The Quest for Certitude

Atheism - a religion or not?

2011-05-24T10:36:00.001-07:00

We often hear it said that atheism is itself a religion. This past weekend, T mentioned that he had a friend, whose response to this claim is that "Atheism is a religion in the same way that non stamp collecting is a hobby." In the moment, this seemed a very witty and rather penetrating response, but on further reflection I must say I have my doubts about whether this analogy makes any sense - so I thought I'd throw this out here to see if anyone has any thoughts to share on this.

The key, in my mind, is understanding that stamp collecting (like both religion and atheism) is a position of association, while non stamp collecting is a position of non-association, indicating a vacuum that has not been filled. Religious and atheistic claims are both clear stances on the question of what reality is. And so when it is claimed that atheism is a religion, what people really mean is that atheism makes a truth claim about the world in much the same way that any religious philosophy does - it claims that there is no God or spiritual existence beyond the material domain. It then goes on to judge anyone who believes in a God as false. By adopting this stance, atheism ceases to be just a position of non-association, and becomes one of clear association with a creed. One can also see in today's world that fanatical atheists are quite similar to fanatical religionists in the way they think and act, exhorting people to follow their philosophy and not the other's and freely judging the other side as being morally bankrupt, harmful to society and hindering its progress. From these perspectives, if religious beliefs are likened to stamp collecting, atheism should maybe be likened to something like coin collecting.

If I had to make an analogy at all with hobbies, I think agnosticism (and not atheism) would be the true analogue to non stamp collecting, as it clearly takes no stance on the matter - just as non stamp collecting is not a hobby.

Thoughts? :)

Integrating spirituality into our daily lives

2011-05-19T06:22:00.000-07:00

Recently, T asked an excellent question when we were with V - how does one integrate spirituality into one's daily life? Is there a danger of losing perspective on all the things one wants to do in the world, all the ways in which one wants to serve others (such as through one's career)? Is there a danger of not being able to achieve one's goals for service in the material realm because one is too focused on being spiritual? How does one begin to integrate a focus on spirituality one's life as it is today in a smooth and seamless way?

There are several facets to this question, and several ways of looking at it, which I thought I'd write about - more to help crystallize my own thoughts on it than for any other purpose! So please bear with my ramblings as I attempt to clarify this important question for myself :) - here then are the things I think one should take into consideration.

Spirituality is to be attained in the real world, not on a mountaintop - Lets get the easy part over with first. The Baha'i writings clearly discourage giving up one's life as it is and going to meditate on a mountaintop in order to become spiritual. There might have been a time for it - now is not it. Baha'u'llah calls out to all the monks in their seclusion, saying,
"O concourse of monks! Seclude not yourselves in churches and cloisters. Come forth by My leave, and occupy yourselves with that which will profit your souls and the souls of men."
Therefore attaining spirituality is not something one does in isolation, or at the cost of living a normal life - one must continue living in the real world and occupy oneself in service to others. Such service allows us to hone our spiritual skills and attain further growth - after all, if there were noone around us to test our patience, could we truly become patient?

Additionally, enjoying our material life in itself is not blameworthy, as long as it does not come between us and our spiritual path. There is absolutely nothing wrong with acquiring wealth - it is when this becomes the focus of one's life, increasing one's attachment to money and the material world that it becomes harmful to our spiritual growth. As Baha'u'llah says, "All that is in heaven and earth I have ordained for thee, except the human heart, which I have made the habitation of My beauty and glory..."

David Starr Jordan, first President of Stanford, said of Abdu'l Baha when he came to talk at Stanford - Abdul Baha will surely unite the East and West, for he treads the mystic way with practical feet. This is exactly what we must all strive to do.
Using spiritual principles to guide one's actions: The previous point of course raises the next - given that one has to continue living in the material world in order to attain spiritual growth, how exactly does one go about doing that? First and foremost, I think we use spiritual principles to guide our actions/decisions. In any situation, our job is to see what spiritual principles are involved, and then see how those can practically be applied to resolve the situation. This is the first way in which gradually aligning ourselves with a spiritual life starts changing how we interact with the world. We should recognize that in all situations, our actions and decisions are influenced by our values, beliefs, attitudes and perspectives - never are we doing anything in isolation from these. The effect of integrating spirituality into our lives, then, is the understanding and then transformation of these very values, beliefs, attitudes and perspectives that guide our decisions, in such a way that they align one with that which is good for our spiritual growth. A focus on spirituality, therefore, might not change our circumstances in life - however it will certainly change how we respond to those circumstances and how we prioritize our lives. As we slowly integrate a spiritual perspective into one's life, we start examining our towards everything more carefully. We approach even seemingly mundane things as our work in a different way, viewing it through the lens of such spiritual qualities as service to others or the search for truth. It lends new meaning to all our daily endeavors, and enables us to set the right intention in all situations.
Material service and spirituality do not occur at the cost of each other: One thing we often get caught up in is wondering if the material service we want to do in the world (say, through helping in development of underserved people, education, elimination of poverty etc) will somehow suffer if we start dedicating our time to spiritual pursuits. After all, we only have a finite amount of time in our lives, right? To get over this, we first have to understand that we are creating a false dichotomy. The intention to be of service is one of the highest spiritual attitudes one could adopt, whatever realm that might be in.

The man who makes a piece of note- paper to the best of his ability, conscientiously, concentrating all his forces on perfecting it, is giving praise to God. Briefly, all effort and exertion put forth by man from the fullness of his heart is worship, if it is prompted by the highest motives and the will to do service to humanity. This is worship: to serve mankind and to minister to the needs of the people. Service is prayer. A physician ministering to the sick, gently, tenderly, free from prejudice and believing in the solidarity of the human race, is giving praise.
-- Abdu'l Baha
Therefore material service rendered to people does not take away time/energy from spiritual pursuits (or the other way around) - this service is already the highest spiritual pursuit. What matters, of course, is one's intention of being of service - and this is where, again, understanding the underlying spiritual principle helps guide one's service.
The multi-dimensional nature of service: At the same time, while one continues serving the world in the material realm as one did before, embarking on a spiritual journey enables one to realize that true service goes much beyond the material, and has many multi-dimensional aspects to it. One sees that one is truly of service to people not just when one improves their material conditions, but when one engenders a spiritual transformation in them, which revolutionizes their lives and enables them to take charge of their own spiritual and material growth. A spiritual attitude therefore brings service to our very own doorstep - instead of having to go to materially underdeveloped communities/cities/countries to be of service, one can be of service in one's own neighborhood. Service is no longer restricted to the socio-economic realm. We do not have to wait till we get the opportunity to serve in some remote, impoverished country - instead we can start serving the people who are already a part of our lives, by effecting a spiritual transformation in the community we live in. This holistic notion of service helps us in the process of community building, of forming strong and deep bonds with our friends, coworkers and neighbors. We look for opportunities to be of service in the myriad interactions we have with people during each day. World peace and unity are not achieved by some world leaders declaring it and imposing it upon people, claims the Baha'i Faith - instead it is a truly bottom-up process that starts at the grassroots level in every neighborhood, village, city and country. The point is this - one gains perspective and sees how one can integrate spiritual service into one's daily life, without needing to create circumstances that allow one to be of service to others.
Prioritizing spiritual growth: While it is true that many circumstances in one's life might remain unchanged as one integrates a spiritual perspective, it is also true that certain others will change. And this is a natural process, as one comes to prioritize spiritual growth over other, possibly more mundane things in life. And this of course is not a discrete change, but happens slowly over time - as one starts perceiving the value that a spiritual perspective adds to one's life, one starts devoting more time and energy to developing and honing that perspective. And therefore it might be that one ends up spending less time/energy on relationships that exist primarily at the level of the superficial and banal, and instead focuses one's energies on fostering those relationships that are positive and uplifting; or that one develops a regular habit of saying prayers/reading spiritual writings/having spiritual discussions with friends that take away some time from other activities such as watching TV; or that one looks for opportunities to elevate everyday conversations to a more spiritual level; or that one prioritizes the time set aside for meditation/reflection, etc. Again, it is not that one completely gives up other aspects of one's life - it is important to do fun things, and enjoy life. As Baha'u'llah says, "In all matters moderation is desirable. If a thing is carried to excess, it will prove a source of evil." Balance and moderation, therefore, are essential. However, when push comes to shove, one prioritizes that which contributes to one's spiritual growth more often than not. If one has a deadline at work, in order to meet which one can either choose between skipping a spiritual study circle or losing an hour of sleep, one is more likely, over time, to pick the latter. This shift in priorities is natural and desirable - therefore while we should let go of the fear that we might have to surrender all that we hold dear today when we step on the spiritual path, we should at the same time accept that our priorities will indeed shift, and that that is ok.
Little by little, day by day: Nothing on the spiritual path happens instantly - and so it is with the integration of spirituality into one's life. One might balk when we look at the standards set in the writings, for they call us to strive to attain the highest stations of spiritual servitude and detachment from the material world. But these are ultimately standards, meant to inspire us into action and do the best we can in our present circumstances. Two things are important - first, that we get started on the path in whatever way we can, investing however much time/energy our circumstances currently permit; second, that we strive to do the best we can at all times, and seek to grow. As long as one does those two things, we will see things changing over time - for there is dynamic feedback loop between our actions and our thoughts, such that as we start acting in specific ways, our thoughts and priorities get shifted over time (which then further changes how we act, etc). So let's all set out on our spiritual paths with whatever we have, to whatever measure we can - and over time, we will see what a difference it can make.

Patience

2011-05-16T17:07:00.000-07:00

If thou speakest not I will fill my heart with thy silence and endure it.
I will keep still and wait like the night with starry vigil
and its head bent low with patience.

The morning will surely come, the darkness will vanish,
and thy voice pour down in golden streams breaking through the sky.

Then thy words will take wing in songs from every one of my birds' nests,
and thy melodies will break forth in flowers in all my forest groves.
-- Rabindranath Tagore

Oneness of humanity vs oneness of religion

2011-05-14T06:14:00.000-07:00

One of the things I've been thinking about this week is related to a quote that I included as part of the series on the oneness of religion. The quote I'm referring to is one that talks about how society, in the last 100 years or so, seems to have far more readily accepted the notion of the oneness of mankind than the oneness of religion. I've pasted the quote below here for your reference:

In contrast to the processes of unification that are transforming the rest of humanity's social relationships, the suggestion that all of the world's great religions are equally valid in nature and origin is stubbornly resisted by entrenched patterns of sectarian thought. The progress of racial integration is a development that is not merely an expression of sentimentality or strategy but arises from the recognition that the earth's peoples constitute a single species whose many variations do not themselves confer any advantage or impose any handicap on individual members of the race. The emancipation of women, likewise, has entailed the willingness of both society's institutions and popular opinion to acknowledge that there are no acceptable grounds — biological, social or moral — to justify denying women full equality with men, and girls equal educational opportunities with boys. Nor does appreciation of the contributions that some nations are making to the shaping of an evolving global civilization support the inherited illusion that other nations have little or nothing to bring to the effort.

So fundamental a reorientation religious leadership appears, for the most part, unable to undertake. Other segments of society embrace the implications of the oneness of humankind, not only as the inevitable next step in the advancement of civilization, but as the fulfilment of lesser identities of every kind that our race brings to this critical moment in our collective history. Yet, the greater part of organized religion stands paralyzed at the threshold of the future, gripped in those very dogmas and claims of privileged access to truth that have been responsible for creating some of the most bitter conflicts dividing the earth's inhabitants.
-- From a letter written by the Universal House of Justice to the world’s religious leaders in 2002

P commented when he read this quote that it seems that it "indicates that it is easier to shift the moral/social teachings aspects of a religion than to shift the relation of a religion’s followers with their particular understanding of the divine." I thought this was a very insightful comment, and one worth writing more about - why is it that people find it easier to shift their own moral principles than their relationship with the divine? What is it about the particularity of that relationship that is so deep and resistant to change/evolution?

After some thought I think I've come up with five possible reasons why. Here they are:

Moral teachings define our relationship with other people and society, while one's understanding of the divine is seen as a very personal thing, to be guarded against any encroachment. Therefore, the individual is almost forced to change one's moral perceptions as society evolves - if for nothing else, but for fear of being judged by society. For example, a 100 years ago it was very common to think of certain races of people as being somehow inherently inferior to others. In today's world though, expressing even the slightest hint of such a sentiment would immediately lead to one being labeled a racist - and so people are forced to revise their opinions and confront the reality that truly there is no essential difference between various races. One's relationship with God, on the other hand is seen to be extremely personal, and one that is not subject to the dictates of society, or to popular vote. So what if everyone in society came to believe in a God whose essence is unknowable? I could still choose to believe in my own image of God, as that relationship exists within the domain of my subjectivity that no one else has access to. The fundamental truth that any claims about God are, at some level or another unprovable, bolsters this view that one's image of God can be completely at odds with everyone else's, and that that is ok.
One's relationship with God, though very personal, is also often strongly linked to the tradition/culture one has grown up in - and this creates a level of attachment that is extremely hard to overcome. Holding the religious beliefs that one grew up with is often seen as a sign of cultural fidelity, and one is often judged on this basis - if my religious beliefs evolve, then somehow I am seen as being untrue to my own culture. This is particularly true with religions such as Hinduism and Islam. Even apart from the judgment angle, one gets attached to the rituals, practices and social aspects of one's culture - and these are usually so strongly linked to religious belief that it is hard to separate one from the other. Social mores, on the other hand, are tending to become more and more universal over time, and blending into different cultures.
Related to the above two, the proofs of the oneness of humanity are much more tangible and evident, while those of the oneness of religion are far more abstract and intangible. As one interacts more and more with people from different races, cultures and backgrounds, and as scientific evidence points more and more to there being tremendous commonalities in terms of genetic structure, the acceptance of the oneness of humanity becomes more and more inevitable - after all, as we form friendships with people from different cultures, get to know them and love them, how can we not accept them as being one with us? The oneness of religion, on the other hand, is much harder to prove, especially since on the surface they are so evidently different! When considering the oneness of humanity one looks at people as they are today in the world - while when considering the oneness of religion, one has to make the additional jump to thinking about the different times in history at which each religious system came up, the particular context of the society in which it evolved, etc - and this can be hard to analyze even for the most perceptive amongst us!
The fourth point is related to the key element in the second - attachment. Though one develops a personal relationship with God, we then seek to find other people who share a similar relationship. As humans, we need that company, we need to feel accepted within a community, we need to feel (ironically) like we are one with a group of people - and so we develop an attachment not just to the culture that our religious beliefs represent, but to the people who form that community. Presented with a different set of religious beliefs, it then becomes very hard to separate oneself both from one's culture and one's people - because we see both of those as being strongly tied to one's religious convictions.
Finally, I think there could be another angle to all of this - in many cases, individuals themselves might not change very much, both in their religious beliefs and in their humanist beliefs. And so many members of the Ku Klux Klan, for example, might never have changed their opinions about certain races of people, however much society around them changed (even if they changed how openly they expressed those beliefs). However the change happens over generations - and this change is much easier in the domain of social/moral beliefs than in the domain of religious beliefs, mostly for the reasons listed earlier.

So is there no hope then? Are we doomed to never accept, as a society, the oneness of religion? I usually tend to be a staunch optimist, so of course I'd say there is hope - but I think there are some clear pathways ahead that one could take to facilitate this process:

Communication is the first (and maybe most important) step - too often we are afraid to talk about our religious beliefs, for fear of being judged or because we don't want to hurt someone else's sentiments. The desire for secularism has firmly pushed us into the realm of relativism and created a situation where we instinctively feel uncomfortable talking about religion. We are willing to accept people's beliefs at face value, and don't want to go to the trouble of understanding where those beliefs come from, what they might mean, how they might be similar to my own beliefs, where the differences arise from etc. We prefer to remain largely insular in this context, and are comfortable sharing these ideas only within a circle where we know everyone else believes much the same thing. As we learn to step outside these boundaries and create spaces where people can more openly share their beliefs without being afraid that they might be judged, I believe we will come to understand each other as well as the underlying commonalities in our beliefs better.
A lot of us tend not to apply reason to faith - we think that by definition faith cannot be subject to reason, and so fail to question our own beliefs and see whether they make sense or not. Understanding how one can apply scientific principles on the path of spiritual discovery might be one of the biggest challenges facing us all. Fostering this spirit of questioning, of being comfortable with evolution in thought, of valuing truth above all else will help us overcome some of these hurdles.
Developing the ability to differentiate between culture and religion also seem important. Too often people are scared to change anything about their thinking because they don't want to abandon their culture - but if we come to accept that our understanding of spiritual reality can evolve while we continue to value our culture for what it is and foster those aspects of it that don't impede our spiritual growth, the path ahead will be much smoother.

Before I end, I should clarify - I certainly don't think that the ideal is for all of us to develop the exact same relationship with the Divine. I think there is much richness in the diversity of our personal relationships, and that that will always be the case - however I do think that we can, over time, develop a common framework within the bounds of which we develop our personal relationships. Accepting the notion of God as an unknowable essence, as propounded by the Baha'i writings, has certainly changed, to some extent, how I perceive the Hindu pantheon of Gods. And yet, that background and upbringing has helped form my own unique relationship with the unknowable essence that is God, with the forces of nature that are represented by the Hindu Gods, and molded specific aspects of my spiritual practice. This, I think, is both natural and desirable.

Prisoner

2011-05-11T17:01:00.000-07:00

The following is a beautiful poem that captures, in a very profound yet succinct way the human craze for dominance over the material world.

`Prisoner, tell me, who was it that bound you?'

`It was my master,' said the prisoner.
`I thought I could outdo everybody in the world in wealth and power,
and I amassed in my own treasure-house the money due to my king.
When sleep overcame me I lay upon the bed that was for my lord,
and on waking up I found I was a prisoner in my own treasure-house.'

`Prisoner, tell me, who was it that wrought this unbreakable chain?'

`It was I,' said the prisoner, `who forged this chain very carefully.
I thought my invincible power would hold the world captive
leaving me in a freedom undisturbed.
Thus night and day I worked at the chain
with huge fires and cruel hard strokes.
When at last the work was done
and the links were complete and unbreakable,
I found that it held me in its grip.'

-- Rabindranath Tagore (from Gitanjali)

Progressive revelation and the Baha'i approach to overcoming religious differences

2011-05-06T17:19:00.000-07:00

So far in this series of posts, we've looked at what religion means in the Baha'i faith, how that leads to the notion of the oneness of religion, and how one can approaches the very real differences that people have in their beliefs in spite of this underlying oneness (as claimed by the Baha'i writings). There is one final element, I think, that will provide a way to understand where these differences fundamentally arise from, and what they mean - and that is understanding that there is a distinction between religious systems as they were intended by their founders, and religious systems as they exist today. Christianity, Islam, Hinduism etc today are all but a shadow of what they were intended to be. The Baha’i teachings assert that any of these systems today consist of three layers – the essential principles that are their foundation and are common to all religious systems, the social laws/practices that have been preserved faithfully, but were only relevant to a particular day and age, and finally all the stuff that imperfect human beings have added on over the ages – consciously or unconsciously. The process of progressive revelation, according to Baha’is, therefore serves two vital purposes:

It helps refocus society away from all the junk that has been added on, and back to the essential principles
It allows the revelation of a new set of social laws and teachings more relevant to humanity at its current stage of evolution

These ... mighty systems, have proceeded from one Source, and are the rays of one Light. That they differ one from another is to be attributed to the varying requirements of the ages in which they were promulgated.
-- Baha’u’llah

The second point above is actually quite critical. As humanity evolves, so does religion – and with it, the social laws it provides society that guide its further evolution also change. Seemingly irreconcilable differences therefore often arise in people's beliefs because we sometimes either believe things that were never stated by the Manifestations, or because we accept as eternal things that were meant to be only temporal.

The Baha’i Faith does claim, btw, that it represents the face of religion (that relationship between God and humanity) for this day, and claims that it provides the necessary social teachings that will enable humanity to progress to the next stage of its evolution (yet another claim to investigate!).

