SO EXALTED A STATION!
Bahá'í Metaphysics 101

An Explanation of Exaltation (Deification) and the Journey Through the Worlds of God in Bahá'í Metaphysics

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"My raining Cause made deities divine; all Lords have by My ample Order thrived" (Ode to the Dove v.110)

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"O give thanks unto the God of gods; for His mercy endureth forever." (Pslams 136:2)

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This is not an official Bahá'í publication but reflects the personal views of its author. It is about 119 printed pages. There is no copyright.

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Abstract

What is the ultimate goal and destination of every Bahá'í? Most Bahá'ís will tell you "World Peace" or "Race Unity" or "Equality of Men and Women" or a "Universal Auxiliary Language" or a combination of all. But what is the ultimate spiritual goal; the very goal of life and existence itself? Most Bahá'ís are moot, or shrug their shoulders, or say "To know God and love Him!" and leave it at that. This article will try to explain Bahá'u'lláh's words when He wrote of that soul that reached "so exalted a station". What did He mean? Was He just using a mere metaphor of mortals who worked Race Unity, or did was He referring to souls that reached a certain spiritual state? This article will attempt to explain what Bahá'u'lláh meant by the phrase "so exalted a station". This article also discusses:

*the pre-existence of the spirit
*eternal marriage
*origin of races
*evolution vs. creation
*the meaning of the Fall of Adam
*explanation of Iblis and Jinn
*how Seers confirm Baha'i teachings
*the purpose of the 11 planets
*homo noeticus ("new race of men")
*the Gnostics and their goals
*etc.

This paper will compare statements from the Holy Writings along with those of Súfí murids, Sikh gurus, Hindu rishis, and Christian mystics and seers to show that there is agreement between them as to the final destiny of all human souls; to literally become God by returning to Him.

An explaination the Journey through the Worlds of God is also attempted by using modern science in conjuction with revelations from Seers and pilgrim's notes.

Bahá'u'lláh wrote of the ultimate station of the soul:

Know thou of a truth that the soul, after its separation from the body, will continue to progress until ti attaineth the presence of God, in a state and condition which neither the revolution of ages and centuries, nor the changes and chances of this world, can alter. It will endure as long as the Kingdom of God, His sovereighnty, His dominion and power will endure. It will manifest the signs of God and His attributes,a nd will reveal His loving kindness and bounty. The movement of My Pen is stilled when it attempteth to befittingly describe the loftiness and glory of so exalted a station.***
If any man be told that which hath been ordained for such a soul in the worlds of God, the Lord of the throne on high and of earth below, his whole being will instantly blaze out in his great longing to attain that most exalted, that sanctified and resplendent station.(Gleanings, p.155)

Most Bahá'ís I have asked over the years either stare at me in bewilderment, or say something like this:

"Well, the Afterlife is unknowable! So why be concerned with it. We'll find out when we get there!"

"The Afterlife cannot be described."

"What does this have to do with World Peace or Race Unity?"

This paper is not a "scholarly" paper, but it nevertheless tries to answer what Bahá'u'lláh meant when He wrote of "so exalted a station".

The Seven Valleys

The Seven Valleys by Bahá'u'lláh are based upon the work of the 12th century Persian Súfí 'Attar who wrote Conference of the Birds. It is a parable about a traveler who must pass seven valleys in route to a king's hidden palace. The 7 Valleys are called:

1. Quest 2. Love 3. Knowlege 4. Detachment 5. Unity 6. Amazement 7. Annihilation

To understand what Bahá'u'lláh meant by the Seven Valleys we need to understand what the Súfí, and especially the Persian Súfís (the Ishraqís) thought of them!

The Súfís (Muslim mystics) believed that there were 7 stations of a soul who sought God. These souls were called "Friends" of God, and even "Lovers" of God. The journey of the Súfí was like a man who traveled through 7 valleys on the way to the palace of a king; each valley becoming closer and more noble than the other. Finally, at the 7th valley, the Seeker sees his destination and reaches it. For the Súfí, this meant to become "annihilated in God"; to find union with God by annihilating his ego/self/nafs. This was the ultimate goal of the Súfí.

As we shall see, this is also the ultimate goal of the Bahá'í; although most Bahá'ís do not yet know it.

The Five Divine Presences

Súfísm exists in Sunni and Shi'ite Islam. In Persia they were usually referred to as "Ishraqíyyah" (Illuminationists). One famous Ishraqí Shi'ite Muslim was Shaykh Ahmad al-Asha'i; one of the forerunners of The Báb. By understanding the cosmology of Mystical Islam we can better understand the Holy Writings; because The Bábi and Bahá'í Revelations came directly out from Mystical Islam.

In mystical Islam (Súfísm/Ishraqísm/Shaykhism) there are five Divine Realms:

Hehút (Hee-HOOT): the Realm of the Essence of God, or the Essence of the Essence

Lahút (Law-HOOT): the Realm of Divinity, or the Essence of the Names and Attributes, the Primal (first/foremost) Manifestation of the Essence of God

Jabarút (Jabar-ROOT): the Realm of Power or Command
Malakút (Mah-law-KHOOT): the Realm of the Kingdom, or the Realm of Angels

Nasút (Nah-SOOT): the Human Realm, or the Realm of the Senses

Without Nasút there are the following "kingdoms":

1) Human Kingdom
2) Animal Kingdom
3) Plant Kingdom
4) Mineral Kingdom

Hehút can be thought of as GOD as Absolute Singularity as Paramatman (Supreme Soul); without Names or Attributes. Mahivira, the great Jain Seer, said:

All voices get reflected there in the Supreme Soul. There is no reason; the intellect fails to grasp him. He is one and alone, bodiless and the Knower. He is not subject to birth. He is free from attachment. He is neither female nor male nor neuter. He is immaculate knowledge and intuition. There exists no simile to comprehend him. He is formless existence. He is what baffles terminology. There is no word to comprehend him. (Acaranga Sutra 5:123-124)

The Paramatman is without a beginning, undifferentiated, deathless. Though it dwells in the body, Arjuna, it neither acts nor is touched by action. As radition pervades the Cosmos, but remains unstained, the Atman can never be tainted though it dwells in every creature. (Gita 13:32)

Lahút can be likened to God as the totality of His Names and Attributes; like a book is the totality of letters, or a speech is the totality of words, or a cloud is the totality of water crystals, etc. It is Lah&uactue;t were the personal GOD of the Bible and Qur'an exists. He can get jealous, get angry, etc. He is called BRAHMA by the Hindus.

Hehút and Lahút is called the "World [Realm] of God". The lower Realms (Jabarút, Malakút, and Nasút) are called the "World [Realm] of Creation".

Súfís (and other Muslim mystics) believe that the ultimate goal of every Friend of God is to become "One" with Him; by "blowing out" the "Self" which leaves only the soul/spirit, and the soul/spirit IS GOD!

Fana fi-ALLÁH

The Arabic term fana fi-ALLÁH means "extinction in God"; it means to "blow out" the Ego, and once the ego is gone, nothing is left but the spirit, and, since the spirit is "divine" and thus "part" of God, the Súfí believes that they become "one" with God by "blowing out" or "extinguishing" the ego (self).

The Súfís believed that the Self was "Satan" which tries to prevent us from returning to God. By extinguishing "satan" within us, we "blow out" our false god that hinders us and return to God in a state of unity with Him. Súfís liken this to ice-bergs in the ocean. Once it is melted, it returns to the sea.

To "submit" our wills (egos) to the Will of God is to extinguish (blow out) our own wills/selfs.

The Prophet Muhammad (hadiths):

Alláh says, I have prepared for my servants what no eye has seen and no ear has heard, and what the mind of of man has not conceived. (Bukhari 59:8)

The great Súfí master and poet Malava Jalal-u-Din Rumi (1207-1273 A.D.) wrote:

I died as a mineral and became a plant,
I died as a plant and rose to an animal,
I died as animal and I was a man.
Why should I fear (death)? When was I (ever) less by dying?
Yet once more I shall die as a man,
To soar with angels blest;
But even from angelhood
I must pass on; all except God doth perish.
When I have sacrified my angel soul,
I shall become what no mind ever conceived.
Oh, let me not exist! For non-existence (of the Self)
Proclaims in organ tones, 'To Him we shall return.' (Metaphysical Obfuscation in the Islamic World, p.3 online)

Janayd of Baghdad (Súfí d.910 A.D.):

Whatever attains to True Being is absorbed into God and becomes God. (The Suit Mystery, 1980, p.175)

Sadi (13th century Súfí mystic):

What a strange exlixir is Man, he is a compound of the animal (self) and the angel (spirit), moving toward the former makes him lower than the animal and by moving toward the latter he can surpass the angels. (Technology, Man, and Spirituality, p.2 online)

Having passed through the states of Fana-fi-al-Rasul (annihilation in the Holy Prophet), and Fana-fi-ALLÁH (annihilation in God), they obtain the rank of Fana-fi-al-Baqa (Annihilation in the Station of the Substance in God). At this stage they become the perfect manifestation of the Essence and the Qualities (Attributes) of God. (The Path of Tasawwuf, p.3 online)

Paradise is their place, overpowering they have gone to Paradise. They have become annihilated in God, with Him they have become HE. ("Karbala and the Imam Husayn in Persian and Indo-Muslim literature," Al-Serat, Vol. 12, 1986, p.3)

Hazrat Inayat Khan (1887-1921):

When the animal-self, which is called nafs, is before him, he wants to take everything for his own benefit. When he develops his sympathy, when he can sacrifice his self for the benefit of another, he realizes that moral which the cross symbolizes. Then he becomes farishteh (an angel who is sent on earth), then he becomes God. (The Art of Being, vol.8, Part 2, chapter 1, section 1)

Fana' and Nirvana

The concept of the extinguishing of the Ego/Nafs/Self in order to become "one" with God exists in many religions: Buddhism, Jainism, Mormonism, Mystical Christianity, Mystical Judaism, Mystical Islaam, etc.

Islamist Cyril Glasse writes:

Fana' (lit. "extinction"). In Súfísm one hopes "to die before one dies", that is, to die to the world and to subsist in God Alone; this latter state is called baqa', "subsisting" or, in fact, "immortality" in the Real. The term fana' thus corresponds exactly to the Buddhist term nirvanam, which also means literally "extinction". (The Concise Enclcyclopedia of Islam, p.112)

The Buddha taught that only those in the human condition can achieve Nirvana ("extinguishing" the Ego/Self) and be liberated from Samsara (the Wheel of Rebirth). To achieve Nirvana is to become Parabrahman (Absolute Reality).

The Jain religion teaches something very similar. The purpose of Jains is to be liberated from the Wheel of Rebirth, and to become eternal, omniscient, omnipotent beings called SIDDHIS ("liberated souls") and ARHATS ("Worthy ones").

The Súfí/Ishraqí/Shakhi/Babi/Bahá'í cosmology fits quite well with those of Hindu, Buddhist,Sikh, and Jain belief:

Guru Nakak, the founder of the Sikh Religion, taught:

When selfishness is gone, one becomes God Himself. (Sahib Guru Granth v.202)

The Journey Through the Worlds of God

Bahá'u'lláh wrote many times of the "journey" through the Worlds of God. How do Bahá'ís today interpret this? I've asked many. Most of them have "never thought about it". They are content with leaving the Afterlife as an "afterthought" and concentrating on promoing World Peace, Race Unity, the Equality of the Genders, etc.

'Abdu'l-Baha said that the purpose of this life is to prepare ourselves for the journey through the Worlds of God in the Afterlife. What does this "journey" mean? Every Bahá'í I have ever spoke with on the subject is at a loss to tell me. Most don't ever speculate, but rather say something like this: "Let's not concern ourselves with that. There is too much on this planet to do!"

Are the "worlds" in the Afterlife literal planets? Are they spiritual "worlds" that cannot be defined or understood? Are they dimensions? Are they mere "metaphors"? What are they?

'Abdu'l-Baha seems to give us a "hint" in a conversation He had with Lady Bloomfield where she asks Him if she would ever return to this earth. Many early British and American Bahá'ís believed in reincarnation, and Lady Bloomfield was one of them. 'Abdu'l-Baha is purported to have replied:

Why should you wish to return here? In My Father's House are many mansions--many worlds! Why should you desire to come back to this particular planet? (The Chosen Highway, 1967, part3, chap. 3)

'Abdu'l-Baha was asked about reincarnation many times. In each case He denied that reincarnation was true. However, 'Abdu'l-Baha qualified that denial by stating that there was "returning to this material world" (SAQ p.287). This suggests that we go on to other material planets, but not back to this one. This planet is likened unto the womb of our mothers. However, could there be other womb-planets that we are born onto as part of the Journey?

This author comes from a Mormon background. The founder of the Mormon Faith was Joseph Smith Jr. (1806-1844). Shoghi Effendi believed (from many pilgrim's notes and secretary transcripts) that Joseph Smith "was not a Prophet lesser or otherwise, but a Seer" who "had high standards".

Joseph Smith (1806-1844)

At the assassination of Joseph Smith in June, 1844, in Carthage, Illinois, he was shot in a window on the second story of a jail. He feel from the window onto the ground. One of the mob came up with a large knife in order to sever his head (he had a price on his head--literally). Just then a light came from the sky which disabled the assailant. The mob then fled in terror.

A light from heaven prevents the Seer's head from being cut off

What is a "Seer"? In Islam, a "Seer" (Arabic: Muhaddath) is a person (man or woman) who is not a Rasuul nor a Naabi, but one who nevertheless receives divine revelation and the communication of angels, and visions. The Arabic word Muhaddath means literally "One spoken to" by an angel (do not confuse muhaddath with muhaddith--a rememberer of hadiths). Joseph Smith claimed many divine revelations, many visions, and the visitation of many angels. The only difference between a Prophet and a Seer is one of sinlessness/sinfulness and infallibility/fallibility. Some notable Seers are Mary, the mother of Jesus, who sees the Angel Gabriel, Fatimah, and the Imaams of Shi'a Islaam (who were not Prophets lesser or otherwise but received divine revelation, visions, etc. Two notable Seers that Bahá'ís recognize are Sheikh Ahmad al-Asa'i and Siyyid Kazim Rashti; the two heralds of The Báb (Who was in fact once a Disciple of Siyyid Kasim Rashti). Both al-Asa'i and Siyyid Kasim had divine visions, but they were not Rasuuls nor Naabis.

In the first vision of Joseph Smith, in 1820, the Father and Jesus appear to him, and Jesus says to Joseph: "Behold, I come quickly in the glory of my Father!".

Mormon revelation teaches that there are different degrees of reward in Heaven. Some shall become angels, but the most faithful were surpase the angels and become "gods". Mormons call this "Exaltation". The Mormons believe that only couples sealed into eternal marriages can become "gods". 'Abdu'l-Baha also taught the concept of Eternal Marriage:

In a true Bahá'í marriage the two parties must become fully united both spiritually and physically, so that they may attain eternal union throughout all the Worlds of God,...." (Bahá'í World Faith, p.371)

Their purpose must be this: to become loving companions and comrades at one with each other for time and eternity...." (Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Baha, p.86)

Eternal marriage is not automatic, but only for those who become "one" spiritually in this life. This does not merely mean "recognizes each other" in the Afterlife. 'Abdu'l-Baha is quite clear when He states that only those Believers who reach a certain spriritual "oneness" with each other will journey through the Worlds of God together. You can reach a full discourse of 'Abdu'l-Baha on Eternal Marriage at:

www.angelfire.com/mo/baha/BWF-71.html

Please print that out and read it!

There is one particular revelation that Joseph Smith received which interests us here. This revelation is a parable about a king who visits 12 villages. It has been interpreted to mean that the Sun (King) will "visit" 12 planets in this solar system (Doctrine & Covenants section 88). More about that later.

Why is there life on Earth and not (as far as we know) on the other planets in this Solar System? Were they all made in vain? Are they simply useless rocks or gas-balls floating in space?

The reason why the Earth has life is because it is in what is called the "comfort zone"; where the Sun is not too hot and not too cold. We live on a planet that is in a prime "zone" for life. Mercury and Venus are too hot, and the other planets are too cold.

Yet, Bahá'u'lláh wrote that every fixed star (Sun) has planets, and each planet it's creatures. Yet, how could there be creatures on Mercury, or Jupiter, or Pluto?

Perhaps Bahá'u'lláh was not concerned with "time-frame". Perhaps all planets are, as the mystic Helena P. Blavatsky once wrote, have been, are, and will be Man-Bearing" (The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnetts, Letter 18).

God created planets to be "wombs" for sentient beings. Would He create barren wombs? Perhaps, like the wombs of human women, the planets are wombs for life; some bearing, some who have bourn and are too old to bare again, and some too young to bear but will someday bear.

The 12 Planets

When you ask a group of school children "How many planets are there in our solar system" they will say "Nine". This is what they were taught. But, the best scientific evidence today says there are (or were) actually 12.

Many scientists are now saying that the Sun is expanding and getting hotter, and that, in billions of years, Mars will be in the "habitable zone" that the Earth is in today (and Venus was in that zone billions of years ago, and Mercury was in that zone billions of years before that). Mars will be in the "habitable zone" in billions of years, and then Jupiter, and then Saturn, and so on to Pluto. Eventually, the tiny frozen planets beyond Pluto will expand and become gas-giants, and then Mars-like solid planets, and eventually Earth-like planets once they too enter the "inhabitable zone". Most Bahá'ís think there are 9 planets. But there are more than 9. There are at least 11 that we now know of; of various sizes. It is difficult to think how any life could exist on the gas-planets or the frozen planets (Pluto et al). However, when the Sun expands outward, the gas planets will become solid, and the ice planets will become gas, and then solid. The planet Mars has a frozen core. When the core is unfrozen it will expand, and Mars will be the size of the earth today.

Here is something from Robert Roy Britt, senior science writer for Space.com; a respected online science magazine:

Hot Deal! Pluto, the Last Oasis for Life

It might be a few billion years before an ad like this appears in your local paper, but it could show up....
According to a new computer model designed to understand how the conditions for life might arise in unlikely places, humble Pluto and its surroundings will have warmed to downright pleasant temperatures long after the earth has been consumed by an expanding, dying Sun.
"It's Miami Beach for millions of years, possibly longer," Alan Stern, a planetary scientist at the Southwest Research Institute.
Stern used existing data on the outer solar system, added in the latest theoretical expectations for the Sun's evolution, and analyzed it all from a biological perspective. His results will be published in the journal Astrobiology.
The Swelling Sun
Pluto is a cold and almost certainly lifeless world right now, not a place you'd even want to visit on holiday, let alone invest in.
But that will change as the solar system ages and the tiny planet basks in a glowing solar glow. In its senior years, the Sun is expected to swell to 100 times its present size and grow a thousand times more luminious, likely vaporizing Earth and the other inner planets but possibly making the outer solar system a final oasis.
The scenario might invigorate a whole swath of the solar system near Pluto, known as the Kuiper Belt,which harber several round worlds that are a good fraction of Pluto's size, Stern explained in a telephone interview last week.
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As the Sun expands and brightens, the habitable zone will move outward, past Mars, past Jupiter, and finally to Pluto's realm [and beyond]. ("Hot Deal! Pluto, the Last Oasis for Life", Space.com 20 May 2003)

The planet Quaoar

The planet Sedna

Mercury was at one time earth-like, but the lighter materials have burned off long ago. Venus was once earth-like, but it's oceans evaporated into space at least 400 million years ago.

As the Sun expands outward, the core of Mars will heat up and expand the planet to earth-size, the gas-giants will coaless into small rocky planets, and Pluto, Quaoar, and Sedna will become gas-giants, and then go through the same processes as all the planets do. There used to be a planet between Mars and Jupiter. The Asteroid Belt is the remnants of that planet. Some are calling this now destroyed planet "Rahab"; after what the Biblical prophets seemed to say regarding it:

He quiets the sea with His power, and by His understanding He shatters Rahab. (Job 26:11-12)

You have broken Rahab in pieces, as one who is slain. (Psalms 89:10)

Awake, awake, put on strengh, O arm of the LORD! Awake as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Are you not the Arm that cut Rahab apart, and wounded the serpent? (Isaiah 51:9) [The LORD speaking] And I destroyed you, oh covering cherub, from among the stones of fire. (Ezekiel 28)

The asteroid belt is the remnants of the planet Rahab

Why would the LORD wish to destroy one of His own planets, the work of His hands? I could go into that, and explain about the Archons, and the Aeons, and the Watchers, and the Principalities and Powers, but that goes beyond the depth of this current article. Suffice it to say that the Mysteries of God include more than just "World Peace" and "Race Unity" and equal-pay-for-equal-work, and that the Cosmos is filled with many types of beings; both material and spiritual, and not all of them obey God in all things. In the Realm of Jabarút there are mighty Powers, and when one of them rebels against God they are punished.

Rahab was once a bright star in the night skys, but it was destoyed. Why? Because there was a War in Heaven. More on this later.

This solar system originally had 12 Planets:

In Hermeticism, each planet has a "Silent Watcher" who has dominion over it, and is the lord of evolution for that planet. These Watchers are might beings, higher than the angels, but lower than the gods. The Gnostic Christians called these beings the "Aeons" (Greek: "Those Who Live For Ages"). The ancient Christian Ignatius of Antioch (c. 100 A.D.) wrote:

For might I write to you things more full of mystery? But I fear to do so, lest I should inflict injury on you who are but babes (in Christ). Pardon me in this respect, lest as not being able to receive their weighty import, you should be strangled by them. For every I, though I am bound (for Christ), and am able to understand heavenly things, the angelic orders, and the diversities between Throne and Authorities, the mightyness of the Aeons, and the pre-eminance of the Cherubim and Seraphim. (Epistle to the Trallians chap.5)

In Hinduism and Buddhism they Aeons are called "Brahmas".

In the Apocryphon of John, and ancient Christian work, it says:

And twelve Aeons belong to the Son of the Self-Begotten. And all things were established by the Will of the Holy Spirit through the Self-Begotten. (Apocrypon of John, p.2 online)

Let the twelves Aeons come into being....Go and let each of you reing over his world [planet]. (The Gospel of the Egyptians, p.7 online)

And I saw the holy City, the New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. The City had a wall great and high, and had 12 gates, and at the gates 12 angels...." (Revelations 21:12)

These principalites and powers are the mighty angels who rule the spheres [planets]. (10:671)

When Judas, one of the 12 Apostes of Jesus, "fell" (and killed himself) he was replaced. So too shall the Aeon that fell (Iblis) be replaced.

The ancient Jewish mystics believed that the Silent Watchers want to prevent unclean, unworthy, and unprepared souls from ascending to the Presence of God. The Apostle Paul wrote to the Christians of Ephesus (in Asia Minor):

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalites, against powers, against the world rulers [Greek: kosmokratoros] of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places. (Ephesians 3:17)

In Radhasoami (mystical Sihk tradtion of India), the satgurus teach their disciples Shabd-Yoga as a way to escape the Rulers of the Planets and enter the higher worlds; both before and after death.

In Radhasoami (as in Eckankar) there are 11 Lokas or "Realms". Scientists now say there are 11 planets and 11 Dimensions. In Súfísm (Mystical Islam) there are 11 Stations of Soul: 1 Mineral, 1 Plant, 1 Animal, 1 "Natural" Human station, and 7 "Spiritual" Human stations:

1. Mineral
2. Plant
3. Animal
4. Human
5. Commanding
6. Blaming
7. Inspired
8. Assured
9. Accepting
10. Accepted
11. Perfect

So, we have 11 Planets, 11 Dimensions, 11 Stations of the Soul, in the World of Creation.

What does this all mean?

As the Sun expands out, and grows larger and hotter, the outer planets will become "Earths" like this. Souls that began as minerals became plants, and from plants to animals, and, upon our planet, souls became humans. On the higher planets, the humans will be born with higher and higher "natural" vibration rates, or, "stations", until, ultimately, on the last planet in this system, many eons for now, humans will be born in the highest (11th station).

But, souls can reach even "higher" stations; because there are stations beyond the 11th, but not in the World of Creation.

Confused? Don't worry. Read on. Things will become more and more clear to you.

New Skins on Other Planets

The Qur'an says:

Surely, those who disbelieve in our revelations [plural], We will condemn them to hell-fire. Whenever their skins are burnt, we will given them new skins so that they may continue to feel Our chastisement. (4:56)

There can be no doubt whatever that the peoples of the world, of whatever race or religion, derive their inspiration from one Heavenly Source, and are the subjects of one God. The difference between the ordinances under which they abide should be attributed to the varying requirements and exigencies of the age in which they were revealed. All of them, except a few which are the outcome of human perversity, were ordained of God, and are the reflection of His Will and Purpose. (Gleanings, p.217)

Easy.

Once one sees the "Whole Picture" there are no contradictions at all!

What did the Qur'an means by "new skins"?

Orthodox Muslims would interpret "new skins" to mean that in Hell-fire God will cause our skins to be burned off, but then create new skins so that the pain of burning the skin will continue forever.

Bahá'ís would interpret "new skins" differently. I do not know how Bahá'ís interpret this other than to say they don't believe what Muslims believe about it--that Hell-fire is eternal or that literal fire will burn literal skins.

Indeed, nowhere in the Qur'an are the Arabic words for "eternity" (Abad and Azal) ever used in reference to Hell-fire. The only Arab word used in connection with Hell-fire is khalidoon; which is translated into English as:

1. Forevers
2. Eternals
3. Immortals

The word khalidoon is never used in Arabic to mean "unending duration of time". Rather, it literaly means "Immortals". It means that those dwelling in Hell-fire shall be "immortals"; meaning those not subject to death. It doesn't mean Hell-fire is "eternals" or "forevers" but that those who dwell in Hell-fire shall not die from the Fire!

But what does the term "new skins" mean?

The Bahá'ís I've asked about this say, "It's a metaphor" and "We can't know what the Afterlife is like, so why worry about it!" and so forth. They simply don't know what the metaphor represents or means. I will give you my opinion.

I believe that the "new skins" refer to new human lives on other planets in our own solar system. I believe that we existed before as mineral, then plants, then animals. I do not believe we come back to this planet, but that we may have other human lives on other planets in this system. I believe that the Qur'anic parables are symbolic of souls who must go through other lifetimes were our skins are "burned by the Sun" (we get wrinkly, old, and die); where hunger, pain, and suffering exist.

The Qur'an also says:

As for those who believe and lead a righteous life, We will admit them into Gardens with flowing streams; they abide therein immortals. They will have therein pure spouses [husbands or wives]. We will admit them into a blissful shade. (4:57)

Bahá'ís say this too is a "metaphor". Bahá'ís I ask about this do not know what the metaphor means, and usually change the subject or walk away, or say, "The Afterlife cannot be known or described, so why try?"

I believe these Verses are metaphors, but of what? I will venture my own opinion.

It is my personal belief that all of us live one life per planet on every planet that exists in this solar system; that we lived before on Venus, and before on Mercury; when the Sun was smaller and the "inhabitation zones" were around those planets (and thus they were earthlike).

I believe that while the soul begins at conception, the spirit is pre-existent, and 'Abdu'l-Baha seemed to concur:

The spirit is independent of the body, and in relation to it the spirit is an essential pre-existence. (SAQ p.332)

The "spirit" is a part of God, and therefore has no beginning. The soul, on the other hand, has a beginning, and, indeed, "many" beginnings.

