Why religion threatens with hell

[Someone here]

 I had this insight and I would like to share .  Religion describes hell in the afterlife as the destiny for people who fucked up in this life or were evildoers as a moral lecturing and a call of waking up to the reality of death . 
my mom had a heart attack and she is undergoing surgery. She was crying in my last talk to her before the surgery.  The way it works is they basically cut through the breastbone to work on the heart . Obviously they have to make her take full body binge.  She is very afraid. I wondered why . She has firm faith in god in her own unique style of those elderly people who have that detachment from this life and have that glow of unexplainable peace on their faces ..like a lot of deeply religious and faithful old people. But when the real time came for something serious like this she lost her peace and she is full of fear . And I would imagine that no matter how grounded you think you are ..you will freak out completely if your life is threatened by death or serious illness or deep deep deep suffering and turmoil.

Please take some minutes and contemplate your death . I’m not trying to make you depressed or causing existential crisis for you but death is a simple fact of life . All living creatures must die . This human being you are currently identifying as is going to die one day . And it seems to me that this doesn’t click well for us precisely because it’s sooo shocking to believe. We know it mentally but we don’t want to consider contemplating it for real because it causes insane levels of fear and existential dread . 
so the insight I had is why in some religious contexts they describe burning in hell fire after death as a punishment for ..you know..”sinners” and those who lack faith in god . . It’s the only way to shake you awake . The Buddha has said that suffering..diseases and illnesses..old age ..and finally death are all inevitable facts of life and therefore that means this life is really not the highest form or highest quality of beingness that our souls aspire to . It’s actually very gross and exhausting. I’m not saying there is no joy or peace at all in this world but it’s certainly a mixture of joy and sadness. 
to get to the point ..certain religions make you afraid of hell in the after life to make you think about your death moments when you have to leave this body and experience (perhaps ) tremendous pain and most importantly the moment that comes after you die completely and face the unknown .  They fill that “unknown “ with hell to nudge you to contemplate your death seriously and consider your life and wonder about it all . 

[Jirh]

@Someone here Excellent analysis!

Here's my 2 cents:

Fear of death is inversely proportional to how close you are to death. The closer you are, the less you're afraid. And the further you are, the more.

The stronger the fortress, the weaker the city.

That's why you see spiritually enlightened gurus are at peace with death, because they've faced the fact and live accordingly.

And you can also notice the lack of fear in cancer patients. Unlike most of us, they are forced to face death, and they surrender eventually.

Wishing you and your family health and longevity 🙏🏻

Edited 14 hours ago by Jirh

[Mellowmarsh]

It’s a mistake to believe the images upon the screen of consciousness are reality.

You are already dead. Nothing to fear, nothing to surrender to. 

[Someone here]

14 minutes ago, Jirh said:

@Someone here Excellent analysis!

Here's my 2 cents:

Fear of death is inversely proportional to how close you are to death. The closer you are, the less you're afraid. And the further you are, the more.

The stronger the fortress, the weaker the city.

That's why you see spiritually enlightened gurus are at peace with death, because they've faced the fact and live accordingly.

And you can also notice the lack of fear in cancer patients. Unlike most of us, they are forced to face death, and they surrender eventually.

Wishing you and your family health and longevity 🙏🏻

Thanks my friend. Likewise for you. 
can you explain the bolded part ? Because the point I’m making is actually the opposite. When you are young and healthy and you believe that life is still ahead of you you don’t seem to even believe that you are going to die . But people laying in hospitals suffering from old age ..cancer or the like seem to be going through hell already prior to death .
 

[Mellowmarsh]

2 minutes ago, Someone here said:

When you are young and healthy and you believe that life is still ahead of you you don’t seem to even believe that you are going to die .

BS

[Breakingthewall]

I hope she gets perfect from the surgery, that's good that you have a mother and that you connect with her in this situation, she's lucky. 

Imo any living being fears death, it's inherent with the fact of being alive. I guess that if you do your best in this life, when death comes you will face much better that if you have been a shit, that's why the religions talks about hell. Anyway, fear is inevitable, same than suffering, it comes with life. 

[Someone here]

1 hour ago, Breakingthewall said:

I hope she gets perfect from the surgery, that's good that you have a mother and that you connect with her in this situation, she's lucky. 

