Unification
“Unification is becoming one with God.
Our Soul merges with the Divine…
just as the wave merges with the ocean.”
What is the ultimate step on the Ladder to Heaven? It is not just praying to God and loving God. It is not just going on a quest and knowing the truth. The ultimate step on the Ladder to Heaven is climbing from Liberation to Unification.
Unification is becoming one with God. In simplest terms, it is understanding how the wave becomes one with the ocean. The wave comes from the ocean and goes back into the ocean. In fact, the wave is nothing by itself. It is a part of the ocean. Unification is also the same thing. When the Divine Soul, that we truly are, is liberated from ignorance and from the cycle of death and rebirth, it unites with the Divine or the cosmic consciousness to become one. That is Unification. This is having climbed the Ladder to Heaven.
How is unification connected to reaching heaven? What is heaven? It is the abode of God. It is a place where God exists. Unfortunately, as we live in a body-mind complex, we live with ignorance and we think God too is made of bone and skin. We don't realize the truth that God is the one who lives within. When we realize this and we live as the liberated Soul, we are heading towards the top of the Ladder to Heaven. However, it is only when the death of the body happens, that we can transcend Karma through realizing that we are not the ME – the Mind and Ego and we escape from rebirth. The energy that gives life within is our true identity. It is a manifestation of the Divine, imprisoned in a body-mind complex. It is known as the Soul, the Spirit, Chi, Prana or Atman. The names are different, but it is the same energy that gives us life. It is God Energy. When this God-energy is liberated, we who live in ignorance as ME – the mind and ego, are reborn. But, if we overcome ignorance, we realize the truth, we are liberated from the war within, then we are united with the Divine and reach the gate of heaven.
In reality, there is no heaven and there is no gate. There is just God. God is a universal power, a power that exists everywhere, a power that gives us life, a power that makes the earth rotate causing day and night, a power that creates the breeze, the waves in the seas, and the fruits on the trees. We can experience this power all the time, in the wind that blows, the water that flows and the sun that glows. Do we need proof that such a power exists? It is the same power that exists in each of the cells of the human body, in over 30 trillion cells and in 8 billion human beings and in the trillions and quadrillions of other plants, animals, and insects.
The Divine Power is everywhere. To reach heaven is to achieve unification with the Power. Unification that comes after realization of the truth and liberation at death.
Unfortunately, most of us do not realize the truth, and therefore, there is no liberation and unification. Although we pray to God and love God, we do not go on a quest and overcome the ignorance that will make us climb the Ladder to Heaven.
I too lived a life of ignorance for 48 years. Then I realized that we human beings are blessed with the opportunity to climb the Ladder to Heaven. It is not easy, but it is possible. While the majority of mankind prays, only a tiny minority climbs the Ladder that takes them to Realization, Liberation, and Unification. They are the fortunate few who become one with God. The others die only to be reborn. Then they go through a life that sees both pleasure and pain. Ultimately, they die and are reborn again. This cycle of death and rebirth continues again and again. We live with the ignorance and remain far away from our Lord. The goal of humanity is to escape from this cycle and to become one with God.
There are some religions in this world that talk about us having to face the day of judgement when we go to heaven after death. The question that arises is – who will go to heaven or hell? The body dies, and as it lies below the soil, we see it disintegrates into dust. There is no possibility of going to heaven or hell. Further, heaven and hell are not a physical location that we can go to. Nobody has seen heaven or hell. If we do good deeds, we are reborn in a life that is heavenly. But if we collect bad Karma with our sins, then we will be faced with hell, not just in this life, but in the life thereafter.
And God! God is not an old man with a long white beard sitting somewhere up in the clouds. God is a Universal Power, a Power beyond human comprehension. We don't know who God is, where God is or what God is, but God is. Unification is becoming one with the Divine. It is escaping from the cycle of death and rebirth, being liberated and experiencing unification with the Divine.
Whatever be your religion, and whatever be the other circumstances of your life, may this book – 'The Ladder to Heaven', inspire you to climb step by step, until you go beyond the basics of prayer, faith, hope, trust, and enthusiasm. May your love for the Divine and the grace of your Spiritual Master lead you on a quest to realize the truth. May you too overcome the ignorance that stops you from realization and as you realize the truth, may you win the war within to be liberated and may you climb the final step of unification with the Divine. This is the Ultimate Goal of human life.
Unification