# Baha'i Spirituality

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> Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Moojan Momen, Baha'i Spirituality, bahai-library.com.
> ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
> 
> Bahá'í Spirituality
> 
> Moojan Momen
> 
> 1997
> 
> For those of us who live in the more developed world, science has
> led to a great increase in our physical comfort and convenience; it has
> given us the freedom and time to develop ourselves. Yet people in the modern
> world are just as if not more unhappy and unfulfilled than their predecessors
> at any time in past. Many feel themselves to be wandering through their
> lives aimlessly not knowing what to do with the freedom that science and
> technology has given them. Many have thought that the answer is to fill
> this vacuum by pursuing what they think will give them happiness, whether
> this be power, wealth, or sex, while an increasing number seek to escape
> the emptiness and despair of their lives by turning to alcohol and drugs.
> Yet all of these answers turn out to be no answer at all. They lead to
> dissatisfaction, greater despair and alienation. This fragmentation and
> aimlessness in our lives is reflected in our societies in a breakdown in
> inter-personal relationships: marital break-down, loneliness, violent inhuman
> crimes, a rising suicide rate and so on.
> 
> Just over a hundred years ago, Bahá'u'lláh, who in the Bahá'í scriptures
> likens Himself to a doctor healing the spiritual disease with which our
> present-day world is afflicted, states that He has examined the condition
> of the world, made His diagnosis and prescribed the remedy:
> 
> The All-Knowing Physician hath His finger on the pulse of mankind.
> He perceiveth the disease, and prescribeth, in His unerring wisdom, the
> remedy. Every age hath its own problem, and every soul its particular aspiration.
> The remedy the world needeth in its present-day afflictions can never be
> the same as that which a subsequent age may require. Be anxiously concerned
> with the needs of the age ye live in, and centre your deliberations on
> its exigencies and requirements.(1)
> As part of the diagnosis, the Bahá'í scriptures survey the human world
> and perceive that we have lost sight of our true nature, we do not realise
> who we truly are and, as a result, we have become enslaved to our passions
> and desires, have lost our orientation, and are wandering aimlessly, trusting
> to the prescriptions and instructions of unskilled doctors while ignoring
> the remedies of the True Physician. And so, in the Bahá'í scriptures, Bahá'u'lláh
> issues His call, summoning us to a realisation of our true selves, urging
> us to free ourselves from the illusions of the world and to turn ourselves
> towards the Divine, the transcendent reality that is the true orientation
> of our lives. Only in this way would we find what will give us peace, contentment
> and lasting happiness.
> O Son of Spirit!
> 
> I created thee rich, why dost thou bring thyself down to poverty?
> 
> Noble I made thee, wherewith dost thou abase thyself?
> 
> Out of the essence of knowledge I gave thee being, why seekest thou
> enlightenment from anyone beside Me?
> 
> Out of the clay of love I moulded thee, how dost thou busy thyself
> with another? (2)
> Bahá'u'lláh states that we as human beings are enmeshed in the snare of
> materialism. We are so engrossed in the drive to acquire the things of
> this world that we do not realise that although we think that we possess
> things, in reality we are often possessed by them. The larger and more
> expensive a possession is, the greater the tyranny it exercises over our
> lives. The more we have, the greater our greed becomes and so that greed
> will never be satisfied.
> O Son of Man!
> 
> Thou dost wish for gold and I desire thy freedom from it.
> 
> Thou thinkest thyself rich in its possession, and I recognize thy wealth
> in thy sanctity therefrom.
> 
> By My life! This is My knowledge, and that is thy fancy; how can My
> way accord with thine?(3)
> And even those who are not trapped by material things are often dominated
> by what the Bahá'í scriptures call the `idle fancies and vain imaginings'
> of our minds.
> O Son of Man!
> 
> Many a day hath passed over thee whilst thou hast busied thyself with
> thy fancies and idle imaginings.
