Tag: heaven

Buddha, Buddhism, God, illusion, Meditation, Practice, Religion, Truth, Zen

Q133. Do heaven and hell really exist?

Zen Fools

A. Heaven is to hell what right is to left. As there is no left without the right and no right without the left, so there is no hell without heaven and no heaven without hell. In fact there is no fixed right or left, and whether something is the right or the left depends on beholder’s view. What is the right to someone can be the left to someone else. Likewise, what is heaven to someone can be hell to someone else. What is hell today can be heaven tomorrow and the other way around.

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As long as we believe that heaven is one thing and hell is another, we are tricked by illusions of heaven and hell. What we pursue is not to avoid hell and go to heaven, but to realise the fact that both of them are illusions. That is called the middle path without extremes; no good and bad nor right and wrong.

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

Buddha, Buddhism, Meditation, Truth, Zen

Q98. How far is hell from heaven?

Zen Fools

A. It is as far as it is from the right to the left. All the time both are in the same place at the same time. As what is the right to one man can be the left to another, and what is the left today can be the right tomorrow, so what heaven is to one man can be hell to another, and what heaven is to a man today can be hell to him tomorrow. A jail, for example, is hell to the inmates there, but can be heaven to the officials who work there for a living these days when getting a job is so difficult. To a hungry, penniless man who is pursued and threatened by gangsters, prison can be heaven, a safe shelter because it provides him with food and security. In fact, there is neither hell nor heaven, just like there is neither the right nor the left. Whether a place is hell or heaven depends on the eyes of the beholder.

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©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway