Moral Story: Where is heaven and hell?

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There was once a monk whose favorite subject for his preaching was ‘heaven and hell’. One of the devotees who was getting tired of listening to the monk’s constant repetition, one day stood up and asked: ‘Tell me where is this heaven and hell? If you cannot answer me, I will call you a liar!’ The monk being an innocent person became afraid. Instead of answering he kept silent. His silence made the man even more angry and he shouted: ‘Speak to me or I’ll beat you up!’ The monk quickly gathered his wits and replied, ‘Hell is around you now, with your anger.’ The man, realizing the truth, calmed down and began to laugh. He then asked: ‘Where is heaven then?’ to which the monk replied: ‘It is now around you, with your laughter.’ Heaven and hell are what we make of our lives. Heavens and hells exist in any part of the universe where living beings exist. There are no such separate places.

How to live without fear and worry, K. Sri Dhammananda