Conversation with God becomes possible....

In order that we may attain the spiritual condition in which conversation with God becomes possible, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá says:— We must strive to attain to that condition by being separated from all things and from the people of the world and by turning to God alone. It will take some effort on the part of man to attain to that condition, but he must work for it, strive for it. We can attain to it by thinking and caring less for material things and more for the spiritual. The further we go from the one, the nearer we are to the other. The choice is ours.

Our spiritual perception, our inward sight must be opened, so that we can see the signs and traces of God’s spirit in everything. Everything can reflect to us the light of the Spirit.
(from a talk reported by Miss Ethel J. Rosenberg in Baha'u'llah and the New Era page 90)


Nous devons nous efforcer de parvenir à cet état en nous détachant de tout et de tous et en nous tournant vers Dieu seul. L'homme devra faire un effort pour atteindre cette condition, il devra travailler et lutter pour y parvenir. Nous pouvons y réussir en pensant moins aux choses matérielles, en nous détachant d'elles et en nous inquiétant davantage des choses spirituelles. Plus nous nous éloignons des unes, plus nous nous rapprochons des autres. Le choix dépend de nous.
Notre perception spirituelle, notre vision intérieure doivent s'ouvrir pour nous permettre de reconnaître en toutes choses les signes et les empreintes de l'Esprit de Dieu. Tout peut nous renvoyer la lumière de l'Esprit.
("Baha'u'llah et l'Ère nouvelle" - M.E.B. édition 1972 - p.117)

Be swift on the path of holiness

O SON OF GLORY! Be swift in the path of holiness, and enter the heaven of communion with Me. Cleanse thy heart with the burnish of the spirit, and hasten to the court of the Most High. 
(Bahá'u'lláh in the "Hidden Words" - 2nd part, n°8)

¡OH HIJO DE LA GLORIA!
Apresúrate en el sendero de la santidad, y entra en el cielo de comunión conmigo. Purifica tu corazón con el depurador del espíritu, y apresúrate hacia la corte del Altísimo.

(Bahá'u'lláh en las "Palabras Ocultas" - 2da parte, n°8)

Ô fils de la gloire ! Fais diligence dans la voie de la sainteté et entre au ciel de la communion avec moi. Purifie ton coeur par le polissage de l'esprit et empresse-toi vers la cour du Très-Haut.
(Bahá'u'lláh dans les "Paroles cachées" - M.E.B. édition 1988 - 2e partie, n°8)

the Crimson Ark

"Blessed is he who preferreth his brother before himself. Verily, such a man is reckoned, by virtue of the Will of God, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise, with the people of Bahá who dwell in the Crimson Ark."
(Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh, page 27)

Béni est celui qui préfère son frère à lui-même. En vérité, un tel homme est mentionné, par la vertu de la volonté de Dieu, l'Omniscient, le Très-Sage, avec le peuple de Bahá qui demeure dans l'arche pourpre.

(Verset:  6.94  Les Tablettes de Bahá'u'lláh)

Profite - benefit

"  The third word we have recorded on the third leaf of Paradise is this: "O son of man! If thine eyes be turned towards mercy, forsake the things that profit thee, and cleave unto that which will profit mankind." (Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh)

La parole de Dieu que la Plume suprême a rapportée sur la troisième feuille du Paradis le plus exalté est la suivante: O fils de l'homme ! Si tes yeux sont tournés vers la miséricorde, abandonne les choses qui te profitent et attache-toi à ce qui profitera à l'humanité.

Et si tes yeux sont tournés vers la justice, choisis pour ton voisin ce que tu aurais choisi pour toi-même.
Verset: 6.47 Les Tablettes de Bahá'u'lláh

éphémere

Le monde proclame sans cesse ces mots: Attention ! je suis éphémère, ainsi que toutes mes apparences et mes couleurs extérieures. Prenez garde aux changements et aux hasards combinés en moi, et soyez tirés de votre torpeur. Il n'y a cependant aucun oeil pénétrant pour voir, aucune oreille attentive pour entendre.

Bahá'u'lláh

Why pray? Pourquoi prier?

Voyons maintenant vos questions : "Pourquoi prier ?" "Qu'y a-t-il de sage à cela, puisque Dieu a tout arrangé dans le meilleur ordre possible ? Puisqu'Il a tout ordonné d'une façon judicieuse, et, avec la plus grande perfection, a mis chaque chose à la place qui lui convient le mieux ? A quoi bon, dès lors, prier, implorer, exposer ses besoins et demander assistance? ".

