|  | THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SPIRIT | 
	| 1 | The immortality of the spirit is mentioned in the Holy Books; 
it is the fundamental basis of the divine religions.  Now punishments 
and rewards are said to be of two kinds.  Firstly, the rewards 
and punishments of this life; secondly, those of the other 
world.  But the paradise and hell of existence are found in all the 
worlds of God, whether in this world or in the spiritual heavenly 
worlds.  Gaining these rewards is the gaining of eternal life.  That 
is why Christ said, "Act in such a way that you may find eternal 
life, and that you may be born of water and the spirit, so that 
you may enter into the Kingdom." | 
	| 2 | The rewards of this life are the virtues and perfections which 
adorn the reality of man.  For example, he was dark and becomes 
luminous, he was ignorant and becomes wise, he was neglectful 
and becomes vigilant, he was asleep and becomes awakened, he 
was dead and becomes living, he was blind and becomes a seer, 
he was deaf and becomes a hearer, he was earthly and becomes 
heavenly, he was material and becomes spiritual.  Through these 
rewards he gains spiritual birth, and becomes a new creature.  He 
becomes the manifestation of the verse in the Gospel where it is 
said of the disciples that they were born not of blood, nor of the 
will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God; that is to 
say, they were delivered from the animal characteristics and qualities 
which are the characteristics of human nature, and they became 
qualified with the divine characteristics, which are the bounty 
of God; this is the meaning of the second birth.  For such people 
there is no greater torture than being veiled from God, and no 
more severe punishment than sensual vices, dark qualities, lowness 
of nature, engrossment in carnal desires.  When they are delivered 
through the light of faith from the darkness of these vices, and 
become illuminated with the radiance of the Sun of Reality, and 
ennobled with all the virtues, they esteem this the greatest reward, 
and they know it to be the true paradise.  In the same way 
they consider that the spiritual punishment, that is to say the 
torture and punishment of existence, is to be subjected to the 
world of nature, to be veiled from God, to be brutal and ignorant, 
to fall into carnal lusts, to be absorbed in animal frailties; to be 
characterized with dark qualities, such as falsehood, tyranny, 
cruelty, attachment to the affairs of the world, and being immersed 
in satanic ideas; for them, these are the greatest punishments and 
tortures. | 
	| 3 | Likewise the rewards of the other world are the eternal life 
which is clearly mentioned in all the Holy Books, the divine perfections, 
the eternal bounties, and everlasting felicity.  The rewards 
of the other world are the perfections and the peace obtained 
in the spiritual worlds after leaving this world; whilst the rewards 
of this life are the real luminous perfections which are realized in 
this world, and which are the cause of eternal life, for they are 
the very progress of existence.  It is like the man who passes from 
the embryonic world to the state of maturity, and becomes the 
manifestation of these words:  "Blessed be God, the best of creators."  
The rewards of the other world are peace, the spiritual 
graces, the various spiritual gifts in the Kingdom of God, the 
gaining of the desires of the heart and the soul, and the meeting 
of God in the world of eternity.  In the same way the punishments 
of the other world, that is to say, the torments of the other world, 
consist in being deprived of the special divine blessings and the 
absolute bounties, and falling into the lowest degrees of existence.  
He who is deprived of these divine favors, although he continues 
after death, is considered as dead by the people of truth. | 
	| 4 | The logical proof of the immortality of the spirit is this, that 
no sign can come from a non-existing thing; that is to say, it is 
impossible that from absolute non-existence signs should appear, 
for the signs are the consequence of an existence, and the consequence 
depends upon the existence of the principle.  So, from 
a non-existing sun no light can radiate, from a non-existing sea 
no waves appear, from a non-existing cloud no rain falls; a non-existing 
tree yields no fruit; a non-existing man neither manifests 
nor produces anything.  Therefore as long as signs of existence 
appear, they are a proof that the possessor of the sign is existent. | 
	| 5 | Consider that today the Kingdom of Christ exists:  from a non-existing 
king how could such a great kingdom be manifested?  
How, from a non-existing sea, can the waves mount so high?  
From a non-existing garden, how can such fragrant breezes be 
wafted?  Reflect that no effect, no trace, no influence remains of 
any being after its members are dispersed and its elements are 
decomposed, whether it be a mineral, a vegetable, or an animal.  
