Truthseeker96

Hello everyone, i was reading some things about the soul online again and came across an article from Adul'u'baha talking about the different stages of the human soul. I dont really understand it , can humans go through these stages all in their lifetime or is it you move on to the next stage in the next world? Here is there description of the different stages



"The human soul has the following stages:
a. the commanding soul - the soul that commands to evil - is preoccupied with the trivialities of this world, and is infatuated with evil and ephemeral desires

b. the blaming soul - which becomes aware of the depths of its degradation and of its remoteness from its true goal. It awakes to a perception of its state, is filled with regret and blames itself for the depths of perversity and error to which it has sunk.

c. the inspired soul - as it rises from its lowly condition, the soul comes to understand those things that kept it abased and those thing which will lead to its elevation. It becomes averse to those things that perish and to incline towards those things that endure. It is termed the inspired soul for it is inspired as to that which leads it to depravation or to righteousness.

d. the assured soul - this is the stage at which the soul is in remembrance of its Lord and sees the signs of God in the creation. As a result it is assured in its faith, its turmoil and unrest is calmed, it has quenched its thirst, soothed its torment; it has changed its darkness to light and unloaded its burdens.

e. the accepting soul - reaches a station of submission and contentment, leaving behind its searching and neediness. It entrust its affairs to God and is content with whatever God may decree for it. This is a happiness which is not followed by sadness. There remains no will, no rest, no motion, no destiny nor any fate except in God.

f. the accepted soul - in this state all-encompassing blessings and mercy reach it. Insofar as it has risen and left behind its passions and accepted the decree of its Lord, it becomes accepted in the sight of God, and in its state of nothingness, it is approved by its Creator

g. the perfect soul - here it is characterized by divine perfections and comprised of godly attributes. It thus becomes the focal point of inspiration and the dawning-place for the Divine effulgences.

h. the soul of the Kingdom of God (Malakut) - here the soul confirms in its reality the profession of Divine Unity and establishes in its essence the sign of detachment. It attains to everlasting life and eternal living. It takes pleasure from delights the like of which no eye has seen nor any ear heard.

i. the soul of the Realm of Divine Command - this is a station far above the understanding of the minds of men, for this station is created out of the elements of power, authority, sovereignty, omnipotence, and freedom and nothing that has limitations or pluralities has any resemblance to it. Here the soul becomes aware of the secrets of hidden and invisible realities. This is the ultimate goal in the world of creation."

Also when we do go to the next world is it like another earth or purly spritual, and this one lady keeps calling me a old soul, what does that even mean? Thanks guys !

Pollwr

Hello, Truthseeker96

I would be interested to know where you found this and if it is authentic. I haven't seen anything exactly like this before attributed to Abdul-Bahá. He does say some things about the soul that I have read.

What I have read has had a different focus and has not been so detailed so I don't think I am in a position to know if this is authentic. I do have one or two doubts about one or two parts of the above post but I would really like to find out. Thank you for sharing it.

Truthseeker96

Oh well i read it from this website
The Stages of the Soul

LordOfGoblins

Hello.
I have never read this before. Thankyou for posting it.
When I have time I will look more closely to see if it authentic.
Just at a glance though it appears to me to be spiritual truth or at least similar to the seven valleys.
What exactly is it you want to know?
I dont think those stages are our journey in the next world. They seem to be describing states of your soul.
In other words you can be a soul who spends their life pursuing worldly things or otherwise a soul who spends their life dedicated to God- in a nutshell.
Bahais are aware that there are many spiritual stages for our souls. Just read the seven valleys by Baha'u'llah and you will see that the soul goes through a lot of changes to become "reunited" with GOd.
I would not worry to much if you cannot understand this too well yet. You are just 15 right? Most of these sorts of things talking about the soul Bahais would struggle with their whole life what they mean in a full sense and some things we might never know until we actually go to the next world which is the world of the soul.

Pollwr

Truthseeker96,
Many thanks for providing the link. I have had a glance but have not had time to read it yet. This seems to me a creditable academic paper on Abdul-Bahá's writings about the soul. The interesting passage you quoted seems to be a summary by the writer of the paper and so may well be valid. When I read your quote, it didn't have the feel of his writings and that explains it. The paper has a provisional translation of some of the Master's writing and I am looking forward to studying that in more detail.
Anyway that is my first impression but I am not a scholar so hopefully those who are on this forum will offer their comments too.

Truthseeker96

Hey guys, ya i am still only 15 ( honestly i feel older though) but i been reading again and found a similar paper again talking about the different kingdoms we go through ( spirtually not physically ) like the minreal, vegitation, animal, human, and spritualy kingdom. Here is the link i found it very interesting. Enjoy!
Explanation of Spiritual Evolution as Taught from the Baha'i Teachings

tonyfish58

Well done

Both good links to material I have not read - both very interesting

It should be noted though this is only for personal use & Baha'is should not distribute it - Link - http://bahai-library.com/uhj_diagram_evolution

Regards Tony