For Bahá’u’lláh, we should readily recognize, has not only imbued mankind with a new and regenerating Spirit. He has not merely enunciated certain universal principles, or propounded a particular philosophy, however potent, sound and universal these may be. In addition to these He, as well as ‘Abdu’l-Bahá after Him, has, unlike the Dispensations of the past, clearly and specifically laid down a set of Laws, established definite institutions, and provided for the essentials of a Divine Economy. These are destined to be a pattern for future society, a supreme instrument for the establishment of the Most Great Peace, and the one agency for the unification of the world, and the proclamation of the reign of righteousness and justice upon the earth.
-- Shoghi Effendi

This, it should be recognized, is a much stronger claim than just talking about the commonalities in all religions – and the writings strongly encourage all seekers of the truth to study, learn and evaluate this claim with an open mind. However, this claim should not be taken in any way to mean that somehow the Baha’i Faith is greater than past religious systems. Instead, one should view this in terms of the needs, requirements and capacities of this age.

Beware, O believers in the Unity of God, lest ye be tempted to make any distinction between any of the Manifestations of His Cause, or to discriminate against the signs that have accompanied and proclaimed their Revelation. This indeed is the true meaning of Divine unity.... Be ye assured, moreover, that the works and acts of each and every one of these Manifestations of God ... are all ordained by God, and are a reflection of His will and Purpose.
-- Baha’u’llah

Know of a certainty, that in every Dispensation the light of Divine Revelation has been vouchsafed to men in direct proportion to their spiritual capacity. Consider the sun. How feeble its rays the moment it appears above the horizon. How gradually its warmth and potency increase as it approaches its zenith, enabling meanwhile all created things to adapt themselves to the growing intensity of its light. How steadily it declines until it reaches its setting point. Were it, all of a sudden, to manifest the energies latent within it, it would, no doubt, cause injury to all created things…. In like manner, if the Sun of Truth were suddenly to reveal, at the earliest stages of its manifestation, the full measure of the potencies which the providence of the Almighty has bestowed upon it, the earth of human understanding would waste away and be consumed; for men’s hearts would neither sustain the intensity of its revelation, nor be able to mirror forth the radiance of its light. Dismayed and overpowered, they would cease to exist.
-- Baha’u’llah

The evolution in capacity of humans to assimilate greater spiritual truths is something pointed out by other manifestations such as Jesus as well, as in the quote below – while at the same time he hints that future prophets would manifest themselves.

¹²I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.
¹³Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
¹⁴He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.
-- John 16:12-14

Lets bring all this back to the fact that among believers in various faiths there are real commitments to conflicting spiritual teachings”. I think what the Baha’i Faith has to offer is this:

Our first commitment should always be to the truth, and not to our own opinions, or the beliefs of our forefathers. We cannot evaluate truth by the standards set by other people, and instead have to seek it in an open-minded and detached way.

…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
All religious systems, the Baha'i teachings claim, are all part of the same eternal relationship between God and humanity, a relationship that lives, breathes and organically evolves as humanity does. Understanding the of this claim, well help us all live in greater harmony with each other.
The differences that exist are indeed often real, but understanding where they come from, and the context and perspective is critical in resolving them. If we do try and understand all that, we would see that differences, even if not incidental, would be temporal – while the principles underlying all religious systems are both essential and eternal. We would be able to piece together our different perspectives to form a greater and more complex understanding of reality. If one understood the true purpose of religion, and the context for one’s own religious system, I think we would be much more comfortable letting go of those aspects that hindered progress along the path of truth, relegating others that are of cultural value to the domain of individual choice, and embracing the larger implications of seeing that specific religious system within the global scheme of religion. This claim of course needs to be verified in practice and should not be accepted as such.
None of this, of course, can ever be imposed on anyone. The Baha’i writings constantly exhort each one of us to take charge of our own spiritual growth, to seek truth with open and humble hearts, and do the best we can to further that process – but we can never impose our own understanding of reality on anyone else. All this provides us a suggestion for how to lead our own lives, and we should not use it as a way to judge anyone else. We can (and should), of course converse with others, share ideas, learn from them, but always with a spirit of complete detachment and non-expectation.

Consort with all men, O people of Bahá, in a spirit of friendliness and fellowship. If ye be aware of a certain truth, if ye possess a jewel, of which others are deprived, share it with them in a language of utmost kindliness and good-will. If it be accepted, if it fulfil its purpose, your object is attained. If any one should refuse it, leave him unto himself, and beseech God to guide him. Beware lest ye deal unkindly with him.
-- Baha’u’llah

¹²And when ye come into an house, salute it.
¹³And if the house be worthy, let your peace come upon it: but if it be not worthy, let your peace return to you.
¹⁴And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet.
-- Matthew 10:12-14

It is true that along this path we might all have to shed beliefs that at some point used to be essential to our very identity. Whether we choose to do that, or not, is of course a personal choice – but isn’t that what spiritual growth is all about, anyway? :)

Dealing with disagreements and differences in belief

2011-05-05T16:51:00.000-07:00

Having understood the Baha'i concept of the oneness of religion, let's now see what all this means in practice, because clearly as we see today, the disagreements people have are indeed very real – and these differing viewpoints are often essential to people’s beliefs and identities. Now to understand how to deal with this, I propose that we think of two criteria – agreement, and truth. Based on this, we can categorize all the things people believe into one of three categories:

People agree about something that is either true/false – This case is easy to understand. The former includes statements like “The earth revolves around the sun”, which we all agree on and are also true. The latter includes statements like “The sun revolves around the earth” 5000 years ago – at that time, everyone believed this, but it was later shown to be false.
People disagree, and some of them are right, some are wrong – An example of this situation would be the alarmingly large number of literalists who claim the Earth was created 6000 years ago, in 7 days, and deny evolution; or those who believe that the fundamental purpose of their religion is to kill those who are disbelievers. Clearly these are situations where people disagree, and one side is wrong and another right. A lot of these cases are represented by the extremes in any religious system/sect.
People disagree, and they are all right from their own perspective – This is where the hard part comes – a large proportion of what people believe, claims the Baha’i Faith, fall in this category. And understanding this might be the most challenging task of all. Reality in general is so multi-dimensional and complex that no single human being has the faintest hope of understanding it perfectly. We are all within our own Platonic caves, grasping at shadows. The picture is akin to the famous story of the blind men and the elephant, where each person touches a different part of the elephant and draws a different conclusion about what an elephant is – so the one who touches the trunk thinks it’s a snake, the one who touches its leg thinks it’s a tree, etc. One of the pre-eminent Baha’i scholars, Paul Lample, puts this extremely well in one of his books:

Although the statement, "if I believe something to be right, then he whose opinions differ from mine must be wrong" passes the tests of formal logic, and although it is applicable in countless situations, its usefulness vanishes once the object of discussion becomes relatively complex. It is not that "A" and "not A" can both be true, but that the vastness of truth does not allow most matters of belief, if there is any depth to them at all, to be reduced to such comparisons. The only options this simplistic posture finally leaves open are either religious and ideological fanaticism or the brand of relativism that does away with faith, embraces skepticism, and idolizes doubt.
-- Paul Lample, Revelation and Social Reality

The Baha’i teachings therefore urge one to make efforts to figure out which of the above categories people’s beliefs fall into, and tread extremely carefully when it comes to cases where people disagree, for a vast majority of differences arise from the different points of view people have, and our inherent subjectivity in viewing objective reality.

It is clear that the reality of mankind is diverse, that opinions are various and sentiments different; and this difference of opinions, of thoughts, of intelligence, of sentiments among the human species arises from essential necessity; for the differences in the degrees of existence of creatures is one of the necessities of existence, which unfolds itself in infinite forms.
-- Abdu’l Baha

Diversity of opinion, therefore, is a natural part of existence, and the Baha’i Faith in no way attempts to achieve uniformity of thought and opinion. Rather, there is a strong appreciation of the value of unity in diversity. Therefore what is desired is really the preservation of the richness and texture of human diversity within the umbrella of conviction in the oneness of the essence of humanity. What is called for, in the words of Shoghi Effendi, is a “wider loyalty”, and the development of a self-identity that is first founded on one’s humanity, and then on one’s nationality, religious affiliation, gender, etc. What we should all seek, therefore, is harmony, not uniformity. And this can only be achieved if we always understand that our opinions should be subservient to the truth – so if we realize the truth in a situation, we should be willing to let go of any opinions that go contrary to that truth. This will help, over time, eliminate situations that fall in category 2, and help us live largely in categories 1 and 3.

Consider the flowers of a garden. Though differing in kind, color, form and shape, yet, inasmuch as they are refreshed by the waters of one spring, revived by the breath of one wind, invigorated by the rays of one sun, this diversity increaseth their charm and addeth unto their beauty. How unpleasing to the eye if all the flowers and plants, the leaves and blossoms, the fruit, the branches and the trees of that garden were all of the same shape and color! Diversity of hues, form and shape enricheth and adorneth the garden, and heighteneth the effect thereof. In like manner, when divers shades of thought, temperament and character, are brought together under the power and influence of one central agency, the beauty and glory of human perfection will be revealed and made manifest. Naught but the celestial potency of the Word of God, which ruleth and transcendeth the realities of all things, is capable of harmonizing the divergent thoughts, sentiments, ideas and convictions of the children of men.
-- Abdu’l Baha

The oneness of religion

2011-05-04T17:03:00.000-07:00

Now on to the second part of this series of posts on the oneness of religion from the Baha'i perspective. In yesterday's post, I tried to show how the Baha'i teachings define religion - in terms of the relationship between God and humanity - and the how it views religious revelation as way to understand reality (just like science).

This then leads us to where this principle of the oneness of religion comes from – religion is a reflection of reality, and reality is one – therefore the essence of religion is one.

First, it is incumbent upon all mankind to investigate truth. If such investigation be made, all should agree and be united, for truth or reality is not multiple; it is not divisible. The different religions have one truth underlying them; therefore, their reality is one.
-- Abdu’l Baha

The key point is this – the oneness of religion is seen by Baha’is to be a reflection of reality. All religious systems come from the same one Source. The principle of the oneness of religions, therefore, is NOT an a posteriori pronouncement that attempts to find that which is common between varied religious systems, and arrive at some kind of least common denominator amongst them. Instead, the Baha’i writings advance this principle as an a priori claim, as a claim about how things are, rather than how they should be, and urge us to use this principle as a filter that can help us better understand the teachings propounded by different religious systems.

The vision, therefore, is not that people will discard all the things they disagree about, and just find the lowest common denominator that they can all agree on, and live based on that. The Baha’i Faith makes no attempt to do this, and does not try to be selective in choosing principles that people can agree on today as a basis for its teachings. It is not a syncretic religious system, nor is it just some interfaith project attempting to focus on commonalities and ignore differences.

The Revelation, of which Bahá’u’lláh is the source and center, abrogates none of the religions that have preceded it, nor does it attempt, in the slightest degree, to distort their features or to belittle their value. It disclaims any intention of dwarfing any of the Prophets of the past, or of whittling down the eternal verity of their teachings. It can, in no wise, conflict with the spirit that animates their claims, nor does it seek to undermine the basis of any man’s allegiance to their cause. Its declared, its primary purpose is to enable every adherent of these Faiths to obtain a fuller understanding of the religion with which he stands identified, and to acquire a clearer apprehension of its purpose. It is neither eclectic in the presentation of its truths, nor arrogant in the affirmation of its claims. Its teachings revolve around the fundamental principle that religious truth is not absolute but relative, that Divine Revelation is progressive, not final. Unequivocally and without the least reservation it proclaims all established religions to be divine in origin, identical in their aims, complementary in their functions, continuous in their purpose, indispensable in their value to mankind.
-- Shoghi Effendi

However central the ideal of the oneness of religion unquestionably is, therefore, the task of sharing Bahá’u’lláh’s message is obviously not an interfaith project.
-- Universal House of Justice

From this viewpoint, the Baha’i Faith should be considered a distinct religious system, and this is why we don’t just have Baha’is in different religious groups trying to get them to talk to each other. Interfaith dialogue and an understanding of commonalities is certainly an effort in which Baha’is participate strongly – but this is not the fundamental purpose.

Interestingly, the realization of the oneness of humanity itself is something that has received far greater credence in the world today, than the claim of the oneness of religion.

In contrast to the processes of unification that are transforming the rest of humanity's social relationships, the suggestion that all of the world's great religions are equally valid in nature and origin is stubbornly resisted by entrenched patterns of sectarian thought. The progress of racial integration is a development that is not merely an expression of sentimentality or strategy but arises from the recognition that the earth's peoples constitute a single species whose many variations do not themselves confer any advantage or impose any handicap on individual members of the race. The emancipation of women, likewise, has entailed the willingness of both society's institutions and popular opinion to acknowledge that there are no acceptable grounds — biological, social or moral — to justify denying women full equality with men, and girls equal educational opportunities with boys. Nor does appreciation of the contributions that some nations are making to the shaping of an evolving global civilization support the inherited illusion that other nations have little or nothing to bring to the effort.

So fundamental a reorientation religious leadership appears, for the most part, unable to undertake. Other segments of society embrace the implications of the oneness of humankind, not only as the inevitable next step in the advancement of civilization, but as the fulfilment of lesser identities of every kind that our race brings to this critical moment in our collective history. Yet, the greater part of organized religion stands paralyzed at the threshold of the future, gripped in those very dogmas and claims of privileged access to truth that have been responsible for creating some of the most bitter conflicts dividing the earth's inhabitants.
-- From a letter written by the Universal House of Justice to the world’s religious leaders in 2002

I leave it to the reader to reflect on why it might be the case that the world has shown more openness the principle of the oneness of humanity than the oneness of religion.

Hopefully this short overview provided a peek into the Baha'i understanding of the oneness of religion. We'll stop here for today - tomorrow we'll look at how this principle can be applied in practice, and how we can understand the very real differences that people have in their belief systems.

Religion as defined in the Baha'i writings

2011-05-03T22:49:00.000-07:00

Over the last few months at my new job, I have had the privilege of forming a very spiritually enriching friendship with a coworker and his wife. In recent conversations he raised some excellent and thought-provoking questions on the Baha'i claim of the oneness of religion that got me to do some research into the exact nature of this claim, and what it implies. Born out of this was the impetus to get back to blogging, after a year and a half hiatus - a hiatus necessitated by changing life circumstances, getting married, graduating, finding a new job, etc. Anyway, here I am now, and hopefully I can keep the momentum going. For now, in order to address these issues of the oneness of religion, I'll be putting up several posts over the course of the next few days, addressing a variety of concepts around this central theme in the Baha'i teachings.

The first topic we'll address is religion - before we get into any discussions about the oneness of religion, I think we need to clarify the concept of religion as presented by the Baha’i writings, as it is somewhat different from what people usually mean when they talk about religion. Two traditional views of religion are nicely summarized in the following paragraph that I copied from the international Baha’i website:

To put the Bahá'í concept of religion more clearly in focus, let us compare it with some other ways in which religion has been regarded. On one hand is the view that the various religious systems result from human striving after truth. In this conception, the Founders of the great religions do not reveal God to us, but are rather philosophers or thinkers, human beings who may have progressed farther than others in the discovery of truth. This notion excludes the idea of a basic unity of religion since the various religious systems are seen as representing different opinions and beliefs arrived at by fallible human beings rather than infallible revelations of truth from a single source.

Many orthodox adherents of various religious traditions, on the other hand, argue that the Prophet or Founder of their particular tradition represents a true revelation of God to humanity, but that the other religious Founders are false prophets, or at least essentially inferior to the Founder of the tradition in question. For example, many Jews believe that Moses was a true Messenger of God, but that Jesus was not. Similarly, many Christians believe in Jesus' revelation, but consider that Muhammad was a false prophet, and hold that Moses was inferior in status to Christ.
http://info.bahai.org/article-1-4-0-4.html

The Baha’i concept of religion, on the other hand, arises from two concepts – the oneness of God, and the oneness of humanity (all of humanity derives ultimately from that same Source, the one God). The relationship between the one God and one humanity is what is termed as religion (which comes from the Latin root, religio, which means “to bind together”). Religion, therefore, is seen as a relationship that is woven into the very fabric of reality, rather than as just a set of beliefs and principles that someone devised.

The foundation of the divine religions is reality; were there no reality, there would be no religions… Reality is as the sun, which shines forth from different dawning points; it is as the light, which has illumined many lanterns.
-- Abdu’l Baha

In this sense, it might be useful to distinguish between religion (this relationship), and religious systems (different manifestations of this relationship, such as Christianity, Islam, the Baha’i Faith, etc). These terms are usually used interchangeably in the world today, though in my understanding the Baha’i Faith makes this clear distinction. Depending on context, therefore, the word “religion” can be used to mean either of the above two things in the writings. For the purposes of these discussions, I’ll use religion when I mean the first, and religious system when I mean the second. Different religious systems are seen, by the Baha’i Faith, not as sociological phenomena, or philosophies engendered in the minds of wise thinkers, but rather organically evolving responses to the condition of humanity, communicated to us through who we call Prophets or Manifestations of God, who are considered divine (and we can get into what that means in the Baha’i Faith in another conversation).

On a side note, the close tie between religion and reality is really the foundation for the Baha’i belief in the unity of science and religion, as both are considered windows into reality.

Any religious belief which is not conformable with scientific proof and investigation is superstition, for true science is reason and reality, and religion is essentially reality and pure reason; therefore, the two must correspond. Religious teaching which is at variance with science and reason is human invention and imagination unworthy of acceptance, for the antithesis and opposite of knowledge is superstition born of the ignorance of man. If we say religion is opposed to science, we lack knowledge of either true science or true religion, for both are founded upon the premises and conclusions of reason, and both must bear its test.
-- Abdu’l Baha

Understanding the notion of the unity between science and religion further, however, will require more time, so lets leave this as is for now. The relationship between religion and reality is the reason that the first principle of the Baha’i Faith is always stated as the “independent investigation of truth.” Religion is therefore seen as a tool that helps us discover the nature of reality (just like science).

Among these teachings was the independent investigation of reality so that the world of humanity may be saved from the darkness of imitation and attain to the truth; may tear off and cast away this ragged and outgrown garment of 1,000 years ago and may put on the robe woven in the utmost purity and holiness in the loom of reality.
-- Abdu’l Baha

The primary task of the soul will always be to investigate reality, to live in accordance with the truths of which it becomes persuaded and to accord full respect to the efforts of others to do the same.
-- From a letter written by the Universal House of Justice to the world’s religious leaders in 2002

I think we should stop here for today and let all that sink in! Tomorrow we'll go from here to the oneness of religion.

I'm back

2011-05-03T22:09:00.001-07:00

and its time to revive this blog...

A culture of disagreement

2009-11-05T08:18:00.000-08:00

"The most striking feature of contemporary moral utterance is that so much of it is used to express disagreements; and the most striking feature of the debates in which these disagreements are expressed is their interminable character. I do not mean by this just that such debates go on and on and on - although they do - but also that they apparently find no terminus. There seems to be no rational way of securing moral agreement in our culture."

-- Alasdair MacIntyre, After Virtue: A study in moral theory (quoted in Paul Lample's Revelation and Social Reality)

Forbearance and humility

2009-11-02T08:43:00.001-08:00

"In past Dispensations, the believers have tended to divide into two mutually antagonistic groups: those who held blindly to the letter of the Revelations, and those who questioned and doubted everything. Like all extremes, both of these can lead into error... Baha'is are called upon to follow the Faith with intelligence and understanding. Inevitably believers will commit errors as they strive to rise to this degree of maturity, and this calls for forbearance and humility on the part of all concerned, so that such matters do not cause disunity and discord among the friends."

-- From a letter written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice, 1980

Science, religion and truth

2009-10-29T08:52:00.000-07:00

Here's a thought provoking passage I came across, from one of Dr. Arbab's essays on science and religion. I think it presents a really key insight about the nature of truth, and how one can avoid the extremes of becoming either too ideological or skeptical. Would love to hear your thoughts on this, dear reader...

