Category: Short Essays

The current crisis in our country brings to the fore many fundamental issues that have been long neglected in public discourse.  It is the nature of our public dialogue however, that we don’t address religion in a substantive way in the public space.  Because of that, we don’t talk about one of the most important and fundamental ways to improve our society.- spiritual and moral education. 

As any doctor knows, the most effective way to prolong a patient’s life is to prevent disease in the first place. The earlier we can intervene in the natural history of a disease, the more effective we are in raising the overall health of an individual and a society.  As much as doctors are excited about interventions like cardiac catheterization and transplant surgery, the greatest strides in human health have been made through much less complex interventions- clean water, healthy diet, sufficient exercise, avoidance of drugs and alcohol,  and vaccination for common but deadly infectious diseases.   Most of the disease burden in our society can be traced to a failure of those simple strategies.

As we see the strife on our streets and think about solutions, there are some obvious practical strategies that are being considered in various cities, like reorienting police services such that they work closely with communities to solve problems peacefully. New laws are being proposed at the state and federal level. All of this is appropriate and necessary, and reflect much thought and wisdom. But its important that we not neglect longer term strategies that may ultimately prove far more effective. 

At the most fundamental level, the most important intervention to improve the overall health of our society is spiritual and moral education.  In describing the teachings of His Revelation, Baha’u’llah stated that “they whom God hath endued with insight will readily recognize that the precepts laid down by God constitute the highest means for the maintenance of order in the world and the security of its peoples”. He placed particular focus- not on stricter laws to maintain “law and order” or forcing political change- but on the education of human hearts, starting from the earliest ages of childhood and “integrated with the mother’s milk”. 

Regard man as a mine rich in gems of inestimable value. Education can, alone, cause it to reveal its treasures, and enable mankind to benefit therefrom. If any man were to meditate on that which the Scriptures, sent down from the heaven of God’s holy Will, have revealed, he would readily recognize that their purpose is that all men shall be regarded as one soul..and the light of Divine bounty, of grace, and mercy may envelop all mankind.

Baha’u’llah promoted all forms of education, but as He also expressed clearly- religion is a form of education- spiritual and moral education- and it’s purpose is to unlock powers within us that then can be manifested in our actions, and our whole society is transformed as a result. 

‘Abdu’l-Baha’ described it in this way-

Religion…is not a series of beliefs, a set of customs; religion is the teachings of the Lord God, teachings which constitute the very life of humankind, which urge high thoughts upon the mind, refine the character, and lay the groundwork for man’s everlasting honor.

But ‘Abdu’l-Baha’ did not mean any thing that masquerades as “religion”, but the pure waters of revelation that flow out from the words of the Manifestations of God.

O true companions! All humankind are as children in a school, and the Dawning-Points of Light, the Sources of divine revelation, are the teachers, wondrous and without peer. In the school of realities they educate these sons and daughters, according to teachings from God, and foster them in the bosom of grace, so that they may develop along every line, show forth the excellent gifts and blessings of the Lord, and combine human perfections; that they may advance in all aspects of human endeavour, whether outward or inward, hidden or visible, material or spiritual, until they make of this mortal world a widespread mirror, to reflect that other world which dieth not.

The touchstone of truth was whether that religion promoted values that led to the upliftment and unity of all peoples-

The divine religions must be the cause of oneness among men, and the means of unity and love; they must promulgate universal peace, free man from every prejudice, bestow joy and gladness, exercise kindness to all men and do away with every difference and distinction. Just as Bahá’u’lláh addressing the world of humanity saith: “O people! Ye are the fruits of one tree and the leaves of one branch.” At most it is this, that some souls are ignorant, they must be educated; some are sick, they must be healed; some are still of tender age, they must be helped to attain maturity, and the utmost kindness must be shown to them. This is the conduct of the people of Bahá.

When Abdu’l-Baha’ came to America, he noted the marked advance of American society- the richness of its cities and its advance in “material civilization”.  But he noted a lack of what he called “spiritual civilization”. Too much emphasis was placed on economic development, to the detriment of “human development”.  This was reflected in many areas of society, including the criminal system-

“Material civilization, through the power of punitive and retaliatory laws, restraineth the people from criminal acts; and notwithstanding this, while laws to retaliate against and punish a man are continually proliferating, as ye can see, no laws exist to reward him. In all the cities of Europe and America, vast buildings have been erected to serve as jails for the criminals.”

