GOD AND THE HEREAFTER
Awareness of the consciousness of God is deeply embedded in man’s very nature. What is needed is to remove the curtain that hangs over human nature. When this curtain is pulled, man will begin to ‘see’ God.
The creation is evidence of the Creator, that is, God. The creation is such a meaningful phenomenon that it is simply unthinkable to have come into being without someone having created it. In this matter, the choice before us is not a universe with God and a universe without God. Instead, the option is between the universe with God and no universe at all! If we say God does not exist, we are also compelled to say that the universe does not exist. However, the universe is too obvious a fact; therefore, we are not in a position to deny the universe's existence. Moreover, hence, we cannot deny the existence of God.
The world is so significant that this is proof that its Creator has absolute awareness of meaningfulness. Such a Creator cannot make an imperfect world regarding its results. It is impossible that a meaningful Creator will create a meaningless world. However, despite all its meaningfulness, this world is defective in its present state. For its completion and perfection, it seeks another world. It is this world that the prophets have called the world of the Hereafter.
The world of the Hereafter is not just an article of faith. Instead, it is an entirely intellectual phenomenon. The existence of the world of the Hereafter can be proved on the very same intellectual basis as to all other issues of science.
Scientific Evidence
In this regard, we should first know what ‘scientific evidence’ actually is. According to contemporary science, scientific evidence of something is not that one must arrive at a position of complete certainty about it. This sort of irrefutable certainty is not possible concerning anything at all. According to modern science, to prove something intellectually means proving its probability. The theories generally accepted in modern science are accepted thus only because their probability is established and not at the level of observation, that is, having obtained absolute specific knowledge of their veracity. Accepting the structure of the atom as truth is an example of this.
To accept the existence of the world of the Hereafter, too, one will have to use this same accepted scientific method. The use of other methods will, in principle, not be appropriate. Nevertheless, we cannot deny the use of the same scientific method concerning the world of the Hereafter that we regard as valid in other matters.
Developing a scientific theory requires that one begins with a hypothesis, engages in observation, and then seeks to verify the theory in the light of the knowledge one gains from observation. If this three-point formula is employed concerning the existence of the world of the Hereafter, we can arrive with certainty at a supportive existence or probability. Moreover, certainty is the other name for arriving at a probability.
While studying this issue, one fact that emerges is the distinction of man from other creatures. A unique feature of man is that he has the concept of ‘tomorrow’—the future. The minerals, plants and animals do not have this concept of ‘tomorrow’. From this observation, we learn that other than man, the destination of all creatures is only ‘today’—the present. In contrast, man’s destination relates to the forthcoming ‘tomorrow’.
Man’s body is made up of innumerable cells. Every moment, vast numbers of these cells break down. In this way, man’s body is continuously renewed after getting old. From this, we learn that man’s personality has a being that is separate from his body. Death happens only to the body, while man’s spiritual being remains as intact as before, even after the final extinction of the body.
In the same way, inside every man, there exist particular desires. Therefore, it is right to say that man is a desire-pursuing being. However, along with this, experience also tells us that in the case of almost all people, all their desires are never fulfilled. Driven by desires, nearly every person wants an ideal world for himself. However, they die before they can obtain this.
Ray of Hope
The American missionary Billy Graham wrote that he got an urgent message from a wealthy man who asked him to meet him at once. So Graham changed his programme and arrived at the man’s house. The man said, “You see, I am an old man. Life has lost all meaning. I am going to take a fateful leap into the unknown. Young man, can you give me a ray of hope?” (The Secret of Happiness, by Billy Graham, p. 2)
This question is not the question of a confident wealthy, old American man alone. Every person who takes birth in this world is confronted with a similar question. The appropriate reply to this can be obtained only in the belief in the Hereafter. If one does not accept the existence of another world after death, this universal question will have no answer.
End of Contradiction
By birth, every person possesses two contradictory qualities. On the one hand, everyone desires to build a dream world, a world per their ideals, where they can spend their ‘tomorrow’—their future—in joy and peace. However, on the other hand, even if he acquires all sorts of objects of pleasure, every person cannot obtain this desired ideal world of his. Boredom, damage, sickness, accidents, and old age are the story of many people in this world. Moreover, finally, every single person has to face the event of death.