Sache, en vérité, qu'il convient au faible, de demander l'aide du Fort, et qu'à celui qui cherche l'infinie bonté, il appartient de supplier le Glorieux, le Généreux.
 Lorsque l'on implore son Seigneur, que l'on se tourne vers Lui, que l'on recherche les grâces de Son Océan, cette supplication est déjà, par elle-même, une lumière pour le coeur, une illumination pour les yeux, une source vivifiante pour l'âme et une exaltation pour l'être tout entier.
 L'art divin de vivre-==> Verset:  13.2-==> Verset:  13.3

Las Alas de la Felicidad

¡Las alegrías nos da alas! En momentos de alegría nuestras fuerzas son mayores, nuestra inteligencia más sutil y nuestra comprensión menos nublada. Nos sentimos más capacitados para entendernos con el mundo y encontrar nuestra esfera de utilidad. Pero cuando la tristeza nos invade nos volvemos débiles, nuestras fuerzas nos abandonan, nuestra comprensión, se oscurece y nuestra inteligencia se vela. Las realidades de la vida parecen eludir nuestra comprensión, los ojos de nuestro espíritu no aciertan a descubrir los misterios sagrados, y nos convertimos casi en seres muertos. (Abdul-Bahá).

“Nunca estéis deprimidos”.

“No es deseo de Abdul-Bahá ver a ningún ser herido, ni causará él pena a nadie; porque el hombre no puede recibir mayor regalo que este, regocijar el corazón de otro. (Abdul-Bahá)

Healing Prayer

Thy name is my healing, O my God,
and remembrance of Thee is my remedy.
Nearness to Thee is my hope,
and love for Thee is my companion.
Thy mercy to me is my healing and my succor
in both this world and the world to come.
Thou, verily, art the All-Bountiful,
the All-Knowing, the All-Wise

Bahá'u'lláh

Detachment

 "No man shall attain the shores of the ocean of true understanding except he be detached from all that is in heaven and on earth. Sanctify your souls, O ye peoples of the world, that haply ye may attain that station which God hath destined for you..."

(Bahá'u'lláh, The Book of Certitude, page. 2)

The sword of a virtuous character and upright conduct is sharper than blades of steel.

"Say, O friends! Strive that haply the tribulations suffered by this Wronged One and by you, in the path of God, may not prove to have been in vain. Cling ye to the hem of virtue, and hold fast to the cord of trustworthiness and piety. Concern yourselves with the things that benefit mankind, and not with your corrupt and selfish desires. O ye followers of this Wronged One! Ye are the shepherds of mankind; liberate ye your flocks from the wolves of evil passions and desires, and adorn them with the ornament of the fear of God. This is the firm commandment which hath, at this moment, flowed out from the Pen of Him Who is the Ancient of Days. By the righteousness of God! The sword of a virtuous character and upright conduct is sharper than blades of steel. The voice of the true Faith calleth aloud, at this moment, and saith: O people! Verily, the Day is come, and My Lord hath made Me to shine forth with a light whose splendor hath eclipsed the suns of utterance. Fear ye the Merciful, and be not of them that have gone astray." 

(Bahá'u'lláh, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, page 29)

(Another brilliant quote from Colin. Thanks!) 

So once more the Blessed Beauty calls us to care about what is around us, to be sensitive to others, to give the best of ourselves--to give what we often don't know we have--and make the world a better place with our passing.

irrigate the desert

"To 'debunk' the emotion, on the basis of a commonplace rationalism, is within almost anyone's capacity. In the second place, I think Gaius and Titius may have honestly misunderstood the pressing educational need of the moment. They see the world around them swayed by emotional propaganda—they have learned from tradition that youth is sentimental—and they conclude that the best thing they can do is to fortify the minds of young people against emotion. My own experience as a teacher tells an opposite tale. For every one pupil who needs to be guarded from a weak excess of sensibility there are three who need to be awakened from the slumber of cold vulgarity. The task of the modern educator is not to cut down jungles but to irrigate deserts."


Another quote from C.S. Lewis' essay "Men Without Chests", which is a call to  enhance the spiritual susceptibilities as a way to strengthen us to face untruth and treacheries, instead of beating down emotion. The phrase "irrigate deserts" particularly stuck in my mind over the past days, and I wanted to put it down here, just to remember it always.

