Spiritual Motion

Have I ever mentioned that I am an avid reader of science fiction? I just love the stuff. In fact, that is how I first learned about the Baha'i Faith. At a science fiction convention. But that's a story for another time (told in a book that is awaiting a publisher, hint hint). I have always figured that Baha'is and science fiction fans are pretty much the only two groups of people that necessarily look to the future, by virtue of their beliefs.

But that's not what I want to talk about right now.

No, today I was thinking about science. The hard stuff, not the fiction, fluff or otherwise. In particular, I was thinking about the laws of physics, and specifically the laws of motion, as described by Newton.

You see, I am of the belief that everything, and I mean everything, in physical creation can be seen as a metaphor for a spiritual truth. I've written a lot about this, and I figure there is still a lot more to be written. Oh, and not just by me. I love to read what others write about this, too. But for myself, I was wondering about Newton and his laws of motion.

The 1st law of motion, in case you have forgotten is: Any change in speed requires a force. Or, in simple terms, an object at rest tends to stay at rest, while an object in motion tends to stay in motion. Perhaps that's why it is so difficult for some of us to get out of bed in the morning.

What are the spiritual implications of this? Well, to me, this refers to the state of our spirit, as well as the state of civilization.

On an individual level, it is a reminder of the reality that my tendancy is to just keep on doing whatever it is that I happen to be doing at any given moment. Like most of us, I presume, I would rather stay in a job that doesn't bother me too much than get up and look for a new one that I would enjoy more. I would far prefer to stay in a house that doesn't annoy me too much than spend the energy looking for a new one.

Similarly, I would rather keep writing what I am writing here, a form of motion, than try and develop a new voice to write something in a different vein.

Whatever I happen to be doing at any given moment, I would prefer to keep on doing it.

I think that society is similar. We, as a group, would far prefer to keep on doing what we are doing, rather than spending the time and energy looking for a better way of doing things. Or better things to do.

The problem, however, is that most of what we are doing is not particularly good. Many of our habits need to be changed if we want to fluorish, as opposed to just survive. In fact, some of our habits have to change if we want to even survive.

This phenomenon of just coasting can actually lead to some serious issues. The Guardian refers to "the apathy and lethargy that paralyze (our) spiritual faculties", which shows that it is an issue we need to contend with. The reason, he points out in this statement, that we don't get up and look for something better is that we either don't care enough about it, apathy, or are just too lazy to do anything about it, lethargy. And this is not good. We cannot be passive players in the course of our life; we need to be active, conscious participants in choosing our direction.

Of course, as everyone knows, this is not easy. It takes energy, either through effort of will, or some possibly catastrophic event in our life.

This brings us to the 2nd law of motion: The force needed to accelerate an object equals the mass of the object multiplied by its acceleration. In other words, the more we want to move, the more energy is needed. Coffee, for many of us, provides that acceleration needed to get us out of bed in the morning.

For me, as an individual, that can mean either an event in my life providing that energy, or effort of will. An event that really changed the course of my life was the birth of my son. That provided so much spiritual energy that my life has really never been the same. Regularly reading the Writings every morning and evening also provides that much needed spiritual energy to keep my spirit moving, without which the friction of life would slow me down until I ceased moving altogether. Instead of a large concentrated force all at once, it is a little bit every day.

Some historic examples of this are Saint Paul, with his transformational encounter with the Spirit of God on the road to Damascus, or Saint Francis and his encounter with the leper. In the Baha'i tradition, we also have the story of Badi and his meetings with Baha'u'llah. In those memorable meetings "the spirit of might and power was breathed" into him.


Society is the same. We regularly need that spiritual infusion given to us by the Messengers of God, which is the only force massive enough to move an entire civilization. If we look back through history, we can easily see that the rise of each major civilization coincides with the advent of a Manifestation of God, whether it is Greek society being influenced by the Jewish scholars, or Rome with Jesus, or even the European renaissance being inspired by Islam through the wealth of information brought back by the merchants of the age.

Time and again we can see the result of this massive force, the spiritual energies released by the Manifestation of God, acting upon the world.

But then we encounter the unfortunate reality of the 3rd law of motion: For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. (Or, I have to get up and make the coffee in the morning before I can drink it.)

As it says in the Qur'an, "O the misery of men! No Messenger cometh unto them but they laugh Him to scorn." Unfortunately, we often do a lot more than just laugh at Them. I don't need to go into that here, for we all know it.

