Human spirit finds “eternal life” in the breath of the Holy Spirit

This spirit is one of the divine bounties, a manifestation of the Sun of Truth; but if the human spirit receives the breath of the Holy Spirit, then it is a pure spirit. The breath of the Holy Spirit is the divine teaching; in it the spirit finds eternal life. It is the heavenly light and illumines the human world by the divine qualities. Hence we must endeavour to act according to the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh. 

‘Abdu’l-Baha  (From a talk at Alliance Spiritualiste of Paris, 9 November 1911; Star of the West, vol. 2, no. 17, January 19, 1912)

Soul "manifests itself in... material forms and visages" in the world of vision

When the souls leave the bodies they do not assume elemental bodies. Whatever man thinks regarding this is but his own imagination.

When man desires help and communication from holy souls, he puts himself in a condition of self-unconsciousness and becomes submerged in a sea of meditation; then a spiritual state, which is sanctified from matter and all material things, becomes visible and apparent to him. Then he thinks he beholds a form. Its appearance is like unto a vision.

Man beholds in the world of vision various images, communicates with them and receives benefits, and in that world of vision he thinks they are physical temples and material bodies, while they are purely immaterial.

Briefly, the reality of the soul is sanctified and purified above matter and material things, but, like unto the world of vision, it manifests itself in these material forms and visages. Likewise in the psychic condition, one beholds the spirits like unto the physical forms and visages.

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha  (From a Tablet; Star of the West, vol. 2, no. 15, December 12, 1911)

Condition of the soul before connecting with the body

Question:  In what condition is the soul before entering the body?

‘Abdu’l-Baha: In a state of potentiality, possessing no consciousness as we understand it. 

(Notes of ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s answer, October 18, 1911, Paris, France; Star of the West’, vol.2, no. 16, December 31, 1911)