The sky with its blue skies and clouds during the day, and the star-filled sky at night inspires visions of heaven. The word heaven actually meant "sky" before the 11th century. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heaven

The middle of the earth with its searing temperatures, red-hot molten rock, and generally inhospitable conditions, is reminiscent of hell. Hell is variously translated as "underworld", "grave", "pit", or "death" in the Bible. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hell

Heaven and Hell are vibrational. We cannot achieve our desires from a low vibration of fear for example, as we are thus disconnected from God by our belief in that place of fear. Heaven is the peak vibration of light and our connectedness to God, that connection of love, the place by which our vibration enables us to create all goodness in our life. Hell is place of darkness below that vibration of light, Heaven the place of light. Most of us tread the path between the two, going from one to the other in our lives. It is up to us to be aware that this is how we create our lives and learn how to create and achieve as much Heaven as we can here on earth.

So I see this as being all about the fact that we understand inherently, before man understood physics, that light is the higher vibration, darkness the lower. Even in primitive times, and the times of sun worship for example, it was known that prosperity and joy comes from the light that makes things grow and thrive, and fears of loss, and of hardship come from the dark of the night and the lack of light in the winter. The equating of Heaven to the light in the sky above, and the equating of Hell from below is a natural conclusion in any society and thus, any religion.

Heaven and hell are neither up nor down. Heaven is a term for where we go after this life. Hell is not a place - it is a condition. To be damned is to have the ability to progress stopped and thus be in Hell. Eternal progression is to be able to progress from our fallen state to a state of becoming as the Gods are.

Where Heaven and Hell are "located" has to do with gravity. Without gravity there is no "up" and no "down." All humans who have ever lived have experienced gravity, a force which keeps us either close to the ground or in danger of falling to the ground because of gravity's strong pull from inside the earth. In the past, when people didn't even dream of flying in aircraft or going to the moon or circling the earth in a satellite, people had to feel that no earthly creature could ever exist without being in effect pinned to the earth, while the stars, the moon, the clouds ... These "floated" above the earth and were apparently in no danger of ever falling, and so the gods and goddesses, better or at least more admired than ourselves, were thought to exist among them, not subject to the same earthly laws that keep us down. That's why Heaven is "up." On the other hand, the forces of evil, being the opposite of the heavenly forces of good, were located beneath our feet, below the ground, the ultimate destination of those who have "fallen." That's why Hell is "down."

mother earth is the opposite pole of infinite mind,
the encasement with many sheaths limits consciousness and ability to receive all but lower vibrations,
earth, water , fire, air

I wonder if it goes back to primitive men living in the trees. The trees are up and far away from predators below. Furthermore, if you fall down from the trees you might die. Maybe it's our instinct; as primitives the instinct to prefer up to down may have kept us safe. Could it be the instinctive and rational fear fo falling?

One reason "up" is good comes from warfare. An army on a hill has the advantage over its enemies in the valley, simply due to gravity. It's easier to throw or shoot projectiles down than up.

If you were wrestling with someone about your size, wouldn't you have an advantage if he let you stand on a little raised platform?

Another reason is that our eyes are near the top of our body, so we can look at things below us more easily than at things above us.

Also, to go up requires effort which (we may think) deserves reward; junk and garbage accumulate from stuff that is dropped and never picked up. = = Hot springs and volcanos showed men long ago that there is heat under the ground. If HELL is supposed to be hot, a likely place for it might be down there with that source of heat. = Before about 1900, no human had ever been farther above the earth than a few hundred feet - maybe it was concievable to rise in a hot air balloon above the highest known mountain. I just read that Humbolt explored the Andes about a century ago thinking they were the highest mountians on earth, and there were places on earth where nobody had ever been, including both poles and probably some parts of Siberia. Heaven had to be some place where humans had never been (physically), so why not UP? = = Jesus spoke to his disciples and then ASCENDED to heaven. Now if we knew which way the earth was pointing at that moment, "up" from near Jerusalem would be the direction of heaven. UNLESS Jesus was smarter than we think - maybe he "ASCENDED" in that direction for a mile or two and then when the disciples couldn't see him any more he zoomed off in some other direction to where Heaven REALLY is.

The truth is: is there a heaven, and is there a hell? The Bible teaches that the Kingdom of God is within, and is therefore suggesting that the heaven we seek is right here on earth; since God created man from the earth/dust. As within, so it is without, the hell that we talked about is right here on earth, from the dust we came, and to the dust we shall return.

When God created Adam, and Eve his intentions were pure, and he wanted them to live in the Garden of Eden with him as a one family unit. But they disobeyed God, and they listened to Satan, and they both committed the first human sin, and the Bible teaches that the wages of sin is death. So it is because of Adam and Eve that we humans have it in our nature to be both good, and evil. If we had no evil, we would have had no reason for a place like Hell!

Now, if you are talking about punishment for the people that are sinners to go to hell, their hell is right here on earth, “The Fires of Hell” that is where their soul will burn forever in eternity on earth. That is their Hell!

Now, if you are talking about the Garden of Eden the Heaven on Earth whereby the good people will receive eternal life, and live with God forever as immortal, then that place is right here on earth/heaven awaiting God’s chosen people.

It is known that the Heaven and the Hell we seek: is right here on earth. “That this is it!” And it is all going to happen right here on “Earth” when God is right, and ready to return to his people!

Ok, I will chance a different approach, hope won't offend anyone. What if, the reason hell is down is not just because the dead gets buried underground. Keep in mind the burial of the dead is a relatively recent thing in human history, up to now quite a few cultures around the world choose to incinerate the bodies.

So, perhaps, it has to do with some negative-doing entities that live there, say in hollow places within the Earth. Maybe they were not so loved by a particular creator and thus were the inuendos of Hell and the devil/satan being under. Perhaps they are there to help with our lessons of negativity, so they have to play the bad guy for us, and have been made to live there.

Heaven being up is a very obvious thing which many have touched upon already.

Thank you, namaste

Its easier to come down the mountain than climb it, isn't it? the same applies here. When a person overcomes their ego, their greed, surface based materialism, their groundly lusts and quests for that which is better, more geniune, the truth; Allah will elevate them and enter them a high paradise.

Reality: Heaven is within, hell is projected all around when Heaven is not seen within

Perception: Heaven is up there in the sky, hell is below deep in the earth.

I think perception view is established from our ancient ancestors having similar wonder about the celestial universe and either having experiences of things coming to earth from the heavens or creating myths to explain certain predicaments on earth by way of things/people coming from the heavens.

I think hell is relatively recent myth and has to do with how we handle burial and whether that body/soul of the deceased will rest with eternal comfort or will be tormented because of how they lived their earthly life.

I think the hell myth works best if it is not seen and thus we can make up all sorts of creatures and environmental details about what that place is like. Same goes with heaven. The further away it is from earth, up there in the sky, the better our description of that realm will be.

The up/down still works as a teaching aid based on strong preconceived notions for the sense of direction and movement. But as literal interpretations, in a 3D universe, on a round planet, up and down could be interchanged and no one would be the wiser.

if you are shouted at (negative) you bow your head down if you are praised (positive) you hold your head high when you smile the corners of your mouth point up when sad the corners point down you curl up in a ball and hit the deck during despair you unfurl and jump to the sky during elation shares up happy, shares down unhappy- tears fall down, laughter rises- in conclusion positive=up negative= down maybe its just that simple, maybe