Has anyone seen the Gates of Heaven? Are there people who can claim that they have crossed to the Other Side and can re-tell their experiences? And still there will be men who will be driven to the extreme to do all the needful things to reach this El Dorado. Acts, labor, dedication - to achieve the gate pass to the utopia on the Other Side. What after that? Eternal bliss? Salvation?
At least not 'salvation' as I know of. There are imagined greater comforts and pleasures to be attained on the Other Side. A true salvation would rob an opportunity to enjoy all that. So if my thought process is still sane - there are men who have been told that there is a place called Heaven, which has unparalleled happiness and comfort but nobody has seen or come back to re-tell (who would leave the Heaven and come back to tell the lesser mortals the great pleasures so as to entice them to work hard to get in the Heaven and increase pressure on resources) but they still work hard to achieve an entrance ticket to this unknown place.
"And the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was to make people believe that he does not exist" . Kevin Spacey delivers this wisdom in what can be interpreted as persona of 'Keyser Soze'. The devil never had to show himself to make his mark. Probably its his invisibility which make him more threatening and menancing. Add to it that Man has from time immemorial been drawn to what is unknown. Who says that curiosity only kills the cats? So, is Heaven a notion setup by the Devil himself to have fun at the cost of people observing austerity and going through pains to live a sin-free life? Blasphemy! I am conjuring up a trick here!
Suppose there exists such a place. At least in physical sense. But nobody knows what promises are kept once you enter it. One would wonder how long the enigma continue if there are no proofs of the goodies on the other side. Well, the Devil, like the architect of Matrix, would think how to sustain this process. So the Devil does two things.
First
He makes the entry to this place really, really tough. Like say, 1 in 300 gets to go inside those Gates. No matter how hard everybody tries, only exclusive few get the pass-through. The 299 left behind, though bruised and sad, look up to those high walls and ivy decorated gate and think that they will work harder the next time. Or some just give up hope of ever getting through but never lose the awe of the gates they could not enter. In all the wisdom that these men have been bestowed, they equate the high odds of gaining entry as a proxy for the great value of what lies inside those gates. Any flaws in this reasoning?
Second
The Devil keeps telling those who got inside of what the 299 fellas think of them and the place they got into. He describes to them in great detail the awe which the people inside inspire in the people outside. Field trips are organized for these "lucky ones" where they see for themselves how the rest of their lot swoon on their sight. And the Devil poses them a question -"Whatever is inside those gates is unknown to the outside world. The promises were kept or not, only you know. But.... But, will you speak in any way to destroy your own self esteem and respect which you keep hearing from the outside world? Is the absolute truth more valuable to you or the perceived truth?" What do those "lucky ones", the keepers of the secret, the Children of Promised Land do?
The Devil smiles.
And so, the legend of The Gates of Heaven runs through eons of time. Nobody questions what became of the few who crossed to the other side. Occasionally, a light streak is seen in the skies of the Forbidden Country. Outside the high walls, these sights are referred and discussed endlessly. As might perhaps this blog entry.
The Devil still smiles.
At least not 'salvation' as I know of. There are imagined greater comforts and pleasures to be attained on the Other Side. A true salvation would rob an opportunity to enjoy all that. So if my thought process is still sane - there are men who have been told that there is a place called Heaven, which has unparalleled happiness and comfort but nobody has seen or come back to re-tell (who would leave the Heaven and come back to tell the lesser mortals the great pleasures so as to entice them to work hard to get in the Heaven and increase pressure on resources) but they still work hard to achieve an entrance ticket to this unknown place.
"And the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was to make people believe that he does not exist" . Kevin Spacey delivers this wisdom in what can be interpreted as persona of 'Keyser Soze'. The devil never had to show himself to make his mark. Probably its his invisibility which make him more threatening and menancing. Add to it that Man has from time immemorial been drawn to what is unknown. Who says that curiosity only kills the cats? So, is Heaven a notion setup by the Devil himself to have fun at the cost of people observing austerity and going through pains to live a sin-free life? Blasphemy! I am conjuring up a trick here!
Suppose there exists such a place. At least in physical sense. But nobody knows what promises are kept once you enter it. One would wonder how long the enigma continue if there are no proofs of the goodies on the other side. Well, the Devil, like the architect of Matrix, would think how to sustain this process. So the Devil does two things.
First
He makes the entry to this place really, really tough. Like say, 1 in 300 gets to go inside those Gates. No matter how hard everybody tries, only exclusive few get the pass-through. The 299 left behind, though bruised and sad, look up to those high walls and ivy decorated gate and think that they will work harder the next time. Or some just give up hope of ever getting through but never lose the awe of the gates they could not enter. In all the wisdom that these men have been bestowed, they equate the high odds of gaining entry as a proxy for the great value of what lies inside those gates. Any flaws in this reasoning?
Second
The Devil keeps telling those who got inside of what the 299 fellas think of them and the place they got into. He describes to them in great detail the awe which the people inside inspire in the people outside. Field trips are organized for these "lucky ones" where they see for themselves how the rest of their lot swoon on their sight. And the Devil poses them a question -"Whatever is inside those gates is unknown to the outside world. The promises were kept or not, only you know. But.... But, will you speak in any way to destroy your own self esteem and respect which you keep hearing from the outside world? Is the absolute truth more valuable to you or the perceived truth?" What do those "lucky ones", the keepers of the secret, the Children of Promised Land do?
The Devil smiles.
And so, the legend of The Gates of Heaven runs through eons of time. Nobody questions what became of the few who crossed to the other side. Occasionally, a light streak is seen in the skies of the Forbidden Country. Outside the high walls, these sights are referred and discussed endlessly. As might perhaps this blog entry.
The Devil still smiles.
