Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Robert Sarracino, What Does Spirituality Look Like?, bahai-library.com.
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What Does what spirituality “looks like.” In this paper,
following a brief overview of the concepts
Spirituality of spirit and spirituality in the Bahá’í writ-
ings, we examine a letter of the Universal
Look Like?1 House of Justice that gives us a picture of
what spirituality should look like today, as
the Bahá’í community pursues its work of
creating vibrant communities. We then ex-
ROBERT SARRACINO
plore the question of whether, and to what
degree, the social sciences can investigate
the phenomenon of spirituality as central
Abstract to human nature, arguing that they can pro-
The concept of spirituality defies a rigor- ductively adopt spiritual reality as a back-
ous definition, much like some fundamen- ground assumption, whose validity can
tal concepts in mathematics and physics. then be evaluated.
However, we may gain an understanding
of this vital religious concept by asking Résumé
Le concept de spiritualité échappe à une
définition rigoureuse, tout comme certains
1 I would like to acknowledge the concepts fondamentaux en mathématiques
faculty members of the Wilmette Institute et en physique. Cependant, on peut mieux
course on Science, Religion and the Bahá’í comprendre ce concept religieux essentiel
Faith: Andres Elvira Espinosa, Bruce en se demandant à quoi « ressemble » la
Cotton, Stephen Friberg, Whitney White spiritualité. Dans cet article, après avoir
Kazemipour, Roger Neyman and Charlotte fait un bref tour d’horizon des concepts
Wenninger; as well as Todd Smith, for the d’esprit et de spiritualité dans les écrits
continual support, encouragement and in- bahá’ís, nous examinons une lettre de la
spiration which was offered during the two- Maison universelle de justice qui nous
year period when the series of papers for donne un aperçu de ce à quoi la spiritualité
this and the previous issue of The Journal devrait ressembler aujourd’hui, alors que
of Bahá’í Studies was drafted, reviewed la communauté bahá’íe poursuit son travail
and consulted upon. A special thanks is due de création de communautés dynamiques.
to Todd Smith for first setting us on this Nous nous demandons ensuite si, et
path, and for his steady and enthusiastic dans quelle mesure, les sciences sociales
support for the project throughout. Special peuvent étudier le phénomène de la
thanks is also due to Michael Sabet, the ed- spiritualité en tant qu’élément principal de
itor of the Journal, for his encouragement, la nature humaine, en soutenant qu’elles
close involvement, incisive observations, peuvent efficacement choisir la réalité
his keen sense, and remarkable editing spirituelle comme hypothèse de travail,
skills. I also thank the anonymous referees dont la validité peut ensuite être évaluée.
and editors for their careful analysis of the
arguments presented, and their input re- Resumen
garding the overall flow of the paper. To El concepto de espiritualidad desafía una
my wife, Lesley, for her continual support, rigurosa definición, muy parecida a al-
I offer my heartfelt appreciation.
76 The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 33.4 2023

gunos conceptos fundamentales en las over the past twenty-five years.2
matemáticas y la física. Sin embargo, po- “Spirit” and “spirituality” do not
dríamos lograr un entendimiento de este have rigorous, agreed upon definitions
vital concepto religioso preguntando a qué in religion or in philosophy. This is not
“se parece” la espiritualidad. En este artí-
inherently problematic. At the founda-
culo, después de un breve bosquejo de los
tions of mathematics and the sciences,
conceptos del espíritu y la espiritualidad en
for instance, we find a number of un-
los escritos Bahá’ís, examinamos una carta
de la Casa Universal de Justicia que nos da defined terms. In geometry, terms like
un panorama sobre a qué se debe parecer “point,” “line,” and “plane”—elements
la espiritualidad en tiempos actuales, a me- that are fundamental to this branch of
dida que la Comunidad Bahá’í prosigue su knowledge—are formally labeled as
labor de crear comunidades vibrantes. En- “undefined terms.” In physics there
seguida, exploramos la pregunta de que si isn’t such a formal labelling, but fun-
y a que grado las ciencias sociales pueden damental notions including “mass,”
investigar el fenómeno de la espiritualidad “energy,” “force,” and “momentum”
como un asunto central a la naturaleza hu- stubbornly resist definition, and have
mana, argumentando que ellas pueden pro- continuously been revisited by scien-
ductivamente adoptar la realidad espiritual
tists and philosophers of science (see,
como un supuesto, cuya validez puede en-
for example, Jammer, Sarracino).3
tonces ser evaluada.

2 See, for example, The Universal
I
House of Justice letter dated 27 December
2005 to the Conference of the Continental
The term “spirituality” permeates
Boards of Counsellors.
Bahá’í writings, discourse, and thought. 3 As a concrete example, Newton
“All men,” Bahá’u’lláh writes, “have famously defined mass as “quantity of
been created to carry forward an ev- matter,” a definition that, inexplicably and
er-advancing civilization” (Gleanings confusedly, is still used in some elementa-
109:2). This civilization has both ma- ry textbooks today. As I further elaborate,
terial and spiritual elements (‘Abdu’l-
Bahá, Selections 227). In the series Eventually physicists and philoso-
of global plans laid before the Bahá’í phers of science became dissatis-
community by the Universal House fied with this metaphysical concept
of Justice, with the single aim of “the of mass, and rather than the vague
“quantity of matter,” began to think
release of the society-building power
of mass more as a coefficient in the
of the Faith in ever greater measures,”
equation of motion. Euler was the first
Bahá’ís are called upon to “learn . . .
in this movement when, in 1760, he
how to bring about spiritual and materi- defined mass as the ratio of force and
al progress” (30 December 2021). This acceleration. The concept of “force”
learning project is at the center of the itself, however, came under attack
framework for action for Bahá’í com- in the nineteenth century as being
munities that has emerged and evolved an “obscure metaphysical notion.” It
What Does Spirituality Look Like? 77

Despite this inability to pin down a Through these two means the Bahá’í
formal definition, there are relation- community is able not only to reach a
ships among these terms and concepts collective, albeit continuously evolv-
that can be expressed in equations. ing, understanding of what is meant by
Physicists gain a familiarity with their spirit and spirituality, but also to con-
discipline’s fundamental terms and tribute to answering a more practical
concepts by coming to understand question: “What does spirituality look
these equations and what they repre- like?”
sent with respect to the motion of dis- It is to this question that the present
crete entities and waves, and the inter- paper seeks to make a contribution. It
actions between them. proceeds in three parts. First, it grap-
Just as the presence of undefined ples with ontological questions about
terms in mathematics and physics is spirit and spirituality. There is no ambi-
not problematic, so the lack of rigorous tion to do this with great rigor; the goal
definitions for spirit and spirituality is is simply to suggest a few parameters
not problematic in the Bahá’í Faith. by which we can understand enough
There is a unity of thought within the about these concepts to ground the
Bahá’í community as to the implica- more practical question.
tions of the terms and what they refer Second, it looks to recent guidance
to. Bahá’ís come to understand what from the Universal House of Justice,
spirituality is and what it is not through specifically a paragraph from the 30
two complementary avenues of en- December 2021 letter outlining the
deavor. The first avenue is detailed qualities and characteristics of “the en-
study of the writings and guidance of kindled souls being raised up through
the Faith. The second avenue consists the processes” (¶ 4) of the current
of efforts to translate those writings and series of Bahá’í plans for Jammer,
guidance, and the principles and in- Sarracino the advancement of com-
junctions contained therein, into action munities, as a source for outlining
in personal and community life, and in what the spirituality the Bahá’í com-
the functioning of Bahá’í institutions. munity attempts to act out looks like.
Relying on guidance from the central
was Ernst Mach who developed the institution of the Bahá’í Faith is par-
working definition from which twen- ticularly useful for our question, be-
tieth century attempts to define mass cause the Universal House of Justice’s
have developed, and which is used, letters are not only the agreed upon
more or less, in textbooks today. . . . focal point of guidance for the global
Ernst Mach formulated mass in terms Bahá’í community, but are also craft-
of mass-ratio, that is, the “negative ed in reflection of what that Body sees
inverse ratio of mutually induced ac- emerging from the actual experience
celerations” of two interacting bodies. of Bahá’ís—individuals, communities,
This itself, however, has problems and institutions—worldwide.
(Sarracino 10–13).
78 The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 33.4 2023

Third, the paper turns to how the irrationality, referring to ghosts, spir-
question “What does spirituality look its, and other intangible entities. Some
like?” might help the social sciences even view spirituality as destructive,
come to better grips with a phenome- leading to anti-social behavior and
non—spirituality—whose ontological violence. The problem is compound-
reality they are incapable of directly as- ed by the apparent irrelevance of the
sessing, yet one that intimately shapes concept of “spirit” (and allied concepts
the motivations and actions of myriad like “soul”) to the natural sciences,
people worldwide. Since those moti- and by the ambiguous reception of the
vations and actions are proper studies concept in the social sciences, which
for the social sciences, the question of either consider it meaningless within
how these areas of human inquiry can the predominant materialist paradigm,5
“quantify” spirituality is an important or simply too difficult to observe the
one. This paper’s thesis is that it can action or effect of in an empirically
best do so by taking the existence of testable manner.
a transcendent spiritual nature in hu- In contrast to this lack of consen-
mans as a background assumption to sus around what is meant by spirit and
produce evidence from data, and that spirituality in discourse generally, there
this evidence can be used to support is, from what I have observed, a unity
or falsify well-formulated hypotheses of understanding on this topic within
about human spiritual nature. the Bahá’í community. It is a charac-
teristically Bahá’í unity—a unity in
S S diversity, in which there is no need to
B ’ W : perfectly reconcile the inevitable range
AB O of perspectives individuals bring to
the question, since this range admits
The term “spirituality” is understood a richer collective understanding than
in a variety of ways by different indi- any one perspective could afford.6
viduals and communities in wider so-
ciety.4 The views of those unaffiliated
5 For a more comprehensive treat-
with any particular religion range from ment, see William B. Hurlbut, “Science,
positive—if often vague—conceptions Ethics and the Human Spirit” in The
of spirituality, to the view that spir- Oxford Handbook of Religion and Science.
itual belief is a symptom of human 6 Indeed, a Bahá’í perspective on
this, as on many metaphysical topics, be-
4 An illustrative example of this gins with the understanding that the human
variety can be found in Sena et al.’s 2021 mind can never perfectly grasp the ontol-
study of the concepts or definitions of ogy of anything (Gleanings 26), let alone
spirituality used by researchers in the med- entities, concepts, realms, etc. that are
ical field alone, in which they find, and inherently beyond embodied human per-
attempt to categorize, some 166 different ception, or beyond the human’s own onto-
definitions. logical station. As with models of reality
What Does Spirituality Look Like? 79

