Chapter 30
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Conflicting writings regarding spiritual ordinances. Last updated: July 8th, 2024.
In passage 1, Shoghi
Effendi says spiritual ordinances for Baha'i life "must await the formation of the International House of Justice",
an administrative body about which it is said: "Those matters of major importance which constitute the foundation of the Law of God are explicitly recorded in the Text, but subsidiary laws are left to the House of Justice". The spiritual teachings that guide Baha'is have been revealed by Baha'u'llah, the Supreme Pen, in
numerous Holy Writings; the Kitab-i-Iqan, the Kitab-i-Aqdas, the Hidden Words, the
Seven Valleys and the Four Valleys, Gleanings, Tablets of Baha'u'llah,
Gems of Divine Mysteries, and so on, as indicated in
passages such as 2 - 12.
1)
31.1
Your questions as regards those spiritual
ordinances which should characterize a Bahá’í life individually and
collectively: Shoghi Effendi says that for an answer to these we must
await the formation of the International House of Justice. They are
matters of importance in some ways and we must not bind them by
establishing definite precedents from now.
(From a letter dated 26 April 1928 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer)
2)
It beseemeth you to fix your gaze under all conditions upon justice and
fairness. In The Hidden Words this exalted utterance hath been revealed
from Our Most August Pen:
'O Son of Spirit! The best beloved of all things in My sight is
Justice; turn not away therefrom if thou desirest Me, and neglect it
not that I may confide in thee. By its aid thou shalt see with thine
own eyes and not through the eyes of others, and shalt know of thine
own knowledge and not through the knowledge of thy neighbour. Ponder
this in thy heart; how it behoveth thee to be. Verily justice is My
gift to thee and the sign of My loving-kindness. Set it then before
thine eyes.'
They that are just and fair-minded in their judgement occupy a sublime
station and hold an exalted rank. The light of piety and uprightness
shineth resplendent from these souls. We earnestly hope that the
peoples and countries of the world may not be deprived of the
splendours of these two luminaries.
-- Baha'u'llah, Tablets of Baha'u'llah, p. 36
3)
But, O my brother, when a true seeker determineth to take the step of
search in the path leading to the knowledge of the Ancient of Days, he
must, before all else, cleanse and purify
his heart, which is the seat of the revelation of the inner mysteries
of God, from the obscuring dust of all acquired knowledge, and the
allusions of the embodiments of satanic fancy. He must purge his
breast, which is the sanctuary of the abiding love of the Beloved, of
every defilement, and sanctify his soul from all that pertaineth to
water and clay, from all shadowy and ephemeral attachments...
These are among the attributes of the exalted, and constitute the
hall-mark of the spiritually-minded. They have already been mentioned
in connection with the requirements of the wayfarers that tread the
Path of Positive Knowledge. When the detached wayfarer and sincere
seeker hath fulfilled these essential conditions, then and only then
can he be called a true seeker. Whensoever he hath fulfilled the
conditions implied in the verse: "Whoso maketh efforts for Us,"[1] he
shall enjoy the blessing conferred by the words: "In Our ways shall We
assuredly guide him."[2]
[1 Qur'án 29:69.]
[2 Ibid.]
-- Baha'u'llah, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 192
4)
CXXXIII. The ordinances of God have been sent down from the heaven of
His most august Revelation. All must diligently observe them. Man's
supreme distinction, his real advancement, his final victory, have
always depended, and will continue to depend, upon them. Whoso keepeth
the commandments of God shall attain everlasting felicity.
A twofold obligation resteth upon him who hath recognized the Day
Spring of the Unity of God, and acknowledged the truth of Him Who is
the Manifestation of His oneness. The first is steadfastness in His
love, such steadfastness that neither the clamor of the enemy nor the
claims of the idle pretender can deter him from cleaving unto Him Who
is the Eternal Truth, a steadfastness that taketh no account of them
whatever. The second is strict observance of the laws He hath
prescribed -- laws which He hath always ordained, and will continue to
ordain, unto men, and through which the truth may be distinguished and
separated from falsehood.
-- Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 289
5)
Blessed is he whom His Call hath attracted to the summit of glory, who
hath drawn nigh to the ultimate Purpose, and who hath recognized
through the shrill voice of My Pen of Glory that which the Lord of this
world and of the next hath willed. Whoso faileth to quaff the choice
wine which We have unsealed through the potency of Our Name, the
All-Compelling, shall be unable to discern the splendours of the light
of divine unity or to grasp the essential purpose underlying the
Scriptures of God, the Lord of heaven and earth, the sovereign Ruler of
this world and of the world to come. Such a man shall be accounted
among the faithless in the Book of God, the All-Knowing, the
All-Informed.
