Page 218 - Matter: The Other Name for Illusion

Nevertheless, the fact that heaven and hell are experienced as perceptions
does not in the least detract from the pleasure received from the former, nor the
suffering from the latter. In the same way that someone in this world feels pain
when he burns his hand, so he will also feel the reality of this perception in the
Hhereafter. As has already been mentioned, fFeelings such as pain are also

perceived in the brain. However, this perception, which everybody
experiences, has been created to be exceedingly realistic, just like all our other
perceptions. People can even faint from the violence of the pain they feel. In the
same way, some images can cause people intense discomfort, even though they
are created as perceptions in our minds. For instance, an unpleasant sight or
sound, or a bad smell can cause great discomfort. The fact these are perceived
in the brain changes nothing. Therefore, even though hell will be presented

to the soul as a perception, that fact does nothing to lighten the torment that
will be experienced there. In the same way that God creates the life of this
world to be so clear and convincing that people assume it to be "a definite fact,"
He has the power to do exactly the same thing in the hereafter. God reveals in
several verses that the torments of hell are quite unbearable:

... My punishment is the Painful Punishment. (Surat al-Hijr: 50)
We will make those who disbelieve suffer a severe punishment and
repay them for the worst of what they did. That is the repayment of the
enemies of God - the Fire. They will have it for their Eternal Home as
repayment for their renunciation of Our Signs. (Surah Fussilat: 27-28)

The same thing applies to heaven. Everything a person enjoys or which
gives him pleasure is a perception that forms in his mind. Someone enjoying a
conversation with his best friend, for instance, is in reality doing so in his mind.
Or someone enjoying the magnificent sight of a waterfall, and listening to the

roaring of the water, is actually seeing sights and hearing sounds in his mind.
There is no question about that. Yet that does not stop him enjoying that image.
That is why God reveals in the Koran that heaven represents supreme
achievement for people, and that it contains everything their souls will take
pleasure from:
But those who heed their Lord will have Gardens with rivers flowing
under them, remaining in them timelessly, for ever: hospitality from

God. What is with God is better for those who are truly good. (Surah Al
'Imran: 198)

216 MATTER: THE OTHER NAME FOR ILLUSION