The very devout man experienced a fairly painful stoppage of his heart.

Immediately, it seemed, he was floating above, looking down on doctors and nurses behaving frantically over a body. The body looked much like his own, but that seemed so very unimportant. He felt intense desire to…get on with…something.

So when the tunnel appeared, he felt unsurprised to be drawn into it, to float upward, gaining speed, faster and faster toward that distant point of light he could see at the far end. He was ready, not altogether surprised, when he emerged into the light, and it loved him—loved him exceedingly, infinitely, unconditionally—for, being well read, he had read a number of times about this experience by others. Now he was experiencing it himself. He felt sure this all-loving entity was the Divine Creator.

And Divine Creator gently asked him: “What have you brought me?”

Immediately, then, his life review appeared before him. He saw it all, every moment of every single day of his long life. It was amazing, panoramic, all around and above and below, his whole life, as real as when it happened originally, and with it came total remembrance. He was both here, watching his life from outside, and he was there inside, re-living every second of it while time stood still. He remembered every breath he ever took, every emotion, every intention he ever harbored in the privacy of his mind. He remembered every word he had ever spoken to every person he had ever encountered, and re-lived again how he had felt when he uttered each of those words. With utter clarity he remembered many words cast out in anger, other words uttered in great indignation, yet more words reflecting spite, guile, ridicule—and also some times when his words were supportive, conveying sympathy and understanding.

And with every word of every kind he felt that word’s effect on the one to whom he had spoken it. Part of him somehow became the other person who heard each word, and he felt how that word made the receiver feel. Thus did he variously feel injured, insulted, put down, humiliated and victimized when receiving his own words of anger, indignation, spite, guile, ridicule. He, the speaker, felt the pain the hearer had felt.  He felt also the all-too-rare glow of gratitude and loving warmth those others had felt when he spoke to them with sympathy and understanding. He wished there were more of the latter and less of the former. But there it was, the whole record, the truth, as he and Divine Creator looked on.

He felt Divine Creator quietly send into his mind, again, the question: “What have you brought me?”

“Seventy years,” he replied, “I fasted during Ramadan. My whole life I was fastidious in observance. I prayed five times daily. Thousands of times I repeated the mantra Allahu Akbar, Allah is the greatest. I required all in my household to conduct themselves likewise. I set a new standard for devotion.”

Then in his innermost self he felt: “How important were these things? Did your fasting exclude, from your heart and mind, all impure and unkind thoughts toward persons of other religions? Did you commit inaction that gave aid and comfort to terrorists? Did you help those who are desperately poor, who live in migrant camps and struggle to get enough to eat? What did you do to help others?”

And there it was, the whole record, truth bare and plain. Divine Creator did not judge his shortcomings, Divine Creator loved him unconditionally—though he wished he had a better reply for Divine Creator.

“Seventy years I showed my devotion to the Buddha. I gave generous gifts at festivals, I was devout in chanting mantras and scriptures at Puja and other ceremonies great and small. Many saw my devotion.”

Then in his innermost self he felt: “How important were these things? Did your private heart ever cheer those who wish violence against the Chinese invaders, or who secretly poach endangered animals for food? Did you commit inaction toward  Bangladeshi Refugees who live in tents and hunger til they grow malnourished and weak? What did you do to help others?”

And there it was, the whole record, truth bare and plain. Divine Creator did not judge his shortcomings, Divine Creator loved him unconditionally—though he wished he had a better reply for Divine Creator.

“Seventy years I faithfully attended church every Sunday. I memorized the entire New Testament, I tithed. I praised God’s name unceasingly, ever extolling God’s greatness, His power and His majesty. People spoke of me as the prime example of constant religious devotion.”

Then in his innermost self he felt: “How important were these things? Did you give a dollar to the homeless beggar who so often approached you on your way to work? Did you commit inaction rather than help the elderly woman you noticed standing forlorn by the roadside with a flat tire? Did you ever lust in the privacy of your thoughts? What did you do to help others?”

And there it was, the whole record, truth bare and plain. Divine Creator did not judge his shortcomings, Divine Creator loved him unconditionally—though he wished he had a better reply for Divine Creator.

But the only thing his mind thought of to say was: “…oh…”

And then Divine Creator placed in his mind these thoughts: “Many times in this life have I seen you choose between options. I was always there when you made each choice. I was especially interested in how you would choose on those occasions when you weren’t sure what was the best choice. But your free exercise of your free will is utterly yours, yours alone. Your time to leave Earth is not necessarily yet. You still have unfulfilled purpose that might yet be pursued if you should choose to return and live out the potential of those remaining years of this life. The choice to stay here or return there is yours. What is your choice?”

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