Light of the World, 2

Ok, I'm sorry. You might be expecting more on the first passage from 'Abdu'l-Baha's volume, Light of the World, and I'm sorry. I was reading ahead, and looked at the second passage. Besides, after re-reading what I wrote on it, I couldn't really think of much else to add. I already began to look at the corresponding 1s, 2, 3s, and 4s. So I thought, this morning, I'd go on to the second passage. Let me know if you want me to write more about the first one. I'm sure I could find something to say.

Anyways, here's the second passage from that wonderful book. It's 3 paragraphs, after an invocation. I'm going to paste the whole thing, italicize the text, and then insert my comments after each paragraph. We'll see how that works.

He is God.

I was listening to a talk on youtube recently, and the speaker made the comment that many of 'Abdu'l-Baha's tablets begin this way. In fact, he said, it is like an announcement that it was written by Him. According to the speaker, which is my way of saying I haven't read it for myself, somebody wrote Him and asked why He started so many Tablets this way. The response, he said, was that it was indicative of the station of Baha'u'llah. "He is God." And it's not that Baha'u'llah is God Himself, but rather that from our perspective they are indistinguishable. I could go on more about this, but let's just move on for now.

 

1 O thou seeker after truth! Behold the power and greatness of Bahá’u’lláh! Within a short span of time, He hath stirred up the East and the West, and raised aloft, in the midmost heart of the world, the banner of love and harmony, of unity and peace, of fellowship and conciliation, of truthfulness and rectitude. He hath freed from enmity and strife a great multitude of souls belonging to divers and opposing nations, to disparate and contending religions, and hath brought them under the sheltering canopy of fellowship, love, and unity.

First, the "1" is not part of the text. That's just what happens when you cut and paste from the bahai.org website. I could get rid of it, but it's nice to have that little marker telling us where we are in the text, so I'm keeping it in there.

I love how He begins. "O thou seeker after truth!" What a great encouragement. It's like He's telling us we're on the right track. "Keep going!" I feel like He's spurring me on, sort of like a loving family member at the side of the road encouraging the marathon runner.

Then, after telling us we're going in the right direction, He specifically directs our gaze to the "power and greatness of Baha'u'llah". He points out to us unmistakable signs: this stirring up, and the raising of a banner.

But what is a banner? What's its purpose? While it historically has the sign of the legion to which the soldiers belong, and can act as a rallying point, it also helps those that are lost in the crowd to find their way back to camp. Oftentimes it has a symbol of great meaning, or an important message for those around to see. This particular banner bears the message of "love and harmony, of unity and peace, of fellowship and conciliation, of truthfulness and rectitude".

As I re-read those attributes, it's interesting to see that they are couplets. It's almost like He's telling how to act towards each other. We must first love each other and act in harmony with those we love. We have to be in unity with each other, which implies that we are diverse, for without diversity all we can achieve is uniformity. This diversity, however, can be difficult, and often leads to conflict, even with those we love. So peace must be coupled with this unity.

Fellowship is interesting to me. It implies a closeness that the other words don't. I mean, it's possible to love someone without actually liking them. Fellowship, though, has within it a sense of belonging, a shared purpose. Conciliation, however, means a bringing about of peaceful relations, It implies that there was strife that has now been overcome.

Truthfulness is that which accords with reality. This is important, because if our actions are not truthful, what good are they? Rectitude means upright and honourable behaviour. You can be truthful and still hurt people with your truth. ("That dress looks horrible on you." "This is the worst food I've ever tasted.") Honourable behaviour is when you act with honesty and fairness, and those actions are worthy of respect.

By the way, you may think these redundant, truthful and honest, but they are not. Truthfulness has nothing to do with you. It is what is real, no matter what you may believe. Honesty is when you speak or act in a manner that is in accordance with your beliefs. If you actually believe something that is false, you can be honest without being truthful. Of course, if you believe something false, and jokingly say something true by accident, then you can be truthful without being honest, so there is that.

Anyways, it's a fascinating list. These are the virtues on the banner that Baha'u'llah has hoisted. This is what we are all being called to.

After this list, 'Abdu'l-Baha points out that Baha'u'llah has "freed from enmity and strife" so many people from such diverse backgrounds. When we look at the Baha'i world today, this is even more true now than it was just over a century ago.

