What is heaven and how do we get there?

Death is never far away. The tragic events of October 7 prove as much. We ask questions about what awaits us after our life here. Most of us, even militant atheists, have some idea of heaven and how to get there. Militant atheists don’t care about any kind of heaven, it’s just an exercise in mockery or a thought experiment for them. That’s their right, no matter how glaringly childish we find it. Some people truly think they have it all figured out about what the world is and what’s our place in it. For the rest of us who are agnostics, religious, non-denominational, whatever you want to call it, it’s a fascinating, and somewhat tantalizing, question.

To me, heaven is a state of endless possibility where we’re in the true presence of God. I always say that only two paths make sense after death: either oblivion or endless possibility. Now, we’re often told that heaven is a place reserved for the chosen ones.

We claim to know the criteria to get to heaven – martyrdom, for example – but are we sure God sees martyrdom the same way as we do? If, indeed, He even cares about martyrdom at all. Let’s get controversial. Could a Russian propagandist or a jihadi really be seen by God as martyrs, regardless of their vile actions? These actions were vile to us. We don’t really know what criteria the Creator uses to judge our actions. We can only theorize, guess, conject.

Could God see them in a dramatically different light?

God can see all our intentions and all our thoughts. We can’t cheat infinite intelligence. Say that someone we saw as a vile human being turned out to be doing terrible things only to survive in a hostile environment or just didn’t know any better/mind-controlled by a cult. It doesn’t excuse their actions, but that’s our perspective. Could God see it differently? ”You did terrible things but I see why you had been so sadistic. It was beyond your control. I’ll grant you access to heaven.” Call it a road to Damascus scenario. A total transformation of beliefs and attitudes. Gets your mind twisted, huh? That’s what makes asking probing questions fun (though some people tell me I’ve missed my calling as a Police interrogator).

What is purgatory, then? I know the concept of purgatory isn’t present in many religions but I find the whole idea intriguing. Most of us are likely to end up there. On the surface, the idea behind purgatory sounds logical. We die and we are unworthy to stand in the presence of God. The Creator is perfection who knows all our thoughts and intentions. You can’t cheat God. Purgatory is there to clean our soul, wipe away our sins, so we can be in the presence of the Lord. It isn’t a pleasant process but knowing we’re on our way to heaven makes us happy, where we’re going to be with the Almighty. We’re going to be back home. Again, what does it mean to be home in heaven, exactly? Eternal bliss? Harps? Clouds? To me, that kind of heaven sounded more like pointless hell.

When talking to priests and religious scholars, I ask them about purgatory. Heaven and hell, these are vital concepts most of us wonder about, we never know when we’re going to face death, but purgatory is something we don’t talk about that much. I thought they were going to give me a clear answer but, to my surprise, they told me it’s unclear what purgatory is actually like. Some kind of a cleansing fire, not the same as in hell, but we’re still going to feel it.

Could the cleansing fire be a simplistic way of describing something else entirely? The cleansing, yes, but we must bear in mind these concepts were simplified for people to understand. I don’t believe for a second that purgatory is some fire and that’s it. So what the heck is this fire and what does it do to us, apart from torture as we wait to get to heaven?

Reincarnating with memories intact, in this or another dimension, in a scenario where the privileges we had are denied, seems like a possible idea for a purgatory to me. An angry child ranting about who they were would inspire laughter or ridicule, and then the kid would be left with no choice but to adjust to a new reality. Some would know about their next life in advance, some wouldn’t. Maybe this is one of the options what purgatory is truly about.

As I was reading up on purgatory, I’ve come across an interesting blog post by another author and it led me to reading up on the Lubavitcher Rebbe who started the powerful campaign of encouraging women and girls to light Shabbat candles. Covering a face with hands, in particular, signifies so many things.

I knew nothing about the face-covering aspect. I’ve learned something today.

People with Alzheimer’s disease, people with a dissociative identity (multiple personalities in one body), what about them? Alright, Alzheimer’s people are going to get cured and people with DID (dissociative identity disorder)? Are their personalities going to get integrated?

God gives us free will. Alright. Psychopaths have free will and they don’t see anything wrong with their actions. They are proud of their actions, in fact, they see non-psychopaths as inferior beings saddled with guilt. So, when a psychopath stands before God, he or she isn’t going to be remorseful at all. Well, the Lord can give the psychopath a conscience, of course, but that would be infringing upon free will. Condemning psychopaths to hell is a stretch because they really don’t see anything wrong with their actions so there’s no guilt to use against them and God gives us free will and doesn’t interfere, or so we’re told. Just as the Church increasingly acknowledges that suicides aren’t necessarily condemned because suicide is a complex issue (what if you’re a Ukrainian soldier who wants to avoid Russian slavery at all costs and blows himself up, is that really something God would condemn?), maybe it’s the same with psychopaths?

And here is where a scholar, a priest, and so on, smiles dismissively and says, ”Have faith,” ”The Lord works in mysterious ways,” ”Don’t blaspheme,” and other such slogans. To me, it sounds like, ”I don’t know what to say to that, but I don’t wanna admit it, so I’ll hide behind the mystery of God.”

A true believer isn’t afraid of questions, criticism, and doubts. Someone who’s a true believer welcomes debate and instead of running away or getting hostile, he or she is going to invite you onto the stage to voice your doubts and concerns about the doctrine.

Technology advances. While it may sound facetious, does Jesus Christ know what laptops are? Clearly, Jesus can’t communicate the same way with someone who dies today than someone who died two thousand years ago. A priest once told me the language of heaven is Esperanto. Haha. What a nice joke. Not. If I were to guess, I’d bet on telepathy, because it’s a much more efficient way of communicating that likely bypasses all the language problems and you just convey what you want to convey without all the limitations we experience here on Earth in our mortal coils.

Whatever happens to us when we die, let our crossing to the other side be similar to what Steve Jobs was going through in the last moments of his life. Close family members say that his dying words were “Oh, wow. Oh, wow. Oh, wow.”

What a way to go on your infinite adventure. Laugh all you want, but I’m concerned with AI and its potential future ability to imprison us in some kind of a fake digital heaven after we die. Yes, something like the Matrix where you won’t know you’re in prison. Hell is being denied the presence of God. The presence of all that is dear to you.

That qualifies.

Luckily, we’re all likely to be out of here before AI advances to that stage. If we don’t blow ourselves up first, that is.