If there is a heaven
 

Hey everyone, I have a question that I have been wondering about for a while now. I've been a little anxious to post it on here, but thankfully this new Spirituality section makes me feel a more comfortable in doing so. ;)

In the past year, I've read the two books, The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom, and The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. Both these books describe what heaven is like. In the text, heaven is portrayed as "whatever you want it to be." It is described as the happiest place or emotion you've ever experienced or dreamed in your entire life.

Let me paint a little picture for you. In the book by Albom, a worker at an amusement park (who loved his job) gets killed by a technical accident at the park. Later, he goes to heaven after a series of stages looking back at his life. When he finally reaches heaven, he is back at the amusement park, where he loved most. The books ends with him being happy about keeping the lives of hundreds of people safe during his years at the park. He ascends over the park, is reunited with his dead wife in heaven, and the books ends with them soaring off into the distance in happiness and harmony. In The Lovely Bones, the main character also goes to heaven, where she also has her own personal space, a beautiful field with a gazebo where she relaxes with her old relatives - what she loved doing her entire life.

As you can see, both characters in each book have their own personal heavens. This entire concept got me thinking, quite extensively actually - if there is a heaven, and it is like what is detailed in these stories, then why not make heaven Pandora? If heaven actually exists like this, then my most treasured loves and passions throughout my mortal life will exist in there when I pass.

When I actually sat and thought about this, I pictured what it would be like in my own personal heaven. I would be on Pandora. I would be a Na'vi. I would be with Neytiri. I would be in the world I've constantly dreamed of being in ever since the release of this film. I would have that, and everything else that has been meaningful in my life; in one big personal heaven. Amazing would be an understatement.

Before reading these books, my outlook on heaven was different. I used to think heaven was just a place in the clouds of peace and harmony where souls just chilled (and it still may be, we don't really know). But this outlook seems a lot more plausible to me, and a heaven that is your own personal world would be absolutely awesome.


What are your thoughts on this? :)

Why not, I think it would be the best situation. :D
I think the idea of the clouds was created by sermons in churches against the idea of hell being fire and brimstone.
I think heaven would be the best situation for the particular person who is there..I can't imagine a standard heaven with clouds and a big gate because it would be way too overcrowded with all the dead from ancient times till now.

Hmm, I'd be curious to read those books someday.

And yeah, if your idea of heaven is Pandora-like, why not make it that way if you found yourself there? :D

I'd explain my concept of heaven, but I'll have to do it later. There's a whole other topic I should make first that's related to it.

Surely it's not going to be that much of a problem? We don't how large Heaven is, after all.

in year 9 the coordinator of our form told us this story:

"a man died and before going to heaven or hell he was taken on a tour. he first went to hell and saw a huge table with a banquet. people sat down at their seats and began their meal. however, the people had no elbows and couldnt feed themselves. they had a bad time. so the man went to heaven to have a look but when he got there, it was also a huge table with a banquet and the people who sat down also had no elbows. the man questioned this and said "hang on this is the same shiit!" to which his guide told him to observe, and unlike hell, the people were feeding each other."

well, i didn't believe in this, i don't believe in god or a heaven or hell, but hopefully for those of you that do you get something out of this. although it has no meaning to me, it may have meaning to some of you. thanks for listening to my cool story bros :awesome:

Makes sense to me! Brotherly love, that's the difference that makes heaven what it is. :)

Just picture your soul flying up and away, then going here.

http://lh6.ggpht.com/-PBdqiuxtrQY/S1...avatar_pg8.jpg

If I could choose my own heaven, I don't know if I'd want it to be Pandora (shocker, right? :xD:) I'll have to think about that one. Fun idea though for sure :D

When we die, can we actually go somewhere that doesn't exist? That's a big question that needs an answer.

I'm all for settling in Pandora when I pass but if that wasn't possible, I'd take an eternal life in the Amazon.

Maybe it's created when you die? The power of your own soul creates it for you?

Afaik (from Buddhism & books) there are many layers / levels / dimensions in heaven. so all options are equally possible. Even light & clouds heaven image typical of churches (that - again, only afaik) exists in some plane - it often happens to be the entrance place, something like Grace saw after the tunnel. Creating your personal heaven with your soul like in the books Hunter read, - or "brotherly love" that tm20 described (well, we don't have to wait till we die for that! :P) - or anything else... Literally, "the sky is the limit"...

Wouldn't any afterlife eventually get boring and depressing?
With enough time, you would exhaust literally every option.

Not if it was on Pandora and with Neytiri.

^^^^especially if there are "sequels" :)

You could be incapable of getting bored.

(Or is that too scientific an answer? :P)