# The Soul in Chinese and Baha'i Belief

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> Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Phyllis Ghim-Lian Chew, The Soul in Chinese and Baha'i Belief, bahai-library.com.
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> The Soul in Chinese and Baha'i Belief
> Phyllis Ghim-Lian Chew
> 
> Abstract
> 
> This article is a preliminary investigation of the Chinese religion and the
> Baha'i Faith and their discourses in relation to their beliefs in the
> presence of a soul, the existence of an afterlife, and the phenomenon.of
> death. In addition, it explores the ideas on the nature of the soul and the
> human being and relates these ideas to the human being's quest for
> happiness and meaning in life. Last but not least, the question of free will
> and its relation to justice is discussed.
> 
> Introduction
> 
> In all religions, the true nature of man is his soul. As is typical in
> religions, the Baha'i Faith teaches that there is a Creator or God, that
> humanity is His creation and that humanity would ultimately return to
> the spiritual world. There is reference to the existence of a soul, a unique
> possession belonging only to the human being and an entity said to exist
> in a life after death, long after the decay of the physical body. There is,
> of course, no more difficult a theme to deal with than that of the soul
> since the soul is a spiritual metaphysical reality which cannot be
> perceived through the senses, and therefore eludes anyone who relies
> only upon sensory and intellectual perception.
> 
> While the Baha'i Faith may be quite typical in what may be termed a
> "religion", the Chinese religion, however, is not so clearly definable. It
> represents a much older and complex whole, comprising a vast corpus of
> scriptures and divergent traditions. In the first instance, the Chinese
> religion is a mixture of shamanism, Confucianism, Taoism and
> Buddhism. These not only co-existed but also were believed and
> THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW
> 
> practised in a variety of combinations. The average Chinese person, as
> the saying goes, wears "a Confucian crown, a Taoist robe, and Buddhist
> sandals. I have therefore called it "Chinese religion" rather than
> "Chinese religions'". It is a distinctive religion because of its non-
> exclusivity; groups and individuals embraced aspects of more than one
> "religion without necessarily reconciling them. In other words, a Chinese
> man can claim that he is both a Taoist (a lover of nature), a Confucian
> (who is serious in his duties), and a Buddhist (deeply aware of the
> transience of life). Its eclectic nature can be seen in the Chinese temples
> in Southeast Asia where statues of Confucius, Lao-tzu and the Buddha
> are set up alongside those of traditional Chinese immortals as objects of
> veneration. To further complicate the picture, the Chinese religion is
> actually a little more than this simple trilogy because within each of the
> three, there are many schools, each a little different from the other. For
> example, in Singapore, a recent survey found that besides Taoism and
> Confucianism, there were seven schools of Buddhism (including
> Mahayana, Theravada, Pure Land, Ch'an and the Japanese Nichiren
> school), at least nine syncretic religions including the Great Way of
> Former Heaven, the P'u T'u Men or salvation sect, the Kuei Ken Men or
> way of reverting-to-the-first-principle sect and the well known Red
> Swastika Society, and many spiritual medium cults, pure Chinese ones,
> sino-Malay ones and sino-Indian ones.1 The historical pattern is one of
> confluence and overlapping of various strands and religion is held
> together by patterns of participation rather than any rational overview.
> 
> Another "problem with regard to the Chinese religion is that although we
> may refer to a "Chinese religion", we should note here that there is no
> Chinese word that corresponds exactly to the word "religion". To the
> Chinese, there is no difference between religion and education. The
> Chinese word jiao (45c )> meaning teaching, includes all religions. Both
> "teaching" and "learning" have the purpose of bringing enlightenment. A
> great teacher teaches one to understand the great principle of life and the
> universe, how to reach the good and to appreciate the beautiful.
> Similarly, Confucian scholars themselves did not consider whether their
> system of values was a philosophy of religion as it was not a relevant
> question in their culture. The question of dualistic terminology which
> plays a large part in Western philosophical consciousness (e.g. "sacred"
> 
> Chew, Life Death and Immortality,   p. 70.
> The Soul in Chinese and Bahá 7 Belief
> 
> vs "secular", "salvific" vs "pedagogic", "spiritual" vs "practical" etc!) is
> quite alien to the Chinese mind. In the same way philosophy and religion
> are neither separable nor clearly distinguishable in Chinese civilisation.2
> 
> Although the Chinese notion of "teaching" does not indicate an explicit
> belief in God, it is incorrect to say that the Chinese do not believe in
> God, or what in their own literature has been referred to as the Absolute
> Truth, the Ultimate Reality or the Eternal Ground of Being. Indeed,
> sprinkled throughout the Tao-te ching and the other major Chinese
> classical texts are references to the presence of the Great Tao. We know
> too that there are an abundance of temples and shrines whenever Chinese
> people are found and what are temples and shrines if they are not the
> earthly palaces of deities and spirits? How could the Chinese have been
> described as irreligious people when there were many temples, even in
> Communist China? Indeed, the study of archaeology and textual
> philology has yielded us a hierarchy of gods and spirits worshipped in
> Chinese antiquity, which rivals that of the ancient Near East and the
> Graeco-Roman world. Even Confucianism, in what is known as the
> "Chinese Great Tradition", has a certain openness to the transcendent.
> The fact that Confucius stressed his love for the ancients and the fact that
> he was a "transmitter" rather than a "maker" of values symbolises his
> conscious attempt to provide a transcendental anchorage for human
> civilisation.
> 
> A third "problem" that differentiates the Chinese religion from the other
> major religions is the lack of a Holy Book or a proclaimed prophet-
> figure. Instead, part of the essence of traditional Chinese belief is that
> wise sages (great teachers) from time to time will come to show the path
> to enlightenment. In a broad sense, the Sage or the junzi (ýg^        ) in
> Chinese philosophy can be compared to what is known in Baha'i
> theology as "the Perfect man", or "the Manifestation of God", who will
> come to reaffirm what the Chinese have called, the way. Throughout the
> Mencius, ancient sage kings are extolled precisely because it was
> recognised that the sage achieved complete unity and harmony with a
> higher realm. On the other hand, imperfect man, in his almost total
> ignorance of reality, realises disharmony and conflict and creates
> difficulties for himself and for others. In this article, I will therefore
> 
> Chew, Chinese Religion, p. 17.
> 6            THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW
> 
> quote and narrate from the sayings of China's most influential sages
> since it is only in China that we have the unique case of a religion
> without a prophet, a religion not quite divine in origin but to all intents
> and purposes a religion in terms* of its aims and depth of spiritual
> insights. As Chew puts it, "It is a religion without revelation."3
> 
> Where the multifaceted Chinese religion is concerned, there is of course
> a broad range of beliefs and approaches to the nexus of fundamental
> questions related to the soul, death and the afterlife. This article is a
> preliminary investigation of the Chinese religion and the Baha'i Faith
> and their beliefs in relation to a soul, the existence of an afterlife, and the
> phenomenon of death. In addition, it explores the ideas on the nature of
> the soul and the human being and relates these ideas to the human
> being's quest for happiness and meaning in life. Last but not least, the
> question of free will and its relation to justice is discussed.
> 
> The existence of the soul
> 
> All religions teach that the invisible but essential part of man, the soul,
> will live on long after the body decays. Indeed, the raison d'etre of the
> divine religions has been the promise of immortality. 'Abdu'1-Bahá, the
> son of Baha'u'llah, the prophet-founder of the Baha'i Faith and the
> interpreter of the Baha'i Writings, calls the soul "the inner reality of
> man."4 He also describes it as "a pure and unknown substance.5
> Everywhere the Baha'i Writings suggest that the "true man" is the soul
> and therefore the body is of minor importance. It is said: ".. .the body has
> to die when its light has come to an end. Therefore of what importance
> is it?"6
> 
> In Chinese religion, one of the clearest expositions of the existence of the
> soul is in the writings of Mencius (371-289 BC), the greatest successor
> 
> Chew, Chinese Religion, p. 51.
