Paradise is a state of mind and a place of eternal bliss for the departed. It is intended for those who deserve it with their earthly life. This term, besides Orthodoxy, exists in any other religion. Atheists also put their own concept into it.
A kind of paradise
Descriptions of paradise are found already in the first pages of the Bible. He is represented in the form of the Garden of Eden. Apparently, it is no coincidence that our first association with paradise is represented by the presence of birds of paradise and flowers.
In our time, paradise is overgrown with many associations and conjectures that have nothing to do with it. Maybe that's why it's time for a modern person to think about a true paradise, because his life had long since turned into hell.
Paradise can be viewed as a state of human soul or as the final destination of earthly life. Once lost, we are constantly looking for him throughout the entire earthly history of mankind. Paradise as a state of mind can be of several types:
This is a state where the child does not care about anything and feels protected. Thus, the exit from childhood can be associated with the loss of this bliss. It can be lost due to growing up or events that affect the child's psyche. For example, parental divorce. Such psychological trauma is hard for children. It would seem that the child did not sin, but, like Adam and Eve, he was expelled from paradise.
This can be the experience of the first offense, with the result that his psychological innocence is destroyed. Being in comfort and being protected, the realization comes to him that evil, treachery and betrayal have made their way into his life. Sooner or later, everyone loses this paradise.
… Every adult is looking for a similar state for himself, realizing that once he has already lost it, having lost his childhood. It is very difficult for the average lay person to regain this state. For example, being already in heavenly conditions, he may not notice this, continuing to feel melancholy and despair. It turns out that this status is more related to the inner state of a person.
According to the Bible, the Old Testament people, regardless of their lifestyle, went to hell. Jesus Christ with his death on the cross broke the gates of hell, after which the heavenly abodes began to fill. And the first person to enter paradise was the robber who hung on the cross to the right of Christ.
Ancient people did not know what paradise was. For them, this term corresponded to the totality of earthly bliss: having many children, health, faith and peace of mind. Apparently, therefore, they wanted a long life, because they knew what awaited them in the end.
Now, thanks to Christ, we have the opportunity to “earn” for heaven with our right life. If a modern person, regardless of his merits, is placed in this place, he will jump out of there like a cork from a champagne bottle. He will be crowded out by his inner imperfection. We can get there observing the commandments of God, but so far only with one half - with the soul. After the second coming of Christ, a person will be able to be there in body as well.
Posthumous experience
Those who experienced clinical death and felt out of the body remember well how they did not want to return. The soul, having felt the experience of freedom and purity and having been on the threshold of paradise, reluctantly returns to a stout, passionate body.
Over the past century, medicine and education have received a strong impetus in their development. Now incomparably more people are being “pulled out” from the other world than it was before. As a result, mankind has a huge amount of material about the mental experiences of people who have been beyond this life. There are tens of thousands of testimonies that agree on the same thing: there is life after death and the soul exists. Both atheists and believers speak about this.
Hieromonk Seraphim Rose, who once lived, was concerned about the fact that most people who experienced a soul out of their body experienced it easily and cheerfully. None of them was alarmed by their sins, fear of future judgment, etc. He saw in this a demonic charm, "thanks to which" people did not take the right lesson from this experience.
There is a very close connection between us and the souls of the dead. The souls of the dead differ among themselves and can experience love and boldness for the Creator to varying degrees. They can pray for us who live on Earth, and we can feel the power of their prayer in everyday affairs and in faith.
Usually this connection is more closely traced in women. They most often turn out to be sufferers in Earthly life, because they give birth, they often bring up children alone and, according to the spiritual law, find themselves in paradise. After death, they do not forget their offspring and, having boldness before God, beg them.
Modern man has lost the ability to great deeds. He is unlikely to become a great ascetic, but he will go mad faster after six months of spiritual practice. A contemporary is not that he was not able to do what he could before, he could not even believe it.
In order to experience heavenly bliss in another life, one cannot rely only on spiritual deeds. It is necessary to pay attention to your relatives, friends, etc. It must be remembered that the profession is also very important: you have to do the work as if you were doing it for God. This will be the path of salvation.
Based on the conversation of Archpriest A. Tkachev
