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| Heaven or Hell? Both doors are open& the choice is yours. |
In recent times, I've been forced to question the purpose 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 resultsfrom 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 ?
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