I do wonder, however, why we, as a people, would do this. As you can imagine, Baha'u'llah tells us, right there in the Kitab-i-Iqan.

"Consider how men for generations have been blindly imitating their fathers... Such men... become so veiled that without the least question, they pronounce the Manifestation of God an infidel, and sentence Him to death."

It is through this blind imitation, when we allow ourselves to be carried forward in a dangerous direction by this simple application of inertia. It is a sad outcome of allowing that 1st law of motion to go unchecked.

But how does this quote and the 3rd law of motion apply to me as an individual? I think of it as a warning. First of all, if I want to make a change in my life, I should expect resistance. This resistance can either come from within, through that nefarious enemy of mine, lethargy, or from without, through the scorn or distractions imposed upon me by society. Video games and movies are an excellent example of the latter. (Science fictions, novels, on the other hand, don't really count. Do they?)

Secondly, it is yet another warning to live consciously, which, as you know, is a theme that comes up over and over again.

For example, right now, my lethargy tells me to keep sitting here in a coffee shop drinking tea, while my stomach is that force prompting me to cease writing, move on towards home and get dinner.

Tummy 1, lethargy 0. Tummy wins.

One Country

"The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens."

We all know this quote, have it memorized and use it in our conversations quite often, I am sure. But I recently started thinking about it again, this time from an unusual perspective for me.  You see, I am an immigrant. I chose, at one point in my life, to move from the United States to Canada. Oh, and before you go there, I was not dodging a military draft, or doing it for any political reasons. No, I just was looking for a city in which I wanted to raise a family, and that city happened to be in Canada.

In recent days someone seemed to strongly disapprove of this choice and that got me thinking about this quote. "What is a country? How have we defined it in our own minds? How has Baha'u'llah redefined it for us? And what does it mean to be a citizen of this newly conceived 'country'?" Those were some of the thoughts that were going through my mind today as I was walking on the beach with my son.

Some people define a country by topography, or the distinctiveness of its population. Others define it by the boundaries marked by the political influence of a government, as in where the laws of a particular governing body are recognized. Probably the most common definitions would combine these into something like "a politically autonomous area distinguished by its people, culture, language, and geography".

But let's look at this. Is it really the case?

If we begin at the top of this list, then we must consider topography. Every mountain, valley, hill, dale, glen, forest, and rise would be deserving of the title country. Every individual island would have to have its own governing body, if not more than one. Every single place upon the planet that could be distinguished from any other would, by definition, need to be its own country. We would find ourselves continually reducing ourselves to smaller and smaller geographical units, dividing ourselves more and more, as we have seen in some parts of the world, to the great tragedy of those who live there.

In short, we would find this definition to be more than just useless; it would be destructive.

So, how about the second part of our working definition, distinctiveness of population? What does that actually mean? If we are referring to social norms, such as style of dress, or preferred music, than all you need to do is walk down any street and you will see the problem with that one. Do you look at the middle class white collar workers? Or the goth crowd? The upper elite? Or the homeless? In this day and age, with the increasing mass migration of humanity all over the face of the planet, this quickly becomes an unrealistic possiblity for a defining criteria. We are just too diverse a population for it to be a useful criterion. (And just in case you're wondering, I think this is a good thing.)

If we look at culture or language, we run into the same issues with migration, again. Today, you can walk down the street of any major city, and most minor ones, too, and see people with a such variety of features that it would have bewildered our grandparents.

So how about the politcal influence and the laws governing behaviour? Of which laws are we speaking? While every country has its own federal laws, the various states and provinces that exist under them each have their own laws. Does this make them their own nations?

In fact, we could go further down, to the level of the city, town, village or municipality. While they each exist within the province, they also have their own individual laws. Does this mean that they are their own nation?

The question on this definition based upon laws is that it, once again, breaks down at the level of application, forming smaller and smaller units.

No. It seems that any definition we try to use will, in the end, become more divisive than integrative.

I think the only way to look at it is in the reverse.

While we all quite easily agree that the laws of the city do not make it a nation, we are left trying to figure out why that is. One simple answer is that the city exists within the larger context of the state. Similarly, the province, or state, exists under the aegis of the federal laws.

While this would seem to be the end of it, we should also take a moment to recognize that there are now various international laws that are beginning to show the limits of federal or national sovereignty. It could very well be argued that these new international laws constitute a higher level of governement, thereby extending the definition of "nation" to what could be termed a "supra-nation" (if we use "super", it just gives me the willies of cold war egotism). In short, we could easily argue that the earth is, in literal fact, a single nation, with the smaller units previously called nations now acting like the provinces that are currently existing within them.

