Bushwalk Australia

puredingo wrote:

devoswitch wrote:Lol....heaven. What a concept.

A popular concept at that. I'm definitely no authority on the subject but I'm struggling to think of a culture which hasn't got some ideology of heaven in their after life beliefs?

Do cultures that believe in reincarnation still believe in heaven, or a form of?

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puredingo wrote:

devoswitch wrote:Lol....heaven. What a concept.

A popular concept at that. I'm definitely no authority on the subject but I'm struggling to think of a culture which hasn't got some ideology of heaven in their after life beliefs?

Being a popular concept doesn't make it anymore legit.
It's a great way to keep people dreaming about what may be so they don't get too concerned about their everyday lives in which we are being rorted in everyday. We definitely don't want to be too present in this moment or we might just realise we are in heaven right now.
What would the minister drive if we all realised that we are God and are one collective consciousness.
Can't have that. The world would actually help each other and end famine, war and other monstrosities.
There's no money to be made in a peaceful world where everyone knows the truth.

But nobody actually “knows” the truth.

As regards the universality of cultures having a concept of a heaven.

Due in the main to mans inability to come to terms with the idea that we are indeed alone and that ones life is finite. A pretty overwhelming thought really.

Phil.

"As regards the universality of cultures having a concept of a heaven."

Capital 'H' Heaven is concept of the Abrahamic religions but many cultures have the concept of an afterlife.

I recall reading somewhere, somewhen that this is common in societies large enough enough to have a priestly caste - so the idea of a heaven is a way to enforce social cohesion and to retain the primacy of the priestly class as intercedents between the earthly and the divine. A vengeful god and the reward of heaven is a handy tool to enforce societal obedience.

A lot of less structured societies, such as Australian First Nations, and other Indigenous societies, have a loose pantheon of divinities and animistic beliefs (supernatural powers invested into natural phenomena such as wind, topography, watercourses etc) with an afterlife centred around ancestors. Perhaps this is an analogue of heaven that all cultures share to a degree.