[net.religion] A Call to Religious Unity - The Baha'i Faith

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!vc

mpatent@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!vc

mrh@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