In the last few paragraphs, Muhammad-Taqi was given a very short prayer: “O God, my God! Attire mine head with the crown of justice, and my temple with the ornament of equity.” And then, almost as if Baha'u'llah is answering that prayer Himself, the very next paragraph begins, “Justice and equity are twin Guardians that watch over men.”
But their purpose, justice and equity, is not merely to make him a better person. “From them are revealed such blessed and perspicuous words as are the cause of the well-being of the world and the protection of the nations.”
Once again, we move from the individual to the world. Muhammad-Taqi has been asked to examine himself, to listen, to ponder, to practise detachment, and finally to use his wisdom and his voice to quench hatred. Now justice and equity are described in terms of the well-being of the world and the protection of nations. Whatever Baha'u'llah is asking of this one religious leader, the consequences reach considerably further than the man himself.
And then Baha'u'llah seems to begin establishing a standard.
He speaks about God and the Manifestations, those “Mystic Gems”, explaining that they have appeared in order to tell humanity about the One Who is otherwise beyond our sight and knowledge. Then He turns to religion itself. “That the divers communions of the earth, and the manifold systems of religious belief, should never be allowed to foster the feelings of animosity among men, is, in this Day, of the essence of the Faith of God and His Religion.”
Never be allowed.
That's a pretty strong statement, especially in a letter to Muhammad-Taqi. Baha'u'llah doesn't say that religious hatred is bad, or that it would be nice if people of different religions got along a little better. Nope. He’s far stronger about it. Religious belief should never be allowed to foster animosity.
And He gives a reason. “These principles and laws, these firmly-established and mighty systems, have proceeded from one Source, and are the rays of one Light.” Their differences do not justify hatred because their origin is one.
This brings me right back to the Invocation, “the One, the Incomparable”. We began with the oneness of God, and now that oneness has implications. If these religions proceed from one Source and are rays of one Light, then hatred between their followers isn't merely socially destructive. It seems to contradict something fundamental about the religions themselves.
Baha'u'llah then shows us just how destructive that contradiction can become. “Religious fanaticism and hatred are a world-devouring fire, whose violence none can quench.” And this isn't an abstract warning. He describes what that fire looks like when it is allowed to burn: war, villages destroyed, lives lost, possessions abandoned. The hatred that begins in hearts and is fed by words eventually becomes something terribly physical. This doesn’t just affect a few people, or even merely an entire village. It is “world-devouring”.
This makes me think again about what Muhammad-Taqi has just been asked to do. Only a few paragraphs earlier, Baha'u'llah told him to use “the power of wisdom and the force of thy utterance” to quench “the fire of enmity and hatred”. And now that same hatred is described as a “world-devouring fire”.
That metaphor has suddenly become much larger.
Perhaps this is part of the standard Baha'u'llah is establishing. If you want to know whether religious leadership is serving its proper purpose, look at what it produces. Does it increase the knowledge of God? Does it further unity and fellowship? Does it protect the nations and contribute to the well-being of the world? Or does it feed the fire?
Then Baha'u'llah gives us the alternative: “Ye are the fruits of one tree, and the leaves of one branch.”
I have read that line so many times that I often forget how radical it is in this context. Baha'u'llah is writing to a man whose religious world was filled with divisions between believer and unbeliever, pure and impure, faithful and heretic. And after describing religious hatred as a world-devouring fire, He tells him to look at humanity as the fruits of one tree and the leaves of one branch.
Not different trees growing beside each other and learning to tolerate one another. One tree.
And from there the vision continues to widen. Baha'u'llah speaks of the illumination of the whole earth and of the protection and security of all mankind. Earlier we moved from Muhammad-Taqi himself to the peoples of the world. Now we seem to be looking at humanity as a whole.
But then comes the problem. If this is the standard, why doesn't the world look like this?
Baha'u'llah speaks of the “thick clouds of oppression” that have obscured this station, and He points specifically towards the divines of Persia. He seems to be making very sure that Muhammad-Taqi understands what religion is supposed to look like, and holding up a mirror so he can reflect on his own actions.
And so, once again, we return to behaviour.
“Consort with all men, O people of Baha, in a spirit of friendliness and fellowship.”
There is the standard made practical. Unity isn't merely a nice, little theological claim about one Source or one Light. It must become something visible in the way we deal with people.
Baha'u'llah even tells us what to do when we think we possess a truth that someone else doesn't recognise. We are to share it “in a language of utmost kindliness and goodwill”. If the person accepts it, fine. But if they don't, should we force it on them? Demand they accept our understanding of it? No. We are told to leave them to themselves and pray for them.
Again, I have to put this in context so I better understand how radical this is. Baha'u'llah is writing to a religious leader whose position gives him considerable power over what happens to people who disagree with him, and He establishes a very different standard for religious disagreement. Offer what you believe to be true with kindness and goodwill. If it is rejected, don't become angry. Don't compel. Don't abuse. Pray for the person and leave them alone.
And then we return to the voice one more time. “A kindly tongue is the lodestone of the hearts of men.”
After everything we have already seen about the voice, I can't help but hear that differently here. Muhammad-Taqi has been told what his ears were created for. He has been given words to recite. He has been told what tongues are for. He has been asked to use the force of his own utterance to quench hatred. And now Baha'u'llah tells him what kind of tongue can attract hearts. A kindly one.
“It is the bread of the spirit, it clotheth the words with meaning, it is the fountain of the light of wisdom and understanding.”
I've actually written an entire article about this quote before, called “A Kindly Tongue”, so I won't go through all of that again here. In that article I wondered whether part of what Baha'u'llah is saying is quite practical. If our tongue isn't kindly, people may simply stop listening. The Bread of Life can't feed someone who won't receive it, and our words can't convey much meaning if they never really make it past the person's ears.
What I hadn't noticed then, because I wasn't looking at the quote in the context of this Epistle, was what comes immediately before it. Muhammad-Taqi has already been told to quench hatred through “the power of wisdom and the force of thy utterance”. And now Baha'u'llah tells him that a kindly tongue is “the fountain of the light of wisdom and understanding”.
There we are, back at wisdom again.
Perhaps we're being shown something about what that “power of wisdom” actually looks like. It isn't merely having the right argument or knowing the right thing to say. The kindliness of the tongue seems to be part of the wisdom itself.
And then, right at the end of this section, Baha'u'llah says something that seems to prepare us for what comes next. By the “divines” He means those who “outwardly attire themselves with the raiment of knowledge, but who inwardly are deprived therefrom”.
There is that distinction again between possessing knowledge and actually knowing. Muhammad-Taqi has already been told that he may need to be delivered from the darkness of ignorance. Baha'u'llah has told him that He Himself attended neither the schools nor the controversies of the learned. Now He describes people who look learned on the outside but are deprived of knowledge within.
I think I begin to see why Baha'u'llah has taken so much time before turning directly towards the iniquities of the divines. He has established the standard first.
What is religion for? The knowledge of God, unity and fellowship. What should justice and equity produce? The well-being of the world and the protection of nations. How should we see humanity? As the fruits of one tree and the leaves of one branch. How should we treat someone who rejects what we believe to be true? With kindness and goodwill. What should our voice do? Quench hatred. What kind of tongue attracts the hearts? A kindly one.
Only after establishing all of that does Baha'u'llah begin to turn towards the people who claim religious authority and ask, in effect, whether their lives and actions meet that standard. And Muhammad-Taqi is one of them.
Perhaps that is why the order matters. Baha'u'llah doesn't begin by condemning the man and then explain what he has done wrong. He first gives him something against which he can measure himself.
No comments:
Post a Comment