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Heaven, Hell & Afterlife
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Add to FavoritesMuch passion will undoubtedly be brought to bear on this debate, especially by those who believe in the literal teachings of the New Testament. Nevertheless, this question cannot be answered with any certainty by either side.
Does Anything Exist Outside of the Mind?
There is no evidence that heaven is a real place but then there is no evidence that any place is "real." There are differences of opinion among quantum physicists. Some, however, have come to the conclusion that both time and space are fictions. This is also the conclusion of certain spiritual or metaphysical teachings.
From this point of view, it could be claimed that everything we experience, including space and time, is a state of being, a state of consciousness. This would include the idea of heaven. It would also include the idea of physical reality. The Hindus believe that physical reality is maya, an illusion. Maya comes from the word "to create." So our physical universe and our own physical experiences are an illusion created by mind or being.
Reality as Illusion
From a religious point of view, one would say that some divine being is the creator of this great illusion. You could also say that we are the creators of our own illusions or at least participate in their creation. There is some interesting evidence that we can and do affect our physical experience with our minds. I won't go into all of the studies on psychic abilities. There are other powerful pieces of evidence for physical reality as an illusion.
One of the most interesting to me is multiple personality disorder. Those suffering from this bizarre disorder have an amazing capability of changing their bodies as they change from one state of being/consciousness/ personality to another. Just to name a few of the more interesting changes, tumors and birth marks come and go, illnesses, including diabetes, come and go, handwriting changes, skills and knowledge change, visual acuity (and eye color in one case) change from one personality to another.
This suggests that even the physical body is far more fluid than we assume. Miraculous instantaneous healings also suggest this kind of fluidity. In a recent study, shared by a friend of mine, researchers studied some housekeeping ladies who worked at a hotel. They noticed that these ladies worked very hard every day and yet all were overweight. Their hard physical labor didn't seem to affect their bodies in a positive way.
The employees said that they didn't have time to exercise or go to a club so they weren't able to lose any weight. All the researchers did was tell the housekeepers that because of the physical work they did every day, they should be losing weight just from doing their jobs. This suggestion was enough to cause these women to immediately being losing weight without changing their diets or any of their behaviors.
Heaven on Earth
When we talk about heaven, it seems to me that the mind or being or consciousness of any individual is capable of experiencing heaven while still being physical. It is likely that many people reading this article have had small experiences of heaven, experiences of oneness with humanity or oneness with God. Simply losing oneself in a beautiful sunset or in a feeling of love for another, are experiences of heaven.
Others of you have had "peak" experiences, times when all seemed right with the world, times of extreme joy and happiness, times when everything seemed to be as it should. I would say, in fact, that the goal of most spiritual systems is precisely to bring such experiences into life as a daily way of being. This is enlightenment. This is Christ or Buddha consciousness.
Whethe r we are in the physical or out of the physical, it is very likely that what we experience will proceed from our mind, from our being. That being the case, we can choose each day whether we wish to experience heaven or hell. We can use our mind and our being to form the world and the life we desire. We can decide to stop being victims and choose to be creators, creating the maya that brings more peace, joy, and abundance into our lives, more love.
Learn more about this author, Bob Trowbridge.
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Place
There is no doubt in my mind that Heaven is a real place. According to the Bible, Heaven is where God (the Father, Son and Holy Spirit) reigns and controls the universe. Revelation describes Heaven as a city, the New Jerusalem. The twelve layers of the foundation around the city are precious stones and each side has three gates of pearl. John the Revelator says the length, width and height are equal. Scholars estimate each side is approximately 344 miles. Perhaps there are layers with the height being the same dimension. Imagine the space if each level was one mile high. It's mind boggling.
I'm sure it's not a crowded city as here on earth. John describes the streets as pure gold and the River of Life flowing from throne of God and the Lamb. The Tree of Life arches over the River of Life and bears twelve most glorious fruits every month. The leaves of it are for the healing of the nations. There will be no need of the sun, because God's presence lights the city. The lion will play with the lamb. Peace and tranquility dwell in every living creature.
We are told that eye has not seen, ear hasn't heard, nor entered into the heart of any human, the things that God has prepared for those who love Him. Our wildest dreams may be fulfilled as we develop our talents over the millenniums.
Travel will be safe, free of accidents, sickness, death and fear as we visit the billions of planets throughout the endless universe.
Every Sabbath we meet. Isaiah tells us that we will come together every new moon and Sabbath to worship God. What a family gathering that will be. Every kindred, tongue and people will live together in harmony and love. Families will never be separated again.
The study of God's character will be the joy of every living soul. Understanding His matchless love will never be exhausted as we study deeper and deeper.
When Jesus comes the second time, He take those who gave their lives to Him to Heaven for a thousand years. That's known as the millennium. There is one unpleasant issue that must take place after the thousand years. That is to destroy sin. After the Judgment, where Satan, his evil angels and those who rejected God's saving grace, have their sentence pronounced from God. They all agree that God is fair and just. He then destroys everything connected to sin by fire. Revelation then tells us that after sin is totally destroyed, Jesus recreates the earth in all its splendor and glory. God will reign from here. That affirms that sinners will not burn or be tortured in hell for eternity. What kind of a loving God would do that? What the Bible means is that they will be totally destroyed and eternally lost.
We have the assurance that after the recreation by Jesus, sin will not rise the second time. Not that we are robots, but those who had the victory through Jesus, will hate sin along with those in numberless worlds who have seen its horrible results.
According to prophecy, we are on the boarders of Canaan. In other words, Jesus is soon coming. What a glorious day that will be. He's pleading and calling for all to come to repentance. Won't you accept His calling and be saved?
Learn more about this author, Ivan Fraser.
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Difference of opinion? Debate now.
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