Yet it is nonetheless a unity, in that it the power of the senses and powers of
builds on certain core propositions in thought that are absent in the plant. To
the Bahá’í writings that combine to use the terminology of modern science,
make “spirit” and “spirituality” usable these powers are emergent, appear-
concepts. ing as more complex organizations
From the outset we should distin- of matter emerge from simpler ones.7
guish between what might be called At each stage of progression, from the
the ontology of spirit on the one hand, lower to the higher levels, the higher
and the acquisition of spiritual capac- incorporates all the inherent attributes
ities and the expression of spirituality of the lower and adds new attributes
by humans on the other hand. (Promulgation 85). The lower, by its
very nature, remains unaware of, and
O S even denies the reality of, the powers
of the higher (Selections 163:2).
S R It would seem to follow from this
conception that God—if we might
A useful starting place is ‘Abdu’l-Bahá venture to say anything about the
discussion of the unity, and hierarchy, “Unknowable Essence”—is the ulti-
of creation: mate Spirit, in that there is no perspec-
tive from which One Who stands not
[T]he truth is that the world of ex- merely at the apex of creation but ut-
istence is a single world, although terly beyond it (as its uttermost Source)
its stations are manifold in accor- does not remain “higher.”
dance with the manifold realities
of things. For instance, the world S O ,
of mineral, plant, and animal ex- U R
istence is the same world. Despite
this, the animal world in relation “Spirit” is not only a description of
to the world of the vegetable is a the qualities of one entity relative to
spiritual reality and another world another, but also, according to Bahá’í
and abode. (Amr va Khalq 1:202 thought, an underlying, ontological
provisional translation, qtd. in
Phelps; emphasis added) 7 Nobel laureate Philip Anderson
describes emergence in these terms:
Spirituality is thus relative: each
higher level is a spiritual reality rela- The behavior of large and complex
tive to a lower level. The animal has aggregates of elementary particles, it
turns out, is not to be understood in
terms of a simple extrapolation of the
in science, the usefulness of whatever con- properties of a few particles. Instead,
cept we have of a transcendent reality is a at each level of complexity entirely
good indicator of its relationship to truth. new properties appear . . . (393).
80 The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 33.4 2023

reality. Used in this sense of the term, we actually observed an instantiation
we find (for instance) that ‘Abdu’l- of the Higgs field; i.e. a Higgs particle,
Bahá in Some Answered Questions generated in an experiment at CERN.
refers to a mineral, a vegetable, an an- We can analogously conceive of a hu-
imal, and a human spirit — the human man “field” permeating all of reality
spirit or “rational soul” having two (purely by way of analogy, and with-
aspects, as will be discussed further. out suggesting that the human spirit
Beyond these, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá writes, has a physical and / or measurable
there is a “heavenly spirit” or “spirit of ontology). When the conditions are
faith,” through which the higher aspect right—when an organism appears with
of the human spirit is awakened and the requisite level of complexity—the
animated, and which itself “proceeds human field instantiates itself in an
through the breath of the Holy Spirit,” individual soul—what has been called
“the mediator between God and His “the rational soul” (‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
creation,” which is associated with the Some Answered Questions 55:5). As
Manifestation of God (ch. 36).8 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá explains, “if a thousand
To understand how “spirit” as a million years hence, the component
fundamental ontological reality relates elements of man are brought together,
to the mundane reality we perceive measured out in the same proportion,
through our senses, we might analogize combined in the same manner, and
to the concept of fields as understood subjected to the same interaction with
in physics. According to current mod- other beings, exactly the same man
els, at the most fundamental level mat- will come into existence” (46:7).
ter is comprised of fields—such as the
Higgs field—that permeate all space S
and time, with fundamental particles H P
being particular instantiations of fields.
Only very recently—in 2012—have To explore how the ideas of underlying
ontological spirit and spirituality as a
relative condition relate to each other,
8 In some contexts, the Bahá’í writ-
ings distinguish clearly between the mate-
we can consider spirituality as an inher-
rial and the spiritual as distinct realms of ent, yet latent, property of the human
existence that are nevertheless unified as being. Bahá’u’lláh explains that in the
parts of one whole, with “[t]he physical human being “are potentially revealed
universe [being] . . . in perfect correspon- all the attributes and names of God to
dence with the spiritual or divine realm” a degree that no other created being
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Promulgation 93:1). A hath excelled or surpassed” (Kitab-i-
philosophical treatment of spirit in the Íqán 101). While these attributes and
Bahá’í writings would explore the relation- names are unchanging and eternal in
ship between the various presentations of God, and thus have an unchanging on-
the concept in greater detail than is neces- tological existence, their expressions
sary here.
What Does Spirituality Look Like? 81

as spiritual qualities by human beings It distinguishes humans from animals,
is not automatic: for “the animal perceives sensible
things but cannot perceive concep-
Man is the supreme Talisman. tual realities” (‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Some
Lack of a proper education hath, Answered Questions 48:6). It is a fac-
however, deprived him of that ulty that the individual, through vo-
which he doth inherently pos- lition, can turn to the animal nature
sess. . . . Regard man as a mine and so choose to descend to that level
rich in gems of inestimable value. of being, or orient to the divine and
Education can, alone, cause it to thus acquire the attributes pertaining
reveal its treasures, and enable to that world. It is in that sense, one
mankind to benefit therefrom. can surmise, that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá refers
(Bahá’u’lláh, Tablets 161–62) to the “human spirit” as having “two
aspects”:

The attributes of God within human But this human spirit has two as-
reality thus exist only as potential. They pects: one divine and one satan-
must be developed in order to become ic—that is, it is capable of both
manifest—through education and as a the greatest perfection and the
result of the individual’s own volition greatest deficiency. Should it ac-
(Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings ch. 77). quire virtues, it is the noblest of all
From this perspective, William S. things; and should it acquire vices,
Hatcher proposes a working definition it becomes the most vile. (Some
of spiritual growth as “the process of Answered Questions 36:5)
the full, adequate, proper and harmo-
nious development of one’s spiritual I would thus restate Hatcher’s defi-
capacities” (“Concept” 5). nition of spiritual growth to draw out
Key to this process is self-reflec- an implicit feature: spiritual growth
tion. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá writes that man’s is “the process of the full, adequate,
nature “is threefold: animal, human proper, harmonious, and self-reflective
and divine” (Promulgation 139:12).
The “human,” one may conclude The virtues of humanity are many,
from the Bahá’í writings, is that “ra- but science is the most noble of them
tional faculty with which God hath all. The distinction which man enjoys
endowed the essence of man.” This above and beyond the station of the
rational faculty is an inextricable and animal is due to this paramount vir-
distinguishing facet of the human tue. It is a bestowal of God; it is not
spirit (Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings 83:1).9 material; it is divine. (‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
Promulgation 20:2)

9 This rational capacity of the hu- It is in this sense that one can call sci-
man spirit is the source of science: ence a collective spiritual enterprise.
82 The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 33.4 2023

development of one’s spiritual capaci- What, then, is the nature of the di-
ties.” In other words, we use the pow- vine capacities to which this process is
ers of the “human” spirit—including directed? There are myriad passages in
the rational power of self-reflection— the Bahá’í writings specifying some of
to acquire the “divine” spirit. these capacities. “The purpose of the
Spiritual growth can thus be consid- one true God in manifesting Himself,”
ered a process of growth towards being, Bahá’u’lláh writes in one instance,
to develop one’s divine capacities.10
While the essential ontology of the is to summon all mankind to truth-
human being is spiritual, the extent fulness and sincerity, to piety and
to which that spiritual essence devel- trustworthiness, to resignation and
ops—or remains largely overridden submissiveness to the Will of God,
by the lower animal nature that, in to forbearance and kindliness, to up-
relation to the human spirit, is materi- rightness and wisdom. His object is
al—depends on this process of growth to array every man with the mantle
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Promulgation 65).11 of a saintly character, and to adorn
him with the ornament of holy and
10 In section of his paper I have
goodly deeds. (Gleanings 137:4)
quoted, Hatcher uses the terms “spiritual
growth” and “spirituality” interchangeably. Yet there is also a sense in which
There is a strong sense, however, in which what spirituality looks like—the way
spirituality can be considered a condition or in which we must express our spiritual
state one strives to attain, as reflected in a capacities, including both the rationali-
letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi: ty of the human spirit and the qualities
“How to attain spirituality is, indeed, a ques- of the divine spirit—will be specific to
tion to which every young man and woman our time and place. Since this is what
must sooner or later try to find a satisfactory motivates my examination of recent
answer” (qtd. in Importance of Prayer no. guidance of the Universal House of
40). There need not be any contradiction,
Justice in particular, it merits further
of course, between viewing spirituality as a
exploration.
process or as a state. The thoughts, words,
and actions by which a person at a given
level of spiritual development can progress
to a further level are the very same thoughts, livelihood is prepared and ordained in the
words, and actions that characterize the rel- divine creative plan. . . . Therefore, con-
ative level of spirituality that this person sider how base a nature it reveals in man
thus attains. The qualities reflected in the that, notwithstanding the favors showered
guidance of the Universal House of Justice upon him by God, he should lower himself
discussed in the next section, for instance, into the animal sphere, be wholly occu-
can be considered in either light pied with material needs, attached to this
11 “But the life of man is not so re- mortal realm, imagining that the greatest
stricted; it is divine, eternal, not mortal and happiness is to attain wealth in this world”
sensual. For him a spiritual existence and (Promulgation 65:4).
What Does Spirituality Look Like? 83

