Humanity has always believed in the existence of special worlds where people go after their death. According to ancient beliefs, a good person goes to heaven at the end of his life, but the road to hell awaits a sinner. What kind of appearance these two special places have, no one can say. Therefore, it is not surprising that many people are interested in what heaven and hell look like. Various photos and pictures that are posted in books and on the pages of Internet portals allow you to roughly imagine these amazing worlds.
Christian
Literally translated from Greek, “paradise” is “pleasantness.” In the Old Testament it is identified with the Garden of Eden. What does heaven look like for Christians? The Bible tells us that the first people on Earth were Adam and his wife Eve. They lived in Eden, which was the Garden of Eden. But after eating the forbidden fruit, Adam and Eve were expelled to earth. Eden is called the Golden Age, but the path there is closed to humanity. After death, a righteous soul can enter the Kingdom of Heaven, while a sinless soul goes to a “privileged” heavenly place. For a Christian, heaven is a beautiful fragrant garden where the soul finds peace and eternal life; it is a dwelling not made with hands in heaven, created by God.
A few words about genies
The sacred texts speak not only about people, but also about jinn. These creatures also have a soul and a mind, which means will and the right to choose. On the Day of Judgment, they, like people, will appear before Allah, who will decide their fate.
Jinns can be believers. In this case, they adhere to a righteous life and do everything necessary to get to heaven. But there are also those who do evil and will be sent to hell by Allah.
Muslim
What does heaven look like in Islam? The Koran describes it as an evergreen fruit-bearing garden surrounded by walls of silver and gold. There are no diseases, misfortunes, suffering or torment here. The soul feels only happiness and peace in the Garden of Eden. In Islam, it is believed that women turn into beautiful houris after death, and righteous men are promised beautiful virgins. Man cannot imagine how beautiful heaven is. The Koran says that this is a fairy-tale world that consists of 100 levels, separated by walls with a time interval of a hundred years. In the Garden of Eden there are huge tents consisting of beautiful stones, between which rivers of milk and honey flow. Paradise is a value that every Muslim desires. But this place is intended only for righteous people who sincerely believe in Allah.
About rivers and gardens
Since heaven is an endless and incredibly beautiful garden, it is natural to assume that it is full of rivers, ponds, lakes and creeks. The righteous can choose for themselves rivers with flowing honey or wine, and if they wish, they can also find rivers of milk in paradise.
Theologians are still arguing about dividing the garden into several parts. They are sure that it contains several gardens:
- Adn.
- Firdaus.
- Mawa.
- Name
Each is intended for one or another righteous person. The most beautiful of these places is Adn. However, not all theologians agree with this distribution of the territory of the Garden of Eden. According to them, Adn is a specific place in heaven. It is not known whether it is a river, a city, a palace or a tent. But in any case, the righteous will experience incredible bliss here.
The rivers of the garden also have their own names:
- Salsabil.
- Tasmeem.
- Main.
- Kausar.
The latter is considered the most full-flowing and the most beautiful. Kausar is intended specifically for the Prophet; all other rivers of the Garden of Eden flow into it.
It is unknown how exactly rivers can flow through all levels of heaven at the same time. The Koran does not say this, but none of the theologians can explain the location of the levels relative to each other. Most likely, they do not obey the laws of physics and may even be in different dimensions. Why does Islam not address this issue in its description of heaven? Theologians believe that Allah is great and there is no limit to his miracles. This means that a person does not need to try to find explanations for everything.
Judaism
What does heaven look like for Jews? Judaism does not provide a detailed description of the Garden of Eden. Here we are talking about Gunn Eden - a creation formed from the spiritual world. Jews imagine it as a multi-story building where the soul goes after death. Depending on the degree of sinfulness, she can “occupy” the first floors of the “house” or go to higher rooms. This is discussed in the book of Zohar. Such a transition of the soul takes place in 7 stages. On the highest floors of the heavenly building you can feel the presence and light of the Creator. Jews also believe that after the coming of Moshiach they will be resurrected for eternal life on earth. But the earth here seems perfect and sinless.