There is no "reincarnation" to this planet. We live on this planet one time, and cannot return to it anymore than we can return to our mother's wombs. But, to me, the "Journey Through the Worlds of God" is not merely a metaphor, but a literaly "journey" of lives through the planets of this solar system, and perhaps beyond.

I base this personal belief upon the following:

1) Buddha and Krishna definitely taught human re-birth , but They never said it would be to this planet.

2) 'Abdu'l-Baha always qualified His anti-reincarnation talks by saying that there is no return "to this material world".

3) 'Abdu'l-Baha taught the pre-existence of the spirit (not soul/personality).

4) Joseph Smith (whom Shoghi Effendi believed was a "Seer") received a Revelation that seems to teach that all the planets will have inhabitants "in their season".

5) Bahá'u'lláh wrote that every planet "hath its creatures".

Bahá'u'lláh wrote:

Know thou that every fixed star hath its own planets, and every planet its own creatures, whose number no man can compute. (Gleanings, p.163)

42 And again, verily I say unto you, he hath given a law unto all things, by which they move in their times and their seasons;
43 And their courses are fixed, even the courses of the heavens and the earth, which comprehend the earth and all the planets.
44 And they give light to each other in their times and in their seasons, in their minutes, in their hours, in their days, in their weeks, in their months, in their years--all these are one year with God, but not with man.
45 The earth rolls upon her wings, and the Sun giveth his light by day, and the moon giveth her light by night, and the stars also given their light, as they roll upon their wings in their glory, in the midst of the power of God.
46 Unto what shall I liken these kingdoms [planets], that ye may understand?
47 Behold, all these are kingdoms, and any man who hath seen any or the least of these hath seen God moving in his majesty and power.
***
51 Behold, I will liken these kingdoms unto a man having a field, and he sent forth his servants to dig in the field.
52 And he said unto the first: Go ye and labor in the field, and in the first hour I will come unto you, and ye shall behold the joy of my countenance.
53 And he said unto the second: Go ye also into the field, and in the second hour I will visit you with the joy of my countenance.
54 And also unto the third, saying: I will visit you;
55 And unto the fourth, and so on unto the twelth.
56 And the lord of the field went unto the first in the first hour, and tarried with him all that hour, and so on unto the twelth.
57 And then he withdrew from the first that he might visit the second also, and the third, and the fourth, and so on unto the twelth.
58 And thus they all received the light of the countenance of their lord, every man in his hour, and in his time, and in his season--
59 Beginning at the first, and so on unto the last, and form the last unto the first, and from the first unto the last;
60 Every man in his own order, until the hour was finished, even according as his lord had commanded him, that his lord might be glorified in him, and he in his lord, that they all might be glorified.
61 Therefore, unto this parable I will liken all these kingdoms [planets], and the inhabitants thereof--every kingdom in its hour, and in its time, and in its season, even according to the decreee which God hath made (D&C secton 88)

Joseph the Seer inquired of the LORD about the planets. Why were they made? Is there life upon them like on earth? What are they for? The LORD replied (as He often does) with a Parable! The "lord of the field" is the Sun who "visits" each of his servants in the field; but not all at once, but at separate "seasons" and "hours". Each of the 12 servants enjoys the "countenance" for a season, then the "man" leaves them and goes on to the next; from the first to the twelth.

Modern science is now confirming this! Billions of years ago Mercury was like this planet, and billions of years after that Venus was. Now Earth is in the "habitable zone". Some day Mars will be. Then Jupiter will turn from a gas giant to a small solid like Mars, and, like Mars, the core will be cold but then hot and it will expand and be the same size as Earth, and this process will repeat itself and go on until the last planet in this system is in the "habitation zone" and can bear life.

This is what Bahá'u'lláh meant by "every planet hath its creatures". He didn't mean all planets have life at the same time, but all planets will bear life at one time or the other. They were not made in vain.

Will we live one time on one planet? I don't think so. We shall all journey through the Worlds of God; some swifter than others, and some less painfully than others. "Hell" is to exist on a planet in the condition of Nasút (Dimension of the Five Senses) were there is suffering and death and woe, and where we "burn" under the rediation of the Sun. "Heaven" is to exist on a planet in a higher dimension (Al-Ghayb--the Unseen World) were there is no death and suffering, and no "burning" of the skin by the rays of the Sun.

Hell is to exist in the dimension of Nasút (Mineral, Animal, Plant, Human), and Paradise is to exist in Malakút (Angel Soul), or Jabarút (Immortal Soul). The "Most Exalted Paradise" is the dimension of Lahút (Divine Soul). If we are not "saved" (liberated) during our one life on this planet, then we must endure Nasút on another, and again our skins will be "burned". But we will not "die" (i.e. be annihilated by the Fire--cease to exist). We are immortal souls, and we will continue. We are khalidoon.

How many "hells" we endure is determined by us; if we become True Seekers or not during our mortal probation. If yes, then we avoid the Hell-dimension in the next world (literally--next "world"), but if we are not Seekers of God, we must again endure the "burning" of our skins, as well as pain and death.

The Jewish scholar on the Kabbalah (Jewish mystical tradition), J. Abelson, writes of this concept in the Zohar (primary book of Jewish mysticism):

The soul's dross cannot be cast off in one lifetime. It must pass through many bodies and experience many terrestrial [earthlike] existences, each one higher than the others, before it can reach the principle of perfection--union with God (The Zohar, p.xix)

Not until man is tried doth the pure gold distinctly separate from the dross (Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Baha, p.120)

When one is released from the prison of self, that is, indeed, freedom! For self is the greatest prison. (Paris Talks p.50)

Shoghi Effendi wrote:

The ego is the animal in us, the heritage of the flesh which is full of selfish desires. (Unfolding Destiny, p.153)

Have you noticed the one whose god is his ego? Consequently ALLÁH sends him astray, despite his knowledge, seals his hearing and his mind, and places a veil in his eyes. Who then can guide him, after such a decision by God? Would you not take heed? (45:23)

The Qur'an reveals that "Creation" repeats itself:

The Day We roll up the heavens like a scroll rolled up for books even as We produced the first creation so shall We produce a new one: a promise We have undertaken; truly shall We fulfill it. (24:104)

It is He Who begins creation; then repeats it; and for Him it is most easy. (30:27)

It is ALLÁH Who begins creation; then repeats it; then shall ye be brought back to Him. (30:11)

He is is Who originates the creation, and then recreates it again. (85:13)

It is my belief that the parable of Hell-fire in the Qur'an is a parable about multiple human lives on various planets; to "burn" under the rays of the Sun (or a Sun), to suffer pain, humiliation, disappointment, and death. This is the meaning of the Qur'anic phrase that God will replace "skin for skin"(4:57).

It is my personal belief that we do not have to endure human lives on these planets (worlds), but we can exist in higher dimensions as Angels or above, in the Unseen World (Dimension) that exists along with our dimension in the vary same areas of space.

The other dimensions do not exist beyond the galaxies somewhere, but they exist right here, and they are around us. We are unaware of these dimensions just as the plant is unaware of our human world.

The Seers see the other dimensions of this planet and all the Worlds of God

The Seers have "seen" into these dimensions, and we should look to them for explantions of what they are and what they are like. Whether they be Christian seers, or Muslim seers, or Hindu seers, or Buddhist seers, or Jain seers, or Sikh seers, or Hopi Seers, etc., their descriptions and visions are uncannily in agreement with each other!

Other higher dimensions exist on this planet and in all the Worlds of God

The War in Heaven

In the Apocalypse (Book of Revelation), John, the beloved disciple of Jesus, has a vision of a 'war in heaven'. He wrote what he saw in this vision:

And war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels fought against the Dragon; and the Dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great Dragon was cast out, that Serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world, he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, "Now salvation and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the Accuser of our brethren, who accused them day and night, has been cast down....
Woe to the inhabitants of the earth, and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, because he knows that he has a short time. (Revelation 12:7-10,12 NIV)

Michael and his angels defeated the Red Dragon and his angels (who were cast down to earth)

A being described as "the angel of Jesus" showed John this vision, and explained to him (John) what he was seeing. What did the angel of Jesus mean by all this? What is the meaning of this?

Muslims believe that Iblis (Satan) was in the Presence of God, but was cast out of His Presence. What is the meaning of this?

I will tell you what I believe.

I believe that Iblis was one of the 12 Aeons (world-rulers). His planet was Rahab; between Mars and Jupiter. As the Qur'an says, he refused to bow down to Adam (who was another Aeon, the ruler of the 3rd planet). Iblis was cast out of the Presence of God and was cast down to earth; our planet. He deceived Adam and Eve, and Adam "fell" from the Presence of God to our "presence" (Nasút). He became known as the Serpent, or the "Crooked Serpent" because his world was destroyed, and became like a crooked serpent; twisting and winding around the Sun.

There are also 70 batin (inner) meanings of the War in Heaven, and the Fall of Lucifer.

The reason why this planet has so much suffering is because the "ruler" of this planet (for the time being until the World Order of Bahá'u'lláh is firmly established and Satan is "bound") is Iblis.

Iblis is Nature both beautiful and cruel. Nature favors the strong over the weak. Nature is cruel. Nature is imperfect, and makes erros. Nature experiments, and is not omniscient (all-knowing). Our "lower nature" is "nature"; the result of evolution.

Evolution created our lower natures (selfs/egos). Our higher natures (spirits) are from God.

Gardens for the Faithful

In the Qur'an the Faithful are promised "Gardens". Just about all Bahá'ís interpret the Qur'anic depictions of Paradise (and Hell-fire) totally symbolicly; as metaphor only. Yet, the Qur'anic descriptions of Paradise and Hell-fire correspond quite well with Buddhist descriptions of the life of Devas (in paradises) and the life of the Denizens (in Hell-fire).

Some mystical Muslims believe in reincarnation, based upon the following Verse:

No sooner will their skins be thoroughly burnt (in Hell) than other skins are given to them. (4:56)

Some mystical Muslims (Súfís, Ishraqís, etc.) interpret the Verse as a Parable of reincarnation; that the Sun "burns" us, and the "new skins" refer to new mortal lives "under the Sun".

Of course, Bahá'ís cannot believe that we return to this material planet. But, are mortal lives on other material planets possible?

Many Bahá'ís love to quote the Bhagavad-Gita when Krishna explains to Arjuna that He descends to earth periodically to establish Dharma (religion, order, morality).

Whenever there is a decline of dharma (religion, duty, order, righteousness) and a rise of adharma (atheism, perversity, neglect of duty, disorder, unrighteousness), O Bharata [i.e. Arjuna], then I send forth Myself. For the protection of the good, for the destruction of the wicked, and for the establishment of righteousness, I come into being from age to age. (Gita 4:7-8)

Many assume the Gita teaches reincarnation. It does, but not in a way most believe. Krishna definitely teaches that there are basically three rewards in the Afterlife:

Those situated in the mode of goodness gradually go upward to the higher planets, those in the mode of passion live on the earthly planets, and those in the mode of ignorance go down to the hellish worlds. (Gita 14:18)

As the Guardian wrote:

We come to this planet only once. (LG 538)

It should not surprise us that Buddhists, Hindus, Sihks, and Jains believe that if they do not reach a certain high spiritual station in this life, they must return to this world again! They did not know of any other "earthly" planets except this one!

In the Mormon Faith one is taught that there are three "Kingdoms" one can inherit: Celestial (Heavenly), Terrestrial (Earthly), and Telestial (Starry). Those who inherit the Celestial Kingdom are married for all eternity; unlike the others.

The Mormon conception of Exaltation corresponds to being born on a Brahma Loka in Vendanta and Buddhism, or to the "Gardens of the Faithful" as depicted in the Qur'an.

The Qur'an depicts "Gardens" for the Faithful! The Faithful will inherit "Gardens" and recline upon thrones, and be served by Houris ("White ones"--female servants) and Ghulams (young male servants). The Qur'anic descriptions of the "Gardens" fit exactly with Buddhist depictions of the Brahma Worlds, Jain depictions of the God-worlds, and Mormon depictions of the Celestial worlds!

Mere coincidence?

The Qur'an places all into three categories:

1) The Faithful
2) The Companions on the Right
3) The Companions on the Left (also called "The Companions of the Fire")

The Faithful (Arabic: "Mo'men") shall inherit "Gardens" and be "wed" to their wives! The Companions on the Right shall not be wed in Gardens, but will go to Paradise; presumably as Houris (female servants) and Ghulams (male servants). The Companions on the Left shall go to Hell-fire, and have their their skins burned and "new skins" provided. This is exactly what Mormons believe as well!

Brigham Young said:

Every Earth and the people thereof, in their turn and time, receive all that we receive, and pass through all the ordeals that we are passing through. And to carry this thing still further, we expect all who are faithful to take the office of Adams and Eves in the worlds to be created. (Brigham Young's Doctrine on Deity, pp.97-98)

The Confirmation of Seers

Perhaps God sends Seers to confirm His revelations through the Prophets?

Was Joseph Smith a Seer? Shoghi Effendi believed so! Yet, Bahá'ís in Utah and other Mormon areas do not use his prophecies which point directly to Bahá'u'lláh!

Why not?

The Bahá'ís in Hopiland (Arizona) use the prophecies of Hopi Seers! They even call these Seers "Manifestations of God" and "Prophets". And the use of these prophecies have brought tremendous interest and many enrollments.

Why use the Hopi Seers but not the Mormon Seers?

Ellen G. White, a Seeress who is revered by 15 million Seventh-day Adventists worldwide, prophecied (in her capacity as a See--not a Prophet) the following:

In a vision in 1847, she shaw that Christ would come before slavery was abolished and that it would be abolished when He came. (Seventh-day Adventism: The Result of a Predicament, 1950, p.9)

Have Bahá'ís ever used her vision in prospecting campaigns? Never!

Yet, they use the prophecies of Hopi Seers, and Navajo Seers with great success!

Why not all Seers?

Why only "people-of-color" Seers? Why only "politically-correct" Seers?

Why not use ALL the prophecies of ALL the Seers?

The use of the prophecies of Vaishnava Seers in India brought Entry-by-Troops in that land, and they are still being used.

This is from the writings of Nao Deguchi (1837-1918), a Japanese Seeress who founded Omoto Kyo. In 1891, the year Bahá'u'lláh recited His Tablet of Carmel at the Sacred Spot, this is what Nao Deguchi heard from God:

The Greater World shall burst into bloom as plum blossoms at winter's end. I, Ushitora no Konjin (Heavenly Parent), have come to reign at last...Know ye, this present world is a world of beasts, the stronger preying upon the weaker, the work of the devil. Alas, ye world of beasts! Evil holds you in such thrall that your eyes are blinded to its wickedness--a dark age, indeed. If allowed to go on in this way, society will soon lose that last vestiges of harmony and order. Therefore, by a manifestion of Divine power, the Greater World shall undergo reconstruction, and change into an entirely new creation. The old world shall suffer a most rigorous purification [i.e. the Calamity] that it may become the Kingdom of Heaven where peace will reign through all ages to come. Prepare yourselves for the Age of Peace! Ye sons of men, hold yourselves in readiness! (Nao Neguchi 2, p.5 online)

The Supreme Paradise

The Qur'anic depictions of Paradise correspond almost exactly to the depictions of the Brahma Lokas (God-Planets) of Buddhist and Hindu literature. But the ultimate goal of every Buddhist (and Jain and Vendantist) is NOT to go to a Brahma Loka, but to become "liberated" from Samsara, and become "ONE" with the Absolute. This is because, no matter how pleasant (and long-lived) life would be as a Deva or Brahma, they too eventually "die", and, depending upon their actions (karma) during life, they could be born an Asura, or a human, or an animal, or a hungry ghost, or even a Denizen of Hell. To escape the unending wheel of rebirth, the Buddhist (or Jain or Vendandist) seeks moksha; which is "liberation" from Samsara (the Wheel of Rebirth). It means to become "one" with the Absolute which is "Not This/Not That" and has no name or attributes.

Perhaps the equivalent to Nirvana in Islam is the Janat Adh-Dhat ("The Most Exalted Garden"). While the other Gardens are just "way-stations" in the journey through the Worlds of God, the Most Exalted Garden (Paradise) is the "final destination".

The Most Exalted Station is to enter the Supreme Paradise (Janat Adh-dhat) of which all the other paradises are just types and shadows.

In the Qayyummu'l-Asma' (the Qur'an of The Bábi Revelation) The Báb send a message to Siyyid Ja'far Kashfi, one of the most respected of Shi'ite Ishraqí (Illuminationist) theologians, it says:

And if thou wert to propagate His Cause, know assuredly that We shall exalt thee over all that is in both worlds [visible and invisible] and that verily, through God's consent, in the world beyond and in the Most Exalted Paradise thou shalt dwell with US." (Qayyumm'l-Asma' 27:46-7)

In a tablet to Ali Pasha (Prime Minister of Turkey), Bahá'u'lláh wrote:

Thou hast, O Chief, committed that which hath made Muhammad, the Apostle of God, groan in the Most Exalted Paradise. (BNE chap.14)

Bahá'u'lláh wrote in His Tablet of Seven Questions:

The first [highest/foremost] station and the foremost status is the paradise of Divine contentment. Whosoever attaineth His contentment, is reckoned among the denizens of the Most Exalted Paradise, and, upon the ascension of his soul, shall attain that which mere pen and ink are powerless to describe. (Bahá'í Studies Bulletin 7:3-4)

In another letter He writes:

O ye Apostles of Bahá'u'lláh! May my life be sacrificed for you!...Consider how exalted and lofty is the station you are destined to attain;.... (The Advent of Divine Justice, p.61)

1) Mineral soul
2) Plant soul
3) Animal soul
4) Human soul
5) Commanding soul
6) Blaming soul
7) Inspired soul
8) Assured soul
8) Accepting soul
10) Accepted soul
11) Perfect soul

In other words, there are 3 stations below human, there is 1 station of the "natural" or "materialistic" human soul, and 7 stations of the spiritual human soul.

'Abdu'l-Baha achieved the degree of "Perfect Soul" in His lifetime, and this is why Bahá'ís refer to Him as "He" and "Him" and "Who" instead of "he" and "him" and "who".

The Prophets are Perfect Souls before They even get to Earth. Their "souls" are pre-existent; unlike ordinary humans. The Prophets used to be ordinary humans; on other worlds.

All of these 11 degrees of soul exist in Nasút (Realm of the Five Senses). Then 'Abdu'l-Baha speaks of the soul in Malakút (the Angel Soul) and then of the soul in Jabarút (the Powerful Soul), and then finally of the soul in Lahút (the Divine Soul).

Of the station in Jabarút 'Abdu'l-Baha writes of the station of this soul:

It ascends to a station that God hath made to be far above the understanding of the minds of men, for this station is created out of the elements of power, strenghth, might, authority, sovereighty, omnipotance, protection, and freedom and nothing that has limitations or pluralities has any resemblance to it. ON the contrary, it is the very essence of unity, the substance of singleness and obstraction, the lights of lights, the furthermost tree, the exalted rank, the remotest moque, and the ultimate goal in the world of creation even though perfections have no beginning nor end to them and are beyond all limitations. Well is it with the one who has entered this holy, noble, and mighty station. (Lights of Irfan vol2, pp.95-96)

And as for the Divine Soul, it consists of the Universal Reality which brings together all of the Divine realities of the Primal Manifestation and the eternal secrets, the outer aspect of which is the Ancient Light and the inner aspect of which is the most mighty and Sublime Mystery, the Primal Point for which appear all things and to which they revert, from which they originate and to which they return. (ibid.)

The "Maid of Heaven" that comes to Bahá'u'lláh in the Siyah Chal is no mere "literary device", but She is the "Sublime Mystery" Who appears in Malakút, and Bahá'u'lláh can see Malakút in vision while His body is chained in a black pit.

'Abdu'l-Baha taught that a Bahá'í couple who reach a certain "exalted station" in this life will be married "in all the Worlds of God". Two souls, male and female, who achieve eternal marriage become "one soul" in the the higher realms.

The Divine Soul is the soul in Lahút; the Realm of Divinity. These are the souls of which The Báb wrote in His Panj Sh'an ("Five Modes"):

In the Name of God, Very God, Very God!
Say, God is Very God above all that is made god--
Nothing in the heavens, nothing in the earth,
nothing in the void between
can hinder Him, Divine in the Divinity of His Godhead.
He is High God, God, Divine.
You are exalted, O God
God of the heavens, God of the earth, God of the void between--
You bestow divinity on whom You choose
and withdraw it from whom You choose,
Exalt whom You choose, bring low whom You choose,
***
You are the God of Divinities.
You entrust the Command to whom You choose,
and withdraw it from whom You choose,
***
Say, You, O God, You are Very God of Very Gods.
Let all worship You who dwell
in the heavens, in the earth, in the void between. (Research Notes in Shaykhi, Babi and Bahá'í Studies, Vol.3, no.3, p.3 online)

The station of the soul in Lah&uactue;t is the highest station that a soul can reach; for beyond it is Hehút; the Essence of the Essence. Lahút is the Essence of the Names and Attributes; the Primal Manifestation.

Bahá'u'lláh called those souls in the highest station "denizens of the Kingdom of Names" (Messages to America, p.33). The Kingdom of Names refers to Lahút, or the Realm of Divinity where the Names/Attributes of God exist in Their Essence. The Essence of God is Hehút where God has no Names and No Attributes, but exists as pure Sigularity. In Lahút God has Names/Attributes, and is why ALLÁH addresses Himself in the Qur'an as "We" and "Us", and is perhaps why God says in Genesis:

Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. (Genesis 1:26)

Yet, the soul can rise above the World of Creation to the World of God, but it cannot go beyond Lahút. Nothing can reach the Essence of the Essence save the Essence.

The soul in the Realm of Nasút is called "The Human Soul".
The soul in the Realm of Malakút is called an "The Angel Soul".
The soul in the Realm of Jabarút is called "The Soul of the Realm of Command".
The soul in the Realm of Lahút is called "The Soul of the Sanctified Realm of the Primal Manifestation".

Lah&uactue;t is called "The Primal Manifestation" because it is the Realm (Dimension) wherein is the first/highest/primal Manifestation of God. Hehút is the Realm of the Essence of the Essence, but Lahút is the Realm of the Essence of the Names and Attributes(Qualities) of God. The Names/Attributes of God can further "manifest" Themselves down into lower Realms. When a Name/Attribute of God is manifested in the Realm of Nasút, They are called "Prophets" or "Manifestations of God".

The soul in the Realm of Lahút has entered the World of God, and is beyond the World of Creation. But no souls can reach the Realm of Hehút; which is beyond the beyond and forever veiled off from all but the Essence.

The soul in the Realm of Lahút shall:

1) Manifest the Names and Attributes of God
2) Consist of Ancient Light and Sublime Mystery
3) Exists only "in" God. 4) Shall be the "Primal Point" around which all things (creation) circummambulates.

Principalities and Powers

The Apostle Paul (whom 'Abdu'l-Baha called "Christ's greatest disciple") wrote:

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the world rulers [Greek: kosmokratoros] of this present darkness, against spiritual wickedness in high places. (Ephecisians 3:17)

According to most scholars who have studied this subject, the ancient Jews believed that the planets each had a "Archon" (ruler), and that these "kosmokratoros" (World Rulers) were evil, and opposed to the Lord of Heaven, and they wanted to keep humans from ascending to the Throne of God.

According to the Interpreter's Bible Commentary:

These principalites and powers are the mighty angels that rule the spheres [planets]. (10:671)

The ancient Jews believed that over each planet was a "Watcher" (in the Greek: kosmoskratoros "World Rulers) who ruled the planets. In Mystical Judaism, it was believed that in order to return to the Presence of God (which was beyond the planets in at the center of the fixed stars) one had to pass-by the "Watchers"; whose duty it was to try to prevent you from passing them. These "Watchers" were called the Principalities and Powers.

Islamist Cyril Glasse write:

The notion of seven heavens appears prominently in early Jewish pre-Qabbalah mysticism, the Merkava ("chariot" i.e. the chariots of Ezekiel) or Heikhalot ("the Divine Palaces"), school. In the Heikhalot, the mystic in his search for God in the Divine "palace" ascends to the seventh heaven. At each heaven he is opposed and must struggle to gain entry with the use of Divine Names and secret signs, that is, with the knowledge of God. (The Concise Encyclopedia of Islam, 1989, p.357)

The divine names and secret signs are given in Mormon Temples during the "Endowment Ceremony".

In the Sabian Faith (Mandaeans) the priests also instruct the people in secret names and secret signs (a handshake called the "kushta") whereby they may pass the Sentinels back into the Presence of God.

Sabian (Mandaean) priests

Sabian (Mandaean) priests are called "Nazara'i"; which means "Keepers [of the secret names and signs]". They claim Adam was the founder of their religion, and claim Noah, Abraham, and John the Baptist as their prophets.

In the Radhasoami tradition of India, the Satgurus teach their disciples certain secret "names" and shabd-yoga techniques in which it is believed the soul-Traveler can pass-by the guardians and ascend before death (during soul-travel) to the Presence of God. The same is done in Eckankar; which comes directly from the Radhashoami tradition.

In Hermeticism these Archons are called the "lords of evolution". They oversee evolution on each planet once that planet comes into the "inhabital zone" of the Sun (where life can exist).

The Qur'an speaks of "7 Paths":

We have created above you seven paths; and We are never unmindful of creation. (23:17)

1) Sun
2) Moon
3) Mercury
4) Venus
5) Mars
6) Jupiter
7) Saturn

They interpreted "and We are never unmindful of creation" to mean that the LORD never forgets, or ceases to think about, what He has created.

Mystical Muslims had a different interpretation. They interpreted "7 Paths" as seven dimensions, and the phrase "We are never unmindful of creation" they interpreted to mean that ALLÁH was still in the process of creating new worlds.

What is the Bahá'í interpretation? I don't know! I will give you mine.

What do the "7 paths" refer to? Some think they refer to 7 literal "heavens" or Paradises. Skeptics think they refer to the 7 "Planets" known in Muhammad's time (Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn) which seemed to circle the earth in 7 paths. On the other hand, I believe this Verse (like all Ayats of God) have 1 zahir (literal) and 20 batin (inner/metaphorical) interpretations.

I think they refer to the 7 Planets "higher" than earth which our souls (and Humanity as a whole) must pass through as on a journey:

There is one more planet further than Quaoar, called "Sedna". But Sedna is not a "path". We do not "journey through" Sedna. Rather, Sedna is a destination. Krishna tells Arjuna:

Men of small intelligence worship the Devas, and their fruits are limited and temporary. Those who worship the Devas go to the planets of the Devas, but My devotees ultimately reach My supreme planet. (Gita 7:23)

From the highest planet in the material cosmos down to the lowest, all are places of misery wherein repeated birth and death take place. But he who attains to My abode, O son of Kunti, never takes birth again. (Gita 8:16)

Humanity on Sedna (once it becomes an "Earth") will be the highest it will ever be; spiritually and physically. Sedna will be the "womb" for Aeons.

Humans born on Sedna will reach the apex of human spiritual evolution

This planet (Earth) is a "path"; meaning a journey of the soul. We walk this path only once. We do not return to this particular "path". But there are 7 more "paths" for us to walk.

