Heaven and hell
A Bahá'í view of life after death
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A
s in the world's other religions, the Bahá'í concept of life after
death is deeply integrated into teachings about the nature of the soul and the
purpose of this earthly life.
 |
Bahá'u'lláh confirmed the existence of a
separate, rational soul for every human. In this life, He said, the soul is
related to the physical body. It provides the underlying animation for the
body, and is our real self. |
Although undetectable by physical instruments, the soul shows itself through
the qualities of character that we associate with each person.
 |
The soul is the focal point for love and
compassion, for faith and courage, and for other such "human"
qualities that cannot be explained solely by thinking of a human being as an
animal, or as a sophisticated organic machine. |
The soul
does not die; it endures everlastingly. When the human body dies, the soul is
freed from ties with the physical body and the surrounding physical world and
begins its progress through the spiritual world. Bahá'ís understand the
spiritual world to be a timeless and placeless extension of our own
universe--and not some physically remote or removed place.
 |
Entry into the next life has the potential to
bring great joy. Bahá'u'lláh likened death to the process of birth. He
explains: "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." |
 |
The analogy to the womb in many ways
summarizes the Bahá'í view of earthly existence. Just as the womb
constitutes an important place for a person's initial physical development,
the physical world provides the matrix for the development of the individual
soul. Accordingly, Bahá'ís view life as a sort of workshop, where one can
develop and perfect those qualities which will be needed in the next life. |
| "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," Bahá'u'lláh wrote. "By the
righteousness of God! It shall attain a station such as no pen can depict, or
tongue can describe." |
 |
| In the final analysis, heaven can be seen
partly as a state of nearness to God; hell is a state of remoteness from God.
Each state follows as a natural consequence of individual efforts, or the
lack thereof, to develop spiritually. The key to spiritual progress is to
follow the path outlined by the Manifestations of God. |
 |
Beyond this, the exact nature of the afterlife remains a mystery. "The
nature of the soul after death can never be described," Bahá'u'lláh
writes.
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Introduction to Baha'i faith ] [
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"Extracted from The Bahá'ís, a publication of the Bahá'í
International Community."
A Vision of Heaven
Genesis 28 provides us with a further glimpse of the traditional Christian view
of heaven. It documents the flight of Jacob from his older brother, after
he had tricked Esau out of his birth right. When night drew in he settled
down, using a rock for a pillow, and went to sleep then began dreaming.
Jacob saw a staircase reaching from the ground up towards heaven. Angels
were going to and fro on the steps, and at the top stood God.
God told Jacob that the place where he slept was his, and that he was to
populate the land with his children.
Upon awakening, Jacob was convinced by the vision and said: 'Surely the
Lord is in this place. This is the house of God and this is the gore of
heaven. 'Jacob named the place 'Bethel'.
This story is also a biblical example of the visionary experiences reported in
this book. Although Jacob described the encounter as a 'dream', it was
much more powerful and real than that. Powerful enough to change his
life.
Angels
Almost every religion incorporates angels in one from or another as part of the
hierarchy of heaven. The word 'angel' translates in both Hebrew and Greek
as 'messenger' and comes from the Latin angelus. Angels are conceived of
as benevolent supernatural beings and were God's first creation, formed out of
fire. They feature in both the Old and New Testaments. In the Old
Testament they look a more active role than mere messengers from God, and
advised and helped entire nations. In Daniel 10 and 12 the 'chief prince'
of angels, Michael, is described as 'the great prince who has charge of your
people.'
Several Christians angels are shared with Islam, for instance Gabriel\Jabril
and Michael\Mikail. Moslems have Azrail, the angel of death, while
Christians have their fallen angel, Satan.
In Islam there are three kinds of angels: those who do nothing but
worship Allah, those who control the forces of nature and inflict death, and
the hafaza - guardian angels who protect individuals from djinns or
demons. The classical Greek writer Menander commented: 'By every
man at birth a good demon takes his stand, to initiate him in the mysteries of
life.'
Menander was describing not an evil spirit, but a stern supernatural
guide. Today, belief in guardian angels is stronger than at any recent
time.
Gifts from heaven
If we are to take Bible stories at face value, it would seem that objects, as
well as beings, are able to manifest from heaven into our world Exodus 16
describes how Moses led the Israelites from Elim into the wilderness of
Sin. As their suffering increased, the people began to regret leaving
Egypt. They blamed Moses, but God came to his aid, saying: 'I will
rain bread down from heaven for you. The people shall go out and gather a
certain amount every day, so that I may test them, to see whether they will
obey my laws. And it shall be arranged that on the sixth day they shall
prepare what they bring in, which shall be twice as much as they gather on
other days.'
Moses told the Israelites what God had promised, and 'the glory of the Lord
appeared in a cloud.' God told Moses that in the evening they would eat
bread. That evening quails appeared over the camp, and in the morning the
ground was littered with flakes of bread which were given the name 'manna'.
Passport to Heaven
In some cultures, living by a moral code on earth did not automatically
guarantee access to heaven. Belief in judgment is widespread and every
ancient. It is first mentioned in Egyptian records dated around 2400
BC. The Egyptians, and later the Jews, taught that the soul was judged by
the deity before a final decision was made.
The Jews developed a belief in the Last Judgment, which was taken over
Christianity. At the end of the world everyone who has ever lived is to
be resurrected so they can be judged by God. Those who have sinned
against God sink into the pit of hell, and others live a life of pleasure in
paradise.
In Islam the dead are interrogated by two angels who expect them to have full
knowledge of their religion. If they answer correctly, a door to heaven
opens but they answer correctly, a door to heaven opens but if their answers
are wrong they enter the pit of hell. The Koran describes heaven as an
oasis of gardens, rivers and trees where men wined, dined and enjoyed the
pleasures of harems. Moslems now believe, however, that heaven is where
God is - a place of pure goodness.
These two very different interpretations of heaven are explained in terms of
Moslems society at different cultural periods. In ancient times a
desert-dwelling people would envisage paradise as a green cool oasis as opposed
to the dry sands and burning winds of their natural environment. With the
spread of Islam beyond the inhospitable regions of the world, 'a place of pure
goodness' would act as a balance against western materialistic obsession.
Buddhism, which grew out of Hinduism in the sixth century BC, devised a series
of graded paradises, each more sensual and beautiful than the last.
Ascent depended on individual virtue and meditation. Heaven for Buddhists
and Hindus is release from the bondage of personality into a pure state which
they call nirvana. This transformation is a final release from the cycle
of reincarnation.
Here and now
What bearing do traditional views of heaven have on the here and now? Do
they equate with the descriptions of today's experiments who believe they have
glimpsed afterworld?
In the past so much was accepted on faith. Now, in the dying years of the
twentieth century, we demand a more critical look at such claims, and ask
whether heaven does indeed exist as a 'place', or whether it lies solely in the
imagination.
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