Oppression . . .

Feeling oppressed?

What if you were, truly, oppressed and weren't even aware you were?

Are you living in the Light of Truth or do you still dwell in the dark valley of falsehoods?

As today's excerpt from Reality shows, the Greatness of God is that every pain or error of our lives can become the very means to find peace and truth:

"What 'oppression' is more grievous than that a soul seeking the truth, and wishing to attain unto the knowledge of God, should know not where to go for it and from whom to seek it?

"For opinions have sorely differed, and the ways unto the attainment of God have multiplied.

"This 'oppression' is the essential feature of every Revelation.

"Unless it cometh to pass, the Sun of Truth will not be made manifest. For the break of the morn of divine guidance must needs follow the darkness of the night of error."

Bahá’u’lláh: The Kitáb-i-Íqán, paragraph 29, p. 29

Do The Stars Have An Influence On Us ?

Today's excerpt from Reality is a bit longer than most but, hey, even though this blog is a service to others, that doesn't stop it from being an avenue of portraying my own perceptions.

So what does my perception have to do with the length of the quote?

‘Abdu’l-Bahá is here discussing the proper way to think of the connections between not only us and the stars but between all things in this marvelous universe.

The personal connection, to be absolutely clear, is that I've been an astrologer for over 40 years now and I've certainly trod a path that leads away from traditional, materialistic astrologers.

I would never say that the only way to figure out a life is astrology.

Yet, the perception of interconnectedness portrayed in this article is an excellent starting point for seeing the meaning of life.

Also, such a core concept of spirituality needs, in my opinion, a discussion that has the length necessary to induce deep understanding...

"Question. -- Have the stars of the heavens any influence upon the human soul, or have they not?

"Answer. -- Some of the celestial stars have a clear and apparent material effect upon the terrestrial globe and the earthly beings, which needs no explanation. Consider the sun, which through the aid and the providence of God develops the earth and all earthly beings. Without the light and heat of the sun, all the earthly creatures would be entirely nonexistent.

"With regard to the spiritual influence of stars, though this influence of stars in the human world may appear strange, still, if you reflect deeply upon this subject, you will not be so much surprised at it. My meaning is not, however, that the decrees which the astrologers of former times inferred from the movements of the stars corresponded to occurrences; for the decrees of those former astrologers were forms of imagination which were originated by Egyptian, Assyrian and Chaldean priests; nay, rather, they were due to the fancies of Hindus, to the myths of the Greeks, Romans and other star worshipers. But I mean that this limitless universe is like the human body, all the members of which are connected and linked with one another with the greatest strength. How much the organs, the members and the parts of the body of man are intermingled and connected for mutual aid and help, and how much they influence one another! In the same way, the parts of this infinite universe have their members and elements connected with one another, and influence one another spiritually and materially. For example, the eye sees, and all the body is affected; the ear hears, and all the members of the body are moved. Of this there is no doubt; and the universe is like a living person. Moreover, the connection which exists between the members of beings must necessarily have an effect and impression, whether it be material or spiritual.

"For those who deny spiritual influence upon material things we mention this brief example: wonderful sounds and tones, melodies and charming voices, are accidents which affect the air -- for sound is the term for vibrations of the air -- and by these vibrations the nerves of the tympanum of the ear are affected, and hearing results. Now reflect that the vibration of the air, which is an accident of no importance, attracts and exhilarates the spirit of man and has great effect upon him: it makes him weep or laugh; perhaps it will influence him to such a degree that he will throw himself into danger. Therefore, see the connection which exists between the spirit of man and the atmospheric vibration, so that the movement of the air becomes the cause of transporting him from one state to another, and of entirely overpowering him; it will deprive him of patience and tranquillity. Consider how strange this is, for nothing comes forth from the singer which enters into the listener; nevertheless, a great spiritual effect is produced. Therefore, surely so great a connection between beings must have spiritual effect and influence.

