The soul after death: hope, growth and enduring companionship

32. O SON OF THE SUPREME! I have made death a messenger of joy to thee. Wherefore dost thou grieve? I made the light to shed on thee its splendor. Why dost thou veil thyself therefrom?

In truth, these are days wherein man, from one perspective, seeketh death, for after ascension he attaineth unto the verses of the Supreme Pen; and from another perspective, he desireth life in the hope that some service might be manifested from him.

Regarding the statement written that the soul progresses with the assistance of the body - this means that when the body engages in service to humanity, such as nursing the sick, strengthening the weak, and being martyred and sacrificed in the path of God, this causes the soul's progress. … The primary means of the soul's progress is faith, certitude and knowledge, and words and deeds according to Baha'u'llah's teachings. After ascension from this body, the means of souls' progress are the prayers and supplications of friends, as well as the grace and bounty of the All-Merciful.

Yet separation and parting bring sorrow to man. It is clear and evident that after the companionship of months and years, separation and banishment become the cause of grief and anguish.

… Verily, he who hath ascended hath taken shelter beneath the canopies of the mercy of his Lord, and dwelleth in communion with God's chosen ones and trusted ones in an exalted Paradise.

At first it is very difficult to welcome death, but after attaining its new condition the soul is grateful, for it has been released from the bondage of the limited to enjoy the liberties of the unlimited. It has been freed from a world of sorrow, grief and trials to live in a world of unending bliss and joy. The phenomenal and physical have been abandoned in order that it may attain the opportunities of the ideal and spiritual.

O thou who art attracted by the divine fragrances!

Although those souls who hasten from this world of darkness to the luminous realm are sanctified from the conditions of the physical world and have no attachment to this mortal life, nevertheless the human temple is honored and respected, for this chalice was once brimming with that wine, and this garment was once worn by that graceful form.

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Dr. Allen: Why should be pay attention to the everlasting life? We give up all of our time to this, and why should we be thinking about the rest of it?

Mrs. [Lua] Getsinger: You mean why should we not wait until we get there and take it up then?

'Abdu'l-Baha: Because whatsoever a man soweth here he reapeth there. This world is like a school. He must learn lessons here so that when he issues from this school he may become learned. He must not be ignorant.

Question: Is there any predominant quality which man should develop in order to obtain especial excellence or power after death?

Answer: No, man should develop all his qualities for each quality has its own use and function.

In the next world, man will find himself freed from many of the disabilities under which he now suffers. Those who have passed on through death, have a sphere of their own. It is not removed from ours; their work--the work of the Kingdom--is ours; but it is sanctified from what we call 'time and place.' … Those who have ascended have different attributes from those who are still on earth, yet there is no real separation.

"In prayer there is a mingling of station, a mingling of condition. Pray for them as they pray for you!

Regarding thy question about the world after death: That realm cannot be comprehended or explained through the conceptions and expressions of this visible world. Briefly stated, this world in relation to that world is like the womb. Just as it would be impossible and inconceivable to explain this vast external world while in the confines of the womb, so too is it impossible and unattainable to describe that divine realm using the words and expressions of this world.

And now concerning thy question regarding the soul of man and its survival after death. Know thou of a truth that the soul, after its separation from the body, will continue to progress until it attaineth the presence of God, in a state and condition which neither the revolution of ages and centuries, nor the changes and chances of this world, can alter.

… The world beyond is as different from this world as this world is different from that of the child while still in the womb of its mother.

Death proffereth unto every confident believer the cup that is life indeed. It bestoweth joy, and is the bearer of gladness. It conferreth the gift of everlasting life. As to those that have tasted of the fruit of man's earthly existence, which is the recognition of the one true God, exalted be His glory, their life hereafter is such as We are unable to describe.

The world in which the soul resides is perpetual and unchanging. It is a spiritual world; it is the world of the Kingdom, which is eternal and everlasting. All the luminous bodies existing in this infinite universe are composed of elements, and since every composition in the end must become decomposed, they are therefore deprived of immortality. The world of the Kingdom, however, is free and sanctified from composition, and is therefore eternal and everlasting.

It follows clearly from these explanations that man is immortal and everlasting. Those who believe in God, who cherish His love, and who have attained certitude, enjoy that blessed life which we call life eternal; but those who are veiled from God, though they be endowed with life, yet they live in darkness and their life in comparison with that of the believers is non-existence.

… Likewise, those souls who are veiled from God, although they exist both in this world and in the world to come, are non-existent and forgotten in relation to the sanctified existence of the children of the divine Kingdom.

Concerning what occurreth after man ascendeth from this contingent world to the realm of the placeless - all the conditions of Heaven and Hell are spiritual in nature, although that world is not separated from this world. Its separation, in truth and meaning, is like the separation of the human kingdom from the kingdom of the mineral, for the mineral is unaware of the human world.

Those souls who are pure and unsullied, upon the dissolution of their elemental frames, hasten away to the world of God, and that world is within this world. The people of this world, however, are unaware of that world, and are even as the mineral and the vegetable that know nothing of the world of the animal and the world of man.

Each soul, when separated from the body, will on the first day reach the first station and pass through it and pass beyond the essence of earth. On the second day in the second station, it will pass beyond the essence of the world of plants. On the third day in the third station, it will pass beyond the world of animals. On the morning of the fourth day, in the station of human beings, when the resplendent sun of the Lord of the Worlds shines forth, whosoever passes, will attain the world of the Kind Lord. Otherwise, he will remain in the station of animals.

If man were to become aware, after the spirit's ascension from the physical temple, of what divine gifts are attained, his soul would surely take flight. However, in this world, explanation of that realm is impossible and unattainable. Just as when man was in the mother's womb, in that dark confined space, understanding and truly perceiving this spiritual world was impossible. When he transferred from that world to this one, he observed what divine gifts, heavenly mercy, and universal spectacle it was. Similarly, in this physical frame one cannot imagine the divine spiritual realms. When one hastens from this transient world to that eternal world, one will observe sanctification and holiness, and bounty upon bounty.

Now this earth and these trees have absolutely no knowledge of the animal and human kingdoms and cannot conceive of them. They utterly deny them. Yet the human kingdom sustains the animal kingdom and aids the vegetable kingdom, though the vegetable kingdom is unaware. Similarly, the human world has no knowledge of the Kingdom of God and is completely ignorant of it. However, the heavenly spirits have influence in the human world.

And likewise He says that in the spiritual world and divine Kingdom there is no time and place, since times and limits are relative matters, like east and west, south and north, night and day, month and year - these all are relative to the earth, not the celestial sun.

Consider how a being, in the world of the womb, was deaf of ear and blind of eye, and mute of tongue; how he was bereft of any perceptions at all. But once, out of that world of darkness, he passed into this world of light, then his eye saw, his ear heard, his tongue spoke. In the same way, once he hath hastened away from this mortal place into the Kingdom of God, then he will be born in the spirit; then the eye of his perception will open, the ear of his soul will hearken, and all the truths of which he was ignorant before will be made plain and clear.

Just as the uterine world did not have the capacity to manifest the divine gifts of hearing, vision, smell, taste, and perception, so likewise this dark and narrow world hath neither the capacity nor the means to manifest all the limitless perfections.

As it is not yet apparent while the child is in the matrix of its mother what its condition will be - whether or not it will have all the gifts of God, whether or not it will be perfect in all its members, whether it will be blind or deaf or dumb, but afterwards, when it enters the world it becomes clearly apparent if it be defective or not - so is it with the soul in its present state. Its perfections or its defects are not understood until it enters the heavenly Kingdom.

The unborn child imagineth that the world of existence is confined to the womb and its nourishing blood. But this is not the case. The All-Wise, the All-Pervading hath ordained another world, which is vast and luminous.

When thou lookest about thee with a perceptive eye, thou wilt note that on this dusty earth all humankind are suffering. Here no man is at rest as a reward for what he hath performed in former lives; nor is there anyone so blissful as seemingly to pluck the fruit of bygone anguish. And if a human life, with its spiritual being, were limited to this earthly span, then what would be the harvest of creation? Indeed, what would be the effects and the outcomes of Divinity Itself? Were such a notion true, then all created things, all contingent realities, and this whole world of being---all would be meaningless. God forbid that one should hold to such a fiction and gross error.

For just as the effects and the fruitage of the uterine life are not to be found in that dark and narrow place, and only when the child is transferred to this wide earth do the benefits and uses of growth and development in that previous world become revealed---so likewise reward and punishment, heaven and hell, requital and retribution for actions done in this present life, will stand revealed in that other world beyond. And just as, if human life in the womb were limited to that uterine world, existence there would be nonsensical, irrelevant---so too if the life of this world, the deeds here done and their fruitage, did not come forth in the world beyond, the whole process would be irrational and foolish.

Know then that the Lord God possesseth invisible realms which the human intellect can never hope to fathom nor the mind of man conceive. When once thou hast cleansed the channel of thy spiritual sense from the pollution of this worldly life, then wilt thou breathe in the sweet scents of holiness that blow from the blissful bowers of that heavenly land.

The Glory rest upon thee, and upon whosoever turneth toward and gazeth on the Kingdom of the All-Glorious, which the Lord hath sanctified beyond the understanding of those who are neglectful of Him, and hath hid from the eyes of those who show Him pride.

In like manner, the splendor and beauty of the gems of the Most Great Guidance will be revealed after the soul taketh leave of this fragile and gloomy frame and ascendeth to the limitless space of the celestial world.

At present its worth is unknown, but at the hour of the soul's ascension, its worth will become clear and evident.

So, when we leave here and go into the Kingdom of the Unseen, we shall know the use of the Bounties of God given us in this world. Here we are being prepared and given faculties which are for use in that world.

You have stated that since there was a link between the mineral and the vegetable kingdoms and one between the vegetable and animal kingdoms, such a link may also exist between the material and the spiritual worlds after ascension. Know thou of a certainty that the soul is exalted above time and place and that the intervening link is also spiritual by nature, wholly detached from the contingent world.

As to the soul of man after death, it remains in the degree of purity to which it has evolved during life in the physical body, and after it is freed from the body it remains plunged in the ocean of God's Mercy.

