Heaven vs. Hell

I found this interesting snippet in the Boston Globe. Apparently the promise of heaven is a greater motivator than the threat of hell. This is of relevance to Buddhists, even though we tend to think less in terms of heaven and hell and more in terms of the sufferings of samsara and the end of suffering in the attainment of nirvana.

Many religious sects incorporate belief in some kind of heaven or hell. The former is a reward for good behavior; the latter is punishment for bad behavior. From a social science point of view, then, a question one might ask is which – heaven or hell – is better at motivating religious practice. One study does just that by analyzing data from an international survey of tens of thousands of people. Both heaven and hell motivated people to attend church and to pray, but the effect was three times larger for heaven, especially when it came to motivating men.

Brañas-Garza, P. et al., “The Big Carrot: High-Stakes Incentives Revisited,” Journal of Behavioral Decision Making (forthcoming).

One problem though in using Nirvana as a motivator is that it’s hard to speak of Nirvana in any positive way. Although its the goal of Buddhist practice it’s said to be “beyond words and concepts” and therefore impossible to describe fully. It’s hard to use something indefinable as a motivator.

4 Responses to “Heaven vs. Hell”

1. Jack Daw says:

   August 30, 2009 at 8:39 am

   As far as motivators go, I think the undefinable is a much better than concrete since we are using it on ourselves. At the same time we do recieve incremental reinforcement as we go forward in our practice through utlizing the Dharma and quieting our mind. As the smaller reinforcers increase and accumilate, the indefinable becomes more and more relevent.

   However, in my reading of the Pali Canon and some other materials in the Mahayana tradition as well as the utilization of Buddhism in the everyday religion life of many Asian and non-Asian cultures, it seems that the topic of “Hell” does come out more and more often (Jizu traveling to Hell to receive people from it).

   I think the view of Buddhism w/o the threat of a Hell is a very “Westernized” version of Buddhism since most other Asian cultures do utilize one.

   Thus my drinking mantra “108 bottles of beer on the wall, 108 bottle of beer! Take one down, pass it around and into Buddhist Hell I go!”

   Cheers,
   Jack
2. bodhipaksa says:

   September 1, 2009 at 10:36 am

   I’ve certainly noticed much more emphasis on hell in certain Mahayana scriptures, such as the Bodhicaryavatara. But I wouldn’t agree that Hell is prominent in the Pali canon, at least not compared to the emphasis on Nibbana. As a quick comparison I looked at the index of Bhikkhu Bodhi’s translation of the Majjhima Nikaya and found that there were 8 suttas that mention Hell, while 18 mention Nibbana or The Deathless.

   It may well be that Hell is more prominent in teachings in Asian forms of Buddhism, but I’m not convinced that any emphasis on Hell is true to the original teachings. In that case a “Westernized” de-emphasis of the role of Hell would arguably be a good thing.
3. Roger Hyam says:

   September 11, 2009 at 5:03 am

   It’s funny you should point this out just now. I have been thinking quite intently about the “Why meditate?” or “Why practice?” question recently having just read a book on teaching children to sit. The authors emphasized the need to sell meditation to children on the grounds that it would do things like make them better at sport or their studies or even make them more attractive. My current thoughts are that any “benefits” from practice should be considered side effects and reading this post makes me think that, perhaps, it is most healthy to think even of Enlightenment in these terms.

   This leaves me in the quandary. I think practice is ‘good’ and want to share it with others (another side effect?) but I can’t tell them they will ‘get’ anything from doing it. Doing so would probably handicap their ability to do it. One can see the teachers of the past trying to use metaphor and simile to express this and it being transformed into tales of heaven and hell. Being better at sport and more attractive is possibly as near as it gets to heaven if you are a teenager.
4. Patricia says:

   September 11, 2009 at 5:57 pm

   I just read your interview on The Discomfort Zone and came round to find you and followed you on Twitter – which I am just putting into practice.

   I seem to be motivated to do things because it is the right thing to do, so I am constantly sorting out what is “right” and my values and assumptions.

   And I think I have the definitive answer on HELL – a child,(specifically a teenager) with Oppositional Defiant Disorder ( and a lesion in the brain – like a stroke- blocking the flow of information out of long term memory)

   This disorder would not attract anyone! Well, loving mom’s and dad’s never give up