Heaven or Hell: Which Do You Create?
Posted: Tuesday, August 31, 2010
by Goshwin Stone
In the movie 'What Dreams May Come' the character Chris (Robin Williams) portrays a man who has lost his two children in a car accident. His wife Annie (Annabella Sciorra) can not cope with the children's deaths and descends into a nightmare of despair and attempts suicide. She fails but ends up in a mental institution. This almost leads to a divorce but Chris and Annie reconcile. On the one-year anniversary of the day of reconciliation, Chris himself is involved in an automobile accident that takes his life. Annie ends up committing suicide in her despondency, grief and guilt over the death of the children and over Chris's death.
Both Chris and Annie had created their 'new form-less lives' based upon their perceptions, fears, guilts, loves, and prior lives in human form, but even more so from what they deemed as being their worth. He, a world of Heaven and beauty. She, a world of Hell and 'ugliness.' Both had pretty much experienced the same set of circumstances that led to their deaths, both had lost their children, which precipitated the whole thing. Granted Annie had lost Chris to death as well as their children but the scene was still set by the children's death, how each dealt with that experience and then the creation of what they experienced after death of their own physical body.
Chris becomes angry when he learns Annie was 'sent' to Hell for her act of self-violence through suicide and is determined to rescue her. Co-actor Cuba Gooding, Jr., portraying Albert, a friend of Chris's, explains to Chris that God did not punish Annie, that Annie punished herself by creating a Hell she felt she deserved and cautioned Chris that no-one ever succeeds in taking a person out of 'Hell.' Albert also explains to Chris that if he stays for more than a few minutes he will not be able to leave Hell either and will be stuck there. Throughout his quest to rescue Annie, Chris meets many people from his embodied life as well as horrible creatures in misery. He begins to recall memories of his son Ian (Josh Paddock). He had been very disappointed in Ian and felt Ian was not achieving as he felt he should.
After many episodic travails Chris finds Annie. She is living in an illusionary copy of the home she, Chris and the children had lived in while embodied on Earth. But this self-created home was not like the one on Earth. This one was falling apart, dripping with vile wetness, dark and dank. Annie is truly a walking-dead, pale and drawn. Chris tries to get her to listen to him but she is so deep in her self-inflicted pain and guilt that she can't hear him. He doesn't give up, he doesn't wish to leave her and decides to join her in her Hell. He begins to succumb to the Hellish atmosphere but through her love of him she does begin to 'wake-up' and determines to take him back up to his Heaven with her.
Upon reaching Heaven they are reunited with their children. Chris and Annie discuss their next incarnation, their choice to meet again and fall in love but to create a life next time without the tragic ending of this incarnation.
Though just a movie with actors and actresses portraying a script, it and the lives/deaths/travails of Chris and Annie is replayed every moment on this Earth by people as the characters in their own films of self-created manifestations of private Heavens and private Hells, and collectively we all share in the effects of these creations.
We really do have choice and free-will as to whether we create a Heaven or a Hell, not just as an afterlife experience but as one while embodied on this Earth. But to express our Sovereign Will we must become aware of our false self, the one who presides over our subconscious and catalogs our beliefs for us, including all the programmed beliefs about ourselves and our world, and all the workings between the two.
Just how much of what we profess as being our authentic self really is? And how much is our false self?
When we look around us and rant about the unfairness or the cruelties, our loss of rights, the destruction of our world, the abuse of our children, our anger at our political leaders, the corruption of our governmental bodies, do we for one moment take into account our own responsibility in helping to create and manifest these very things we despise. Or do we stay in the illusion that we are powerless and that these things happen 'to us' perpetuated by 'them?' With us as victims.
Pretty much, yes we do. It is much easier that way, at least in the short term. But what happens when it's time for the unfolding of our own 'What Dreams May Come?' Will we succumb to Annie's Hell or to Chris's Heaven? To Chris's ability to see past the illusions or to Annie's deafness and sightlessness fueled by the delusion of despair and false guilt? And false beliefs that led her to consign herself to a false construct like Hell in punishment for her inability to cope with her very real grief.
Chris, though hurt and grief-stricken as was Annie, did not succumb to that grief. He walked through it and came out on the other side. Annie could not walk through it and come out on the other side, she got stuck in Hell. When Annie was admitted to the mental institution after her suicide, he almost left her side because he couldn't see her getting better. She had chosen Hell on Earth and he did not wish to reside there with her. But when she was able to raise herself up out of the Flames of her Hell on Earth, they were able to reconcile.
Upon his death he entered Heaven and CHOSE to walk through (deal with) not only his own memories but also to traverse through the terrors of Hell, not unafraid for he was fearful, but he CHOSE to walk through his fears, and hers.
As a people, will we CHOOSE to walk through our fears (even while fearful) and come out into Heaven on Earth on the other side, and in our travels will we walk through another's Hell when they need help, with the trust that maybe, just maybe, they will wake-up soon enough to save us all, as Annie ultimately did when she saved herself and Chris.
