Being a misanthrope at heart, I always loved Sartre’s definition,” Hell is Other People”. Many a times I have lived in my imaginary Heaven where there is nobody except me on earth. A real Robinson Crusoe existence. But then the challenge starts. I want my daughter with me. I want my immediate family. I want this set of friends. These particular colleagues. These clients. This service provider. And this singer. This musician. This dramatist, etc. etc. ad infinitum. And very soon the world is populated all over again and you accept that you cannot really live alone. So possibly even Heaven is Other People.
One of the most mystical and widely speculated song of the Eagles in my hey-days was Hotel California; Don Henley sang,”
….Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light
My head grew heavy & my sight grew dim
I had to stop for the night…
…And I was thinking to myself
“This could be Heaven or this could be Hell”
Then she lit up a candle and she showed me the way
There were voices down the corridor
I thought I heard them say
Welcome to the Hotel California
Such a lovely place (Such a lovely place)
Such a lovely face
Plenty of room at the Hotel California
Any time of year (Any time of year)
You can find it here
Is this song not defining both Heaven as well as Hell? Unfortunately we are brought up to believe that there would be stark differences between Heaven & Hell. One would be shining, glowing, comforting….while the other would be desolate, difficult & cruel. But what The Eagles are helping us question is are there really such clear differences between Heaven & Hell? Or are they really identical twins difficult to differentiate? This could be Heaven This could be Hell. The Master Magician could hide one under His hat & bring out the other? can we make out which is which? Is it only our conditioning which paints such different imagery? Or are they the same?
It is NOT only Rock music but others too have raised this fundamental question. I recollect a oft-told tale where a new arrival asks St. Peters what is the difference between Heaven & Hell. Peters invites him to walk with him, see the difference. After some damp & dark corridors, they reach a Dining Hall with a huge wooden table …hundreds feet long & 5 feet wide. The table is creaking with the choicest food items from all cuisines. Big bowls over-laden with food & fruits dot the table. Hungry people are sitting on both sides of the table…all tied to the chairs. Their one arm shackled to the chair. Other arm is free to eat but there is large, long wooden spoon (4 feet long) firmly tied, such that people cannot bend their elbow. Seeing the delicious food they are still trying to eat. But since the elbow is immobile, with the large 4 feet spoon, they cannot reach their mouth. In their effort the food ladled on the spoon is falling all around, reaching no one’s mouth. St Peter tells the new inmate, ” This is Hell”. They cannot bear the agony and screams of hungry people who see delicious food laid out in front, yet they cannot eat!!
They walk onwards to the next hall. Here the situation is the same. 40*5 table laden with delicacies, food overflowing in bowls in the middle, people tied to chairs both sides of the table, one free arm with a large wooden spoon. Though the elbow cant be bent, here the people are picking up food in the outsize spoon and feeding others, on the opposite side of the table. And the others are reciprocating. So all can eat. St Peters says “this is Heaven”. Point being Heaven and Hell are the same physically, but the behavior of the people makes a big difference. Difficulties are same but cooperation finds solutions. Heaven & Hell could merely be a matter of perspective. How you look at the situation you are in & how you cope? Is this not our experience many a time in our lives? When you replace “why is this happening to me” with “what is this trying to teach me?” everything shifts.
We have all heard the idiom: The Road to Hell is paved with good Intentions. Does it mean the Road to Heaven is paved with bad intentions? Obviously no. How you behave and What decisions you take are the factors that propel you forward: whether on road to Heaven or to Hell. I am reminded of a Zen story where a famous Samurai goes to the Master & asks him to explain: what is Heaven & What is Hell. The Master asks him to wait. The famous Samurai sits for the full day, reminding the Master intermittently that he is waiting. Still the Master tells him “Wait I will call you”. Towards evening, after a long wait of 7/8 hours the Master calls him. As the samurai is coming near, the Master starts berating him with the choicest bad words. Calls him a arrogant buffoon, an egoistic fool & what not. The long wait & the uncalled-for insulting behavior of the Master makes the Samurai angry. “Why are you saying all this?” he asks. “Because” , says the master, “you are a pompous over rated fool who serves no purpose. Am sure you are not even a good warrior & your sword is rusted from un-use. Even if an enemy comes in front of you, you will be unable to do anything”. Hurt & angry the Samurai draws his sword & rushes to behead the Master. To the drawn sword, the Master says, “ There open the gates of Hell”. In that instant the Samurai understands what the Master was doing. Apologetic for raising the sword on the Master, the Samurai falls at his feet to beg forgiveness. The Master with full equanimity says,” There open the Gates of Heaven”. Legend has it at that moment the Samurai was enlightened. So, How do we act? How do we react? our behavior determines Hell or Heaven.
