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Sitaram · Site Admin Joined: 14 Sep 2005 Posts: 1079

Date: Sat Apr 26, 2003 9:09 am
Subject: Heaven is... / Hell is ... om_namah_shi...

http://www.sulekha.com/chpost.asp...ilosophy&show=0&cid=57346

Paradise is surrounded by what we dislike; the fires of hell by what
we desire.
- Rumi (from Camille and Kabir Helminski, "Rumi: Daylight" Threshold
Books, 1994)

http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/freethought/foote/flowers/027whereish
ell.htm

I sent my soul through the invisible,
Some letter of that after-life to spell,
And by and bye my soul returned to me,
And answered, I myself am heaven and hell.

- Omar Khayyam

Just as heaven used to be spoken of as "up above," hell was referred
to as "down below." At one time, indeed, it was believed to be
underground. Many dark caves were thought to lead to it, and some of
them were called "Hell Mouth." Volcanoes were regarded as entrances
to the fiery regions, and when there was an eruption it was thought
that hell was boiling over. Classic mythology, before the time of
Christ, had its entrances to hell at Acherusia, in Bithynia; at
Avernus, in Campania, where Ulysses began his journey to the grisly
abodes; the Sibyl's cave at Cumse, in Argolis; at Taenarus, in the
southern Peloponnesus, where Hercules descended, and dragged Cerberus
up to the daylight; and the cave of Trophonins, in Lebadea, not to
mention a dozen less noted places.

The Bible always speaks of hell as "down," and the Apostles' Creed
tells us that Christ "descended" into hell. Exercising his
imagination on this basis, the learned Faber discovered that after
the Second Advent the saints would dwell on the crust of the earth, a
thousand miles thick, and the damned in a sea of liquid fire inside.
Thus the saints would tread over the heads of sinners, and flowers
would bloom over the lake of damnation.

http://allaboutsikhs.com/mansukh/031.htm

Is there a hell or heaven?

Man is judged according to his actions. If he has done evil deeds, he
goes into lower forms of life; if he has done noble deeds, he gets a
human life again. The idea of hell and heaven is a mere hypothesis.
The picture of hell as a place of varied and terrible tortures is
symbolic:

"There is a stream of fire from which comes poisnous flames.

There is none else there except the self.
The waves of the ocean of fire are aflame.
And the sinners are burning in them." (A.G. p 1026)

Shaikh Farid tells us that hell is a burning lake resounding with
terrible cries. It may be added that the result of a sinful life is
its adverse effect on character from which ultimately comes suffering
and torment. In short, to be in hell is to be out of the presence of
God.

Similarly there is no actual place called heaven. Sikhism does not
regard the winning of a place in heaven as a worthy object. The old
Indian concept of heaven is of a beautiful place providing all sorts
of comforts and luxuries. The devotee is neither afraid of hell nor
anxious to go to heaven. In a way, hell and heaven are conditions of
mind. The virtuous man is happy and contented, as if he is living in
heaven.

The concept of hell and heaven is just a rough illustration for
clarifying the doctrine of Karma. Hell and heaven refer to evil or
good stages of life repectively and they can be lived here and now in
our earthly existence. According to Guru Arjan, "Whereever the
praises of God are sung, there verily is heaven." Likewise, the
society of the wicked is a hell. The condition of an average man is
described thus: "Like birds that flock in the evening on a tree,
flutter with pleasure and pain, scan the skies morning and evening,
wandering everywhere, driven by hunger. So the soul of man wanders
and suffers on earth." The worldly man eats, enjoys and sleeps,
unmindful of the higher things of life. He is free, and perhaps, may
choose wrongly.

