The Book of Heaven An Anthology of Writings from Ancient to Modern Times

by Zaleski, Carol; Zaleski, Philip

• ISBN13: 9780195119336
• ISBN10: 0195119339
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-04-27
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

In every culture, in every epoch, human beings have yearned for heaven--the kingdom of God, abode of the elect, fount of enlightenment, mirror of hopes and desires. Now, in The Book of Heaven, Carol and Philip Zaleski provide the first wide-ranging anthology of writings about heaven, drawingfrom scriptures, myths, epics, poems, prayers, sermons, novels, hymns and spells, to illuminate a vast spectrum of beliefs about the world beyond. The Zaleskis present a fascinating array of ancient and modern, solemn and comic meditations, as they explore such topics as the often treacherous journey to heaven, heaven's colorful inhabitants, its topographic features, and its moral architecture. The emphasis is on great literature,with substantial excerpts taken from classic works such as The Iliad, St. Augustine's Confessions, The Prose Edda, The Divine Comedy, Paradise Lost, and The Pilgrim's Progress; from sacred texts such as the Bible, the Upanishads, the Qu'ran, the Tibetan Book of the Dead, and the Bhagavata Purana;and from diverse writers such as Plato, Cicero, Thomas Traherne, Henry Fielding, Emanuel Swedenborg, Percy Bysshe Shelley, John Henry Cardinal Newman, Hans Christian Andersen, William James, G. K. Chesterton, C. G. Jung, Rupert Brooke, and Arthur Conan Doyle. Selections highlight both the diversityand the universality of reflection on heaven: the sacred chants of the Buddhist Pure Land sutras reverberate alongside John Donne's holy sonnets, and Shaker songs complement Jewish mystical hymns. From the words of Sioux holy man Black Elk, to a sermon by Jonathan Edwards, to humorous musings by Mark Twain and fantastical passages from The Chronicles of Narnia, this rich anthology will deepen our understanding of the myriad ways in which human beings have envisioned heaven.