This has led to a ridiculous amount of imprisonment in American society, particularly among people of color.  That’s is just one example. In reality, “material civilization” if not combined with “spiritual civilization”, if all we care about is “material development”, naturally leads to the impoverishment of people’s souls so that they no longer manifest the qualities that lie within them. Injustice, the hoarding of wealth and opportunity, widening social and economic disparities, and an attachment to triviality are all reflective of a society that no longer has a deeper dimension, is no longer committed to ideals for the sake of ideals alone. 

Baha’i communities all over the world are trying to change this, by bringing spiritual and moral education into every community on the planet.  Neighborhood study circles and children’s classes teach the oneness of humanity and inspire noble ideals.  Devotional gatherings- open to all the people of the community- provide the inspiration for people to work together collaboratively for the good of their communities. 

You aren’t going to read about these efforts in the New York Times, and CNN is yet to send out one of their reporters, but in truth, this is more important than virtually anything else happening in our world. It’s the slow and patient building of a new civilization, one that more appropriately balances the “material” and the “spiritual”, where people regard others as their brothers and sisters and work collaboratively to build a new society- guided by the most sublime spiritual and moral principles the world has ever known. 

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One of the elements that Baha’is can bring to the current difficulties is the confidence that we will overcome racism and build a nation, even a world, in which racial differences are only regarded as a source of beauty and not a source of division.  Baha’u’llah promised us that we can get there and His Revelation is intended to give us the spiritual perspective necessary to transcend petty differences, like those of race or color. ‘Abdu’l-Baha’ described it simply as the maturity of the human race-

“All created things have their degree or stage of maturity. The period of maturity in the life of a tree is the time of its fruit-bearing… The animal attains a stage of full growth and completeness, and in the human kingdom man reaches his maturity when the light of his intelligence attains its greatest power and development… Similarly there are periods and stages in the collective life of humanity. At one time it was passing through its stage of childhood, at another its period of youth, but now it has entered its long-predicted phase of maturity, the evidences of which are everywhere apparent… That which was applicable to human needs during the early history of the race can neither meet nor satisfy the demands of this day, this period of newness and consummation. Humanity has emerged from its former state of limitation and preliminary training. Man must now become imbued with new virtues and powers, new moral standards, new capacities. New bounties, perfect bestowals, are awaiting and already descending upon him. The gifts and blessings of the period of youth, although timely and sufficient during the adolescence of mankind, are now incapable of meeting the requirements of its maturity.”

What we are seeing in the world today is massive transition, like the kind that occurs when a teenager becomes an adult. Some kids take a while to make that transition, clinging to behaviors that worked for them in adolescence. Our society is going through the same kind of process. The world is now effectively one single entity, interdependent but not yet united- not yet mature. In that transition, the pain is caused by our clinging to old values, values that reflect a less mature stage in our social development, and the “new virtues and powers, new moral standards, new capacities” have not yet become a firm part of our culture.  Those old values- nationalism, various forms of racial superiority- have been inherited from previous generations, and are unconsciously part of us.

In another letter of Shoghi Effendi addressed to the Baha’i community, he outlined the implications of the principle of the “oneness of humanity”- the guiding light in our transition to social maturity-

“The principle of the Oneness of Mankind—the pivot round which all the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh revolve —is no mere outburst of ignorant emotionalism or an expression of vague and pious hope..It implies an organic change in the structure of present-day society, a change such as the world has not yet experienced. It constitutes a challenge, at once bold and universal, to outworn shibboleths of national creeds—creeds that have had their day and which must, in the ordinary course of events as shaped and controlled by Providence, give way to a new gospel, fundamentally different from, and infinitely superior to, what the world has already conceived. It calls for no less than the reconstruction and the demilitarization of the whole civilized world.”

This expression’ “an organic change in the structure of present day society” has had a great influence in Baha’i thinking. “Organic” suggests a change that is deep, embedded within, and integrated with other aspects of life.  It’s not a superficial change, but a change that is profound and long lasting.