What does hell look like?
Hell is the exact opposite of heaven. People who have committed disgusting acts during their lifetime end up here. And now they have to pay for it in the most cruel way for an eternity.
All religions talk about hell differently.
- Christianity. In hell, sinners and fallen angels experience eternal punishment. One of the concepts of religion says that one day not only the souls of bad people ended up here, but also the souls of the righteous who did not deserve it. But they managed to ascend to Heaven thanks to Christ.
Not a single sinner is afraid of physical punishment in hell. Therefore, they are overtaken by moral punishment. And there is no end to this torment.
Hell is ruled by Lucifer, the deposed angel of light. It is he who acts as the executioner of people. By punishing others, he atones for his own sinful act.
- Paganism. It just so happened that the adherents of this trend had no hell. It arose after the advent of the Christian faith. People only believed that after death a person’s soul goes to another world, in which all the conditions were created for its further existence outside the earth.
Ideas about heaven in mythology
Most religions describe heaven as the place closest to God. Therefore, all people want to go there after death in order to reunite with the Creator and remain in his light. The ancient peoples believed the same. They thought they knew exactly what heaven and hell looked like. The Slavs associated paradise with Iriy Bird and Serpent. The birds went to the first place in the fall and returned in the spring, bringing with them the souls of babies. Snake Iriy was a large pit where all the snakes crawled with the onset of winter. German-Scandinavian mythology tells about Valhalla - a paradise intended for valiant knights. This place was a large palace with a dome, in which brave knights lived. Every day they killed one animal, whose meat was their main food. In the evening, the knights held feasts, which were visited by beautiful young maidens.
Hell in literature
Many writers liked to talk about hell in their works. This place is described especially vividly in Dante’s book The Divine Comedy. Anyone familiar with it knows that hell in this interpretation has 9 circles. In the very center is its ruler Lucifer, imprisoned in eternal ice.
Aristotle had his own thoughts about the existence of hell, which he outlined in the Nicomachean Ethics. The great philosopher divided the mysterious world for sinners into several separate categories. In his opinion, hell has the shape of a funnel, the end of which rests on the center of the earth. Souls are placed in it in the following order:
- The beginning of hell is reserved for people who have never been able to know God.
- Below are the souls of gluttons, upon whom rain and hail fall.
- Next is a place for misers and spendthrifts.
- Next come heretics, suicides and murderers.
The ninth circle is reserved for the most terrible criminals, including Brutus, Cassius and Judas. Lucifer personally punishes them for their misdeeds.
Each person has their own ideas about what hell and heaven should look like. The most interesting thing is that even those people who have never attached any importance to religion, towards the end of their lives begin to think about where exactly their soul will end up. They begin to rethink past actions and make attempts to correct their sins. And all this in order to earn a place in heaven. After all, no one wants to end up in real hell, where the soul has to spend eternity in torment.
Images of heaven
Descriptions of the Kingdom of Heaven echo in many religions. But people are not given the opportunity to know what heaven looks like in reality. For many years, people have been trying to convey their idea of this place through pencils and brushes. All paintings depicting the Kingdom of Heaven are based on scenes of the Fall of man, which are described in the Holy Scriptures. Among the works of art you can see religious pictures. What does heaven look like to them? In painting he often appears in a classical vision. This is a beautiful fragrant garden where animals and people exist in harmony with each other. Some artists depict paradise hidden in the clouds, with a heavenly staircase leading to it, and its main inhabitants are angels.
In literature, heaven is more often described as a beautiful evergreen garden where the righteous soul finds peace. Each person represents the Kingdom of Heaven in his own way. For many, it is associated with inner peace, bliss and peace of silence. People who have experienced clinical death claim that they saw a bright light that leads to heaven. Foreign scientists have proven that when the brain dies, vision turns off, and therefore a person begins to see bright light. It is the central point of the shutting down visual system. But even if heaven really exists, it is unlikely that a person will be able to describe it upon returning to the sinful earth.