"O SON OF DUST! Verily I say unto thee: Of all men the most negligent is he that disputeth idly and seeketh to advance himself over his brother. Say, O brethren! Let deeds, not words, be your adorning" 

(Bahá'u'lláh, The Hiddent Words, From the Persian #5)

Sensibility

"...a hard heart is no infallible protection against a soft head."

(C.S. Lewis, "Men Without Chests" http://www.columbia.edu/cu/augustine/arch/lewis/abolition1.htm)

This is taken from a brilliant essay by C.S. Lewis on the need to cultivate in young people (and adults) sensibility, and sensitivity towards the highest values as the best means to edify the human being, and protect her and him from the base influences in materialist society. It's really a brilliant piece, and well worth reading. He analyses the content of a high-school grammar book (actually, in the British system it's not called high-school) and tackles the little side-comments that authors make on the different pieces they have included for analysis, and shows how they make off-hand statements about value judgements, and relativise them to the speaker's own experience, whereas that merely hardens the heart of the reader who may unwaringly agree, and provides no real upliftment or edification. The real edification and strengthening of the soul comes from cultivating values and emotional attachment to them. Truth as an intellectual product is not in itself complete unless it is accompanied by the love of truth.

But I am really not doing this theme justice, as Lews does. Read the essay, follow the link above.

“O my God! Grant to him, to his descendants, to his family, to his friends, to his subjects, to his relatives and all the inhabitants of the earth the light which will clarify their vision and facilitate their task; grant that they may partake of the noblest works here and hereafter!
“In truth, nothing is impossible to Thee.

(Fragment of a prayer revea by the Blessed Báb while in the prison of Mah-Kú, for Him Whom God Will Make Manifest, found at The Dawn-Breakers: Nabil's Narrative of the Early Days of the Baha'i Revelation, Pages 243-261: fn10).

 

(Image of the fortress of Mah Ku in Northern Iran, found at http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/eo/2/27/Kastelo_de_Mah-Ku.jpg)

Respect

"We show respect by speaking and acting with courtesy. We treat others with dignity and honor the rules of our family, school and nation. Respect yourself, and others will respect you."

(Quote thanks to Colin's notes)

Attributes of perfection

"Other attributes of perfection are to fear God, to love God by loving His servants, to exercise mildness and forbearance and calm, to be sincere, amenable, clement and compassionate; to have resolution and courage, trustworthiness and energy, to strive and struggle, to be generous, loyal, without malice, to have zeal and a sense of honor, to be high-minded and magnanimous, and to have regard for the rights of others.... ”


(quote from 'Abdu'l-Bahá in Secret of Divine Civilization, p. 40)

Chalice

“The movement itself from place to place, when undertaken for the sake of God, hath always exerted, and can now exert, its influence in the world. In the Books of old the station of them that have voyaged far and near in order to guide the servants of God hath been set forth and written down.” “I swear by God! So great are the things ordained for the steadfast that were they, so much as the eye of a needle, to be disclosed, all who are in heaven and on earth would be dumbfounded, except such as God, the Lord of all worlds, hath willed to exempt.” “I swear by God! That which hath been destined for him who aideth My Cause excelleth the treasures of the earth.” “Whoso openeth his lips in this day, and maketh mention of the name of his Lord, the hosts of Divine inspiration shall descend upon him from the heaven of My name, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise. On him shall also descend the Concourse on high, each bearing aloft a chalice of pure light."
This is a quote my mother often mentioned, particularly the end, the part about "the hosts of Divine inspiration" descending "each bearing aloft a chalice of pure light." The image is breathtaking, and inconturnable. I imagine a painting, no a mural of this, just bursting with color and criss-crossed with the interplay of shadow and light.
Chalices are such a symbol of hope, of goals for the future, of perseverance and tenacity. There's a saying Gaby always likes to quote "La esperanza es lo último que se pierde" Hope is the last thing to lose. The intention is, don't lose hope, if you have nothing else, you always have hope, and this hope gets you to move forward.

Quote from The Advent of Divine Justice, p. 84

Image from http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3108/2693993069_e504bea719.jpg?v=0

Awe

(Image is from the Hubble Telescope, courtesy of Wired Magazine OnLine.


http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/wiredscience/2009/09/hubble1a.jpg)

Blessing

Who could look at the panorama above and imagine the following...