When we look at the world today, the Baha’i Writings teach us to see two processes going on- the disintegration of the old values- the “old world order”- and the integration associated with the “new world”- where new values are replacing the old.  If you look closely at the world, and know that we are moving towards a world of unity and peace at the end, you can see both processes happening. With that knowledge, you don’t panic when challenges inevitably come, but can see it as the unfoldment of the natural processes of a society moving towards its maturity. Even seemingly backward steps are really just a recoil that causes a spring forward.

As Baha’u’llah promises us- “Soon will the present order be rolled up and a new one spread out in its stead. Verily thy Lord speaketh the truth and is the knower of things unseen.” And in another passage- “Yet so it shall be.  These fruitless strifes, these ruinous wars, shall pass away and the Most Great peace shall come” 

 

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The Cambrian explosion is a period of biological history over 500 million years ago in which, over a relatively short period of time, almost all the major body types of organisms were developed. Many subsequent organisms, up until the modern day, have descended from these original archetypes. Before that, there is very little in the fossil record. Then, all of a sudden, there is this massive dynamic creation of new body types.

It turns out that if you look at the evolution and development of matter, and particularly biology, it didn’t happen with slow gradual development but was rather “punctuated” by periods of rapid evolution followed by vast stretches of time in which nothing seemed to be evolving at all. In other words, evolution has not been continuous, but has periods of dynamic creativity that result in significant changes. Anyone who has ever watched their children grow up has seen this phenomenon.  Kids don’t seem to change day to day, but then one day, usually somewhere in their late teens, you look up and you see that your child is now an adult- standing there asking for the car keys. Their growth has been like the growth of all things- slow, gradual, and then something like puberty happens, and- boom!- they’re a different human.

So what does that have to do with the festival of Ridvan, that Baha’is are celebrating all over the world?  Because Baha’u’llah tells us that humanity’s spiritual and social development happens in the same way as biological development has. It is slow and gradual, punctuated by periods of rapid advancement. Those periods of rapid advancement are associated with one of the Revelations of God.  When Baha’u’llah entered a garden outside of Baghdad in 1863, on the eve of his departure from the city into further exile, he formally declared His Revelation.  The language He uses for that time is extraordinarily compelling, suggesting that there was something far deeper going on than just a Prophet making a claim to divine authority-

Verily, the eye of creation hath never beheld the light of those days, nor hath the gaze of humankind ever witnessed their like. The approach of Him Who is the Desire of the world, His entrance into that garden, His ascent upon the throne of utterance, and the words that streamed forth from the mouth of His will at that moment shall forever transcend every earthly mention. Any attribute that might be ascribed unto them, any praise wherewith they might be extolled will fail to do justice to the dust that hath been ennobled by His footsteps, how much less to His mighty throne, His manifest establishment thereon, and His pervasive and all-embracing utterance. Indeed, the splendours of that Day elude the understanding and comprehension of the peoples of the world.

Baha’u’llah extols this day with words that are astounding, suggesting that all creation was shaken to its depths and a “new life was breathed into the entire creation”.   In subsequent Tablets around this period, He would predict a significant growth of human knowledge and advancement in human affairs along the lines His Revelation had outlined.  Indeed, this is exactly what we have seen. Consider, for instance, the institution of slavery, or any one of the detestable practices that humanity has abandoned in the last two centuries.  It was with us for eons, considered a natural part of life and society, and now the idea of enslaving another human being and limiting their freedom and rights is regarded as so heinous we cringe to even think about it. Why? Because we have made substantial moral and spiritual progress in the last two centuries.  Human civilization, which had languished for centuries, blasted off into the heavens in ways that would be unrecognizable to people who lived before.

Science, of course, studies things it can know something about- something we can measure, quantify, or otherwise manipulate.  But nobody truly knows why, at our time in history, everything just seemed to come together in new and creative ways.  Just like the Cambrian explosion, nobody really knows what happened to make that phenomenon occur.  But if we think about it and deduce from some of the principles Baha’u’llah has outlined, we can come up with some really interesting conclusions.

On a fundamental level, what Baha’u’llah is telling us is that the Divine Will- the ultimate impetus behind any creative boost in all development- works similarly at all levels of creation.  A Revelation of God is just the Divine Will manifested to humans- a theme repeatedly expressed in the Writings of Baha’u’llah.  And it occurs in a punctuated way, with certain intervals of time more “blessed” than others. We just happen to be living in one of the most blessed time in all of human history- “All glory be to this Day, the Day in which the fragrances of mercy have been wafted over all created things, a Day so blest that past ages and centuries can never hope to rival it.”

