05/08/2025
Spindle: By Chitra Selvaraj
HEAVEN OR HELL? – All of us have desires. There’s nobody on earth who does not have desires. Some of us are lucky to have some or most of those desires fulfilled and many of us are unlucky to have some or many unfulfilled desires. What if all desires were fulfilled? Would that be heaven or hell?
Obviously, the first answer that comes to our minds is heaven. If every desire of ours came true, such a life is indeed heaven! But is it? I remember an episode of “Twilight Zone,” called “A nice place to visit.” Here a bad guy called Henry Valentine dies in a shootout with the police. When he wakes up in the other world, he sees Mr. Pip waiting on him, eager to carry out his every wish. Initially Valentine is confused because he can’t imagine himself being sent to heaven after leading the life he did. But he dismisses the thought and makes one request after another.
Mr. Pip faithfully fulfills every wish. After a while of having every wish fulfilled, Valentine gets bored because there is no challenge or an unknown factor. He knows that if he gambles, he is definitely going to win. Whatever he does, he is sure of the outcome. Life ceases to be a mystery and he has to live with this certainty for eternity.
He almost goes out of his mind and checks with Mr. Pip if they made a mistake. He finds they have his records straight. He beat up a dog when he was 5, he joined the street gang when he was older and the list of bad actions go on. Then he asks Mr. Pip, as to why they sent him to heaven with such a record. He expresses his desire to go to the other side (hell), where life could be more interesting.
Mr. Pip gives out a devil’s laughter and asks what made him think he is in heaven. This is the other side!
The story couldn’t be truer. When we seek happiness from desires fulfilled, we will be chasing them forever. Real happiness does not come from the outside. It only comes from the inside. The more we try to seek it from the outside, the more we will have to keep chasing it. The more we learn to seek it inside, the more happiness will chase us. On the outside, we must rely on external factors for happiness and the control is outside of us. But when we seek happiness within, you take control of your own life. It’s only when you are happy with yourself, external things can make you happy. Then happiness is yours forever.