http://www.catholic-pages.com/dir/last_things.asp

http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p123a12.htm#II

II. HEAVEN

1023 Those who die in God's grace and friendship and are perfectly
purified live for ever with Christ. They are like God for ever, for
they "see him as he is," face to face:598
By virtue of our apostolic authority, we define the following:
According to the general disposition of God, the souls of all the
saints . . . and other faithful who died after receiving Christ's
holy Baptism (provided they were not in need of purification when
they died, . . . or, if they then did need or will need some
purification, when they have been purified after death, . . .)
already before they take up their bodies again and before the general
judgment - and this since the Ascension of our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ into heaven - have been, are and will be in heaven, in the
heavenly Kingdom and celestial paradise with Christ, joined to the
company of the holy angels. Since the Passion and death of our Lord
Jesus Christ, these souls have seen and do see the divine essence
with an intuitive vision, and even face to face, without the
mediation of any creature.599

1024 This perfect life with the Most Holy Trinity - this communion
of life and love with the Trinity, with the Virgin Mary, the angels
and all the blessed - is called "heaven." Heaven is the ultimate end
and fulfillment of the deepest human longings, the state of supreme,
definitive happiness.

1025 To live in heaven is "to be with Christ." The elect live "in
Christ,"600 but they retain, or rather find, their true identity,
their own name.601
For life is to be with Christ; where Christ is, there is life, there
is the kingdom.602
1026 By his death and Resurrection, Jesus Christ has "opened" heaven
to us. The life of the blessed consists in the full and perfect
possession of the fruits of the redemption accomplished by Christ. He
makes partners in his heavenly glorification those who have believed
in him and remained faithful to his will. Heaven is the blessed
community of all who are perfectly incorporated into Christ.

1027 This mystery of blessed communion with God and all who are in
Christ is beyond all understanding and description. Scripture speaks
of it in images: life, light, peace, wedding feast, wine of the
kingdom, the Father's house, the heavenly Jerusalem, paradise: "no
eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, what God
has prepared for those who love him."603

1028 Because of his transcendence, God cannot be seen as he is,
unless he himself opens up his mystery to man's immediate
contemplation and gives him the capacity for it. The Church calls
this contemplation of God in his heavenly glory "the beatific
vision":
How great will your glory and happiness be, to be allowed to see God,
to be honored with sharing the joy of salvation and eternal light
with Christ your Lord and God, . . . to delight in the joy of
immortality in the Kingdom of heaven with the righteous and God's
friends.604
1029 In the glory of heaven the blessed continue joyfully to fulfill
God's will in relation to other men and to all creation. Already they
reign with Christ; with him "they shall reign for ever and ever."605

III. THE FINAL PURIFICATION, OR PURGATORY

1030 All who die in God's grace and friendship, but still imperfectly
purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after
death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness
necessary to enter the joy of heaven.

1031 The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification
of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the
damned.606 The Church formulated her doctrine of faith on Purgatory
especially at the Councils of Florence and Trent. The tradition of
the Church, by reference to certain texts of Scripture, speaks of a
cleansing fire:607
As for certain lesser faults, we must believe that, before the Final
Judgment, there is a purifying fire. He who is truth says that
whoever utters blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will be pardoned
neither in this age nor in the age to come. From this sentence we
understand that certain offenses can be forgiven in this age, but
certain others in the age to come.608
1032 This teaching is also based on the practice of prayer for the
dead, already mentioned in Sacred Scripture: "Therefore [Judas
Maccabeus] made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered
from their sin."609 From the beginning the Church has honored the
memory of the dead and offered prayers in suffrage for them, above
all the Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus purified, they may
attain the beatific vision of God.610 The Church also commends
almsgiving, indulgences, and works of penance undertaken on behalf of
the dead:
Let us help and commemorate them. If Job's sons were purified by
their father's sacrifice, why would we doubt that our offerings for
the dead bring them some consolation? Let us not hesitate to help
those who have died and to offer our prayers for them.611

IV. HELL

1033 We cannot be united with God unless we freely choose to love
him. But we cannot love God if we sin gravely against him, against
our neighbor or against ourselves: "He who does not love remains in
death. Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that
no murderer has eternal life abiding in him."612 Our Lord warns us
that we shall be separated from him if we fail to meet the serious
needs of the poor and the little ones who are his brethren.613 To die
in mortal sin without repenting and accepting God's merciful love
means remaining separated from him for ever by our own free choice.
This state of definitive self-exclusion from communion with God and
the blessed is called "hell."