Baha'u'llah's call for a global currency, as well as global weights and mesures, would further assist the thinking along these lines.

So, getting back to my original thought, why would it matter if I moved to another country? If I had stayed within the United States, would anyone have cared if I moved from state to another? I think not, but then again, who knows?

To me, with my way of thinking, I see no tangible difference between the various countries. Or rather, to be more precise, I see no one country as being any better than any other, much like I would not see any one state or province as having any inherent superiority over another. The earth is, in reality, only a single country.

But there is still one other part of that quote that intrigues me: what does it mean to be a citizen?

According to the dictionary, it means "owing allegiance to, and being entitled to the protection of," the government.

In years gone by, this would have had a very different meaning than it does today. In the middle ages, for example, the "protection" might have only extended to the military meaning. The populace would have been entitled to the protection against invading armies. Their allegiance, however, would have meant giving over large amounts of taxes and food to the nobility, ostensibly in exchange for this protection.

Today I think this definition has a bit of an extending meaning. When we think of the role of the government, and the protections the people are entitled to, we often move into the realm of commerce and health. We insist on government standards in the market, ensuring the quality of our meat, vegetables, olive oil, cars, heaters and anything else we can think of. We insist that the companies providing various goods live up to their claims, and that they do not inadvertantly harm us (except in the case of cigarettes and alcohol, but that's another topic altogether). We also insist on laws that "prevent" us from harming ourselves, by requiring us to wear bicycle helmets or seatbelts, for example. This whole concept of "protection" has also brought such reforms as health care, social security, and similar measures. It also implies a conscious care for the environment, increased appreciation and education of the diverse peoples of the world, taking care not to allow minority cultures fade away, or various peoples be abused. It means a whole new system of education in which children are raised to be aware of the world in which they live, and not just their own neighbourhood or town. Not too bad, if you ask me, but there are still many questions left to be answered.

The main question that is being asked these days is, "Who is going to pay for all this?"

It is fine to pass a law ensuring the quality of our meat in the stores, but we have to pay the salaries of the people doing the inspection. Health care is a wonderful thing, but who covers the salaries of the physicians and nurses, as well as the medication? A change in education is obviously needed, but who will cover the costs of curriculum development and teacher training?

This is where "allegiance" comes in. Like the middle ages, it is still called "taxes" in most places.

But surely there is more to allegiance than just a bit of cash. It means a loyalty to a recognized group or a cause, whether that cause is a government, a religion, an ideology or some other structure. It implies adherence, or obedience, to the laws or rules of that body.

Hmm.

Recognition? Obedience? Sounds familiar to me. It seems like we are faced, once again, with that first paragraph of the Kitab-i-Aqdas, that charter for a new world civilization.

They say that when you dive into the Ocean of His Writings, you will come up with priceless pearls. And I'll tell you, just a few minutes reflection upon that simple statement of Baha'u'llah's has made me think of it in a new light.

Given the current state of global politics, with the rapidly increasing influence of the United Nations, combined with the mass migration of humanity, gives light to the reality that Baha'u'llah stated well over a hundred years ago. The earth actually is one country, and we people who inhabit this planet truly are its citizens.

A Science Museum Experiment

Shoghi and I went to a science museum the other day and saw a display of possible inventions in the future. It was very interesting to see where modern scientists believe we are heading. Oh, and this was designed, for the most part, by young scientists, grad students, who taped their presentations about why they thought each item would be used at some point soon.

Some of the things they included were smart shoes that could grip onto walls or bounce you higher to help you run faster, various inventions for cleaning the air or the water, new types of communications equipments, and all sorts of other gadgets that were previously locked into the realm of science fiction.

There was one device that caught the attention of both of us, however, and that was a little gadget that would help you communicate to a computer with your mind. I think we've all seen something like this in the movies. You know, someone is wearing a head band connected to a computer and all of a sudden they don't need a keyboard or a mouse, or anything. They think what they want and it happens.

What they had in the museum wasn't quite like that, but it was a simple metal band against which you placed your forehead, and two metal plates for your hands. It was supposed to measure how calm you were in your thoughts through some process I really don't understand. They said something about alpha waves, but it didn't enough sense for me to repeat it here.

What happened, though, is that you put your hands on the plates, touched your forehead to the metal, and if you were calm enough, a ball would float in the air. Oh, in a sealed tube, of course.

