-6-
(Heaven,
Hell and the Idea of Judgement)
While this thesis comes under the heading of
"Morality and Ethics" such will be more about life and death. It is being
dealt with here because our present theologies are often using this doctrine as
tools in their arsenal to dictate God's Moral Law, to ensure their authority to
speak for God, and to indoctrinate the faithful as to what they should believe.
Consequently, our view of life after death has become more fantasy and wishful
thinking; rather than being, a comfort that has any practical purpose in life.
It has already been pointed out that reward and
punishment are no substitute motivators for love and personal responsibility.
We all realize the only sincere act is one from the heart. When
individuals are coerced, fearful, or looking for reward for their behavior,
such becomes little more than hypocrisy. Remove the coercion, the threat
of punishment, or the offer of the reward, the individual might act entirely
different.
No reasonable human being would want to think
that their friends, or spouses, are only there for what they can get from us. We are most contented (whether true or not) when we believe
that people mate or associate with us for who we are - or out of love. Yet,
when it comes to God, we often seem to present this Image where She needs to bribe us with reward or threaten us with
punishment in order for us to love Him. An Image that waits like a tyrant for
us to step out of line so He can deprive us of eternal reward; replacing it
with everlasting punishment. The implication often creates an Image where God
seems more concerned with our ability to keep the right rules, believe the
correct faith, and practice the correct forms of adoration. We shall offer
alternatives to this in a moment.
In present theology God often comes across as a
tester, one who is almost never convinced of our loyalty. Life is seen as a
spiritual battleground for a game that is played by our soul, the prize coming
in the hereafter. And to win at this game, winning the reward of heaven and
avoiding the torture of hell, we must surrender our mind blindly to those who
claim to speak for God. People are required to repress natural urges and
overcome them, and they must never doubt that which calls into question the
human authority for men to speak for God.
And the psychological suggestion, which many of
our religious beliefs instill, is that life is less important than death. That
death is this grandiose state far superior to our form of existence, thus, our
whole purpose in life is to embrace death. One could say that very often our
religious positions on heaven and hell often contradict our religious beliefs
that proclaim the sacredness to life.
Some of the glory about the hereafter comes
from the self-comfort we seek in times of the morning of the passing of a loved
one. We would like to think that this person has moved on to something better.
And while this can be healthy, religion goes beyond such comfort, using their
doctrines to regulate human behavior, regulate belief, and strengthen our need
for religion. In short, religion has capitalized on our emotional state of our
fear of death.
While much of the reasoning about life after death
may seem foolish to a more rational mind, we cannot doubt that the scripture
and myth of all faiths point to the ideal of the continuation of life after
death - and this makes it important. The reference usually implies that in some
way our living of this life effects how we experience the hereafter.
It is understandable how theological
conclusions such as exists have come into being; mostly by, a desire to literalize these ancient tales in terms of our human
reality and experiences; and, there lies the problem! We are once again trying
to literalize and understand what cannot be literalized and understood. Our experience of eternity is
in life, and what comes after cannot be translated into a human experience, but
only conveyed to humans in metaphors to which they can relate. Carl Jung tells
us:
We lack concrete proof that anything of us is preserved for
eternity, at most we can say that there is some probability that something of
our psyche continues beyond physical death. Whether what continues to exist is
conscious of itself, we do not know either.
(C.G. Jung,
MEMORIES, DREAMS, AND REFLECTIONS, 1963, p322)
Yet, all great religions, and their writings,
speak of the continuation of life after death. But, if you will notice, these descriptions
and conceptions are vastly different, ranging from the Christian idea of heaven
to the Buddhists concept of entering an eternal void. If we try to literalize these concepts, we are only presented with
arguments that cannot be substantiated. We actually devalue the mystery of
eternal life by looking at it from a purely human perspective - by seeing it as
a literal kingdom, full of jewels, or gold, or of the many biblical
descriptions of it. We miss the awesome revelation, which tells us that the
meaning of life is transcendent of life. The idea of life after death should
enhance the glory of the experience of the life we now live. Jung also warns of
this in his work "Modern Man In Search of a Soul":
After all, what does theosophy* with its doctrines of karma and
reincarnation seek to teach except that this world of appearance is but a temporary health resort for the morally
unperfected? IT DEPRECIATES THE PRESENT DAY WORLD no less radically than does the
modern outlook, but with the help of a different technique; it does not vilify
our world, but grants it only a relative meaning in that it promises other and
higher worlds. The result in either case is the same.
