We have all been taught at one point of time or another that evil souls will be condemn in hell forever. So what exactly is hell? No one knows for sure, when I say this, I meant, no one has reported back in a verfiable manner what hell is like. How many versions of hell are there? Many! I'll explore some here.
Greek Hell
The deceased entered the underworld by crossing the Acheron, ferried across by Charon, who charged an obolus (a small coin) for passage placed in the mouth of the deceased by pious relatives. Paupers and the friendless gathered for a hundred years on the near shore according to Book VI of Vergil's Aeneid. Greeks offered propitiatory libations to prevent the deceased from returning to the upper world to "haunt" those who had not given them a proper burial. The far side of the river was guarded by Cerberus, the three-headed dog defeated by Heracles (Roman Hercules). Passing beyond Cerberus, the shades of the departed entered the land of the dead to be judged.
The five rivers of the Realm of Hades, and their symbolic meanings, are Acheron (the river of sorrow, or woe), Cocytus (lamentation), Phlegethon (fire), Lethe (oblivion), and Styx (hate). Styx forms the boundary between the upper and lower worlds.
The first region of Hades comprises the Fields of Asphodel, described in Odyssey xi, where the shades of heroes wander despondently among lesser spirits, who twitter around them like bats. Only libations of blood offered to them in the world of the living can reawaken in them for a time the sensations of humanity.
Beyond lay an area which could be taken for a euphonym of Pluto, whose own name was dread. There were two pools, that of Lethe, where the common souls flocked to erase all memory, and the pool of Mnemosyne ("memory"), where the initiates of the Mysteries drank instead. In the forecourt of the palace of Hades and Persephone sit the three judges of the Underworld: Minos, Rhadamanthus, and Aeacus. There at the trivium sacred to Hecate, where three roads meets, souls are judged, returned to the Fields of Asphodel if they are neither virtuous nor evil, sent by the road to Tartarus if they are impious or evil, or sent to Elysium (Islands of the Blessed) with the "blameless" heroes.
Taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hades
In this case, all of the dead have to pass through hell for judgement before they are reassigned to "a place of their deserving".
Ancient Egyptian Hell
When the body died, parts of its soul known as ka (body double) and the ba (personality) would go to the Kingdom of the Dead. While the soul dwelt in the Fields of Aaru, Osiris demanded work as payback for the protection he provided. Statues were placed in the tombs to serve as substitutes for the deceased.
Arriving at one's reward in afterlife was a demanding ordeal, requiring a sin-free heart and the ability to recite the spells, passwords, and formulae of the Book of the Dead. In the Hall of Two Truths, the deceased's heart was weighed against the Shu feather of truth and justice taken from the headdress of the goddess Ma'at. If the heart was lighter than the feather, they could pass on, but if it were heavier they would be devoured by the demon Ammit.
Egyptians also believed that being mummified was the only way to have an afterlife. Only if the corpse had been properly embalmed and entombed in a mastaba, could the dead live again in the Fields of Yalu and accompany the Sun on its daily ride. Due to the dangers the afterlife posed, the Book of the Dead was placed in the tomb with the body as well as food, jewelry, and 'curses'.
Taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afterlife#Ancient_Egypt
The crimes of those who are condemned to hell consist of nothing more and nothing less than having acted against the divine world order established at the beginning of creation. Hence, they have excluded themselves from ma'at, while at the same time revealing themselves as agents of chaos. After death, they became forever reduced to a state of nonbeing., which was the chaotic state of the cosmos before creation. For them, there is no renewal and no regeneration of life, but only a second, definitive death...
In every respect, the fate of the damned is the opposite of that of the blessed... when the damned died, their flesh was torn away by demons and their mummy wrappings were removed so that their bodies were left to decompose. In the underworld that the blessed successfully navigate, their order of things is reversed, even to the extent that the damned have to walk upside down, eat their own excrement and drink their own urine. Their hands are tied behind their backs, often around stakes. Their heads and limbs are severed from their bodies and their flesh is cut off their bones. Their hearts are removed and their ba-souls are separated from their bodies, forever unable to return to them. They even loose their shadows, which were considered an important part of the ancient Egyptian being. They have no air and suffer from hunger and thirst, as they receive no funerary offerings. Worst of all, they are denied the reviving light of the sun god, who ignores them, even as they cry out load and wail when he passes them in the underworld at night.
Taken from: http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/hell.htm
The Egyptian belief in the afterlife is very unique in a sense. Like the Greeks, they believed in the Journey through the underworld towards Judgement. However, they demanded the preservation of the body as a means of entering the afterlife. Somehow, over time, money could help you cheat death in these rites- more money means better mummification, so your chances of surviving an eternity is higher; more money means more amulets to ensure that everything is in your favor; more money means more funeral texts to extol your non-existant virtues to the Gods. I think the Gods are more discerning than that, but humans always like to cheat themselves.
Christian Hell
Unfortunately, the christian concept of Hell is a mess. I humbly beg forgiveness for my sarcasm, I can't help it- the christian beliefs have evolved a LOT over the centuries till the point that it no longer follows God's word. According to Christ, Judgement Day will come later (lord know when) where the Angels will seperate the damned from the righteous and throw them into a furnance of fire. Until that day, the dead will remain, well, dead. There is no mention or description about where or what the "waiting" room is. And I wonder if I will die a second death there, or will I just be charred to a piece of crisp bacon, be healed and thrown back in to repeat the cycle for all eternity. That wasn't mentioned specifically as well.