E T ,C collections of particles but are absent
E , S in the individual particles that com-
prise them. Fluidity and its reciprocal,
If this is indeed the time of “the com- viscosity, are examples of this emer-
ing of age of the entire human race,” gence: the individual particles of, say,
as the Bahá’í Faith asserts, it should a body of water do not have fluidity,
be no surprise that the Revelation but the body itself, composed of these
of Bahá’u’lláh not only renews, but particles, exhibits this property.
updates, our concept of spirituality Similarly, while there are aspects of
(Shoghi Effendi, World Order 163). We spirituality that can be expressed indi-
can expect spirituality, on the one hand, vidually, other facets of spirituality are
to bear similarities to understandings emergent, appearing when individuals
or concepts of the past, but also, in organize themselves and work togeth-
this age, to exhibit new characteristics. er. For instance, the individual is en-
The individual’s spirituality looks dif- dowed with the power of understand-
ferent in maturity than in adolescence ing, which is a spiritual power relative
or in childhood. As the capacity of the to the animal. When individuals orga-
individual to express spirituality in ac- nize themselves to, say, investigate in
tion grows as the individual matures, concert some phenomenon of nature,
we can expect the same to be true of this spirituality emerges as a property
humanity as a whole.13 of the group. Although the individual
Indeed, the collective dimension may engage in scientific activity, sci-
of spiritual expression can be consid- ence does not arise from the individual:
ered as another kind of “emergence.” it is an emergent phenomenon arising
In nature, certain properties of matter from individuals working in concert.
are emergent in that they appear in Similarly, although individuals engage
in religious activity, religion itself does
not come from the individual: religion
12 See ‘Abdu’l-Bahá on “the dif-
arises from entire communities work-
ference between the perfect man and the
ing in concert. It is when followers of a
child” (Promulgation 53).
13 This may partially explain why
particular Messenger of God assemble
spirituality is viewed as naïve and / or and work together that the phenome-
superstitious by many, including some non of religion appears. Religion and
scientifically minded people. Conceptions science can thus both be considered
of spirituality suited to previous stages emergent spiritual enterprises.
of humanity’s collective evolution may, We should expect, then, that all three
if they linger in the public discourse on protagonists in the civilization-build-
spirituality, obscure more relevant concep- ing process described by the Universal
tions. Science tends to replace outmoded House of Justice—the individual, the
paradigms over time; religion may need to community and the institutions—can
learn to do the same to retain, or regain, its develop and express spirituality (28
relevance.
84 The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 33.4 2023

December 2010). Spirituality in one of for power throughout time. In
these three protagonists will look dif- this context, the assumption that
ferent than spirituality in another and, relations among them will inev-
as each protagonist evolves over time, itably conform to the dictates of
its spirituality will be expressed in new competition, a notion that ignores
ways. The development of spirituality the extraordinary potential of the
on the level of the institutions will be human spirit, has been set aside in
reflected in a new aim: “not to control favour of the more likely premise
but to nurture and guide” (2 March that their harmonious interactions
2013). The development of a new level can foster a civilization befitting a
of spirituality on the part of the com- mature humanity. (2 March 2013)
munity will be seen as it
Before exploring “what spirituality
takes on the challenge of sustain- looks like” today, a final general con-
ing an environment where the sideration merits mention. Implicit
powers of individuals, who wish in the educational paradigm for spir-
to exercise self-expression respon- itual development, and explicit in
sibly in accordance with the com- many places in the Bahá’í writings,
mon weal and the plans of institu- is the principle that spirituality is de-
tions, multiply in unified action. (2 veloped systematically at both the
March 2013) individual and collective level. It is
thus no surprise that the Revelation
Clearly, these expressions of spiritu- of Bahá’u’lláh, which is intended to
ality are emergent, in the sense that the “effect a fundamental transformation
individual, no matter how advanced, in the whole basis of human society,
cannot achieve them. They require which will involve the spiritualiza-
institutions and communities that are tion of mankind” (Universal House
progressing along their own paths of of Justice in Research Dept. Family
spiritual development. 74), is described by Shoghi Effendi as
Spirituality appropriate to humani- “scientific in its method” (Letter High
ty’s age of maturity will also be pro- Commissioner).
gressively expressed in the relation- Indeed, the Universal House
ships between the three protagonists: of Justice has progressively out-
lined a framework for action for the
At the heart of the learning pro- global Bahá’í community, appro-
cess is inquiry into the nature of priate to its level of development
the relationships that bind the and systematic in its approach.14
individual, the community, and
the institutions of society—ac- 14 For a more focused discussion see
tors on the stage of history who Stephen Friberg, “Revelation as Scientific
have been locked in a struggle in its Method: Science, Diversity,
Consultation, and Learning in Action.”
What Does Spirituality Look Like? 85

A document prepared on behalf of the we can now turn to the central question,
Universal House of Justice explains and make it more precise: “What does
that spirituality look like today, for individ-
uals, communities and institutions?”
[w]hen efforts are carried out in
a learning mode—characterized In its pivotal message of 30
by constant action, reflection, December 2021, the Universal House
consultation, and study—visions of Justice clearly outlines the task be-
and strategies are re-examined fore us, of “building a society that con-
time and again. . . . The learning sciously pursues [the] collective pur-
process, which is given direction pose” set out for it by Bahá’u’lláh—to
through appropriate institutional “work for the betterment of the world
arrangements, unfolds in a way and live together in concord and har-
that resembles the growth and dif- mony”—and explains that this is “the
ferentiation of a living organism. work not only of this generation but of
Haphazard change is avoided, and generations to come.” In the same mes-
continuity of action maintained. sage the Universal House of Justice
(OSED) outlines three areas of learning that are
most crucial at this time:15
The systematic work of the com-
munity is a corollary of the practices  Learning how to raise up vi-
that have always been at the core of brant, outward-looking com-
the individual Bahá’í’s spiritual life, munities;
and that are reflected in other religious
 Learning how to bring about
traditions: regular prayer, fasting, and
material and spiritual progress;
immersion in the sacred writings of
the Faith amongst others. At both the  Learning how to contribute to
individual and collective level, then, it the discourses that influence
is clear that spirituality is not acquired the direction of that progress.
passively. That does not mean that it
cannot be an inner process, of course, In light of this mandate placed be-
but rather that it is acquired through fore the Bahá’í community and its
progressive refinement requiring ac-
tive, systematic engagement of one’s 15 Presumably, for the duration of
faculties. the series of Plans that will occupy the
Bahá’í community until the year 2046.
W D S Global Plans of fixed durations have been
L L ? set in place by the central institution of the
Bahá’í Faith since the time of the Guardian,
Having explored a few characteristics Shoghi Effendi, and guide the community’s
of a Bahá’í conception of spirituality, growth as well as its contribution to wider
society.
86 The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 33.4 2023

collaborators, spirituality looks like collaborate with, and they strive to
that set of qualities and attributes that foster fellow feeling even among
will best equip humanity to engage in groups who may traditionally
these three areas of learning over the have been hostile to one another.
next quarter century. They are conscious of how the
As a document that not only clarifies forces of materialism are at work
the path before a community dedicat- around them, and their eyes are
ed to progressively enacting spiritual wide open to the many injustices
behaviour, but reflects back to that that persist in the world, yet they
community what it is already learning are equally clear sighted about
about and putting into practice, this the creative power of unity and
letter, I propose, can itself serve as a humanity’s capacity for altruism.
rich resource for answering our central They see the power that true reli-
question. gion possesses to transform hearts
In eleven sentences of paragraph and overcome distrust, and so,
four, the letter paints a portrait of with confidence in what the future
“the enkindled souls being raised up holds, they labour to cultivate the
through the processes of the Plan”: conditions in which progress can
occur. They share their beliefs
They are committed to the pros- liberally with others, remaining
perity of all, recognizing that the respectful of the freedom of con-
welfare of individuals rests in the science of every soul, and they
welfare of society at large. They never impose their own standards
are loyal citizens who eschew on anyone. And while they would
partisanship and the contest for not pretend to have discovered all
worldly power. Instead, they are the answers, they are clear about
focused on transcending differenc- what they have learned and what
es, harmonizing perspectives, and they still need to learn. Their ef-
promoting the use of consultation forts advance to the alternating
for making decisions. They em- rhythm of action and reflection;
phasize qualities and attitudes— setbacks leave them unfazed. (30
such as trustworthiness, cooper- December 2021 ¶ 4)
ation, and forbearance—that are
building blocks of a stable social With an understanding of spiritual-
order. They champion rationality ity as both inherent—in the individu-
and science as essential for human al—and emergent—finding expression
progress. They advocate tolerance at the collective levels of the commu-
and understanding, and with the nity and the institution—we can see
inherent oneness of humanity up- in this paragraph two clear directives:
permost in their minds, they view a guide to individuals engaged in the
everyone as a potential partner to community-building process, and a
What Does Spirituality Look Like? 87

characterization of the qualities that reality” (Selections 72:3), spirituality
are destined to emerge on both com- involves embracing fully the rational
munity and institutional levels as the faculty and its fruits. This is clear-
work progresses. ly seen in the Universal House of
In this section, I explore five dimen- Justice’s characterization, in its letter
sions of what spirituality looks like dated 30 December 2021, of the “en-
today that emerge from this paragraph: kindled souls”:
embracing rationality, developing
clarity of vision, acquiring particular  They champion rationality and
spiritual qualities, espousing new con- science as essential for human
cepts of power, and working toward progress;
reconciliation.
 They promote the use of con-
sultation in exploring reality,
E R
developing understanding, and
in decision-making;
Spirituality today must fully embrace
rationality and all its fruits, includ-  Their efforts advance to “the al-
ing science. Throughout the Bahá’í ternating rhythm of action and
writings it is emphasized that, at all reflection.”
times, religious truth must conform
to reason, and science and religion16 In past dispensations the majority
must work together. As ‘Abdu’l-Bahá of humanity was illiterate, and science
underscores, “true science is reason as we know it today did not exist. It
and reality, and religion is essentially is no surprise that the Revelation of
reality and pure reason; therefore, the Bahá’u’lláh, originating in the nine-
two must correspond” (Promulgation teenth century, would emphasize uni-
44:8). Although the divine is a high- versal education, the development of
er spiritual power than the human or critical thinking skills, and an orienta-
rational power, in this day when the tion towards science and reason. In one
sciences have become “bridges to of His talks given in America ‘Abdu’l-
Bahá emphasizes,
16 Much could be written about
the relationship between spirituality and [W]e must arise to service in
religion, which today is understood from the world of morality, for human
many different perspectives, and in quite morals are in need of readjust-
contradictory ways. For the purposes of ment. We must also render service
this paper, I simply assert (without trying to to the world of intellectuality in
prove) the relationship implied by the state-
order that the minds of men may
ment written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi
increase in power and become
that “spiritual development . . . is the very
foundation and purpose of the Religion of
keener in perception, assisting
God” (in Prayer and Devotional Life 71). the intellect of man to attain its
88 The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 33.4 2023