The line for this gadget was quite long, and neither of us wanted to try it that badly, although it was fun to watch others. The best anyone could do, it seemed, was to get the ball about a foot off the ground, no matter how hard they tried.

Of course, by this point, you are probably asking yourself what this has to do with the Baha'i Faith or spirituality.

I'm glad you asked.

After seeing the rest of the exhibit, we went back to this device and discovered that there was no one else around. Shoghi sat in the chair, but was too short to reach the metal band comfortably, even when the chair was at its highest setting. While he was disappointed, he still wanted me to try it.

And so I sat down.

While I was touching all the requisite metal pieces, I watched the ball. Although I was a bit nervous (I really don't know why), the ball moved a bit. Encouraged by this, I began to say a short prayer by the Bab, and the ball actually rose at that moment. Only a few inches, but it rose.

I closed my eyes and said the prayer again.

Shoghi shouted out, "Papa!" And I opened my eyes in time to see the ball fall from a foot in the air.

Shoghi was grinning. And gibbering with excitement.

I asked him if I could try it one more time, and he was so happy about that.

This time I closed my eyes again and began to say a prayer from Baha'u'llah. I really focussed on the words and could feel myself plunging into that Ocean. You know how there are the occassional moments when you really "feel" the prayer with your whole being? Well, that was the level of concentration I had at that moment. Rare as it is, it actually happened right then. I could literally feel the touch of God's bounty upon my soul.

I ignored all the sounds in the room. Tuned out the flashing lights in my periphery. All I could sense was the power of those Words.

And when I opened my eyes, that little ball was up by the ceiling, to my utter amazement. I knew this was not of my own doing, but a gift given to me by an All-Merciful Creator Who wanted to show me the power of prayer. Well, actually the power of prayer when said with concentration and attention.

 As I was relating this story to someone else, he said that it would be useful to test the "sincerity" of one's prayers. While I don't think it would actually do that, I do believe that it would be a useful tool to help us learn to focus, and this could be very useful. It reminds me, after all, of that marvelous quote from Baha'u'llah:

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.

I wonder where I can get one of those devices. Ebay?

Touched By The Hands

A few months ago, I had the wonderful joy of reading The Unforgettable Hands of the Cause by Michael Woodward. It was a very enjoyable read and I felt like I was right there with him during his experiences with them. In fact, it reminded me very much of those few moments in my own life when I had the bounty of being in the presence of those same souls.

I should mention that I only had the bounty of seeing four of the Hands: William Sears, Ruhiyyih Khanum, Ali-Akbar Furutan and Ali-Muhammad Varqa, in that order. I can actually count the number of personal stories I have about them on a single hand, even if were to lose a couple of fingers. Obviously, this is not enough for a book, like Mr Woodward, but I feel that these simple stories are worth sharing, for they show something of the impact these people had on others.

This realization got me thinking. It occured to me that we have the wonderful blessing of having the writings and recordings of the Hands of the Cause, and we have the pleasure of reading their biographies. We also have the incredible joy to read books like the one Michael wrote, filled with stories from a single person.

But what we are missing are the countless stories from people like myself, people who did not have the bounty to work with them for years on end, or did not know them in the field or as neighbours. No, there are many stories from simple people like me who only knew them by reputation, who heard so much about them but only had the opportunity to meet them once or twice.

When this realization hit me, I decided to try and compile a book with these stories: "Touched By the Hands". Over the last few months I have talked with people about this idea, started a group on FaceBook in an attempt to solicit more stories, and even begun writing letters to different people I know who have many stories.

This is not enough, though.

After talking with a few of the friends last night at the Feast, I realized that I never shared this idea here on my blog, so here it is.

Below is the letter I originally posted on FaceBook. Please feel free to copy it and send it around as you see fit.

Thanks.

Mead

_____

Dearly loved friends,

On His journey to North America, 'Abdu'l-Baha said of the Hands of the Cause:

Hearts are attracted by the beauty of their morals, the sincerity of their intentions, and their sense of equity and justice. Souls are involuntarily enamored of their praiseworthy morals and laudable attributes. Faces turn in spontaneous attraction to their outstanding qualities and actions.