(p212)
*THEOSOPHY - any of various philosophies or religious systems that
propose to establish direct, mystical contact with the Divine Principle through
contemplation, revelation, etc.
And the Christian church too, demeans the
sacredness of life by promising a new earth with jeweled walls, gold streets
and
Many religions would like us to think that they
alone possess the answers to the meaning of life, they alone know God's purpose
for us; and they alone are the distributors of salvation. But religion fails
both God, and those that it serves, with such self-serving doctrines.
But Jung, is keenly
aware of the psychological and spiritual necessity of addressing the issue of
life after death:
… … … We cannot know whether anything happens to a person
after he is dead. The answer is neither yes nor no. We simply have no definite
scientific proofs about it one way or another, and are therefore in the same
position as when we ask whether the planet Mars is inhabited or not. And the
inhabitants of Mars, if there are any, are certainly not concerned whether we
affirm or deny their existence. They may exist or not. And that is how it
stands with so-called immortality - with which we may shelve the problem.
But here my physicians conscience awakes and urges me to say a
word that is
essential to this question. I have observed that A
directed life is in general better, richer and healthier than an aimless one,
and that it is better to go forward with the stream of time than backward
against it. To the psychotherapist, an
old man who cannot bid farewell to life appears as feeble and
sickly as a young man who is unable to embrace it. And as a matter of fact, in
many cases it is a question of the selfsame childish covetousness of the same
fear, the same obstinacy and willfulness, in the one as it is the other. As a
physician I am convinced that it is hygienic if I may use the word - to
discover in death a goal towards which one can strive; and that, shrinking away
from it is something unhealthy and abnormal which robs the second half of life
of its purpose.
I therefore consider the religious teaching of a life hereafter
consonant with the
standpoint of psychic hygiene. When I live in a house which I know will fall
about my head within the next two weeks, all my vital functions will be
impaired by this thought; but if on the contrary I feel myself to be safe, I
can dwell there in a normal and comfortable way. From the standpoint of
psychotherapy it would therefore be desirable to think of death as only a
transition - one part of a life process whose extent and duration escape our
knowledge.
(C. G, Jung,
MODERN MAN IN SEARCH OF A SOUL, 1933, p111)
A responsible theology will build a case that
leads individuals to their own personal relationship with God, where the
individual can be reasonably assured of what God communicates to them in
relationship to their unique purpose which might include eternal life. The
answer about death in such spiritually evolved people takes care of itself.
They rely on the original meaning of the word faith (which was not belief, but
rather, "trust"). They simply "trust" that
God has reason for death and that reason is as it should be. They don't need to
know the reason or the particulars to "trust" God.
Many tend to look at eternal life as a reward,
or punishment, for the living of this life - a mere "test."
Such vision makes death the goal and really trivializes the meaning of life.
These ideas are not psychologically healthy because they make death the purpose
of life, instead of, a transition into a different state of consciousness or being.
Yet, the reality is, life in the here and now
is the way we are experiencing eternity. One might analogize it to childhood
being different from adulthood. Few of us could picture accurately as a child
the way we are living today as an adult. Our innocence, ignorance, naivete and inexperience make it somewhat impossible to
ponder the realty of what adulthood might bring. Our childhood is important to
our development, but in adulthood, we think differently. One could not say that
childhood or adulthood is the superior state of existence, only that the one effects the way we handle the experiences of our adulthood.
It is not a different life we live as adults, but rather, a transition of
experiencing the way we live it. Death seen in this manner becomes part of the
transition of life experiences and not so threatening or fearful. With this
type of faith, one can accept the uncertainty of death, for we can see it as
part of growing; but there is no need to embrace it or live our lives to die.
Life is about the experiences we live. It is eternity in the experience of the
now.
