Heaven And Hell Debunked

As human beings, we often forget the fact that if we weren't present as observers, which interpret and give meaning to everything we perceive, life would still continue. The Sun doesn't need our validation to keep doing Its thing. Neither does the Earth, nor any other fully conscious being.

Whether it's time, religions, money, how we built our society, how we function as human beings - everything we take for granted, and believe to be the "ultimate truth" to life - was once, a simple interpretation from an observer.

Yes, we're rebels but we still live according to others' ideas.

And these ideas were transmitted from generation to generation, gaining enough "credibility" until they formed our collective worldview. What we believe to be the truth is most of the time fear-driven/biased; human beings are willing to do anything to preserve their sense of security. Even if it means living in lies.

I had an interesting conversation with a friend yesterday. We were having a walk when he suddenly asked about what 'heaven' and 'hell' could really signify. After listening to his inquiry, I felt drawn to throw the question back at him. He loves esoteric knowledge. And I wanted to show him that banking data wasn't going to make his life any better after the first two days of initial 'high.'

So I asked him. "What is heaven, and what is hell? I'd like to hear your opinion on the subject. Let's talk about it." Who doesn't like to talk about his or her opinions?

He said that heaven is a place of goodness, of peace, of happiness. A place in which all your desires are fulfilled. A place in which you feel safe. At peace. In bliss. The usual melody. Then he talked about hell, saying that it's the worst place he could imagine. Doesn't it sound too human for such a 'godly' place, I thought to myself.

"Okay," I answered. "That's about what most people, religions and books say on the subject. It's based on others' experiences and not yours. If you didn't have any access to books, teachers or whatever external agent to guide you on the subject - what would heaven represent for you? What would hell represent for you? Because right now, heaven means something to you just like hell does. If it didn't, you wouldn't ask about it. You feel something behind those words. What is it?"

After thinking for a few minutes, he said "Based on my own experiences, heaven is when I am happy, at peace. And hell is when I am lost and miserable."

Maybe, but it felt childish, theoretical and unpractical.

"Let's approach it differently." I replied. "Why are you concerned with heaven and hell in the first place? What do heaven and hell represent for us as human beings? Heaven is an ideal place, isn't it? One that represents the perfect world we'd love to be in. And hell, it's the place we don't want to be in. A horror. Some place we never want to step in. Isn't it?"

He nodded. I continued.

"Instead of focusing on surface matters such as the words 'heaven' and 'hell,' which may give us some comfort in the short term. Let's observe the facts, which is how we relentlessly move towards pleasure, and away from pain. Contrary to what we may think, we're not truly preoccupied with heaven or hell, but rather, with our 'immortality,' with the continuity of the self -image- which is expressed by being overly concerned with the afterlife."

"We created god. We projected our fears and anger on him/her. Being in conflict with our lives as they are in the moment, we projected our ideals into some future called heaven, and our worst nightmares turned into hell. Higher dimensions may exist, blissful places may exist - but that's not what you're asking about right now, is it? If you did, you'd ask about how many dimensions they were, you'd ask about what dimension of existence you're in right now, and so on. But instead, you asked about what heaven and hell truly are."

We're observers. How we see most of the time is simply a projection of what we are. When we point a finger at something or someone, what we're really doing is pointing it at ourselves. To perceive without the weight of the past is the only way pure observation can occur, and only then do understanding becomes possible. Real observation requires us to be humble. Through humility, we can see how our knowledge has been preventing us from seeing the facts. And only then do the veil of illusion dissolve.