As you well know, the Hands of Cause share a position that is unique to the Baha'i Faith, and we will not see their like again for a long time, a very long time, indeed. While thinking about this, I began to realize what a debt we owe to those who recorded their personal memories of the early heroes of the Faith, in books such as Nabil's Narrative: the Dawn-Breakers and many other priceless volumes. It seems to me that we are now in a position to pay forward some of this by recording our own memories of those dear Hands of the Cause so that those in the future may better understand their station in this Faith.

We have many wonderful biographies of their precious lives, articles that they themselves have penned and numerous tributes to their wisdom and dedication. What may be missing are those countless stories of how the Hands touched individuals in their daily lives.

If you have any first-hand stories of any of the Hands of the Cause, stories that are very precious to you, please write them down and send them back to me. I hope, God willing, to be able to compile them into a volume for publication. You do not need to be overly concerned about style as I will try and ensure that they are all conveying the message you wish to convey. Most will require no more than simple editing, while some may need to be entirely re-written as they may be submitted in note form. Both are acceptable. What is important is to get the stories down.

You can either e-mail them to me, phone me in Canada (e-mail me for the number), or join the Facebook group "Touched by the Hands".

I will attribute all stories to the sources, and if requested, send the final draft of each story back to the original contributor for approval. Submission will be considered as permission for publication.

Depending upon submissions, second-hand stories may be accepted, but this is not certain at this time.

Finally, if submitting by e-mail, please include the name of the Hand of the Cause in the subject line. This will enable me to more easily sort the stories. If it involves more than one Hand, please try to include all names in the subject line.

Thank you for taking the time to submit your precious stories. I am certain that many people for generations to come will be very grateful to you. And please feel free to pass this e-mail on to any you think may hope to contribute.

With love and prayers,

Mead

Ps - A dear friend of mine who is not a Baha'i just said that this is the sort of book he wants to read about the Faith: stories of how people like the Hands of the Cause touched the lives of ordinary folk. And another friend who is not Baha'i just contributed the title, with words of encouragement. Already they are being touched.

Prayers and Meditations, Number 10, part 3

O Thou Whose face is the object of the adoration of all that yearn after Thee, Whose presence is the hope of such as are wholly devoted to Thy will, Whose nearness is the desire of all that have drawn nigh unto Thy court, Whose countenance is the companion of those who have recognized Thy truth, Whose name is the mover of the souls that long to behold Thy face, Whose voice is the true life of Thy lovers, the words of Whose mouth are as the waters of life unto all who are in heaven and on earth!

The third part of that first sentence that I wish to look at are the final elements in each clause: those that yearn after Thee, those who are wholly devoted to Thy will, those who have drawn nigh unto Thy court, those who have recognized Thy truth, the souls that long to behold Thy face, Thy lovers, and all who are in heaven and on earth.

To give you an idea of what I am doing, I have copied these simple phrases below and am just reading each one, one at a time, typing what comes to mind as I think about it. There is no particular plan as I am doing this, but rather it is like allowing the waves of this ocean just carry me along to see where I end up. At the very end I will look at all the phrases again and make a general summary. This is, of course, not the only way to go through this, but just the method that I have chosen for now.

To start, like the rest of the parts of this first clause, we are all yearning after God, for if we were not, we would not even be here. We all have this strong desire to be closer to our Creator and so are walking this path of prayer in our attempt to be closer to Him.

As we progress closer and closer to Him, we begin to see how much greater God is than any of us. As we study His Words, our understanding of His vision grows, and we slowly give up those things that we think are important for the things He sees as important. Over time we become more and more devoted to His will, trying with all our efforts to help erect His vision in the world, to create the reality of the prayer offered to us by Jesus, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven".

As we strive to put into action His words and vision, we find ourselves drawn closer and closer to His court. But what does that mean "drawn nigh unto Thy court"? Obviously it is a reference to the idea of God as the King, and the court being that which is near to Him. It is also a reminder that it is the court that carries out His commands. Without the court, the King would have little power to accomplish anything in His realm. In other words, "Without his support, at once whole-hearted, continuous and generous, every measure adopted, and every plan formulated, by the body which acts as the national representative of the community to which he belongs, is foredoomed to failure. The World Center of the Faith itself is paralyzed if such a support on the part of the rank and file of the community is denied it. The Author of the Divine Plan Himself is impeded in His purpose if the proper instruments for the execution of His design are lacking."
You see, being part of a court is not all fun and games. There is work involved. The purpose of the court is to execute the will of the King, and we, as part of the court of Baha'u'llah, have a job to do, too.
To be effective in this, we have to recognize the truth of His Cause, for if we don't, we will either have an ulterior motive or only do our work half-heartedly. Part of this recognition means recognizing the importance of studying His Word, so that we can better understand and implement it, as well as trusting the institutions with whom we work. It means following the principles of consultation, as opposed to those other forms of decision-making that plague most other courts, including the obedience to a decision, even if we disagree with it.

