Difference between heaven and hell

 *Heaven and Hell!* 

Once an old monk, sat in deep meditation in a monastery in Japan, when, suddenly, out of the blue, his meditation was interrupted by a harsh and demanding voice of a samurai warrior, ‘Old man! If you are that wise as many say, then teach me about heaven and hell! I want to know what is the difference between the two.’  The monk knew such type of people and gradually after quite some time opened his eyes to see the samurai standing there, waiting impatiently and growing more and more agitated with each passing second. ‘You wish to know the secrets of heaven and hell?’ replied the monk in his quiet and gentle voice at last. ‘You? You, who are so unkempt and dirty, never seen you wearing good clothes and whose sword is all always rusty and neglected! You, of all the people, wish to ask me of heaven and hell?’ 

The samurai out of furious anger uttered a curse, drew his sword and raised it high over his head. How dare the old monk insult him on his looks. His face turned to crimson red, and the veins of his neck stood out in bold letters as he prepared to sever the monk’s head from his shoulders. ‘That is hell,’ said the old monk gently, just as the sword began to descend on him. The samurai stopped, his sword in mid-flight and his eyes filled with grateful tears of thankfulness. ‘And that,’ said the monk, ‘is heaven.’ 

True, isn’t it? The distance between heaven and hell is just a single thought, your assumed thought. As John Milton, the famous poet says in Paradise Lost, ‘The mind is in its own place, and in itself can make a heaven out of hell and a hell out of heaven.’  It all depends on your thoughts and how you take them and deal with your life. You are the driver of your own destiny. 

 As Gautama Buddha said: ‘No anger inside, means no enemies outside.’

 Live simply, Be simple and Enjoy Life.