Heber C. Kimball, one of the twelve Mormon apostles under Joseph Smith, and a man well-known for his amazing prophetic abilities, once said:

Joseph always told us that we would have to pass by Sentinels that are placed between us and our Father and God. Then, of course, we are conducted along from this probation to other probations, or from one dispensation to another, by those who conducted those dispensations. (Journal of Discourses 6:63)

How many Dispensation-Rulers are there? Many Bahá'ís will say "9"; because that is a sacred number in the Bahá'í Faith. But I count more than that. I include Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Zoroaster, Krisna, Buddha, Jesus, Muhammad, The Báb, and Bahá'u'lláh. They are the 11 Manifestations of God in the Adamic Cycle. They are the Conductors of the Dispensations.

There was originally 12, but one fell. The Bible calls him "Lucifer"; which in Hebrew is HEYLEYL ("Bright One"). Jesus too had 12 Disciples, but one fell. Jesus said:

Have I not chosen you? But one of you is a devil (Matthew 16:23)

The pharoah Akhanaten, who some call the "first monotheist", worshipped Aten who dwelt in the Sun, and most Bible scholars are convinced that a number of the Psalms in the Bible are based upon his hymns to Aten.

Ankhenaten worships Aten

Some scholars even believe that the Hebrew word "Adon" ("Lord") originally was the Egyptian word "Aten".

There are 7 "Paths" above us (earthlings) because we live on the 3rd planet, and the 12th planet is not a path but a desination. We must pass through all the paths from the beginning to the end. We can either pass through in Hell (Nasút), or Heaven (Malakút/Jabarút/Lahút); that depends upon us.

The 11 Planets correspond to the 11 Manifestations of God. Brigham Young taught that Adam is Michael, and that he is the rightful "god" of this planet, but, because of the Fall, his dominion passed to Lucifer; who rules the planet.

The 11 Planets correspond to the 11 Stations of the Soul:

1) Mineral 2) Plant 3) Animal 4) Natural Human
Numbers 5 through 11 correspond to the 7 Spiritual Stations of the human soul.

Stations 1 through 10 are "paths" that we journey. Station 11 is the final destination.

We all came from God via the Arc of Descent (from Divine to mineral), and we shall all return to God via the Arc of Ascent (from mineral to Divine).

The 11 Stations of the human soul also correpond to the evolution (physical and spiritual) of Humanity as a whole. Men will reach the apex of human evolution on this planet with the "new race of men"; Homo Noeticus. However, on the higher planet, mankind will also evolve, but he will reach even greater hights; higher on each planet, until his final destination many billions of years from now.

I believe that this Verse has "70" (i.e. a great multitude) of esoteric interpretations; one being that the "7 Paths" refer to 7 stations of the soul of the True Seeker.

In the Bardo Thodol (Tibetan Book of the Dead), the "Intermediate State" of the soul is described, and in that state it says that the soul shall exist in it's ethereal (spiritual) body for 49 days [Footnote #4], and at the end of the 49 days the soul shall encounter 7 "deities" and only by passing all the deities shall the soul be liberated from the Law of Karma and the Wheel of Rebirth. At any point the soul cannot pass, they are incarnated on the planet/world of the deity they cannot pass.

Humanity has evolved upon this planet to a certain point we call Homo Sapiens Sapiens. I believe (based upon 27 years of intensive research into the writings and revelations of many Seers, Rishis, and Gurus) that humanity will evolve to an even higher state on Mars, and even higher ones on the further planets, until humanity will reach it's highest evolution on the last and final planet in the solar system.

I believe that the 7 Valleys of the True Seeker is not only a parable of the individual soul, but a parable of the spiritual and physical evolution of Humanity as a whole.

I believe that each world/planet is composed of various dimensions: Nasút (human souls), Malakút (angelic souls), Jabarút (powerful souls), and Lahút (Divine Souls). I believe that our human lives exist in Nasút, but that there are more powerful and higher beings who exist in other dimensions on this world and on every world/planet of God. We do not know of their existence anymore than the plant knows of ours.

But the Prophets know, and so do the Seers!

In other words, if we accept one of God's Revelations (i.e. God-inspired religions) here on this planet, are we do righteously (which is a sign of our sincerity--but our good works do not save us), then we shall, in the next worlds, enter them not as human beings in Nasút, but either as Angels (in Malakút) or as Powers (in Jabarút)! The ultimate end of the journey for all souls is to return to God!

The Arc of Descent is the descent of the spirit, a separation of a spirit from God into the World of Creation.

The Arc of Ascent begins in the mineral kingdom, then to the plant kingdom, then to the human kingdom. At the human kingdom we can recognize one of His Revelations, and become Believers, then for us the next world will be Paradise (i.e. we live in a higher dimension), or, if we reject His revelations, and live ungodly, the next world (literally the next planet) will shall again be in the dimension of Nasút, and our "new skins" will burn just as our former ones did.

Adam and Iblis

The Qur'an tells the story of Adam, Eve, and Iblis. Adam was created to be God's viceregent on earth. The Lord commands the angels to bow to Adam, but Iblis refuses, saying that while Adam was made of clay, he (Iblis) was made of smokeless fire. As punishment ALLÁH has Iblis and those who followed him "cast down". Iblis then becomes one of the "Jinn".

How do Bahá'ís interpret this?

I've asked many Bahá'ís about this. Usually they just look at me like I've asked them the price of a Yak in Ulan Bator! Complete bewilderment (a common facial expression among Bahá'ís when asking them thing not dealing with the 12 "Principles" or Bahá'í Administration). Bahá'ís will often simply refer to me what 'Abdu'l-Baha said in Some Answered Questions and then scurry away; hoping I would not ask them any more such questions.

'Abdu'l-Baha basically said this in Some Answered Questions:

1) The Story of Adam and Eve is not literal, but figurative.

2) Adam represents Adam's spirit, and Eve represents Adam's soul.

3) The Serpent represents attachment to the material world.

These explanation leaves many unanswered questions such as:

1) Did Eve literal exist, or was she just a metaphor for Adam's soul?

2) If Adam was a Manifestation of God, how could He sin by partaking of the forbidden fruit?

3) What does "attachment to the material world" mean?

4) What was the forbidden fruit?

5) etc.

Bahá'ís almost universally will tell you that "Satan does not exist"; although such a phrase can never be found in the Holy Writings nor even the Pilgrim's Notes. The Holy Writings present Satan/Iblis/Devil as real. The Letters of the Guardian and the Pilgrim's Notes generally say this:

1) Satan/Lucifer/Devil/Iblis is symbolic of the lower nature of humans.

2) The Jinn are symbolic of our lower natures.

Does this mean that Iblis did not exist? Is the Story of Adam and Iblis in the Qur'an merely a Parable? If so, what does it mean?

Bahá'ís are simply "bewildered" by such questions, and often retort: "Look! Who cares? What does this have to do with World Peace, or the equality of men and women? Let's not worry about such things!"

I believe that the Verses of God in the Qur'an were given for a purpose, and a very important and divine purpose. We should seek to understand it instead of simply ignoring it.

I believe these Verses have 1 zahir (literal) and 70 batin (metaphorical) meanings. In Mystical Islam, every AYAT (Verse/Story in Holy Writ) has 1 literal meaning (called the "zahir" meaning) and 70 (symbol for "a great multitude") of esoteric/metaphorical (called "batin") meanings. In Mystical Islam, it is not permitted to adhere to the literal meaning and reject the metaphorical meanings, nor vice versa. Both Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Baha reinterated this "rule" of ta'wil (the esoteric interpretation of of AYAT). Bahá'u'lláh wrote:

Blessed are they that cling both to the literal and esoteric, for those are His servants that have believed in the Universal Word. KNow that whoso clingeth to the outward sense of the words, leaving aside their esoteric significance, is simply ignorant. And whoso concentrateth on the metaphorical sense to the exclusion of the prosaic meaning is heedless. Only the one who interpreteth the Verses esoterically while harmonizing this reading with the literal meaning can be said to be a complete scholar. This maxim hath dawned from teh horizon of knowledge, so know thou its value and cherish its existence. (The Surah of the Sun, provisional translation by Juan Cole, Bahá'í Studies Bulletin, Vol.4, 3-4 April 1990: 4-22)

The signs (or verses) have exoteric meaning and esoteric meaning, and neither their outward preventeth their inward, nor doth their inward preventeth their outward meaning. (Tablets of 'Abdu'l-Baha, p.608)

He meant simply that each AYAT (Arabic: "sign" which means a verse, story, event, parable, or even word in Scripture) has 1 and 70 meanings:

1 zahir (outer/evident/manifest/literal/exoteric) meaning.

70 batin (inner/metaphorical/unmanifest/esoteric) meanings.

By "70" the mystics do not mean a literal "70"; the symbol "70" meaning simply "a great multitude" like the Hebrew "40".

Bahá'u'lláh quoted the Imam Ja'far as-Sadiq (the 7th Imam of Shi'a Islam) as saying:

We speak one word, and by it we intend one and seventy meanings; each of these meanings we can explain. (Iqan, p.225)

Bahá'u'lláh quoted the Imam Ja'far as-Sadiq many times in His writings; because this Imam left the greatest amounts of writings and sayings of any Imam.

The Imams believed that they alone could explain the esoteric meanings of the Verses of God, and this was their perogative.

Fatimah, the daughter of Muhammad, was also a Seer (Muhaddathath--"Seeress"), and dictated a book which Ali wrote (Fatimah could not write) that prophecied of the Imams and would would befall them.

When someone tries to explain the esoteric meaning of a literal Verse of God, this is called "ta'wil". It means to "take out" the inner meaning from the outer words. For example, when the Qur'an says that God has made "7 Paths" above the Children of Adam, the Muslims interpreted this to mean "7 planets" which they interpreted to mean the Sun, Moon, and the 5 known planets. But the Súfís and Ishraqís "took out" a spiritual interpretation; that there are 7 Spiritual Paths above us, or 7 Spiritual Stations of the Human Soul; the highest one being "annihilation" in God.

But the literal AYATS cannot be denied! Those who deny the literal Verses of God are called Batinis, and those who deny the metaphorical (insisting on taking the AYATS always literally and never putting any metaphorical spin on them) are called Zahiris.

Both Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Baha warn against being a Batini or a Zahiri, but rather accepting both the zahir (literal) and batin (metaphorical) interpretations of the AYATS of God.

The famous Súfí mystic Ali b. Uthman al-Jullabi al-Hujwiri (d. 1077 A.D.), wrote:

The exoteric [zahir] aspect of Truth without the esoteric [batin] is hypocrisy, and the esoteric without the exoteric is heresy. (Concise Encyclopedia of Islam, p.10)

*The Afterlife is merely a metaphor of our life after we accept the Manifestation of God. Before we were "dead" but now we are "resurrected". There is no literal Afterlife. When we die we cease to exist.

*ALLÁH is merely a metaphor of the Manifesation. There is no god outside of the human Manifestation.

*Resurrection is merely a metaphor of accepting the Manifestation. There is no literal resurrection of the literal dead.

*Paradise is merely a metaphor of being close to God (meaning the Manifestation).

*Hell-fire is merely a metaphor of being separated from God (meaning the Manifestation).

What the Radical Babis did, is what I call "overmetaphoricalizing"; which is a common problem of Ta'Wil. The purpose of ta'wil was not to deny the literal meaning, but to simply "take out" the higher esoteric meanings of a literal AYAT of God.

The Radical Babis were what we might call today "Anarchists". They were a thorn in the side of The Báb, and were responsible for many aggitations which caused many persecutions of The Bábis in general and ultimately the execution of The Báb in particular.

One Babi by the name of Muhammad Husein Vafa wrote to Bahá'u'lláh while He was still a Babi (before His declaration in 1863), and asked Him why Babis had to suffer if this life was the only life there was! Why suffer in life being a Babi when there was no "literal" Paradise? And how could it be "just" for the Anti-Babis to kill, rape, murder, and steal, and yet have good lives, if there is no "literal" Hell-fire and thus no punishment for them?

Bahá'u'lláh wrote back to Vafa and said:

As to Paradise it is a reality and there can be no doubt about it, and now in this world it is realized through love of Me and My good-pleasure. Whosoever attaineth unto it God will adi him in this world below, and after death He will enable him to gain admittance into Paradise whose vastness is as that of heaven and earth. Therein the Maids of glory will wait upon him in the daytime and in the night season, while the day-star of the unfading beauty of his Lord will at all times shed its radiance upon him and he will shine so brightly that noone shall bear to gaze upon him. Such is the dispensation of Providence, yet the people are shut out by a grevous veil. LIkewise apprehend the nature of hell-fire and be of them that truly believe. For every act performed there shall be a recompence according to the estimate of God, and unto this the very ordinances and prohibitions prescribed by the Almighty amply bear witness. For surely if deeds were not rewarded and yielded no fruit, then the Cause of God--exalted is He--would prove futile. Immeasurably high is He exalted above such blasphemies! (Suyih-i-Vafa, p.5 online)

Bahá'u'lláh also confirms that "Hell-fire" exists in this world as a metaphor, but that in the next world it exists as punishment for deeds done in this life. He confirms that if there is no reward or punishment for deeds done in life, then the "ordinances" (Laws) and prohibitions (harams) of God would prove futile and be for nothing.

Muhammed Husein Vafa was told by the Radical Babis that the "Afterlife" meant only one's mortal life after accepting the Manifestation; there was no literal Afterlife. He was told by them that "Paradise" and "Hell-fire" were nothing more than metaphors for being close or far from the Manifestation in this life (for there was only one life and no literal Afterlife). Vafa wrote to Bahá'u'lláh and asked if this was true, then why do good works in life if they bear no reward? Why suffer as a Babi if this is the only life one lives? What's the point of being a Babi then? Bahá'u'lláh replied that "the people of the Bayan" who told him that had "erred grevously" and "misguided the people" (Ibid. p.3). He called such overmetaphoricalizing "blasphemies" (lies against God and His Word).

Notwithstanding all this, the modern Western Bahá'ís have committed many of the same erros as the Radical Babis; overmetaphoricalization. While modern Occidental Bahá'ís accept a literal Afterlife, they deny there is a literal Paradise or a literal Hell; based upon what they were told, and upon statements by secretaries of Shoghi Effendi or this Verse or that Verse. They fail to understand the concept of Ta'wil. Many Oriental Bahá'ís who come to America (or Britian or Australia) are "re-educated" to come into line with Occidental Bahá'í thinking.

I've been told by many Bahá'ís:

"Paradise and Hell-fire are mere parables of being close to or far from God...nothing more!"

Immesurably exalted is He above all such blasphemies!

Many Western Bahá'ís (and the Persian Bahá'ís they have indoctrinated) have fallen into the same "grevous error" that the Radical Bahá'ís fell into; overmetaphoricalization.

Neither Paradise nor Hell are "geographic places", but they are "literal"! They are not "merely" metaphors! A metaphor is a symbol of a concrete "thing". Bahá'u'lláh was very clear when He wrote:

1) Paradise in this life means closeness to Me, but in the Afterlife it exists as a reality and there can be no doubt about it.

2) Hell-fire in this life means aloftness from Me, but in the Afterlife it exists, or the Laws of God and His ordinances are meaningless if there is no punishment for the wicked and no reward for the righteous.

The same is true regarding Iblis, Jinn, the Resurrection of Christ, and the story of Adam and Eve.

The Story of Adam and Eve

In Some Answered Questions 'Abdu'l-Baha was giving a TA'WIL (an esoteric interpretation of an AYAT--in this case the story of Adam and Eve and Iblis), in that:

1) Adam is symbolic of the spirit of Adam.

2) Eve is symbolic of the soul of Adam.

3) The Serpent is symbolic of "attachment" to the material world.

For anyone who has studied Mystical Islam, this is a perfectly orthodox Mystical Islamic interpretation! Adam is the SPIRIT, and from the SPIRIT (born of it) comes the SOUL (Eve). The Serpent represents Iblis, the lord of evolution over the material world (i.e. Nasút on this planet is the material dimension for this planet). Eve (the soul) is "tempted" by the Serpent (the Self) to disobey God's command. Adam (spirit) loves the soul (eve), and is drawn away to the Serpent because of this love.

Bahá'ís would interpret Iblis a "merely" (only/nothing-more-than) a metaphor. Of what? Adam's lower nature? Perhaps Eve's lower nature? They are not sure. Here is what I believe.

The Bahá'í Faith came from The Bábi Faith, which came from the Shaykhi school of Shi'a Islam; founded by Shaykh Ahmad al-Asa'i. He himself arose in among the Ishraqís; who were the Persian (Shi'ite) Súfís. The Súfís were founded by Maulava Rumi; the Muslim miracle-working mystic and poet whom Bahá'u'lláh often quotes.

What do the Súfís think of Iblis? Is he just a "metapor"?

The Súfís believe that Iblis existed (as Satan), and that Adam existed, but that "Iblis" and "Adam" are also metaphorical symbols of the Nafs/Ego/Self (lower nature) and the Ruh/Soul/Spirit (higher nature). I'll give you a typicle example by quoting the great Indian Súfí saint, Dr. Jahurul Assan Sahib Shah Baba (1914-1996):

The existence of the lower animal-like nature is inherent in the human condition; it differentiates us from the angels whose nature is pure obedience to the Divine. It is the challenge to the soul, of overcoming and subduing this lower nature, which gives rise to the great potential of man to be even more than the angels. This is an implication of the story of Adam and Iblis (Satan) as related in the Holy Qur'an. (Zuhuri.org, article 29, p.3 online)

To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me on my throne, even as I overcame, and am set down with my Father on his throne. (Revelation 3:21)

It means that we must "overcome" (conquer/subdue/annihilate) our "EGO", and then we will gain what Jesus gained; the Throne of God.

God commands the angels to worship Adam (Man); which represents many batin (esoteric) meanings. Iblis refuses; which means that our lower natures arrogantly refuse to "submit" (bown down to) our higher natures. Iblis being "cast down" is symbolic of our "lower" nature (self/nafs/ego) which cannot be in the Presence of God. Many more esoteric interpretations can be given.

However....

These batin (esoteric) explanations cannot and do no negate the fact that both Adam and Iblis truly exist in reality! There really was an "Adam" and there really was an "Iblis". The rebellion of Iblis and his cohorts "really" happened. The inner (batin) meanings cannot negate the outer (zahir) meanings!

So, yes, Iblis "exists"; just as Adam exists. Both Iblis and Adam still exist. But Iblis does not tempt us to sin! It is our own lower natures (self/ego/nafs) which tempts us to sin and rebel against God. Iblis is the "symbol" our our ego's refusing to "bow" to our spirit (Adam). But Adam is not "mere metaphor" and neither is Iblis a "mere" metaphor!

Indeed, "Paradise" is not a "mere" metaphor, nor is Hell-fire "merely" a metaphor. True, Paradise is not a literal "place" but a dimension. In Nasút, it represents a soul being close to God, but in Malakút, and Jabarút there are "Paradises". In Lah&uactue;t, there exists the "Most Great Paradise". This is a "real" dimension; just as real (nay...much MORE REAL) than our own (Nasút); immaterial, but REAL! Nasút is just a "shadow" of Malakút, and Malakút is just a "shadow" of Jabarút, and Jararút is just a "shadow" of Lahút, and Lahút is the ultimate, final, and eternal "PARADISE".

I believe that Iblis is the "Archon of this Aeon" (i.e. the Ruler of This Planet); the kosmoskratoros (World-Ruler) of our planet, and this is why this planet is evil.

Birgham Young, the successor of Joseph Smith, taught that Adam was Michael the Archangel, and that he brought Eve, one of His wives, from another planet, and that they were "celestial beings" when they came to this world.

Based upon what various Seers have taught (Mormon, Christian, Muslim, etc.) this is my personal interpretation of the Story of Adam, Eve, and Iblis:

1) Adam and Eve were born on another planet. They achieved "exaltation" on that planet. This means that they reached a high spiritual state, and, as a reward, they become "one" spiritually and physically. They achieved eternal marriage; which meant that they would journey through the Worlds of God together. After their deaths on the old "Earth" (Venus?) they came here as "celestial" beings; not subject to death.

2) They came to this planet, but in another dimension. They came to the Spirit-World of this planet (which Muslims call Al-Ghayb--the Unseen World). In the Spirit-World exists Paradise.

2) Adam and Eve had many spirit-children while in Paradise; which is the Spirit-World, an unseen dimension which surrounds this world, and is in every "space" this planet is, but on another dimension. They were commanded to "multiply" and have children.

3) Adam and Eve knew that to fulfill the Law of God they had to partake of the "forbidden fruit", but to do that they would be "cast out" of the Garden. They chose to do this; otherwise their spirit-children would not have mortal lives, and, untimately, would not be exalted as they were.

4) They partake, and God thrusts them out of the Garden. The Bible says that Adam and Eve realized they were "naked" so the LORD God made for them "coats of skin" to cover their naked bodies while they roamed outside of the Garden. This means that Adam and Eve, who were Celestial beings not subject to death, partook of "forbidden fruit" and thus became mortal beings by becoming "born" to a woman here on earth.

5) The Verse in the Bible that the LORD God "made for them coasts of skins" means that they were spiritual bodies (souls, or spirits clothed in ethereal bodies), but the Lord caused them to be born into the mortal realm (e.g. Nasút), the realm of the 5 Senses, our material world.

6) Adam and Eve, who were exalted beings from another world, come to this planet as immortal beings who exist in Malakút, but they "fall" into Nasút (our material world).

7) The Bible says Adam lived for over 930 "years" and then died. This means 930 "moons" (or about 75 years), because in Adam's day (which The Báb said was 8,5000 years before His day) the "moons" were counted as years.

If Manifestations of God are "sinless" how could Adam "sin" by partaking of the forbidden fruit?

The answer is simple. Adam and Eve in Malakút (Paradise) disobeyed God, and, as a punishment, they were incarnated into Nasút on this planet. But, because Adam came from Malakút (Paradise), He was a Manifestation of God in the realm of Nasút, and thus sinless in our dimension.

What was the "forbidden fruit"?

The LORD God says to Adam and Eve NOT to partake of the "forbidden fruit" or they would "die". The Serpent tells Eve that if she eats of the fruit "Ye shall be as the gods, knowing good and evil" and "Ye shall not surely die!" Eve partakes, and then offers the fruit to Adam, who also partakes. Genesis says that as soon as they partook of the fruit "Their eyes were opened" and even the LORD God says, "Behold, the man [meaning both Adam and Eve] has become as one of us, knowing good and evil!" (Genesis 3:22).

What is the "forbidden fruit"? It is a symbol for the "Knowledge of Good and Evil". What is that?

In Hebrew, the term "knowledge" is YAHAD, and means this:

1) To know something, or have knowledge of something; not intellectual knowledge, but tangible knowledge (like knowing a ball is round after feeling it).

2) Sex.

The Serpent said, "Ye shall be as the gods, knowing good and evil!"

As soon as Eve partook of the forbidden fruit, the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become as one of Us, to know good and evil" (Genesis 3:22)

Adam and Eve came to this planet, but not to Nasút, but to Malakút (Spirit-World). Adam (with Eve at his side) was appointed the Viceregent (Kosmoskratoros) of this planet. But Iblis wanted to rule this planet, and be Kosmoskratoros of this planet. He knew how to achieve this; to dethrone Adam and Eve. He offered to Eve the "knowledge" of Good and Evil. This is a symbol of the YAHAD; the "Knowledge" that can be Good, and can be Evil. The "gods" have this "knowledge" (but not the Immortals nor the Angels). Humans too have this "knowledge". Adam and Eve, in their desire for (attachment too) the "material world" then "fall" into it by becoming incarnate in Nasút (our dimension) on this planet.

After Adam and Eve "sinned" in the Garden (in Malakút) they became mortal human beings. They were no longer Immortals, and this is why the Qur'an says:

Then Satan whispered suggestions to them both in order to uncover which was hidden from them of their private parts; he said "Your Lord did not forbid you this tree save you should become angels or become the immortals." (7:20)

Who are the "immortals"?

In Genesis (the First Book of Moses) the LORD God says:

Behold, the man has become as one of Us, to know good and evil. (Genesis 3:22)

Satan says: "Ye shall be as the gods knowing good and evil".

God says: "Behold, the man has become as one of Us, knowing good and evil."

What is the meaning of this?

There are many batin (metaphorical) meanings. But there is only one zahir (literal) meaning.

One batin meaning is this:

1) Adam refers to the spirit of Adam (Man)
2) Eve refers to the soul of Adam (Man)
3) The Serpent represents attachment to the material world.

Why are we "attached" to the material world instead of the spiritual world?

1) We have spirits and we have souls.
2) Our spirits are are higher natures, and our souls are our lower natures.
3) Iblis is a symbol of attachment to the material world.
4) We are attached to the material world because of the pleasures of the material flesh.
5) Adam (spirit) was not deceived by the Serpent (attachment to the material world), but Eve (soul) was.

It is the allurements of the material world that makes us disobey the Will of God.

That is just one batin meaning! There are 70 ("a great multitude") of batin meanings of the AYAT of the Garden of Eden.

Then what is the literal meaning?

I shall offer my personal view of the literal meaning of the Garden of Eden.

By "knowledge of good and evil" this has reference to YAHAD; which in Hebrew means:

1) Tangible knowledge
2) Carnal knowledge (sex)

The Hebrews did not have a word for "sex". Rather, they used the word YAHAD ("to know"). When Gabriel appeared to Mary and told her she would be the mother of Jesus, Mary replied:

Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? (Luke 1:34)

In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve wanted conjugal love, and children, but they could not accomplish that in the "state" they were in. Iblis was in the Garden, and "tempted" Eve with "forbidden fruit". Eve partook, and then offerred Adam the same. He partook. Then Adam and Eve became "as one of Us" (the gods); having a "knowledge of good and evil". They were then thrust out of the Garden, and they eventually died out of the Garden.

The "Garden" refers to Paradise; which exists in Malakút (as does Hell). But there is no congugal love in Paradise. This is why Eve and Adam partook of the forbidden fruit; so they could once again (as they did on their mother planet) enjoy conjugal love. But to return to that they had to return to Nasút; the dimension of blood, and death, and sin.

Adam was a Manifestation of God, and He did not sin in Nasút, and was therefore "sinless"; at least in our dimension.

But God did not err in providing Adam and Eve a "choice"; either to dwell in Paradise in all the worlds, or to dwell again in Nasút.

According to Brigham Young (1804-1874), who claimed to have been taught this by Joseph Smith (whom Shoghi Effendi believed was a "Seer"), Adam and Eve came from another planet to this world. They were put into the Garden of Eden; which exists in Paradise; in the Spirit-World. Desiring conjugal love and mortal children, they partook of literal material "fruit", and "matter" coursed through their veins which caused their spiritual bodies (not spirits, but spiritual bodies) to become mortal and again subject to death. In 1852, Brigham Young said:

After men have got their exaltations and crowns--have become Gods, even the sons of God-- are made Kings of kings and Lords of lords, they have the power then of propagating their species in spirit; and this is the first of their operations with regard to organizing a world. Power is then given them to organize the elements, and then commence the organization of tabernacles. How can they do it? Have they to go to an earth? Yes, an Adam will have to go there, and he cannot do without Eve; he must have an Eve to commence the work of generation, and they will go into the Garden, and continue to eat and drink of the fruits of the corporeal world, until this grosser matter is diffused sufficiently through their celestial bodies to enable them, according to established laws, to produce mortal tabernacles [bodies] for their spiritual children. (Salt Lake Tabernacle, August 28, 1852)

Being "cast out" of the Garden simply means that they came from the Spirit-World to the Mortal-World, or from invisible spirit-dimension on this planet into the visible mortal-dimension.

