Everlasting Unity: We Are All Immortal

O Son of Man! My eternity is My creation, I have created it for thee. Make it the garment of thy temple. My unity is My handiwork; I have wrought it for thee; clothe thyself therewith, that thou mayest be to all eternity the revelation of My everlasting being.

O Son of Man! My majesty is My gift to thee, and My grandeur the token of My mercy unto thee. That which beseemeth Me none shall understand, nor can anyone recount. Verily, I have preserved it in My hidden storehouses and in the treasuries of My command, as a sign of My loving-kindness unto My servants and My mercy unto My people. – Baha’u’llah, The Hidden Words, pp. 18-19.

“My eternity is my creation,” Baha’u’llah tells us in the Hidden Words, “I have created it for thee.”

Do you think of your life as coming to an end at some point? Does death seem final and irrevocable to you?

The Baha’i teachings say, unequivocally, that such thoughts are purely imaginary. All human souls, every true Faith of God tells us, live forever:

It behoveth therefore every man of insight to fix his gaze upon the goal of eternity, that perchance by the grace of Him Who is the Ancient King he may attain unto the immortal Kingdom and abide beneath the shade of the Tree of His Revelation. – Baha’u’llah, The Summons of the Lord of Hosts, p. 169.

The essence of Baha’u’llah’s Teaching is all-embracing love, for love includeth every excellence of humankind. It causeth every soul to go forward. It bestoweth on each one, for a heritage, immortal life. – Abdu’l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of Abdu’l-Baha, p. 66.

Yes, we each die a physical death—but the Baha’i teachings assure us that death only represents our birth into a second life, a timeless, eternal and everlasting existence:

The first life, which pertaineth to the elemental body, will come to an end, as hath been revealed by God: “Every soul shall taste of death.” But the second life, which ariseth from the knowledge of God, knoweth no death, as hath been revealed aforetime: “Him will We surely quicken to a blessed life.” – Baha’u’llah, Gems of Divine Mysteries, p. 49.

These two Hidden Words from Baha’u’llah, quoted at the beginning of this essay, use beautiful poetic language to refer directly to that second, eternal life that awaits us all:

My unity is My handiwork; I have wrought it for thee; clothe thyself therewith, that thou mayest be to all eternity the revelation of My everlasting being.

My majesty is My gift to thee, and My grandeur the token of My mercy unto thee.

Speaking here as the prophet and the voice of God, Baha’u’llah reveals a great mystical truth: that the Creator has, with majesty and grandeur, wrought the unity of existence for our eternal edification. As human beings, Baha’u’llah tells us, God asks us to clothe ourselves with the handiwork of unity, God’s everlasting gift to humanity. That unity, and the assurance that it lasts beyond our physical lives, teaches us that reality cannot perish:

The station of man is great, very great. God has created man after His own image and likeness. He has endowed him with a mighty power which is capable of discovering the mysteries of phenomena. Through its use man is able to arrive at ideal conclusions instead of being restricted to the mere plane of sense impressions. As he possesses sense endowment in common with the animals, it is evident that he is distinguished above them by his conscious power of penetrating abstract realities. He acquires divine wisdom; he searches out the mysteries of creation; he witnesses the radiance of omnipotence; he attains the second birth — that is to say, he is born out of the material world just as he is born of the mother; he attains to everlasting life; he draws nearer to God; his heart is replete with the love of God. This is the foundation of the world of humanity; this is the image and likeness of God; this is the reality of man…

You must endeavor to understand the mysteries of God, attain the ideal knowledge and arrive at the station of vision, acquiring directly from the Sun of Reality and receiving a destined portion from the ancient bestowal of God. – Abdu’l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, pp. 262-263.