mpatent@mhuxh.UUCP (Verbus M. Counts) (11/02/84)
A Call to Religious Unity - The Baha'i Faith
I present to you an introduction to the writing of the Baha'i Faith.
The Baha'i Faith was founded by Baha'`u'lla'h around the middle of the
19th century. The writing was done by Baha'`u'lla'h, His son Abdu'l-
Baha', and Shoghi Effendi, His grandson.
Baha'`u'lla'h clarifies the historic development of religion as the
evolution of one faith, serving different needs in each age.
"Abraham, Moses, Buddha, Zoroaster, Krishma, Jesus, Muhammad, the
Bab, and Baha'`u'lla'h have been successive manifestations, Through
Whom God has progressively revealed the purpose of religion."
From the writing of Abdu'l-Baha (The The son of Baha'`u'lla'h) we have:
"The Baha'i message is a call to religious unity and not an
invitation to a new religion, not a new path to immortality. God
forbid! It is the ancient path cleared of the debris of
imaginations and superstitions of men, of the debris of strife and
misunderstanding and is again made a clear path to the sincere
seeker, that he may enter therein in assurance, and find that the
word of God is one word, though the speakers were many."
Abdu'l-Baha' (serveant of God)
Also from the writing of Abdu'l-Baha' we have:
"The first principle of the Teaching of Baha'`u'lla'h is:
The Search After Truth
If a man would succeed in his search after truth, he must, in the first
place, shut his eyes to all the traditional superstitions of the past.
The Jews have traditional superstitions, the Buddhists and the
Zoroastrians are not free from them, neither are the Christians! All
religions have gradually become bound by tradition and dogma. All
consider themselves, respectively, the only guardians of the truth,
and that every other religion is composed of errors. They themselves
are right, all other are wrong! The Jews believe that they are the only
possessors of the truth and condemn all others religion. The Christians
affirm that their religion is the only true one, that all others are
false. Likewise the Buddhists and Muhammadans; all limit themselves.
If all condemn one another, where shall we search for truth? All
contradicting one another, all cannot be true. If each believe his
particular religion to be the only true one, he blinds his eyes to the
truth in the others. If , for instance, a Jew is bound by the external
practice of the religion of Israel, he does not permit himself to
perceive that truth can exist in any other religion; it must be all
contained in his own!
We should, therefore, detach ourselves from the external forms and
practices of religion. We must realize that these forms and practices,
however beautiful, are but garments clothing the warm heart and the
living limbs of Divine truth. We must abandon the prejudices of
tradition if we would succeed in finding the truth at the core of all
religions. If a Zoroastrian believes that the Sun is God, how can he be
united to other religions? While idolaters believe in their various
idols, how can they understand the oneness of God.
It is, therefore, clear that in order to make any progress in the search
after truth we must relinquish superstition. If all seekers would
follow this principle they would obtain a clear vision of the truth.
If five people meet together to seek for truth, they must begin by
cutting themselves free from all their own special conditions and
renouncing all preconceived ideas. In order to find truth we must give
up our prejudices, our own small trivial notions; an open receptive mind
is essential.
If our chalice is full of self, there is no room in it for the water
of life.
The fact that we imagine ourselves to be right and everybody else wrong
is the greatest of all obstacles in the path towards unity, and unity is
necessary if we would reach truth, for truth is one.
Therefore it is imperative that we should renounce our own particular
prejudices and superstitions if we earnestly desire to seek the truth.
Unless we make a distinction in our minds between dogma, superstition
and prejudice on the one hand, and truth on the other, we cannot
succeed.
When we are earnest in our search for anything we look for it
everywhere. This principle we must carry out in our search for truth.
Science must be accepted. No one truth can contradict another truth.
Light is good in whatsoever lamp it is burning! A rose is beautiful in
whatsoever garden it may bloom! A star has the same radiance if it
shines from the East or from the West. Be free from prejudice, so will
you love the Sun of Truth from whatsoever point in the horizon it may
arise! You will realize that if Divine light of truth shone in Jesus
Christ is also shone in Moses and in Buddha. The earnest seeker will
arrive at this truth. This is what is meant by the 'Search after
Truth'.
It means, also, that we must be willing to clear away all that we have
previously learned, all that would clog our steps on the way to truth;
we must not shrink if necessary from beginning our education all over
again. We must not allow our love for any one religion or any one
personality to so blind our eyes that we become fettered by
superstition! When we are freed from all these bonds, seeking with
liberated minds, then shall we be able to arrive at our goal.
'Seek the truth, the truth shall make you free.' So shall we see the
truth in all religions, for truth is in all and truth is one!"
Thank you. The Second Principle - The Unity of Mankind will follow
soon.