But we’re never going to be able to see the Divine Will directly.  As Baha’u’llah states in the passage above- “the splendours of that Day elude the understanding and comprehension of the peoples of the world”. It’s probably not simply that we are somehow unaware of it when we could be, but rather that it is simply beyond our ability to comprehend.  We can never see the Divine Will acting directly, like some physical force.  It acts beneath all that, in a manner that we likely can never understand.  We can only see its effects.

One of the other principles given in the Writings of Baha’u’llah- and also those of the Bab- is that a massive infusion of energy from the Divine Will creating a great leap forward occurs because creation has the capacity to accept it.  This relationship between what is given and the capacity to receive it seems to be fundamental. So, it may seem that nothing much is going on for centuries, or on biological time scales, millions of years- but what is gradually happening is the slow development of increased capacity, then it blasts into a new and dynamic reality seemingly all at once.  If you watch a house being built, the creation of the foundation and the erection of the girders and support structures takes a long time, and the process is slow, and then- boom!- they starting putting up the walls and all of a sudden a house is there.  That’s because the slow times were building the capacity for you to put up the structures that would ultimately form a new house, which seemingly happens overnight.

Baha’u’llah’s Tablets about Ridvan are very metaphorical, with highly allusive and poetic language describing what is happening “behind the scenes” to creation overall. They are seemingly the expression, in mere words, of something that is ultimately beyond words to express, beyond our capacity to fully appreciate- a new creative infusion of the Divine Will.

It is the Festival of Riḍván, the vernal season wherein the Beauty of the All-Glorious was revealed between earth and heaven. In this wondrous Day the gates of Paradise were flung open before the faces of all people, at the behest of Him Who is the All-Praised, and the outpourings of divine mercy rained down from the clouds of celestial favour upon His countless embodiments and manifestations in the world of being.

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One of the remarkable and extraordinary aspects of the pandemic and its response has been the degree to which we, as a human race, now rely on this amazing body of knowledge we call “science” to deal with the challenge. Human beings have been subject to plagues and epidemics for millennia. In the centuries prior to the 20^th century, an average couple could expect to lose nearly half of their children to infectious diseases before the age of 5.  It’s horrific and almost unimaginable. But the fact that it is unimaginable is because of the astonishing growth of human knowledge- our understanding of human disease and our increasing sophistication in being able to defeat it. The HIV epidemic, our most recent plague before this one, is now a very manageable chronic disease, and coronavirus will also one day in the not-too-distant future be subdued by the power of science.  Science has become our common international language and every society that has embraced its power has received benefits and blessings many times over.

For people of faith, science is sometimes seen as a threat. It is no such thing, because, at its root, science is not something that exists “out there”- some kind of cold-hearted monster that reveals stark truths and uses them to its advantage. Rather, it exists “in here”- within us. Science is the human race’s most successful expression of human rationality- a primary aspect of us that makes us different from the rest of creation. It is therefore an expression of our transcendent spirit.  This is a point that is made throughout the Baha’i writings, particularly those of ‘Abdu’l-Baha’, who praised science to a supreme degree.

The highest praise is due to men who devote their energies to science, and the noblest center is a center wherein the sciences and arts are taught and studied. Science ever tends to the illumination of the world of humanity. It is the cause of eternal honor to man, and its sovereignty is far greater than the sovereignty of kings. The dominion of kings has an ending; the king himself may be dethroned; but the sovereignty of science is everlasting and without end. 

Baha’u’llah united in His Faith both science and religion. The common element to both of them was our “abstractness”. Science relies on our ability to generalize from the concrete to the abstract and then induce theories to fit the facts, and deduce further conclusions from those original premises. All of that is an abstract exercise- not material in any way. Similarly, to worship God is to worship an abstract reality, and the qualities we associate with God- wisdom, justice, mercy, and compassion. Indeed, in Baha’u’llah’s announcement of His own Revelation, He proclaims that humanity would soon be seeing an explosion of human knowledge- “Erelong shall We bring into being through thee exponents of new and wondrous sciences, of potent and effective crafts, and shall make manifest through them that which the heart of none of Our servants hath yet conceived.”

Human consciousness, in all its forms of expression, would be awakened.

