Think, Think, Think
Man is sent to inhabit this world not by way of reward, but as a matter of trial. God has granted this freedom only to find out who makes proper use of his freedom and leads a principled life and who misuses it. In the eternal period after death man will be awarded reward or punishment, according to the record of his life on earth, in Paradise or hell.
If a living man appeared all of a sudden from a cave, all the beholders would regard this as astonishing. Everyone would start thinking about how this could happen. The birth of a child out of his mother’s womb is also of the same nature—astonishingly strange. People know a child comes out of the mother’s womb but they don’t think about it as anything out of the ordinary.
What is the reason for this difference? The reason is that a baby coming out of the mother is an everyday experience. People have become used to it and that is why they take it for granted. They do not give it a second thought. If they were to think seriously about this, they would discover the existence of the Creator in the event of man’s birth. When they see a living, conscious man, walking, seeing, listening and speaking, they would feel that every man is a living sign of the Creator. Every man would appear to be a living introduction of his Creator.
Similarly when man is born on this planet earth, he finds a complete life support system already in existence. This life support system is so complete that it fulfils all the requirement, both great and small, of man without his having to pay any price for it. Right from the earth to the sun, the whole planetary system is uniquely subjected to man’s service.
Then the day comes when, all of a sudden, man dies. Man’s nature is such that he wants an eternal life, but within a period of 100 years all men and women have to leave this world forever, against their will.
Anyone who is born on this earth undergoes two major experiences. First, the experience of life and second, the experience of death. If man were to think seriously about these events, he would certainly discover two great truths—that is, man is sent to inhabit this world not by way of reward, but as a matter of trial.
Man feels himself free in this world, but he is granted this freedom only so that God may find out who makes proper use of his freedom and who misuses it, who leads a principled life, and who leads his life without adhering to any principles.
If man were to reflect seriously, he would discover the reality that death is in fact the day of his appearance before the Creator. Man, in reality, is an eternal creature, but his life span has been divided into two parts—the pre-death period and the post-death period. The pre-death period is for man to be tested and the post-death-period is for his being awarded reward or punishment, according to the record of his life on earth.
Man today finds himself in this world as a living, conscious being. This living and conscious existence is a permanent one. Death is the day when this living and conscious being is taken away from this temporary world and is transferred to the next permanent world in the same living and conscious state.
This moment of death is sure to come for every man and woman. It will unimaginably be the most serious of moments. In the life span after death, this present human being will leave all his resources behind him. The world behind him will be the world which he will leave forever and ahead of him will be the world where he is to live eternally, bereft of all resources. The wise one is he who prepares himself for this day.
