Heaven and Hell

1. Intro
I like to begin this piece with some lines from Zen: . . . seeing his master on the other side of a raging river, a student waved his arms and shouted out, ‘Master, master how do I get to the other side?’ The master smiled before replying, ‘You are already there.’ . . . Did you get it? If you didn’t, just think it over – it will soon be clear what the master meant. Zen aside, let me devote this piece to a lighter topic. Lighter – yet this is something that lies deep in our mind in quests for peace and happiness – and in our detests for things otherwise. It is the concept and visualization of heaven and hell that existed in all cultures since ancient times – and we all experience the heavenly and hellish feelings in modern times at one time or another. All religions saw the importance of this concept and belief system, and adopted it in one way or another – to motivate people to do good things to go to heaven; and refrain from doing bad things to escape from hellish suffering. Sometimes one may not see the relevance of this concept or belief while grinding through the constraints of day-to-day living – but its influence on an individual is there – if not always but at certain times – if not strong but certainly subtle.
Interestingly we see it so often – in sports arena, a winning player looking up to the sky to thank for his or her success. A successful business entrepreneur rushes to donate part of his or her first proceeds/profits to religious establishments as a thankful gesture. A job seeker prays for continued success in his or her job; or a school/college student prays to help him or her pass the exams. All these indicate – not only the frailty of human self-confidence – but also the humility that resides in human heart. The sense of humility is very important – its application makes us a better human – a better member of the society. But humans are also a selfish sort, perhaps a horrific and cruel one if not guarded or leashed {that is one of the reasons why religions were born in the first place – in order to help people to rise above selfishness} – once we become assured of continued success or power – we forget all about humility and gratefulness – and act like an arrogant fool.     
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2. Origin of the Concept of Heaven and Hell
Perhaps the concept of heaven originated from the early human aspiration of reaching up to the sky – unreachable yet desirable because it brings-in lights of the Sun and Moon to brighten the day; and brings-in rain to cool the hot day – to quench the thirst – to germinate the growths of plants and vegetables – to hope and happiness.
Similarly the concept of hell perhaps originated from the human detests for suffering – for the scare of Nuture’s fury and anger. It has been identified with dirt and filth – something low that needs constant cleansing – with mistrust and animosity – perhaps some of the undesirable things one experiences in life’s contingencies – in richness or lack of it – in the ups and downs of uncertainties that engulf us all. Buddhism (Gautama Buddha, 624 – 544 BCE) - the Tathagata defines heaven and hell from this perspective – as something of the mind phenomenon – that remains with one during his or her lifetime – arising, growing, diminishing and disappearing in response to one’s state of mind.
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3. Visualizations of Heaven and Hell
Let us attempt to see how different cultures visualized heaven. Perhaps the early visualizations metamorphosed into and took concrete shapes in the myths and legends of Greek, Roman, Shinto and ancient Indian cultures. Heavens were visualized as the sky abodes of very supernaturally powerful gods and goddesses – but in likely personified images of human royals. Some of their attributes were:

1. They are immortal {perhaps reflecting the human aspiration for longevity}.
   
2. They look down upon humans as inferiors only to demand worship and sacrifice – and reward the favorites, and punish the disobedient and heretics. They have the power and liberty to interfere and intervene when things do not go their way.
   
3. They can cause havoc to the human world if angry and dissatisfied. Their in-fighting can cause lightning thunderbolt and catastrophic natural disasters. 
   
4. They are corruptible by worshippers {even the evil ones} enticed to intervene in their favors.
5. They are at liberty to fornicate with humans – with whoever catches their fancies. Their mating adventures give birth to hybrid human-god like creatures.
6. There is no travel barrier for them – in space or time. They can roam between heaven and earth in the blink of an eye.
   
7. It is not clear what they eat, or if they need to eat at all – but some gods and goddesses appear to indulge in hard liquor and other intoxicants.           
   

