From: H8B8EUh6@.com   
      
   STORIES AND MYTHS OF HEAVEN AND HELL   
   ------------------------------------   
      
   "The idea that one can get spiritual liberation through torturing   
   the body, is not correct. God is internal; what has He to do with   
   anything external? Standing in water for days, standing on one foot   
   for months, raising one hand or both hands heavenwards and standing   
   like that for a long time, burying oneself in the earth for days --   
   all these things are simply meaningless. They no doubt call for   
   great physical power and a great capacity of endurance -- but many   
   people undertake heavy physical labour; don't even animals work very   
   hard? Will all such people and animals get liberation? It is not   
   correct.   
      
   One cannot get to God through such physical hardship. Neither can   
   one get to Him through religious sacrificial rituals. Were this   
   possible, it would be very easy for the rich to find God! And the   
   poor could never get near to Him! These things are all meaningless,   
   and represent a very backward stage of humanity." (DISCOURSES ON   
   TANTRA VOLUME 2, THE DIALOGUES OF SHIVA AND PA'RVATII, June 1967,   
   Srinagar)   
      
   What of pilgrimage and sacred bathing?   
      
   "'Here is a place of pilgrimage; if one takes a dip in this   
   particular sacred pond (a spring, sometimes a hot spring, restricted   
   to use in religious ritual) or in this particular river, one will   
   acquire this much virtue -- all this is false.' If one can acquire   
   virtue by taking a bath in the pong, then all the creatures in the   
   water of the pond will also get to heaven. And all the ponds which   
   you see nowadays at different places of pilgrimage are full of   
   stinking water! Those who take a bath with such ideas are people   
   dominated by the static principle." (DISCOURSES ON TANTRA VOLUME 2,   
   THE DIALOGUES OF SHIVA AND PA'RVATII, July 1967, Delhi)   
      
   And tales?   
      
   "Shiva was depicted in the Puranic Age with Gaunga' tied to His   
   matted locks of hair. Then a story was concocted in some Purana that   
   the water discarded after washing the feet of Vis'n'u, flowed down   
   from heaven, and Shiva supported the flow on His head; then this   
   flow became the River Gaunga' [Ganges]. That is, Gaunga' the wife of   
   Shiva became the River Gaunga'. Actually this River Gaunga' has no   
   relation whatsoever to Shiva. The story continues that from Shiva's   
   head the river flowed in four directions   
      
   One of the flows went towards heaven and became known as   
   Alaka'nanda; one went to the earth and became known as   
   Bha'giirathii; the third one went to Pitrloka [Realm of the   
   Ancestors] and became known as Manda'kinii; and the last one,   
   flowing to the underworld,  became known as Bhoga-vatii. These are   
   mere tales of the Puranas."   
   (DISCOURSES ON TANTRA VOLUME 1, The Pervasive Influence of Shiva,   
   Namah Shiva'ya Sha'nta'ya, Discourse 4, 9 May 1982, Calcutta)   
      
   Well, of course one can't believe any of this if you are a practical   
   spiritual aspirant.  Although, some truth may be found in the   
   educative fiction.  One could say:   
      
   "I am a follower of Sada'shiva, the brilliance of whose divine   
   presence outshines even the dazzling brilliance of the jewels of   
   Kuvera's* treasury; whose unmatched dexterity in creation excels   
   even that of the Creator God himself; whose unequalled love   
   surpasses even that of the Dissolver himself; in whose loving   
   shelter not only humans, but also animals and plants, feel   
   absolutely secure."   
   * The mythological treasurer of heaven. --Trans.   
   (DISCOURSES ON TANTRA VOLUME 1, The Pervasive Influence of Shiva,   
   Namah Shiva'ya Sha'nta'ya, Discourse 4, 9 May 1982, Calcutta)   
      
   In this example, there is some inner sense to the value of a   
   spiritual preceptor.   
      
   "In this sense, the sphere of this sort of heaven transcends the   
   crude aspects of heaven seen in many stories."   
   (DISCOURSES ON TANTRA  VOLUME 1, THE ACOUSTIC ROOTS OF THE INDO-   
   ARYAN ALPHABET, Kha, 1984-1985, Calcutta)   
      
   But one can't say:   
      
   "People say that ambrosia is found in heaven; not so, it is the   
   fruit of the mango tree." (SHABDHA CAYANIKA' PART 1, DISCOURSE 3,   
   AUNKA TO AKS'A, Amrta, 29 September 1985, Calcutta)   
      
   And regarding the concept of hell, psychologically educative fiction   
   can be useful to describe mental conditions.  For example, many   
   stories convey something like:   
      
   "That whose bottom is too deep to be found, or the colloquial   
   meaning of a level down in the successive order of crudeness or to   
   be considered the crudest is more descriptive of the worst kind of   
   hell." (SHABDHA CAYANIKA' PART 1, DISCOURSE 3, AUNKA TO AKS'A Atala,   
   29 September 1985, Calcutta)   
      
   Or a moral fable may conclude:   
      
   "One can earn huge amounts of money and in the process I sell their   
   humanity in exchange for a few gold coins. So the person goes hell-   
   bound step by step, transforming oneself from a conscious human   
   being into no better than an inert stone. With no remnant left of   
   any common sense." (SHABDA CAYANIKÁ PART 2, DISCOURSE 9, UI TO   
   ULUKA, Upadesha, 10 November 1985, Calcutta)   
      
   This shows the degrading effects of about inflated-ego, self-   
   aggrandizement and fame.  It is said:   
      
   "An inflated ego is like drinking wine, self--aggrandizement leads   
   one into the deepest hell, and social status / fame is like the   
   excrement of a pig. Give up all three of these and only sing the   
   glories of the Lord.   
      
   An inflated ego is no better than drinking wine. Self-aggrandizement   
   is truly like deep hell - the lowest realm. One who suffers from a   
   superiority complex is converted into stone -- he or she will be   
   crudified to this extent.* This is the result of the feeling of a   
   superiority complex. And social status is like the excrement of a   
   pig.  "I will be at the pinnacle of society and people will respect   
   me" -- this sense is like a desire for the excrement of a pig. So   
   give up these three mental ailments -- inflated ego, self-   
   aggrandizement and social status / fame -- and then engage yourself   
   in contemplation on the Lord."   
   * Mental crudification is the actual phenomenon of which deep hell   
   is the mythological representation.   
   (DISCOURSES ON TANTRA VOLUME 2, THE DIALOGUES OF SHIVA AND   
   PA'RVATII, July 1967, Delhi)   
      
   But remember always, that God is impartial.   
      
   "Microcosms (eg human beings), confined as they are within the   
   relative factors, have very little controlling authority. The   
   Macrocosm, however, is the controller of heaven and hell. It is   
   worthwhile to mention here that the tendency of the human mind to   
   degenerate towards matter in the path of negative evolution is   
   called hell, and the movement of the unit mind towards the Supreme   
   Non-attributional Stance in the flow of positive evolution is called   
   heaven. A unit mind which accepts gold or silver as the goal of life   
   gradually becomes transformed into gold or silver. The psychic   
   waves, as a result of constant ideation are first transformed into   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)