Address responses to :
Verbus M. Counts
ihnp4!hou2h!vcmpatent@mhuxh.UUCP (Verbus M. Counts) (11/22/84)
A Call to Religious Unity - The Baha'i Faith
I present to you an introduction to the writing of the Baha'i Faith.
The Baha'i Faith was founded by Baha'`u'lla'h around the middle of the
19th century. The writing was done by Baha'`u'lla'h, His son Abdu'l-
Baha', and Shoghi Effendi, His grandson.
Baha'`u'lla'h clarifies the historic development of religion as the
evolution of one faith, serving different needs in each age.
"Abraham, Moses, Buddha, Zoroaster, Krishma, Jesus, Muhammad, the
Bab, and Baha'`u'lla'h have been successive manifestations, Through
Whom God has progressively revealed the purpose of religion."
From the writing of Abdu'l-Baha (The The son of Baha'`u'lla'h) we have:
"The Baha'i message is a call to religious unity and not an
invitation to a new religion, not a new path to immortality. God
forbid! It is the ancient path cleared of the debris of
imaginations and superstitions of men, of the debris of strife and
misunderstanding and is again made a clear path to the sincere
seeker, that he may enter therein in assurance, and find that the
word of God is one word, though the speakers were many."
Abdu'l-Baha' (serveant of God)
Also from the writing of Abdu'l-Baha' we have:
"The first principle of the Teaching of Baha'`u'lla'h is:
The Search After Truth
If a man would succeed in his search after truth, he must, in the first
place, shut his eyes to all the traditional superstitions of the past.
The Jews have traditional superstitions, the Buddhists and the
Zoroastrians are not free from them, neither are the Christians! All
religions have gradually become bound by tradition and dogma. All
consider themselves, respectively, the only guardians on of the truth,
and that every other religion is composed of errors. They themselves
are right, all other are wrong! The Jews believe that they are the only
possessors of the truth and condemn all others religion. The Christians
affirm that their religion is the only true one, that all others are
false. Likewise the Buddhists and Muhammadans; all limit themselves.
If all condemn one another, where shall we search for truth? All
contradicting one another, all cannot be true. If each believe his
particular religion to be the only true one, he blinds his eyes to the
truth in the others. If , for instance, a Jew is bound by the external
practice of the religion of Israel, he does not permit himself to
perceive that truth can exist in any other religion; it must be all
contained in his own!
We should, therefore, detach ourselves from the external forms and
practices of religion. We must realize that these forms and practices,
however beautiful, are but garments clothing the warm heart and the
living limbs of Divine truth. We must abandon the prejudices of
tradition if we would succeed in finding the truth at the core of all
religions. If a Zoroastrian believes that the Sun is God, how can he be
united to other religions? While idolaters believe in their various
idols, how can they understand the oneness of God.
It is, therefore, clear that in order to make any progress in the search
after truth we must relinquish superstition. If all seekers would
follow this principle they would obtain a clear vision of the truth.
If five people meet together to seek for truth, they must begin by
cutting themselves free from all their own special conditions and
renouncing all preconceived ideas. In order to find truth we must give
up our prejudices, our own small trivial notions; an open receptive mind
is essential.
If our chalice is full of self, there is no room in it for the water
of life.
The fact that we imagine ourselves to be right and everybody else wrong
is the greatest of all obstacles in the path towards unity, and unity is
necessary if we would reach truth, for truth is one.
Therefore it is imperative that we should renounce our own particular
prejudices and superstitions if we earnestly desire to seek the truth.
Unless we make a distinction in our minds between dogma, superstition
and prejudice on the one hand, and truth on the other, we cannot
succeed.
When we are earnest in our search for anything we look for it
everywhere. This principle we must carry out in our search for truth.
Science must be accepted. No one truth can contradict another truth.
Light is good in whatsoever lamp it is burning! A rose is beautiful in
whatsoever garden it may bloom! A star has the same radiance if it
shines from the East or from the West. Be free from prejudice, so will
you love the Sun of Truth from whatsoever point in the horizon it may
arise! You will realize that if Divine light of truth shone in Jesus
Christ is also shone in Moses and in Buddha. The earnest seeker will
arrive at this truth. This is what is meant by the 'Search after
Truth'.
It means, also, that we must be willing to clear away all that we have
previously learned, all that would clog our steps on the way to truth;
we must not shrink if necessary from beginning our education all over
again. We must not allow our love for any one religion or any one
personality to so blind our eyes that we become fettered by
superstition! When we are freed from all these bonds, seeking with
liberated minds, then shall we be able to arrive at our goal.
'Seek the truth, the truth shall make you free.' So shall we see the
truth in all religions, for truth is in all and truth is one!"
Thank you. The Second Principle - The Unity of Mankind will follow
soon.