The last two attributes are suggestive of an energy paradigm – that travels instantly without requiring any foods – foods similar to the likeness of what are consumed by humans. The attributes 2 to 5 are some of the reasons, why sometimes people refer to the behavior of an arrogant powerful individual as playing God.
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3.1 Heaven and Hell in Buddhism
Among the early religions Buddhism offers a different visualization of the heaven. The visualization has different levels of heavenly abodes, or the Buddha Lands – the highest of which is the Pure Land where Panchsila and Brahma Vihara (the Sublime Abode) rule, and everything there is smooth and peaceful – birds sing to the tune of gentle waterfall, trees and plants flower to the touch of gentle cool breeze – fish swim freely in lakes – all living in harmony – perhaps the likeness one dreams about. In those lands Buddha’s and Bodhisattvas’ care, love and compassion flow like the sweetness of honey to all irrespective of who they are. Such characterization of the heavens and the heavenly beings, evolved from the allegories and Jataka Tales associated with the teachings of the human Buddha – and are often interpreted as and identified with different stages of realizations one experiences in deep meditations. Major elements of these characterization processes developed and took shape nearly 5 centuries after the Buddha’s death.
Unlike the gods and goddesses of other ancient religions, the Buddha Land beings do not interfere and intervene in the human world – but let karma {The Buddhist definition of karma is distinct; and has nothing to do with the pleasure or displeasure of gods and goddesses like in Hinduism; but is solely the consequences of one’s wholesome or unwholesome volitional activities} take the lead with blessings bestowed upon those accumulating the good karma – and to those who need help, or are penitent. The certificate to ascent to the Buddha Lands is the accumulation of merits by practicing, and through the accomplishments of the Noble Eightfold Path, or the Six Pursuits to Perfection. Often the Pure Land is confused with Nirvana – but Nirvana is beyond and above the Pure Land. It is not an imaginary land or an abode but a rarely attainable stable and sublime state of existence – a reality – in which the wheel of Dependent-Origination of things has grinded to a halt yielding the ultimate equilibrium of eternal bliss – where the duality has melted into the tranquility of unity.     
Where do the heavenly abodes exist exactly? Within the vast expanse of the universe – it is not highly unlikely that – there could exist heavenly and hellish realms somewhere. Even if it does not – the human experience of the feelings is real. But it does not matter whether the existence of heaven and hell is true or false – does it? Human creativity – acted upon by strong emotions like anger, hatred, devotion and love will always find ways to nurture imaginations – be in scriptures, writings, poetry, paintings, sculpture and music. For such nurturing to be benevolent – it is necessary however to watch to remaining awake to not get attached to the detrimental and negative emotions – instead making all out efforts to channel them toward the goals of love and compassion.  
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4. Heaven and Hell in a Poem
Let us attempt to see more of it through a poem – but through the lens of our experience as we tread through the rough terrain – we call life.
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And there converged all the stars to endorse:
The heavenly peace
The unconditional love of parents for their progeny
What one achieves after tiring wholesome works and commitments
Facilitating the seeds of human spirit to sprout and flower
The brightness of transparency and light
The bliss of practicing generosity, love, compassion and joy
Checking one’s emotions to avoid getting too attached to things
The serenity of equanimity and harmony
Remaining awake and having peace in oneself.
 
And the assembly did warn of:
The hellish malice
The infestation of cyberstalkers
Wrecking businesses and people’s well-being with impunity.
The deprivation of love to children by separating parents
Victimizing the innocents by conspiracy and deceit 
Not taking responsibility for wrong doings.
Discrimination and prejudice
The travesty of denying justice.
The constant worries of uncertainty
That rips a person and family apart
Destroying the niceties of human spirit.
 
And they did add more to the malice:
The assault and rape of humanity again and again
Not taking care of things that nourish humans – Nature and environment
Destroying the beauty of multiplicity in harmonious living
Promoting mistrust and divisiveness.
The pain of loneliness and hopelessness
Preying on and inflicting wounds on the vulnerable again and again
The greed and conflict – giving nutrition to the monsters of anger and hatred.
 
And as the religions say:
Heaven is the message of hope
Hope of reward for being and doing good
Hope to reach something beyond – perhaps unreachable yet desirable
Something where the bliss of equilibrium sprinkles soothing showers
Of understandings and love that bind families and society together
To peace and happiness.
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Let me finish this piece with a line from Bengali Nobel Laureate poet Rabindranath Tagore (1861 – 1941; the author of India and Bangladesh national anthems): . . . don’t limit a child to your own learning, for he was born in another time . . .

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- by Dr. Dilip K. Barua, 27 July 2018

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