Forces of Our Time (3)

Moral Downfall
The signs of moral downfall at present time can be perceived “in whichever direction we turn our gaze”. It is, as Shoghi Effendi pointed out, the direct consequence of the decline of religious influence on both man’s life individually as well as on society collectively.

“There can be no doubt that the decline of religion as a social force, of which the deterioration of religious institutions is but an external phenomenon, is chiefly responsible for so grave, so conspicuous an evil (moral decadence). "Religion," writes Bahá'u'lláh, "is the greatest of all means for the establishment of order in the world and for the peaceful contentment of all that dwell therein. The weakening of the pillars of religion hath strengthened the hands of the ignorant and made them bold and arrogant. Verily I say, whatsoever hath lowered the lofty station of religion hath increased the waywardness of the wicked, and the result cannot be but anarchy." "Religion," He, in another Tablet, has stated, "is a radiant light and an impregnable stronghold for the protection and welfare of the peoples of the world, for the fear of God impelleth man to hold fast to that which is good, and shun all evil. Should the lamp of religion be obscured, chaos and confusion will ensue, and the lights of fairness, of justice, of tranquility and peace cease to shine." …

“No wonder, therefore, that when, as a result of human perversity, the light of religion is quenched in men's hearts, and the divinely appointed Robe, designed to adorn the human temple, is deliberately discarded, a deplorable decline in the fortunes of humanity immediately sets in, bringing in its wake all the evils which a wayward soul is capable of revealing. The perversion of human nature, the degradation of human conduct, the corruption and dissolution of human institutions, reveal themselves, under such circumstances, in their worst and most revolting aspects. Human character is debased, confidence is shaken, the nerves of discipline are relaxed, the voice of human conscience is stilled, the sense of decency and shame is obscured, conceptions of duty, of solidarity, of reciprocity and loyalty are distorted, and the very feeling of peacefulness, of joy and of hope is gradually extinguished. …

“The recrudescence of religious intolerance, of racial animosity, and of patriotic arrogance; the increasing evidences of selfishness, of suspicion, of fear and of fraud; the spread of terrorism, of lawlessness, of drunkenness and of crime; the unquenchable thirst for, and the feverish pursuit after, earthly vanities, riches and pleasures; the weakening of family solidarity; the laxity in parental control; the lapse into luxurious indulgence; the irresponsible attitude towards marriage and the consequent rising tide of divorce; the degeneracy of art and music, the infection of literature, and the corruption of the press; the extension of the influence and activities of those "prophets of decadence" who advocate companionate marriage, who preach the philosophy of nudism, who call modesty an intellectual fiction, who refuse to regard the procreation of children as the sacred and primary purpose of marriage, who denounce religion as an opiate of the people, who would, if given free rein, lead back the human race to barbarism, chaos, and ultimate extinction -- these appear as the outstanding characteristics of a decadent society, a society that must either be reborn or perish.”  (Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 185)

Forces of Our Time (2)

Some of the chief dark forces of our time described by Mr. Hooper Dunbar are listed below:

The force of Irreligion:

“A primary force of darkness is irreligion. It ribs us of our understanding of the very purpose of life. It gives rise to materialism. It closes the door to the sources of power and well-being for humanity. Irreligion and materialism promote other dark forces. Whenever people lose their authentic religious foundation, their spiritual fibre, there is little left but the physical shell of  their beings, their animal selves. Their whole focus becomes the outer, ephemeral benefits of life and how to acquire them: they lose sight of their innate nobility and the heights of spiritual development to which human beings can aspire. This turning away from the higher nature and towards the lower nature spurs the growth of forces of darkness.
...
“It is important to make a distinction between true religion, a living force that connects human with God while bringing light and unity into the world, and what is often taken for religion, consisting mainly of form and ceremony, with much of the original teaching having become misunderstood or lost sight of. This state of affairs has come about in the winter of each cycle of religious renewal. Fanaticism, superstition, priestcraft, orthodoxy, narrowness and sectarian tendencies of whatever denomination are all forces of darkness that have long since lost connection with the spirit of the divine Messengers whom they claim to represent.”
…
"This is not to say there are no good intentions remaining among the followers of past religions, There appears to be many sincere people in groups of all kinds, both religious and secular; however ‘Abdu'l-Bahá explains that in order to produce the desired result, sincere intention needs to be accompanied by volition and action, as well as requisite knowledge. When the aim is to change attitudes and human behavior, good intentions need to be supported by clear understanding and connected to a powerful source of dynamic energy capable of generating both volition and action. The Word of God, always divinely tailored for the needs of humankind at its current stage of development, provides that unique motive energy.”
…
“Irreligion comes in variety of forms, one of which has been termed functional atheism. We see a lot of this in the world today. A person may think that God exists but believe that human nature, economic forces or political traditions are the reason that things are, inevitably, the way they are. Generations of people have, understandably, failed to find much relevance to what passes under the name of religion, have come to consider it as a spent force and have basically adopted a secular, atheistic view of reality. Their whole tendency is not to believe, or to see God as pertinent only to the individual and not to society as a whole.”