"I find quite inadequate the approach to the study of religion according to which the researcher is divided into two separate entities, the scientist and the believer, the first bound to the rules of academia and the second obliged to ignore the absurdities that this duality introduces into his or her belief system. That so untenable an approach should have achieved widespread acceptance is due to the impositions of secularism acting as a kind of fundamentalist creed. As a result, much of the reality of science, religion and the forces that transform society has ended up hidden behind a veil created by false objectivity.

The alternative to the prevailing situation is not apologetics or sectarian controversy. What is called for is a new look at the interpenetration of reason and faith, as well as a systematic exploration of rational approaches that are not tied to materialism...

An immediate consequence of this realization, it could be argued, is to require the researcher in certain fields to make explicit relevant aspects of his or her own belief and experience. To do so in a meaningful way, one must be convinced that it is possible to be firm in one's convictions without being judgmental. Although the statement, "if I believe something to be right, then he whose opinions differ from mine must be wrong" passes the tests of formal logic, and although it is applicable in countless situations, its usefulness vanishes once the object of discussion becomes relatively complex. It is not that "A" and "not A" can both be true, but that the vastness of truth does not allow most matters of belief, if there is any depth to them at all, to be reduced to such comparisons. The only options this simplistic posture finally leaves open are either religious and ideological fanaticism or the brand of relativism that does away with faith, embraces skepticism, and idolizes doubt. It is instructive to note how the assaults of such relativism on belief, initially launched against religion, have been directed in the postmodern era to the very foundations of science."

I find the last paragraph particularly illuminating on this search for truth. I have often struggled with the very quandary he states, of being firm in one's belief without becoming judgmental of others - and the insight provided here shows (in my opinion) a clear way to overcome this hurdle, by understanding one of the fundamental characteristics of reality, and our respective understandings of reality - that they are ultimately too complex to subject to such comparisons and judgments.

Thinking vs. feeling

2009-10-21T08:05:00.001-07:00

Here's another extremely thought provoking passage from the same book, Immortality:

"I think, therefore I am is the statement of an intellectual who underrates toothaches. I feel, therefore I am is a truth much more universally valid, and it applies to everything that's alive. My self does not differ substantially from yours in terms of its thought. Many people, few ideas: we all think more or less the same, and we exchange, borrow, steal thoughts from one another. However, when someone steps on my foot, only I feel the pain. The basis of the self is not thought but suffering, which is the most fundamental of all feelings. While it suffers, not even a cat can doubt its unique and uninterchangeable self. In intense suffering the world disappears and each of us is alone with his self. Suffering is the university of egocentrism."

Human rights

2009-10-14T08:40:00.000-07:00

Milan Kundera's Immortality is filled with thought provoking statements about the nature of humanity and our quest for immortality. However there is one particular excerpt I wish to share with you all, that seems to very aptly capture one aspect of human society today. Pay particular attention to the last 2 lines.

"And so, thanks to Solzhenitsyn, human rights once again found their place in the vocabulary of our times; I don't know a single politician who doesn't mention ten times a day 'the fight for human rights' or 'violations of human rights'. But because people in the West are not threatened by concentration camps and are free to say and write what they want, the more the fight for human rights gains popularity, the more it loses any concrete content, becoming a kind of universal stance of everyone towards everything, a kind of energy that turns all human desires into rights. The world has become man's right and everything in it has become a right..."

Science

2009-10-11T09:22:00.000-07:00

One of the things that always drew me to the Baha'i teachings was its emphasis on science, and scientific thinking. In fact, Abdu'l Baha once wrote that "any religious belief that is not conformable with scientific proof and investigation is superstition" which I always thought was a wonderful standard to have. However, I just read a passage from the writings of Abdu'l Baha which gives a whole new meaning to the Baha'i understanding of science, and I felt I must share it with you all.

Science is the first emanation from God toward man. All created beings embody the potentiality of material perfection, but the power of intellectual investigation and scientific acquisition is a higher virtue specialized to man alone. Other beings and organisms are deprived of this potentiality and attainment. God has created or deposited this love of reality in man. The development and progress of a nation is according to the measure and degree of that nation’s scientific attainments. Through this means its greatness is continually increased, and day by day the welfare and prosperity of its people are assured.

All blessings are divine in origin, but none can be compared with this power of intellectual investigation and research, which is an eternal gift producing fruits of unending delight. Man is ever partaking of these fruits. All other blessings are temporary; this is an everlasting possession. Even sovereignty has its limitations and overthrow; this is a kingship and dominion which none may usurp or destroy. Briefly, it is an eternal blessing and divine bestowal, the supreme gift of God to man. Therefore, you should put forward your most earnest efforts toward the acquisition of science and arts. The greater your attainment, the higher your standard in the divine purpose. The man of science is perceiving and endowed with vision, whereas he who is ignorant and neglectful of this development is blind. The investigating mind is attentive, alive; the callous and indifferent mind is deaf and dead. A scientific man is a true index and representative of humanity, for through processes of inductive reasoning and research he is informed of all that appertains to humanity, its status, conditions and happenings. He studies the human body politic, understands social problems and weaves the web and texture of civilization. In fact, science may be likened to a mirror wherein the infinite forms and images of existing things are revealed and reflected. It is the very foundation of all individual and national development. Without this basis of investigation, development is impossible. Therefore, seek with diligent endeavor the knowledge and attainment of all that lies within the power of this wonderful bestowal.

A pure heart

2009-09-18T11:25:00.000-07:00

I'm always blown away by this passage whenever I read it...

O My Brother! A pure heart is as a mirror; cleanse it with the burnish of love and severance from all save God, that the true sun may shine within it and the eternal morning dawn. Then wilt thou clearly see the meaning of “Neither doth My earth nor My heaven contain Me, but the heart of My faithful servant containeth Me.” And thou wilt take up thy life in thine hand, and with infinite longing cast it before the new Beloved One.

-- Baha'u'llah

Individual and social transformation

2009-08-19T11:08:00.000-07:00

Living a Baha'i life involves the twofold purpose of individual and social transformation. However most institutions in society today focus on one or the other more. Religions of the past have largely tended to focus on individual change - purifying the self, becoming a better person, establishing a personal connection with God etc - believing that this will lead to widespread change in society. Most non-religious social institutions on the other hand focus on social transformation - governments enact laws governing all of society, policies are made that change the nature of the economy etc - there isn't much effort made to transform the individual (save in the field of education). It is assumed that people are who they are, and then institutions are devised so as to cater to people as they are.

However there is a very dynamic interplay between the individual and society, and it is essential to work at transforming both simultaneously. This was brought home to be especially strongly as I read the following excerpt from a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi:

"We cannot segregate the human heart from the environment outside us, and say that once one of these is reformed everything will be improved. Man is organic with the world. His inner life molds the environment and is itself also deeply affected by it. The one acts upon the other and every abiding change in the life of man is the result of these mutual reactions."

So what, dear reader, are ways in which this simultaneous transformation can happen?

Hermeneutical principles

2009-08-17T09:08:00.000-07:00

Paul Lample's "Revelation and Social Reality" provides, amongst other things, an excellent summary of some of the hermeneutical principles (principles that deal with the interpretation of scriptural writings) presented in the Baha'i writings. I offer a short listing of these principles, along with some extracts from the book that explain these for the reader to ponder and apply as he/she engages in his/her own personal study of the many religious writings we have available to us.

The Book has intended meaning - "We cannot simply read into the Text any meaning we wish or use quotations out of context to justify personal opinions. Our views may be right and they may be wrong, or they may reflect a partial understanding, depending on the measure of their correspondence to Baha'u'llah's (or any of the other Manifestations') intention." Some philosophers have argued that a book has no intended meaning, and even the author often cannot know what the meaning of a book is - it is left to the reader to interpret. The Baha'i stance on this states that at least the writings of the Prophets and their authorized interpreters do not fit into this category.
Judgments about meaning should be made from the perspective of the Revelation - "We should not weight the Book of God with human standards and sciences, since 'the Book itself is the unerring balance established amongst men'".
There is no contradiction between authoritative passages - "It may appear that certain statements in the Book contradict one another. But a difference in context or emphasis or the exploration of a single reality from different perspectives should not be misconstrued as contradiction... If a personal interpretation of a passage contradicts the Text or its authoritative interpretation, that individual interpretation is erroneous." This provides us with one way of testing our individual interpretations of these writings.
Meaning is sometimes explicit and sometimes veiled - "At times we are dealing with explicit meanings and an esoteric interpretation would be inappropriate and incorrect... At other times a verse has deeper meanings, and trying to hold to the outward understanding can lead to rigidity or confusion." Some things are to be taken literally, some metaphorically. And figuring out which to use in any situation that is unclear is done on the basis of some of the other hermeneutical principles listed here.
The meaning of the Book cannot be exhausted - "This opens the Text to a range of individual interpretations, including instances in which an authoritative interpretation has been made. For example, after presenting an interpretation of the meaning of the story of Adam and Eve, Abdu'l Baha explains - 'This is one of the meanings of the biblical story of Adam. Reflect unti you discover the others.' However this concept does not imply relativism - personal interpretations are not all equally valid, and some are erroneous. Rather, meaning continually emerges through study and application throughout one's lifetime and over the entire course of the dispensation in a changing historical context."
Truth unfolds progressively within the dispensation - "The meaning of the Revelation is intentionally disclosed in a gradual manner over time. 'Consider the sun,' Baha'u'llah explains, 'How gradually its warmth and potency increase as it approaches its zenith...' He also states - 'Not everything that a man knoweth can be disclosed, nor can everything that he can disclose be regarded as timely, nor can every timely utterance be considered suited to the capacity of those who hear it.'" This dynamic revelation of truth is essential, as it enables people to make the transition from their established ways of thinking to a new way of viewing the world and their lives/actions.
Understanding is influenced by the stages of the Faith's organic development - This is more specifically written wrt the Baha'i Faith's development in the last 150 or so years, but can also be applied to other religions by looking at their history. "The Baha'i community evolves organically over time and certain passages may pertain to specific stages in this developmental process." The Universal House of Justice explains this through a simile - "If a farmer plants a tree, he cannot state at that moment what its exact height will be, the number of its branches or the exact time of its blossoming. He can, however, give a general impression of its size and pattern of growth and can state with confidence which fruit it will bear. The same is true of the evolution of the World Order of Baha'u'llah." In past dispensations errors arose because the believers "were overanxious to encompass the Divine Message within the framework of their limited understanding, to define doctrines where definition was beyond their power, to explain mysteries which only the wisdom and experience of a later age would make comprehensible, to argue that something was true because it appeared desirable and necessary."
Personal interpretations of the meaning of the Text should be weighed in the light of science and reason - This seems pretty clear to me :) Abdu'l Baha states, "If religious beliefs and opinions are found contrary to the standards of science, they are mere superstitions and imaginations...". However, there is one thing to be aware of - "it is vital to appreciate that in certain cases, rather than intending to convey a scientific truth, a passage in the Text uses scientific concepts according to the understanding of the people as a way of illustrating a spiritual theme." This is really important to understand, I think, as otherwise one might view some statement as being contradictory to the standards of science - while all it was was an analogy to explain some other more important spiritual principle. A clear example of this is Abdu'l Baha's use of the analogy of the concept of ether to illustrate the unknowability of God. In one passage he says, "The Divine Essence as it is in itself is however beyond all description. For instance, the nature of ether is unknown, but that it existeth is certain by the effects it produceth, heat, light and electricity being the waves thereof. By these waves the existence of ether is thus proven. And as we consider the outpourings of Divine Grace we are assured of the existence of God." The purpose here is to discuss human understanding of God, not prove the existence of ether. This is made clear in another passage of Abdu'l Baha's where he says that "Even ethereal matter, the forces of which are said in physics to be heat, light, electricity and magnetism, is an intellectual reality, and is not sensible." In other words, the ether is an intellectual concept used to explain certain phenomena. Over time as scientists couldn't verify its existence, they constructed other intellectual concepts to explain phenomena.
History and context have implications for understanding the meaning of the Text - Understanding context can be very important for grasping the meaning of a Text. However, "this does not imply that meaning of scripture is circumscribed by its particular context and that no general insights or principles can be drawn from it and applied universally... Hermeneutical practice must be concerned with both the particular and universal implications of the Writings..." We must also strive to avoid two extremes - one which is to insist that everything in the Writings can only be understood in the context of historical evidence, and the second which is to ignore the historical context or assume that all which is presented in the Text is historical fact - some statements, as was explained in the earlier point about science, are presented to people as analogies based on the particular understanding of the audience being addressed.

More on consultation

2009-08-13T17:41:00.000-07:00

In a brief conversation with A, I realized that the context for the second quote in the post below is important - it should not be taken in isolation from other spiritual qualities. Clearly one should not be a mute bystander to injustice, for example. Understanding the principle of unity in decision-making (even if it is not the ideal decision) is something that can be better understood in the context of the main principles of consultation. Here's an extract from the worldwide Baha'i website that summarizes these principles well:

The principles of consultation were laid down in Bahá'u'lláh's writings, and, as a procedure for building consensus and investigating truth, they have the potential for wide application. Indeed, Bahá'ís have found them to be useful in virtually any arena where group decision-making and cooperation is required. These principles are used not only by the Faith's own institutions, but in Bahá'í-owned businesses, in Bahá'í-operated schools, and in day-to-day decision-making of Bahá'í families.

In essence, consultation seeks to build consensus in a manner that unites various constituencies instead of dividing them. It encourages diversity of opinion and acts to control the struggle for power that is otherwise so common in traditional decision-making systems.

Bahá'í consultation is based on the following principles:

* Information should be gathered from the widest possible range of sources, seeking a diversity of points of view. This may mean making special efforts to seek the views of specialists--such as lawyers, doctors, or scientists. It may also mean looking for information outside traditional specialties or making a special effort to consider the views of community members from diverse backgrounds.
* During discussion, participants must make every effort to be as frank and candid as possible, while maintaining a courteous interest in the views of others. Personal attacks, blanket ultimatums and prejudicial statements are to be avoided.
* When an idea is put forth it becomes at once the property of the group. Although this notion sounds simple, it is perhaps the most profound principle of consultation. For in this rule, all ideas cease to be the property of any individual, sub-group, or constituency. When followed, this principle encourages those ideas that spring forth from a sincere desire to serve, as opposed to ideas that emanate from a desire for personal aggrandizement or constituency-building.
* The group strives for unanimity, but a majority vote can be taken to bring about a conclusion and make the decision. An important aspect to this principle is the understanding that once a decision is made, it is incumbent on the entire group to act on it with unity - regardless of how many supported the measure.

In this sense, there can be no "minority" report or "position of the opposition" in consultation. Rather, Bahá'ís believe that if a decision is a wrong one, it wlll become evident in its implementation--but only if the decision-making group and, indeed, the community at large, support it wholeheartedly.

This commitment to unity ensures that if a decision or a project fails, the problem lies in the idea itself, and not in lack of support from the community or the obstinate actions of opponents.

The final section of the above extract gives some clear reasoning as to why this principle of unity is important. And it does make one wonder - how many policies, projects, actions and ideas fail because they are truly wrong/bad? And how many fail because of opposition from people, disunity and contention?

Consultation

2009-08-13T09:13:00.000-07:00

Two quotes about consultation that we all (definitely me) need to imbibe, I think...

"He who expresses an opinion should not voice it as correct and right but set it forth as a contribution to the consensus of opinion, for the light of reality becomes apparent when two opinions coincide."

"If they agree upon a subject, even though it be wrong, it is better than to disagree and be in the right, for this difference will produce the demolition of the divine foundation. Though one of the parties may be in the right and they disagree that will be the cause of a thousand wrongs, but if they agree and both parties are in the wrong, as it is in unity the truth will be revealed and the wrong made right."

-- Abdu'l Baha

The second, in particular, is worth discussing... What is it that makes it better to be united and wrong rather than divided and right? What do you all think?

Faith and action

2009-08-05T08:06:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago I had a most wonderful experience with a co-passenger on my flight back home from Michigan. We had some great conversations around religion, even though we came at it from very different angles. She was what you might call a literalist Christian - she believed the world was created in 7 days, that Jesus was the only way to salvation and so on... Coming at it from the Baha'i perspective, I of course disagreed - and yet our conversation was very open, and pleasant.

One of the things we talked about was faith - she believed that as she believed in Christ, she was saved and going to heaven, and it didn't matter what she did, how she acted, for all her sins were forgiven when Christ got crucified. I tried to make her see the other perspective, of how faith was intricately tied in to action - if one "believed" in Christ, but then committed actions that were against the teachings of Christ, one cannot possibly be "saved" - and yet this was something she could not accept as part of her Christian faith.

It was therefore a pleasant surprise as I just read the Epistle of James, and came across a passage that talks exactly about this issue:

¹⁷Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.

¹⁸Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.

¹⁹Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.

²⁰But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?

²¹Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?

²²Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?

²³And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.

²⁴Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.

-- James 2:17-24

I find this to be in perfect alignment with the Bahai teaching that "the essence of faith is fewness of words and abundance of deeds." And to me, this is now yet another classic example of how all religions intrinsically really teach the same things, while we people interpret them in our own ways, creating differences and distinctions.

Pure honey

2009-07-10T11:42:00.000-07:00

Verily I say: Whatever befalleth in the path of God is the beloved of the soul and the desire of the heart. Deadly poison in His path is pure honey, and every tribulation a draught of crystal water.

-- Baha'u'llah

Humanity - members of one body

2009-07-02T09:55:00.000-07:00

¹²For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.

¹³For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.

¹⁴For the body is not one member, but many.

¹⁵If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?

¹⁶And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?

¹⁷If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling?

¹⁸But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.

¹⁹And if they were all one member, where were the body?

²⁰But now are they many members, yet but one body.

²¹And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.

²²Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary:

²³And those members of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness.

²⁴For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked.

²⁵That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another.

²⁶And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.

-- 1 Corinthians 12:12-26

The body politic may be likened to the human organism. As long as the various members and parts of that organism are coordinated and cooperating in harmony, we have as a result the expression of life in its fullest degree. When these members lack coordination and harmony, we have the reverse, which in the human organism is disease, dissolution, death. Similarly, in the body politic of humanity dissension, discord and warfare are always destructive and inevitably fatal. All created beings are dependent upon peace and coordination, for every contingent and phenomenal being is a composition of distinct elements. As long as there is affinity and cohesion among these constituent elements, strength and life are manifest; but when dissension and repulsion arise among them, disintegration follows.

-- Abdu'l Baha

Thus when that unifying force, the penetrating influence of the Word of God, taketh effect, the difference of customs, manners, habits, ideas, opinions and dispositions embellisheth the world of humanity. This diversity, this difference is like the naturally created dissimilarity and variety of the limbs and organs of the human body, for each one contributeth to the beauty, efficiency and perfection of the whole. When these different limbs and organs come under the influence of man’s sovereign soul, and the soul’s power pervadeth the limbs and members, veins and arteries of the body, then difference reinforceth harmony, diversity strengtheneth love, and multiplicity is the greatest factor for co-ordination.

-- Abdu'l Baha

Sorrow not...

2009-07-02T09:35:00.000-07:00

O My servants! Could ye apprehend with what wonders of My munificence and bounty I have willed to entrust your souls, ye would, of a truth, rid yourselves of attachment to all created things, and would gain a true knowledge of your own selves—a knowledge which is the same as the comprehension of Mine own Being. Ye would find yourselves independent of all else but Me, and would perceive, with your inner and outer eye, and as manifest as the revelation of My effulgent Name, the seas of My loving-kindness and bounty moving within you... Ye are even as the bird which soareth, with the full force of its mighty wings and with complete and joyous confidence, through the immensity of the heavens, until, impelled to satisfy its hunger, it turneth longingly to the water and clay of the earth below it, and, having been entrapped in the mesh of its desire, findeth itself impotent to resume its flight to the realms whence it came. Powerless to shake off the burden weighing on its sullied wings, that bird, hitherto an inmate of the heavens, is now forced to seek a dwelling-place upon the dust. Wherefore, O My servants, defile not your wings with the clay of waywardness and vain desires, and suffer them not to be stained with the dust of envy and hate, that ye may not be hindered from soaring in the heavens of My divine knowledge.

