Where people are virtuous and of good character
You will find Paradise.
(SSS Vol.19, p. 149)
Heaven is within you. Seek happiness not in the object of senses. Realise that happiness is within yourself. (MBI, p. 242)
Perhaps you feel that by performing acts of charity or by participating in various auspicious rituals or by doing some act of penance, you will reach heaven. However, Krishna declared that heaven is only temporary. He said, ‘Arjuna there is something which is greater than heaven. I am not saying that you should stop performing sacrifices, austerities, religious rituals, and the like. You have to engage in such worshipful activities as part of your duty. However, do everything you do for the welfare of the world. Do not act with a selfish motive. Perform every action selflessly; disinterestedly, concerned only with the peace, the welfare and prosperity of the world at large. Do not be concerned with reaching heaven; set your sight on much higher goal, beyond heaven. Heaven will last only as long as the merits of your actions last. Once these merits are exhausted, you will have to come back to earth. Therefore, give up your longing for heaven, which is temporary and impermanent. Cultivate nearness and dearness to the Lord. Become merged in Him; that is what is truly important. The principle of divinity is greater than heaven. When you understand the secret of action and perform all your actions from the proper perspective, you will be able to acquire the divinity itself’. (DBG, pp. 228-229)
Heaven is not high, beyond your ken.
It is very much here, in the world of men:
Deny the ego, deep-hid in you;
And, you are ‘there’ in Heaven on Earth.
For liberation, O man, why plead before Three crores of Gods in despair?
Deny the ego, deep rooted in you—
And you are, no pleading therefore.
(SSS Vol. 15, p. 251)
The world has had many great souls who
sacrificed their lives for Truth;
Even now there are many who have
given their lives for the good of others.
There are many who have not desired
worldly pleasures even in their dreams
But there are few who seek to know why
this body has been given.
It has been given so that man may
realise his true Self.
Heaven does not exist in some
realm of the gods.
It is in the world of human beings,
With good qualities if one conducts
himself righteously
Why seek heaven? This itself will be Heaven.
(SSS Vol.23, p. 218)