From the moment the soul leaves the body and arrives in the Heavenly World, its evolution is spiritual, and that evolution is: The approaching unto God.

41. O SON OF MY HANDMAID! Didst thou behold immortal sovereignty, thou wouldst strive to pass from this fleeting world. But to conceal the one from thee and to reveal the other is a mystery which none but the pure in heart can comprehend.

Just as departing from the womb and entrance into this world is one of the eternal blessings, so likewise is leaving this world and entering the world of souls one of the greatest gifts of the Merciful Lord and the supreme goal of the spiritually minded.

We dare not, in this Day, lift the veil that concealeth the exalted station which every true believer can attain, for the joy which such a revelation must provoke might well cause a few to faint away and die.

After leaving this world, there is also hell and paradise. No one can understand this hell and heaven except through his innate consciousness, and to explain this, we must speak in parable as did Jesus Christ, for while we are in this world, it is impossible to know and understand what is in the next world.

Consider the lamp: it is luminous and shining, but if something blocks it, its light is obscured although in its own station it remains luminous - yet due to the intervening cause its light is prevented from shining forth. Likewise, in illness the manifestation of the spirit's power and might is prevented and veiled due to intervening causes, but after its release from the body it appears with such power, might and ascendancy as cannot be imagined.

Through conclusive proofs it was established that the body's survival depends on the Holy Spirit's grace. If this grace is withdrawn, the body ceases to exist. But the spirit's survival does not depend on the body's survival, for we observe that if a person's hand is severed from their body, their spirit is not diminished.

Q. What is the connection of the spirit with the body?

A. It has the same connection as the sun has with the mirror. Death is the name for the dissolution of this connection.

When man dies, his relation with the body ceases. … If the mirror be broken the sun does not die. The body is the temporary mirror; the spiritual soul suffers no change, no more than the sun does remaining eternally in its own station.

The spirit never leaves man even when he sleeps but it sees and knows. It never goes out and comes in again. It is the body that enters and makes its exit.

To consider that after the death of the body the spirit perishes, is like imagining that a bird in a cage will be destroyed if the cage is broken--though the bird has nothing to fear from the destruction of the cage. Our body is like the cage, and the spirit is like the bird. We see that without the cage this bird flies in the world of sleep; therefore, if the cage becomes broken, the bird will continue to exist; its feelings will be even more powerful, its perceptions greater and its happiness increased. In truth, from hell it reaches a paradise of delights, because for the thankful bird there is no paradise greater than freedom from the cage.

Infants are under the shadow of the favor of God, and as they have not committed any sin and are not soiled with the impurities of the world of nature, they are centers of the manifestation of bounty, and the Eye of Compassion will be turned upon them.

In the Name of God, the Supreme, the High! I ask Thee, by the sorrow of the hearts of the beloved and by the tears of the eyes of the lovers, to deprive me not from the fragrances of Thy Godliness in Thy days, and from the melodies of the Dove of Thy Oneness at the appearance of the Lights of Thy Face!

Hold Thou my right arm, O God! and dwell continually with me! Guide me to the fountain of Thy Knowledge and encircle me with Thy Glory. Let mine ears harken unto Thy melodious tone and comfort me with Thy Presence. For Thou art the strength of my heart, and the trust of my soul, and I desire no one beside Thee!

Question: After the body has been cast off and the spirit has taken flight, through what will the rational soul subsist? Let us suppose that those souls who are aided by the outpourings of the Holy Spirit attain true existence and everlasting life. But what becomes of those rational souls who are veiled from God?

Answer: Some hold that the body is the substance and that it subsists by itself, and that the spirit is an accident that subsists through the substance of the body. The truth, however, is that the rational soul is the substance through which the body subsists. If the accident---the body---is destroyed, the substance---the spirit---remains.

This perfect body can be compared to a mirror and the human spirit to the sun: If the glass is shattered or the mirror destroyed, no harm befalls the outpouring grace of the sun, which continues unabated.

As for the animal spirit, which is shared between man and animal, it is perishable in itself and becomes non-existent when bodies perish and forms dissolve, for it is of material elements. Since its substance is subject to non-existence and changeable through the passage of time, it must inevitably perish.

Spirit is the highest and supreme development of the soul. Soul is the material or outer self--the Mind. is the action of the Soul's powers. The Body is the physical covering or medium in which Mind acts and functions. At death everything but Spirit is destroyed and becomes extinct.

O dust at the threshold of grandeur! Masculinity and femininity pertain to the soul, not to the body - to the heart, not to clay. For these two physical attributes are metaphorical, while their spiritual reality is truth. For we observe that a male person with an elephant-like physique can be as lowly, contemptible and weak as an ant, while behind the veil of chastity and purity, a female can be the epitome of strength and power - the former enslaved by self and passion, the latter noble through reason and restraint; the former sinful and the latter virtuous. Thus it becomes clear and evident that manliness and wisdom belong to the heart, not to water and clay.

All blows fall upon the earthly body and elements of dust, not upon the pure soul. All harm reaches the garment of the body, not the spirit filled with spirit and the light of the gathering.

As to Paradise: It is a reality and there can be no doubt about it, and now in this world it is realized through love of Me and My good-pleasure. Whosoever attaineth unto it God will aid him in this world below, and after death He will enable him to gain admittance into Paradise whose vastness is as that of heaven and earth.

Know thou that immortality belongeth to those souls in whom hath been breathed the spirit of life from God. All save these are lifeless---they are the dead, even as Christ hath explained in the Gospel text. He whose eyes the Lord hath opened will see the souls of men in the stations they will occupy after their release from the body. He will find the living ones thriving within the precincts of their Lord, and the dead sunk down in the lowest abyss of perdition.

As to thy question regarding whither the soul returneth after the dissolution of the body: if it be associated with truth, it returneth to the Supreme Horizon. By the life of God! It returneth to a station whereof all tongues and pens are powerless to make mention. Every soul that is firm and steadfast in the Cause of God shall, after its ascension, be the source from which all worlds derive their bounties. Such a soul is the leaven that giveth rise to the world and the crafts and visible things therein, through the command of the True Sovereign and the True Educator.

But as the effulgences of the Sun of Truth have dawned forth upon you and ye have attained everlasting life, ye shall shine and sparkle forevermore from the horizon of existence.

Those souls for whom the spiritual life has been perfected shall never perish or cease to exist. They derived benefits from this life and bore fruit. How wondrous is that fruit! It is nearness to God; it is eternal life; it is everlasting illumination; it is unchanging existence; it is a life shining with light and the other human perfections, even while on this speck of dust.

The ultimate rewards, which consist in life everlasting, have been explicitly recorded in all the heavenly scriptures. They are divine perfections, eternal bounty and everlasting joy. The ultimate rewards are the gifts and perfections that man attains in the spiritual realms after his ascension from this world, while the existential rewards are those true and luminous perfections which are attained while still abiding in this world and which are the cause of everlasting life.

As to the question of the immortality of negligent souls once they have cast off their earthly frame, their immortality is tantamount to extinction, inasmuch as they are deprived of a heavenly life. They are even as the mineral, which endureth in the mineral realm, but which is utter nonexistence when compared to human existence. The other worlds are not a place where realities are transformed, or natures transmuted, or creation renewed. It is clear, however, that souls will progress in degrees and become the object of divine pardon and forgiveness.

Thou hast written that some of the friends have informed thee that if man does not progress, he will perish and become nonexistent. What is intended is not absolute nonexistence. The meaning is that the existence of a heedless person in comparison to the existence of a perfect individual is like being nonexistent. For instance, a stone is nonexistent in comparison to man, even though it existeth in the mineral condition. In brief, all souls exist, but the existence of the heedless and the ignorant in comparison to the existence of the perfect and the wise is like nonexistence.

As to the question of annihilation and destruction of the spirits: Mr. Phelps hath not fully understood the matter or else the translator hath made some mistake. It was not intended to convey the idea that the unbelieving souls are absolutely annihilated. Nay, rather, it was meant that the existence of the evil spirits in comparison to the existence of the sanctified souls was like unto annihilation. As you clearly behold, the existence of mineral in comparison with the existence of man is like unto non-being. When the body of man is destroyed and disintegrated, it returneth to the mineral.

Those souls who are not vivified and attracted by the Holy Spirit are accounted among the dead, because their souls are deprived of the Breath of the Holy Spirit; and these, after physical death, are in a certain condition, having feeling and discernment in their environment; but in comparison with the pure souls who have been vivified by the Holy Spirit they are as dead, and deprived of life.

The Master gave this explanation of the passage, "Let the dead bury the dead":

"Dust has existence, the body of man has existence, but when the body of man is non-existent it returns to dust; therefore, dust in its relation to the body of man is non-existent, but in its own station it has existence. The dead are in the station of dust. They both have life, but what a difference!"

It is a certain fact, absolutely established, that people whether righteous or wicked, the people of light or darkness, pious or mischievous, live on after the death of the body and physical dissolution and disintegration.

All realities and souls are immortal, even the souls of unbelievers and defective souls, but in relation to the souls of the holy ones and sanctified souls, the former have no importance and significance. This piece of wood, for instance, exists, but in relation to the existence of man its existence is insignificant. As for the immortality of heedless souls after relinquishing the elemental body, their immortality is the same as extinction because they are deprived of a goodly life.

When asked concerning the station of the "Pope" who recently departed this life, he answered: "His condition there, in the world of spirit, is the same as it was here. While here, his eyes were not opened to the real spiritual light, neither did he comprehend the real Truth of god. Thus, when he left the earth, his spiritual eyes were not opened, neither his spiritual ears.

But when the spirit of man awakens to the consciousness of the Spirit of God and becomes imbued with the Light of the Sun of Truth, that Light in him is of the Spirit of God and is immortal with God. But the man who is not endowed with this Light remains as a lamp whose light may be extinguished.

O maidservant of God! The life of this world is but confused dreams, having neither station nor happiness of consequence. But the supreme happiness comes after ascension to the Supreme Companion and entry into the eternal Paradise, the most exalted Heaven, the Presence of witnessing and meeting.