As trials and tribulations rain down upon us from so many directions, we can find shelter under that canopy raised by Him, that "canopy of fellowship, love, and unity". You will note, of course, that those are also the first half of three of those couplets. This time, though, they are in a different order. It is like we enter that canopy because of our fellowship and meet complete strangers there. Once we meet them, get to know them, our love increases until we achieve unity.

Now we are ready to move onto the next paragraph.

 

2 What power this is, and what strength! What greater proof couldst thou desire? He hath brought East and West into close embrace. Singly and alone, He hath withstood the world and uplifted His mighty Cause in the Most Great Prison. Though subjected to utter abasement, He hath crowned His loved ones with the diadem of everlasting glory. Were one to gaze with the eye of justice, this would be sufficient proof.

If we were ever concerned about power or strength, this is where we find it, through this true fellowship, love, and unity. By bringing the world together, what other power can overcome that? Are we concerned about a single ruler, or one little nation? One measly country? There is no possible way they can stand up to the collective might of a united planet. A strong union will always prevail.

And who was it that did this? Who raised this great standard? One Prisoner. Alone. By Himself, with the might of God helping, of course.

In the midst of your troubles and despairs, don't forget that Baha'u'llah was "subjected to utter abasement". "Remember My days", He says in the Tablet of Ahmad, "during thy days..." And yet even then, despite these torments, He still "crowned His loved ones with the diadem of everlasting glory".

Wow.

If you are seeking the truth, look no further than His Cause, for surely you will find it there.

3 Thou hast written concerning the cost of postage. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá hath offered up his life for thee, how much more his earthly possessions! Upon thee be greetings and praise.

Wait. What? "The cost of postage"?

As in, "How much is a stamp?"

I feel like the Master is saying, "Don't worry. I got it. I'll pay for the stamp."

I can just imagine His smile as He wrote that last bit.

Light of the World

I love reading the Writings. And I especially love reading them with my wife.

Today, in the middle of the Fast, we decided to crawl into bed and warm up under our blankets and read a bit of 'Abdu'l-Baha's writings. Today we chose the relatively new volume, Light of the World. And specifically, we chose the first selection:

He is the All-Glorious.

O friends! How blessed, how favoured, how fortunate are ye to have been born in such a cycle and dispensation and to live in such an age and century, to have come upon such a wellspring and bowed down before such a threshold, to have taken shelter beneath the shade of such a tree and partaken of such a fruit. The cycle is the Cycle of the Ancient Beauty, and the century that of the Greatest Name. The wellspring is the stream of the Law of God, and the threshold that of the Abhá Beauty. The tree is the Tree of Life, and the fruit that of the Divine Lote-Tree. Blessed are they that attain thereunto! Fortunate are they that enter therein! Gladdened are they that draw nigh unto it! And happy are they that abide under its shade! All praise be to God, the Lord of the worlds. Convey my warmest Abhá greetings to all the friends….

After we had read it, we noticed how it seemed to follow a pattern, like a traditional medicine wheel in North American Indigenous teachings.

What I mean is that we can divide the text into... Well, let me show you.

By cutting and pasting, and moving things around a little bit, I've been able to re-work this so that the themes seem a bit clearer to me. You will note that I have not changed any of the text, but rather just rearranged it a bit so that I can see the progression more clearly. This is what I came up with, and of course it can be done differently if you wish. This is just how I did it. Nothing official, just my own peculiar way of looking at the Writings.

1 How blessed

2 how favoured

3 how fortunate are ye 

4a to have been born in such a cycle and dispensation - The cycle is the Cycle of the Ancient Beauty

4b to live in such an age and century - the century that of the Greatest Name

1 to have come upon such a wellspring - stream of the Law of God

2 bowed down before such a threshold - that of the Abhá Beauty

3 to have taken shelter beneath the shade of such a tree - Tree of Life

4 partaken of such a fruit - that of the Divine Lote-Tree

1 Blessed are they that attain thereunto

2 Fortunate are they that enter therein

3 Gladdened are they that draw nigh unto it

4 happy are they that abide under its shade

From here, my next step is to look at each quatrain on its own, and then to compare all the 1s, 2s, 3s, and 4s. Why? Just to see what I can uncover. This is one of the tools I like to use when exploring the "billows of the Most Great Ocean".