In the Book of Relevation, Judgement Day somehow mutated into a cosmic battle between Satan and his minions versus the Angels. Everyone will wait in hades for Judgement.
Centuries later, Hippolytus of Rome created the impression that in hades, the righteous are happily anticipating judgement day, whist the damned are tormented by the sight of the "lake of unquenchable fire" into which they are destined to be cast into. Somehow, God decide through Hippolytus that the furnance wasn't big enough, so a massive lake of fire was more economical. Somehow, God became this evil tyrant that made you watch your torture device before tossing you into it. That is really worse than death to me.
Centuries later, Saint Augustine (I still don't know how a lecherous pervert like him became a saint) proposed the concept of Original Sin where "the unbaptized go to hell, including infants, albeit with less suffering than is experienced by those guilty of actual sins". Basically, all non-believers are condemned to hell regardless of their moral character. I'm not quite sure how the concept of less suffering will work out. Will I burn at a higher temperature, so I'm reduced to nothing faster? Or will I burn at a lower temperature, so its not so hot, but I take a longer time to be reduced to nothing?
By the medieval era, Gregory of Nyssa's concept of Purgatory was finalized and further elaborated on as a "state of painful purification of the saved after life".
Adapted from personal knowledge and from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afterlife#Christianity
Naraka of Buddhism
Buddhism teaches that there are five (sometimes six) realms of rebirth, which can then be further subdivided into degrees of agony or pleasure. Of these realms, the hell realms, or Naraka, is the lowest realm of rebirth. Of the hell realms, the worst is Avīci or "endless suffering". The Buddha's disciple, Devadatta, who tried to kill the Buddha on three occasions, as well as create a schism in the monastic order, is said to have been reborn in the Avici Hell.Taken from:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naraka_(Buddhism)
However, like all realms of rebirth, rebirth in the Hell realms is not permanent, though suffering can persist for eons before being reborn again. In the Lotus Sutra, the Buddha teaches that eventually even Devadatta will become a Buddha himself, emphasizing the temporary nature of the Hell realms. Thus, Buddhism teaches to escape the endless migration of rebirths (both positive and negative) through the attainment of Nirvana.
The Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha, according to the Ksitigarbha Sutra, made a great vow as a young girl to not reach Enlightenment until all beings were liberated from the Hell Realms or other unwholesome rebirths. In popular literature, Ksitigarbha travels to the Hell realms to teach and relieve beings of their suffering.
Buddhism has also evolved a lot over time. If Buddha still had a body to flip around in, he'll probably be tossing all over his grave. He created a philosophy that somehow mutated into people grovelling before statues of him today, begging for material wealth and blessings, the very things that he preached against.
According to tradition, the Buddha emphasized ethics and correct understanding. He questioned the average person's notions of divinity and salvation. He stated that there is no intermediary between mankind and the divine; distant gods are subjected to karma themselves in decaying heavens; and the Buddha is solely a guide and teacher for the sentient beings who must tread the path of Nirvāṇa (Pāli: Nibbāna) themselves to attain the spiritual awakening called bodhi and see truth and reality as it is. The Buddhist system of insight and meditation practice is not believed to have been revealed divinely, but by the understanding of the true nature of the mind, which must be discovered by personally treading a spiritual path guided by the Buddha's teachings.Taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha
I'm very certain that the Naraka was not a concept handed down by Guatama Buddha himself, but a belief created by his disciples. It was probably to make Buddhism more appealing to Chinese and Hindu converts.
Hindu Hell (Naraka)
Early Vedic religion doesn't have a concept of Hell. Ṛg-veda mentions three realms, bhūr (the earth), svar (the sky) and bhuvas or antarikṣa (the middle area, i.e. air or atmosphere)). In later Hindu literature, especially the law books and Puranas, more realms are mentioned, including a realm similar to Hell, called naraka (in Devanāgarī: नरक). Yama as first born human (together with his twin sister Yamī) in virtue of precedence becomes ruler of men and a judge on their departure. Originally he resides in Heaven, but later, especially medieval traditions, mention his court in naraka.Taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hell#Hinduism
In the law-books (smṛtis and dharma-sūtras, like the Manu-smṛti) naraka is a place of punishment for sins. It is a lower spiritual plane (called naraka-loka) where the spirit is judged, or partial fruits of karma affected in a next life. In Mahabharata there is a mention of the Pandavas going to Heaven and the Kauravas going to Hell. However for the small number of sins which they did commit in their lives, the Pandavas had to undergo hell for a short time. Hells are also described in various Puranas and other scriptures. Garuda Purana gives a detailed account of Hell, its features and enlists amount of punishment for most of the crimes like a modern day penal code.
It is believed that people who commit sins go to Hell and have to go through punishments in accordance with the sins they committed. The god Yamarāja, who is also the god of death, presides over Hell. Detailed accounts of all the sins committed by an individual are kept by Chitragupta, who is the record keeper in Yama's court. Chitragupta reads out the sins committed and Yama orders appropriate punishments to be given to individuals. These punishments include dipping in boiling oil, burning in fire, torture using various weapons, etc. in various Hells. Individuals who finish their quota of the punishments are reborn in accordance with their balance of karma. All created beings are imperfect and thus have at least one sin to their record; but if one has generally led a pious life, one ascends to svarga, a temporary realm of enjoinment similar to Paradise, after a brief period of expiation in Hell and before the next reincarnation according to the law of karma.
I like this concept the most because it is realistic in its realization that all beings have at least ONE sin on their record. We are all flawed human beings aren't we...
I'll talk about Islamic and Taoist hell another time if I can't get guest posters.
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