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Is Heaven a real place or a state of being?

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Being		44%	572 votes	Total: 1304 votes
Place		56%	732 votes	Total: 1304 votes

Being

6 of 56

"Heaven is supposed to be the greatest place that we can imagine", and of course "we can not be physically present there in flesh and body". "It is the abode of the almighty" and "a place where we may reach if we have a pure and unspoilt soul".

So what exactly can we make out of all this jargon. If you are an atheist you may not agree with the concept of god, but that does not mean that you automatically discount the existence of heaven as well. If you are a devout follower of a religion that believes in heaven, you may still not be fully convinced that there is such a place like heaven in this universe itself.

Traditional wisdom is often of a mystical character. Ages of accumulation and reinforcement of human instinct is, as a rule, impossible to fully express or comprehend in words. As a result, in case of such traditional wisdom, what is often said, may often literally mean something that was never the intention of the saying. It is a result of inadequacies of our languages, and our abilities to communicate, rather than a lack of understanding of these phenomenon.

The concept of heaven is another such traditional wisdom expressed to us by our ancestors in a mystical manner. Whether it is a place like a different planet or a different city, is a matter of legend and literature, not understanding. But one thing is sure, in way or another,the heaven does exist, and if I was asked to bet, I would put my money on it being a state of one's consciousness that allows the person to be at a level of such great fulfillment, satisfaction and happiness that can only be imagined and aspired for in ordinary life. It is thus a state of being, not of being in any place, that is referred by being in heaven.

The mystique of heaven is interspersed with the mystery of death and soul. There is also that concept of karma that states that heaven is a result of one's good deeds in life, opposite to hell that results from one's sins. If you think rationally, the moral of the story is simple - be good and you will be in heaven. As a rational person it is not very difficult to understand how being good can help you be happy in life. So the mystery of heaven in actual terms may be not very difficult to understand.

Learn more about this author, V. Kumar.
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Place

6 of 59

by Summer Tyme

"I am going my way, to prepare a Place for you. And Where I am going, you know the way."

This is a quote from the verses of John 14:1-4. These few words from those verses are only a little of what Jesus Christ said to his followers when he was a Man on earth. If one believes the words spoken by Jesus, then it is easy to believe that Heaven is a real place.

Verse two of John 14 begins, "In the house of my Father, there are many abodes." One of the dictionary definitions of the word 'abode' is "the Place where one abides, home".

In 1947, in some caves in the region of the Dead Sea, some jars with fragments containing ancient writing were found. They were preserved, examined and now reside in a museum in Jerusalem. They are known as the Dead Sea Scrolls and contain words from the book of Isaiah.

Isaiah was a prophet of long ago, well before the time when Jesus lived as a Man of earth. These words of his have been determined to be authentic and are highly respected. In the final chapter of that book, Chapter 66, verse One begins thus: "This is what Jehovah has said: "The Heavens are my throne, and the earth is my footstool."

The verse continues: "Where, then, is the house that you people can build for me, and where, then is the place as a resting-place for me?"

It is most interesting what is then said in the second verse of Isaiah 66. "Now all these things my own hand has made, so that all these came to be," is the utterance of Jehovah."

If one believes the Bible, then it follows that Heaven as a place is within their realm of belief. Not only did Jesus say he was going to the House of his Father, and preparing a Place for his apostles, but one of the Major Prophets of ancient times, one who wrote about Jesus Christ, gives us the words from Jesus' Father about how that Place came to be in existance.

And critical to this discussion is that He, God, calls that Place "Heaven".

We, as the humans He created, can go out and look 'up to the heavens' and see physical heavens. We see what scientists and astronomers have found by study and research, to be real. All of these things we can see with our physical eyes. The stars, clouds, comets, meteors and other 'heavenly bodies' are clearly in Places above us. Numerous verses give instruction to us to 'look up and see these things God has made.'

We can also look at our own home, 'God's footstool' and be assured that this physical place
is real.

Just as the physical heavens are real and each star, planet and other heavenly body has its Place therein, God and His Son have a home that is called in the Bible, Heaven. Though we cannot see this Heaven with our physical eyes, it still exists as a Place.

We cannot see the wind or sound, gravity or magnetism, but they can be measured. They exist.

Heaven is definitely a Place. But it takes faith in The Creator and His Son to see it.

Learn more about this author, Summer Tyme.
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