August 29, 2008

Just as a small jug cannot hold a large quantity of water, so a small heart and great success
do not go together.

What is the Ideology of Life?

Man is the best creation in this universe. The existence of man is such a unique phenomenon that no other such example can be found throughout the vastness of the cosmos. Man is rightly called the ‘best of all creations’, which means the best and most meaningful ‘being’ among all the things created. Such a ‘meaningful being’ cannot have been created without a purpose.

The reality is that God – the Creator of man, has created man according to His plan. To become acquainted with this plan is necessary for a man to have a thorough understanding of himself  – just as the workings of a machine can only be understood when we study the drawings of the engineer who made it. Besides the mind of the engineer, there is no other thing that can clarify what the machine is meant for. The case of man is the same.

In terms of the Creation Plan of the Creator, human life is divided into two stages –the pre-death stage and the post-death stage. The limited period before death is meant to be a test for man, while the period after his death will be the period for his reward or punishment, based on his performance in the test in this life.  Those who have passed the test will be rewarded with an eternal Paradise and those who have failed in the test will be deprived of it and be punished in Hell.

This is the scheme of existence for this world as devised by its Creator. The real aim of creation is to select those who are fit to inhabit the world of Paradise. Evil people will not be selected to inhabit Paradise.

In the present world of trial, any man or woman, to be eligible for Paradise, needs to have two qualifications: one is to acknowledge truth and the other is to lead a principled life.  Those men and women who qualify in this test will be given a place in Paradise – where all their desires will be fulfilled. For those who fail in this test, they shall spend their lives in a state of eternal deprivation.

In the present world, man finds himself totally free. However, this freedom does not belong to him as a matter of right, but is rather a test paper for everyone. What man has to do is to acknowledge truth of One God, and surrender to him – not by compulsion but by his own choice. This surrendering before the truth of One God is without doubt the greatest sacrifice that any man can make. Acknowledging the truth of One God is, like making oneself smaller not only to God but to others as well.  But this is the very virtue, which will raise man to the highest position. It will take him to the very entrance of Paradise.

The second important thing in this set of requirements is to lead a principled life. Generally what happens is that man’s character is moulded by his emotions – anger, revenge, jealousy, hatred, rivalry, etc. These are the negative feelings that shape man’s personality. But what man ought to do is to become disciplined in such matters. He should not build his character under the influence of external incentives, but by his own decisions he should establish it on the basis of higher principles. This is what is called as Divine character.

This is the Ideology of Life according to which man has been created.