Heaven on Earth
On freedom from Chocolate and Mosquitos
Heaven is an integral part of most religions. For many theists, heaven is the end goal and where one desires to spend eternity. Life is a mere test of a few years that will determine entry.
For atheists, on the other hand, heaven is a curse. At best, it distracts people from life; at worst, it motivates people to do horrendous things on earth so that they might reap rewards in heaven.
I belong to neither camp. I’m intellectual honest and humble enough to say, “I don’t know”, if there is a heaven or hell, or when and how one will get there. Hence, this article is not about heaven; instead, the idea of heaven inspires this article.
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Theist, atheist or agnostic, we all probably agree on one thing. We all desire happiness and contentment. Or equivalently, we desire freedom from suffering. For the theist, heaven is the ultimate happiness and contentment and freedom from suffering.
We all also probably agree on another thing: We are willing to behave in such a manner that will enable us this happiness, contentment and freedom from suffering. We might disagree on specifics, but we all agree on the principle that some behaviour is worth it.
Hence, what behaviour on earth would result in happiness, contentment and freedom from suffering on earth? Or in other words, what behaviour would result in “Heaven on Earth”?
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Let’s start with suffering. To me, broadly, suffering comes in two flavours:
- Wanting something and not getting it (e.g. wanting a bar of chocolate and none being present)
- Not wanting something and getting it (e.g. not wanting a mosquito to sever your leg, and the said worthy doing precisely that)
To me, happiness and contentment is the negation of suffering; that is, the “state of mind” when there is no suffering. And the above “definition” also indirectly defines happiness.
So what behaviour would result in “Heaven on Earth”? It is simple in theory; if you don’t want anything or not want anything, you are incapable of suffering.
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But what does it look like in practice? To be honest, I don’t have a complete or satisfactory answer. Only inklings and patterns.
But let me share these.
- Generosity and vicarious joy: One way of “not wanting a bar of chocolate” is to give it to someone else, if not wholly, at least partially. The happiness of seeing the other enjoy the chocolate might compensate for the unhappiness of not getting a sugar hit.
- Compassion: When you consume chocolate, your body needs to produce extra insulin to process the sugar in your blood. If you overdo the chocolate, your poor, overstressed body would eventually lose its ability to process sugar (also known as diabetes). Hence, you could convince yourself to avoid excesses through compassion. Alternatively, you can feel compassion for your friend who also desires the chocolate.
- Expanding your “self”: The mosquito might be a pain, but she is also a mother-to-be. Without the protein and iron in your blood, she cannot produce eggs. Suppose a human mother-to-be would ask you for some food. In that case, you’d probably be more than willing to provide it because you consider it part of your “self” to help; it’s the sort of thing “you” do. Why not expanding this idea to include other things?
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PS: Everything said here also applies to “hell”, which, for clarity, I exclude.
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