Practical Baha'i

In three of the Gospels Jesus spoke to his apostles that having faith as, or like, or the size of a mustard seed would be enough to tell mountains or trees to move and they’d move.

The humbleness and common nature of the mustard plant isn’t as visible right now in December in Montana. But a couple cattail seed heads turned into two rather large patches of the plant visible from miles around. The seeds are tiny, with their own little parachutes like dandelion seeds. And similar to the dandelion, the plants can be nutritious. The humble dandelion blooms everywhere in the spring and summer. But right now, this stand of cattails in a marshy area called to me. What would faith like a cattail seed be like?

Perhaps the metaphor of the mustard seed is less about the mustard plant itself and more about it being very common and humble, yet even one seed can populate a huge area over time. A single cattail head can have 25,000 seeds! The black birds love to hide out in these stands to rear their young and to hang from the stalks.

The metaphor of the seed is one used often in the Bahá’i faith as well. Here’s one of my favorite references.

If you plant a seed in the ground, a tree will become manifest from that seed. The seed sacrifices itself to the tree that will come from it. The seed is outwardly lost, destroyed; but the same seed which is sacrificed will be absorbed and embodied in the tree, its blossoms, fruit and branches. If the identity of that seed had not been sacrificed to the tree which became manifest from it, no branches, blossoms or fruits would have been forthcoming.
– `Abdu’l-Bahá – The Promulgation of Universal Peace – from a talk in NYC, p. 635.

As we get close to the solstice, the birth of Jesus of Nazareth is celebrated around the world. He came to sacrifice His sacred life to promote the truth of life eternal, than we would have access to this eternal life. And yet, it’s only in sacrificing our current form, as the seed must do, to attain to what is possible with our one wild and precious life. (Thanks to the poet Mary Oliver for that phrase.) Yet in that sacrifice, the spirit of Christ ascended to a sovereign throne that countless kings and governments have bowed to.

This season, I wish you all faith like the seed of the humble cattail.

One of the key benefits of the revelation of Baha’u’lláh is expressed in a talk that His son, His appointed successor `Abdu’l-Bahá gave to the Japanese YMCA at an “independent Japanese church” in San Francisco in 1912.

“The foundation of all the divine religions is one. All are based upon reality.”

The lamps of the divine religions may seem different. This amazing talk from the book, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, pages 485-492, is so beautiful. It honors the lamps of Moses, the Buddha, Confucius, Zoroaster, Jesus, Muhammad, and it also recognizes the light is essence the same light. And the light is about love.

Verily, we should consider the divine Prophets as the intermediaries, but mankind has made use of Them as causes of dissension and pretexts for warfare and strife. In reality, They were the intermediaries of love and reconciliation. If They were not sources of love and fellowship amongst men, then undoubtedly They were not true, for the divine wisdom and purpose in sending the Prophets was the manifestation of love in human hearts.
– `Abdu’l-Bahá

‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the son of the founder of the Bahá’i faith, is considered to be a very special soul. He spent most of his life in captivity, but towards the end of his time on earth, he was released from political and religious bondage, and traveled to Europe and North America, giving profound talks and meeting with quite a few esteemed and honored personages. He was even greatly honored in the newspapers. It’s not to hard to confirm this if you wish.

As I write this in western Montana, the leaves have been falling from the trees. We’ve had Indian summer, though the frost in the mornings seem to show that is now just a memory. It was the spring when ‘Abdu’l-Bahá spoke at a Christian church in New York City on April 14, 1912. It must have been vibrant, sunny, and his talk contained a strong sense of the season of the Spring.

The light of truth has heretofore been seen dimly, through variegated glasses, but now the splendors of Divinity shall be visible through the translucent mirrors of pure hearts and spirits. The light of truth is the divine teaching, heavenly instruction, merciful principles and spiritual civilization.
– Talks by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá: The Spirit of Christ, p. 57.

