Death proffereth unto every confident believer
the cup that is life indeed.
~ Baha'u'llah ~
the cup that is life indeed.
~ Baha'u'llah ~
Dear Ones,
“Death is full of life,” said the poet. Let us discover whether this poet spoke truth.
Let us begin with the first and most fundamental question: If God exists, how are we to recognize Him? Through His mighty signs in creation and through His Revelations: He hath moreover deposited within the realities of all created things the emblem of His recognition. [...] Every revelation of His divine Essence betokens the sublimity of His glory, the loftiness of His sanctity, the inaccessible height of His oneness and the exaltation of His majesty and power.
What is this inner reality that coexists with our visible being, independent of the brain and the body? Abdu'l-Baha gives us this clear and beautiful explanation: It is manifest that beyond this material body, man is endowed with another reality which is the world of exemplars constituting the heavenly body of man. This other reality is the heavenly body, the ethereal form which corresponds to this body. It is the conscious reality which discovers the inner meaning of things. We are not this perishable garment. We are the light that wears it for a while, then lays it aside and rises, conscious and alive, into the immortal realm.
More intriguing yet, and still unknown to science, the Master gives us, in Star of the West, a glimpse into the operations of that heavenly reality. Just as there are little papillae on the tip of the tongue, there are papillae in the heart that receive spiritual vibrations and transmit them through the sympathetic nervous system, the link between the material and spiritual worlds. He adds elsewhere: The powers of the sympathetic nerve are neither entirely physical nor spiritual, but are between the two systems. When the material world and the divine world are well co-related, when the hearts become heavenly and the aspirations grow pure and divine, perfect connection shall take place.
Thus, the brain and the nervous system are merely instruments for a brief season. When the mirror shatters, the Light remains untouched. When the cage is broken, the bird of the spirit takes flight. In the Seven Valleys, Baha'u'llah speaks of this experience of the soul moving beyond the body during this life, as it happens in dreams, meditation or altered states of consciousness: Behold how the thing which thou hast seen in thy dream is, after a considerable lapse of time, fully realized. Had the world in which thou didst find thyself in thy dream been identical with this world, then what thou hadst seen in thy dream would have immediately appeared before thine eyes. But it is not so. Therefore it becometh evident that there is a world other than this world.
In the notes to the Chronicle of Nabil, we find a precious echo. Shaykh Ahmad taught that the physical body is composed of parts drawn from the four elements and the nine heavens. At death, those material parts return to their sources. Only one reality remains — the subtle body he named Jism-i-Huriqliya. Whatever the case, we already carry this body in potentiality, like crystal hidden within rock. It alone escapes destruction. Is it the body that made the Prophet’s Night Ascension possible? Is it the same form that appeared to the apostles after the crucifixion, the one Thomas was invited to touch? It may well be.
But let us be clear: if the mineral, vegetable and animal kingdoms possess spirit, a vital force that animates them, they do not possess soul. Only the human being is endowed with this immortal reality, the rational soul, our conscious reality — different names for the same sacred gift from God. It is also clearly stated that only the human spirit penetrates the divine mysteries and will be able to rejoice in them eternally: The spirit of man alone penetrates the realities of God and partakes of the divine bounties. This intuitive and intellectual aspect is complemented by the emotions of the human heart, which are also expressions of the soul. Guilt, wrongdoing, virtue, and benevolence stem from the essence of the soul and spirit, not from the inadequate physical form, we learn in the Writings.
If the soul has a beginning, it has no end and does not return to this world. It continues its development in the infinite worlds of God: The human soul starts with the formation of the embryo, and continues to develop and pass through stages of existence after its separation from the body. Its progress is thus infinite.
Baha'u'llah helps us to go beyond the illusion of a limited, fragile and purely physical self, to recognize that our essence carries within it something immense, cosmic, that we are, through the soul, bearers of an infinite potential: Dost thou deem thyself a puny form when within thee the universe is enfolded? To awaken to this heavenly body already living within us is to remember our true and eternal identity.
The most intriguing questions now arise.
If the soul survives physical death, in what form and where? As the ethereal body spoken of before, no doubt, but the Baha'i Writings are affirmative, it is nowhere physically speaking: Progress after ascension is progress in perfections, not place. And 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.