"It has been mentioned that the members and parts of man affect and influence one another. For example, the eye sees; the heart is affected. The ear hears; and the spirit is influenced. The heart is at rest; the thoughts become serene, and for all the members of man's body a pleasant condition is realized. What a connection and what an agreement is this! Since this connection, this spiritual effect and this influence, exists between the members of the body of man, who is only one of many finite beings, certainly between these universal and infinite beings there will also be a spiritual and material connection. Although by existing rules and actual science these connections cannot be discovered, nevertheless, their existence between all beings is certain and absolute.

"To conclude: the beings, whether great or small, are connected with one another by the perfect wisdom of God, and affect and influence one another. If it were not so, in the universal system and the general arrangement of existence, there would be disorder and imperfection. But as beings are connected one with another with the greatest strength, they are in order in their places and perfect.

"This subject is worthy of examination."

‘Abdu’l-Bahá: Some Answered Questions, Chapter 69: "The Influence of the Stars", pp. 245-247

Are You Happy ?

It certainly seems like a massively difficult task for some folk to be Truly Happy--not that smiling, chatty brand of nervous activity that some cling to...

Happiness deep within, when no one's around to impress...

Happiness that never withers...

Spiritual Happiness !

Ponder these quotes from Reality and mine them for the gems they contain:

"Happy are they who act; happy are they who understand; happy the man that hath clung unto the truth, detached from all that is in the heavens and all that is on earth."

Bahá’u’lláh: Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 139

"Happy are they that observe God’s precepts; happy are they that have recognized the Truth; happy are they that judge with fairness in all matters and hold fast to the Cord of My inviolable Justice."

Bahá’u’lláh: Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh, "Kalimát-i-Firdawsíyyih" or "Words of Paradise", p. 62

"Happy are they that have cast behind their backs all else save God and have held fast unto that which the Lord of strength and power hath enjoined upon them."

Bahá’u’lláh: Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh, "Excerpts from Other Tablets" (excerpt #3), p. 235

"Happy are the righteous that have attained unto the most great truth; happy are the wise that have recognized the straight path of God and turned unto His Kingdom; happy are the glad and sincere, the lamps of whose hearts burn with the knowledge of the All-Merciful and are protected from the rough winds of tests and sorrows; happy are the brave whose hearts the power of the oppressor cannot daunt; happy are the clear-sighted that have learned to distinguish the transitory from the eternal, that have turned their faces to the Imperishable and are named among the Immortals in the realm of power and glory."

Bahá’u’lláh: excerpts from epistles, quoted in Bahá’í World, Vol. 2, p. 63

"....man’s supreme honor and real happiness lie in self-respect, in high resolves and noble purposes, in integrity and moral quality, in immaculacy of mind."

‘Abdu’l-Bahá: The Secret of Divine Civilization, p. 19

Apparently, We ALL Are Super Important . . .

The following quote from Reality is one of the many Proofs that We are Worthy and Important Beings -- not just cogs in a materialistic machine or numbers in a business plan or votes in a political realm...

"O My servants! Could ye apprehend with what wonders of My munificence and bounty I have willed to entrust your souls, ye would, of a truth, rid yourselves of attachment to all created things, and would gain a true knowledge of your own selves — a knowledge which is the same as the comprehension of Mine own Being. Ye would find yourselves independent of all else but Me, and would perceive, with your inner and outer eye, and as manifest as the revelation of My effulgent Name, the seas of My loving-kindness and bounty moving within you. Suffer not your idle fancies, your evil passions, your insincerity and blindness of heart to dim the luster, or stain the sanctity, of so lofty a station."

Bahá’u’lláh: Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, Selection CLIII, pp. 326-327

Bird of the Spirit

Another day when I feel my commentary would be superfluous...

