"And God shall wipe away
all tears from their eyes;
and there shall be no more death
neither sorrow, nor crying,
neither shall there be any more pain;
for the former things are passed away."
Revelations 21:4
Outline
Despite many religious views, having spirituality, in any form, seems to be comforting
to human beings in relation to this life and death process that we witness (and are a
part of) over the course of our lives, and having that spirituality could indeed lead us
to our own personal view of heaven . . . or hell.
I. Interpretations of heaven: religious views
A. Eastern religions
B. Tribal religions
C. Western religions
II. The Bible
A. Alternative view
B. Origin
C. Interpretations of biblical and other text
D. Conclusion
III. Imagination and knowledge
A. A larger whole
B. Thinkers
C. Power of thought
© 2006 Promise of Light Publications
Concepts of God and Heaven were created to give thinking beings, ones who knew
just as there was life, there was death, a reason, a way to make sense of it all, a pur-
pose in life, and sometimes even in death and after death. What could sound better to
a drug addict who regrets the way his life turned out, the way he treats his family, or
the way he does not treat them?
People who have been thrown into a pit of despair, a kind of hell on earth that is
depression and psychosis, to these people, and many others, a God who promises to
lead them into a happy, meaningful life and eventually into a heaven where pain will no
longer exist sounds rather appealing. An offer to be saved, that is something we have
all needed at some point in our lives.
Despite many religious views, however, having spirituality, in any form, seems to be
comforting to human beings in relation to this life and death process that we witness
(and our a part of) over the course of our lives, and having that spirituality could in-
deed lead us to our own personal view of heaven . . . or maybe even hell. Perhaps
when the lights go out, they just go out. There is nothing more to be thought or felt.
God may even turn those lights off, but there is nothing more, simply nothing after
death.
I
When we were children, most of us were taught that we should attend church, pray
before eating and "as I lay me down to sleep," fear God, and Satan even more; If we
were good and did everything we were supposed to, after death, we would not be
hurled into a lake of fire and burn in agony for eternity, but our souls would go to
Heaven, a place that promises no reason for tears,where only happiness and per-
fection exist, some say we will be reunited with our loved ones who have passed
away: a beautiful existence following this life. A simple internet search will fruit:
"Heaven is an afterlife concept found in many religions or spiritual philosophies"
What is heaven though, really? We see here that reduced to its most simple terms, it
is an afterlife concept. An afterlife concept is just that: a concept of life after death. In
this dimension, this higher plane that may be never ending, our extra physical entity,
soul, or psyche dwells in this place of happiness and bliss, but where is this afterlife?
Does it exclusively exist on a psychological or spiritual plane, and if so, how do we
touch this idea of heaven? Is that what it is, an idea, a product of our imaginations to
help us cope with life and death? As mentioned in the Dictionary of Gods and God-
desses by author Michael Jordan, "We know, beyond reasonable doubt, that a world
measured purely in spiritual dimensions has been identified for at least 60,000 years –
it may have been present as an innate part of the human psyche since the very begin-
nings of consciousness" (VII).
Interpretations of heaven and how one reaches such a place seems to vary from
religion to religion. Some believe that in heaven there will be golden streets and pearly
gates. Under the logical assumption that the brain houses the mind, and the mind
houses that extra physical entity that we refer to as a soul, one may indeed see golden
streets beyond pearly gates, if those images were instilled in a person’s mind during
life. However, like many other aspects of life (possibly even an afterlife), Heaven may
very well be left up to personal interpretation.
Eastern religions, such as Buddhism and Hinduism, operate in much the same fa-
shion in relation to each other. Reincarnation is a common theme in these religions,
and they both see (heaven) the afterlife as multidimensional, made up of multi-levels,
the pinnacle of which is Nirvana for the Buddhist and Moksha form the Hindu. The
better a person’s works, the more positive Karma they build up before their physical
bodies expire, in turn, the higher level of an afterlife they experience and a better form
of life in their rebirth as well, for they believe their afterlife is one of briefness, merely
temporary, before they return to earth to continue their journey, striving for enlighten-
ment in yet another life.
Although I could never touch upon all the religions and faiths that have ever been, I
would like to illustrate a couple tribal religions. Native American tribes once roamed
free throughout North America. For these Native American tribes, "Coexistence with
this world is the spirit world, which can be attained by means of spiritual disciplines,
dances, psychotropic drugs, and certain physical and mental rituals. Most communities
have spiritual specialists, shamans or so-called ‘medicine men,’ who are able to enter
the spirit world in order to gain the advice of the spirits for the benefit of their earthy
communities" (Dr. Paul Bahn et al. 228). Some African religions share characteristics
with their tribal counterparts in North America, but still possess a uniqueness that sets
them apart: "Although most black Africans now profess Christianity or Islam, tradi-
tional beliefs endure. The majority have in common a deep belief in the spirit world,
whether the spirits venerated are those of ancestors, natural forces, or totem animals.
