Militant atheism

Check out this talk where Richard Dawkins calls for militant atheism here.

Its sad to see how fanatical even science can sometimes become... Though i understand where dawkins comes from, i really see no basis for some his claims. A lot of what he says applies well to organized religion as it exists today and has existed in the past. It says little about the true nature of reality itself.

Once you've seen that video, do take a few more minutes to read this concise, balanced and pretty apt response to Dawkins by Steven Phelps, a Baha'i scholar, here.

At some level, I cannot help but feel that if someone really has a grasp of the truth, the last thing he would be would be fundamentalist and imposing about it. And some of Dawkins' vicious acerbity seems not too different from the religious dogma propounded by many religious leaders today and in the past. But shouldn't understanding the truth really help us become more loving, accepting and at one with the world?

Words of wisdom

in this, the month of giving.

"We must be like the fountain or spring that is continually emptying itself of all that it has and is continually being refilled from an invisible source. To be continually giving out for the good of our fellows undeterred by fear of poverty and reliant on the unfailing bounty of the Source of all wealth and all good - this is the secret of right living."

-- Shoghi Effendi

"Contributing to the Fund is a service every believer can render, be he poor or wealthy; for this is a spiritual responsibility in which the amount given is not important. It is the degree of sacrifice of the giver, and the love with which he makes his gift, and the unity of the friends in this service which brings spiritual confirmations…"

-- Shoghi Effendi (talking about the Baha'i fund, but more generally applicable)

"Again, is there any deed in the world that would be nobler than service to the common good? Is there any greater blessing conceivable for a man, than that he should become the cause of the education, the development, the prosperity and honor of his fellow-creatures? No, by the Lord God! The highest righteousness of all is for blessed souls to take hold of the hands of the helpless and deliver them out of their ignorance and abasement and poverty, and with pure motives, and only for the sake of God, to arise and energetically devote themselves to the service of the masses, forgetting their own worldly advantage and working only to serve the general good."

-- Abdu'l Baha

"The more we search for ourselves, the less likely we are to find ourselves; and the more we search for God, and to serve our fellow-men, the more profoundly will we become acquainted with ourselves, and the more inwardly assured. This is one of the great spiritual laws of life."

-- Shoghi Effendi

Why believe

Dinner with W and J today was quite enjoyable, and provided a suitable atmosphere, as usual, for some enlivening discussions. Amongst the things we talked about was one of W's recurring questions - phrased in different ways, but which essentially boils down to this - Why should one believe in a claim that is impossible, in theory, to verify scientifically? How can one bring oneself to accept something that one cannot prove with absolute certainty?

This question is a very pertinent one when it comes to spiritual claims made by teachers over the ages who claimed to be Prophets/Manifestations of God. Firstly, even the concept of God is unverifiable - often just by definition. Then there come questions of the human soul, its nature that is beyond this material world, and so by definition impossible to sense through our material scientific apparatus; claims about life after death; and so on. Why should we believe these claims?

I pondered this question while biking home - is there a clear answer to this, beyond just saying that it comes down to one's personal experiences? Hmm, maybe. As i mused over this, I created the following story which possibly illustrates one reason why an attitude that refuses to accept anything not verifiable in theory, might not always lead to truth. Along the course of the story, I indicate metaphors for spiritual entities/concepts in italics within parentheses. Obviously, like all analogies, it is intended to illustrate a specific point, and should not be carried too far by the reader.

Imagine a community of people that live on a desert island. Till as far back as their society existed, they have had no contact with any other human civilization in the world. Their community has evolved much the same as the rest of humanity except for one key difference - they have no eyes (spiritual sight). Their entire existence is based on sensing the world through 4 senses - touch, hearing, taste and smell.

One day a foreigner (Prophet/Manifestation) lands on their shores from some distant land. As he walks to the nearest town, he meets some people and is surprised to find they are all blind. As he walks on, he meets more and more people, and realizes that not only is every single person on this island blind, they have no concept of sight itself. Struck by how much they are missing, he gathers a group of people around him, and starts telling them about the sense of seeing. He tells them about the sun (God), which is source of all the light (The Holy Spirit/spiritual energy) in the world. This light enables us to see the world, and understand qualities of living entities such as color (the soul). In fact, though nobody there can see the sun, it is the source of all life on that island, and without it nothing would exist there.