1034 Jesus often speaks of "Gehenna" of "the unquenchable fire"
reserved for those who to the end of their lives refuse to believe
and be converted, where both soul and body can be lost.614 Jesus
solemnly proclaims that he "will send his angels, and they will
gather . . . all evil doers, and throw them into the furnace of
fire,"615 and that he will pronounce the condemnation: "Depart from
me, you cursed, into the eternal fire!"616

1035 The teaching of the Church affirms the existence of hell and
its eternity. Immediately after death the souls of those who die in a
state of mortal sin descend into hell, where they suffer the
punishments of hell, "eternal fire."617 The chief punishment of hell
is eternal separation from God, in whom alone man can possess the
life and happiness for which he was created and for which he longs.

1036 The affirmations of Sacred Scripture and the teachings of the
Church on the subject of hell are a call to the responsibility
incumbent upon man to make use of his freedom in view of his eternal
destiny. They are at the same time an urgent call to
conversion: "Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the
way is easy, that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are
many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life,
and those who find it are few."618

Since we know neither the day nor the hour, we should follow the
advice of the Lord and watch constantly so that, when the single
course of our earthly life is completed, we may merit to enter with
him into the marriage feast and be numbered among the blessed, and
not, like the wicked and slothful servants, be ordered to depart into
the eternal fire, into the outer darkness where "men will weep and
gnash their teeth."619

1037 God predestines no one to go to hell;620 for this, a willful
turning away from God (a mortal sin) is necessary, and persistence in
it until the end. In the Eucharistic liturgy and in the daily prayers
of her faithful, the Church implores the mercy of God, who does not
want "any to perish, but all to come to repentance":621

Father, accept this offering
from your whole family.
Grant us your peace in this life,
save us from final damnation,
and count us among those you have chosen.622

http://www.shakespeares.com/ttheavenhell.shtml

Heaven is where the police are British, the lovers are French, the
mechanics are German, the cooks are Italians, and it is all organized
by the Swiss.

Hell is where the police are German, the mechanics are French, the
cooks are British, the lovers are Swiss, and it is all organized by
the Italians.

http://www.mahasati.org/library/dmthon01.shtml

'Heaven in the Mind, Hell in the Mind.' Some people may understand
the meaning, others may not.

Accordingly, the heaven we have heard about, or have been taught for
hundreds or thousands of years from our parents, grandfathers,
grandmothers, is that heaven is a place outside of us, so high and
far away that we can't even see it. That is the heaven we all know
of, or have been taught about, so we are unable to know while we are
alive.

It is taught that in order to go to heaven , we must do good deeds,
or gain merit, so we can go to heaven after death. In heaven, there
are many levels, from the lowest to the highest. If we have not done
many good deeds, we will be in the lower level. If we did many good
deeds, we will go to the higher level. So it is said or taught that
we must do good deeds, make a lot of merit, and render services. So
that when we die, we can go to heaven. Therefore, we do all of our
good deeds and expect the result in the future or after death instead
of getting it now.

Let's think carefully, since now we do not yet know what heaven is or
how its tastes but we hope for it after death. Is it possible? Right
now, at this present moment, we still cannot touch it and yet we want
to get it in the future, it's impossible. It is not provable.

We have been taught this way for so long that we forgot the truth or
misunderstood it. Therefore, we do not see the real heaven in this
life, and hope for heaven in the future. It is the heaven of people
who do not know, do not see, or do not understand Dhamma. It is the
heaven of people who do not know themselves, do not see themselves.
It is the heaven of one who forgot himself.