The world is but a show, vain and empty, a mere nothing, bearing the semblance of reality. Set not your affections upon it. Break not the bond that uniteth you with your Creator, and be not of those that have erred and strayed from His ways. Verily I say, the world is like the vapor in a desert, which the thirsty dreameth to be water and striveth after it with all his might, until when he cometh unto it, he findeth it to be mere illusion...

O My servants! Sorrow not if, in these days and on this earthly plane, things contrary to your wishes have been ordained and manifested by God, for days of blissful joy, of heavenly delight, are assuredly in store for you. Worlds, holy and spiritually glorious, will be unveiled to your eyes. You are destined by Him, in this world and hereafter, to partake of their benefits, to share in their joys, and to obtain a portion of their sustaining grace. To each and every one of them you will, no doubt, attain.

-- Baha'u'llah

Poetry

2009-06-17T15:52:00.000-07:00

For the poetry buffs, here's an excerpt from Mister God, This is Anna again...

"Do you like poetry?" he asked.

Anna nodded. Old Woody settled the glowing tobacco in his pipe with his thumb.

"Do you," he said, sucking away, "do you know what poetry is?"

"Yes," replied Anna. "It's sort of like sewing."

"I see," Old Woody nodded, "and what do you mean by sewing?"

Anna juggled the words around in her mind. "Well, its making something from different bits that is different from all the bits."

"Um," said Old Woody, "I think that is rather a good definition of poetry."

The same chord

2009-06-17T08:25:00.001-07:00

I've posted this excerpt a long time ago, but reading this book again, I was struck once more by the profound simplicity of the message.

So here, again, is an excerpt from the absolutely delightful Mister God, This is Anna.

"Fynn," her voice was a squeak of amazement, "Fynn, we're all playing the same chord."

"I'm not surprised," I said. "What are we talking about?"

"Fynn, its all them different names for churches."

"So what's that got to do with chords?" I asked.

"We're all playing the same chord to Mister God, but with different names."

It was this kind of thing that was so exciting about talking to Anna. She had this capacity for taking a statement of fact in one subject, teasing it until she discovered its pattern, then looking around for a similar pattern in another subject. Anna had a high regard for facts, yet the importance of a fact did not lie in its uniqueness but in its ability to do service in diverse subjects. Had Anna ever been given a convincing argument in favor of atheism, she'd have teased it about until she got a firm hold of the pattern, viewed it from all sides, and then shown you that the whole argument was a necessary ingredient in the existence of God. The chord of atheism might be a discord, but then discords were in Anna's estimation "thrilly," but definitely, "thrilly".

"Fynn, them names of them chords," she began.

"What about them?" I asked.

"The home note can't be Mister God because then we couldn't call them different names. They would all be the same name," she said.

"I guess you're right at that. What is the home note then?"

"It's me or you or Ali. Fynn, it's everybody. That's why it's all different names. That's why it's all different Churches. That's what it is."

It makes sense, doesn't it? We're all playing the same chord, but it seems we don't know it. You call your chord a C major, while I call the same notes A minor seventh. I call myself a Christian, what do you call yourself? I reckon Mister God must be pretty good at music, he knows all the names of the chords. Perhaps he doesn't mind what you call it, as long as you play it.

Weighing the consequences

2009-06-09T09:56:00.000-07:00

While musing in the shower today, I had a bit of an insight into why, when having to choose between two activities, one materially beneficial, and one spiritually beneficial, we often tend to choose the former rather than latter. For example, if one has to choose between attending a weekly study circle that furthers my spiritual growth, and taking that extra hour to study for an exam tomorrow, I've realized that one is more likely to skip the study circle and prepare for the exam. Or, if one has to choose between spending an hour meditating and using that hour to work on a class/work project, one is more likely to give up the hour of meditation, rationalizing that the project deadline is more important. Why does this happen? I believe there are two reasons - the first obvious, the second not so obvious.

1. The consequences of material choices of usually much more apparent and immediate than spiritual choices. So I believe that if I dont spend that time studying for the exam, I'm more likely to fail. Of course, I could have sacrificed an hour of sleep and used that to prepare for the exam, and still attended to that which is spiritually beneficial to me - but that would have other material consequences on the next day, such as more fatigue, etc. And so I'm willing to forgo the spiritual action as I don't see any immediate consequences of NOT going to my study circle or meditating this week.

2. Material consequences can be both positive and negative, while spiritual consequences can only be positive or less positive. I think this is an important, but not often appreciated reason why we make the choices we do. We've normalized our expectations such that our minimum degree of material comfort is at a non-zero value. And so deviations from that minimum level of comfort can be both positive and negative. And so I want to score at least a certain amount on an exam; anything below that would be a travesty. However, such is not the same with spiritual actions - if I don't read a prayer today, it will only mean I don't progress as fast as I might have. If I don't study the spiritual text I've been reading regularly today, it only means I finish it a day later. We are therefore prepared to accept a less positive spiritual consequence in favor of devoting time to ensuring a positive, rather than negative, material consequence.

What, then, I wonder, might happen if we were able to renormalize our spiritual expectations, so that we set our minimum level of desired progress at a nonzero level? If we viewed the consequence of one lost hour of prayer/meditation as being as negative (and as immediate/apparent) as one lost hour of sleep? How then, would we prioritize our choices?

Silence - a tranquil conscience within

2009-06-09T09:55:00.001-07:00

Create in me a pure heart, O my God, and renew a tranquil conscience within me, O my Hope! Through the spirit of power confirm Thou me in Thy Cause, O my Best-Beloved, and by the light of Thy glory reveal unto me Thy path, O Thou the Goal of my desire! Through the power of Thy transcendent might lift me up unto the heaven of Thy holiness, O Source of my being, 143 and by the breezes of Thine eternity gladden me, O Thou Who art my God! Let Thine everlasting melodies breathe tranquillity on me, O my Companion, and let the riches of Thine ancient countenance deliver me from all except Thee, O my Master, and let the tidings of the revelation of Thine incorruptible Essence bring me joy, O Thou Who art the most manifest of the manifest and the most hidden of the hidden!

-- Baha'u'llah

Silence - refraining from idle talk

2009-06-09T09:52:00.000-07:00

That seeker must, at all times, put his trust in God, must renounce the peoples of the earth, must 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 vain-glory, must cling unto patience and resignation, observe silence and refrain from idle talk. For the tongue is a smoldering fire, and excess of speech a deadly poison. Material fire consumeth the body, whereas the fire of the tongue devoureth both heart and soul. The force of the former lasteth but for a time, whilst the effects of the latter endureth a century.

-- Baha'u'llah

Silence - the essence of faith

2009-06-09T09:51:00.000-07:00

The essence of faith is fewness of words and abundance of deeds

-- Baha'u'llah

Silence - the mark of humility

2009-06-09T09:46:00.000-07:00

It behooveth you to remain silent before His Throne, for indeed of all the things which have been created between heaven and earth nothing on that Day will be deemed more fitting than the observance of silence. Moreover, take ye good heed not to be reckoned among those of the past who were invested with knowledge, yet by reason of their learning waxed proud before God, the Transcendent, the Self-Subsisting, inasmuch as on that Day it is He Who is the All-Knowing, the Omniscient, the Source of all knowledge, far above such as are endued with learning; and it is 165 He Who is the Potent, the All-Compelling, the Lord of power, in the face of those who wield power; and it is He Who is the Mighty, the Most August, the Most Glorious before such as display glory; and on that Day it is He Who is the Lofty, the All-Highest, the Source of exaltation, far above those who are elevated in rank; and it is He Who is the Almighty, the Source of glory and grandeur, far above the pomp of the mighty; and it is He Who is the Omnipotent, the Supreme Ruler, the Lord of judgement, transcending all such as are invested with authority; and it is He Who is the Generous, the Most Benevolent, the Essence of bounty, Who standeth supreme in the face of such as show benevolence; and it is He Who is the Ordainer and the Supreme Wielder of authority and power, inconceivably high above those who hold earthly dominion; and it is He Who is the Most Excellent, the Unsurpassed, the Pre-eminent in the face of every man of accomplishment.

-- The Báb

The body and blood

2009-06-01T08:27:00.000-07:00

The orthodox interpretation of the practice of communion followed by many Christians always puzzled me a little - many believe that the process of eating the wafer and drinking the sip of wine truly means you are eating the body and blood of Christ. Two things always made me wonder - first, why would one believe that the wafer and the wine actually, physically transforms into Christ's body and blood? Second, why would one want to eat the body and blood of one's prophet at all?

I found the clearest explanation for this practice in the gospel of John:

⁵³Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.

⁵⁴Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.

⁵⁵For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.

⁵⁶He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.

⁵⁷As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.

⁵⁸This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.

-- John 6:53-58

These verses, looked at literally, seem to confirm the orthodox Christian belief that one should et the body/blood of Christ in order to be saved. But is this what Christ really meant? I believe a clue to what the "bread" he talks about is can be found in some preceding and succeeding verses.

³⁵And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.

³⁶But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not.

³⁷All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.

³⁸For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.

³⁹And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.

⁴⁰And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.

-- John 6:35-40

and

⁶³It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

-- John 6:63

Once we take all these verses together, I think it becomes clear that by "bread" is meant spiritual food, the teachings of God. And as Jesus clearly says above, "the flesh profiteth nothing" - and so in the earlier verses when he talks about people "eating his flesh", he must mean it metaphorically, not literally. It is therefore not his body/flesh that is the bread people are meant to eat, but his teachings and words that they are meant to imbibe.

Only God knows

2009-05-31T07:32:00.001-07:00

A simple, yet thought-provoking fable...

Once there was an old man who lived in a tiny village. Although poor, he was envied by all, for he owned a beautiful white horse. Even the king coveted his treasure. A horse like this had never been seen before – such was its splendor, its majesty, its strength.

People offered fabulous prices for the steed, but the old man always refused. “This horse is not a horse to me,” he would tell them. “It is a person. How could you sell a person? He is a friend, not a possession. How could you sell a friend.” The man was poor and the temptation was great. But he never sold the horse.

One morning he found that the horse was not in his stable. All the village came to see him. “You old fool,” they scoffed, “we told you that someone would steal your horse. We warned you that you would be robbed. You are so poor. How could you ever protect such a valuable animal? It would have been better to have sold him. You could have gotten whatever price you wanted. No amount would have been to high. Now the horse is gone and you’ve been cursed with misfortune.”

The old man responded, “Don’t speak too quickly. Say only that the horse is not in the stable. That is all we know; the rest is judgment. If I’ve been cursed or not, how can you know? How can you judge?”

The people contested, “Don’t make us out to be fools! We may not be philosophers, but great philosophy is not needed. The simple fact that your horse is gone is a curse.”

The old man spoke again. “All I know is that the stable is empty, and the horse is gone. The rest I don’t know. Whether it be a curse or a blessing, I can’t say. All we can see is a fragment. Who can say what will come next?”

The people of the village laughed. They thought that the man was crazy. They had always thought he was a fool; if he wasn’t, he would have sold the horse and lived off the money. But instead, he was a poor woodcutter, and old man still cutting firewood and dragging it out of the forest and selling it. He lived hand to mouth in the misery of poverty. Now he had proven that he was, indeed, a fool.

After fifteen days, the horse returned. He hadn’t been stolen; he had run away into the forest. Not only had he returned, he had brought a dozen wild horses with him. Once again, the village people gathered around the woodcutter and spoke. “Old man, you were right and we were wrong. What we thought was a curse was a blessing. Please forgive us.”

The man responded, “Once again, you go too far. Say only that the horse is back. State only that a dozen horses returned with him, but don’t judge. How do you know if this is a blessing or not? You see only a fragment. Unless you know the whole story, how can you judge? You read only one page of a book. Can you judge the whole book? You read only one word of one phrase. Can you understand the entire phrase?”

“Life is so vast, yet you judge all of life with one page or one word. All you have is one fragment! Don’t say that this is a blessing. No one knows. I am content with what I know. I am not perturbed by what I don’t.”

“Maybe the old man is right,” they said to one another. So they said little. But down deep, they knew he was wrong. They knew it was a blessing. Twelve wild horses had returned. With a little work, the animals could be broken and trained and sold for much money.

The old man had a son, an only son. The young man began to break the wild horses. After a few days, he fell from one of the horses and broke both legs. Once again the villagers gathered around the old man and cast their judgments.

“You were right,” they said. “You proved you were right. The dozen horses were not a blessing. They were a curse. Your only son has broken both his legs, and now in your old age you have no one to help you. Now you are poorer than ever.”

The old man spoke again. “You people are obsessed with judging. Don’t go so far. Say only that my son broke his legs. Who knows if it is a blessing or a curse? No one knows. We only have a fragment. Life comes in fragments.”

It so happened that a few weeks later the country engaged in war against a neighboring country. All the young men of the village were required to join the army. Only the son of the old man was excluded, because he was injured. Once again the people gathered around the old man, crying and screaming because their sons had been taken. There was little chance that they would return. The enemy was strong, and the war would be a losing struggle. They would never see their sons again.

“You were right, old man,” They wept. “God knows you were right. This proves it. Your son’s accident was a blessing. His legs may be broken, but at least he is with you. Our sons are gone forever.”

The old man spoke again. “It is impossible to talk with you. You always draw conclusions. No one knows. Say only this. Your sons had to go to war, and mine did not. No one knows if it is a blessing or a curse. No one is wise enough to know. Only God knows.”

Scientology news

2009-05-29T20:04:00.000-07:00

The religion faces being banned in France - read more about that here.

Independent investigation

2009-05-27T10:55:00.001-07:00

I have blogged on this topic several times in the past - and yet, I believe there is so much more to dig out here. So here's a question, for you, readers, to ponder and respond to:

How does one balance the fundamental principle of independent, rational, scientific investigation of the truth (which requires one to question, doubt, seek to understand and not blindly accept) with the hard reality of an imperfect mind burdened with an imperfect understanding of rationality, preconceived notions, prejudices, cultural/social conditioning and an ego?

Put differently, as I investigate reality and try to get closer to truth, can I ever be sure that something I reject as being false is really false? For it could just be that my understanding is limited, and I'm not mature/intelligent enough to understand that it really is true...

The simple answer to this, of course, is that we try our best. Can we try and dig a little deeper into this, though? :)

Puzzling parable

2009-05-26T07:59:00.000-07:00

Can anyone explain this parable?

¹And he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods.

²And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward.

³Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed.

⁴I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.

⁵So he called every one of his lord's debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord?

⁶And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty.

⁷Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, An hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and write fourscore.

⁸And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.

⁹And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.

¹⁰He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.

¹¹If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true rich

-- Luke 16:1-11

Faith

2009-05-12T07:58:00.000-07:00

"By faith is meant, first, conscious knowledge, and second, the practice of good deeds."

-- Abdu'l Baha

This was one of the quotes which, as C put it, "rocked my world" when I first heard it. Too often do we talk about faith as something opposed to knowledge and science, as something involving blind trust in something one can never prove, and as the pastime of irrational, illogical people. This quote, on the other hand, presents a very different concept of faith, my understanding of which I will try and elaborate on here.

The way I have, over time, come to understand faith, is as a very scientific process of discovery, which is what I believe the first part of the quote alludes to when it talks about conscious knowledge - faith is not just the knowledge one has, but that part of knowledge that one is conscious, aware of. Now how does one go about acquiring this knowledge? It is through a process based on the scientific method of experimentation and hypothesis testing. There is one key difference though - all of science today is based on studying some object external to you using certain physical instruments. Even psychologists who study the human brain or surgeons who study the human body study some human being other than themselves, or some part of themselves that is treated as an object. Therefore there is always a separation between the subject and the object of experimentation, however subtle. In addition, the instruments of experimentation are usually physical, tangible objects that produce physical, tangible results. An exception to this is of course a field like, say, psychoanalysis or anthropological research, where the instruments of experimentation are often more intangible tools. But these too usually involve an external object that is being studied. Both the objectification of that which is being studied, and the physical nature of instruments mean that all these experiments that we conduct on the world have what we like to call objective results - results that do not depend on our opinions/beliefs, but rather results that can be reproduced by anyone who had access to the same object and the same instruments. This notion of verifiability is a key requirement today to be considered legitimate science.

A scientific approach to metaphysical questions, on the other hand, is intrinsically different in that it breaks both of the above norms - the object of study is not something extrinsic to us (or even some part of us that we can study as something extrinsic to our "self"), but rather our own soul - or whatever it is in us that we refer to when we say "I". In addition, the instruments of experimentation are not physical objects, but rather, our actions in this world. We make a hypothesis about the spiritual nature of the world/ourself, act on the basis of that hypothesis, and then make measurements by looking at the consequences of those actions. If the consequences align with the original hypothesis, one puts a certain measure of faith in it. This process of course does not stop with one such instance - one constantly keeps up this process of experimentation and validation, and over time, one builds up a reasonable level of faith in one's hypothesis.

Lets take a concrete example of this. Suppose someone comes to me one day and says I should pray everyday, for that has spiritual influence on the world and my soul. If I accepted him at face value and just did what he suggested, that would surely be blind faith. But instead, lets say I take what he says as a working hypothesis. Then I act on the basis of that, sincerely, and with an open mind, not being attached to my own views on the matter. So I pray sincerely everyday for a while, and then observe the effect this has on my soul, my state of mind, my actions in the world, and my effect on the people around me. If I find that there is a distinct positive change in all these over time, I will, through this scientific process, end up concluding that prayer does indeed have some spiritual effect. Of course, I don't immediately stop at this point and then blindly accept this as a truth proven beyond question. I have greater faith in it, and so act with increased vigor - but still keep my mind open to being proven wrong if there is enough compelling evidence to show that I was mistaken the first time around. As the evidence in favor of the hypothesis mounts, however, so does my faith in its truth value. This is an asymptotic process.

(Note that all this depends on one being completely open-minded, without prejudice, and without preconcieved notions of the results of the experiment - in other words, we need to cleanse the instrument of our soul so we can have confidence in the final consequences being the result of the action itself and not our own failings/biases. The following two quotes from Abdu'l Baha emphasize exactly this point.

"The perfect love needs an unselfish instrument, absolutely freed from fetters of every kind."

"The most important thing is to polish the mirrors of hearts in order that they may become illumined and receptive of the divine light. One heart may possess the capacity of the polished mirror; another be covered and obscured by the dust and dross of this world. Although the same Sun is shining upon both, in the mirror which is polished, pure and sanctified you may behold the Sun in all its fullness, glory and power revealing its majesty and effulgence, but in the mirror which is rusted and obscured there is no capacity for reflection although so far as the Sun itself is concerned it is shining thereon and is neither lessened nor deprived."

Therefore the building up of faith in a spiritual reality should ideally come about as a result of this development of conscious knowledge that is based on this process of scientific experimentation on the soul. And the experimental process involves our deeds, the actions we use to test our hypothesis about the spiritual world - and this brings in the second part of the quote, the practice of good deeds. Faith, therefore is knowledge that one is aware of, and which is built up through the exercise of one's free will to commit good deeds.

Another (and I believe equally valid) interpretation of the second part of the quote is also that faith cannot exist in thought alone - one can only be said to have true faith when one acts and performs good deeds on the basis of that faith. It is not enough for me to say that I believe in God and the spiritual nature of the human soul - I need to act on the basis of that belief, serve humanity, do good deeds - and only then can I be said to have faith. Therefore conscious knowledge, and action on the basis of that knowledge together comprise true faith.