One of the best theological arguments a
responsible theology could dispel is concerning the idea that life after death
is somehow a superior form of existence. We have to focus on eternal life in a
way that sees it only as different. Death becomes only a transition from one
experience of eternity to another experience of eternity. In other words,
whatever transcends life is not necessarily better or worse - but a far
different manner of existence than we are familiar with. Few children live
wanting to be adults with all the consequences adulthood brings; and although
they may prepare themselves for adulthood, they live and play as children. It
is the same with life and death. Life prepares us for our transitional
experiences, but it is meant to live - not a stage on which we play out our judgement. This is why the myth and scripture use metaphors
we are familiar with, pointing out to us that life has meaning beyond our
comprehension. Yielding to Jung once again:
A complete picture of the world would require the addition of
still another dimension; only then could the totality of phenomena be given an
explanation. Hence, it is that the rationalist insist to this day that parapsychological experiences do not really exist; for
their view stands or falls by this question, If such phenomena occur at all,
the rationalistic picture of the universe is invalid, because it is incomplete.
Then the possibility of an other-valued reality behind
the phenomenal world becomes an inescapable problem, and we must face the fact
that our world, with its time, space, and causality; relates to another order
of things lying behind or beneath it, in which neither "here and
there" nor "earlier and later" are of importance. I have been
convinced that at least part of our psychic existence is characterized by a
relativity of space and time. This relativity seems to increase, in proportion
to the distance from consciousness, to an absolute condition of timelessness
and spacelessness.
(C.G. Jung,
MEMORIES DREAMS AND REFLECTIONS, 1961, p304-305)
Just as science has discovered a quantum world
of physics, this added dimension as Jung called it, could be the world which
makes life possible. If reality is composed of time and space, and the
limitations thereof, the world beyond would need to be a singularity having
neither time nor space becoming a paradox of oneness and connectedness in the
same instant. Such a dimension would be beyond the senses of our rationalistic
senses.
While responsible theology will see the dangers
to many present concepts, it cannot ignore the importance both, at a spiritual
and psychological level, of an assurance that something exists beyond our
experience. It is not the idea, which is flawed, but rather our approach of it.
If we truly trust (have faith), in God, we have
no worry or fear of death because ultimately what lies beyond us is of God.
When we learn to recognize the Divine within the self, when we know that God
exists instead of merely believing it - in such a state eternal existence
becomes a given transition just children grow into adults.
Often, when we have a dysfunctional childhood,
our adult lives can become somewhat tormented. This is what the myths are
telling us about life and death. If our life is such that it is dysfunctional
in accordance with purpose, our realization of this will come back to haunt us
in death.
Heaven and hell are not places as we so often
portray them. We talk of spiritual kingdoms, paradise, and picture all kinds of
human perceptions in our focus. But heaven and hell in reality are simply
metaphors for a state of being that is incomprehensible in our human
experience. Childhood and adulthood are not about places, but the way we
experience life. One may be better than the other only because of the way we
choose to experience. Such is the inspirational message of life after death.
In the simple story of JONATHAN LIVINGSTON
SEAGULL, by Richard Bach, we have powerful metaphors for these ideals in
relationship to the world we understand and live. Messiahship
and death are just two. After Seagull enters that he thought to be heaven, he
ends up making this observation to his elder:
"Chiang, this world isn't heaven at all, is it?"
The elder smiled in the moonlight, "You are learning again, Jonathan Seagull," he said.
"Well, what happens from here? Where are we going? Is there no such place as heaven?"
"No, Jonathan, there is no such place, HEAVEN IS NOT A
PLACE, AND
IT IS NOT A TIME. Heaven is BEING PERFECT."
(p64)
And Jesus himself points us in the direction of
heaven or the
Repent for the
And:
The Pharisees asked him, "When will the
(Luke 17., 20,21)
And in the Gospel of Thomas, discovered at Nag Hammadi in
His disciples asked him, "When will the
Kingdom come?"
Jesus said, "It will not come by expectation, They will not say,
'See here,' or 'see there'! But the KINGDOM OF THE FATHER IS SPREAD THROUGHOUT
THE EARTH AND MEN DO NOT SEE IT."