For his part, the Guardian clearly reminds us of this: No revelation from God has ever taught reincarnation; this is a man-made conception. Therefore, death is not the end of life, but its true beginning. Moreover, our spiritual progress, once in the worlds of God, no longer depends on us, but on His good pleasure. Only one chance, only one life is offered to us here to participate in our ascension: ...know that after death is the divine world, and progress in that world is only possible through divine grace, not through human striving and endeavor. In other words, only by bounty is progress possible because progress in ranks dependeth on bounty and grace.
What happens at the sacred and definitive moment of separation? What the multiple near-death experiences report are of course only the premises, the first seconds or minutes, and only for a given person. Many who have drawn close to the threshold, those who returned from near-death experiences or accompanied thousands to their last breath, speak of the same reality. The soul then travels, for eternity, in the infinite realms of God: ...the Lord God possesseth invisible realms which the human intellect can never hope to fathom nor the mind of man conceive. The expressions “heaven” and “hell” therefore do not represent a place, but a condition of proximity or distance from the Creator, each thought, each act thus reflecting more or less well His virtues.
Baha'u'llah nevertheless confirms that once in the “world of lights,” everything is revealed: When the human soul soareth out of this transient heap of dust and riseth into the world of God, then veils will fall away, and verities will come to light, and all things unknown before will be made clear, and hidden truths be understood. This is the often reported life review to which Baha'u'llah clearly alludes when he says: Bring thyself to account each day ere thou art summoned to a reckoning; for death, unheralded, shall come upon thee and thou shalt be called to give account for thy deeds. Abdu'l-Baha further specifies: ...reward and punishment, heaven and hell, requital and retribution for actions done in this present life, will stand revealed in that other world beyond.
Yet there is no eternal damnation: Since the divine perfections have no end, the progress of the spirit knows no limit. Under the encompassing mercy of God, every soul keeps progressing. And: ...the soul, after its separation from the body, will continue to progress until it attaineth the presence of God.
Yet, ...none of the paradises are alike. Paradise in the first life is His good-pleasure and entering His Cause. After the ascent of the believers from this world, they attain the peerless paradises and are blessed with innumerable bounties. Those paradises are the fruits of the actions that were undertaken in this world.
Let us note, however, that the progress of the soul here below can already reach the HIGHEST PARADISE, and that every soul is ardently called to it already in this world: Blessed is the man that hath turned his face towards God, and walked steadfastly in His love, until his soul hath winged its flight unto God.
Moreover, Abdu’l-Baha emphasizes that this life is the decisive time of preparation: In this world he must prepare himself for the life beyond. That which he needs in the world of the Kingdom must be obtained here. It is here, in the ideal conditions of this world, with the opportunities for free choice, service and detachment, that we can most effectively advance toward our eternal destiny.
And what are these necessities? Abdu’l-Baha states: In that world there is need of spirituality, faith, assurance, the knowledge and love of God. These he must attain in this world… Other virtues frequently mentioned in the Writings are: philanthropic deeds, self-sacrifice, severance from this world, sanctity and holiness, truthfulness, justice, trustworthiness, detachment, humility, forbearance, and radiant acquiescence in the Will of God.
Now, the question that arises insistently is this: Who or what guides the soul toward this highest path? The Prophets and Messengers of God have been sent down for the sole purpose of guiding mankind to the straight Path of Truth. The purpose underlying Their revelation hath been to educate all men, that they may, at the hour of death, ascend, in the utmost purity and sanctity and with absolute detachment, to the throne of the Most High.
Every soul carries a sacred trust, a responsibility as vast as its own immortality. What we choose in this brief life, especially how we respond to the Manifestation of God for our day, does not vanish when the body is laid aside. It shapes the ease, the joy, and the swiftness of our eternal ascent. Man is immortal and everlasting, but conditions differ: 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.
Thus, every soul is destined to recognize the last Messenger of God for our time, BAHA'U'LLAH. To knowingly refuse Him is to refuse His great graces: Know thou that every ear which hearkeneth unto His Words with true faith shall be immune from the fire. Thus the believer, through his recognition of Him will appreciate the transcendent character of His heavenly Words, will wholeheartedly choose Him over others, and will refuse to incline his affections towards those who disbelieve in Him. Whatever one gaineth in the life to come is but the fruit of this faith. The door of advancement is never closed. Even those who begin farther away are drawn, step by step, toward their Creator.