It also means taking the initiative when necessary. In a well-run court, there are the general edicts that go out, but there are also many instances when swift action is required. This is the difference between, for example, the core activities, which are a general framework for all of our actions, and the individual initiative that is suitable to the needs of the particular individuals with whom we are in contact. We know, of course, that study circles are one of the core activities, but for many people, firesides are what they require at a given moment to help them on their path. There are also those people who really need to deepen on a particular subject which is not covered in the Ruhi curriculum. They should be enrolled in a deepening class with an eye, of course, towards moving into a study circle when the time is right.

As we do all this, we will all move closer to that state of longing to behold His face. What does that mean? To me, it means that I want to see the "face of God" within everything, sort of like 'Abdu'l-Baha, when He "saw the Face of His Heavenly Father in every face". This is what I aspire to do. By moving towards this state, and revering the sacred essence within everything, we will find ourselves propelled further along this path.

It is in this state that we will naturally become His lovers. How could we fail to be, when we recognize His beauty everywhere?

And really, it is this state of awareness of the sacred that is needed for the world to transform. It is when we begin to move into this exalted realm of awareness that we truly understand that "the words of (His) mouth are as the waters of life unto all who are in heaven and on earth".

We begin with a simple yearning, which turns into a heart-felt devotion. From there, we are drawn closer, until we recognize our Lord. We then long to do His bidding, and become the true lover of His essence.

Wow. Re-reading this makes me realize just how far I have to go.

Prayers and Meditations, Number 10, part 2

In the last post, I focussed on the first part of each clause in the first paragraph of this prayer. Let's look at the development of the second part of each clause and see what happens. Now just to be clear, this was a random pick of the Writings. It was not pre-planned. I truly believe that this sort of simple study can be rewarding with any passage from the Writings of Baha'u'llah and it is always a joy to me to check.

Looking only at the second part of each clause in that first paragraph, or sentence (same thing), we find: the object of adoration, hope, desire, companion, mover, true life, and the waters of life.

Nice list, but what does it mean? What can we find in it? Oh, and please remember, this is only my own read on it. Nothing official.

The paragraph in question, again, is as follows:

O Thou Whose face is the object of the adoration of all that yearn after Thee, Whose presence is the hope of such as are wholly devoted to Thy will, Whose nearness is the desire of all that have drawn nigh unto Thy court, Whose countenance is the companion of those who have recognized Thy truth, Whose name is the mover of the souls that long to behold Thy face, Whose voice is the true life of Thy lovers, the words of Whose mouth are as the waters of life unto all who are in heaven and on earth!

It seems to me that we are all beginning with some sense of adoration. If we do not adore God in some manner, we would not even get this far. When we adore something, we honour it, love it, possibly even worship it. It is interesting to note that any of these can be separate from each other, but the word still implies all of them. It actually comes from the Latin root meaning 'to pray' or 'to speak formally to'. So here we are, beginning with a formal prayer of love, our first step, almost like an introdcution. But what is it, in particular, that we adore? His face.

Once we take that step of prayerful adoration, we obviously would hope to attain that which we adore. It is like going to a King to ask for a bounty or a gift. Of course you will hope to be granted it. In this case, seeing His face is what we hope to attain, being in His presence. This is a reminder to me that my prayers must be conscious. I need to take the time to know myself, know my true desires and not just the passing surface desires, like my current desire for some chocolate. No, I must be far more aware of myself than that. My deepest desire, my greatest hope, is to be in the presence of the Divine, and that is the subject of my prayers. It is a hope, because I believe that it can be atained, never fully of course, but more and more with every passing moment.

After realizing that this nearness is what I want, and that it is attainable to a degree, my longing grows the nearer I get to it. It is like the force of gravity: the nearer you are, the stronger the force. As you get closer, this simple longing becomes a deep desire, which is a bit more intense a feeling than just a hope. It is an intense craving and we spend more and more time trying to fulfill it. We begin to see that we are closer to God when we are in a state of prayer, and so the 5 or 10 minutes that may have satisfied us earlier in our development no longer even comes close. How often have we heard of those spiritual souls who immersed themselves in the ocean of prayers for hours on end? How often have we heard of the desire of those spiritual giants to make their every breath a prayer? It is that intensity to which we aspire.

