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UNIT 6 LIFE AFTER DEATH In the Bahá'í Writings life is shown as a never-ending process of spiritual discovery and development. This process begins at birth when a person starts to develop. Gradually, s/he is learning the intellectual and spiritual skills that will be needed for progress. When that person becomes an adult, they have to take responsibility for their own moral and spiritual progress, because these now depend entirely on the efforts s/he makes. Progress comes about through meeting and overcoming the daily struggles of life. In this way, a person deepens her/his understanding. This understanding helps them to relate better to themselves, to others and to God. When physical death comes, Bahá'ís believe that the individual continues to grow and develop in a spiritual after-life. Bahá'u'lláh has told us that we cannot imagine or understand the next life, so His teachings do not contain any graphic descriptions of what it will be like! He tells us that it is as hard for us to imagine the next world as it is for a child developing in its mother's womb to imagine the world it will enter at birth. Following on from this idea of a spiritual after-life in another dimension, Bahá'ís do not believe in reincarnation. Bahá'ís have no belief in a devil as such. Bahá'u'lláh speaks of the "Satan of self" (Kitáb-í-Iqán), p. 72); thus we are responsible for our own behaviour and cannot blame them on a supernatural anti-God. In the Bahá'í teachings, evil is the absence of good just as darkness is the absence of light. It is our egos that turn us away from the teachings of God. According to Bahá'u'lláh, the terms 'Heaven' and 'Hell' refer to the state of our spiritual well-being, not places. Heaven is nearness to God; hell remoteness from Him. In the Hidden Words Bahá'u'lláh says, "Love Me that I may love thee. If thou lovest Me not, My love can in no wise reach thee. Know this, O servant". (1) As to the nature of the soul Bahá'u'lláh tells us: 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. It will endure as long as the Kingdom of God, His sovereignty, His dominion and power will endure. It will manifest the signs of God and His attributes, and will reveal His loving kindness and bounty. The movement of My Pen is stilled when it attempteth to befittingly describe the loftiness and glory of so exalted a station. The honour with which the hand of mercy will invest the soul is such as no tongue can adequately reveal, nor any other earthly agency describe. Blessed is the soul which, at the hour of its separation from the body, is sanctified from the vain imaginings of the peoples of the world. Such a soul liveth and moveth in accordance with the Will of its Creator, and entereth the all highest Paradise. (2) And He continues: It is clear and evident that all men shall, after their physical death, estimate the worth of their deeds, and realise all that their hands have wrought. I swear by the Day Star that shineth above the horizon of Divine power! They that are the followers of the one true God shall, the moment they depart out of this life, experience such joy and gladness as would be impossible to describe, while they that live in error shall be seized with such fear and trembling, and shall be filled with such consternation, as nothing can exceed. (3) In another place, Bahá'u'lláh mentions that the soul "is exalted above, and is independent of all infirmities of body or mind" and likens it to the light of a lamp. However, "The nature of the soul after death can never be described, nor is it meet and permissible to reveal its whole character to the eyes of men"... "The world beyond", he continues, "is as different from this world as this world is different from that of the child while still in the womb of its mother". (4) Nothing stands still, however, even in the next world. Our actions and faith in this life clearly have consequences after our death - and 'Abdu'l-Bahá explains: It is even possible that the condition of those who have died in sin and unbelief may become changed; that is to say, they may become the object of pardon through the bounty of God, not through His justice; for bounty is giving without desert, and justice is giving what is deserved. As we have power to pray for these souls here, so likewise we shall possess the same power in the other world, which is the Kingdom of God. Are not all the people in that world the creatures of God? Therefore in that world also they can make progress. As here they can receive light by their supplications, there also they can plead for forgiveness, and receive light through entreaties and supplications. Thus as souls in this world, through the help of the supplications, the entreaties, and the prayers of the holy ones, can acquire development so is it the same after death.. (5) What about people who claim no belief in God but who live a good life and perform good deeds? Bahá'ís believe that these people will progress in the next world as they have learnt lessons and developed skills which are needed there. What about young children (or unborn children) who die? Bahá'u'lláh continues: These infants are under the shadow of the favour of God; and as they have not committed any sin, and are not soiled with the impurities of the world of nature, they are the centres of the manifestation of bounty, and the Eye of Compassion will be turned upon them.. (6) Advising people about taking part in seances etc with souls who have passed on, 'Abdu'l-Bahá states: To tamper with psychic forces while in this world interferes with the condition of the soul in the world to come. These forces are real, but, normally, are not active on this plane. The child in the womb has its eyes, ears, hands, feet, etc, but they are not in activity. The whole purpose of life in the material world is the coming forth into the world of Reality, where those forces will become active. They belong to that world. (7) Far from being complacent about the next world, however, Bahá'u'lláh asks Bahá'ís to "...forgive the sinful, and never despise his low estate, for none knoweth what his own end shall be." "How often', He continues, 'hath a sinner attained, at the hour of death, to the essence of faith, and, quaffing the immortal draught, hath taken his flight unto the Concourse on high! 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!' (8) To be steadfast to the end is, therefore, essential. SUMMARY 'Heaven' and 'Hell' are conditions of the soul, not physical places. Our bodies do not survive. Closeness to God is Heaven, remoteness from God may be likened to Hell, but we continue to make progress in the next world. We can and should pray for those who have passed on and there are special prayers for the departed for this purpose. We are aware of what we have done on this earth the moment we die and our joy or apprehension depends on our faith and our deeds. Infants who die are specially protected by God. Souls do continue to be aware of each other in the next world and Bahá'í marriage is for eternity (providing the partners still love each other). This chapter can conveniently end with the following passage from the Hidden Words and a prayer of Bahá'u'lláh revealed for the departed. 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 splendour. Why dost thou veil thyself therefrom? (9) O my God! O Thou forgiver of sins! Bestower of gifts! Dispeller of afflictions! Verily, I beseech Thee to forgive the sins of such as have abandoned the physical garment and have ascended to the spiritual world. O my Lord! Purify them from trespasses, dispel their sorrows, and change their darkness into light. Cause them to enter the garden of happiness, cleanse them with the most pure water, and grant them to behold Thy splendour on the loftiest mount. (10) FURTHER READING
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