Question: Do Baha’is have an idea of an afterlife? If so what does it consist of?

The answer to this question – a very definite and emphatic yes – flows throughout the Baha’i writings.

Baha’u’llah taught the existence of myriad “worlds of God”, including one we enter when we shed the physical form.  But Baha’is also believe that the next life isn’t something we’re supposed to concern ourselves about in such a way that it reduces our life here to the status of a waiting room.

First of all, Baha’u’llah says that we can no more comprehend what that next existence will be like than the child in the womb can conceive of life in this world, and for the same reason – we have no possible frame of reference. Baha’is believe that “afterlife” isn’t just a static place, but rather a progression toward God.

People always asked Baha’u’llah questions about the afterlife. Here’s his answer to an individual that asked a similar question to this one:

And now concerning thy question regarding the soul of man and its survival after death. Know thou of a truth that the soul, after its separation from the body, will continue to progress until it 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 sovereignty, His dominion and power will endure. It will manifest the signs of God and His attributes, and will reveal His loving kindness and bounty. – Baha’u’llah,Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah, p. 155.

In another passage from the same tablet, Baha’u’llah writes a bit about the spiritual power of pure souls that have passed on:

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. The Prophets and Messengers of God have been sent down for the sole purpose of guiding mankind to the straight Path of Truth. The purpose underlying Their revelation hath been to educate all men, that they may, at the hour of death, ascend, in the utmost purity and sanctity and with absolute detachment, to the throne of the Most High. The light which these souls radiate is responsible for the progress of the world and the advancement of its peoples. They are like unto leaven which leaveneth the world of being, and constitute the animating force through which the arts and wonders of the world are made manifest. – Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah, p. 155.

The human soul, the Baha’i teachings affirm, lasts forever.  We each have an eternal inner being, a spiritual reality that retains our individuality, our character and our level of human maturation and development when our body dies:

…if the body undergoes a change, the spirit need not be touched. When you break a glass on which the sun shines, the glass is broken, but the sun still shines! If a cage containing a bird is destroyed, the bird is unharmed! If a lamp is broken, the flame can still burn bright! The same thing applies to the spirit of man. Though death destroy his body, it has no power over his spirit — this is eternal, everlasting, both birthless and deathless. – Abdu’l-Baha, Paris Talks, pp. 65-66.

Baha’is look forward joyously to the transition from this world to the next, to our inevitable birth into what Abdu’l-Baha called “the second life.” MAYA BOHNHOFF

‘Joy’s Scream’ by Louie Rochon-Photography

“Let your joy scream across the pain.” _Elizabeth Wilder

“Self-acceptance comes from meeting life’s challenges vigorously. Don’t numb yourself to your trials and difficulties, nor build mental walls to exclude pain from your life. You will find peace not by trying to escape your problems, but by confronting them courageously. You will find peace not in denial, but in victory.” _J. Donald Walters 

Vibration

“Do you have to change your vibration on a particular subject in order to let it in?” No, you don’t. You could pet your pet and let it in. You could sit with your feet dangling in the bay, and let it in. If it is a subject that you often think of in an attitude of resistance, it is really worthwhile reaching for some thoughts that feel better. You could launch an intention and never think about itagain, and the Universe would yield it to you. You don’t have to clean up your vibration relative to anything, if you can just not think about it any more. That’s why we teach meditation. It’s easier to teach you to have no thought than to have pure positive thought. When you quiet your mind you stop thought; when you stop thought you stop resistance; when you stop resistance—then you are in a state of allowing.
—Abraham
Firoozeh Bowden www.Firoozehbowden.com

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f77SKdyn-1Y&list=RDG09F5Q2j1Eg