(GOSPEL
ACCORDING TO THOMAS 113)
In other words, life is truly a part of the
Life is the act of experiencing creation. It is
that experience which can lead to a higher state of consciousness where we
recognize that creation and the Creator are in fact one. In such a frame of
mind, one can clearly see that God's Kingdom is not coming, but rather, that it
is already here. Heaven is not about belief in life after death, it is about
our perceiving eternity in the here and now, trusting that life has as much
meaning as death. It would seem that if we cannot see the Creator in the
creation, we are not going to see Him anywhere else!
What all these metaphors center around is the
concept that life's experiences are part of God's Kingdom. They are not a test
to get there. Being and life are heaven as we are experiencing it in the now.
They are not separate from the eternal, but a part of it. Heaven and hell are
in essence self-created by the way we choose to look at things. This is the
secret of the mystics who realized that all things are part of the eternal
Creative Force. That all life's experiences, both good and bad, are part of
God's Kingdom when we are prepared
and accept God's Will.
Heaven is in achieving our personal covenant
that we have made with God, as Jesus demonstrates in Matthew 20:1-16, it
doesn't start with death, but occurs in our daily living. Heaven is the
cultivation of the Divine seed that is planted in every human heart (Matt.
Set your troubled hearts at rest. TRUST IN GOD
always; trusts also in me. THERE ARE MANY DWELLING PLACES IN NY FATHER'S HOUSE;
If it were not so I would have told you; for I am
going there on purpose to prepare a place for you
(John 14,1-21)
Jesus' descriptions of heaven are varied and
wide, but from them, you can draw only one conclusion: Heaven is a state of
being. It is the preparedness, the discovery, the realization which all come about when we are connected to the Divine, which
paradoxically, connects us to the whole. Simply put: the
Heaven is being able to know that God is an
intricate part of our own life force, trusting in that Divine power and
accepting what needs to be accepted. It is allowing the Spirit of God which
gave us life to manifest Itself in our giving to
others and creation. Francis of
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;
the courage to change the things I can; and the wisdom to know the difference.
This is the kingdom that each of us truly
seeks. Responsible theology will shun the idea of promising God's reward;
emphasizing instead, peace, contentment, and fulfillment - which is God's
Kingdom no matter how one is experiencing it. The fifteenth century English
poet Edmund Waller summed up the idea of heaven nicely when he said:
All we know of what they do above,
Is that they happy are, and that they love.
("Upon the
Death Of My Lady Rich", 1645)
The myths tell us that if we concentrate on
harmony, unity, love, and the giving of oneself; our experiences will prepare us
for whatever lies beyond. They also imply that if we are selfish, hurtful,
judgmental, and deceitful we will be in some perpetual torment. Based upon
logic, it would seem that the greatest torment we might experience in the
beyond would be that we wasted our precious life upon the earth. Sin,
therefore, is not a failure to keep God's law, it is
the failure of one's self to fulfill purpose. Hell is not a place of physical,
but rather, the self-deceit that blinds us to our connectedness to others and
by extension to God. Judgement is one's choice as to
the way they will experience their eternal existence. T. S. Eliot offered a
fine definition of hell:
What is hell?
Hell is oneself. Hell is alone, the other figures in it merely
projections.
("The Cocktail Party", 1949)
The great hell which the scriptures and myths
point us to is not a place where we spiritually burn
for infractions of some Divine law. It is the symbol for the torment involved
in realization that we have wasted the wonderful gift of life that God has
chosen to gift us with. It is the realization that we missed the opportunity to
share and love; to experience and appreciate the natural creation; and, failed
to contribute and participate in the creative process in a manner that is
harmonious and beneficial to others. It's a failure to "take time to smell
the roses" as they say, missing the true miracle of reality and God's gift
to us on the very earth that gives us life. Hell is a realization that we
failed in purpose, a purpose that defines who we are. Hell is the loss of a
meaning for life that Jung characterizes so well:
THE MEANING OF MY EXISTENCE IS THAT LIFE HAS ADDRESSED A QUESTION
TO ME, OR, CONVERSELY, I MYSELF AM A QUESTION WHICH IS ADDRESSED TO THE WORLD -
AND I MUST COMMUNICATE MY Answer, for otherwise I AM DEPENDENT UPON THE WORLD'S
ANSWER.