The exceptions to this are the Dogon people of Mali, who trace their deities to a star
that has only recently been discovered by Western astronomers"
(Dr. Paul Bahn et al. 230).
In the west, we are now primarily, in regards to religion, a Judeo-Christian nation.
Judaism teaches its disciples that there is a heaven, but not that any righteous souls will
be going there. It is God’s Kingdom alone. Christianity teaches that all souls were born
in God’s Kingdom, and so therefore will return to heaven sometime after the dying of
our soul’s vessel, our bodies; This is where Christians have not been able to agree, to
the point of breaking Christianity down into three main subsections such as Protestant,
Roman Catholic, and Orthodox, all with different views on how Heaven is entered.
Protestants place emphasis on life-events, rituals within the church: Baptism, Con-
fession, and so forth. Roman Catholics believe that immediately after death the soul
goes into Purgatory, to be cleansed and judged. Orthodox views are taken from
scripture in the bible, hence the word: Orthodox. Of course, there is the other
alternative: Hell. In many cases, in Christianity, if specific criteria is not met in life, they
are said to be cast into the pit of Hell, in much the same way the bible tells us that-
God cast Lucifer out of Heaven.
II
Speaking of the bible, the rock upon which Christianity was built, let us turn to an
article that compiled all verses from the bible that pertains to the concept of Heaven
or Hell. For whatever reason, I found that two verses stuck out the most. Quoting the
very first biblical verse of Genesis, "Biblical Descriptions of Heaven or Hell" tells us
that "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth" (1). The article quotes
Genesis again, but this time I extract verse 26, and it tells us that ". . . God said, Let us
make man in our own image, after our likeness" (2). This suggests that the creator was
not only a powerful God (or supreme being of some kind), but that there were others,
possibly just as powerful whom he conferred with while creating the universe, or act-
ually helped in creating it. Rather than a subordinate to God, such as angels are said to
be, I could imagine him speaking to a peer of some sort during this process.
Dare to imagine an alternative view, another interpretation of biblical text. This time I
reach for a copy of the Holy Bible itself to tell of a man named Moses. The second
book of Moses says, "And the Lord said unto Moses, Lo I come unto thee in a thick
cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with thee . . . And mount Si’-nai was
altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and the smoke
thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked gently
(Holy Bible, Exodus, 19.9 and 19.18). Could this have been a description of an air-
craft of some kind landing? Aircrafts should not have been around yet, but it is ar-
rogant to believe that we are all alone, that there are no other forms of life out there.
I find it to be all too plausible that during this time as well as other times in history,
we may have been visited, or, in some way, inhabited by alien beings who most likely
had to land their ships high atop mountains like mount Si’-nai or circular rock plat-
forms like Stonehenge. Different appearances by God in the bible could have been
different beings considered to be different Gods or the same God, perhaps all part of
a superhuman-like race that we were modeled after, or simply that wanted to help us.
Some of these people who are said to have walked and talked with God and said to
have lived hundreds of years, they may have been one of these beings, put in place to
further some agenda or for whatever reason. Ancient peoples had nothing in their
world to compare these sites of fire moving through the sky, carrying beings who
spoke to men, to.
When we see an airplane in the sky today, we think nothing of it. We have seen
other airplanes flying through the sky before, so we know that it is an airplane, one of
many vehicles that we use to move from place to place in. Someone in Moses’ time
however would only have a chariot to compare a vehicle moving across the sky to,
and smoke and fire coming from its jets or other types of engines, that could only be
the work of a God. Nothing else made any sense. After all, the Wright brothers would
not be around for quite some time, and I am not sure that Orville or Wilbur themselves
would not claim to have seen a spaceship if they laid eyes on a Stealth bomber, or
would not have claimed to have seen a God if they witnessed a man lading in a rocket
-pack. It’s not the gospel, just an alternative explanation.
Where did the Christian bible come from? We know that early Christians were Jews
who believed that Jesus Christ was God’s son, half-god and half-man, sent to be cru-
cified on the cross, to die for their sins. The Hebrew bible was translated into the
English language in the fourteenth century, but not until the early sixteenth century was
the Christian bible published on the very first printing press. Accurately translating the
bible from Hebrew into English would be quite a task since, like other languages,
there are some words that have multiple meanings, a point to be considered, I would
say.
Is the bible complete? According to Merriam-Webster, the answer is no: the apo-
crypha is ". . . writings or statements of dubious authenticity . . . books included in the
Septuagint and Vulgate but excluded from the Jewish and Protestant canons of the
Old Testament . . . early Christian writings not included in the New Testament" (54).
