Saturday, September 6, 2008

Some gems...

...to ponder about.

"...man can never hope to attain unto the knowledge of the All-Glorious, can never quaff from the stream of divine knowledge and wisdom, can never enter the abode of immortality, nor partake of the cup of divine nearness and favour, unless and until he ceases to regard the words and deeds of mortal men as a standard for the true understanding and recognition of God and His Prophets."

-- Baha'u'llah, Kitab-i-Iqan


"The All-Knowing Physician hath His finger on the pulse of mankind. He perceiveth the disease, and prescribeth, in His unerring wisdom, the remedy. Every age hath its own problem, and every soul its particular aspiration. The remedy the world needeth in its present-day afflictions can never be the same as that which a subsequent age may require. Be anxiously concerned with the needs of the age ye live in, and centre your deliberations on its exigencies and requirements."

-- Baha'u'llah, Gleanings

"But, O my brother, when a true seeker determineth to take the step of search in the path leading to the knowledge of the Ancient of Days, he must, before all else, cleanse and purify his heart, which is the seat of the revelation of the inner mysteries of God, from the obscuring dust of all acquired knowledge, and the allusions of the embodiments of satanic fancy. He must purge his breast, which is the sanctuary of the abiding love of the Beloved, of every defilement, and sanctify his soul from all that pertaineth to water and clay, from all shadowy and ephemeral attachments.

He must so cleanse his heart that no remnant of either love or hate may linger therein, lest that love blindly incline him to error, or that hate repel him away from the truth. Even as thou dost witness in this day how most of the people, because of such love and hate, are bereft of the immortal Face, have strayed far from the Embodiments of the divine mysteries, and, shepherdless, are roaming through the wilderness of oblivion and error.

That seeker must at all times put his trust in God, must renounce the peoples of the earth, detach himself from the world of dust, and cleave unto Him Who is the Lord of Lords. He must never seek to exalt himself above any one, must wash away from the tablet of his heart every trace of pride and vainglory, must cling unto patience and resignation, observe silence, and refrain from idle talk.
"

-- Baha'u'llah, Kitab-i-Iqan

"...be thou so steadfast in My love that thy heart shall not waver, even if the swords of the enemies rain blows upon thee and all the heavens and the earth arise against thee."

-- Baha'u'llah, The Tablet of Ahmad

3 comments:

Bright Butterfly said...

I'd be curious to hear more about what moved you to bring these diverse passages together here on your blog.

Amrithaa said...

ditto :). Please to share.

Nikhil said...

Oh, all these came up in relation to the long discussions we were having with William et al. before the weekend, that I told you both about. The first was something Prashant quoted to emphasize that what people say/do today cannot be considered the standard for understanding the teachings of a manifestation. Specifically, this was with reference to the multitude of Christian sects and belief systems that exist today, a lot of which do not have any direct bearing on the words of Christ himself.

The second is related to understanding the station of a manifestation, who is rather like a divine physician who knows exactly what is ailing mankind in that day and age, and prescribes the appropriate remedy. And this obviously might differ from age to age, though the essential spiritual principles on which the remedy is based are the same.

The third relates to purity while searching for the truth, cleansing one's hearts of preconceived notions and prejudices. Also relates to detachment, which we talked about as well.

Last one is a statement I liked related to steadfastness, and now allowing oneself to be distracted or deterred from the love of God.