Baha'u'llah & the New Era 1970 - J. Esslemont
 <<   <-   >   >>
Page 125 of  177

"The rich in the other world can help the poor, as the rich can help the poor here. In every world all are the creatures of God. They are always dependent on Him. They are not independent and can never be so. While they are needful of God, the more they supplicate, the richer they become. What is their merchandise, their wealth? In the other world what is help and assistance? It is intercession. Undeveloped souls must gain progress at first through the supplications of the spiritually rich; afterwards they can progress through their own supplications." (125:1)

Again He says: "Those who have ascended have different attributes from those who are still on earth, yet there is no real separation. (125:2)

"In prayer there is a mingling of station, a mingling of condition. Pray for them as they pray for you!" - 'Abdu'l-Baha in London, p. 97. (125:3)

Asked whether it was possible through faith and love to bring the New Revelation to the knowledge of those who have departed from this life without hearing of it, 'Abdu'l-Baha replied: "Yes, surely! since sincere prayer always has its effect, and it has a great influence in the other world. We are never cut off from those who are there. The real and genuine influence is not in this world but in that other." - Notes of Mary Hanford Ford: Paris, 1911. (125:4)

On the other hand, Baha'u'llah writes:
He who lives according to what is ordained for him - the Celestial Concourse, and the people of the Supreme Paradise, and those who are dwelling in the Dome of Greatness will pray for him, by a Command from God, the Dearest and the praiseworthy. (Tablet translated by 'Ali Kuli Khan). (125:5)

When 'Abdu'l-Baha was asked how it was that the heart often turns with instinctive appeal to some friend who has passed into the next life, He answered: "It is a law of God's creation that the weak should lean upon the strong. Those to whom you turn may be mediators of God's power to you, even as when on earth. But it is the One Holy Spirit that strengthens all men." - 'Abdu'l-Baha in London, p. 98. (125:7)

The Nonexistence of Evil
According to Baha'i philosophy it follows from the doctrine of the unity of God that there can be no such thing as positive evil. There can only be one Infinite. If there were any other power in the universe outside of or opposed to the One, then the One would not be infinite. Just as darkness is but the absence or lesser degree of light, so evil is but the absence or lesser degree of good - the undeveloped state. A bad man is a man with the higher side of his nature still undeveloped. If he is selfish, the evil is not in his love of self - all love, even self-love, is good, is divine. The evil is that he has such a poor, inadequate, misguided love of self and such a lack of love for others and for God. He looks upon himself as only a superior sort of animal, and foolishly pampers his lower nature as he might pamper a pet dog - with worse results in his own case than in that of the dog. (125:8)

Get Next Page

  Baha'u'llah & the New Era 1970
  Citation Source List
: see