Re: Baha'i as the "best religion" ?

I am inclined to forcefully assert that there is no
magic. That the qualities shown by Abdu'l-Baha and Shoghi Effendi and
Gandhi and Martin Luther King and everyone one else who has admirable
qualities, was due in vast majority to their own hard work, their own
choices, their own characters how they built those strong characters through
their work and their beliefs.. And through such work the graces of God
descended, just as they can on you and me, if we do the deeds.

Dear Kent,

What you wrote above reminds me of this passage from 'Abdu'l-Baha:

"The hearts of all children are of the utmost purity. They are mirrors
upon which no dust has fallen. But this purity is on account of
weakness and innocence, not on account of any strength and testing,
for as this is the early period of their childhood, their hearts and
minds are unsullied by the world. They cannot display any great
intelligence. They have neither hypocrisy nor deceit. This is on
account of the child's weakness, whereas the man becomes pure through
his strength. Through the power of intelligence he becomes simple;
through the great power of reason and understanding and not through
the power of weakness he becomes sincere. When he attains to the
state of perfection, he will receive these qualities; his heart
becomes purified, his spirit enlightened, his soul is sensitized and
tender - all through his great strength. This is the difference
between the perfect man and the child. Both have the underlying
qualities of simplicity and sincerity - the child through the power
of weakness and the man through the power of strength."
(`Abdu'l-Baha: Promulgation of Universal Peace*, Page: 53)

It's always been one of my favorites.


Also, to me, such talk of being truly selfless is another search for a magic
that is there, but is not really magic. Do the deeds and you have been
promised a response from God. There is no qualification on that other than
just do it. The magic is in doing it, and nothing will make us do it but
us.

I'm not sure what your talk about magic refers to. I don't think
anyone's been advocating a belief in magic. But Baha'u'llah makes the
point that good deeds may or may not be acceptable to God. Apparently
one's purity of heart and motivation really does matter:

"Were anyone to wash the feet of all mankind, and were he to worship
God in the forests, valleys, and mountains, upon high hills and lofty
peaks, to leave no rock or tree, no clod of earth, but was a witness
to his worship - yet, should the fragrance of My good pleasure not be
inhaled from him, his works would never be acceptable unto God. Thus
hath it been decreed by Him Who is the Lord of all. How many a man
hath secluded himself in the climes of India, denied himself the
things that God hath decreed as lawful, imposed upon himself
austerities and mortifications, and hath not been remembered by God,
the Revealer of Verses. Make not your deeds as snares wherewith to
entrap the object of your aspiration, and deprive not yourselves of
this Ultimate Objective for which have ever yearned all such as have
drawn nigh unto God. Say: The very life of all deeds is My good
pleasure, and all things depend upon Mine acceptance. Read ye the
Tablets that ye may know what hath been purposed in the Books of God,
the All-Glorious, the Ever-Bounteous. He who attaineth to My love
hath title to a throne of gold, to sit thereon in honour over all the
world; he who is deprived thereof, though he sit upon the dust, that
dust would seek refuge with God, the Lord of all Religions.
(Baha'u'llah: The Kitab-i-Aqdas, Pages: 31-32)

Kind regards,

Suzanne



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