So, this first quatrain

    1 How blessed

    2 how favoured

    3 how fortunate are ye 

    4a to have been born in such a cycle and dispensation - The cycle is the Cycle of     the Ancient Beauty

    4b to live in such an age and century - the century that of the Greatest Name

Yes, I know it can be seen as five, but it seemed to me that the last two were actually part of the same action, if you will. We are born and live. Besides, by doing it this way, it fit more nicely into the quatrain scheme, which I'm not opposed to.

Time to look up some words. Blessed means "made holy". At least, I'm presuming it's not meant in the negative (such as "I can't see a blessed thing"). Favoured is defined as being preferred over others. Fortunate is literally having good luck. The last two seem to be more of a time indicator, as in "now as opposed to some time in the past".

What I find fascinating is that it really does seem to be a bit of a journey. First, we are all holy, created in the image of our divine Creator. Every single one of us. No exceptions. However, we all live differently, believe differently, act differently. As living a good and holy life seems to be preferred by God, well, I have no problem seeing some as favoured. Those that live good lives and strive to serve humanity are probably favoured, distinguishing themselves from those that don't.

But what about the fortunate? I find my answer to that in the beginning of the Kitab-i-Iqan, "Sanctify your souls, O ye peoples of the world, that haply ye may attain that station which God hath destined for you..." By sanctifying our soul, striving to live according to the divine teachings of our faith, praying and meditating and fasting and so forth, we have taken that first step. Then there is that little word, "haply". Some have told me they think it means with gladness, but that would be "happily". "Haply", on the other hand, means "with luck", as in "happenstance" or "haphazardly". The way I see it is that out of all of us who are striving to live good lives and search for truth, it is only with luck that God chooses us to recognize Baha'u'llah, or any other Messenger for that matter.

Now we have all of humanity, those that actually bother to search, and those that find. Smaller and smaller circles, all concentric.

This leads me to the fourth step. We are not just lucky to be allowed to find the Messenger, we are even more fortunate to be born and live at this time, in this age, when we even have the chance to find Baha'u'llah.

It seems we're now ready to move to the second quatrain:

1 to have come upon such a wellspring - stream of the Law of God

2 bowed down before such a threshold - that of the Abhá Beauty

3 to have taken shelter beneath the shade of such a tree - Tree of Life

4 partaken of such a fruit - that of the Divine Lote-Tree

You will note, of course, that I've taken the clarifications 'Abdu'l-Baha gave us and just inserted them where appropriate.

Here I want to begin with the wellspring, threshold, tree, and fruit. I feel like I'm outside Baha'u'llah's home, maybe not Bahji, but some other home. One that has a wellspring, a source of water just outside. Perhaps I've gone to search for water and found it. And right near it is the threshold, the bottom of the doorway I must cross to enter. Once I enter, I'm in the inner courtyard with the tree growing there. And on the tree is some fresh fruit, just waiting for the picking. So refreshing, so welcoming. That's what I feel when I read this.

The second half of this quatrain is the Law of God that is found in all religions. Obedience to this law, and not allowing the clouds or veils of interpretation to get in our way, leads us to the next Revelation, continually onwards, eventually to the Abhá Beauty. Interestingly enough, the great epochal Cycle which we just finished, the Adamic Cycle, began with our eating of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and we were kicked out of Eden so that we could not parttake of the fruit of the Tree of Life. We weren't ready for it yet. Now, though, after these many thousands of years, and after all these Messengers have guided us throughout the ages, we are being given that latter fruit, the fruit of the Tree of Life. Oh, but this is not the end. Oh, no, no, no. There is still far more for those of us born of humanity. Way in the distance is the Sadratu’l-Muntahá, the furthestmost Lote Tree, that tree beyond which there is no passing. This is not the end. It is not some final revelation. We still have a long way to go.

Looking at them together, we have come upon this Law, bowed down before the Abhá Beauty, taken shelter beneath the Tree of Life, and partaken of the fruit of the divine Lote Tree. For me, this is such a powerful blending of those last two paragraphs.

Looking at that last quatrain gives us even more insight into this beautiful little Tablet.