> 'Abdu'1-Bahá , Promulgation, p. 464.
> Ibid.
> Ibid.
> The Soul in Chinese and Bahá 7 Belief
> 
> of Confucian thought. Mencius refers to the soul, as the "essential
> nature" of man and calls it the "vital spirit":7
> 
> I know how to nourish my vast vital spirit... it is not easy to
> describe it in words. For it is a spirit extremely great and
> extremely strong. When nourished by rectitude and kept integral,
> it fills up all between heaven and earth. It is a spirit that must be
> mated to justice and natural law. Without these it would be
> starved. In fact, it is born of an accumulation of justice, not
> something which justice invades from outside and takes to itself.
> Its very life depends upon justice. For whenever your conduct
> does not satisfy your conscience, the vital spirit suffers
> starvation.8
> 
> This "vital spirit", a term reminiscent of the work of Plato, is seen here
> as a necessary ally of the rational principle (the materialistic rules which
> human beings operate by) if their unruly desires are to be kept in order.
> According to Mencius, without the help of the vital spirit, the human
> being would be like a "powerless monarch", in terms of his true mission
> in life.9 The vital spirit is one which cannot be perceived by the material
> senses of the physical body but can only be expressed in outward signs
> and works. The vital spirit is also placeless since placement is
> characteristic of bodies and not of spirit. As the above extract recounts,
> the important thing is to inform the vital spirit with the spirit of justice.
> When one's conduct is bad, the vital spirit suffers starvation. On the
> other hand, when the vital spirit is nourished by the spirit of justice, it is
> lifted up to a higher plane, and instead of weakening, will grow
> immensely.
> 
> Another Chinese mystic, Chuang-tzu (c.300 BC), a contemporary of
> Mencius and the greatest successor of Taoist thought after Lao-tzu,
> spoke of the spirit or soul of man as the "true man" which could never be
> destroyed.11 Chuang-tzu explains that this spirit, the "true man", has
> Mencius, Bk 2, pt. 1, ch. 2. Art. 11.
> Mencius, Bk 2, pt. 1, ch. 2, arts. 12-14.
> Chew, Chinese Religion, p. 90.
> It has been said that Chuang-tzu is to Lao-tzu what Mencius is to Confucius.
> See Berling, Death and Afterlife.
> 8             THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW
> 
> existed before man's birth as a human being. When a human being dies,
> his true self returns home, as it were, to its original state. It continues to
> exist although its existence is beyond time and space. In addition,
> another Chinese philosopher, Mo-feu (c 468-376 BC) upheld the belief
> that the vital spirit or the true man would continue to live on. He
> defended the belief of its existence on the grounds that people had
> actually heard the voices of spiritual beings and that beliefs in spiritual
> beings was helpful to personal conduct and national peace.12
> 
> Although proclaiming the existence of the soul, these influential Chinese
> philosophers are, however, relatively silent as to the origins of the soul or
> its originator and it is this very silence and impreciseness that has led
> many Western observers and scholars to believe that the Chinese
> temperament is more suited to a philosophy rather than a religion.13
> Here, it is true, however, that the Chinese religion is concerned more
> with the celebration of life rather than with the clarification of doctrines.
> Whether there is a soul or many souls, a god or many gods is not a
> matter of philosophical interest. Two reasons may be postulated at this
> juncture as to why although there have been mystical experiences, there
> has been very little talk about the soul. Firstly, for the Chinese to
> expound on a topic outside space and time would be a transgression of
> "the mean", which Confucius had warned about.14 Confucius said: "till
> you know about the living, how are you to know about the dead"
> (Analects 11:11). The Tao ("omnipotent"), the closest concept in
> Chinese thought to "God" is not explicitly expounded on, either in the
> Tao-te ching or the Confucian Analects. This silence is consistent with
> Chinese thought for the Tao cannot be described since language is a
> product of the world and the Tao, logically, is beyond it. The Tao,
> described as the organic order underlying the world, cannot be named or
> known, only intuited.15 The religious autobiography or treatise has not
> been a popular genre in China literature.
> 
> Mei, Ethical and Political Thoughts of Mo-tzu, vol. III.
> The writings of Western Sinologues such as Legge and Giles in the 19 and 20l
> Century helped mould such beliefs. Their students e.g. Derk Bodde also writes in this
> tradition.
> See the Chung Yung {The Doctrine of the Mean) which represents the mature
> thought of Confucius.
> See Chew, The Great Tao.
> The Soul in Chinese and Bahá 7 Belief
> 
> The second, and perhaps more important reason, is that while phonetic
> language leads easily to conceptual abstractions and a separation of the
> sensible from the non-sensible, (e.g. the Greek language presents a world
> of meanings in separation from a world of concrete things); an image-
> language, such as the Chinese language tends to lead to the cohesion of
> the sensible and non-sensible, for example, religion and philosophy is
> denoted by the same symbol, jiao ( 4St ). The languages of revelation in
> the Baha'i Faith, ie Arabic and Persian are also phonetic rather than
> image languages. This has enabled the Baha'i Faith to be more explicit
> in its references to the soul. The use of image language explains why the
> Chinese tradition is less metaphysical than Western traditions.
> Metaphysics in the Western sense is predicated upon the separation of
> the sensible from the abstract, the practical from the transcendental.16
> 
> However, this silence or indirectness on metaphysical subjects did not
> mean that the Chinese do not believe in an ultimate power. Although the
> Creator and its creation, the soul, is seldom mentioned in Chinese
> literature, it is always assumed. It is the indispensable backdrop for
> Confucian and Taoist discourse. In discourses on the Tao, there is a
> worldview that seeks the perfection of an individual through union with
> an absolute agent or force. In the Tao-te ching, the Tao is referred to as
> "the mother of the world" and "the root of all returns".17 The ultimate is
> seen in the Tao, a divine force so immanent that it is even in the soil and
> tiles, so much a part of the world that it cannot be separated from its
> Oneness. Union with the Tao is believed to be the birthright of every
> being, and is closely associated with the belief with a mystical Creator.
> 
> While both the Chinese religion and the Baha'i Faith acknowledge the
> existence of the soul as "a pure and unknown substance", "an inner
> reality", "a vital spirit", and "the true man", the Baha'i Faith provides
> more details on this "essential nature" of Man. 'Abdu'1-Bahá says that
> the soul "... is sent forth by the Word of God" and that the soul is "a
> spirit with which God had endowed him (man) at creation".18 The soul
> is "the intermediary between the Supreme Concourse and the lower
> concourse" suggesting that the soul is the link between the Creator and
> 
> Cheng, Chinese Metaphysics, p. 167.
> See Tao-te ching, chapters 25 and 16.
> Chew, The Great Tao.
> 10               THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW
> 
> the world of creation.19 For Baha'is, the spirit or the soul is the rider, the
> body is only the steed. The soul acts in the physical world with the help
> of the body. The soul utilises the frody as an instrument through which its
> qualities may be developed. As the to-ordinator of the physical functions
> of the body, the soul enables it to function in perfect harmony and with
> absolute regularity. It is from the Baha'i Writings that we are able to
> understand more clearly what Mencius has previously termed as "not
> easily described in words."
> 
> The Existence of life after death.
> 
> The scarcity of discourse on the afterlife in Chinese tradition can be
> attributed to the influence of Confucius. For him, the afterlife is not
> within one's control and therefore should not be the focus of attention.
> Once, when he was asked whether men have consciousness after death
> he replied:
> 
> If I say that the dead have consciousness, I am afraid that the
> pious sons and obedient grandsons will harm their own lives for
> the dead; if I say that the dead have no consciousness, I am
> afraid that the unfilial and impious children will abandon the
> cadavers of their deceased parents and not even bury them. Why
> are you so eager to know if the dead have consciousness? It is
> not important now. We will know it naturally later (when we
> die)20
> 
> Despite this stoic detachment on the part of the great Chinese
> philosophical texts from the belief in a soul, most Chinese, through their
> daily lives and practices, assume that there is one. They take great care to
> maintain personal contact with their ancestors not only through ancestral
> tables in an altar placed in a spirit hall or in their homes, but also by
> regular visits to the cemetery. There has also been a strong interest in the
> care of the corpse, both immediately after death and in the grave. From
> early in Chinese history, those with resources seem to have spent
> 
> 'Abdu'1-Bahá, Ibid.
