Heaven is overrated

Q:What is your vision of heaven? What images - from Scripture, tradition, culture or your personal experience - best describe heaven for you?

Heaven, hell, and the afterlife are totally theoretical and any belief in them is based solely on faith. No one can affirm their existence, as no one can prove their non-existence. Practically speaking, then, any belief in the them is only relevant to the extent that it affects the way we live our lives here and now.

The belief in an heaven realm can be great if it inspires people to do good. Unfortunately, integral with it is usually a belief in an eternal hell as well, and most believers seem more motivated by the fear of hell than the desire for heaven. In addition, the heaven/hell dichotomy separate people into the good, i.e. those who adhere to the "right" belief system, and the bad, everyone else. This view, like most forms of fear and division, leads many to a hatred of those labeled "bad." While the traditions that focus on this duality, primarily Christianity and Islam, say that a life of honesty, love, compassion, and truthfulness is beneficial, they do not present it as a guarantee of heaven nor even required in all cases. Such traditions believe that certain acts at any time before death can mitigate the consequences of a life of evil. The only true requirement in these traditions is that one believes in certain pivotal doctrines.

In Pure Land Buddhist texts, faith in Amitabha Buddha and ten repetitions of his name will assure rebirth in the Pure Land, irrespective of the quality of life lived. To end up in Christian heaven, one must accept the belief that Jesus is the son of God, or is God, and that he alone allows people into heaven based on belief in him. Entrance into Muslim paradise requires one to believe that the only god is Allah, and Muhammad is his supreme prophet. Without these beliefs, entrance in the respective heavens is primarily prohibited, no matter how good and decent a person's life has been. On the other hand, people who have lived lives filled with hatred, dishonesty, deceit, and even murder, but who "repent" and decide to accept the requisite beliefs anytime prior to death can enter heaven or paradise.

With that being the case, what kind of people end up in these supposedly wonderful places, and who ends up in each belief system's version of hell? Some of my Christian friends claim that Jeffrey Dahmer, the serial killer and cannibal, is in heaven because "he accepted Jesus as his Lord and savior" before he was killed, while the Buddha and Mahatma Gandhi are in hell because they did not accept Jesus. Many Muslims believe that suicide terrorists who kill for Allah go straight to Muslim heaven, while good non-Muslims are damned to hell. My only reply to people who have such beliefs is, "I will take hell over heaven anytime if your beliefs reflect the population makeup of each place."

Obviously, the quality of the individual seems ultimately irrelevant, and one's professed belief at the time of death is the only actual prerequisite. One caveat is that there is an additional belief among some Muslims that Allah will eventually allow all beings into heaven, although it is not a wide spread belief. In the New Testament (Matthew 24:35), Jesus says "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away." Maybe he suggesting that there is no eternal heaven.

In considering more deeply the issue of fear, some people diet and eat healthy solely out of fear of being fat. Such people can easily stray from their diet through various forms of justification to themselves. However, people who eat healthy because they enjoy the process of health and the clarity that it brings stray much less and are far more likely to be and remain healthy. In the same way, people who are good solely out of fear will never find real happiness and may fall end up living a negative life if the fear ever ends. Through fear of hell, social order and stability can be coerced, adherence to doctrine can be coerced, but integrity and character cannot be coerced. Actions that are the result of coercion, fear, and guilt cannot be sincere. Love, compassion, and kindness can only come from an inner sense of decency and goodness, not from fear and coercion. A world and a life that exists because of fear will never be a truly happy one.

Judaism, Hinduism, and many Buddhist schools, on the other hand, place more focus on this life than the afterlife. How one lives is far more important than what one claims to believe. If someone is moral or ethical simply out of desire for heaven or to avoid hell, then that person's actions are egocentric and are done with a desired personal outcome in mind. Within the Hindu and Buddhist traditions, there is a belief in heaven realms, which are temporary abodes for good beings who are attached to their deeds. Such beings will reside in those realms after death until their karmic "earnings" are spent, and they will then be reborn again as humans. If they remain attached to their actions, this can be a never ending cycle for them. As a consequence, heaven realms are not seen as necessarily desirable places since the cost of temporary residence is the depletion of one's good karma.

Because heaven and liberation are not now, they remain imaginary and conceptual. What is happening right now should therefore the most important determinant of the quality of our lives. If right now is filled with working and planning for wealth, sensual pleasure, or happiness for tomorrow, then we will never be have them except in our plans and desires. In one of the last songs before his death, John Lennon wrote, "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." Life is right now. Whatever I want it to be about, I have to do it now. If I want my life to be filled with love, goodness, truth, and non-violence, then I have to live these, not just plan for them. Those who put off being happy, being good, be with divinity, will never be any of them.

