Planet Bahá'í

In Matthew 7:24-26, Jesus likens those who found their life upon His teachings to a "wise man, which built his house upon a rock." Those who do not abide by His teachings He likens to "a foolish man, which built his house upon sand." Just as a house needs a firm foundation, so do we in our individual and collective lives. For the Christian, the Word of God as revealed through Jesus forms that foundation. What about for Bahá'ís?

In essence, the foundation for Bahá'ís is the same as that for Christians: the Word of God. If there is a difference, it is only a matter of detail. A quick search of Bahá'u'lláh's Writings gave me an interesting insight into the foundations of our lives: He illuminated three distinct aspects of life, each with its own particular foundation, yet each foundation closely related to the others.

The first aspect of life is the most basic. It is the perennial question, "Who are we?" Bahá'u'lláh's answer provides the foundation for the whole of human life, both in its individual and collective aspects:

All praise and glory be to God Who, through the power of His might, hath delivered His creation from the nakedness of non-existence, and clothed it with the mantle of life. From among all created things He hath singled out for His special favor the pure, the gem-like reality of man, and invested it with a unique capacity of knowing Him and of reflecting the greatness of His glory. This twofold distinction conferred upon him hath cleansed away from his heart the rust of every vain desire, and made him worthy of the vesture with which his Creator hath deigned to clothe him. It hath served to rescue his soul from the wretchedness of ignorance.

This robe with which the body and soul of man hath been adorned is the very foundation of his well-being and development. Oh, how blessed the day when, aided by the grace and might of the one true God, man will have freed himself from the bondage and corruption of the world and all that is therein, and will have attained unto true and abiding rest beneath the shadow of the Tree of Knowledge!

(Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, XXXIV, p. 77-78)

What are we? Spiritual beings created with the "unique capacity" to know God and to "reflect the greatness His glory." What an incredible vision, and how different from the view that we are little more than smart animals, inherently savage, selfish, and combative! That this distinction is in the form of a capacity, and not a given set of developed qualities, implies a need for education and training. Capacity must be developed and perfected. Even so, our true nature is determined not by what we presently are, but by what we are capable of becoming. When we build our lives upon this realization, we are building upon rock rather than sand.

Of course, developing our latent capacity may not be all that easy. We may need considerable guidance and help along the way. The second aspect of life addressed by Bahá'u'lláh comes into play here:

Blessed is the man that hath acknowledged his belief in God and in His signs, and recognized that 'He shall not be asked of His doings.' Such a recognition hath been made by God the ornament of every belief, and its very foundation. Upon it must depend the acceptance of every goodly deed. Fasten your eyes upon it, that haply the whisperings of the rebellious may not cause you to slip.

Were He to decree as lawful the thing which from time immemorial had been forbidden, and forbid that which had, at all times, been regarded as lawful, to none is given the right to question His authority. Whoso will hesitate, though it be for less than a moment, should be regarded as a transgressor.

Whoso hath not recognized this sublime and fundamental verity, and hath failed to attain this most exalted station, the winds of doubt will agitate him, and the sayings of the infidels will distract his soul. He that hath acknowledged this principle will be endowed with the most perfect constancy. All honor to this all-glorious station, the remembrance of which adorneth every exalted Tablet. Such is the teaching which God bestoweth on you, a teaching that will deliver you from all manner of doubt and perplexity, and enable you to attain unto salvation in both this world and in the next. He, verily, is the Ever-Forgiving, the Most Bountiful.

(ibid, XXXVII, p. 86-87)

Here, Bahá'u'lláh takes us from the foundation of our existence to the foundation of our faith and life. The recognition of God and the acceptance of His authority provides the "rock" upon which we build everything else. It represents the blossoming of the capacity He has placed within us. We can only attain full flower when nourished by this recognition and acceptance.

To be sure, life presents us with many challenges and obstacles, the answers to which are not explicitly given in the Word of God. Just as Jesus labeled His teachings as the "rock" upon which His followers should build their lives, so the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh are the "rock" upon which we today should build. In essence, these sets of teachings are one and the same, but even should they appear to differ in some respects, the authority of God should not be questioned. He knows what is best for us at any given time and place, whereas we may not.

Finally, in addressing the third aspect of life, Bahá'u'lláh brings us to an understanding of the purpose of religion itself and shows us the foundation for humanity's collective life on this planet:

The Great Being saith: O ye children of men! The fundamental purpose animating the Faith of God and His Religion is to safeguard the interests and promote the unity of the human race, and to foster the spirit of love and fellowship amongst men. Suffer it not to become a source of dissension and discord, of hate and enmity. This is the straight Path, the fixed and immovable foundation. Whatsoever is raised on this foundation, the changes and chances of the world can never impair its strength, nor will the revolution of countless centuries undermine its structure. Our hope is that the world's religious leaders and the rulers thereof will unitedly arise for the reformation of this age and the rehabilitation of its fortunes. Let them, after meditating on its needs, take counsel together and, through anxious and full deliberation, administer to a diseased and sorely-afflicted world the remedy it requireth....

(ibid, CX, p. 215-216)

At this level, we glimpse the fulfillment of the human potential, the God-given capacity of our kind to "reflect His glory." It's often hard these days to think of religion as the promoter of unity, love, and fellowship, and as the agent through which the interests of the human race are safeguarded. Yet Bahá'u'lláh assures us that such is its true purpose, and elsewhere He warns against allowing it to become a cause of enmity and discord. Clearly religion can only fulfill its function if animated by the proper spirit, but when it is, it becomes a "fixed and immovable foundation" upon which may be constructed a society that will become an expression of our true nature.

In a sense, attaining this level has returned us to the first. Unity, love, and fellowship are, after all, the most fundamental expressions of the divine in us. In The Hidden Words, Bahá'u'lláh identifies God's love as the very cause of our creation. The circle is thus complete. We see ourselves as spiritual beings made in God's image, endowed with the unique capacity to know Him and reflect His glory. In this recognition, we accept and endeavor to live by His teachings. In so doing, we enable the development of a society based upon spiritual principles in which each person is encouraged to develop their God-given potential and which reflects as a whole God's glory.

This is the rock. Let's begin to build...