supremacy so that the ideal virtues “increasing attention needs to be given
may appear. (Promulgation 105:3) to . . . processes that seek to enhance the
life of a community”—the Universal
It is clear that the embrace of ratio- House of Justice emphasizes the im-
nality is not a characteristic of spiritual- portance of the community maintaining
ity today that is confined to the individ- a systematic and scientific approach to
ual. Bahá’í communities as a whole are its own development (Riḍván 2023). It
learning about emergent expressions of must specifically continue to develop
rationality that the isolated individual
cannot achieve. These communities the capacity to engage in system-
are currently applying a method to atic learning . . . a capacity that
their three areas of learning that in- draws on insights arising from the
volves “an ongoing process of action, Teachings and the accumulated
reflection, study, and consultation” store of human knowledge gen-
(Universal House of Justice, 24 July erated through scientific enquiry.
2013). Consultation in particular is an As this capacity grows, much will
inherently collective means whereby be accomplished over the coming
the rational faculty can be employed to decades. (Riḍván 2023)
explore material and spiritual reality,
whether to make a decision or to sim- There is, of course, an individual
ply advance understanding.17 responsibility to embrace rationality
In laying before the worldwide as well; and even in community pro-
Bahá’í community the multiplicity cesses such as consultation, it is the
of the tasks before it—tasks in which individual’s contribution of reasoned
argument that contributes to a whole
17 In companion papers in this col- greater than the sum of its parts. One
laborative exploration of the harmony of vital contributor to the individual’s ra-
science and religion other authors have tional inquiry is freedom of initiative.
expanded on the role of consultation.
The spiritual world, even more than
See, in this issue, Andres Elvira Espinosa
the physical world, is a vast world; a
“‘Justly and Without Bias’: Consultation
as a Technique for Mitigating Cognitive
world to be explored. And just as the
Biases,” and Roger Neyman and Charlotte scientist requires a large measure of
Wenninger, “Transformative Dialogue: freedom in exploring physical reali-
A Key to Elevating Discourse” and, in ty—freedom to identify lines of inqui-
vol. 33 no. 3 of The Journal of Bahá’í ry, to hypothesize, to experiment—so
Studies, Whitney White Kazemipour, a person on the spiritual path requires
“Even as the Waves of One Sea: Bahá’í freedom of initiative to explore that
Consultation’s Implicit Cultural Support world and garner its fruits. Similarly,
for the Clash of Differing Opinions” and communities require the freedom to
Todd Smith, Becoming Attuned to Reality: “read their own reality” (Universal
Presuppositions and the Power of Learning House of Justice, 28 December 2010 ¶
in Action.”
What Does Spirituality Look Like? 89

10), to explore that reality, and to ad-  They have the inherent one-
vance on their own level and at their ness of humanity uppermost in
own pace. This reading of reality flows mind;
from a broader conception of rational-
 They are committed to the
ity that draws on the powers of mind
prosperity of all, recognizing
and spirit, including reference to the
that the welfare of individuals
insights from both scientific and reli-
rests in the welfare of society at
gious understanding.
large;
One of the natural, inevitable and
constructive features of individu-  They are conscious of how
al initiative is that there will arise, the forces of materialism are
in consultation, what ‘Abdu’l-Bahá at work around them, and
identifies as “the clash of differing their eyes are wide open to the
opinions”—as opposed to the “clash many injustices that persist in
of egos,” which is almost always de- the world, yet they are equally
structive. It is through the “clash of clear sighted about the creative
differing opinions” that “the shin- power of unity and humanity’s
ing spark of truth cometh forth” capacity for altruism. (30 De-
in consultation (Selections 44).18 cember 2021 ¶ 4)

D C V The faculty of vision, Bahá’u’lláh
writes, is derived from the rational
Spirituality requires clarity of vision. faculty (Gleanings 83:2), and is “the
Although practically one’s work may agent and guide for true knowledge.”
be on a local level—with family, fel- “Keenness of understanding,” He elu-
low-believers, colleagues, friends, cidates, “is due to keenness of vision”
neighbors, or a community—these (Tablets 4:7). Hence, clarity of vision
groups in themselves are limited; that is a crucial adjunct to embrace of the
is, they are parts of the whole. A clear rational. Historically, many enter-
vision is a world-embracing vision, and prises that had sound beginnings and
is expressed in selfless service aimed potentially promising outcomes lost
at the betterment of the entire human their way because, partly through nar-
race. Thus, the House of Justice says of row focus and partly through distrac-
the enkindled souls: tions arising from the “insistent self”
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Selections 206:9)—the
animal side of human nature—a wid-
18 The continual “clash of opinions” er perspective was lost. This can be
has been one of the vital features of the
avoided if the wider perspective of the
collective enterprise of science throughout
health of the entire human family—
history. For a deeper discussion and anal-
ysis of the operation of this dynamic in
and the long-range goal of achieving
Bahá’í consultation see White Kazemipour. the unity of the entire human race—is
90 The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 33.4 2023

ever held in the consciousness of those obvious importance in an age in which
working at the grassroots level. our very ability to speak civilly across
lines of difference seems in many plac-
A P es to be eroding (see Wenninger and
S Q Neyman, this issue). As for trustworthi-
ness, it must characterize any religious
The demands of this period of time re- individual or community who seeks to
quire the cultivation of particular, crit- contribute to the social good. Indeed,
ical qualities. The Universal House of religion has acquired a bad name among
Justice emphasizes specific qualities of many people of thought in the world, in
the enkindled souls: no small part because of the gross and
obvious hypocrisy of many religious
 They emphasize qualities and leaders and religious organizations.19
attitudes—such as trustworthi- Hypocrisy is so condemned that
ness, cooperation, and forbear- Bahá’u’lláh admonishes in one of His
ance—that are building blocks tablets,
of a stable social order;
Be thou of the people of hellfire,
 They share their beliefs lib-
but be not a hypocrite.
erally with others, remaining
(qtd. in Trustworthiness 38)
respectful of the freedom of
conscience of every soul, and
they never impose their own The spiritual qualities of generosity,
standards on anyone; respect and detachment, reflected in
the balance struck by liberally sharing
 While they would not pretend
one’s belief while never imposing one’s
to have discovered all the an-
standards on others, are equally critical
swers, they are clear about
today. The masses of humanity, the
what they have learned and
great majority of whom are religious,
what they still need to learn.
increasingly have nowhere to turn to
(30 December 2021)
find inspiration and positive models.
One is reminded of Bahá’u’lláh’s state-
Recalling our definition, building ment in the Book of Certitude:
on Hatcher, of spiritual growth as the
“full, adequate, proper, harmonious,
and self-reflective development of
one’s spiritual capacities,” we can nev- 19 The other major cause of this
ertheless recognize that at each partic- disrepute, namely the disunity of sectarian
attachments that plague so many religious
ular time in history certain qualities
communities and institutions today, further
rise to the fore as being most condu-
speaks to the need for cooperation and
cive to individual and social progress. forbearance (Universal House of Justice,
Cooperation and forbearance are of April 2002).
What Does Spirituality Look Like? 91

What “oppression” is more griev- destined to bring about?
ous than that a soul seeking the Like all similar questions, these can
truth, and wishing to attain unto most practically be addressed in terms
the knowledge of God, should of current needs and current directions
know not where to go for it and to be taken. In the paragraph under
from whom to seek it? (Kitáb-i- study, the Universal House of Justice
Íqán 31) makes a number of relevant observa-
tions about the “enkindled souls”:
On the one hand, the distrust among
people who have become cynical about  They are loyal citizens who
religion needs to be dispelled. On the eschew partisanship and the
other hand, those who are religious contest for worldly power;
need to be shown in action what true
 They promote the use of con-
religion is and what it can accomplish,
sultation for making decisions;
in a measure that will attract those who
have become disillusioned, and enable  They view everyone as a po-
them to work together for a common tential partner to collaborate
purpose. Intellectual humility is equal- with;
ly important in this regard: to know  They see the power that true
that one has not discovered all the an- religion possesses to transform
swers even as one is clear about what hearts;
has been learned so far changes the
nature of the invitation, from “join me”  They labour to cultivate the
to “let us learn together.” These quali- conditions in which progress
ties, nurtured in individuals and com- can occur. (30 December 2021
munities, can foster the kind of fellow ¶ 4)
feeling that will enable diverse people
to work together. Science and religion are described
by the Universal House of Justice
E AN C as “two complementary systems of
P knowledge and practice by which hu-
man beings come to understand the
Bahá’u’lláh writes that the task of con- world around them and through which
verting “satanic strength” into “heav- civilization advances” (2 March 2013).
enly power” is one that “We have been Yet, throughout history, the knowledge
empowered to accomplish” (Gleanings generated by both science and religion
99:1). What is heavenly power? What has also been coopted by those who
is the new concept of power that He wield temporal power.
has been empowered to establish, and Scientific discovery leads to new
what changes in power structures and technologies that can be used to im-
power relationships is His Revelation prove life but also to serve the ends
92 The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 33.4 2023

of those who wish to exert power over wrested from others and used against
others. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá described the them in a zero-sum game. As the
“destructive and infernal machines. . . . Universal House of Justice has written
forces of demolition and the invention regarding the individual, institutions
of fiery implements” of His own time and community,
as evidence that the current “civili-
zation is conjoined with barbarism” Throughout human history, inter-
(Selections 225:6). In the twentieth actions among these three have
century, discoveries in physics enabled been fraught with difficulties at
the development of nuclear weapons, every turn, with the individual
while advances in psychology were clamouring for freedom, the in-
also weaponized into techniques of stitution demanding submission,
persuasion designed to channel human and the community claiming pre-
activity into patterns of commercial- cedence. . . . Today, in this age of
ization (Packard). transition, as humanity struggles
Religion, as the historical frame- to attain its collective maturity,
work for spirituality, has also gener- such relationships—nay, the very
ated what we might call “social tech- conception of the individual, of
nologies.” These technologies helped social institutions, and of the com-
create stable and happy families, sta- munity—continue to be assailed
ble and progressive communities, and by crises too numerous to count.
well-ordered societies. But through (28 December 2010)
excess of zeal, ulterior motives, and
thirst for power, other technologies A reconceptualization of power is
have been developed that may have central to reimagining the individual,
passed for spiritualization: forms of community, and institution in a way
social control, coercion, demands for that permits harmonious relationships
conformity, oppression of the spirit, between them. As the Universal House
and the tyranny of forced catechisms of Justice goes on to point out: “Every
and beliefs. follower of Bahá’u’lláh knows well
The positive contributions of both that the purpose of His Revelation is
science and religion show that each has to bring into being a new creation” (28
the capacity to contribute to positive December 2010).
forms of power—to exert an influence We need, then, a new concept of
on the world that changes it for the bet- power.
ter. Yet this is not the sense in which The writings and guidance of the
power is often conceived. Animated by Bahá’í Faith help us understand the
an often-unconscious culture of conflict relationship between spirituality and
(Karlberg, “Constructive Resilience” power. On the one hand, there is an
and “Constructive Imaginary”), our unambiguous affirmation that spiritu-
societies view power as a thing to be al actions—from prayer to service to
What Does Spirituality Look Like? 93

study of the Revealed Word of God— promotion of consultation, and the
give us access to sources of power that willingness to view everyone as a po-
can effect real change in ourselves tential partner, are both expressions of
and the world. At the same time, it is the new conception of power.
made equally clear that spiritual power This focus on empowerment, and
of this kind is not a power to be used eschewing coercion, can be seen for
against others; coercion to advance example in Bahá’u’lláh’s explanation
spiritual ends is not countenanced. As of how to teach, a fundamental spiritu-
‘Abdu’l-Bahá explains, al activity for Bahá’ís:

But in this wondrous Dispensation, Should anyone among you be in-
the Blessed Beauty hath . . . abro- capable of grasping a certain truth,
gated contention and conflict, and or be striving to comprehend it,
even rejected undue insistence. He show forth, when conversing
exhorted us instead to “consort with him, a spirit of extreme kind-
with the followers of all religions liness and goodwill. Help him to
in a spirit of friendliness and fel- see and recognize the truth, with-
lowship”. He ordained that we be out esteeming yourself to be, in
loving friends and well-wishers the least, superior to him, or to be
of all peoples and religions, and possessed of greater endowments.
enjoined upon us to demonstrate (Gleanings 5:3)
the highest virtues in our dealings
with the kindreds of the earth. If spirituality today looks like de-
(Light 32:2) veloping this new kind of power—em-
powering ourselves and others—then it
The Bahá’í concept of the exercise equally requires that we avoid becom-
of power involves empowerment—em- ing entangled in the pursuit of that oth-
powering individuals through empha- er kind of power. Thus, spirituality re-
sis on the “twofold moral purpose, to quires that the individual “eschew . . . the
develop their inherent potentialities contest for worldly power” (Universal
and to contribute to the transforma- House of Justice, 30 December 2021).
tion of society” (Universal House of I venture to suggest that we see here a
Justice, Riḍván 2010); empowering concrete example of the transformation
communities through practices such of “satanic strength”—which, given
as consultation to become unified the Bahá’í conception of Satan as “the
protagonists of their own progress; lower nature in man” (‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
and empowering institutions through Promulgation 97:12), might be under-
development of a culture of service stood as an individual’s (community’s
and empathy, on the one hand, and of or institution’s) efforts to advance
equity, justice and trustworthiness, their own selfish interests, even at the
on the other hand. In this context, the expense of others—into “heavenly
94 The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 33.4 2023

power,” a power that is deployed for planet” (Universal House of Justice 26
the betterment of all, that refuses to November 1992). Well aware of the
overbear anyone’s freedom of con- pivotal importance of the principle of
science, and is thus truly spiritual. unity, the Bahá’í community has, over
the decades, worked to root out preju-
W R dice of all forms within its own ranks.
This important work is by no means
The cultivation of spirituality in this complete and must continue; it is, how-
period of time demands a more active ever, no longer sufficient.
attempt at religious reconciliation— Religion inherently has the power
both between religions and between to tame the passions of disunity, but
those who are religious and those who when religion itself is divided, it los-
have separated themselves from reli- es this power. Religiously motivated
gion. In describing the enkindled souls, animosity and violence, as well as the
the Universal House of Justice notes: entanglement of religion with divisive
partisan politics, feed polarizations that
 They see the power that true threaten to tear national communities
religion possesses to trans- apart, and thus contribute to a situa-
form hearts and overcome dis- tion in which “the world is becoming
trust, and so, with confidence increasingly ungovernable” (Universal
in what the future holds, they House of Justice, 28 December 2010).
labour to cultivate the condi- In its letter to religious leaders, the
tions in which progress can Universal House of Justice, after outlin-
occur; ing the salutary effect of the erosion of
prejudices that in the past have plagued
 They advocate tolerance and
the world, notes that, regrettably,
understanding, and they strive
to foster fellow feeling even
[i]n contrast to the processes of
among groups who may tra-
unification that are transforming
ditionally have been hostile to
the rest of humanity’s social re-
one another;
lationships, the suggestion that
 They are focused on tran- all of the world’s great religions
scending differences and are equally valid in nature and
harmonizing perspectives. (30 origin is stubbornly resisted by
December 2021) entrenched patterns of sectarian
Just as the principle of the one- thought. (April 2002)
ness of humanity is “the pivot round
which all the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh This is arguably the single greatest
revolve” (Shoghi Effendi, World Order obstacle to religion’s ability to contrib-
42), “[d]isunity is the crux of the ute its vital role to the advancement of
problems which so severely afflict the civilization.
What Does Spirituality Look Like? 95

Spirituality, then, looks like This spirituality looks like the embrace
“striv[ing] to foster fellow feeling even of rationality and the infusion of the
among groups who may traditional- collective use of reason, through con-
ly have been hostile to one another.” sultation, into community life. It looks
Individuals, communities, and institu- like the adoption of a clear vision of
tions can do this work at the neighbor- the inherent oneness of humanity, and
hood level—the level at which people an understanding that the welfare of
interact on a daily basis and live their each depends on the welfare of all. It
daily lives—by being “focused on looks like the cultivation of the qual-
transcending differences, harmonizing ities of trustworthiness, cooperation,
perspectives,” and viewing “everyone forbearance, generosity and respect.
as a potential partner to collaborate It looks like the commitment to em-
with” (30 December 2021 ¶ 4). powering others rather than trying to
Today, it is not a sufficient expres- gain power over them. And it looks
sion of spirituality for the individual like the resolve to focus on transcend-
or community to transform only itself, ing differences and working towards
striving to hold itself up as a model to reconciliation.
be emulated. Spirituality means active- The harmony of science and reli-
ly working to bring about reconciliation gion has always been a core principle
and transformation of one’s neighbor- of the Bahá’í Faith. Spirituality can
hood, and wider society, through the demonstrably embrace science. Is the
daily activities in which one is engaged. converse true? Can science be similar-
—————— ly receptive to spirituality?
I have here looked at only one para- One challenge to such receptivity is
graph of one letter from the Universal that science, as discussed at the outset
House of Justice. Many other such of the paper, has largely not under-
passages could be similarly explored. stood spirituality as an object of study.
I believe that the foregoing clearly Religion and spirituality as social phe-
demonstrates that the ongoing guid- nomena have, of course, been studied
ance of this supreme institution of in the social sciences. But can these
the global Bahá’í community is a rich sciences go beyond treating spirituali-
source for understanding what spiritu- ty’s impact in the world as originating
ality looks like today, for individuals, in the subjective belief of individuals
communities, and institutions. We can and groups, and consider what it might
see in the single passage under study mean for spirituality to have a basis
elements of a lived spirituality that in “objective” ontological reality?20
should be recognizable and laudable It is to this question that I now turn.
both to people from a religious back-
ground and to those with no religious 20 For an insightful article on this
background but who are committed to a see Craig, “A Lamp in the Darkness: How
moral vision for social transformation. Bahá’í Communities Can Uplift Individuals
Lost in the Darkness of Trauma.”
96 The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 33.4 2023

S H It is not necessary for the prosecution
S N of physics, for example, to assume that
large collections of molecules are able
Where science has previously asked to reach a state of self-organization:
what effect humans’ spiritual beliefs that is the province of biology. As a
have—on their individual lives and the physicist, one can carry on quite well
wider world—could it turn to the more without bothering with that higher lev-
fundamental question of whether hu- el of emergence. Similarly, the natural
mans have a spiritual nature, an onto- sciences as a whole—physics, chem-
logical underpinning to their being that istry and biology—can pursue their
bears a truth relationship with (at least investigation of the world of nature
some of) their spiritual beliefs? without assuming the existence of real-
As a question for science this may ities beyond the level of the biological
seem unanswerable. Science is about animal. The human body, which shares
things that can be observed and mea- in this animal nature, can be investi-
sured because they have a physical gated through these sciences, but what
ontology, not about things like “spirit” we think of as “humanity”—the inner
that are supposed to have a (primarily) life and social reality of the human
non-physical, or supra-physical, ontol- being— requires different disciplinary
ogy that our powers of observation and approaches. The very existence of the
measurement cannot access. social sciences, as independent scien-
I argue here that spirituality can be tific disciplines, attests to the inadequa-
investigated by science. If we have a cy of biology to investigate this reality.
clear sense of what spirituality looks If humans do possess a transcendent
like, then we can construct different nature, then, study of this transcendent
theories—incorporating contrasting nature would become the province of
background assumptions about the on- the social sciences. Considering the
tological basis for this spiritual behav- materialist / reductionist paradigm that
ior—and generate falsifiable hypoth- at present exerts such a strong grip on
eses that can be evaluated in light of the evolution of the social sciences,
data. To support this claim, I first spec- this would initially require consider-
ify which of the sciences might be able ation that humans may have a higher
to do this, before turning to the way in nature. And this consideration, if taken
which this might be done in spite of the seriously, could find shape in the for-
non-physicality of spiritual reality. mulation of testable hypotheses.

