flb@mhuxr.UUCP (Verbus M. Counts) (05/26/85)
From "GLEANINGS FROM THE WRITINGS OF BAHA`'u`LLAH" XXIX. "The purpose of God in creating man hath been, and will ever be, to enable him to know his Creator and to attain His Presence. To this most excellent aim, this supreme objective, all the heavenly Books and the divinely-revealed and weighty Scriptures unequivocally bear witness. Whoso hath recognized the Day Spring of Divine guidance and entered His holy court hath drawn nigh unto God and attained His Presence, a Presence which is the real Paradise, and of which the loftiest mansions of heaven are but a symbol. Such a man attained the knowledge of the station of Him who is "at the distance of two bows," Who standeth beyond the Sadratu'l-Muntaha`. Whoso hath failed to recognize Him will have condemned himself to the misery of remoteness, a remoteness which is naught but utter nothingness and the essence of the nethermost fire. Such will be his fate, though to outward seeming he may occupy the earth's loftiest seats and be established upon its most exalted throne. He who is the Day Spring of Truth is, no doubt, fully capable of rescuing from such remoteness wayward souls and of causing them to draw nigh unto His court and attain His Presence. "If God had pleased He had surely made all men one people." His purpose, however, is to enable the pure in spirit and the detached in heart to ascend, by virtue of their own innate powers, unto the shores of the Most Great Ocean, that thereby they who seek the Beauty of the All-Glorious may be distinguished and separated from the wayward and perverse. Thus hath it been ordained by the all-glorious and resplendent Pen.... That the Manifestations of Divine justice, the Day Springs of heavenly grace, have when they appeared amongst men always been destitute of all earthly dominion and shorn of the means of worldly ascendancy, should be attributed to this same principle of separation and distinction which animateth the Divine Purpose. Were the Eternal Essence to manifest all that is latent within Him, were He to shine in the plentitude of His glory, none would be found to question His power or repudiate His truth. Nay, all created things would be so dazzled and thunderstruck by the evidences of His light as to be reduced to utter nothingness. How, then, can the godly be differentiated under such circumstances from the froward? This principle hath operated in each of the previous Dispensations and been abundantly demonstrated.... It is for this reason that, in every age, when a new Manifestation hath appeared and a fresh revelation of God's transcendent power was vouchsafed unto men, they that misbelieved in Him, deluded by the appearance of the peerless and everlasting Beauty in the garb of mortal men, have failed to recognized Him. They have erred from His path and eschewed His company-the company of Him Who is the Symbol of nearness to God. They have arisen to decimate the ranks of the faithful and to exterminate such as believed in Him. Behold how in this Dispensation the worthless and foolish have fondly imagined that by such instruments as massacre, plunder and banishment they can extinguish the Lamp which the Hand of Divine power hath lit, or eclipse the Day Star of everlasting splendor. How utterly unaware they seem to be of the truth that such adversity is the oil that feedeth the flame of this Lamp! Such is God's transforming power. He changeth whatsoever He willeth; He verily hath power over all things.... Consider at all times the sovereignty exercised by the Ideal King, and behold the evidences of His power and paramount influence. Sanctify your ears from the idle talk of them that are the symbols of denial and the exponents of violence and anger. The hour is approaching when ye will witness the power of the one true God triumphing over all created things and signs of His sovereignty encompassing all creation. On that day ye will discover how all else besides Him will have forgotten and come to be regarded as utter nothingness. It should, however, be borne in mind that God and His Manifestations can, under no circumstances, be dissociated from the loftiness and sublimity which They inherently posses. Nay, loftiness and sublimity are themselves the creations of His Word, if ye choose to see with My Sight not with yours." BAHA`'U`LLAH Regards, Verbus M. Counts AT&T Bell Labs The Word of God(religion) is one, (201) 564-2510 101 JFK Parkway though the speakers are many ... ihnp4!hou2h!vc Room 1l-423 May 26,1985 Short Hills, NJ 07078 The Baha'i Faith
ellen@ucla-cs.UUCP (06/11/85)
This quote from Baha'i suggests to me that this particular god (and most that i have heard of) claim to have created humanity so that humanity can know/worship/appreciate god. strikes me as rather egotistical. "I created all this junk (stars, planets, plants, animals), but none of them act like they appreciate all the hard work and all-mighty power i put into it, so now i'll make something that will say "Thank you."" Then this god (Judeo-Christian-Moslem-Baha'i) keeps sending down messangers saying "The big fella up-stairs thinks that you don't appreciate him enough." this god may decide to punish the unappreciative humans by sending disasters (floods, plagues, wars, famines, droughts, etc.) or by sending teachers appointed to show the wayward humans just in what manner this god wants to be appreciated. Of course, rotten humanity never seems to catch on. oh, what naughty children! this nice god (parent) gave us life, and we just aren't nice