Life after death

The Bahá’í Writings teach that our life continues after death. At the moment of conception, a soul comes into existence and is associated with the human body and begins growing towards God. Upon our death that association with the body discontinues, and we begin to experience life from a non-physical, spiritual perspective; continuing to grow towards God and develop Divine perfections, an existence that will continue without end. There is no support in the Writings for concepts that involve returning to or re-gaining a physical existence, such as reincarnation.

The Soul

Main article: Soul

Those parts of the human being which are said in the Bahá'í Writings to survive after death are termed the human spirit or soul. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá says these terms "designate one and the same thing". This spirit is an emanation from God and as such is changeless and immortal.

Station and influence of holy souls after death

Bahá’u’lláh describes the station and influence that holy souls will have after death in these terms:

“ Thou hast, moreover, asked Me concerning the state of the soul after its separation from the body. Know thou, of a truth, that if the soul of man hath walked in the ways of God, it will, assuredly, return and be gathered to the glory of the Beloved. By the righteousness of God! It shall attain a station such as no pen can depict, or tongue describe. The soul that hath remained faithful to the Cause of God, and stood unwaveringly firm in His Path shall, after his ascension, be possessed of such power that all the worlds which the Almighty hath created can benefit through him. Such a soul provideth, at the bidding of the Ideal King and Divine Educator, the pure leaven that leaveneth the world of being, and furnisheth the power through which the arts and wonders of the world are made manifest. Consider how meal needeth leaven to be leavened with. Those souls that are the symbols of detachment are the leaven of the world. ” — Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh

Reunion with loved ones

‘Abdu’l-Bahá in writing to a mother who had recently lost her son shared the following:

“ O thou beloved maidservant of God, although the loss of a son is indeed heartbreaking 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. ”

And writing further ‘Abdu’l-Bahá comforted that mother with these words:

“ 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.” ” — Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá

Related books

• The Odyssey of the Soul - discusses the soul from its birth, through the physical world and to the end of its odyssey in the world of the spirit.