Moral life consists in the government of one's self. Immortality is government of a human soul by the Divine Will.

He should forgive the sinful, and never despise his low estate, for none knoweth what his own end shall be. How often hath a sinner, at the hour of death, attained to the essence of faith, and, quaffing the immortal draft, hath taken his flight unto the celestial Concourse. And how often hath a devout believer, at the hour of his soul's ascension, been so changed as to fall into the nethermost fire.

The world of existence is like an ocean and these determined beings are its waves. Although they have existence and visibility, they are considered non-existent and lost, except for the sacred realities of divine souls. Although they too are determined beings, yet being illumined from the praised station and assisted from the extended shadow, they attain eternal realization in the world of existence and find everlasting determination. This is the meaning of "All things perish save His face."

I swear by the Sun of the horizon of inner meanings that God has and will have paradises beyond compare. But in this first life, what is meant by paradise is His good-pleasure and entry into His Cause. And after the believers ascend from this world, they enter incomparable paradises and partake of boundless blessings, which are the fruits of their deeds in this world.

In the world of spirit there is no retrogression. The world of mortality is a world of contradictions, of opposites; motion being compulsory, everything must either go forward or retreat. In the realm of spirit there is no retreat possible, all movement is bound to be towards a perfect state.

In the Gospel (St. Luke 12:4) it is said: "Be not afraid of them that kill the body and after that have no more that they can do. But I will tell you whom ye shall fear. Fear him which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell. Yea, I may unto you, fear him."

'Abdu'l-Baha said that this means that the death of the body is of no importance and not in the least to be feared, because a spiritual soul lives forever. But the thing to be feared is the death of the spirit.

It is even possible for those who have died in sin and unbelief to be transformed, that is, to become the object of divine forgiveness. This is through the grace of God and not through His justice, for grace is to bestow without desert and justice is to give that which is deserved. As we have the power to pray for those souls here, so too will we have the same power in the next world, the world of the Kingdom.

As for progress in the world after death, know that after death is the divine world, and progress therein is possible, but through divine bestowal rather than human striving. That is, progress is possible purely through grace, for advancement in stations depends entirely on grace and bestowal.

Both before and after casting off this elemental frame, the human soul progresses in perfections but not in station. The progression of all created things culminates in perfect man, and no greater being than him exists: Man, having reached the human station, can progress only in perfections and not in station, for there is no higher station to which he can find passage than that of a perfect man. He can progress solely within the human station, as human perfections are infinite.

… And as the perfections of man are infinite, he can also advance in these perfections after his ascension from this world.

Now, as the human spirit continues after death, it must either advance or decline, and in the next world to cease to advance is the same as to decline. But the human spirit never transcends its own degree: it progresses only within that degree. For example, no matter how far the spirit and reality of Peter may progress, it will never reach the degree of the reality of Christ but will progress only within its own inherent limits.

All the people in the other world, are they not creatures of God? Therefore they can progress in the other world. As they can receive light by supplicating here, there they can also receive light by supplicating. The rich in the other world can help the poor - as the rich can help the poor ;here.

Regarding your question about forgiveness and pardon for the deceased: Every soul that returns from this transitory world to the eternal realm, according to their merit and capacity - if divine justice encompasses them, "O what regret for us!" But in the realm of grace, merit and capacity and worthiness are not considered. … After ascension, progress and pardon depend on grace, but descent is impossible and inconceivable.

This lesson is to explain, if it be possible for either a believer or an unbeliever to advance in the next world.

The believer attains to eternal life in this world, but the unbeliever is eternally veiled from the presence of God. Eternal life is knowledge of God and eternal punishment is deprivation of the Sight of God. According to the statements in the Gospel, those who do not believe are eternally condemned, while those who (missing hard copy to end>>>>) are believers will be in eternal joy and happiness. But the Mercy of God surpasses His Condemnation.

Q. Is a soul ever annihilated?

A. No. It will be placed in different conditions by God's Mercy, and will eventually progress.

Q. If one refuses the Cause of Baha'u'llah during his lifetime, may he hear of it after death?

A. Yes, he will hear of it in his next life, but through the mercy of God, not through his own ability.

...As for thy question concerning those righteous souls who passed away ere they heard the Call of this Revelation, know thou that those who ascended unto God ere they heard this Call, but who followed the precepts of Christ and walked in the Straight Path - these verily attained, after ascending to the Divine Kingdom, unto the Refulgent Light....

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As to the influence of holy Beings and the continuance of Their grace to mankind after They have put away Their human form, this is, to Baha'is, an indisputable fact. Indeed, the flooding grace, the streaming splendours of the holy Manifestations appear after Their ascension from this world.

Q. What becomes of an undeveloped infant's soul?

A. It rests with the mercy of God and through the eternal bounty it will not be deprived of that mercy.

Just as the soul of an animal after death (i.e. after the disintegration of its body) can not enter the body of a plant, so also can the soul of man after his death not enter the body of an animal. No, his material nature comes from the greatest distance of emanation from God, for the material is the farthest pole in the curve of emanation.

The vegetable spirit, the animal spirit, and the human spirit---the rational soul, that is---do not return after death to this world of the "first creation". [Q56:62] As for that spirit of faith by which is meant the light of guidance, and that Holy Spirit, the reality of divine revelation, these both return, in every dispensation and cycle, to this the realm of the "first creation".

In this station of spiritual glory the souls of the believers will become acquainted with each other in the path which the Lord of the world hath foreordained. They will advance together toward the loftiest stations, and shall not return to the material world until the time when the eternal Will purposeth to return the creation and make the world anew.

But in this world all those called into being are new souls. It is not that a former soul becometh incarnated in another person, or that another individual becometh the soul of a former individual.

So with what comes after this life. Here we are subject to the conditions of matter; after this will succeed life on the mental plane, a life freed from this material body. But according to the life we have lived here depend the conditions of life on that next plane. What we sow here, that we reap there. Even though on leaving this body we enter upon a life of the sprit, the conditions of the spirit-life must depend upon the degree of development to which the spirit has attained."

"Why should you wish to return here? In My Father's House are many mansions -- many, many worlds! Why should you desire to come back to this particular planet?"

The soul or the energy which we possess is an abstract essence, separable from the material body as to its identity, or form, but in reality it is inseparable as to its actions or power.

In every one of the worlds there must be a body suitable to the conditions of such a world. The spirit develops many qualities or degrees of bodies after death or decarnation, and progresses after demise from world to world, and refines the quality of the spiritual body from time to time without over incarnating again in the flesh.

When one enters the other world, he sees and knows so much that is now hidden that this world seems but a dark and narrow prison from which he has escaped. As a bird freed from the cage desires not to return there, so the soul of man freed from the body has no inclination to return to its close confines again, but loves to soar upward, nearer and ever nearer unto the Perfection of God.

If while there he were to be told of a better world, he would not believe in it. It is hard for him to leave that world for this; but when he comes forth he learns that that was a perdition, and this a world of light. Then he understands that that was narrow, this spacious; that there he had but bad odours, while here he enjoys the perfumes of gardens; that there he was in darkness, while now he sees; that there no sounds came to his ears, while now he hears; that there was torpor, here speech; there death, here life.

That is why the prophets of God forfeited this world, renounced everything material and gave their hearts to the heavenly world. Were there nothing after death, Christ would not have accepted the cross; the prophets of all time would not have sacrificed their lives. They were in touch with the celestial world and they overlooked this transitory life.

The Dayspring of the Revelation of the All-Merciful has declared: "The people will be requited for their deeds, with reward being the consequence of good deeds and punishment the consequence of wrongdoing." It is evident, then, that deeds will be preserved and every [acquired] attribute will continue to exist, so that through the attribute or deed itself requital can be given. Every [acquired] attribute a person possesses and every deed he commits, therefore, will reveal itself and take on a particular form in each world "so that He may requite each soul for what it has done.

As for thy question concerning those who passed away before this Revelation, know thou that they abide in a paradise of exalted glory. Those who believed in the Point of the Bayan have indeed attained unto God and His presence. Whosoever among them died hath ascended unto God and entered the paradise of grace, whereupon he sayeth: "Praise be to God Who hath fulfilled His promise and hath caused me to inherit a paradise whose breadth is as the breadth of the heavens and the earth."

The people of Baha who dwell in the divine Ark are all aware of each other's conditions and are intimate companions and associates with one another. This station depends on the certitude and deeds of souls. Those souls who are at the same level are aware of each other's qualities, characteristics, ranks and stations. But souls who are below them cannot fully comprehend the levels and stations of those souls who are above them.

Regarding your question about the discovery of spirits after releasing their bodies - certainly that world is a world of discovery and vision, for the veil will be lifted and the human spirit will behold souls above, below and equal to its station.

And know thou for a certainty, that in the divine worlds, the spiritual beloved ones (believers) will recognize each other, and will seek union (with each other), but a spiritual union. Likewise, a love that one may have entertained for any one will not be forgotten in the world of the Kingdom. Likewise, thou wilt not forget (there) the life that thou hast had in the material world.

The bliss of the spirit is nearness to the Ancient Beauty, and hell is remoteness from that Manifest Light. It is perfection and deficiency, loftiness and baseness, luminosity and darkness. Although the spirit is abstract, its abstraction is from the physical world. However, in its own essence it possesses ranks and stations both high and low. Though free from the constraints of contingent existence, in its own realm it has infinite ranks, stations and conditions. Likewise, its return to God is like the return of the part to the whole - not like the drop and ocean, but rather like the return of birds to the garden of the providence of the Forgiving Lord.

When the soul of man ascends to the bountiful realm, it certainly unveils this physical world, for every higher station unveils the station below it, but a lower station cannot unveil a higher station. For example, man has come from the mineral world to the human world, and the human world unveils the earthly world. He is likewise aware of the plant kingdom and informed of the animal kingdom - he unveils them all. But the mineral world has no knowledge of man's pure world. Good deeds and charitable works performed for souls certainly have an effect.

Your dear mother ascended to the apex of the Kingdom and is intimate and companion with the spiritual ones. They observe this world and its people, for the veil has been lifted and the curtain removed from their vision.