“In this day, the fertilizing winds of the grace of God have passed over all things. Every creature hath been endowed with all the potentialities it can carry. And yet the peoples of the world have denied this grace! Every tree hath been endowed with the choicest fruits, every ocean enriched with the most luminous gems. Man, himself, hath been invested with the gifts of understanding and knowledge…Thus have We created the whole earth anew in this day, yet most of the people have failed to perceive it.”

In the middle of the 19^th century, at the time of Baha’u’llah’s Revelation, European civilization had embraced scientific progress and was using it to its material advantage, subduing the vast reaches of the planet. As one can imagine, societies outside of Europe viewed this with great trepidation. While they admired what Europe was producing and achieving, they also viewed the “new sciences” with concern, aware that they would sweep away traditional structures. Baha’u’llah’s early followers were drawn from the lands encompassed by the great Islamic civilization, which was now in decline and falling behind Europe in nearly every respect. In response to these forces, Baha’u’llah instructed ‘Abdu’l-Baha’, then only 31 years old, to write a dissertation on the “advancement of civilization”. ‘Abdu’l-Baha’ chose to write this work anonymously and address it specifically to his home country of Persia.

Though 19^th century Persian society is the context, the work has evident universal implication for any society that is seeking to “modernize”, and how to do that while not abandoning those elements that held it together in the first place- namely religious faith. As such, it beautifully expresses what religion is in its essence, and how both religion and scientific achievement are the two bright lights to guide human civilization.  It has been published in English under the name “The Secret of Divine Civilization” and can be found here.  The first paragraph is a beautiful song of praise to science itself.

“Praise and thanksgiving be unto Providence that out of all the realities in existence He has chosen the reality of man and has honored it with intellect and wisdom, the two most luminous lights in either world. Through the agency of this great endowment, He has in every epoch cast on the mirror of creation new and wonderful configurations. If we look objectively upon the world of being, it will become apparent that from age to age, the temple of existence has continually been embellished with a fresh grace, and distinguished with an ever-varying splendor, deriving from wisdom and the power of thought…

O ye that have minds to know! Raise up your suppliant hands to the heaven of the one God, and humble yourselves and be lowly before Him, and thank Him for this supreme endowment, and implore Him to succor us until, in this present age, godlike impulses may radiate from the conscience of mankind, and this divinely kindled fire which has been entrusted to the human heart may never die away.

Consider carefully: all these highly varied phenomena, these concepts, this knowledge, these technical procedures and philosophical systems, these sciences, arts, industries and inventions—all are emanations of the human mind. Whatever people has ventured deeper into this shoreless sea, has come to excel the rest. The happiness and pride of a nation consist in this, that it should shine out like the sun in the high heaven of knowledge. “Shall they who have knowledge and they who have it not, be treated alike?”

 And the honor and distinction of the individual consist in this, that he among all the world’s multitudes should become a source of social good. Is any larger bounty conceivable than this, that an individual, looking within himself, should find that by the confirming grace of God he has become the cause of peace and well-being, of happiness and advantage to his fellow men? No, by the one true God, there is no greater bliss, no more complete delight.”

Image courtesy of the Center for Disease Control.

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Ok, so this is not going to be a “happy” essay. This is going to be an essay about reality, and reality is not always happy.  We are not living through happy times right now. That’s the reality. Religion is sometimes framed by its detractors as a way that humans can escape the uncomfortable reality of their lives, but that perspective is poorly informed.  The Revealers of the great religions of humankind were not escaping reality, they were fully embracing it, and then transcending it, and it is in that transcendence that we find the true Reality.

Baha’u’llah was born into a comfortable life. He was one of the older sons of a privileged family, and brilliant in every way.  He was “set”, born with a “silver spoon in his mouth”, destined to be a man who could live almost any life He chose.  He chose one that nobody would have expected, one of persecution and deprivation.

Thou seest me sitting under a sword hanging on a thread, and art well aware that in such a state I have not fallen short of my duty towards Thy Cause, nor failed to shed abroad Thy praise, and declare Thy virtues, and deliver all Thou hadst prescribed unto me in Thy Tablets. Though the sword be ready to fall on my head, I call Thy loved ones with such a calling that the hearts are carried away towards the horizon of Thy majesty and grandeur…

The Ancient Beauty hath consented to be bound with chains that mankind may be released from its bondage, and hath accepted to be made a prisoner within this most mighty Stronghold that the whole world may attain unto true liberty. He hath drained to its dregs the cup of sorrow, that all the peoples of the earth may attain unto abiding joy, and be filled with gladness. 