Mr. Dunbar then concluded that “irreligion, secularism and the belief that political or economic forces alone animate humanity are spiritual illnesses. They act as veils or clouds, hindering and delaying the influence and action of the divine spirit of Bahá'u'lláh in human affairs.”

to be continued...

Posted via email from The Garden of Heart

Forces of Our Time (1)

Recently I have been reading a book by Mr. Hooper Dunbar: “Forces of Our Time—The Dynamics of Light and Darkness”. I have really enjoyed it.  It helps me to deepen my understanding about the current trend in our confused society and where each individual stands as to our responsibility in helping shaping the society towards a brighter future.

The following are some excerpts from the book.

“Anyone looking at the condition of the world today will be struck by the dramatic changes taking place. On the one hand is the visible deterioration in so many fundamental processes and institutions, from the financial world, politics and the fabric of society to climate change and energy. On the other is an enlivening upsurge in knowledge, in concern for human rights and in technologies that bring people together.

These energies are spiritual in nature and result from the coming of God’s most recent representative to humankind, Bahá'u'lláh. He has set in motion processes that are creating a new, divine civilization. In response to this, negative forces have risen to resist the divine purpose.”

Mr. Dunbar has identified many of those negative forces (dark forces). These dark forces are chiefly responsible for accelerating "the decline of humanity’s fortunes”, “whether they are expressed individually in our lives or collectively in the cultures and societies that surround us”. Some of these dark forces are (not an exhaust list):

•  Conditions when humanity turns away from God: irreligion, atheism, naturalism, secularism;
• Things that humanity worships in place of God: materialism, nationalism, racialism, and communism;
•  Perversions of religion with man made terms: fanaticism, superstitions;
•  Consequences of humanity’s losing the moral compass provided by living religion: prejudice, corruption, immorality, moral laxity and widespread lawlessness;

In vivid contrast are those forces of light:

• Forces that derive directly from authentic religion: justice, trustworthiness, compassion, faith, interdependence, universality, insight, godliness, wisdom, rectitude, holiness and peace;
• Spiritual qualities resulting from our connection to God: love, unity, harmony, purity, consideration, courage, courtesy, and humility;
• Outcome of faith and obedience to the divine teachings: happiness, detachment,  integrity, truthfulness, moderation, chastity, trust and hope;
• Conditions that will heal the world: reconciliation, pacification, integration, orderliness, fellowship, non-violence and freedom from prejudice.

to be continued...

Posted via email from The Garden of Heart

The Process of Integration

When talking about the achievement of the organic and spiritual unity of the whole world as the supreme mission of the Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh, Shoghi Effendi used the establishment of the United States of American as example to explain how the world unity will be eventually achieved:

“Such a unique and momentous crisis in the life of organized mankind may, moreover, be likened to the culminating stage in the political evolution of the great American Republic -- the stage which marked the emergence of a unified community of federated states. The stirring of a new national consciousness, and the birth of a new type of civilization, infinitely richer and nobler than any which its component parts could have severally hoped to achieve, may be said to have proclaimed the coming of age of the American people. Within the territorial limits of this nation, this consummation may be viewed as the culmination of the process of human government. The diversified and loosely related elements of a divided community were brought together, unified and incorporated into one coherent system. Though this entity may continue gaining in cohesive power, though the unity already achieved may be further consolidated, though the civilization to which that unity could alone have given birth may expand and flourish, yet the machinery essential to such an unfoldment may be said to have been, in its essential structure, erected, and the impulse required to guide and sustain it may be regarded as having been fundamentally imparted. No stage above and beyond this consummation of national unity can, within the geographical limits of that nation, be imagined, though the highest destiny of its people, as a constituent element in a still larger entity that will embrace the whole of mankind, may still remain unfulfilled. Considered as an isolated unit, however, this process of integration may be said to have reached its highest and final consummation.

Such is the stage to which an evolving humanity is collectively approaching. The Revelation entrusted by the Almighty Ordainer to Bahá'u'lláh, His followers firmly believe, has been endowed with such potentialities as are commensurate with the maturity of the human race -- the crowning and most momentous stage in its evolution from infancy to manhood.

The successive Founders of all past Religions Who, from time immemorial, have shed, with ever-increasing intensity, the splendor of one common Revelation at the various stages which have marked the advance of mankind towards maturity may thus, in a sense, be regarded as preliminary Manifestations, anticipating and paving the way for the advent of that Day of Days when the whole earth will have fructified and the tree of humanity will have yielded its destined fruit.