But the people gathered around him have no idea what he is talking about. "What is this sun you speak of?", they ask. "We cannot hear it, nor can we feel it, nor taste it, nor smell it. Therefore it cannot exist. How can we believe that this entity you claim exists, which we cannot sense in any way, is actually the source of all life on this island? And what do you mean by color? Do you mean to say that we all have this quality called color, which we have no way to sense? I can feel my skin, feel its texture, smell it, taste it, hear the sound my finger makes when i rub against it - but you say it also has a color? I cannot believe any of this!" Saying so, they all decide the foreigner is mad and dangerous, and kill him.

The above story, with some minor variations, could well be the story of any of the spiritual teachers who have come down to earth to teach us about the existence of a spiritual reality that goes beyond the material world as we can sense it. Clearly the foreigner who came to the island knew more about reality - and yet there was no way for the people on that island to realize that with certainty.

Now how could they have understood him better? What they should have done was to question him - ask him about the world as they knew it. If they did, they would have found that he had just as good a command over the other senses they were familiar with - maybe even better. And he could tell them everything about the world as they knew it - and more. And this would help build some trust in them. Then they could interact with him on a regular basis, observe how he lived his life, how he interacted with other people - and all this would help them, over time, build more and more trust in his words, as they saw how it all consistently fit together. And then eventually they would reach a stage where they trusted him enough to accept that they could not understand sight not because the concept didn't exist, but because of their own imperfections. And as they grew more sensitive and open to this, they would become aware of other evidences in the world for what the foreigner claimed, the heat of the sun's rays on their hands, the coolness at night, the correlation between that and climate in a part of the island etc - and they would find it all fitting in with the foreigner's claims about reality.

The process of spiritual acceptance, I think, is pretty similar. We are encouraged to never accept anything blindly, but question it. But the questioning must always be done with the attitude of learning, not with the attitude of trying to prove something wrong. And then it requires a lot of sustained effort over time, studying the writings of these teachers to see how it all fits together, looking at the effects of these teachings on people who follow them. And finally it requires us to relate it back to our own lives, see how it fits in with what we can perceive of reality, and see how it can help us better understand our own lives, and how we should think and act. As we continue doing this over time, and find more and more things that make sense, it helps us be more trusting and believing, and helps us accept those things that maybe we cannot prove for certain.

It all comes back, as Hamid once said, to the fact that spiritual growth is a dynamic process and not static - and so by focusing on that which we do understand (not on what we don't) and applying it to our lives , and by constant effort through prayer and studying, we will automatically understand more over time. For action begets greater wisdom, which in turn motivates more action, and so on.

Would love to hear more thoughts on this...

Unity

This was a month of unity.

Of aligning thought and action
Of understanding the importance of living a single coherent life
Of not segregating aspects of life
Of focusing on the need of the moment
Of leading a purposeful life
Of understanding what it means to love one and all
Of a world increasingly hungry for peace
Of adversity breeding unity
Of the interrelated nature of disintegration and integration in the world today
Of understanding how every ending is also a new beginning
Of interacting with like souls
Of seeing ourselves in others
Of putting oneself in other people's shoes
Of being more forgiving and less critical
Of discovering God's blessings in every aspect in life
Of seeing His beauty reflected in every atom in this world
Of unity in diversity
Of appreciating the beauty and capacities in every individual
Of feeling the energy created by over 5000 people coming together under one roof for one purpose
Of discovering the energy of souls praying together
Of prioritizing every aspect of life in light of a spiritual calling
Of working towards a single vision for the world
Of understanding the oneness of religion
Of unity between science and religion
Of equal opportunity
Of equality
Of justice
Of love
Of mindfulness
Of openness
Of harmony
Of building unity in relationships
Of controlling that which can lead to disunity
Of building a family
Of forming spiritual bonds
Of discovering the unimaginable beauty of two souls becoming one
Of trying to learn from every situation in life
Of seeing the positive in everything
Of being true to oneself
Of avoiding hypocrisy
Of building trust
Of walking one common spiritual path with every single soul in this universe
Of the oneness of the destination on this eternal journey
Of God

This was a month of unity.