> 
> How long art thou to slumber on thy bed?
> 
> Lift up thy head from slumber, for the Sun hath risen to the zenith,
> haply it may shine upon thee with the light of beauty.(4)
> Looking at the condition of the human world then, Bahá'u'lláh condemns
> the materialism and self-delusion on which it is based:
> Alas! Alas! O Lovers of Worldly Desire!
> 
> Even as the swiftness of lightning ye have passed by the Beloved One,
> and have set your hearts on satanic fancies.
> 
> Ye bow the knee before your vain imagining, and call it truth.
> 
> Ye turn your eyes towards the thorn, and name it a flower.
> 
> Not a pure breath have ye breathed, nor hath the breeze of detachment
> been wafted from the meadows of your hearts.
> 
> Ye have cast to the winds the loving counsels of the Beloved and have
> effaced them utterly from the tablet of your hearts, and even as the beasts
> of the field, ye move and have your being within the pastures of desire
> and passion.(5)
> Bahá'u'lláh reminds us that the days of our lives are swiftly passing while
> we remain enmeshed in this lamentable condition:
> O Ye That Are Lying As Dead on The Couch of Heedlessness!
> 
> Ages have passed and your precious lives are well-nigh ended, yet not
> a single breath of purity hath reached Our court of holiness from you .
> . .
> 
> Him whom I abhor ye have loved, and of My foe ye have made a friend.
> 
> Notwithstanding, ye walk on My earth complacent and self-satisfied,
> heedless that My earth is weary of you and everything within it shunneth
> you.
> 
> Were ye but to open your eyes, ye would, in truth, prefer a myriad
> griefs unto this joy, and would count death itself better than this life.(6)
> O My Children! I fear lest, bereft of the melody of the dove of heaven,
> 
> ye will sink back to the shades of utter loss, and,
> 
> never having gazed upon the beauty of the rose,
> 
> return to water and clay.(7)
> 
> Bahá'u'lláh urges us during our brief, ephemeral lives upon this earth
> to seize our chance:
> O My Servant!
> 
> Free thyself from the fetters of this world,
> 
> and loose thy soul from the prison of self.
> 
> Seize thy chance, for it will come to thee no more.(8)
> Everything in this world will return to dust and so if we want something
> that will last, that will be of enduring value, Bahá'u'lláh says that we
> must turn to the spiritual world, to eternal values and goals:
> 
> O Friends!
> 
> Abandon not the everlasting beauty for a beauty that must die,
> 
> and set not your affections on this mortal world of dust.(9)
> And so God states that the answer, the prescription for the illness that
> afflicts the world of humanity, that which will give human beings the inner
> peace that they want, is to turn towards the Divine, to turn towards the
> spiritual and away from the material.
> O Son of Utterance!
> 
> Turn thy face unto Mine and renounce all save Me;
> 
> for My sovereignty endureth and My dominion perisheth not.
> 
> If thou seekest another than Me, yea, if thou searchest the universe
> for evermore,
> 
> thy quest will be in vain.(10)
> Bahá'u'lláh has revealed a great deal about the path of spiritual development
> that the individual must take. In a brief introductory survey such as this,
> it is only possible to focus on a few points.
> 
> Taking the first step
> 
> In travelling the path of spirituality, it is clear from the Bahá'í
> scriptures and indeed from the scriptures of other religions that it is
> up to human beings to take the first step on the path. Thus in the Bible,
> Jesus says: `Knock and it shall be opened up to you' (Luke 11:9). We must
> make the first movement and knock. In the Qur'an, we find the words: `Whoso
> maketh efforts for us, in our ways shall we assuredly guide them' (29:69).
> We have to make the initial effort and then God will guide us. Similarly
> the Bahá'í scriptures say that we must take the first step:
> 
> O Son of Love!