Incontrovertible as is this truth, its challenging character should never be allowed to obscure the purpose, or distort the principle, underlying the utterances of Bahá'u'lláh -- utterances that have established for all time the absolute oneness of all the Prophets, Himself included, whether belonging to the past or to the future. Though the mission of the Prophets preceding Bahá'u'lláh may be viewed in that light, though the measure of Divine Revelation with which each has been entrusted must, as a result of this process of evolution, necessarily differ, their common origin, their essential unity, their identity of purpose, should at no time and under no circumstances be misapprehended or denied. That all the Messengers of God should be regarded as "abiding in the same Tabernacle, soaring in the same Heaven, seated upon the same Throne, uttering the same Speech, and proclaiming the same Faith" must, however much we may extol the measure of Divine Revelation vouchsafed to mankind at this crowning stage of its evolution, remain the unalterable foundation and central tenet of Bahá'í belief. Any variations in the splendor which each of these Manifestations of the Light of God has shed upon the world should be ascribed not to any inherent superiority involved in the essential character of any one of them, but rather to the progressive capacity, the ever-increasing spiritual receptiveness, which mankind, in its progress towards maturity, has invariably manifested.”

(Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 165)

Posted via web from The Garden of Heart

Spring is here

I haven't been able to write anything for the past two or three weeks. The reason is the season: spring has once again arrived. Spring, with its life-giving energy and penetrating beauty, possesses such an attractive force that I just simply cannot stay inside. I get up at the dawn, watching the sun rises from behind the tree top, revealing all the hidden beauty that was behind the veil of darkness.

Pink dogwood is now blooming, its color is so vibrating and shining that I can almost see/feel its spirit dancing between branches.

And its tender leaves just emerge, collecting dew drops at the tip of every leaf:

The pure and white flowers have brightened the earth for a short time by their evanescent beauty and purity just as some beloved and devoted souls did to the world.

Hostas seem to respond to the call of spring most readily, making the spring garden green, full and refreshing.

While in the yard at the dusk, sitting in the garden all by myself, the vitality of life and the freshness of spring air always make me wonder the miracle of life and the source of all beings.

I remember reading Guy Murchie's book talking about the last and the ultimate mystery of universe: the mystery of divinity.

"Who or What runs the Universe?

    Is there a plan behind the daisy, the hummingbird,

        The whale and the world?

Who conceived the eye back in the primeval darkness

    Of early evolution?

        Who designed the fish's air bladder in the ancient deep

            As if foreseeing its future as a breath lung upon the dry land?

And out of what beginning evolved the mind?

    By any stretch could mind have been mindlessly created?

        Does science have answer

            To the Voice out of the Whirlwind which asked Job

                'Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts?'

Is the world really drifting along without pilot,

    Steering itself automatically,

        Running its own affairs at random?

            Could the Universe, just conceivably,

                Have created Itself?

 

Surely there is Mystery in this Universe,

    Not only somewhere and somewhen, but everywhere everywhen

        And far, far beyond the scope of man's feeble

            Capacity to comprehend.

For man, puny, mortal and finite,

    As he is in this nether phase,

        Is permitted to visualize neither an end to space

            Nor space without end;

                Nor can he even grasp a start or a finish of time,

                    Nor any sort of beginning that has no beginning

                        Nor any end that has no end.

Hence the Mystery,

    The abiding, pervasive, universal Unknowability

        That many call by the name of God.

But what matters it what you call It?

    It is abstruse, bewilderingly abstruse, and remains so

        Whether or not we accept that somehow by Its agency

            Out of utter nothingness that has arisen

                Everything in the Universe.

 

Its station plainly implies intelligence,

    Indeed Intelligence so far beyond the human

        As to justify the adjective 'Divine',

And this seems to be relative.

    If a human adult represents divinity to a baby or an animal,

        So must the animal be divine to a vegetable,

            The vegetable to a mineral…

Likewise, as wrote Paul to the Corinthians,

    'The foolishness of God is wiser than men',

        And there is presumably a hierarchy in Divinity above

            As well as below us ---

                Even as the doings and thoughts of humanity and of Earth

                    Are but a negligible jot

                        In the eternal consciousness of God,

Even as the horizon of knowledge expands outward from our planet

    Accompanied by the inexorable horizon of Mystery

        Which expands even faster and farther than knowledge,

            Leading man's consciousness

                To new dimensions.

 

Thus doth Divinity

    Embrace all the other six mysteries of life

        Even though callow man comprehendeth it not,

            Even though the Mystery remainsth

                So far beyond earthly finitude

That no eye but God's own Eye

    Hath the capacity to see

        GOD."

Humanity’s Spiritual Education

Abdu'l-Baha: “The mission of the prophets, the revelation of the holy books, the manifestation of the heavenly teachers and the purpose of divine philosophy all center in the training of the human realities so that they may become clear and pure as mirrors and reflect the light and love of the Sun of Reality."

I was reading the section V: humanity’s spiritual education of a book: “Baha’u’llah’s Teachings on Spiritual Reality” compiled by Mr. Paul Lample. I was deeply impressed by the introduction of this section and like to share it with you here:

“Bahá’u’lláh indicates that the revelation of spiritual power comes to humanity in two ways. One is a general revelation which flows to all creation, without which the physical world would cease to exist. A second, specific revelation is accessible to human beings to provide for their spiritual awakening and transformation.

