A young man was having a conversation with a Sage one day and said, “Sage, you who are so wise, I would like to know what heaven and hell are like.”

The Sage led the young man to two doors. He opened one of the doors and the young man looked inside.

In the middle of the room was a large round table. In the middle of the table was a large pot of stew which smelled delicious and made the young man’s mouth water.

But the people sitting around the table were thin and sickly. They appeared to be famished. They were holding spoons with very long handles that were strapped to their arms and each found it possible to reach into the pot of stew and take a spoonful, but because the handle was longer than their arms, they could not get the spoons back into their mouths. The young man shuddered at the sight of their misery and suffering. The Sage said, ‘You have seen hell.’

They then went to the next room and opened the door. It was exactly the same as the first one. There was the large round table with the large pot of stew which made the young man’s mouth water. The people were equipped with the same long-handled spoons, but here the people were well nourished and plump, laughing and talking.

The young man said, “I don’t understand.”

“It is simple” said the Sage, “In this place, the people have learned to feed each other.”