(MEMORIES,
DREAMS AND REFLECTIONS, 1961, p318)
Hell is really a self-centeredness whereby we
see the creation as centering on the self. When we miss the paradox that
creation may exist for the individual, but it is also equally important for the
whole. Creation couldn't be if it were not for every minute part,
and the minute parts could not be if the whole of creation didn't allow them to
be. We are not the center of creation, but an intricate part of it; and to
blind ourselves to that fact is to blind ourselves to the
The devils, false prophets, witches, demons,
monsters, which dwell in the mythological kingdom of hell, are the forces that
drive us to selfishness. Often we see the earth as being handed over to Satan.
But it is not the earth, which has been handed over, but the individual who
sees one's self as the sole purpose. They dwell in an isolated universe that
revolves around them, and when the times comes to connect to the all, they laps
into a personal torment because they have had no experience with
"other" because their experience has always revolved around
"self".
Just as the flames consume matter, the ego
consumes the self to the point where it is cut off from the whole and the
torment of loneliness becomes the legacy. Hell is simply the inability to see
that we are in heaven!
And there is yet another theme, which occurs,
in religious systems as well as myth. That is the concept of rebirth and
reincarnation. Like so many other theological arguments, whether this concept
is literally right or wrong makes no difference, for in the reality of our
world we comprehend only this life. For all intent and purpose, the previous
life has ended.
Of course we can use the idea of reincarnation
to blame 'karma' for our problems and failures in this life, just as the Devil
becomes blamed in Christian circle, but both become a convenient projection to
avoid our personal responsibility for our own state of being. Another negative
result of literalizing reincarnation is: it can be
used to justify one's lack of ethics, passing such off that we will have a
chance to get it right in the next life.
But looking at such a belief for its symbol, a
wonderful truth begins to unfold. The metaphor conveys the idea that God has
empowered life with many chances to fulfill purpose. Every morning is a
rebirth. Byron put it nicely in Don Juan:
Death so called is a thing, which makes men weep,
And yet a third of life is passed in sleep.
Every morning we are reincarnated from the
unconsciousness of sleep to a conscious renewal of self. It is a renewal of
life whereby we have yet another opportunity to answer for the world that
addresses a question to us: "Why am I here?''
The idea of reincarnation should not be about
blame for our state, or excuses for our behavior. It's about God's mercy and
love, whereby, She empowers us with the ability to "get it right"
with every opportunity of the newborn day.
Everyday we view in nature a cycle of life and
death where death is actually becomes life and renewal. From the destructive
forces of nature, there is creation. The law of the jungle gives life and
balance to creatures that exist in abundance. Out of the deaths of stars are
born the atoms which make up you and I. Such is a
natural order we only begin to understand, but it certainly reflects the nature
of the Creator - and reincarnation can help to symbolize that theme. If the
cycle of life is so apparent in nature, why should it stop at what is
transcendent of nature?
Responsible theology can use the concept of
reincarnation by viewing it as a symbol of hope and trust in God. God uses all
aspects of nature to contribute to the Whole, and thus the whole lives on. Is the self really any different than the whole?
We can trust that God will provide significant opportunity that our life, in
the end, will have meaning and purpose.
And on the subject of judgement,
Christian theology ignores the very directive of Jesus:
Pass no judgment and you will not be judged. For as
you judge others, so you will yourselves be judged and whatever measures you
deal out to others will be dealt back to You.
(Matthew 7: 1-2)
No human being can pronounce the judgement of God, for it would take the mind of God to
contemplate Her justice. Jesus is telling us that we
set the rules for our final judgement in our
treatment of others. We judge ourselves in the eyes of God by our own
standards, the standards by which we treat others. Our everyday dealings become
the formula for God who ultimately knows what is in our hearts because there She dwells.
Preachers preach "fire and brimstone"
from the pulpits while putting a "plank in their own eye" as
to God's diversity, compassion and mercy. Fear is no reason to come to God, even Hitler had followers like that. Reward is no reason to come to God, we all know people who can be bought
and sold.