> The Home Sayings of Confucius, quoted in Chih, Chinese Humanism,     p.
> 415.
> The Soul in Chinese and Bahá 7 Belief                          11
> 
> lavishly on elixirs and other treatments that would prevent or slow down
> the process of decay. Families of means invested in watertight and strong
> coffins to preserve the body as long as possible. Records found in oracle
> bones dating back to the Shang Dynasty (1751-111 BC) contain
> numerous references to sacrifices to ancestors, with offerings of food and
> other daily necessities and luxuries. Daily utensils and, in extreme cases,
> their bodyguard or even concubines were buried with them so that they
> could be served. Certainly, a civilisation or culture that focuses so much
> on ancestor-worship must presuppose some belief in the soul and
> hereafter.
> 
> The Chinese words gui ( ^ ) and shen (/ft ) a ^ so show a belief in the
> existence of spiritual beings. Etymologically, gui means "to return to the
> source" and shen means "to expand", but in ancient times, and for the
> masses, gui-shen ( J%/ft ) means merely spiritual beings. Intercessions
> are offered for the beloved dead. Prayers are said for the forgiveness of
> sins. The ancestor cult was expressed as a memorial service, held
> previously at ancestral temples, and after that at gravesides or at home21
> Wine and food were usually offered with silent prostration in front of
> tables. Ancestors were alleged to have tasted the food before the whole
> family partook of the meal. Ancient Chinese literature, especially that of
> the fourth and fifth centuries BC is fairly rich in essays and poems
> devoted to recalling the soul. The practice of recalling the soul was
> widely practised until the Second World War. What is certain is that the
> soul, hun-p 'o, survives after death. It is believed that at death the upper
> soul, hun, rises up to heaven while the lower soul, po, descends to earth.
> This is in harmony with the Confucian belief that the human being is
> compounded of two souls - an upper or intellectual soul called the hun,
> which becomes the spirit (shen) and ascends to the world above, and a
> lower or animal soul, called the po/po , which becomes the ghost (gui)
> and descends with the body into the grave.22
> 
> Interestingly, in the Baha'i Faith, 'Abdu'1-Bahá describes the soul as "...
> the intermediary between the Supreme Concourse and the lower
> concourse. It (the soul) hath two phases - "the higher aspireth to the
> 
> Yeo, Chinese Family Religion Singapore Baha'i Studies Review Vol. 2, p. 111.
> These ideas are found in the Tso Commentary (Tso-chuan) in a recording of a
> conversation dated 534 BC.
> 12                THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW
> 
> kingdom of El-Abhá and the lights of the mind shine forth from that
> horizon upon its higher sphere. The other side inclineth to the lower
> concourse of the material world, and its lowest phase is enveloped in the
> darkness of ignorance." 'Abdu'1-Bahá continues: "There is a human
> spirit and a divine spirit, the latter arising through knowledge and belief
> in God. The human spirit is superior to the body and struggles with it for
> control of the soul: when it succeeds, the soul becomes heavenly; when
> the body obtains control, the soul becomes degraded."23 Elsewhere,
> 'Abdu'1-Bahá says that "... the human personality appears in two
> aspects: the image or likeness of God and the aspect of Satan. The
> human reality stands between these two: the divine and the Satanic."24 In
> short, "... man, is endowed with two natures: one tendeth towards moral
> sublimity and intellectual perfection, while the other turneth to bestial
> degradation and carnal imperfection."25
> 
> Chuang-tzu believed that the only way to salvation was to identify
> oneself with "the orderly process of all being, the TaoT For Chuang-tzu,
> death is nothing to fear, for man lives as long as his essence, the Tao,
> lives; and the Tao is eternal. One of his most well known stories, often
> referred to as the "most fantastic" story of "a happy excursion" has been
> variously interpreted by different thinkers. The following interpretation
> by Fang is relevant to our discussion on the immortality of the soul:
> 
> Here, Chuang-tzu asserts that "the supreme man could lead his
> own spirit up to the primordial reposing blissfully in the realm of
> Nowhere, doing away with all the petty knowledge and getting
> free of the bother of lowly things... the spirit can abide with the
> eternal Tao, estranged from the physical world and
> disencumbered of all material allurings, independent and free
> from all restraints. Upon entering the gate of infinitude, he
> experiences supreme bliss and immerses his unique spirit in the
> light of the celestial. At the attainment of sagehood, he would
> abandon himself to the vast concord of all perfection. He is now
> 
> 'Abdu'1-Bahá , Tablets, p. 611.
> 'Abdu'1-Bahá , Selections, p. 288.
> Ibid.
> The Soul in Chinese and Bahá 7 Belief                              13
> 
> the archetype of man in the full capacity of the omnipotent
> (dao).26
> 
> It must be noted here, that not all Chinese people believe that
> immortality was only possible in "the realm of Nowhere". A sizeable
> number believed that it could also be sought in the material world. In
> Chinese thought, there has not been a strict separation of spirit and
> matter, (just as there has not been the strict separation of the spiritual
> from the practical and the sacred vs the secular). Thus, many Chinese
> look forward to the survival of the whole person, including the body. The
> belief that humans could become Immortals led historically to the
> practice of alchemical experiments. The popular Taoist tradition is
> embellished with stories of wondrous drugs and wonder-working
> immortals, of levitations and bodily ascensions. This is especially
> described in early treatises such as the well-known Ts 'an-t 'ung-ch 7 of
> Wei Po-yang (2nd century AD) and the Pao-p 'u-tzu, written by Ko Hung.
> As Confucianism and Taoism became increasingly institutionalised, we
> also hear of the "heavenly immortals " that have ascended to celestial
> regions and of "earthly immortals" that roam about in sacred forests and
> mountains. After them come those human beings that appear to die, but
> actually only leave behind their physical frames.27 It must be noted that
> although there is a pursuit of deathlessness in the popular imagination of
> the masses, this does not mean that there was no belief in the existence
> of a soul and in spiritual immortality.
> 
> Many Chinese also believe in reincarnation, especially those directly
> influenced by Buddhist doctrines. There is also a strong belief that the
> physical and spiritual worlds are interconnected. In Chinese mythology,
> the journey imagery is seen through the cline of existence. Immortality
> 
> The World and the Individual, p. 247.
> There is a different story with the intellectuals. In the first century A.D., Wang
> Ch'ung, one of the more critical and influential philosophers in Chinese history, wrote a
> treatise to disprove the existence of spiritual beings. Fan chen (b. 450) attacked the
> Buddhist belief. Later Neo-Confucianists, from the 12th Century on, have unanimously
> attacked both the Taoist and the Buddhist belief in everlasting life. They believed that
> "the best course is to establish virtue, the next best is to establish achievement, and still
> the next best is to establish words. When these are abandoned with time, this may be
> called immortality."
