By: BK Sheilu
Source: The Daily Guardian https://epaper.thedailyguardian.com/view/1868/the-daily-guardian%09/15
Dated: January 4th, 2025

Various religious traditions contain references to paradise, which is described as a place or period of complete happiness, with no trace of sorrow.

When or where was this paradise? Does it still exist somewhere? Many people believe that paradise or heaven is a place above, or apart from, our world. That is why people are said to ascend to heaven after death. Mythological tales describe angels escorting virtuous souls to heaven. Similarly, hell is believed to be the nether world where souls are flung to suffer for their sins.

In fact, heaven and hell exist in this very world at different points of time. They are not distinct places but qualitatively different periods in the cycle of world history.

Our world is heaven during the Golden Age, when only deities, or people with divine qualities, exist. The deities are aware of their true identity - that they are souls, not bodies. Consequently they are free from the influence of vices, which arise from identifying the self with the body. Being completely virtuous, they lead a life of unalloyed happiness.

Such a world seems to be a fantasy when we look at the current state of affairs. If heaven existed on this very planet, how has it turned into the violent, chaotic place it is today?

It is vices that turn heaven into hell. With the passage of time, as souls interact with matter, they are gradually influenced by it. Their purity diminishes and they lose awareness of subtle truths. The physical begins to feel more real than the metaphysical. They lose their awareness of being souls and start to identify themselves as bodies. This gross consciousness gives rise to vices such as lust, anger, greed, and ego.

Lust, the strongest vice, robs us of purity and dignity. The honour that chastity brings is evident even in today's world, where celibate monks and nuns are looked up to. In some cultures, virgins are worshipped on certain festive occasions. In contrast, those who trade in vice are looked down upon and often live as social outcasts.

Anger robs the soul of peace and pains the self as well as others. It impairs the intellect, whereby we cannot make correct decisions. Angry individuals cause unease and disturbance wherever they go, so they are unwelcome and shunned by others.

Greed makes us acquisitive and does not allow us to be content even in the midst of abundance. It denies us the blessings that are earned by giving and sharing. Greed also destroys our scruples, leading to corruption and crime.

Attachment is not recognised as a vice by most people. It subtly holds us in bondage to whatever we are attached to. Our happiness is then dependent on the object of our attachment: if it is harmed or taken away from us, we suffer.

Unlike attachment, ego is easily identified as a vice because of the hurt it clearly causes. The bigger our ego, the less we respect others. We end up losing respect, and that hurts all the more because an egoist expects to be respected, and when that does not happen, they feel insulted. Ego also makes us rigid and damages relationships, ultimately leaving us unloved and isolated.

This is how vices bring sorrow and gradually turn heaven into hell. The Gita says that when viciousness reaches extreme proportions, God incarnates Himself to re-establish a righteous world order.

He does that by reminding us that we are souls, His children: we are not weak and helpless but actually virtuous and powerful like Him. When souls are reawakened to their true identity, and become fully aware of who they really are and who their Father is, there is a qualitative shift in their consciousness. No longer insecure, needy, or selfish, they become joyous, generous, and strong – givers rather than takers. A world inhabited by such souls is naturally full of happiness.

This is how the victory of good over evil ushers in the Golden Age, or heaven, once again.

BK Sheilu is a Rajyoga teacher 
at the Brahma Kumaris headquarters in Mount Abu, Rajasthan.