Author Biography

Carol Zaleski is Professor of Religion at Smith College. She is the author of Otherworld Journeys and The Life of the World to Come (both OUP). Philip Zaleski is Lecturer in Religion at Smith College and Senior Editor of Parabola. He is the author of The Recollected Heart and Gifts of the Spirit, and editor of the annual Best Spiritual Writing series. They live in Northampton, Massachusetts.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	xi
Introduction	3	(8)
I. The Journey
Introduction	11	(4)
Paradiso, Canto 1	15	(6)
Dante Alighieri
From ``The Vision of Drythelm'' in Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People	21	(6)
St. Bede the Venerable
From The Pilgrim's Progress	27	(8)
John Bunyan
From A Journey from This World to the Next	35	(7)
Henry Fielding
From Adonais	42	(18)
Percy Bysshe Shelley
``How the Weaver Went to Heaven''	47	(2)
From The Tibetan Book of the Dead	49	(5)
``The Far-Off Journey''	54	(6)
From Memories, Dreams, Reflections	60	(7)
C. G. Jung
Poems, Prayers, and Spells
From The Greek Magical Papyri	67	(2)
``The Mithras Liturgy''
From The Second Book of Jeu	69	(2)
``Spell for Ascending through the Heavens''
From The Book of the Craft of Dying	71	(2)
``Commendation of the Soul''
``The Passionate Mans Pilgrimage''	73	(2)
Sir Walter Ralegh
From League of the Ho-de-no-sau-nee	75	(1)
Iroquois Mother's Lament
From Hobo News	76	(7)
``The Hobo's Last Lament''
II. Lands of Bliss
Introduction	79	(4)
``Where Is No More Sea''	83	(2)
``Fysh''
``Heaven''	85	(2)
Rupert Brooke
``Rangi and Papatua''	87	(2)
``The First Day'' From The Legends of the Jews	89	(4)
Louis Ginzberg
``The Deluding of Gylfi'' From The Prose Edda	93	(13)
Snorri Sturluson
From The Sukhavativyuha Sutra	102	(4)
From ``The Dream of Scipio'' in On the Republic	106	(5)
Marcus Tullius Cicero
``The Celestial Orchestra''	111	(8)
Howard Schwartz
The Passion of Saints Perpetua and Felicity	116	(3)
From Black Elk Speaks	119	(8)
John G. Neihardt
From Experimental Investigation of the Spirit Manifestations	127	(8)
Robert Hare
From The Gates Ajar	135	(18)
Elizabeth Stuart Phelps
III. The Vision of God
Introduction	149	(4)
From Confessions	153	(2)
St. Augustine
From La'ali al-masnu`a	155	(13)
As-Suyuti
From The Shi`ur Qomah	158	(3)
From The Kausitaki Upanishad	161	(5)
From The Sukhavativyuha Sutra	166	(2)
Paradiso, Canto 33	168	(6)
Dante Alighieri
From Sermon VIII on Romans 2:10	174	(2)
Jonathan Edwards
From A Romance of Two Worlds	176	(7)
Marie Corelli
Songs of Adoration
Pygmy Hymn	182	(1)
Psalm 104:1-4	183	(1)
Bible
Ezekiel 1	184	(3)
Isaiah 6:1-7	187	(1)
Revelation 4,5	188	(5)
From the Hekhalot Rabbati	191	(2)
From ``An Hymne of Heavenly Beautie''	193	(4)
Edmund Spenser
``God Is All in All''	197	(6)
John Henry Cardinal Newman
IV. The Celestial Court
Introduction	199	(4)
From The Iliad	203	(4)
Homer
From The Celestial Hierarchy	207	(14)
Pseudo-Dionysius
From The Vision of Adamnan	210	(8)
From the Bhagavata Purana	218	(3)
From Paradise Lost	221	(5)
John Milton
From A Vision of Judgment	226	(2)
Robert Southey
From The Vision of Judgment	228	(5)
George Gordon
Lord Byron
From On the Fitness of the Glories of Mary	233	(4)
John Henry
Cardinal Newman
Assumption Prayer	237	(2)
Pope Pius XII
From The Man Who Was Thursday	239	(16)
G. K. Chesterton
V. Heavenly Society
Introduction	251	(4)
From Extract from Captain Stormfield's Visit to Heaven	255	(11)
Mark Twain
From Heaven and Its Wonders and Hell	266	(7)
Emanuel Swedenborg
From The Land of Mist	273	(13)
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
From A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters	286	(9)
Julian Barnes
``Concerning the Heavenly Joys of Virgins,'' from The Book of the Rewards of Life	295	(3)
Hildegard of Bingen
Tales of Heavenly Intercession
From Story of a Soul	298	(3)
St. Therese of Lisieux
``The Window of Paradise,'' from The Miracles of Our Lady Saint Mary	301	(3)
Evelyn Underhill
``Elijah''	304	(7)
Louis Ginzberg
``The spirit of the Saints''	311	(6)
Jalal ad-Din ar-Rumi
VI. Heaven on Earth
Introduction	313	(4)
From Phaedo	317	(3)
Plato
From The Voyage of Bran	320	(10)
From The Romance of the Rose	330	(11)
Guillaume de Lorris
Jean de Meun
From Paradise Lost	341	(8)
John Milton
From the Bhagavata Purana	347	(2)
From ``The Knowledge-bearing Messenger''	349	(6)
Rinpung Ngawang Jigdag
From Centuries	355	(2)
Thomas Traherne
``A Leaf from Heaven''	357	(3)
Hans Christian Andersen
From the Preface to Theorie de l'unite universelle	360	(2)
Charles Fourier
From ``What Makes a Life Significant''	362	(6)
William James
Songs and Poems
``An Invitation to Lubberland''	365	(3)
``Prayer''	368	(1)
George Herbert
``The Angel''	369	(1)
Mikhail Lermontov
``Simple Gifts''	370	(1)
Shaker songs
``Heavenly Display''	371	(7)
VII. New Heaven, New Earth
Introduction	373	(4)
From Legends of the Hasidim
``Belief''	377	(1)
``On the Sea'', from In the Heart of the Seas	378	(7)
Shmuel Yosef Agnon
Daniel 12:1--3
Bible	384	(1)
Isaiah 65:17--25	385	(1)
1 Corinthians 15:35--54	386	(2)
Revelation 21:1--4	388	(8)
Sura 55:37-78
Qu'ran	389	(2)
From the Bundahishn	391	(5)
Report on the Ghost Dance, From James Mooney, The Ghost-Dance Religion and the Sioux Outbreak of 1890	396	(4)
George Sword
From The City of God	400	(5)
St. Augustine
From The Last Battle	405	(11)
C. S. Lewis
Songs and Poems
``Easter-day''	416	(1)
Henry Vaughan
``Easter Hymn''	417	(1)
``At the round earths imagin'd corners, blow...''	418	(1)
John Donne
``In That Great Getting-up Morning''	419	(3)
Spirituals
``I'll Hear the Trumpet Sound''	422	(3)
Credits	425	(6)
Name Index	431

