Light pg. 73
The soul can take with it only good qualities to the next world. It cannot take bad ones. For bad is only the absence of good, as poverty is the absence of riches. Therefore, an evil person is a soul poor in divine virtues. He carries with him only a small measure of heavenly qualities. But a man who has led a virtuous life in this world carries a much greater measure. Through the bounty of God, however, both these souls will progress, but each on its own level.
In the next life, according to the Teachings of Bahá’u’lláh, there are different degrees of existence and, as in this life, those on lower levels will not be able to comprehend the attributes and qualities of the souls which dwell in higher realms.
The highest station destined for man is to be illumined by the ‘spirit of faith’, which comes through recognition of the Manifestation of God for the age and through obedience to His commandments. To attain this station is the very purpose for which God created man.
-Adib Taherzadeh
This realization can be very comforting, especially when guilt or regret can be such an impactful emotion in our day to day lives. We can let these things go, they aren’t a part of us in the next world, why should we hold on to them here; they are in the past and nothing is sweeter than saying goodbye.
Also, when he described how there is no such thing as bad qualities, only the absence of good qualities, it reminded me about how Abdu’l-Baha pointed out that there is no such thing as darkness, it is only the absence of light. He points out that light is a substance, that it can be measured. Darkness does not have rays, it cannot be seen in different spectrums, nor can it be felt. I love this example because it is very simple, yet so powerful.