> 14              THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW
> 
> and mortality is often blurred, and there are degrees of both states.28 A
> popular belief is the notion that the living being could lighten the
> suffering of the dead ancestors and lead them to an early and pleasant
> rebirth - either on earth (as in Mahayana Buddhism) or in heaven (as in
> philosophical Taoism). In Buddhist terms, this was due to the notion of
> "transfer of merit" according to which one could do religious deeds for
> the sake of another. One can do charitable acts, perform religious
> services or undertake some religious discipline, and intentionally transfer
> the merit of that act into an account, as it were, for one's relatives, or for
> all suffering beings. This corresponds to the Baha'i belief that once a
> soul has departed from this physical world, it will behold in that next
> world whatever was hidden from it here. It will be able to "gaze on his
> fellows and peers, and those in the ranks above him, and those below".29
> Baha'is are encouraged to pray for those who have died in order to assist
> their spiritual progress. Similarly, souls which have passed into the next
> world are believed to be able to assist people in the physical world. Thus,
> both the Chinese religion and the Baha'i Faith possess a strong belief in
> the existence of an afterlife and the idea that the dead can help the living
> and vice versa.30
> 
> The Phenomenon of Death
> 
> It is important to consider the phenomenon of death since it is the
> beginning or the end of one's life, depending on one's point of
> perspective. Its inevitability is the essential key to the understanding of
> human interest in the soul and the life hereafter. It evokes the master
> emotion of the human race and its occurrence forces us to reflect on the
> 
> The great premieval gods are presumed to be immortal yet the Flame Emperor,
> brother of the Yellow Emperor, are all killed and died at death, though parts of them live
> on in a metamorphosed state. Metamorphosis is also the final destiny of other mythical
> figures who have died by execution or drowning such as Kun, who became a bear (some
> other variants are turtle and dragon), Kang-hsiang, who becomes a river god and Chig
> Wei, who turns into a bird. P'an Ku is transformed into the universe at the moment of
> death. Some mystical figures exist on the border of life and death, such as woman
> Ch'ou, who was bom a corpse, and the hero Hsing T'ien, who continues to fight after his
> head has been lopped off (Birrell, Chinese Mythology, p. 181).
> 'Abdu'1-Bahá, Selections, p. 171.
> Yeo, Chinese Family Religion, Singapore Baha'i Studies Review, Vol. 2, p. 112.
> The Soul in Chinese and Bahá 7 Belief                 15
> 
> meaning of life. In the writings of Chuang-tzu, death has been portrayed
> as the "great awakening", the ultimate end of man which is the unity
> with the Tao:
> 
> When a man is dreaming, he does not realise he is dreaming.
> Sometimes he even dreams that he is awake and goes on to
> interpret the dream he has just had. Only when he awakes does
> he realise that it was all a dream. So, when the Great Awakening
> comes, one will realise that his life is a Big Dream. Yet fools
> consider themselves as awake, knowing for sure that "this is the
> prince and that is the shepard." Oh, what cocksureness!
> Confucius and yourself are both dreams; and I who say that you
> are dreams am likewise a dream.31
> 
> This dream imagery is strikingly similar to the way the Baha'i scriptures
> to connote the value of life on the physical plane:
> 
> As to material happiness, it never exists; nay, it is but
> imagination, an image reflected in mirrors, a spectre and a
> shadow... It is something, which but slightly removes one's
> affliction... All the material blessings... bestow no delight on
> the mind, nor pleasure to the soul: nay, they furnish only the
> bodily wants... 32
> 
> For Chuang-tzu and 'Abdu'1-Bahá, life on the material plane is
> metaphorically only a dream. .Therefore, they taught that the human
> being should value spiritual happiness more than material happiness,
> since they regard it to be the true basis of all human endeavour.
> 
> On another occasion and further on the subject of death, Chuang-tzu
> described death as the Great return to its creator and suggests that the
> destiny and well-being of the human being is to cultivate a relationship
> with the Source of Being. This is an idea not unfamliar to the other
> religions, including the Baha'i Faith:
> 
> Chuang-tzu, ch. 2, p. 16 Quoted in Sih, Chinese Humanism, p. 76.
> 'Abdu'1-Bahá , quoted in McLean, Dimensions in Spirituality, p. 177.
> 16             THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW
> 
> Man's life in this world is like the flitting shadow of a white
> pony on its run as seen through a crack on the wall. A
> momentary flash, and it disappears! Like jets of water from the
> bubbling fountain, men spring out and return to their source. By
> one transformation they are born, by another transformation they
> die. At the point of dying, all living beings become miserable
> and men feel sad. But it is only the removal of the bow from the
> sheath, or the shedding off of a shell. There may be some
> confusion amidst the yielding to the change, but the spiritual
> soul and animal soul are taking their leave, and the body will
> follow them. This is the Great Return!33
> 
> Another favoured metaphor in both Chinese and Baha'i beliefs is that
> life is a journey and death a point of transition on that path. Death is only
> a transformation from one form of existence to another. This suggests to
> their followers that if human existence is a source of joy, why should
> death, another form of existence be the source of sorrow? In Taoist
> belief, human life is depicted as a "journey", a "pilgrimage" of the soul,
> the journey back to God. In the Baha'i Faith, ' Abdu'1-Bahá refers to "the
> pathway of life is the road which leads to divine knowledge and
> attainment.34 In his writings, Chung-tzu also offers a vision of the soul as
> well as the body traversing different states of existence. His grief is
> captured in the famous story of the death of his wife.
> 
> Chuang Tzu's wife died. When Hui Tzu went to convey his
> condolences, he found Chuang Tzu sitting with his legs
> sprawled out, pounding on a tub and singing. "You lived with
> her, she brought up your children and grew old," said Hui
> Tzu. "It should be enough simply not to weep at her death.
> But pounding on a tub and singing - this is going too far,
> isn't it?"
> 
> Chaung Tzu said, "You're wrong. When she first died, do you
> think I didn't grieve like anyone else? But I looked back to her
> beginning and the time before she was born. Not only the time
> before she was born, but the time before she had a body. Not
> 
> Chuang-tzu. Quoted in Sih, Chinese Humanism, pp. 75-76.
> 'Abdu'1-Bahá, Promulgation, pp. 294, 336.
> The Soul in Chinese and Bahá 7 Belief            17
> 
> only the time before she had a body, but the time before she had
> a spirit. In the midst of the jumble of wonder and mystery a
> change took place and she had a spirit. Another change took
> palce and she had a body. Another change and she was born.
> Now there's been another change and she's dead. It's just like
> the progression of the four seasons, spring, summer, fall,
> winter.35
> 
> Chuang-tzu views the death of his wife as simply another phase of her
> journey. He recalls that there was a time in the womb and before, a time
> in this world and after. His reverence is more for the natural processes
> (the Tao) from which she had come and to which she had returned rather
> than a wish to be physically attached to her. A Baha'i saying which
> recalls this viewpoint is the advice: "O Son of the Supreme! I have made
> death a messenger of joy to thee. Wherefore dost thou grieve? I have
> made the light to shed on thee its splendour. Why dost thou veil thyself
> therefrom."36 Death is simply another natural phase of one's journey and
> excessive grief is uncalled for in light of this perspective.
> 
> The Soul and the Nature of Man
> 
> Both Chinese and Baha'i beliefs concur that the human being is the only
> being with self-consciousness, perception and intelligence, and hence
> endowed with the capacity for self-improvement and perfection. "All
> men", says Confucius, "are born righteous" {Analects 6:17). Similarly, in
> the Baha'i scriptures: "man is the noblest of all beings, the sum of all
> perfection...."37 For the Chinese, the human being is a species in his own
> right. He may share many similarities with animals but there is an
> essential difference between him and the wild beasts of the field. In
> other words, there is a difference in kind between man and animals, not
> just of degree. In the same way, the Chinese also believe that there is a
> difference in kind and not just in degree between man and God. In
> addition, some people may be "godlike" but they are not God or "divine
> man". As Confucius puts it, some men "are divine to man, but ordinary
> 
> Quoted in Berling, Death and Afterlife, p. 184.
> BaháVlláh, Hidden Words, Arabic, p. 32.
> 'Abdu'1-Bahá, Some Answered Questions, p. 195.
> 18             THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW
> 
> to God." 38 Chuang-tzu develops this idea by adding that "the meanest
> being in heaven would be the best on earth; and the best on earth, the
> meanest in heaven."39 Both religions, although separated by a time of
> over 2,000 years have a sophisticated understanding of spiritual
> relativity.
> 
> Both Chinese and Baha'i views concur that Man is different from
> animals for man is able to intellectualise and to understand abstractions.
