Do We Go To Heaven When We Die?

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Do We Go to Heaven When We Die?</h4>

Pearly gates. Angelic choirs. A godly ascension and blissful reunions with loved ones. The Christian picture of heaven is well known throughout the western world, regardless of whether you believe. A day of judgment, the weight of the soul, being welcomed inside or being cast back down to Earth. There are also shared themes across all religious versions of heaven, which almost always infer that only the very best of us will make it there. And it’s been this way for thousands of years. But, even after all this time, is this promised paradise just a comforting myth? Or, actually, could there really be more to it?

This is Unveiled, and today we’re answering the extraordinary question; do we go to heaven when we die?

The idea of Heaven varies wildly across cultures and religions. For some, it's a physical place of eternal reward. Often it can only be reached by successfully navigating a series of divine trials… but, when you get there, it’s perfect. You’re conscious, aware, and you’re surrounded by the people you want to be with. There’s bountiful food, music, fun… it’s just the best place. The Abrahamic faiths, including Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, often present heaven as a breathtaking realm of splendor and joy… with glistening cities of gold, lush gardens teeming with life, and the constant presence of a loving God. But, what’s key is that this view of heaven is always primarily fuelled by faith. It’s the wonderful place you go to after you die but, since no one alive has ever died before - at least, not permanently - no one can ever truly say that they’ve ever been, or that they know what awaits. This kind of heaven is always, apparently, in our future, but is never in our past. It’s always in our imaginations; it’s never drawn from experience.

With this in mind, there are some more metaphysical understandings of heaven that, while still not scientifically sound, imply that the unknowableness of it is, really, all part of the charm. In various guises, there are claims that heaven (when we get there) will really be a state of pure consciousness, a merging with a higher power, or even a move to a different dimension or a parallel world. In some eastern religions like Buddhism and Hinduism, it’s a concept that’s perhaps a little more nuanced. Heaven is, in general, pitched as a pervading feeling of bliss, which in itself is the reward for a life well-lived. Or, in models that include reincarnation, for many lives well lived. There is still a considerable degree of faith required here… but this kind of heaven is at least seemingly achievable based on the universe as we know it. It’s one reason why, at times, esteemed scientists have seemingly spoken in favor of, say, hinduism. Including, most famously, the American astronomer Carl Sagan.

But, when it comes to heaven outright, science doesn’t usually have a great deal to say… other than it doesn’t exist because there’s no evidence. Traditional science struggles to measure the immeasurable, and that’s what heaven ultimately is. You can’t prove it, so science can never really back it. Or, at least, that’s the way it has typically been throughout history. In more recent years and decades, though, the rules of the game have seemingly changed for scientists. So much so that, now, perhaps even heaven isn’t entirely off the table.

Belief in the multiverse is about as scientific a “belief” as you’re ever likely to encounter. We do not know that the multiverse exists, we have never discovered a parallel world… but increasing numbers of scientists insist that it (and they) are real. As we’ve seen multiple times on this channel, multiple universes could be possible in any number of ways. For example, they might erupt as offshoots of quantum events, endlessly splitting along an infinite timeline of possibility, as per the Many Worlds Interpretation. Or they might be hiding beyond the boundaries of our known universe, quietly existing in huge (but isolated) cosmic bubbles, as per eternal inflation. But, and for the most part thanks to the unknown elements of the multiverse, some have mused whether heaven might also be possible within it. Given that heaven clearly means different things to different people, is the multiverse the perfect structure to house our many paradises along its limitless reach?

For many, and with the multiverse simmering along in the background, the answer could lie within the ever-enigmatic realm of consciousness. We know our bodies do not continue after death, no matter what the religious depictions might offer, because we have boundless physical proof. When things die they decompose until, eventually, there’s nothing (or almost nothing) left. The physicality of what makes us us is irredeemably lost. But, the topic of consciousness - or what some call the soul - is far less straightforward. Is consciousness a physical product, created solely by the workings of the brain? Or is there something else that’s shaping everything we feel within ourselves? It’s by no means a modern problem, and has been debated since at least the time of Ancient Greece.

From the point of view of heaven, however, the true nature of consciousness could provide some answers. First off, if it is a physical product of the brain (a brain that will decompose post-death) then clearly that would mean that heaven doesn’t exist. When the brain dies and disappears, so does everything else it’s capable of conjuring - including the concept of heaven. Here, though, we might at least have an explanation for how the idea of heaven may have arisen. Over countless studies, many have suggested that the sensation of going to heaven - as in the white light and euphoric feeling that many report during a near death experience - might simply be the brain's final, glorious surge of activity before it shuts down forever. An in-built response to the ultimate trauma of death that humans have always felt, and that has been gradually shaped into the picture of heaven, as it’s told by religion.

Meanwhile, though, and even if consciousness isn’t a physical product, perhaps there are some routes toward it still providing a meaning for heaven. Biocentrism is a controversial theory but, in short, it claims that consciousness may exist independent of the body. For advocates, it could be more like an energy that channels through us during the period in which our bodies are alive. But, when that period ends and our bodies die, our consciousness lives on… elsewhere. In some visualizations, it’s as though it floods back out into the universe, having spent a lifetime cooped up inside us. If this were ever scientifically confirmed (which it hasn’t been so far) then could that process double up as heaven in reality?

No matter how it’s generated, though, one final way in which the true consciousness could be key is as a host for heaven. While we may not have definitive proof of this place that we’re all supposed to be striving for, many report experiencing moments that feel transcendent or heavenly throughout their waking lives. These moments might occur during acts of kindness, whenever you strike up a profound connection with others, or simply when you witness the beauty and wonder of nature. Anecdotally, these are often said to leave the experiencer feeling lighter than usual, or feeling as though they’ve briefly seen themselves as though from the outside. So, could it be that it’s this level of contentment that really represents what heaven is?

The German philosopher of the Enlightenment period, Immanuel Kant, was one who championed finding moral goodness within yourself. He believed, to some degree, that it’s our actions that determine whether we experience heavenly or hellish states during our lifetime. Kant was a controversial figure in many ways, and a lot of his philosophy was seemingly guided by the western religions of the day… but could his ideas be taken to mean that we might just as well enter heaven while we’re living as we would when we’re not? That, ultimately, it’s all just in our heads?

What’s your verdict? Is Heaven a real place, a state of mind, or simply wishful thinking? Is it somewhere we go when we die? A form that we take when our bodies give out? Or could it be found even long before we’ve breathed our last on Earth? For now, it’s a question that’s simply impossible to answer without factoring in faith. From a purely scientific point of view, because there’s no proof for it… we might say that, no, we don’t go to heaven when we die. But the contemporary counter-argument might just as well point out that, in an era of the multiverse, parallel worlds and the general weirdness of quantum mechanics… is a transcendental realm, better than anything we’ve ever known, really quite such a farfetched jump to take?