In recent times, I've been forced to question the essence of humanity after seeing the acts meted out on fellow humans by others with such wanton disregard for feelings and human compassion .In Nigeria today, we are so accustomed to religious killings,Boko Haram massacres, ritual murders, family and spouse murders that we have adjusted our lives to accept it as a way of life ..
What went wrong? When did it our world become hell? Is hell really worse than this? Is there really hell somewhere?Are some living in hell and others in heaven? SO, being inquisitive I decided to do some fact findings about the concept of heaven and hell which I must say is exhaustive ....(Please,this is not an attempt to discredit any religion and we should not attack any religion but state our own beliefs..Religion is a very sensitive issue)
I've always been intrigued by Buddhism and their concept of after-life...
The Buddhist concept of heaven and hell is entirely different from that in other religions. Buddhists do not believe in physical heaven or hell..They say it is unreasonable for a man to be condemned eternally for his human weakness. Their belief is those who go to hell can work their way towards heaven making use of the good they did at a point in time ..To them, hell is a temporary place..
The most interesting part of their religion is that heaven and hell are all here on earth.They feel the fire of hell in this world is hotter than that of the hell in the world-beyond. ........
According to buddist Venerable K. Sri Dhammananda Maha Thera,
"There is no fire equal to anger, lust or greed and ignorance. According to the Buddha, we are burning from eleven kinds of physical pain and mental agony: lust, hatred, illusion sickness, decay, death, worry, lamentation, pain(physical and mental), melancholy and grief. People can burn the entire world with some of these fires of mental discord. Hell and heaven is that where ever there is more suffering, either in this world or any other plane, that place is a hell to those who suffer. And where there is more pleasure or happiness, either in this world or any other worldly existence...Buddhists believe that after death rebirth can take place in any one of a number of possible existences. This future existence is conditioned by the last thought-moment a person experiences at the point of death. This last thought which determines the next existence results from the past actions of a man either in this life or before that. Hence, if the predominant thought reflects meritorious action, then he will find his future existence in a happy state. But that state is temporary and when it is exhausted a new life must begin all over again, determined by another dominating 'kammic' energy"
I recall watching CNN some years back and when movie superstar Richard Gere,a practising Buddist was asked about the concept of hell and heaven on earth, he said ...
There are some people living in hell here on earth and yes there are some living in heaven here on earth..
As a Christian, I must confess I had to give this a second thought..Some places on earth are prone to such disaster, wickedness and incomprehensible suffering which is unfathomable.I find myself asking "Why is there so much evil in this place?What did those little babies do to be slaughtered or killed in genocide? What did the poor students in places like Borno state do? Or why did this very truthful and just person die in the most horrible way ever?..Why are some other places filled with peace or calm?Why am I still here despite all my sinful ways?Why do some girls commit 30 abortions and live while others die at their first attempt?
- Christians believe all sinners are going to hell irrespective of how small or big your sin was,there is just one destination for all.Heaven or Hell..Now does this mean a man who has been brutally murdering little kids for ritual purposes and a little girl who told a little lie about stealing candy are headed for the same hell?
- Catholics believe in purgatory, a place to pay off debts for sins that were forgiven but for which sufficient penance had not been done on earth.They believe this is a place souls who died stay until their sins are washed off..This is why Catholics believe in praying for the dead who may be in purgatory ..
- Jehovah's Witnesses believe that only 144,000 people will go to heaven to rule with God and Jesus. The remainder of the righteous will enjoy paradise on earth .The Garden will be restored and there will be no sickness, death,old age,or unhappiness...They don't believe in the concept of hellfire as they believe the wicked will be cut off totally and won't exist..
- The Muslims also believe in heaven where those who make it lie upon couches in a climate-controlled environment surrounded by "bashful, dark-eyed virgins, chaste as the sheltered eggs of ostriches." ..They also believe in resurrection where all will stand before God and give account..But before that day,those bound for hell will suffer in their graves, while those bound for heaven will be in peace until that time.Some Muslim commentators believe God can rescue people from hell as he chooses because he is merciful and compassionate
- The Hindus believe in reincarnation and rebirth of souls..To them, death is not the end of all but is temporary and an opportunity for the dead to evaluate their choices, their previous life and the next step they want to take ..They believe when a man dies,the soul leaves the body with some level of consciousness .If a person committed many bad deeds in life, the soul goes to a lower worlds and suffer and if the good outweighs the bad, he goes to a higher plane and enjoys there..The last thoughts of a person at the point to death determines where they go to..If he was thinking of family, he will go to the world of ancestors and be reborn into that family(some Africans believe this)..If you were thinking of money, you will be reborn as a merchant or trader.If thinking of evil, you will go to the world of evil to suffer and will have the chance to think of the evil you had others pass through and feel it..If you were thinking about God, you go to the highest realm ..They believe in bad ghosts and spirits as unfortunate beings trapped between the higher worlds and earth.These are those who committed so much evil or suicide and hang around desolate places and trouble people of unpure minds..However, Good spirits also exist to help the needy and always hang around family,to help and protect them.In essence, the concept of hell and heaven is not eternal but a place where the dead go to learn and get to a higher level as they prepare to be reborn.They also say once reborn you have no memory of past life but if reborn into your past family,those around may see the same attitudes with the person who died.
- Atheist don't believe in the existence of any deity..They believe in God,heaven or hell ...........
Personally, there are times I'm confused..I must confess..There are times I believe hell exists here on earth but my upbringing as a Christian truly believes in judgement in the afterlife...I strongly believe in praying for the dead.I believe the the dead know of our activities here on earth..This is based on my personal experiences.....
The parable of Lazarus and the rich man proves this..The Rich man begged Abraham to tell Lazarus to tell his family to stop their sinful ways , to avoid joining him in hell.....This means if Lazarus had a family, for the fact that he was in a good place, he could pass messages, help or save them..But the rich man didn't have that privilege ..
I also believe no human is perfect and without blemish....but most importantly, I believe in a supreme being called GOD.
What's your belief.....
Emeh Achanga...
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