Eternal Bliss

A few weeks ago we were in the city of Chiang Rai for the weekend.  One morning I was walking around looking for a baking supply store and I found myself in the part of the city that caters to budget tourists and backpackers.

I stopped at a roadside stand for a coffee and noticed that the hotel across the street seemed to be quite busy, even though it was only 7:30 am.  The hotel looks like it might have been quite a nice place a few decades ago, but the tropical rain and sun seemed to have dulled its appearance over the years.

After I finished my coffee, I walked across the street and noticed the sign for the hotel:

Suknirand Hotel sign

As is fairly normal for us anglophiles, I read the English name first.  Suknirand—I thought it might be a name or something.  But then I noticed that it was just a transliteration of the Thai.

สุขนิรันดร์

The name roughly translates “eternal bliss”.

I’ve never been inside this hotel and it may be quite nice.  But somehow when I think of eternal bliss, an older hotel does not come to my mind.  I’m not sure that it does for a Thai person either, though their thinking on eternity and heaven may be considerably different than mine—something that makes it a challenge to communicate the good news about what Jesus has done for us.

This differences in thought about heaven, hell, and eternity is apparent when one visits the “White Temple” an unconventional Buddhist Temple designed by artist Chalermchai Kositpipat.(เฉลิมชัย โฆษิตพิพัฒน์).  It is located about a 20 minute drive south of the city of Chiang Rai.

The center of the temple is the judgment hall.  From here you can either cross a bridge to the “heaven” (Nirvana) side or another bridge to the “hell” side.

The “hell” side is by far the more ornate side with lots of images of serpents and demons and such.  It appeals more to the senses than the heaven side because of the ornate detail.

When one talks about “eternal life” to a Buddhist here, it is not seen as desirable because means forever being caught up in the cycle of birth and rebirth into a life of suffering and not attaining Nirvana.

The "hell" side of the White Temple

The “heaven” side, on the other hand, is very plain looking.  I’m guessing this is because the most desirable end for the Buddhist is Nirvana which is basically extinction.  One ceases to exist as an individual anymore.  The only way to get to Nirvana is to cease desiring--hence the design with little to appeal to the senses.

The "heaven" side of the White Temple

This is a strong contrast to the Christian for whom heaven is a desirable place to spend eternity.
In the Bible, we read a description of heaven as the New Jerusalem.  And while I don’t know how literally the author, John, wants us to take this description, we get the idea that heaven is supposed to be a really nice place:

The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst.  And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, transparent as glass.
Revelation 21:19-21 (ESV)

In reality, I don’t think John really had words to describe what he saw in the vision—it was just the ultimate place to imagine spending eternity.  I’m thinking that the Eternal Bliss hotel, though it may be a really nice place to spend a few days, does not quite meet the standards described by John in the book of Revelation.