However, nothing is guaranteed for anyone, for the insistent self accompanies us until the very end: ...how often hath a devout believer, at the hour of his soul's ascension, been so changed as to fall into the nethermost fire.
Souls who walked faithfully in earlier revelations and never received clear knowledge of the Blessed Beauty in this life are judged according to the light they had, and the mercy of God embraces them fully according to their sincerity.
“Death is full of life,” said the poet. Let us discover whether this poet spoke truth.
After the powerful and moving testimony of Reinee Pasarow on life after death presented in our previous article, BLISS AFTER DEATH?, with reverence we now open the Baha'i Writings, the direct Revelation of God for our time, which have flung wide the door upon these great mysteries. While not every detail is exhaustively clarified, they shed a luminous and trustworthy light on the true nature of the soul, the deeper purpose of our existence, the real meaning of death, and the journey that awaits every soul once the veil is lifted: 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.
Let us begin with the first and most fundamental question: If God exists, how are we to recognize Him? Through His mighty signs in creation and through His Revelations: He hath moreover deposited within the realities of all created things the emblem of His recognition. [...] Every revelation of His divine Essence betokens the sublimity of His glory, the loftiness of His sanctity, the inaccessible height of His oneness and the exaltation of His majesty and power.
What is this inner reality that coexists with our visible being, independent of the brain and the body? Abdu'l-Baha gives us this clear and beautiful explanation: It is manifest that beyond this material body, man is endowed with another reality which is the world of exemplars constituting the heavenly body of man. This other reality is the heavenly body, the ethereal form which corresponds to this body. It is the conscious reality which discovers the inner meaning of things. We are not this perishable garment. We are the light that wears it for a while, then lays it aside and rises, conscious and alive, into the immortal realm.
More intriguing yet, and still unknown to science, the Master gives us, in Star of the West, a glimpse into the operations of that heavenly reality. Just as there are little papillae on the tip of the tongue, there are papillae in the heart that receive spiritual vibrations and transmit them through the sympathetic nervous system, the link between the material and spiritual worlds. He adds elsewhere: The powers of the sympathetic nerve are neither entirely physical nor spiritual, but are between the two systems. When the material world and the divine world are well co-related, when the hearts become heavenly and the aspirations grow pure and divine, perfect connection shall take place.
Thus, the brain and the nervous system are merely instruments for a brief season. When the mirror shatters, the Light remains untouched. When the cage is broken, the bird of the spirit takes flight. In the Seven Valleys, Baha'u'llah speaks of this experience of the soul moving beyond the body during this life, as it happens in dreams, meditation or altered states of consciousness: Behold how the thing which thou hast seen in thy dream is, after a considerable lapse of time, fully realized. Had the world in which thou didst find thyself in thy dream been identical with this world, then what thou hadst seen in thy dream would have immediately appeared before thine eyes. But it is not so. Therefore it becometh evident that there is a world other than this world.
In the notes to the Chronicle of Nabil, we find a precious echo. Shaykh Ahmad taught that the physical body is composed of parts drawn from the four elements and the nine heavens. At death, those material parts return to their sources. Only one reality remains — the subtle body he named Jism-i-Huriqliya. Whatever the case, we already carry this body in potentiality, like crystal hidden within rock. It alone escapes destruction. Is it the body that made the Prophet’s Night Ascension possible? Is it the same form that appeared to the apostles after the crucifixion, the one Thomas was invited to touch? It may well be.
But let us be clear: if the mineral, vegetable and animal kingdoms possess spirit, a vital force that animates them, they do not possess soul. Only the human being is endowed with this immortal reality, the rational soul, our conscious reality — different names for the same sacred gift from God. It is also clearly stated that only the human spirit penetrates the divine mysteries and will be able to rejoice in them eternally: The spirit of man alone penetrates the realities of God and partakes of the divine bounties. This intuitive and intellectual aspect is complemented by the emotions of the human heart, which are also expressions of the soul. Guilt, wrongdoing, virtue, and benevolence stem from the essence of the soul and spirit, not from the inadequate physical form, we learn in the Writings.
If the soul has a beginning, it has no end and does not return to this world. It continues its development in the infinite worlds of God: The human soul starts with the formation of the embryo, and continues to develop and pass through stages of existence after its separation from the body. Its progress is thus infinite.