In other words:

1) Adam and Eve were mortal human beings on another planet in a creation before this one (Venus?)

2) They were "married" on that world, and achieved "eternal marriage"; which meant they would journey through the Worlds of God together.

3) Both of them died on the prior planet, and were "resurrected" on that world in "spiritual bodies". These bodies had "spirit" in the veins and not blood. They could not die, but they could not enjoy conjugal love ("the knowledge which is both good and evil) or produce mortal children.

4) Iblis offered them material fruit, which they could eat! This caused their spiritual bodies to become material bodies, and again subject to death. But they could again enjoy conjugal love and produce mortal children.

It is interesting to note, that after Jesus' resurrection He tells Mary "Touch me not", but when He appears to His disciples (who were in a room behind a locked door) he asks them "Have ye any meat?" and they give Him a fish and honeycomb. He eats it, and afterwards shows them His wounds, and has them feel his wounds.{Footnote #1}

Jesus eating fish and honeycomb and then having the disciples "feel" His wounds has many batin meanings, but the zahir (literal) meaning is that a "Spiritual Body" cannot be felt or touched, and that by eating of material food this produces a material body that can be felt and touched, and even "bear" the wounds and scars it suffered in life.

Adam and Eve partake of material fruit, and the "matter" courses through their veins and produces blood. They become "mortal" again.

The "desire" of Eve (and Adam) was not the material fruit, but what eating of the fruit would give them; conjugal love and the ability to produce mortal children. If they had refused the fruit, then Adam and Eve would have continued immortal forever; with immortal spiritual bodies, but without conjugal love and mortal children.

But what did Satan mean when he told Eve "Ye shall be as the gods, knowing good and evil"?

The "gods" refer to souls in Lahút; the Realm of Divinity. In the Qur'an they are not called "gods" (as they are in Genesis) because in Arabic "god" means "Object of Worship". There is only One Object of Worship, and that is Al-ILLÁH ("ThE God"). The Qur'an calls them "immortals".

Adam and Eve were not angels, nor immortals. They dwelt in Paradise; which is in Malakút.

The desire to be as the gods (having the "knowledge" which is both "good" and "evil") means that the "gods" (whoever "They" are) have this "knowledge" among themselves; meaning they have the ability for conjugal love.

In Buddhism the Devas ("Shining Ones") enjoy conjugal love between spouses (husbands and wives).

There are three "Heavens" above Nasút (Malakút/Jabarút/Lahút). Hehút is the "Heaven of Heavens" and can never be entered by souls. Hehút is the Essence of the Essence.

We all know Malakút! It is our dream-world. It is the place of visions for those in Nasút. And Jabarút is the dream-world of Malakút, and Lahút is the dream-world of Jabarút, and Hehút is the dream-world of Lahút.

Satan (Iblis) said to Eve: "Eat material fruit and you shall become like the Gods, you shall have the YAHAD (knowledge) that is both good and evil". Eve did, and Adam did, and they went from Immortals to mortals.

Evolution or Creation?

The Qur'an says that all life originated in water:

And We made every living thing from water. (21:30)

How can these contradictions be explained?

Easy.

We must look to the Seers.

The Mormon Faith and the Bahá'í Faith share other beliefs besides eternal marriage, the pre-existence of spirits, and three heavens. Mormon apostles have taught that there were prophets on this planet before Adam!

Hyrum Smith (1804-1844), the brother of the Seer Joseph Smith, once wrote:

There were prophets before Adam, and Joseph has the Spirit of all the prophets. (Millennial Star 23:409)

The world was peopled before the days of Adam as such as it was before the days of Noah. (Journal of Discourses 2:79)

But if Adam was the first human being on earth, how could there be pre-Adamic prophets and people?

Bahá'ís almost universally believe in evolution; that "man" evolved from lower forms of life. But Bahá'ís reject the notion that humans are a mere mutation. They believe that mankind always existed; just in different forms. As in the womb, when the fetus starts as a one-celled creature, and at one point resembles a polywog, then a fish, then other things, but grows into a human, so Bahá'ís believe that "mankind" has evolved not "from" lower forms of life, but "as" lower forms. In other words:

1) At one time mankind was a species of one-celled creatures.
2) Mankind at one time resembled a species of fish.
3) Mankind at one time resembled a species of reptiles.
4) Mankind at one time resembled a species of lower mammals.
5) Mankind at one time rsembled a species of higher mammals (ape-like).
6) Mankind at one time resembled a species of ape-men.

But Bahá'ís do not believe that apes and humans have a "common ancestor" (a missing link) because mankind did not "evolve" from other species, but was an independent species from the beginning. In other words, a Lemur resembles a Gibbon, but a Lemur did not evolve from Gibbons, nor vice versa. A Tiper resembles a pig, but one did not evolve from the other. A Tasmanian Tiger resembles a wolf, but they are totally unrelated to each other and had completely different evolutionary paths.

'Abdu'l-Baha (1844-1921) taught that Mankind was always an independent species, but evolved in a womb called "Earth" just as a child evolves in a woman's womb; appearing like other species, but not evolving from other species.

There were other species of "humanoid" creatures on this planet (Neanderthal), but mankind did not evolve from these species! Mankind has always been a completely independent species than all others. The "missing link" between man and apes will always be "missing"; because it does not exist.

'Abdu'l-Baha said:

Man in the beginning of his existence in the matrix [womb] of this terrestrial globe, like the embryo in the womb of the mother, gradually grew and developed, and passed from one form to another, from one shape to another, until he appeared with this beauty and perfection, this force and this power. It is certain that in the beginning he had not this loveliness and grace and elegance, and that he only be degrees attained this shape, this form, this beauty, and this grace.***
Thus it is evident and confirmed that the development and growth of man on this planet, until he reached his present perfection, corresponds to the growth and development of the embryo in the womb of the mother: by degrees it passed from condition to condition, from form to form, from one shape to another....But from the beginning of man's existence he has been a distinct species. (Mufavadat, pp.129-130)

If the greatness of Christ is His being fatherless, then Adam is greater than Christ, for He had neither father nor mother. (SAQ p.89)

But if mankind "evolved" (not from lower species, but in parallel evolution to other species), then how could Adam and Eve be the first man and women?

Bahá'ís accept that Adam existed, and was, indeed, a Manifestation of God. Yet, they also believe that other Manifestations of God existed on this planet before Adam!

Evolutionists believe that there was no Adam or Eve, but these are myths or ancient Parables.

Theistic Evolutionists believe that pre-Adamites existed, but that God specially created Adam from literal clay, and Eve from one of Adam's ribs.

Creationists believe that pre-Adamites never existed, and Adam was the first human being on earth, created from literal clay, and Eve from one of his ribs.

What did 'Abdu'l-Baha believe?

He seemed to belive that Mankind "evolved" as an independent species on this planet in parallel-evolution to other species, but that Man by-passed all other species in his divinely-guided evolution.

But....

'Abdu'l-Baha also apparently believed that Adam was the "first man" and that He did not have a father or a mother.

How is this contradiction reconciled?

Easy.

Adam was the first "Man"; the first Home Sapiens Sapiens. He was the first among a new race of human beings. He "appeared" upon this planet (according to The Báb) about 10,500 B.C. (Bayan III:13). He was not "born"on this world. He literally came from another planet.

Brigham Young (who said he received this from Joseph Smith the Seer) taught:

1) There were people on this planet before Adam, and Prophets as well.

2) Adam and Eve were "born" (exactly like you and I are) on another planet. There they achieved "exaltation" (a high spiritual station).

3) Adam and Eve came to this planet from another planet. They came to the Garden of Eden; which exists in the Spirit-World (dimension) of this world. They came with "celestial bodies" which are immmortal, and these bodies have no blood; spirit runs through their veins.

4) Adam and Eve partook of the "course elements" which is corporeal (material) food; which gradually changed their celestial bodies into earthly bodies; causing them go from immortals to mortals. They did this because they desired conjugal love and mortal children; as they had on their previous planet.

5) The story of being made of "clay" and Eve being made of one of Adam's "ribs" is simply a "children's rhyme"; it is a parable. Adam and Eve were conceived and born naturally, but not on this world.

6) All those who acheive exaltation will have the opportunity to do on other worlds what Adam and Eve did on this world.

The Mormon apostle James E. Talmage (who was a renowned geologist) wrote that the Bible does not record human history, but "Adamic history"; meaning the "history of the Adamic race", and not the history of the pre-Adamites (The Earth and Man, 1931, p.3)

The Adamic Race was a "new race" of men who appeared on this planet suddenly. The Adamic bloodline has been infused into the pre-Adamic races for many thousands of years.

Of course, Western Science has no knowledge of Malakút, and "science" has never observed a celestial couple (like Adam and Eve) who were immortal who gradually become "mortal" from earting material food.

Is this opposed to science or reason? Certainly is isn't opposed to Vedic (Eastern) science!

Some sub-atomic particles "pop" in and out of existence all the time! We are made of sub-atomic particles; which are simply "parts" of atomic particles.

Western science will someday "catch up" to Vedic science, and the "science" recognized by the Ishraqís of Persia.

Many children in Fundmentalist churches ask their Sunday-school teachers each and every year this question:

"Did Adam have a belly button?"

"Yes, if God wanted him to have one!"

Sumerian was a language totally unrelated to any other on earth.

What is the meaning of Adam being formed from "clay" and Eve being formed from a "rib" of Adam?

Are there mere metaphors?

Yes, they are metaphors, symbols, but of what?

The Bible does not say that Adam was made out of clay, but "awdawmah"; which is translated as "ground" in most English Bibles. The Hebrew word awdawmah means literally "to appear reddish", and scholars interpret that to mean "red earth".

What is "dust"? Dust is living matter than is now dead. When the cells our our body die, they become "dust". King Solomon wrote that our bodies come from "dust" and return to "earth", and our spritis come from "God" and return to "God":

Then shall the dust return to the earth [awdawmah] as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it [life] (Ecclesiates 12:7)

The very name for man or mankind in Hebrew is AW-DAWM ("to show red blood").

The original Hebrew does not say "rib" but "side" (tsela). Eve was formed from the "side" of Adam; not from a "rib". One batin meaning is that Eve was to not to be the head of Adam because she was not formed from his head, nor was she to be the subject of Adam because she was not formed from his foot, but she was to be the equal of Adam; because she was formed from his tsela (Hebrew: "side").

But what is the zahir (literal) meaning?

Brigham Young taught that Eve was a descendant of Adam! Our descendants come from one of our "sides"; which for the women are ovaries, and for men they are the gonads (one exists on each of our sides).

There may be different zahir meaning!

Ancient peoples believed that twins were originally one person in the womb, but another person (or persons) came out from the "sides" of that one person. The ancients saw that this process was not always complete before birth, and that it could go wrong:

Both Theistic Evolution and Special Creation is true when seen in context.

Like Mormon seers, 'Abdu'l-Baha believed that Mankind has always existed, but not on this planet. He wrote:

O seeker of truth! Man is the greatest member of the world of existence and the fruit of the tree of this visible universe. His species is eternal, and this eternal reality has no beginning and no end....for his species has always existed. It may be that on this globe of earth in the beginning he was in the stage of a seed, and afterwards he evolved and attained the station of the manifesting of the words "Blessed be God, the best of creators!" But that seed which evolved by degrees belonged to the human species, not an animal species. Therefore, this species is beyond time and from the outset was the noblest creatures upon the earth. (Makátíb 3:257)

There never was a time when there were not Gods and worlds, and when men were not passing through the same ordeals that we are now passing through. The course has been from all eternity and will be to all eternity. (Journal of Discourses 7:333)

Eternal Marriage

The Qur'an teaches that the "Companions of the Garden" shall be married forever (7:42, 36:55, etc.). There is nothing in the Qur'an about martyrs getting "72 virgins" to deflower on a daily basis in Paradise. The Qur'an states simply that we will all fall into one of three groups:

1) The Companions of the Garden
2) The Companions of the Right Hand
3) The Companions of the Left Hand

The Companions of the Garden are the "Faithful" who shall be "wed" to their spouses in Paradise, and be served by Houris ("servant young women") and Ghulams ("servant young men"), and they shall recline on thrones and drink delicious nector and eat delicious fruit in the shade, in Gardens (plural).

The Companions of the Right Hand shall not be wed in Paradise, but they shall be servants of the Faithful; the Houris and Ghulams.

The Companions of the Left Hand shall go to the "Fire" and dwell therein for ages. Some shall be resurrected with white faces, and some with black faces. Some shall be resurrected blind.

Bahá'ís, of course, take this as "mere" metaphor, and that there are no literal "Garden", no literal "Houris", no literal "Ghulams" no literal "nectar" no literal "fruits" etc. All these are "mere metaphors". Of what? I've asked. Bahá'ís don't seem to know. Not only that, they are often bothered by the question! A response I usually get is "The Look" (of total bewilderment) or the reply:

"We can't possibly know what the Afterlife is like, so why try? Let's concentrate on things in this life. Don't worry about the Afterlife!"

'Abdu'l-Baha taught the concept of Eternal Marriage; that a Bahá'í couple (man and women and not man and man or woman and woman) who reach a certain spiritual state in this life shall be married forever, and shall journey through the Worlds of God together. He called this their "exated state". You can read a long quote of His about this at:

https://www.angelfire.com/mo3/bahai/EM.html

Many Bahá'ís from Christian backgrounds will say:

"But the Sadducees asked Jesus about marriage in heaven, and He told them there was no marriage in heaven, but we would become like the angels!"

1) The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons--founded by the Seer Joseph Smith)

2) The Church of New Jerusalem (Swedenborgians--inspired by the writings of the Seer Emmannuel Swedenborg)

All other Christian sects deny there is eternal marriage. Why? Because they believe Jesus denied there was marriage in heaven; in His response to a question by the Jewish sect of the Sadduccees. The Sadduccees (Hebrew: "Tzadokkee") were a sect of Jewish priests founded by a priest named Tzaddok (Hebrew: "Righteous") about 200 years before Jesus was born. The Sadduccees accepted the TORAH (Hebrew: "Law"); the first five books of the Old Testament purportedly written by the hand of MOses. They rejected all the other books of the Old Testament:

1) The Prophets (Joshua, Ezekiel, Isaiah, Amos, Zedekiah, etc.)
2) The Psalms (of David)
3) The Writings (Proverbs, Ruth, Esther, Job, Ecclesiates, etc.)

The TORAH (five books of Moses) makes no mention of angels, or ghosts, or spirits, or resurrection, or the Afterlife! Therefore, the Sadduccess rejected all these notions! For them, to keep the LAW (Torah) was a sacred duty, and keeping the Law helped one's individual lifetime as well as helped all Israel; because Jehovah would protect Israel as long as the Law was kept, and kept correctly. The Sadduccees believed in God, but they rejected the notion of angels and immortal spirits, or the resurrection of the dead. One would call them today "Unitarians" or "Religious Humanists".

There was another group of priests called the Essenes (from the Aramaic "Oseen" or "Doers" of the Law) who believed in angels and immortal spirits, but the Sadduccees had them kicked out of Temple service; so they set up a separate temple in the desert called Qumran. According to Edgar Cayse (the "sleeping prophet") Jesus was raised from age 12 to age 30 in an Essence temple-complex on top of Mount Carmel, but Bible scholars would schoff at this.

The most popular sect were the Pharisee (Hebrew: "Faruushiym") which could either mean "Separated Ones" or even "Persians". They were the "doctors" (teachers) of the Law to the common people. They accepted the Law of Moses plus the Prophets and the Writings and the Psalms as divinely inspired. They believed in God, angels, immortal souls, and in the resurrection when the dead would arise from their graves.

There was another sect called the Nazarenes (Hebrew: "Nostrim"), or "Keepers" of the Law. This sect was founded about 150 B.C., and founded the city of Nazareth. The Nazarenes held many beliefs in common with the Essenes and the Pharisees. Being born in the town of Nazareth meant almost certainly that Jesus was born into a family of Nazarenes. The Pharisees called Jesus:

1) Jesus of Nazareth
2) Jesus the Nazarene

The Pharisees disagreed with the Sadduccees on many things, but they accepted the Sadduccees as the legitimate Temple priesthood. The Nazarenes seemed to have accepted the Essenes as the rightful temple priesthood.

John the Baptist, whose father was a priest (Zecharias) may have been an Essene. Jesus certainly was not; because He did not follow Essenic rules. But He was baptized by John in the Jordan River; which means He accepted John as a legitimate priest.

The teachers of the Law among the Pharisees (as among the Nazarenes) were called "Rabbi" ("My Master"). Jesus went by the title of "Rabbi" during his 3 and 1/2 year ministry.

The Sadduccees believed that at death that was the end of the soul. The Pharisees, on the other hand, believed that the dead survived in Sheol (realm of the dead) were they slept, but on the Day of Resurrection the dead in Sheol would "wake up" with new physical bodies, the same as they had in life, but that all would not have the same reward in the Resurrection. The Pharisees believed in 3 different rewards in the Resurrection:

1) The Perfectly Righteous would be resurrected to Paradise where husbands and wives would be married, have children, drink delicious fruits, drink delicious nectar, and enjoy eternal life.

2) The Perfectly Wicked would be resurrected and go to Ge-Himmon; the Valley of Fire where they would burn. Some Pharisees believed the Perfectly Wicked would burn forever. Others believed the Perfectly Wicked would be annihilated (cease by exist) by the flames.

3) The In-Between were not perfectly righteous nor perfectly wicked. On the Day of Resurrection they would go to Ge-Himmon (Gehenna) for one day up to one year; depending on their sins. But after this they would go to Paradise and enjoy but not as the Perfectly Righteous. The In-Between will go to Paradise, but they will go there as serpents (Houris and Ghulams) to the Faithful (Perfectly Righteous).

The Pharisees believed in Eternal Marriage, and this is still taught in Orthodox Judaism; the spiritual heirs of the Pharisees.

The Sadduccees did not believe in the Resurrection of the Dead; as did the Pharisees and Nazarenes. They did not believe in Eternal Marriage; because one we die we cease to exist forever, or so they thought. They kept the Law of Moses for the same reason that pagans worship the gods; in order to get earthly rewards and divine protection in this life.

The Sadduccees knew that Jesus was preaching the resurrection of the dead. As a "Rabbi" they knew that Jesus believed in the Resurrection as well as Eternal Marriage. They wanted to "catch Jesus in a snare"; meaning to try to trip Him up with a question they thought He could not answer. So, they asked him:

23 The same day came to him the Sadduccees, which say there is no resurrection, and asked him,
24 Saying, Master, Moses said, If a man die, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother.
25 Now there was with us seven brethren: and the first, when he had married a wife, deceased, and, having no issue, left his wife unto his brother.
26 LIkewise the second also, and the third, unto the seventh.
27 And last of all the woman died also.
28 Therefore in the resurrection whose wife shall she be of the seven? for they all had her.
29 Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.
30 For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.
(Matthew 22:23-30)

Again, only two Christian churches believe that there is marriage in heaven; the Mormons and the Swedenborgians (both inspired by Seers).

What was Jesus saying?

1) Jesus said: "Ye do not know the Scriptures".

The Pharisees had a book of scripture called Tobit (still found in Catholic Bibles). In Tobit chapter 3 (verses 7 through 17) there is a story of Sarah who had 7 husbands, but she was rightfully the husband of Tobias; the son of Tobit. The book says that the 7 men who married her each died of Asmodeus (Old Farsi: Asthma Daeva="the choking demon").

The Book of Tobit is about Jews who lived in Persia. Tobit was a righteous Jew. His son Tobias had a cousin named Sarah, and they loved each other. However, Sarah was betrothed to another Jew whom was not her "rightful" husband (according to Tobit). The LORD allowed the demon named Asthma Daeva to choke the man to death. Keeping the Law of Moses, the man's "brother" (near male relative) then betrothed Sarah, but he also died of an asthma attack, and so on until 7 "brothers" (near male relatives that would be brothers or cousins) all died on the wedding night with Sarah, but before the marriage could be consummated. Tobit tells how the women thought that Sarah had strangled all the men; one after the other. But Tobit says it was the Lord who had allowed the Asthma Daeva to kill the men; because they were not the "rightful" husbands. Sarah eventually married Tobias, her rightful (lawful) husband, and the marriage is this time consummated (which made it a real marriage).

According to the Law of Moses, if a man marry a woman and has no "seed" (children) then his brother would marry her (even if this meant polygamy) and produce children who are heirs of the dead brother. And if the second brother died without "seed" then the process would continue until a brother produced at least one heir of the original brother.

NOTE: Please remember that in Hebrew "brother" means "male relative" and could mean cousin and does not necessarily mean "brother" as in English.

In the Book of Tobit Sarah had 7 men who married her (one at a time), but each husband died of an asthma attack on the wedding night; before copulation. According to the Law, if there is no consummation of the marriage, there is no marriage. In the story, Sarah is eventually married to her rightful bridgegroom Tobias (the son of Tobit). The 7 brothers who died before they could "have" Sarah were unrighteous men, and this is why the LORD allowed "the choking demon" to take the brothers before consummation could take place. Since the Pharisees believed in Eternal Marriage, they would have said that Sarah would not be the husband of any of the 7 men in the Resurrection, but the husband of Tobias; her rightful husband in whom she had consummated the marriage. This is why Jesus told the Sadduccees "Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures [i.e. Tobit]." The Sadduccees did not accept Tobit as scripture; nor did they understand it.

The Sadducees knew the story of Sarah in the Book of Tobit but they did not know it well. They assumed (falsely) that all seven men "had her" (were her real husbands because they consummated the union), but Jesus replied: "Ye do ERR, not knowing the Scriptures!" Jesus knew what the Pharisees knew; that Sarah had only one husband, and that was Tobias (son of Tobit). The 7 "brothers" were never her husbands; because they died before consummating the marriage (which could have happened anytime between bethrothal and the wedding bed).

NOTE: How is it possible that 7 men could have all died of asthma attacks? This is possible; especially if they were close relatives and each was highly allergic to the perfumes that brides wore on their wedding nights.

2) Jesus said "Nor the Power of God".

One major argument that the Sadduccees had against the Resurrection of the Dead was that it was impossible. How could the dead live again when they returned to dust? Jesus told them they did not know the Scriptures "nor the power of God". With God, anything is possible.

3) In the Resurrection they (the 7 brothers) marry not nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels

Notice also that Jesus did not say that the woman (Sarah) and the 7 brothers (close male relatives) would be as the angels in heaven (i.e. unmarried), but "they" would be as the angels in heaven. Notice:

28 [Sadduccees asking] Therefore in the resurrection whose wife shall she be of the seven? for they all had her.
29 Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures [i.e. Book of Tobit], nor the power of God.
30 For in the resurrection they [i.e. the 7 brothers] neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven. (Matthew 22: 28-9)

The Book of Tobit presents Sarah as righteous, and her rightful husband Tobias as righteous, and, according to the teachings of the Pharisees, the "righteous" shall be married in heaven.

Prof. William E. Phipps (distinguished New Testament scholar) writes:

Pharisaic rabbis assumed that marriage and propagation [of children] would continue unchanged after death. (The Christian Century, April 3, 1985, p.327)

We thus understand exceedingly well why marriage is meant to be permanent: just as the marriage between God and His nation that took place at Mattan Torah is an eternal bond and not subject to being severed--not even in times of exile--so too, the mirror marriage of man and wife is an eternal union, not meant to be severed. (Likkutei Sichus, Vol.XXXIV, p.141)

39 Then certain of the scribes answered said, Master, thou hast spoken well. (Luke 20:39)

1) The Perfectly Righteous (who would be married in Paradise)
2) The In-between (who would be angel-servants in Paradise)
3) The Perfectly Wicked (who would be annihilated in Gehinnom)

Had Jesus denied marriage for the Perfectly Righteous, they never would have congradulated Him on His answer to the Sadduccees (who denied the Resurrection and marriage in Paradise).

Here are a few more English translations of Luke 20:39:

*"Rabbi, you have spoken well!" (Weymouth)

*"Teacher, that was a fine answer!" (Moffett)

*"Teacher, you have spoken well!" (Harper-Collins Study Bible)

*"Teacher, you have spoken well and expertly!" (Amplified)

Most Christians (besides Mormons and Swedenborgians) believe that Jesus was telling the Sadducees "You think there is marriage in heaven, but you don't understand the Scriptures, there is no marriage in heaven, but human beings become like the angels who are sexless beings and servants of God".

That is NOT what Jesus was saying! The Sadduccees did not believe in Paradise ("The Garden") or Gehimmom ("The Fire") after death! They believed that when we die we cease to exist. They called those Jews who believed in Paradise "Faruushiym"; which means "Persians". Why? Because during the 70 years that the Jews were exiled in Babylon (600 B.C. to 530 B.C.) they encountered the Zoroastrians, and the Zoroastrians (followers of Zoroaster) told them about the Day of Judgment, and about "Pardes"; which in Old Persian means "Garden". The Sadducees rejected these things as "foreign" notions, but some Jews accepted them as truths. They became known as the "Persians" (Hebrew: "Faruushiym"), or, in the Greek "Pharisees". Still today, the language of Írán is called "Farsí".

The Sadducees were not sincere in their question. Rather, they wanted to "catch Jesus in a snare" (a contradiction). In other words, they thought Jesus was a Pharisee; because He went by the title "Rabbi" ("My Master" or "My Teacher"). The Sadducees did not have Rabbis; only the Pharisees and Nazarenes did. They knew that Jesus taught the Resurrection of the Dead; which the Sadducees rejected as a foreign, unbiblical and "Persian" doctrine. They knew that the Rabbis taught that the Perfectly Righteous would be married in the Resurrection. They knew the Pharisees accepted the Book of Tobit as the Word of God (the Sadducees only accepted the five Books of Moses). They somewhat knew the story of Sarah and Tobias in the Book of Tobit; she had 7 husbands but all died, so, if there is marriage in the resurrection, whose husband is she going to be in Paradise? To the Sadducees, it seemed like a clear contradiction. But to the rabbis, and to the Rabbi Jesus, there was no contradiction at all, because:

1) The 7 brothers never consummated the wedding, and thus were not truly married to Sarah.
2) The 7 brothers were not righteous, and thus would not be married in Paradise, but be servants.

If Jesus was saying, "There is no marriage at all in the resurrection for anyone!" (as all Christians now believe except for Mormons and Swedenborgians) then the Scribes would have NEVER said: "Rabbi, your answer was great!".

The New Testament speaks of three types of human beings:

1) The Children of Light (perfectly righteous)
2) The Children of This World (In-between)
3) The Children of the Devil (perfectly wicked)

This is exactly like the Qur'an's depiction of the Companions of the Garden, the Companions of the Right Hand, and the Companions of the Left Hand (also called the Companions of the Fire). When the Sadduccees asked which of "they" (the 7 brothers) would be married to the woman (Sarah in the Book of Tobit) in the Resurrection, Jesus replied:

The children of this world marry and are given in marriage, but [they shall be as the angels in heaven] (Luke 16:8)

Ye are not of the world (John 15:19)

They are not of the world even as I am not of the world. (John 17:16)

Walk as children of light (Ephesians 5:8)

Ye are the children of light (1 Thessalonians 5:5)

Sarah and Tobias (in the Book of Tobit), being righteous, were "children of light" and would be married for all eternity. But those who were in-between (the Children of This World) would be as the angels in Heaven. The Children of the Devil would be "cast out"; meaning annihilated by the fire of Gehanna (i.e. sent back to the Mineral Kingdom).