True joy

A wonderful evening today yet again confirmed what I've come to believe more and more - that true, inner joy really comes from connecting with people at a spiritual level. And true love and unity arises out of conversing at the level of the soul. Such is the power of the Creative Word...

Prayer for steadfastness

O Lord my God! Assist Thy loved ones to be firm in Thy Faith, to walk in Thy ways, to be steadfast in Thy Cause. Give them Thy grace to withstand the onslaught of self and passion, to follow the light of divine guidance. Thou art the Powerful, the Gracious, the Self-Subsisting, the Bestower, the Compassionate, the Almighty, the All-Bountiful.

-- ‘Abdu’l-Bahá

Steadfastness

Two stories V told me today that Abdu'l Baha once recited to demonstrate what our relationship to God should be like.

Story 1:

A long time ago, in the kingdom of a very wise and just king, there lived a poor shepherd named Ayas. Ayas lived in poverty, but his life was an example of a virtuous soul. Above all, however, he lived in complete awe and love of the king of the land.

One day Ayas heard that the king would be traveling on a road that went very close to where he lived. In full excitement, he rose early that day, and stood for hours by the road, hoping to get a glimpse of him whom he adored.

As the king passed through in the heat of the day, he was surprised to see a lonely soul standing by the side of the road in what appeared to be great ecstasy. He had the man brought to him, and asked him why he was standing there, and what he wanted from him. To which Ayas replied, "Nothing, my lord. All I wished was to look at your face."

The king was impressed by Ayas's honesty, devotion and detachment, for he had never met someone who did not want something from so rich a ruler. So he offered him a post as his treasurer. Ayas accepted, and applied himself to his job with great zeal. Such was his dedication that he soon grew to be one of the king's most trusted ministers, a fact that was highly resented by the rest of the king's cabinet.

The ministers sought to find a way to bring Ayas down in the eyes of the emperor, and their chance came when one of them observed Ayas going secretly into a room one evening and staying there all night. They saw him doing this every day, and so went to the king and told him that Ayas was stealing from the treasury and storing everything in a secret room, so he could one day leave with it all.

The king was highly distressed when he heard this, so he hid himself that evening near the room. And true enough, there came Ayas as the sun went down, and let himself into the room. The king left his hiding place and softly opened the door a crack to see what Ayas was doing. He was, however, aghast to see that the room was completely empty - save for a set of old clothes in front of which Ayas was sitting.

The king flung the door open, and walked in and asked, "What in heaven's name are you doing, Ayas?" Ayas turned and replied, "I was but a poor shepherd, my lord, before you brought me to this palace and gave me all the gifts you have. And so I spend my nights in front of my old shepherd's clothing, so I never forget my humble origins, and the fact that all that I have now comes from you, and not me."

Story 2:

Ayas was sitting with the king one day, and having melons which the king was handing out. As the emperor gave him a piece of the fruit, Ayas put it in his mouth and expressed his delight at how sweet the fruit was, and how heavenly it tasted. Seeing his reaction, the king took a piece from the same fruit and tasted it - only to find it was one of the most bitter melons he had ever tasted!

As he flung the piece away in disgust, he turned to Ayas and asked, "How could you like that piece, it was one of the most bitter melons I've ever had!" To which Ayas replied with full sincerity, "My lord, over the years you have given me so many sweet melons that now every piece tastes sweet to me."

I leave the reader to unpack the metaphors in these (what might seem rather simplistic) stories.