Imo any living being fears death, it's inherent with the fact of being alive. I guess that if you do your best in this life, when death comes you will face much better that if you have been a shit, that's why the religions talks about hell. Anyway, fear is inevitable, same than suffering, it comes with life. 

Thank you. I really appreciate that. I’m grateful to have my mother and to be able to be there for her. She will be fine. The doctors are deeply experienced with this situation. 
suffering is actually a nudge to awaken people from egoistic life style. Because when you are laying there in some ward not knowing what is going to happen to you you will begin to mature and gain some selflessness. Suffering forces you into expanding your consciousness being selfish living . This is important to understand to make peace with suffering.

I think you make a good point. Fear of death seems natural for any living being. Maybe what matters is how we live while we’re here. If we try to be good people and do our best we can face the end without feeling like we wish to get back to life to live it correctly . That’s why you get sick every now and then. That’s god slapping your egotistical ass and telling you calm down kid .

 

 

Edited 6 hours ago by Someone here

[cetus]

The notion of Hell was deeply instilled in the minds of commoners back in the days of kings and queens as a means to keep public order. Ever notice that every king had an archbishop standing by his side preaching fire and brimstone? Steal and you burn in Hell. Be disloyal to the king and you burn in Hell. Cheat on your taxes and you burn in Hell. Taxes were paid in material goods such as wears, crops, food/meat, craftsmanship, ect. Everyone was required to contribute a % to the king. Not doing so and you burn in Hell.

Hope your mother does well. 

[gettoefl]

Living has one purpose. To make you comfortable to die. To make you glad and satisfied. The problem is family and friends. They say no, don't enjoy death. You are crazy. We need you. We are too sad if you leave. Don't go anywhere. Be sensible and stay with us. Death is horrible. To them. To me it is fine since I know I just change to a new existence or I leave the universe and enjoy forever. My work here is accomplished. Jesus' final words were: It is finished.

[cetus]

Do not fear death. It is a glorious transition to Absolute consciousness.

Edited 5 hours ago by cetus

[Someone here]

55 minutes ago, cetus said:

The notion of Hell was deeply instilled in the minds of commoners back in the days of kings and queens as a means to keep public order. Ever notice that every king had an archbishop standing by his side preaching fire and brimstone? Steal and you burn in Hell. Be disloyal to the king and you burn in Hell. Cheat on your taxes and you burn in Hell. Taxes were paid in material goods such as wears, crops, food/meat, craftsmanship, ect. Everyone was required to contribute a % to the king. Not doing so and you burn in Hell.

Hope your mother does well. 

You could say it was for political reasons as well and to control the ignorant masses and riding them with carrot and stick ..the stick being hell . But I don’t think that’s the existential origin for this story of hell. Remember that religion is essentially forms of spiritual teachings which have been watered down to mainstream society..the exoteric sects like Cathedral Catholic or Sunnah Wahhabism. People like Jesus or Mohammed were supposedly awakened beings who had interpreted their awakenings into stories and tales to Make sense of the world . In the mind of Christian’s and Muslims hell is a place you go to after death because you rejected god ..but hell to Jesus himself is the state of being disconnected from god right now . That’s how I feel about it .

thanks for your support I appreciate it .

Edited 4 hours ago by Someone here

[Someone here]

1 hour ago, gettoefl said:

Living has one purpose. To make you comfortable to die. To make you glad and satisfied. The problem is family and friends. They say no, don't enjoy death. You are crazy. We need you. We are too sad if you leave. Don't go anywhere. Be sensible and stay with us. Death is horrible. To them. To me it is fine since I know I just change to a new existence or I leave the universe and enjoy forever. My work here is accomplished. Jesus' final words were: It is finished.

Life’s a gift .you did not  ask for it . So you wouldn’t mind returning it ? 

[gettoefl]

2 hours ago, Someone here said:

Life’s a gift .you did not  ask for it . So you wouldn’t mind returning it ? 

It's a gift that has a purpose. It's not a gift to fritter away building sand-castles. It's a gift to help remember who you are and where you're from. I say that God is not a fan of this universe. If God was, he'd be a cruel overlord. God says, you are welcome to sojourn to distant climes but I do warn you how bad it will be. So come back soon. And as we as know, time doesn't exist in the timeless realm so it is all down to imagination anyway. In other words why stay all day in bed asleep when heaven is outside the front door awaiting your good pleasure.

Edited 2 hours ago by gettoefl