Excerpts

Chapter One

Dante Alighieri

(1265-1321)

The supreme poet of heaven, Dante composed La commedia (later La commedia

divina) while in exile from his beloved Florence. As the Paradiso opens, it is high

noon on the spring equinox, and the pilgrim stands poised for his ascent through

the nine heavenly spheres to the Empyrean.

The glory of the One Who moves all things

    penetrates all the universe, reflecting

    in one part more and in another less.

I have been in His brightest shining heaven

    and seen such things that no man, once returned

    from there, has wit or skill to tell about;

for when our intellect draws near its goal

    and fathoms to the depths of its desire,

    the memory is powerless to follow;

but still, as much of Heaven's holy realm

    as I could store and treasure in my mind

    shall now become the subject of my song.

O great Apollo, for this final task,

   make me a vessel worthy to receive

   your genius and the longed-for laurel crown.

Thus far I have addressed my prayers to one

    peak of Parnassus; now I need them both

    to move into this heavenly arena.

Enter my breast, breathe into me as high

    a strain as that which vanquished Marsyas

    the time you drew him from his body's sheath.

O Power Divine, but lend me of yourself

    so much as will make clear at least the shadow

    of that high realm imprinted on my mind,

and you shall see me at your chosen tree,

    crowning myself with those green leaves of which

    my theme and you yourself will make me worthy.

So seldom, Father, are they plucked to crown

    the triumph of a Caesar or a Poet

    (the shame, the fault of mortal man's desires!)

that when a man yearns to achieve that goal,

    then the Peneian frond should surely breed

    a new joy in the joyous Delphic god.

From one small spark can come a mighty blaze:

    so after me, perhaps, a better voice

    may rise in prayer and win Cyrrha's response.

The lamp that lights the world rises for man

    at different points, but from the place which joins

    four circles with three crosses, it ascends

upon a happier course with happier stars

    conjoined, and in this way it warms and seals

    the earthly wax closer to its own likeness.

This glad union had made it morning there

    and evening here: our hemisphere was dark,

    while all the mountain bathed in white, when I

saw Beatrice turned round, facing left,

    her eyes raised to the sun--no eagle ever

    could stare so fixed and straight into such light!

As one descending ray of light will cause

    a second one to rise back up again,

    just as a pilgrim yearns to go back home,

so, like a ray, her act poured through my eyes

    into my mind and gave rise to my own:

    I stared straight at the sun as no man could.

In that place first created for mankind

    much more is granted to the human senses

    than ever was allowed them here on earth.

I could not look for long, but my eyes saw

    the sun enclosed in blazing sparks of light

    like molten iron as it pours from the fire.

And suddenly it was as if one day

    shone on the next--as if the One Who Could

    had decked the heavens with a second sun.

And Beatrice stood there, her eyes fixed

    on the eternal spheres, entranced, and now

    my eyes, withdrawn from high, were fixed on her.

Gazing at her, I felt myself becoming

    what Glaucus had become tasting the herb

    that made him like the other sea-gods there.

"Transhumanize"--it cannot be explained

    per verba , so let this example serve

    until God's grace grants the experience.

Whether it was the last created part

    of me alone that rose, O Sovereign Love,

    You know Whose light it was that lifted me.

When the great sphere that spins, yearning for You

    eternally, captured my mind with strains

    of harmony tempered and tuned by You,

I saw a great expanse of heaven ablaze

    with the sun's flames: not all the rains and rivers

    on earth could ever make a lake so wide.

