Welcome to Gaia! :: View User's Journal | Gaia Journals

Whence did this concept of heaven and hell originate from? From when did it begin? That is a question that I believe, while not often asked, is of great importance. Since humans have been capable of intelligent thought, the idea of life beyond the grave has been a source of continuing philosophy. Nearly every religion in the world, or any belief of spiritual origin for that matter, has some form of afterlife, whether it be a celestial heaven, a demonic underworld, or even a form of reincarnation, they exist, and will likely continue to do so, until our race is no more.
But where did these ideas come from? And why is there so much emphasis place upon it? At first, it seems to be simply another answer provided for those who fear the unknown, something religion offers a lot of. But is that really all there is to it? Does the purpose end there alone?
I think not, and if any rational person where to think about it for any length of time, I believe they would come to the same conclusion. In this respect, I have come up with my own explanation of the seemingly endless need of a life after death, and while I suppose that fear of the unknown is a significant part of it, I believe there is much more to it then that.
First of all, there is a very important notion to my reasoning, and that concept is, in essence, nothing. I do not mean to imply that there is no concept behind my theory, nor that there is no backing, far from it in fact, the idea of nothing is what this entire line of thought is based upon.
To elaborate, I would like ask of you to try to imagine nothingness. To try to picture, as it were, a state of being where nothing exists, thought, sight and all other forms of being are completely obliterated, and all things are naught. This idea, is literally impossible for the human mind to comprehend, let alone imagine. Many people, when asked to perform this task, likely would think of two things mainly when attempting the feat. The first, would be a field of black, not unlike that which is presented when we close our eyes. This, is the polar opposite of what logic would dictate, for if nothingness has no being, wouldn’t white, the “absence” of color, be the logical choice?
Moving on, the next thing the typical mind is likely to imagine is sleep. For that is as close an understanding of nothing as we have. A dreamless sleep where time has no value, and we awaken hours later as if no time had passed at all. If we do not dream, then we have no thought we can recall of the process, and thus it is a very close example of what the concept of nothing is likely to be based upon, at least, mentally. And now we arrive at the heart of the matter, the purpose for our longing of an afterlife. We cannot imagine nothing. As long as we walk this earth, we will not be capable of envisioning a state where all things cease to be, and all the good and the bad, and even our thoughts cease to be. And thus we begin to imagine a new world, a place where our souls either find refuge, or have judgment passed upon, and in some cases, actually return to life in another form. And in truth, are these ideas and the common images associated with them so different from the typical dream? Perhaps not in content, but concept? Are not improbable lands, almightily beings of supreme rule, and childish divisions of good and bad, common themes of every dreamlike fantasy?
This is our reasoning. Since we cannot imagine nothing, we must invent something to fill that void. And this something grows until it had formed an entire world of existence of it’s own. This is why I believe religion is such a popular thing, it offers people not only an answer to believe, but one that they want to believe as well. It is also for this reason that I do not look poorly upon people who choose to believe in a religion that I may find quite absurd. It was mere chance that my mind found it’s way to the regions of thought it did, and thus, I am what I am, if things had been even slightly different, I could all to likely have ended up believing in something entirely different.
But enough of that, what I have tried to portray, is that creation of an afterlife is much like that creation of a dream, the thing which breaks the nothingness that is sleep. And just as with a dream, many of us are eager to go forth and spread word to others of this dream, to paint for them a picture of what we have envisioned.
However, unlike with dreams, that matter of afterlife is often one in which people will find many similarities, which in turn leads to a feeling that perhaps this dream is more then just that, if others have had the same type of vision, perhaps it real, perhaps I is the truth e are longing for. And pretty soon, you have the founding’s of your very own religion, ready to welcome others who have had the same vision. But more importantly then the idea of afterlife, is the concept that, given time, we will realize that we are not alone in our dreams, we are not the only ones who wish for meaning.
In any case, there is one thing that I have taken heart in. In all the various ideas of life beyond death, not one of them seems to support the idea that we are alone. In all the wide and varying views of religion, no one is by themselves, we are together, if dived into groups, we will always have another person there if just for the sake of existing.
We may fear the unknown, but one thing seems to be for certain.
We are not alone.