All I'll say about this quote from Reality is, it's among the most elevated and beautiful prose-poetry in the World's Spiritual Writings:

"Hear Me, ye mortal birds! In the Rose Garden of changeless splendor a Flower hath begun to bloom, compared to which every other flower is but a thorn, and before the brightness of Whose glory the very essence of beauty must pale and wither. Arise, therefore, and, with the whole enthusiasm of your hearts, with all the eagerness of your souls, the full fervor of your will, and the concentrated efforts of your entire being, strive to attain the paradise of His presence, and endeavor to inhale the fragrance of the incorruptible Flower, to breathe the sweet savors of holiness, and to obtain a portion of this perfume of celestial glory. Whoso followeth this counsel will break his chains asunder, will taste the abandonment of enraptured love, will attain unto his heart’s desire, and will surrender his soul into the hands of his Beloved. Bursting through his cage, he will, even as the bird of the spirit, wing his flight to his holy and everlasting nest."

Bahá’u’lláh: Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, Selection CLI, pp. 320-321

"...the foulest beetle hath sought the perfume of the musk, and the bat the light of the sun."

The title of this post is a snippet from today's quote from Reality.

Since the quote is such an elevated example of "prose poetry", and since those phrases in the title of this post could be considered the most poetic set of phrases in the quote, I thought I'd give them double honor...

I would fail you as a commentator if I attempted giving my own mediocre meanderings of meaning as an introduction to such a Truly Spiritual exposition!

"Great God! When the stream of utterance reached this stage, We beheld, and lo! the sweet savours of God were being wafted from the dayspring of Revelation, and the morning breeze was blowing out of the Sheba of the Eternal. Its tidings rejoiced anew the heart, and imparted immeasurable gladness to the soul. It made all things new, and brought unnumbered and inestimable gifts from the unknowable Friend. The robe of human praise can never hope to match Its noble stature, and Its shining figure the mantle of utterance can never fit. Without word It unfoldeth the inner mysteries, and without speech It revealeth the secrets of the divine sayings. It teacheth lamentation and moaning to the nightingales warbling upon the bough of remoteness and bereavement, instructeth them in the art of love's ways, and showeth them the secret of heart-surrender. To the flowers of the Ridvan of heavenly reunion It revealeth the endearments of the impassioned lover, and unveileth the charm of the fair. Upon the anemones of the garden of love It bestoweth the mysteries of truth and within the breasts of lovers It entrusteth the symbols of the innermost subtleties At this hour, so liberal is the outpouring of Its grace that the holy Spirit itself is envious! It hath imparted to the drop the waves of the sea, and endowed the mote with the splendour of the sun. So great are the overflowings of Its bounty that the foulest beetle hath sought the perfume of the musk, and the bat the light of the sun. It hath quickened the dead with the breath of life, and caused them to speed out of the sepulchres of their mortal bodies. It hath established the ignorant upon the seats of learning, and elevated the oppressor to the throne of justice. The universe is pregnant with these manifold bounties, awaiting the hour when the effects of Its unseen gifts will be made manifest in this world, when the languishing and sore athirst will attain the living Kawthar of their Well-Beloved, and the erring wanderer, lost in the wilds of remoteness and nothingness, will enter the tabernacle of life, and attain reunion with his heart's desire. In the soil of whose heart will these holy seeds germinate? From the garden of whose soul will the blossoms of the invisible realities spring forth? Verily, I say, so fierce is the blaze of the Bush of love, burning in the Sinai of the heart, that the streaming waters of holy utterance can never quench its flame. Oceans can never allay this Leviathan's burning thirst, and this Phoenix of the undying fire can abide nowhere save in the glow of the countenance of the Well Beloved. Therefore, O brother! kindle with the oil of wisdom the lamp of the spirit within the innermost chamber of thy heart, and guard it with the globe of understanding, that the breath of the infidel may extinguish not its flame nor dim its brightness. Thus have We illuminated the heavens of utterance with the splendours of the Sun of divine wisdom and understanding, that thy heart may find peace, that thou mayest be of those who, on the wings of certitude, have soared unto the heaven of the love of their Lord, the All-Merciful."

Bahá’u’lláh: The Kitáb-i-Íqán, pp. 59-61

Lucid Faith

What is True Spirituality; or, better yet, True Religion?