Baha’u’llah spoke frequently about His plight, acknowledged how painful it was, how His family had suffered as a result of His decisions, mourned the children He had lost. He had the added burden of taking thousands of followers down the same treacherous path of abuse and persecution.  For those of us not used to the challenges of life, or when life is going ok, reading the Words of Baha’u’llah when He reflects on these realities can be a “downer”.  But when you are challenged by reality, when death and disease are rampant, His words steel you for dealing with it.

The generations that have gone on before you—whither are they fled? And those round whom in life circled the fairest and the loveliest of the land, where now are they? Profit by their example, O people, and be not of them that are gone astray. Others ere long will lay hands on what ye possess, and enter into your habitations. Incline your ears to My words, and be not numbered among the foolish.

For every one of you his paramount duty is to choose for himself that on which no other may infringe and none usurp from him. Such a thing—and to this the Almighty is My witness—is the love of God, could ye but perceive it.

Build ye for yourselves such houses as the rain and floods can never destroy, which shall protect you from the changes and chances of this life. This is the instruction of Him Whom the world hath wronged and forsaken.

One fundamental idea of Baha’u’llah’s Revelation is that, through faith in a Transcendent Reality, humans are able to find transcendence within themselves. That takes you above the problems of life so that you are protected from them. The more you gain trust in that Reality, the more powerful and independent you are- the less fearful, less anxious, less troubled.

Thou art My dominion and My dominion perisheth not; wherefore fearest thou thy perishing? Thou art My light and My light shall never be extinguished; why dost thou dread extinction? Thou art My glory and My glory fadeth not; thou art My robe and My robe shall never be outworn. Abide then in thy love for Me, that thou mayest find Me in the realm of glory.

Pleasant is the realm of being, wert thou to attain thereto; glorious is the domain of eternity, shouldst thou pass beyond the world of mortality; sweet is the holy ecstasy if thou drinkest of the mystic chalice from the hands of the celestial Youth. Shouldst thou attain this station, thou wouldst be freed from destruction and death, from toil and sin.

Difficulties and challenges become an opportunity to make more progress along this path, to rely more heavily on your own inner resources.

The true lover yearneth for tribulation even as doth the rebel for forgiveness and the sinful for mercy.

There is no single book in the history of the human race that probes more deeply into the existential fear we all face on a daily basis than the Hidden Words, from whose pages the above quotes were taken. It is a veritable roadmap for spiritual success.  It will come to be one of the most influential, if not the most influential work, ever read by humans.  In the Hidden Words, the Reality behind all existence speaks directly to the human soul, with all its attachments and fears, and challenges it, educates it, inspires it, to see the world from a spiritual perspective.

O Fleeting Shadow! Pass beyond the baser stages of doubt and rise to the exalted heights of certainty. Open the eye of truth, that thou mayest behold the veilless Beauty and exclaim: Hallowed be the Lord, the most excellent of all creators!

Such a perspective does not require us to abandon good science, or think in irrational ways. As Baha’u’llah Himself stated- “If ye fail to recognize the Eternal Truth, at least cling to reason and justice”.  Reason leads us to look at data, track an epidemic, protect a population of people from getting infected, and develop therapies and strategies to help those who do. Justice gives us the moral framework to ensure we distribute resources fairly, so no one group is unequally shouldered with the burden of the problem- something our world is still a long way from achieving.  But “recognition of the Eternal Truth” is a station above “reason” and “justice”- a place of transcendence. It is that exalted place that Baha’u’llah continuously calls us to find within ourselves.

If the beloved of God were to recognize what hath been ordained for them in a transcendent paradise of nearness, at all times would they lay down their lives and cast aside their earthly possessions. They are shut out as by a veil from this reality, however, for they have set their affections on the things of this world; thus do they find tribulations ordained in the path of their Creator difficult to bare, but this is a token of their heedlessness. Wherefore, O my God, do Thou nourish them with the wine of Thy grace and heavenly favors, in such wise that they be busied in naught else but Thee and desire naught else beside Thee; indeed, this is a plenteous bounty!

