The Ranting Stephen : On Heaven and Hell
Good evening bloggers. 好久不见! It's not because of a lack of inner monologue or what have you, but rather a lack of motivation to lose time I could be sleeping. That includes all hours of the day (I sleep a lot...but you know that already.). So the plan, rather than give you the boring details of what's been going on in my world since the last post, I'll just skip ahead to what I'm supposed to be posting about. Deal? Good.
Oh. Hi Tia! (my one follower...)
On Heaven and Hell... I know. Deep stuff, huh? Well,believe it or not, the answer isn't all that crazy (if you don't think about it too much...).
I was thinking about life and death the other day and where you go after you die, and in the same time period I was thinking about dreaming and nightmares, when suddenly!! out of the green comes a passing quote where death is described as "Eternal Slumber"... Now to me, what I'm about to say makes sense. Feel free to shout at me if you don't like it:
Heaven and Hell are real, but they exist solely in your dreams.
As a professional Sleeper and with the Authority of the Reincarnation of Joseph (son of Jacob, 12th of 12 brothers...)I say that it could be so. Reflect on how Catholicism believes that it is by works of faith and good deeds that get you into heaven, and bad things that damn you to hell. While other branches of Christianity would contest that belief, most (if not all religions) follow the same pretense that doing good will send you to a good place, and doing bad sends you to a bad place.
But good and evil is relative. There is no black and white. Is a the Father who steals a loaf of bread to feed his starving family an Evil person? Is the Leader who drop starts a war in one country to prevent to loss of his own denizens Good?
What if it's all just in your head? Good and evil don't exist in the afterlife, just a stillness of the soul, or the lack thereof. And if the soul and the mind were interconnected, peace of mind while you're alive would lead to peace of mind in the afterlife, and vice versa.
While scientifically a naturally occurring event, people of all walks of life agree that Dreams have a great deal of mystery attached to them. Some people say that what takes place in your dreams shows what is weighing heavily on your mind; that it is a way for your subconscious to communicate with your consciousness so you can address its issues. Others believe that Dreams are often supernatural, connecting you with the universe and allowing you to view things that have passed, and things that are yet to be. Sometimes, I like to think that dreams are temporary connections with the YOU(s) of other dimensions... But for this episode, lets assume a dream reflects the mind.
If a dream reflects the mind,and the mind and soul are interconnected, then a dream would over the course of time also be a measure of the state of the soul. Assume the following things to be true: On the average day, a dream is just a dream; things happen you don't quite understand. Every now and then you get lucky and have a terrific dream -- something I find happens more frequently when you are having a good day. When something dark is on your mind or you are worried about something, there is a chance you'll have a nightmare.
They say that when you look death in the eye, your whole life flashes before your eyes. When it does, what do you think will be more vivid? The average day? No. I wouldn't care to see those days. In the second I realize I might die, my first thought would be "Where am I going after this? Heaven or Hell?" And when my life flashed, the things I would see most vividly would be the the times I did very bad things that would send me to hell. (The bad things always stand out more, don't they?)
And herein lies the secret to the afterlife:
The people who enter the Eternal slumber worried, with a darkened heart, or knowing full well that they were not Good enough to go to "Heaven" will be trapped in an Eternal Nightmare forevermore. Hell.
People who lived good lives --whose good deeds outweighed the bad ones, who believe they've earned their place in Heaven(which Christianity says "Accept Christ as your saviour and you will get into heaven"), who have peace of mind -- their Eternal Slumber is that of peace and happiness, a never ending dreamworld where all of your wishes can come true and you will live in eternal bliss forever and ever. Heaven.
So if you don't do bad things (or you do good things), and your soul reflects a life you've been proud to live, You go to heaven. The best dream ever. A life in the peace that is brought on by sleep. If you do do bad things, and when your life flashes before you and all you can think is "I'm going to hell for that...", you go to Hell. your worst nightmare.
And that's Stephen on Heaven and Hell. What about Ghosts? That's another topic altogether... Maybe i'll figure that out and post it.
