Heaven

=== Baháʼí Faith ===
{{Main|Baháʼí Faith}}

The [[Baháʼí Faith]] regards the conventional description of heaven (and hell) as a specific place as symbolic. The [[Baháʼí literature|Baháʼí writings]] describe heaven as a "spiritual condition" where closeness to God is defined as heaven; conversely [[hell]] is seen as a state of remoteness from God. [[Bahá'u'lláh]], the founder of the Baháʼí Faith, has stated that the nature of the life of the soul in the afterlife is beyond comprehension in the physical plane, but has stated that the soul will retain its consciousness and individuality and remember its physical life; the soul will be able to recognize other souls and communicate with them.<ref name="lafd">{{cite book | title = Life After Death: A study of the afterlife in world religions | last = Masumian | first = Farnaz | publisher = Oneworld Publications | location = Oxford | year = 1995 | isbn = 978-1-85168-074-0}}</ref>

For Baháʼís, entry into the next life has the potential to bring great joy.<ref name="lafd" /> Bahá'u'lláh likened death to the process of birth. He explains: "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."<ref name="gwb">{{cite book |author=Bahá'u'lláh |author-link=Bahá'u'lláh |year=1976 |title=Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh |publisher=Baháʼí Publishing Trust |location=Wilmette, Illinois, US |isbn=978-0-87743-187-9 |page=[https://archive.org/details/gleaningsfromwri0000baha_w8j0/page/157 157] |url=https://archive.org/details/gleaningsfromwri0000baha_w8j0/page/157 |access-date=2016-03-28 }}</ref> The analogy to the womb in many ways summarizes the Baháʼí view of earthly existence: just as the womb constitutes an important place for a person's initial physical development, the physical world provides for the development of the individual [[Soul (spirit)|soul]]. Accordingly, Baháʼís view life as a preparatory stage, where one can develop and perfect those qualities which will be needed in the next life.<ref name="lafd" /> The key to spiritual progress is to follow the path outlined by the current [[Manifestation of God (Baháʼí Faith)|Manifestation of God]], which Baháʼís believe is currently Bahá'u'lláh. Bahá'u'lláh wrote, "Know thou, of a truth, that if the soul of man hath walked in the ways of God, it will, assuredly return and be gathered to the glory of the Beloved."<ref name="gwb2">{{cite book |author=Bahá'u'lláh |author-link=Bahá'u'lláh |year=1976 |title=Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh |publisher=Baháʼí Publishing Trust |location=Wilmette, Illinois, US |isbn=978-0-87743-187-9 |page=[https://archive.org/details/gleaningsfromwri0000baha_w8j0/page/162 162] |url=https://archive.org/details/gleaningsfromwri0000baha_w8j0/page/162 |access-date=2016-03-28 }}</ref>

The Baháʼí teachings state that there exists a hierarchy of souls in the [[afterlife]], where the merits of each soul determines their place in the hierarchy, and that souls lower in the hierarchy cannot completely understand the station of those above. Each soul can continue to progress in the afterlife, but the soul's development is not entirely dependent on its own conscious efforts, the nature of which we are not aware, but also augmented by the grace of God, the [[prayer]]s of others, and good deeds performed by others on Earth in the name of that person.<ref name="lafd" />