Pure Realm? Heaven?

[Tirisilex 0]

I know that in Buddhism some meditaters can achieve a "rainbow body" and enter a sort of heaven. Does Hinduism have something similar? Is there a Hindu Heaven?

[gHari 0]

 

For impersonalists it is Brahmaloka where they live refined lives for thousands of years. But this is temporary. After they must return to the earthly realms to proceed on to the final perfection.

 

For Vaisnavas, their goal is the Kingdom of God (Vaikuntha or more specifially Goloka). That is the final destination of all beings. The Kingdom can be reached even while apparently present in the material body.

 

Guide for Entering the Kingdom of God: http://geocities.com/caitanyamahaprabhu/download.htm

 

Referenced SB verse: http://vedabase.net/sb/2/2/31/en

 

[Guest guest]

They're not simply "Hindu". They're for everyone, if they meditate upon it, they will get it. You meditate on Vaikunth, you'll get Vaikunth. You meditate on Indraloka, Suryaloka, Chandraloka, Brahmaloka, you'll get all these. They all are legitimate places to go to and exist in different planes of consciousness. If you don't happen to see any of these places, it means nothing, as the universe is a HUGE place, and there are millions of different worlds out there that one can go to. Some hellish, some heavenly.

 

Though I don't think impersonalists end up in Brahmaloka, nor is it their goal to go there. There goal is to stop the cycle of life and death and become one with God. It's not a complete merge, though, as God and you are different in quantity and you do retain some identity, I believe.

[gHari 0]

 

http://vedabase.net/bg/14/18/en

 

http://vedabase.net/sb/2/2/22/en

 

http://vedabase.net/sb/4/11/5/en

 

http://vedabase.net/cc/madhya/6/263/en

 

http://vedabase.net/cc/madhya/6/269/en

 

http://vedabase.net/cc/madhya/8/64/en