question

A reader asked the following question.

"We were just discussing ... life after death for victims of accidents and violent deaths. We wondered about the state of their souls. Often when one gets feelings of unease and a sense of a disturbed being present ... ghosts? Do these victims ascend to the Abha Kingdom upon death or are they in some sort of limbo until their souls find peace? Are there any writings on this?"

At the heart of the beliefs of monotheistic religions is the conviction that God is the One True Agent. All power is in His Hands, though mediated and carried out in this plane by the Manifestation of God. We Baha'is are buried with a ring on a finger declaring: "I came forth from God, and return unto Him, detached from all save Him, holding fast to His Name, the Merciful, the Compassionate." (Aqdas, 228) He is the one origin. God transcends thoughts, and even talk of oneness. He is beyond us, and His acts are not to be questioned. But a worse lie than talking of oneness, is to talk of God in terms of duality.

"Beware lest ye speak of duality in regard to My Self, for all the atoms of the earth proclaim that there is none other God but Him, the One, the Single, the Mighty, the Loving." (Summons, 23)

A person who believes that God is end and origin, and that the end and origin is one, cannot believe that spirits whose name is legion can interfere with the one, or whatever is between the One origin and the One end. They have no direct power in this world. God has all power, God is one, we refer all to Him. There is nothing to fear from any entity, or any force, known or unknown. In one of the first Baha'i books that was made available in the West (about one century ago this year) the Master is reported as saying:

"You have asked regarding the influence of evil spirits. Evil spirits are deprived of eternal life. How then can they exercise any influence? But as eternal life is ordained for holy spirits, therefore their influence exists in all the Divine worlds." (From a Tablet of 'Abdu'l-Baha to Mrs. Ella Goodall Cooper: Daily Lessons Received at 'Akka p. 78, 1979 ed.)

Even on this plane of existence what we do is not what we think we are doing. Our power is illusory. "God's hand is over their hands," as the Qu'ran puts it. Thoughts are weak when willed, how much weaker when they fall outside of our conscious direction.

"You should not be afraid anyone can affect your mind. Even when we want to catch the thoughts of those we love most we cannot do so, how much less other people succeed in penetrating our minds." (From letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi, dated January 18, 1951, in Lights of Guidance, p. 518)

Scientists are investigating with more sensitive instruments certain haunted houses to see if there may not be some kind of trace magnetic force causing the sightings and other strange phenomena. About such things we must remain agnostic until hard evidence is available.

At the same time, science is discovering how very prone to suggestion the human mind is. The latest advice to cooks, for example, is that they talk their dishes up before presenting them to those about to eat. Do not just say, "Here's your salad, go wild." Talk of how wonderful the ingredients are, tell their story, use complex terminology. That does more for the enjoyment of the meal than just about anything. Double blind taste tests have been showing, contrary to conventional wisdom, that with the right mental priming of the pump cheap wine taste as just as good as your 400 dollar a bottle special. Conversely, the expensive stuff gets reviews as bad as the cheapest if the server suggests that it is bad. This placebo factor is a real force, it can cure sick people, it can conjure up demons that do real harm. The power of the mind is more mysterious than we can know, and the only cure is to feed the mind more of the truth, more knowledge, until it gains the vitamins it needs for robustness.

 No doubt the power of suggestion, plus generous helpings of half truths and wishful thinking, accounts for the huge literature of half-baked sightings of ghosts, aliens, and so forth. If you want an antidote to such things, read the magazine "Skeptical Enquirer," or their excellent website and article archive about any particular subject you have in mind, to get the point of view of scientists using the scientific method. Anything with a hint of superstition is not for Baha'is, who have more important things to do with their short time on earth.

 "Fear ye God and abandon vain imaginings to the begetters thereof and leave superstitions to the devisers thereof and misgivings to the breeders thereof." (Baha'u'llah, Tablets, 104-105)

 "The reality underlying this is that the evil spirit, Satan or whatever is interpreted as evil, refers to the lower nature of man. This basic nature is symbolized in various ways. In man there are two expressions; One is the expression of nature, the other the expression of the spiritual realm. The world of nature is defective. Look at it clearly, casting aside all superstition and imagination... God has never created an evil spirit; all such ideas and nomenclature are symbols expressing the mere human or earthly nature of man. It is an essential condition of the soil of earth thorns, weeds and fruitless trees may grow from it. Relatively speaking, this is evil: it is simply the lower state and basic product of nature." ('Abdu'l-Baha, Promulgation, 294-295, 1982 ed.)

 "O ye two blessed souls! Your letters were received. They showed that ye have investigated the truth and have been freed from imitations and superstitions, that ye observe with your own eyes and not with those of others, hearken with your own ears and not with the ears of others, and discover mysteries with the help of your own consciences and not with those of others. For the imitator saith that such a man hath seen, such a man hath heard, and such a conscience hath discovered; in other words he dependeth upon the sight, the hearing and the conscience of others and hath no will of his own." (Selections, 29)

 "This is the Cause that hath made all your superstitions and idols to tremble." (Baha'u'llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para 168, p. 80)

 "People for the most part delight in superstitions. They regard a single drop of the sea of delusion as preferable to an ocean of certitude. By holding fast unto names they deprive themselves of the inner reality and by clinging to vain imaginings they are kept back from the Dayspring of heavenly signs. God grant you may be graciously aided under all conditions to shatter the idols of superstition and to tear away the veils of the imaginations of men. Authority lieth in the grasp of God, the Fountainhead of revelation and inspiration and the Lord of the Day of Resurrection." (Baha'u'llah, Tablets, 58)

 "To any of your friends who are confused on this issue, you can explain that the principle of harmony between religion and science, while it enables us, with the help of reason, to see through the falsity of superstitions, does not imply that truth is limited to what can be explained by current scientific concepts. Not only do all religions have their miracles and mysteries, but religion itself, and certain fundamental religious concepts, such as the nature of the Manifestations of God, are far from being explicable by present-day scientific theories." (The Universal House of Justice, 1996 Feb 16, Misc Questions - Talisman, Baha'i Encyclopedia, Virgin Birth)

 "As to the question of evil spirits, demons and monsters, any references made to them in the Holy Books have symbolic meaning. What is currently known among the public is but sheer superstition."

 "That the "Most Great Name" exercises influence over both physical and spiritual matters is sure and certain...." (The Universal House of Justice, 1998 Dec 16, Traditional practices in Africa)

 "The Cause everywhere has suffered from spiritualists with psychic pretended powers, and it is high time to take a step along that line." (From letter written on behalf of Guardian, dated July 10, 1928, to an individual believer, in Lights of Guidance, p. 518)