What is this thing called “Hell”?

Religion makes much of this concept, but what is it?

The holy books describe all kinds of painful things that happen to the soul in Hell. But when a soul passes away, it goes to a purely spiritual place. This means that it cannot be burned, or cut, or tortured. You cannot burn a soul.

The gory details are metaphors.

The main pain of Hell is the heat and the “burning.” This is a metaphor for shame. Just like when we are ashamed, we blush and heat up, the soul too “burns” with shame. After spending a lifetime on earth, the soul is ashamed of many things it has done.

But this shame has a purpose. The shame burns away any attachments to earth that may be preventing the soul from experiencing Heaven. After 11 months at most, the soul is cleansed and can bask in the pleasure of heaven.

Hell is not a place. It is a process. Getting to Heaven can be hell.

This all applies only to someone who truly has reason for shame. But a child, for example, has nothing to be ashamed of and goes straight to Heaven. And people who have already suffered, and tasted Hell while still on earth, like anyone who died from COVID, goes straight to Heaven too.