The revelation of this light, this sound,

    inflamed me with such eagerness to learn

    their cause, as I had never felt before;

and she who saw me as I saw myself,

    ready to calm my agitated mind,

    began to speak before I asked my question:

"You have yourself to blame for burdening

    your mind with misconceptions that prevent

    from seeing clearly what you might have seen.

You may think you are still on earth, but lightning

    never sped downward from its home as quick

    as you are now ascending to your own."

As easily did these few and smiling words

    release me from my first perplexity

    than was my mind ensnared by yet another,

and I said: "Though I rest content concerning

    one great wonder of mine, I wonder now

    how I can rise through these light bodies here."

She sighed with pity when she heard my question

    and looked at me the way a mother might

    hearing her child in his delirium:

"Among all things, however disparate,

    there reigns an order, and this gives the form

    that makes the universe resemble God,"

she said; "therein God's higher creatures see

    the imprint of Eternal Excellence--

    that goal for which the system is created,

and in this order all created things,

    according to their bent, maintain their place,

    disposed in proper distance from their Source;

therefore, they move, all to a different port,

    across the vast ocean of being, and each

    endowed with its own instinct as its guide.

This is what carries fire toward the moon,

    this is the moving force in mortal hearts,

    this is what binds the earth and makes it one.

Not only living creatures void of reason

    prove the impelling strength of instinct's bow,

    but also those with intellect and love.

The Providence that regulates the whole

    becalms forever with its radiance

    the heaven wherein revolves the swiftest sphere;

to there, to that predestined place, we soar,

    propelled there by the power of that bow

    which always shoots straight to its Happy Mark.

But, it is true that just as form sometimes

    may not reflect the artist's true intent,

    the matter being deaf to the appeal,

just so, God's creature, even though impelled

    toward the true goal, having the power to swerve,

    may sometimes go astray along his course;

and just as fire can be seen as falling

    down from a cloud, so too man's primal drive,

    twisted by false desire, may bring him down.

You should, in all truth, be no more amazed

    at your flight up than at the sight of water

    that rushes down a mountain to its base.

If you, free as you are of every weight,

    had strayed below, then that would be as strange

    as living flame on earth remaining still.

    And then she turned her gaze up toward the heavens.

St. Bede the Venerable

(672/673-735)

In this excerpt from The Ecclesiastical History of the English People, the

learned Anglo-Saxon Benedictine monk recounts the Vision of Drythelm, one of

the earliest and most influential of medieval otherworld journeys.

Of one among the Northumbrians, who rose from the dead, and related the

things which he had seen, some exciting terror and others delight. [a.d. 696]

At this time a memorable miracle, and like to those of former days,

was wrought in Britain; for, to the end that the living might be saved

from the death of the soul, a certain person, who had been some time

dead, rose again to life, and related many remarkable things he had seen;

some of which I have thought fit here briefly to take notice of. There was

a master of a family in that district of the Northumbrians which is called

Cuningham, who led a religious life, as did also all that belonged to him.

This man fell sick, and his distemper daily increasing, being brought to

extremity, he died in the beginning of the night; but in the morning early,

he suddenly came to life again, and sat up, upon which all those that sat

about the body weeping, fled away in a great fright, only his wife, who

loved him best, though in a great consternation and trembling, remained

with him. He, comforting her, said, "Fear not, for I am now truly risen

from death, and permitted again to live among men; however, I am not to

live hereafter as I was wont, but from henceforward after a very different

manner." Then rising immediately, he repaired to the oratory of the little

town, and continuing in prayer till day, immediately divided all his substance

into three parts; one whereof he gave to his wife, another to his

children, and the third, belonging to himself, he instantly distributed

among the poor. Not long after, he repaired to the monastery of Melrose,

which is almost enclosed by the winding of the river Tweed, and having

been shaven, went into a private dwelling, which the abbat had provided,

where he continued till the day of his death, in such extraordinary contrition

of mind and body, that though his tongue had been silent, his life

declared that he had seen many things either to be dreaded or coveted,

which others knew nothing of.