The heaven of one who knows himself, who doesn't forget himself,
exists in the present. It is to know, to see, and to touch at the
present moment. As it was mentioned in the texts, there is nothing
outside of ourselves. It is close to us. It is quoted that 'sacha'
means good humor. Good humor means that when our eyes see something,
we are not happy or sad - that is heaven. If we don't have anger or
hatred in our mind, that is heaven, that's good humor. While we are
seeing, observe our mind, and our mood. If the mind is normal -
that's heaven. Similarly, when our ears hear any sound, good or bad,
beautiful or not, if we do not feel pleased or displeased, that is
heaven.

This kind of heaven is provable. Everyone can prove it while still
alive. Don't waste your time talking about the future. Now, at this
moment while you are listening to me, can you see your mind? Can you
see your mood? If right now your mind has no pleasure, no
displeasure, that is heaven.

As they say, "heaven is in the mind." If one wants to go to heaven,
one should keep one's mood and mind in a normal state. Now, at this
very moment. If it is good in the present moment, there is no need to
hope for heaven in the future. Because if there is heaven now, there
must be heaven in the future too. If there is no heaven now, there is
no heaven in the future either. Even though we desire it, hope for
it, and pray for it, we cannot get it because it is not provable.
What we have spoken about is the truth. Usually people talk about not
provable things. So we were lost and stuck and can't find the way
out. Therefore, we have doubt about our actions.

Next, we'll talk about "hell."

Hell is in the mind. Whenever our mind is suffering, we are in hell.
When our eyes see a person or an object, we become displeased or
unhappy, that means we are already in hell.

Therefore, when we see anything, we should look into our mind. Don't
let it disturb us. Whenever the mind feels uneasy and confused, that
is hell.

If what we have seen or known disturbs us for many hours or many
days, it means that we have fallen into hell - floating and sinking
in hell for many hours or many days.

In the same way, when we hear any sound that makes our mind become
uneasy and confused, that is hell. Therefore, when we hear anything,
we should look into our mind. If we are unhappy, we again are in
hell.

This kind of hell can be proved now, at this very moment. Now, while
we are sitting here, if there is a person that has done something bad
and doesn't feel guilty, but we are irritated by his action, then WE
are in hell.

In brief, heaven is in the mind, and hell is also in the mind.

If after we have heard all of this, we still don't change our
attitude towards heaven and hell, and still hope for heaven, and
still do not see our own mind, I will be disappointed.

The hell and heaven that I have talked about is provable. I want all
of you to touch the real heaven and the real hell now, at this
moment.

The eyes' only duty is to see. The ears' only duty is to hear. What
really matters is the minds response to seeing and hearing.

Our mind and life is very difficult to control, to take care of, and
to understand. In order to see our mind and our life, the Buddha
taught that we have to have self-awareness, or sati. If we don't have
self-awareness, we can't see our mind, thought and life, no matter
how much we think and ponder.

Therefore, the Buddha taught us to be aware while standing, walking,
sitting, lying and of all of our bodily movements; then we will be
able to see our mind and our life.

If we cultivate self-awareness and have self-awareness, no matter
what happens in our mind, we will see it. Whatever is dangerous to
our mind or our life, sati will do its duty to protect us from it.

It is said in the Pali texts that "...one who has self-awareness is
happy everyday" and "...happiness is not far away if we have self-
awareness." If we don't have self-awareness, wherever we go seeking
happiness, we will never find it.

I would like all of you here to practice and develop self-awareness.
We can do it anywhere, any time, and while doing any kind of job.
While we are doing our job, be aware of our bodily movements, our
actions. This is the way to cultivate self-awareness in daily life
because no one can stay still. We must know and be aware of our own
actions. But there is a technique to cultivate self-awareness. If we
cultivate and accumulate self-awareness, our sati will become
stronger and stronger.

The method that I am going to suggest and demonstrate is easy. In
this method, don't stay still, don't close your eyes, just be
natural. Closing your eyes and ears is not natural.

We can practice this method even when we are traveling. At this
present moment, wherever we are, whatever we do, we can use any
bodily movement's to cultivate our self-awareness.

This method is in accordance with the Buddha's teachings
about "akaligo" - it doesn't depend on time or place. We can prove it
easily.

