Heaven and Hell

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Clouds are fractals just like the afterlife

Heaven and Hell are allegories for the emotional life you experience when you live a life that is full of happiness and well-being versus one filled with hate, anger and pain.

"Don't search for heaven and hell in the future. Both are now present. Whenever we manage to love without expectations, calculations, negotiations, we are indeed in heaven. Whenever we fight, hate, we are in hell." -Shams Tabrizi

The allegory extends into the afterlife, where your memory is kept alive by the fractal impact of your actions on the collective consciousness of humanity. It persists forever in heaven or hell, depending on whether your actions caused others happiness or pain.

Most religions have some version of heaven and hell since these metaphors accurately depict the emotional experience of living a good life versus one filled with things that are bad, as well as your impact on others and their memory of you. They also provide powerful ethical motivation, especially when combined with the concept of an omniscient god.

In a highly educated modern culture, where we understand the relationship between our ethics, our brains, and our quality of life, we can use reason instead of faith to provide even greater motivation.

How to Get to Heaven

According to most religions, you will find yourself in heaven whenever you live your life according to god's plan. But what does that really mean? If happiness is the subjective experience of the brain's reaction to pro-survival and pro-social behavior, with the express purpose of making those actions more likely, it follows that this must be the primary guidepost that "god" has instilled in us through evolution in order to guide us towards doing the right thing, and reward us when we do.

Heaven is the state of mind we achieve when we have a wide variety of things in life that brains crave:

Developing some kind of mental practice, such as mindfulness, meditation, philosophy, or the God Concept is very helpful for finding meaning and ensuring that you stay on the path. Many would say it's necessary, especially if you want a persistent and resilient heaven.

Getting too hung up on the particulars about the exact optimal path is a not going to get you there. Just do what makes you happy, as long as it doesn't interfere with the happiness of others, and your brain will reward you in this life, without waiting for the afterlife.

From a Theological Perspective

These videos present the idea of heaven and hell as states of mind from a religious perspective, in case you thought that this was a purely secular point of view.

History Lesson: Religion's Betrayal of 'Hell' is Totally Misunderstood


Heaven and Hell are States of Mind


Every Major World Religion's Afterlife Beliefs Explained in 9 Minutes

Heavenly Music

Lots of great songs evoke the heaven and hell metaphor.

Belinda Carlisle - Heaven is a Place on Earth


Talking Heads - Heaven


Grateful Dead - Saint of Circumstance


Black Sabbath - Heaven and Hell (Full Album)


Diamanda Galás - You Must Be Certain of the Devil