Category: Inspirational

This short passage, taken from Baha’u’llah’s Tablet known as the “Seven Valleys” tells of a beautiful spiritual idea, that human hearts- like mirrors- should be kept clean to reflect the light of goodness and truth. A mirror that has dirt on it can not reflect light- “light” in this instance meaning the “light of God”- spiritual truth and goodness. The “dirt” are our “worldly attachments”- things that we are attached to, but actually keep us tethered and don’t allow us to grow. Attachments come in many forms- often consisting of various forms of ego or unhealthy emotional attachment- that keep us from seeing and reflecting truth.

One of the beautiful metaphors used in the Baha’i Writings is the “inner eye” and it’s ability to behold spiritual truth, like the outer eye can appreciate physical truths. Baha’u’llah taught that each of us has the ability to recognize spiritual beauty, but that our vision can be blinded by our own ego, attachment to material things, or a host of other “veils”.  In another analogy, He describes human beings as having an inner mirror, which can reflect light to others, but that mirror can be covered with dust and lose its luster. That “dust” on our soul is those very same attachments. One of the major purposes of spiritual life is to help us clean our mirrors, remove the veils, and see spiritual truth more clearly and manifest it in our lives. This particular quote was taken from the collection of Baha’u’llah’s Tablets known as “Tabernacle of Unity”, most of which were written to people of Zoroastrian background. But these images and ideas are very prevalent in the Hidden Words as well.

One of the most attractive elements of Baha’u’llah’s Revelation is how he instructed His followers to spread their religion.  Rather than using any kind of “force” or coercion, Baha’u’llah stated that His Faith must be spread heart to heart in a spirit of love and compassion- always with respect for other people’s boundaries, and only if the person demonstrates interest.  Dr Williams highlights this theme in his presentation- “How to spread your religion”- an introductory talk on the Baha’i Faith. This talk can be found here.

Baha’i’s certainly do work hard to share their faith but only in the spirit of sharing a gift that we have found meaningful and others may as well.  This approach maintains unity- even among people who have no interest.  By maintaining respect, we can find common ground in other areas.  As Baha’u’llah stated- “O ye that dwell on earth! The religion of God is for love and unity; make it not the cause of enmity or dissension”. In a related passage, He says “conflict and contention are categorically prohibited”.

Given the current events in our country, we are going to offer several posts that highlight passages in the Baha’i Writings bearing on the issue of race in American society. Baha’is have been actively engaged in working with others to solve what is regarded as “the most vital and challenging issue” facing the American democracy for over a century.  In this first post, we highlight a quote in which Baha’u’llah reminds us that is it the wish of God that we eliminate all forms of racial discrimination and oppression.  Baha’u’llah states this in several passages of His Writings and Abdu’l-Baha’ references it again and again in his travels in America. We will highlight several of those passages in future posts.

This particular quote has been made into a song that is frequently sung in Baha’i gatherings. Unfortunately, there is not a high quality recording of the song available, so we went with the best we had!- a recording made at a Baha’i summer school event. The song is lovely. Teach it to your kids! Only by infusing these ideas into our children and teaching them to live them will we finally be rid of this evil.

Lyrics are:

“Close your eyes to racial differences and welcome all with the light of oneness. Be as brilliant as the light, as splendid as the fire, show the  brightness of the fire of your love.”

Enjoy!

In several Tablets, Baha’u’llah praises medicine and the “science of healing”.  He Himself urged His followers to seek care when they are ill and follow the advice of competent providers, explaining that it is through science and “material means” that God assists humanity-

“Resort ye, in times of sickness, to competent physicians. We have not set aside the use of material means, rather We have confirmed it through this Pen, which God hath made the Dawning place of His shining and glorious Cause.”