Can Someone Really Explain Heaven?

Tweet

Another discussion where some may think I've lost it. I have not. This discussion has been on my mind for awhile, and thanks to my interest searching I'm reminded of it. The question is this. Can someone, anyone TRULY describe Heaven? I have teachings, I have scriptures, I have some experience. But I also have philosophical arguments, thoughts, some counter beliefs, ideas... its actually exhilarating. One thing that comes to mind is that Heaven is perfect. That there is no pain, no suffering, no hunger, no death, nothing negative. Its also a place of Eternal life. This comes not just from scripture and people's comments but a splinter of my own mind and belief. However, there are plenty of counter instances I think of in this matter. If I can think of Heaven, does it really exist? If other people can describe heaven to me, does it exist then? If no one in life has been to Heaven, where is the knowledge for Heaven coming from? Faith is one option and answer to this, but again... no real experience, no real senses of the place, in terms of philosophy and reality...it's nothing. What of conduct and life in Heaven? Is it an amplified version of life on Earth? Impossible. If it was such, why would Heaven be an augmentation of an imperfect situation known as Earth? If anything, such a situation would be nearly impossible (only nearly since the mortal mind can only conceive, perceive and imagine so much; there maybe oversight or things one can never feasibly imagine). Still, Earth is filled with "good" (life, laughter, harmony, love, joy) and "evil" (pain, chaos, fear, greed, sadness, madness, anger, hate, rage, war). Could a supposed Perfect Life be based on a haphazard situation? Even without the "evil" there are still situations that may cause problems for the Perfect Life of Heaven. What of sports and gaming? In that case there is a "winner" and a "loser". Winners experience the "good", but losers may or may not experience it at all. Even if they did, is it an equal experience. Common experience says its impossible. Even if the losers could dispel thoughts of jealousy, sadness, disappointment, there is no guarantee of this, even when talking of a Life in Heaven (because we are talking about a fundamentally flawed and imperfect item, humanity). Or maybe I've got something missing here. Perhaps Heaven isn't a collective in terms of the vast experience, writings and imagination. There is a possibility, Heaven does exist, but it only exists in the minds of those that believe. Now with this and the other premises there is an item I have not covered yet. Lost loved ones. It is said they await those who live the life of relative purity believing in the path of righteousness and spread kindess among the masses (or whatever path to Heaven/Afterlife one believes). If Heaven is a collective its stands to reason these lost loved ones are real and one will be united with them in the Afterlife. However, if Heaven only exists in the minds of the believers as an individualist stance then what are the loved ones encountered? Are they memories? Are they dreams? Or are they manifestations of the self or something to keep the construct of "Heaven" intact and understandable for the believer? If either of these is correct, can it truly be called "Heaven"/"Afterlife" then? In this scenario, you DO NOT meet the lost loved ones, only figments of your conscious/spiritual/religious belief. Therefore, its not perfect and by definition its not Heaven. On another point... the path to "Heaven"/Afterlife. Who can really define this path properly. Its is mortal minds, opinions, beliefs and perceptions. But with this, its still imperfect, open to interpretation, vulnerable to change or perversion, and it can be left to the individuals in question. If there was really a true path to "Heaven" can mortals really paint that path adequately? Maybe adequately is incorrect. Heaven is meant to be perfect. Wouldn't it stand to reason that the path to it would be perfect too? How can a perfect place exist and with an imperfect path to it? Of course some would say that many places on Earth and in history were discovered through imperfect paths, guessing, faith, reason and belief. All of this is true, but remember, this is still imperfect beings plotting out courses in an imperfect world. It seems unlikely an imperfect being would have the same result plotting out an imperfect course on Earth (or in self) to a perfect location (whereabouts: null in physical and "real" terms). Some would say spiritual guidance, prophets, seers, lords, spirits, even God himself reveal the path to this perfect but hidden location and that it does not matter how or why mortals choose to heed this path. I contend this is a fair point, however do these entities truly exist? For spirits/entities its possible they exist in the minds of the believers and the faithful. However, prophets, seers, lords, historical features...they are all mortal and succeptible to flaws. Following that course, the path is again imperfect, vulnerable to corruption, vulnerable to perversion. It doesn't seem possible to find Heaven if the leaders of the religion warp the doctrine or corrupt it for their own ends. It would be like giving someone a map and writing incorrect directions on it. In a case like that one would not reach the correct destination. Applying this to the thesis, the same is possible. There is another point, and it may retrace the earlier one of how mortals can describe Heaven accurately. This point is the following: how can a flawed mind and existence truly live in a "perfected" existence? Humans have lived a life filled with the good and the bad. They know plenty of things can go wrong in life. Life is also a struggle each day. For some the struggles are minor or very minor with a few cases of harder struggles; for others the struggles are intense. Still, they both underscore one thing. Humans grow in environments with struggles and they quickly learned to deal with struggles, they learned to struggle is to live(jobs, careers, community work, daily life), while not struggling means death and more importantly people learned to expect the summary of items. Exchange this for a sudden "perfect" existence in Heaven/Afterlife upon death. All of a sudden, the "bad" and the life of trials and tribulations are gone and in their place a life of "Eternal" good and a perfect existence await you. Consider, that one cannot "die" in Heaven/Afterlife. One also has nothing to struggle for or struggle against in Heaven. On the positive side, on could catch up on many constructive hobbies without the "bad". On the negative side, even information, thought and experience have their limits. Even the most diligent of denizen can end up learning all the wealth of the experience, doing everything they've ever wanted to do... but then they become bored. In many circles and in my own belief boredom can be "bad". One may want to alleviate this boredom but there is no way to do so (everything has been learned and done, there is eternal life, there is no death). With this boredom people will become disenchanted with Heaven, they won't except the program, they want to escape. Logically people will reach a point like this be it through learning everything, or realizing life is already taken care of in the "Perfect" existence... One argument the faithful may consider is that Heaven/Afterlife is constantly growing, evolving, or one could default back to me inconceivability of Heaven by mortals (and only through faith). And again, I concede this, I have no idea what people are thinking or what they believe. Still, there are near utopian ideas and fiction that portray something similar (people being taken care of, all "bad" gone from a person, a lack of freedom). Of course one could say its imperfect and could not properly describe Heaven. I have no choice to admit that, but I can also say one uses mortal based literature to point to Heaven... there is really no significant difference in either. In conclusion: I think Heaven may exist, but with all of these factors it maybe much harder than I thought. For one thing, is there truly a place that one can point to and accurately describe? Additionally, is life in Heaven truly eternal or perfect? Furthermore, Heaven may have its winners and losers, its workers and sitters... both point out possibilities of unhappiness or boredom. I do not do this for insulting any religion or anything like that. This is an honest philsophical question and dissertation I thought of just for discussion. Can you describe or explain Heaven? What do you think of my points and summary? I do not expect to change or influence everyone. I just want a real 120% discussion on a fascinating topic/thought.