Hell Is the Hospital of the Hereafter and a Painful Place to Correct Our Defects
It is nearly impossible to have lived in this world without hearing something about Hell. Of course, the concept of Hell may be as varied as the people who have heard about it. Some of us may consider it as a place on the opposite side of Heaven, while others may not believe in an external Hell. Some may believe that Hell is not something outside of our own soul, etc. In this lesson, we aim to answer all the questions regarding the essence of Hell and explain how Hell is the hospital of the hereafter. But to better understand this subject, we need to start by using the Law of Proportion and explain a bit more about the conditions of the womb and an unhealthy birth into this world.
Do you agree that doing anything at the right time is more useful and less troublesome? For example, a tree that is pruned at the right time yields more fruit, or a student who passes his exams in June can make better use of his holidays, or a child whose developmental needs have been properly addressed will have a healthier adulthood, etc. Similarly, if the fetus uses the opportunity of the nine-month period in the womb and develops his organs properly, he will be born healthy and enjoy all the blessings and resources of the world.
But things do not always go as we desire. Sometimes we are faced with an unhealthy birth, where the fetus immediately senses his lack of harmony with the new environment upon entering the world. In other words, he confronts difficult, agonizing, and hellish conditions in the world—hard conditions that stem from the fetus’s own existential structure, not the structure of the world. The baby, born with a health issue, is taken to the hospital for the treatment of the condition he developed during the prenatal period. The hospital is the place that is compatible with the current conditions of the patient and has the potential to align the newborn with the biological conditions of the world. Interestingly, a similar process occurs in the hereafter as a result of our unhealthy birth, and therefore, Hell is the hospital of the hereafter. However, the pain and suffering we endure in Hell will be much greater due to the greatness of the hereafter compared to this world.
Being Compatible with Living Conditions
Living in any environment requires compatibility with its conditions.
For example, every fetus needs a healthy eye to see the wavelengths, a healthy ear to hear sound frequencies, a healthy nose to smell scents, and a healthy brain to comprehend and categorize all the information that he will encounter in the world. Without aligning and harmonizing with each dimension and feature of the world, he will not have the ability to use the world without limitation and suffering.
Although the fetus is completely unaware of his physical defects or deficiencies and does not play a role in their formation, the world immediately examines all newborns and classifies them based on their level of compatibility with its living conditions. In fact, the first thing a newborn encounters in the world is the extent of his incompatibility with the world. The same happens as soon as we enter the realm of the hereafter, and if we are not compatible with its living conditions, we will go to Hell; as we stated, Hell is the hospital of the hereafter.
The world is entirely engineered and created based on mathematical relationships, and for tranquility, the fetus is forced to align himself with these mathematical rules. Based on past lessons, we know that birth falls into five categories: healthy or robustly health, weak, sick, defective, or deformed. Among these, only healthy or robustly healthy infants receive a passing grade, while the rest of the infants must endure the suffering of treatment to the extent of their weakness, defect, or the extra organs they bring with themselves. However, considering that the capabilities of the world are far less than those of the mother’s womb, it is possible that the treatment process may never be fully completed, and the infant may never acquire the ability to get compatible with the world’s living conditions. All the efforts made by the fetus in the womb are aimed at preparing for the moment of birth, and health is the least he can bring with himself to the world. Depending on the quality of this compatibility and alignment with the conditions of the world, a lifetime of suffering or happiness awaits the fetus. The fetus determines the quality of his life in the vast world that surrounds his mother and the womb in the prenatal period. He spends his entire prenatal life constructing a body that he does not need inside the womb, but rather after leaving it and entering the world.
An Unhealthy Birth Leads to Pain and Suffering
Infants are born with various talents and abilities depending on the environment and conditions they experienced in the mother’s womb. Consequently, we have different levels of healthy birth, as health implies complete harmony with the environment into which we are born. If a fetus fails to develop any of his body parts properly or encounters difficulties in organ formation, upon entering the world, he experiences pain and is forced to endure the limitations that have arisen. He is similar to someone who has not prepared adequately for the hereafter and is obliged to transfer to a place to be healed, and since Hell is the hospital of the hereafter, he goes through the pain there. A newborn who lacks healthy lungs to breathe encounters difficulties in the world and is unable to breathe sufficient oxygen. But is there any problem with the world here? The world is not responsible for the suffering that the infant endures until the end of his life. The infant suffers due to the wrong path he took inside the womb or due to the environmental factors that affected the mother’s womb. In fact, the world is essentially designed to be suitable for the comfort and enjoyment of healthy individuals, and if we are weak or sick, we remain unaware of this deficiency until the moment of birth, and we experience suffering upon entering the world.