Every person is born with the conception of an ideal world deeply embedded in his mind. However, almost everyone dies, taking with him many seemingly beautiful desires unfulfilled before he can obtain his desired world.
In this world, a particular principle prevails. It is the principle of pairs. Here, everything exists in the form of pairs. Everything becomes complete when two of a pair join together. For instance, there are negative and positive particles in the atom. In the world of plants, there are male plants and female plants. Likewise, there are males and females in the world of animals and humans.
This global natural principle can be called the ‘pair principle’. This principle tells us that everything makes itself complete on joining with its pair in this world.
In this universal principle lies the answer to the issue of the nature of this world referred to above. There must be a pair-world that complements this present world in the universe. Along with this world, another world must exist; only by getting this other world will the present world complete its being.
In light of the above observation, the reality of the world of the Hereafter can be recognized as true. The world of the Hereafter is that pair-world joining which the present world completes its being. Without joining this pair world, our present world would be as incomplete as all other things in this universe would be without their pairs.
Our world is a part of a pair is very significant. After accepting this other world, man’s existence becomes complete. The significance and meaningfulness of everything can now be seen. Everything now falls into place.
Right Framework
This concept gives us a framework to explain everything in this universe satisfactorily. From this understanding, it also becomes clear what Paradise and Hell are. Paradise is the home of the eternal joy and peace of serious and righteous people, while Hell is the place to punish rebellious people who were addicted to falsehood.
The understanding that emerges in line with this is that the present world has been made as a testing ground and the next world as a place for acquiring the results of one’s actions or performance in the test of life on Earth. Each person has been bestowed with a being that shall never die. However, man’s life is like an iceberg, a tiny portion visible above the water while the rest is sunk deep in the sea. Man’s lifespan is divided into two portions—one, a small part, which has been kept in this world, and the remaining portion of his lifespan, which has been kept in the world of the Hereafter and will last forever.
There is an ‘examination paper’ for every person that he must ‘answer’ in this present world. Everything in this world exists so that man can seek to perfect his character. For example, this present world is full of bitter experiences. It is so that man, passing through these experiences, can prove that he can live with positive feelings even in negative conditions. Only people with such a positive personality will be admitted into the ideal world of Paradise in life after death.
In contrast, people who become victims of reactions when faced with negative experiences become negative. Such negative people will be considered non-eligible for Paradise. Instead, they will be put into Hell, where they will never be able to come out.
Satisfactory Explanation
On coming to accept the existence of the world of the Hereafter, our observations about life obtain a satisfactory explanation. On the other hand, the refusal to accept the reality of the world of the Hereafter leads to many existential questions remaining seemingly inexplicable.
In the event of not accepting the world of the Hereafter, the present world seems incomplete and meaningless. On the other hand, when one recognizes the fact of the world of the Hereafter, the present world begins to appear complete and meaningful. For someone who does not recognize the reality of the world of the Hereafter, the question of many good people leaving this world so that they seemed to receive no reward for their goodness remains a mystery. However, if one recognizes the reality of the world of the Hereafter, this seemingly absurd mystery is fully solved.
Similarly, in the event of not accepting the world of the Hereafter, one may not be able to understand why many people who do evil do not seem to receive punishment for their deeds. However, in the event of accepting the world of the Hereafter, we get a satisfactory answer to this question. Likewise, if one does not accept the world of the Hereafter, one cannot understand why a man takes birth with the idea of an ideal world and why every person leaves this world without obtaining it. In the event of accepting the world of the Hereafter, this seeming difficulty is fully solved. One can now live in this world with the firm conviction that what he desired but could not obtain before death, he might be able to get in the world after death.