Last quote from the “Tablet of Tribulations”, provisionally translated by Joshua Hall at joshuahalltranslations.com.  Photo of a street in Turkey, by Ali Arif Soydaş on Unsplash

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In a previous short essay about death, we described  how the Revelations of God have talked about death, encouraging us not to fear it, and to prepare for it by following spiritual teachings. As we noted, there seems to be a connection between the development of a spiritual perspective and the next world itself. As noted, Baha’u’llah expressed the idea that “the true believer lives in both this world and the world to come”. The word in Arabic that Baha’u’llah used to refer to the next world is “malakut”.  Interestingly, the origin of the word is Aramaic- the ancient Hebrew language that Christ spoke.  In Aramaic, “malakut” means the “Kingdom of God”, which is of course how Christ referred to His own message, further strengthening this connection between spiritual teachings and the next world.

Baha’u’llah describes this further- “The nature of the soul after death can never be described, nor is it meet and permissible to reveal its whole character to the eyes of men. The Prophets and Messengers of God have been sent down for the sole purpose of guiding mankind to the straight Path of Truth. The purpose underlying Their revelation hath been to educate all men, that they may, at the hour of death, ascend, in the utmost purity and sanctity and with absolute detachment, to the throne of the Most High.”

Baha’is are taught that there is only one world that we all go to after death. “Heaven” and “hell” are metaphorical terms that reflect our degree of spiritual development, but we all go to the same place when we die, no matter what your religion or belief. It’s just that faith in the great Revelations of God prepare us better for that world than rejection of them.  As those religions all taught us to believe in abstract moral principles, see ourselves as primary spiritual beings, one can appreciate how believing in them would better prepare us for an abstract spiritual life in the next world, whereas rejection of such a belief would keep our vision focused only on the material world we share with animals and deprive us of that preparation and growth.  “Belief” then is a process of putting your faith and trust in something abstract that exists beyond you, and in so doing, you develop and prepare yourself for an “abstract” world after this one.

All this may seem strange until you recognize that humans believe in abstract things all the time. “Justice”, for instance, is an abstract idea. Indeed, the development of civilization depends upon people and societies putting their own personal preferences aside and adhering to abstract moral principles- principles like justice and equality…etc. You then can appreciate that creating the “Kingdom of God” on earth is about basing our societies on peace and justice- that is- abstract moral principles- the same stuff that is the fuel for progress in the next world!  As Jesus taught His followers to say in the Lord’s prayer- “Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done, on earth as it is in heaven”.

With those introductory comments, we present the following passages from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Baha’, who explained all these ideas so clearly-.

Know thou that the Kingdom is the real world, and this nether place is only its shadow stretching out. A shadow hath no life of its own; its existence is only a fantasy, and nothing more; it is but images reflected in water, and seeming as pictures to the eye…If thou wouldst hearken to my words, release thyself from the fetters of whatsoever cometh to pass. Nay rather, under all conditions thank thou thy loving Lord, and yield up thine affairs unto His Will that worketh as He pleaseth. This verily is better for thee than all else, in either world. (‘Abdu’l-Baha)

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

The difference and distinction will naturally become realized between all men after their departure from this mortal world. But this (distinction) is not in respect to place, but it is in respect to the soul and conscience. For the Kingdom of God is sanctified (or free) from time and place; it is another world and another universe. (‘Abdu’l-Baha’) 

The rewards of the other world are peace, the spiritual graces, the various spiritual gifts in the Kingdom of God, the gaining of the desires of the heart and the soul, and the meeting of God in the world of eternity. In the same way the punishments of the other world, that is to say, the torments of the other world, consist in being deprived of the special divine blessings and the absolute bounties, and falling into the lowest degrees of existence (‘Abdu’l-Baha’)

When the human soul soareth out of this transient heap of dust and riseth into the world of God, then veils will fall away, and verities will come to light, and all things unknown before will be made clear, and hidden truths be understood.