This is the row of trees on Mount Carmel from which The Blessed Beauty pointed to the spot where the Shrine of the Bab was to be built, and nearby on the same mountain revealed the following:

"All glory be to this Day, the Day in which the fragrances of mercy have been wafted over all created things, a Day so blest that past ages and centuries can never hope to rival it, a Day in which the countenance of the Ancient of Days hath turned towards His holy seat. Thereupon the voices of all created things, and beyond them those of the Concourse on High, were heard calling aloud: ‘Haste thee, O Carmel, for lo, the light of the countenance of God, the Ruler of the Kingdom of Names and Fashioner of the heavens, hath been lifted upon thee.’

I have had the blessing of being there, and saying prayers there, for my family (brothers, sisters, parents), for my wife and children (years before I had even met my wife, and before my children were even born), and for my friends.

Joy and gladness

"To chant but one verse with joy and gladness is better for you than reading all the Revelations of the Omnipotent God with carelessness."


This is about quantity over quality, right?

Might

Might is the name of the Bahá'í month that began last night at sunset.

"Erelong shall God draw forth, out of the bosom of power, the hands of ascendancy and might, and shall raise up a people who will arise to win victory for this Youth and who will purge mankind from the defilement of the outcast and the ungodly. These hands will gird up their loins to champion the Faith of God, and will, in My name the Self-Subsistent, the Mighty, subdue the peoples and kindreds of the earth. They will enter the cities and will inspire with fear the hearts of all their inhabitants. Such are the evidences of the might of God; how fearful, how vehement is His might, and how justly doth He wield it! He, verily, ruleth and transcendeth all who are in the heavens and on the earth, and revealeth what He desireth according to a prescribed measure." 

(Bahá'u'lláh, The Summons of the Lord of Hosts, Bahá’í World Centre, 2002 edition, taken from Bahá'í Reference Library, http://reference.bahai.org)

Love

“Love is the most great law that ruleth this mighty and heavenly cycle, the unique power that bindeth together the divers elements of this material world, the supreme magnetic force that directeth the movements of the spheres in the celestial realms. Love revealeth with unfailing and limitless power the mysteries latent in the universe.”
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, from Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
http://bahai-library.com/books/gandhi/node35.html)

Acknowledgement

"I bear witness, oh my God, that Thous hast created me to know Thee and to worship Thee. I testify at this moment to my powerlessness and to Thy might, to my poverty and to Thy wealth. There is none other God but Thee. The Help in peril, the Self-Subsisting."
(Bahá'u'lláh)

There is this feeling of awe that I get when faced with things that are great, it's a good feeling. A great feeling. Acknowledgment.

Then there is the other end, acknowledgment of my limitations, my imperfections. That is another good feeling. Humility. The ocean is humble. I read somewhere that the ocean's greatness is that it places itself below all the other bodies of water, and then they all flow to it. So there is a kind of power in humility too.

Acknowledgment is the first movement of John Coltrane's masterpiece "A Love Supreme" a piece that is hard to listen to at first in light of its complexity and energy. But it has become one of my all time favorite albums, and I have the studio version and the live version. It is Coltrane's personal prayer of thanks to our Creator for having touched him in his time of need. It is really timeless and as overpowering as watching the stars move accross the clear nocturn sky, or watching the sun rise in the early morning, or watching the tide come in. It's monumental. It's awesome. It's humanity touching something that is greater than oneself, and emanating energy that is more than what is within.

Gratitude... again

"Gratitude is the essence of genuine happiness. It is a virtue we can never have too much of. Gratitude is a continual celebration of life."
(Quote thanks to Colin's Notes!)

"Where there is no vision, the people perish."

"Where there is no vision, the people perish; but he that keepeth the law, happy is he." 
(Proverbs 29:18)

Vision

“Soon,” Bahá’u’lláh’s own words in (1890) proclaim it, “will the present day Order be rolled up, and a new one spread out in its stead. Verily, thy Lord speaketh the truth and is the Knower of things unseen.” “By Myself,” He solemnly asserts, “the day is approaching when We will have rolled up the world and all that is therein, and spread out a new Order in its stead. He, verily, is powerful over all things.” “The world’s equilibrium,” He explains, “hath been upset through the vibrating influence of this Most Great, this new World Order. Mankind’s ordered life hath been revolutionized through the agency of this unique, this wondrous System, the like of which mortal eyes have never witnessed.” “The signs of impending convulsions and chaos,” He warns the peoples of the world, “can now be discerned, inasmuch as the prevailing Order appeareth to be lamentably defective.”
(from http://www.iranian.com/main/node/79130 First In Depth BBC Persian Interview with Baha'i International Community's Spokesman)

(Some things cannot be commented in a brief, fifteen second soundbite. This is a long post. Bear with me.)