Our bible is not complete. It lacks the apocrypha in both testaments. I seem to re-
member reading something about: "And if any man shall take away from the words of
the prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life . . ." (Holy Bible,
Revelation, 22.19). We did not omit the material. Because we study what we have,
and love our god the best way we know how, will we be written out of the book of
life for that? I take assurance in saying: I think not.
Let us expand our search for truth, or at least an understanding, beyond the good
book for a moment to take a peek at the other end of the continuum, the concept of
hell. Though in his article, "The Truth About Hell," Terry Watkins turns to the bible as
well as other published sources. However, four pages after the claim, I was scared as
hell, but not necessarily convinced that I was looking at the truth about it. Then I
realize Terry Watkins was offering me more, what could be construed as a validating
point (1-4): "READ THE FOLLOWING! ‘. . . they dig into hell . . .’ Amos 9:2 . . .
‘As a communist I don’t believe in heaven or the Bible but as a scientist I now believe
in hell,’ said Dr. Azzacove . . . we were shocked to make such a discovery . . . Dr.
Azzacove continued, ‘ . . . the drill suddenly began to rotate wildly, indicating that we
had reached a large empty pocket or cavern . . . ‘We lowered a microphone . . . But
instead of plate movements we heard a human voice screaming in pain! At first we
thought the sound was coming from our equipment’ . . . ‘But when we made adjust-
ments our worst suspicions were confirmed. The screams weren’t those of a single
human, they were the screams of millions of humans!’" (5). As published in a Finland
newspaper, maybe scientists did hear millions of people (or their souls) screaming.
They definitely thought that was what they were hearing, but sensors did indicate a
temperature of more than 2,000 degrees. Was the temperature hot enough to affect
the equipment? Also in the article, a link to what claimed to be the actual recording
was provided as further proof.
After all was said and done, it just was not enough, and, in one respect, I have come
to the same conclusion about "The Truth About Hell" as I have about certain parts of
the bible, from a writer’s standpoint, it is the presentation that lacks, told to us like a
well-intentioned but misguided parent tells stories of the boogie-man, a threat to make
us be good little boys and girls. In another respect, the bible stands alone and is full of
good common sense rules. It can be inspirational, comforting, frightening, intriguing,
enlightening, all simultaneously. The bible is so much to so many, and, at the very least,
to me, it is one of the finest books ever written. It is those who take the idea of heaven
and hoard it to themselves, saying, in essence, that it is mine, all mine, and you must
do as I do, or you will never see it. My way is right, and all others should not
even be considered, it is those people I challenge here and now!
III
Where did these concepts of God and heaven come from? For the most part, we
don’t see God literally. We see God with our mind’s eye. With this being said, it
should be no surprise that I turn to the science of the mind as well as introspection, our
universal eyes so to speak. What I am looking at is religion as part of a larger whole.
Professor B. R. Hergenhahn writes: "Humans have always needed to understand,
predict, and control nature. Animism, anthropomorphism, magic, religion, philosophy,
and science can all be seen as efforts to satisfy those needs" (25).
Animism appears to be our first human attempt at understanding the world around us.
It is alive! If one can fathom animism, anthropomorphism should not be much of a
stretch. The sky must be sad, because it is crying, and it must be angry too, because
of the rumbling thunder and shocking flashes of lightening. The sky can definitely look
angry at times. I am sure most people would agree to that, but around 15, 000 years
ago, the sky just did not get angry, magic filled the air, at least it was believed to. Pro-
fessor B. R. Hergenhahn goes on to explain that "Another approach used to explain
the world assumed that a ghost or spirit dwelt in everything, including humans . . . a
sick person was thought to be possessed by an evil spirit . . . Elaborate methods,
called magic, evolved that were designed to influence the spirits" (24-25).
Thales lived some five hundred years before Christ, and was said to be the first
Greek philosopher. He pushed the limits of thought beyond the boundaries of con-
formity, and because he offered alternative explanations, rather than assuming super-
natural powers were behind natural events, he was influential to the evolution of the
way people think. Many followed this approach of questioning and theorizing. Greek
philosophers as well as many other deep thinkers who have challenged religious views
over the centuries have been put to death for speaking of such things, or have waited
until near or after their death to publish their ideas, and some conformed their ideas to
coincide with religion only to spare themselves persecution.