> 
> Thou art but one step away from the glorious heights above and from
> the celestial tree of love. Take thou one pace and with the next advance
> into the immortal realm and enter the pavilion of eternity.(11)
> In the Bahá'í scriptures we find the analogy of the human heart as a mirror
> - it reflects whatever it is turned towards. If it is turned towards heaven
> it reflects heavenly things and if it is turned towards earth, it reflects
> earthly concerns and so we must make the effort to turn our hearts towards
> the Divine and away from the perishable and evanescent attractions of the
> world. It is we ourselves who must make that initial effort to move the
> mirror of our hearts. If we are not turned towards God, His light cannot
> shine in our mirror, His love cannot be reflected in our soul.
> O Son of Being!
> 
> Love Me, that I may love thee.
> 
> If thou lovest Me not, My love can in no wise reach thee.
> 
> Know this, O servant.(12)
> 
> Detachment
> 
> After we have taken the first step and made the initial effort, we need
> to try to detach ourselves from this world. We must try to cleanse our
> heart from their attachment to the things of this world, which Bahá'u'lláh
> likens to dust or mire and clay which he urges us to clean from off the
> mirror of our hearts. He tells us to:
> 
> . . . cleanse thine heart from the world and all its vanities,
> and suffer not the love of any stranger to enter and dwell therein. Not
> until thou dost purify thine heart from every trace of such love can the
> brightness of the light of God shed its radiance upon it, for to none hath
> God given more than one heart . . . And as the human heart . . . is one
> and undivided, it behoveth thee to take heed that its affections be, also,
> one and undivided. Cleave thou, therefore, with the whole affection of
> thine heart, unto His love, and withdraw it from the love of any one besides
> Him . . . My sole purpose in revealing to thee these words is to sanctify
> thee from the transitory things of the earth, and aid thee to enter the
> realm of everlasting glory.(13)
> Bahá'u'lláh asserts that there is only room in our hearts for one love
> and so we must choose -- will we choose God or the world?
> O My Friend in Word! Ponder awhile.
> 
> Hast thou ever heard that friend and foe should abide in one heart?
> 
> Cast out then the stranger, that the Friend may enter His home.(14)
> Bahá'u'lláh reveals that if we truly seek for spiritual development we
> must first be prepared to detach ourselves from the things of this world.
> In outlining the requirements of the spiritual quest, Bahá'u'lláh says:
> O My brother! When a true seeker determineth to take the step
> of search in the path leading unto the knowledge of the Ancient of Days,
> he must, before all else, cleanse his heart, which is the seat of the revelation
> of the inner mysteries of God, from the obscuring dust of all acquired
> knowledge, and the allusions of the embodiments of satanic fancy. He must
> purge his breast, which is the sanctuary of the abiding love of the Beloved,
> of every defilement, and sanctify his soul from all that pertaineth to
> water and clay, from all shadowy and ephemeral attachments. He must so
> cleanse his heart that no remnant of either love or hate may linger therein,
> lest that love blindly incline him to error, or that hate repel him away
> from the truth . . . That seeker must, at all times, put his trust in God,
> must renounce the peoples of the earth, must detach himself from the world
> of dust, and cleave unto Him Who is the Lord of Lords.(15)
> And so, the Bahá'í scriptures enumerate one by one the requirements of
> the true seeker upon the spiritual path. Their description of spirituality
> involves the acquisition of virtues.
> 
> Virtues
> 
> If we continue the passage from the Bahá'í scriptures that is quoted
> above, it goes on to describe the virtues that must be acquired upon the
> path to spirituality:
> 
> He must never seek to exalt himself above any one,
> 
> must wash away from the tablet of his heart every trace of pride and
> vain-glory,
> 
> must cling unto patience and resignation, observe silence and refrain
> from idle talk . . .
> 
> That seeker should, also, regard backbiting as grievous error, and
> keep himself aloof from its dominion, inasmuch as backbiting quencheth
> the light of the heart, and extinguisheth the life of the soul.