These quotes, so well-knit in the text of the interview of Bahá'í spokesman Farhad Sabetan (many blessings for himself and his family), drive home the Blessed Beauty's Glad Tidings, which had been promised centuries before in previous divine dispensations. It has to do with our reality. What we are and what we are destined to be.


We are not merely figments of our own imagination, as modern psychologists, philosophers, and marketing-specialists would have us believe. We are much more. And when we align ourselves with the true order, the natural and spiritual order of things, then we give way to a whole new level of existence. 


I imagiine that it must be like the layers of a computer. The hardware works at a basic level transferring electrical impulses in certain logical sequences, which we have discovered, make it possible to create layers of information which then enable us to represent text, images, video, and sound. It would seem that the computer is merely a bunch of circuits and condensers, and stuff... but in fact, once the software is up and running, the computer is so much more. 
 So it must be with our spiritual selves. The mind gives the base, but there is so much more to us than our basic mental faculties. The superior faculties, that give rise to genius and creativity, morality and spirituality! And then when these are aligned, ordered and structured in the light of our Creator's intention for us, the results are much more than we can conceive!

A case in point. An early believer and martyr, Ashraf, was born during the siege of the fort of Sanjan. Later on, as a young man, he was martyred and beheaded. His head was callously thrown through the window of his mother's home. She instantly flung it back saying, "What we have given to God, we do not accept back."
Now, who could reach that level of understanding?
 This mother could see that her son's body, the temporal vessel that bears us in our journey through this world, had served its use, but in no way severed the real link between her and her child. And that his soul's severance from the body only served to bring him closer to his Creator.
 More than that, she had seen him the way Abraham saw his own son, as the ultimate sacrifice a parent can make. Because a parent is willing to sacrifice him or herself without hesitating for their children. But she had seen her son's martyrdom as a sacrifice... in its ultimate, and truest form; and refused to see it any other way. And she elevated the exchange with the throng, to its highest expression. Where the bloodthirsty crowd sent her a base, morbid message of hate, she responded with wisdom and courage.

That is a whole other level of vision.

 

Stars in the heaven of understanding

"O friends! Be not careless of the virtues with which ye have been endowed, neither be neglectful of your high destiny. Suffer not your labors to be wasted through the vain imaginations which certain hearts have devised. Ye are the stars of the heaven of understanding, the breeze that stirreth at the break of day, the soft-flowing waters upon which must depend the very life of all men, the letters inscribed upon His sacred scroll. With the utmost unity, and in a spirit of perfect fellowship, exert yourselves, that ye may be enabled to achieve that which beseemeth this Day of God." (Bahá'u'lláh--Gleanings page 90)

Image at www.commons.wikimedia.org by Vincent Van Gogh Starry Night Over the Rhone, painted in September 1888 at Arles. Oil on canvas 72.5 × 92 cm (28.53 × 36.21 in) Musée d'Orsay

My mother used to sing part of this quote. I can still hear her beautiful, clear voice ringing in my ears. I wish I had a recording I could share here. I had not read the quote in its entirety for a long while though. It is interesting to note that it is a call to action, and to continue action in the face of criticism or derision. Who was this quote originally addressed to? What could have been the "...vain imaginations that which certain hearts have devised...?" Anyway, in a broader sense it is addressed to us all, and we have all faced criticism, scorn and lack of understanding at some point or another. This leads back to the quote on "faithfulness" from a few days ago, and the need to continue in what we know is right, and this lends a special energy to what we do, that is beyond what we can produce ourselves.

When I think of stars, I think of a quiet night, over the pond, sitting and gazing up at the starry sky. I usually think of stars as something static, quiet. But far from it, they are in constant movement, and generating great amounts of energy! Gaby was telling me the other day that in Stephen Hawking's book on the Universe it talks about how the actual light that we see from the starts has been traveling immense distances. Some distances are so great that although we may see them, those stars may not actually be there anymore, however, their energy is still reaching us.

Is it, then, that the things we do, the movements we make, the energy we expend... all continues to travel, touching the lives of others, even after we are gone? Gee, that makes me want to make sure every action counts!