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A little divine beauty for the soul. Enjoy and recharge yourself with positive spiritual energy!
Mario Duguay, a talented artist from Canada, paints beautiful pictures of heaven, depicting the spiritual world, which is described in various religions.
His heavenly drawings carry positive energy, awakening in us bright feelings and a desire to return to the Kingdom of God.
Not every artist can create such beautiful works; this requires a special talent and connection with divine energies.
In an interview, Mario Duguay tells his story: he was a tattoo artist and became heavily involved in drugs and alcohol, which led to a dark streak in his life.
He was left without a wife, money, job, and with a feeling of shame in front of his family.
All he had left was the light within.
To escape his loneliness, he turned to spirituality, became interested in the New Age movement, and began working for himself and underwent various treatments.
Mario Duguay admits that at that time he began to paint to exorcise the dark sides of himself, but now he paints with the goal of giving something to others, wanting to touch the spirituality in each of us.
The artist’s early paintings, according to him, were not so bright, and the current paintings reflect the experience that he receives.
The heavenly pictures of the spiritual world are Mario Duguay's attempt to bring more Light into life.
And it seems that the artist’s bright mission is achieving its goal, finding a response in our hearts.
We were lucky enough to behold 50 paintings of the Kingdom of God by Mario Duguay, and although these heavenly paintings are shown here in small size, looking at them, we feel in our hearts that this is approximately what the spiritual world should look like.
Description of heaven - the Kingdom of God
In addition to the artist's paintings, excerpts from the description of the Kingdom of God are given, borrowed from the Srimad Bhagavatam, canto 3, chapter 15.
The author of this article hopes that the texts of the sacred scriptures of Hinduism and the heavenly drawings of Mario Duguay will complement each other well and will be of interest to a wide range of readers.
Although different religions describe the Kingdom of God differently, one can still see many similarities in the descriptions of the spiritual world.
So, welcome to the spiritual world! A brief description of heaven, the eternal abode of the Lord.
The Kingdom of God is located above all material universes, including above the planets of the demigods, and even Brahma himself, the creator of the material world, wants to get into it, not to mention the other demigods.
The variety found in the spiritual kingdom is inextricably linked with the transcendental pastimes of God.
There are billions of spiritual planets floating in the sky of the spiritual world, which are called Vaikunthas. The inhabitants of Vaikuntha do not know any worries, because in the Kingdom of God there is no birth, illness, aging and death - everything there is eternal and blissful. The Vaikuntha planets abound in incalculable riches, as we will see from further descriptions.
On these planets live the Supreme Lord Himself and His pure devotees - souls who have realized themselves, God and eternal relationship with Him.
The Lord, being an inexhaustible source of bliss, brings happiness to every person by His presence alone.
The Supreme Personality of Godhead is the original Personality, the Source of the entire manifested world, who can be understood by studying the scriptures.
The Lord is full of pure goodness, and He Himself helps the souls surrendered to Him to achieve the highest spiritual perfection.
In the Kingdom of God everything is spiritual; all forms of life - plants, birds, animals, people - have a spiritual nature. All the inhabitants of the Kingdom of God are pure devotees of the Lord.
Wishing trees grow here, strewn with flowers and fruits regardless of the time of year.
Husbands and their wives fly in airships made of gold, emeralds and lapis lazuli, and tirelessly chant the all-auspicious activities and qualities of the Supreme Lord.
They have no desire to receive sensual pleasures because serving God (for example, chanting His divine qualities and activities) gives them such all-consuming bliss that any sensual pleasures, in comparison with this bliss, simply lose their attractiveness.
In the spiritual world there is no difference between birds, trees, flowers, people and other inhabitants, because all forms of life in the Kingdom of God are animate and have God Consciousness (reside in God Consciousness), therefore they are all in a state of eternal ever-increasing bliss.
Everything here is spiritual and full of diversity, there is nothing inanimate.
