HEAVEN

Everything we are, do, and cause to be done, from our first breath to our last, is constantly being recorded and will be preserved forever. Just as radio waves projected into space travel eternally, so does a thought, a feeling, or an action. Our lives are like works of art and are preserved forever in the mind of God. It is in this way, along with the effects of our actions and our children’s actions on the earth, that we humans are eternal. We need not rely on the old beliefs of heaven and reincarnation. The fact is, that these beliefs may do our world and us more harm than good.

There are two basic areas in which humans wish to be immortal. One is to be eternally conscious and the other is to be eternally remembered, or to cause an effect which will be felt down through time. The first type of immortality is less important since we lose consciousness every night between dreams while we sleep. We all enjoy this deep dreamless sleep and it really does not seem so terrible if this is what we may face after death.

The other type of immortality is to be remembered, or to have our actions cause effects which will be felt down through time. Our children are one way for us to influence the future in this way. We mold them in our image and they in turn mold their children. As each generation proceeds, our influence on the future through our children is cut in half, and while being eternally present, is being eternally diminished.

The children of our mind, our thoughts, words, and deeds also affect the future long after we have died. Things we do or say today may live until the end of the world. Even a simple complement may change another person’s life and the course of history. I once heard of a mass murderer who, upon receiving a smile and hello while having breakfast in a cafe, later wrote in his diary that he decided not to shoot anyone that day. Someone’s life was spared by that smile and who knows what the spared person will accomplish with their life. Our actions are eternal and true karma is their cause and effect which rebounds through time.

Although anything is possible, it is highly unlikely that there is another world where we go after death. This belief has come to us from ancient times because of the lack of the understanding of dreams. Dreams are so life like that early man mistook them for other worlds rather than seeing them as ways to deal with this one. It was the dream which caused even the earliest man to bury his dead with things to use in another world. The belief in an after-world may actually be harmful to human growth. Life should be motivated by what can be done to better this world and not what to do to enter or avoid another.

If it is unlikely that there is a heaven, the idea of hell is even more absurd. It is simply a fear tactic of religion to keep their members loyal and to control their actions.

A wise man like Moses needed a big stick to get his ignorant people to follow the rules which were for the good of the tribe of Israel. He and those before him obviously thought this small untruth was worth the price of obedience. We are no longer ignorant and now have many laws to take the place of the commandments. We must think and feel for ourselves the ethical consequences of acts which may hurt the whole. Today we do not just follow laws; we change them to fit our needs. This is true of government and should be true for spiritual laws as well since it was man who wrote them both.

It is time for humans not to worry about heaven and put all our energy into making this world better. It is the only world we will ever have for certain and is worthy of our full attention.