There is only the human reality and the spirit of man which, after 
the disintegration of the members, dispersing of the particles, and 
the destruction of the composition, persists, and continues to act 
and to have power. | 
	| 6 | This question is extremely subtle:  consider it attentively.  This 
is a rational proof which we are giving, so that the wise may 
weigh it in the balance of reason and justice.  But if the human 
spirit will rejoice and be attracted to the Kingdom of God, if the 
inner sight becomes opened, and the spiritual hearing strengthened, 
and the spiritual feelings predominant, he will see the immortality 
of the spirit as clearly as he sees the sun, and the glad 
tidings and signs of God will encompass him. | 
	| 7 | Know that the power and the comprehension of the human 
spirit are of two kinds:  that is to say, they perceive and act in 
two different modes.  One way is through instruments and organs:  
thus with this eye it sees, with this ear it hears, with this tongue 
it talks.  Such is the action of the spirit, and the perception of the 
reality of man, by means of organs.  That is to say, that the spirit 
is the seer, through the eyes; the spirit is the hearer, through 
the ear; the spirit is the speaker, through the tongue. | 
	| 8 | The other manifestation of the powers and actions of the spirit 
is without instruments and organs.  For example, in the state of 
sleep without eyes it sees, without an ear it hears, without a tongue 
it speaks, without feet it runs.  Briefly, these actions are beyond 
the means of instruments and organs.  How often it happens that 
it sees a dream in the world of sleep, and its signification becomes 
apparent two years afterwards in corresponding events.  In the 
same way, how many times it happens that a question which one 
cannot solve in the world of wakefulness, is solved in the world 
of dreams.  In wakefulness the eye sees only for a short distance, 
but in dreams he who is in the East sees the West:  awake he sees 
the present, in sleep he sees the future.  In wakefulness, by means 
of rapid transit, at the most he can travel only twenty farsakha 
an hour; in sleep, in the twinkling of an eye, he traverses the East 
and West.  For the spirit travels in two different ways:  without 
means, which is spiritual traveling; and with means, which is 
material traveling:  as birds which fly, and those which are carried. | 
	| 9 | In the time of sleep this body is as though dead; it does not 
see nor hear, it does not feel, it has no consciousness, no perception:  
that is to say, the powers of man have become inactive, 
but the spirit lives and subsists.  Nay, its penetration is increased, 
its flight is higher, and its intelligence is greater.  To consider 
that after the death of the body the spirit perishes, is like imagining 
that a bird in a cage will be destroyed if the cage is broken, 
though the bird has nothing to fear from the destruction of the 
cage.  Our body is like the cage, and the spirit is like the bird.  We 
see that without the cage this bird flies in the world of sleep; therefore 
if the cage becomes broken, the bird will continue and exist:  
its feelings will be even more powerful, its perceptions greater, 
and its happiness increased.  In truth, from hell it reaches a paradise 
of delights, because for the thankful birds there is no paradise 
greater than freedom from the cage.  That is why with utmost joy 
and happiness the martyrs hasten to the plain of sacrifice. | 
	| 10 | In wakefulness the eye of man sees at the utmost as far as one 
hour of distance, because through the instrumentality of the body 
the power of the spirit is thus determined; but with the inner 
sight and the mental eye it sees America, and it can perceive that 
which is there, and discover the conditions of things and organize 
affairs.  If, then, the spirit were the same as the body, it would be 
necessary that the power of the inner sight should also be in the same 
proportion.  Therefore it is evident that this spirit is different from 
the body, and that the bird is different from the cage, and that the 
power and penetration of the spirit is stronger without the intermediary 
of the body.  Now, if the instrument is abandoned, the 
possessor of the instrument continues to act.  For example, if the 
pen is abandoned or broken, the writer remains living and present; 
if a house is ruined, the owner is alive and existing.  This is one of 
the logical evidences for the immortality of the soul. | 
	| 11 | There is another:  this body becomes weak, or heavy, or sick, or 
it finds health; it becomes tired or rested; sometimes the hand or 
leg is amputated, or its physical power is crippled; it becomes 
blind or deaf or dumb; its limbs may become paralyzed; briefly, 
the body may have all the imperfections.  Nevertheless, the spirit 
in its original state, in its own spiritual perception, will be eternal 
and perpetual; it neither finds any imperfection nor will it become 
crippled.  But when the body is wholly subjected to disease 
and misfortune, it is deprived of the bounty of the spirit; like 
a mirror which, when it becomes broken, or dirty, or dusty, cannot 
reflect the rays of the sun, nor any longer show its bounties. | 
	| 12 | We have already explained that the spirit of man is not in the 
body, because it is freed and sanctified from entrance and exit, 
which are bodily conditions.  The connection of the spirit with 
the body is like that of the sun with the mirror.  Briefly, the 
human spirit is in one condition; it neither becomes ill from the 
diseases of the body, nor cured by its health; it does not become 
sick, nor weak, nor miserable, nor poor, nor light, nor small.  That 
is to say, it will not be injured because of the infirmities of the 
body, and no effect will be visible even if the body becomes weak 
or if the hands and feet and tongue be cut off, or if it loses the 
power of hearing or sight.  Therefore it is evident and certain 
that the spirit is different from the body, and that its duration 
is independent of that of the body; on the contrary, the spirit 
with the utmost greatness rules in the world of the body, and its 
power and influence, like the bounty of the sun in the mirror, 
are apparent and visible.  But when the mirror becomes dusty 
or breaks, it will cease to reflect the rays of the sun. |