the LORD ALMIGHTY says in Quran(17;18. Whoso desireth that (life) which
hasteneth away, We hasten for him therein that We will for whom We
please. And
afterward We have appointed for him hell; he will endure the heat thereof, condemned, rejected.
19. And whoso desireth the Hereafter and striveth for it with the effort necessary, being a believer; for such, their
effort findeth favour (with their Lord).
20. Each do We supply, both these and those, from the bounty of thy Lord. And the bounty of thy Lord can never be
walled up
comment:
This quote gives a good opportunity to show, why I believe it is better to discuss concepts and ideas on their own merits without claiming the authority of any particular scripture or religious affiliation.
So what is the meaning of this quote in other words? I will try and rephrase it. -
To my understanding, this quote talks about the motivations in our hearts. If we concentrate only on worldly and material things, if we think only about ourselves or our own family or group we create hell for ourselves.
We are advised to think and be motivated by non-material values, for example compassion, clemency and justice. Also we are advised to expand beyond the boundaries of our small self-centeredness, that is to include "All That Is", the totality of all existence, which is beyond the reach of our ordinary mind. This is to me the meaning of the world "hereafter" which is not a reference to time as such but a reference to another state of consciousness. -
This example also shows how problematic it can be to just throw scriptural quotes into a discussion. Because it can turn intelligent meaning on its head and lead us astray. The world hereafter surely also means the realm beyond death. On the surface it seems to say that life after death is more valuable than life before death. If we take this at face value, we arrive at a contempt for life. This would be leading to disregard for the greatest gift, the gift of existence, the gift of life.
But if I listen deeper, the quote says to me, that we need to overcome our attachment to our individual lives, we need to overcome our desire for our own well-being, we need to be willing to "give our life". To me this means we need to speak and act on what is true and good, even if it poses a danger to our individual survival. Giving my life for something does not mean to me, that I want to die for something, but that I give my life-time for a cause, that I live for a cause, irrespective of any danger. If I should be killed by another person because of it, I will not regret this, but death itself is not important. More important is, that I live and speak and act according to my deepest understanding irrespective of any danger to my life. -
The world hereafter also means the spiritual world where ALL IS ONE. That is the community of all souls. So we need to overcome our small perspective, die to our small mind and be born into a consciousness that has the well-being of ALL THAT IS at its heart. -
What is death? What dies, if we die? What are we made of? Are we only the body or is there more to us? I believe we are made up of material and non-material aspects. The body is the vehicle. The body is the creature part of us. If the body dies, only the creature part dies. But what of the mind? If the body discontinues, does it automatically mean that the mind discontinues as well?. I believe, no. The body can "die" and the mind can still hang on to itself. This is actually a problem. Really dying means for the mind to agree to its dissolution, for the incessant chatter of ideas, concepts, beliefs to stop and enter into silence. For this silence to emerge, the body does not have to die. We can "die" to our small mind, if we agree to let go of our attachment to our internal chatter. -
In my personal practise I was guided to concentrate on being ready to let go, to accept death at any moment, which means "right now". It took me several months many hours of daily practise, until I had my mind sufficiently still to be ready for death "right now". Then something happened within my being. I saw my existence from another perspective and knew, what I needed to live for. Since then I have repeated this practise regularly. I have come to understand that real death is death of the mind stream. Especially if I feel confused or I am afraid that I am making a mistake, I lie down, commit my life to God and let go. It is completely safe to let go of all of my own ideas. Whatever is true and in harmony with Great Existence will come back.
I have this image of my mind being like a tree. The tree cannot prune itself. I ask the great intelligence of life to do the pruning for me. All I need to do, - and that I need to do in all sincerity - is to be willing to let go. Also my mind cannot plan which new branches should grow. New ideas, new understandings are like new branches on my tree. They grow by themselves. It is an act of creation beyond my small intellect. -
The issue of "death" is perhaps the most important issue to start with. Life cannot be lived well without integrating, accepting and making peace with "death". This is very visible, for example, in our practice of medicine. I am trained as a medical doctor and over the years I have come to understand, that we feel death is like an enemy. This leads to a completely mad style of treating people. This leads to a type of medicine which spirals out of control, is unbelievably costly, not only in terms of money but also in terms of quality of life. It leads to an attitude where we, without knowing, make God our enemy. Our life is in the hands of God, not in the hands of sickness, viruses or bacteria. If God wants to end my life, who am I to fight against that? -
Surely, illness originates from a need to learn, from an ignorance. I do not want to die from every illness. So my guideline is, whatever I can do in a natural, life affirming manner, using all the many natural cures available, I will do, together with a mental attitude of asking to be taught, what I need to learn.
