From & To Sathish #7 - Page 123

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20260721-10-of-japans-most-cleverly-designed-homes

10 of Japan's most cleverly designed homes

Interesting...

*Heaven, Hell, and Us*

A person spends an entire lifetime striving to earn a place in heaven after death. Some observe fasts, some give to charity, some go on pilgrimages, some make vows to God. It's almost as if heaven is a newly built housing society, and you have to collect enough points to book a 1 BHK apartment there.

But I have a question.

What if we are already living in heaven?

Just look around carefully when you wake up in the morning.

Press one button, and the light turns on. Press another, the fan starts spinning. Press a third, the air conditioner comes on. Open the tap, and water flows. Light the gas stove, and within a few minutes, your meal is ready. Pick up your mobile phone, and the world's information is in your hands. Even if a friend or family is far away in another country, you can see their face within seconds.

And we take all of this so casually, as though these aren't conveniences of life on Earth but our birthright.

If you brought a king from just two hundred years ago into your home today, he would probably refuse to leave.

"What's this?" "Hot water."

"And this?" "Cool air."

"And this?" "Information from around the world."

And this? A pizza delivered home in ten minutes.

The king would say, "I ruled for my entire life, fought wars, gathered treasures—but I never experienced comforts like these!"

The reality is that, in many ways, an ordinary person today lives more comfortably than the kings of the past.

But here's the irony.

We don't notice any of these things.

Because people rarely value what they already have.

The air conditioner is running—but there's no joy.

It stops working—and suddenly there's misery.

You have a mobile phone—but that doesn't make you happy.

The network goes down—and it feels like the world has ended.

You have a home—but you're not happy.

The neighbor's house is bigger—so you're unhappy.

You have a car—but you're not happy.

Someone else has a bigger car—so you're unhappy.

A person stands in their own heaven while comparing it to someone else's heaven.

But at the same time, there's another reality on Earth.

Even today, millions of people stand in line for drinking water.

Some don't have a permanent home to live in.

Some don't know if they'll have two meals a day.

Some children don't get an education.

Some people don't even have enough clothes to wear.

The things we call "ordinary" are the dreams of many people.

We see water flowing from the tap.

They have to walk kilometers to fetch it.

We get angry because we can't find the AC remote.

They search for the shade of a tree to escape the heat.

We look for diet plans.

They wonder where their next meal will come from.

That's why I think heaven and hell are not destinations after death.

They exist right here.

In the same city.

In the same village.

Sometimes even on the same street.

In one house, a boy is upset because his new phone has become slow.

In the house across the street, another boy can't attend online classes because he doesn't have a phone.

One person is annoyed because the hot water arrived late.

Another is overjoyed simply because they have water to bathe with.

The difference isn't just in circumstances.

It's also in perspective.

Because some people smile even while living in hell.

And some people keep complaining even while living in heaven.

Human beings have a very strange habit.

They make a list every day of what they don't have.

But they never make a list of what they do have.

If, every night before going to sleep, each person simply wrote down five things...

Today I can breathe.

Today I have drinking water.

Today I have food to eat.

Today I have a place to sleep.

Today my loved ones are with me.

...perhaps the way we look at life would change.

We're searching for heaven.

But perhaps heaven is not a place—it is an awareness.

And perhaps hell is not a place either—it is forgetfulness.

Forgetting the value of what you have is hell.

Being grateful for what you have is heaven.

As for what happens after death, no one truly knows.

But while we're alive, having a planet like Earth, air to breathe, water to drink, food to eat, people who love us, and thousands of conveniences available at the push of a button—and still remaining constantly unhappy... that's a bit ironic too.

Perhaps God is sitting above, smiling...

"Hey, I sent you to heaven. You even managed to open a complaint center there!"