The basis of existence in the spiritual world is the principles of devotional service to the Lord, which includes, first of all, hearing and chanting the qualities and activities of God as the Supreme Personality.
In Vaikunthas, even flowers and birds engage in the service of the Lord.
Pure devotees of the Lord living in the Kingdom of God have no shortage of emeralds and precious stones.
Gold ornaments studded with precious stones are obtained by the blessing of God, and not as a result of exhausting labor, as happens in the material world.
They own countless treasures without making any effort. But their true pleasure comes from serving God, and not from possessing unprecedented treasures.
Vaikuntha women are many times more beautiful than the most beautiful women you can see and even imagine in our material world. They are beautiful like Lakshmi herself - the goddess of prosperity.
However, husbands in the Kingdom of God have access to much more sublime pleasures than sexual pleasures, so they do not feel any need for them.
In the spiritual world, the Supreme Lord is eternally served by millions of goddesses of fortune. In their gardens they worship the Lord.
The land of Vaikuntha, as stated in the Srimad Bhagavatam, consists of the philosopher's stone. This is how heaven is described in the sacred scriptures of Hinduism.
How to get to the spiritual world, enter the Kingdom of God
The desire to return home to the transcendental spiritual abode compels one to study the nature of the spiritual kingdom.
Studying descriptions of the spiritual world is the beginning of the path to heaven.
One who tries to understand the spiritual nature of the Vaikuntha planets is considered a lucky person.
Any person can transcend the material world and enter the spiritual abode of the Lord if his consciousness is sufficiently purified to realize his true nature, God and his eternal relationship with the Supreme.
Only one who has acquired all the virtues, 26 qualities of a holy person, can enter the Kingdom of God. Those who are engaged in serving the Almighty gradually develop all these necessary qualities. The 26 qualities of a saintly person are described in the Caitanya-caritamrta, as well as in the third canto of the Srimad Bhagavatam, twenty-fifth chapter, verse 21.
It says that a person who is worthy of returning to the God Realm is very patient and kind to all living beings, so he has no enemies. He is always calm and unperturbed, does not start arguments with anyone or quarrel. Such a person considers Krishna Consciousness (the Supreme Personality of Godhead) to be his highest goal in life, because there is nothing higher and more blissful than being in God Consciousness.
He treats all living beings (not just people) equally, because he sees their spiritual nature. He is always pure, spiritually and physically, and has an impeccable character. A devotee does not feel or consider himself the owner of anything, whether in the material world or the spiritual world, because he understands that everything belongs to the Lord.
He wishes well to everyone and is peaceful, has no material desires and shows modesty. His feelings are curbed and he is devoid of false conceit. He does not eat more than is necessary to maintain the body in optimal condition. Respecting others, he does not demand respect for himself. He is friendly and compassionate. These are the qualities of a person worthy to enter the Kingdom of God.
Regular chanting of the sacred mantra (Hare Krishna maha-mantra) is the most important part of devotional service recommended in the Bhagavad-gita, Srimad Bhagavatam and other scriptures, and this mantra helps one to acquire all the necessary qualities to return to the Kingdom of God. However, while chanting the holy names of God, offenses should be avoided, because this will become an insurmountable obstacle on the path to the spiritual world. A description of the ten offenses that prevent one from returning to the Kingdom of God can be read in spiritual literature.
Unhappy people, the inhabitants of the middle planets (like the Earth), instead of discussing the description of the Kingdom of God, discuss topics that defile their ears and darken their minds. People who refuse to listen to descriptions of the spiritual world, and instead indulge in talking about material things, make their way into the darkest regions of ignorance. Lord Brahma, the creator of the material world, says that the human form of life is so valuable that even Brahmas and demigods strive to incarnate among people, because only a person can acquire perfect spiritual knowledge and perfectly understand the meaning of religion, that is, achieve the highest goal of life . If a person cannot understand the nature of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and His Spiritual Kingdom, it means that he is under the strong influence of the external energy of the Lord - the aggregate of material energies that obscure the Supreme Truth. If a person hears the praises of the Lord and experiences ecstasy, in which his breathing quickens and his body becomes covered with perspiration, he enters the Kingdom of God, even if he has never before engaged in spiritual practice and has not performed ascesis (voluntary deprivation of sensual pleasures for the sake of progress in spiritual life). practice).