The Children of This World would also have to go to the "Fire", but they would not dwell there forever; nor would they be annihilated. They would remain until they "the uttermost farthing [i.e. the last penny]" as Jesus said (Matthew 5:26).

Elizer C. Abrahamson (Orthodox Jewish rabbi) writes:

With the exception of extremely evil people, Hell is a temporary measure. In Hell a person is punished for the sins he has committed during lifetime. This punishment period generally takes no more than twelve months. After this period he receives reward for the good deeds he has done in lifetime. The reward is eternal. (Jewish Beliefs: Questions and Answers, p.4 online)

We can enjoy the pleasures of married life as in the previous world. (True Christian Religions, #792)

The Qur'an says of the Companions of the Garden:

As for those that have faith and do good works, We shall admit them to Gardens watered by running streams where, wedded to chaste spouses, they shall abide khaliduun ("immortals"). To a cool shade We shall admit them. (4:57 Dawood Translation)

Say: Shall I tell you of better things than these, with which the righteous shall be rewarded by their Lord? Theirs shall be Gardens watchered by running streams, where they shall dwell khaliduun ["immortals"]: spouses of perfect chastity, and grace from God. (3:15)

And We shall wed them unto fair ones with wide lovely eyes (45:54)

Such as persevere in seeking their Lord's countenance and are regular in prayer and spend of that which We bestow upon them secretly and openly, and overcome evil with good, theirs will be the sequel to the (heavenly) Home, Gardens of Eden wich they enter, along with all who do right of their fathers and their helpmeets (wives) and their seed (children). (13:22-23)

Lo! those who merit Paradise this day are happily employed. They and their wives, in pleasant shade, on thrones reclining.... (36:55)

'Abdu'l-Baha wrote:

When, therefore, the people of Baha undergo to marry, the union must be true relationship, a spiritual coming together as well as a physical one, so that throughout every phase of life, and in all the worlds of God, their union will endure; for this real oneness is a gleaming out of the love of God. (Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Baha, p.117)

www.angelfire.com/mo3/bahai/EM.html

Marriage in the Resurrection is only for the Faithful (Companions of the Garden), and not for the other two types of humans. The Companions of the Right Hand shall be "like the angels in Heaven" (i.e. sexless servants), and the Companions of the Fire shall be thrown back to the Mineral Kingdom to start the long process of the Arc of Ascent over again. It would be better had they never been born.

Eternal Marriages does not mean simply "recognizing each other" in the Afterlife! If this was true, then Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun are will also be "eternally married".

Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun get married (1945)

Read the discourse on Bahá'í Marriage by 'Abdu'l-Baha, and you will see very clearly that eternal marriage is only available for Bahá'í couples who reach an "exalted state" of spirituality in this life. I would encourage all of you to read it:

www.angelfire.com/mo3/bahai/EM.html

In Genesis we read that ELOHIYM says "We" and "Our". In the Qur'an, ALLÁH also often says "We" and "Our" and "Us".

What does this mean?

The very term for "God" in Hebrew is ELOHIYM: which is a masculine plural (IYM) on a feminine singular (ELOAH). Bible scholars have been debating what this means for centuries. The Orthodox Jewish scholars say this is merely a "plurality of majesty". However, the Kabbalists (mystical Jews) say that ELOHIYM means the first Emanation of the EIN SOPH ("Nameless One"). The EIN SOPH is the Nameless Essence. It's first Emanation is ABBA and IMMA (Father and Mother); which is Male and Female. The Emanations of the Essence are the Aeons, and the Aeons are not neuter, but male and female. This is why ELOHIYM says in Genesis:

26 And God [ELOHIYM] said, Let us make man in our image, and after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the foul of the air, and over the cattle, adn over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
27 So God [ELOHIYM] created man [awdawm] in his own image, in the image of God [ELOHIYM] created he he him; male and female created he them. (Genesis 1:26-7)

The Kaballic Sepheroth (10 Emanations of God) showing the manifestation of the first Aeon (Abba and Imma)

The Essence (EIN SOPH) is neither male nor female. But the first Emanation is both!

They are not "two" beings, but ONE MIND which has two poles; male and female, yin and yang. This is what Emmanuel Swedenborg meant when he wrote:

Marriage in heaven is a conjunction of two into one mind. (Heaven and Hell 40:367)

4 Have ye not read that He who made them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother and shall cleave to his wife, and they twain shall be one flesh.
5 Therefore, they are no more twain [two] but one flesh [being]. (Matthew 19:4-5)

An Aeon is a male and female couple who become One

When the Apostles (Matthew, Mark, John, Peter, Paul and James) wrote the books in the New Testament, they wrote in Greek; because most of the Jews and Gentiles (non-Jews) they prospected (tried to convert) were Greek-speaking. Whenever they or Jesus spoke of "eternal life" they used the Greek words Aeonian Zoe. But the Greek word for "forever/everlasting/unending" is not Aeonian, but Aidios. There are only two verses in the Greek New Testament were the word Aidios is used:

1)Romans 1:20 (referring to God's everlasting power)

2)Jude 1:6 (referring to the everlasting chains Satan will be bound with once he is finally defeated).

In Jude 1:7 the term aeonian is used in regard to the "eternal fire" that consumed Sodom (destroyed because the Sodomites had sex with other men instead of with their wives, according to the Qur'an). Jude (the brother of Jesus) says that Sodom suffered "the vengeance of eternal [aeonian] fire" (Jude 1:7).

Jude used aidios (forever/everlasting/eternal/unending) in Verse 6, but used aeonian (age-lasting or belonging to an Aeon) in Verse 7!

Is the city of Sodom still burning?

Is Sodom still burning? No! Did it burn for an "Age"? No!

The "eternal fire" that burned Sodom was not "everlasting" fire nor even "age-lasting" fire, but "fire belonging to an Aeon".

Jehovah (Hebrew: the pronunciation is lost but is probably something like "Yahoowahoo") means "I AM I WAS I WILL BE". In the Bible He is called YWHW ELOHIYM ("LORD God"); which means "I AM/WAS/WILL BE THE TOTALITY OF THE MALE/FEMALE POWERS".

The Essence of God cannot be understood. The Divine Essence has no consort, nor doth He take upon Himself a Son.

But....

The Aeons are both male and female. Jesus is the Son of YWHW; becuase YHWH (Jehovah) is an Aeon!

Adam is also called "the Son of God" (Luke 3:38).

The Bible presents Adam and Jesus as "the Son of God", but the Qur'an says that ALLÁH has no Son nor any consort. How can this contradiction be explained?

Easy.

The Bible is a Revelation of an Aeon (Jehovah) while the Qur'an speaks of God in His Essence (ALLÁH).

In Hebrew ELOHIYM literally means "Male/Female Powers" (plural).

The Powers of God are His Quiddities; His Names and Attributes. They are the Aeons of the Neo-Platonists and the authors of the New Testament (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Jude, James, Peter, and Paul).

Were any of the Aeons to say: "I am God, and there is no God beside Me!" that is true! Because the Aeons are not separate gods from God, but they are the Names and Attributes of the One God.

Where any of the Manifestations of God to say: "I am the Way, there is no other Way but Me!" that is true! The Names/Attributes of God are ONE! They are not in competition with Each Other. They are the Manifestations of ONE GOD, and when any of Them say "I am GOD" and "There is no God but God" this is true and will always be true.

Whenever the Bible speaks of "Eternal Life" the name for "eternal" in Greek is Aeonian; it does not mean "Forever Life" (that would be in Greek Aidios Zoe) but Aeonian Zoe; the "life" of an Aeon!

The Greek word Aeonian means "belonging to an Aeon".

The Greek word Christian means "belonging to Christ".

Aeonian does not mean "forever/unending/everlasting". It simply means "belonging to an Aeon".

In Greek, the word Aeon has two different meaning:

1) Age-lasting, belonging to an "Eon".

or....

2) Belonging to an Aeon (an emanation of God).

The Aeons are, in the Greek Platonic School (founded by the Greek philosopher Plato), emanations of God. They were both male and female. An Aeons was composed of two principles: one male and the other female. They were the "Forms" of God; His "Words". They are the "Names and Attributes" of God in Súfíyyah and Israqiyyah.

The Súfís and Israqis say that ALLÁH is the Totality (Unity) of His Names & Attributes.

"Eternal Life" is not simply "living forever", but Aeonian Zoe (the kind of life an Aeon has). It means to become a Name/Attribute of God. It means to become "one" with the ELOHIYM.

Am I saying that GOD is composed of an infinite number of Aeons?

Yes!

Does this mean there are many "gods"?

In one sense, there is only One God. Souls are part of the One God. Souls that are totally purified and unlimited by karma and freed from all matter are the Names and Attributes of God.

Let me explain it using the Sun as an example.

The Sun is composed of atoms (mostly hydrogen); trillions upon billions of trillions of them. A hydrogen atom is composed of two parts:

Hydrogen Atom: A positive Proton circled by a negative Electron

The Hydrogen Atom is the basis of all other atoms; it is the Tao (Yin/Yang).

One could say that: "The Sun is composed of the totality of it's atoms" This is true. One could not say: "The Sun is one of its atoms!. The Sun is not one or more of its atoms, but the TOTALITY of its atoms. So too ALLÁH is the TOTALITY of the Aeons (i.e. Names and Attributes). In Hehút there is no plurality. The plurality of the Aeons exist only in the lower realms (Lahút/ Jabarút/Malakút/Nasút).

The Aeons are the quiddities of God, and God is the Totality of the Aeons.

Eternal Life is to become an Aeon; the final destination of all souls. Some faster than others. Some less painfully than others. Some souls (Iblis, his angels, and the sons of perdition) will be thrown back into the material kingdom to start the process again. But, all souls come from God and will return to God.

Our "spirit" is part of "The Spirit" (God), and it enter matter as a mineral (gold?), then it enters the Plant Kingdom where consciousness (soul) beings, then the Animal Kingdom, and finally the Human Kingdom where the soul finally reaches its apex. In the Human Kingdom there is 1 natural station (animal) and 7 spiritual stations. Those who reach the 7th spiritual station in life shall enter the "Gardens" (plural) and dwell in them. Most will not reach such a station in this life, so they must have other lives in more advanced humanities on other worlds. A few who rebel shall be thrown back into the Mineral Kingdom to start again; their personalities (souls) annihilated by the process. They will have new souls and start the Arc of Ascent again. But, eventually, all souls will return to God.

Bahá'u'lláh wrote that Bahá'ís should be buried with this engraved on their burial-ring:

I came forth from God, and return unto Him, detached from all save Him, holding fast to His Name, the Merciful, the Compassionate (Kitáb-i-Aqdas v.129)

Both the Seers Joseph Smith and Emmannuel Swedenborg taught that "conjugal relations" will exist in "heaven"; but not for everyone. Conjugal relations will exist for those who reach the highest point of spirituality on earth. Joseph Smith called men and women who achieved "exaltation" by the title of "gods". Swedenborg called them "celestial angels". Both referred to the continuation of conjugal relations as "Celestial Marriage".

The Qur'an teaches that the "Faithful" will be wedded to "chaste" wives in Paradise.

Most Muslims believe (based upon hadiths) that martyrs will have 72 virgins that they can deflower every night, and in the morning, they are virgins again. But this is nothing in the Qur'an about "72 virgins"; this is based upon some questionable "hadiths" ("sayings" of Muhammad). The Qur'an does say, in many places, that the "Faithful" will inherit "Gardens" (plural) and be wed to their spouses there, and be served by Houris (female angels) and Ghulams (male angels). Heterosexual Muslims think they will have sex with the Houris, but the Qur'an does not say this. Bisexual Muslims think they will have sex with Houris and the Ghulams, but the Qur'an does not say this. Homosexual Muslims think they will ignore their female spouses and have sex with the Ghulams, but the Qur'an does not say this. This is all wishful thinking.

What the Qur'an does say is that the "Companions of the Garden" shall be married to their spouses in Paradise.

'Abdu'l-Baha wrote of Bahá'ís who reach a certainly spiritual station shall be married in all the Worlds of God.

Bahá'ís who have read this say, "Well, this is just a metaphor. It simply means that we will recognize each other in the Afterlife.".

That is not what eternal marriage means!

Eternal Marriage means two becoming "one" both physically and spiritually. The two must be polar opposites (i.e. male/female or yin/yang). There will be no "Adam and Steve" or "Adriana and Eve" in the eternities!

The Qur'an promises Gardens (plural) for the Faithful. Adam and Eve came here to the Garden of Eden. They partook of fruit, and had "carnal knowledge and had children. This is the promised reward of the Faithful (Companions of the Garden). This is the promise of the Children of Light.

Some of you will say, "But didn't Shoghi Effendi teach there was no sex in heaven?"

There is a letter written on behalf of the Guardian (i.e. one of the Guardian's secretaries) which says:

There is no teaching in the Bahá'í Faith that "soul mates" exist. What is meant is that marriage should lead to profound relationship of spirit, which will endure in the next world, where there is no sex, and no giving and taking in marriage; just the way we should establish without parents, our children, our brothers and sisters and friends in deep spiritual bond which will be everlasting, and not merely physical bonds of human relationship. (Letter written on behalf of the Guardian to an individual believers, Dec. 4, 1954)

1) Letters written by secretaries of the Guardian are not infallible.
2) Not all letters written on his behalf were read and signed by him. His wife signed some in his name while he was in England.
3) Letters written by secretaries of the Guardian, or by the Office of the Secretariat, cannot negate the Holy Verses, are not infallible, are not the Holy Writings, are not the AYATS (Signs) of God.
4) Whoever wrote that letter was from a Protestant background, and was taught that Jesus denied there was marriage in heaven (a misunderstanding of what He actually was telling the Sadducees).

With that said, let me say that there is no sex in Malakút (i.e the next world)! This is why Adam and Eve partook of the Forbidden Fruit in Paradise (in Malakút); so they could once again enjoy the pleasures of conjugal love. That is the true "fall" of Adam and Eve; they "fell" from Malakút to Nasút on this planet.

If a Bahá'í couple does not achieve spiritual "oneness" with each other in this life, they will not go to Paradise together, but they will be single angels; the Houris and Ghulams mentioned in the Qur'an--like monks and nuns. But those couples who achieve Paradise in their own souls in this life shall achieve Paradise in Malakút (not the Most Exalted Paradise) and shall have a choice of remaining there immortal, not subject to death, but without natural affection, or partaking of the Forbidden Fruit and thereby enjoying conjugal relations (and mortal children) once again in Nasút.

This is what the Seers have seen. This is what the Prophets have foretold.

Heaven and Hell

Thorton Chase was the "first American Bahá'í" (actually, the first faithful American Bahá'í). Before becoming a Bahá'í he was a Swedenborgian; a follower of the writings of Emmanuel Swedenborg (the famous Swedish "Seer"). As a Swedenborgian, Chase believed that Swedenborg was a "Herald of the Second Coming of Christ"; that His writing prepared the way for the second advent of Christ and the descent of the City of New Jerusalem. The Swedenborgian church that Chase was a teacher at was called "The Church of New Jerusalem", and still exists today. Chase wrote to 'Abdu'l-Baha and asked Him if Swedenborg was a sort of "herald" of the Second Coming (the Bahá'í Revelation), and asked if he (Swedenborg) had not foretold of the Bahá'í Revelation. 'Abdu'l-Baha wrote back and said:

Emmanuel was indeed the Herald of the Second Coming of Christ, and a Summoner to the pathway of the Kingdom.***
It is our hope that thou wilt in this day arise to promote that which Emmanuel foretold.***
As for the heavenly Jerusalem that hat come to rest on the summits of the world, and God's Holy of Holies, Whose banner is now lifted high, this comprehendeth within itself all the perfections, all the knowledge of the dispensations gone before. (Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Baha, pp.60,61)

Swedenborg had many visions of "Heaven" and "Hell"; the Afterlife and what it was like. He wrote that human beings lived on all the planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, etc.), but not at the same time. He saw in his visions that the humanities on the outer planets were "higher" than the lower planets. He wrote of "marriage in heaven" (which he called "Celestial Marriage"). He wrote that the resurrection of Jesus was in a "spiritual body" and not a physical body. He wrote of many other spiritual things. His writings can be found in most public and university libraries across the world.

Emmanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772)

Bible-believing Christians believe that at death we enter "Heaven" or "Hell". Heaven used to be thought of as being just beyond the fixed stars (Milky Way); which was thought of as a tremendous sphrere with stars encrusted like diamonds on a brass sphere. Hell was thought of as being under the crust of the Earth (did not fire come from there?).

Orthodox Muslims believed the same as Christians; that Heaven was beyond the fixed stars, and Hell was below the earth.

Mystical Muslims (Súfís, Ishraqís, Ismailis) did not believe that "Heaven" was beyond the fixed stars, nor that Hell was below the ground. They believed that there are three dimensions of Heaven; each one higher than the other (Lah&uactue;t is highest, then Jabarút, and then Malakút). Why did the Muslim mystics differ from the orthodox?

Simple.

The Muslim mystics not only read the Qur'an, but they read the writings of the Muslim Seers. The orthodox Muslims dismissed the Seers as heretics or cultists, and rejected their visions and revelations.

The Christian mystics such as Jacob Boehme, St. Teresa of Avila, Emmanuel Swedenborg, are in perfect agreement with the Muslim mystics as to the Afterlife and the workings of the Cosmos. But, again, their visions and revelations are rejected by the "orthodox" Christian believers as being "heretical" and "cultic".

The Orthodox Christians (as the Orthodox Muslims) believed that the Cosmos was a series of concentric spheres: with Earth in the middle (with Hell at the center of earth), then the sky, and the sky included the Sun, Moon, and 5 "wandering stars" (the 5 known planets); each one was embeded upon it's own crystal sphere. Beyond the last crystal sphere (Saturn) were the "fixed stars" which they thought were jewels or angels embeded upon one last huge crystal sphere, but this last sphere was dark instead of clear. The first heaven was the sky (which included the Sun, Moon, and 5 planets), the second heaven was the "fixed stars"), and the third heaven was the Presence of God; just beyond the fixed stars.

The reason why Galileo was so persecuted by the Papacy is because he said that the Sun was the center, and that there were no crystal spheres, but that the planets floated in a void, and that the earth revolved around the Sun, and the planets around the Sun, etc. To the Orthodox this was utter blasphemy; because it messed up their "orthodox" view of the Cosmos.

The Orthodox Muslims believed that the "7 Paths" referred to the Sun, Moon, and 5 planets which revolved around the Earth! They too persecuted those who said otherwise.

The Mystical Muslims, relying upon the visions of the Seers always had a different view. To them the "7 Paths" referred to:

1) 7 worlds we must journey through until we reach the Presence of God.

2) 7 spiritual stations the individual soul must journey through until reaching the state of Fana' fi-Alláh (Annihilation in God).

If Rahab was not destroyed, there would be "8 Paths" and not 7 for us to journey!

To the Mystics, the three heavens were not as the orthodox believed, but the "three heavens" refered to three spiritual dimensions that souls could exist in:

In the ancient Jewish temple there were three chambers: the Outer Court, the Holy Place, and the Most Holy Place. The Most Holy Place (called the "Holy of Holies) was considered to be the Presence of God on earth which only the high priest could enter once a year).

Joseph Smith (1805-1844) taught there were three degrees of glory in the Celestial Kingdom (Heaven). The highest degree of glory (Celestial Glory) of the Celestial Kingdom meant Godhood.

The Mormon view of the Pre-existence, Earth-life (Probation), and kingdoms of the Afterlife

Besides the Celestial Kingdom there are two other Kingdoms of Glory, and also "Outer Darkness". Mormons believe that Lucifer, his angels (demons), and the "sons of perdition" (those humans without conscience) will go into "Outer Darkness"; which is interpreted to mean that they will cease to exist, or, like broken pottery, go back to 'clay' and be worked over again from the beginning.

Still today, orthodox Christians do not believe in three heavens other than believing that the first "heaven" is the sky, the second "heaven" is space, and the third "heaven" is the Presence of God. You can see how they inherited the cosmology of their orthodox predecessors; slightly modified.

What is the meaning of all this?

The meaning is that there exists 11 worlds in our solar system; there used to be 12. We all journey from the first to the last. We exist in one dimension here on earth (Nasút), but other dimensions exist here on earth (the 3 Heavens). Our lives here on earth determine what sort of existence we shall have on the next "world"; Nasút (Hell) or Paradise (Heaven). What level of Heaven we shall have is dependent upon other factors as well.

But even if we achieve "Heaven" in the next world (literally....the next "world") this does not mean we cannot "fall" from Heaven! We shall have freedom of will there just as we do here.

The first century Christian mystic Valentinus (d. 161 A.D.) wrote that our world (Aeon) was one of 12 in our creation. He was a disciple of Theodas; who was a disciple of Paul (the "most faithful servant" of Jesus according to 'Abdu'l-Baha). Yet, Valentinus was afterwards declared a "heretic" and his writings burned (all save a few rediscovered in 1948 in Egypt).

During the Dark Ages the Roman Catholic church taught that the Earth was the center of the Cosmos. There were a people called the Cathars (Pure Ones) who followed the teachings of Christian mystics. The Popes declared the Cathars "heretics" and killed and burned all they could find who did not recant. When a Catholic army came upon a Cathar village or town in a Cathar region (all villages and towns included Catholics and Cathars living together) they killed every man, woman, and child; using the justification: "Let God sort them out!"

The Protestant Reformers were good Catholics! They were simply Roman Catholics who "protested" the abuses of the Papacy; hence the name "Protestants". They also rejected the visions of the Seers, and considered them to be heretics and cultists!

The Origin and Fall of Adam

Mormons believe that Adam is Michael the Archangel; that He led the Armies of Heaven against the Hosts of Lucifer in the pre-existent War in Heaven. Lucifer and his angels were cast out of "heaven" to this planet.

Why?

We don't know. An Englishman named Milton once wrote an epic poem called Paradise Lost which gives an explanation. Milton was a Seer (a non-prophet who has inspired visions from God). Want to know the "why"? Read the poem.

Brigham Young (1804-1877) taught that Adam was the rightful "god" of this world, but that He lost his "dominion" over this planet to Lucifer because He (Adam) ate of the "forbidden fruit". After that time, Lucifer has dominion over this planet, and this is why the planet has so much evil.

Young taught that Adam and Eve came from another planet (never named which one) with "celestial bodies" (in Latin "celestial" means "heavenly") which were not subject to death or disease. All of the trees of the Garden of Eden were celestial trees, but one. One tree with not celestial, but terrestrial (Latin: "Earthly"). Lucifer appeared to Eve, and deceived her. He said one truth mixed with one lie. The truth was:

"In the day ye shall eat thereof ye shall be as the gods, knowing good and evil"

The lie of Lucifer was:

"And ye shall not surely die!"

Young taught that the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was "corporeal" (material) fruit, and once Adam and Eve ate this material fruit the spirit that flowed through their celestial bodies changed into blood; which caused their celestial bodies to become terrestial ("earthly") bodies; subject to disease, ageing, and death.

Why did Eve (and then Adam) partake of the "forbidden fruit"? Was the "fruit" that good?

Young taught (relying upon what Joseph the Seer had taught him) that the "desire" of Adam and Eve was not the fruit of the tree, but conjugal love; the same type of love they had on the previous world they came from. But to "love" each other conjugally (as men and women do), they had to become mortal again. To become mortal, they had to eat material elements which diffused through their veins; causing the spirit that ran through their veins to change to blood. Now, they were mortal again; just as they had been when they died on the planet they came from.

This sounds "wild" to most Bahá'ís, but, it is very very close to the teachings of the Súfís and other Mystical Muslims.

In the Garden, Adam and Eve were higher than Angels, but lower than Immortals (Aeons). They are confronted by a Serpent that speaks, and tells them to partake of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Adam and Eve disobey a commandment of the LORD, and are thrust out of the "Garden" (Paradise--the Realm of Jabarút on this planet). Iblis then becomes the "god of this world" (Greek: Archon of this Aeon).

Do not confuse the term "Archon (ruler) of this Aeon" with "Archon (ruler) of the Cosmos". English Bibles translate both Greek terms as "prince of this world", but they mean two very opposite things.

It was the Serpent who offered to Eve the "forbidden fruit", and Eve accepted and partook, and then Eve offered the fruit to Adam and he partook, and the LORD punished both of them by exiling them from the "Garden" and made for them "coats of skin" (Genesis chapter 3). the "coats of skin" is simbol for the material/physical body.

It was the desire for physical/sensual love that caused Adam and Eve to "fall" from Malakút (the Garden) to Nasút (human realm) on this planet, and left Iblis (the Serpent) in "charge" of it. Why? Because Iblis had been an "annointed cherub" in the Presence of God; meaning a soul in Jabarút. In Buddhism, such souls are called "Devas" (Sanskrit: "Shining Ones"); which is translated into English as "Gods" or "Demi-gods". In Hebrew, the term "Cherub" means "Shining One". In Buddhism (as in Hinduism as well as Jainism) the Devas are very high beings, but they are lower than the Brahmas.

Adam is "de-throned" and "de-frocked" by the cunning of Iblis, and Adam and Eve "fall". Iblis (the Serpent) becomes the "god of this world" by default; because he is the highest being on this planet. This is why evolution is cruel; where the strong devoir the weak. This is why we have had so many wars, and plagues, and pestilences, etc. Because Iblis is the "lord of evolution".

Evolution is cruel; it pits the strong against the weak. Evolution rewards deception, selfishness, avarice, war, contention. Evolution favors the arrogant and bold and disfavors the meek.

Why would a loving God wish to create a world where there is so much pain, sorrow, discomfort, death, and evil?

The sad answer to that is that the "god of this world" is evil.

Why would God allow such an evil being domination over this planet?

The answer to that is:

1) God allows us our free agency (freedom of will).

2) God uses Iblis as his "agent" of punishment.

That humans evolved, and yet Adam and Eve had no earthly parents, seemed a contradiction only until one understands that Adam and Eve were born on another world, came to this planet with spiritual bodies, and "fell" into mortality when the spirit in the veins changed to blood.

In the Widsom of Solomon, the King of Israel writes:

1 I too, am a mortal man, the same as all the rest, and a descendant of the first man formed of earth.
2 And in my mother's womb I was molded into flesh in a ten-month period [i.e. 10 moons]--body and blood, from the seed of man, and the pleasure that accompanies marriage. (Wisdom of Solomon 7:1-2)

The Qur'an too says both that man was made from semen (86:6) and from the "clay" (17:62). What is the meaning of this?

It means that we are made from:

1) Semen (seed of man)

2) "Clay" (material food)

Our mothers digest minerals from clay, and these mineral build "us"; along with the seed of our fathers.

Creationists believe that Adam was formed of clay just like a man who makes a clay pot, and Eve was taken from one of his ribs and formed from that (why God would need a rib to form Eve and not just some more clay is never explained).

'Abdu'l-Baha said:

If the greatness of Christ is His being fatherless, then Adam is greater than Christ, for He had neither father nor mother. (SAQ 18:4, p.89)

Yes, but not in the way most Creationists think!

Adam was formed of awdawmah; which means He was formed of matter (material stuff). When Adam and Eve partook of material fruit, it changed them from celestial beings back into terrestrial beings.

Mormons believe that everyone who reaches the "Celestial Kingdom" will be given the opportunity to 'choose' to partake of the 'forbidden fruit' or not.