Despite the fact that the nature of spiritual reality is objective, human beings would never be able, unaided, to discovery the principles and laws which govern its operation. They would remain as an uncultivated orchard that bears no fruit. It is for this reason that God sends an intermediary – an Educator whose purpose is the cultivation of human spirit.

The series of divine intermediaries are like teachers in one school who contribute to a never-ending process of human development, each building on what came before while further releasing the potentialities latent in the human race. These Educators reveal teachings and laws suited to the current stage of human social progress. Thus true religion – which is essentially one despite its new manifestation in every age – is not humanity’s reaching for God but, rather, God’s instruction to guide humanity. Only when human interpretations have contaminated the original teachings does the perfect instruction in human reality degenerate into superstition. Then does the new Educator appear to renew the pure teachings.

Human beings are called upon to recognize the source of this spiritual education and follow its guidance. Bahá’u’lláh’s teachings are the latest restatement of the divine purpose suited to the current spiritual, social and material needs of the human race. Through His guidance the stupendous material achievements brought about by scientific mastery of physical reality will be renewed, reinforced and even overshadowed by the moral and social progress that will transform human civilization through mastery of spiritual reality.”
 

Posted via email from The Garden of Heart

Naw Ruz Reflection

Today is Naw Ruz, Baha’i New Year, also the first day of spring.

Happy Naw Ruz to you all,
Happy New Year to all of you and
Happy First Day of Spring to every one.

Spring is my very favorite season. I live on spring, live for spring. Every year at the end of February, I become increasingly restless and impatient. Every year when the spring is about to be gone (end of June) I become very depressed. People would often say that fall is beautiful too, summer is fun, and winter has its merits. True, but it’s not just the beauty of spring I love. I can find beauty in many things: in a picture, in morning dew drops, in an innocent baby face. But spring and only spring is life giving. While the beauty of fall can be enjoyed as a zoom out picture, the energy of spring can be felt in every details: every leaf in spring is new and fresh, every flower full of potential and bringing hope. It is this capacity of spring I love the most when it’s here and I miss when it’s gone. No one can talk me into that other seasons could be mentioned/compared along side with spring. There is phrase in Chinese that describes spring most accurately: “万物复苏, 万象更新”, I wish I could find an English phrase for it. Basically it means in spring everything is revived and renewed, only in a more poetic way.

I wished that spring would stay forever. I wished that there would be no other seasons but only spring. But one year I went to Baton Rouge in Louisiana at the end of March, where winder is not so severe that trees will not die back and flowers keep blooming through winter. When I was there, azaleas were blooming everywhere and trees were green all over. But something is missing: there was no feeling of spring, there was no smell of spring and there was no soul-stirring energy of spring. I puzzled for a moment and it dawned on me that because there they don’t have winter, so they don’t get the feeling and benefits of spring. So despite the degree I dislike winter, if it’s the price I have to pay in order to enjoy my spring, I am willing to go through winter with great patience and confidence that spring will one day for sure arrive. I am not going to trade my winter with a place with all seasons spring-like. "Unless the season of winter appear...the season of the soul-refreshing spring would not come, the fragrant breeze would not waft...”(Abdu’l-Baha)

The lesson learned from the season can be equally applied to human life in particular and human history in general. Suffering has been a mystic topic for many. Human nature seems to be created in such way that we learn most effectively through contrast. Without experience of pain and darkness, it would take a saint to appreciate the joy and light. I remember many years ago, after my husband was naturalized to become a citizen of US, his colleagues threw a party for him. One of his best friends came to him and said: I am jealous of you that what we are born with you have to earn. I often wonder how many who are born here in US truly appreciate the fact that many people in the world are willing to risk their life to come to the shore of this great country.

I like the way Guy Murchie put this point of view in his book: “Most humans seem to believe they want to attain something in life. But do they actually secretly yearn for frenzy, conflict, failure and more struggles? Can there really be joy if there be no pain?” I guess that’s why God has ordained that human’s eternal journey toward ultimate perfection starts here in this earthly plane where light is always followed by shadow, good by evil, health by sickness, wealth by poverty, and knowledge by ignorance.

It is Baha’i perspective that human history goes through a similar cycle of four seasons and right now we are living in the beginning of a new spring of another great cycle of history. The regenerating spiritual energy of spring has been released through the Revelation Baha’u’llah. Just as the energy released by the physical sun of spring will bring life to everything that is alive, while hastening the decay to anything that is lifeless, the new released spiritual energy will break down age long prejudices and out-of-date institutions while brings to life a new world order: “The world's equilibrium hath been upset through the vibrating influence of this most great, this new World Order. Mankind's ordered life hath been revolutionized through the agency of this unique, this wondrous System..." "Soon will the present-day order be rolled up, and a new one spread out in its stead.” (Baha'u'llah).

