Worlds of God

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.

Apart from this world, the world of God which we know most about is the next world. In Christianity humanity learned about heaven and hell, and in the Bahá'í Faith we learn that these are essentially different parts of the next world. The Bahá'í Faith describes the next world to some extent but at the same time explains that since the above quote is true, it is very difficult to understand what the next world is like. This website describes it to some extent.

Know thou of a truth that the worlds of God are countless in their number, and infinite in their range.

On our journey back to God, we pass through these worlds. The worlds beyond the next world have been mentioned in Hinduism and Sikhism as well as in the Bahá'í Faith. Here we will mostly be concerned with the lower worlds since they are the most relevant to our purpose.

The Kingdom of God

The Kingdom of God is the most perfect parts of every world, for example all the most perfect people and very spiritually exalted things, such as The Bahá’í World Centre and the Bahá’í temples.

Kingdoms of Creation

In Paris Talks, 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke about four kingdoms: the mineral, plant, animal and human kingdoms.

The power of the understanding differs in degree in the various kingdoms of creation. The mineral, vegetable, and animal realms are each incapable of understanding any creation beyond their own. The mineral cannot imagine the growing power of the plant. The tree cannot understand the power of movement in the animal, neither can it comprehend what it would mean to possess sight, hearing or the sense of smell. These all belong to the physical creation. Man also shares in this creation; but it is not possible for either of the lower kingdoms to understand that which takes place in the mind of man. The animal cannot realize the intelligence of a human being, he only knows that which is perceived by his animal senses, he cannot imagine anything in the abstract. An animal could not learn that the world is round, that the earth revolves round the sun, or the construction of the electric telegraph. These things are only possible to man. Man is the highest work of creation, the nearest to God of all creatures.

There are also four more kingdoms which are the spirit of the mineral to human kingdoms in the next world. The pattern continues into the higher worlds, with groups of four kingdoms in each world.

Each of the kingdoms in each group of four contains the previous kingdom, but is a lot more organised and exalted. The plant kingdom is in a way mineral, but it is also much more materially and spiritually alive.

Invisible Kingdoms

Another name for the four kingdoms in the next world is the invisible kingdoms. Of these, the one we know most about is the invisible mineral kingdom. Modern physics explains that there are four fundamental forces: gravitational, electromagnetic, strong nuclear and weak nuclear. Electromagnetic includes light and heat radiation. These are all part of the invisible spirit of the mineral kingdom, with the exception of light which is visible and does not fit neatly into this category. Going on what we said in the previous paragraph, we can look at the physics of the invisible mineral kingdom and from that understand the basics of the other invisible kingdoms.

The invisible plant kingdom is where the basis of spiritual growth and development takes place, since growth and development are fundamental characteristics of the plant kingdom. It is in this kingdom that human beings are like trees, and they grow, attain maturity, bear fruit and reproduce in that way.

The invisible animal kingdom is where our carnal feelings and emotions live, such as sexual feelings, feelings about food, and feelings about survival. Our animal intuition is what allows us to hone our skills in sports, and leads us to decide in a lower way who is a good prospective partner.

In the human invisible kingdom are the higher and more abstract parts of human life, such as platonic love, ideas, human education, the human aspects of families, other structures of social organisation, and the human aspects of religion.

Much of the Bahá’í Faith is in the kingdoms above these, in the third world and beyond, and these planes are higher and more spiritual.