Heaven and Hell – What’s the Difference? The Parable of the Long Spoons
A short parable about a yogi that I really like. It’s about how heaven and hell may look exactly the same from the outside.
High in the mountains
Read it – it takes a minute, but you’ll remember it for a long time.
High in the mountains of Tibet there lived a yogi who, through the power of meditation, could send his mind to any corner of the Universe.
One day he decided to visit Hell.
He found himself in a room with a large round table in the middle, with people sitting around it. On the table stood a pot of fragrant, delicious food – so big that there was more than enough for everyone.
It smelled so good that the yogi’s mouth began to water. And yet nobody touched the food.
Everyone at the table held a spoon with a very long handle – long enough to reach the pot and scoop up a full spoonful, but too long to bring the food to their mouth.
All the people were terribly emaciated, their faces full of despair and anger. The yogi saw that their suffering was truly terrible, and he bowed his head in sympathy.
Then the yogi decided to visit Heaven. He found himself in a room that was no different from the first: the same table, the same pot, the same long-handled spoons.
At first the yogi thought he had made a mistake, but the joyful faces and eyes shining with happiness told him he really was in Heaven.
The yogi couldn’t understand it, but then he looked more closely, and it became clear to him what made Heaven different from Hell.
There was only one difference – the people in this room had learned to feed each other.