Baha'u'llah helps us to go beyond the illusion of a limited, fragile and purely physical self, to recognize that our essence carries within it something immense, cosmic, that we are, through the soul, bearers of an infinite potential: Dost thou deem thyself a puny form when within thee the universe is enfolded? To awaken to this heavenly body already living within us is to remember our true and eternal identity.
The most intriguing questions now arise.
If the soul survives physical death, in what form and where? As the ethereal body spoken of before, no doubt, but the Baha'i Writings are affirmative, it is nowhere physically speaking: Progress after ascension is progress in perfections, not place. And 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.
For his part, the Guardian clearly reminds us of this: No revelation from God has ever taught reincarnation; this is a man-made conception. Therefore, death is not the end of life, but its true beginning. Moreover, our spiritual progress, once in the worlds of God, no longer depends on us, but on His good pleasure. Only one chance, only one life is offered to us here to participate in our ascension: ...know that after death is the divine world, and progress in that world is only possible through divine grace, not through human striving and endeavor. In other words, only by bounty is progress possible because progress in ranks dependeth on bounty and grace.
What happens at the sacred and definitive moment of separation? What the multiple near-death experiences report are of course only the premises, the first seconds or minutes, and only for a given person. Many who have drawn close to the threshold, those who returned from near-death experiences or accompanied thousands to their last breath, speak of the same reality. The soul then travels, for eternity, in the infinite realms of God: ...the Lord God possesseth invisible realms which the human intellect can never hope to fathom nor the mind of man conceive. The expressions “heaven” and “hell” therefore do not represent a place, but a condition of proximity or distance from the Creator, each thought, each act thus reflecting more or less well His virtues.
Baha'u'llah nevertheless confirms that once in the “world of lights,” everything is revealed: When the human soul soareth out of this transient heap of dust and riseth into the world of God, then veils will fall away, and verities will come to light, and all things unknown before will be made clear, and hidden truths be understood. This is the often reported life review to which Baha'u'llah clearly alludes when he says: Bring thyself to account each day ere thou art summoned to a reckoning; for death, unheralded, shall come upon thee and thou shalt be called to give account for thy deeds. Abdu'l-Baha further specifies: ...reward and punishment, heaven and hell, requital and retribution for actions done in this present life, will stand revealed in that other world beyond.
Yet there is no eternal damnation: Since the divine perfections have no end, the progress of the spirit knows no limit. Under the encompassing mercy of God, every soul keeps progressing. And: ...the soul, after its separation from the body, will continue to progress until it attaineth the presence of God.
Yet, ...none of the paradises are alike. Paradise in the first life is His good-pleasure and entering His Cause. After the ascent of the believers from this world, they attain the peerless paradises and are blessed with innumerable bounties. Those paradises are the fruits of the actions that were undertaken in this world.
Let us note, however, that the progress of the soul here below can already reach the HIGHEST PARADISE, and that every soul is ardently called to it already in this world: Blessed is the man that hath turned his face towards God, and walked steadfastly in His love, until his soul hath winged its flight unto God.
Moreover, Abdu’l-Baha emphasizes that this life is the decisive time of preparation: In this world he must prepare himself for the life beyond. That which he needs in the world of the Kingdom must be obtained here. It is here, in the ideal conditions of this world, with the opportunities for free choice, service and detachment, that we can most effectively advance toward our eternal destiny.
And what are these necessities? Abdu’l-Baha states: In that world there is need of spirituality, faith, assurance, the knowledge and love of God. These he must attain in this world… Other virtues frequently mentioned in the Writings are: philanthropic deeds, self-sacrifice, severance from this world, sanctity and holiness, truthfulness, justice, trustworthiness, detachment, humility, forbearance, and radiant acquiescence in the Will of God.
Now, the question that arises insistently is this: Who or what guides the soul toward this highest path? The Prophets and Messengers of God have been sent down for the sole purpose of guiding mankind to the straight Path of Truth. The purpose underlying Their revelation hath been to educate all men, that they may, at the hour of death, ascend, in the utmost purity and sanctity and with absolute detachment, to the throne of the Most High.
Every soul carries a sacred trust, a responsibility as vast as its own immortality. What we choose in this brief life, especially how we respond to the Manifestation of God for our day, does not vanish when the body is laid aside. It shapes the ease, the joy, and the swiftness of our eternal ascent. Man is immortal and everlasting, but conditions differ: 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.
