Of Life and Death...

Only days following the most joyous event in my life - the birth of my son, Ethan - a dear family in our community is experiencing their greatest loss and anguish - the passing of their daughter, Anika James (15).

Today, friends and family mourned the loss of Anika with a funeral service this noon time and a memorial program in the afternoon. Some 500 + guests were in attendance, and below are some of the Baha'i writings on death, the progress of the soul, and some prayers, that were offered to the James family and to advance the progress of Anika's soul in the World of Light.

Anika is survived by brother Shawheen (19), and parents Mahtaj (mother) and Robert (father).

Our fervent prayers are with the James family at this time. My wish is that my son. Ethan, will be a source of light and of service to any community and to bring happiness to the many hearts needing upliftment and joy.

MEMORIAL PROGRAM FOR ANIKA MICHELLE JAMES --

Meditation: The soul is like the bird, the body like the cage

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.

‘Abdu'l-Baha, Baha'i World Faith. pp. 326-7

O my God, O Forgiver of sins and Dispeller of afflictions! O Thou Who art pardoning and merciful! I raise my suppliant hands to Thee, tearfully beseeching the court of Thy divine Essence to forgive, through Thy mercy and pardon, Thy handmaiden who hath ascended unto the seat of truth. Cause her, O Lord, to be overshadowed by the clouds of Thy bounty and favor, immerse her in the ocean of Thy forgiveness and clemency, and enable her to enter the sanctified abode, Thy heavenly Paradise.

Thou art, verily, the Mighty, the Compassionate, the Generous, the Merciful.

‘Abdu’l-Baha, Baha'i Prayers, p. 43

Meditation: The soul will continue to progress

Know thou of a truth that the soul, after its separation from the body, will continue to progress until it attaineth the presence of God… It will endure as long as the Kingdom of God, His sovereignty, His dominion and power will endure. It will manifest the signs of God and His attributes, and will reveal His loving kindness and bounty.

Baha’u’llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 155-6

Meditation: The world beyond is as different

The world beyond is as different from this world as this world is different from that of the child while still in the womb of its mother. When the soul attaineth the Presence of God, it will assume the form that best befitteth its immortality and is worthy of its celestial habitation.

Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 156


Meditation: The world of existence is a single world

The souls of the children of the Kingdom, after their separation from the body, ascend unto the realm of everlasting life. But if ye ask as to the place, know ye that the world of existence is a single world, although its stations are various and distinct. For example, the mineral life occupieth its own plane, but a mineral entity is without any awareness at all of the vegetable kingdom, and indeed, with its inner tongue denieth that there is any such kingdom. In the same way, a vegetable entity knoweth nothing of the animal world, remaining completely heedless and ignorant thereof, for the stage of the animal is higher than that of the vegetable, and the vegetable is veiled from the animal world and inwardly denieth the existence of that world -- all this while animal, vegetable and mineral dwell together in the one world.

‘Abdu'l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Baha, p. 193-4

Meditation: The world of existence is a single world

In the same way the animal remaineth totally unaware of that power of the human mind which graspeth universal ideas and layeth bare the secrets of creation -- so that a man who liveth in the east can make plans and arrangements for the west; can unravel mysteries… although sited on the earth can lay hold of the inner realities of the stars of heaven. Of this power of discovery which belongeth to the human mind, this power which can grasp abstract and universal ideas, the animal remaineth totally ignorant, and indeed denieth its existence.

In the same way, the denizens of this earth are completely unaware of the world of the Kingdom and deny the existence thereof. They ask, for example: 'Where is the Kingdom? Where is the Lord of the Kingdom?' These people are even as the mineral and the vegetable, who know nothing whatever of the animal and the human realm; they see it not; they find it not. Yet the mineral and vegetable, the animal and man, are all living here together in this world of existence.

‘Abdu'l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Baha, p. 194

Meditation: In the next world, man will find himself freed

In the next world, man will find himself freed from many of the disabilities under which he now suffers. Those who have passed on through death, have a sphere of their own. It is not removed from ours; their work, the work of the Kingdom, is ours; but it is sanctified from what we call 'time and place.' Time with us is measured by the sun. When there is no more sunrise, and no more sunset, that kind of time does not exist for man. Those who have ascended have different attributes from those who are still on earth, yet there is no real separation.

‘Abdu'l-Bahá, Abdu'l-Baha in London, p. 95-6

Meditation: On the death of a youth

From the death of that beloved youth due to his separation from you the utmost sorrow and grief has been occasioned, for he flew away in the flower of his age and the bloom of his youth, to the heavenly nest.

But as he has been freed from this sorrow-stricken shelter and has turned his face toward the everlasting nest of the Kingdom and has been delivered from a dark and narrow world and has hastened to the sanctified realm of Light, therein lies the consolation of our hearts.

The inscrutable divine wisdom underlies such heart-rending occurrences. It is as if a kind gardener transfers a fresh and tender shrub from a narrow place to a vast region. This transference is not the cause of the withering, the waning or the destruction of that shrub, nay rather it makes it grow and thrive, acquire freshness and delicacy and attain verdure and fruition. This hidden secret is well-known to the gardener, while those souls who are unaware of this bounty suppose that the gardener in his anger and wrath has uprooted the shrub. But to those who are aware this concealed fact is manifest and this predestined decree considered a favor. Do not feel grieved and disconsolate therefore at the ascension of that bird of faithfulness, nay under all circumstances pray and beg for that youth forgiveness and elevation of station.

‘Abdu'l-Baha, Baha'i World Faith. p. 379


Meditation: That child addresses the mother

Be thou not disconsolate, do not languish, do not sigh, neither wail nor weep; for agitation and mourning deeply affect his soul in the divine realm.

That beloved child addresseth thee from the hidden world: 'O thou kind Mother, thank divine Providence that I have been freed from a small and gloomy cage and, like the birds of the meadows, have soared to the divine world -- a world which is spacious, illumined, and ever gay and jubilant. Therefore, lament not, O Mother, and be not grieved; I am not of the lost, nor have I been obliterated and destroyed. I have shaken off the mortal form and have raised my banner in this spiritual world. Following this separation is everlasting companionship. Thou shalt find me in the heaven of the Lord, immersed in an ocean of light.'

‘Abdu'l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Baha, p. 200


Meditation: How the soul progresses in the divine world

The progress of man's spirit in the divine world, after the severance of its connection with the body of dust, is through the bounty and grace of the Lord alone, or through the intercession and the sincere prayers of other human souls, or through the charities and important good works which are performed in its name.

'Abdu'l-Baha, Some Answered Questions, p. 239


Prayer: For the departed

O Lord, O Thou Whose mercy hath encompassed all, Whose forgiveness is transcendent, Whose bounty is sublime, Whose pardon and generosity are all embracing, and the lights of Whose forgiveness are diffused throughout the world! O Lord of glory! I entreat Thee, fervently and tearfully, to cast upon Thy handmaiden who hath ascended unto Thee the glances of the eye of Thy mercy. Robe her in the mantle of They grace, bright with the ornaments of the celestial Paradise, and, sheltering her beneath the tree of Thy oneness, illumine her face with the lights of They mercy and compassion.

Bestow upon They heavenly handmaiden, O God, the holy fragrances born of the spirit of Thy forgiveness. Cause her to dwell in a blissful abode, heal her griefs with the balm of Thy reunion, and, in accordance with They will, grant her admission to Thy holy Paradise. Let the angels of They loving-kindness descend successively upon her, and shelter her beneath They blessed Tree. Thou art, verily, the Ever-Forgiving, the Most Generous, the All-Bountiful.

‘Abdu'l-Baha, Baha’i Prayers, p. 44