enough to it (look at all i've done for you, and this is the thanks i get!), so it punishes us (cosmic spankings) or tries to teach us (be a nice human, and say "Thank you"). Baha'i seems to have put it a bit more directly than some of the other of its cousins, but this applies to them all. sure, there are useful lessons to learn from the various holy books which humanity (mostly men) has written, but i think that this is only one possible answer for why we're here. it's a rather anthropocentric view of the universe - and patterned after human family life. it's all backwards - why should you honor your parents? because god said so! and god will do in a big way what mom or dad does in a small way, if you aren't good enough. what a guilt trip! oh, i'm so unworthy! i'm such a bad human, but if i listen to god/parents then maybe i'll be better. oh, i'm feel so bad, i made god/parents unhappy. what can i do to make it/them feel better? then some humans write down the rules according to whoever, who claims to have gotten them straight from the big fella's mouth (divine inspiration). it's just another form of self-deprication, and also a nifty excuse to wipe out other clusters of humanity, because they aren't playing by the set of rules that the wipers-out use, and of course we all know where they got their rules..... i'm not into self-flaggelation. sure, i do things on occasion that i regret. and yes, some of my actions may have repercussions throughout a larger community than just myself. i am responsible for my own actions (shaped as they are by my own unique personality and by culture and the fact that i am human). but don't forget that the manner in which we humans chose to cast that spark of divinity is shaped by human perceptions. all being-ness in the universe is interconnected (we see light and get cosmic fall-out, as it were, from stars millions of lightyears away, so there must be some kind of link). that seems to me to be the primary precept to work from. divinity isn't something "out there" and separate from us (or from the animals or the plants or the rocks, for that matter), we just perceive it a particular way. a voice doesn't come resounding out of a void - that's anthropocentric, again. whatever this divinity is (yes, i know, i'm not defining it), resides even in the tiniest sub-atomic particle. no, i don't worship science; it's another human-created perceptual tool, and i don't deny its usefulness. probably humans cast god or whatever in a human-like form because that's what we relate to the best. even that hoary old Judeo- Christian-Moslem-Baha'i god, no matter how any of its followers argue, is shaped by our human perceptions and expectations. the truly divine is not going to "bless" humans more than its other creations. this happens only with an anthropocentric system. god making humans to worship god, since the other cosmic flotsam and jetsom doesn't is human ego-centricity. a rock sings its song and dances its dance far longer than a human. it is as alive as a human, with its whirling little atoms, etc., but our human perceptions don't quite touch it (except with dynamite and bulldozers:-). i am no longer a Buddhist, because there are some aspects to it which i can't relate to (because of my naughty bits:-), but i still think that the idea of the Buddha mind gets closer to the truth than the more recent J-C-M-B religion/s - gods exist in a plane above humans, but lower than the ultimate, because they are perceiving themselves separately from the whole, or have such inflated egos that they believe that they created the whole. Buddha was another of those "divinely inspired" humans, but he didn't say that he was anymore "god's" child than any other being (not just human). he was human, not divine, though there are Buddhist who revert to the same old perception of a godly and thus not-quite-human Buddha. where i part ways with Buddhism is when it teaches that my body does naughty things. heck, i am human. i partake of the divine, but there's no reason that i see to say that ANY of my normal human functions (physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual) is less good than any of the others. (that's why i lean toward Tibetan Tantrism, these days, of all the Buddhist flavors.) don't get me wrong, i am not a Buddhist (i've got my feet on another path which i find more satisfactory - and even within Buddhism is the admission of the existence of other viable paths). and don't get me wrong, i don't automatically say that everything that other religions have to teach is wrong. even my current path tends to cast things in a rather anthropocentric light. as i said, heck i am human, so that forms my basic perceptual filter. what riles me is other religions claiming that the anthropocentric vision is the right and only one, especially when they try to FORCE their perceptions on others...i'm not naming names, there would be far too many...it's seems to be the human way, an excuse for mistrust, abuse, and murder. just remember, when you wrap yourself up in YOUR GOD, that it is only yours because you made it so, and you are human - what kind of divinity do you thing exists in the perceptions of a dolphin, or a plant? how are these beings any LESS than a human being (i don't think they are)? try to dent your anthropocentric filters by imagining yourself to be an ENTIRELY DIFFERENT being, then honestly see if you could come up with a punishing-father, enveloping-mother or androgynous "angel" for a deity. what is god to a rock, a tree, a star?
