Heaven or Hell?

I haven’t believed in a location called hell since I encountered my first atheist at age fourteen.  She was an effervescent French girl who wore loads of make up and used Evian to cool herself down when she got too excited.  I grew to love, Elsa, but was anxious for her soul when she announced there was no God.  That she did not get struck down immediately shocked me almost as much as her pronouncement.

Since then, I’ve lived with Hell as a state of Separation.

Better said:  Hell is other people. 

Hell is:

People who cut you off in traffic.

Police you can’t trust.

Ex-spouses.

Your children.

People who don’t hold the door for you.

Your boss.

Your direct report.

Your kid’s teacher

The person in front of you at the check-out

etc. etc

"Other people" are everywhere. 

I love this quote because it points to the inevitable suffering when we see ourselves as separate from "other people."

At any given moment we can choose hell, separating ourselves from “others” who harm us or those we love.  We can make “other people” the problem, the threat, the only thing separating us from contentment. 

It makes sense.  People do crappy things to each other.  Systems encourage individuals to separate and harm each other.  It makes sense to fight back.  

It makes sense to accept the Us vs. Them equation especially when the other side clearly sees me as a “them” to exterminate. 

And, yet I’ve got this thread, an unbreakable thin line connected to my heart that says: We can’t win this game. 

If the solution is only more separation, then we keep losing.

Brother Martin famously said “an eye for an eye leaves us all blind.”  

Albert Einstein warned "The unleashed power of the atom has changed everything save our minds..."

My sponsor used to say "Do you want to be right or happy?"  

Whenever you get pulled in to condemning others, into hell, start to look towards another consciousness.  Here are some possibilities:

• Sometimes I practice Radical Forgiveness.  This method involves a worksheet.
• Most recently I use self-compassion processes.  See my blogs on Meta Loving Kindness Meditation or the Two Wings of Awareness approach.  
• One of my characters in "To Cross an Ocean Four Centuries Long" uses “Jesus” as a mantra to help her grow bigger than her pain.  

If you're ready for a little taste of heaven, practice one of these methods or your own first and then take action. 

Let Oneness ground your actions. Let me know how it goes!

Peace and Love!

Amanda