Know that the state of the soul after death is like awakening from a dream. It will be conscious of all past states. A well-known tradition declareth: "The people are asleep, and when they pass away, they will awaken." It is also stated in the Qur'an: "Thou wast heedless of that; but We have removed thy veil, and keen is thy sight this day."...

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O thou who art firm in the Covenant! In this corporeal world, despite the separation of bodies, friends remain friends and intimate with each other. In the eternal world, then, which is the world of divine unity and heavenly oneness, friendship and spiritual intimacy are naturally among the essential requisites of that sanctified world....

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This much is true and we can grasp it - that the spiritual is the real life, and when we get there this earthly existence will be to us as a dream; and, best of all, the ties and relationships of true love and affection, that is, the relationships of the soul, - not of the flesh - will be intensified a thousand times. … We will have our individuality and will not be swallowed up in one vast spirit.

Taking the material ocean as an illustration, 'Abduil-Baha said, The atoms composing an ocean are, in appearance the ocean, but the identity of the atoms remains. So it is with our individuality in the ocean of life, it remains.

Question: Is individuality retained by various individual consciousnesses?

Abdu'l Baha: Complete individuality belongs only to the station of the Prophet. Those who follow him are under the "shadow" of his station. After death man does not develop through conscious effort, but through the power of Divine Bounty or unfoldment. All good works, loving memories, prayers and help from lesser beings assist the soul to push forward after death.

If both had the same degree of development, they would be re-united immediately after death.

… Replying to another questioner, he said that when two people, husband and wife for instance, have been completely united in this life their souls being as one soul, then after one of them has passed away, this union of heart and soul would remain unbroken.

When asked what were his ideas as to the conditions of the next life, and whether we should be reunited to those we had loved on earth, Abdul Baha replied:

"Love, that potent magnet, will surely re-unite all those whom physical death has parted. But it must be remembered that we can only be in perfect touch with those on the same plane of development as ourselves.

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To this he replied: "They see all as it affects the spirit. A great joy, a great sorrow, a sin, or a good deed: as these things darken or cloud the soul, or cause it to rise into greater light, so they see every earth event that touches you for good or ill, reflected in your soul.

That spirit can communicate with spirit is proven by the known fact of teaching. … So soul can communicate with soul and in the realms of existence such intercommunication is possible.

Abdu'l-Baha. -- 'A conversation can be held, but not as our conversation. There is no doubt that the forces of the higher worlds interplay with the forces of this plane. The heart of man is open to inspiration; this is spiritual communication. As in a dream one talks with a friend while the mouth is silent, so is it in the conversation of the spirit. A man may converse with the ego within him saying: "May I do this? Would it be advisable for me to do this work?" Such as this is conversation with the higher self.'

[The question was asked if it were possible to establish communication with the dead, and whether it was wise or advisable to attend seances or to engage in table-turning, spirit-rapping, etc.]

The Master said these rappings, etc., were all material things, and of the body. What is needed is to rise above the material to the realms of the purely Spiritual. Table-turning and such like were material, a natural result, and not spiritual.

But it was possible to communicate with the dead through the condition of the character and the heart.

Asked if disembodied souls could communicate with embodied ones, He replied:

"Yes, but they do not do it through medums nor in material ways, but in spiritual ways."

This spiritual communication and mutual exchange of thoughts is conditioned upon certain facts that prepare the person in this world to communicate with the spirit of his departed ones.

However, this much may be mentioned: By the life of God! The lights and effulgences of those pure spirits who ascend detached from the world and purified from the doubts of the nations, are the cause and source of the manifestation of knowledge, wisdom, crafts, and the preservation of creation. Death shall not overtake them, and their consciousness, understanding, power and strength are beyond the reckoning of minds and comprehension. The lights of these spirits are the educators of the world and its peoples.

After separation from bodies, spirits do not take on elemental physical form. What is imagined is the person's own discovery in receiving aid and grace from holy souls. When in that state one becomes absent from self and immersed in the ocean of attention, a spiritual condition free from body and physicality appears to their view, and they think it is a body. It is like dreams - in the dream world one sees various forms, converses, and receives bounties, thinking in the dream state that these are embodied temples and physical manifestations, when in fact they are purely spiritual.

As to thy question concerning the spirit and its movement, know thou that pure and sanctified spirits, detached from earthly conditions, have been and ever shall be the educators of the world of being. By the Life of God! After their ascension, they exercise supreme influence and power. They have ever been, and shall remain, all-encompassing and supreme.

Those blessed souls who depart from this world and hasten to the other realm, having been confirmed by the power of the Kingdom, must needs exert an influence throughout the worlds of existence and, through their intercession, become the cause of bounty and confirmation from the Divine Unity.

That life and death were the same, there was little change; and as human beings helped each other on the earthly plane, they could still continue to show affection and give support to each other after the apparent separation.

Q. Are we not able, through love and faith, to make those on the other side hear of the Cause who had not heard of it while here?

A. Yes, surely sincere prayer always has its effect, and it has a great influence in the other word. We are never cut off from those who are there. The real and genuine influence is not in this world but in that other.

'Abdu'l-Baha replied: "Individual consciousness is realized after birth here. This is the matrix world for the soul, even as the womb was the matrix world for the body or vehicle. - Birth into consciousness of another world begins here, a world for which this physical and material one is but the preparation and foundation."

When the souls that are not good die, they go entirely away from this earth and so cannot influence anyone. They are spiritually dead. Their thoughts can have influence only while they are alive on the earth. Caiaphas had great influence during his life, but as soon as he died, his influence ceased. It was of this kind that Christ said, 'Let the dead bury their dead.' But the good souls are given eternal life, and sometimes God permits their thoughts to reach the earth to help people."

To the first part of the question he answered: "No. They have no power to influence the world of men and only those who in life had been among the spiritually regenerated ones, those who had been re-born or baptized of the Holy Spirit, only such souls could consciously communicate or have knowledge of things in this world."

"They are in a state of dark consciousness, deprived of the mercy of God, but were not annihilated."

And as to what thou hast asked concerning the death of the believing soul, know that everything returneth unto its source, and that which sustaineth all things is, before God, delighting in the Paradise of His Being and Bounty. Thou seest that his body returneth unto clay, his essential body returneth unto the Gates, his essential soul returneth unto the Imams, his essential spirit returneth unto the Prophet, and his essential heart returneth unto the Manifestation of Glorification, which is intended to be the Sun of Truth.

Know, O my brother and beloved, that the world of description ['alamu'l-tadwin] is like unto the world of creation ['alamu'l-takwin]. Just as creation, when it advances and attains the station of perfection, brings forth all that is potential into actuality, so too is it with description. Observe the Paradise which is the station of the perfection of creation, for therein every bird warbles all melodies, every tree bears fruits of diverse hues, every food contains the taste of all foods, and all that exists therein of fruits and trees and rivers possesses feeling and life and perception and consciousness even as man. To this did the Shaykh (may God's peace be upon him) refer in his Sharhu'l-Qawa'id, where he said: "As for what is general, verily all that is in Paradise of animals, plants and minerals is alive with animal life conjoined with consciousness and feeling, which are linked to discernment and reason. Nothing exists therein to which existence can be attributed save as we have described." God, the Exalted, hath said: 'Verily the abode of the Hereafter - that is indeed Life!' And verily I saw in a dream as though I had come to one of the gardens of Paradise wherein were trees and plants, and I saw all the leaves of those trees and plants looking at me, each with two eyes - the gaze of reason - being both leaf and animal. This is but a brief allusion to the life of the Hereafter, and the matter is greater, far greater." Thus ended his words - may God exalt his station.

Consider man, for in this existence, when foreign humors prevail over him, chronic diseases are generated within him, and naught but a single state is manifested from him. But when he is purified from these symptoms and impurities and humors to the station of equilibrium and entereth Paradise, then no occupation distracteth him from another occupation. He seeth with all his members, heareth from all his directions, smelleth fragrances from all his stations, and speaketh with all his parts. Hast thou not heard that man in Paradise converseth with his friend in one place while eating in another, rideth in one station while meeting with a houri in another? For this is the station of equilibrium, and therein the meeting of opposites is not impossible, for opposition hath been wholly removed. Hath it not reached thine ears that in the appearance of the Proof (peace be upon him) the wolf and the sheep shall gather in one place? This is an allusion to the removal of opposition in the time of his appearance (peace be upon him).

Long silence, the Master looks to be sunk deep in thought, to be looking backward and forward. After a long time - the Master appears to have forgotten those present - Miss Stevens again turns to the Master: "May we ask: What does the Prophet Baha'u'llah teach concerning the end of all times?"

The Master: "The end of all things? you ask, my daughter! The world, i.e. the universe, is eternal. The earth is but one planet where natural life is millions and millions of years old. Life on earth did not exist from the beginning and all at once, but it developed in stages and by degrees. The atoms of the elements are predisposed (programmed) to synthesis and composition according to the laws of nature; the Cosmic Spirit, the divine Primal Will operates and creates in this manner. The Primal Will operates in the element, in the primal atom, as attraction and repulsion; on the next higher level as organic life; then as animal-vegetative; and finally as spiritual life, which is destined to rise to the super-spiritual. What develops is not the physical substratum (base), which actually exists from the beginning in its different kinds, each of which then develops only within its own kind to higher perfection, but rather does the Cosmic Spirit, the divine Primal Will, unfold within the creature just as the bud of a flower unfolds ever more completely, purely and beautifully, and will finally, in the fully-redeemed, totally purified man, return to the Godhead, to be immersed and fused in the Godhead.

But the man who has subjugated himself totally to the machine or has even been sacrificed to it, cannot develop in his lifetime beyond the low degrees of human consciousness; his enslaved soul, fixed in the fetters of time and space, can be but imperfectly illumined by the Cosmic Spirit; after his physical death he will continue to exist in the world beyond and will have the chance of purification, not on another earth or on another planet, but in the uncountable spiritual worlds of God. - Has not our Lord Jesus Christ - praised be His Utterance - said: 'In my Father's house there are many mansions, I am going to make ready a place for you!' - Not by their own efforts will the departed succeed in purifying themselves, but the bounties of God will bring them to purification.

