We are told that this world is not worth anything much - infact it's been referred to as a rubbish heap, a mere shadow of the real world, worth as much as the black in the eye of a dead ant.

Now then, think about the beauty of this physical world in which we live. The wonders in nature; The beauty of space and other planets; At the molecular level there are worlds within worlds to be in awe of. The varied foods which are absolutely wonderful – I love tandoori and it amazes me how much pleasure I get from a well cooked tandoori dish.

And then we have visual delights, sunsets, again in nature there are images of an incredible variety to feast our eyes on. Hearing - another sense which has again a wealth of surprises and delights to wallow in whilst in this physical world, a beautiful bit of music a poem a story, I am currently playing a blues music piece on a loop as I think its wonderfully uplifiting.

Then there are things like communication. The helping of another person to realize something; The passing on to another of an awareness or skill which we might have learnt, now I don't know about you but the pleasure in doing that sort of act surpasses all else – well maybe the tandoori meal comes close! No joking aside it really is overwhelmingly pleasing to be able to help another person. It is surely the ultimate joy.

Then there is stuff like prayers, which is a natural thing to do in the same way its natural for a flower to turn towards the sun to get the warmth and sustenance. But then there is praying for others too which again when done selflessly gives a pleasure on a different plane from any of the physical pleasures.

Now then, all this kind of stuff we can lump together and categorize it into earthly existence. Some of the pleasures we can say are spiritual but really they are as nothing when compared to what true spirituality is all about and to what we will partake when we leave this world at the point of death. And that's what gets me really excited. If this wonderful awe inspiring, beautiful universe in which we live is regarded as nothing when compared to the 'real' world then that makes the next world something absolutely way beyond anything we can possibly imagine or experience, again going back to the womb and trying to tell the child what this life is like its just not possible. We get glimpses of the next world by the pleasures we feel from doing selfless acts. The ultimate act as we know is to help another soul find its true calling and place in this world. So many go through this life without giving any regard for their true identity and spiritual growth – a tragedy indeed.

Grieve thou not over the troubles and hardships of this nether world, nor be thou glad in times of ease and comfort, for both shall pass away. This present life is even as a swelling wave, or a mirage, or drifting shadows. Could ever a distorted image on the desert serve as refreshing waters? No, by the Lord of Lords! Never can reality and the mere semblance of reality be one, and wide is the difference between fancy and fact, between truth and the phantom thereof.

Know thou that the Kingdom is the real world, and this nether place is only its shadow stretching out. A shadow hath no life of its own; its existence is only a fantasy, and nothing more; it is but images reflected in water, and seeming as pictures to the eye.

(Abdu'l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Baha, p. 177)

Rejoicest thou in that thou rulest a span of earth, when the whole world, in the estimation of the people of Baha, is worth as much as the black in the eye of a dead ant? Abandon it unto such as have set their affections upon it, and turn thou unto Him Who is the Desire of the world. Whither are gone the proud and their palaces? Gaze thou into their tombs, that thou mayest profit by this example, inasmuch as We made it a lesson unto every beholder. Were the breezes of Revelation to seize thee, thou wouldst flee the world, and turn unto the Kingdom, and wouldst expend all thou possessest, that thou mayest draw nigh unto this sublime Vision."

(Baha'u'llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 55)

Now read this bit from Adibs book -

Obstruct not the luminous spring of thy soul with the thorns and brambles of vain and inordinate affections, and impede not the flow of the living waters that stream from the fountain of thine heart. Set all thy hope in God, and cleave tenaciously to His unfailing mercy.

In this Tablet Bahá'u'lláh defines the real purpose for which God bestowed faculties on man:

Thine eye is My trust, suffer not the dust of vain desires to becloud its lustre. Thine ear is a sign of My bounty, let not the tumult of unseemly motives turn it away from My Word that encompasseth all creation. Thine heart is My treasury, allow not the treacherous hand of self to rob thee of the pearls which I have treasured therein. Thine hand is a symbol of My loving-kindness, hinder it not from holding fast unto My guarded and hidden Tablets.

These exalted concepts give us a glimpse of the nobility and purity to which man, under the shadow of the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh, will attain. The study of the Writings clearly indicates that the purpose underlying the Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh is to create a new race of men whose thoughts and deeds will reflect and manifest in this world the most lofty attributes and divine virtues.

(Adib Taherzadeh, The Revelation of Baha'u'llah v 2, p. 139)