At this early stage of development, it will take a spiritual eye to see what is happening right now and what lies ahead. Just as the son and the father in this fable demonstrated (from “Thief at Night” by William Sears) :

“Once upon a time, a father and his young son journeyed into a far land, and climbing to the mountain-top, they rested for the night. At dawn, the sun banished the darkness and painted the snow-capped peaks with brilliant orange.

“The son awoke; he saw the glowing sky and the flame-colored mountain-tops. He was a small boy, and could only see through the top of the window above him. He did not understand the brilliance. It alarmed him. He longed for the comfort of yesterday when he was at home with his mother. He wished he had never set out on the journey.

He was sure there was only disaster and fire in the strange new heavens.

“The rising sun warmed the winter snow which had lain cold and barren for so long upon the mountainside. It loosed the drifts and sent cascades thundering down into the valley below.

“The dreadful roaring sound terrified the young son even more than the flaming sky. He rushed to his father and shook him. He roused him, crying:

“ ‘Father! Father! Wake up! Wake up! It is the end of the world!’

“The father opened his eyes. He could see everything clearly through the window which was still too high for the vision of his son.

“He saw the sun-painted peaks with their morning fire. He heard the avalanche of snow released by the warming rays of the Spring sun. He knew that soon it would bring fresh water to the parched land below, restoring life. He understood these things. He took his son by the hand to comfort him.

“ ‘No, my son,’ he said. ‘It is not the end of the world. It is the dawn of a new day.’ ”

Posted via email from The Garden of Heart

Fundamental Principle of Religious Truth

(Passages from "The World Order of Baha'u'llah" by Shoghi Effendi)

… 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.

"All the Prophets of God," asserts Bahá'u'lláh in the Kitáb-i-Íqán, "abide in the same tabernacle, soar in the same heaven, are seated upon the same throne, utter the same speech, and proclaim the same Faith." From the "beginning that hath no beginning," these Exponents of the Unity of God and Channels of His incessant utterance have shed the light of the invisible Beauty upon mankind, and will continue, to the "end that hath no end," to vouchsafe fresh revelations of His might and additional experiences of His inconceivable glory. To contend that any particular religion is final, that "all Revelation is ended, that the portals of Divine mercy are closed, that from the daysprings of eternal holiness no sun shall rise again, that the ocean of everlasting bounty is forever stilled, and that out of the Tabernacle of ancient glory the Messengers of God have ceased to be made manifest" would indeed be nothing less than sheer blasphemy.

"They differ," explains Bahá'u'lláh in that same epistle, "only in the intensity of their revelation and the comparative potency of their light." And this, not by reason of any inherent incapacity of any one of them to reveal in a fuller measure the glory of the Message with which He has been entrusted, but rather because of the immaturity and unpreparedness of the age He lived in to apprehend and absorb the full potentialities latent in that Faith.

"Know of a certainty," explains Bahá'u'lláh, "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."

It is for this reason, and this reason only, that those who have recognized the Light of God in this age, claim no finality for the Revelation with which they stand identified, nor arrogate to the Faith they have embraced powers and attributes intrinsically superior to, or essentially different from, those which have characterized any of the religious systems that preceded it.
…

If the Light that is now streaming forth upon an increasingly responsive humanity with a radiance that bids fair to eclipse the splendor of such triumphs as the forces of religion have achieved in days past; if the signs and tokens which proclaimed its advent have been, in many respects, unique in the annals of past Revelations; if its votaries have evinced traits and qualities unexampled in the spiritual history of mankind; these should be attributed not to a superior merit which the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh, as a Revelation isolated and alien from any previous Dispensation, might possess, but rather should be viewed and explained as the inevitable outcome of the forces that have made of this present age an age infinitely more advanced, more receptive, and more insistent to receive an ampler measure of Divine Guidance than has hitherto been vouchsafed to mankind."

Posted via email from The Garden of Heart

Why do I choose to become a Baha’i?

Lately I was asked by three friends the same question: why do I choose to become a Baha’i? It might be coincident that they almost asked me at the same time, but it serves as a reminder to me that it probably is a good time to think about and answer to this question.

I thought to myself another related question: who am I? My parents gave me a name: Le Kang which became my identity in the society. I respond to it well, for a while at least. Then I married and came to US, and my name was changed to Le Wang. I felt strange at the beginning, but soon got used to it. I am still who I am, the name change did nothing to how I feel about myself. I also serve many roles in life: a daughter, a sister, a wife, a mother and a friend. Plus, I am defined in society by my position in a job. All of those roles are import to me in its own right. If one day I no longer play one of the roles, I am sure I will feel lost for a while and even become profoundly sorrow in some cases. But I will not lose myself, I am still who I am. And then I also consider myself a Baha’i. I realize that this is a different story all together. This is not another role I play in society or in my life. This is who I am. All other roles are external, but this identity of being a Baha’i is internal. With it, all other parts of life can be set straight and become a channel or a mean through which I may express my inner belief in a concrete way; without it, all other roles in life shall become senseless and meaningless. Honestly I don’t really know how this has become the case. I guess this is what a belief means. Or we were made to be able to become a believer when we see the truth.

