The difference between heaven and hell

A Jewish, Christian, Hindu, Buddhist folktale

There was a man who wanted more than anything to understand the difference between heaven and hell.

One night he had a dream that he was taken to a large banquet hall. The tables were covered in delicious food of all kinds, wondrous to see and to smell. Then he saw that the people around the tables were grimacing. Their arms were splinted, so they did not bend. Each one held a long spoon—so long that it was impossible to get the food to their mouths.

“This must be hell.”

Immediately, he was transported in his dream to another banquet hall. Again, the tables were covered in delicious food, much like in the first hall. The people sitting at the table also could not bend their elbows. Unlike in the first hall, the people were laughing and smiling, chatting between bites, clearly enjoying themselves and the food. They couldn’t feed themselves, but they could feed each other.

“This must be heaven.”