> He is the only creature which can resist nature. For example, man can
> defy gravity through the invention of the aeroplane. Most important of
> all, in man can also be found the gift of self-consciousness. According to
> 'Abdu'1-Bahá, the soul bestows upon man "conscious reflection" and
> "conscious intelligence." 'Abdu'1-Bahá says: "God has created such a
> conscious spirit within him (man) that he is the most wonderful of all
> contingent beings."40 Animals do not have the self-image that human
> beings have. It is well known that when a chimpanzee, the most evolved
> of human primates, sees its own image reflected in a mirror, it often does
> not recognise itself. In fact the chimpanzee often thinks that it is another
> animal and tries to look behind the mirror for it. Animals are often
> incapable of recognising the image of its own body and therefore cannot
> come to know of itself as an animal. According to the Baha'i texts, the
> gift of consciousness has been bestowed on man so that he can
> investigate the truth for himself, arrive at the choice of good and evil,
> apprehend the divine teachings, acquire and manifest the bounties of
> God.41
> 
> The main concern for Confucius was not therefore whether man had a
> soul or a certain human uniqueness, that was not found in other creatures
> on this material world, since this was already implicit in their overall
> understanding of the cosmos. Rather, the emphasis was on a practical
> focus, that is, how to put this distinctively human quality to good use.
> Chinese scholars such as Confucius and Mencius felt that since man is
> essentially noble, law and punishment should not be the main instrument
> 
> See Chew, Chinese Religion, p. 85.
> See Chew, The Chinese Religion, p. 85. These beliefs are also found in the Baha'i
> Faith. See chapters 46,48 48 of Some Answered Questions by 'Abdu'1-Bahá.
> ' Abdu'1-Bahá , Promulgation of Universal Peace, pp. 258, 17, 58, 51.
> cf. MacLean, Dimensions in Spirituality, p. 160.
> The Soul in Chinese and Bahá 7 Belief                            19
> 
> in controlling man's behaviour and actions. What should be emphasised
> was rather his sense of shame, something which must come from the
> inner self, the conscience. This sense of shame is probably emphasised
> more in China than in any other cultural tradition of the world. To label
> a man "without shame" is to degrade him to the level of animals.
> Confucius himself said that a sense of shame is more powerful than the
> fear of punishment. {Analects 2:3). Interestingly, the Baha'i Faith states
> that the presence of shame prevents man from doing what is unworthy
> and unseemly but warns that this sense of shame, effective as a deterrent,
> is confined to only to a few people. By itself, shame is not sufficient to
> prevent the occurrence of immoral deeds and the Baha'i Faith advocates
> that the offender should, in addition, be punished by the relevant
> authorities.42
> 
> A related question at this point is how one may reconcile the intrinsic
> nobility of man, proclaimed by both the Chinese religion and the Baha'i
> Faith, with the occurrence of evil deeds? In the Baha'i Faith, evil results
> when the soul, originally pure, becomes corrupted. As 'Ábdu'1-Bahá puts
> it, "It is like the nose, which at first smells any odour, but after a
> prolonged exposition to an odour, it no longer perceives it,"43 and
> moreover, "... every individual is born holy and pure, and only thereafter
> may before defiled."44 "As the soul progresses, they will begin to differ
> one from the other, some achieving the highest stations, some a middle
> one, others remaining at the lowest stage of being."45 This explanation
> bears similarity to the ideas of Mencius who explained that the
> occurrence of bad deeds are chiefly a result of environmental influences.
> 
> In good years the young people often acquire a habit of
> dependence. In bad years, the young people often take to
> violence. This is not due to the difference in their natural
> endowments as conferred by heaven. It is due to the different
> 
> ' Abdu'1-Bahá, Some Answered Questions, Chapter 74.
> Consider the words of Baha'u'llah, the prophet-founder of the Baha'i Faith: "In this
> day the tastes of man have changed, and their power of perception hath altered. The
> contrary winds of the world, and its colours, have provoked a cold, and deprived men's
> nostrils of the sweet savours of Revelation" (Shoghi Effendi, Promised Day 119).
> 'Abdu'1-Bahá, Selections, p. 190.
> 'Abdu'1-Bahá, Selections, p. 171.
> 20              THE SINGAPORE BAHÁÍ STUDIES REVIEW
> 
> things by which they allow their minds to be ensnared and
> engulfed.
> 
> Take for instance, the barley. Let the seed be sown and covered
> up. The ground being the same, and the time of planting again
> the same, it will grow luxuriantly and ripen in the fullness of
> time. If there be inequalities of produce, it must be due to the
> thickness and thinness of the soil, to the sufficiency and
> insufficiency of rain and dew, and to the different ways of
> farming.
> 
> In fact, all things which belong to the same kind of species are
> similar to each other. Why should we doubt in regard to man, as
> if he were a solitary exception to the rule? 46
> 
> To summarise, the soul or vital spirit which man possesses, distinguishes
> him from the other animals in the world. He is a species in his own
> right. The Chinese view of man as the noblest being in the universe
> parallels the Baha'i view. Man is different from the animals for he is able
> to intellectualise, to understand abstractions and to create something
> which had not existed before. He is a special being in the cosmos,
> intrinsically noble. The evil deeds that occur are explained away as a
> result of habitual addiction or more precisely to the lack of a spiritual
> education.
> 
> The Education of the Soul
> 
> There is a perception in the Chinese tradition that life is a journey to the
> ultimate and that many things will occur along the journey which will
> alter the end result of the journey for the better or worse. As a result of
> this perception, moral education becomes a very important enterprise.
> True education is moral education because it teaches man to differentiate
> good from bad, the beneficial from the harmful and right from wrong. In
> the Book of Great Learning by Confucius, a man has to be cultivated,
> "cut and then filed, chiselled and then ground." This makes it, once
> again, aligned with the Baha'i Faith. As 'Abdu'1-Bahá puts it, "Were
> 
> Mencius, bk 6, pt 1, ch 6 arts. 1-7.
> The Soul in Chinese andBahá 7 Belief                21
> 
> there no educator, all souls would remain savage, and were it not for the
> teachers, the children would be ignorant creatures.47 "The essence of
> man" writes Baha'u'llah "is hidden in his individuality which must
> appear though the polish of education. This is man's glory, and all else
> which depends upon other things is not a part of man himself."48
> 
> The Chinese sages have taught that the moron who is fond of learning is
> better than an intelligent man who does not exert himself.49 In the Baha'i
> writings, education is greatly emphasised and encouraged. In the Baha'i
> Faith, the fundamental importance and limitless possibilities of education
> are announced in the clearest terms: "Every child is potentially the light
> of the world - and at the same time its darkness; wherefore must the
> question of education be accounted as of primary importance.50 As
> Baha'u'llah puts it, "knowledge is as wings to man's life and a ladder fór
> his ascent. Its acquisition is incumbent upon everyone."51 We may
> conclude here then that the erstwhile Chinese sage, just like the prophets
> of the great religions, reveals to man how he should behave on the
> material plane. Indeed, the whole Confucian enterprise is directed toward
> the development of the moral individual. The pursuit of knowledge is
> inseparable from the quest for moral perfection. The ancient Chinese
> always believed that morality should be the goal of education because it
> was morality that moved the universe. This stress on moral education by
> the great Chinese sages, and which comprises what has been called the
> "Great Chinese Tradition", is in keeping with the supreme aim of all the
> founders of the great religions.
> 
> However, it must be noted that, while both the Chinese religion and the
> Baha'i Faith stress education as a means of bringing out true human
> qualities, there is a distinctive difference. For the Baha'is, the prevention
> of immoral acts will not come just from moral education per se but only
> through a moral education which begins with the recognition of the
> existence of God. Baha'is believe that man is more self-centred than
> other-centred. Thus, education is not enough if it is not sustained by the
> 'Abdu'1-Bahá, Selections, p.T26.
> The Federation of the World" In Star of the West, xiv, 297.
> cf. Chew, Chinese Religion, p. 130.
> 'Abdu'1-Bahá, Selections, p. 130.
> Baha'u'llah, Tablets, p. 51.
