"We must seek the fragrance of the rose from whatever bush it is blooming—whether oriental or western. Be seekers of light, no matter from which lantern it shines forth. Be not lovers of the lantern. At one time the light has shone from a lantern in the East, now in the West. If it comes from North, South, from whatever direction it proceeds, follow the light."
- Abdu’l-Bahá,
"Promulgation of Universal Peace," pg. 248
"Promulgation of Universal Peace," pg. 248
Without a doubt, one of my favorite spiritual places in America is the Baha'i House of Worship (often called the "Baha'i Temple") in Wilmette, IL - near Chicago. I visit it as often as I can when I'm in Chicago. Whenever I visit, I find myself spiritually recharged and at the same time spiritually challenged.
I've been a formal member of the Baha'i faith twice in my life.
The first time in 1973, after visiting the magnificent building and becoming intrigued by what I considered, at that time, the revolutionary teachings of this relatively new religion.
At that time, I lived about 45 minutes from the House of Worship, and I visited often and became quite active and committed to its teachings, and remained so for a few years. Ironically, what drove me away was the rigid control of the Institutional aspect of the Faith - The Administrative Order, as it is called by the members. It spouted rules and regulations that seemed to contradict the principles that drew me to the Faith in the first place.
The second time was about eight years ago - when I became disheartened with the church that I was attending at that time and I renewed my membership after encountering the open and accepting attitude of the local Cincinnati Baha'i Community. But once again, as I became more involved, the Administrative Order once again caused me to become disenchanted.
I have some good friends in the Baha'i Faith - many of whom I've not spoken to in a long time - but when I do speak to them - it is as if I saw them just yesterday.
I would consider myself a big fan of the Baha'i Faith - but I do not consider myself a member.
BAHA'I FAITH - THE GOOD
The Baha'i Faith declares itself as the culmination of all religions of the past - the fulfillment of all religions - the next chapter in the story of God. In that respect it honors all teachers of the past and claims to include them all. The key word in it's teachings is Oneness:
- The Oneness of God
- The Oneness of Religion
- The Oneness of Humanity
BAHA'I FAITH - THE BAD AND UGLY
To borrow a catch phrase of a good friend of mine - the Baha'i Faith is "going ugly early." As a relatively "new" religion (founded in 1844), it is interesting to see how quickly those that consider themselves as its appointed "preservers and protectors" have tried to "regulate" the principles and by so doing, have turned its guidelines into fairly stiff "rules" of organization.
For example, there are rules regulating the formation of "Local Spiritual Assemblies" - that are used to determine where such communities may exist and who may attend their meetings. I find this very ironic from a faith that declares that "Mankind is One!" - yet communities are often isolated from one another by the rules of assembly!!!
Also, shortly after the "honeymoon" experience of discovering that "all religions are one" and that they "all proclaim the same truth" - you are gradually led to believe that although all religions are equal - the Baha'i Faith is to replace all the others and not just unify them.
THE ORGANIZATIONAL "VIRUS"
Now, before I get any angry comments from any Baha'is, I want to make an important point. What I've observed about the Baha'i Faith - I can equally observe in most other religious organizations - it's just more obvious in the Baha'i Faith because what I'll call the organizational "virus" has infected it very quickly; with its relatively recent history you could say it almost happened in front of our eyes.
Let's take Christianity as another example. The early church teachings (i.e. St. Paul) emphasized that through Christ all former racial, ethnic and sexual roles were eliminated -
"There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus." - Galatians 3:28
Yet, walk into an Orthodox or Roman Catholic Church and observe that women are "not yet allowed" to serve as Priests or even to step behind the Iconostasis!
Jesus taught that "when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly" - St. Matthew 6:6
Yet, every week in a Christian church gathering, prayer is said out loud, often in unison and is often used as a means of preaching.
THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILS
What I'm observing in all religious organizations that I've studied reminds me of the old story about the Devil following a man who has just found the Truth. Someone asks the Devil, "Why are you following someone who has just found the Truth?" The Devil, grins and replies, "He may have just found the Truth but I'm going to help him organize it!"
3 comments:
To quote an old friend, "Beware of politics!"
What's to stop a group of Baha'i admirers from meeting, monthly, in their homes, meditating on the writings of Baha'ullah, independent of any "official" organization? Seems like the early Jewish Christians did just that.
I like the way you think D....I think that ultimately "unorganized" faith is the way to go. I think we need a balance between the system that preserves the teachings - and yet we need more freedom in their expression. Hum...a middle way - what a concept!!
I'd love to meet with a group of Baha'is and do this - but when I was a Baha'i these kinds of meetings were considered "unsanctioned," so other Baha'is were afraid to attend.
As the Baha'i Faith progresses, there are so many things that still need to be addressed that are still in a grey area. For example, me being a homoromantic asexual leaves me with Writings and letters from the Universal House of Justice proclaiming that it is not the love between two people of the same sex that Baha'u'llah condemns, but its sexual expression thereof.
Being an asexual, sexual intercourse is something that is not a strong necessity for me in order to establish a relationship with someone. Yet although Baha'is have the hope of a future society where people may pursue intimate friendships without the fear of being labelled as sexual in nature, how one is to express that friendship is to the discretion of the believer.
Having something akin to a romantic friendship is something I feel necessary, but the Faith, or at least the one in BC, Canada, has much maturing to do before becoming totally prejudice-free, or at least to the highest level latent in one's own self.
How is this related to your post? Well, there are many things that make me wonder whether the deification of the Universal House of Justice (some Baha'is do this, others don't and I take upon the latter belief) and the fact that human nature is although endowed with innate knowledge, is still immature in applying this knowledge to the external world.
It is apparent that the Universal House of Justice has no right to interpret the Writings of Baha'u'llah, and only sustain those of Abdu'l-Baha and Shoghi Effendi. Yet it has the right to clarify and guide; individual believers, NSAs and LSAs must be careful as to not pry into the individual lives of the believers.
I hope that the Faith will continue and excel to promote independent investigation of truth, encourage healthy doubt and debate, minimise fear of criticism and this instantaneous label of Covenant-Breaker, and focus on things that will promote this broken world into a nucleus of unity, rather than have individuals pressure others to teach the Cause, the Cause of Unity that needs to be studied under differing educational and academic faculties before even venturing upon teaching an aspect of it.
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