This time of year has always been my favorite since I moved to Montana. But right now, I also sense the difficulties as autumn progresses, the light of the sun becomes dimmer, and the cold advances. For many, it’s not just the next few months, but the next few years that seem to portend much difficulty. In many ways, looking back at 1912 and what was coming, there were going to be two very deadly world wars. Yet how beautiful a vision of Spring was promised, not just in his talk, but in all the “splendors of Divinity” in the “divine teaching” we’ve been graced with. What a glorious season ahead as we reflect the divine light, and grow in grace in the sunlight of truth.

As to the fundamentals of teaching the Faith: know thou that delivering the Message can be accomplished only through goodly deeds and spiritual attributes, an utterance that is crystal clear and the happiness reflected from the face of that one who is expounding the Teachings.
– Selections from the Writings of `Abdu’l-Bahá, 146.12, p. 183.

Teaching the Bahá’i faith is one of the prerequisites, and yet we’re also not supposed to proselytize. Marshal McLuhan may not have been Bahá’i, but he certainly taught about the nature of media. We do need to be clear in what we say, but notice that most of what ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s words on the fundamentals of teaching are about the behavior and nature of the teacher.

Bahá’i’s are called to love the planet. I recall the power of this quote deeply.

It is not for him to pride himself who loveth his own country, but rather for him who loveth the whole world. The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens.
– Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh

I own an earth flag and I have flown it proudly. Today I show a picture of the American flag. The writings are filled with promise and commendation of so many countries in the world, and we are not called to hate our own nation. We can find perhaps the greatest promise and expectation for the American nation, of all the nations in the world, in the Bahá’i faith, not because we’re necessary so virtuous. In many ways, it’s because God can be most glorified through the challenges we face with materialism and corruption.

The son of the founder, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá gave us a beautiful prayer, the prayer for America which he offered when a very important temple construction was under way in a suburb north of Chicago. Shoghi Effendi, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s grandson as he lead the faith before World War II offered great encouragement to our nation in playing the most important role in bringing peace to the world in the upcoming conflicts, and called us to spiritual advancement, as did his grandfather in the prayer.

Let this American democracy become glorious in spiritual degrees even as it has aspired to material degrees …
– `Abdu’l-Bahá

The book by Shoghi Effendi, The Advent of Divine Justice, is a humbling book. We seem to be so far from the needed spiritual advancement to fulfill our promise. But it’s something everyone can do. Perhaps we can see simple (but very difficult) guidance for this in the first of Baha’u’llah’s Hidden Words. May you be a blessing to your land with these simple instructions.

Oh Son of Man!
Possess a pure kindly and radiant heart, that thine may be a sovereignty ancient, imperishable, and everlasting.
– Baha’u’lláh, The Hidden Words

This video I encountered at the end of a Children’s Health Defense show. It is a reading of a poem by Jonathan Reed, which was the winning entry of a 2007 AARP contest. It went viral back then, and there are quite a few readings on YouTube. This is only one of them. It’s fascinating because when you reverse the order of the versus, the message is completely opposite. It brought me to tears the first time I watched it.

The poem in the first order is one of cynicism and materialism, disbelieving there’s anything other than decay, entropy, and corruption. The reverse reading is one of hope, fully aware of the challenges, but choosing to affirm the value of life and having faith that good will win out in the end, and most importantly, choosing to take a role in moving to a better future.

The poem made me think of the numerous references to the sea of negation and the sea of affirmation in the Bahá’i writings. Here’s a passage from the Báb, Bahá’u’lláh’s forerunner.

God created all things in this sea of affirmation, but gave humans the choice. We can choose the positive or the negative. Either will be true for us, depending on our choice. This is maybe the most immediate and practical of the posts so far, if you just remember that God has provided for us, the Universe is His creation, and we can either choose to trust in God, or we can choose to go the other route. I pray you choose join the rest of God’s creation, and sail on the sea of affirmation. If you ever glimpse that glory in a beautiful sunset, or a child who chooses to build a good life rather than destroy him or herself, that will be a glimpse of the sea of affirmation.