Source (original article) Paradise through the eyes of Mario Duguay
Other descriptions of God's eternal Kingdom can be found in other religions. Studying descriptions of the spiritual world is beneficial for a person because it awakens in him the forgotten spiritual reality and revives the desire to return to the Kingdom of God, which is the first important step on the path home, to the eternal transcendental abode of the Supreme, full of wisdom and bliss.
ESOTERIC KNOWLEDGE
The Kingdom of God is a heavenly Eden
A great consolation for people who have lost their loved ones is the possibility of meeting them in heaven. The kingdom of heaven, promised by Jesus Christ, is in heaven and on earth, in the hearts of Christians.
The goal of earthly life, filled with suffering, wars, cataclysms, anxiety for tomorrow and one’s descendants, is the transition to Heavenly Jerusalem.
In the Gospel of Matthew 25:34 there is a promise of inheriting a prepared corner of Eden in Heaven, Jesus promises to drink wine with his disciples in the kingdom of the Father. (Matthew 26:29)
The Revelation of John describes paradise in heaven, which the prophet saw with his own eyes.
Vision of John the Evangelist
According to the testimonies of St. Theodora, Euphrosyne, St. Andrew the Fool (each of them at one time was raised into heaven to the third heaven), the heavenly corner exists.
Testimony of Andrei Yurodivy
I saw myself dressed in the brightest robe, as if woven from lightning; a crown was on my head, woven from great flowers, and I was girded with a royal belt.
Rejoicing at this beauty, marveling with my mind and heart at the indescribable beauty of God's paradise, I walked around it and had fun. There were many gardens with tall trees: they swayed with their tops and amused the eyes, a great fragrance emanated from their branches... It is impossible to compare those trees to any earthly tree: God’s hand, and not man’s, planted them. There were countless birds in these gardens...
I saw a great river flowing in the middle (of the gardens) and filling them. On the other bank of the river there was a vineyard... Quiet and fragrant winds breathed there from four sides; from their breath the gardens shook and made a wonderful noise with their leaves... After that we entered into a wonderful flame, which did not scorch us, but only enlightened us.
I began to be horrified, and again the one who guided me (the angel) turned to me and gave me his hand, saying: “We must ascend even higher.” With this word we found ourselves above the third heaven, where I saw and heard many heavenly powers singing and praising God... (Rising even higher), I saw my Lord, like Isaiah the prophet once, sitting on a high and exalted throne, surrounded by seraphim.
He was clothed in a scarlet robe, His face shone with an indescribable light, and He turned His eyes towards me with love. Seeing Him, I fell on my face in front of Him... What joy then overwhelmed me from the vision of His face is impossible to express, so even now, remembering this vision, I am filled with indescribable sweetness." The Venerable Theodora saw in paradise "beautiful villages and numerous abodes prepared for those who love God,” and heard “the voice of joy and spiritual gladness.”
What religions say about the afterlife
Different religions have different views on the afterlife, some claim that every living creature has its own immortal soul, that it is a particle of God, and after death it takes on a more highly developed form. So a plant, when it is plucked, in its next life becomes an insect, an insect an animal, and an animal a man.
Other beliefs say that reincarnation occurs and it depends on our karma, if a person sinned, he can become either a tree or a flower, and if he did good deeds, then he will begin life again in human form. Since among earthly creatures, man is the most highly developed form. Higher intelligence is divine. But not everyone is given the opportunity to be gods, since God is the Supreme Mind and everyone else owes their lives to him.
There is a version according to which there are parallel worlds and those who die in one world are born in another. It is somewhat similar to our world, only the history in it develops according to different events. If God exists, and he most likely exists, then it is quite possible that each of the stars has its own Earth and aliens live on it.
