What is the paradise all religions talk about?
Question:
What is the paradise all religions talk about?
Nukunu:
All the organized religions I know about have a paradise that you come to after death – if you are lucky and have behaved well on earth.
In most situations the idea of a paradise is invented to keep the social order. People are either punished in hell or if they behave well on earth they get a life in paradise. This is simply a way to make people adjusted to the rules of the society. Another reason behind the paradise idea is to keep the church and the priesthood in power. If you don’t believe in our religion you will be punished in hell.
You will find these strategies within Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and many other religions. They all build on something very simple in every man: fear and greed. And if you can get man to feel fear, you can easily control him! Organized religion is about power and control; it is politics.
I love the story of the Christian missionary and the Red Indian:
“Yes” says the Missionary.
The Red Indian: “But if I don’t know about the Bible will I then also go to Hell?”
“Of course not” answers the Missionary.
The Red Indian replies: “Then why on earth are you teaching us about the Bible?”
In Christianity you can get people to live in misery here on earth if they believe that they will go to paradise after death. Just look at the church buildings, the way they are build. The whole construction is reaching into the sky. You have no doubt that glory is up there in the heaven, and certainly not down here. Just manage and endure life here on earth and you will reach paradise after all this struggle and pain.
In some Hindu sects paradise is a place where women are ever young and never grow older than 17. So when you have repressed your sex here on earth, you can indulge afterwards. This thinking is all business to exploit and control people.
But there is also a deeper point of view on the paradise – the view of the Mystics. They see paradise as your innermost nature. So for them the search for paradise is not related to more beautiful and fulfilling experiences that you only can have after death, which is the case in organized religions. No, the paradise the Mystics seek is here now in this very place at this very moment.
And how can we know about a paradise? How is it possible to exploit people like the organized religions are doing? Because every man and woman knows that there is something utterly fulfilling that exists, how else could they believe in a paradise? How can they evaluate experiences of love and freedom unless they have something to compare it with? Everybody knows this deep inside, but they are not really in touch with it; it is not their realization!
The biggest crime the organized religions do is to give cheap and superficial beliefs to people. In doing this they actually stop people’s quest and search. But every woman or man must personally search and struggle to find the never lost paradise. When we see a little happy child or dog puppy they remind us of this purity and innocence! But the “lost” paradise has to be found where it is! Most people look where it is not. Is Jesus not saying: “The kingdom of God is within”? But most people are not looking within. In this western culture we are so extrovert and distracted that we very rarely take time to just be! So what has to be done is to just to be with what is as it is – or in other words meditate.