Organized religion

The Baha'i conference this weekend (more about this here) was inspiring in many ways and raised many thought-provoking questions. Though there is much I could blog about in relation to this, one of the things I've been thinking about lately, is the question of the need for an organized religion. Many of us believe that spirituality and religion are all about individual growth. Spirituality is believed to be a very personal matter, one that is usually not shared with others, and which we should all pursue on our own and let others pursue in their own ways. Organized religion is largely seen as an impediment to spiritual growth, and often even harmful to society. This is not very surprising, given how, in every age we see how the edifice of organized religion has been misused by those in power for their own benefit - be it the Brahmins in Hinduism, the Church in Christianity or the Ulemas in Islam. These influences of organized religion are best summed up in this excerpt from a statement issued by the Bahá’í International Community titled "Religion as Light and Darkness":

Bahá’u’lláh’s severest condemnation is reserved for the barriers which, throughout history, organized religion has erected between humanity and the Revelations of God. Dogmas, inspired by popular superstition and perfected by misspent intelligence, have repeatedly been imposed on a Divine process whose purpose has at all times been spiritual and moral. Laws of social interaction, revealed for the purpose of consolidating community life, have been made the basis for structures of arcane doctrine and practice which have burdened the masses whose benefit they were supposed to serve. Even the exercise of intellect, the chief tool possessed by the human race, has been deliberately hampered, producing an eventual breakdown in the dialogue between faith and science upon which civilized life depends.

The consequence of this sorry record is the worldwide disrepute into which religion has fallen. Worse, organized religion has become itself a most virulent cause of hatred and warfare among the peoples of the world. “Religious fanaticism and hatred,” Bahá’u’lláh warned over a century ago, “are a world-devouring fire, whose violence none can quench. The Hand of Divine power can, alone, deliver mankind from this desolating affliction.”

It is no wonder, therefore, when we consider all of this, that a lot of people in today's world have reacted by distancing themselves from any form of organized religion. And yet, is all this evidence that organized religion is actually unnecessary, and better done away with? Or are there reasons why structure and organization are necessary in religion, due to which the absence of this would actually hamper our spiritual growth even at the individual level? How does the existence of structure influence our ability to be of service to the world of humanity? And as a kindred soul asked (here), "how (does) being part of a religious organization helps us in better developing "praiseworthy qualities" and translate these into action so that we can have the most positive impact possible?"

Now let's first start by looking at the negative reaction a lot of people have to organized reaction, and determine whether it is justified. Most of these reactions have a historical basis - people see how religion has affected society adversely, caused wars, bloodshed, been the source of division and strife in society, created a race of power-hungry clergy and, at least at first glance, appears to have caused great harm in society. But one needs to go deeper than that - and as I've had pointed out to me in the past - both by my dear friend Hamid, and by Dr. Penny Walker at the conference this weekend - the processes of disintegration and discord in society are often very dramatic and visible; but the processes of integration and the more sublime effects of religion are often very gradual and not as flashy. In fact, in the above statement issued by the Baha'i International Community, they go on to point out that "...it is not the organization of religious activity which these statements address, but the misuse of such resources. Bahá’u’lláh’s writings are generous in their appreciation not only of the great contribution which organized religion has brought to civilization, but also of the benefits which the world has derived from the self-sacrifice and love of humanity that have characterized clergymen and religious orders of all faiths." Baha'u'llah himself writes, "Those divines … who are truly adorned with the ornament of knowledge and of a goodly character are, verily, as a head to the body of the world, and as eyes to the nations…"

Organized religion, therefore, has had a great many positive effects on society over the ages - it is just that these are far more subtle and underlie the very fabric of society - and thereby end up being not as visible. It is also questionable as to whether the negative effects are a result of the notion of organization itself being fundamentally flawed, or whether they actually arise from

1. the fact that no religious organization in the past was actually set in place by the prophets/manifestations who actually founded the religion, but were instead created by people (often well after the manifestation Himself passed on). Think of the Brahmins usurping power in Hindu society, the creation of the Church 300 years after Christ died, the power grabbed by Ulemas after the passing on of Muhammad - and you'll know what I mean.

2. the imperfections inherent within human beings, which over time cause us to exploit any system.

3. the existence of some form of clergy in every religion, who claim to have, in some way, a deeper connection to God than the rest of us, thereby creating an artificial barrier between them and the rest of us, and serving as a huge temptation for exploitation.

At this point I will leave the reader to muse more on how the above might have been instrumental in making religious organizations of the past blameworthy, and move on to talking about why I believe we actually do need some form of organization.

