theories of heaven

In writing a private email, I stumbled upon this interesting page, which is apparently a collection of reactions to an Anglican bishop's book on how heaven will be unlike what we expect. The webpage in question publishes three responses—Jewish, Catholic, and Buddhist. I'll reprint the Buddhist response here since it strikes me as the most appealing and the most practical, but you're certainly free to visit the page, read the other responses, and formulate your own thoughts on the matter. I do appreciate Rabbi Miller's insight that "a civilization projects its highest cultural value as its perception of Heaven." Anthropologically speaking, I find that quite valid. I also feel kind of bad that there was no mainline Protestant response included. Where are my peeps? (I may have Buddhist and Taoist sympathies, but I grew up Baptist, then Presbyterian, so if nothing else, I'm still sociologically Christian, i.e., I know exactly what to do if I walk into a church service, and I'm not uncomfortable being with worshipers even if my mental universe has evolved away from theirs. Unlike cynical militant atheists, though, I know the folks in the pews are generally decent and mean no harm. Just folks. And still, in a deep sense, American Presbyterians continue to be "my peeps.")

Here's the Zennie:

I believe heaven is the life we are living right now. It doesn’t exist in the future or in our speculation about the future. Unfortunately, because we are continually distracted by and entangled in our fears and hopes, we miss the perfection that is shown to us in each moment, which includes ugliness and beauty, depression and happiness. Because we do not see the impermanence and transience of either these states or ourselves, we remain insecure, and we suffer.

I believe the Buddha gave the best answer when asked about heaven. His answer has since been called, “the thunderous silence of the Buddha.” He would not respond to the question of whether there is an afterlife. His efforts were always directed toward finding the cause of and solution to suffering. Devoted to this kind of life, what need is there to dream of an afterlife? How could our dream compare with this wondrous life we usually miss?

The purpose of all religious life is to go to heaven. But where is heaven? And when is it? Will we realize heaven in our future if we are not seeing it now? We can’t rely on the best answers of Bishop Tom Wright or the Buddha. Fortunately or unfortunately, we have to do our own spiritual work, which is a continual turning away from our dreaming, scheming and hoping mind toward the heaven of this day.

Rev. Carol Aguilar

Zen Center of Orange County, Costa Mesa

It's a good summation of the Buddhist attitude: human suffering begins with ignorance about the true nature of reality, which is impermanent. Our attachments blind us to the beauty of reality's flow. Find heaven in the perfection of every moment, which means doing the work of truly learning to see. And don't rely on priests, rabbis, or gurus to guide you: do your own work (the Buddha's final words were supposedly, "Work out your salvation with diligence!").

Dr. V's attitude is more Christian-flavored because he believes that humans can't pull themselves out of the rut they find themselves in: they require the help of a transcendent Other, but asking for that kind of help necessitates a level of faith and humility that most of us do not possess, and thus we remain fallen: spiritual animals "crawling between Earth and Heaven"—neither totally brutish nor totally angelic.

One last, wry observation: the Buddha himself might have been thunderously silent about the afterlife, but his followers borrowed and developed whole cosmologies about what happens before and after we die. Many of these cosmologies vary from tradition to tradition, so we have Tushita Heaven, the Eastern and Western Paradises, the Pure Land, the bardo, the many hells, and so on. I'm reminded of the saying that Jesus is cool, but his followers are assholes. That's not true of just Christianity, as Buddhist cosmology shows. Even in Christianity, though, the folk wisdom is that you're not supposed to live your life selfishly focused on your own reward—that's the sure road to not entering the kingdom of heaven.