A careful study of the human condition shows that all men and women have two contradictory themes running through their lives right from birth. On the one hand, they are consumed by a limitless desire to establish a dream world for themselves—a world that is in keeping with their ideals and where they may lead their lives—with all the sought-after pleasures and comforts. But, on the other hand, they are faced with this contradiction that, despite surrounding themselves with all the material things conceivable, they fail to build their desired world. Boredom, loss, illness, accident, the infirmities of old age and finally death within a period of even less than 100 years—that is the story of every individual born into this world.

Although this concept of the ideal is inherent in the psyche of all men and women they are all destined to die before the realisation of this beautiful ideal.

We can come to grips with this paradox by examining the observable phenomenon of the principle of pairs, which is universally operative. Everything in this world exists in pairs; everything becomes complete only in a pair—the negative and positive particles in an atom, the male and female in animals and humans and even in plants. It follows that along with this world there must exist another parallel world, and in its existence lies the completion of our present world.

If we accept this logic, everything becomes meaningful. Everything begins to fall into place.

Now, let us come to an understanding of the basic framework of this parallel world. Within this framework, the concepts of “Paradise” and “Hell” will also become clear. Paradise is a resting place for sincere and truth-loving people, while hell is a place for the insolent and the false.

Thus the picture that evolves is that of the present world being made by its Creator to serve as a testing ground for man, whereas the next world has been created as a place where we shall reap the rewards of (or punishments for) our actions in this world.

Let us not forget that although our mind is eternal, our bodies are transient. The study of human physiology shows that our body is composed of several living cells, which keep transforming themselves. In this way the body is renewed at regular intervals. It is regenerated just like the water in a running stream. Yet the body eventually dies but the spiritual personality, or the soul, remains unchanged and lives on. This is because the soul can exist even independent of the body.

While everything in this world is so designed as to permit man to develop his personality, we must remember that everything in the present world is finally just a test for man. This could be one reason why the present world is filled with so much bitterness and animosity. These negative experiences have been specifically devised to test man. Man has to prove that he can live with positive feelings even in such negative circumstances. For, only those who are capable of positivity will finally gain admission into Paradise. The others will be thrown into Hell from where there is no escape.

If we go by the theory of cause and effect, is it possible that this entire world could just have been created in vain – with no purpose whatsoever?

Look at the sun, the moon or the tiniest insect—is it conceivable that they could all have been created without any specific purpose?

In fact, to my mind everything appears to have been created for a specific purpose. Even human desires appear to have been created for a purpose. However, this purpose cannot be fulfilled in this present limited world. Since these desires are unlimited, they can only be fulfilled in an unlimited world, i.e. in Paradise.

This brings us to the question – what is Paradise? Paradise is the ultimate answer to the human quest. It is a vast, zero-defect, evil-free universe, complete in itself.

Certainty prevails all over the universe, but the human world is marred by uncertainty. Fear is unheard of in the universe, but man continually suffers from fear and apprehension. The rest of the universe is in a state of equilibrium as it receives everything that it needs, while human beings are in a state of imbalance as they are the only creatures in the world to suffer from the painful thought that they have not received what they wanted. Moreover, the rest of the universe is evil-free, while human beings continually suffer from the problem of evil.

Paradise is the answer to all these problems. The concept of Paradise shows that man too will find everything that the rest of the universe has found. So while the rest of the universe is receiving what it wants today in this world itself, man will receive what he wants tomorrow in Paradise.