Re: Putting past practices behind us
- From: Douglas McAdam <douglasmcadam@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 29 Jun 2006 21:33:35 CST
On Jun 29, 2006, at 7:40 AM, Polychrysos wrote:
Larry and Susan,
I have been following your debate with interest. As I see it, you both
have part of the truth. I understand Susan, why you don't want to
accept the apparent contradictions in the Baha'i writings. You feel
that a revealed religion ought to be treated with reverence, and with
the assumption that everything must, ultimately, be coherent. But I
also feel that these contradictions cannot be done away with either.
We may trust that God is ultimately behind them and knows their true
meaning, but on a human level, they are contradictory, and we cannot
follow both simultaneously. As a Baha'i -- albeit an unenrolled Baha'i
-- I hear Baha'u'llah and Abdu'l-Baha enjoining me to shun
Covenant-Breakers, and to shun no one, not even "the dissident foe". I
cannot do both, so I will choose. And I choose the action that seems
most consistent with love: without which all divine injunctions are
without worth.
Brendan
Brendan-
This whole subject of ambiguities or contradictions seems to be testing many of the friends and yet, even though I myself have seen these and at first wondered about them, they do not in the least cause me to feel any lack of faith in the Revelation of Baha'u'llah or any other of the Central Figures and Divine Institutions. What helped me was when my mentor and teacher pointed out how limited we human critters are in our perceptions and that when we run into what APPPEARS TO BE a contradiction it only means we are not yet deep enough in our understanding of the Writings and the reason we are not yet deep enough has to do with not following the instructions to acquire virtues, which in turn causes the needed development of our Inner Life, like it says on p.66 of BA, Shoghi Effendi. Here is the quote in full-
Our Inner Life
excerpt from p.66 Bahá'í Administration-
The beloved of the Lord and the handmaids of the Merciful througout the Continent of America.
dated - September 24, 1924, from Shoghi
Our Inner Life
Humanity, through suffering and turmoil, is swiftly moving on towards its destiny; if we be loiterers, if we fail to play our part surely others will be called upon to take up our tasks as ministers to the crying needs of this afflicted world.
Not by the force of numbers, not by the mere exposition of a set of new and noble principles, not by an organized campaign of teaching - no matter how worldwide and elaborate in its character - not even by the staunchness of our faith or the exaltation of our enthusiasm, can we ultimately hope to vindicate in the eyes of a critical and sceptical age the supreme claim of the Abhá Revelation. One thing and only one thing will unfailingly and alone secure the undoubted triumph of this sacred cause, namely, the extent to which our own inner life and private character mirror forth in their manifold aspects the splendor of those eternal principles proclaimed by Bahá'u'lláh."
And another to consider is this about what increases our perceptions.
"We cherish the hope that through the loving-kindness of the All-Wise,
the All-Knowing, obscuring dust may be dispelled and the power of perception
enhanced, that the people may discover the purpose for which they have been
called into being. In this Day whatsoever serveth to reduce blindness and
to increase vision is worthy of consideration. This vision acteth as the
agent and guide for true knowledge. Indeed in the estimation of men of
wisdom keenness of understanding is due to keenness of vision. The people
of Baha must under all circumstances observe that which is meet and seemly
and exhort the people accordingly.”
(Baha'u'llah: Tablets of Baha'u'llah, pages 34-35)
and here is another one to consider--
"The Baha'i Faith, like all other Divine Religions, is thus fundamentally
mystic in character. Its chief goal is the development of the individual
and society, through the acquisition of spiritual virtues and powers. It is
the soul of man which has first to be fed ....Laws and institutions, as
viewed by Baha'u'llah, can become really effective only when our inner
spiritual life has been perfected and transformed. Otherwise religion will
degenerate into a mere organization, and becomes a dead thing." -- Shoghi
Effendi, 8/12/35 in Baha'i News NO 102 August 1936, p.3.
And finally, there is this one that I would like to comment upon, even though it is a Pilgrims Note it makes sense when one considers other quotes about how Purpose effect our behavior.--
“What is the purpose of our lives?...To acquire virtues.” PT p.177
Obviously in order to have unity there must be one animating and organizing principle around and by which all behavior revolves and that principle is unity which is the result of obedience to the Covenant about which the Beloved Master said, "If it is considered with insight, it will be seen that all the forces of the universe, in the last analysis serve the Covenant."
–Abdu'l-Baha, from Tablet, Star of West, Vol. 1, #242.
How could the Master be the Centre of the Covenant and not be the True Exemplar of the Cause of God? Baha'u'llah referred to him as the Mystery of God.
From whatever point I view all this I keep coming back to what my heart promptings point out in the Writings and that is that in order for us to have unity we must acquire virtues, and in order to acquire virtues we must obey the Covenant and this will cause us to realize our station in life which is one of Servitude to God and humanity. And also, to me, the life process we need to accomplish this is that of teaching the Faith by word and deed, by living the live, by being an example and the Beloved Master is our Exemplar of His Fathers Teachings. Living the life by teaching in word and deed helps us draw on divine assistance and the Master said if we don't do this that assistance will be entirely cut off.
Our power of faith is our "teachability" so to speak and it enables us to accept an Enlightener such as the Prophets of God and what they reveal to us. However that is only a belief whereas we are required to have true faith which is conscious knowledge and that can come only from having an experience with ones beliefs, which in turn comes from obedience to the Covenant and the True Exemplar of the Faith, the Beloved Master will loom before us constantly, showing us the way, the true path to salvation from this material world.
Sorry to be so long winded but I feel that in order to best render some understanding of what it means by True Exemplar and how limited we are I needed to put in all in context. At least this is how I view it all and it works for me to the point that after all these years there is certitude and I simply do not have any problems with these so called "delicious ambiguities" as Dan Jordan used to call them.
I think Larry it would be best to say "There APPEARS to be a contradiction or a problem or ambiguity" rather than asserting there is one for in the long run it will be discovered it is the result of our imperfect and limited perceptions that are causing these problems.
God bless,
doug
.
- References:
- Putting past practices behind us
- From: diamondsouled
- Re: Putting past practices behind us
- From: Douglas McAdam
- Re: Putting past practices behind us
- From: Polychrysos
- Fwd: Putting past practices behind us
- From: Susan Maneck
- Re: Fwd: Putting past practices behind us
- From: diamondsouled
- Re: Fwd: Putting past practices behind us
- From: Polychrysos
- Putting past practices behind us
- Prev by Date: Re: Putting past practices behind us
- Next by Date: Re: My original problem
- Previous by thread: Re: Fwd: Putting past practices behind us
- Next by thread: Re: Fwd: Putting past practices behind us
- Index(es):
Relevant Pages
|
