned, he was fully qualified. But they also needed to know if he would be qualified in terms of being compatible with the university’s culture. His interviewer had been engaged in trying to find out precisely this over those several days. He had taken Professor Singh to every department in the university. He had shown him around. In the course of this process, he had observed his behaviour with students and teachers. His report about him was fully positive. And so, the university had decided to select him and was now offering him the job that he had applied for!
This incident, in the form of a real example, tells us something very profound about the reality of man and Paradise. Just as Professor Singh was subjected to a detailed test by the university authorities in order to gauge if he was qualified for joining the university, every person on Earth is being tested to see if he is qualified for joining the world of Paradise.
God made a vast world, the world of Paradise, a world that was in the fullest sense a perfect world, a world where everything was of top standards. God wanted that in that world He should settle such people who in terms of their character were fully qualified for it, who would live in that ideal world as ideal people. Now, God also made the present planet Earth—as an introductory model of the perfect world of Paradise. Here, all those things are found that are present in Paradise. The only difference is that Paradise is a perfect world, while the present world is an imperfect world. Paradise is eternal, while the present world is temporary. Paradise is free of fear and grief, while the present world is full of fear and grief. Paradise is the world for reward, while the present world is a world for being tested.
In accordance with this creation plan, God created human beings and settled them on Earth. God has given every person full freedom. He has granted a person the freedom to live without any restraints. He has the choice to use this freedom as he wishes—in the right way or a wrong way. Every person who is born here has two invisible angels of God always present with him. They are continuously recording every thought, word and action of his. On the basis of this record the decision of eternal Paradise or eternal Hell in the next world for every person will be made.
In Paradise, a person will live with full freedom. But he will be so mature and awakened that under no circumstances will he ever misuse his freedom. While being fully free he will live in full discipline. It is to select such people that the present Earth was created. A record is continuously being made here of the people who, passing through different sorts of conditions while here, gave proof of a paradisiacal character. Such people will be settled in a paradisiacal world in the Hereafter for eternity.
God’s invisible angels are continuously recording how we are using our freedom while in this present world—for good or for ill. It is this that is our real test, and it is on the basis of this test that the decision about our eternal future will be made. The test is this: At every opportunity, did we acknowledge God’s greatness, or did we ignore it? When our conscience admonished us, did we accept its voice, or did we turn away from it? When faced with a truth that came along with evidence for it, did we willingly accept it, or did we seek to defy it? When our ego conflicted with Truth, did we follow the former or the latter? In dealing with people, were we just, or did we, for the sake of our interests, act unjustly? Did we appear good in front of others just in order to create an impression, or were we good in our personal life too? Did we make Truth or something else our supreme concern? If we obtained power, did we fall prey to corruption, or did we remain upright? Did we maintain equanimity in both poverty and richness? How did we behave when we were put on the sidelines, and how did we behave when we were given importance? Did we keep our emotions under the control of ethical principles, or did we chase after our desires?
A record of our performance with regard to these and other such matters is continuously being made by the invisible angels that are always with us, throughout our life. On the basis of this record the decision about our eternal future after death will be made.
The present world, here on Earth, has been made for a limited period. After this period is over, all the people who have taken birth here will be brought before God. In accordance with the record prepared by the recording angels, God will announce the decision about their eternal future. If a person’s record shows that he lived in this world with a paradisiacal personality and that he used his freedom within the limits set by God, it would prove that he is qualified to live in Paradise. Accordingly, he will be selected and settled in that realm. And as for those who couldn’t give evidence of a paradisiacal personality, they will be rejected and put into the eternal dustbin of the universe, so that they will lead a life of despair and remorse forever, never to be able to escape from it.