> 22              THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW
> 
> fear of God. In other words, man's sense of shame can only be effective
> when it is sustained and inspired by the school of religion. In the Chinese
> religion, while education and the cultivation of shame are emphasised,
> the question of the existence of God takes a back seat. It is always
> assumed as part of the universe of existence but not explicitly in the
> foreground as a means of moulding characters.
> 
> The Tao of Happiness
> 
> If the true man is the soul, how is this related to the perennial quest for
> happiness in life? In the Great Chinese Tradition, the way to attain true
> happiness is to follow the way of the Tao. In the Tao-te ching:
> 
> If I have a grain of wisdom,
> I will walk along the great Tao
> And only fear to stray (ch 53).
> 
> The nature of great virtue is to follow Tao along (ch. 21). In being in
> harmony with Tao, everything is made whole. This is echoed in
> Confucius, "A resolute scholar and a man of humanity will never seek to
> live at the expense of injuring humanity. He would rather sacrifice his
> life in order to realise humanity {Analects 15:8). For Mencius, the way to
> attain happiness is "For a man to give full realisation to his heart is for
> him to understand his own nature, and a man who knows his own nature
> will know Heaven. By retaining his heart and nurturing his nature, he is
> serving Heaven. {Mencius 8A:1).
> 
> Such injunctions are very familiar to the Baha'i Faith. Baha'u'llah
> writes: "Whoso keepest the commandments of God shall attain
> everlasting felicity."52 'Abdu'1-Bahá adds, "... human happiness consists
> only in drawing closer to the threshold of the almighty God, in securing
> the peace and well-being of every individual member, high and low
> alike, of the human race.. ."53 Baha'is also believe that if the human spirit
> is attracted to the Kingdom of God, if the inner sight becomes opened
> 
> Baha'u'llah, Gleanings, p. 289.
> 'Abdu'1-Bahá, Secret of Divine Civilisation, p. 60.
> The Soul in Chinese and Bahá 7 Belief              23
> 
> and the spiritual feelings dominate, he will see the immortality of the
> spirit as clearly as he sees the sun.
> 
> For the Chinese mystics, simply keeping in harmony with the Tao is not
> enough. Many have longed for spontaneous oneness with Tao, "to
> become one with the great thoroughfare." 54 This mystic attraction may
> be referred to as the attraction between the lover and his beloved.
> Baha'uTlah writes; "... the lover hath no desire save union with his
> beloved."55 The Baha'i texts very often describe love through metaphors
> drawn from the experience of human love between a man and a woman.
> In the path of the spiritual search, the lover is ready to give up the
> attributes of his natal self that he may take on divine qualities.56
> 
> How then does one achieve the Tao of happiness? For the religious
> Taoist, the main obstacle to this end are the senses and the intellect
> which continously support a separate notion of ego through the presence
> of emotions and desires. Mystics therefore apply techniques e.g. fasting,
> purification and meditation to empty themselves so as to be one with the
> Tao.57 The following shamanitic passages in the Chuang-tzu include the
> lyrical description of the holy or perfect man, and gives some mystical
> advice on how to cutlivate the soul:
> 
> There is a Holy Man living on the distant Ku-she Mountain, with
> skin like ice or snow... He does not eat the five grains, but sucks
> the wind, drinks the dew, mounts the clouds and mist, rides a
> flying dragon, and wanders beyond four seas. By concentrating
> his spirit, he can protect creatures from sickness and plague and
> make the harvest plentiful (Watson, Complete works of Chuang
> Tzu 33).
> 
> (Yen Hui said) "May I ask what the fasting of the mind is?"
> Confucius said: "Make your will one! Don't listen with your
> ears, listen with your mind. No, don't listen with your mind, but
> listen with your spirit. Listening stops with the ears, the mind
> 
> Chuang-tzu, 6.
> See BaháVlláh, Seven Valleys, Chapter 1.
> BaháVlláh, Seven Valleys, p. 55.
> Kohn, Early Chinese Mysticism.
> 24             THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW
> 
> stops with recognition, but spirit is empty and waits on all
> things. The Way gathers in emptiness alone. Emptiness is the
> fasting of the mind (Watson, Complete Works ofChuang-tzu 57-
> 58).
> 
> For the philosophical Taoist, absolute happiness comes with
> transcending the distinctions between the physical self (the ego) and the
> universe, by perfect union with the Tao.58 In the Chuang-tzu. it involves
> a higher level of knowledge, that of wisdom, which goes beyond the
> distinction of things, including that of life and death. This may be called
> mystical knowledge, since it is not acquired by ordinary means. Indeed,
> it comes only with "forgetting" the knowledge of all things - especially
> that of the self. The Chuang-tzu mentions a requirement of the emptying
> of the senses and of the mind itself, a preparatory state leading to the
> presence of the superhuman and divine.59
> 
> In the Baha'i Faith, there is an acknowledgement of inner perception or
> intuitive knowledge. The Baha'i texts very often refer to an "inner eye
> and vision", an "inner ear and hearing", as well as "inner mind" and
> 'Abdu'1-Bahá always mentioned two instruments - mind and heart - as
> factors of spiritual progress.60 The soul can know "through instruments
> and organs" and without them.61 The heart might be viewed as the
> instrument by which the soul perceives spiritual knowledge. This kind of
> knowledge is immediate, independent of any physical instrument,
> reflection or reasoning and leads man directly to the "knowledge of
> being". It is insight or intuition and is a power shared by all mankind.
> However, because it is seldom used, it has atrophied, "... if the spiritual
> qualities of the soul, open to the breath of the Divine spirit, are never
> used, they become atrophied, enfeebled, and at last incapable."62 Very
> few people make a deliberate, conscious and methodical use of their
> insight.
> 
> Watson, op. cit.
> See Chew, Life Death and Immortality, for an account of Taoist attempts to
> surmount the physical plane through a variety of practices.
> 'Abdu'1-Bahá , Promulgation of Universal Peace, pp. 187-270.
> 'Abdu'1-Bahá, Some Answered Questions, p. 227.
> ' Abdu'1-Bahá, Some Answered Questions, p. 227.
> The Soul in Chinese and Bahá 7 Belief                      25
> 
> The Taoist religion has always acknowledged the power of intuition and
> much of the history of religious Taoism are actually endeavours to tap
> this power so as to achieve a mystical unification with Tao. Taoist
> practice often consists of attempts to empty the ordinary ego-centred
> mind, a cleansing of sensually-based thoughts and replacing them with
> doctrines and concepts of its mystical tradition. While the Baha'i Faith
> does not encourage such a single-minded preoccupation in the pursuit of
> the spiritual path, it does prescribe a systematic use of this extraordinary
> cognitive power, and points to meditation as the specific practice through
> which this power may be both used and developed.63 "I now assure
> thee... that if thy mind become empty and pure from every mention and
> thought and thy heart attracted wholly to the kingdom of God, forget all
> else besides God and come in communion with the Spirit of God, then
> the Holy Spirit will assist thee with a power which will enable thee to
> penetrate all things, and a Dazzling Spark which enlightens all sides, a
> Brilliant Flame in the zenith of the heaven, will teach thee that which
> thou dost not know of the facts of the universe and of the divine
> doctrine".64 For Baha'is, this "emptiness" and " fasting of the mind"
> mentioned in the Chuang-tzu is primarily the choice of the soul in
> shutting itself off from the world of material attachment and turning
> towards the world of the spirit. It is primarily the spiritual progress
> resulting from the soul's endeavours in making the necessary sacrifices
> in the material world that will help it grow in the spiritual world.
> 
> Free will and the Question of Justice
> 
> Spiritual happiness is the path which the human being may choose by the
> exercise of his free will. For Mencius, "the will is the leader of the vital
> spirit; and the vital spirit pervades and animates the body. The will is the
> ruler, and the vital spirit is subordinate to it." His advice therefore is
> "Maintain firm the will, and do not let the vital spirit grow beyond its
> control." For as he explains, "when the will is concentrated, it moves the
> vital spirit. But when the vital spirit is concentrated, it would move the
> will. The important thing is to inform the vital spirit with the spirit of
> 
> 'Abdu'1-Bahá says: "You cannot apply the name "man" to any being void of this
> faculty of meditation; without it he would be a mere animal, lower than the beasts."
