Very welcome, very welcome!
Man has two lives. He is possessed of a physical life and also a spiritual life. The physical life of man is that of the animal. Consider and you will find that the physical life of man comprises the following actions: eating, drinking, sleeping, and the other exigencies of the animal state, walking, visualizing tangible objects, like other beings, the stars, the sun, the springs and the woods. This life is the animal life. It is evident and manifest that therein man is a partner of the animal.
The animal in its physical life is very comfortable, and it is most convenient for it to live; whereas for man to obtain a livelihood, it is more arduous and difficult. Consider all the animals which graze in the prairies, which live in the mountains and in the seas obtain their livelihood with the greatest ease, without difficulty and hardship. The birds do not have a profession, no arts, no business, no agriculture, and no farming. They are without any trouble whatever. They sense the utmost delicate fresh air, building their nests on the highest or loftiest branches of the trees and partaking of the grains which they find in the fields. All the harvest of the fields is their wealth. As soon as they become hungry, the grain is ready. After picking up some grain, they perch on the loftiest branches, resting in their nests in the utmost state of comfort and ease. It is likewise with the other animals.
But man, for his physical livelihood, must bear great hardships. Day and night he is restless, either farming or practicing his profession or business, or toiling and laboring in the mines beneath the earth. Or with the greatest difficulties and hardships he traverses long distances. In short, he works on the surface of the earth or beneath the surface of the earth to earn his physical livelihood. But the animal has none of these hardships and he shares his physical life in common with man.
Notwithstanding all this, there is no result forthcoming from the physical livelihood. If a man should live for one hundred years, his material life eventually would yield no result whatever. Ponder over this and see if there is any result forthcoming from the material life of man.
Of the millions of souls who you know have passed away from the world, have you observed one who has reaped a result worthy of that life? All their lives have been wasted; their hardships; their difficulties; their professions; their commerce or business. When they went from this world, they had nothing in their hands, they left no result at all.
But the spiritual life of man, that is the life whereby the world of humanity is illumined, is distinguished from the animal; that is the life which is eternal. The spiritual life of man is productive of the blessing everlasting, and is the cause of nearness to God. The spiritual life of man is the cause of his entrance into the Kingdom of God; is the cause of his attaining to collective virtues; and the cause of the illumination of man.
Consider the souls whose spiritual life was complete. For them there is no mortality, their life is immortal. From their lives they reaped results. They took away fruits. What was that fruit? Nearness to God; life eternal; radiance everlasting; the praiseworthiness of eternity; firmness; these in brief and all the other virtues.
Even on the material plane or earthly plane you will observe the souls whose lives were material, who did not share in the spiritual life, that their traces have been utterly erased, no mention, no fruit, no name, even on the physical plane, not even a grave, though they were kings. At most for certain days their graves were permanent and then they were destroyed and passed away.
But the souls who led spiritual lives, they have shone forth in the Kingdom of God like unto stars for evermore. They possess the glory eternal; they reside in the meeting of the Majesty of God; they partake of the heavenly table and they are submerged in the Vision of the Beauty of God. For them there is honor everlasting in the worlds of God, even on the material plane, even on the earthly plane. Consider how their traces are immortal, their mention is immortal; their morals are immortal.
For example, a soul who lived two thousand or three thousand years ago, and who was related to the threshold of God, who was a believer in God, was a firm soul, was steadfast in the Cause of God, - even now his traces are permanent, even now he deals good towards mankind; even to the present time schools and colleges are built in his name, hospitals are built in his name. Such for example, are the disciples of His Holiness Christ. The physical life of Peter was the life of a fisherman, and it is evident what the life of a fisherman is. But the spiritual life of Peter, through the breaths of Christ, was in the utmost state of radiance. Consider how even on the earthly plane his traces are permanent. And the Roman Emperor with all his glory, no trace of him, no fruit, no name, no manifestation, no phenomena.
Hence, it is proved that the real life of man is his spiritual life. It is the spiritual life of man which is everlasting. It is the spiritual life of man which is the glory never ending.
Praise be to God! through the favor of Baha’u’llah for you this spiritual life is provided; this great bestowal has been manifest; this lighted candle has been ignited.
All the people on the earth, from the kings to the subjects, from their lives there is utterly no result, no fruit, no trace, and ere long you will see that they have become utterly evanescent and have passed away from the world. At the utmost fifty or sixty years they lived, then no trace, no fruit, no result.
But for you, through the favor of Baha'u'llah, Praise be to God! there is a life obtainable, and you have become illumined through the radiance of the Kingdom, and you have become recipients of the Bestowal Everlasting; therefore, you are eternal, you are immortal, you are brilliant, and for your lives there are great results concomitant, even on the earthly plane. Your trace shall be permanent and everlasting, and you will not be forgotten, but in the world of God, in the world of the Kingdom your countenance shall be as bright as the sun; your radiance shall be evident and manifest.
In the meeting of the Vision of God, in the meeting of transfiguration, you will be submerged in the Lights of Beauty, therefore, thank ye God.
(World Order magazine, November 1941)
