By MW Kay
Man, like every other creature, is a child of the Divine Parent or God. In addition to this, while in this world, he has to live in the midst of other creatures like himself, human as well as other. In this way, a person finds himself between two sorts of relationship simultaneously. One is his relationship with God, and the other is his relationships with other creatures.
In this sense, the test that man is being put to while he lives in this world has two aspects—one which concerns his relationship with God, and the other which concerns his relations with his fellow creatures. To be able to pass the test of life, a person needs to be successful in terms of both these aspects.
In relation to God, what is desirable for a person is that he should accept Him as his Master and Divine Parent. He should be filled with consciousness of God’s greatness. The inner state that is engendered by this awareness is what is called ‘God-Consciousness’ or ‘Fear of God’.
God is great, and man is small. God is all-powerful, and, compared to God, man is powerless. God is the Giver, while man is a receiver. Awareness of these realities engenders in a person a sense of acknowledgement and humility and awareness of his answerability to God. Aggressive and defiant tendencies disappear from a person who has had such a realization. He leads his life in this world in line with love of God and reverent fear of God.
When such a person interacts with his fellow creatures, humans as well as others, his attitude and behaviour reflect what can be called ‘beautiful ethics’. His actions are actions of justice. He lives with the awareness that God is ever-present and is constantly seeing him and that He will take account of his every word and deed. It is this person who passes both the tests of life—the test that relates to his relationship with God and the test that relates to his relationships with his fellow creatures.
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