Judgement isn't really about sin at all. It's about our interaction
with reality; our experience with love; and the refinement of consciousness to
move beyond ego. Morality is not about avoiding transgressions of the law; it's
about how we live and interact with our experiences of life. We need not please
God, because the fact of the matter is, we cannot please God, for God is
perfect and pleased unto Himself. We cannot displease God because in this same
perfection God could not be displeased.
So where does the basis for judgment lie?
Jesus directs us in the Lord's Prayer to pray:
"Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.''
While self may not be the center of the universe; it is the center of our judgement, which is why pulling the plank out of one's own
eye is so important to Jesus. It is why the rich man has such a problem getting
into heaven. Materialism, hypocrisy, greed, are all
distractions from the Divine element that burns in the human soul. Ignoring
what is within us leads to our own judgement, which
takes us back to the pain of hell, which is failure in life.
And like most things in religious truth, the paradox
once again comes forth. Our dealings with others, and
creation, become the judgement of ourselves.
It is why Jesus focused so much on hypocrisy as a great evil. Hypocrisy is a
force which can bring us down, for it is not what we say, or our begging for
forgiveness, or even what we believe that will save us - it is what we do and
how we forgive; for this is the standard Jesus preached that God will judge by.
In other words, we set the standard in the way we live our life. We can deceive
others, we can even deceive our selves, but God sees us for who and what we
are.
Responsible theology has the psychological
responsibility to offer comfort and make sense of death, but it must fulfill
that responsibility without reducing the importance of life. Death is a
transition into another realm of experience, not the end of a "test"
- but, a beginning of a different kind of experience. It is a continuation of
our eternal state that began with our awakening to consciousness. William James
once wrote a definition of religion which responsible theology should take
notice of:
Were we asked to characterize the life a religion in the broadest
and most general terms possible, one might say that it consists of the belief that
there is an unseen order and that our supreme good lies in HARMONIOUSLY
ADJUSTING OURSELVES THERETO. This belief and this adjustment are the religious
attitude in the soul.
("The
Varieties Of Religious Experience" 1902, p53)
It is not the role of religion to pronounce
God's judgement, to tell people how to live, or
declare God's law. It is the role of religion to give meaning to life and
death, to comfort, and encourage the development of the individual soul. Just
as psychology tries to open a door whereby we can nurture our mental well
being, religion needs to apply this same principle so we can nurture our soul.
The theologian Paul Tillich
reasons:
The Catholic doctrine which recommends prayer and sacrifice for
the deceased is a powerful expression of belief in the unity of individual and
universal destiny in Eternal life. This element of truth should not be
forgotten because of the many superstitions and abuses in the practical
carry-out of the idea. It is hardly necessary, after all that has been said, to
refer to the symbols "heaven' and "hell." First of all, THEY ARE
SYMBOLS AND NOT DESCRIPTIONS OF LOCALITIES; second, THEY EXPRESS STATES Of BLESSEDNESS AND DESPAIR, that is, the amount of
fulfillment or non-fulfillment which goes into the individuals essentialization. The symbols "heaven" and
"hell' must be taken seriously in this threefold sense and can be used as
metaphors for the polar ultimates in the experience
of the Divine. The FREQUENTLY EVIL PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECTS of a LITERAL USE of
"heaven" and "hell" are not sufficient reason for removing
them completely. They provide vivid expressions for the threat of "death
away from eternity" and for its contrast "the promise of eternal
life."
(Paul Tillich, SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY, 1967)
Fear, magical thinking or overactive
imagination should not drive our views of life after death. While death may be
an end to mortal experience; revelation tells us it is not the end of being.
Our beliefs in this realm of an altered state of being should motivate us and elevate
us in the state of being we experience in the paradox
of the now.
What one might logically conclude is that life
is a learning process through experience, and, that we will utilize that
knowledge in some manner in the hereafter. It is not death that defines who we
are, but life! This makes the mortal experience of eternity every bit as sacred
and important as any aspect of the transcendent.
To be sure, life after death could be a most
wonderful experience. But such is not to be compared to our experiences on
earth, for we have no reference to judge by. Live life to its potential,
responsibly, and eternity will fend for itself. What we believe about eternal
life should not be the priority for it would seem, based upon scripture and
myth, that the priority to God seems to be the way we live our life in
relationship to others.
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