But should nine tenths of mankind fall victim to the demon of exaggerated technology, the end of the history of our earth will come about. The last of the Days of Judgment will dawn, when the Prophetic Cycle will have come to an end and the world returns to God, when all becomes lost in Him through the crashing and bursting of the elements, which means annihilation for those turned away from God, but spiritualization for those resting in God, and for those souls still in need of purification and development it is a triumphant sinking into God's infinite grace and mercy. And what is the Teaching of the Blessed Perfection Baha'u'llah, when we recognize the signs of the time and our souls would like to turn away trembling from the increasing devilry of the age of the machine?

Believe and taste, O children of man, the reality of God; in this reality reposes yesterday, today and tomorrow; to seek in Him is temporal and eternal bliss." -

Nobody dares ask any further questions for today, the Master retires for devotion; those present are dismissed.

Let us die, and then I will convince you of the soul, of the higher home, of God. The world beyond is the home of my soul, it is my America, in which you do not believe and of which you refuse to know, because I cannot show it to you here in this world. Let us travel across the sea of death to the world beyond, and I will show it to you, just as you want to show me, after a journey across the ocean, the reality of your America beyond.

It is the City Limitless; not one has yet found its boundary. Its Sun never sets; its Moon is ever a full moon, it never is on the wane; its stars are all suns; its season is ever Spring; its blossoms and flowers never wither; its trees are ever fruitful. All living beings in that City are unaware of death, and death never overtakes them.

This is why in the holy books it is mentioned that after the ascension of a soul, good deeds and charitable works should be performed for that soul, and these good deeds and charitable works become the cause of the elevation of its station. Thus it becomes clear that progress for man--meaning the acquisition of divine perfections and infinite bounties--is possible in every world. However, man's appearance in this world is for progress in both stations and perfections, while in the next world progress is confined to divine perfections.

And as for heedless parents, when they pass from this world to another world, they remain deprived of divine favors, veiled from witnessing, and forbidden from eternal bounty - like the blind who cannot see, the deaf who cannot hear, and those deprived of smell. But when their spiritual children who are believers in God and certain of God's verses seek forgiveness and intercession and lament at the divine threshold and perform good deeds and charitable works, perhaps their intercession will be accepted at the divine threshold.

Those souls who have ascended to the Supreme Companion with steadfastness - they witness and are aware. Were We to expound this station, the mountain would soar in its longing to attain the presence of the Causer of causes.

It is like an infant emerging from the confining womb of its mother into this world of color and water. While the bird remains in its cage, it knoweth not of the expanse of the rose garden, the freshness of the meadow, the beauty of the orchard, or the sweetness of friends. But when it taketh flight, it heareth melodies and songs from every direction, becoming intimate with the birds of the meadow. It heareth the sound of the lute and harp, entereth the shade of a praiseworthy station, becometh the companion and confidant of grateful birds, and uttereth "Would that my people knew!"

As many times as possible--at least once a year--you should make it a point to visit his tomb, for his spirit will be exhilarated through the loyalty of the friends, and in the world of God will it be happy.

O handmaid of Baha! For some time I have been ill and weary of life in this world, yearning to journey in the other world. If I depart from this nest and hasten to the realm of the Kingdom, do not forget me, do not remain silent, do not seek rest. Remember my counsels, heed my advice.

… I shall not forget thee, neither in this world nor in the world to come.

Verily, I beseech Thee to forgive the sins of such as have abandoned the physical garment and have ascended to the spiritual world.

Grant then O my God, that Thy servant may consort with Thy chosen ones, Thy saints and Thy Messengers in heavenly places that the pen cannot tell nor the tongue recount.

Give this dear servant a dwelling in Your glorious habitation and grant this helpless fallen one a home in the vicinity of Your mercy. Let him drink from the cup of meeting with You and give him an abode beneath the Tree of Paradise.

O Lord! His days were completed, his breath ceased, he cast off his garment and shed his raiment, returning unto Thee pure, sanctified, naked, sincere, aflame, attracted, yearning, and stirred by Thy fragrances.

Until at last their strength failed them, their frames trembled from separation, the fire of anguish blazed within their breasts, and their patience was exhausted by remoteness from Thy Most Glorious Kingdom. So they cast off their bodily garments, donned the robe of sanctity, and soared to the highest horizon in their longing to attain Thy presence in the Kingdom of Mysteries and their yearning to attend the gathering of divine manifestation, the center of lights.

Lord! Verily, the heart of Thy tender servant is astonished at the delights of the realms above, and he is eager to meet Thee in Thine exalted kingdom. Like a bird, he hath soared with longing wings to the retreats of holiness in the precincts of Thy supreme mercy and hath sought refuge at the threshold of Thy clemency. He hath ascended unto Thee and reached Thee with his heart free and without any provisions in Thy presence save hope.

They have now taken their flight from this world on the wings of longing and have attained Thy kingdom of glory. Gladden Thou their hearts in the world of the unseen and let them abide beneath the shadow of the tree of hope.

He was freed from the nonexistence of life and sought eternal existence. Like a wise bird he became detached from the snare and grain, and flew to the rose garden of mystery.

… He tasted the poison of nonexistence - let him drink the cup of existence.

Thou didst answer his prayer and deliver him from this dark abyss and raise him to the supreme horizon and admit him into the highest Paradise and honor him with the vision of meeting Thee and grant him intimacy through love and faithfulness and gather him with souls from whose faces light radiates in the world of mysteries.

That nightingale of the garden of faithfulness has flown to the eternal gardens, and that dove of the bower of loyalty has ascended to the meadows of the mercy of the Lord. That candle became illumined in the gathering of the All-Merciful, and that moth of the divine lamp burned away the physical veil. That consumed fish found its way to the divine sea, and that disturbed nightingale entered the rose garden of the All-Merciful. That sincere lover reached the privacy of the Beloved, and that compatible friend entered the gathering of the Loved One.

And this is the prayer:

O Forgiving and Merciful Lord! My dear sister Margaret has hastened from this world to Your world, and grown weary of the mortal realm to soar to the divine realm. She was a bird without nest or shelter who longed for a home and refuge in the celestial realm.

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O Lord! Sanford was a son of the Kingdom, and like a fresh and graceful sapling in the Abha Paradise, he ascended to the realm of the Kingdom, that he might grow and develop by the stream of everlasting life in the eternal garden, and yield blossoms and fruits.

Without doubt Thou hast ordained for every soul after its death in Thy paradise that which none of Thy creation can comprehend, and if it be not a believer, then in Thy fire with that which none of Thy creation can comprehend. But Thou hast made the pivot of what comes after death the conditions before it in that world.

We were with thee at the time when the clouds of death enveloped thee, and We took thee with the hand of mercy and caused thee to ascend to a station which We had ordained for thee before Adam was created from a handful of subtle clay.

Therefore, walk thou through the levels of paradise and partake of the fruits of the holy Lote-Trees as thou pleasest, by the command of One Who is mighty and bountiful.

Never be sorrowful and depressed, or grieved and wounded, at the ascension of souls to the Kingdom of Vision, for when the birds of paradise soar to the holy gardens it is cause for joy, not mourning, and occasion for gladness, not regret.

However, since those two saplings were uprooted from the furnace of this world, they were planted and took root in the eternal divine garden, attaining endless freshness and grace, becoming adorned with leaves, blossoms and fruit.

As to those blessed souls: they will, even as the doves of holiness, wing their flight unto the Concourse on high and in the meads of the Abha Kingdom will burst into melodious songs, whose strains of sanctity will exhilarate every attentive ear, and whose wondrous accents will be heard at all times by the people of abiding faithfulness.

Every steadfast and assured soul who passeth away is delivered from estrangement and findeth rest in the true homeland, is freed from alienation and entereth the circle of those near to the threshold of the Almighty. The atom returneth to the sun, and the drop seeketh sustenance from the Euphrates; the thirsty one findeth the fountain of eternity, and the ailing one entereth the hospital of the All-Knowing Physician.

But do not be sorrowful, for verily your Lord has guided that bird to its glorious flock and its lofty nest in His wondrous paradise, where it has joined the holy birds singing sweetly in the garden of fellowship to the melody of the Beloved. The people of Paradise have hearkened unto it, and their cries of "Glory!" and "God is Most Great!" have risen to the Glorious Lord.

And though we are now scattered and dispersed, yearning and unsettled, ultimately we will be intimate companions and confidants in His shelter, harmonious and of one voice.

We both are likewise destined to take our flight one day unto the world beyond; and in the heavenly realm and world of the Kingdom thou wilt behold his luminous countenance and attain unto everlasting reunion with him. Be thou assured that he hath not perished; he liveth still, but in the world of purity.

Consequently the blessed souls do not wish to be established in this wilderness of a world. They wing their way towards the supreme heights and like unto the heavenly birds long to build their nests in that celestial universe. Thy respected husband hastened and reached the Boundless and Limitless Immensity.

They, who have passed into the Divine Garden, pray for us there, as we pray for them here."

Question: "Shall I find my mother again?"

The Master said: "Certainly. Separation is only in the world of bodies."

For in that world the veil is torn asunder and one becometh immersed in an ocean of feeling and perception. Thy loving mother perceiveth the condition of her daughter and, rejoicing in her fortitude and patience, experienceth felicity in the eternal realm.

… Thy mother hath hastened to a world sanctified above the reach of human understanding, and hath been delivered from all sorrow, vexation, hardship, trouble, and misfortune.

Grieve thou not for thy mother; for she hath been lifted up unto the Most Exalted Companion, in an impregnable holy abode. She hath entered the chambers of Paradise---an estate whose horizon the lights have made resplendent. The breezes of divine favor have encompassed her and cleansed her from transgression. Thus hath the grace of thy Lord, the All-Merciful, surrounded her; and His grace hath ever encompassed all worlds.

O servant of the Sacred Threshold! According to what has been heard, your mother has hastened from this world to the infinite realm. … The fruit of life was attained, the tree of hopes yielded its bounty. However much longer she might have lived, no better result than this could have been achieved.

She verily ascended to God and returned to Him just as she had appeared from Him. She hath returned, rested, rejoiced and is overjoyed.