The Qur'an promises the Faithful (those who overcome evil--meaning their egos/self) will inherit "Gardens"; sequels to the Garden of Eden.

Is The Afterlife Unimaginable and Indescribeable?

Bahá'u'lláh wrote of the Siyah Chal (the "Black Pit" of Tehran where He was imprisoned for four months in darkness, under a huge chain, and sitting in the excrement of His fellow prisoners):

No pen can depict that place, nor any tongue describe its loathsome smell. (Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p.21)

I dont' think so!

When the Central Figures or the Guardian write that the "Afterlife cannot be described" they mean "words cannot do it justice". They do not mean that the Qur'anic descriptions are "mere" metaphors of something we cannot possibly understand.

Many Bahá'ís I've spoken with over the years don't think about the Afterlife. To them, the Afterlife is an "afterthought", and to think about it is fruitless because:

1) "We cannot possibly know what the Afterlife is like so why try to image it?"

2) "Thinking about the Afterlife takes us away from what we need to be thinking about in this world, like race unity, world peace, the equality of the sexes, the environment, etc."

Most Bahá'ís I have spoken to about the Afterlife believe that the Afterlife is "totally indescribeable". But doesn't the Qur'an have detailed "descriptions" of the Afterlife (i.e. Paradise and Hell)? Indeed, but Bahá'ís tell me:

"Oh, well yes, but...you see...the Arabs were very ignorant, so the Prophet Muhammad had to use symbols they could understand like fire and pitchforks and burning and bitter desert fruit and boilding water. Of course, we are not foolish enough to believe that these depictions are literal! They are simply symbols, nothing more!" (Paraphrase of common Bahá'í reply)

"What is the price of a Yak in Ulan Baton?"
or...
"How many Jinn can dance on a head of a pin?"
or....
"Have you noticed that gremlins take out mortgages on their ziplapookyahs?"

"We cannot possibly know what the Afterlife is like. Heaven is merely a metaphor for being close to God, and Hell is merely a metaphor for being far from God! That's all it means!"

As before, more looks of pure bewilderment. A few Bahá'ís have ventured these:

"Who cares? Don't worry about it. We'll find out when we get there!"

"Hell is having regret about not working for race unity or world peace in this life."

"Why are you asking all these questions?"

"We're all going to go to Heaven, but those who do bad things in this life will have regrets once they see the error of their ways."

1) Faithful men and their wives reclining upon thrones, or upon green carpets.
2) They sip delicious nectar.
3) They are served by dark-eyed Houris (Arabic: "white ones") and handsome Ghulams (Arabic: "servant male youths") both day and night.
4) They shall partake of delicious fruit.
5) Shade is everywhere.
6) Cool streams shall flow underneith them.

Bahá'ís do not believe these things are literal! Bahá'ís have told me that these things are "mere metaphors" because "the Afterlife" is "totally indescribeable". When I ask Bahá'ís what the metaphors mean, they give me the look of total bewilderment or say, "We can't know what they mean until we get there!"

I'm sure that The Garden has many batin meanings, but it also has 1 literal meaning. I believe the following are the zahir (literal) meanings:

Thrones=spiritual bodies
Nectar=the materialization of spiritual substance they partook of in Nasút
Reclining=not having to labor for subsistence as in Nasút
Green carpets=the grass of the Garden of Eden
Houris=female angels who act as servants
Ghulams=male angels who act as servants
Delicious fruit=ethereal fruits--the materialization of good thought forms

This is the zahir (literal) meaning of Paradise. There are many ("70") batin (metaphorical) meanings.

In other words, the Qur'anic depictions of The Garden refers to Paradise in the Realm of Malakút.

The Qur'an depicts The Fire (Hell) as:

1) Our skins are burned, and God gives us new skins to burn.
2) We drink boiling water or blistering cold water.
3) We eat of the fruit of a bitter tree.
4) Attendants with "hooks" bring us back to Hell when we try to escape.
5) We ask to go back to earth and do good works, but the Lord says "Never!"
6) Every night we are brought out of the Fire, and every day we return to it.

What is the meaning?

Again, there are 70 (great multitude) of metaphorical meanings. This had led Bahá'ís to overmetaphoricalize and assume the Hell-fire has no literal meaning! But I will agree with the Ishraqís (including the Seers Shaykh Ahmad and Siyyid Kazim) and reveal the zahir (literal) meanings of Hell-fire:

New Skins=our new mortal lives on other worlds. We need not live other mortal lives on other worlds. If we are "saved" in this world, then we Journey Through the Worlds of God on other planets in higher dimensions. But if not, we must go back to Nasút and receive "new skins" (i.e. new mortal bodies that suffer, die, and are burned by the Sun).

Boiling and Ice-cold Water=these are the materializations (in Malakút) of a temperment of anger and apathy towards others.

Bitter Fruit=these are the materializations in Malakút of the bad fruits we produced in mortal life.

Attendants with Hooks=these are the Karmic Laws which bring us back to Nasút.

Lord Says "Never"=This represents that we wish to return to our previous life to change our ways, but we cannot.

Every Night/Every Day=This means that those in the condition of Hell must return to The Fire (Nasút) on ever planet they go to during the Journey Through The Worlds of God.

Both the Bible and the Qur'an depict Hell as a place of Fire, and yet a place of darkness. It presents two different scenarios:

Scenario #1: Our skins are burned off in the Fire, and we are given new skins to burn.

Scenario #2: We are in a place of darkness where we are tormented by demons who torture us.

Which is it? Or is it both?

The following is the zahir (literal) meaning of Hell given by the Ishraqís ("Illuminationists"):

1) The Fire refers to mortal lives; where are skins are burned by the Sun. It refers to Nasút; the place of suffering, death, hunger, etc.

2) The Torment refers to our existence in Malakút if our deeds in life were evil. Our evil thoughts produce evil though-forms (called "demons"). Drinking of ice-cold water means that in Malakút our "coldness" towards others will materialize as ice-cold water, and our anger towards others will materialize as boiling water.

In other words, there are two ways that we are punished for our sins and misdeeds in life:

1) During the "gulf" between death and the resurrection we shall exist in Malakút. If our deeds be good, then our deeds in life will produce literal (not material) delicious fruits and drinks in Malakút. If our deeds be evil, then it will produce bitter fruits in Malakút.

2) Our good thoughts during life produce good thought-forms, and our bad thoughts produce bad thought-forms. Bad thought-forms torment us.

There was a Bahá'í named Aka Seyyed Jaffar Isfandabandi (d. 1901) who was martyred in 1901 in Iran. He head was caved in by a Persian qasi (judge) and a Shi'ite Mulla. His crime? Preaching the Bahá'í Faith. This is what 'Abdu'l-Baha wrote for Bahá'í pilgrims to his tomb:

Punishment is for such as persecuted thee, Hell is for such as rejected thee, Fire is for such as sentenced thee to death, infernal flame be for such as betayeth thee, the hellish Gulf is for such as shed thy blood with impunity. And Paradise is for such as love thee, heaven is for such as serve thee, the Everlasting Abode is for such as visit (thy tomb). (Tablets of 'Abdu'l-Baha, pp.384-5)

1) Fire/infernal flame

2) Hell/hellish Gulf

The "Fire" is one punishment. This means his persecutors shall not be "saved" (exempted from the Fire). The "hellish Gulf" is another punishment. This refers to being in the state (condition) of "Hell" in Malakút.

On the other hand, the Bahá'ís who visit the tomb of this martyr are promised great blessings:

1) Paradise (in Malakút)
2) Heaven (in Jabarút)
3) The Everlasting Abode (in Lahút)

Bahá'u'lláh assures us that none of us will escape punishment for our deeds in the Afterlife:

Know, verily, that an unforeseen calamity is following you, and that grevious retribution awaiteth you. Think not that deeds ye hsave committed have been blotted out from My Sight. By My beauty! All your doings hath My Pen gaven with open characters upon tablets of chrysolite. (Gleanings pp.209-10)

Devaloka ("Radiant Being World")
Pretaloka ("Ghost Being World")
Narankaloka ("Dark World")

Devaloka is the same as "The Garden" as depicted in the Qur'an. Narankaloka is depicted as a dark world where evil beings devoir and torture souls.

Pretaloka is the "Ghost Being World" where bodiless souls roam Nasút; thirsty but not being able to drink, hungry but not being able to eat, desiring of sex but not being able to touch flesh.

There are higher worlds that these! In Buddhism and Hinduism the Brahma-worlds are higher than Devaloka. This is what the Arthava Veda has to say about Brahmaloka:

There, freed from bodily infirmaties, sickness, and deformity, they meet father, mother, wives, and children. It is a place of delights; all the pleasures of the sences are at their disposal (Magic and Sacrifice, 1922, p.7)

The Fire then, refers to Nasút; the material/physical dimension where we suffer and our skins are burned.

The Gulf (Hell) then, refers to a place where unrighteous souls sojourn between worlds, or between planets; between their own death, and the literal "Resurrection" when they shall live on another world.

What is "Hell" like? The Súfís say it is like a nightmare, only much worse! Evil deeds and thoughts become "forms" in Hell that torment us in gruesome ways. What a description? Read about the "hells" in Buddhist literature, and you'll see. The depiction of Hell in Dante's Inferno is based upon his actual visions (he was a Seer). It isn't fiction (or at least he never presented it as such).

Western Bahá'ís (an increasing amounts of Persian Bahá'ís) schoff at the idea of a literal Hell were we are tortured by ugly demons, but this Hell has been described the same in Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain literature as well as by Catholic, Protestant, Mormon, and Evangelical "Seers"! Are they all "wrong"?

Maybe they are all "right"?

Is "Hell" only mere "regret" for not volunteering for the NAACP during life? Will the Afterlife be one big camp-out with Hitler, Stalin, Ted Bundy, Mao, Sadam Hussein, child-molestors, murderers, rapists, singing "Koom-Bai-Yah" with Ghandi, Mother Teresa, Jesus, Muhammad, and the rest of us?

Some Bahá'ís seem to "think" so.

We should really start to "fear" Hell; which is not a place of fire, but a place of darkness, hideous demons (materialized evil acts and thought-forms). But it is not "eternal". The denizens of Hell shall all be "born" again on another world; either in Nasút ("The Fire") or in a higher dimension.

Want to know what "Hell" is like? Read its descriptions in the Tibetan Book of the Dead (Bardo Thodol), or in other Buddhist works, in the the holy texts of the Jains, or as described by the Seers. Hell is NOT a place of unending burning of skins, but it is a place of torment that we ourselves create in the dimension of Malakút by our own evil actions and thoughts in our current life.

We "create" our own Hell or our own Paradise in Malakút. Our own "soul" creates it. This is the meaning of the Súfí and Ishraqí saying, "We create Hell within ourselves".

Hell is not "eternal", but we may think it is while we are there.

How can we escape the punishment of the dimension of Hell in Malakút?

There is only one way: by being "born again".

Salvation

What does "salvation" mean?

I've asked Bahá'ís this since 1981, and they usually give me "The Look" (total bewilderment then walking away in silence). Most don't have a clue; not the slightest idea. Others have told me this:

"We are saved when we become Bahá'ís. Salvation means to know who the Manifestation of God for our time is."

"Salvation is a concept that has been abrogated. We don't worry about salvation."

"The Manifesatations of God save us from war, racism, inequality, and injustice."

In truth, the term "salvation" means "exemption". When we "save" something we "exempt" it from being thrown away. A prisoner who is scheduled for execution is "saved" when the Governor calls and "exempts" him from execution. When we "save" money we "exempt" that money from being spent.

Salvation means that we are "exempted" from the righteous Wrath or Judgments of God. And thus "salvation" can refer to:

1) Our soul (individual)
2) A people
3) Humanity
4) A nation

During World War II, the Jews of Europe who had not yet been killed by the Nazis were "saved" by the Allies from the Nazis; who were trying to exterminate all of them.

We all come form God, and we all return unto Him. However, "egos" cannot dwell in his Presence (Lahút); thus, there must be "corrections" or "punishments" for the soul that does deeds or thoughts contrary to the Will of God. This is for the "good" of that soul, but these punishments are only necessary "if" that soul refuses to submit their will (ego/ self) to the Will of God. In Lahút there can be only one Will/Ego/Self, and that is GOD.

Just as God has three rewards (three heavens) so God has three punishments for erring souls:

1) The Fire (life in Nasút)
2) The Gulf (torment in Malakút)
3) The Second Death (return to the Arc of Descent)

"The Fire" refers to the dimension in which our skins "burn". We suffer, have pain, disease, and die. How bad our life begins depends upon how grevous our sins in our prior existence.

"The Gulf" refers to "Hell"; the hellish world we create in Malakút if our souls are in the state (condition) of Hell during mortality. But this is not eternal. Nowhere in the Bible or Qur'an is "Hell" called "eternal" or "everlasting". The words used for "eternal torment" in the New Testament actually means "Age-lasting corrective punishment". The Arabic words in the Qur'an associated with the punishments of God never use the words "Azal" (eternity past) nor "Abad" (eternity future) but "Khalidoon" ("immortals"). While in Hell we will wish to die, but we cannot die in Hell because we are already "dead" both literally and spiritually.

Neither the Bible nor the Qur'an teach an eternal "Hell".

The first notion of an "eternal" Hell in Christianity is in the third century, when St. Jerome translated the Greek phrase eonian kolasin (age-lasting correction) into the Latin phrase for "eternal torment". It was a "mistranslation" as any Bible scholar will tell you, but it stuck and became a "false tradition" passed-down from generation to generation.

Most religious people assume that "Hell" is a place where one burns for all eternity! But the Bible (in the original languages) never says that! English Bibles translate three separate and distinct Greek words as "Hell":

1) Hades (the abode of the souls of the dead between death and resurrection)
2) Gehenna (the Valley of Hinnom just outside of Jerusalem where trash and the bodies of thieves and murderers were burned)
3) Tartarus (in Greek mythology this refers to the place of the defeated Titans)

The Jews who spoke Greek used Greek words to describe three different conditions in the Afterlife:

"Hades" simply referred to to abode of the dead.
"Gehenna" was a Greek translation of "Gan-Himmon"; the Valley of Himmon where trash and the bodies of criminals were burned.
"Tartarus" referred in Greek mythology to a dark region under Hades where the Titans (Giants) were sent after defeated by the Olympian gods.

In the Jewish Book of Enoch (not part of our Bibles today) it is recorded that some of the angels of God rebelled, and were cast out of heaven. They were sent to "Tartarus"; a place of darkness. Mormons call this place "Outer Darkness". They believe it is the place where the Devil, his angels, and the "sons of perdition" shall be sent.

We can correlate these three "abodes" to the following:

Why did English Bibles translate three different Greek words (the New Testament was written in Greek) into "Hell"?

Simple.

Because official doctrine (forumulated by uninspired men and church councils over centuries) knew of no place of punishment other than Hell.

Hades refers to the the abode of souls that are dead. Mormons call it "the Spirit-World". It includes both Paradise and Hell.

Gehenna is a metaphor for "burning flesh". The wicked shall "burn" their skins in fire.

Tartarus refers to the dark abode of Lucifer and his messengers and followers.

God has three heavens for the Believers in His Revelations (Manifestations), and three punishments for the Unbelievers.

Yeh'o'shua (Jesus) came to save our souls by His shed blood. This is what Paul in the New Testament teaches, and 'Abdu'l-Baha called Paul "Christ's "most faithful servant" (Paris Talks p.147). We all "sin" (think and do evil things) to one degree or another. How then shall our souls escape Hell (the torment in Malakút)? Paul tells us that if we accept Jesus as Lord, His Grace (bounty) will save our souls; His "blood" will "pay" for our sins.

This is what Paul wrote:

But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from the wrath to come through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being recognciled, we shall be saved by his life. (Romans 8:8-10)

What is the "wrath"? The wrath is the punishment for our misdeeds; which includes Hell (The Torment) and the Fire.

This is what Peter wrote:

Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by your fathers, but with the previous BLOOD OF CHRIST, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. (1 Peter 1:18-19)

Behold, the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world. (John 1:29)

He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the WRATH OF GOD abideth on him. (John 3:36)

This then is the Message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we shall we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we life, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST his Son cleanseth us from all sin. (1 John 1:5-7)

"Salvation" is to avoid a bad consequence. Hell is a bad consequence compared to Paradise. The Fire is a bad consequence compared to Heaven! The self-destruction of the human race ("The final doom") is a bad consequence compared to spreading Divine Civilization throughout the Cosmos!

"Salvation" simply means to be "exempted" from divine punishment.

In the Book of Jonah (Old Testament) God decreed that He would destroy the city of Nineveh (in Assyria) because of its wickedness. He sent Jonah (a Jew) to travel there to warn the inhabitants. Jonah did not wish to go; he was fearful that the Ninevites would kill him after he spoke harshly to him! So, he got a boat and went the other direction. A storm came up and tossed him overboard, and a "great fish" swallowed him and belched him up upon shore, and spoke to him; telling him to go to Nineveh. Jonah did, and told the Ninevites to repent of their city would be destroyed. They repented, and the city was "saved" from destruction!

"Salvation" means to exempt a soul, or a city, or a people, or a nation, or a planet, from a bad consequence.

When we have a thought, word, or deed that is contrary to the Will of God we "sin", and we infuse our souls with "sin". The Jains actually believe that "karma" is negative matter, and every time we have a negative act/thought/word we infuse our jiva (soul) with "karma". We are "saved" by defusing karma from the soul.

Paul wrote:

For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. (1 Corinthians 15:22)

Jesus is the Savior of our souls.

Bahá'u'lláh came to save mankind from "The Final Doom"; which is self-annihilation as a species on this planet. Mankind is destined for self-destruction; unless we establish World Peace via the World Order of Bahá'u'lláh. No other world government will do; because it will only lead to destruction.

Bahá'u'lláh came to save Humanity as a living species on this planet, and this is why Shoghi Effendi calls Him the "World-Savior" (God Passes By p.94).

Bahá'u'lláh did not come to save our souls (individual salvation); that was already a "done deal". It was "done" by Jesus upon the Cross! This is why the New Testmant calls Jesus the monogenes ("unique") Son of God. He is not the only Son of God, but the "unique" Son of God.

Yeh'o'shuah (Jesus) came to save the soul (of sinners). Bahá'u'lláh came to save the Whole (of Humanity).

'Abdu'l-Baha: "Jesus is the Perfect Mirror, in which the bounties of God are reflected. Jesus is not separate from God, since His is the perfection of Divine Knowledge."
Mr. Meakin: "Are not all the Prophets Manifestations of the WORD?"
'Abdu'l-Baha: "Yes, but the WORD as reflected in Jesus has a special meaning. The Sun shines in all the months, but in July it is brightest." (Pilgrim's Notes of Louis Gregory, p.10 online)

Bahá'u'lláh wrote:

Know that when the Son of Man yielded upon Hiss breath to God, the whole creation wept with such a great weeping. By sacrificing Himself, however, a fresh capacity was infused into all created things.***Through Him the leper recovered from the leprosy of perversity and ignorance. Through Him, the unchaste and wayward were healed. Through His power, born of Almighty God, the eyes of the blind were opened, and the soul of the sinner sanctified. (Gleanings pp.85,85)

He is the Alpha and Omega. He is the One that will give unto him that is athirst of the Fountain of the water of life and bestow upon the sick the remedy of true salvation. (Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Baha, pp.12-13)

He is it Who purified the world. Blessed is the man who, with a face beaming with light, hath turned toward Him. (Gleanings, p.86)

The Second Death

"The Second Death" refers to the fate of the Devil, his angels, and the "sons of perdition". In the Book of Revelations it says they shall suffer "the second death" (Revelations 14:9-11): Most Bible scholars interpret "the Second Death" to mean "total annihilation"; to cease to exist. Others interpret it mean to be "eternally separated" from God.

Yet, Bahá'ís believe that "all" came from God, and "all" shall return unto Him!

The "Second Death" seems to refer to souls that "die" on earth having to "die" again; not on earth, but on another planet. The Apostle Paul (called "the most faithful servant" of Christ by 'Abdu'l-Baha) lists those who cannot "inherit" the Kingdom of God:

Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God? Be not deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolators, nor adulterers, nor effeminate [malakoi], nor abusers of themselves with mankind [arsenkoitai], nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortionists, shall inherit the Kingdom of God. (1 Corinthians 6:6-10)

1) Fornicators (those who have sex outside of lawful marriage)
2) Idolators (those who worship idols)
3) Adulterers (those who have cheat on their spouses)
4) Effeminate (Greek: "Malakoi") Effeminate homosexual men
5) Abusers of themselves with mankind (Greek: "Arsenkoitai") Masculine homosexual and bisexual men (i.e. any man who has sex with men or boys no matter his sexual orientation).
6) Thieves (those who steal and those who do not give a laborer his honest wage)
7) Covetous (those who desire the posessions of others and seek to take it legally or otherwise)
8) Drunkards (those who abuse alcohol and other intoxicants)
9) Revilers (those who backbite and spread false rumors)
10) Extortionists (those who oppress the poor and unfortunate for their own gain)

Jesus says to John on the Isle of Patmos:

7. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
8. But the fearful, the unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolators, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. (Revelations 21:8)

None of these shall inherit the Kingdom of God (any of the Three Heavens) but must "die" a second time. Yet, their punishment is not eternal! They will be given other chances to progress.

"Salvation" then is being "exempt" from some sort of punishment; either upon our soul, or upon a nation, or city, or village, a community, or upon all Humanity.

We are "saved" from "The Fire" (another existence in Nasút on another planet or planets) by accepting the Revelations (Manifestations) of God. We need only accept One of them; for They are ONE! Were any One of Them to say "I am the Way" this is the truth! All of Them are "The Way"; both individually and collectively!

We are "saved" from "The Gulf" (Hell in Malakút) by changing the Hellish (animalistic) condition of our souls into a Heavenly (spiritual) condition (state). We do this by being "born again".

Humanity is "saved" from "The Final Doom" (annihilation of the human race by itself) by establishing peace on earth via the establishment of the World Order of Bahá'u'lláh. Otherwise, Humanity is doomed to annihilate itself.

Jesus promises us:

He that overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death (Revelations 2:11)

The answer is simple.

We must "overcome" whatever causes us not to inherit the Kingdom of God.

The Sons of Perdition

Mormons believe that every soul can eventually be "saved" except for:

1) Satan (the Devil)
2) His angels (messengers)
3) The Sons of Perdition

The Bible uses the term "son of perdition" like we use the term "son of a bitch". Here are two cases where it is used in the Bible:

1) In reference to a group of bi-sexual Benjaminites (members of the Tribe of Benjamin) who rape and murder a concubine (slave-wife) of an Israelite (Judges chapter 19).

2) In reference to the Roman Emperor Hadrian; a homosexual emperor who, during the second Jewish Revolt (132-137 A.D.) destroys Jerusalem, kills a million Jews (a third of all Jews living at that time), and puts up a pagan temple where the Jewish Temple had stood with his own image as "Zeus".

For Mormons, the "Sons of Perdition" refer to men that are so evil that they cannot be saved in any "kingdom of glory" but will suffer the fate of Lucifer and his angels; which is annihilation (to cease to exist).

They go to "Tartarus" which in Greek mythology is under Hades, and is a place of total darkness. Perhaps this is reference to going back to the mineral kingdom; where there are no "eyes" and on conscienceness, and starting all over again the Arc of Ascent.

Who are the "sons of perdition"?

I don't know. I will tell you who I think they are.

Paul wrote to Timothy (an early Greek Christian) the following:

1 NOW the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.
2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron.
3 Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. (1 Timothy 4:1-3)

1) The God of the Bible is evil. They referred to Him as Yaldabaoth (Aramaic: "Aborted Offspring").

2) Matter is evil, spirit is good. Yaldabaoth (Jehovah) tramped us in bodies to make us his slaves. We reincarnate over and over again on this earth. We must escape this evil world.

3) We escape this evil world by the GNOSIS ("knowledge").

4) The Serpent in the Garden of Eden is the "Savior" of mankind; because he gave Eve the "Gnosis".

5) Lucifer is the true Principle of Good, and Jehovah is the evil and false Principle of Darkness.

The Gnostics were of two types:

1) "The Elect". The Elect were forbidden to marry or eat meat. Heterosexual sex and the eating of meat were considered evil; since heterosexual sex produced offspring (more slaves for Yaldabaoth), and meat weighed the soul down and caused it to reincarnate in matter. All sex other than heterosexual vaginal sex with acceptable; since it did not involve procreation.

2) "The Hearers". These were the laity (common folk). They worked, and supplied the Elect with food and raiment. They could marry, but procreation was discouraged. Non-procreative sex, and abortion, were encouraged; as was suicide, euthanasia, and infanticide. The Gnostics believed that they had to escape evil "matter", and to bring children into this world was simply helping "Yaldabaoth" (also spelled "Ialdabaoth") to capture move slaves.

The most famous Gnostic "prophet" was Mani (Manichaeus); the founder of the Manichees (Manichaeans).

Mani (216-276 A.D.)

Mani taught that Abraham and Moses were prophets of the evil Demiurge (Greek: "Artisan") who created matter; which is evil. Jesus was a Messenger of Light, as was Mani. The "god" known as "Jehovah" was simply an evil Aeon who created evil matter (material world). Mani taught his disciples to abort children; to save them from this evil planet. He taught them not to practice procreation. Homosexual acts were thus encouraged. Suicide was encouraged; to free the soul from "slavery" to Ialdaboath (i.e.Jehovah).

Mani was particular praised by the Theosophists, as well as the Nazis and by the Gnostic "Muslim" groups like the Ismailis.

Bahá'ís do not recognize Mani as a "Prophet"; because he was not a messenger of God, but of the "Crooked Serpent".

The influence of the Gnostics has been felt in almost every country of the globe. The Nazis were founded by men who belonged to secret Gnostic societies. Helena P. Blavatsky (founder of the Theosophical Society) was a Gnostic. Of Lucifer she wrote:

And now it stands proven that Satan, the Red Fiery Dragon, the 'Lord of Phosphorus', and Lucifer, or 'Light-Bearer', is in us: it is our Mind-- our Temptor and our Redeemer, our intelligent Liberator and Savior from pure animalism. (The Secret Doctrine 2:514)

The appelation satan (in Hebrew Adversary) belongs by right to the first and cruelest 'Adversary' of all other Gods--Jehovah; not to the Serpent who spoke only words of sympathy and Wisdom. (The Secret Doctrine 3:386)

"Satan", the Serpent of Genesis, is the real creator and benefactor, the Father of spiritual mankind. For it is he who openned the eyes [of Eve and Adam], and he who was the first to whisper, "In the day ye eat therefor, ye shall be as Elohim, knowing good and evil"; he can only be regarded in the light of a Saviour. (The Secret Doctrine 3:246)

*The Hasheesheem (Assassins).

*The Thule Society whose members founded the Nazi Party in 1920.

*The Knights of the Golden Circle who later renamed themselves the Ku Klux Klan.

*The Neo-Malthusian League (from which came the pro-Choice movement).

*The Muslim Brotherhood who inspired Al-Qaeda and other such groups.

*The Skull & Bones Society; who produce more American leaders of politics and industry than any other.

All of these groups are not part of any international human conspiracy, but they all share Gnostic origins and beliefs.