One most striking aspect of this process, of course, is its subjective nature. If I say that prayer has spiritual effect on my soul, is there any way to objectively verify this? This inherent subjectivity is often used as a reason to rubbish any kind of spiritual statement as being scientifically unsound due to its non-verifiability from a completely objective standpoint. But is this really true? Or does this arise from the fundamental impossibility of recreating the exact conditions of experimentation to verify these statements? All scientific experimenters will agree that objective verifiability only makes sense when the conditions of experimentation are exactly the same - so if someone claims that he conducted an experiment where he measured the boiling point of water to be 100 degrees, I would need to recreate the same conditions (ensure I'm heating pure water, for example, and not contaminated water) to get the same result. If i boiled water with salt in it instead of pure water and determined that the boiling point was 105 degrees, I cannot conclude that the first claim was wrong. If we now apply this same analogy to scientific experimentation on the self, one immediately realizes that one can never recreate the same conditions of the soul in another human being, for each person is a complex combination of myriad thoughts, experiences, circumstances etc. And so one should in fact expect that a scientific experiment conducted by one person on his soul would not be exactly reproducible by another. This is no way means that the original experiment and conclusions are wrong.

Does this then lead to complete relativism, a complete lack of objectivity? In a static sense it might seem so, but dynamically I don't think so. Though initially it might seem like our experimental process is doomed to failure because there is no way to distinguish between true consequences of any action, and consequences because of our lack of understanding/sincerity/openness, over time as our understanding develops, so will our ability to discern truth. Therefore with time, as we hone the instrument of our soul and polish our mirrors within, we will be able to better reflect the light of knowledge that shines on us all. And this will eventually lead us, asymptotically, towards understanding, objectively, the true nature of reality and all that underlies it.

The essence of faith

2009-05-11T08:24:00.000-07:00

In this, the month of trust, let us reflect on these words below to understand what faith/trust in God really means.

"The essence of faith is fewness of words and abundance of deeds..."

-- Baha'u'llah

⁴⁷Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like:

⁴⁸ He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock.

⁴⁹But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built a house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.

-- Luke 6:47-49

"By faith is meant, first, conscious knowledge, and second, the practice of good deeds."

-- Abdu'l Baha

Watch...

2009-05-05T08:19:00.000-07:00

³¹ Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.

³² But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.

³³ Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.

³⁴ For the Son of Man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch.

³⁵Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning:

³⁶Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping.

³⁷And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.

-- Mark 13:31-37

Quote of the week

2009-05-04T22:34:00.000-07:00

O Son of Spirit!

I created thee rich, why dost thou bring thyself down to poverty? Noble I made thee, wherewith dost thou abase thyself? Out of the essence of knowledge I gave thee being, why seekest thou enlightenment from anyone beside Me? Out of the clay of love I molded thee, how dost thou busy thyself with another? Turn thy sight unto thyself, that thou mayest find Me standing within thee, mighty, powerful and self-subsisting.

-- Baha'u'llah, Hidden Words

The big religion comparison chart

2009-05-04T09:52:00.001-07:00

Here

The irony of ritualism and dogma

2009-05-01T08:32:00.001-07:00

And he (Jesus) said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath.

-- Mark:2-27

For legal standards, political and economic theories are solely designed to safeguard the interests of humanity as a whole, and not humanity to be crucified for the preservation of the integrity of any particular law or doctrine.

-- Shoghi Effendi

You, only you....

2009-05-01T07:31:00.000-07:00

Yet another Kabir gem that points to the underlying unity between the individual and God and creation; where we are both the giver and the taker, the thief and the cop, the infant and the mother - so let one man not exalt himself over another, for in everything you see you, only you. (or another interpretation that in everything you see God, only God).

इनका भेद बता मेरे अवधू, अच्छी करनी कर ले तू
डाली फूल जगत के माही, जहाँ देखूं वहां तू का तू

हाथी में हाथी बन बैठा चींटी में है छोटो तू
होय महावत ऊपर बैठे, हाँकन वाला तू का तू

चोरों के संग चोर बन जावे, डाकूओं में भेलो तू
चोरी कर के तू भाग जावे, पकड़ने वाला तू का तू

दाता के संग दाता बन जावे, भिखारी में भेलो तू
मंगतो हो कर मांगन लगे, देने वाला तू का तो

नर नारी में एक बिराजे, दो दुनिया में दीसे क्यों
बालक हो कर रोवन लगे, राखन वाला तू का तू

जल थल जीव में तू ही विराजे, जहाँ देखूं वहां तू का तू
कहे कबीर सुनो भाई साधो, गुरु मिल्या है ज्यूँ का त्यूं

Rough translation:

Hey my wise one! What's the secret?
Just do good work.
In this world flowers, branches—
wherever I look,
you, only you.

An elephant is you in elephant form,
an ant is just a little you.
As an elephant driver you sit on top.
The one saying “Go!” is you, only you.

With thieves you become a thief,
you’re among the outlaws.
You rob somebody and run.
The cop who nabs the thief is you, only you.

With givers you become a giver.
You’re among the paupers too.
As a beggar you go begging.
The donor is you, only you.

In man and woman you shine the same,
Who in this world would call them two?
A baby arrives and starts to cry.
The one who holds it is you, only you.

In earth and ocean, every creature, you shine forth, you alone.
Wherever I look, it's only you.
Kabir says, listen seekers,
You’ve found the guru right here!

Teach your mind

2009-04-30T11:33:00.000-07:00

A most beautiful Kabir bhajan that touched all our hearts yesterday, sung by a most humble and enlightened soul from a small village in India - despite his humble background, his ideas couldn't have been more progressive. In particular, what he said about the need for unity amongst people today, and how that would come about if we truly recognized that in essence we are all one and the same is just the balm for today's ailing world...

हे यूही मन समझावे
बिन खोज कुछ भेद न पावे
थारो विरथा जनम गमावे हो सुन शायर ज्ञानी
रे नर तू यून्ज (फोकट) मन समझावे

हाँ जो पनिहारी पानी वां चाले, तो बेडो भरी ने घर लावे
हाले डोले बात बनावे, पर सुरत बेवडा में लावे
हो सुन शायर ज्ञानी...

अरे जो नटरी आ चढ़े बलत पे, तो नटडो ढोल बजावे
हाँ ऊपर चढ़ कर मंगल गावे, वां सुरत बरत में लावे
हो सुन शायर ज्ञानी...

अरे जैसे भुजंग चले बन माहिं, ओस चाट लई जावे
कभी चाते कभी मणि को चितवे, वो मणि पर प्राण गमावे
हो सुन शायर ज्ञानी...

या सती चली आ सत्त करबाने, अपनी काया जलावे
मात पिता सुत कुटुंब त्याग के, हे सुरत पति में लावे
हो सुन शायर ज्ञानी...

जो मरजीवा होवे समुंद का, तो डुबकी वामे लगावे
अरे कहे कबीर सुनो भाई साधो, वो हिरा लाल बीन लावे
हो सुन शायर ज्ञानी...

Roughly translated, this means:

Teach your mind like this,
teach your useless mind like this.
Without seeking, how will you find?
Without looking, how will you see
the secret?
You're wasting your precious life.
Listen you wandering fool,
listen you wise sage.

Like a water-bearer who sets a brimming pot
on her head and walks toward home.
Swinging, swaying, she chatters away, but her awareness
is always on the pot.
Teach your mind like this . . .

Like a woman acrobat who walks the tightrope
while her man beats the drum.
She sings as she climbs, but her awareness
is always on the rope.
Teach your mind like this . . .

Like a snake that slides through the forest
licking the dew.
As it licks, it stays aware
of the gem in its forehead.
It would give up its life for that gem.
Teach your mind like this . . .

Like the sati who lays down her life
for truth, burns her body,
gives up her family,
her mother, father, child,
only aware of the lord.
Teach your mind like this . . .

Like a diver who plunges into the sea,
totally absorbed.
Kabir says, listen, seekers, friends,
he instantly finds the jewel,
plucks it up from the sea’s floor.
Teach your mind like this . . .

Patience

2009-04-30T07:54:00.001-07:00

This was a month of patience.

With myself
With loved ones
With everyone
and everything.

The two great commandments

2009-04-28T08:25:00.000-07:00

35 Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying,

36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?

37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

38 This is the first and great commandment.

39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

-- Matthew, 22:35-40

An interesting parable

2009-04-22T09:05:00.001-07:00

An interesting parable from the Bible - Jesus explains this later in the text (though I think one has to take the explanation metaphorically and not literally).

24 Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:

25 But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.

26 But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.

27 So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?

28 He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?

29 But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.

30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

-- Matthew 13:24-30

And now here's Jesus's explanation when the disciples ask him to explain the parable.

36 Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field.

37 He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man;

38 The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one;

39 The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.

40 As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world.

41 The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;

42 And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

43 Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

44 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.

-- Matthew 13:36-44

Some parallels

2009-04-20T08:54:00.000-07:00

1 Judge not, that ye be not judged.

2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.

3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?

-- Matthew 7:1-3

Speak no evil, that thou mayest not hear it spoken unto thee, and magnify not the faults of others that thine own faults may not appear great; and wish not the abasement of anyone, that thine own abasement be not exposed.

-- Baha'u'llah, Hidden Words

5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

-- Matthew 6:5-6

Whoso reciteth, in the privacy of his chamber, the verses revealed by God, the scattering angels of the Almighty shall scatter abroad the fragrance of the words uttered by his mouth...

-- Baha'u'llah, Gleanings

An unfortunate dualist

2009-04-19T12:26:00.000-07:00

A very interesting story I found in one of Douglas Hofstadter's many fascinating books, The Mind's I.

Once upon a time there was a dualist. He believed that mind and matter are separate substances. Just how they interacted he did not pretend to know-this was one of the "mysteries" of life. But he was sure they were quite separate substances.

This dualist, unfortunately, led an unbearably painful life-not because of his philosophical beliefs, but for quite different reasons. And he had excellent empirical evidence that no respite was in sight for the rest of his life. He longed for nothing more than to die. But he was deterred from suicide by such reasons as: (1) he did not want to hurt other people by his death; (2) he was afraid suicide might be morally wrong; (3) he was afraid there might be an afterlife, and he did not want to risk the possibility of eternal punishment. So our poor dualist was quite desperate.

Then came the discovery of the miracle drug! Its effect on the taker was to annihilate the soul or mind entirely but to leave the body functioning exactly as before. Absolutely no observable change came over the taker; the body continued to act just as if it still had a soul. Not the closest friend or observer could possibly know that the taker had taken the drug, unless the taker informed him.
Do you believe that such a drug is impossible in principle? Assuming you believe it possible, would you take it? Would you regard it as immoral? Is it tantamount to suicide? Is there anything in Scriptures forbidding the use of such a drug? Surely, the body of the taker can still fulfill all its responsibilities on earth. Another question: Suppose your spouse took such a drug, and you knew it. You would know that she (or he) no longer had a soul but acted just as if she did have one. Would you love your mate any less?

To return to the story, our dualist was, of course, delighted! Now he could annihilate himself (his soul, that is) in a way not subject to any of the foregoing objections. And so, for the first time in years, he went to bed with a light heart, saying: "Tomorrow morning I will go down to the drugstore and get the drug. My days of suffering are over at last!" With these thoughts, he fell peacefully asleep.

Now at this point a curious thing happened. A friend of the dualist who knew about this drug, and who knew of the sufferings of the dualist, decided to put him out of his misery. So in the middle of the night, while the dualist was fast asleep, the friend quietly stole into the house and injected the drug into his veins. The next morning the body of the dualist awoke-without any soul indeed-and the first thing it did was to go to the drugstore to get the drug. He took it home and, before taking it, said, "Now I shall be released." So he took it and then waited the time interval in which it was supposed to work. At the end of the interval he angrily exclaimed: "Damn it, this stuff hasn't helped at all! I still obviously have a soul and am suffering as much as ever!"

Doesn't all this suggest that perhaps there might be something just a little wrong with dualism?

-- Raymond M. Smullyan

Fishers of men

2009-04-19T09:38:00.000-07:00

18 And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.

19 And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.

20 And they straightway left their nets, and followed him.

-- Matthew 4:18-20

Baptism

2009-04-19T09:29:00.001-07:00

10 And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance. but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:

12 Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

-- Matthew 3:10-12

Baptism

2009-04-19T09:29:00.000-07:00

10 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

11 I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

-- Matthew 3:10-12

The Valley of True Poverty and Absolute Nothingness

2009-04-19T09:19:00.000-07:00

"After scaling the high summits of wonderment the wayfarer cometh to The Valley of True Poverty and Absolute Nothingness. This station is the dying from self and the living in God, the being poor in self and rich in the Desired One. Poverty as here referred to signifieth being poor in the things of the created world, rich in the things of God’s world. For when the true lover and devoted friend reacheth to the presence of the Beloved, the sparkling beauty of the Loved One and the fire of the lover’s heart will kindle a blaze and burn away all veils and wrappings...

...if those who have come to the sea of His presence are found to possess none of the limited things of this perishable world, whether it be outer wealth or personal opinions, it mattereth not. For whatever the creatures have is limited by their own limits, and whatever the True One hath is sanctified therefrom...

O My friend, listen with heart and soul to the songs of the spirit, and treasure them as thine own eyes. For the heavenly wisdoms, like the clouds of spring, will not rain down on the earth of men’s hearts forever; and though the grace of the All-Bounteous One is never stilled and never ceasing, yet to each time and era a portion is allotted and a bounty set apart, this in a given measure... The cloud of the Loved One’s mercy raineth only on the garden of the spirit, and bestoweth this bounty only in the season of spring...

Then, ere the nightingale of the mystic paradise repair to the garden of God, and the rays of the heavenly morning return to the Sun of Truth—make thou an effort, that haply in this dustheap of the mortal world thou mayest catch a fragrance from the everlasting garden, and live forever in the shadow of the peoples of this city. And when thou hast attained this highest station and come to this mightiest plane, then shalt thou gaze on the Beloved, and forget all else...

In this city, even the veils of light are split asunder and vanish away. “His beauty hath no veiling save light, His face no covering save revelation.”

In this Valley, the wayfarer leaveth behind him the stages of the “oneness of Being and Manifestation” and reacheth a oneness that is sanctified above these two stations. Ecstasy alone can encompass this theme, not utterance nor argument...

These journeys have no visible ending in the world of time, but the severed wayfarer—if invisible confirmation descend upon him and the Guardian of the Cause assist him—may cross these seven stages in seven steps, nay rather in seven breaths, nay rather in a single breath, if God will and desire it...

They who soar in the heaven of singleness and reach to the sea of the Absolute, reckon this city—which is the station of life in God—as the furthermost state of mystic knowers, and the farthest homeland of the lovers. But to this evanescent One of the mystic ocean, this station is the first gate of the heart’s citadel, that is, man’s first entrance to the city of the heart..."

The Valley of Wonderment

2009-04-19T08:07:00.000-07:00

"After journeying through the planes of pure contentment, the traveler cometh to The Valley of Wonderment and is tossed in the oceans of grandeur, and at every moment his wonder groweth. Now he seeth the shape of wealth as poverty itself, and the essence of freedom as sheer impotence. Now is he struck dumb with the beauty of the All-Glorious; again is he wearied out with his own life. How many a mystic tree hath this whirlwind of wonderment snatched by the roots, how many a soul hath it exhausted. For in this Valley the traveler is flung into confusion, albeit, in the eye of him who hath attained, such marvels are esteemed and well beloved. At every moment he beholdeth a wondrous world, a new creation, and goeth from astonishment to astonishment, and is lost in awe at the works of the Lord of Oneness.

Indeed, O Brother, if we ponder each created thing, we shall witness a myriad perfect wisdoms and learn a myriad new and wondrous truths. One of the created phenomena is the dream. Behold how many secrets are deposited therein... on a sudden thou findest thyself in a far-off city, which thou enterest without moving thy feet or wearying thy body... And perchance when ten years are gone, thou wilt witness in the outer world the very things thou hast dreamed tonight.

Now there are many wisdoms to ponder in the dream, which none but the people of this Valley can comprehend in their true elements...

God, the Exalted, hath placed these signs in men, to the end that philosophers may not deny the mysteries of the life beyond nor belittle that which hath been promised them. For some hold to reason and deny whatever the reason comprehendeth not...

How can feeble reason encompass the Qur’án,
Or the spider snare a phoenix in his web? (Persian mystic poem)

Likewise, reflect upon the perfection of man’s creation, and that all these planes and states are folded up and hidden away within him.

Dost thou reckon thyself only a puny form
When within thee the universe is folded? ('Ali)

O friend, the heart is the dwelling of eternal mysteries, make it not the home of fleeting fancies; waste not the treasure of thy precious life in employment with this swiftly passing world. Thou comest from the world of holiness—bind not thine heart to the earth; thou art a dweller in the court of nearness—choose not the homeland of the dust..."

The Valley of Contentment

2009-04-18T17:44:00.000-07:00

"And the wayfarer, after traversing the high planes of this supernal journey, entereth The Valley of Contentment.

In this Valley he feeleth the winds of divine contentment blowing from the plane of the spirit. He burneth away the veils of want, and with inward and outward eye, perceiveth within and without all things the day of: “God will compensate each one out of His abundance.” 1 From sorrow he turneth to bliss, from anguish to joy. His grief and mourning yield to delight and rapture.

In this Valley he feeleth the winds of divine contentment blowing from the plane of the spirit. He burneth away the veils of want, and with inward and outward eye, perceiveth within and without all things the day of: “God will compensate each one out of His abundance.” From sorrow he turneth to bliss, from anguish to joy. His grief and mourning yield to delight and rapture.

The tongue faileth in describing these three Valleys, and speech falleth short...

Only heart to heart can speak the bliss of mystic knowers;
No messenger can tell it and no missive bear it. (Hafiz)

O friend, till thou enter the garden of such mysteries, thou shalt never set lip to the undying wine of this Valley. And shouldst thou taste of it, thou wilt shield thine eyes from all things else, and drink of the wine of contentment; and thou wilt loose thyself from all things else, and bind thyself to Him, and throw thy life down in His path, and cast thy soul away... on this plane the traveler witnesseth the beauty of the Friend in everything."

The Valley of Unity

2009-04-17T08:30:00.000-07:00

" After passing through the Valley of knowledge, which is the last plane of limitation, the wayfarer cometh to The Valley of Unity and drinketh from the cup of the Absolute, and gazeth on the Manifestations of Oneness. In this station he pierceth the veils of plurality, fleeth from the worlds of the flesh, and ascendeth into the heaven of singleness. With the ear of God he heareth, with the eye of God he beholdeth the mysteries of divine creation... He looketh on all things with the eye of oneness, and seeth the brilliant rays of the divine sun shining from the dawning-point of Essence alike on all created things, and the lights of singleness reflected over all creation.

... all the variations which the wayfarer in the stages of his journey beholdeth in the realms of being, proceed from his own vision....

..for that they move on these three differing planes, the understanding and the words of the wayfarers have differed; and hence the sign of conflict doth continually appear on earth. For some there are who dwell upon the plane of oneness and speak of that world, and some inhabit the realms of limitation, and some the grades of self, while others are completely veiled...

A pure heart is as a mirror; cleanse it with the burnish of love and severance from all save God, that the true sun may shine within it and the eternal morning dawn. Then wilt thou clearly see the meaning of “Neither doth My earth nor My heaven contain Me, but the heart of My faithful servant containeth Me.” And thou wilt take up thy life in thine hand, and with infinite longing cast it before the new Beloved One...

However, let none construe these utterances to be anthropomorphism, nor see in them the descent of the worlds of God into the grades of the creatures; nor should they lead thine Eminence to such assumptions. For God is, in His Essence, holy above ascent and descent, entrance and exit; He hath through all eternity been free of the attributes of human creatures, and ever will remain so. No man hath ever known Him; no soul hath ever found the pathway to His Being. Every mystic knower hath wandered far astray in the valley of the knowledge of Him; every saint hath lost his way in seeking to comprehend His Essence. Sanctified is He above the understanding of the wise; exalted is He above the knowledge of the knowing! The way is barred and to seek it is impiety; His proof is His signs; His being is His evidence...

How can utter nothingness gallop its steed in the field of preexistence, or a fleeting shadow reach to the everlasting sun?

...when thou strippest the wrappings of illusion from off thine heart, the lights of oneness will be made manifest...

O My Brother, journey upon these planes in the spirit of search, not in blind imitation. A true wayfarer will not be kept back by the bludgeon of words nor debarred by the warning of allusions...