Stars

 This post is dedicated to Gaby, who started it.

"...when the hour draweth nigh on which the Day-star of the heaven of justice shall be made manifest, and the Ark of divine guidance shall sail upon the sea of glory, a star will appear in the heaven, heralding unto its people the advent of that most great light. In like manner, in the invisible heaven a star shall be made manifest who, unto the peoples of the earth, shall act as a harbinger of the break of that true and exalted Morn. These twofold signs, in the visible and the invisible heaven, have announced the Revelation of each of the Prophets of God, as is commonly believed."(Bahá'u'lláh, The Kitáb-i-Iqán, pages 20 to 22 for full text)





So, the Blessed Beauty confirms that when a Manifestation appears, so does a star in the physical heaven. This peaked my curiosity to find out if there was a record of which star may have been discovered around the time of the Twin Manifestations and I found the following:


     "As astronomers further refined their measurement techniques, they made other discoveries. Between the years 1834 and 1844, Bessel* performed observations of the bright, nearby star "Sirius", also known as the "Dog Star" because it is found in the constellation "Canis Major (Big Dog)". Bessel found that its motion through the sky undulated, as if it were a binary in orbit around another star. However, no other star was visible.
      Bessel speculated that the other star was a "hidden companion" that was invisible using the telescopic technology available to him. This speculation inspired other astronomers to search for the hidden companion of Sirius. In 1862, the American astronomer Alvan Graham Clark (1832:1897) was testing a new telescope when he discovered the hidden companion as a tiny, faint star. The companion became known as "Sirius B", or just the "Pup", while the Dog Star itself became technically known as "Sirius A". 

Text quoted from an article at www.vectorsite.net called "The Discovery of Stars," v3.0.1 / chapter 1 of 10 / 01 feb 09 / greg goebel / public domain
* Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel (22 July 1784 – 17 March 1846) was a German mathematitian, and astronomer. (from wikipedia.org) 

Isn't that amazing! A twin star system was discovered around 1844!

"Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky with a visual apparent magnitude of −1.46, almost twice as bright as Canopus, the next brightest star. The name Sirius is derived from the Ancient Greek Σείριος. The star has the Bayer designation α Canis Majoris (α CMa, or Alpha Canis Majoris). What the naked eye perceives as a single star is actually a binary star system, consisting of a white main sequence star of spectral type A1V, termed Sirius A, and a faint white dwarf companion of spectral type DA2, termed Sirius B."


Image from www.atlantis-motherland.com

Text from the article at www.wikipedia.org

Satisfaction

"Say, God sufficeth all things above all things, and nothing in the heavens or the earth or whatever lieth between them but God, thy Lord, sufficeth."

Satisfaction has to do with needs, perceived or real. These days advertising is in charge of convincing us that we have needs. Advertising is a relentless, nagging element, that almost seems ubiquitous, until we look inside. Inside myself there is no advertising. There I can come in touch with my real needs.

Gaby and I have a policy of not looking at billboards anymore. We just don't look at them, don't comment them. They aren't part of the landscape. It's kind of like having the AdBlock activated in your web-browser. Just a blank space.

Actually, in my mind, the billboard isn't there either,
just the air, the sky,... which are very satisfying in themselves!

illumine my inner being

" I have wakened in Thy shelter O my God, and it becometh him that seeketh that shelter to abide within the Sanctuary of Thy protection and the Stronghold of Thy defense. Illumine my inner being, O my Lord, with the splendors of the Dayspring of Thy Revelation, even as Thou didst illumine my outer being with the morning light of Thy favor." —Bahá’u’lláh 

This painting by Magritte (Belgian artist) always stood apart for me. I have a very personal reading: The blue sky, the dark woods, the tree outside the house, the reflection in the pond in front of the house, all have great symbolism in my mind. The sky--the Source, the Shelter. The house--another, inner shelter. The forest--the outer world, dark and uncertain. The tree--personal growth, our own life. The lamp,--conscience. The reflection in the pond--the relation between the material and the spiritual. The lights in the upstairs windows--inner light, inner wisdom, deeper conscience, illumination.

Gratitude

"Be generous in prosperity and thankful in adversity..." (Gleanings from the writings of Bahá'u'lláh)

"Gratitude is a constant attitude of thankfulness and appreciation for life as it unfolds. Living in the moment, we are open to abundance around us and within us. We express appreciation freely. We contemplate the richness of our life. We feast on beauty. We notice small graces and are thankful for daily gifts. In life's trials, we seek to understand, to accept and to learn. Gratitude is the essence of genuine happiness. It is a virtue we can never have too much of. Gratitude is a continual celebration of life." (Second quote thanks to Colin! Where do you get these?)