1 Blessed are they that attain thereunto

2 Fortunate are they that enter therein

3 Gladdened are they that draw nigh unto it

4 happy are they that abide under its shade

While it would be easy to presume that the first step refers to the Tree, I think of it more as referring to that wellspring. We are blessed, again, to attain it. And honestly, like that first blessing, being made holy, we have all attained unto it. We are told that every culture on this planet has had its Messenger, some universal in nature, like Jesus or Baha'u'llah, some more regional or local, perhaps like some of the Indigenous Teachers throughout history, like White Buffalo Calf woman or Glooscap, whose teachings shaped cultures in North America for many generations. But like that well, not all will choose to drink from it.

From that well, there are some who will notice that house I mentioned earlier. There is some luck to it. And those that notice? Well, they are truly fortunate to be able to enter therein, both in the sense of luck and wealth.

Perhaps after their long journey, after being allowed to slake their thirst, maybe they're a bit hungry? They would be gladdened to find a fruit tree in full fruit. Then, after they've eaten their fill, I'm sure they would be happy to rest under its shade, especially after such a long and difficult journey.

Whew.

Speaking of a long and difficult journey, I know I said I would look at all the 1s, 2s, 3s, and 4s, and I did a bit in that last section, but you've been so patient reading all of this so far. I wouldn't want to weary you, especially during the Fast. Maybe I'll do the rest another time.

Oh, one last thing.

My wife noticed something unusual at the very end: "Convey my warmest Abhá greetings to all the friends…."

After we had discussed our thoughts on this beautiful Tablet, she turned to me and asked, "Why the ellipses? Isn't that the end of the Tablet? It sure reads like the end. Maybe there was something personal after that?"

And I replied, "Or maybe He said, '...and convey my lukewarm greetings to the idiots out there'?"

It's not often my wife hits me, but hit me she did. On my arm. In the exact spot I had gotten a shingles vaccine a couple of days earlier. Which still was sore.

Karma can be such a pain, but, yeah, I did deserve that one.

Emphasis

I recently re-watched a little video from the BBC about Hamlet's soliloquy which begins "To be, or not to be..." What was amusing was the way all these wonderful actors came on-stage to try and get the actor to place the emphasis on a different word. What was wonderful was how the changing emphasis really changed the way we understand what was written.

Well, that got me thinking.

As you know, dear Reader, I love to look at the Writings from many different perspectives. After all, that's one of the amazing things about Sacred Text. You can read so much into it, as long as you don't ignore to basic meaning.

Anyways, I decided to look at the beginning of the Kitab-i-Iqan, the Book of Certitude, and see what would happen if I emphasized different words.

As you probably know, it begins:

No man shall attain the shores of the ocean of true understanding except he be detached from all that is in heaven and on earth. Sanctify your souls, O ye peoples of the world, that haply ye may attain that station which God hath destined for you and enter thus the tabernacle which, according to the dispensations of Providence, hath been raised in the firmament of the Bayán.

If we begin at the beginning, then we can easily see that "NO man" shall be able to  attain those shores without this detachment. That's pretty basic. In fact, it's pretty much the way all of us read this.

If we emphasize the second word, "no MAN" will attain this station, then we might inadvertently begin to read it in a sexist way, perhaps thinking that He's only addressing the males of the species, while totally ignoring the other areas in the Writings where He talks of gender equality. But when we take into account the statements about translation as offered by the Guardian, then we more appropriately read it as "no HUMAN BEING" will attain this station and begin to get a slightly better understanding of our station as a human. (Of course, if we are fans of Lord of the Rings, then we can read it as admitting a woman can attain this station...)

Ok, ok. We can do this all day. We can make similar statements about all the other words, too. For example, without this detachment, the emphasis on "shall" implies that it is not a given, even though being detached doesn't imply that we are guaranteed success. Emphasizing "attain" implies that no matter our striving, we will fail without this detachment. Emphasizing "shores" implies that there are other parts to this ocean. Emphasizing "of" or "the" implies that we are taking this exercise to a silly extreme.

But when we place the emphasis on "true", then we begin to glimpse that there are some understandings that are not true. You see, "understanding" just means that we interpret something in a particular way. It doesn't mean we're right. But "TRUE understanding" means that we have grasped the intended meaning, or at least one of the intended meanings. It means that our understanding is in accord with reality.

Of course, one of the things we need to be detached from is "heaven", which, when emphasized, gives us a slightly different take on the whole phrase. In this case, it is a good reminder that our love of heaven, or even our love of the Holy Writings we follow, can prevent us from recognition. Later in this very book, paragraph 27, Baha'u'llah hopes that "the overpowering majesty of the Word of God may not prevent them from attaining unto the ocean of His names and attributes, nor deprive them of recognizing the Lamp of God".

