Buddhism teaches that "heaven" is right here, right now, and that you are a necessary part of it because you are part of the whole.
To see this is to become enlightened.
However, upon your death you cease to be an individual, and rejoin the collective "is". Buddha was very clear that when he died, he as an individual would be gone.
I can roll with that. I don't believe in God, heaven, hell, etc. I do believe that I am part of something heartbreakingly gorgeous, and that someday I get to stop floundering around as an individual, and go back there.
This viewpoint is entirely consistant with the reality all around us, and I like that about it too. The universe "is"... I am part if it, made from it and vice versa, and I get to go back there someday- just not as an individual "soul".
Just my way of thunkin' on the subject.