In this realm, the first is the last itself, and the last is but the first...

O thou dear one! Impoverish thyself, that thou mayest enter the high court of riches; and humble thy body, that thou mayest drink from the river of glory, and attain to the full meaning of the poems whereof thou hadst asked...

these stages depend on the vision of the wayfarer. In every city he will behold a world, in every Valley reach a spring, in every meadow hear a song. But the falcon of the mystic heaven hath many a wondrous carol of the spirit in His breast, and the Persian bird keepeth in His soul many a sweet Arab melody; yet these are hidden, and hidden shall remain..."

The Valley of Knowledge

2009-04-16T08:22:00.000-07:00

A lot of conundrums in this one...

"And if, confirmed by the Creator, the lover escapes from the claws of the eagle of love, he will enter The Valley of Knowledge and come out of doubt into certitude, and turn from the darkness of illusion to the guiding light of the fear of God. His inner eyes will open and he will privily converse with his Beloved; he will set ajar the gate of truth and piety, and shut the doors of vain imaginings. He in this station is content with the decree of God, and seeth war as peace, and findeth in death the secrets of everlasting life. With inward and outward eyes he witnesseth the mysteries of resurrection in the realms of creation and the souls of men, and with a pure heart apprehendeth the divine wisdom in the endless Manifestations of God. In the ocean he findeth a drop, in a drop he beholdeth the secrets of the sea...

The wayfarer in this Valley seeth in the fashionings of the True One nothing save clear providence... He beholdeth justice in injustice, and in justice, grace. In ignorance he findeth many a knowledge hidden, and in knowledge a myriad wisdoms manifest. He breaketh the cage of the body and the passions, and consorteth with the people of the immortal realm. He mounteth on the ladders of inner truth and hasteneth to the heaven of inner significance... And if he meeteth with injustice he shall have patience, and if he cometh upon wrath he shall manifest love.

There was once a lover who had sighed for long years in separation from his beloved, and wasted in the fire of remoteness. From the rule of love, his heart was empty of patience, and his body weary of his spirit; he reckoned life without her as a mockery, and time consumed him away...

Then one night he could live no more, and he went out of his house and made for the marketplace. On a sudden, a watchman followed after him. He broke into a run, with the watchman following; then other watchmen came together, and barred every passage to the weary one. And the wretched one cried from his heart, and ran here and there, and moaned to himself: “Surely this watchman is Izrá’íl, my angel of death, following so fast upon me; or he is a tyrant of men, seeking to harm me.” His feet carried him on, the one bleeding with the arrow of love, and his heart lamented. Then he came to a garden wall, and with untold pain he scaled it, for it proved very high; and forgetting his life, he threw himself down to the garden.

And there he beheld his beloved with a lamp in her hand, searching for a ring she had lost. When the heart-surrendered lover looked on his ravishing love, he drew a great breath and raised up his hands in prayer, crying: “O God! Give Thou glory to the watchman, and riches and long life. For the watchman was Gabriel, guiding this poor one; or he was Isráfíl, bringing life to this wretched one!”

Indeed, his words were true, for he had found many a secret justice in this seeming tyranny of the watchman, and seen how many a mercy lay hid behind the veil...

Now if the lover could have looked ahead, he would have blessed the watchman at the start, and prayed on his behalf, and he would have seen that tyranny as justice; but since the end was veiled to him, he moaned and made his plaint in the beginning. Yet those who journey in the garden land of knowledge, because they see the end in the beginning, see peace in war and friendliness in anger.

Such is the state of the wayfarers in this Valley; but the people of the Valleys above this see the end and the beginning as one; nay, they see neither beginning nor end, and witness neither “first” nor “last.”

Thus is it said: “Absolute Unity excludeth all attributes.”

At this hour the morn of knowledge hath arisen and the lamps of wayfaring and wandering are quenched."

The Valley of Love

2009-04-15T08:17:00.000-07:00

Continuing on from the Valley of Search, we now enter the second, very interesting valley - that of love. I don't claim to understand everything here, but my interpretation of a lot of what is said here is that the first glimpse of God on the valley of Search engenders an intense longing and love for the Beloved in the seeker, which utterly consumes him and makes him blind to all else. This fire of love is also a means for cleansing one of the lower self, and burning away the veils that cloud our mind. This valley is also characterized by pain, the pain of separation from the One.

"And if, by the help of God, he findeth on this journey a trace of the traceless Friend, and inhaleth the fragrance of the long-lost Joseph from the heavenly messenger, he shall straightway step into The Valley of Love and be dissolved in the fire of love. In this city the heaven of ecstasy is upraised and the world-illuming sun of yearning shineth, and the fire of love is ablaze; and when the fire of love is ablaze, it burneth to ashes the harvest of reason.

Now is the traveler unaware of himself, and of aught besides himself. He seeth neither ignorance nor knowledge, neither doubt nor certitude; he knoweth not the morn of guidance from the night of error. He fleeth both from unbelief and faith, and deadly poison is a balm to him...

The steed of this Valley is pain; and if there be no pain this journey will never end. In this station the lover hath no thought save the Beloved, and seeketh no refuge save the Friend...

Love accepteth no existence and wisheth no life: He seeth life in death, and in shame seeketh glory. To merit the madness of love, man must abound in sanity; to merit the bonds of the Friend, he must be full of spirit...

The leviathan of love swalloweth the master of reason and destroyeth the lord of knowledge. He drinketh the seven seas, but his heart’s thirst is still unquenched, and he saith, “Is there yet any more?”

Love’s a stranger to earth and heaven too;
In him are lunacies seventy-and-two. (Rumi)

Wherefore must the veils of the satanic self be burned away at the fire of love, that the spirit may be purified and cleansed and thus may know the station of the Lord of the Worlds..."

The Valley of Search

2009-04-14T18:15:00.000-07:00

Having just started reading Baha'u'llah's "The Seven Valleys", one of his mystical works written as a response to questions from a Sufi mystic, I decided I probably had a better hope of understanding it with some help from you, o reader - so I've resolved to post some excerpts from each valley the next seven days, as I go through them.

So here, then, is the first - the Valley of Search.

"The stages that mark the wayfarer’s journey from the abode of dust to the heavenly homeland are said to be seven. Some have called these Seven Valleys, and others, Seven Cities. And they say that until the wayfarer taketh leave of self, and traverseth these stages, he shall never reach to the ocean of nearness and union, nor drink of the peerless wine. The first is the Valley of Search.

The steed of this Valley is patience; without patience the wayfarer on this journey will reach nowhere and attain no goal. Nor should he ever be downhearted; if he strive for a hundred thousand years and yet fail to behold the beauty of the Friend, he should not falter...

It is incumbent on these servants that they cleanse the heart—which is the wellspring of divine treasures—from every marking, and that they turn away from imitation, which is following the traces of their forefathers and sires, and shut the door of friendliness and enmity upon all the people of the earth.

In this journey the seeker reacheth a stage wherein he seeth all created things wandering distracted in search of the Friend...

The true seeker hunteth naught but the object of his quest, and the lover hath no desire save union with his beloved. Nor shall the seeker reach his goal unless he sacrifice all things. That is, whatever he hath seen, and heard, and understood, all must he set at naught, that he may enter the realm of the spirit, which is the City of God. Labor is needed, if we are to seek Him; ardor is needed, if we are to drink of the honey of reunion with Him; and if we taste of this cup, we shall cast away the world.

On this journey the traveler abideth in every land and dwelleth in every region. In every face, he seeketh the beauty of the Friend; in every country he looketh for the Beloved. He joineth every company, and seeketh fellowship with every soul, that haply in some mind he may uncover the secret of the Friend, or in some face he may behold the beauty of the Loved One."

Sacrifice

2009-04-08T14:30:00.000-07:00

This was a month of sacrifice.

So see the last time I posted about this as a votm here :)

Dear March...

2009-04-01T13:42:00.001-07:00

Dear March, come in!
How glad I am!
I looked for you before.
Put down your hat—
You must have walked—
How out of breath you are!
Dear March, how are you?
And the rest?
Did you leave Nature well?
Oh, March, come right upstairs with me,
I have so much to tell!

I got your letter, and the bird’s;
The maples never knew
That you were coming,—I declare,
How red their faces grew!
But, March, forgive me—
And all those hills
You left for me to hue;
There was no purple suitable,
You took it all with you.

Who knocks? That April!
Lock the door!
I will not be pursued!
He stayed away a year, to call
When I am occupied.
But trifles look so trivial
As soon as you have come,
That blame is just as dear as praise
And praise as mere as blame.

-- Emily Dickinson

Yosemite - A paradise

2009-04-01T13:09:00.000-07:00

Last week, when told that we were going to Yosemite this weekend, V commented to my parents that it was one of those places that truly spoke to her of God, His majesty and beauty, for what else could set such forces in motion that could create such a veritable paradise. Over the course of the weekend, I was reminded of these words of hers several times; the awe-inspiring mammoth granite cliffs, the thundering waterfalls overflowing with water, the vernal showers of mist that drenched us as we approached the falls, the freshness of spring air in the valley, the snow-clad mountain peaks, the bright white slopes along the road, the clear, cool, refreshing waters of the myriad springs and creeks, the oh so massive and ancient sequoias telling silent tales of ages past, the wildflowers peppering the hillsides with their saturated color - each and every one of these sights, sounds and smells proclaimed the ethereal beauty of this world, all that is therein, and the unimaginable beauty of He who is the source of it all. Seldom have I been so overwhelmed by the power and glory inherent in nature that we so often take for granted. If you haven't been to Yosemite yet - GO NOW! And I highly recommend this time period at the end of winter and beginning of spring to get the best of both seasons.

The mountain sat upon the plain
In his eternal chair,
His observation omnifold,
His inquest everywhere.

The seasons prayed around his knees,
Like children round a sire:
Grandfather of the days is he,
Of dawn the ancestor.

-- Emily Dickinson

Two gems

2009-04-01T10:03:00.000-07:00

"We cannot segregate the human heart from the environment outside us and say that once one of these is reformed everything will be improved. Man is organic with the world. His inner life moulds the environment and is itself also deeply affected by it. The one acts upon the other and every abiding change in the life of man is the result of these mutual reactions."

and

"The principle of the Oneness of Mankind - the pivot round which all the teachings of Baha’u’llah revolve – is no mere outburst of ignorant emotionalism or an expression of vague and pious hope. Its appeal is not to be merely identified with a reawakening of the spirit of brotherhood and good-will among men, nor does it aim solely at the fostering of harmonious cooperation among individual peoples and nations. Its implications are deeper, its claims greater than any which the Prophets of old were allowed to advance. Its message is applicable not only to the individual, but concerns itself primarily with the nature of those essential relationships that must bind all the states and nations as members of one human family. … It implies an organic change in the structure of present-day society, a change such as the world has not yet experienced. … It calls for no less than the reconstruction and the demilitarisation of the whole civilized world — a world organically unified in all the essential aspects of its life, its political machinery, its spiritual aspiration, its trade and finance, its script and language, and yet infinite in the diversity of the national characteristics of its federated units."

-- Shoghi Effendi

The standard for our interactions with others

2009-04-01T08:13:00.001-07:00

"Consort with all the peoples, kindreds and religions of the world with the utmost truthfulness, uprightness, faithfulness, kindliness, good-will and friendliness; that all the world of being may be filled with the holy ecstasy of the grace of Bahá, that ignorance, enmity, hate and rancor may vanish from the world and the darkness of estrangement amidst the peoples and kindreds of the world may give way to the Light of Unity. Should other peoples and nations be unfaithful to you show your fidelity unto them, should they be unjust toward you show justice towards them, should they keep aloof from you attract them to yourself, should they show their enmity be friendly towards them, should they poison your lives sweeten their souls, should they inflict a wound upon you be a salve to their sores. Such are the attributes of the sincere! Such are the attributes of the truthful. "

-- Abdu'l Baha

A prayer

2009-03-23T14:32:00.000-07:00

"Please God, that we avoid the land of denial, and advance into the ocean of acceptance, so that we may perceive, with an eye purged from all conflicting elements, the worlds of unity and diversity, of variation and oneness, of limitation and detachment, and wing our flight unto the highest and innermost sanctuary of the inner meaning of the Word of God. "

-- Baha'u'llah, The Book of Certitude

God's revelation in all created things

2009-03-20T09:24:00.000-07:00

"Behold how within all things the portals of the Ridván* of God are opened, that seekers may attain the cities of understanding and wisdom, and enter the gardens of knowledge and power. Within every garden they will behold the mystic bride of inner meaning enshrined within the chambers of utterance in the utmost grace and fullest adornment."

-- Baha'u'llah, Book of Certitude

* Ridván - The name of the custodian of Paradise. Baha'u'llah uses it to denote Paradise itself.

Riches beyond compare

2009-03-20T09:09:00.000-07:00

...it is related that on a certain day, one of the companions of Sádiq complained of his poverty before him. Whereupon, Sádiq*, that immortal beauty, made reply: “Verily thou art rich, and hast drunk the draught of wealth.” That poverty-stricken soul was perplexed at the words uttered by that luminous countenance, and said: “Where are my riches, I who stand in need of a single coin?” Sádiq thereupon observed: “Dost thou not possess our love?” He replied: “Yea, I possess it, O thou scion of the Prophet of God!” And Sádiq asked him saying: “Exchangest thou this love for one thousand dinars?” He answered: “Nay, never will I exchange it, though the world and all that is therein be given me!” Then Sádiq remarked: “How can he who possesses such a treasure be called poor?”

-- Baha'u'llah, Book of Certitude

* Sádiq was the sixth of the Shi'ih Imams, known also as Abu-'Abdi'llah

Miracles

2009-03-19T08:26:00.000-07:00

Often the claim is made that the prophets/manifestations/incarnations of God performed great miracles that would be physically impossible for normal human beings. This then is taken as proof that these souls were therefore heavenly, not of this earth, and qualitatively different from us. Personally the question of miracles has always bothered me a little, and so it was heartening when I first read what Abdu'l Baha said about them. I found this again today while searching another reference, and so thought I'd share it with all of you.

"Question.—It is recorded that miracles were performed by Christ. Are the reports of these miracles really to be accepted literally, or have they another meaning? It has been proved by exact science that the essence of things does not change, and that all beings are under one universal law and organization from which they cannot deviate; and, therefore, that which is contrary to universal law is impossible.

Answer.—The Holy Manifestations are the sources of miracles and the originators of wonderful signs. For Them, any difficult and impracticable thing is possible and easy. For through a supernatural power wonders appear from Them; and by this power, which is beyond nature, They influence the world of nature. From all the Manifestations marvelous things have appeared.

But in the Holy Books an especial terminology is employed, and for the Manifestations these miracles and wonderful signs have no importance. They do not even wish to mention them. For if we consider miracles a great proof, they are still only proofs and arguments for those who are present when they are performed, and not for those who are absent.

For example, if we relate to a seeker, a stranger to Moses and Christ, marvelous signs, he will deny them and will say: “Wonderful signs are also continually related of false gods by the testimony of many people, and they are affirmed in the Books. The Brahmans have written a book about wonderful prodigies from Brahma.” He will also say: “How can we know that the Jews and the Christians speak the truth, and that the Brahmans tell a lie? For both are generally admitted traditions, which are collected in books, and may be supposed to be true or false.” The same may be said of other religions: if one is true, all are true; if one is accepted, all must be accepted. Therefore, miracles are not a proof. For if they are proofs for those who are present, they fail as proofs to those who are absent.

But in the day of the Manifestation the people with insight see that all the conditions of the Manifestation are miracles, for They are superior to all others, and this alone is an absolute miracle. Recollect that Christ, solitary and alone, without a helper or protector, without armies and legions, and under the greatest oppression, uplifted the standard of God before all the people of the world, and withstood them, and finally conquered all, although outwardly He was crucified. Now this is a veritable miracle which can never be denied. There is no need of any other proof of the truth of Christ.

The outward miracles have no importance for the people of Reality. If a blind man receives sight, for example, he will finally again become sightless, for he will die and be deprived of all his senses and powers. Therefore, causing the blind man to see is comparatively of little importance, for this faculty of sight will at last disappear. If the body of a dead person be resuscitated, of what use is it since the body will die again? But it is important to give perception and eternal life—that is, the spiritual and divine life. For this physical life is not immortal, and its existence is equivalent to nonexistence. So it is that Christ said to one of His disciples: “Let the dead bury their dead;” for “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”

Observe: those who in appearance were physically alive, Christ considered dead; for life is the eternal life, and existence is the real existence. Wherever in the Holy Books they speak of raising the dead, the meaning is that the dead were blessed by eternal life; where it is said that the blind received sight, the signification is that he obtained the true perception; where it is said a deaf man received hearing, the meaning is that he acquired spiritual and heavenly hearing. This is ascertained from the text of the Gospel where Christ said: “These are like those of whom Isaiah said, They have eyes and see not, they have ears and hear not; and I healed them.”

The meaning is not that the Manifestations are unable to perform miracles, for They have all power. But for Them inner sight, spiritual healing and eternal life are the valuable and important things. Consequently, whenever it is recorded in the Holy Books that such a one was blind and recovered his sight, the meaning is that he was inwardly blind, and that he obtained spiritual vision, or that he was ignorant and became wise, or that he was negligent and became heedful, or that he was worldly and became heavenly.

As this inner sight, hearing, life and healing are eternal, they are of importance. What, comparatively, is the importance, the value and the worth of this animal life with its powers? In a few days it will cease like fleeting thoughts. For example, if one relights an extinguished lamp, it will again become extinguished; but the light of the sun is always luminous. This is of importance."

A prophecy of unity

2009-03-18T08:53:00.000-07:00

"For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.

But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy.

And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying.

There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed.

And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.

They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.

They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, and their offspring with them.

And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.

The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord."

-- Isaiah, 65:17-25

Remembrance of God

2009-03-18T08:30:00.000-07:00

"And be ye not like those who forget God, and whom He hath therefore caused to forget their own selves."

-- Qur'an, 59:19

Fast reflections

2009-03-14T10:01:00.000-07:00

As some of us have been discussing the notion of fasting, and its effect on the soul, I'd encourage you to read the thoughts of a fellow blogger's thoughts on fasting here. Definitely resonated with me! :)

Free from doubt

2009-03-13T07:40:00.000-07:00

"Examine the wondrous behaviour of the Prophets, and recall the defamations and denials uttered by the children of negation and falsehood, perchance you may cause the bird of the human heart to wing its flight away from the abodes of heedlessness and doubt unto the nest of faith and certainty, and drink deep from the pure waters of ancient wisdom, and partake of the fruit of the tree of divine knowledge. Such is the share of the pure in heart of the bread that hath descended from the realms of eternity and holiness."

-- Baha'u'llah, The Book of Certitude

The practice of nobility

2009-03-13T07:38:00.000-07:00

"It is possible to so adjust one's self to the practice of nobility that its atmosphere surrounds and colors every act. When actions are habitually and conscientiously adjusted to noble standards, with no thought of the words that might herald them, then nobility becomes the accent of life. At such a degree of evolution one scarcely needs try any longer to be good - all our deeds are the distinctive expression of nobility."

-- Abdu'l Baha

Proof of God's existence

2009-03-10T13:57:00.000-07:00

Reproduced below is an interesting - and fairly simple - logical proof of God's existence. The argument was originally developed by a Muslim philosopher, Avicenna in the 10th century AD, and has been reformulated cogently by William Hatcher. Should be interesting to chew on for all you logicians out there...

We begin with a basic proposition.

P0. Something exists (there is not nothing).

This seems pretty true, I'm sure you'd all agree... :)

We now define reality as the totality of actual existence = everything there is (or was or will be). A phenomenon is some nonempty portion of reality. Let us designate reality as the set V.

Next, we consider a binary relationship → called causality which may hold between any two phenomena A and B. If the relationship A→B does indeed hold, then we say that A causes B. Also, causality need not be direct - A→B is an indirect causality if A→C→B where C is distinct from A and B.

Now we define three kinds of phenomena based on the above notion of causality.

