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Death & the Afterlife - A Baha'i Perspective

© Lloyd Madansky

In the last two and a half weeks I have lost two very close friends. Because of this, I wish to share a bit of the Baha'i perspective on death and the after life. Below is a quote from Baha'u'llah (founder of the Baha'i Faith) on death. I am doing this not only to share what my Faith has to say about this subject, but also to find some healing for the sense of loss I feel.

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?

While death is a messenger of joy to those it takes, there is little joy in no longer having the company of a loved one. While I know that they are in a better place in the afterlife, I feel the loss of them in the here and now. That is the only answer I can come up to "Wherefore dost thou grieve?".

Abdu'l-Baha (son of Baha'u'llah) spoke about death in this manner: "...I am consoled by the realization that the worlds of God are infinite; that though they were deprived of this existence, they have other opportunities in the life beyond, even as Christ has said, "In my Father's house are many mansions." They were called away from the temporary and transferred to the eternal; they abandoned this material existence and entered the portals of the spiritual world. Foregoing the pleasures and comforts of the earthly, they now partake of a joy and happiness far more abiding and real, for they have hastened to the Kingdom of God. "

According to the Baha'i Faith, death is not final, but a transition to another realm of existence.

This brings us to the question of

THE AFTERLIFE

O SON OF MAN! The light hath shone on thee from the horizon of the sacred Mount and the spirit of enlightenment hath breathed in the Sinai of thy heart. Wherefore, free thyself from the veils of idle fancies and enter into My court, that thou mayest be fit for everlasting life and worthy to meet Me. Thus may death not come upon thee, neither weariness nor trouble.

My favorite description of life after death is this, by Baha'u'llah:

"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. When the soul attaineth the Presence of God, it will assume the form that best befitteth its immortality and is worthy of its celestial habitation. Such an existence is a contingent and not an absolute existence, inasmuch as the former is preceded by a cause, whilst the latter is independent thereof. Absolute existence is strictly confined to God, exalted be His glory. Well is it with them that apprehend this truth. Wert thou to ponder in thine heart the behavior of the Prophets of God thou wouldst assuredly and readily testify that there must needs be other worlds besides this world."

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