Perhaps you have wondered how our lack of adaptation to an environment can cause us pain and suffering. A patient’s perception of his surroundings differs from that of a healthy person. For example, a beach is a beautiful place, and for someone who is healthy, it can be a lot of fun. He can swim in the water, watch the waves roll in, and feel the cool breeze on his skin. But for someone who does not have healthy legs and cannot walk, or someone who was not born with healthy eyes, or someone who does not have healthy skin, the beach can be a sad place. This suffering is not imposed on him by the environment but stems from within him. Moreover, observing people enjoying the blessings from which he is deprived adds to his regret and suffering.
What Is a Hospital Like?
If we have an unhealthy birth, we will not have a normal and comfortable life because the resources of the world are designed for individuals who have suitable tools to use them. Despite being born into the world, a sick newborn is unable to independently use the resources of the world. Therefore, he enters a part of the world that we call hospital. Usually, each hospital is designed to address specific problems, and there are different departments within each hospital that cater to patients according to their needs.
In fact, the purpose of a hospital is to provide conditions that adapt an unhealthy infant or a sick individual to the environmental conditions around them, just as Hell is the hospital of the hereafter. For example, if a patient lacks the ability to breathe, the hospital provides oxygen, or in severe cases, artificial respiration to help him breathe. If someone has abnormal bones, doctors can use specialized tools or perform surgery to align them more closely to the standard structure. Hormonal deficiencies or systemic issues can be compensated for through various medications, and so on. So the hospital is exclusively for people who face some kind of problem. They are not compatible with the environment and living conditions of the world but they fit well with the conditions of the hospital. In essence, they require an additional intervention to align them with the environmental conditions of the world. Some of them, after enduring the pain of treatment for a period, recover from their illness or weakness and are cured. Others, depending on the severity of their physical disabilities or defects, must endure the pain of treatment throughout their entire worldly existence. Among them are individuals who are forced to spend their entire lives in hospitals and get transferred from one department to another based on their condition, as they are so incompatible with the environmental conditions of the world that living outside the hospital is impossible for them.
What Are the Environmental Conditions Like in a Hospital?
Now these questions arise: Where is this hospital located? Does anything outside of the world encompass its environment? How are its environmental and living conditions? Are the overall conditions within the hospital different from its surroundings? Let us find the answers to these questions using a few examples.
Suppose you have visited the nearest hospital in the city to seek help for a friend’s issue. Does this place have a different climate than the city just because it is a hospital? Does it use starlight instead of sunlight? Does it have a different composition of air? Is it located in a place with a different temperature from its surroundings? The answer to all these questions is no. It is true that the internal space of the hospital will be different based on the conditions and needs of patients, but the general conditions of the hospital are the same as its surrounding environment. This means that if the city has polluted air, this pollution will also affect the air within the hospital. If the city is at a lower altitude, the hospital will have lower air pressure too. Similarly, if the city’s temperature rises, the hospital will also become warmer, and so on.
Now, let us imagine that we have to go to a hospital in another city, a city that is characterized by high humidity due to its proximity to the sea. Would you expect the air inside the hospital to be dry? Certainly not! Because the environmental conditions of the hospital are not separate from the surrounding environment. A hospital in the North Pole will be freezing cold, just like the weather outside. A hospital in a tropical region will be hot and humid. If we examine all the hospitals in the world, we will not find any hospital whose general conditions differ from its surroundings. This is because a hospital is part of the same environment, and in terms of environmental conditions such as water quality, air type, temperature, pressure, pollution levels, etc., it corresponds to the environmental conditions of the region in which it is located, even though different sections inside the hospital may have been changed according to the needs of patients.