Blavatsky's personal symbol included the Ouborous (the Serpent consuming it's own tail); which is the symbol of the planet Rahab:

HPB's seal upon which the Theosophical seal was created

Official seal of the Theosophical Society

Painting of Blavastky and her spirit-guides (The "Masters of Wisdom") that inspired her

The first Theosophist periodical was named LUCIFER; in honor of the "Serpent of Wisdom" that Blavatsky honored.

In the Encyclopedic Theosophical Glossary we read:

In this sense the Serpent of Eden, Satan even, is man's Savior. (Encylopedic Theosophical Glossary: Salvation, p.4 online)

*Lucifer is the Good Principle and Jehovah the Evil Principle of the Cosmos
*Mani was a true Messenger of the Light (Lucifer)
*Moses was a prophet of the evil Ialdabaoth
*The Serpent is man's true savior
*The Ego/Self is the "god within"
*Homosexuality is a higher manifestation of eros than procreative (hetero) sex
*Some races are higher and more advanced than others
*Abortion and euthanasia are acts of mercy
*The Jews have bad national-karma that must be paid-for

Blavatsky died in 1891, and was succeeded by Annie Besant; who was also a founder of Feminism and the pro-Choice movement.

Besant was succeeded by Alice Bailey who renamed the Esoteric Section the "Arcane School". Many prominent British and Americans were invited to become members of the Arcane School. One of them was Margaret Sanger; founder of what is now Planned Parenthood.

German members of the Arcane School founded a fraternity in Germany called the Brotherhood of Death that later came to Yale University and changed it's name to "Skull & Bones".

Logo of the Skull & Bones Society (Yale)

In 1922 the publishing and educational arm of the Arcane School was named Lucifer Trust; renamed Lucis Trust in 1933. The Arcane School still exists today, and may be called the "brains" of the New Age Movement. It's prospecting arm, Lucis Trust, also still exists.

The logo of LUCIS TRUST

The name "Lucifer" comes from the Latin words LUCIS ("light") + FERE ("bringer").

The Gnostics use sincere souls if they can, and they do. They are building a Gnostic alternative to the World Order of Bahá'u'lláh, and they wish to establish it so that the Bahá'í World Order will never be established. They have their own Luciferian "New World Order" which is diametrically opposed to the Bahá'í New World Order.

This is not mere coincidence. It is simply the War in Heaven continuing on this planet.

What is known as the "New Age Movement" is simply a modern name for Gnosticism.

A book which reveals the Gnostic roots of the New Age Movement

Logo for Gnostique.net (France)

Logo of the Gnostic Society of Norway (right)

The Gnostic Cross

Cross of the Church of Scientology

Gnosticism is not limited to the "Elites" of America and Europe! By no means! The most popular "religion" of Brazil (for example) is Candomblé; which is a combination of Roman Catholicism, Spiritism, and West African "Serpent" cults.

Many people in Haiti and Brazil worship "Damballa" and seek to be possessed by him. Damballa is the "serpent-god" of Voodoo, Candomblé, and other West African based religions of the Americas. According to one writer:

Damballa is also the source of all knowledge. Coiled forever in the Tree of Life he tempts man to know himself. As a sign of immortality, he sheds his skin and reappears in a new body; as a symbol of the endlessness of time, he is depicted as a snake eating its tail. His devotees revere him so much they become his bridgegroom or bride in special Voodoo ceremonies. In Africa, where he originated, men honored him by building snake houses beneath the tallest and most beautiful trees. In these "serpent chapels" they kept a living snake which they bore on a carpent of silk for religious processions....
When the black man, coerced into Christianity, heard that remarkable account of the Serpent in the Garden of Eden, he imagined the snake was Damballa. To him the Biblical account of the temptation was just another story about the "great god sex" and if the Christian did not understand the symbolism, the Voodooist did. (Strange Sects and Curious cults, 1961, p.61)

A painting of Damballa by the famous Haitian artist Gerard Fortuné

In my opinions, the "sons of perdition" are they who knowingly follow and worship the Serpent. They shall receive his reward.

Forces of Darkness vs. Armies of Light

The Gnostics are the Forces of Darkness. They are in battle with the Armies of Light.

According to The Book of Revelations (Apocalypse), the last book in the New Testament, the War in Heaven (where the Red Dragon and his angels were cast down to earth) is still going going on! The angels of Lucifer are called the "Forces (Powers) of Darkness". They are in battle with the "Army of Light".

'Abdu'l-Baha wrote:

The Lord of Hosts hath descended with the Army of Lights and angels of heaven and depressed the Armies of Darkness!" (Tablets of 'Abdu'l-Baha, p.289)

From the beginning of the world until the present time each Manifestation sent from God has been opposed by an embodiment of the Powers of Darkness.***
In every case the Army of Light vanquished the Powers of Darkness on the battlefield of the world, and the radiance of the Divine Teaching illumined the earth. (Paris Talks, p.102)

Evidences of increasing hostility, persistent machinations within, foreshadowing dire contests destined to range the Army of Light against the Forces of Darkness, both secular and religious, predicted in unequivocal language by 'Abdu'l-Baha,.... (Messages to the Bahá'í World: 1050-1957, p.123)

The Law of Karma

When Jesus was on earth, His disciples saw a blind man. They asked Him this question:

1 AND as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth.
2 And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?
3 Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. (John 9:1-3)

Christians interpret what Jesus said to say this:

"Since we do not exist before we are born this man could not have sinned. And his being born blind is not the result of the sins of his parents. Rather, he was born blind so Jesus would heal him and show the glorious works of God to everyone."

karma of the man's previous existence were the "works [karma] of God" that was being "manifest" in His life.

4 [Jesus said] I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.
5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.
6 When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with clay,
7 And said, God, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.,) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing.
8 The neighbors therefore, and they which before had seen him that he was blind, said, Is not this he that sat and begged?
9 Some said, This is he: others said, He is like him; but he said, I am he.
10 Therefore he said unto him, How were thine eyes opened?
11 He answered and said, A man that is called Jesus made clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said to be, Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash: and I went and washed, and I received sight. (John 9:4-10)

Wrong! Jesus literal healed a literally blind man, but there are many batin (metaphorical meanings of these verses as well. The Eastern Religions teach the belief in Karma (Sankrit: action, reward, debt, consequences). Those religions teach that those born blind, or with deformaties, or in lower castes, etc., are paying for their karma in a previous life. If our actions were good in a past life then we are born healthy and high-caste. If our actions were evil in a previous life then we are born deformed or diseased and low-caste. Our actions determine our "debt" in this life. For example, if a man was "spiritually blind" in his previous life, he will be born "literally blind" in this life.

The Qur'an says that those who are "spiritually blind" in this life will be "literally blind" in the Resurrection:

But whosoever turns away from My Message, verily, for him is a life narrowed down, and We shall raise him up blind on the Day of Judgment.
He will say, "O My Lord! Why hast thou raised me up blind; while I had sight [in life]?"
(God will say) "Thou didst then, when all Signs came unto thee, disregard them; so wilt thou this Day, be disregarded." (20:124-126)

Most Bahá'ís interpret the Resurrection to be merely a metaphor of accepting the Manifestation of God. In other words, we are spiritually dead until we accept the Manifestation of God for our age, then we are resurrected and become spiritual alive.

But, this "metaphor-only" explanation has some problems. How could a person "spiritual blind" by rejecting the Manifestation be "Resurrected" and still be "blind"?

The "metaphor only" view of this Verse cannot be defended! It makes no sense at all!

What does it mean then?

In my view, the literal (zahir) meaning of the Resurrection of the Dead (which does not negate any metaphorical view) means to live again on another world; either Nasút or a higher dimension. If we are "spiritual blind" on this world, then, in the next world (a literal planet) we shall be born literally blind. But this literal blindness will not last forever; just our own lives. If we are literally blind, but spiritually "seeing" on that would, our next life on another world will shall see! Indeed, nobody "spiritually alive" on one planet can go to Hell (Nasút) on the next! Each world exists in various dimensions. Those spiritual alive on Planet A in Nasút not go to Hell (Nasút) on Planet B, but go to Paradise on Planet B. If they continue to progress they will not need to go to Nasút again; unless they "fall" back into Nasút.

Why are some born rich and wealthy in America or Western Europe while others are born low-caste in India; deformed and diseased?

Why would a loving God simple "roll the dice" with our lives? Is this the Justice of God? The luck-of-the-draw?

How could a perfect God create such an imperfect world? And, more importantly, WHY would He?

The Law of Karma teaches that our "lot in life" is determined by our actions in our previous life.

Why, for example, are some people born in Western countries where there is plenty of food, plenty of free education, relatively little disease, where life is relatively easy and joyful while other people are born in Africa where there is much disease (30 million in Africa are infected with AIDS and HIV), much injustice, much famine, much ignorance and superstition, and much premature death?

The radical Bahá'í would say:

"Because whites have oppressed Africa and Africans. Otherwise, it would still be a paradise."

"Because the people are poor, and the governments are corrupt, and this is why we need the World Order of Bahá'u'lláh; to right the wrongs happening in all parts of the world."

"Because the people are ignorant; they have not yet been spiritually educated."

"It is the Will of ALLÁH!"

"It is the result of the karma of a previous life; this determines our birth in this life. If our karma was good we are born in good circumstances. If our karma is bad we are born in bad circumstances."

"Our previous life determines the circumstances surrounding our birth."

"That is a divine mystery!"

"God loves us all...regardless!"

"The Lord does as He wills; its not for us to judge Him, but He shall judge us."

"What circumstances we are born into is determined by our pre-mortal life before this earth. If we obeyed the Lord in our previous existence, then we will be born in good circumstances. If we disobeyed the Lord in our previous existence, then we our born in poor and miserable circumstances. The deeds in the Pre-Existence, whether good or bad, determine the circumstances of our birth here on this earth."

"Because blacks are inferior and not intelligent enough, and that's why their world is so bad!"

There is no 'reason'! It's the luck-of-the-draw."

The Qur'an says that on the Day of Resurrection those who were apostates (who once believed but then disbelieved) would have "black faces", but the Believers who remained faithful would have "white faces". (7:46)

The Mujrimuun [polytheists, criminals, etc.] shall be known by their marks (black faces) and they will be seized by their heads and their feet. (55:41)

On the Day when some faces will be white and some faces will be black: To those whose faces will be black, will be said: "Did ye reject Faith after accepting it? Taste then the penalty for rejecting Faith!" But those whose faces will be white, they will be in ALLÁH's mercy; therein to dwell. (3:106-107)

Much of sacred Hindu scripture (including the Bhagavad Gita) supports the idea that Aryans (the originally white-skinned people who conquered the black-skinned native Hindustanis) were born into the three higher-castes because of good karma in a previous life, and that the black-skinned Dravidians and Tamils were born into the low-caste Sudras and the Outcastes because of bad karma in a previous life.

A light-skinned Brahmin (priest) and a black-skinned Sudra (worker)

Bahá'ís often quote from the Bhagavad Gita those verses which they agree with, but ignore those verses which support the caste-system as divine, or that teach reincarnation (on other worlds), the killing of humans as sometimes a divine duty, etc.

Bahá'ís come mostly from liberal backgrounds; because the "World Peace/Race Unity/Equality" Message is the "Standard" prospecting message of the Faith all over the world; thanks to the fact that many early Bahá'í teachers could speak before liberal social-activist groups for free, and thus many early Western Bahá'ís were gleaned from those groups.

What is the Bahá'í interpretation of "black faces" on the Day of Resurrection?

I've asked a number of Bahá'ís this, and most simply say "that's a metaphor!" I ask "of what"? They don't know. Several Persian Bahá'ís have told me this:

"Well, you see, the Arabs were a very ignorant people! So, the Prophet Muhammed had to use language to scare them, to make them conform. He spoke of houris and virgins in order to inspire them positively. So, He spoke of the Fires of Hell, and of demons, and of black faces on the day of resurrection, in order to inspire them negatively. But none of these things exist! He was just trying to inspire hope and fear in them!"

Do you believe that?

What do the "black faces" on the Day of Resurrection refer to? The Verses were not created for nothing. Ask yourself, and let me know what you come up with! My email address is at the bottom of this article.

Bahá'ís interpret the "Day of Resurrection" totally metaphorically; meaning that when we accept the Manifestation we are "resurrected" from being spiritually-dead to spiritually-alive; they believe the Resurrection has no further meaning (i.e. no zahir or literal meaning). Under this view, the Day of Resurrection means those who accept the Manifestation who before believed then disbelieved then (apparently) believed again will have "sullen" (not black) faces.

If the Law of Karma is true, and if the zahir (literal) meaning of the Resurrection means a new life on another world, what would be the interpretation of "black faces"?

Here is what I believe.

The Qur'an says that those who become disbelievers after having been believers (apostates) shall have "black faces" and "be seized by the head and the feet" on the Day of Resurrection. The metaphor-only view of of this makes no sense at all.

On Earth, the white races have always subjected the black races. The whites of Europe conquered Africa (seized their "head" of chiefs) and enslaved blacks (seized their "feet" whereby they could not go where they pleased). The same is true when the white-skinned Aryans from Persia and Bactria invaded India and subjucated the black-skinned races there. The same is true when the white-skinned British subjugated the black-skinned Aboriginals of Australia and Tasmania. This was also true when the white-skinned Arabs enslaved the East Africans by the millions from the 7th century to well into the 20th century. Some Arabs today are brown skinned because they are the descendants of white-skinned Arab slaver owners and their black-skinned slave-concubines.

White-faced peoples subjugated and enslaved black-faced peoples

The "seizing" of the "head" refers to the subjugation of the chiefs; which meant confescation of the lands.
The "seizing" of the "feet" refers to slavery and serfdom. Apartheid was a form of serfdom. Black chiefs were subjugated ("heads" were seized) and their lands were confescated, and blacks were not allowed freedom-of-movement ("feet" were seized).

The notion that the subjugation and enslavement of black-skinned peoples by white-skinned peoples as a punishment of God is UTTER BLASPHEMY in the ears of a Bahá'í! This is because the vast great majority of non-Persian Bahá'ís are social liberals; draw to the Faith via it's "Standard" Message; which is the one and only prospecting message by the Bahá'ís since the 1920s.

There are Pilgrim's Notes where Shoghi Effendi explains that the Jews were persecuted for 2000 years (this would include the holocaust) as a direct result of a "curse" of the LORD upon the Israelites for persecuting and killing Jesus. But he added that the Muslims would even suffer more, because while the Jews persecuted Jesus for 3 years, the Muslims persecuted Bahá'u'lláh for fifty years. (Haifa Notes, p.4 online)

Orthodox Muslims believe that everything is the "Will of ALLÁH". Bahá'ís do not see it that way. They see slavery as a mistake, and the victims of slavery as pure innocents. They don't see "God" in that at all.

Hindus believe that the condition we are born into is determined by our previous life. If we are born into a high-caste this means we obeyed Dharma (religion, order, righteousness) in our previous life. If we are born into a low caste it means we disobeyed Dharma. The Bhagavad-Gita teaches that the castes are the result of karma in previous lives. Bahá'ís love to quote the Gita in those Verses they agree with, but ignore the rest.

Muhammad of course owned many slaves; mostly black, but a few Copts (white). It is said He freed His slaves just before His death.

The Báb bought and sold black slaves, and Bahá'u'lláh inherited black slaves from His father. Bahá'u'lláh sold one of His black slaves in order to pay a debt. He outlawed slavery among the Bahá'ís in 1874.

If by "black faces" the Qur'an means to be born into a black race on another world, does this mean whites are justified in subjugating and enslaving blacks?

In my opinion, not at all! God uses evil natural men for the same reason He uses Lucifer (Iblis). The Bible says that the LORD used the King of Babylon (Nebuchanezzar) to enslave the Israelites; because the Israelites had worshipped idols and had forgotten the LORD.

Are birth-defects "accidents" or "punishments"?

Is the epidemic of AIDS a divine punishment or an "accident" outside of the Will of ALLÁH?

You will have to answer that for yourself as I have for myself.

Why is there little slavery now?

The end of slavery started in 1863; with the Emancipation Proclamation. Why did slavery and subjugation of blacks by whites eventually happen?

The answer is because a Manifestation of God atoned for the bad karma of those who apostasized on a previous world, or did something in that cased them to come to this planet in Nasút and to be born in a lower class or a lower caste. To atone means to "pay for". Bahá'u'lláh was imprisoned for forty years to "pay for" the manifest bad karma of others. This is why He wrote:

The Ancient Beauty hath consented to be bound with chains that mankind may be released from its bondage, and hath accepted to be made prisoner within this most mighty Stronghold that the world world may attain unto true liberty. (Gleanings p.99)

Alam-i-Mithal (Dream World)

For mystical Muslims (Sufis and Ishraqis) the Dream World is a real "realm"; another dimension. It is called Malakut (Realm of the Angels). The Seer, Shaykh Ahmad al-Asa'i, was an Ishraqí (Arabic: "Illuninationist"). The Ishraqís taught that "Paradise" and "Hell" were not geographical places, nor material, but existed in the alam (world/realm/plane/dimension/sphere) in-between Nasút (our world) and Jabarút. In other words, Paradise and Hell exists in Malakút.

Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahasa'i (1753-1826 A.D.)

Baha'is would do well to study the writings of Shaykh Ahmad al-Asa'i. Many of his books (in Arabic and Farsi) are available for sale online. Many of his works are being translated into English.{Footnote #3}

Both Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsa'i and his successor Siyyid Kazim Rashti were Muhaddathuun (Arabic: "Seers"). They did not gain their knowledge of the Divine solely through study and reason and tradition, but they actually had divine visions in which Muhammad or one of the Imams appeared to them; explaining what they wrote or said or did.

Shaykh Ahmad taught that the Dream World (Alam-i-Mithal) was a real place; not just our imagination in the night. It was a dimension; the dimension called Malakút. It existed between our Realm (Nasút) and the Realm of Power (Jabarút). It was the place of dreams, visions, angels, and Paradise.

Westerners believe that our minds create illusions for us when we dream, and that the dream world does not exist outside of our own minds. However, in many of the world's religions, the Dream World is another dimension; our souls "detach" from our bodies as and enter the "Astral Plane".

In the Radhasoami tradition, and in Eckankar, and those who practice "Astral Travel", and among the Súfís, and Ishraqís, and among various Buddhist sects, and among the Rishis and Yogis of India, there is the belief that there is a World of Archtypal Images (called by various names) that exists between this world and the next. The Súfís believe that Alam-i-Mithal exists between Nasút and Jabarút; that it is in fact Malakút.

Malakút is called the "World of Angels"; because in Arabic malak means "angel". What is an "angel"? For Súfís, an "angel" is simply a soul without a body. Many Prophets and Seers have seen angels; either in dreams, or in visions. A dream is a vision at rest.

Muslims believe that there is a period between death and the Resurrection. They call this the "Gulf" (Arabic: barzakh). It is the "Gulf" or "isthmus" between two things. Just as sleep and dreams are the "gulf" between two days of waking, so Barzakh is the "gulf" between our world (Nasút) and the next world (Jabarút).

The Súfís believe that Paradise and Hell exist in the Alam-i-Mithal. Paradise is a pleasant dream, and Hell is a nightmare.

Alam-i-Mithal is the dimension where "thoughts" become "forms". If our "thoughts" are evil, then, in the Alam-i-Mithal, evil creatures (demons) are "formed" to torment us. If our "thoughts" are good, then good fruits and good beings are formed.

One could liken Alam-i-Mithal with the "Holodeck" on Star Trek. In these programs crewmen can program in a "reality" they wish to experience, and, in the Holodeck, a hologrammed "reality" appears; as tangible as the "real" world.

The Ishraqís taught that the Alam-i-Mithal was just as real as our dimension, but it was not "material" but "ethereal". They taught that this "world" or dimension existed "in-between" our individual death and our resurrection. In was "Barzakh" (Arabic: "gulf") between this world and the next.

What might happen to us in the Alam-i-Mithal?

The answer to that is simple!

Just read the Buddhist descriptions of the hells, and you'll know! The Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, and Jain descriptions are accurate.

We "create" (literally) our own Paradise or our own Hell in Malakút; depending upon if our soul is in the state of Paradise (close to God) or in the state of Hell (far from God) in this life.

A New Race of Men

Adam was born into this world a Manifestation of God, because the Manifestations are pre-existent souls who reached highly advanced spiritual states on other planets.

Adam and Eve were not the first human beings on this planet! The Báb wrote that Adam and Eve appeared about the year 10,500 B.C. (Bayan III:13). Adam and Eve were not the first human beings, but the first in a "new race" of men. The name Adam comes from the Hebrew AW-DAWM; it means literally "to show blood (in the face--to blush)" (Strong's Concordance of Hebrew Words, #119). Only one race of man (the youngest one) can "blush", or "show blood". All of the Manifestations of God and Prophets in the Adamic Cycle have been Adamites:

Adam (Sumerian?)
Noah (Sumerian?)
Abraham (Semite)
Moses (Semite)

Zoroaster (an Aryan)
Krishna (an Aryan)
Buddha (an Aryan)
Jesus (Semite)
Muhammad (Semite)
The Báb (Semite/Aryan)
Bahá'u'lláh (Aryan/Semite)

The Semites are a combination of Sumerians and Ubaiyad (pre-Adamic) peoples. The Aryans are a combination of Sumerians and Indo-European (pre-Adamic) peoples. I believe that Adam and Eve were the first "Sumerians". They spoke a language totally unrelated to any other on earth; because they spoke a language they spoke while in Paradise (Malakút); which was the language they spoke on another world. The other languages evolved here on this planet, and this is why Sumerian is totally unrelated to, and unlike, any other language on earth.

All of the Prophets in the Adamic Cycle have been Adamites; of one race of men. The purpose of the Adamites was to establish civilization upon this planet.

The Adamic bloodline has been infused into the older races of the earth save perhaps for pockets of peoples in New Guinea, the Khalihari plains of Africa, and among the Aboriginals of Australia and Melanesia.

Bahá'u'lláh promises that there will arise "a new race of men" (Advent of Divine Justice, p.16). Most Bahá'ís interpret that to metaphorically; to mean simply a "group" of people of all races who will come to the forefront of World Peace and Race Unity, and espouse Esperanto, and equal-pay-for-equal-work, and the Equal Rights Amendment, and CEDAW, and other Liberal causes on a global scale!

But...I think this is not so. I believe Bahá'u'lláh was speaking literally when He wrote about a "new race of men". The new race would be a literal "new race"; higher than the Adamic Race, and sent here not merely to create civilization, but to create a Divine Civilization. The old races cannot do it, it's not in their nature. Only the New Race can, and they will. They will be Homo Noeticus; a truly more highly advanced race of human beings; intellectually, physically, and spiritually.

Jinn and Men

The Qur'an says:

I have created Jinn and Men that they may worship Me. (51:56)

If Jinn simply "mythical creatures" then ALLÁH said:

"I have created Mythical Creatures with no existence of any kind, and Men, that they may worship Me."

Obviously the "Jinn" exist just as "Men" exist, or what are they?

I believe that "Jinn" refer to our souls; which are our minds. And our minds are the result of billions of years of evolution.

Evolution on this planet is cruel and heartless because the lord of evolution on this planet is cruel and heartless, and proud, and arrogant. He is "Lucifer" of the Old Testament. He is "Iblis" of the Qur'an. He is not a "mere metaphor" or mythological story. He is not "mere" parable. He is the author of the Lion devouring the lamb. He is the author of the strong overcoming the weak. He is the author of of our souls!

Our spirits come from God, and are, indeed, "parts" of God as protons are "parts" of the Sun. But our souls are our "lower natures"; the "animal" nature that exists in us. Our "soul" is the culimination of billions of years of evolution. Our souls are selfish; filled with millions of years of "survival instinct" where deception and cruelty and rape and murder are "rewarded".

Our "soul" is ad odds with our spirits; out higher natures. Our souls are evil, and our spirits are good. Our souls are "dross" and our spirits are "gold". Our souls are "dark" and our spirits are "light". This is the meaning in Zoroastrian scriptures of the battle between Ahura Mazda ("Wise Lord") and Angra Mainyu ("Angry Spirit"). Our "spirit" is the wise lord in us, and the soul is the "Dark Master" in us; each contending for us. Our "soul" is our "lower nature" and our "spirit" is our "higher nature".

In the ealiest Zoroastrian scriptures, Ahura Mazda is the Father of two spirits: Spenta Mainyu (Beneficient Spirit) and Angra Mainyu (Angry Spirit). They war, and Spenta Mainyu wins; casting Angra Mainyu to Earth, and he becomes "Ahriman". In Mormon doctrine, Heavenly Father is the Father of a first-born spirit who does battle with the Father's second-born spirit; who is Lucifer (the Devil), and Lucifer is cast out of heaven unto the Earth.

Our "soul" is our "self-will".

The natural soul is materialistic, atheistic, selfish, self-centered, ego-centric, and apathetic towards the divine. However, we are capable of "raising" our souls to higher stations. In Nasút, we can raise our souls to any one of 7 spiritual stations.

The soul has free-will. The spirit always obeys God; because the spirit is part of the Universal Spirit. When the soul rebels against the spirit it is in rebellion, but the soul can conform its will to the will of the spirit in ever-increasing degrees and thereby come closer and closer to God until finally the soul loses completely its own rebellious self-will and becomes "extinct" in the spirit, and this is "extinction" in God.

The Qur'an says:

I have only created Jinn and Men that they may serve Me. (51:56)

Bahá'ís would interpret "Jinn" in this Verse metaphorically. Jinn do not exist, or they are pure symbols of our "lower natures". In the Qur'an, the Jinn are presented as beings made of "smokeless fire" who can be evil or good just like men. They have communities and even prophets just like men. Some Jinn hear Muhammad reciting the Qur'an, and they believe and go back to their "communities" and convert many (perhaps not all or even most other Jinn). Yet, despite all this, Bahá'ís interpret "Jinn" to mean:

1) Pure mythological creatures with no existence of any kind.

or...

2) Our lower natures.

What are our "lower natures"?

We have a higher nature (spirit) and a lower nature (soul). Often in English, "soul" and "spirit" are two words for the same thing. However, in Hebrew and Arabic, "soul" (nephesh/nafs) is one thing, and "spirit" (ruah/ruh) is quite another thing!

What a strange thing for ALLÁH to say "I have created Jinn and Men to worship Me" when Jinn are merely "mytholical"? Why would He create "myths" to worship Him?

Obviously, the Jinn are "real". But what are they? The common illiterate Muslims interpreted "Jinn" to mean what we would call "ghosts" and "demons" and even "gremlins". If they had an accident, it was caused by a Jinn. If their cattle or goats got sick, it was a Jinn. If they had a disease, it was a Jinn. If a strong wind kicked up and overturned their tent, it was some nasty Jinn being a "wise guy".

Obviously, this is not the "Jinn" of the Qur'an! Nowhere does the Qur'an present the Jinn as causing disease, or sickening cattle, or overturning tents with wind! The illiterate Arabs (and Persians for that matter) simply thought the Jinn were the "gods" of their pagan days.

No, the Jinn are never presented as such in the Qur'an. They are simply presented as living being, just like men, but belonging to the "Unseen" realm (Al-Ghayb) that surrounds us.

Who are the Jinn?

The Jinn are "us". They refer to our "lower natures" because when we die the body goes back to the earth from whence it came. Humans are composed of the following:

1) Spirit (Ruh)
2) Soul (Nafs)
3) Ethereal Body
4) Physical Body

Most Bahá'ís believe that we are composed of two things only:

1) Body
2) Soul/Spirit

But this is not the case.