Apart from the fact that past religious organizations have all, over the ages, developed serious flaws, there are many people who believe that inherently spirituality is a very personal process and so should never have to be subject to any form of organization. This objection has nothing to do with whether or not forms of organization are flawed - it is a fundamental opposition to any form of organization in religion.

Now why does this opposition exist? And is it justified? Here're my 2 cents - I believe that this conflict exists because we have created artificial boundaries in our lives that segregate one aspect of it from another. We've taken the process of spiritual growth and put it into one corner of our lives, and try not to let it affect everything else we do. When we pray, think about God, and endeavor to grow spiritually, we want to be in a very personal space, with no interaction with others. Often this also arises from a fear of being judged by those around us. Either way, we end up with a situation where that which is spiritual in us finds its expression only at certain times and in certain situations. At the societal level, therefore, we've developed this dichotomous existence where we have forms of social organization on the one hand, and forms of religious organization on the other - and we've decided that the two can never be merged together. And so though we're happy to have the notion of a collective when it comes to society, many of us shy away from the notion of a spiritual collective.

Consider, however, the fact that spiritual growth is really supposed to be the driving force of every action and thought in our lives - not something we indulge in as and when it pleases us. And so the notion of being a spiritual person should underlie every one of our activities - and consequently any form of organization that we develop in society. And when you realize that this means that spiritual values will govern the actions of all individuals and organizations in society - be it governments (who should wish to serve, not misuse power), or NGOs (who should strive not just for the material empowerment of people but spiritual as well) or schools (that should strive to provide a holistic, spiritual education) - you will find that the boundaries we've used to segregate our lives will automatically become blurry, and we will find ourselves living in a much more integrated and cohesive manner.

Consider, also, what the point of spiritual growth really is. On the one hand there is the personal process of growth, the development of individual virtues. But equally important is the notion of service to society. In fact, without the latter, we cannot even fully achieve the former. At the conference, Counselor Mora spoke about the mutually reinforcing processes of spiritual growth and service. The point of spiritual growth, therefore, is not to hold it within us and refuse to share it with anyone - but to let it grow outwards, to let it enable us to love everyone with increasing fervor, to let it guide us in serving others, and using this service as an expression of our love for God.

And what, then, is the point of this service? Are we just trying to feed hungry mouths or give medicines to the sick - service needs to go way deeper than that. The ultimate goal really is to help in building a spiritual civilization, as the Counselors stressed at the conference. And this is no mean task - but each of us has a part to play. What we really need to do is transform the very foundations of society from what it is today. As Baha'u'llah wrote even 150 years ago, "The signs of impending convulsions and chaos can now be discerned, inasmuch as the prevailing order appears to be lamentably defective." And so our vision for service should go far beyond just treating symptoms of the disease that afflicts all of humanity today - symptoms that are very visible, such as poverty, hunger, poor health conditions - and go to the root of the problem - which are the values of society.

And the greatest need for today, as the Baha'i teachings claim, is the unity of humankind. And it is this unified spiritualization of society that is the true purpose of religion, that should be the motivating force for an organization of society based on spiritual values. In fact, Abdu'l Baha goes so far as to say that "It is evident therefore that the divine teachings are intended to create a bond of unity in the human world and establish the foundations of love and fellowship among mankind. Divine religion is not a cause for discord and disagreement. If religion becomes the source of antagonism and strife, the absence of religion is to be preferred. Religion is meant to be the quickening life of the body politic; if it be the cause of death to humanity, its nonexistence would be a blessing and benefit to man." This, to me, is one of the most powerful statements in the Baha'i faith - for a religion to state that its absence would be preferable if it were to become the cause of disunity.

And so it is certain that religious organizations as have existed in the past are blameworthy, for they have not served this fundamental purpose of religion - the creation of unity in the human world.

