Sunday, February 24, 2013
Have you ever thought about "Hell"
For many of us we are told about heaven and hell at a young age and are told good people go to heaven and bad people go to hell. What if this was not the case. I'm sure some of us have heard the question "well if god loves people so much then why does he send them to hell" and it is a question that evokes deep thought at least for me because I see it as a valid argument. I know the god subject is a touchy one and I'm not saying i believe or disbelieve however I came across an interesting perspective from a man named Paramahansa Yogananda. Whether you believe in god or not I feel there is a powerful message in the story that follows please keep an open mind:
"Once I met an old man who lived near Seattle. I had been sitting near the sea, much inspired by the vastness of divinity. After that inspiration subsided I felt hungry, and went to the farmhouse of this man, seeking to buy some cherries. The rosy-cheeked man looked very happy, and showed me kind hospitality. A divine impulse then came over me, and I said to him, "Friend, you look happy, but there is a hidden suffering in your life." He asked, "Are you a fortune-teller?" I answered, "No, but I tell people how to improve their fortunes."He then said, "We are all sinners, and the Lord will burn our souls in hell-fire and brimstone."I replied, "How could a man, losing his body at death and becoming an invisible soul, be burned by fire created by material brimstones?" He surprised me by repeating angrily, "We will certainly burn in hell-fire." I said, "Did you get a telegram about this from God, that He will burn us in hellfire?" At this the old man became even more agitated.To mollify him, I changed the subject and said, "What about your unhappiness over your wicked son?" He was surprised at my words and acknowledged that he was helpless to correct his son, whom he deemed incorrigible. This sorrow remained as a burning fire at the back of his mind. I said, "I have a remedy that will absolutely cure this situation." The old man's eyes gleamed with joy as he smiled. I, then, with a mysterious attitude as if about to reveal the grand solution, whispered to him, "Have you got a very big oven with a broiler?""Why, yes," he said. Then, suspiciously he asked, "Just what are you getting at?""Don't worry," I said reassuringly. "What I'm proposing will end all your sorrows."Somewhat mollified, he said, "Go on.""Now then," I continued, "Heat that oven, with the broiler, to red-hot temperature. Do you have some strong rope and two trusted friends who would not repeat anything against you?" Again he said, "Why, yes." Then I said, "Call your son here. With the help of your friends, bind him hand and foot, and slip him into the red-hot oven."The old man was furious! Shaking his fist at me, he shouted, "You blackguard! Who ever heard of a father burning his son, no matter how wicked?"I then spoke soothingly, "That is exactly what I wanted to tell you. Where did you, who are human, get this instinct of love except from the Divine Father? Even a human father cannot stand the cruel thought of roasting his own son alive to put him, or himself, out of misery. How could you think the Divine Father, who has infinitely greater love than you, and who created parental love, would burn His own children with hell-fire and brimstone?"The old man's eyes filled with tears of repentance as he said, "I understand now that the Heavenly Father is a God of love!"We punish ourselves by our own evil actions, and reward ourselves by our own good deeds.Sin cannot change the soul. We, who are made in the image of God, can be lost in the jungles of an evil environment for a while, but no amount of sin can change our eternal, divine nature. Sin is a crust which hides the perfect soul, made eternally in the image of God. When that crust is dissolved by meditation, the perfection of the soul is revealed at last"
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Hell is here on earth in the minds of people who are entrenched in their ego.
ReplyDeleteWho ever wrote this just made up a very good story that says exactly what I have said for the better part of my life about God and hell.
ReplyDeletegreat post...it is the heart of the argument. If God being the supreme being of love how could he willingly take pleasure in sentencing his creation to everlasting torment? That sounds sadistic...not lovely. Its a direct contradiction of the love of the divine and a manipulation of the masses for separation, fear, and judgment.
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