The Messiah Herald Issue 07 August 2017 | Page 6

COVER STORY COVER STORY THE REALITY OF LIFE T HOSE WHO ONLY CONFINE THEMSELVES to outward knowledge are practically rejecting the source of life. They are actually ignoring the real world. The world that we are living in today is only for a brief sojourn. It is like a makeshift arrangement. Where do we go after we die here and what is it that dies in us? Are we left with any other element of life after death, or do we become part of nothingness? What dies in us is a deceptive form of life; this form of life did not exist before our entry into this world and it will not exist after our departure from it. The eternal life belongs to your soul. Spirituality is what we really need, which is why His Divine Eminence Gohar Shahi has laid an enormous amount of emphasis on acquiring spir itual expertise. This is the type of knowledge that will benefit your eternal life. Today, people live a religious life as a Christian, Hindu, Sikh, Muslim, Jew etc. They spend most of their time in the worship places. They do every good thing stated in their respective holy scriptures, but when they die, their souls are dormant. Their souls are naïve to God. When they go back into the world of spirits, they are as blank as they were when they were sent into this world. Their purpose is lost. Unfortunately, individuals whose focus is on outward religiosity will suffer in the end. They will be in possession of nothing. They will not be treated either as a true follower of Moses, Jesus or Prophet Mohammad by God. Successful are those who manage to spiritualise their inner beings. 6 MESSIAH HERALD / ISSUE 07 / AUG 2017 God created our souls but our bodies were formed in the womb. When we leave this world, our bodies perish in the graves and our souls return to the higher realms. It is the souls which will be connected to God, not the bodies. Nevertheless, every religion required its followers to adopt the outer dimension of the religion in conjunction with its inner aspect. His Holiness Younus AlGohar explains, ‘The main theme of the human reality is to take care of the soul. The reason you take care of your body is that those souls are contained in this body, and you have to spend some time in this world.’ Misbehaviour and disobedience to God by the body leaves a diabolical impact on the souls. This is why, while the inner dimension purified the souls, the outer knowledge ensured that any filth of the body did not harm the quality of one’s soul. So in actuality, it is not the bodies which the religions address. Rather, the religions were meant to awaken, enlighten and nourish your souls. Today, what people do in mosques, churches and synagogues are but customary, ritualistic performances of worship. The real worship which God has entwined with your souls can only be performed by your souls. When your souls are awakened and activated, they become acquainted with God’s attributes - without you needing to make any physical effort, divine characteristics such as compassion, generosity and love begin to manifest in your character. If your religion does not facilitate your souls in this, then your religion is futile. HOW DOES A RELIGION EXPIRE? A religion is only valid as long as its spiritual system is intact. The similitude of religions is of the vital organs in the human body. The function of the heart is to pump, oxygenate and purify the blood. If the arteries around the heart have accumulated cholesterol, toxins and free radicals, the condition of the MESSIAH HERALD / ISSUE 07 / AUG 2017 heart deteriorates with the passage of time. A point comes when all the arteries leading to the heart become completely blocked. This is when the pulmonary valve that sits on top of the heart stops beating. The moment the heart stops beating, you expire. His Holiness notes, ‘Everything that God has created in this world is mortal. Every mortal object has to expire at one point in time. In this phenomenal world, the bitterest of all truths is mortality. You cannot escape it. Everything is mortal — and so are the religions.’ Even according to Islam’s holiest scripture, the Koran, God says that everything is mortal for except him. [ KORAN 28:8] The fact that there have been so many religions in human history is proof that the religions we follow, the ones established by prophets via revelation from God, are mortal. Had they been immortal, one religion would have sufficed the entire humankind. After some time, with wear and tear, the spiritual systems in these religions have eventually come to an end - reducing them to futility. His Divine Eminence Gohar Shahi says, ‘The celestial books in their original form only, serve as a means to convene the aspirants to God. But when the celestial books and their translations were tampered with, just as adulterated flour is harmful to the stomach, similarly these altered books became harmful to the religions.’ When adulterations were made to the holy scripture, the spiritual system in that religion was made null and void. Then, the followers of that religion were divided into different sects and bloodshed became commonplace among them. When the spiritual system in any religion was intact, that religion was good - whether it be Judaism, Hinduism, Islam, Christianity or any other faith. However, as these religions expired, their followers fell prey to extremism, sectarianism and even terrorism. His Holiness Younus AlGohar explains, ‘God loves all his creation but those who are not connected to God fail to understand this truth; they perceive they are the best ones and nobody is equal to them. This gave rise to intolerance and fanaticism.’ We are following our religions, but they are not taking us anywhere. A religion dies because God wants it to. Once a religion has died, it does not go through a rebirth. All the religions are now expired. When the vital organs fail and do not function, either you simply close your eyes and die, or you go for the transplant. His Divine Eminence Lord Ra Riaz Gohar Shahi offers humanity the transplant they need to save them from spiritual death. 7