Of course, if we emphasize "earth", then it is a powerful reminder not to let the material world get in our way.

In the second sentence, when we emphasize the word "your", the implication is, again, a bit different. It is our own soul we are responsible for, not anyone else's.

And if we, instead, emphasize "that station which God hath destined for YOU", this is suddenly much more personal. Baha'u'llah is not speaking to some faceless entity. He is talking to me. He is talking to you. He is talking to each and every one of us.

Like I said, we can do this all day. Every word, when emphasized, gives a slightly different meaning to the whole text. As He says so powerfully, "Every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God is endowed with such potency as can instill new life into every human frame, if ye be of them that comprehend this truth."

But why is this important? To me, it is a reminder that we all approach the Writings from a different perspective. Even when we re-read a piece of them, we can find something new to emphasize because we are in different state of mind. We have grown since we last read it. We have changed, and therefore our perspective of the Writings has changed, too.

And that, dear Reader, is yet another reason to dive deep into this ocean. We never know what we may find.

Beware the Cult of Perfectionism

It's a strange thing in our society, this notion that if something isn't perfect it's not worth doing.

In a recent video I posted (click here to see it), there was an interesting comment left on it. It read: "U do look a little wierd and unkept? So I suggest if u are going to record yourself? And to promote spiritual topics and aspects? It would b good and best, if u do so professionally and proper? Otherwise, representing the Faith, is a personal thing, and u do wish u all the best? But I don't think Ruhi is welcomed."

Now, to be clear, I understand where this is coming from. I don't think it was meant as an insult. They are concerned about "striving for excellence", to use the phrase from the Writings. And that is all well and good. I, too, like to try to strive for excellence. But not to the point of inaction.

By trade, I'm an artist. I used to make jewelry for a living, and am now a fashion designer. In my professional life I always strive for excellence. I have a number of pieces that are unfinished merely because I cannot get them to the level of excellence that I demand of myself.

But let's be clear: I am not a professional videographer. I do not make my living at writing about the faith, nor at teaching it. In both of these areas I am an individual who is merely sharing some personal thoughts.

Could I take the time to do more "professional" work? Of course. Could I take the extra amount of time necessary to ensure the lighting is up to the standards set by the entertainment industry? Yes, I could. Am I able to ensure that my hair is perfectly coifed, my skin looks like it's been shined to an unnatural degree of so-called beauty, and that my clothing is of the absolute highest standard? Yes. I could do all of these things. I have the ability.

But I do not have the time.

If I were to try to do this to the levels suggested by some, I would never write nor share anything. I would be paralyzed into inaction.

And so I choose not to.

I believe it is far better to share a few ideas on a personal level with a potentially wide audience than to merely think about these things and only share it with a few friends in a non-virtual way. We are living at a time when we have the ability to share these ideas with this global audience. And there are many professionals who have the time and skill to do this to a far better degree than I can. But they do not have my voice. And there is a slight possibility that my own peculiar voice, my own quirky way of sharing these ideas, may reach someone that will not be attracted by a more polished presentation.

Will I deny them the opportunity to hear the message of Baha'u'llah? Should I?

Of course the answer is no to both those questions.

And all this leads to one other point, that of encouragement.

I share these ideas not because I think my thoughts are somehow profound, nor because I believe that I am somehow special. No. I share them because I have been told by many people that my personal way of sharing has touched their hearts. My joy, the joy I feel at reading the profoundly beautiful and inspiring sacred Texts, has somehow helped others feel a bit more joy, too. So how can I stay quiet?

In the Anglican prayer, they ask God to "Shield the joyous ones". As one who is exuberant, I can understand that. If I were any less confident, any less inspired by these teachings, such a comment as was left on my little video would be devastating. It would paralyze me into inaction. I would feel shamed and humiliated.

Remember, when someone is sharing things like this, they are opening up their heart for all to witness. And when the heart is opened, it is also vulnerable. It can be easily hurt.

So when 'Abdu'l-Baha said, "Beware! Beware lest thou offend any heart", I believe it was also to help "shield the joyous ones".

