“Is Heaven a place in the sky?” by Erik Pevernagie, oil on canvas, 100 x 80cm

For ages people have been asking themselves, what is the mystery of life, what is the big unknown in the sky behind the clouds? Is it all about a big creator in an unfathomable realm of heavens? Could it be all part of a fairy tale told by story tellers? Is it a place where angels linger or sacrificial virgins are waiting for benevolent martyrs? Or is heaven just a place in the sky?

Mahatma Gandhi admires " the wonders of a sunset or the beauty of the moon" and his "soul expands in the worship of the creator." For Dalai Lama " Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness." Pope Francis is aware that there are many non-believers and gives a " silent blessing to each and every one, respecting the conscience of each one but knowing that each one is a child of God."

Mark Twain wants to dismantle all the stories about heaven and hell: “There is no God, no universe, no human race, no earthly life, no heaven, no hell. It is all a dream, a grotesque and foolish dream. Nothing exists but you. And you are but a thought --a vagrant thought, a useless thought, a homeless thought, wandering forlorn among the empty eternities!”.

John Lennon imagines a world without countries, without religion, living life in peace. Voltaire makes some comparisons and thinks that "Superstition is to religion what astrology is to astronomy the mad daughter of a wise mother. These daughters have too long dominated the earth." For Karl Marx "Religion is the opium of the masses" and Friedrich Nietzsche simply declares that "God is dead". Edgar Allan Poe thinks that religion "evolved out of fraud, fear, greed, imagination, and poetry". Ingmar Bergman is not very enthusiastic either when he says:" I hope I never get so old I get religious."

With more understatement are Victor Hugo who thinks that "Toleration is the best religion", Soren Kierkegaard considers that "Prayer does not change God, but it changes him who prays.", John Burroughs feels that "the Kingdom of Heaven is not a place, but a state of mind." Albert Einstein looks more for a compromise and creates some new faith: "I am a deeply religious nonbeliever - this is a somewhat new kind of religion."

Is heaven a place in the sky? Is Heaven not what we wear in our heart and in our mind?

Phenomenon : Heaven

Factual starting point: Man holding "placard with heaven" to the sky.