By: EinsteinLite

“Heaven, heaven is a place, a place where nothing, nothing ever happens.”   A great song and lyric by the Talking Heads.  It’s pretty evident that most people on earth believe in something called Heaven.  And my guess is the majority probably have a similar notion of said place as some idyllic Eden where all our friends and family abide and our wonderful God (whoever he or she or it is) just prance about forever having a grand time.  But I haven’t heard a lot of talk about this place and even less serious analysis of it.  So, let’s have some fun and subject the concept to only a tad of critical thinking.

Place:  Ok, most people think heaven is a place.  What does place mean?  Well, it indicates a location in our Einstein-ian space-time continuum or your (the observer) experience of that warp in space-time.  So, this place must be somewhere in our multi-verse and therefore is subject to the laws of nature or at least the laws of that particular universe.

Is this place on the clouds or on Alpha Centauri or somewhere on the outskirts of the Andromeda galaxy?  If it’s a place and we go there, then we must also possess some sort of physical existence.  This means there will be an I, a me, a myself; and if it’s myself or anyone, there has to be something concrete that is the them of them, or the I of I, or the me of me.  In other words, my ego must survive and I must be there in some form.  Most artwork shows us as some ghost-like creatures floating about in white robes. 

So, if we do have some sort of physical existence and are composed of atoms or something like them, in what incarnation are we delivered?  Will my body look like it did when I died or when I was 50 or hopefully, my handsome 25-year-old self?  Even if I have a semi-ghost-like body, can I feel pain or pleasure?  How can it be heaven if I can fall and break my leg?  It can’t of course; but if I can’t break my leg, I can’t also enjoy my favorite meal, take a nap, or play ping pong.  In other words, it’s either physical or it isn’t.  Can it be pleasurable without a physical self?  How much fun can this be?  If you propose heaven as a physical place with physical patrons, then the unanswerable absurdities pile up swiftly.  So, let’s abandon that argument for a moment and move on. 

Some of the more ethereal will say, “No. That’s too literal an interpretation. We simply reach total consciousness and become one with the godhead; whatever that is.”  If heaven is a spiritual condition, rather than a place assumedly devoid of atoms of any kind, then we have another matter (pun intended).  If this is the case, then the ego is by definition gone.  There can be no I or me or myself in this heaven.  One’s ego is diffused and something else inexplicable happens.  So now a fusing occurs with god and all are now a part of the omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient awesomeness; or else, one is a subset and perhaps only a percentage of the 3 big O’s and presumably shines in this spiritual nirvana and does nothing about the towering suffering occurring in the physical universe.  Or not. 

Maybe heaven is some other condition between these two examples?  Whatever it is, over the millennia there hasn’t been that much said about it for somewhere or something or some condition that all aspire to this is a perplexing situation.  Why does everyone want to go or be somewhere they know nothing about?   Another group might say, “We don’t know what heaven is, we only know that it’s paradise.”  Hmmm, a good answer; but an apt illustration of the very absence of critical thinking which I suppose could be the definition of faith. 

Maybe someone out there can answer my questions.  What is heaven? Where is heaven?  If I get there, which body do I get to have for eternity?  If it’s a spiritual condition, how can I say “hi” to mom?  Can I play golf in heaven and what do the courses look like?  Surely someone out there has these answers and I’m dying (pun again intended) to hear so I know whether or not to be a good little boy.  These few words are simply an intro to what should be a fascinating topic.  I’m waiting for the quality minds out there to enlighten us all.  Please come and relieve me of my ignorance and skepticism.