There are some very beautiful video presentations on the faith out there. There are many that are done by professionals, to the standards set by the entertainment industry. But there are also the simple videos shared by people like me, articles that talk about a little idea that touched someone's heart, works of art that are shared merely for the love of it. And these, too, are a valuable contribution to the community.

So, please, don't get caught up in the cult of perfectionism. Note that when Baha'u'llah refers to "the trees of divine unity, the fruits of His oneness, the leaves of detachment, the blossoms of knowledge and certitude, and the myrtles of wisdom and utterance", He is including not only the mighty trees of the forest, but also the little flowers that grow in their shade.

And so I encourage you, too. If you have a flower you want to share, please do so. I, for one, would love to witness it, even if you are a "bit wierd and unkept".

WWBD

Imagine if we had, from the Pen of Baha'u'llah, a detailed description of how to teach the Faith. Would you read it? Would you study it? Would you examine in great detail all of the finer points of that description?

We know from the memoirs of Haji Mirza Haydar Ali that He told us to look to the Master. He said that we should listen so carefully that the speaker feels as though they are teaching us something. And that's great advice, to be sure.

But what if we could see how Baha'u'llah taught? We know that He brought many people to a recognition of the Bab during His time as a Babi. How did He do it?

Interestingly enough, we have just such a book: the Kitab-i-Iqan.

So, here we have an uncle of the Bab who quite reasonably asked, "My nephew? How can my nephew be the Promised One?" A whole ton of Babis tried to convince him, but none were able to satisfy his questions. In the end, they did the most reasonable thing imaginable. They told him to go ask Baha'u'llah. And so he did.

But let's look at that for a moment.

He couldn't just phone Him up and say, "Hey, Baha'u'llah, what gives?" Even sending Him a letter was pretty difficult. Instead, he went to Baghdad to ask his questions.

But again, this is not as easy as jumping on a plane, or grabbing the next train. I mean even driving there was out of the question.

No. He had to walk there. From Tehran, or somewhere in Iran. Not really sure where.

We're talking months. Months of walking on difficult and dangerous roads. I won't even go into the details, mainly because I'm too lazy to do the research right now, but let's just say it was quite the ordeal.

All to ask how his nephew could possibly be the Promised One.

That's pretty intense. That's how sincere he was in his search.

I'm not even going to go into how the heck did he find Baha'u'llah when he got there. I mean, I'm fairly certain he didn't look Him up in the phone book. But he probably had his ways that were fairly well known to the people of the day, which really goes to show you how lost I would be back in those days.

Regardless, he shows up at the door, and what is the first thing Baha'u'llah does? To be honest, I'm not really sure, but I can make an educated guess. Oh, and this is just my own opinion, nothing official, of course.

I suspect the first thing He does is warmly welcome him in.

He probably offers him a place to wash up after the long journey, some food and drink, perhaps a place to rest. I don't know, but I'm pretty sure He would have offered the most amazing and warm hospitality imaginable.

Then, after the appropriate "small talk", after asking how he's doing, how's the family, how are the wife and kids, He probably got straight to the point. "Why have you come all this way?" Or some more lofty way of saying that, most likely.

That's when his question was probably asked. "How can my nephew be the Promised One?"

Great. Now we are at the heart of it, right?

Well, not quite. You see, that's only the surface question. Behind that lie myriad other questions, all revolving around the concept of "Why don't you think He is?"

And this is where I think it gets interesting. This is where I think we can begin to learn a bit more about His methodology.

You see, He doesn't appear to have engaged in a conversation at that time about that topic. No. Instead, He asks the uncle to write down his questions. Clarify his thinking. Solidify his questions. Focus his attention so that he is clear about why he isn't certain the Bab could be the Promised One.

Once the questions are written down, even then Baha'u'llah doesn't engage in that conversation. He effectively says, "Great questions. Let Me think on it and get back to you. Come back in a few days and you'll have My answer."

And that is just what the uncle does.

A few days later we have the written response, the Book of Certitude. Three days. Over 200 pages written in the exquisite calligraphy of the Master, Baha'u'llah's son, 'Abdu'l-Baha. But those three days are not the miracle of this small volume. It's what the book says that is the true miracle. This is where we can see, beyond the arguments He puts forth, His careful nurturing of a sincere soul seeking his Lord. And it is through a study of this methodology that we can begin to see just how Baha'u'llah Himself led someone to the truth.

