susangail

I'm wondering what people here think of the idea of heaven and hell. Such as, whether these places even exist, and if they do, who goes where, if they don't, what happens after death, etc. Also what you think of the Christian view of heaven and hell (those who believe in Jesus as their saviour, as the Son of God, and that he died on the cross and resurrected on the third day for their sins go to heaven and those that don't believe go to hell). I'm simply curious and any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Susan

__________________
One day, someone showed me a glass of water that was half full. And he said, "Is it half full or half empty?" So I drank the water. No more problem. ~Alexander Jodorowsky

romansh

hi susangail
heaven and hell.... my personal preferred interpretation is that they refer to now! And whether we are in heaven or hell just depends on our outlook or attitude towards life.

In my opinion all that fire and brimstone and pearly gate type stuff is just a really poor interpretation of what's written in the Bible.

all the best

__________________
There is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened. ........... Douglas Adams

JoeCamaro

Personally I dont believe in either of them.
I believe those are states of mind. I think people who believe choose to do good or evil and they work their ways to get there (heaven or hell) by their actions. When people are dying they start thinking of were they are heading. Like someone who did good and behaved as best as he/she could in relation to what he/she thinks is right, will die relaxed, maybe even happy, "knowing" he/she is going to heaven. When someone who did wrong and evil is about to die and they suddenly regret it and accept "God" is because they know they've done wrong and they "know" they are going to hell and by the fear of that, they give themselves to the lord. This is my very personal opinion about it.
I believe we are biological beings and when we die, we just die, just like animals, plants and stuff.

Joe

__________________
Evolution/Agnostic decals here

Astreja

I don't think that heaven and hell actually exist outside the imaginations of believers.

In my opinion, heaven was invented to be an incentive to do good, and as a place where suffering people could finally experience something good. Hell was invented to frighten people into compliance and discourage them from asserting their rights when the powers that be were mistreating and exploiting them.

And I think the Jesus-myth is ridiculous and immoral. I simply can't bring myself to trust, respect or even believe in a god that requires human sacrifice, and "Believe or burn!" theology is a particularly nasty extension of the hell myth.

Danlo

What do you think Susan??

Personally I'm not sure. I grew up being taught the traditional "heaven=lollipops and good times" and "hell=bbq'd to a crisp, but never dead". But as I've grown older and read some of the various opinions on this forum I've turned to a state of indecision.

One thing that I always try and keep in mind though is that whatever 'heaven' or 'hell' is, that to try and describe it in human terms is probably going to fail dismally due to our limited frame of reference (ie. we are not omnipotent 'gods' in the traditional sense of the word).

D.

timmyg

i've always thought the concept of heaven and hell seems like something thought up by a child
and if you think about, when the concept was originally invented, they knew very little about the earth and outer space so it seems somewhat logical that someone could theorize such a thing

for example, its been reported that some of the early primitive people living in Africa thought that the sun was god
now this seems silly to us, knowing what we now know the sun is
but was it very illogical for those people to think that?
it's a gigantic ball of light in the sky that you can't even look directly at, and it gives life to everything on earth
to me, these African's theory on god at the time is more logical then some of the other ideas being theorized in lets say middle east around the same time

B-continum

Forgive me for reviving this thread, I understand that can be frowned upon at times. It's just I felt like adding something and did not want to start a new thread.

Anyway, on the issue of heaven and hell. I do believe that they both exist and that we are currently all in hell. We all wonder why people suffer in this world; this explains why. How did we get here? Well, it was a prison of our own making, which started when we first thought of "What would our existence be like without God?" Suddenly fear and guilt took us and gave rise to the ego. This allowed for the universe to be made in our minds. The ego survives off of fear and guilt. Therefore, it continues to make us suffer so as to sustain itself. Hence, why I believe that this is hell.

So you can imagine my confusion when someone tells me to go to hell. :P

__________________
"If you want to make God laugh, tell him your future plans" - Woody Allen

"I have too much respect for the idea of God to make it responsible for such an absurd world." - Georges Duhamel

"What does an agnostic, dyslexic insomniac do? Stays up all night and wonders if there is a dog." -Unknown

xexon

Heaven is your natural state of awareness. It is wide ranging and crystal clear outside of the human mind which attempts to contain it.

Hell is the lack of awareness. It is the border where the mind cannot cross for the answer. The mind (Satan), cannot enter heaven.

Only the heart (God) can proceed past this point. If you haven't spent the time to wake it up, you'll go through life with awareness tied to the 5 senses. It is a shallow existance.

You are confined to form and appearances. You cannot see the hand inside the glove that makes the form. Or the reasons why.

To realize God is to understand that both heaven and hell are two halves of a whole. Neither is superior to the other. They are equal. When creation occurs, the delicate balance is disrupted, because creation is a result of dividing one thing against another.



x

__________________
Destroyer of Worlds

shadowind

awarness by means other then senses?

__________________
remember "for mere impulse of appetite is slavery, while obedience to a law which we prescirbe to oursleves is liberty"-rousseau: the concept of the general will "if we can not reconcile all opions, then let us endeavour to unite all hearts."-?"to be is to be perceived"-? "‘We can be as honest as we are ignorant. If we are, when asked what is beyond the horizon of the known, we must say that we do not know’-Robert G. Ingersoll

xexon

Your awareness only uses the senses because it is residing inside a body. Think of awareness as a hand inside a glove. The glove limits your ability to feel things. Take it off, you have full sensation again.

You are restricted to 5 senses because you've not grown enough yet to be aware of anything else. What you have are 5 small flashlights in a very dark room. You can only see what they illuminate for you.

A person with God realization turns on the overhead light with their awareness so that everything is illuminated by it. They see everything at once, and are free to concentrate on any part of it unobstructed.

All while keeping one foot in this world.


x

__________________
Destroyer of Worlds