The Ethereal Body is the "body" of the Spirit, and the Physical Body is the "body" of the Soul. Bahá'u'lláh writes:

Thus it is certain that in men there is a reality which is not the physical body. Sometimes the body becomes weak but that other reality is int is own normal state. The body goes to sleep, becomes as one dead, but the reality is moving about, comprehending things, expressing them and is even conscious of itself. This other and inner reality is called the heavenly body, the ethereal form which correponds [in shape and appearance] to this [our physical] body. (Foundations of World Unity, p.110)

When we die the physical elements return to dust. This leaves us with ethereal body/soul, and spirit remaining. The "Jinn" are the souls of the dead.

According to the Tibetan Book of the Dead, our ethereal bodies exist for 49 days after death. These are the Jinn. They are the "souls" of the dead, and our "souls" are our "lower natures". They can see and hear us, but we cannot see or hear them. They can "repent". They have free-will.

According to 'Abdu'l-Baha, the "souls" of the wicked go far away from this planet, but the souls of the good remain here, but we cannot see them. What is the meaning of this?

I believe it means this:

1) According to the Tibetan Book of the Dead (Bardo Thodol), our bardo bodies remain here for 49 days after death. After 49 days there is a "judgment" and the soul can either come back as a human, become a "hungry ghost", a denizen of Hell, an animal, or an Asura, or a Deva, or a Brahma, or it can be "liberated" from the Wheel of Rebirth altogether and reach, we would say, Nirvana (Sanskrit: "to blow out"); meaning the extinction of the "soul/self". Altogether there are 8 possibilities.

2) The good souls remain here on this planet, but in another dimension. The "Garden" is located here; in Malakút (the Dimension between Nasút and Jabarút). . But this is not the end of their journey. The Qur'an does not promise the Faithful a "Garden", but "Gardens" (plural) will rivers flowing underneith. Even in the "Garden" will still have free will, and we can "fall" back to a lesser realm, but not on this planet! Because, we do not return to this planet as humans.

3) The evil souls go away from this planet. Why? Because, they cannot return here as humans. So, they become incarnate on another planet in the realm of Nasút. If they are Faithful there then they will advance as souls and be rewarded. If not, then they will be punished again.

The Qur'an says:

Surely, those who disbelieve in our Revelations, We will condemn them to hell-fire. Whenever their skins are burnt, We will give them new skins. (4:56)

As for those who believe and lead a righteous life, We will admit them into Gardens with flowing streams; they abide therein KHALIDUUN [Arabic: "immortals"]. They have pure spouses [wives/husbands] therein. We will admit them into a blissful shade. (4:57)

The Apostle Peter, chief of the Apostles of Christ, wrote of Christ:

Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him. (1 Peter 3:22)

There is one for our globe,...There is none for our planetary chain, and one for each of its globes; there is likewize one for our solar system, whose habitat is the Sun, and one for our home-universe [galaxy], and so forth forever. (Foutain-source of Occultism, 1974, p.469)

He hath set His tabernacle in the Sun. (Psalms 18:6 Septuigint Version)

His is in the Sun, and the light of the Sun. (D&C 88:7)

The Purusha [Supreme Person] Who dwells in the Sun." (Isavasya Upanishad Mantra 15)

He Who dwells in the Sun. (7th Brahmana v.9)

He Who dwells in man and Who dwells in the Sun is One. (Taitirija Upanishad)

The Soul of the Creator dwells in the Sun. (Sabbath Days, p.2 online)

Many ancient Jews identified YHWH (Jehovah) with Apollo; the Greek god who was the god of the Sun, and dwelt in the Sun. Some early Christian depiction of Jesus have Him dressed as Apollo.

The Apostle Paul wrote:

For our God is as a comsuming fire. (Hebrews 12:29)

The Ouborous (left) and the remnants of Rahab (right)

Valentinus (d. 161 A.D.) also spoke of the "30 Aeons" which existed in a higher creation. This corresponds to the 30 galaxies of the "Local Group":

The Milky Way is a member of a group of galaxies termed the Local Group that contains 20 bright galaxies and 30 galaxies total. (The Local Group of Galaxies, p.1 online)

The Aeons create the planets, and higher Aeons create the Stars, and higher Aeons create the galaxies, and there are even higher Aeons than these!

The Qur'an says:

So blessed be ALLÁH, the best of creators. (23:14)

There are the Aeons who create the planets of this system, and Aeons who create the stars, and Aeons who create the glaxies, and even higher Aeons than these!

The Aeons are not partners to ALLÁH. Rather, they are the Quiddities (Names/Attributes) of ALLÁH. They are His "thoughts" and "words". ALLÁH is the Totality of His Names and Attributes; just as a book is the totality of it's letters, or the Sea is the totality of its water molecultes, or the Sun is the totality of its hydrogen molecules.

The Aeons are simply "souls" no longer limited by matter.

In Lahút They are Divinities. In Jabarút they are Powers. In Malakút they are Angels. In Nasút they are Prophets.

The Silent Watchers (Aeons of the Planets) were also called "Powers". The term "Powers" comes from ancient Jewish belief of beings higher than angels. This is from Philo (a contemporary of Jesus and Paul who lived in Alexandria, Egypt). Philo wrote of the "Powers":

In themselves the Powers are the eternal forms of God's thought. (Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, 1951, I:311a)

"These Powers, or Ideas, are not equal rank. The highest of them is the Logos [WORD], which stands nearest to the Godhead....(311a)

The angels are incorporeal souls, created, finite, and localized; they are 'powers', no doubt, doing God's will, but they are entirely different from THE POWERS, or Divine Ideas. (311a)

Yeh'o'shuah (Jesus) is the "WORD"; the commanding "KUN" ("BE!") of God that created the Cosmos.

There are beings higher than the angels, called the "Powers". The term "Jabarút" means "Realm of Powers". The term "Malakút" means "Realm of Angels". The term Nasút means "Realm of Humans". The term Lahút means "Realm of Divinities". The term Hehút means "Realm of Ipseity" (Essence).

In other words:

Nasút=Human soul (1 natural station and 7 spiritual stations)
Malakút=Angel soul
Jabarút=Powerful soul
Lahút=Divine soul

Hehút=The Essence of the Essence forever veiled from the souls of men.

The soul ascends from mineral to animal to plant to human, and the human soul can have 7 different spiritual stations (according to 'Abdu'l-Baha in His Commentary on the Surih of Rum) as well as 1 natural (human) station, but beyond the human stations are addition stations of the soul: to become an Angel, to become a Power, and to become a God.

We all come from GOD, and we all return to Him! Some faster than others. Some less painfully than others. Some more painfully than others. But we all return.

We would liken the Journey Through the Worlds of God as 11 days and nights when we awake, go to sleep, awake again, until the last. Our lives upon planets (one per planet--to return to a planet) is like the waking day when we do our work. Each night we go to sleep; this is death. In the morning we wake up; this is zahir (literal) Resurrection.

A Mormon apostle renowned for his prophectic abilities named Heber C. Kimball once said:

What I do not today, when the Sun goes down, I lay down to sleep, which is typical of death; and in the morning I rise and commence my work where I left it yesterday. That course is typical of the probations we take. But suppose that I do not improve my time today, I wake up tomorrow and find myself in the rear; and the, if I do not improve upon that day, and again lay down to sleep, on awaking, I find myself still in the rear. This day's work is typical of this probation [life time], and the sleep of every day is typical of death, and rising in the morning is typical of the resurrection. They are days labors, and it is for us to be faithful today, tomorrow, and every day. (Journal of Discourses 4:329)

There is one book that teaches that we shall live lives (mortal or otherwise) on other planets, and this is the Urantia book; which claimed to have been channeled by higher beings to a Seer (probably Wilfred C. Kellogg) in the 1930s in Chicago, Illinois. The Urantia book teaches that Buddha, Zoroaster, Krishna, and Muhammad were Prophets. It denied we "reincarnate" back to this planet:

According to the book, we don't reincarnate on earth. We are resurrected on other realms in our ascent to the presence of God. (Frequently Asked Questions About the Urantia Book, Question #6, online)

"souls must rest in unconscious sleep until the judgment day of a new epoch, a new dispensation, the coming of a Son of God.... (UB p.341)

The history of the human race is one of progressive evolution, and the Adamic bestowal left the world's peoples greatly improved over their previous biological condition. (UB 846)

The UB teaches that we spend one mortal life per planet, but that we reincarnate on other worlds. Martin Gardner writes:

Instead of surviving our first death in a region beyond our spacetime, as in the great religions, we proceed from world to world in a series of reincarnations....Of course, when we finally reach the UB's [ultimate] Paradise we are in a region beyond spacetime, in seven dimensions, but [the ultimate] Paradise is a long, long way off. (Urantia, 1995, p.23)

The Goal of Every Christian

Relatively few people in the West know the following:

*The ancient Christians taught that the goal of every Believer was to become a "god".

*The Eastern Orthodox Churches (over 250,000,000 in Russia, Egypt, Greece, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Iran) believe that the goal of every Christian is to become a "god".

*The official doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church teaches that the ultimate goal of every Catholic is to become a "god".

*C.S. Lewis, the most read Christian author in all of English-speaking world, taught and believed that Christian men and women may become "gods" and "goddesses".

Here are a few quotes:

If the WORD became a man, it was so men may become gods. (Irenaeus, d.150 A.D., bishop of Lyons, disciple of Polycard who was a disciple of John the Revelator, quoted in Ante-Nicene Fathers 1:526)

Yea, I say, the WORD of God became a man so that you [Christians] might learn from a man [Jesus] how to become a god. (Clement of Alexandria, d.220 A.D., dead of the Christian School of Alexandria, founded by Mark, author of the Gospel of Mark, quoted in his Exortation to the Greeks chapter 1)

If one knows himself, he will know God, and knowing God will become like God. His is beauty, true beauty, for it is God, and that man becomes a god, since God wills it. (Clement of Alexandria, in The Instructor 3.1)

For the Son of God became man so that we might become God. (Athanasius, d.300 A.D. author of the Athanasian Creed which all Christians accept as orthodox, from De Incar. 53.3)

The WORD was made flesh in order that we might be enabled to become gods. (Athanasius, Against the Arians 1.39)

He made man for that purpose, that from men they may become gods. (St. Jerome, Homilies of St. Jerome 1:48)

But He Himself that justifies also deifies, for by justifying H emakes sons of God. For He has given them power to become the sons of God (John 1:12). If then we have been made sons of God, we have also been made gods. (St. Augustine, On the Pslams, 50.2)

The Only-begotten Son of God, wanting to make us sharers in his divinity, assumed our nature, so taht he, made man, might make men gods. (St. Thomas Aquinas, Catechism of the Catholic church, n.460)

www.angelfire.com/mo3/bahai/gods.html

3 According to his divine power hath given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that has called us to glory and virtue.
4 Whereby are given to us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers [sharers] of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. (2 Peter 1:3-4)

The "gods" are the Names/Attributes of God. This is why we seek in life to "acquire" His qualities (truth, virtue, justice, etc.); because His Attributes and His Names are the same thing! When our souls become completely sanctified and pure; they reveal what They are; the Names of God, and ALLÁH is the Totality of His Names and Attributes (the "We" and "Us" of Genesis and the Qur'an). This is why the Hebrew name for GOD is a masculine plural ["iym"] on a singular feminine ["Eloah"]: ELOHIYM ("Totality of the male/female Mighty Ones").

C.S. Lewis

The books of C.S. Lewis can be found (in great number) in any of the 10,000 Evangelical Christian bookstores across the U.S. and in most other English-speaking countries. He is the most widely read Christian author in the English-speaking world. Evangelical Christians consider him to be a Bible- believing Christian par excellance. Most Evangelical Christians consider the notion of "exaltation" (deification/theosis) to be "Lucifer's Lie" and thus a heresy (false teaching). Yet, C.S. Lewis believed and taught this very thing. Here are a few quotes:

It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship. (The Weight of Glory, p.14)

Sometimes Lord, one is tempted to say that if you wanted us to behave like the lillies of the field you might have given us an organization more like theirs. But that, I suppose, is just your grand enterprise. To make an organism which is also spirit; to make that terrible oxymoron, a "spiritual animal." To take a poor primate, a beast with nerve-endings all over it, a creature with a stomach that wants to be filled, a breeding animal that wants to mate, and say, "Now get on with it, become a god." (A Grief Observed, pp.84-5)

The command "Be ye perfect" is not idealistic gas. Nor is it a command to do the impossible. He is going to make us into creatures that can obey that command. He said (in the Bible) that we were "gods" and He is going to make good His words. If we let Him--for we can prevent Him, if we choose--He will make the feeblest and filthiest of us into a god or goddess, dazzling, radiant, immortal creature, pulsating all-through with such energy and joy and wisdom and love as we cannot now imagine, a bright stainless mirror which reflects back to God perfectly (though, of course, on a smaller scale) His own boundless power and delight and goodness. The process will be long and in parts very painful; but that is what we are in for. Nothing less. He meant what He said. (Mere Christianity, p.174)

For now the critical moment has arrived. Century by century God has guided nature up to the point of producing creatures which can (if they will) be taken right out of nature, turned into gods. (ibid. p.187)

[In his book The Screwtape Letters, a work of fiction, C.S. Lewis has a demon addressing another demon of lesser rank...] But the enemy [God] really does want to fill the universe with a lot of loathsome little replicas of Himself--creatures whose life, on a minature scale, will be qualitatively like His own, not because He has absorbed them but because their wills freely conform to His. We want cattle who can finally become food: He [God] wants servants who can finally become sons. (The Screwtape Letters, p.45)

Morality is indispensable: but the Divine Life, which gives itself to us and which calls us to be gods, intends for us something in which morality would be swallowed up. We are to be remade...we shall find underneath it all a thing we have never yet imagined: a real man, an ageless god, a son of God, strong, radiant, wise, beautiful, and drenched with joy. (The Grand Miracle, p.85)

C.S. Lewis

They Shall Be Gods

Let me share with you some of my beliefs when I was a Mormon. I believed, and was taught, that our spirits were pre-existent; meaning our spirits lived before this earth was created. We did not believe in reincarnation, but we believed that if we were faithful and worthy (righteous) enough we would become "gods" and "goddesses"; to rule our own planets. We were taught that this process may take "eons", and that first we would become Adams and Eves on new worlds (planets), but eventually we would rule these worlds. The Mormons call this "Exaltation".

Mormons believe there are three different degrees of reward in heaven:

Celestial Kingdom
Terrestrial Kingdom
Telestial Kingdom

In addition, Mormons believe that the Devil and his angels (the demons) along with the "sons of perdition" (men without conscience) will go into "Outer Darkness"; which means they will return to base matter (material kingdom?) and will have to become "intelligences" again and "souls" all over again.

Mormons believe that within the Celestial Kingdom there are also 3 degrees of reward, this, altogether, there are 6 different destinations:

Celestial Glory of Celestial Kingdom
Terrestrial Glory of Celestial Kingdom
Telestial Glory of Celestial Kingdom
Terrestrial Kingdom
Telestial Kingdom
Outer Darkness

The Mormon view of the Kingdoms of Glory in the Afterlife. The Celestial Kingdom has three degrees of "glory"; the highest (3rd Heaven) being "Exaltation"

For Mormons to be "Exalted" means to become "gods" and "goddesses"; to have the ability to be creators; to create worlds and populate those worlds with spirit-children.

Mormons believe that the "Celestial Glory" of the "Celestial Kingdom" means they will become "gods"; which means they will:

1) Become literal Adams and Eves on other planets.
2) Later rule those planets (as World-Rulers).
3) Have spirit-children born as spirits then born as humans
4) Be married for all eternity.
5) Eons after this, become "Gods" and create worlds, galaxies, etc.

Those souls who do not reach the Celestial Glory will become angels. The just souls who do not reach exaltation will become the male and female servants to the Faithful (i.e. Houris and Ghulams). The wicked will also become the servants of the Faithful, but they must be "purified" in Hell first.

In a Revelation to the Seer Joseph Smith, the LORD says:

58 Wherefore as it is written, they are gods, even the sons of God--
59 Wherefore, all things are theirs, whether life or death, or things present, or things to come, all are theirs and they are Christ's, and Christ is God's. (Doctrine & Covenants 76:58-9)

20 Then shall they be gods, because they have no end; therefore they shall be from everlasting to everylasting, because they continue; then shall they be above all, because all things are subject unto them. Then shall they be gods, because they have all power, and the angels are subject unto them. (D&C 132:20)

Every pure, every refined and sanctified soul will be endowed with tremendous power, and shall rejoice with exceeding gladness. (Gleanings, p.154)

If there is only One God, how can men and women become "gods"?

The Qur'an says that there is One God, and to ascribe partners to God is utter blasphemy! How then could some souls become "Gods" when there is only one God?

This is easily answered!

There is only One God, and no other but HE! The Names and Attributes of God are not separate from Him. They are not His partners nor competitors. The Names/Qualities of GOD are "part" of God just as letters are parts of written words, or utterances are part of speech! What are words without letters, or speech without utterances? The plurality is in perception only; not in fact.

There exists only the Parabrahman (Oversoul), and this Soul exists in all sentient beings; even in the mineral! Creation dispersed this Soul into infinite "beings", but all of these "parts" will eventually unite back together again.

God is not "all things" like the New Agers like to say! GOD is the SOUL of the Cosmos, and the Cosmos is His Body. A man is not his "body" but his soul; so GOD is not the Cosmos but the "Soul" of the Cosmos. The body is temporary and imperfect. The soul is eternal.

There is only One God, but God has many Names and Attributes!

As it is written in the Sacred Book of Omoto Kyo (Japanese new religion):

There is only one God; all the gods are but His ministering angels [messengers] who are His Manifestations. (Michi-no-Shiori, p.1 online)

When a living being destroys all his living karmas, he possesses perfect knowledge, vision, power, and bliss. He becomes omniscient and omnipotent. This Living Being is a God in the Jain religion. (Jinvani.com: Jain History, p.1 online)

In Jainism, the Supreme Soul is not God, but rather the condition of the liberated human soul, which in liberation becomes eternal, infinite, blissful, ominscient, and supreme in all the cosmos. (World Scripture: A Comparative Anthology of Sacred Texts, New York, 1990, p.58)

This is what the Jewish theologian Philo of Alexandria meant when he wrote (about the time of Jesus) the following:

A soul is divinized [made divine] by ascending to a region above the heavens where there is no place but God (Questions on Exodus 2.40)

My raining Cause made deities [gods] divine; all Lords have by My ample Order thrived. (Ode to the Dove v.110)

A certain man knocked at his friends door.
His friend asked, "Who is there?"
"I" he answered.
"Begone!" There is no place for the ego in my home" said his friend.
He sadly turned away and for a while tear,
the flames of separation consumed him.
Then, one day, he again knocked at his friends door.
"Who is there?"
"YOU, O Charmer of all hearts!"
"Now, since you are I, come in,
As there is no room for two "I"s in this house!" (Welcome to Aghayiah.com, p.2 online)

O Son of Man!
If thou lovest Me, turn away from thyself; and if thou seeketh My pleasure, regard not thine own; that thou mayest die in Me [fana fi ALLÁH] and I may eternally live in thee. (Hidden Words #7)

We reach so exalted a station when we lose our "self" in Him, disregard our our egos, and sacrifice our own wills upon the Altar of God.

That is how we reach so exalted a station!

Questions and Answers

Q. How can you try to describe the nature of the Afterlife when Bahá'u'lláh clearly wrote that the "nature of the soul after death can never be described, nor is it meet and permissible to reveal its whole character to the eyes of men." (Gleanings, p.156)?

Ans. The nature of the soul shall "never be described"! It is a mystery of God. Indeed, the nature of the soul is identicle to the Essence of the Essence, and will never be known.

Q. How can you say reincarnation is true when 'Abdu'l-Baha and the Guardian repeatedly said that reincarnation was false?

Ans. 'Abdu'l-Baha and the Guardian condemned the popular belief in reincarnation and the transmigration of souls; namely, that spirits/souls return to this material world. Other lives in Nasút on other planets is possible, and is, I believe, what the Qur'an is symbolically describing when it gives the parables of Hell-fire. I believe that Hell-fire refers to any mortal life on any planet, and Paradise refers to any immortal life on any planet (existence on a planet in a higher dimension than Nasút).

Q. How can you say that Joseph Smith was a Seer and inspired of God when letters written on behalf of the Guardian say he was not a prophet and that he could not have prophecied of Bahá'u'lláh in his capacity as a prophet?

Ans. Shoghi Effendi repeatedly said in pilgrim's notes that Joseph Smith "was not a Prophet minor or otherwise but a Seer with high standards". A religious fraud (one who lied about and invented his visions and revelations) cannot be a "Seer" and he cannot have "high standards". The only difference between a Prophet (Naabi) and a Seer (Muhaddath) is that Prophets are infallible/sinless and Seers are fallible/sinful. All the Prophets (major and minor) have been Men. But the Seers can be male or female. Joseph Smith was certainly not a Rasuul (Manifestation of God), and he was not a Naabi (minor prophet under the shadow of a Manifestation). He was as the Guardian believed; a "Seer". He did not prophesy of Bahá'u'lláh in his capacity as a "Prophet", but as a "Seer". Bahá'ís are free to accept him as a Seer, or reject him as a Seer. But Bahá'ís who try to teach believing Mormons the Faith, and do not regard Joseph Smith as a true Seer, will find their endeavor fruitless.

Q. I have heard you are not even a Bahá'í! Is this true? And, if you, why are you doing this?

Ans. I am a Bahá'í! I am not currently enrolled in the Administrative Order, but I am 100% supportive of the Greater and Lesser Covenants, and I obey the Laws of Bahá'u'lláh to the best of my ability and accept fully the Universal House of Justice as the Head of the Faith. Why am I not currently enrolled? You can read about that in My Story As A Bahá'í.

Q. How can you say that there is conjugal love in the Afterlife when Jesus said there is no marriage in Heaven, and a letter written on behalf of the Guardian says there is no marriage or sex in the next world?

Ans. There is no conjugal love in Malakút; which is the first heaven where Paradise and the Hellish-Gulf (not The Fire) exist. However, there are higher heavens than this! 'Abdu'l-Baha taught that Bahá'í couples who become "one" physically and spiritually will be married for all eternity; throughout all the Worlds of God. This happened to Adam and Eve on a previous world, and why they came to this world as spiritual beings, but they fell and became mortal beings. On the future Worlds of God, they will be together in higher dimensions. Conjugal love exists in Nasút and Lahút, but not in Malakút or Jabarút. Souls in Malakút are angels. Souls in Jabarút are Powers. Souls in Lahút are Divinities and are two souls who have become "One" for all eternity.

Q. Why worry about the Afterlife? Shouldn't we rather try to make this earth a better place instead of speculating on the Afterlife and what it is like?

Ans. God sent the Seers for a divine purpose. Please try to recognize what that purpose is. The Hindu, Muslim, Mormon, Christian, Jain, Sikh, Native American, African, Aboriginal, Buddhist, Zoroastrian "SEERS" are all consistant! They differ only in terminology. The Religions of God are "ONE". It's time for Bahá'ís to actually believe that! Exaltation is the very reason and ultimate goal of life! The Religion of God is about returning to God, and the best Path to follow in that quest! The "12 Principles" (world peace/race unity/equality) are small parts of the bigger picture. Very small, but the Western Bahá'ís often make them their idols.

Besides.....

Entry-by-troops will never come via the "World Peace/Race Unity/Equality" message! Never. Spiritual people must be spiritually fed. The mystical half of the Faith must be presented; not just the social half, like two wings of a bird. Only then will the Faith soar! People are spiritually hungry, and they need to be spiritual fed; not just "eternal" discussions of social issues and the "Principles". As long as the Friends do not realize this, they will continue to have a dismal enrollment rate and a dismal retention rate. Also, many young Bahá'ís do not know why they need to keep morally clean! What does abstinence have to do with World Peace or Race Unity or the Equality of man and women (or Esperanto for that matter)? Only when one realizes the ultimate purpose of life itself can one see "the whole picture" and understand why there are laws governing our personal behavior. Otherwise, new generations of Bahá'ís will arise who won't understand the Holy Laws, and many will see them as unnecessary archaic appendages holding them down instead of what they are: rungs to raise them to higher and more glorious dimensions in this life and the next.

Conclusion

Why is this important? It is important because most people will never join the Bahá'í Faith! Why? Because they see no reason to work for "Race Unity" or "World Peace" by changing their religion! This shows them the following:

1. All religions (save a few) are founded by Prophets or Seers, and both were sent by God, and they all essentially teach the same thing.

2. Believers in reincarnation (50% of Europeans and 40% of Americans and Latin Americans as well as 85% of Asians and 80% of East Indians) can be assured their belief is true in a sense.

3. The planets were not created in vain. God's unfolding purpose is behind them.

4. The purpose of sacrificing our egos and submit our wills to the Will of God is ultimately for our own personal benefit.

5. You will NEVER convert the World to Bahá'u'lláh by using your current methods of "Race Unity" and "Equality" and "World Peace"! There is much more to the Bahá'í Faith than just "World Peace" and "Race Unity" and "Equality of Men and Women" and "Esperanto-for-all"! The spiritual teachings must be equal to the social teachings, or the bird willcontinue to flap on the ground instead of soar in the heavens!

Take care, and may God bless you all!

Darrick Evenson

FOOTNOTES

#1 The Tibetan Book of the Dead (Bardo Midol) declares that the "bardo" body lasts for 49 days. According to the Gospels (New Testament) after Jesus dies He goes to Paradise (i.e. in the Spirit-World) for 3 days, then appears to His disciples for 40 days. According to The Book of Mormon Jesus appears to the Nephites (Jewish colony in Ancient America) for 3 days, and then He visits the Lost Tribes of Israel for an additional 3 days; brining the grand total (3 days in Paradise + 40 days among the disciples + 3 days among the Nephites + 3 days among the Lost Tribes of Israel= 49 days.

#2 The letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi says "...this obviously refers to The Báb, as the text shows clearly, and is in no way a reference to Swedenborg." (9 May 1938). This letter is probably one of the letters not signed by Shoghi Effendi, but signed by his wife while he was away. It is highly doubtful that 'Abdu'l-Baha would have called The Báb "Emmanuel" and would have thought "Emmanuel" in Chase's letter referred to The Báb instead of the person Chase was obviouisly referring to: Emmanuel Swedenborg. In any case, the opinions of the secretaries of Shoghi Effendi are not infallible and should not considered to be so.

#3 Books by and about Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsa'i (mostly in Arabic and Persian but a few in English) can be found via the following websites:

UCLA Library Shaykhi Collection

Shaykhi Books

You may also try the following website the Shaykhis themselves have prepared:

http://www.alahsai.net/

You could also search also the works of Juan R.I. Cole et al for translations and papers on Shaykiyyah (Shaykhism):

http://www.h-net.org/

#4 The Báb forbade abortion in His Qayyammu'l-Asmá (the "Qur'an" of the Bábí Revelation), and Bahá'u'lláh did not abrogate that Holy Law! Those Laws not abrogated remain. Shoghi Effendi wrote:

The practice of abortion--which is absolutely criminal as it involves the deliberate destruction of human life--is forbidden in the Cause. (to an individual believer, 25 August 1939)