The evolution or development of the soul and its capacities is the basic purpose of human existence. This evolution is towards God and its motive force is knowledge of God and love for Him. As we learn about God, our love for Him increases; and this, in turn, enables us to attain a closer communion with our Creator. Also, as we draw closer to God, our character becomes more refined and our actions reflect more and more the attributes and qualities of God.
Bahá’u’lláh taught that this potential to reflect the attributes of God is the soul’s essential reality. It is the meaning of human beings being created “in the image of God.” The divine qualities are not external to the soul. They are latent within it, just as the color, the fragrance, and the vitality of a flower are latent within the seed. They need only to be developed.
For more information:
- Life, Death, and the Soul
- Heaven and Hell: A Baha’i Perspective
- The Seven Valleys and The Four Valleys, the best known of Baha’u’llah’s mystical writings
“Know, verily, that the soul is a sign of God, a heavenly gem whose reality the most learned of men hath failed to grasp, and whose mystery no mind, however acute, can ever hope to unravel. It is the first among all created things to declare the excellence of its Creator, the first to recognize His glory, to cleave to His truth, and to bow down in adoration before Him. If it be faithful to God, it will reflect His light, and will, eventually, return unto Him.”
— Bahá’u’lláh