> 
> He should be content with little, and be freed from all inordinate
> desire.
> 
> He should treasure the companionship of them that have renounced the
> world,
> 
> and regard avoidance of boastful and worldly people a precious benefit.
> 
> At the dawn of every day he should commune with God,
> 
> and, with all his soul, persevere in the quest of his Beloved.
> 
> He should consume every wayward thought with the flame of His loving
> mention, and,
> 
> with the swiftness of lightning, pass by all else save Him.
> 
> He should succour the dispossessed,
> 
> and never withhold his favour from the destitute.
> 
> He should show kindness to animals,
> 
> how much more unto his fellow-man, to him who is endowed with the power
> of utterance.
> 
> He should not hesitate to offer up his life for his Beloved,
> 
> nor allow the censure of the people to turn him away from the Truth.(16)
> 
> The Bahá'í scriptures teach that we must seek to acquire such virtues
> as love, justice, patience, trustworthiness, truthfulness, etc. There is
> not room to list and describe all of these, but some are described elsewhere
> (pp. XX-X - ch 2).
> 
> Troubles and Difficulties
> 
> Bahá'u'lláh reveals to those that are seeking to follow the path of
> spirituality that it is inevitable that they will meet with troubles and
> trials and difficulties. The very act of breaking the ties of materialism,
> greed and desire that bind us to this world is a painful one. Bahá'u'lláh
> states that pain is our constant companion, our ever-present steed, as
> we travel along the valley in our spiritual quest:
> 
> The steed of this Valley is pain; and if there be no pain this
> journey will never end. In this station the lover hath no thought save
> the Beloved, and seeketh no refuge save the Friend . . .
> 
> Wherefore must the veils of the satanic self be burned away at the
> fire of love, that the spirit may be purified and cleansed and thus may
> know the station of the Lord of the Worlds.(17)
> 
> If there be no pain, there will be no progress. `Abdu'l-Bahá, the son of
> Bahá'u'lláh, has described the way that pain and suffering functions in
> our lives. He was asked the question: `Does the soul progress more through
> sorrow or through the joy in this world?' He replied:
> The mind and spirit of man advance when he is tried by suffering.
> The more the ground is ploughed the better the seed will grow, the better
> the harvest will be. Just as the plough furrows the earth deeply, purifying
> it of weeds and thistles, so suffering and tribulation free man from the
> petty affairs of this worldly life until he arrives at a state of complete
> detachment. His attitude in this world will be that of divine happiness.
> Man is, so to speak, unripe: the heat of the fire of suffering will mature
> him. Look back to the times past and you will find that the greatest men
> have suffered most.(18)
> Thus suffering is necessary for our spiritual advancement and therefore
> if we understood its true nature, we would welcome it.
> O Son of Man! My calamity is My providence, outwardly it is
> fire and vengeance, but inwardly it is light and mercy. Hasten thereunto
> that thou mayest become an eternal light and an immortal spirit. This is
> My command unto thee, do thou observe it.(19)
> 
> Prayer for Hardship and Difficulties
> O my Lord! Thou knowest that the people are encircled with pain and
> calamities and are environed with hardships and trouble. Every trial doth
> attack man and every dire adversity doth assail him like unto the assault
> of a serpent. There is no shelter and asylum for him except under the wing
> of Thy protection, preservation, guard and custody.
> O Thou the Merciful One! O my Lord! Make Thy protection my armour, Thy
> preservation my shield, humbleness before the door of Thy oneness my guard,
> and Thy custody and defence my fortress and my abode. Preserve me from
> the suggestions of self and desire, and guard me from every sickness, trial,
> difficulty and ordeal.