    Thus he related what he had seen. "He that led me had a shining countenance

and a bright garment, and we went on silently, as I thought,

towards the north-east. Walking on, we came to a vale of great breadth

and depth, but of infinite length; on the left it appeared full of dreadful

flames, the other side was no less horrid for violent hail and cold snow flying

in all directions; both places were full of men's souls, which seemed

by turns to be tossed from one side to the other, as it were by a violent

storm; for when the wretches could no longer endure the excess of heat,

they leaped into the middle of the cutting cold; and finding no rest there,

they leaped back again into the middle of the unquenchable flames. Now

whereas an innumerable multitude of deformed spirits were thus alternately

tormented far and near, as far as could be seen, without any intermission,

I began to think that this perhaps might be hell, of whose intolerable

flames I had often heard talk. My guide, who went before me,

answered to my thought, saying, `Do not believe so, for this is not the hell

you imagine.'

    "When he had conducted me, much frightened with that horrid

spectacle, by degrees, to the farther end, on a sudden I saw the place begin

to grow dusk and filled with darkness. When I came into it, the darkness,

by degrees, grew so thick, that I could see nothing besides it and the

shape and garment of him that led me. As we went on through the shades

of night, on a sudden there appeared before us frequent globes of black

flames, rising as it were out of a great pit, and falling back again into

the same. When I had been conducted thither, my leader suddenly

vanished, and left me alone in the midst of darkness and this horrid

vision, whilst those same globes of fire, without intermission, at one time

flew up and at another fell back into the bottom of the abyss; and I

observed that all the flames, as they ascended, were full of human souls,

which, like sparks flying up with smoke, were sometimes thrown on high,

and again, when the vapour of the fire ceased, dropped down into the

depth below. Moreover, an insufferable stench came forth with the

vapors, and filled all those dark places.

    "Having stood there a long time in much dread, not knowing what to

do, which way to turn, or what end I might expect, on a sudden I heard

behind me the noise of a most hideous and wretched lamentation, and at

the same time a loud laughing, as of a rude multitude insulting captured

enemies. When that noise, growing plainer, came up to me, I observed a

gang of evil spirits dragging the howling and lamenting souls of men into

the midst of the darkness, whilst they themselves laughed and rejoiced.

Among those men, as I could discern, there was one shorn like a clergyman,

a layman, and a woman. The evil spirits that dragged them went

down into the midst of the burning pit; and as they went down deeper, I

could no longer distinguish between the lamentation of the men and the

laughing of the devils, yet I still had a confused sound in my ears. In the

meantime, some of the dark spirits ascended from that flaming abyss, and

running forward, beset me on all sides, and much perplexed me with their

glaring eyes and the stinking fire which proceeded from their mouths and

nostrils; and threatened to lay hold on me with burning tongs, which they

had in their hands, yet they durst not touch me, though they frightened

me. Being thus on all sides enclosed with enemies and darkness, and looking

about on every side for assistance, there appeared behind me, on the

way that I came, as it were, the brightness of a star shining amidst the

darkness; which increased by degrees, and came rapidly towards me:

when it drew near, all those evil spirits, that sought to carry me away with

their tongs, dispersed and fled.

    "He whose approach put them to flight, was the same that led me

before; who, then turning towards the right, began to lead me, as it were,

towards the south-east, and having soon brought me out of the darkness,

conducted me into an atmosphere of clear light. While he thus led me in

open light, I saw a vast wall before us, the length and height of which, in

every direction, seemed to be altogether boundless. I began to wonder

why we went up to the wall, seeing no door, window, or path through it.

When we came to the wall, we were presently, I know not by what

means, on the top of it, and within it was a vast and delightful field, so

full of fragrant flowers that the odour of its delightful sweetness immediately

dispelled the stink of the dark furnace, which had pierced me

through and through. So great was the light in this place, that it seemed

to exceed the brightness of the day, or the sun in its meridian height. In

this field were innumerable assemblies of men in white, and many companies

seated together rejoicing. As he led me through the midst of those

happy inhabitants, I began to think that this might, perhaps, be the kingdom

of heaven, of which I had often heard so much. He answered to my

thought, saying, `This is not the kingdom of heaven, as you imagine.'