We are all one, it is a delusion of mass proportions engrained and programmed so deeply into our subconscious false self, this sense of separation, not only from each other but from every other thing on this Earth and maybe even more so within our own ruptured psyches, that this very belief is at the root of every perceived 'bad' thing we see happening in our world. De-program this fallacious belief and then we can say we have evolved for we will see the proof manifested everywhere. Not least of all within our selves.
We are all one. We each hold a paint brush and a pallet of colors. We come in equipped by Grace to paint the world of our choice using whatever colors we choose. Let us all choose a really large collective paintbrush with all of our colors combined to create a Heaven on Earth, not a Hell of Separation.
The excerpt of the painting above is from the much larger version I created in acrylics.
This Article has been viewed 1,287 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
More commentsExcellent, Goshwin!Thank you my friend!Blessings
Wonderfully said Goshwin. Looking at the world this way it is sad to see how many choose Hell over Heaven.GraceThank you Grace. It is a sad thing but through continuing to wake up and to assist others to wake up, the Human Race will come out on the other side.Blessings
Love the art; and the article! Nothing like the wonderful burden of accepting the responsibility of making our own heaven. And separation is so powerful that people just don't know. Love the phrase "ruptured psyches". Well done!!!Thank you so much Christofer for the wonderful compliments. It is a responsibility, one that we have forgotten through our 'blame' dogmas, but every day I am seeing the manifestation of a change in the taking on of the responsibility for our lives. It is so easy to be convinced that we are 'going to Hell in a handbasket' with our media portraying this very thing, but I believe we are evolving. It's just that That Fact does not fit in with the 'status quo's' agenda. Separation is much more profitable for them, especially when it fragments the Human Psyche.Blessings
I finally get to give a comment to one of my favorite people on here. Give me a moment to compose myself.Okay, better now. At first I thought this was a review of the movie. Once you started talking about how we choose to live our lives you had me hooked. Brilliantly said.You are so sweet Abe. Thank you so much!Have a Blessed Day
Magnificent article- I too firmly believe that we ourselves are, every minute we live here on earth, creating our own heaven or hell- This was a wonderfully told story of infinite importance to the human being- Thank you so much- the layers of wisdom in your mind are continuously fascinating!- I look forward to peeling them away- Always- EllaElla thank you so much. I cherish our friendship. YOU don't know how much You have helped me.Many Blessings my Friend
A VERY emotionally intense film, but one that everyone should see-good job bring the theme home to the reader.Thank you Bing. Your insight is always of depth. I loved the movie many years ago when I saw it and it has always stayed with me. Last night, through looking at some things I am dealing with right now, and searching for guidance for myself, I remembered this film and it gave me clarity all over again. Just like it did when I first saw it.Blessings to you
This article hit home in that I've been living what you could more particularly describe as a mini-hell on earth for over a year but not of my making, nor of anything that I have done to cause it. It is what it is and drugs appear to be here to stay. I have been the only one in my neighborhood to stand tall and ride up against these kids who are dealing. I truly love the kids but detest the nature of their bondage. I am not saying that I have not had a few panic attacks for what I've been up against, but have since gotten so strong with finding ways to deal with the sitation openly and, of course, privately. With the approaching of Labor Day, it will soon be discovered how far we've come as it was pretty much the breaking-point for me last Labor Day and the beginning of my war against drugs. This was when I took a tall stand and have been fighting it virtually alone because the neighbors are afraid of retaliation. They don't care about their property values, their safety or the kids who play in the park across the street or attend a high school 2 blocks away, or the fact that kids are dropped off in school buses in front of the drug house(s). They choose not to get involved. Ask me how the house(s) haven't been closed when one of the kids was arrested for having a 45-pound-parcel of pot delivered somewhere nearby? That was on election day in May and the felony charges still loom and a common nuisance is still open. I still have my joy and hope for a brighter day and have written many articles about it. I guess you could say that I am hoping to walk through it to the other side very soon and ask myself "what's a little rain along the way?"Thanks for the great article. I have grown to expect that from you. I couldn't help from articulating the situation and certainly hope that people going through challenges will not let oppressing circumstances change who they are. Many blessings, SThank you so much for your comments. I have no doubt you will walk out the other side. Your words prove that. Thank you for sharing. It means a lot to me and my prayers are with you. And with the people involved in this. I pray the eyes of the 'lost ones' open soon so that they can see that not only are they creating a Hell on Earth for themselves but for all the people around them.Many, many Blessings
Hi Goshwin.WOW! Brilliant in every aspect.Hugs,DianneP.S. That's one of my favorite movies.Thank you so much Dianne! I am not surprised at all that it is one of your favorites. Being the insightful, deep-thinker that you are.Blessings
Beautiful painting, as are your beautiful visions. There is a difference between what is often times reality, and your refusal to accept this for yourself and to rise above it. Many can walk through hell, and choose to make it their heaven, it doesn't mean that the hell does not exist. In a perfect world this would not be a conversation that was needed to have. In our world, we must. I am with you though in that we have but one option, and that is to try and make it so. Thank you for doing your part.Thank you David for your sweet compliments and your time. Your insight is always welcome. I agree that we must all do our part and you do yours well.Many Blessings to you
Very nice...keep it up...RegardsCPThanks Chiradeep for reading and commenting. And for the encouragement.Blessings
More comments
We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.