<video><title>The Light of Mind: Heaven Sounds Like Hell</title><description>A collection of love-poems and essays about Source Consciousness, the nature of mind, happiness, and other light topics. Read the book at:  https://thelightofmind.com</description><transcript><transcript><line from="00:00:00,000" to="00:00:03,000">Heaven sounds like hell.</line><line from="00:00:03,000" to="00:00:06,500">Have you ever given the concept of heaven any thought?</line><line from="00:00:06,500" to="00:00:12,000">The concept of heaven, unexpected, seems reasonable enough.</line><line from="00:00:12,000" to="00:00:18,000">Heaven is the place where the good ones among us go when we cease to exist in this world.</line><line from="00:00:18,000" to="00:00:22,000">It's a place conceptualized as the end of unhappiness,</line><line from="00:00:22,000" to="00:00:29,000">and the fulfillment of that which makes us feel good, or makes us happy, or gives us pleasure.</line><line from="00:00:29,000" to="00:00:34,000">Heaven is usually defined as the place that fulfills the promise of continued existence</line><line from="00:00:34,000" to="00:00:37,000">in an idealized setting after death.</line><line from="00:00:37,000" to="00:00:42,000">An entry as granted provided your behavior has been acceptable here,</line><line from="00:00:42,000" to="00:00:45,000">and you followed relevant religious rules.</line><line from="00:00:45,000" to="00:00:50,000">It's a standard issue concept fed to adherence of several religions,</line><line from="00:00:50,000" to="00:00:57,000">because it is a powerful recruitment tool, and powerful inoculation against thought critical of the institution.</line><line from="00:00:58,000" to="00:01:00,000">But that's not what this essay is about.</line><line from="00:01:00,000" to="00:01:04,000">Instead, I want to examine the concept of heaven itself.</line><line from="00:01:04,000" to="00:01:07,000">It sounds really nice, but is it really?</line><line from="00:01:07,000" to="00:01:10,000">Let's run some thought experiments.</line><line from="00:01:10,000" to="00:01:15,000">Heaven is supposed to be an idealized version of this world somehow.</line><line from="00:01:15,000" to="00:01:19,000">The conception of heaven is one of a place where everything is better to such a degree</line><line from="00:01:19,000" to="00:01:23,000">that somehow any less than ideal feeling is not felt,</line><line from="00:01:23,000" to="00:01:26,000">or is at least transmuted into ideal feeling.</line><line from="00:01:27,000" to="00:01:29,000">But what does that mean?</line><line from="00:01:29,000" to="00:01:32,000">Will everything taste better?</line><line from="00:01:32,000" to="00:01:35,000">Will your happiness be ten times louder and your sadness gone?</line><line from="00:01:35,000" to="00:01:41,000">Will tasks once been all tasks, so many hate like taking the trash out or doing your taxes?</line><line from="00:01:41,000" to="00:01:49,000">Suddenly feel amazing, but being a person who hates taking out the trash as part of your identity is not.</line><line from="00:01:49,000" to="00:01:54,000">If being in heaven requires feeling or not feeling certain things,</line><line from="00:01:54,000" to="00:01:58,000">does that mean that you'll still feel like you and heaven?</line><line from="00:01:58,000" to="00:02:02,000">If you're less than glorious emotions are barred from entering.</line><line from="00:02:02,000" to="00:02:07,000">Are you unable to feel anything but happy feelings in heaven?</line><line from="00:02:07,000" to="00:02:11,000">If you generally like being grumpy, but you're a good person,</line><line from="00:02:11,000" to="00:02:15,000">can you opt out of heaven or be allowed an exemption?</line><line from="00:02:15,000" to="00:02:17,000">I have so many questions.</line><line from="00:02:17,000" to="00:02:20,000">In fact, I'm wary.</line><line from="00:02:20,000" to="00:02:23,000">Too good to be true with no problems ever.</line><line from="00:02:23,000" to="00:02:27,000">This scam, smiling happy people from New York, Boston and Chicago,</line><line from="00:02:27,000" to="00:02:33,000">loving each other's baseball teams, fake news, scary too.</line><line from="00:02:33,000" to="00:02:36,000">Sounds like you can only think in certain ways in heaven,</line><line from="00:02:36,000" to="00:02:39,000">or else you are not welcome there because heaven is heaven,</line><line from="00:02:39,000" to="00:02:41,000">and it's got to be perfect.</line><line from="00:02:41,000" to="00:02:45,000">Does that mean that everybody has to like the same things and be happy</line><line from="00:02:45,000" to="00:02:48,000">and feel good all the time while in heaven?</line><line from="00:02:48,000" to="00:02:50,000">Are there conflicts in heaven?</line><line from="00:02:50,000" to="00:02:54,000">Do things that satiate us here keep feeling ecstatic in heaven?</line><line from="00:02:54,000" to="00:02:57,000">If you just keep eating ice cream forever in heaven,</line><line from="00:02:57,000" to="00:02:59,000">will it just keep feeling amazing?</line><line from="00:02:59,000" to="00:03:01,000">Are you disallowed to feel bad?</line><line from="00:03:01,000" to="00:03:04,000">Or just ask not to feel certain feelings in heaven?</line><line from="00:03:04,000" to="00:03:06,000">Is it voluntary?</line><line from="00:03:06,000" to="00:03:09,000">What does that demand for your identity?</line><line from="00:03:09,000" to="00:03:14,000">After all, much of what we believe ourselves to be in this world,</line><line from="00:03:14,000" to="00:03:19,000">stems from the experiences we've had that are less than happy.</line><line from="00:03:19,000" to="00:03:25,000">Does heaven require us not to be ourselves and require us to relinquish these parts of ourselves?</line><line from="00:03:25,000" to="00:03:32,000">Is this all related somehow to the common requirement of having to be good in order to gain entry?</line><line from="00:03:32,000" to="00:03:34,000">What is good?</line><line from="00:03:34,000" to="00:03:36,000">And who is going?</line><line from="00:03:36,000" to="00:03:39,000">Clearly after any measure of consideration,</line><line from="00:03:39,000" to="00:03:46,000">the actualization of the popular conception of heaven is not only full of basic logical inconsistencies,</line><line from="00:03:47,000" to="00:03:50,000">but just doesn't really seem like heaven to most people.</line><line from="00:03:50,000" to="00:03:53,000">As many recoil at the thought of having to modify themselves,</line><line from="00:03:53,000" to="00:03:58,000">all the way down to thought is a requirement of gaining entry to anywhere.</line><line from="00:03:58,000" to="00:04:01,000">So if heaven isn't heaven, does heaven exist?</line><line from="00:04:01,000" to="00:04:04,000">If so, what is it? Where is it? How do we get there?</line><line from="00:04:04,000" to="00:04:06,000">And who are we there?</line><line from="00:04:06,000" to="00:04:10,000">The following essays attempt to inform on the subject and at the very least,</line><line from="00:04:10,000" to="00:04:11,000">entertain.</line></transcript></transcript></video>