Visions Of Heaven?

[LazyGun]

I note that Eben Alexander, a neurosurgeon who recently achieved some measure of fame from claiming that, during a coma he was in, he visited heaven, rode on the back of a giant butterfly, met an angelic blue-eyed girl, and that heaven was an "immense void,completely dark, infinite in size,yet also infinitely comforting"

He even wrote a book about it - Proof Of Heaven, and now I hear it is being turned into a made for TV movie at some point.

So, it set me to thinking - for those that believe in a heaven, how do you imagine it will be? I would have all sorts of questions - stuff like where does everyone live? Do you have your own house? is it set on a cloud? Do you need to eat? When meeting friends and relatives who have died, are they incarnated as how you remember them from memory, or are they as they would like to be? Or is everyone just some sort of energy cloud?

This is not designed to mock - I am genuinely interested in what peoples visions of heaven might be, and whether any of those questions I mentioned are addressed in your visions.....

[Old_Geezer]

I'm unsure how useful how folk imagine it, is. May prove to be completely different, or there is a chance you may not even "wake up" there at all.

[Zacs-Master]

Surely all your questions would be answered by reading the book?

[LazyGun]

Nope. That just gives me Eben Alexanders view. I am interested in how people envision heaven, and whether any of those sort of points I mentioned are addressed within their own personal visions....

[chrisgel]

I can't imagine heaven at all. It defies logic and my brain won't accept something that defies logic.
When I try to imagine it, the only image that comes to mind is a picture out of a childrens book on religion that I once saw of a man with a huge beard sitting on a cloud and that can't be right can it?

[Old_Geezer]

If God is omnipotent then I'm sure "he" could conjure up any environment you would like to be in; clouds and all if you wish.

[LazyGun]

I think my own vision of heaven has been cartoonified a tad from watching the Simpsons....

I do think it interesting though, what individuals imagine heaven would be like..

Some sects, like JWs, believe that heaven would be the resurrected faithful back on earth i think - an earth minus "evil" - but that still kind of begs the question - is one resurrected at the age one died? Or at the age one wants to be? And is that then unchanging, or can you vary it? Are there any animals in heaven? How about transport? Those children that died young - are there schools provided so they can learn, or do they just know everything already?

[Old_Geezer]

Age implies passage of time, and perhaps more significantly, decay of a physical body. Not sure that applies outside of "here". You would surely be what you are, and again, could conjure up the appearance you wished to show. You may be a pink unicorn if you wish.

Animals ? Well perhaps if one believes they are a soul within a body whilst "here". How far up the animal chain "here" that would apply to, and at what point the creature is just an uninhabited zomie, would be a point of discussion.

Transport ? Would you need physical transport ? Could you not just decide to have your presence at the location you wished to be ? Maybe you are everywhere at once anyway, and just concentrate at one point.

Children / adults / whatever: it'd be a boring existence if there were not an infinite numbr of unknown things to discover and delight in. Not sure an eternity of praising would appeal to many.

[modeller]

OG //You may be a pink unicorn if you wish.//
Would that be an Invisible Pink Unicorn or is that exclusive to the creator himself ?

[Old_Geezer]

You may need to ask permission.

[jomifl]

LG, I think you are on to a loser here, the only people who are prepared to answer your question don't have an answer, those that think they have an answer find that they haven't an answer that can be committed to words. Do butterflies really go to heaven? they don't have souls do they? :-)

[ll_billym]

My theory is that heaven should not be describable by humans - otherwise it's just another longer version of our life on Earth. I mean we have butterflies and blue eyed girls everywhere where I live, okay not ones you can ride on - butterflies that is, it is possible to ride the blue eyed girls - but after riding a butterfly a few times I'm sure it would become tedious and more like hell, some kind of butterfly ride at a funfair that you can't get off.

For heaven to be 'heavenly' for humans in their current mindset there would need to be new and exciting things happening every day and I'm sure after a while that would get boring too and one would wish to be back on earth with a joint of weed and some rhubarb.

[modeller]

I don't believe in heaven as portrayed by most major religions but I firmly believe we humans are not special . If a creator created all the organisms in the universe then they are just as importent as each other. If I have a soul then my dogs and cats have souls as well. As do all creatures whether we like them or not.
A heaven consisting of only human souls ? What arrogance !

[chrisgel]

I may have said this before in another post but, if heaven is so perfect and "Infinitely comforting" to all these people who claim to have been there, why aren't they in any rush to go back?

[LazyGun]

@ jomifl -You are probably correct, but surely believers must have some idea,some vision, of what heaven might represent to them? Were I a believer, I know I would....

@il_billym Thats an interesting point - that heaven might be considered indescribable by humans, but I come back to the point above - believers must surely have some idea of what they imagine heaven to be like?

[jomifl]

Exactly Chris, I think that the only reason that clerics don't top themselves as soon as they are ordained is that they feel it is their god given duty to do a little good on earth as payment for an eternity in paradise (catholic priests excepted of course).

[jomifl]

How about a warm place with lots of cuddly toys and tubes of smarties?

[wildwood]

Heaven to me is a place where whatever you desire becomes true. There will be no diseases or illness and every person will never experience pain, physical or mental. Everyone is kind to each other and no one is even grumpy. You can drive whatever car you want without ever hitting anyone/thing. Your living quarters will magically become whatever you think it is. Everything is free and the best of all..... No taxes. All theme parks and Zoos and all places of interest are easily reached within seconds on a magic travelator. Everyone can take their pets with them and there shall be free brothels for both sexes.

Now I am starting to get into fairyland territory, which of course it is.

♫♪ Everybody want to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die! ♪♫

[naomi24]

Years ago I read a book, the name of which eludes me, purported to have been dictated to the author by the spirit of a deceased and rather good natured French priest who described heaven in great detail. As far as I recall it is sunny all the time, and similar to earth, with people living in recognisable houses and continuing with occupations they enjoyed in life. For example, Mozart was said to have composed some wonderful stuff since he took up residence there.

According to that book, when children die they are cared for by a resident family member and they continue to grow until they reach the age of 40. When old people die they grow younger until they reach the age of 40 – so the ideal age would appear to be 40.

Hell does not exist. People who have a lesson to learn are housed separately in poor conditions in a grim sort of broken down community where it rains all the time. Once they have learnt the error of their ways, they are allowed to go and reside with the ‘goodies’. An example was given of a rich man who gave a lot to charity but broadcast his generosity. That was frowned upon and so he was relegated to the ‘doldrums’.

Although God was said to exist on a higher plane, the criteria for inclusion was not belief in God, but that candidates had not been unkind to their fellow human beings. With the accumulation of greater knowledge and understanding, people residing on the lowest plane were able to become ‘upwardly mobile’, move house, and hence, elevate their status.

[LazyGun]

@Naomi - Thanks for that. Its that kind of vision that I sort of assumed that all of those who believed in heaven would have - some of the detail, the nuts and bolts, thought about and a kind of system in place to explain some of the issues. I would actually be quite interested in reading the original, if you ever remember the book/individual :)