2 June 1912
Church of the Ascension
New York
Question: What is your belief about reincarnation?
Answer: The subject of reincarnation has two aspects. One is
that which the Hindustani people believe, and even that is subdivided into two:
reincarnation and metempsychosis. According to one belief the soul goes and
then returns in certain reincarnations; therefore, they say that a sick person
is sick because of actions in a previous incarnation and that this is
retribution. The other school of Hinduism believes that man sometimes appears
as an animal—a donkey, for instance—and that this is retribution for past acts.
I am referring to the beliefs in that country, the beliefs of the schools.
There is a reincarnation of the prophetic mission. Jesus Christ, speaking of
John the Baptist, declared he was Elias. When John the Baptist
was questioned, “Art thou Elias?” he said, “I am not.” These two statements are
apparently contradictory, but in reality they do not contradict. The light is
one light. The light which illumined this lamp last night is illuminating it
tonight. This does not mean that the identical rays of light have reappeared but
the virtues of illumination. The light which revealed itself through the glass
reveals itself again so that we can say the light of this evening is the light
of last evening relighted. This is as regards its virtues and not as regards
its former identity. This is our view of reincarnation. We believe in that
which Jesus Christ and all the Prophets have believed. For example, the Báb
states, “I am the return of all the Prophets.” This is significant of the
oneness of the prophetic virtues, the oneness of power, the oneness of
bestowal, the oneness of radiation, the oneness of expression, the oneness of
revelation.
~ ‘Abdu’l-Baha (From a talk, 2 June, 1912, New
York; ‘The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by 'Abdu'l-Bahá
during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912’)