I am not saying, we could have done better in the past. We did the best we could. We come out from a long period of confusion and ignorance. But for the future I have a different vision.
afterward We have appointed for him hell; he will endure the heat thereof, condemned, rejected.
19. And whoso desireth the Hereafter and striveth for it with the effort necessary, being a believer; for such, their
effort findeth favour (with their Lord).
20. Each do We supply, both these and those, from the bounty of thy Lord. And the bounty of thy Lord can never be
walled up
comment:
This quote gives a good opportunity to show, why I believe it is better to discuss concepts and ideas on their own merits without claiming the authority of any particular scripture or religious affiliation.
So what is the meaning of this quote in other words? I will try and rephrase it. -
To my understanding, this quote talks about the motivations in our hearts. If we concentrate only on worldly and material things, if we think only about ourselves or our own family or group we create hell for ourselves.
We are advised to think and be motivated by non-material values, for example compassion, clemency and justice. Also we are advised to expand beyond the boundaries of our small self-centeredness, that is to include "All That Is", the totality of all existence, which is beyond the reach of our ordinary mind. This is to me the meaning of the world "hereafter" which is not a reference to time as such but a reference to another state of consciousness. -
This example also shows how problematic it can be to just throw scriptural quotes into a discussion. Because it can turn intelligent meaning on its head and lead us astray. The world hereafter surely also means the realm beyond death. On the surface it seems to say that life after death is more valuable than life before death. If we take this at face value, we arrive at a contempt for life. This would be leading to disregard for the greatest gift, the gift of existence, the gift of life.
But if I listen deeper, the quote says to me, that we need to overcome our attachment to our individual lives, we need to overcome our desire for our own well-being, we need to be willing to "give our life". To me this means we need to speak and act on what is true and good, even if it poses a danger to our individual survival. Giving my life for something does not mean to me, that I want to die for something, but that I give my life-time for a cause, that I live for a cause, irrespective of any danger. If I should be killed by another person because of it, I will not regret this, but death itself is not important. More important is, that I live and speak and act according to my deepest understanding irrespective of any danger to my life. -
The world hereafter also means the spiritual world where ALL IS ONE. That is the community of all souls. So we need to overcome our small perspective, die to our small mind and be born into a consciousness that has the well-being of ALL THAT IS at its heart. -
What is death? What dies, if we die? What are we made of? Are we only the body or is there more to us? I believe we are made up of material and non-material aspects. The body is the vehicle. The body is the creature part of us. If the body dies, only the creature part dies. But what of the mind? If the body discontinues, does it automatically mean that the mind discontinues as well?. I believe, no. The body can "die" and the mind can still hang on to itself. This is actually a problem. Really dying means for the mind to agree to its dissolution, for the incessant chatter of ideas, concepts, beliefs to stop and enter into silence. For this silence to emerge, the body does not have to die. We can "die" to our small mind, if we agree to let go of our attachment to our internal chatter. -
In my personal practise I was guided to concentrate on being ready to let go, to accept death at any moment, which means "right now". It took me several months many hours of daily practise, until I had my mind sufficiently still to be ready for death "right now". Then something happened within my being. I saw my existence from another perspective and knew, what I needed to live for. Since then I have repeated this practise regularly. I have come to understand that real death is death of the mind stream. Especially if I feel confused or I am afraid that I am making a mistake, I lie down, commit my life to God and let go. It is completely safe to let go of all of my own ideas. Whatever is true and in harmony with Great Existence will come back.
I have this image of my mind being like a tree. The tree cannot prune itself. I ask the great intelligence of life to do the pruning for me. All I need to do, - and that I need to do in all sincerity - is to be willing to let go. Also my mind cannot plan which new branches should grow. New ideas, new understandings are like new branches on my tree. They grow by themselves. It is an act of creation beyond my small intellect. -
The issue of "death" is perhaps the most important issue to start with. Life cannot be lived well without integrating, accepting and making peace with "death". This is very visible, for example, in our practice of medicine. I am trained as a medical doctor and over the years I have come to understand, that we feel death is like an enemy. This leads to a completely mad style of treating people. This leads to a type of medicine which spirals out of control, is unbelievably costly, not only in terms of money but also in terms of quality of life. It leads to an attitude where we, without knowing, make God our enemy. Our life is in the hands of God, not in the hands of sickness, viruses or bacteria. If God wants to end my life, who am I to fight against that? -
Surely, illness originates from a need to learn, from an ignorance. I do not want to die from every illness. So my guideline is, whatever I can do in a natural, life affirming manner, using all the many natural cures available, I will do, together with a mental attitude of asking to be taught, what I need to learn.
I am not saying, we could have done better in the past. We did the best we could. We come out from a long period of confusion and ignorance. But for the future I have a different vision.