Mark Twain is credited with the quip.” Heaven has better climate, but Hell has better Company.” A story goes that a person is arguing with God asking to be sent to Hell because “that is where all my friends will be”. Heaven may be totally mono-chromatic for some of the colorful denizens on this earth. The Law of Karma will set a certain course for you. It is up to you to decide how you will behave. Acts and Intentions will indeed cast a long shadow to lighten or darken the path ahead. Whether you believe in reincarnation or not, your actions & intentions, your karma & samskaras can make your time on earth enjoyable & heavenly or push you into hell-fire
To end with Hotel California’s last stanza ..
And she said “We are all just prisoners here, of our own device”
…Last thing I remember
I was running for the door
I had to find the passage back to the place I was before
“Relax,” said the night man
“We are programmed to receive
You can check-out any time you like
But you can never leave!”
Make your Hell Heaven or your Heaven Hell. Choice is yours: vikas
Vikasblog 
Vikas dada,
You have turned the theory of Karma on its head. You have brought the concept of heaven and hell to this life instead of a culmination of all one’s life deeds after death. A very thought provoking article indeed!
Mark Twain’s definition and the Hotel California song are great levers to drive home your point.
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many thanks for your perceptive comments
I do believe that we have to settle all accounts in the here and now and there is really no after life My purpose was to challenge the age old conditioning about Heaven and Hell
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Hi VS:
To me, the depiction of difference between Hell and Heaven by St Peters that you have described hits the nail on the head. Heaven is made out of people who want to Give..and Hell consists of people who just want to take..take at any cost..including murdering others.
In this sense ,anyone can create a heaven by being a constant “giver” and inspiring others to do the same by his/her example. What we give is not important…it can be money, food, a blanket….or more important than that..give respect ..or just a genuine smile..or forgiving someone even for a serious mistake …When many around us follow this, it would feel like staying in heaven.
In the story you have narrated about the Master and the Samurai, the essence is the same: the Master gives…by his forgiveness..and the Samurai falls at his feet! Earlier, Samurai created hell for himself by his uncontrolled anger.
Our shastras talk about the five vices..Lust/Anger/Greed/Attachment and Ego. Any uncontrolled vice can take us to hell.
The news today is full of strife and tragedies all around us..I was shocked to hear a recent story of a start up entrepreneur killing her own 4 year old son in a hotel in Goa! Just look at the levels to which we as a society are falling…Can there be a more stunning hell than this?
All these are results of the five vices going to extremes. Life has become all about taking (even a life of a loved one) and not giving!!
The dire need of the time is to encourage adherence to values ..and it has to start at the school level…and for it to be effective , it has to be practiced by the adults at home!!
Compliments VS, for touching a very important subject
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JL
when I decided to write on heaven and hell the anecdotes just fell in place You have beautifully caught and summarized the gist of them
we need to own our actions and correspondingly the outcomes/consequences of that
sometime the tragedies and excesses we see all around do shock us Whether it is rioting for a cause or forcing ones decisions on others are all various aspects of the aggression we indulge in. The example you give about a Father killing his son or other incidents we read of do shock us out of our sensibility. I accept your explanation of the excess of the core vices And the only antidote would be value education. Hitherto we have left it totally to the upbringing of parents/families. But an effort is required to make moral science and ethics a part of the education system While as people we may squabble about our Ishta Guru or their teachings, fundamentally all religions are about brotherhood and love. And still max killings happen in the name of religion, from times immemorial How do we reconcile this?
A real hallenge which has no simple answers. We can only hope for a ground swell in ethics and values in all societies so that the populace is more value based and ethical. May not be in my life time but…Wo Subah Kabhi to Aayegi…
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Agree with the gist of the article.