T S S P B
A S
Different scientific disciplines con-
fine themselves to the investigation Most of us, if asked to describe how
of specific categories of phenomena. science works, might say something
What Does Spirituality Look Like? 97

like this: in science we accumulate data, My argument, then, is that the exis-
which serves as evidence for or against tence of a transcendent spiritual nature
formulated hypotheses. in humans can be taken as a background
A key criterion for a scientific hy- assumption in the social sciences to
pothesis, familiar again to many, produce evidence from data, and that
is that, as proposed originally by this evidence can be used to support
the Muslim scholar Ḥasan Ibn Al- or falsify well-formulated hypotheses
Haytham and later the medieval scholar about human spiritual nature. Though
Robert Grosseteste, it must be falsi- this may at first glance appear to be a
fiable—that is, it must be formulated circular argument, it is not, for the rea-
in such a way that one can demon- son that hypotheses are always falsifi-
strate it to be wrong if, indeed, it is.21 able. If humans are, as the reductionist
As philosopher of science Helen paradigm holds, nothing but animals,
Longino points out, what is missing in background assumptions to that effect
this picture is the role of background will produce a better set of hypotheses.
beliefs or assumptions. Background Before providing examples to il-
assumptions invariably exist, in all the lustrate the argument, it would be
sciences, and form the link between raw useful to explore the respective roles
data and what is accepted as evidence. in the sciences of presuppositions

21 This has led some to claim that and background assumptions—two
science can never prove anything, but very different things, but both ines-
only show things to be false. This notion capable—from the perspective of the
calls into question the nature of inductive philosophy of science. Hugh Gauch
proof, which is beyond the scope of this presents a model of science as based on
paper. Suffice it to say that this feature of evidence, logic, and a small set of pre-
inductive proof gives to scientific truth that suppositions without which “evidence
curious property of being enduring, on the loses its evidential role” (Practice
one hand, and relative, on the other hand. 112). The role of these presuppositions
Some scientific theories are later shown to
is perhaps the aspect of science that is
be completely incorrect—as was the case
least understood and least appreciated
with the caloric theory of heat and the
(Practice ch. 4; Brief ch. 5).
phlogiston theory of combustion—while
others are shown to be approximations of
a more sophisticated and encompassing Essentially, a presupposition is a
theory—as is the case with Newtonian belief that is required to reach a
mechanics and gravitation, or with equilib- particular conclusion, and yet it
rium thermodynamics which, in the twen- cannot possibly be proved. A pre-
tieth century, gave way to a wider theory of supposition cannot be proved in
nonequilibrium thermodynamics. the ordinary sense of marshalling
98 The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 33.4 2023

definitive evidence because pre- Whereas this small set of presupposi-
suppositions precede and empower tions is necessarily shared by all sci-
evidence. But that does not neces- entists as the basis for scientific activ-
sarily mean that presuppositions ity to have any meaning, background
are arbitrary and shaky. Rather, assumptions, in contrast, are not
presuppositions should be chosen universal and to some extent are cul-
carefully, disclosed, and then legit- ture-dependent. Background assump-
imated. Because presuppositions tions, as stated above, are inescapable
are just as necessary as evidence in science, linking data to evidence
for science to reach any conclu- as they do. Crucially, the same set of
sions, a reflective account of sci- data interpreted on the basis of differ-
ence must discuss them. (Brief 73) ent background assumptions can lead
to different evidentiary conclusions.23
Gauch cites Caldin’s useful sum-
mation of the role of presuppositions:
hand, fully support the validity of these
“Most scientists take for granted their
presuppositions. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá affirms the
metaphysical assumptions, but they are
reality of the world we experience: “The
nonetheless necessary logically to the sophists hold that all existence is illusory.
conclusions of science” (Brief 73). . . . This notion is false, for although the
So what are these presuppositions existence of things is an illusion compared
of science? As put forward by Thomas to the existence of God, yet in the contin-
Reid and the Scottish School of gent world it is established, proven, and
Common Sense, they are the same as undeniable” (Some Answered Questions
the presuppositions behind “common 79:1). Bahá’u’lláh further confirms that
sense,” which hinge on the idea that our this world can be meaningfully apprehend-
senses (and the instruments that extend ed by human senses and understood by
them), in aggregate, reveal to us true in- the human mind: “Look at the world and
formation about the real world (Gauch, ponder a while upon it. It unveileth the
book of its own self before thine eyes and
Practice 64-65, 120–23). Furthermore,
revealeth that which the Pen of thy Lord,
the truths and secrets of nature are sus-
the Fashioner, the All-Informed, hath in-
ceptible to being understood through scribed therein. It will acquaint thee with
rational enquiry and the exercise of the that which is within it and upon it and will
human intellect. While these presuppo- give thee such clear explanations as to
sitions may seem obvious, in the history make thee independent of every eloquent
of philosophy they have been denied by expounder” (Tablets 9:13).
skeptics, most notably Pyrrho of Elis, 23 Data is the raw material out of
Sextus Empiricus, David Hume, and which evidence is constructed. Evidence,
some of the postmodernists (Practice in turn, is used to support or refute mental
chs. 2, 4; Brief chs. 3, 5).22 constructs, conjectures, hypotheses, and
ultimately laws or theories: in short, to cre-
ate scientific truth. It is in the process of
22 The Bahá’í writings, on the other interpreting data—of using it to generate
What Does Spirituality Look Like? 99

In Science As Social Knowledge Helen support of Longino, notes that the ob-
Longino gives a number of examples jectivity of science rests on the ability
of this.24 Longino argues, however, of the scientific community of experts
that background assumptions do not to identify the operating background as-
undermine objectivity in science; it is sumptions and to evaluate them, as well
preserved, through a process of trans- as on its ability to assess the links be-
formative criticism or transformative tween evidence and theory (25–143).25
interrogation, within a scientific com-
munity (63–82). In transformative in- I R S
terrogation, background assumptions
are aired and examined, alternative One more feature of science needs to
ways of looking at the data (i.e. through be mentioned: the accumulation of
different background assumptions) are data (things measurable) and the study
explored and, ultimately, consensus of patterns and consistencies in that
may be obtained. Naomi Oreskes, in data lead science to usefully hypoth-
esize the existence of what ‘Abdu’l-
Bahá calls “intelligible” or intellectual
evidence—that background assumptions
play a role.
realities (Some Answered Questions
24 One example she gives is an ex- 16), or what a physicist might call
periment performed by Priestey and re- mathematical realities: ontologically
peated by Lavoisier. Both performed the real phenomena that cannot be directly
same experiment and obtained the same observed (they are not “sensible,” as
data, but each had a different background ‘Abdu’l-Bahá puts it).
assumption. Priestley believed in the phlo- For example, because a vast range
giston theory which held that combustion of phenomena can be understood if we
resulted from the release of a combustible hypothesize that fields exist—such as
substance (phlogiston) from the burning the Higgs field referred to above, or
matter into the air. Lavoisier believed that the electron field—we infer that fields
combustion was due to combination of the
exist. Yet the field cannot be directly
combusting substance with a substance in
observed; only the particle that instan-
the air (what is now known as the Oxygen
theory). Each scientist saw the data as ev-
tiates it can be. These entities, which
idence for his own hypothesis about com- have a precise mathematical formu-
bustion. Longino writes, lation, are considered in the physical

The two thus had the same experi- 25 For a deeper analysis of trans-
mental information but approached formative interrogation and a proposed
it with different background beliefs. extension to transformative dialogue, see
. . . In the context of their differing Neyman and Wenninger. For further dis-
background beliefs and assumptions cussion of the role of diversity in science,
different aspects of the same state of and truth-seeking more generally, from a
affairs became evidentially signifi- Bahá’í perspective, see Friberg, Smith, and
cant. (47–48) Espinosa.
100 The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 33.4 2023

sciences to be real, and are physical. If spirituality were adopted as a
Although “non-sensible” they are, nev- background assumption in the social
ertheless, entities that inhabit the phys- sciences, the evidence that would then
ical universe in which we live. emerge out of the data could be eval-
In the sense that the Bahá’í writings uated according to these two features,
conceive it—as a transcendent intellec- to see if the assumption has traction.26
tual power and, beyond that, as a tran- Does a theory, incorporating the back-
scendent divine power, both of which ground assumption of the reality of spir-
the human possesses but the animal ituality, not only explain the evidence,
lacks—spirituality is an intelligible, but also have the power of prediction?
and not a sensible, reality. Moreover, And just as importantly, can such a
as mentioned earlier, while ‘Abdu’l- theory be used to develop technolo-
Bahá affirms that intelligible realities gies—social technologies, such as ped-
include some physical realities (Some agogies, or therapeutic technologies27
Answered Questions 48), we can pre- —that, when applied, help to propel
sume that the human (and higher) spir- society forward?
its are not physical. To see how this might work, we can
consider two rival theories, one that
S takes spirituality as a background as-
B A sumption, and the other that assumes
S S (in line with the prevailing, if often
implicit, scientific paradigm) that the
So far, then, we have seen that scien- human is simply an animal, with no
tists interpret data through background spiritual nature.
assumptions, and that science can Turning first to explanatory pow-
hypothesize the existence of intelli- er, we must acknowledge that certain
gible realities that cannot be directly kinds of data that we might initially
observed or measured. What would it think support the former theory are
then look like for the social sciences potentially equally well explained by
to treat spirituality as a background
assumption? 26 As noted above, data can be an-
Successful scientific theories— alyzed through several lenses, each rep-
those that, amongst other things, incor- resenting a different set of background
porate effective background assump- assumptions. Undoubtedly, over time, a
tions—have two features: single, perhaps broad, set of background
1. Explanatory power (and dra- assumptions—even a worldview—will
matically, sometimes, the ability emerge with the potential to become a new
to explain bodies of data that in paradigm.
the absence of the theory would 27 For example, forms of psycho-
appear to be disconnected); analysis that account for the existence of
2. Predictive power. the human being’s spiritual reality. See
John S. Hatcher.
What Does Spirituality Look Like? 101

