It makes no sense, something that was created has to suffer eternally? But this is the Judeo Christian and Islamic belief that the soul (if that is what they call a person that survives the bodily death) was created by God, but after death lives eternally either in heaven or hell.
So how does something that never existed before, suddenly exist forever afterward? And if that existence must continue perpetually in hell, wouldn't it be more merciful to just undo the dust-sculpting business done in the first place?
So how does something that never existed before, suddenly exist forever afterward? And if that existence must continue perpetually in hell, wouldn't it be more merciful to just undo the dust-sculpting business done in the first place?
This they cannot answer.
Krishna, on the other hand, says in His Bhagavad gita:
"Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor you,...nor in the future shall any of us cease to be."
Krishna, on the other hand, says in His Bhagavad gita:
"Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor you,...nor in the future shall any of us cease to be."
That is what eternal means. There is no creation, there is no death. The soul may have been in some sort of dormant state, but individuality is always existent. It is only the body that is created from the eight material elements.
In Gita the Lord describes them in comparison to the living entity: "Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and false ego—all together these eight constitute My separated material energies. Besides these, O mighty-armed Arjuna, there is another, superior energy of Mine, which comprises the living entities who are exploiting the resources of this material, inferior nature." So there is a distinct difference. One is superior due to consciousness. The other is unconscious matter which by nature is temporary.
Thus how can something that had a beginning have no end? If we were not eternal to begin with, how can we exist eternally hereafter?
In Vaisnavism we understand the living beings are of the same superior spiritual nature of God, but being only a minute particle, one can become forgetful of this by misdentifying with the Lord's inferior nature, matter. That's where troubles begin.
No amount of suffering is permanent, however. Like a truly loving father, that is God's mercy; the nature of the material energy we try to enjoy separately from Him is flickering. There is always some happiness or relief from the suffering. From a logical point of view, therefore it still makes no sense that some religions suggest that God is so cruel that after death a sinful person will suffer punishment forever, something even the most ordinary father would never do.
Thus how can something that had a beginning have no end? If we were not eternal to begin with, how can we exist eternally hereafter?
In Vaisnavism we understand the living beings are of the same superior spiritual nature of God, but being only a minute particle, one can become forgetful of this by misdentifying with the Lord's inferior nature, matter. That's where troubles begin.
No amount of suffering is permanent, however. Like a truly loving father, that is God's mercy; the nature of the material energy we try to enjoy separately from Him is flickering. There is always some happiness or relief from the suffering. From a logical point of view, therefore it still makes no sense that some religions suggest that God is so cruel that after death a sinful person will suffer punishment forever, something even the most ordinary father would never do.
In the Vedic scriptures are elaborate descriptions of both the material heavenly planets above the earthly plane and the hellish worlds below along with the punishments inflicted according to the sins committed. It is a subject matter too lengthy to print here. Just know that, there is not just one hell, but many many hells. The good thing is that you are not sent there eternally, it only feels that way since it's so awful. Trust me, you don't want to go there.