    "When we had passed those mansions of blessed souls and gone farther

on, I discovered before me a much more beautiful light, and therein

heard sweet voices of persons singing, and so wonderful a fragrancy proceeded

from the place, that the other which I had before thought most

delicious, then seemed to me but very indifferent; even as that extraordinary

brightness of the flowery field, compared with this, appeared mean

and inconsiderable. When I began to hope we should enter that delightful

place, my guide, on a sudden stood still; and then turning back, led me

back by the way we came.

    "When we returned to those joyful mansions of the souls in white, he

said to me, `Do you know what all these things are which you have seen?'

I answered, I did not; and then he replied, `That vale you saw so dreadful

for consuming flames and cutting cold, is the place in which the souls of

those are tried and punished, who, delaying to confess and amend their

crimes, at length have recourse to repentance at the point of death, and

so depart this life; but nevertheless because they, even at their death, confessed

and repented, they shall all be received into the kingdom of heaven

at the day of judgment; but many are relieved before the day of judgment,

by the prayers, alms, and fasting, of the living, and more especially

by masses. That fiery and stinking pit, which you saw, is the mouth of

hell, into which whosoever falls shall never be delivered to all eternity.

This flowery place, in which you see these most beautiful young people,

so bright and merry, is that into which the souls of those are received who

depart the body in good works, but who are not so perfect as to deserve

to be immediately admitted into the kingdom of heaven; yet they shall all,

at the day of judgment, see Christ, and partake of the joys of his kingdom;

for whoever are perfect in thought, word and deed, as soon as they

depart the body, immediately enter into the kingdom of heaven; in the

neighborhood whereof that place is, where you heard the sound of sweet

singing, with the fragrant odour and bright light. As for you, who are now

to return to your body, and live among men again, if you will endeavour

nicely to examine your actions, and direct your speech and behaviour in

righteousness and simplicity, you shall, after death, have a place or residence

among these joyful troops of blessed souls; for when I left you for

a while, it was to know how you were to be disposed of.' When he had

said this to me, I much abhorred returning to my body, being delighted

with the sweetness and beauty of the place I beheld, and with the company

of those I saw in it. However, I durst not ask him any questions; but

in the meantime, on a sudden, I found myself alive among men."

    Now these and other things which this man of God saw, he would not

relate to slothful persons and such as lived negligently; but only to those

who, being terrified with the dread of torments, or delighted with the

hopes of heavenly joys, would make use of his words to advance in piety.

In the neighborhood of his cell lived one Hemgils, a monk, eminent in

the priesthood, which he honored by his good works: he is still living, and

leading a solitary life in Ireland, supporting his declining age with coarse

bread and cold water. He often went to that man, and asking several questions,

heard of him all the particulars of what he had seen when separated

from his body; by whose relation we also came to the knowledge of

those few particulars which we have briefly set down. He also related his

vision to King Alfred, a man most learned in all respects, and was by him

so willingly and attentively heard, that at his request he was admitted into

the monastery above-mentioned, and received the monastic tonsure; and

the said king, when he happened to be in those parts, very often went to

hear him. At that time the religious and humble abbat and priest,

Ethelwald, presided over the monastery, and now with worthy conduct

possesses the episcopal see of the church of Lindisfarne.

    He had a more private place of residence assigned him in that

monastery, where he might apply himself to the service of his Creator in

continual prayer. And as that place lay on the bank of the river, he was

wont often to go into the same to do penance in his body, and many times

to dip quite under the water, and to continue saying psalms or prayers in

the same as long as he could endure it, standing still sometimes up to the

middle, and sometimes to the neck in water; and when he went out from

thence ashore, he never took off his cold and frozen garments till they

grew warm and dry on his body. And when in the winter the half-broken

pieces of ice were swimming about him, which he had himself broken, to

make room to stand or dip himself in the river, those who beheld it would

say, "It is wonderful, brother Drithelm, (for so he was called,) that you are

able to endure such violent cold;" he simply answered, for he was a man

of much simplicity and indifferent wit, "I have seen greater cold." And

when they said, "It is strange that you will endure such austerity;" he

replied, "I have seen more austerity." Thus he continued, through an indefatigable

desire of heavenly bliss, to subdue his aged body with daily fasting,

till the day of his being called away; and thus he forwarded the salvation

of many by his words and example.