As to the question why I chose to become a Baha’i, the short answer is I didn’t choose: years back when I first heard about the Baha’i faith and the principles it promotes, my innermost being recognized the truth of these teachings and that left me no choice but to become a follower of Bahá'u'lláh. Prof. John Hatcher stated this point very logically and fluently in his recent book “Understanding Death”: “If there is a God, and if God has sent a sequence of Messengers, each with specific guidance for a particular period of time, and if Bahá'u'lláh is the Manifestation for this age, then how could I do aught else but accept His station and follow His guidance. Logically, to do otherwise would be to act against my own best interest.” It is that simple: how could I not follow what is true to me? How could anyone not follow what is true to him?

Yet the answer could also be very long, as long as the story of my life, a story of longing to be part of something greater than myself that could bring hope to a distressed society and the suffered multitudes. Some twenty years ago, I hopped on a train to Moscow, traveled around the world, hoping to find a society that promotes equity and justice for all, in which my son could grow up with a happier life than I had experienced. What I ended up with finding is much better than I could ever have thought: a Kingdom on earth in making. Nowadays, talking to a follower of any believing system, you will almost always hear about the end of world story, and the expectation of the Kingdom of God being dropped from heaven one way or another. Likewise, Baha’i faith believes that only the divinely inspired/ordained remedy could heal our currently diseased society. But unlike other belief systems that are still waiting, Baha’is are actively participating in building the Kingdom on earth based on the God given blueprint brought to mankind by Baha’u’llah.

“Humanity,” as Shoghi Effendi has pointed it out more than seventy years ago, “whether viewed in the light of man's individual conduct or in the existing relationships between organized communities and nations, has, alas, strayed too far and suffered too great a decline to be redeemed through the unaided efforts of the best among its recognized rulers and statesmen…”, and what else, but “the Divine Programme enunciated…by Bahá'u'lláh…is eventually capable of withstanding the forces of internal disintegration which, if unchecked, must needs continue to eat into the vitals of a despairing society. It is towards this goal -- the goal of a new World Order, Divine in origin, all-embracing in scope, equitable in principle, challenging in its features -- that a harassed humanity must strive.”

I can’t imagine a better way to spend my life, and to play my part, however small “in this greatest drama of the world's spiritual history.” I understand it will take a while and much hard work to carry out such grandeur undertaking.  It may well take more than one generation to do the work. The groundbreaking has taken place, someone has to do it.  If it’s not me, who else? Depending on how you view it, as to me, it is both privilege and responsibility.

Posted via email from The Garden of Heart

Likeness is nearness

Ever since I have come to learn about religion, this one theme is always present and debating over by different religions or different denominations, namely, who goes to heaven and who is condemned to hell. Many take it very seriously and being very sure who will go to heaven. And yet many others take it sarcastically or get tired of different opinions, then just shrug it off with a “who cares” attitude. Nevertheless, this is one topic that always interesting me, not because I pretend that I know who is going to heaven or hell, but because I believe that behind the simplicity of the concept, there are more to it. Its implication is deeper than what we currently understand, just like most of other things in this world.

One school of thoughts about this is that once a person claims to be a believer, he has got himself a ticket to heaven. It’s a once for all solution. In this understanding, heaven is like a place or palace with a gate, and faith is the ticket for admission. Based on this model, life is pretty simple and straight forward, though maybe too simple for some.

And with the teachings revealed by Baha’u’llah, the above model is modified or expanded. Surely, faith still counts (I guess it will always count for as long as there are humans on this earthly plane). Yet the definition of faith is extended. Faith is no longer only confession of our belief in the Prophets of God. Faith also consists of acquiring “conscious knowledge” about the reality, be it physical, social or spiritual. And even this is not enough. Faith must also lead to “the practice of good deeds”. After we acquire knowledge, we are obliged to “strive to translate that which hath been written into reality and action…”  Shoghi Effendi has made this most clearly in the following quote:

“Is not the object of every Revelation to effect a transformation in the whole character of mankind, a transformation that shall manifest itself, both outwardly and inwardly, that shall affect both its inner life and external conditions? For if the character of mankind be not changed, the futility of God's universal Manifestations would be apparent.”

From the Baha’i perspective, “…heaven and hell are not places but conditions. Nearness to God is a state of being in heaven, while remoteness from Him is hell-fire.” As our characters are transformed inwardly and outwardly, we become more and more God-like. That is what we called heaven: nearness is likeness.