Hindus emphasize the practice of selfless action--that which is done for the benefit of others and not oneself-as the highest form of conduct and expression of goodness and holiness. Those who seek a life of devotion to God and live a life practicing selfless service will not be reborn in a heaven realm after they die, but will instead return to earth to continue their progress toward realization of the Divine. Once they attain this state, they will be liberated from the need to be reborn in a physical body. However, they can choose to do so in order to serve God in a life of selfless devotion. If they are reborn, their lives are permeated with an awareness of the Divine and of truth and are devoted toward helping others to have the same awareness.

Along similar lines, there is a concept in Mahayana Buddhism known as the Bodhisattva. This is a being who has reached the state of enlightenment, but who chooses not to be liberated. Such beings are reborn to help others attain their same state of realization. In the case of both Hinduism and Buddhism, these realized beings are said to take many forms. They can be males or females, rich or poor, educated or uneducated, etc. What they have in common is that they live lives of goodness, compassion, and decency. They speak the truth, are non-violent, and help others in any way they can. In essence, they live a heavenly existence here on earth, and thus have no need for some separate place to find happiness. They find perfection and divinity in this world and live lives ever aware of that perfection and that unity as they seek to help those in need.

Although I do not believe in either a heaven or a hell as a permanent destination for anyone, I do believe that many people live either heavenly or hellish existences on this earth as a consequence of the kinds of actions that they do and how they treat others. The notion that one's sectarian beliefs have anything to do with the ultimate state of one's life or happiness has no basis in anything but wishful thinking and naive hope. Jesus said "as you sew, so shall you reap." The Dharma Religious Traditions call this the law of karma. For those who nevertheless continue to hold fast to such a hope and belief system and think it is all they need, rather than focusing on living a life of goodness, caring, and integrity, I offer a few lines from Brook Benton's song from the 1960s entitled "Walk On The Wild Side":

One day of prayin' and six nights of fun,
The odds against going to heaven, six-to-one.

By Ramdas Lamb | March 25, 2010; 4:13 AM ET Save & Share:
Previous: All are invited to Christ's heavenly home | Next: Heaven is here

Comments

Please report offensive comments below.

Once again a sane, thoughtful, wise argument. Alas, blind belief still sways many, including those speaking and praying in mighty churches and mosques as well as in the halls of parliaments and senates...

Posted by: tarle_subba | March 29, 2010 7:35 PM
Report Offensive Comment

YOU ARE INVITED TO PARTICIPATE IN A NEW BLOG…

…that tackles Church abuse, separation of Church and State, Atheism, Buddhism, Existentialism….

Just posted:

CONCEPTS + LOGIC = KNOWLEDGE, by Blacksun
MAN AND REASON, by Randall Duncan
RATZINGER’S VATICAN: SEX, LIES AND SECRETS, by Emily Helm.
THE NEW BUDDHIST ATHEISM, by Mark Vernon

http://theexistentialatheist.blogspot.com/

“The only way to cure the cancer of Catholicism, and stop the pedophilia, is to begin each ceremony of ordination to the deaconate with castration.”

Posted by: Schaum | March 28, 2010 4:20 PM
Report Offensive Comment

Very wise words. It's comforting to know that other people- people who are experts in religion- think like I do. So many of my Christian friends make it known that they think I'm going to hell for not believing in Jesus. It hurts, especially when I try my best to always be a good person.

Posted by: mynamedoesntmatter | March 28, 2010 3:09 AM
Report Offensive Comment

Excellent!! This concept of “there is only one way to the Heaven and that is only my way” is certainly creating lots of problems for any couple considering interfaith marriage. This “superiority” concept leads to expectation of religious conversion before marriage. Further, the child must be submitted to “my only God” leading to the need of the “religious labeling” (like Christening, Baptism, Bris, Sunat, Shahadah). Now it is about time to give up these “intolerant” teachings for other faiths, especially while considering interfaith relationship.
For details, visit www.InterfaithShaadi.org

Posted by: interfaithshaadi-org | March 27, 2010 7:35 AM
Report Offensive Comment

Excellent!!

This concept of “there is only one way to the Heaven and that is only my way” is certainly creating lots of problems for any couple considering interfaith marriage. This “superiority” concept leads to expectation of religious conversion before marriage. Further, the child must be submitted to “my only God” leading to the need of the “religious labeling” (like Christening, Baptism, Bris, Sunat, Shahadah).

Now it is about time to give up these “intolerant” teachings for other faiths, especially while considering interfaith relationship.

For details, visit www.InterfaithShaadi.org

Posted by: interfaithshaadi-org | March 27, 2010 7:33 AM
Report Offensive Comment

This is an excellent piece for modern times and global need. Thanks Professor Lamb.

Ramdas Lamb

Posts By Category

Posts By Date

Heaven is overrated

Comments