In the man's dream, a Saint shows him what Hell is like - a room with a pot of delicious stew but the people have spoons too long to feed themselves. Heaven is the same room but the people feed each other with their long-handled spoons. The Saint explains that those in Heaven have learned to care for others. The man awakens having learned that selfishness leads to suffering, while true happiness comes from caring for others in need.

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2. 12 What is Hell?
A man once had a dream where
a Saint appeared and spoke to
him.
“Friend, is there anything you want to know?”
the Saint said in his dream. The man replied, “Can I
very humbly ask you this question: “What is Hell?”
“I will show you what Hell is like,” the Saint said.
The Saint then brought the man into a large room
and there was a large pot of stew in the middle. The
aroma of the stew was delicious. Around the pot sat
people who were famished and miserably desperate.
They were all holding spoons with very long
handles which reached to the pot but because the
handles of the spoons were longer than their arms, it
was impossible to get the stew into their mouths.
The suffering of these hungry people was terrible.
“And now I will show you Heaven,” the Saint
announced. He brought the man into an identical
room. There was a similar pot of stew and the
people who sat round the pot had the same identical
spoons. But these people were well famished,
happily chit-chatting with one another. All had
wide smiles on their faces. At first the
man did not understand the spiritual message.
“It is simple,” explained the Saint. “You see, the
people here have learned to care and feed each
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3. other using the spoons with long handles.”
The man awoke from his dream. H e had learnt
valuable LIFE lessons.
Reflection
* Selfishness, self-centredness, ego-gratification,
greed, a lack of care, love and concern for others
will lead to suffering of the mind.
* True happiness, peace and joy can only be
experienced when one is able to let go more and
more of the self and reach out to all others who are
in need.
* The story is an excerpt from the book
“An Essential 2-in-1 Companion”
You might want to check it out at:
http://www.thebookzhub.com/books
You might want to view the following:
https://vimeo.com/181126550
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