Wouldn't it have been better to just not exist rather than risk eternal damnation?

Question

I mean, if you didn't exist, you wouldn't even know that you didn't exist, so there's no way you could have any problem with it.

Don't you wish God just spared you the likelihood of damnation all together, and have you not even know it?

At best, when I ask people what's so great about Heaven, they say something like, "You can't get sick". etc., etc. Not exactly anything pleasurable. Yet a major reason to want heaven is to avoid the sufferings of hell.

Seems like those in the most bliss are the ones who will never know it, because they do not exist.

Doesn't all of this support Buddha's 1st precept: Life is suffering?

Answer 1

No, because you would miss out on the chance of getting into heaven. And it's not impossible. You just have to work daily on that.
Don't you have to work daily on keeping your teeth from decaying and falling out? So, while your at it, why not work at getting into heaven. I actually enjoy it. It's not work to me.
I can't say that I am not tempted every day, and yes sometime I do fall, but you know what? Jesus died for those sins I have and will commit, so all I have to do is pick myself up off the floor and repent, and get back to "brushing."
It's worth it in the end wouldn't you think?

Now, would you rather not exist if you knew you would have cavities and have to brush your teeth every day? I doubt that seriously.

Answer 2

This is the logical conclusion of the fallacious concept of an eternal hell. Number one: There is no eternal hell. period. This is a concoction put into the modern bible by men who were bent on controlling everyone. This concept not only "lit a fire" under people (pun intended) so they would get motivated to surrender to the church, but also made it an imperative that people go out and preach to others to "save" them.

Hell and heaven, if they are in the material world, are both temporary. Nothing in this material world lasts forever. It has come into existence at some point in time and when the entire universe is destroyed, it will no longer exist.

The concept of an eternal hell also does not jive with the fact that the Lord is all-merciful. Even ordinary people without much mercy or kindness have no trouble giving you second and third chances for forgiveness. Why then would the Supreme Lord, who is full of mercy and kindness, condemn anyone to eternal torment? Either the Lord is not all-merciful or there is no eternal hell. I prefer to accept the Lord as the reservoir of all good qualties such as love, mercy, kindness, etc. These contradictory concepts have plaqued Christianity from the time the "eternal hell" concept first made its appearance down to the present day.

Yes, the Buddha is right, "life is suffering". But His solution was not right. Material life is suffering, and therefore we should end our material life, but we cannot end our existence altogether. We are eternal spiritual beings having come from the supreme spiritual being, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As the Lord is eternal, we are also eternal. Just a drop of sea water has the same qualities as the whole ocean, we are the same in quality as the Lord. The difference is quantity not quality. He is the Supreme Spirit and we are minute spirits.

And because we are so small, we can be overcome by the illusion of thinking we are this body and we are a part of this material world. This is illusion, maya. When we have fallen into this illusion, we forget our spiritual nature and our relationship with the Lord. And in this condition of illusion, we suffer the pangs of material life -- birth, death, old age and disease and the all the other sufferings that go with these.

Committing spiritual suicide by trying to end our individual existence as in Buddhism or impersonal liberation (merging into brahma) is not a solution. This is only the temporary absence of the pain, not positive spiritual pleasure. Positive spiritual pleasure comes from re-establishing our relationship to the Supreme Lord in loving devotional service. This is our eternal constitutional position -- to be His eternal servants. We are servants in any case, but now we are serving our senses, our families, communities, nation, etc. and we cannot be happy that way. To be truly happy we have to serve the Supreme. By reconnecting with the Lord in loving service, we immediately end our suffering in material life, become full of knowledge and full of bliss eternally. This is the purpose of self-realization/God realization.

There is much more to be said about how to begin devotional service, but you can check the following link which lets you read online many of the most important literatures about this. http://www.krishna.com/e-books.

Answer 3

Buddha wasn't all that far off. Try not eating, or not sleeping, or getting physically hurt. NOT suffering is the exception, not the rule.

But, then, if life was a constant eternal bliss, it would be too easy. What would be the point?

Just accept that that's life. Do what you feel you have to do, and don't obsess too much over it.

Answer 4

Heaven is supposed to be the most wonderful place you can't even imagine. So it's kind of hard to describe why you might want to get there. :)

But, I think God loves us far too much to allow us to suffer for eternity, unless we really work for that, y'know?

I'd rather exist, because even if the afterlife sucks (or there isn't one altogether) at least I had a good time in the meantime.

Answer 5

Life was never meant to be suffering. When we decided to become civilized we created the suffering for ourselves. We didn't suffer living in the hands of the gods 10,000 years ago. Humans invented heaven, hell and their gods of such places to explain away the suffering in the promise of eternal happiness after you're dead as long as you worship said god. We need a new way to live, not a new place to go when we die.

Answer 6

no, it doesn't... Life is not about suffering. God wants you to live your life. I love my Life!!!Ive got 2 wonderful kids who love God! I dont have the best job, but thats my fault. I help out with my Church. Heaven is a wonderful place. The ground is made of gold. not only is that awesome, but the thing that man holds so dearly is what the ground is made of. Thats very encouraging to me.

Answer 7

well, the only reason your eternal damnation exists is because you believe it does. sit back and think about it. the only reason why many people are so religious is because thats what they were taught, when everything we know as a person tells us otherwise. humans as a whole, are stupid, individually, smart, think for yourself

Answer 8

Yes, but since I do exist I will walk humbly and love those that are close to me.
By the way Great question!

Answer 9

I don't believe in hell. I honestly believe Buddha is correct, life is suffering. And earth, essentially, is our hell and a place of learning.

By the way, reincarnation used to be in the bible. "You must be born again" is supposed to read, "You must be born again and again."

Answer 10

We are all a work in progress learning and growing. Making it a spiritual journey, makes the lessons valid in spirituality. God is not busy condemning us, He is too busy loving us.