If we are interested in our own lives and are sincere with ourselves,
it is very simple.

This talk is about the truth that exists in a human's life. Whether
anyone knows it or not, it's always there. It existed even before the
Enlightenment of the Lord Buddha.

So we are only talking about what we can prove while we are alive,
not something not provable.

For whoever would like to prove the truth, I can guarantee that what
I've talked about is the truth that the Lord Buddha taught more than
two thousands years ago. There is evidence to support it. I guarantee
this with my life. As the Buddha said, 'sacrifice property to keep
bodily organs, sacrifice organs to keep life, sacrifice life to keep
the Truth.'

You should not believe what I have said, but prove it for yourself.
If anyone just believes me, that's wrong. Change your mind - don't
just believe. Prove it with yourself and thoroughly understand it -
then believe. Otherwise, whom should we believe? The Buddha? Don't
even believe in the Buddha or teachers. We must believe in ourselves.
The Buddha taught us we will be our own refuge. The Buddha
said 'attahi-attano-nato' - "One is one's own shelter." Since most
people have no shelter, they turn to something else which prevents
them from finding the real shelter.

- from "Beyond Text, Beyond Scriptures" by Luangpor Thong
Abhakaro.

http://www.bcca.org/ref/books/bne/1112heavenandhell.html

Bahá'u'lláh and `Abdu'l-Bahá regard the descriptions of Heaven and
Hell given in some of the older religious writings as symbolic, like
the Biblical story of the Creation, and not as literally true.
According to Them, Heaven is the state of perfection, and Hell that
of imperfection; Heaven is harmony with God's will and with our
fellows, and Hell is the want of such harmony; Heaven is the
condition of spiritual life, and Hell that of spiritual death. A man
may be either in Heaven or in Hell while still in the body. The joys
of Heaven are spiritual joys; and the pains of Hell consist in the
deprivation of these joys. `Abdu'l-Bahá says:

When they [men] are delivered through the light of faith from the
darkness of these vices, and become illuminated with the radiance of
the sun of reality, and ennobled with all the virtues, they esteem
this the greatest reward, and they know it to be the true paradise.
In the same way they consider that the spiritual punishment ... is to
be subjected to the world of nature, to be veiled from God, to be
brutal and ignorant, to fall into carnal lusts, to be absorbed in
animal frailties, to be characterized with dark qualities ... these
are the greatest punishments and tortures. ...

... The rewards of the other world are the perfections and the peace
obtained in the spiritual worlds after leaving this world ... the
spiritual graces, the various spiritual gifts in the Kingdom of God,
the gaining of the desires of the heart and the soul, and the meeting
of God in the world of eternity. In the same way the punishments of
the other world ... consist in being deprived of the special divine
blessings and the absolute bounties, and falling into the lowest
degrees of existence. He who is deprived of these divine favours,
although he continues after death, is considered as dead by the
people of truth.

The wealth of the other world is nearness to God. Consequently it is
certain that those who are near the Divine Court are allowed to
intercede, and this intercession is approved by God. ...

It is even possible that the condition of those who have died in sin
and unbelief may become changed; that is to say, they may become the
object of pardon through the bounty of God, not through His justice;
for bounty if giving without desert, and justice is giving what is
deserved. As we have the power to pray for these souls here, so
likewise we shall possess the same power in the other world, which is
the Kingdom of God. ... Therefore in that world also they can make
progress. As here they can receive light by their supplications,
there also they can plead for forgiveness, and receive light through
entreaties and supplications.

Both before and after putting off this material form, there is
progress in perfection, but not in state. ... There is no other being
higher than a perfect man. But man when he has reached this state can
still make progress in perfections but not in state, because there is
no state higher than that of a perfect man to which he can transfer
himself. He only progresses in the state of humanity, for the human
perfections are infinite. Thus however learned a man may be, we can
imagine one more learned.

http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hell

The English word 'hell' comes from Old English 'Hel', meaning
underworld.

