Hell and Paradise

The Original Teachings of Jesus Christ / Hell and Paradise

Hell and Paradise

Apart from the material plane and the eons of Heavens mentioned above, there are other spatial dimensions that exist on the opposite (with respect to the Creator) end of the coarseness-subtlety scale. These are the layers of hell.

One can perceive them on some negative places of power.

Places of power [4] are characterized by presence of some kind of dominant energy from non-material worlds, which affects the state of embodied beings, including people.

Places of power can be classified into positive and negative ones, according to their positive or negative effect. There are positive places of power that are extremely favorable for spiritual work of a particular kind or for healing. Negative places of power allow one to know what life in various eons of hell looks like.

The sizes of places of power vary from one meter to several kilometers.

It is important for us to understand what determines the state and the spatial dimension (hell or paradise) where people find themselves upon death of their physical bodies. The answer is quite simple: in the other world man remains in the same state to which he accustomed himself while living in the physical body. He continues to exist in this state until his next incarnation, which usually happens after hundreds of years. This is why it is extremely important to master the control of one’s own emotions and not to live like an animal reacting reflexively to pleasant and unpleasant outer factors and to impulses of the body.

Various emotional states can be classified according to the scale of coarseness-subtlety.

Among the most coarse ones are hatred, fury, spite, horror, fear, despair, anxiety, jealousy, depression, resentment, feeling of being suppressed by someone, grief of separation, etc.

To the middle range one can assign such states as haste, impatience, sport or work excitement, sexual passion (passionate desire), etc.

The higher states of consciousness are tenderness (including sexually colored one), states that arise when one attunes to harmonious phenomena of nature (morning, spring, coziness, calm, songs of the best bird singers, playing animals, etc) or to appropriate works of various kinds of art.

There are higher states of consciousness. They are not present among the “earthly” emotions, and there is no “earthly” thing that can induce them. They can be cognized only in the higher meditations of Mergence with the Holy Spirit and with God-the-Father in His Abode.

Out of the three groups of states listed above, the first is called tamas, the second (intermediate) — rajas and third — sattva. Tamas, rajas, and sattva, as “earthly” attributes, are called gunas. The higher categories are transcendent to the gunas.

Man has a possibility to ascend from one guna to another and to higher levels by making spiritual efforts. But he can also descend.

It should be stressed that the point here is not only about the ability to feel certain emotions, but about states of the consciousness habitual for a person. And the states habitual at the moment of the death of the body determine one’s destiny for hundreds of years.

Let each of us think: “Do I want to stay for so long in the states of the first category among other beings like me?” This is what hell is.

If we blame for our emotions “them” — other people or certain circumstances — we are wrong. We ourselves attune to these bad people or circumstances, whereas we should attune to God, to the Divine that can save us from hell. Apostle Paul said about this, “… Shrink from evil, cleave to good” (Rom 12:9).

For the same reason one should keep to the following principles:

“Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who insult you and persecute you…” (Matt 5:44).

“Settle matters quickly with your adversary…” (Matt 5:25).

“Blessed are the peacemakers…” (Matt 5:9).

“… Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles”. (Matt 5:38-41).

“Do not judge…” (Matt 7:1).

“… Do not condemn…” (Luke 6:37).

“… Do not be afraid of those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul” (Matt 10:28).

“… Give to everyone who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back” (Luke 6:30).

“Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such ‘wisdom’ does not come down from Heaven, but is ‘earthly’, unspiritual, of the devil…” (James 3:13-15).

“Anyone who claims to be in the light, but hates his brother is still in the darkness” (1 John 2:9).

“Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse…

“Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody…

“Never avenge yourselves…

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink…

“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Rom 12:14-21).

“Why do you judge your brother? … For each of us will give an account of himself to God. Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s way.” (Rom 14:10-13).

“… If someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted.” (Gal 6:1).

“Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers” (Eph 4:29).

“… You must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips…” (Col 3:8).

“… Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult” (1 Peter 3:9).

“… Whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him” (1 John 2:11).

“For such actions would not help to your salvation, and you would fall into that state of moral degradation where theft, lying, and murder pass for generous deeds.

“Nevertheless, there is one miracle which it is possible for man to accomplish. It is when, full of a sincere belief, he decides to root out… all evil thoughts, and when to attain this goal he forsakes the paths of iniquity.” (The Life of Saint Issa, 9:17; 11:8).

Perhaps, some readers may object: “But staying away from evil and caring only about one’s own salvation is egotism! And what about evil people? — should we allow them do all kinds of bad things?!”

You are wrong: we are speaking about states of consciousness, first of all. Even fighting against criminals, against the most abominable human behavior — if this is our duty, it can be done without hatred, fury, aversion, but in the state of emotional calm and attunement to Divinity. And by hellish emotions we can only do harm — both to ourselves and to friends…

It is also important to understand that strong emotions storm not only inside the body. They create energy fields around it, which affect other people and can even make them ill.

If we stick to the principles of Christ, we will not be accustoming ourselves and other people to hell even when participating in “earthly” battles.

Let me repeat it once again: I am not advising everyone to stay away from social life, from the needs of other people and not only of people. “No one has greater love than this, that man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13), said Jesus. Yet, when doing this, one should not feel hatred, anger, or contempt, but feel calm and love and keep the attention on the Highest Purpose — the Heavenly Father. It is in this way that Jesus went to His death.

… While being in physical bodies, we can volitionally change our habits of living in particular emotional states with the help of methods of psychical self-regulation and various meditative techniques. We can also receive help from other people — in order to become as good as possible. But once the body has died, it is impossible to change one’s status. And no one will be able to help. Jesus Christ did not take sinners out of hell; prayers of saints or of anyone else cannot do it either. One can change one’s own destiny only by oneself when living in physical body.

* * *

Our destinies in the contemporary or future incarnations are affected by our vices. For example, if we ignore pain of other living beings (not only of people) and make them suffer, then God will weave us away from this habit. How? By placing us in situations where we will suffer pain ourselves so that we could — by experiencing pain — learn to be compassionate to the pain of others. In this way we program our destinies to become “hell on the Earth”, but in such conditions it will be much harder to refine emotions.

What should we do now in order to get rid of vices that destroy us? — Repent!