I cannot speak for you. But for me, I do want to go to heaven, badly. I want to go to the "place" where all the good people go. The only problem is that I am not good enough to go there (my words exceed my deeds, so my death prevails over my life). What should I do? I like this phrase very much and it’s my comfort most of time: “Do the best I can, and leave the rest to God.”  After all, God is the most merciful and ever forgiving. My life or my death depends upon it solely.

Here is a heaven I would love to go to:

“…If it be Thy pleasure, make me to grow as a tender herb in the meadows of Thy grace, that the gentle winds of Thy will may stir me up and bend me into conformity with Thy pleasure, in such wise that my movement and my stillness may be wholly directed by Thee."

Posted via web from The Garden of Heart

Unity in Diversity

The following is a section from “The World Order of Baha'u'llah” by Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of Baha’i faith. It clearly defines what the “Unity in Diversity” truly means.

“Let there be no misgivings as to the animating purpose of the world-wide Law of Bahá'u'lláh. Far from aiming at the subversion of the existing foundations of society, it seeks to broaden its basis, to remold its institutions in a manner consonant with the needs of an ever-changing world. It can conflict with no legitimate allegiances, nor can it undermine essential loyalties. Its purpose is neither to stifle the flame of a sane and intelligent patriotism in men's hearts, nor to abolish the system of national autonomy so essential if the evils of excessive centralization are to be avoided. It does not ignore, nor does it attempt to suppress, the diversity of ethnical origins, of climate, of history, of language and tradition, of thought and habit, that differentiate the peoples and nations of the world. It calls for a wider loyalty, for a larger aspiration than any that has animated the human race. It insists upon the subordination of national impulses and interests to the imperative claims of a unified world. It repudiates excessive centralization on one hand, and disclaims all attempts at uniformity on the other. Its watchword is unity in diversity such as 'Abdu'l-Bahá Himself has explained:

'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.'

The call of Bahá'u'lláh is primarily directed against all forms of provincialism, all insularities and prejudices. If long-cherished ideals and time-honored institutions, if certain social assumptions and religious formulae have ceased to promote the welfare of the generality of mankind, if they no longer minister to the needs of a continually evolving humanity, let them be swept away and relegated to the limbo of obsolescent and forgotten doctrines. Why should these, in a world subject to the immutable law of change and decay, be exempt from the deterioration that must needs overtake every human institution? 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, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 41)

Posted via web from The Garden of Heart

Overcome to achieve the oneness of mankind

In the last post, we have discussed that the principle of oneness of mankind is “the pivot round which all the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh revolve” (Shoghi Effendi). This is basically saying, to me at least, all teachings of Baha’i Faith, as beautiful as they are by themselves, will not be properly understood without referring to, or serving to this one single purpose, i.e. the unification of whole human race. Looking from this perspective, the social teachings of Baha’i Faith could be viewed as to provide means to overcome all obstacles standing in the way for achieving the oneness of mankind.

We can easily list out some of the most obvious and detrimental barriers that prevent diverse people from being united:

• Racial prejudices that there are certain intrinsic differences between races that imply one group of people is superior to another;
• Religious fanatics that one believing system possesses the monopoly of truth and others are deserved to be condemned;
• Extreme nationalism;
  
• There is intrinsic and irreconcilable difference between religion and science and people could choose one of the schools but not both;
• The different roles of man and woman played in the society are viewed as intrinsic difference of capacities which implies one is superior to another;
• The imbalance and conflict caused by extreme wealth and extreme poverty;
• The lack of basic education prevents certain group of people from being fully participating in social activities thus being viewed as inferior to others;
• Different career positions in society are viewed as an indicator of one’s social status, and those status are ranked hierarchically;
• Different languages create a barrier of communication thus cause misunderstanding between people of different regions;
• …

For each and every above listed situation or point of view there is corresponding teaching in Baha’i faith that either puts it in right perspective or provides a mean to amend it. If we view human collective life (society) as an organism like human body, all of these listed points of view or conditions could be viewed as diseases that have eaten into the vital part of our current society. And Baha’is believe that only a Messenger of God can provide remedies:

“The Prophets of God should be regarded as physicians whose task is to foster the well-being of the world and its peoples, that, through the spirit of oneness, they may heal the sickness of a divided humanity…they are the only ones who can claim to have understood the patient and to have correctly diagnosed its ailments. No man, however acute his perception, can ever hope to reach the heights which the wisdom and understanding of the Divine Physician have attained.”( Baha'u'llah)

Looking from another perspective, those obstacles in its essence are really misconceptions about the true reality (social and spiritual). The objective reality originated from an All-Powerful Force has its underlying structure and follows predetermined laws independent of what our subjective understanding of it. As great as human minds are, we are impotent to come up with a model that describes accurately all its aspects of this reality. We are forever, if we are humble enough to realize this, in need of guidance from our Creator to form an ever more accurate conception about who we are and how is human society supposed to be organized. I believe that not able to realize this needful human condition is the cause of most human sufferings: “The root cause of wrongdoing is ignorance.”  We are just like a stubborn kid, not knowing any better, but refused to listen. We act according to our malformed concepts of the reality. We stumble naturally, and cry out: “Why this happened to me?”