Regarding thy dear brother who hath ascended from this mortal world to the eternal realm, grieve not and be not saddened. That drop hath hastened to the limitless Ocean; that homeless bird hath winged its flight unto the sheltering nest of the Concourse on high. Thou shalt find him in the assemblage of splendours in the Kingdom of mysteries.

Grieve not for what befell him. He hath ascended unto heaven and reached the ultimate goal. Thy Lord, verily, is the Almighty, the Powerful. Thy Lord hath forgiven him as a bounty from His presence and purified him from the defilement of the world. He is in the highest companionship, speaking and saying: "Praise be unto Thee, O God of the worlds!"

He grew weary of the body and sped unto the world of the spirit, and attained the presence of the Beloved. Though for that bird of Heaven it was but freedom from the cage and deliverance from the prison of desire and passion; a drop that hastened to the sea, a mote that sped unto the height of the sun; a yearning soul that found its way unto the sanctuary of the Best-Beloved of all horizonsâ€"yet did that calamity plunge that sorrow-stricken father into grievous mourning, and make that anguished mother the companion of sighing and lamentation.

"That child is your trust within the charge of God. She was a child when she went, but you shall find her full grown in the Kingdom of God. You shall find her mature. You shall not find her there as a child. You shall find her perfect and mature.

This separation is temporary.

You will find him in the Presence of God. You will receive him in the Kingdom of God. First you enjoyed his companionship in this world. In the future you will have an eternal companionship with him. You associated with him in this life and you will find him there with the utmost happiness. You had him in this life imprisoned in a cage. There you will find him in a World of Freedom.

O thou beloved maidservant of God, although the loss of a son is indeed heart-breaking and beyond the limits of human endurance, yet one who knoweth and understandeth is assured that the son hath not been lost but, rather, hath stepped from this world into another, and she will find him in the divine realm. That reunion shall be for eternity, while in this world separation is inevitable and bringeth with it a burning grief.

Praise be unto God that thou hast faith, art turning thy face toward the everlasting Kingdom and believest in the existence of a heavenly world. Therefore be thou not disconsolate, do not languish, do not sigh, neither wail nor weep; for agitation and mourning deeply affect his soul in the divine realm.

That beloved child addresseth thee from the hidden world: 'O thou kind Mother, thank divine Providence that I have been freed from a small and gloomy cage and, like the birds of the meadows, have soared to the divine world -- a world which is spacious, illumined, and ever gay and jubilant. Therefore, lament not, O Mother, and be not grieved; I am not of the lost, nor have I been obliterated and destroyed. I have shaken off the mortal form and have raised my banner in this spiritual world. Following this separation is everlasting companionship. Thou shalt find me in the heaven of the Lord, immersed in an ocean of light.'

O mother of that gracefully soaring bird! If that bird hath flown to the nest of the birds of heaven, become a graceful cypress in the garden of mercy, ascended as a star above the horizon of the Lord, and become a shining candle in the assembly of God, thou must not be grieved or saddened thereby, for, in truth, this is loving-kindness unalloyed, a pure gift and absolute bounty. Happy is he and blessed be his return.

O blessed leaf! That lofty branch hath ascended to the highest heaven, that brilliant star hath risen in the celestial realm, that morning bird hath started to sing exhilarating melodies in the garden of God, and that noble river hath returned unto the Most Great Ocean.

… The pinnacle of the Kingdom is the place of gathering, and the shadow of the loving Lord is the place of meeting. That meeting is eternal, that gathering is everlasting, and that pleasure and delight is perpetual.

I swear by the Day-Star of the morn of Truth that thy son hath attained a station such as no pen can depict, nor words adequately describe. His habitation is the realm on high, his associates and companions are sanctified and detached souls, and his sustenance the imperishable and hidden blessings of the Lord. In truth were that lofty and glorious station to be revealed to an extent smaller than a needle's eye before the eyes of them that dwell on earth, they would, one and all, be so filled with joy and ecstasy as to be consumed thereby.

The little girl lamented is in the divine Rose-garden in the highest happiness, delight, cheerfulness and gratification. Why then art thou grieved, sorrowing with a bleeding heart? This is the day of rejoicing and the hour of ecstasy! This is the season of the dead arising from the graves and gathering together!

In truth, those children are not lost, but rather hidden. For every thing hidden away there is another state of presence, and for every thing folded up there is another place of unfolding.

Thou shouldst not regard anything as lost; nay, rather thou shouldst behold the light of the eyes existing, albeit in another world, a heavenly realm full of splendor and glory.

… If they have been delivered from this cage and snare, be not crushed thereby. Ere long thou shalt be present before the throne of the generous Lord, and thou shalt bear witness in the kingdom of the Almighty.

That pure soul calls to you from the zenith of heaven saying: "O mother, do not be sorrowful, do not be heartbroken! I have been freed from the cage of the dusty world and hastened to the eternal garden. I flew from the dark nest and reached the luminous dwelling place. I was thirsty and drank sweet water. I was lost and ran to the street of the Beloved of the horizons.

Like a bird in the cage of this body he was captive and confined. This cage was broken and that bird took flight, becoming intimate and harmonious with the divine birds in the celestial garden. You will find him in that garden in the utmost joy and fragrance.

That nightingale hath winged its flight unto the divine rose-garden, and that drop hath returned unto the Ocean of Truth. That stranger hath hastened unto his true abode, and that invalid hath found eternal health and life.

Wherefore dost thou grieve and sorrow? This separation is but for a period, this deprivation and bereavement but for a span of days. Thereafter shalt thou find him in the divine Kingdom and be everlastingly reunited with him.

Truly, I say unto thee, wert thou informed of that felicity which thy babe hath attained in the worlds of God, thy breast would be dilated and thy soul would be purified. Truly, I say unto thee, thy child will be fostered from the breast of the gift of God in the Exalted Kingdom and will be nursed in the bosom of mercy in the Supreme World of God.

But concerning the spirit, know that thy pure son shall be with thee in the Kingdom of God and thou shalt witness his smiling face, illumined brow, handsome spirit and real happiness.

O ye two believers in God! Although your dear child has passed from this mortal world, yet praise be to God, he lives in the eternal realm. You will find him in the Kingdom of God. Therefore, do not be sorrowful and grief-stricken at his passing. This is not death but life, this is not destruction but salvation, for that precious child has hastened to the Kingdom [of Paradise] in utmost spirituality and radiance.

Do not think that you have lost both noble branches - God forbid! Rather, you will find them both as two trusts deposited with your Lord, under the protection of His care and providence and His grace and mercy.

O thou daughter of the Kingdom!

This calamity is overwhelming and painful, and undoubtedly its effects are more severe. A thousand times alas, that like unto star, that glorious personage disappeared from the horizon of the immensity of space. He has arisen form a horizon that knows no setting and has hastened unto a realm that is infinite. He has been detached from this world below and has attained into Everlasting Life. He has ascended from this gloomy world and hastened to the Center of Light.

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I swear by the Educator of existence that the life of this world is death and its comfort is affliction, but as long as the veil remains, man is not aware of the harshness and constriction of this world. When the veil is lifted through ascension to the Kingdom of bounty, one realizes that this world was like a woman's womb and this space a narrow prison of trials.

Praise be to God, she hath attained to the desire of her heart and hath ascended to the Kingdom of ABHA!

Happiness dependeth on the spiritual glad-tidings and not upon material means. It is found in the Kingdom of ABHA and not in this mortal world.

That bird of the garden of resignation hath made her nest upon the threshold of eternity and found peace and tranquility. Thou shouldst think of the peace she hath attained, of the tranquility of her soul, and of the pardon and forgiveness of the All-Merciful.

Do not feel grieved or disconsolate, therefore, at the ascension of that bird of faithfulness; nay, under all circumstances pray for that youth, supplicating for him forgiveness and the elevation of his station.

… My hope from the infinite bounties of God is that He may shelter this dove of the garden of faith, and cause him to abide on the branch of the Supreme Concourse, that he may sing in the best of melodies the praise and glorification of the Lord of Names and Attributes.

Especially that bird of the garden of faithfulness who has taken flight to the Abha paradise and made its nest upon the branches of the divine Lote-Tree in the holy gardens. So if you are grief-stricken and heartbroken over this calamity, know that she is in the utmost joy and delight, engaged in praise and glorification and sanctification near the Most Great Mercy.

Do not suppose that thou hast lost him. The veil shall be lifted and thou shalt behold his face illumined in the Supreme Concourse. Just as God, the Exalted, hath said, "Him will we surely quicken to a happy life." Supreme importance should be attached, therefore, not to this first creation but rather to the future life.

Secondly, death is the means of deliverance from the wastes of separation and the cause of entry into the gardens of reunion. It is the source of freedom from the confines of this earthly dust-heap and the reason for soaring in the expansive atmosphere of the divine world.

However, God, exalted be His glory, in accordance with His consummate wisdom, hath opened the gate of reunion for some through His name, the Munificent, and the key of His name, the All-Bounteous. Blessed are they who have attained! And among these, He hath ordained death and departure from this world as one of the gates leading to the meeting with Him.

Two letters from you have returned to the Book, two birds have winged their flight to the most exalted nest, and two souls have turned toward the Most Glorious Homeland. By the life of God! They both gaze from the Supreme Horizon and hear what the Tongue of Bounty hath spoken at this moment.

Death and life are two gates for the manifestation of divine grace, bounty and mercy. Today is the day of bounty, mercy and generosity. Assuredly the sprinklings of the ocean of mercy shall embrace her, and in this moment He maketh mention of her with these wondrous and sublime remembrances.

Death, for those who are assured and nigh unto God, is the gate of mercy, for they advance from the limitations of the world to a station which is the dawning-place of joy and sanctified above the comprehension of those who comprehend.

We beseech God, blessed and exalted be He, to roll up the carpet of sorrows and griefs and to make all aware of the station of death and what appeareth therefrom. … By My life! In death are treasured God's consummate wisdom and His hidden mysteries.

But he could not bear the longing for his Well-Beloved, and in a little while his soul gave up this life and fled to the eternal one, passed into the Heaven of abiding reunion and was immersed beneath an ocean of light.