mpatent@mhuxh.UUCP (Verbus M. Counts) (07/09/85)
From the writings of the Bab. " In the Name of God, the Most Exalted, the Most High. Verily I am God, no God is there but me, and aught except Me is but My creation. Say, worship Me then, O ye, My creatures. I have called Thee into being, have nurtured Thee, protected Thee, loved Thee, raised Thee up and have graciously chosen Thee to be the manifestation of Mine Own Self, that thou mayest recite My verses as ordained by Me, and may summon whomsoever I have created unto My Religion which is none other than this glorious and exalted Path. I have fashioned all created things for Thy sake, and I have, by virtiue of my Will, set Thee sovereign Ruler over all mankind. Moreover, I have decreed that whoso embraceth My religion shall believe in My unity, and I have linked this belief with remembrance of Thee, and after Thee the remembrance of such as Thou hast, by My leave, caused to be the 'Letters of the Living', and of whatever hath been revealed from My religion in the Bayan. This, indeed, is what will enable the sincere among My servants to gain admitteance into the celestial Paradise. Verily, The sun is but a token from My presence so that the true believers among My servants may discern in its rising the dawning of every Dispensation. In truth I have created Thee through Thyself, then at My Own behest I have fasioned all things through the creative power of thy Word. We are All-Powerfull. I have appointed The to be the Beginning and the End, the Seen and the Hidden. Verly We are the All-Knowing. No one hath been or will ever be invested with prophethood other than Thee, nor hath any sacred Book been or will be revealed unto any one except Thee. Such is the decree ordained by Him Who is the All- Encompassing, the Best Beloved. The Bayan is in truth our conclusive proof for all created things, and all the peoples of the world are powerless before the revelation of its verses. It enshrineth the sum total of all the scriptures, whether of the past or of the future, even as Thou art the Repository of all Our proofs in this Day. We cause whomsoever We desire to be admitted into the gardens of our most holy, most sublime Paradise. Thus is divine revelation inaugurated in each Dispensation at Our behest. We are truly the supreme Ruler. Indeed no religion shall We ever inaugurate unless it be renewed in the days to come. This is a promise We solemnly have made. Verly We are supreme over all things..." (Selections from the Writings of the Bab, pp 158-159) From the writing of Baha'u'llah "Having created the world and all that liveth and moveth therein, He, through the direct operation of His unconstrained and sovereign Will, chose to confer upon man the unique distinction and capacity to know Him and to love Him-a capacity that must needs be regarded as the generating impulse and the primary purpose underlying the whole of creation." (Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 65) "The purpose of God in creating man hath been, and will ever be, to enable him to know his Creator and to attain His Presence." (Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 70) Regards, Verbus M. Counts AT&T Bell Labs The Word of God(religion) is one, (201) 564-2510 101 JFK Parkway though the speakers are many ... ihnp4!hou2h!vc Room 1L-423 July 8,1985 Short Hills, NJ 07078 The Baha'i Faith