A view of hell 

A Releasing Your Unlimited Creativity discussion topic

Copyright 2009 by K. Ferlic,   All Rights Reserved

Many of the traditional views of hell can be boiled down to involve either the idea of being separated from God or, to some, the Beloved however we perceive them and/or a place of great pain and suffering, however we perceive great pain and suffering. Heaven, of course, is seen as some form of the opposite. It is about being with God or the Beloved and/or a place of great pleasure. Again, it is based on how we see God, the Beloved or pleasure. In many ways heaven and hell simply lie at the opposites ends of a spectrum. Whatever we think heaven is, hell is the opposite. Whatever we think hell is, heaven is its opposite

From a creativity perspective and holding our creativity sacred so as to not rob ourselves of our creative power, hell can be expressed in a variety of ways depending on how we have focused our attention and awareness. Although many do not realize it, in many ways experiencing hell is much like experiencing the Source of Creation as discussed in the topic, "The problem of mind and experiencing the Source of Creation - the trap of mind." That is, what we experience is based on what we think and believe. Within this understanding all of the following can be an experience of hell. The question is "To what degree do we allow ourselves to experience hell?"

An awareness of how we cause pain in others: One form of hell arises from not seeking in depth understanding about how creation/Creation really works. It is to live with a partial truth. It is to live unenlightened about creation/Creation. It is to experience the pain we caused others and know that we caused it. If we know we cause another pain and we do not feel a remorse, our heart is hard, we live in separation and we live in a nonconscious hell and takes into a form of hell discussed under the topic, "Lack of freedom of movement" discussed below. If we do feel remorse without understanding of the creative process and how pain works, we will cause ourselves to live in pain that we cannot shake. How this occurs can be seen one of two ways. One way is through a traditional Samurai story. The other way is understanding we can and will inflict pain on another and without understanding the role we play we will cause ourselves pain.

In the story of the Samurai and the bandit, the Samurai had finally cornered a bandit he had pursued for quite some time. Just when the Samurai unsheathed his sword to kill the bandit, the bandit spat on him. Rather than striking the bandit in anger, the Samurai resheathed his sword and did not allow himself to kill the bandit. To kill and cause pain as part of one’s role is one thing. To inflict pain in anger or an unjust pain is another. One binds our creative spirit and the other does not.

To understand we inflict pain on other without understanding the role we play for another is a hell and to live in separation. It is hell because we end up denying ourselves in some way as to the role we play in the others life. In denying our role we rob ourselves of the creative power we need to create the life which nurtures our true needs. Or, we do what we need to do and live in pain because we are now causing others pain not realizing we are only the occasion for the pain they feel and not its cause.

Whether we realize it or not, as result of the creative process and the Origins of creation/Creation, we will inflict pain on others. Or, maybe better said, we will be the occasion for pain to raise within another or others as a result of their attachment to what is. There are three things we need to understand about this type of hell.

The first is Physical Creation, as is all of Creation, is predatory. Everything eats something to survive. However, in addition to eating something physically to sustain our body, we will eat something spiritually, mentally, emotionally and physically to sustain our being. The essence of Creation being predatory is a result of the fact the creative process requires a sacrifice of creation. Something must be given up and transformed to make room for the new. The question is, "What do we eat and to who and what do we give ourselves to be eaten?" This then bring up the second thing.

Creation is not done alone. Whether we realize it or not, we need another or others to give us any experience we desire to have. This includes the experience of pain. Most of what we do for others is done without our awareness. For example, we walk into a story to buy an item of merchandise. In doing so, we play a role for the cashier and the store owner and they in turn play a role for us. Many of such interactions we never even think about. However, occasionally we have a confrontation, get annoyed, get angry or have a less than pleasant experience in some other way. If we pull the string on why we has a less than pleasant experience we will find there is something within ourselves for which the other was only the occasion for our pain. This, in turn, brings up the third thing.

Our pain is unique to us and comes from within. No one experiences our pain as we do. It is our pain. Additionally, there is a fine line between pleasure and pain. Pain can turn into pleasure and pleasure can turn into pain. It we explore pain, we can come to see there is a gift in pain. When we are able to become a detached witness and not take our lives personally, we can begin to see the role we play for another to have the experience they need or desire to have. Within this awareness, we may not like the role we play for another but we will no longer bind our creative life energy by what we do.

When we let go of our identification with the body and only see it as the vehicle it is, we are faced with the wholeness of being. If we hold to one side of a duality without the realization of the other, the other side must be faced to reach wholeness. However, pain can trap us. We need to understand to die in the unawareness of the pain we caused others forces us to experience that pain before we are free to leave the physical experience behind. This does not mean we reincarnate to balance karma or anything like that. Rather, it means our creative life energy remains bound in the experience of that pain and we never become free of it unless it is processed and dissipated. If we created the pain only in playing a role for the other, there is no attachment to the role or the pain. If however we cause the pain out of our own wants, desires, anger and the like, that pain is a part of us and our attachments. That is the pain we experience and how we create our own hell. In the Samurai story above, the pain the Samurai causes the bandit as a result of the Samurai’s role, there is no attachment to the reason the pain is created. If however, the Samurai is angry and strikes out of anger the Samurai is attached to the anger and that anger must be dissipated if the creative life energy of the Samurai is not to be bound.

