Sunday, December 9, 2007
Divine Revelation Regenerates the Soul
I've had quite a bit to say about the Manifestations of God in this blog.
For new visitors, the Manifestations include but are not limited to: Abraham, Moses, Krishna, Zoroaster, Buddha, Jesus, Muhammad, the Báb, and Bahá’u’lláh.
Individually Each is and collectively All are the Word of God.
The Writings I access for this blog have much to say about these All-Powerful Messengers of God...
"Since the Sanctified Realities, the supreme Manifestations
of God, surround the essence and qualities of the creatures, transcend
and contain existing realities and understand all things, therefore,
Their knowledge is divine knowledge, and not acquired—that is to say, it is a holy bounty; it is a divine revelation."
"….the
Power of the Holy Spirit shineth radiantly in the realities of the
Messengers of God, and strengtheneth Their will in such wise as to
influence a great nation for thousands of years and to regenerate the
human soul and revive mankind."
‘Abdu’l-Bahá: Tablet to August Forel, p. 27
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Wednesday, November 21, 2007
"In the beginning was the Word"
Today's quote is so crystal clear to me I really can't comment . . .
"In like manner, the Holy Manifestations of God are the centers of the light of reality, of the source of mysteries, and of the bounties of love. They are resplendent in the world of hearts and thoughts, and shower eternal graces upon the world of spirits; They give spiritual life and are shining with the light of realities and meanings. The enlightenment of the world of thought comes from these centers of light and sources of mysteries. Without the bounty of the splendor and the instructions of these Holy Beings the world of souls and thoughts would be opaque darkness. Without the irrefutable teachings of those sources of mysteries the human world would become the pasture of animal appetites and qualities, the existence of everything would be unreal, and there would be no true life. That is why it is said in the Gospel: 'In the beginning was the Word,' meaning that it became the cause of all life."
Friday, June 29, 2007
More About The Manifestations
The past few posts have had excerpts from Reality that dealt with the inconceivably High Station of God and the relationship of Him to His Messengers or Manifestations.
However,
I feel a strong need to add, once more, the information I have about
that male pronoun we use in English for God. I've received information
from people who use other languages (Arabic, Hebrew, etc.) who say they
have a pronoun which has no sex associated with it. So, in English we
choose the best we can and make God male because of His Creative rather
than Receptive nature.
Some of the ideas expressed in this blog
are well known by many folks but the information in today's quote, in
my humble estimation, is quite surprising!
"...the
Manifestations have three planes. First, the physical reality, which
depends upon the body; second, the individual reality, that is to say,
the rational soul; third, the divine appearance, which is the divine perfections,
the cause of the life of existence, of the education of souls, of the
guidance of people, and of the enlightenment of the contingent world.
The physical state is the human state which perishes because it is
composed of elements, and all that is composed of elements will
necessarily be decomposed and dispersed. But the individual reality of
the Manifestations of God is a holy reality, and for that reason it is
sanctified and, in that which concerns its nature and quality, is
distinguished from all other things. It is like the sun, which by its
essential nature produces light and cannot be compared to the moon,
just as the particles that compose the globe of the sun cannot be
compare with those which compose the moon. The particles and
organization of the former produce rays, but the particles of which the
moon is composed do not produce rays but need to borrow light. So other
human realities are those souls who, like the moon, take light from the
sun; but that Holy Reality is luminous in Himself. The third plane of
that Being is the Divine Bounty, the splendor of the Preexistent Beauty, and the radiance of the light of the Almighty. The individual realities of the Divine Manifestations
have no separation from the Bounty of God and the Lordly Splendor. In
the same way, the orb of the sun has no separation from the light.
Therefore, it may be said that the ascension of the Holy Manifestation
is simply the leaving of this elemental form. For example, if a lamp
illumines this niche, and if its light ceases to illuminate it because
the niche is destroyed, the bounty of the lamp is not cut off. Briefly,
in the Holy Manifestations the Preexistent Bounty
is like the light, the individuality is represented by the glass globe,
and the human body is like the niche: if the niche is destroyed, the
lamp continues to burn. The Divine Manifestations
are so many different mirrors because They have a special
individuality, but that which is reflected in the mirrors is one sun."
Condition and the Spiritual Condition of the Divine Manifestations",
pp. 154-155