He watches over his own affairs and is aware of his people. If he observes no goodness in those associated with him, he will surely raise his voice in complaint in the Supreme Concourse, and that complaint will surely have its effect and return upon his people.

O thou divine, beloved Maid-Servant! Although thou didst disappear from the mortal eyes, yet thou didst train and educate thy daughters, each of whom has arisen to serve the Kingdom like unto thee and is engaged in the guidance of souls. In the Assembly of wisdom they are the lighted candles; they sacrifice their lives in the Path of God; they are gardening in thy orchard and irrigating thy rose-garden.

Now she calls you from the Abha Kingdom: "O my children! If you knew what bounty I have attained, you would surely abandon the earthly body and soar to this divine realm."

Although she passed away from this material world, she is living in her spiritual children.

You have not lost him. At most, there is now a temporary separation between you. In the Kingdom there will be a meeting. It is precisely like taking a journey. You will meet him.

Although the true graves of the divine friends are the hearts of the Supreme Concourse and the palaces of the Most Glorious Kingdom - meaning their bodies are buried in the dust while their spirits are in the Kingdom of the Lord of Lords, and even in the center of the earth their pure bodies are encompassed by radiant lights.

From the ascension of Mirza Nasru'llah there is utmost grief, but the consolation is that when that bird soared to the highest horizon it became a gray falcon and the mightiest eagle, and when that drop passed beyond the realm of contingent being it hastened to the infinite expanse and became a boundless sea.

Thy death was naught but a translation from the earthly abode to the divine dwelling, from the lowest station to the Most Exalted Companion.

God hath forgiven him before his ascension and after his ascension. He hath caused him to enter a station the description of which the pens of all worlds are powerless to recount.

Know thou that he is with Us and abides in manifest spirit and delight. Were the veil to be lifted, the servants would behold him in an exalted station, would arise to praise him among the people, and would beseech God for his station and companionship with him in the Ridvan of wondrous glory.

They have ascended to stations that no description can approach. In this case you must be joyful and carry out those things which after their ascension bring joy to their spirit.

From this dark and constricted domain, he hath set out for a vast world imperceptible to the senses. He was earthly and became heavenly; he was of this evanescent world and he set foot in the divine world.

This passing is not death and loss, nor extinction and nonexistence, but rather deliverance from the world of darkness and entrance into the eternal world.

Each of the martyred souls is seated upon the throne of eternal life in the Abha Kingdom, and their relatives shall wear the crown of glory throughout all ages and cycles, clothed in the robe of distinction and become the pride of all creation.

Your honored companion, that holy martyr, has raised his tent in the new Kingdom, and two free sons-in-law have unfurled their banner in the Supreme Concourse. … Be joyous - soon it will become evident and manifest that those noble souls are seated and established upon the throne of everlasting sovereignty in the Kingdom of the All-Merciful.

O believer in the verses of God! Though that lamp emerged from the glass of contingent being and was outwardly extinguished by the winds of events, yet it was kindled anew in the niche of the Concourse on High and the glass of the Most Glorious Kingdom, and its radiance encompassed the kingdom of existence.

"Think not of those who are slain in God's way as dead. Nay, they are living! With their Lord they have provision."

Death shall not overtake those who are certain of the Cause of the Most Merciful, nor shall mortality comprehend them. Rather it is but a transfer from one world to another, and verily it is greater than the throne and more vast than the divine seat. Its heaven is grace and its earth is loving-kindness.

The days of your companionship with Me are drawing to a close. The hour of separation has struck, a separation which no reunion will follow except in the Kingdom of God, in the presence of the King of Glory. In this world of dust, no more than nine fleeting months of association with Me have been allotted to you. On the shores of the Great Beyond, however, in the realm of immortality, joy of eternal reunion awaits us.

My soul will escape like a bird at liberty from this earthly cage of my body. Then shall I be free. Now am I in chains. These bonds shall be broken.

… "These are the spirits of those martyred ones, freed from their bodies. Now they enjoy eternal liberty.

Praise be to God Who hath made death a door to His presence, a means of attaining His reunion, and a cause for the life of His servants. Through it He hath revealed the mysteries of His Book and that which was treasured in His knowledge.

What is death but the transference of the soul from its nether abode to its exalted habitation. Through it the carpet of joy is rolled out and the standard of delight is unfurled.

One transformation lies ahead, and that is God's irrevocable decree. It has seized and continues to seize every soul. If this transformation, which they have called death, occurs for the sake of God, no excellence can match it and no station can compare with it.

Death is nothing more than ascending from one world to another world more subtle than the first. It is being transferred from one state of existence to another. The detached amongst My servants look forward to this state and beseech God, glorified be His glory, to attain it, for after the soul ascendeth, it shall circle around God and enjoy His presence, after which it shall turn towards the station which is preordained for it...

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O Ali, upon thee be the peace of God and His mercy!

Death, in one sense, is a door to reunion and a path unto the presence of the Beloved. Blessed is the soul that at the time of its ascension soars upon the wings of longing and yearning and sets out for the Most Exalted Companion.

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Such souls exist and are not lost, are prosperous not buried, are rising not setting, are ascending not falling. Through the window of nothingness they have hastened to the world of being, and from the aperture of evanescence they have found the rays of the Sun of eternity.

Thus the end of life for the friends is joy upon joy, gladness upon gladness, attainment to the favors of the Forgiving Lord and arrival at a praiseworthy station. This is why for them death is life, and passing away is like a garden full of blossoms and leaves. Extinction is the essence of eternality and loss is the essence of finding.

God willing, after leaving this earthly body thou shalt take up thine abode in the divine world nigh unto the Beloved of all mankind. Thou shalt exchange the venom of separation for the honey of reunion, heal cruelty's blows with the balm of faith, hasten from the desert of remoteness unto the shore of nearness, and be set free from this dustbin of deprivation.

But from another direction, there is assurance in the forgiveness and pardon of the All-Merciful, for those holy souls have become manifestations of divine favors in the infinite world, and what they sowed in the material world they have found as a gathered harvest in the divine realm. They have been freed from this world of weak elements and have attained a reality of the element of the All-Merciful and become immersed in the sea of lights.

O precious maidservant of God! Thy letter hath arrived. Thou hast written that through unbearable grief thou art a prisoner in a grievous prison. Praise be to God! Thou hast become liberated and hast found a way from the prison to the palace. Rest assured. The assistance of the Holy Spirit is descending and the breezes of the Abha Paradise are wafting. A follower of Baha is free and is winging his flight unto the apex of the Kingdom of God.

Give not in to sorrow and despair. Nay, rather spend Thy days in joy and gladness that thou mayest be born into the world of God's love and become wholly free from fear and peril. Eternal life is ordained for thee; wherefore dost thou fear? The gates of the Kingdom are open before thy face; why dost thou despair?

The spiritual life of man after ascending from this material world is even as the bodily life of man after being born from the world of the womb. Although he possessed a life in his mother's belly, that life was cheerless and without fruit. When he came out of his mother's womb and put foot into this world, his bodily life became perfected. In the same way, although in this world man hath a spiritual life, such a life resembleth the life of the fetus. When he hasteneth from this world to the world of the Kingdom and maketh his way to the divine realm, then his spiritual life will attain completion.

I beseech God to assist thee to become firm and steadfast in this heavenly Cause. Then the fulfillment of all thy hopes and desires will be possible.

Be not grieved at Mr. Moore's ascension to the Abha Kingdom. Though this world be vast and beautiful, it is like a cage to the birds of the Abha Paradise, for this world compared to that world is a prison, even if it be a delightful plain.

And now, in perfect fellowship and unity, they walk in that holy and blessed land and those luminous and spiritual realms. And the dwellers of the pavilion of glory each utter this most blessed and exalted word: "The day of joy has come! The loved ones in the divine garden, with spiritual souls, are engaged in eternal pleasure and everlasting delight!"

I beseech the bounty of the Abha Beauty to make all the old friends close companions in His Kingdom, so that a union may be achieved that has no separation following it, and an intimacy may occur that brings no estrangement in its wake.

For he has ascended in the shadow of the Peerless Beauty to the Kingdom of Glory and has attained to the threshold of the Throne of the Lord, the All-Bountiful.

This is not death, it is life; this is not passing, it is deliverance; this is not extinction, it is immortality; this is not separation, it is the very essence of faithfulness. The parched and thirsting one has reached the boundless ocean of mercy, and the passionate lover, freed from separation, has attained to his Beloved.

If meeting face to face was not possible in this world, we shall meet in the next world and find companionship in another nest. The meeting of this world is temporary and does not endure, but the meeting in the eternal world is everlasting and has no end.

Our real gathering is There! Our divine Assembly is There! Our spiritual Feast is There! Our eternal union is There!

We will be together in all the worlds of God. You cannot realize here what that means. You cannot imagine it. You can form no conception here in this elemental world of what it is to be with Me in the Eternal Worlds."

We will find shelter and protection under the shade of Baha'u'llah's gift.

A unity exists which is not followed by separation, a day not followed by night, a joy that has no end, a life that death does not end. This I hope that we will eternally be together under the protection of such a favor.

Today, whosoever ascendeth unto God in love, the Concourse on High welcometh that sanctified spirit and inhale from it the fragrance of God, and with exclamations of "No God is there but Him" and "God is Most Great" and praise, they usher it into the station ordained for it. By the life of God! Were but an atom of that station to be revealed, all who are on earth would fall senseless.

Blessed is the spirit that hath left the body purified from the doubts of the nations. By the life of God! It moveth in the atmosphere of its Lord's desire and entereth the gardens as it willeth, and the holy maidens of Paradise serve it in the morning and in the evening. It consorteth with the Prophets of God and His chosen ones, converseth with them, and relateth unto them that which hath appeared in the days of God, the Mighty, the All-Forgiving.

Dost thou imagine that he is lost? Nay, by My life! Rather, he hath fallen asleep and risen in haste unto the Kingdom of his Lord, the All-Knowing, the All-Informed. Dost thou imagine that he is dead? Nay, by His most truthful Self! He is alive in both worlds, beholding the Glory from the Supreme Horizon, and towards him are directed the glances of the Wronged One from this remote Prison.