the latter. Animal emotion and be- after meaning, which transcends pure
havior, the current paradigm runs, survival, assumes central importance.
are emergent properties arising from One would not say this about animal
the physical world and are intimately groups, except to the extent that the
tied with self-interest, whether that human observer might ascribe “mean-
interest be of the organism itself or ing” to them. The question then be-
of its genetic line. Animals can sacri- comes which theory—the one that
fice themselves in order to reproduce; incorporates a background assumption
they can sacrifice themselves for their of spiritual reality, or its lack—better
young; they can sacrifice for the hive, explains this data. Are these unique
the family, the herd, the pride. In some human traits truly transcendent, or are
circles the case has been made that they merely extensions of animal emo-
they sacrifice themselves so that their tion and behavior?
genes survive—what George Wald has Here it may seem that the spirituality
called “vicarious selection” (61). Thus, theory is better supported: the human
the fact that a human parent sacrific- is exhibiting intellectual and emotional
es her life for her child, for example, capacities that categorically transcend
does not necessarily support the “spir- the animal.28 That is certainly the inter-
ituality” theory more strongly than its pretation confirmed in the Bahá’í writ-
alternative. ings, as when ‘Abdu’l-Bahá notes that
Data could, however, be generated “the animal perceives sensible things
showing that humans have the ability but cannot perceive conceptual reali-
to acquire loyalty to abstract entities ties” (Some Answered Questions 48:6),
far above any level of self-interest or giving as an example the ability of the
“gene-interest” and to sacrifice for earth-bound human to extrapolate from
such abstract concepts as truth, love, observation the non-observable fact
justice, humanity, and the sacred. that the earth is spherical (48:6–7).
Humans have the capacity to treat all However, even a scientist who
fellow humans with kindness and love, agrees that this is a difference in kind,
no matter how they are treated in re-
turn; to consider all life itself as some- 28 Note that, given the current re-
thing sacred. They have the power to ductionist / materialist paradigm that rules
conceptualize a world far above the both the physical and the social sciences,
world of the senses and to gain deep we can expect even this statement to be
reverence for that world. One of the controversial. There would thus be great
distinguishing characteristics of human value in research aimed at openly consider-
societies, according to the anthropolo- ing this question—asking whether human
gist, is not so much that they are great intellect, capacities, societies, and civiliza-
at surviving (which they are, of course), tion differ from their animal counterparts
but that being to a great extent masters in degree or in kind. For a recent survey
of their environment, their seeking of this question from a Bahá’í perspective,
see Filson.
102 The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 33.4 2023

and not in degree, between the hu- sliding into metaphysics? To answer
man and the animal might challenge this, we can turn to the second feature
‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s conclusion that “man of successful scientific theories—their
is endowed with a power of discovery predictive power, including the power
that distinguishes him from the animal, to generate new technologies.
and this power is none but the human As an example of such a hypotheti-
spirit” (Some Answered Questions cal technology, consider this statement
48:7, emphasis added). In terms of the of Bahá’u’lláh:
inherent and the emergent, the scien-
tist could argue that animal intellect In the treasuries of the knowledge
and emotion are emergent phenomena of God there lieth concealed a
arising out of collections of extremely knowledge which, when applied,
large numbers of elements that inter- will largely, though not whol-
act in very complex ways. When the ly, eliminate fear. This knowledge,
elements decompose, the animal, and however, should be taught from
the qualities it manifests, disappears. childhood, as it will greatly aid
He might say that the same is true with in its elimination. Whatever de-
regard to the human, regarding the hu- creaseth fear increaseth courage.
man mind as simply a higher order of (Epistle 32)
emergent phenomenon transcending
animal intelligence.29 This would, on its face, appear to be
It might seem that we are at an a knowledge that could be discovered
impasse between the view of unique by science and applied as a technology
human attributes as emergent phys- of that science. Baha’u’llah’s prediction
ical phenomena and, say, the Bahá’í regarding this knowledge and its future
view that the human soul is a single, discovery would contribute towards
non-physical entity, and that the powers proof—scientific proof—of the truth of
of the intellect and of the divine in the the background assumption that man is
individual are, therefore, inherent rath- a spiritual being. With the development
er than emergent. How could the social of more technologies, based on the pre-
sciences decide between these para- dictive power of the theory that human
digms while remaining sciences, that is, beings have a transcendent spiritual
employing methods that put them firm- nature, the background assumption that
ly in the camp of science rather than man has such a spiritual nature would
evolve into a new paradigm.
29 Terrence Deacon takes this
stance. “Biologically we are just another T
ape; mentally we are a whole new phylum B A
of organism” (Goodenough and Deacon
862). Deacon, who calls himself “a reli- While it would take time, and the accu-
gious non-theist” (865), takes a strict emer- mulation of a robust body of research,
gentist view of this phenomenon.
What Does Spirituality Look Like? 103

to effect this paradigm shift, we can church, and only then began working
look to a couple of available examples together to rebuild their houses.
of the kind of scientific investigations A number of factors were iden-
that could contribute to this. tified as having a negative effect on
In 2018, Science published a lengthy recovery, among them the amount
article on resilience. One of its sections of time spent in shelters. Being older
presents a trio of studies that merged than fifty or disabled were also strong
in Katrina@10, a long-term study negative indicators. But in the case of
looking at resilience in people who lost the Vietnamese community, internal
their homes in New Orleans because cohesion coupled with their religiosity
of Hurricane Katrina. The goal of the helped motivate them to return to their
study is ambitious: “to build a crystal old homes quickly, reducing the nega-
ball that uses a few characteristics to tive effect of spending a long period of
predict disaster recovery in the long time in shelters. Presumably, this same
term,” with one possible result being to internal cohesion—which one might
“help policymakers and disaster recov- say was closely tied to the communi-
ery programs pick out especially vul- ty’s religiosity—also mitigated against
nerable groups” and “even steer them the negative factors of age and disabil-
toward interventions that do the most ity. In general, as one might expect, it
good”—i.e. to develop a technology to was a combination of inner and outer
increase resilience (Servick). factors that contributed to, or detracted
The study found that among the pre- from, the ability to recover.
storm predictors of resilience, “psy- Given this kind of data, showing
chological strength”—which included that religious affiliation was a cause
religiosity and perceived ability to of greater resilience,30 it would be pos-
respond to stressors—was the prima- sible for social science researchers to
ry factor, with household income over formulate theories, and hypotheses,
$20,000 a close second. In general re- that take spiritual reality as a back-
ligiosity was a factor in recovery, both ground assumption, and then to evalu-
among communities who returned to ate their predictive power.
their old homes and rebuilt, and among
those who rebuilt their lives elsewhere. 30 Note that within a materialistic
One survivor in particular, who seemed paradigm one could argue that religious
to have built a better life than the one belief or affiliation may be correlated with
she had before the hurricane, report- resilience but is not its cause; that some
ed that she had “developed a deeper other factor drives both religiosity and
relationship with God.” One group, resilience for instance. A good research
an immigrant Vietnamese community design would be able to evaluate this possi-
that showed great resilience, returned bility; I assume for the purposes of this dis-
almost immediately and began to re- cussion a data set that shows that religious
build. They started by rebuilding their affiliation was in fact causally connected to
resilience.
104 The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 33.4 2023

One could, for example, adopt as a is, religion itself has evolved
background assumption that humans as a beneficial adaptation in hu-
are spiritual beings, in the sense that mans, and
(a) we have a transcendent intellect, 2. Human beings have been made
and (b) we can acquire divine attri- to benefit from religion purely
butes. This could be accompanied by through the operation of natural
the background assumptions that reli- selection, not through the action
gion, to the degree that it has remained of a Creator or through interac-
faithful to the unifying principles of its tion with an underlying spiritual
foundational scriptures, meaningfully reality.
reflects and nurtures the divine attri-
butes humans possess, and in so doing This is a stance often taken within
contributes to resilience.31 evolutionary psychology, “a theory
One could simultaneously generate about the origins of the human mind.
theories and hypotheses consistent It assumes that all human behavior,
with a materialist set of background like that of animals, is directed towards
assumptions. These theories could ac- competitive advantage in the evolu-
knowledge that religion is a cause of tionary struggle of life.” Within this
resilience, but not conclude that reli- paradigm, religion can be evolutionari-
gion’s beliefs are true. Here the back- ly adaptive without being accurate in
ground assumptions could include the its description of reality:
following:
1. Human beings have evolved in Sociobiologist E.O. Wilson sees
certain ways due to the beliefs religious belief in particular as
and practices of religion—that providing a sense of ‘sacredness’
on which principles of social
co-operation can be firmly con-
31 These background assumptions structed. . . . Yet Wilson is not
are made explicit in the Bahá’í writings
arguing for the reality of religious
and guidance. For instance, the Universal
belief as some kind of transcendent
House of Justice writes that
truth, only the utility of the belief
[r]eligion, as we are all aware, reaches in benefiting the individual and
to the roots of motivation. When it has sustaining social unity. Indeed,
been faithful to the spirit and example Wilson claims that morality has no
of the transcendent Figures who gave other demonstrable function than
the world its great belief systems, it to keep human genetic material
has awakened in whole populations intact. (Hurlbut 874)
capacities to love, to forgive, to cre-
ate, to dare greatly, to overcome prej- Here we see the operation of
udice, to sacrifice for the common Longino’s model. The data is fil-
good and to discipline the impulses of tered through a particular background
animal instinct. (April 2002)
What Does Spirituality Look Like? 105

assumption to create evidence—in and that man has a transcendent reality
this case, evidence for the validity of should be superfluous to our survival.
the idea that man is an animal, and all Evolution occurs in response to im-
human behavior is rooted in the evolu- mediate conditions; it has no ability to
tionary struggle for survival. The hy- see into, or to prepare for, the future. It
potheses formulated from the evidence would be an extraordinary coincidence
arising from data as filtered through if something necessary for our past
this particular background assumption evolution were to prove to be a signif-
have some degree of explanatory pow- icant factor in helping us advance into
er, just as hypotheses formulated based a new state, or society, totally different
on a background assumption of spiritu- from the one we came out of. If this did
al reality have explanatory power. But in fact prove to be the case, it would
do they have predictive power? support the non-materialist paradigm,
One of the “overriding principles of in which the existence of spiritual re-
nature” governing “all population be- ality, and religion’s capacity to mean-
havior,” as noted by physicist Marvin ingfully generate knowledge about that
Chester, is that “the effect on the en- reality, are background assumptions.
vironment of a population’s success is Indeed, such an outcome would
to alter that environment in a way that seem to validate the vision for human-
opposes the success” (Populations 1). ity’s future contained in the Bahá’í
The developing climate crisis, which writings. Bahá’u’lláh predicts emphat-
threatens human civilization, can be ically: “These fruitless strifes, these
seen as a dramatic illustration of this ruinous wars shall pass away, and the
“overriding principle.” The hypotheses ‘Most Great Peace’ shall come” (qtd.
of evolutionary psychology would pre- in God Passes By 194)—a Peace es-
dict, if anything, that our civilization, tablished “by the direct operation of
which has carried our (animal) species the laws and principles revealed by
to an unprecedented and “unnatural” Bahá’u’lláh” (from a letter written on
state of success, will suffer collapse. behalf of Shoghi Effendi qtd. in Peace
The human race, greatly reduced in 64). Further, the arrival of this “Great
numbers, may revert to a tribal stage, Peace . . . for which from age to age
with religion (which helped bring the sacred scriptures of mankind have
about this crisis) most likely returning constantly held the promise” would
to those forms that served the interests validate the predictive power of reli-
of tribal society so well in the past. gion itself (Promise of World Peace 1).
Conversely, if our civilization survives, So here we have two clearly dif-
it will be through the (unpredictable) ferent sets of predictions, stemming
emergence of new capabilities that are from theories incorporating different
not connected to the religious beliefs background assumptions. On the one
that helped us in our evolutionary past. hand, the prediction that if humanity
Specifically, beliefs that there is a God is to resolve the crises currently facing
106 The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 33.4 2023