The English word "Hell" comes from the Hebrew word "Sheol", which
technically means landfill. The confusion over what this word
actually stems from the fact that the Hebrews really didn't have a
set word to describe their underworld, so when referring to it they
used words they thought might describe it, thus the word Sheol.
It is interesting to note that Hebrew landfills were very unsanitary
and unpleasant when compared to modern landfills, these places were
filled with rotting garbage and the Hebrews would periodically burn
them down, however by that point they were generally so large that
they would burn for weeks or even months. In other words they were
fiery mountains of garbage.

Hell, as it exists in the Western popular imagination, has its
origins in Christianity . Judaism , at least initially, believed in
Sheol , a shadowy existence to which all were sent indiscriminately.
Sheol may have been little more than a poetic metaphor for death, not
really an afterlife at all: see for example Sirach
http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sirach. In any case, the afterlife was
much less important in ancient Judaism than it is for many Christian
groups today; indeed, the same can be said for modern Judaism as
well.

The Hebrew Sheol was translated in the Septuagint as 'Hades , the
name for the underworld in Greek mythology . The New Testament uses
this word, but it also uses the word 'Gehenna , from the valley of Ge-
Hinnom , a valley near Jerusalem in which in ancient times garbage
was burned. The early Christian teaching was that the damned would be
burnt in the valley just as the garbage was. (It is ironic to note
that the valley of Ge-Hinnom is today, far from being a garbage
dump, a public park.) Punishment for the damned and reward for the
saved is a constant theme of early Christianity.

Rabbinic Jewish view of Hell

Gehenna is fairly well defined in rabbinic literature. It is
sometimes translated as "hell", but this does't effectively convey
it's meaning. In Judaism, gehenna - while certainly a terribly
unpleasant place - is not hell. The overwhelming majority of rabbinic
thought maintains that people are not tortured in hell forever; the
longest that one can be there is said to be 12 months. Some consider
it a spiritual forge where the soul is purified for its eventual
ascent to Gan Eden [Heaven], where all imperfections are purged.

Ancient Greek views of Hell

Another source for the modern idea of 'Hell' is the Greek Tartarus ,
a fiery placed in which evildoers were punished. Tartarus formed
part of Hades in Greek mythology , but Hades also included the
Elysian fields , a place for the reward of heroes (though some
sources have the Elysian fields, not in the underworld, but as
islands in the west), whilst most spent a shadowy existence wandering
the asphodels (a flower, most likely Narcissus poeticus fields. Like
most ancient (pre-Christian) religions, the underworld was not viewed
as negatively as it is in Christianity. Obviously, we need an erudite
account from someone who has studied the relevant theology.

Hell appears in several mythologies and religions in different
guises, and is commonly inhabited by demons and the souls of dead
people.

Christian view of Hell

According to popular imagery connected to the Christian mythos, Hell
is a place ruled by the Devil or Satan, who is often depicted as a
being who carries a pitchfork, has flaming red skin, horns on his
head, and a long thin tail with a diamond shaped barb on it. Hell is
often depicted as a place underground, with fires and molten rock.
Demons, looking much like the Devil, eternally torment the souls of
the dead. Christian theologians (or at least those who believe in the
traditional Christian idea of Hell) reject this view: the popular
image of the Devil has no biblical basis (it may be a Christian
corruption of the god Pan , and rather than demons punishing humans,
demons themselves are punished in Hell along with the humans led
astray by them.

Most Christian groups teach that Hell is eternal. Some however
believe that Hell is only temporary, and that souls in hell cease to
exist after serving their time there; this belief is called
annihilationism .Others believe that after serving their time in hell
souls are reconciled to God and admitted to heaven; this belief is
called universalism

Other religions

Although Buddhists acknowledge several Hells, which are places of
punishment and discipline for evildoers, they remain temporary for
inhabitants. Those with sufficiently negative karma are reborn
there, where they stay until their bad karma has been burnt,
whereupon they are reborn as humans or hungry ghosts.

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