What the Hell is Hell?
Most people believe or are made to believe that Hell is a physical place beyond the limits of this earth where wicked people or condemned spirits will enter after physical death and live there in a state of intense torment or misery for a short time (for purification before entering heaven) or for eternity depending on the nature and/or intensity of their sins. Bible mentions the lake of of fire, burning sulfur, smoke, darkness, and torment to picture hell. Thus even the thought of hell makes everyone shudder.
However, some abbreviations of the word HELL seem to have added new and/or interesting dimensions to the traditional concept. For instance:
- Here Eternally Live the Lost
- Here Everyone Lives Life
- Human Engineering Life Laboratory
- Hurdling Earth until Lesson Learned
- Helping Everyone Live Longer
- Having Everything Lacking Love
From these abbreviations, one can deduce that we, the humans, are already living in Hell though without being aware of that. In other words, this earth and life on it are real hell or, at least, earth is a hellish place as some pundits also seem to suggest or believe because almost we all are living here under the tyranny of the ego.
In her book, “A Course in Miracles” American clinical psychologist (initially a believer but later in life considered herself an atheist) Helen Schucman also asserts that this world is “the opposite of Heaven, being made to be its opposite, and everything here takes a direction exactly opposite of what is true.”
Another excerpt from the book further enumerates the symptoms that make this world really look like a hell:
“The world you see is merciless indeed, unstable, cruel, unconcerned with you, quick to avenge and pitiless with hate. It gives but to rescind, and takes away all things that you have cherished for a while. No lasting love is found, for none is here. This is the world of time, where all things end.”
Another argument in favour of this idea of hell is that Lucifer (and later on Adam too) was thrown out of heaven not to land anywhere else but this Earth(Hell). And the argument is substantiated by pointing out that when we look around we see that there are so many evils that make the life on earth miserable like war, pain, greed, deception, hatred, lying, cheating, corruption, infidelity, cruelty, injustice etc. And last, but not the least, stupidity is so rampant that one can hardly find any room or space for sense or wisdom. Thus there is nothing but suffering and pain.
Another view is that we are reincarnated and are forced to live on earth that is hell or prison for the atonement of previous sins. Some other assert we are here and continue living until our souls reach a certain level of consciousness. If we don’t progress and achieve desired level of consciousness, we’re doomed to repeat our existence on a plane in which we have no control of when we are born or when we die, who we will love, where we’ll live or even if we will be healthy or sick, stupid or sensible, attractive or ugly etc. In a nutshell, as souls have no opportunity for growth in an ideal environment of heaven they are sent to earth for practical training by going through suffering and pain.
However the most wonderful description of hell is by C. S. Lewis when he says “the doors of hell are locked on the inside.”
Lewis is trying to make the point that a person’s unwillingness to submit themselves to God is what put them in hell, and most of us can’t help but agree. In other words the people in hell reject the God and only submit to their egos or desires. And desire or attachment, according to Buddha, leads to suffering when it’s not fulfilled. However, paradoxically, we also cannot be “desire free” as to be “free of desire” is, in itself, a desire to start with. Moreover, as some sages point out, desire itself is not the suffering but it is its unfulfillment that causes the suffering. Another problem is that even if the desire is fulfilled, it will be just a short respite as we are never fully satisfied. British philosophical writer James Allen (also author of the book As a man thinketh) “once said that “Desire is as insatiable as the ocean, and clamours louder and louder as its demands are attended to.” Thus the endless cycle of wanting and craving that keeps us trapped.
So what is the solution?
The solution, like problem, also lies within. And that is that we mustn’t cave in or succumb to every craving or desire by using unethical, immoral, or illegal tactics. We must remain within limits. Fulfilling a desire is not a bad thing but using immoral or illegal tactics is. Thus we must have patience and self control to resist every silly temptation, especially in this age of social media and internet where we are 24/7 flooded with marketing and advertising selling us what we don’t need in the first place. Remember that “need” is not the same as “want.” And if we don’t practice self control we can never be our own masters.
Regardless, the deluge of advertisements (cashing in on the human psychology) makes us behave like infants waiting for our next feed, sobbing or crying until we get what we want. And then there is also no guarantee that having what we want is always good for us. Sometimes, not getting what we want may be a blessing in disguise. Many failed love marriages are living proof.
Thus Hell is within and our ego is our tormentor. And to escape the torment we would have to learn the lessons in contentment, patience, self-control, kindness, love, forgiveness, modesty, politeness etc. And the faster we learn, the easier it would be to feel heaven like peace and tranquility.
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References:
i) https://www.abbreviations.com/hell
ii) https://circleofa.org/library/hell/
iii) https://www.calmdownmind.com/does-desire-lead-to-suffering/