When our feelings are that strong, we become a companion of the loved ones of God. In other words, we find ourselves in their company on a regular basis. It is not necessarily that we are one of that esteemed company, but that we are in their company, like a moth circling around the flame. The moth is not necessarily the same as the flame, although, if he gets close enough... But here, it seems that when the desire is that strong, we discover the truth of that Hidden Word, "Whither can a lover go but to the land of his beloved?"
When we are a companion of the True One, He moves us in our life, both inwardly and outwardly. Our very actions are defined by the responses given to us from the Writings. We no longer move by our own animal desires, but by a higher understanding of our purpose in life. Strange as it may seem, this also becomes an inspiration for others around us. There have been so many people I have met who first became interested in a spiritual path because of one person who was trying to follow it. From there, their attention was directed to those souls who were better walking that path, until they finally had their attention turned to the Messenger Himself. As Baha'is it is our challenge and our blessing to be able to direct people towards the Master. When we see how the Master responded in different situations, we can better emulate that in our own life.

When we allow ourselves to be so moved, that is when attain true life. It is at that time that we have made great strides in overcoming the physical bonds that restrain our growth and begin to understand that true life is the life of the spirit.

It is this true life that is the real hope for the world. It is a living demonstration of the waters of life for everyone. It is when we truly realize that it is "the words of (His) mouth (that) are as the waters of life unto all who are in heaven and on earth".

This is just my own simple understanding of some of what is here. The trick now, for me, is to figure out how to apply it, what to do about it. For one, I understand that I need to pray more. I also realize that I need to try and penetrate the meaning of the prayer I am saying.

Relevant aside: Yesterday, Shoghi and I went to a science museum and they had a display of scientific marvels of the future. One of them was to show how you could move things with your mind, using a computer interface. What was required, however, was serenity or calmness. You placed your hands on two metal plates, and your forehead on a metal bar. As you relaxed, a ball went up in the air. Most people had a very hard time with it. When it was my turn, I began to recite a prayer from the Bab. As I expected, the ball went up a few inches, as it did with some of the other people. I lost concentration when Shoghi exclaimed how cool it was. The ball fell, and as there was no one else waiting, I tried it again. This time, I closed my eyes and recited another prayer, this time really paying attention to it, and allowing the feeling of the spirit wash over me, as sometimes happens when you really "get into" a prayer. This time I heard Shoghi cry out, "Oh, Papa!" I opened my eyes and the ball was nearly up at the top, a few meters in the air.

The prayer to which I think Baha'u'llah is referring is not a realm of words. It is beyond words. It is so far beyond words that nothing can truly convey it.

It is that to which we want to attain. And I believe that this is only a glimpse of the "nirvana" of which the Buddha spoke.

It is this state of prayer, in conjunction with the guidance given to us by Baha'u'llah that will sustain the world.

Prayers and Meditations, Number 10, part 1

One of my favorite things to do is to pick a random piece from the Writings and just begin exploring it. This one is, as you can guess from the title, number 10 from Prayers and Meditations. I am reading this book again because I feel that I need to strengthen my sense of the spiritual right now, which, although not the same as my sense of devotion, seems close enough to me.

O Thou Whose face is the object of the adoration of all that yearn after Thee, Whose presence is the hope of such as are wholly devoted to Thy will, Whose nearness is the desire of all that have drawn nigh unto Thy court, Whose countenance is the companion of those who have recognized Thy truth, Whose name is the mover of the souls that long to behold Thy face, Whose voice is the true life of Thy lovers, the words of Whose mouth are as the waters of life unto all who are in heaven and on earth!

I beseech Thee, by the wrong Thou hast suffered and the ills inflicted upon Thee by the hosts of wrongful doers, to send down upon me from the clouds of Thy mercy that which will purify me of all that is not of Thee, that I may be worthy to praise Thee and fit to love Thee.

Withhold not from me, O my Lord, the things Thou didst ordain for such of Thy handmaidens as circle around Thee, and on whom are poured continually the splendors of the sun of Thy beauty and the beams of the brightness of Thy face. Thou art He Who from everlasting hath succored whosoever hath sought Thee, and bountifully favored him who hath asked Thee.

No God is there beside Thee, the Mighty, the Ever-Abiding, the All-Bounteous, the Most Generous.