...faithful...

"...faithful to the Covenant of God and His agreement,..."

faithful

• Function: adjective
• Date: 14th century

1 obsolete* : full of faith
2 : steadfast in affection or allegiance : loyal
3 : firm in adherence to promises or in observance of duty : conscientious 

*why obsolete?
 

(Definition thanks to Merriam-Webster on-line dictionary at www.merriam-webster.com)




In being faithful there is some scientific principle at work, or some kind of magic that is activated by remaining true to one's intention. It's like the ions in a piece of iron. When they are aligned in a haphazard fashion, then the metal is simply a solid lump, with its own color, characteristics and charm. When they are aligned in order, then the lump of iron has an extra quality, and it becomes a magnet. Isn't that how faithfulness works? By aligning ourselves internally we emanate something that otherwise would not be there. And we are all the better for it.

 

I found this image of a magnet! Is it just me,
or is there a metaphor for the physical and the spiritual here?  

Angelic moments

"Chant the verses of guidance among the people and commence [the composition of] melodies of great beauty and effect in praise and glorification of the Generous Lord."('Abdu'l-Bahá)

"Melodies of great beauty and effect" sometimes come from the most unexpected, and untrained sources.

This morning it was so moving to watch a friend's home-video of her 4 year old chanting a prayer for children. It's on a social-network so I can't share it with you here. But the effect was very moving, and came to drive home the notion that chanting is really one of the highest and most complete forms of expression. Everyone should feel free to do it. Train the children to chant and sing.

I learned in a poem once, that the cricket is deaf. The purveyor of one of nature's most characteristic and memorable sounds, cannot benefit from the fruit of its oun effort! So it must be with us, then. I think that when we are at our best, when we act in the best way, when we do the right thing, we probably aren't even conscious of it.

We all have these angelical moments. You have surely known someone to do something incredibly selfless, or thoughtful, or brave, ...and you did not expect it of them. And they probably did not even notice that it was particularly selfless, thoughtful, or brave,... they probably just felt it was the right thing to do. Those are the moments when we are like angels, and we don't even realize it.

The thing is to have more and more of those moments, isn't it?

Chant, recite, read ...understand ...live

"Chant (or recite) the Words of God every morning and evening..."

"Chant ..." is to entone words melodiously, often in a simple musical scale. The Native American chanting, Arabic chanting, Tibetan Buddhist chanting. I have been enchanted by all three in person. The words touch the human consciousenss with their meaning, and the vibration of the human voice resonates in the ear, and in the heart of the hearer. I feel this is the most complete form of expression. What better way to address our Beloved, the Source of our being?

I think singing, or at least humming a simple melody of two or three notes, is the right and patrimony of all human beings. In traditional, tribal societies everyone is expected to sing, and no one is told to be quiet. When you hear a group of villagers sing all together, the individual voices and timbres are fused into one beautiful sound that touches the heart. Everyone can sing, to a greater or lesser degree, and should do so, and take pleasure in their own singing, and offer this to the Source of our being.

To inspire

"Chant (or recite) the Words of God every morning and evening. The one who neglects this has not been faithful to the Covenant of God and His agreement, and he who turns away from it today is of those who have turned away from God. Fear God, O my people! Let not too much reading (of the Sacred Word) and actions by day or night make you proud. To chant but one verse with joy and gladness is better for you than reading all the Revelations of the Omnipotent God with carelessness. Chant the Tablets of God in such measure that ye be not overtaken with fatigue and depression. Burden not the soul so as to cause exhaustion and languour, but rather refresh it that thus it may soar on the Wings of Revelation to the Dawning-place of proofs. This brings you nearer to God, were ye of those who understand. (Bahá'u'lláh—Kitáb-i-Aqdas)

I intend to take time out every day to read and meditate on the Sacred. True to my nature, I am going to transform the material I read, making it an entry in this blog, to help me better assimilate it, and to share it with others.

"...To inspire them to realize more and more of their capacities for living meaningful lives. Because there certainly is meaning to life." (John Coltrane)

This is where I place myself when I am chanting, reading or meditating. See? There's a place on the bench for you too.