Going to hell or Hel? Photos, insights and stories

Have you ever thought about going to Hel? Or have you already been there, I mean, in hell?

Many of us may be disturbed by such questions, while others would stay in silence instead of answering…because they know, they were already there…

This article, does not pretend to have any kind of a religious context. It rather has an intention to conduct a philosophical, mind-open mono (dia)-log with a reader about overcoming causeless, life-long feeling of imaginary fear of hell. 

In our previous articles we talked about not being or showing yourself positive (when you feel bad or overcoming hard life challenges). This dark-tone article about hell, however, will end with beautiful summer photos from Hel – a city located on the tip of the Hel Peninsula, around 33 kilometers from the Polish mainland.

Our articles about toxic / exaggerated positivity:

Paradox of trying to be positive

Paradox of trying to be positive. CONTINUATION

Why we are trying to be just positive? Even an electric battery is nor positive nor negative!

Perception of hell. Going to hell meaning

What is our perception of hell? Is it straightforward or open-minded?

Our perception of hell is mostly based on getting frightened by terrifying tortures. However, a common human being indulges in a naïve hope that at the end he, personally, would escape the hell.

Just a few people, leading by inner voice or Vedic teaching, would go towards their fears and would overcome them, growing spiritually at the same time.

Unfortunately, many of us in XXI century, being nor murders nor offenders, practice a crime against themselves day by day, thus, opening hell gates ahead of time.

If you are a human being – it means a crime you make against yourself is a crime against a Human!

Let’s talk about this and other dark and bright corners in detail.

Rare cases when people went to hell on purpose

From Greek legends

Orpheus, the most famous Greek bard, went to the underworld to return his wife, Eurydice, back. Unfortunately, he failed to rescue his wife, as Hades, the god of underworld, tricked him right at the end of the journey back to the world.

Other mortals in Greek mythology who went to hell and back were Er, Odysseus, Psyche, Heracles, Alcestis, Aeneas, Theseus, Hippolytus and Sisyphus [1].

Buddha’s choice

One of the stories about Buddha, told by Sadhguru is this:

When everybody was saying: “I want to go to heaven”, Buddha said: “It seems everybody is well in heaven, what I will do there? I am going to hell, because you said me everybody is suffering there. Let me go there and do something. Because I am incapable of suffering, let me go to hell” [2].

According to Buddhism Info, “Buddhism does have its own concept of heaven and hell. Buddhist believe that wise people make their own heaven while foolish people create their own hell.

Hell is simply a place where one experience painful sensations due to suffering and heaven is a place where one experiences joyful and happy sensations. However, these mental places are not permanent and there is no God involved.

Each person experiences pleasure or pain, heaven and hell, according to their good and bad Karma” [3].

In the name of friendship. Sherlock

This is the story from the British crime television series „Sherlock“, based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes detective stories (Image credit: Netflix.com).

In the episode “The Lying Detective” the main character, Sherlock, exposed a serial murder Smith, and in parallel fulfilled Mary‘s last wish to “save John” by “going to Hell”.

Sherlock puts himself in harm’s way so that John would be compelled to rescue him, thus mending their broken friendship and “saving” himself [4].

You should watch the series just to imagine the whole picture of the physical and psychological hell to which Sherlock went to save his friendship with John Watson and trick Smith to confess to his crimes.

Cancer – hell before passing away

Many of us in XXI century, being nor murders nor offenders, practice a crime against ourselves day by day, thus, opening hell gates ahead of time.

If you are a human being – it means a crime you may make against yourself is a crime against a Human, right?

Hell tortures were already depicted by famous Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosh (El Bosco) back in 15^th century, as well as by other painters of his era. The Garden of Earthy Delight by El Bosco represents heaven, earth and hell where pleasure, sin, and suffering exist side by side.

According to World Health Organization (WHO), common risk factors for cancer include:

• Tobacco use
• Alcohol use
• Overweight and obesity
• Dietary factors, including insufficient fruit and vegetable intake
• Physical inactivity
• Chronic infections from helicobacter pylori, hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV) and some types of human papilloma virus (HPV)
• Environmental and occupational risks including ionizing and non-ionizing radiation

Many of us, before we face with the cancer by ourselves, hear “Bla bla bla” instead of the cancer reasons being listed and explained, isn’t it? Isn’t it true?

Physical pain may appear by cancer itself, cancer treatment, or a combination of factors. Tumors, intravenous chemotherapy, radiation therapy, surgery, targeted therapy, supportive care therapies such as bisphosphonates, and diagnostic procedures may cause you pain.

Younger patients are more likely to have cancer pain and pain flares than older patients. Patients with advanced cancer have more severe pain, and many cancer survivors have pain that continues after cancer treatment ends [5].

Hell tortures may appear as an outcome of one’s actions in his Earth life. In fact, we may perceive it as a volunteer choice, whether to create hell inside our bodies or not.

Photos from Hel

The Kashubian village of Hel was first mentioned in 1198 as a center of herring trade area named Gellen.

By the 13th century the village became one of the most important trade centres of the area, competing with the nearby town of Gdańsk.

During the 15th century the Hel peninsula started to shrink through marine erosion.

In the 17th and 18th centuries prolonged warfare and a series of natural disasters severely damaged the town.

In 1872 the government of the newly formed German state abolished the city rights granted to Hel as it was severely depopulated. After that the village lost much of its significance.

In 1896 the village was granted the status of a sea-side resort. As a result of World War I and the Treaty of Versailles, Hel became part of Poland. The most easterly edge of Hel, which was once a military territory, can now be accessed by the general public [6].

Photo gallery of Hel titles, Poland

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Going to Hel for a vacation might be an excited journey, while going to hell is a thing to avoid for the majority, and the trip for the highest purpose for just a few of us.

References

1. 10 Mortlas Who in Greek mythology Who Went to Hell and Back (Literally) by Devin Gackle, June 1, 2019, online source: https://www.devingackle.com/post/2018/07/20/10-mortals-in-greek-mythology-who-went-to-hell-and-back-literally
2. “Let me go to hell”- said Gautam Buddha by Sadhguru, July 18, 2017, online source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=398VlRDvnfk
3. Do Buddhists Believe in God, Heaven and Hell?, online source https://buddhism.info/do-buddhists-believe-in-god-heaven-and-hell/
4. The Lying Detective, from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, online source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lying_Detective
5. What Causes Cancer? by Dr. Ananya Mandal, MD, January 30, 2019, online source: https://www.news-medical.net/health/What-Causes-Cancer.aspx
6. Hel, Poland, by Wikipedia, online source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hel,_Poland