While there are many different ways to study and analyze anything, one of my favorites is to look at the various parts of a piece in order. Here, in the first sentence, I notice that it reads sort of like multiple variations of the formula "You whose (a) is the (b) of (c)". And so I want to look at each of these three variables in order.

The first set of variables, (a), as I loosely refer to them, are the face, presence, nearness, countenance, name, voice, and words of His mouth.

The members of the second set, (b), are the object of adoration, hope, desire, companion, mover, true life, and the waters of life.

The final elements, (c), mentioned in that first sentence are those that yearn after Thee, those who are wholly devoted to Thy will, those who have drawn nigh unto Thy court, those who have recognized Thy truth, the souls that long to behold Thy face, Thy lovers, and all who are in heaven and on earth.

Now like I've said, this is not definitive, nor authoritative, nor even necessarily useful to anyone besides myself, but it is useful to me, and it is in that spirit that I share it.

On to the first group. What are they, and why are they in that order? And although I can go into great detail and historical context about each item, I will keep it short in the interest of brevity. In other words, I don't want to bore you with my musings.

This section begins with 'the face'. Although I would initially think of this as the Face of God, I think, instead, it makes more sense to me as the face of the Messenger of God. If I begin to think of it as the Face of God, then that sort of limits it to Moses being "He Who saw God", and this is an unapproachable goal. But if I think of it, instead, as the face of the Promised One, then I quickly realize that this is the goal set out by all the faiths. No matter what our path, this is a goal towards which we can all strive and hope.

Once we begin to walk this path of search, we soon realize that it is not actually the face we want to attain, but really His presence. How many were the people who actually had the bounty of seeing Baha'u'llah's face, but had no clue as to Who He was? How many people were in the market place who saw Him pass by? No, what we really want is to be able to attain His presence, with the knowledge that it is He Who is the Promised One.

Once this incredible step is taken, when we have reached the shores of that ocean of certitude, then we realize just how distant we actually are from Him. No matter how virtuous we may think we have lived, no matter how vast we may believe our own knowledge to be, when we explore His Writings, we realize how far we have to go. Perfection is too lofty a goal for us to ever really come near to it, although it is what we strive for. It is like the "knowledge of God". We can never really know God, although we can come to know Him better through prayer and meditation.

Once we have come to this simple realization, an understanding of which requires true humility (which I hope to attain at some point), then we can better focus on that which is unattainable: His countenance. This aspect is a bit more specific than just the face, which is only a reference to that particular part of the body that is found at the front of the head. The countenance specifically refers to the aspect of the face that conveys character and mood. Think about the spiritual perception that would be required to see past the mere physical aspect of the face and get a glimpse into the actual mood of a Manifestation of God.

To go a bit further, countenance also has a subtle connotation of calm serenity. As we come to truly look upon a Manifestation, not that I have, I can only imagine that we would begin to sense that tremendous serenity of spirit They have. Their perception of the world, with Their proper sense of history and place, would obviously give Them a calmness that nothing could disturb. As we learn from this, and begin to see how trivial the trials and tribulations we face actually are, then we, too, begin to parttake of this serenity. By beholding the countenance, we can learn something tremendous.

But then we see the next step in this prayer, the "name". Normally, we think of a name as something minor and insignificant, but I believe names have a power. So much is said in history and mythology about names, and their importance. In fact, it has been said that Ruhiyyih Khanum never called anyone by anything other than their full name. She never called a David "Dave". Perhaps this is a reminder that the name "Baha'u'llah" is something very important for us to remember. It tells us quite clearly that this is the Glory of God, and nothing less. When we take the time to look past the serene countenance, sort of like looking through a window, we will be able to catch a glimpse of the incredible glory that lies behind it.

Once we see that power and majesty, that real glory, then we can hear the true voice speaking to us, and not the mere vibrations of breath that we normally think of as a voice. This is not a simple and ordinary voice. It is the voice that conveys the Voice of God Himself. As we search the Writings, we often find references that tell us to "hearken" to His voice that we may hear that Divine Voice that is speaking.

It is this realization, this very concept, that I find leads me to the last phrase in its entirety: "the words of Whose mouth are as the waters of life unto all who are in heaven and on earth!" It is the spirit of these words, the essence of spirit which they are trying to convey to us, that are the true waters of life for us all. Without this guidance, accepted both internally in our very character, and externally in the structure of society, we will accomplish nothing, except perhaps our own destruction.

I would love to continue this pondering, but really, I don't want to bore you. I'll continue with the second part later.