> 'Abdu'1-Bahá, Tablets, p. 706.
> 26             THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW
> 
> justice, thus keeping it in the service of will." Mencius taught that when
> the vital spirit is nourished by the spirit of justice, it is lifted up to a
> higher plane, and, instead of weakening, it grows immensely.65
> 
> Mencius' "will" and "vital spirit" may be compared to the concept of
> free will and the soul in the Baha'i Faith. In the Baha'i Faith, the choice
> of good and evil belongs to man and is called "free will". ' Abdu'1-Bahá
> says that God himself cannot compel the soul to become spiritual, and
> that the exercise of human will is necessary.66 In explaining this human
> condition, 'Abdu'1-Bahá uses the analogy of a ship. "... this condition is
> like that of a ship which is moved by the power of the wind or steam; if
> this power ceases, the ship cannot move at all. Nevertheless the rudder of
> the ship turns it to either side and the power of the steam moves it in the
> desired direction... in all the action or inaction of man, he receives
> power from the help of God; but the choice of good or evil belongs to the
> man himself." 67
> 
> The exercise of free will and choice implies also the consequences that
> must result from one's decision. All religions have taught that reward
> and punishment are associated with good and bad choices. Since each
> individual soul will bear the consequences of the actions deriving from
> free will, the Chinese sages advise the cultivation of qualities which are
> in harmony the with Tao. They warned of the soul's journey to either
> heaven or hell at the point of death.
> 
> The basic thrust of the T'ai-shang kan-ying p Hen (the Treatise of the
> Great Exalted One on Response and Retribution), which is part of the
> Taoist Canon, has exercised widespread influence over the centuries.68 It
> tells of the existence of a superior power who watches over the
> behaviour of all, to reward good and evil. Accordingly, all human
> beings are responsible for their own good or bad fortune, as each deed,
> good or bad will have its retribution, which comes with the judgement
> of the superior power, the shen (diety) in charge of life-span. Taoist texts
> 
> Chew, Chinese Religion, p. 90.
> J. M. Grundy quoted in Ten days in the Light ofAkka , p. 6.
> ' Abdu'1-Bahá, Some Answered Questions, pp. 249-50.
> See the translation by Teitaro Suzuki and Dr Paul Cams, T'ai -shang Kan-ying
> P'ien Chicago: Open Court 1906.
> The Soul in Chinese and Bahá 1 Belief                          27
> 
> are explicit with how records of one's deeds are kept. Taoist scripture
> speaks of Gods that reside in the human body, especially of astral deities,
> in particular one who resides in the human head and keeps a record of
> good and bad deeds. There are also others, such as those residing in the
> abdomen, who control the human life span. And, external to the human
> body, there is the stove god, always keeping silent watch over the
> household.
> 
> What may be the equivalent of heaven is found in the Classic of
> Mountains and Seas, a chapter dating from the first century BC. It
> presents one of the earliest and most elaborate descriptions of the earthly
> paradise of Kuun-lun. The highest mountains of Kuun-lun in the west
> were believed to form an epicenter of the universe, where Heaven and
> Earth meet in perfect equipoise. Like Mount Olympus, it is the place
> where the gods descend from the sky to that part of the human world,
> which most nearly replicates the paradisiacal state of Heaven. This
> earthly paradise is guarded from intrusion by a fierce array of mythical
> beasts, such as the K'ai-ming, which, with its nine heads and feline body,
> recalles the fabled nine-tailed fox and the nine-headed Hsiang Liu
> monster slaughtered by Yu.69
> 
> Heaven has also become a bureaucracy similar to the imperial
> bureaucracy on earth. It had a number of bureaus where worthy people
> could get an "appointment" with immortals who hold official posts in the
> bureaus.70 On the other hand, Taoist descriptions of hell, just as those of
> heaven, are heavily influenced by Buddhist beliefs. Chinese hells are
> usually said to be ten in number. Each is ruled by a judge, surrounded by
> ministers and attendants, who implement his decisions. In these hells,
> reminiscent of the judicial and prison system of China, justice is
> impartially meted out and punishments are usually described as corporal,
> doled out with the assistance of torture instruments. Reminiscent of the
> 
> A different paradise from mountainous K'un-lun is found in the text Lieh Tzu, (4th
> century AD) Here the paradise is in the east and consists of islands inhabited by
> immortals known as hsien and sheng, or transcendent beings. These terms emerged in
> the post-Han era, and a considerable literature, part mythological, part legendary, part
> lore and part fiction - grew up around the concept of the hsien-immortsA (See Birrell,
> Chinese Mythology, P- 183).
> Berling, Death and Afterlife
> 28              THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW
> 
> Catholic purgatory, the soul of the deceased goes thorugh the series of
> hells until it is ready for rebirth.
> 
> Pure Land Buddhists, a popular Buddhist sect with the Chinese, also
> introduced the notion of rebirth not into heaven or hell, but directly in the
> Pure Land of Bliss established by Amitabha Buddha. This is not a
> permanent paradise but a realm devoted to the nurturance of the
> Buddhist Faith. It was the ideal environment in which to achieve
> Buddhist enlightenment, and eventually, Nirvana. Although this is quite
> a sophisticated belief, millions of Chinese believed in the Pure Land as a
> kind of paradise and fervently hoped for rebirth there.
> 
> For the literati, rewards are viewed in a more sophisticated fashion. The
> question of whether life exists after death is always carefully left out of
> the discussion. Confucian scholars believe that the sage can organise the
> various elements in himself to be in perfect harmony with the
> environment and thus achieve immortality. Immortality here is not a
> physical one, but in the sense of the influence of the individual. Chinese
> thinkers do not live for themselves, but as fathers to their children or as
> sons. Although their bodies may perish at death, many parts of their lives
> will continue like blood and flesh in their children. Their children will
> continue their interest, their words and their contributions to society.
> 
> It is interesting to note that both the Chinese religion and the Baha'i
> Faith emphasize that the human being will be judged for their deeds, not
> beliefs. Both agree that if a human being strays from the path of Heaven,
> cruelty, deceitfulness, selfishness, fear, anguish will emerge. In short,
> anarchy will prevail both on a personal and societal basis. Of such souls,
> Baha'u'llah said that they abide in "the abode of dust" or in the "plane of
> heedlessness".71 While hell and heaven take on rather concrete forms in
> the Chinese religion, in the Baha'i Faith (as with the Chinese literati), it
> is possible to view Heaven and Hell conceptually rather than literally.
> Here, hell and heaven are points denoting "nearness" to or "farness"
> from the Creator when the soul passes the boundary of death.72
> 
> Baha'u'llah, Seven Valleys, pp. 4-5.
> In the Baha'i Faith, Hell and Heaven can also be metaphorically experienced on the
> physical plane.
> The Soul in Chinese and Bahá 7 Belief                  29
> 
> Conclusion
> 
> What we have seen is a brief overview of the rich panoply of Chinese
> beliefs and practices regarding the soul and how they compare or
> contrast with Baha'i beliefs. We have seen how Chinese practices and
> beliefs are not always easily reconciled. In the Chinese religion there is
> no discourse on the nature of Heaven (Tian f^) or God but Heaven or
> God is often in the background. It is Heaven that frames everything that
> man does. Although there is a belief in the survival of the soul and a life
> after death, many Chinese people also attempt to seek immortality on the
> material plane. But while stressing the nobility of man and the kindling
> of conscience as a deterrent, China's history is full of torture and cruelty.
> The Confucian scholar will say keep away from spirits but each
> succeeding Confucian century sees the elaboration of rites connected
> with ancestor worship. While the Chinese long for the hope of a mystical
> union with Tao and of journeying to the Western mountains, they also
> love the good life on earth and will do everything to preserve their life on
> the material plane. While death is not a favourite topic of discussion
> either in private or public life, the Chinese makes extensive preparations
> for their death and the extension of their influence through their progeny.