D0. A phenomenon B is without a cause if, for no A, does A→B hold.
D1. B is caused (other-caused) if for some A≠B, A→B holds
D2. B is uncaused (self-caused) if B→B and never A→B for A≠B.

We now introduce a second binary relationship ∈ which may hold between two phenomena A and B. If A∈B holds, we say "A is a component of B". Given B, if A∈B for at least one A, then we say that B is composite. Otherwise, B is simple (noncomposite). Composites are phenomena which have parts. All known physical phenomena are composites except, possibly, the elementary particles of quantum mechanics. A composite phenomenon can also be called a system.

Based on these definitions, Hatcher goes on to state three propositions he calls empirically grounded.

P1. The principle of sufficient reason: All phenomena are either self-caused (i.e. A→A) or other-caused (B→A; B is not equal to A) but not both. Put another way, this principle says that the question "why?" is always meaningful. Everything happens for a reason. It also means that situation D0 can never occur - a phenomenon cannot be without cause.

P2. The potency principle: If A→B then for all C∈B, A→C. In other words if A is the cause of B then A is the cause of every part of B.

P3. The principle of limitation: For all A, where B∈A, A→B does not hold. This says a system (which Hatcher represents as a set) cannot be the cause of its own components. A car, for example, (the system) cannot be the cause of its own steering wheel (a part), because the car does not even logically exist until the steering wheel exists. Thus the car's existence cannot precede the steering wheel's existence.

P3 also implies that a composite or system (that has several elements) cannot be self-caused - because if it were self-caused, then such a composite system would be the cause of its own elements, which contradicts P3. Therefore all self-caused phenomena are noncomposite.

Notice that nothing excludes that a component may be the cause of a whole of which it is a part. Also, P1, P2 and P3 are all empirically grounded. P1 says that if we ask "why B?" the answer "there is no reason that’s just way it is" is not acceptable. P1 is thus the fundament and basis of (scientific) rationality. It is the essential logical precondition for all of science. P2 is virtually a definition of the notion of complete cause and P3 is, essentially, a special case of the second law of thermodynamics, which negates the possibility of purely "holistic" causality, i.e., the transfer of order from a whole to a proper part, without any input of organizing energy from outside the system.

Finally, one more definition :)

D3. By God, symbolized G, we mean a unique, self-caused (uncaused), noncomposite, universal cause, if such a phenomenon exists (which is the thing to be proved).

Now every phenomenon B is a part of V (all of reality). This allows us to state P0 more compactly:

P0. V is composite

Now that we have this foundation, here's the meat of the proof of the existence of G.

By P1, V is either self-caused or other-caused. Suppose V→V. By P0, V is composite. Thus, E∈V for some E. But then, by P2, V→E∈V, which contradicts P3. Hence, by P1, G→V for some phenomenon G≠V. Like every phenomenon, G is a part of V.

Thus by P2, G→G. G is therefore self-caused. But this means that G is noncomposite (else P3 would be contradicted). G is also universal because every phenomenon B is a part of V by definition. Thus, by P2 and G→V, it follows that, for every phenomenon B, G→B.

Finally, G is the unique uncaused phenomenon, for suppose that, for some phenomenon G1, G1→G1. Now we have already established that G is universal. Thus G→G1. By P1, G1 cannot be both self-caused and other-caused. But G is a cause of G1. Thus, G is not "other", i.e., G=G1 as claimed.

We have thus proved the existence of a unique uncaused, noncomposite, universal cause, which we can call God. Note that being the universal cause does not imply G is the direct cause of all phenomena - but directly or indirectly, the chain of causation leads back to G eventually. I've omitted a couple of other definitions/assumptions, but the crux of the argument is given above. If one accepts P0, P1, P2 and P3, then it logically leads to the existence of G as defined above. Rejecting the existence of G therefore requires one to reject one of P0, P1, P2 or P3 on some reasonable grounds.

Which one would you pick? :)

Unity = Love + Justice

2009-03-09T23:25:00.000-07:00

"The knowledge and implementation of what is appropriate for the development of human potential is justice. Justice and love go together: love provides the motivation to serve the other, and justice provides the knowledge necessary for the proper and efficient implementation of this motivation.

Thus, authentic relationships involve not only sincere love for the spiritual reality of others, but also valid knowledge of that reality. When love and justice express themselves in action, then we have all that is necessary for successful dialogue, ie, for unity...

Unity = love + justice"

-- William Hatcher, Love, Power and Justice

Free will

2009-03-05T11:04:00.000-08:00

The question of free will/destiny was brought up in this post by 8&20 today. I originally started responding to it as a comment, but had so much to say that I figured it would be easier as a post in and of itself - so here goes. Btw, I encourage you to read the text of the post, as well as the comments, as I refer to it below a couple of times. And pardon me if you find this a repetition of past conversations/posts/comments - I've probably discussed some of these ideas before!

There are three possible hypotheses when it comes to free will. These are:

1. We have complete free will over everything in our lives.
2. We have absolutely no free will, and choice is an illusion.
3. We have some free will.

First lets talk about the idea of a "circle of influence" (which, btw, I like), as brought up by PeeVee in her comment on that post. Clearly if we look at the world around us it should be manifestly clear that certain things are within out control, and certain things not. So anyone who says he has complete free will to do anything is of course wrong - because we are constrained by the laws of this world, as well as by myriad forces (natural, human, animal...) working their way in this world. Likewise, I do have some control over things - I can choose to type "asdasdgdhdfxv" right now instead of an intelligible word. So understanding my "circle of influence" is key to living peacefully in life! :)

So it seems clear that we don't have complete free will. And so I think we can safely reject hypothesis 1. Now the next question is whether we have any free will at all - or whether even when I think i have control, I really don't - as 8&20 asked, is everything written? So how do we choose between hypotheses 2 and 3? And btw, hypothesis 2 is a pretty commonly held view, that choice is but an illusion, and in reality we're just fulfilling some previously laid out plan. This view of course needs to be reconciled with the fact that we seem to have choice - so it is rationalized by stating that though we really have no free will, we should always act like we do.

Now in my understanding - and this is just my opinion - this is not how things are. We really do have free will to make choices. Destiny, I believe, should be understood as true intended purpose - that which something is intended for. To explain this further, I believe that God has created everything with a destiny in mind for it. That destiny is fundamentally for it to grow until it becomes the fullest possible expression of its latent capacities. The destiny of a tree, therefore, is to grow and bear fruit. The destiny of an animal is to grow, bear offspring, and utilize its senses to their fullest capacities. The destiny of man is not just to fulfill the needs of his material existence, but to transcend that and to recognize his essential spiritual nature, and to know God. Every man, however, can choose not to do this. The quote below summarizes all of the above.

"Some things are subject to the free will of man, such as justice, equity, tyranny and injustice, in other words, good and evil actions; it is evident and clear that these actions are, for the most part, left to the will of man. But there are certain things to which man is forced and compelled, such as sleep, death, sickness, decline of power, injuries and misfortunes; these are not subject to the will of man, and he is not responsible for them, for he is compelled to endure them. But in the choice of good and bad actions he is free, and he commits them according to his own will."

-- Abdu'l Baha

So in some sense, it is "written", that ideally we, as humans, should develop our spiritual capacities/virtues. But the choice of doing this is entirely ours.

One subtlety to this notion of free will, I believe, comes about when we consider the dependence of man's actions/will on the independently existing entity that is God. This relationship is beautifully expressed through this analogy - imagine we are in a sailboat in an ocean. As the sailor, I have control over the rudder, and so I can choose which direction to steer by boat in. However, irrespective of what I do with the rudder, unless the wind blows, I can go nowhere. The blowing of the wind (analogous to God's grace) is out of my "circle of influence" (and in fact, out of the circle of influence of every other sailboat on this ocean), and without it, I can achieve nothing. So the choice of good or evil belongs to me, though neither action would be possible without "help" from God. Again, this is summarized in another analogy given below:

"So if a king should appoint someone to be the governor of a city, and should grant him the power of authority, and should show him the paths of justice and injustice according to the laws—if then this governor should commit injustice, although he should act by the authority and power of the king, the latter would be absolved from injustice. But if he should act with justice, he would do it also through the authority of the king, who would be pleased and satisfied."

and

"...the inaction or the movement of man depend upon the assistance of God. If he is not aided, he is not able to do either good or evil. But when the help of existence comes from the Generous Lord, he is able to do both good and evil; but if the help is cut off, he remains absolutely helpless."

-- Abdu'l Baha

All these seem to point at hypotheses 3 being closer to the truth than 2, and hint at a subtle relationship between our free will, and an all-powerful, independently existing being we call God. Another way of thinking about this notion is to consider that just as our physical actions are subject to physical laws, our choices/moral actions are also subject to spiritual laws - only, these aren't as obviously apparent as physical laws are.

Before, we completely accept hypothesis 3, the other question often raised, when reconciling God and free will, is the notion of God as an Omniscient being - so the question is, if we think of God as all-knowing, then does God have knowledge of an action which will be performed by someone? And if yes, what does that mean for our free will?

I believe there are several ways to understand this from our finite perspective (which means we can never understand it completely anyway). Here are three thoughts on this matter:

1. One analogy is to think of a bird flying thousands of feet above the ground so it can see everything below it. Now it sees a car moving along a road, and sees that as it is moving, the road curves to the right and then to the left. Now from the point of view of the person driving the car, he believes he is choosing to turn right, then left, which he is. Does the fact that the bird can see the entire road (which he cannot see) negate the fact that he is making that choice? The bird is removed from the temporal sequence of events that the driver in the car is going through - and so it has a view that is outside of time (in this situation). Take this idea to the limit, and include everything in creation in it - and God is possibly somewhat like the bird that is entirely outside everything, and has a bird's eye view of things.

2. Here's another analogy. My father knows me very well - maybe more than most people. So given a situation, he can predict accurately, more often than not, what I am likely to do in that situation. Does this mean that in the situations where he could say what I would do, I had no choice in the matter? Obviously not. It was only because he understood my nature, that he was able to make that prediction. Now lets take this analogy to the limit, and imagine a being that is intimately and completely familiar with every atom of my being - could that being not then accurately know everything I would choose to do in every situation? And extend this even further to a being that is intimately knowledgeable about the nature of every atom in this universe - would this being then not know what would happen to each and every one of those atoms over time? Again, would this negate my own free will?

3. Finally, another quote to make all of this clear:

"The foreknowledge of a thing is not the cause of its realization; for the essential knowledge of God surrounds, in the same way, the realities of things, before as well as after their existence, and it does not become the cause of their existence. It is a perfection of God... For example, tonight everyone knows that after seven hours the sun will rise, but this general foreknowledge does not cause the rising and appearance of the sun.

Therefore, the knowledge of God in the realm of contingency does not produce the forms of the things. On the contrary, it is purified from the past, present and future. It is identical with the reality of the things; it is not the cause of their occurrence...

The mathematicians by astronomical calculations know that at a certain time an eclipse of the moon or the sun will occur. Surely this discovery does not cause the eclipse to take place. This is, of course, only an analogy and not an exact image."

-- Abdu'l Baha

Hopefully with the above 3 points, we have a (slightly) better understanding of the interaction between our free will, and the concept of God's omniscience.

So to summarize, it appears that by meditating on our existence in this world, we can safely reject hypothesis 1 which claims we have complete free will. Further thought leads us to question the notion of choice being an illusion, and apart from the complete apathy such a situation would lead to, it seems to be to be logically shaky, and completely negating personal experience. And so by the principle of Occam's razor, one would have to reject hypothesis 2 - after all, why should I come up with a convoluted theory of illusion to explain away the free will that every moment of my life clearly testifies I have? The only reason to do so is if I cannot somehow reconcile free will with the concept of God.

Finally coming to hypothesis 3, this to me seems to be closest to the truth - and the discussion above points towards some of the characteristics of this state of being, things over which we have free will and things over which we don't, and the interactions between finite beings with some free will and an infinite being that is the source of all things.

Disclaimer: Though I freely use the word "being" for God, and though some of my statements might seem to anthropomorphize God, I should make clear that this is purely a result of the inability of understanding God through our finite minds and imperfect language.

"To every discerning and illumined heart it is evident that God, the unknowable Essence, the Divine Being, is immeasurably exalted beyond every human attribute such as corporeal existence, ascent and descent, egress and regress… He is, and hath ever been, veiled in the ancient eternity of His Essence, and will remain in His Reality everlastingly hidden from the sight of men…"

-- Baha'u'llah

We are but instruments of His...

2009-03-05T09:58:00.001-08:00

Oh, so beautiful....

"Thine eye is My trust, suffer not the dust of vain desires to becloud its luster. 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…. Unasked, I have showered upon thee My grace. Unpetitioned, I have fulfilled thy wish. In spite of thy undeserving, I have singled thee out for My richest, My incalculable favors…. O My servants! Be as resigned and submissive as the earth, that from the soil of your being there may blossom the fragrant, the holy and multicolored hyacinths of My knowledge. Be ablaze as the fire, that ye may burn away the veils of heedlessness and set aglow, through the quickening energies of the love of God, the chilled and wayward heart. Be light and untrammeled as the breeze, that ye may obtain admittance into the precincts of My court, My inviolable Sanctuary."

-- Baha'u'llah, Gleanings

How I should be

2009-03-05T08:18:00.001-08:00

I've posted this verse from the Gleanings before, but reading it again today, I was infused with a sense of how noble we all are, and how each and every one of us is endowed with the most amazing capacities. In this month of sacrifice, I was also able to view this verse in new light, for each and every line here talks about some kind of sacrifice - of self, of material property, of time, of the heart, of ego... And I love that the very last line, after it talks about all these wonderful things we should do, is a reminder that as we give to the world around us, we should hold the virtue of humility always dear to us. And so as we appreciate the nobility in us, and develop our capacities, and serve the world in every way possible, may we never forget to be "fruits upon the tree of humility."

There is much more that could be said about all the beautiful metaphors in this verse (such as "pillar of the temple of righteousness", "ornament to the countenance of truth", "lamp unto them that walk in darkness"...). But I'll leave the reader to reflect on each of these lines for himself/herself... And would of course love to hear of any particular lines that struck you?

"Be generous in prosperity, and thankful in adversity. Be worthy of the trust of thy neighbor, and look upon him with a bright and friendly face. Be a treasure to the poor, an admonisher to the rich, an answerer of the cry of the needy, a preserver of the sanctity of thy pledge. Be fair in thy judgment, and guarded in thy speech. Be unjust to no man, and show all meekness to all men. Be as a lamp unto them that walk in darkness, a joy to the sorrowful, a sea for the thirsty, a haven for the distressed, an upholder and defender of the victim of oppression. Let integrity and uprightness distinguish all thine acts. Be a home for the stranger, a balm to the suffering, a tower of strength for the fugitive. Be eyes to the blind, and a guiding light unto the feet of the erring. Be an ornament to the countenance of truth, a crown to the brow of fidelity, a pillar of the temple of righteousness, a breath of life to the body of mankind, an ensign of the hosts of justice, a luminary above the horizon of virtue, a dew to the soil of the human heart, an ark on the ocean of knowledge, a sun in the heaven of bounty, a gem on the diadem of wisdom, a shining light in the firmament of thy generation, a fruit upon the tree of humility."

-- Baha'u'llah

Happiness

2009-03-03T20:56:00.000-08:00

This was a month of happiness and joy.

Of understanding the virtue of happiness
Of understanding why we often don't express our joy
Of trying to be more expressive
Of delighting in the simple pleasures of life
Of wonder at the beautiful world God has created for us
Of cherishing friendships
Of trying to be a source of happiness for others
Of sacrificing for others
Of being happy for others
Of overcoming jealousy and envy
Of new beginnings
Of gratitude
Of acceptance
Of savoring the ecstasy of true love
Of learning to love God
Of prayer
Of realizing the ethereal joy that spiritual bonds can bring
Of moments where everything just fits and makes sense
Of discovering beauty and poetry, music and dance
Of surprises
Of gifts and blessings
Of detachment from things contrary to my wishes
Of choosing to be happy and joyful

This was a month of happiness and joy.

Humility

2009-03-02T08:10:00.001-08:00

"Every man of discernment, while walking upon the earth, feeleth indeed abashed, inasmuch as he is fully aware that the thing which is the source of his prosperity, his wealth, his might, his exaltation, his advancement and power is, as ordained by God, the very earth which is trodden beneath the feet of all men. There can be no doubt that whoever is cognizant of this truth, is cleansed and sanctified from all pride, arrogance, and vainglory."

-- Baha'u'llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf

Sacrifice

2009-02-26T15:32:00.000-08:00

A conversation with N made me think of this quote:

"If you plant a seed in the ground, a tree will become manifest from that seed. The seed sacrifices itself to the tree that will come from it. The seed is outwardly lost, destroyed; but the same seed which is sacrificed will be absorbed and embodied in the tree, its blossoms, fruit and branches. If the identity of that seed had not been sacrificed to the tree which became manifest from it, no branches, blossoms or fruits would have been forthcoming... When you look at the tree, you will realize that the perfections, blessings, properties and beauty of the seed have become manifest in the branches, twigs, blossoms and fruit; consequently, the seed has sacrificed itself to the tree. Had it not done so, the tree would not have come into existence...

Man must sever himself from the influences of the world of matter, from the world of nature and its laws; for the material world is the world of corruption and death. It is the world of evil and darkness, of animalism and ferocity, bloodthirstiness, ambition and avarice, of self-worship, egotism and passion; it is the world of nature. Man must strip himself of all these imperfections, must sacrifice these tendencies which are peculiar to the outer and material world of existence.

On the other hand, man must acquire heavenly qualities and attain divine attributes. He must become the image and likeness of God. He must seek the bounty of the eternal, become the manifestor of the love of God, the light of guidance, the tree of life and the depository of the bounties of God. That is to say, man must sacrifice the qualities and attributes of the world of nature for the qualities and attributes of the world of God. For instance, consider the substance we call iron. Observe its qualities; it is solid, black, cold. These are the characteristics of iron. When the same iron absorbs heat from the fire, it sacrifices its attribute of solidity for the attribute of fluidity. It sacrifices its attribute of darkness for the attribute of light, which is a quality of the fire. It sacrifices its attribute of coldness to the quality of heat which the fire possesses so that in the iron there remains no solidity, darkness or cold. It becomes illumined and transformed, having sacrificed its qualities to the qualities and attributes of the fire.

Likewise, man, when separated and severed from the attributes of the world of nature, sacrifices the qualities and exigencies of that mortal realm and manifests the perfections of the Kingdom, just as the qualities of the iron disappeared and the qualities of the fire appeared in their place."

-- Abdu'l Baha, Promulgation of Universal Peace

Sacrifice, therefore, involves giving up the lower for that which is higher. This is worth pondering, for often we expect ourselves or others to give something up - but its important to realize that sacrifice can only truly happen if there is a notion of giving something up for something higher - not just giving something up. The call of that which is higher is what motivates one to let go of the lower, even as the monkey lets go of the lower branch only when it has firmly grasped the higher. If it did not have that firm grasp on the higher, and let go of the lower, it would just fall.

So when one perceives the need for sacrifice in oneself or others, it might be more worthwhile focusing on developing a strong sense of what the higher goal/objective is, rather than focusing on letting go of the lower. For once one does the former, the letting go will happen naturally, just as a seed cannot but sacrifice its form once you plant it in soil and water it.

The Concept of Spirituality

2009-02-26T11:02:00.001-08:00

I strongly recommend that each and everyone of you reads this paper - as some of the previous excerpts I've posted might indicate, this is one of the most well structured papers on this topic I've ever read.

One world

2009-02-26T08:55:00.001-08:00

Bear in mind that this was written about 140 years ago in the repressive and closed society that was Persia then. And these ideas would be considered revolutionary even for today... Nevertheless, can we deny that all the problems the world faces today are but pushing us to realize these inevitable truths?