> 
> Verily, Thou art the Protector, the Guardian, the Preserver, the Sufficer,
> and verily, Thou art the Merciful of the Most Merciful. (`Abdu'l-Bahá,
> Bahá'í
> Prayers, pp. 136-13)
> 
> The Purpose of the Physical World
> 
> All that has been written thus far in this chapter is similar to what
> may be found in Islam and in other religions. Many of the great mystics,
> saints and spiritual masters have written in a similar way about the need
> for detachment and the virtues of the spiritual path. Some of the scriptures
> of other religions are parallel to the quotations from the Bahá'í scriptures
> given above. Where the Bahá'í teachings do differ is in the practical details
> and structures that are given for ascending the spiritual path.
> 
> In many other spiritual traditions, the practical aspects of the spiritual
> path have been put in the hands of a spiritual guide: the priest of a community,
> the guru, the shaykh or murshid of a Sufi order, the abbot of a monastery.
> In many spiritual traditions, because the world has been recognised as
> being the source of our distraction from the spiritual path, the adherents
> of that tradition have been advised to remove themselves from the world,
> either as ascetics or in a monastic community. The Bahá'í teachings advise
> against both of these aspects of the path.
> 
> Bahá'u'lláh reveals that the use of a human spiritual guide is a dangerous
> practice. While undoubtedly genuine spiritual leaders do exist, many are
> also fraudulent or lead people into error. God has ordained that the day
> of the religious leader or professional - whether shaykh, molla, priest,
> guru, or monk - is over. Each individual now has the obligation of reading
> the scriptures for himself or herself and understanding the spiritual path
> for himself or herself.
> 
> Leaders of religion, in every age, have hindered their people
> from attaining the shores of eternal salvation, inasmuch as they held the
> reins of authority in their mighty grasp. Some for the lust of leadership,
> others through want of knowledge and understanding, have been the cause
> of the deprivation of the people. By their sanction and authority, every
> Prophet of God hath drunk from the chalice of sacrifice, and winged His
> flight unto the heights of glory. What unspeakable cruelties they that
> have occupied the seats of authority and learning have inflicted upon the
> true Monarchs of the world, those Gems of divine virtue! Content with a
> transitory dominion, they have deprived themselves of an everlasting sovereignty.
> Thus, their eyes beheld not the light of the countenance of the Well-Beloved,
> nor did their ears hearken unto the sweet melodies of the Bird of Desire.
> For this reason, in all sacred books mention hath been made of the divines
> of every age.(20)
> Bahá'u'lláh reveals that while monasteries and spiritual asceticism may
> have had some role to play in the past, these are no longer appropriate
> today.
> The pious deeds of the monks and priests among the followers
> of the Spirit [Jesus] - upon Him be the peace of God - are remembered in
> His presence. In this Day, however, let them give up the life of seclusion
> and direct their steps towards the open world and busy themselves with
> that which will profit themselves and others.(21)
> God states that this physical world, far from obstructing us in our spiritual
> quest, has, in fact, been created specifically to help us:
> O Son of Bounty! Out of the wastes of nothingness, with the
> clay of My command I made thee to appear, and have ordained for thy training
> every atom in existence and the essence of all created things. Thus, ere
> thou didst issue from thy mother's womb, I destined for thee two founts
> of gleaming milk, eyes to watch over thee, and hearts to love thee. Out
> of My loving-kindness, 'neath the shade of My mercy I nurtured thee, and
> guarded thee by the essence of My grace and favor. And My purpose in all
> this was that thou mightest attain My everlasting dominion and become worthy
> of My invisible bestowals. And yet heedless thou didst remain, and when
> fully grown, thou didst neglect all My bounties and occupied thyself with
> thine idle imaginings, in such wise that thou didst become wholly forgetful,
> and, turning away from the portals of the Friend didst abide within the
> courts of My enemy.(22)
> The scriptures thus pictures this physical world as a giant classroom where
> human beings are obtaining spiritual education. We have not, however, been
> left to our own devices but have had spiritual educators, the founders
> of the world religions who give us the instructions we need to progress
> spiritually. Bahá'u'lláh reveals that we can best achieve this progress
> by living in the world not seeking to cut ourselves off from it. While
> a certain amount of removal from the world may be necessary in order to
> pray and meditate, which all religions tell us is important, we must also
> engage in the world so that the spiritual qualities we are seeking to acquire
> may be perfected. How will we know if we have acquired such spiritual qualities
> as love, justice, trustworthiness, and truthfulness, unless we live in
> the world and put ourselves to the test in the concrete situations of daily
> life?