Imagine, though, a form of organization that had this as its fundamental purpose - the unification of mankind. And not just political unification - but true, spiritual oneness. For, as Shoghi Effendi says, ever so cogently, "Not even, I venture to assert, would the very act of devising the machinery required for the political and economic unification of the world—a principle that has been increasingly advocated in recent times—provide in itself the antidote against the poison that is steadily undermining the vigor of organized peoples and nations." And such a structure would be an enabler - not a constraint - for each person's individual spiritual growth. For it would both provide avenues of service, and fora for interaction, so people can learn from each other and grow. And it would provide the necessary conditions for the building of this spiritual civilization in an efficient, methodical way. What I describe is not very different from what already exists in many fields - we have a scientific structure, for example, where some broad framework exists for people to work and interact within, so we can build a common knowledge base. Likewise there exists a political structure - albeit quite flawed - that enables us to govern ourselves and interact with each other at a social level. What the Baha'i faith talks about, therefore, is the unification of all these structures into one cohesive framework that enables us all to grow to our fullest potential. Religious organization then ceases to become a dogmatic, restrictive structure that exists in opposition to these other organizations we have in society - but instead becomes the underlying force that motivates all these other forms of collectivization.

Of course, when we start creating structures and frameworks, it is easy to get lost in the details and forget the broader vision - to get lost in the laws and rules, and forget that the primary driver for all this is love and growth. And so Shoghi Effendi cautions, "Laws and institutions, as viewed by Bahá’u’lláh, can become really effective only when our inner spiritual life has been perfected and transformed. Otherwise religion will degenerate into a mere organization, and becomes a dead thing." It is not hard to see how this has happened in the past. This is also beautifully put in a document titled the Promise of World Peace (which I highly encourage you to read here) - "...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."

In summation, the need for organization becomes clear when we cease to think of our lives as segregated, but instead look for a single, coherent picture of reality, our lives, and of how we can grow - as individuals and as a society. All forms of growth - scientific, political, economic, spiritual - then just become different sides of the same multidimensional coin. And approaching this process of growth collectively, using our combined knowledge, and doing so in a systematic way becomes the clearest way ahead.

Armed

This video is making the rounds of the Baha'i world - really touching. Beautifully done!


Devon Gundry - "Armed" from Justin Baldoni on Vimeo.

On how to achieve unity

"Man must be a lover of the light no matter from what day-spring it may appear. He must be a lover of the rose no matter in what soil it may be growing. He must be a seeker of the truth no matter from what source it come. Attachment to the lantern is not loving the light. Attachment to the earth is not befitting but enjoyment of the rose which develops from the soil is worthy. Devotion to the tree is profitless but partaking of the fruit is beneficial. Luscious fruits no matter upon what tree they grow or where they may be found be enjoyed. The word of truth no matter which tongue utters it mustmust be sanctioned. Absolute verities no matter in what book they be recorded must be accepted. If we harbor prejudice it will be the cause of deprivation and ignorance. The strife between religions, nations and races arises from misunderstanding. If we investigate the religions to discover the principles underlying their foundations we will find they agree, for the fundamental reality of them is one and not multiple. By this means the religionists of the world will reach their point of unity and reconciliation. They will ascertain the truth that the purpose of religion is the acquisition of praiseworthy virtues, betterment of morals, spiritual development of mankind, the real life and divine bestowals. All the prophets have been the promoters of these principles; none of them has been the promoter of corruption, vice or evil. They have summoned mankind to all good. They have united people in the love of God, invited them to the religions of the unity of mankind and exhorted them to amity and agreement...

Praise be to God! the springtime of God is at hand. This century is verily the spring season. The world of mind and the kingdom of soul have become fresh and verdant by its bestowals. It has resuscitated the whole realm of existence. On one hand the lights of reality are shining; on the other the clouds of divine mercy are pouring down the fullness of heavenly bounty. Wonderful material progress is evident and great spiritual discoveries are being made. Truly this can be called the miracle of centuries for it is replete with manifestations of the miraculous. The time has come when all mankind shall be united, when all races shall be loyal to one fatherland, all religions become one religion and racial and religious bias pass away. It is a day in which the oneness of humankind shall uplift its standard and international peace like the true morning flood the world with its light. Therefore we offer supplications to God, asking him to dispel these gloomy clouds and uproot these imitations in order that the East and West may become radiant with love and unity; that the nations of the world shall embrace each other and the ideal spiritual brotherhood illumine the world like the glorious sun of the high heavens. "

-- Abdu'l Baha