The following quote is one of my favorite:

“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)

Posted via web from The Garden of Heart

The Principle of Oneness

Recently I have a precious chance to study with a friend one of the writings of Shoghi Effendi (the Guardian of the Baha’i Faith) “The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh”. The Guardian’s writings are beautiful and poetic, but sometimes are difficult for me to grasp. The help of friend makes it a bit easier to comprehend. I thoroughly enjoyed our study.

Perhaps, every Baha’i can tell something about the principle of oneness of mankind which is indeed the central theme of Bahá'u'lláh’s teachings. But I have never come to understand its deep implications as Guardian so well and frankly stated in the following quotes:

“Let there be no mistake. The principle of the Oneness of Mankind … 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.”

So the oneness is neither merely brotherhood and good-well, nor just harmonious cooperation, as great as these may well be. What is it then?  Guardian continued:

“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 does not constitute merely the enunciation of an ideal, but stands inseparably associated with an institution adequate to embody its truth, demonstrate its validity, and perpetuate its influence.”

Again the Guardian clearly stated that the influence of this spiritual force will impact every aspects of the life of the society:

"It implies an organic change in the structure of present-day society … It calls for no less than the reconstruction and the demilitarization 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."

This principle of oneness of mankind is not just an ideal appearing suddenly out of no where. It is really a continuous step within a long development process of human collective life:

“It represents the consummation of human evolution -- an evolution that has had its earliest beginnings in the birth of family life, its subsequent development in the achievement of tribal solidarity, leading in turn to the constitution of the city-state, and expanding later into the institution of independent and sovereign nations.”

Do we have any options to choose whether to have or stop this final stage of human social development?  After reading the following quote, we better get prepared one way or another. Or even better to help along to build it:

“The principle of the Oneness of Mankind, as proclaimed by Bahá'u'lláh, carries with it no more and no less than a solemn assertion that attainment to this final stage in this stupendous evolution is not only necessary but inevitable, that its realization is fast approaching, and that nothing short of a power that is born of God can succeed in establishing it.”

Individual Development within Social Milieu

Over the holiday season, I had chance to talk to my Chinese friends about the individual spiritual development and the influence of the social environment on this development. I feel it’s a good topic to discuss here about the reciprocal relationship between the development of individual and of society from Baha’i point view.

We have talked about in previous post that the development of spiritual capacities of human beings is, from Baha’i perspective, the ultimate and fundamental purpose of existence. But the process of this development is not strictly the business of an individual as some may tend to believe. Rather it is closely related and profoundly influenced by the social environment in which an individual lived. For one thing, the capacities (to learn, to love and to will) that we are called to develop itself are strongly socially oriented, and at least partially socially imposed.  For example, during our first 18 years of elementary learning period, we as individual, for the most part, really don’t have much to say what to learn. We are forced to learn whatever the society and our parents want us to learn. And after we grew up to be an independent learner, we will have to spend many more painful hours to clean up and sort out “the obscuring dust of all acquired knowledge”.  In talking about the process of spiritual development, Dr William Hatcher stated in his paper “Human Nature and Human Society” that “the influence of society on the individual is far too pervasive and far too strong not to have a significant effect on such a process”, and “Baha’is consider that society is the God-intended matrix in which this eternal process of spiritual development begins. We hold that it is impossible for an individual to develop his or her spiritual capacities in abstraction from the process by which others are developing their spiritual capacities. In other words, it is through the creation of a just, unified, and progressive social order that spiritual capacities can best be developed."

I guess this statement has destroyed our last hope that we could go straight up to heaven all by ourselves and leave our fellow human brothers/sisters to hell to themselves. We are in this sinking boat together. We either all sink or all be saved. We don’t have another option but to help building a society that is most suitable for the spiritual development of all its members. The era of “独善其身” (to perfect oneself in solitude) is gone for ever.

Shoghi Effendi has made this point very clear in the following quotes:

“The whole object of our lives is bound up with the lives of all human beings; not a personal salvation we are seeking, but a universal one … Our aim is to produce a world civilization which will in turn react on the character of the individual. It is, in a way, the inverse of Christianity, which started with individual unit and through it reached out to the conglomerate life of man.”

And again:

“The Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh, whose supreme mission is none other but the achievement of this organic and spiritual unity of the whole body of nations, should, if we be faithful to its implications, be regarded as signalizing through its advent the coming of age of the entire human race. It should be viewed … as marking the last and highest stage in the stupendous evolution of man's collective life on this planet. The emergence of a world community, the consciousness of world citizenship, the founding of a world civilization and culture … should, by their very nature, be regarded, as far as this planetary life is concerned, as the furthermost limits in the organization of human society, though man, as an individual, will, nay must indeed as a result of such a consummation, continue indefinitely to progress and develop.”
 

Posted via email from The Garden of Heart