> It is this paradoxical diversity that reflects the eclectic nature of the
> Chinese religion.
> 
> On the other hand, there are also consistencies that one can expect in a
> religion, for example, the concern for well-being, the strong sense of
> moral justice, the responsibility of the living not just for themselves but
> for their ancestors, the stress on moral education, the importance of
> living a life in harmony in Tao for fear of punishment in the next world,
> and so forth.
> 
> To conclude, it is clear that in both the Chinese religion and the Baha'i
> Faith, a "vital spirit" or a soul exists and it is an unknowable but
> immortal entity. There is an awareness that death heralds a gateway to
> something far more significant. The quest for happiness is somehow
> linked to a devotion to God or related to its proximity with the Tao.
> Whatever man chooses to do in this world, will affect the progress of his
> soul in the next world. While man may be born noble, he is apt to stray if
> he is not guided from birth and both religions have arrived at the
> conclusion that education is of the utmost importance if the soul is to
> 30              THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW
> 
> progress spiritually. Last but not least, both religions believe in the
> interconnectedness of souls. The living are surrounded by and connected
> to the dead; while the dead influence and continue to connect to the
> living.
> 
> There are, of course, differences in the two religions. The Baha'i Faith
> has much more explicit references to the soul than the Chinese religion
> since it has a Holy Book and a prophet figure who has expounded at
> greater length on the subject. Many of the differences are literal rather
> than conceptual, for example, they lie in a different terminology such as
> the "vital spirit" and "the soul". Both believe in the notions of
> immortality, of the link between a material and non-material world, of a
> "heaven" and a "hell" although both have embellished their beliefs in
> distinctively different ways.
> 
> The nature of the soul and the life beyond are elusive and exploring the
> subject on a philosophical or intellectual level is to some degree futile.
> As Baha'uTlah exclaims, "how can a spider snare a phoenix in his
> web?"73 This reminds us of another saying 2,500 years earlier by Lao-
> tzu: "If Tao can be taoed, it is not Tao. If its name can be named, it's not
> its name."74 Perhaps that is why in China's rich and long history, few
> have ventured into this area. All we can say with confidence is the
> striking fact that there is in both religions a cosmic hunger, a need to be
> related to all things, including the inifmitude of the universe. There is an
> awareness of the supernatural, the existence of a great overarching
> power, and the perennial wish to reach and communicate with the Great
> Unknown despite its remoteness:
> 
> O my Master, O my master!
> You mingle and blend all things without being
> 9 harsh:
> You bestow blessings upon endless generations
> without being charitable;
> You are older than the highest antiquity without
> being aged;
> 
> Baha'u'llah, Seven Valleys, p. 33.
> Tao-te ching, ch. 1.
> The Soul in Chinese and Bahá 'í Belief     31
> 
> You brood and sustain the whole universe and carve
> all things into an infinite variety of forms without
> resorting to artificial skill.
> This is what I call the Joy of Heaven.
> (Chuang-Tzu)15
> 
> 0 Lord! Thou Whose bounty granteth wishes
> 1 stand before Thee, all save Thee forgetting
> Grant that the mote of knowledge in my spirit
> Escape desire and the lowly clay;
> Grant that Thine ancient gift, this drop of wisdom,
> Merge with Thy mighty sea.
> (Bahá u 'lláh)16
> 
> Chuang-tzu ch. 6 p. 44, ch 13.
> Baha'u'llah, Seven Valleys, p. 54.
> 32          THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW
> 
> Works Cited
> 
> The translations of the Analects to which I have commonly referred are
> Legge and Waley. The translation of the Tao-te ching is by Maurer. The
> translations' of Mencius are Legge and Giles, while the translation of
> Chuang-tzu is by Giles.
> 
> 'Abdu'1-Bahá
> Paris Talks. Oakham: Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1979
> The Promulgation of Universal Peace. Wilmette, Illinois: Baha'i
> Publishing Trust, 1982.
> Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'1-Bahá. Translated by a
> Committee at the Baha'i World Centre and by Marzieh Gail. Haifa:
> Baha'i World Centre, 1978
> Some Answered Questions. Translated by Laura Clifford Barney.
> Wilmette, Illinois: Baha'i Publishing Trust, rev. ed. 1981.
> Tablets of 'Abdu'1-Bahá Abbas. New York: Baha'i Publishing
> Committee, 1909-1916.
> 
> BaháVUáh
> Gleanings from the Writings of Bahaulláh. Translated by Shoghi
> Effendi. Wilmette, Illinois, Baha'i Publishing Trust, 3rd edition,
> 1976.
> Hidden Words. Arabic. Translated by Shoghi Effendi with the
> assistance of some English friends, Wilmette: Illinois: Baha'i
> Publishing Trust, rev. Ed. 1954.
> Seven Valleys. In The Seven Valleys and the Four Valleys.
> Translated by Ali-Kuli Khan & assisted by Marzieh Gail. Wilmette,
> Illinois: Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1975.
> Tablets of Bahaulláh revealed after the Kitab-I-Aqdas, Haifa,
> Baha'i World Center, 1973.
> 
> Berling, J. A., Death and Afterlife in Chinese Religions, in Hiroshi
> Obayashi (ed.) Death and Afterlife. Perspecitves of World Religion.
> New York: Greenwood Press, 1992.
> The Soul in Chinese and Bahá 7 Belief              33
> 
> Birell, Anne, Chinese Mythology. An Introduction.        Baltimore: The
> John Hopkins University Press, 1993.
> 
> Cheng, Chung-Ying, Chinese metaphysics as non-metaphysics:
> Confucian and Taoist insights into the nature of reality, in Robert E.
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> 
> Chew, Phyllis Ghim Lian,
> The Chinese Religion and the Bahá 7 Faith. Oxford: George Ronald,
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> The Great Tao. Journal of Bahá 7 Studies Vol. 4 No. 2. 1991.
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> 
> Chih, Andrew, Chinese Humanism. A Religion beyond Religions.
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> 
> Chuangtzu. Chuang Tzu, The Seven Inner Chapters and other
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> 
> Fang, Thome H., The World and the Individual in Chinese Metaphysics.
> In Charles A Moore, The Chinese Mind. Hawaii: University of Hawaii
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> 
> Giles, H. A., Chuang Tzu: Mystic, Moralist and Social Reformer.
> London: George Allen and Unwin, 1989.
> 
> Giles, Lionel, The Book ofMencius. London: John Murray, 1942.
> 
> Grundy, Julia M., Ten Days in the Light ofAkka. United States: Baha'i
> Publishing Trust, 1979.
> 
> Kohn, Livia, Early Chinese Mysticism. 1992. New Jersey: Princeton
> University Press.
> 34           THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW
> 
> Legge, J., The Four Books: Confucian Analects, The Book of Great
> Learning, The Doctrine of the Mean and the Work of Mencius. New
> York: Paragon Books Reprint Corp., 1966
> 
> Maurer, Herrymon, Tao — the Way of the Ways. London: Wildwood
> House, 1982.
> 
> Maclean, Jack, Dimensions in Spirituality.    Oxford: George Ronald,
> 1994.
> 
> Mei, Yi-pao, (trans.) The Ethical and Political Works ofMotse. London.
> 1929.
> 
> Sih Paul K. T., (ed.) Chinese Humanism and Christian spirituality.
> Essays of John C H. Wu. New York: St John's University Press, 1965.
> 
> Watson, Burton, The complete works of Chuang Tzu. New York:
> Columbia University Press. 1968.
> 
> Waley Arthur, (trans.) The Analects of Confucius. New York: Vintage
> Books, 1971.
> 
> Yeo, Yew Hock, Chinese Family Religion and World Religion. The
> Singapore Bahai Studies Review. Vol 2, No. 1, 1997.
> Star of the West. XIV, 297. Reprint of the first Baha'i magazine in the
> Western world. Oxford: George Ronald, 1978.
>
> — *The Soul in Chinese and Baha'i Belief (Used by permission of the curator)*