Transformation

Such is the potency of the Divine Elixir, which, swift as the twinkling of an eye, transmuteth the souls of men!

...consider the substance of copper...

...the (divine) elixir will, in one instant, cause the substance of copper to attain the state of gold... Could this gold be called copper? Could it be claimed that it hath not attained the state of gold, whilst the touchstone is at hand to assay it and distinguish it from copper?

            Baha'u'llah - Kitab-i-Iqan, paragraphs 164 - 166

 

As some of you may know, a friend and I have been studying the Kitab-i-Iqan for a little while. Well, "a little while" means something like 24 years and counting.

    Aside - Wow. It's been ages since I've had an aside like this. So, back in the day, my friend Samuel and I were sharing an apartment. He was a relatively new Baha'i at the time and asked if, as long as we were living together, we could study the Writings. Naturally I said, "Of course. What would you like to study?" I presumed he would say something like the Hidden Words, or some other short excerpt from the Writings. Nope. "How about the Kitab-i-Iqan?" And so we did. Minimum 2 hours a week, plus any extra time we had in the apartment together. After a few months I ended up getting married, he moved out, and we put our study on hold. When we began again, we realized we had no idea where Baha'u'llah was in His argument in the book, and so we began again. My son was born, so we put it on hold again, and had to start all over again as we, once again, failed to understand where He was in His argument. But this time we decided to keep a record of our study, which you can find here. Anyways, long story short, 24 years later we are still at it, hoping to finish at some point before we are called to the great yonder beyond.

Over the past week, we have been looking at those paragraphs dealing with copper turning into gold. As you can imagine, these paragraphs have been raising a lot of questions, especially as we (humanity) has learned more about what constitutes the various elements. As it smacks of alchemy, many people have outright dismissed it as mere fable, but we've been diving deeper into it.

As you can see from the parts I have chosen to excerpt above, we believe that He is primarily referring to the transformation of the human heart, going from being like base copper to noble gold. You can read more about our thoughts on that in the blog on the Iqan. I am not going to go into it here.

Instead, I want to talk about a thought that occurred to me this morning.

My dear friend Azin made a comment, and asked a question, about the melting points of the two metals, and could this also, somehow, explain what He was referring to. I suspect not, I replied, as heating up the elements to their melting points merely affects the outer electron layers, not the nucleus itself, which is where the transmutation of elements would need to occur.

The nucleus.

The heart.

Hmmm.

    Aside number 2 - As long as I'm putting asides in here, let me just tell a little story about Azin. We were both living in Winnipeg at the time and were standing in the front hall of the local Baha'i Centre, a building chock filled with great memories for me. Anyways, as we were chatting, one of the dear Persian elderly ladies came up to us and, beaming, said how wonderful it was to see "two lions of Faith" talking together. We were both a bit embarrassed as being called such a thing, so I replied, "Yes. Azin is a lion because of his spirit. I'm only a lion because of my hair."

Once again the metaphors Baha'u'llah uses seem to become even more profound the more we dive into them.

It is very easy to make copper look like gold, for a short time. All you need to do is polish it, heat it, or even alloy it. All of these techniques can help. But it will still tarnish. To truly get copper to become gold, you need to add an additional 50 protons and 83 neutrons to the nucleus. Good luck. I mean, we know it's possible, and have even done it in nuclear reactors, but it's difficult. Really difficult. And not worth it, financially.

In other words, superficial changes are easy, but not all that effective or long-lasting.

To really make it change, you need to transform the heart.

And that, dear Reader, is the same for people.

But once the heart has really changed, then it is done. The individual has moved from being like copper, and easily tarnished, to being like pure gold, and ever-shining.

Now I'm also thinking about the tests involved in this, and how a simple chemical reaction is like the everyday tests we all face in our life. But a nuclear reaction is so much more severe, more profound, and I can't even imagine what those tests would be like.

Ah well, that's enough for me to meditate on the rest of this beautiful day, and probably for many more days to come.

I was hoping to end with something witty this morning, but nothing is coming to mind. Sorry. Just pretend I did, smile, perhaps even chuckle a bit, and enjoy the rest of your day.

Oh, and if you have any thoughts of passages for me to consider in this blog, please comment with them. Thanks. :)

The Right Stuff

I woke up this morning about an hour earlier than usual, thinking about the arts and the Right of God.

