STORIES AND MYTHS OF HEAVEN AND HELL
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"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 CAYANIK