chapter 23 - Heaven and hell

Some says that this world is a suffering place, and they want to go to heaven after they died. This is not wrong at all. At least there is hope. It is a better way of thinking than people that are feeling hopeless and depressed about the ‘suffering world’ that they are living in.
Of course materially there is no doubt that this physical body and the worldly phenomena are a suffering object.

Hunger and thirst are indeed a form of basic suffering.

Physical pain derived from injury and illness is indeed an unavoidable suffering. But we do need this sense of pain to protect us from getting injury of the body. If we don't feel pain at all, we will have so many injuries through out the whole body, because we won't be able to protect ourselves anymore without the signal of pain. We will burn our skin, having wounds on the body, breaking our bones, or burn our mouth while eating something very hot but without us realizing it at all, because we don't feel pain.

So much selfish and ignorant happenings in the world are indeed a form of suffering too.

But why do we want to wait any longer and going through so much frustrations and unhappiness at the meantime? We don’t have to.

Now, the present moment is either heaven or hell depending on how we are feeling. If we are in anger, hatred, dissatisfaction, in jealousy, have greed and ignorant, there is no different from being in hell at this present moment. And if we are in peace, joy, contentment, have love, compassion and wisdom, there is no different from being in heaven at this present moment.

Every moment can be heaven or can be hell for us, in our mind, in our self. Happiness is not something caused from outside. When our heart is in peace and contentment, we see everything is beautiful, we hear every sound is lovely, and so on. When our heart is not at peace and discontent, we see everything as ugly and bad, every sound we hear is disturbing, and so on.

Heaven is right here, within us. Doesn’t matter how is the condition of this physical body and how is the situation of the world, at this present moment, if we are free from attachments, fears and worries, free from cravings and aversions, if our heart is in peace, love and contentment, we are living in heaven.

Not in the future, not about doing lots of good now, but continuing feeling angry, hatred and unhappy all the time, and waiting until the moment of death, then move to a place so called Heaven.