Strange, eh?

Well, not too strange. I was talking with a friend of mine a few days ago, an artist I'm collaborating with, and she was telling me how the Board of Trustees for Huququ'llah were meeting and talking about integrating the arts. She told them about our collaboration, and how we are basing it on a phrase from the Writings, and that got them thinking. And she wanted to share that with me.

It got me thinking, too, I guess.

It also got me realizing that I've been wanting to get back to writing on this blog on a regular basis, and no time like the present, so I figured this extra hour this morning is a gift, which is a present, right? Let's get to it.

Too often in various communities, the integration of the arts means having a song during prayers. But that isn't integration. It's more like an application, as in how you would apply a bandage to a cut.

Back on 27 December 2005, the House of Justice talked about how a "graceful integration of the arts into diverse activities enhances the surge of energy that mobilizes the believers". Sounds good, right? But what is a "graceful integration"? For that matter, what is integration?

To integrate something means to blend it in so that it becomes part of the whole. In other words, when we add in a song during devotions, we are not integrating the arts. We are just using the arts in one portion. To integrate them, we would need to have our presentation done artfully. We would need to learn to have the room organized in an artful and beautiful way. We would need to offer our contributions in a similarly artful and beautiful manner.

For clarification, art is defined in the Oxford dictionary as "the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination... producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power". When presenting something for the Faith, don't we want it to have "beauty and emotional power"?

In addition to this, Baha'u'llah also tells us in Epistle to the Son of the Wolf that the arts should be "productive of good results, and bring forth their fruit, and (be) conducive to the well-being and tranquility of" all people.

Ok. This all sounds great. But what does it look like?

Great question. Thanks.

For me, if I were being asked to talk about the Right of God, how would I do it?

I guess I would begin with the compilation, and look at the Writings.

When I do this, the first thing I notice is the second quote (don't ask), which tells us "the first duty is to recognize the one true God—magnified be His glory—the second is to show forth constancy in His Cause and, after these, one’s duty is to purify one’s riches and earthly possessions according to that which is prescribed by God."

Recognition first? That sounds familiar. And then constancy, which can be seen as a form of obedience. Recognition and obedience. First paragraph of the Kitab-i-Aqdas. Oh, incidentally, it can also be seen as the part 1 (recognition) and part 2 (obedience) of the Kitab-i-Iqan. Hmmm.

But then, the very next thing after these two is to purify our stuff. So, I guess it can be seen as purify yourself and then purify your stuff.

Now I'm reminded of the Bab's quote about how everything in creation "hath its own heaven".

When I get to the third quote, what strikes out to me is the various Names of God. The Fashioner (the arts?). The Omniscient, the All-Informed (the sciences?). The Beneficent, the Gracious, the Bountiful (how we are to spread these two wings of knowledge?). And then the last set in that paragraph are the Gracious, the Bestower, the Generous, the Ancient of Days.

I also note that these titles are mathematical. First there is 1, then 2, then 3, and then 4. Hmmm.

Ok. From here I continued to read, looking for phrases that jumped out that I could use to create a work of art. But I got all the way to number 9 and nothing really stood out to me. So I went back to number 3 and found "after this fleeting life, your souls soar heavenwards and the trappings of your earthly joys are folded up" and thought yeah, I could work with that.

But then in number 10, I found "the Springtime of benevolent deeds".

Look at these two phrases. Can't you just see the beauty and promise latent within them? How would a dancer portray this? What about a painter? What imagery would she paint?

A farmer could talk about how it reminds her of sowing in the spring. Cast the seeds of this fleeting life in the spring and watch the harvest unfold. Oh, I just love the image.

And I have to tell you, I would find this sort of a presentation far more inspiring than a mathematical one where we learn to calculate 19%.

Beauty. Emotional power. Good results. Bringing forth its fruit.

By looking for an artistic handle to grab onto, the theme of springtime has really leapt out of all this for me. And I have to say, I had never likened the Right of God to the sowing of the seeds in the spring, but I like it.

Yeah, when we truly learn to have a "graceful integration of the arts", I think we will see many more profound and beautiful connections in the Writings.

But graceful, though? I haven't thought of myself as graceful. Especially this early in the morning, and before coffee at that. Maybe I'll leave this here and gracefully head off into my day.

Greetings on this fine and beautiful morning from just north of Quebec City.