How can we trust anyone's judgement but our own?

Yet, many folk abandon their God-given right to decide for themselves and follow someone else's brand of religion or some current fancy of what tries to pass for spirituality...

Today's excerpt from Reality explores the difference between form and essence -- between how we receive and deal with the truth and The Truth.

"…all the variations which the wayfarer in the stages of his journey beholdeth in the realms of being, proceed from his own vision. We shall give an example of this, that its meaning may become fully clear: Consider the visible sun; although it shineth with one radiance upon all things, and at the behest of the King of Manifestation bestoweth light on all creation, yet in each place it becometh manifest and sheddeth its bounty according to the potentialities of that place. For instance, in a mirror it reflecteth its own disk and shape, and this is due to the sensitivity of the mirror; in a crystal it maketh fire to appear, and in other things it showeth only the effect of its shining, but not its full disk. And yet, through that effect, by the command of the Creator, it traineth each thing according to the quality of that thing, as thou observest.

"In like manner, colors become visible in every object according to the nature of that object. For instance, in a yellow globe, the rays shine yellow; in a white the rays are white; and in a red, the red rays are manifest. Then these variations are from the object, not from the shining light. And if a place be shut away from the light, as by walls or a roof, it will be entirely bereft of the splendor of the light, nor will the sun shine thereon.

"Thus it is that certain invalid souls have confined the lands of knowledge within the wall of self and passion, and clouded them with ignorance and blindness, and have been veiled from the light of the mystic sun and the mysteries of the Eternal Beloved they have strayed afar from the jewelled wisdom of the lucid Faith of the Lord of Messengers, have been shut out of the sanctuary of the All-Beauteous One, and banished from the Ka'bih [1] of splendor."

[1 The holy Sanctuary at Mecca. Here the word means "goal."]

Bahá’u’lláh: The Seven Valleys and The Four Valleys, "Valley of Unity", pp. 18-20

Desire & Self vs Spirituality

Warning:
Strong Opinion Follows !

There are way too many people who make their "spirituality" into an egotistical farce.

These three, short quotes from Reality give the same warning, though in a much more elevated manner...

"O SON OF DESIRE! How long wilt thou soar in the realms of desire? Wings have I bestowed upon thee, that thou mayest fly to the realms of mystic holiness and not the regions of satanic fancy."

Bahá’u’lláh: The Hidden Words, Persian #79

"Thou seest, O my Lord, how Thy servants are held captive by their own selves and desires."

Bahá’u’lláh: Prayers and Meditations, p. 52

"God grant that your desires and unmortified passions may not hinder you from that which hath been ordained for you."

Bahá’u’lláh: Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, Selection CXLVII, p. 317

The Two-Edged Sword

Today's quote from Reality is partly easy to understand (the mirror/rock analogy) and partly hard to wrap a mind around (the thing that helps a believer accept is the same thing that makes a nonbeliever reject...).

At least that's my take on it...

The excerpt mentions the Bayán which can be explored in Persian at this site and in English here.

"THE One true God may be compared unto the sun and the believer unto a mirror. No sooner is the mirror placed before the sun than it reflects its light. The unbeliever may be likened unto a stone. No matter how long it is exposed to the sunshine, it cannot reflect the sun. Thus the former layeth down his life as a sacrifice, while the latter doeth against God what he committeth. Indeed, if God willeth, He is potent to turn the stone into a mirror, but the person himself remaineth reconciled to his state Had he wished to become a crystal, God would have made him to assume crystal form. For on that Day whatever cause prompteth the believer to believe in Him, the same will also be available to the unbeliever. But when the latter suffereth himself to be wrapt in veils, the same cause shutteth him out as by a veil. Thus, as is clearly evident today, those who have set their faces toward God, the True One, have believed in Him because of the Bayán, while such as are veiled have been deprived because of it."

The Báb: Selections from the Writings of the Báb, "Excerpts from the Persian Bayán", p. 103, citing Váhid VI, Chapter 4