Address responses to :
Verbus M. Counts
ihnp4!hou2h!vcmrh@cybvax0.UUCP (Mike Huybensz) (11/27/84)
<<<<< FLAME ON >>>>> (Who, me? Gosh. I'll keep it low.) The Bahai faith is perhaps the most ambitious syncretism ever attempted. Essentially, they try to syncretize all religions. (From my dictionary: syncretize -- to attempt to unite and harmonize esp. without critical examination or logical unity.) Needless to say, this would be impossible without rejecting many of the blatantly contradictary ideas espoused by the myriads of religions. In article <248@mhuxh.UUCP> mpatent@mhuxh.UUCP (Verbus M. Counts) writes: > I present to you an introduction to the writing of the Baha'i Faith... > If a man would succeed in his search after truth, he must, in the first > place, shut his eyes to all the traditional superstitions of the past... > We must abandon the prejudices of > tradition if we would succeed in finding the truth at the core of all > religions... > It is, therefore, clear that in order to make any progress in the search > after truth we must relinquish superstition... And so on ad nauseum. I suppose that the idea is to look beneath the surface of human religions to find what they hold in common, and to suppose that to be "true". This could (in the long run) produce a very catholic and adaptive theology that would allow for cultural differences. However, I don't think that the religious approach is the correct way to deal with the task of seeking commonality of religion. For example, I can point to their assumption of a single universal god as one of the prejudices that they haven't given up. Instead, I endorse science (sociology, anthropology, sociobiology, etc.) as the route to understanding. (And for that matter, why shouldn't religions be designed scientifically, rather than by cabal and political pressures?) Science is the methodology that best allows casting off of prejudices of tradition, and has a long history of doing so. > Science must be accepted. I can just imagine bahais happily chorusing "Oh yes, science is true too." That's the oldest political trick in the book. Put your seal of approval on something you can't fight, and then try to regulate it. Occam's razor? "Oh, science doesn't work for religion. It's separate." they'll say. In conclusion, the Bahais are more of the same old religious goop. They do nothing really new (except perhaps a new combination of the same old religious devices, including pacifism, morals, syncretism, acceptance of science, venerated new prophets, aggressive expansionism, heavy on the tolerance "even though they're bound to ancient prejudices", etc.) -- Mike Huybensz ...decvax!genrad!mit-eddie!cybvax0!mrh
tim@cmu-cs-k.ARPA (Tim Maroney) (11/28/84)
Fine, I'm glad you want religious unity. You can start by throwing off the explicitly monotheistic paradigm. It is a very strong barrier to any sort of authentic eclecticism. -- Tim Maroney, Carnegie-Mellon University Computation Center ARPA: Tim.Maroney@CMU-CS-K uucp: seismo!cmu-cs-k!tim (supposedly) "Remember all ye that existence is pure joy; that all the sorrows are but as shadows; they pass & are done; but there is that which remains." Liber AL, II:9.
tim@cmu-cs-k.ARPA (Tim Maroney) (12/06/84)
> >Fine, I'm glad you want religious unity. You can start by throwing off the > >explicitly monotheistic paradigm. It is a very strong barrier to any sort > >of authentic eclecticism. > > How do you propose to fit explicitly monotheistic religions into a > polytheistic framework? In comparison, it's simple to resolve polytheisms > into a single deity through a number of different methods (e.g. the way > Christianity deals with the Trinity). > > Charley Wingate umcp-cs!mangoe Monotheistic religions tend to be more superstitious than polytheistic, in that they tend to consider their absurd models as literal fact, whereas polytheistic religions often have a far more symbolic approach to their absurd models. It is perfectly easy to reconcile the two in a variety of ways: (1) Monotheism is a variant of polytheism in which the ruler god (Zeus, etc.) has come to dominate the religion and drive out other symbols. (2) Polytheism is a variant of monotheism in which the various aspects of divinity are given independent existence. (3) "God" is a symbol of the underlying unity and motive force of the universe, whereas polytheistic deities are symbols for other parts of experience. Others may be devised at will, including the Baha'i: but to insist that a religion must serve a monotheistic, polytheistic, or atheistic underlying model (as the Baha'is do) is not real eclecticism. -=- Tim Maroney, Carnegie-Mellon University Computation Center ARPA: Tim.Maroney@CMU-CS-K uucp: seismo!cmu-cs-k!tim CompuServe: 74176,1360 audio: shout "Hey, Tim!" "Remember all ye that existence is pure joy; that all the sorrows are but as shadows; they pass & are done; but there is that which remains." Liber AL, II:9.
sam1@hounx.UUCP (#E.OBERER) (12/07/84)
Three cheers for Verbus Counts! Bravo