Consider how a being, in the world of the womb, was deaf of ear and blind of eye, and mute of tongue; how he was bereft of any perceptions at all. But once, out of that world of darkness, he passed into this world of light, then his eye saw, his ear heard, his tongue spoke. In the same way, once he hath hastened away from this mortal place into the Kingdom of God, then he will be born in the spirit; then the eye of his perception will open, the ear of his soul will hearken, and all the truths of which he was ignorant before will be made plain and clear. (‘Abdu’l-Baha’)

Photo by Luis Fernando Felipe Alves on Unsplash

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On Sifter of Dust, we present scriptural passages from the great religion of Islam. In a previous essay on Christianity, we discussed how the concept of the oneness of God- the worship of an abstract Reality who was the source of goodness- had an incredible unifying, and indeed, civilizing effect on Europe.  People were then able to see themselves as not all that different from the other tribes, and gradually the society developed a common sense of identity based on common moral and spiritual values. Of course, tribalism still existed in other forms, as the wars that encompassed Europe for much of the last 2000 years attest, but the foundation was being laid for the social and political structures that would be erected in later centuries.

Christianity’s early spread through Europe happened in the first 600 years after Christ, and then it was diffused world-wide when European countries encompassed the globe in the age of Imperialism, after 1600. In the year 610 AD however, after Christianity’s initial spread, the Revelation of the Prophet Muhammad arose out of the desert and would soon bring under its banner all of the Middle East, Persia, north Africa and the southern portions of Europe.  Similar to Europe before Christ, the pattern of life before the Prophet Muhammad in these areas was almost entirely a tribal one, with the worship of many different “gods”. The tribes of the Arabian desert were so frequently at war that they officially agreed on a month of peace once a year to give them all a break.  War was literally built into the calendar.

Islam raised its structure on the theological foundations of Judaism and Christianity. The Prophet Muhammad declared Himself to be the next in the line of Prophets and Messengers dating back to pre-historic times. He accepted both Moses and Jesus as true. As the Prophet explained in the Quran, the common identity of all the Messengers that had come before Him, and indeed all humanity, was their submission to One God, the same abstract, all-pervasive Force that other monotheistic religions worshipped.  “Islam” means “submission”, and all the founders of the religions before the Prophet Muhammad were regarded as being part of one religion- the religion of “submission” to One God.  The “oneness of God”, or as the Prophet described it- the “unity of God”- was the unifying idea for, not only all Muslims, but all peoples and all previous revelations from God. Islam was therefore the most universal religion the world had ever seen, as it encompassed all the peoples and religions in a single unifying perspective.  “All people are your brothers, either they are your brothers in faith or your brothers in creation”, stated Ali Ibn Talib, the Prophet’s son-in-law and Islam’s first theologian.

The effect of the Prophet Muhammad’s teaching was both profound and dramatic. Islamic civilization literally arose like a phoenix out of the desert and within a few centuries was the most advanced civilization on earth.  Like Christianity, the framework of One God not only brought diverse peoples into a common identity, it created social norms that led to stability and the advancement of intellectual, artistic, scientific, and spiritual enterprises of the highest quality.  Islam’s tolerance and acceptance of Judaism and Christianity, defining both as honored “People of the Book” allowed Jews and Christians to live in Islamic lands under the Prophet’s own protection.   Baha’u’llah would later describe Islam as like a “garden” filled with diverse and wondrous fruits, as peoples and cultures mixed together and produced a new civilization.

It’s worth meditating a bit on the concept of the “unity of God”, as expressed in the short statement summarizing the message of Islam-  “There is no god, but God”.  The Quran describes this God in every chapter with the introduction “In the name of God, the Compassionate, the All Merciful”.  The Quran further defines how this “One God’ should be worshipped. “Serve God, and do not associate anything with God, and be good to your parents, and relative, and orphans and the poor, and to neighbors close by and neighbors remote, and to the companion at your side, and to the traveler, and to your wards, for God does not love the arrogant, the boastful…” In another passage of the Quran, God states– “Verily I am God: there is no god but Me, so serve Me only, and establish regular prayer for celebrating My praise.”

The opposite of this perspective was “idol worship”- putting one’s faith in a material thing. In the Prophet’s time, it was a statue or other image, or a “god” that was not real, as opposed to the One God who was truly real.  Muslim philosophers and poets would define it more abstractly- anything that kept you from embodying the virtues of God- including your own ego (or someone else’s). Baha’u’llah would later refer to the “god” of our “idle fancies”, ideas with no intrinsic value but to which we get attached. To worship God is to engage in the sublime exercise of worshipping all that is good and true and right. “There is no god”– “but God” is a statement of profound spiritual and psychological truth.    

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