Whether an actual Heaven or Hell exists, no one really knows. But in your daily life, Heaven or Hell is something that you create for yourself with your own actions or thinking.
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Thanks Amit Agree totally with you
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To understand “heaven” or “hell”, we need to first understand the contextual value of our judgements — about events, people, places, and time. Time and our state of mind decide how we judge every situation. The human mind is like a clock face which likes to tell us what time of the day or night it is at the moment, yet keeps ticking all the time. The same position that told that it’s 12 o’clock noon will later tell, without regret, that it’s 12 o’clock midnight. Contextual judgement is the key to breaking the time cycle. As the old saying goes, understanding the situation is solving half the problem.
Categorizing events, people, places, and time with binaries such as “positive” or “negative”, “heaven” or “hell”, “right” or “wrong”, “good” or “bad” is a purely human trait. In the Universe, the Nature, and in the animal kingdom (other than humans), such binary concepts do not exist. The closest equivalent in sprituality is प्रवृत्ति (Pravritti) & निवृत्ति (Nivritti).
“निवृत्तिरेव प्रवृत्तेः परिपूरका, यत्र एकत्र समन्ततः संगतिः।”
(Nivritti reva pravritteh paripuurakaa, yatra ekatra samantatah sangatih.)
“Renunciation alone completes action, where together they interconnect.” (like yin and yang)
This saying emphasizes the interconnectedness and complementary nature of “निवृत्ति” (Nivritti) and “प्रवृत्ति” (Pravritti), similar to the concept of yin and yang in Chinese philosophy.
Though I would not like to judge Vikas or this blog through binaries such as “good” or “bad”, I give his piece of writing a ✩✩✩✩✩ rating because it gave me plenty of food for thought.
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MS i always look fw to your comments for the simple reason that they teach more than they elucidate. Here again you have proven my point. Many thanks for the thought provoking comments.
and a 5 * rating from MSP is already putting me in Heaven and beyond
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Heaven or Hell, you must have friends with you, who care for you and with whom you can argue, agree, disagree and most importantly enjoy. ☺️
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Brijesh ji Indeed true Friends have the power to create Heaven or Hell where ever we all are
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Thank heavens … some of us are blessed to discover very early in life that there’s a heaven in hell when we think of doing to others what we’d desire done by others to us 😊
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Very correct Bomi…some of us are indeed privileged
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Very well articulated Vikas
The choice is an informed one we make ourselves
Thanks for jogging our collective nemories
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Thanks Marcel for your feedback
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Hi Vikas
is it not true that Heaven are Hell are discernible only in hindsight.
One moment’s hell can turn out to be a blessing/ heaven in another moment.
A missed flight which crashed , would seem to make the person who missed the flight feel like she /he has experienced hell…. till such time, the outcome makes them feel that they are luckiest people on the planet.
Or should one conclude by saying- what the hell only heavens know the truth?:)
Nikhil
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Valid point Nikhil bhai There is indeed a larger intellect which is overseeing our lives and we get to know about it only after we enter the situation
My effort was directed to challenging the age old concepts of all pure and good vs all slimy and bad. I dont think Life is about extremes There are many many shades of grey in between
But as you rightly conclude Who the hell knows the whole truth?
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Thanks Preeti. I agree fully we make our own beds n lie in them. I was remembering you when I was writing the stories as you had said you like the blogs where I share anecdotes. So it is only correct that yours is the first comment
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Vividly described impressions of Heaven and Hell as perceived by each one of us. Ultimately Heaven or Hell is just a Space of our making, here in Earth. Let us strive to make our lives a Heavenly experience on Earth while we are here. Who has seen life after death, and lived to tell what it’s like?
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True Col. Life is one game in which no one gets our of it slive. You might as well bring heaven on earth through your karma’s n enjoy n celebrate life with others
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Lovely one. Enjoyed it thoroughly. Reminded me of the famous lines of satan from Milton’s Paradise Lost – where I am is hell, myself am hell. And that is true of heaven too. I hope this blog gives us the courage to create our own heaven and invite others to partake of it.
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