"The time must come when the imperative necessity for the holding of a vast, an all-embracing assemblage of men will be universally realized. The rulers and kings of the earth must needs attend it, and, participating in its deliberations, must consider such ways and means as will lay the foundations of the world’s Great Peace amongst men. Such a peace demandeth that the Great Powers should resolve, for the sake of the tranquillity of the peoples of the earth, to be fully reconciled among themselves. Should any king take up arms against another, all should unitedly arise and prevent him. If this be done, the nations of the world will no longer require any armaments, except for the purpose of preserving the security of their realms and of maintaining internal order within their territories. This will ensure the peace and composure of every people, government and nation...

The day is approaching when all the peoples of the world will have adopted one universal language and one common script. When this is achieved, to whatsoever city a man may journey, it shall be as if he were entering his own home. These things are obligatory and absolutely essential. It is incumbent upon every man of insight and understanding to strive to translate that which hath been written into reality and action... That one indeed is a man who, today, dedicateth himself to the service of the entire human race... It is not for him to pride himself who loveth his own country, but rather for him who loveth the whole world. The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens."

-- Baha'u'llah, Gleanings

Overcoming negative aspects of ourselves

2009-02-25T12:52:00.001-08:00

This reminded me of our conversation last night, N, where you'd presented the example of a woman who went through a process of overcoming certain negative reactions acquired in childhood as a response to bad conditions at home - only for it to make her weaker when it came to dealing with other challenges that came up later, as those negative reactions had been related to certain survival and fighting instincts.

"Suppose we perceive, for example, that we have a tendency to be very willful, aggressive, and dominant in our relations with others. From the Bahá'í viewpoint, we would not consider the negative features of this pattern as inherently evil or sinful or as arising from some evil part of ourselves, a part which must be despised and suppressed. We are free to recognize the positive potential of this aspect of our character. After examination, we might find that we have not sufficiently developed our feeling capacity and are, therefore, sometimes insensitive to the needs and feelings of others. Or perhaps we often act impulsively and need to develop also our understanding capacity so as to act more reflectively and wisely. Or again, we might find that our mode of relating to others represents an attempt to satisfy in an illegitimate way some need within us (a need for security or self-worth perhaps) that we have not succeeded in meeting legitimately. We will then understand that we have been engaging in an improper (and unproductive) use of will and must, therefore, set about redeploying our psychic forces in a more productive manner. As we gradually succeed in doing this, we will satisfy our inner need legitimately and improve our relationships with others at the same time.

In other words, the model of human spiritual and moral functioning offered by the Bahá'í Faith enables us to respond creatively and constructively once we become aware that change is necessary. We avoid wasting precious energy on guilt, self-hatred, or other such unproductive mechanisms. We are able to produce some degree of change almost immediately. This gives us positive feedback, makes us feel better about ourselves, and helps generate courage to continue the process of change we have just begun."

-- William Hatcher, The Concept of Spirituality

Getting started on the spiritual path

2009-02-25T12:36:00.000-08:00

"...each individual has certain basic, innate spiritual capacities, but in a degree and in a proportion which are unique to him. Moreover, the initial development of these innate capacities takes place under conditions over which the individual has very little control (e.g., the conditions of the family into which he is born, the social and physical surroundings to which he is exposed). An important consequence of this universal, existential situation is that each one of us arrives at the threshold of adulthood having developed a more or less spontaneous and unexamined pattern of responses to life situations. This pattern, unique to each individual, is an expression of his basic personality at that stage of his development.

Given the limited and relative nature of our innate spiritual capacities as well as the conditions under which they will have developed up to this point in our lives, our personal response pattern will necessarily involve many imbalances, immaturities and imperfections. Moreover, because of the largely spontaneous and unselfconscious nature of our pattern, we will be unaware of many aspects of it...

This is the beginning of a transformation or growth process for which we assume responsibility. Until this point in our lives, our growth and development has been primarily in the hands of others. Though we have collaborated in the process with some degree of consciousness, nevertheless the major part has been beyond our control and indeed beyond our awareness. We have been the relatively passive recipients of a process to which we have been subjected by others. Now we must become the agents and prime movers of our own growth process...

This new, self-directed growth process is going to take time. Moreover, it is sometimes going to be painful, and in the beginning stages at least, very painful. The new, more balanced functioning for which we begin to strive will appear at first to be unnatural since the spontaneous pattern we will have previously developed is the natural expression of our (relatively undeveloped and immature) selves.

In fact, one of the major problems involved in starting the process of spiritual growth is that we initially feel so comfortable with our spontaneous and unexamined mode of functioning. This is why it often happens that an individual becomes strongly motivated to begin the spiritual growth process only after his spontaneous system of coping has failed in some clear and dramatic way.

The realization that failure has occurred may come in many different forms. Perhaps we are faced with a `test,' a life situation that puts new and unusual strain on our defective response system and thus reveals to us its weakness."

and

"... failure to obtain some particular external goal can lead to success in gaining valid knowledge and insight into our internal processes, thus fostering spiritual growth. Indeed, there is very little that happens to us in life that cannot be used to give us new self-insight and hence contribute to fulfilling the basic purpose of prosecuting the spiritual growth process. It sometimes happens that a person whose spontaneous level of functioning is quite weak and defective is soon led to discover this fact while a person whose spontaneous level of functioning is rather high (due to favorable circumstances in early life or to exceptional natural endowments) persists for many years in his spiritually unaware state, making no spiritual progress whatsoever. In this way, the person whose spontaneous level of functioning is weak may take charge of his growth process much sooner than others and thereby eventually surpass those with more favorable natural endowments or initial life circumstances."

-- William Hatcher, The Concept of Spirituality

which lends an interesting twist to the whole notion of it being unfair that some people are born with more apparent abilities, or in better circumstances than others.

Is knowledge of God superior to scientific knowledge?

2009-02-25T11:07:00.000-08:00

An interesting footnote in that same essay discussed in earlier posts... This firmly rejects the opinion that is sometimes held, that somehow knowledge of God/self is greater/more certain than scientific knowledge about the world.

"Some mystics and religious philosophers have contended that our knowledge of God is absolute and for that reason superior to the relative and limited knowledge obtained by science. Such thinkers offer mysticism as an alternative discipline to science. It is important to realize that the Bahá'í Faith does not lend support to such a view. In particular, concerning the inherent limitations of the individual's intuitive powers, however disciplined and well-developed. Shoghi Effendi has said:

`With regard to your question as to the value of intuition as a source of guidance for the individual; implicit faith in our intuitive powers is unwise, but through daily prayer and sustained effort one can discover, though not always and fully, God's Will intuitively. Under no circumstances, however, can a person be absolutely certain that he is recognizing God's Will, through the exercise of his intuition. It often happens that the latter results in completely misrepresenting the truth, and thus becomes a source of error rather than of guidance...'

Moreover, the Bahá'í Writings clearly recognize that the human mind has a capacity for self-generated illusion which, if not recognized by the individual, can lead him into serious error:

`You yourself must surely know that modern psychology has taught that the capacity of the human mind for believing what it imagines, is almost infinite. Because people think they have a certain type of experience, think they remember something of a previous life, does not mean they actually had the experience, or existed previously. The power of their mind would be quite sufficient to make them believe firmly such a thing had happened.'

(This latter passage is also by Shoghi Effendi and both statements are quoted in a letter written by the Universal House of Justice to an individual Bahá'í.)"

And so its important to always keep this in mind when embarking on a spiritual journey - for it is quite easy to confuse emotional experiences with spiritual experiences, or promptings of the mind/heart with promptings of the soul. And so one cannot rely on intuition/instinct alone.

More on why we cannot know God

2009-02-25T10:59:00.001-08:00

Continuing a comment on the previous post:

"Know that there are two kinds of knowledge: the knowledge of the essence of a thing and the knowledge of its qualities. The essence of a thing is known through its qualities; otherwise, it is unknown and hidden.

As our knowledge of things, even of created and limited things, is knowledge of their qualities and not of their essence, how is it possible to comprehend in its essence the Divine Reality, which is unlimited? For the inner essence of anything is not comprehended, but only its qualities. For example, the inner essence of the sun is unknown, but is understood by its qualities, which are heat and light. The inner essence of man is unknown and not evident, but by its qualities it is characterized and known. Thus everything is known by its qualities and not by its essence. Although the mind encompasses all things, and the outward beings are comprehended by it, nevertheless these beings with regard to their essence are unknown; they are only known with regard to their qualities.

Then how can the eternal everlasting Lord, Who is held sanctified from comprehension and conception, be known by His essence? That is to say, as things can only be known by their qualities and not by their essence, it is certain that the Divine Reality is unknown with regard to its essence and is known with regard to its attributes. Besides, how can the phenomenal reality embrace the Preexistent Reality? For comprehension is the result of encompassing—embracing must be, so that comprehension may be—and the Essence of Unity surrounds all and is not surrounded."

-- Abdu'l Baha, Some Answered Questions

The paradox of life on this earth

2009-02-24T18:25:00.000-08:00

Another very insightful idea from the same paper I mentioned in the post below.

"...a paradox seems to be at the heart of this process, or at least of our experience of the process during this earthly life. The paradox is that God has given man immediate and easy access to material reality while denying him such immediate access to spiritual realities. This seems a curious thing for God to have done if, in fact, the most important aspect of reality is the spiritual one and if our basic purpose in life is spiritual. If the spiritual dimension of man's existence is ultimately the most real, then why are we given immediate perception only of the less substantial portion of total reality? Why, in short, are we called upon by God to pursue a spiritual purpose while being immersed in a sea of materiality?

To many people, this basic perception of our human condition is not just a paradox but an outright contradiction. It is impossible, they say, that there could be a world of unseen and unobservable spiritual realities so much less accessible than the world of material reality: the most obvious explanation for the inaccessibility of of spiritual reality is that it does not exist. Whether or not the paradox is stated this strongly, it remains the basic stumbling block to atheists, agnostics, materialists, and positivists of whatever philosophical stripe in their approach to spiritual questions. For, even if one becomes convinced that there is a significant, non-material dimension to objective reality, the rationale for its having been deliberately hidden from immediate access by a God who nevertheless holds us responsible for relating properly to it remains obscure.

Fortunately for our attempts to grasp the deeper significance of the Bahá'í concept of spirituality, Bahá'u'lláh has explained in clear terms the divine purpose underlying this fundamental feature of the human situation. The explanation lies in the principle of 'separation and distinction' by which God wishes individual moral and spiritual attainment to be the result of the individual's self-responsible and self-directed efforts. Bahá'u'lláh affirms unequivocally that God could certainly have rendered spiritual truth and spiritual reality as irrefutably evident and as immediately accessible to our spiritual senses as is material reality to our physical senses. But, had He done so, all men would have been forever bereft of one important experience: the experience of the state of spiritual deprivation. As the universe is now ordered, everyone can have the experience of moving from a position of relative doubt, insecurity, uncertainty, and fear towards a position of relative certitude, security, knowledge and faith.

On this journey, we learn important lessons which would otherwise be denied us. We value true spirituality the more for having experienced, to whatever degree, its lack, and we are grateful for the privilege of having participated in and contributed to the process of its attainment. All of this would not be possible if spiritual knowledge and perfection were simply our natural state of being from the moment of our creation."

Material and spiritual

2009-02-24T15:52:00.001-08:00

I just started reading this brilliant paper by Prof. William Hatcher (who was a professor of mathematics at Laval University in Quebec) on The Concept of Spirituality. So far it seems to be one of the most well laid-out essays on this topic. Here's an excerpt from the initial sections that is quite insightful and thought-provoking:

"The experience of our life during the period when the body and the soul are linked is one of a tension between contradicting and opposing forces. `Abdu'l-Bahá explains that this tension results from the duality of the physical and the spiritual in man's nature. On the one hand, man's body has legitimate physical needs which cry for satisfaction: food, shelter, companionship, and protection from threatening forces. However, in seeking to satisfy these needs, man is easily led to be possessive, aggressive, and insensitive to the needs of others. On the other hand, man's soul also has intrinsic needs that demand satisfaction. These needs are metaphysical and intangible. They incite the individual to seek meaning and purpose in life and to establish the proper relationship with God, with himself, and with his fellow humans. Though this proper relationship may, and indeed must, be expressed through physical means, it also is essentially intangible. It involves submission to the will of God, the acceptance of our dependence on a power higher than themselves. It implies self-knowledge, the discovery both of our limitations and of our particular talents and capacities. And it requires recognition of and respect for the rights of others. This means that we realize and understand that all other men have needs similar to our own and that we accept all the implications of this fact in our relations with and actions towards others...

...the tension between the material and spiritual in man is a creative tension purposely given by God, a tension whose function it is constantly to remind the individual of the necessity of making an effort in the path of spiritual growth. Moreover, the existence of the physical body with its needs provides daily opportunities for the individual to dramatize through action the degree of spirituality he has attained and to assess realistically his progress."

What have I been thinking about

2009-02-24T13:30:00.000-08:00

Apparently this is what I've been thinking about lately on this blog...

(Image created by Wordle)

Reckoning

2009-02-24T08:40:00.000-08:00

"Set before thine eyes God’s unerring Balance and, as one standing in His presence, weigh in that Balance thine actions every day, every moment of thy life. Bring thyself to account ere thou art summoned to a reckoning..."

-- Baha'u'llah, in a tablet to Sultan Abdu'l Aziz

Love

2009-02-20T07:51:00.000-08:00

I came upon this most beautiful quote while putting together some writings for V last night.

"Love is heaven’s kindly light, the Holy Spirit’s eternal breath that vivifieth the human soul. Love is the cause of God’s revelation unto man, the vital bond inherent, in accordance with the divine creation, in the realities of things. Love is the one means that ensureth true felicity both in this world and the next. Love is the light that guideth in darkness, the living link that uniteth God with man, that assureth the progress of every illumined soul. Love is the most great law that ruleth this mighty and heavenly cycle, the unique power that bindeth together the divers elements of this material world, the supreme magnetic force that directeth the movements of the spheres in the celestial realms. Love revealeth with unfailing and limitless power the mysteries latent in the universe. Love is the spirit of life unto the adorned body of mankind, the establisher of true civilization in this mortal world, and the shedder of imperishable glory upon every high-aiming race and nation."

-- Abdu'l Baha

My Song

2009-02-19T14:05:00.000-08:00

"This song of mine will wind its music around you,
my child, like the fond arms of love.

The song of mine will touch your forehead
like a kiss of blessing.

When you are alone it will sit by your side and
whisper in your ear, when you are in the crowd
it will fence you about with aloofness.

My song will be like a pair of wings to your dreams,
it will transport your heart to the verge of the unknown.

It will be like the faithful star overhead
when dark night is over your road.

My song will sit in the pupils of your eyes,
and will carry your sight into the heart of things.

And when my voice is silenced in death,
my song will speak in your living heart."

-- Rabindranath Tagore

Universal religion

2009-02-19T12:06:00.000-08:00

"…if there is ever to be universal religion, it must be one which will be infinite, like the God it will preach, and whose sun will shine upon the followers of Krishna and of Christ, on saints and sinners alike; which will not be Brahmanic or Buddhistic, Christian or Mohammedan, but the sum total of all these, and still have infinite space for development; which in its catholicity will embrace in its infinite arms, and find a place for every human being, from the lowest grovelling savage, not far removed from the brute, to the highest man, towering by virtues of his head and heart almost above humanity, making society stand in awe of him and doubt his human nature. It will be a religion which will have no place for persecution or intolerance in its polity, which will recognize divinity in every man and woman, and whose whole scope, whose whole force, will be centred in aiding humanity to realize its own true, divine nature."

-- Swami Vivekananda, World Parliament of Religions in Chicago, 1893

More illumination on laws

2009-02-18T10:38:00.000-08:00

"The Laws of God are not imposition of will, or of power, or pleasure, but the resolutions of truth, reason and justice."

-- Abdu'l Baha

But a leaf...

2009-02-18T10:07:00.000-08:00

Nowadays I find more and more beauty and poetry in some of the writings of Baha'u'llah... Almost feel like I've been blind to this until now... :) Here's a quote of his describing his own station.

"By My life! Not of Mine own volition have I revealed Myself, but God, of His own choosing, hath manifested Me... I was but a man like others, asleep upon My couch, when lo, the breezes of the All-Glorious were wafted over Me, and taught Me the knowledge of all that hath been. This thing is not from Me, but from One Who is Almighty and All-Knowing. And He bade Me lift up My voice between earth and heaven, and for this there befell Me what hath caused the tears of every man of understanding to flow... This is but a leaf which the winds of the will of thy Lord, the Almighty, the All-Praised, have stirred. Can it be still when the tempestuous winds are blowing?"

More on spiritual laws

2009-02-18T08:03:00.000-08:00

For some thoughts on the quote in the post below, do check out this blog post.

A couple more thoughts on spiritual laws that came to me as I read the above post, that I thought I'd share here. One, I find it helpful to think of spiritual laws not as arbitrarily imposed rules by some anthropomorphic being, but rather laws that are interwoven into the fabric of creation, much as physical laws are. So, for example, if I climb to the top of a skyscraper and jump down, I will fall due to gravity. Gravity is one of the laws of the universe. It is not that someone willfully pushes me down to crash onto the ground - but the consequence of choosing to jump down from a building is that I will fall down.

Likewise, many spiritual laws exist as a part of this world - such as the effect of prayer, fasting, loving thoughts, the effect of indulging in immoral activities etc. Just as physical laws are statements of consequences when it comes to physical actions, spiritual laws are statements of consequences of spiritual acts. All the Manifestation/Prophet of God really does is acquaint us with these laws, just as a scientist acquaints us with physical laws. Of course the expression of these laws might change based on the state of evolution of human society (and so qualities like justice, for example, might be expressed in different ways depending on the condition of human society) - but the laws themselves are intrinsic to this world, not arbitrarily imposed by some external being.

There is another way of thinking about laws that someone once explained to me which I quite like - lets think of traffic laws. One might believe that traffic laws actually restrict our freedom to drive as we want. But if we think a little deeper, we realize that if these laws didn't exist, one would be afraid just to step out onto the road, as one has no guarantee about how others are driving. So, even though it might seem counter-intuitive, the existence of traffic laws actually makes us more free - free to drive how we want within the scope of these laws. This analogy might be useful in understanding how spiritual laws can actually be freeing rather than restricting.

Of course, both the above are just ways of thinking about spiritual laws - I doubt we'll ever attain complete comprehension of these subtle forces. But it definitely helps one in following these laws to understand, at least to some extent, that these are not laws to be blindly followed just because someone came along and said we should.

Commandments

2009-02-17T10:40:00.000-08:00

A friend recently pointed out a quote which led me to search out its source - and I find the following passage deeply illuminating in understanding what it means to follow the laws/commandments of God - and why they even exist. I love some of the metaphors used here...

"O YE peoples of the world! Know assuredly that My commandments are the lamps of My loving providence among My servants, and the keys of My mercy for My creatures. Thus hath it been sent down from the heaven of the Will of your Lord, the Lord of Revelation. Were any man to taste the sweetness of the words which the lips of the All-Merciful have willed to utter, he would, though the treasures of the earth be in his possession, renounce them one and all, that he might vindicate the truth of even one of His commandments, shining above the Dayspring of His bountiful care and loving-kindness.

From My laws the sweet smelling savour of My garment can be smelled, and by their aid the standards of victory will be planted upon the highest peaks. The Tongue of My power hath, from the heaven of My omnipotent glory, addressed to My creation these words: ‘Observe My commandments, for the love of My beauty.’ Happy is the lover that hath inhaled the divine fragrance of his Best-Beloved from these words, laden with the perfume of a grace which no tongue can describe. By My life! He who hath drunk the choice wine of fairness from the hands of My bountiful favour, will circle around My commandments that shine above the Dayspring of My creation.

Think not that We have revealed unto you a mere code of laws. Nay, rather, We have unsealed the choice Wine with the fingers of might and power. To this beareth witness that which the Pen of Revelation hath revealed. Meditate upon this, O men of insight!…"

-- Baha'u'llah

A short prayer

2009-02-16T21:27:00.000-08:00

O God, my God, my Beloved, my heart's Desire.

-- The Báb