How do we know if we are going to Heaven or Hell?

How do we know if we are going to Heaven or Hell? Sounds tricky, eh? But perhaps we can have some clues on the path we might end up on after death.

Here’s how:

Neuroscience proved that the way we think affects the neural links in our brain. They call it “neuroplasticity” - it simply means that we can alter the circuitry of our brain according to the way we see ourselves, others, God and the world.

In “This is Your Brain on Joy”, Dr. Earl Henslin shows the difference between a happy person’s brain (it looks like a smiling face) and the brain of someone in emotional pain (it looks scary!).

In their book “Buddha’s Brain”, Dr. Rick Hanson and Dr. Rick Mendius show how Jesus, Moses, Buddha and other great spiritual teachers were all born with a brain built essentially like you and me, but they used their minds to change their brains in ways that changed civilizations.

“How God Changes Your Brain”, the book that made it to the front cover of Time Magazine by Dr. Andrew Newberg and Mark Robert Waldman, shows us how God becomes neurologically real in our brain as we contemplate God.

In short, these books validate what Berry Neil Kaufman once said, “The way we choose to see the world, creates the world we see”.

That’s how powerful our mind is - even though we can neither touch it, nor can we see it.

In other words, our intangible mind creates the tangible realities in our lives. It also means the physical reality that appears to be real in our senses is actually plastic.

Even though physical brain will be left behind after death, it doesn’t mean that our consciousness won’t be there. Studies on near death experiences showed evidences on the existence of our consciousness during and after death, even without the physical brain.

(More over, scientists recently found out that the physical universe that we see, is only 4% of the whole thing - 23% is what they call "dark matter" and the remaining 73% is known as “dark energy” - they are called “dark” because they are unseen.)

In my personal life, these books (plus many other books) explained what actually happened in my brain when I was diagnosed with high blood pressure eight years ago (I am totally cured now, by the way). Because I unconsciously believed that the world is a dangerous place, I developed a certain dysfunctional psychological habits to keep me “feel” safe.

The illusionary feeling of being safe came with a price - I lived in stress and anxiety. I was angry with my life and the world. I felt small and lived in separation emotionally. I judged every person with whom I was in contact, and I used to wake up every morning believing I would have to struggle through another day.

Imagine if I were to die in that time. I was already living in hell. Even if I would go to heaven, how could I possibly be able to recognize it?! The only thing that I knew was, “life is stressful and the world is a dangerous place” - in short, “life is hell”.

It reminds me of what happened to the Aztecs when the Spanish conquistadors invaded their empire. Because the Aztecs didn’t have any knowledge about ships, they thought the Spaniards were floating on the water and believed that they were white, shining gods coming from the northern shore of the Yucatan peninsular ("white" because of their skins and "shining" because of their helmets). They failed to see the ships until their wiseman alerted them about it.

Pema Chödrön once said, “The truth you believe and cling to makes you unavailable to hear anything new.”

So, to me personally, where do we go after death depends on how we see and experience our lives in the world at this moment in time. If we begin to believe that nothing is wrong with the world, perhaps we will slowly begin to be able to see that Heaven is right here in front of our eyes.

Where do we go after death is not a matter of God judging us the way we judge others. We'll be dearly ushered to our heaven according to the levels of consciousness that we have right now. Science told us that we create the world's physical realities in our mind; So it is undeniable if we create heaven's physical reality too, after death.

Here's some simple exercise that never fail to provide me with some clues on my unconscious believes about life and the world (It also give me some clues on the path I'll most likely end up on after death ;o) I believe it can help you too:

Take a piece of paper and fill in the blanks:

1. I am ___________________________

2. Others are ___________________________

3. The world is ___________________________

“The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of Hell, a hell of Heaven”
- John Milton, English poet.