Nothing has been created in vain in this world without a purpose. The sun and the moon or the insects of the earth, everything has been created for a purpose, which they are engaged in fulfilling. There is only one thing that may appear to be without purpose. Inside every person by birth is embedded a concept of beautiful desires. No person is bereft of this. Now, when all the other things in the world have been created for a definite purpose, it is also necessary that man’s desires and dreams, too, should have a purpose, a true destination. Man’s desires and dreams cannot be purposeless in a universe where everything seems meaningful.
These dreams, desires, and hopes, too, are intelligently planned parts of creation. There is a clear purpose for them to exist, although this purpose cannot be wholly fulfilled in the present world. These desires and dreams are unlimited, so they can only be fulfilled in an eternal world. The name of this unlimited world is the Hereafter.
In this unlimited world of the Hereafter, good people will get eternal Paradise, full of joy, comfort, and peace. In contrast, those who in the present world prove themselves to be evil will be cast into Hell in the world of the Hereafter, where they will have to face eternal consequences for their sins.
The Reality of Paradise
What is Paradise? Paradise is the answer to man’s search. Man finds himself in a world where he has the status of a strange and unique exception. Every component of the vast universe is complete in itself. Here, it is the only man who is not complete in himself. Other than man, the whole of the universe is a zero-defect universe. It is the only man who, exceptionally, is defective.
All around the rest of the universe, there is a certainty. However, in the world of man, there is tremendous uncertainty. No fear exists in the rest of the universe, but man is always afflicted by fear and apprehension. In the rest of the universe, satisfaction prevails, while in man’s life, dissatisfaction abounds. In the rest of the universe, all things get what they require, but man is the only creature in the world who does not always get what he wants. The rest of the universe is evil-free, but man, exceptionally, is afflicted with the ‘problem of evil’.
Paradise is the answer to this seeming conundrum. The concept of Paradise tells us that all those good things are fully available, too, that are there for the rest of the creation, with the only difference that the rest of the universe gets what it desires in the world of ‘today’, while a man will get all that he wishes in the ‘tomorrow’ (the Hereafter).
Part of Human Nature
The issue of God and the Hereafter relates to the unseen world. However, the fact is that this is also a necessary part of human nature. Therefore, human nature knows God and the Hereafter as indisputable truths.
Believing in or accepting God at the level of the mind is only the introductory stage of knowing or realizing God. To have absolute faith in the existence of God and the Hereafter is its highest stage. The purpose of using intellectual proof concerning the existence of God and the Hereafter is only so that the veils of doubt are lifted from man’s eyes and that man is brought to the position where he accepts God and the Hereafter as at least possible truths.
The purpose of using logic and evidence concerning God and the Hereafter is that man be brought to that intellectual level where he becomes ready to accept the existence of God and the Hereafter as the basis of a complete worldview. When a person reaches this stage, the doors of his nature open up. Recognizing the existence of God and the Hereafter as fundamental truths, he accepts them.
Every man has the ‘eye’ to ‘see’ God and the Hereafter, but the veil of conditioning lies over this ‘eye’. Logical evidence destroys this conditioning or mental block and removes the artificial curtains covering this ‘eye’. After this, man begins to clearly ‘see’ God and the Hereafter. The man now obtains perfect certainty about God, who is not visible, just as a child has complete certainty about his mother even though he has never seen himself emerging from her womb.
The issue of God and the Hereafter remains a topic for logical debate until the artificial curtain that veils man’s mind is not lifted. Through contemplation, reflection, or logical reasoning, man recognizes his God through his inner realization when this curtain is lifted. God now becomes for him the most known of all known things. The work of logical evidence is that it takes a man to his nature's door. As soon as his Nature’s door is opened, he discovers God in such a way as if he knew Him from before. If there is a blindfold tied around a person’s eyes, it is necessary to provide him with relevant arguments or proof to prove to him the sun's existence. However, when the blind over the eyes is removed, there is no longer any need for arguments or proof for him to accept the reality of the sun. The same is true concerning God. Awareness of the consciousness of God is deeply embedded in man’s very nature. What is needed is to remove the curtain that hangs over human nature. When this curtain is pulled through adducing evidence, man begins to ‘see’ God with even more certainty than when a man sees the sun with his eyes open.