> Part of our spiritual progress is the spiritual discipline of saying
> daily prayers and meditating, observing an annual fast, and other laws.
> This pattern of life keeps us in touch with our true spiritual reality
> and connects us with the spiritual world which is the source of our strength.
> Such laws have been given in every religion. Bahá'u'lláh has revealed similar
> laws (see Bahá'í Laws).
> 
> Lastly, Bahá'u'lláh has given us a substitute for the spiritual communities
> of other religions, to take the place of monasteries and communities led
> by abbots, shaykhs and gurus. He has created the Bahá'í community, a structure
> that involves every one in such activities as consultation and united action
> in service to others, activities which help us in acquiring the virtues
> that we should seek to acquire (see What
> we must become). The ideal of unity and the mechanisms of consultation
> (see Consultation) in the Bahá'í
> community compel us to recognise faults of egotism and arrogance within
> ourselves and to try to remedy these. The ideal of consultation requires
> us to perfect within ourselves the qualities of patience, forebearance,
> justice and other virtues. Within the Bahá'í community, spiritual development
> becomes the responsibility and prerogative of everyone not a select group
> of monks or religious professionals.
> 
> Within the Bahá'í community structure, authority and obedience do not
> go to individuals such as mollas, shaykhs, priests and gurus, they go to
> elected institutions. For spiritual guidance, Bahá'ís are advised to take
> advantage of the mechanisms of consultation so as to obtain the collective
> wisdom of a group of people and not the whims and comparatively limited
> knowledge of a single individual.
> 
> NOTES
> 
> 1. Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings, no. 106, pp. 213
> 
> 2. Bahá'u'lláh, Arabic Hidden Words, no. 13
> 
> 3. Bahá'u'lláh, Arabic Hidden Words, no. 56
> 
> 4. Bahá'u'lláh, Arabic Hidden Words, no. 62
> 
> 5. Bahá'u'lláh, Persian Hidden Words, no.
> 45
> 
> 6. Bahá'u'lláh, Persian Hidden Words, no.
> 20
> 
> 7. Bahá'u'lláh, Persian Hidden Words, no.
> 13
> 
> 8. Bahá'u'lláh, Persian Hidden Words, no.
> 40
> 
> 9. Bahá'u'lláh, Persian Hidden Words, no.
> 14
> 
> 10. Bahá'u'lláh, Arabic Hidden Words, no.
> 15
> 
> 11. Bahá'u'lláh, Persian Hidden Words, no.
> 7
> 
> 12. Bahá'u'lláh, Arabic Hidden Words, no.
> 5
> 
> 13. Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings, no. 114, pp.
> 237-8
> 
> 14. Bahá'u'lláh, Persian Hidden Words, no.
> 26
> 
> 15. Bahá'u'lláh, Kitab-i-Iqan, pp. 192-3
> 
> 16. Bahá'u'lláh, Kitab-i-Iqan, pp. 193-4
> 
> 17. Bahá'u'lláh, Seven Valleys and Four Valleys,
> pp. 8, 11
> 
> 18. `Abdu'l-Bahá, Paris Talks, p. 178
> 
> 19. Bahá'u'lláh, Arabic Hidden Words 51
> 
> 20. Bahá'u'lláh, Kitab-i-Iqan, pp. 15-16
> 
> 21. Bahá'u'lláh, Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh,
> p. 24
> 
> 22. Bahá'u'lláh, Persian Hidden Words 29
> 
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