Thus, every soul is destined to recognize the last Messenger of God for our time, BAHA'U'LLAH. To knowingly refuse Him is to refuse His great graces: Know thou that every ear which hearkeneth unto His Words with true faith shall be immune from the fire. Thus the believer, through his recognition of Him will appreciate the transcendent character of His heavenly Words, will wholeheartedly choose Him over others, and will refuse to incline his affections towards those who disbelieve in Him. Whatever one gaineth in the life to come is but the fruit of this faith. The door of advancement is never closed. Even those who begin farther away are drawn, step by step, toward their Creator.
However, nothing is guaranteed for anyone, for the insistent self accompanies us until the very end: ...how often hath a devout believer, at the hour of his soul's ascension, been so changed as to fall into the nethermost fire.
Souls who walked faithfully in earlier revelations and never received clear knowledge of the Blessed Beauty in this life are judged according to the light they had, and the mercy of God embraces them fully according to their sincerity.
The Revelation confirms the existence of the soul, its continuous progress after death, the differences in the stations attained, the ultimate motor of our progress in this world and in the other, and much more besides.
But the Writings are clear: we shall never see God. He is beyond all apprehension, beyond all comprehension. Yet to enter into communion with His Manifestations is to enter into communion with God Himself. As Bahá’u’lláh affirms with matchless authority: The door of the knowledge of the Ancient of Days being thus closed in the face of all beings, the Source of infinite grace… hath caused those luminous Gems of Holiness to appear out of the realm of the invisible…
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But the Writings are clear: we shall never see God. He is beyond all apprehension, beyond all comprehension. Yet to enter into communion with His Manifestations is to enter into communion with God Himself. As Bahá’u’lláh affirms with matchless authority: The door of the knowledge of the Ancient of Days being thus closed in the face of all beings, the Source of infinite grace… hath caused those luminous Gems of Holiness to appear out of the realm of the invisible…
Every
act of love, every moment of detachment, every turning of the heart
toward God becomes the soil in which our soul will grow more swiftly in
the worlds to come. Thus the soul does not die — it awakens. It rises.
It grows. It draws ever nearer to its Beloved. This life is but the
seed-time; the harvest unfolds across the eternal realms.
Many who have come close to the threshold as in Near Death Experiences, return transformed, their values reordered their hearts more compassionate, their lives more purposeful. They have glimpsed that this life is but the seed-time and the harvest unfolds in eternity.
Many who have come close to the threshold as in Near Death Experiences, return transformed, their values reordered their hearts more compassionate, their lives more purposeful. They have glimpsed that this life is but the seed-time and the harvest unfolds in eternity.
Every choice we make today carries profound, sometimes fateful, consequences on our eternal destiny.
The soul we carry is alive, conscious, and forever moving. What we sow here matters. To awaken to this truth while still clothed in the body is one of the greatest gifts we can receive. It transforms this fleeting existence into a sacred opportunity whose fruits will be gathered throughout eternity.
These facts remind us of our sacred duty to teach incessantly the Word of God. While a country like Canada legalizes euthanasia on demand and within the same day, under the deceptive veil of compassion, rather than offering genuine accompaniment to suffering souls, even as patients sometimes wait months or years for urgent medical care, it is time we become resolute messengers of life: ...relate thou the Teachings of the Abhá Beauty to the urgent needs of this present day, and thou wilt see that they provide an instant remedy for the ailing body of the world. Indeed, they are the elixir that bringeth eternal health.
The soul we carry is alive, conscious, and forever moving. What we sow here matters. To awaken to this truth while still clothed in the body is one of the greatest gifts we can receive. It transforms this fleeting existence into a sacred opportunity whose fruits will be gathered throughout eternity.
These facts remind us of our sacred duty to teach incessantly the Word of God. While a country like Canada legalizes euthanasia on demand and within the same day, under the deceptive veil of compassion, rather than offering genuine accompaniment to suffering souls, even as patients sometimes wait months or years for urgent medical care, it is time we become resolute messengers of life: ...relate thou the Teachings of the Abhá Beauty to the urgent needs of this present day, and thou wilt see that they provide an instant remedy for the ailing body of the world. Indeed, they are the elixir that bringeth eternal health.
Be wonderfully blessed!
Loesha
Loesha
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