The divine worlds are limitless, and the rewards for goodly deeds and spiritual qualities lie hidden and treasured in all these worlds.

Physical death shall not prevent those who have turned to Him, whether men or women, from attaining eternal life, for after their ascension to their own kingdom, the spirits of such souls shall find themselves adorned with the most beauteous raiment and in the most exalted station.

Ere long all of us will ascend to a praiseworthy station and return to the court of sanctity. We will leave our wealth and possessions behind, and hasten alone, naked, and unclothed to the other world. No person is lasting here and no one can remain in the nest and shelter of this desolate abode. From dust we appeared and to dust will we return. But the blessed soul shall ascend to another world and a kingdom of incomparable splendor.

The kings of East and West ultimately became subjects, and flourishing palaces were transformed into buried tombs, and the expanse and spaciousness of edifices ended in the narrow, grief-filled grave. But the servants at the Divine Threshold hastened from this dust-heap to the endless world, and flew from this ash-pit of sorrows to the rose-garden of spirit and delight. They became established upon the throne of eternal sovereignty and placed upon their heads a radiant crown of divine bounty, and lit a luminous lamp in the night-chamber of life.

The Cause will be fulfilled, the world will pass away and its possessions will perish, and all that is in it and upon it. All that is on earth shall be gathered together on the Day when all shall stand to account in a mighty and upright presence. There shall every soul find what it hath earned, and God shall question them concerning what they have wrought in the realm.

Through the help and favor of the Ancient Beauty (may my spirit be sacrificed for His loved ones' footsteps), we must succeed in rendering such service that when we ascend, we may enter His Abha Kingdom with a radiant face, a soul like a rose garden, a joyful spirit, a perfumed breath, and an illumined vision, and find our place beneath the shade of His merciful Tree.

Give thanks unto God and be thou not afraid of any cause, for the loved ones of God shall never perish nor decline. Day by day they shall increase in permanence and attain life everlasting.

When the Master was on the steamship Celtic, a woman came to Him with her problem: she was afraid of death. He said to her: "Then do something that will keep you from dying; that will instead, day by day make you more alive, and bring you everlasting life. According to the words of His Holiness Christ, those who enter the Kingdom of God will never die. Then enter the Divine Kingdom, and fear death no more."

Q. Do we have to leave the body in order to return to God, or is the true return when the Word becomes Spirit in the heart and ascends as sweet incense back to God?

A. This is right, this is right.

In this world and the world beyond we Baha'is have but one goal: to live and to work for the Kingdom of God (Malakut-i-Allah). Immortal existence in the beyond is but a continuation of our life and work here, through other means, in other forms, in other surroundings.

In these days, the Holy Ones of the Realm of Glory, dwelling in the all-highest Paradise, yearn to return unto this world, and be of some service to the Cause of Baha'u'llah and prove their servitude to the Threshold of Abha Beauty.

O Forgiver! Make these friends alive and enduring in Your Kingdom, so that through Your grace and bounty they may become creators and players, singers and dancers, and make Mihrban Baman noble in both worlds.

O Thou Forgiving One! Make these servants radiant; cause them to sing in the rose-garden of the world above; make them musicians in the heavenly banquet; enable them to cast away self in the arena of nearness and reunion; and suffer them to repose in delight upon the couch of everlasting glory.

And he says fear God and dread Azrael, for soon breaths will be cut off and we will hasten to that other world and find each other - then we will grab each other by the collar and it will come to fists and slaps and shouting and pistols.

We have sat together many times before, and we shall sit together many times again in the Kingdom. We shall laugh together very much in those times, and we shall tell of the things that befell us in the Path of God. In every world of God a new Lordis Supper is set for the faithful!

Just as the conception of faith hath existed from the beginning that hath no beginning, and will endure till the end that hath no end, in like manner will the true believer eternally live and endure. His spirit will everlastingly circle round the Will of God. His spirit will everlastingly circle round the Will of God. He will last as long as God, Himself, will last. He is revealed through the Revelation of God, and is hidden at His bidding. It is evident that the loftiest mansions in the Realm of Immortality have been ordained as the habitation of them that have truly believed in God and in His signs.

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Sorrow not if, in these days and on this earthly plane, things contrary to your wishes have been ordained and manifested by God, for days of blissful joy, of heavenly delight, are assuredly in store for you. Worlds, holy and spiritually glorious, will be unveiled to your eyes. You are destined by Him, in this world and hereafter, to partake of their benefits, to share in their joys, and to obtain a portion of their sustaining grace. To each and every one of them you will, no doubt, attain.

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Concerning the future life what Baha'u'llah says is that the soul will continue to ascend through many worlds. What those worlds are and what their nature is we cannot know.

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However certain things are, by their very nature, a mystery to us, at least in our present stage of development. One of these is what the next world, the purely spiritual world, is like. To try and visualize that realm in the terms of this physical one is absolutely impossible. … So we cannot possibly understand or visualize what the condition and state of the future, purely spiritual, world is. To say it has time, space, and so on, is to delineate it by terms applicable to this material world and alien to that spiritual one.

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You ask an explanation of what happens to us after we leave this world: This is a question which none of the Prophets have ever answered in detail, for the very simple reason that you cannot convert to a person's mind something entirely different from everything they have ever experienced. … So we cannot picture our state in the next world. All we know is that our consciousness, our personality, endures in some new state, and that that world is as much better than this one as this one is better than the dark womb of our mother was...

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Thou hast asked regarding the soul and the spirit. By the soul is meant the reality of man that is inclined towards the contingent world, and is associated with the worldly aspects of human life. This definition of the soul is known and referred to as the natural human spirit that is common to all mankind. So in this sense, the spirit and the soul are one and the same. But the heavenly spirit is that reality of man that is derived from the outpourings of divine Grace, and blessed by the splendours of the Sun of Truth. The heavenly spirit is confined to true believers. All others remain deprived of this holy breath and are such as are referred to as 'the dead' in the language common to the followers of mystical truth.

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Know thou that the distinction between male and female is an exigency of the physical world and hath no connection with the spirit; for the spirit and the world of the spirit are sanctified above such exigencies, and wholly beyond the reach of such changes as befall the physical body in the contingent world.

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The Baha'i view of the life after death can in no way be reconciled with certain Indian and Sufi doctrines which teach that the human soul can pass from one body to another. This doctrine, known as metempsychosis, is not only too materialistic in its view, but is purely imaginary and fatalistic. Baha'u'llah teaches that after its separation from the body, the human soul begins to lead a new life, of which we can have no definite knowledge, in the same way as the child in the embryo cannot visualize the type of life it is destined to lead in this world.

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The Baha'i view of 'reincarnation' is essentially different from the Hindu conception. The Baha'is believe in the attributes and qualities, but maintain that the essence or the reality of things cannot be made to return. Every being keeps its own individuality, but some of his qualities can be transmitted. The doctrine of metempsychosis upheld by the Hindus is fallacious.

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The people of Paradise, through the infinite grace of God, will continue to progress through paradises forever, for the grace of God hath no end. … The cause of a servant's progress in the next world is the purity of his intention while undertaking deeds for the sake of God during the eternal duration. If his intention is pure in that state, he shall advance in the grades of Paradise at the behest of God, and naught shall be diminished for him.

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As we almost never attain any spiritual goal without seeing the next goal we must attain still beyond our reach, he urges you, who, have come so far already on the path of spirituality, not to fret about the distance you still have to cover! It is an indefinite journey, and, no doubt in the next world the soul is privileged to draw closer to God than is possible when bound on this physical plane.

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The progress of the soul does not come to an end with death. It rather starts along a new line. Baha'u'llah teaches that great and far-reaching possibilities await the soul in the other world. Spiritual progress in that realm is infinite, and no man, while on this earth, can visualize its full power and extent.

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Those who have never had any opportunity of hearing of the Faith but who lived good lives will no doubt be treated with the greatest love and mercy in the next world and reap their full reward.

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In regard to charitable deeds and good works, these will certainly have the effect of minimizing the sins and augmenting the merits of the dead, for souls are benefited by such charitable deeds. It is like asking for forgiveness, and since the outcome of asking for forgiveness is certain, charitable deeds and good works are preferable and more excellent.

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To pray for the dead is very beneficial and helpful and is always a source of comfort and satisfaction.

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You have asked as to what point in man's evolution he becomes conscious of self. This consciousness of self in man is a gradual process, and does not start at a definite point. It grows in him in this world and continues to do so in the future spiritual world. Man can certainly recall past experiences in his evolution, and even when his soul leaves this world it will still remember its past.

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Evolution in the life of the individual starts with the formation of the human embryo and passes through various stages, and even continues after death in another form... Man's identity or rather his individuality is never lost. His reality as a person remains intact throughout the various stages of his development. He does not pre-exist in any form before coming into this world.

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According to Baha'u'llah the soul retains its individuality and consciousness after death, and is able to commune with other souls. This communion, however, is purely spiritual in character, and is conditioned upon the disinterested and selfless love of the individuals for each other.

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With reference to Baha'u'llah's Tablet in which He says that all the relatives of believers will reach the Kingdom in the other world; by this is meant only a partial attainment. They can, however, progress indefinitely, as spiritual progress in the other world is limitless, and is not confined to those who have attained unto the knowledge and recognition of the Cause while still in this world.

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In His Tablets Baha'u'llah says that were we able to comprehend the facilities that await us in the world to come, death would lose its sting; nay rather we would welcome it as a gate-way to a realm immeasurably higher and nobler than this home of suffering we call our earth. You should therefore think of their blessings and comfort yourself for your momentary separation. In time all of us will join our departed ones and share their joys.

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Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. 1 Cor 2:9

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Death can hold no bitterness for the soul that loves. It brings with it all the sweetness and delights of love. There is no sadness in the remembrance of it when it opens the door to all joy. Nor can it be painful and oppressive when it is the end of all unhappiness and sorrow and the beginning of all good. Yes, the soul looks upon it as a friend and bride, and rejoices in thinking of it as the day of espousals.

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