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The new version of the Bahá’i Reference Library can be accessed here »
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67: ETERNAL LIFE AND ENTRANCE INTO THE KINGDOM OF GOD 241 |
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You question about eternal life and the entrance into the
Kingdom. The outer expression used for the Kingdom is
heaven; but this is a comparison and similitude, not a
reality or fact, for the Kingdom is not a material place; it is
sanctified from time and place. It is a spiritual world, a divine
world, and the center of the Sovereignty of God; it is
freed from body and that which is corporeal, and it is
purified and sanctified from the imaginations of the
human world. To be limited to place is a property of
bodies and not of spirits. Place and time surround the
body, not the mind and spirit. Observe that the body of
man is confined to a small place; it covers only two spans of
earth. But the spirit and mind of man travel to all countries
and regions—even through the limitless space of the heavens—surround all that exists, and make discoveries in the
exalted spheres and infinite distances. This is because the
spirit has no place; it is placeless; and for the spirit the
earth and the heaven are as one since it makes discoveries
in both. But the body is limited to a place and does not
know that which is beyond it.
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For life is of two kinds: that of the body and that of the
spirit. The life of the body is material life, but the life of
the spirit expresses the existence of the Kingdom, which
consists in receiving the Spirit of God and becoming
vivified by the breath of the Holy Spirit. Although the
material life has existence, it is pure nonexistence and
absolute death for the holy saints. So man exists, and this
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stone also exists, but what a difference between the existence
of man and that of the stone! Though the stone
exists, in relation to the existence of man it is nonexistent.
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The meaning of eternal life is the gift of the Holy Spirit,
as the flower receives the gift of the season, the air, and the
breezes of spring. Consider: this flower had life in the beginning
like the life of the mineral; but by the coming of
the season of spring, of the bounty of the clouds of the
springtime, and of the heat of the glowing sun, it attained
to another life of the utmost freshness, delicacy and fragrance.
The first life of the flower, in comparison to the
second life, is death.
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The meaning is that the life of the Kingdom is the life of
the spirit, the eternal life, and that it is purified from place,
like the spirit of man which has no place. For if you examine
the human body, you will not find a special spot or locality
for the spirit, for it has never had a place; it is immaterial.
It has a connection with the body like that of the
sun with this mirror. The sun is not within the mirror, but
it has a connection with the mirror.
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In the same way the world of the Kingdom is sanctified
from everything that can be perceived by the eye or by the
other senses—hearing, smell, taste or touch. The mind
which is in man, the existence of which is recognized—where is it in him? If you examine the body with the eye,
the ear or the other senses, you will not find it; nevertheless,
it exists. Therefore, the mind has no place, but it is
connected with the brain. The Kingdom is also like this.
In the same way love has no place, but it is connected with
the heart; so the Kingdom has no place, but is connected
with man.
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These explanations show that man is immortal and lives
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eternally. For those who believe in God, who have love of
God, and faith, life is excellent—that is, it is eternal; but
to those souls who are veiled from God, although they
have life, it is dark, and in comparison with the life of believers
it is nonexistence.
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For example, the eye and the nail are living; but the life
of the nail in relation to the life of the eye is nonexistent.
This stone and this man both exist; but the stone in relation
to the existence of man is nonexistent; it has no being;
for when man dies, and his body is destroyed and annihilated,
it becomes like stone and earth. Therefore, it is clear
that although the mineral exists, in relation to man it is
nonexistent.
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