-- Baha'u'llah, Tablets of Baha'u'llah, p. 105
6)
How many an embodiment of heedlessness who came unto Us with purity of
heart have We established upon the seat of Our acceptance; and how many
an exponent of wisdom have We in all justice consigned to the fire. We
are, in truth, the One to judge. He it is Who is the manifestation of
"God doeth whatsoever He pleaseth", and abideth upon the throne of "He
ordaineth whatsoever He chooseth".
-- Bahá'u'lláh, The Kitab-i-Aqdas, p. 76
7)
69. O CHILDREN OF ADAM!
Holy words and pure and goodly deeds ascend unto the heaven of
celestial glory. Strive that your deeds may be cleansed from the dust
of self and hypocrisy and find favor at the court of glory; for ere
long the assayers of mankind shall, in the holy presence of the Adored
One, accept naught but absolute virtue and deeds of stainless purity.
This is the daystar of wisdom and of divine mystery that hath shone
above the horizon of the divine will. Blessed are they that turn
thereunto.
-- Bahá'u'lláh, The Hidden Words of Baha'u'llah, p. 46
8)
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. The light
which these souls radiate is responsible for the progress of the world
and the advancement of its peoples. They are like unto leaven which
leaveneth the world of being, and constitute the animating force
through which the arts and wonders of the world are made manifest.
Through them the clouds rain their bounty upon men, and the earth
bringeth forth its fruits. All things must needs have a cause, a motive
power, an animating principle. These souls and symbols of detachment
have provided, and will continue to provide, the supreme moving impulse
in the world of being.
-- Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 156-157
9)
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. To none is given the right to
question their words or disparage their conduct, for
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. Little
wonder, then, if the treatment prescribed by the physician in this day
should not be found to be identical with that which he prescribed
before. How could it be otherwise when the ills affecting the sufferer
necessitate at every stage of his sickness a special remedy? In like
manner, every time the Prophets of God have illumined the world with
the resplendent radiance of the Day Star of Divine knowledge, they have
invariably summoned its peoples to embrace the light of God through
such means as best befitted the exigencies of the age in which they
appeared. They were thus able to scatter the darkness of ignorance, and
to shed upon the world the glory of their own knowledge. It is towards
the inmost essence of these Prophets, therefore, that the eye of every
man of discernment must be directed, inasmuch as their one and only
purpose hath always been to guide the erring, and give peace to the
afflicted.... These are not days of prosperity and triumph. The whole
of mankind is in the grip of manifold ills. Strive, therefore, to save
its life through the wholesome medicine which the almighty hand of the
unerring Physician hath prepared.
-- Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 80
10)
THE VALLEY OF UNITY (Fourth Valley)
After passing through the Valley of knowledge, which is the last plane
of limitation, the wayfarer cometh to the Valley of Unity and drinketh
from the cup of the Absolute, and gazeth on the Manifestations of
Oneness. In this station he pierceth the veils of plurality, fleeth
from the worlds of the flesh, and ascendeth into the heaven of
singleness. With the ear of God he heareth, with the eye of God he
beholdeth the mysteries of divine creation. He steppeth into the
sanctuary of the Friend, and shareth as an intimate the pavilion of the
Loved One. He stretcheth out the hand of truth from the sleeve of the
Absolute; he revealeth the secrets of power. He seeth in himself
neither name nor fame nor rank, but findeth his own praise in praising
God.
-- Bahá'u'lláh, The Seven Valleys and the Four Valleys, p. 18
11)
This sign of the revelation of the Divine Being in them that have
joined partners with Him may, in a sense, be regarded as a reflection
of the glory with which the faithful are illumined. None, however, can
comprehend this truth save men endued with understanding. They that
have truly recognized the Unity of God should be regarded as the
primary manifestations of this Name. It is they who have quaffed the
wine of Divine Unity from the cup which the hand of God hath proffered
unto them, and who have turned their faces towards Him. How vast the
distance that separateth these sanctified beings from those men that
are so far away from God!...
-- Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 191
12)
165. Recite ye the verses of God every morn and eventide. #149
Bahá'u'lláh states that the essential "requisite" for reciting "the
verses of God" is the "eagerness and love" of the believers to "read
the Word of God" (Q and A 68).
With regard to the definition of "verses of God", Bahá'u'lláh states
that it refers to "all that hath been sent down from the Heaven of
Divine Utterance". Shoghi Effendi, in a letter written to one of the
believers in the East, has clarified that the term "verses of God" does
not include the writings of `Abdu'l-Bahá; he has likewise indicated
that this term does not apply to his own writings.
-- Bahá'u'lláh, The Kitab-i-Aqdas, p. 236
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