Hospital and Healthy Individuals
Have you ever noticed that the conditions in a hospital are only difficult and painful for those who suffer from an illness? Doctors, nurses, hospital staff, and accompanying individuals of patients do not experience hardship and suffering due to their compatibility with the environmental conditions of the hospital, or better to say, the environment. For them, the environmental conditions of the hospital are just like any other place. Just as they walk, see, breathe, and talk in a bank, store, university, restaurant, etc., they do the same way in the hospital. Perhaps the only difference for them in the hospital is encountering individuals who are under treatment and feel pain. The air that is desirable and perfectly normal for hospital workers may cause discomfort for someone who suffers burns, and drinking water that is pleasant and refreshing for a patient’s companion may give a burning or painful sensation to the patient. So the issue is not the air or water itself; it is that the patients are not compatible with them. Of course, there may be cases where the patient is experiencing a condition that is painful and distressing in itself, such as a wound that has become infected or a tumor that is exerting pressure on surrounding tissues, causing pain.
Therefore, the suffering of a patient may be due to the absence, excess, or malfunction of a part of his body. These factors have caused the patient’s transfer to the hospital to become compatible with the environmental conditions of the world, and he has to endure the pain of treatment. Now, two questions arise here: If one is healthy, is the hospital still painful for him? Can a surgeon operate on a healthy individual just because he is present in the hospital?
Naturally, no, because there is no reason to do so. Surgery is prescribed by a physician only for someone who has a problem and requires surgery to become compatible with the environmental conditions of the world and use its resources. In fact, every individual needs a hospital according to the type of problem and the severity of his lack of compatibility. It is just like the situation that happens to us in Hell, since as we said, Hell is the hospital of the hereafter.
Living Conditions in the Hereafter
The mathematics that governs our world also applies in the hereafter, and in other words, Hell is caused by a lack of compatibility with Heaven. Similar to how a fetus develops in the mother’s womb to prepare for the outside world, our purpose in this world is to construct a fulfilling hereafter. Building the hereafter essentially means cultivating and preparing our soul to acquire the necessary ability to live in the hereafter.
Every environment has its own specific characteristics and living conditions. For example, the mother’s womb is very cramped and dark, with very limited resources, while the world surrounding it is infinitely larger, more diverse, and abundant in resources. However, as mentioned before, utilizing the resources of the world requires suitable organs and tools, which can only be obtained through a healthy or robustly healthy birth. Similarly, the realm of the hereafter has its own unique conditions and features. Although we may be unaware of the details, we understand through the Law of Proportion that it is much vaster, more complicated, and more magnificent than our world.
Naturally, to make use of resources in any environment, we must align ourselves with the characteristics of that environment. For example, when traveling to another country, we need to buy its currency or learn about its culture and language based on the purpose of our journey. Similarly, the fetus inside the womb must be compatible with the womb environment, and the one being born into the world must have organs and body parts suited to the living conditions of the world. The living conditions of the hereafter are not exempt from this rule, and to establish a connection with it, we need tools that fulfill our needs in the vast and complicated realm of the hereafter. Although we may be unaware of how these tools function in the hereafter, we know that our sole tool in the hereafter is a sound heart, and the process of acquiring it takes place in this world. Therefore, to avoid Hell, we must equip ourselves with appropriate tool for life in the hereafter, which is a sound heart.
Incompatibility with Living Conditions Creates Hell
The mathematics governing creation follows the same formulas across all levels. The relationship of the mother’s womb with the world is the same as the relationship of the world with the hereafter. The world is the womb of the hereafter, and the only difference between the mother’s womb and the womb of the world is the power of choice we have in this world. In the journey from the mother’s womb to the world, the fetus has no choice, but in the journey from the world to the hereafter, we have complete free will.
The mathematics that governs the mother’s womb and the world also applies in the hereafter, that is, Hell is the result of incompatibility with Heaven. Just as the fetus in the mother’s womb has to make tools for a desirable life in the world, our duty in this world is to build our life in the hereafter. Building our life in the hereafter essentially means cultivating and preparing our soul to acquire the necessary ability to live in the conditions of the hereafter. If a person has not cultivated the characteristics necessary for life in the hereafter within himself, at the moment of wafat, which is the moment of entering another realm, he will suffer the torment of incompatibility in the hospital of the hereafter.
Hell is the hospital of the hereafter, where individuals are compelled to endure the suffering of treatment due to their lack of harmony and compatibility with the characteristics of Heaven. The realm of the hereafter is abundant with infinite beauties, and those who are born into it healthy or robustly healthy enjoy the boundless blessings it offers. However, individuals with weak, sick, defective, or deformed births, depending on the extent to which they are not compatible with the conditions of the hereafter, will be admitted to the hospital of the hereafter.
