Do you believe in Heaven & Hell?
Most of our religions revolve under the concept of heaven and hell. A person who does not lead a good life on earth is punished by being sent to hell in his after life. (Well there are also concepts of a person being reborn, which are outside the purview of this post!)
A Roman Catholic believes (or is expected to believe) that there is a heaven where God and his angels reside. Jesus Christ, the son of God and a few other saints are also in heaven. Heaven is a place where people who have abstained from sin, or who have repented and have been forgiven of all their sins are admitted in their 'after life'. Similarly, hell, which is usually visualised as a burning place, filled with boiling lava, is a place where people who have led sinful lives are sent once they die.
Hell, was created when Lucifer, one of the angels of God, had a fall out with him and was banished from heaven. That is when he swore to spread evil in the world and convert the entire human race against God.
Then there is also a concept of Purgatory, which is a place where souls are sent after the death of their physical bodies, and pending their judgement. It is believed that on Judgement Day, that is also considered the end of the world, God the Father will judge all souls and will accordingly welcome them into heaven or banish them in Hell!
Frankly, though all of these things sound charming to me, I used to find it very difficult to believe them! I could never imagine my soul moving out of my body and then being judged someday, after an infinite amount of time has passed, into whether the life led by me on earth, was good or bad!
One day while I was idling away, pondering over the concepts of resurrection, forgiveness, soul etc. that I had this thought.
The fact that the Soul is nothing more than the memory of himself that a human body leaves behind in the minds of the others around him. I really seemed to identify with this concept and I think it has made it a little easier for me to 'do good'. All of us want to be loved. When on earth we want to be appreciated by our near and dear ones. We like being popular among our friends and like creating a good 'impression' on peoples minds. Some even more ambitious people want to be famous! I am sure very few people think about it, but all of us want to be thought of 'fondly' when we are no longer alive.
This is heaven. What more do we want! Science has proved that we are biological creatures and that our mind and body decay after we are burried in the earth. Leaving behind a good memory is all what heaven is about to me. The concept of forgiveness too, makes more sense to me this way. Rather than the age old custom that we follow in the Christian Church of asking God for forgiveness, or confessing our sins to a third party priest who intervenes on your behalf to God, a sure shot way to be in this heaven, is to ask forgiveness of the person you have wronged. The words of my beloved Jesus Christ make more sense to me now. During his tenor on earth, Jesus never sat behind a confession box forgiving people, but he said "Love thy enemy". He advocated peace. He said whatsoever you do, to the least of your brothers, that you do unto me. I dont mean to say dont ask God for forgiveness. But I mean to say that no forgiveness is complete untill the person you have wronged has forgiven you.
It is like confessing to your mother that you scribbled in your elder sisters note book! Our dear mother will reprimand us and send us to apologise to our sister and ask for forgiveness.
Similarly, our memory will burn in hell, if we have lived our lives through hatred and injustice! Can you imagine the pain our dearest ones will go through when they hear that no one can sympathise with you once you're gone?
Dear Readers, I do not mean to defy the basic concepts of religion. What I want to convey through this post is, that loving others and doing good to people around us, is the only way to ensure a 'ticket' to heaven. No amount of praying and praying alone can do the trick.
Love
G.
Most of our religions revolve under the concept of heaven and hell. A person who does not lead a good life on earth is punished by being sent to hell in his after life. (Well there are also concepts of a person being reborn, which are outside the purview of this post!)
A Roman Catholic believes (or is expected to believe) that there is a heaven where God and his angels reside. Jesus Christ, the son of God and a few other saints are also in heaven. Heaven is a place where people who have abstained from sin, or who have repented and have been forgiven of all their sins are admitted in their 'after life'. Similarly, hell, which is usually visualised as a burning place, filled with boiling lava, is a place where people who have led sinful lives are sent once they die.
Hell, was created when Lucifer, one of the angels of God, had a fall out with him and was banished from heaven. That is when he swore to spread evil in the world and convert the entire human race against God.
Then there is also a concept of Purgatory, which is a place where souls are sent after the death of their physical bodies, and pending their judgement. It is believed that on Judgement Day, that is also considered the end of the world, God the Father will judge all souls and will accordingly welcome them into heaven or banish them in Hell!
Frankly, though all of these things sound charming to me, I used to find it very difficult to believe them! I could never imagine my soul moving out of my body and then being judged someday, after an infinite amount of time has passed, into whether the life led by me on earth, was good or bad!
One day while I was idling away, pondering over the concepts of resurrection, forgiveness, soul etc. that I had this thought.
The fact that the Soul is nothing more than the memory of himself that a human body leaves behind in the minds of the others around him. I really seemed to identify with this concept and I think it has made it a little easier for me to 'do good'. All of us want to be loved. When on earth we want to be appreciated by our near and dear ones. We like being popular among our friends and like creating a good 'impression' on peoples minds. Some even more ambitious people want to be famous! I am sure very few people think about it, but all of us want to be thought of 'fondly' when we are no longer alive.
This is heaven. What more do we want! Science has proved that we are biological creatures and that our mind and body decay after we are burried in the earth. Leaving behind a good memory is all what heaven is about to me. The concept of forgiveness too, makes more sense to me this way. Rather than the age old custom that we follow in the Christian Church of asking God for forgiveness, or confessing our sins to a third party priest who intervenes on your behalf to God, a sure shot way to be in this heaven, is to ask forgiveness of the person you have wronged. The words of my beloved Jesus Christ make more sense to me now. During his tenor on earth, Jesus never sat behind a confession box forgiving people, but he said "Love thy enemy". He advocated peace. He said whatsoever you do, to the least of your brothers, that you do unto me. I dont mean to say dont ask God for forgiveness. But I mean to say that no forgiveness is complete untill the person you have wronged has forgiven you.
It is like confessing to your mother that you scribbled in your elder sisters note book! Our dear mother will reprimand us and send us to apologise to our sister and ask for forgiveness.
Similarly, our memory will burn in hell, if we have lived our lives through hatred and injustice! Can you imagine the pain our dearest ones will go through when they hear that no one can sympathise with you once you're gone?
Dear Readers, I do not mean to defy the basic concepts of religion. What I want to convey through this post is, that loving others and doing good to people around us, is the only way to ensure a 'ticket' to heaven. No amount of praying and praying alone can do the trick.
Love
G.
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