it, then religion—having arisen as an development of the Bahá’í community
evolutionarily selected response to con- in Iran, both materially and spiritually,
ditions in our distant past—will have despite severe clerical and governmen-
little role to play. On the other hand, tal opposition since the birth of the
the prediction that only with religion— Bahá’í Faith in the mid-nineteenth cen-
specifically the eternal principles of tury. The document Century of Light
religion, and full embrace of the reality notes that the immediate agent of this
of the divine—can humanity bring civ- transformation in the early twentieth
ilization back into moderation. To say century was none other than ‘Abdu’l-
that only with religion can we do this Bahá. Though confined to ‘Akka and
is not to say that religion alone can do physically distant from the Persian
it—it must be religion in harmony with Bahá’í community, He sent “a flood of
science. The fruit of this happy union Tablets” (letters) through which “the
will be an ever-advancing civilization Persian believers were revived and
characterized by both material and heartened.” These communications
spiritual prosperity. This, then, is the “provided not only the spiritual suste-
prediction we can make from hypoth- nance they needed, but leadership in
eses derived from evidence arrived at finding their way through the turmoil
by filtering the data through the back- that was undermining the established
ground assumption that God, and hence order of things in their land.” These
spirituality, is real and that the essential letters, “reaching even the smallest vil-
purpose of life is not to propagate one’s lages across the country, responded to
genes, but to develop one’s spiritual ca- the appeals and questions of countless
pacities, and, in so doing, contribute to individual believers, bringing guid-
an “ever-advancing civilization.” ance, encouragement and assurance”
While it would be foolhardy for pro- (8). Century of Light concludes this
ponents of either theory to claim, at this section with this observation:
early stage and with humanity’s future
path seemingly still in question, that Social historians of the future, with
the evidence conclusively proves them a perspective far more dispassion-
right, there are emerging examples we ate and universal than is presently
can look at as support for the prediction possible, and benefiting from un-
that religion can act as a remedy for the impeded access to all of the prima-
crises facing our societies—that it can, ry documentation, will study mi-
for instance, contribute to a communi- nutely the transformation that the
ty’s resilience in the face of these cri- Master [‘Abdu’l-Bahá] achieved
ses, and empower it to contribute to the in these early years. Day after day,
advancement of civilization at the local month after month, from a dis-
or national level. tant exile where He was endless-
One of the most remarkable stories ly harried by the host of enemies
of resilience in the modern period is the surrounding Him, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
What Does Spirituality Look Like? 107

was able not only to stimulate the to social change under conditions
expansion of the Persian Bahá’í of violent oppression. (Karlberg,
community, but to shape its con- “Constructive Resilience” 1)
sciousness and collective life.
The result was the emergence of In the face of the fiercest opposi-
a culture, however localized, that tion they have steadfastly kept to their
was unlike anything humanity had fundamental principles by maintaining
ever known. Our century, with all the integrity of their faith and beliefs,
its upheavals and its grandiloquent on the one hand, and continuing to
claims to create a new order, has strive, as much as was in their power,
no comparable example of the sys- to work for the welfare of their nation
tematic application of the powers and their fellow-citizens, on the other
of a single Mind to the building of hand. The community’s capacity to
a distinctive and successful com- achieve these things in the face of such
munity that saw its ultimate sphere circumstances supports the argument
of work as the globe itself. (10) that their religious faith and teachings,
far from merely providing some gen-
There are similarly a number of re- eral sense of social cohesion within
markable instances of resilience within the community, allow them to work in
the global Bahá’í community in the ways that reflect real spiritual dynam-
postwar period that have yet to be fully ics, and to access real spiritual power.
studied. The Bahá’í community of Iran Recent scholarship using the lens of
after the Islamic Revolution provides “constructive resilience” to study the
one outstanding example. A steady response of the Iranian Bahá’í com-
stream of letters from the Universal munity to oppression points the way to
House of Justice has helped sustain that productive future research.32
beleaguered community against the What about Bahá’í communities
onslaught of a vicious foe determined elsewhere? One story that remains to be
to exterminate it. Century of Light told in detail is that of the Bahá’í com-
notes that early on, after the Islamic munity of the Democratic Republic of
Revolution, it was the Bahá’ís, rather the Congo (DRC), a country that has
than their oppressors, who “quickly set seen abusive totalitarian government,
the terms of the encounter” (119). civil war, corruption, serious human
rights violations, and deep divisions
Against the backdrop of dramatic due to ethnic hostilities, for virtual-
struggles for social change in the ly its entire existence since obtaining
twentieth century, characterized
by non-violent opposition and civil 32 See, for example, Michael
disobedience, the Bahá’í commu- Karlberg’s articles “Constructive
nity of Iran has pursued a distinc- Resilience: The Bahá’í Response to
tively non-adversarial approach Oppression” and “The Constructive
Imaginary.”
108 The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 33.4 2023

independence in 1965. Against this dedicated to bettering the world,
backdrop, the Bahá’í community in Bahá’ís bring the principles suit-
the DRC has emerged, grown, and ed to humanity’s age of maturity
flourished, showing not only remark- to bear on the conditions of the
able resilience but also a remarkable world’s peoples. They strive for
internal cohesion and outwardly-fo- the transformation of the inner and
cused spirit of tolerance and inclusive- outer realities of human life, and
ness that stand in stark contrast to the for the cultivation of spiritual and
problems facing the nation to which it social conditions that will give rise
belongs. The Bahá’í community of the to a new kind of people and a new
DRC has, in fact, risen to become one society founded on unity. . . . (1
of the foremost Bahá’í communities in November 2022)
the world. Critical to its success has
been the continual guidance Bahá’ís It is a testament to the Congolese
in general, and the Congolese Bahá’í Bahá’í community’s success in living
community in particular, has received up to this mandate—to demonstrating
from the Universal House of Justice, in practice “what spirituality looks
directing them always to be cognizant like”—that their country was chosen
of their spiritual capacities and diligent as the site of the first national House of
in their continued cultivation of those Worship in the Bahá’í world, complet-
qualities. ed in 2023 (Bahá’í News).
A recent letter from the Universal
House of Justice to the Bahá’ís of the In these two brief examples—that
DRC acknowledges that “alas, your of Iran and of the DRC—we see both
nation has time and again suffered from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and the Universal House
conflict among some of its peoples… of Justice basing their appeals to the
[Y]ou are, of course, not immune to the community on an unshakeable belief
forces that generate and drive conflict,” that humans are spiritual beings and
a state of affairs that demands “vigi- have the capacity, no matter what their
lance by all the believers in ensuring external circumstances, to develop their
that divisions, especially those related spiritual qualities. If humanity did not
to ethnicity, do not take root in your have this capacity, then messages such
community.” The letter goes on to say, as those above could have only a very
limited effect, at best. Clearly these are
The mission of the Bahá’ís is capacities that, if they do indeed exist
to learn to apply the Revelation in humanity, can be discovered and
of Bahá’u’lláh in their individ- studied by the sciences, and systemat-
ual and collective lives and in ically developed through technologies
the life of their society. Through arising from those discoveries.
well-ordered efforts and in collab- In summary, scientific truth is both
oration with many others who are explanatory and predictive. Let us,
What Does Spirituality Look Like? 109

for the moment, adopt a background human history. In the evolution of its
assumption that man has a spiritual conceptual understanding and of its
nature. Filtering the data concerning expression of spirituality at the lev-
the rise and resilience of the Bahá’í els of the individual, the community
communities of Iran and the Congo and the institutions, the worldwide
through that background assumption, Bahá’í community is blessed by the
one obtains explanatory evidence ongoing program of learning of the
supporting a hypothesis that humans International Teaching Centre and the
have a spiritual nature as outlined in constant stream of guidance coming
the Bahá’í writings. That hypothe- from its supreme governing institution,
sis also allows us to predict that once the Universal House of Justice. Indeed,
the Bahá’í community of Iran is freed the Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith wrote
from the egregious restrictions placed in the 1930s that
on it by Iran’s current government, the
Bahá’í community will, in the words the machinery of the Cause has
of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, “contribute in mak- been so fashioned, that whatever
ing of the land of Iran the envy and is deemed necessary to incorpo-
admiration of the peoples and nations rate into it in order to keep it in the
of the world” (qtd. in Shoghi Effendi, forefront of all progressive move-
Bahá’í Administration 173). Similarly, ments, can, according to the pro-
we can predict that the people of the visions made by Bahá’u’lláh, be
Democratic Republic of the Congo safely embodied therein. (World
will be able to overcome the “divisions Order 22–23)
related to ethnicity” that so severely
afflict their country, with the Bahá’í Finally, I have presented an argu-
community becoming a model and ment that human spirituality can be in-
playing a significant role in helping its vestigated by science—specifically the
nation overcome these divisions. Here, social sciences—by examining data
then, we have both explanation and in light of the background assumption
prediction that, in concert, can provide that man is a spiritual being, and from
proof of the hypothesis. the evidence derived from filtering data
through that background assumption,
C forming testable hypotheses.
Over the next twenty-five years the
In this paper I have examined some Bahá’í worldwide community will be
of the features and characteristics of focusing on “the release of the soci-
spirituality, and have presented, by ety-building powers of the Faith in ev-
examining a particular passage from er-greater measures” (Universal House
a recent letter of the Universal House of Justice, 30 December 2021 ¶ 3). As
of Justice, an overview of what spiri- Bahá’u’lláh declared to British orien-
tuality would look like at this point in talist E.G. Browne, “We desire but the
110 The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 33.4 2023

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