The Essence of Hell
Just as a hospital in the world is not a separate and independent environment, and its general conditions are the same as the surrounding environment, Hell is not a separate and independent place from Heaven in the hereafter. It is a part of Heaven that is designed for individuals who are not compatible with the conditions of Heaven. The pain and suffering in Hell will be much worse than anything we experience in this life because the hereafter is so much greater in scope and importance. As Hell is the hospital, as soon as we enter the hereafter, we will be evaluated, and even the smallest incompatibility with the conditions of the hereafter will send us to Hell.
In the world, when our body encounters problems, we go to a hospital specialized in treating our specific problem. For example, if we have a heart problem, we go to a cardiovascular hospital; when we have an eye problem, we go to an eye hospital. Similarly, Hell in the hereafter is composed of sections that correspond to our deficiencies, flaws, and even additional tools that we carry with us. Hell differs for someone who lacks compassion from someone who is jealous. While both individuals suffer from incompatibility with the conditions of Heaven, the former is missing something he needs, and the latter has something he should not have brought. It is like someone going to the hospital because he is missing sodium in his blood, versus someone going to the hospital because he was born with an extra leg. Therefore, each person, based on the nature and intensity of his incompatibility with the living conditions of Heaven, goes to Hell to be treated because Hell is the hospital of the hereafter.
Just as hospitals in the world are exclusive to those who have health issues, since Hell is the hospital of the hereafter, it is exclusively for individuals born with unhealthy conditions. Apart from those born healthy or robustly healthy, the remaining individuals- who are born weak, defective, deformed, or sick into the hereafter- must endure the suffering of treatment. Interestingly, individuals who are compatible with the living conditions of Heaven and have no compatibility with Hell remain unharmed even if they are present in Hell, similar to parents bringing their child to the hospital while they themselves have no health issues. As mentioned earlier, Hell is a part of Heaven, and just as the general conditions of a city’s hospitals do not differ from the overall city conditions, the general conditions of Hell are the same as the encompassing environment, which is Heaven. Essentially, Hell signifies the absence of Heaven or the inability to use it. The intermediate stages and the stations of resurrection have been designed like various hospitals to preserve us from entering into the fire of Hell and to purify and heal us before our final destiny is determined on the Day of Judgment.
In the world, due to our incompatibility with the living conditions of the world, we go to hospital, and in the hereafter, individuals also enter Hell due to their lack of harmony with the general conditions of Heaven. In other words, when our mathematical structure is not compatible with Heaven, we need Hell, the hospital of the hereafter, to become compatible with the living conditions of Heaven. If someone is incompatible with the structure of Hell due to his compatibility with the conditions of Heaven, he will not be harmed and will remain in complete health even in Hell. No matter how hard we try to burn the flame-resistant clothing of a firefighter, we will not succeed because its structure is not compatible with fire. In essence, the first and last factor that determines our torment or lack thereof in Hell is our level of alignment and compatibility with the characteristics of Heaven. The greater the incompatibility, the more painful our situation in the hospital of the hereafter (Hell) will be, and the longer our treatment will take.
In this lesson, we addressed questions regarding Hell and stated that Hell is the hospital of the hereafter. We mentioned that life in any environment requires harmony with its conditions. Just as incompatibility with the living conditions of the world sends us to hospital, lack of harmony with the conditions of Heaven sends us to Hell, the hospital of the hereafter. It does not matter where this hospital is; from the North Pole to the Equator, the general conditions of any hospital are the same as the overall surrounding environment. Therefore, according to the Law of Proportion, Hell is the hospital of the hereafter and does not have a separate and independent existence, and its general conditions are the same as the general conditions of Heaven. Just as the suffering and torment in a hospital are specific to patients and healthy individuals do not experience pain in the hospital due to their compatibility with the worldly environment, the torments of Hell, the hospital of the hereafter, are specific to the individuals born with unhealthy conditions, and healthy individuals will not be tormented in it. In fact, each person’s need for Hell is determined by the extent and intensity of his incompatibility with the conditions of Heaven. The suffering and pain in the hereafter will be more agonizing and prolonged compared to the sufferings of the world.
Do you also believe that Hell is the hospital of the hereafter? How do you contemplate aligning yourself with the living conditions of the hereafter to avoid torment and Hell?