Thinkers. Socrates. Plato. Aristotle. These early Greeks have contributed much to
our understanding of the world, but let us travel ahead in time, to another thinker, to a
German named Albert Einstein and his theory of relativity. Most people are familiar
with the equation associated with his theory: E=mc2 . It suggests that matter, the sub-
stance that is said to be the essence of all things, and energy, neither can be brought
into existence nor can it be extinguished. If this matter that makes up the brain (and the
mind exists within the brain) is filled with everything that we are, if it cannot be de-
stroyed, does it, in some form, still exist, live on, in an afterlife, hopefully a heaven of
some sort? Albert Einstein said imagination is more important than knowledge, and I
could not agree more, but it is the mixture that truly satisfies the soul.
The power of thought is so effective, so governing that it is the basis of all action and
belief. Our thoughts affect how we feel, how well we do, and how poorly we do. Psy-
chology seems to agree and deep thinker and author, James Allen, did as well. James
Allen says many meaningful things in his inspirational book, As a Mans Thinketh but
none as striking to me and none that pertain to the subject of this paper like he says in
chapter six, Visions and Ideals: "Composer, sculptor, painter, poet, prophet, sage,
these are the makers of the after-world, the architects of heaven. The world is beauti-
ful because they have lived; without them, laboring humanity would parish" (54). This
implies images we see, sounds we hear, and words we feel, in other words things that
have truly touched our soul, shape our conceptions of heaven, of God, and of all
things.
Heaven, Nirvana, a pure state of enlightenment, whatever we may call it, the "place"
is the same. Heaven could be simply but complexly another dimension. Another di-
mension of the mind? Perhaps it is so, but I do believe it can be experienced in inter-
vals, here, on earth, in this life. It is a plane of endless happiness, and, most likely, is
shaped by our lives, actions, and most importantly because they dictate to all other
aspects of life, our thoughts; that is how our lives and the afterlife are directly linked,
the more compassionate, humanistic we are, the better people we are, in turn, the
higher level of an afterlife we experience. It is quite possible that this state of mind,
this endless higher plane of happiness, will be shared with those who have passed
before us, but simultaneously it is our personal version of it.
The more science revels, the more streamlined biblical data becomes, seemingly
making it easier to conclude just what our beliefs really are. Science intensifies our in-
tellects, allowing us to grasp some understanding of our world, although, at times, it
seems the more we understand, the more there is to wonder about. However, science
does elevate our minds, our thoughts into, yes, a higher plane, and when we die, our
thoughts may continue, possible even magnified an unimaginable amount of times.
That is what it is: simply believing it makes it so. Then, in a sense, no one is right and
no one is wrong. Our life extends. The atheists are indeed correct because in their
minds they are. Will they go to another person’s vision of hell . . . only if they believe it
to be true. If they fully accept all that has transcended in this life and truly invites death,
is at peace with the self, then their journey could very well end upon death.
It seems that no matter what we believe about the existence of God and Heaven and
what we might think they are, through the power of mind, imagination and intellect,
simply believing it makes it so, and therefore having faith in something, anything, whe-
ther it is a comforting concept of an afterlife, or just a comforting form of acceptance,
is beneficial to us, as human beings, psychologically, physically, and emotionally while
in this life, and perhaps in further realms to come. I think it was Walt Whitman that
helped me put all into perspective by saying that God was in everything, even himself,
even in the leaves of grass.
I turned to Whitman because poets, true poets, have an extra sense, an extended
empathy that most people cannot fathom. Have no misconceptions: we all have this
extra sense. It’s just that poets are in tune with it. I often describe myself as an
antenna of pain. For some days, I feel not only my own pain, but all pain. I’m always
looking into people’s eyes to see if they get it, if they understand that the slick, black
glow of a rainy night is just as beautiful as the sun-filled day, that death can be just as
beautiful as life.
In the end, all we have is our character, and the measure, to ourselves and to others,
of that character are the memories we leave behind. Like the current Dalai Lama, Jesus
Christ, John Lennon, and many others, I believe that compassion is the key to life. My
dear friend and North Carolina-Poet, Erin Monahan who has had not one but two
children die of congenital heart defects, sums it up rather nicely: acceptance is beautiful
and heaven, heaven is overrated.
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Go ahead! Give me hell, or perhaps your own heavenly wisdom.
Set me straight . Tell me why I’m wrong . . . or right. Come on. Let me
have it. I’m always willing to further elaborate, or accept valid points.
I am poet. This is my analysis of research blended with my own
interpretations of life. My intent was to illustrate ideas of heaven and
what it may be, to examine the facts: what we can prove; and what is
faith: what we cannot prove and explore alternative explanations. I also
intended to dissect whether or not believing in God and heaven are
beneficial to people physically, psychologically, and emotionally while
in this life.
Views of God and heaven have changed over the centuries.
Some believe. Some do not. And some don't know what to believe.
In short, I intended to illuminate the dark corners of confusion, to show
the gray areas where before there only seemed to be black and white.
And, as I often do, I hold the possibility open that I may be wrong.