Lack of freedom of movement (return): From the creativity perspective where we need freedom of movement to create something new, hell is any conditions where we become fixed, immobilized, restricted, or otherwise confined and unable to move or release that bound energy necessary for us to move.

The experience of freedom and the freedom to freely creatively play are the characteristics of the Source of Creation. This is why Creation is said to be consciousness at play with itself. This is why it is said Creation arises out of a place of "no-thing-ness" for there are no forms to which we are attached that restricts our freedom. However, it need to be clearly understood, the place of "no-thing-ness" is not a place as in a given location here or in the unseen world for it can be anywhere. Rather, it is a state of not being attached to what is and being like the wind. It is to enter an experience without attachment and leave the experience with no attachment and totally free to flow.

It needs to be understood, there are no judgments on what we create and what we experience other than that of our own mind. We have a free will and are free to create what we desire. But there are consequences to what we create for the time and place of our creation. More importantly, there are our attachments and judgments of our mind which restrict our freedom. The consequences to what we create is not what restricts our freedom. Our attachments and judgments about the consequences is what causes our attachment. Hell is simply a place of, or better said, as state of mind, with severe and restrictive attachment and the associated loss of freedom is painful for we are unable to move to change what we experience. Of course, if we remain unaware, we never see the lack of freedom we have until the level of pain gets our attention to wake us up.

The truth of the matter is that the physical plane is a direct mapping or translation of our non physical being or creative spirit if we wish to call it that into a physical form. The separation we have within ourselves before we incarnate is only magnified and intensified in Physical Creation. In many ways that is what Physical Creation offers. It acts to amplify otherwise unexpressed aspects of our being. If we leave before we heal that separation we take it with us back into the unseen realms. Here we would enter one of the realms described as hell. But we need to understand the origins of the hell we experience is our attachments in the physical. The gift of the physical plane is that it allows us the opportunity to directly experience our inner separation and heal that separation if we so choose to do so. There no "original sin" or "fall from grace" for we only reveal what is already inside us as a result of how we have bound the free flow of our creative spirit/creative life energy.

The following provides two ways to view becoming like the wind so as to avoid hell in any dimension or in any aspect of our being. One criteria we can use to become like the wind comes from the ancient Egyptians. In ancient Egypt it was said unless one can balance their heart on a scale with a feather they could not enter heaven. Alternatively said, our heart needs to be free and unburdened. If our heart is free, we will experience heaven wherever we are, including here and now.

A second way to become like the wind is to realize hell and heaven lie on a spectrum. At one end is hell where there is no freedom of movement in any direction. Heaven lies at the other end where there is total freedom of movement in all directions.

What needs to be understood is the world "all." To enter a realm where we are free to do many things but still unable to freely act in all direction is not heaven. In this sense the traditional Garden of Eden is not heaven nor are many of the traditional concepts of heaven. Also heaven is not a place of stillness although some have been lead to believe it is.

There is a belief that a place of stillness such as that which can be achieved in meditation will provide heaven and escape hell. However, from a creativity perspective and holding our creativity sacred, the opposite is true. A place of stillness is a place where there is no energy to create. If one is truly still, there is no energy, there is not movement and one is in essence, in hell. It is not a place of freedom but more of a hell. Either all the energy is fixed in a given form or all the energy has been some how removed and become bound. Here there is no creation for all is frozen, fixed or being held in a given patter of flow as when the consciousness goes to sleep. If it were to awaken, simply the focus of awakening would cause a new energy to flow in some way. The awareness of consciousness and how it focuses its attention and awareness is how consciousness becomes the cause in the cause effect relationship of energy and in the creative process. In most cases simply awakening does not occur. Rather it is the pain we feel that forces us to awaken and do something rather than to remain in the experience of pain.

Separation from our creation/Creation as the creator/Creator: A third type of hell is often not seen as a hell but it is. It is reflected in what is experienced as a deep longing for the beloved/Beloved. The only question is, "How much pain one experiences and can be endured"

Within the creativity perspective, the creator and the creation are one. The illusion of Creation is they are separate. It is the illusion of separation which gives rise and allows for the experience of creation/Creation. As long as the creator/Creator is able to experience the creation/Creation it desires it is in the pleasure of fulfillment and will find an inner satisfaction with the creation/Creation it experiences. However, if the creator is some thwarted and not allow to experience its desired creation/Creation for whatever reason, it will feel pain and long for the experience of its desired creation/Creation. Such an experience is an experience of hell. Yet, here again, both heaven and hell lie on opposite ends of a spectrum. At one end is the experience of the desired creation/Creation where as at the other end is a total thwarting of that desired creation/Creation.

Related topics
Heaven, Kingdom of God and Nirvana

The Password Protected Area provides access to all currently posted (click for current loading) Releasing Your Unlimited Creativity related discussion files and applications.

Top