July 18

By believing in eternal life, people merely believe in the fact that life has a spiritual source and is therefore timeless.

1

A person who has transgressed the law thinks that his life ends wholly with his death; such a person is capable of every kind of evil.

— The Dhammapada

2

There is a germ of the truth of immortality in our soul. It lies in reason, which sees the incompleteness of our existence in this world, demanding continuation for the attainment of its aim. This germ is in our thirst for happiness, which is too strong to be satisfied in this world. This germ is in our love of goodness, which, as we nurture it, awakens in us a striving towards absolute perfection and unity with the Perfect One.

— Channing

3

People know nothing about the other world, which is why they want to remain here. Their greatest desire is to live in this world forever. But a bird that had spent time in a blooming garden does not want to be locked up in a cage. Even if it finds itself in a cage, it will want to escape from it so that it could return to the garden. So too the human being: after he is freed from the body, he will not want to return to it. Is there a child who, having been born, would want to return to his mothers womb? Is there a person who, having been freed from prison, would want to go back there? Is there a bird that, having escaped from a cage, would want to be locked in it again? So too a human being, if he is not attached to material life, will not be afraid of his impending liberation from his body.

— Tablets of the Bab

4

A human being will realize that he will never die only when he realizes that he has never been born, but always was, is and will be.

A human being will believe in his immortality only when he understands that his life is not a wave, but an eternal movement, which merely manifests itself in this life as a wave.

5

There is no need to dwell on death, but you must live in view of it. All life in view of death becomes solemn, meaningful, truly fruitful and joyful. It becomes such both because it can end at any moment, and because it is impossible in view of death not to do the things that are necessary for eternal life, i.e. for God. And when you lead your life this way, it becomes joyful, without the bogeyman of death, which poisons the life of those who lead a solely animal existence. The fear of death is inversely proportional to the good life. For a holy life, this fear is zero.

It is easier to lead a good life for the one who believes that his life did not begin with his birth and will not end with his death than for the one who does not understand and does not believe this.