Planet Bahá'í

Verily I say, this is the Day in which mankind can behold the Face, and hear the Voice, of the Promised One. The Call of God hath been raised, and the light of His countenance hath been lifted up upon men. It behoveth every man to blot out the trace of every idle word from the tablet of his heart, and to gaze, with an open and unbiased mind, on the signs of His Revelation, the proofs of His Mission, and the tokens of His glory.

Great indeed is this Day! The allusions made to it in all the sacred Scriptures as the Day of God attest its greatness. The soul of every Prophet of God, of every Divine Messenger, hath thirsted for this wondrous Day. All the divers kindreds of the earth have, likewise, yearned to attain it. No sooner, however, had the Day Star of His Revelation manifested itself in the heaven of God's Will, than all, except those whom the Almighty was pleased to guide, were found dumbfounded and heedless.

(Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, VII, p. 10-11)

In such words as these Bahá'u'lláh made an extraordinary claim. When we look closely at the religions of old, we find they anticipate the coming of a divine Messenger who will guide humanity to truth, righteousness, and peace. The images used to pressage this event vary, but they universally foretell a time of great trouble associated with the coming of the Messenger. When the Báb arose to proclaim His mission in 1844 and for the six years that remained of His life He called the people of Persia to purify themselves in preparation for the coming of the Promised One of all religions. As preparations were being made for His exile from Baghdád to Constantinople in late April of 1863, Bahá'u'lláh proclaimed to the Bábís that He was that Promised One.

If He spoke truthfully, then His life must surely encompass the most significant period of time in the history of this planet. Consider, after all, what it would mean if the Promised One of all religions has indeed appeared. The spiritual evolution of humanity, accomplished through the agency of a series of Educators sent by God at intervals ranging from several centuries to a millenium or more, has reached its apex. The human race is collectively standing at the brink of maturity, finally capable of becoming unified and putting an end to war, bigotry, ignorance and many of the other problems that have plagued us for so long. Through Bahá'u'lláh's teachings, the material and spiritual aspects of life can finally be completely harmonized. The possibility of these things coming to pass is so significant that you'd think nobody would blindly reject Bahá'u'lláh's claims. Such claims ought, at the least, to bear honest investigation.

The world has changed considerably since Bahá'u'lláh passed from this life in 1892. Science and technology have advanced at an astounding pace, political upheavals have changed the maps several times over and the economic and political experiments of communism have risen and largely fallen. The economic unification of the planet has proceeded at an accelerating pace but without reference to spiritual principles, leading many to protest the process. Orthodox religion, too, has undergone changes since that day, losing much of its political power and suffering under the assaults of apathy, fanaticism and new age experimentation. Most of these developments are foreseen in the Bahá'í Holy Writings and in the writings of Shoghi Effendi. These premonitions may be regarded as prophecies by some, but in a sense I think they can also be viewed as simply the application of a deep understanding of what's happening in the world, namely this:

The spiritual forces unleashed by Bahá'u'lláh's Revelation are impelling the world toward unity, yet the world remains heedless of His principles.

We cannot escape our destiny. Bahá'u'lláh promised that the world would be unified, that peace would be established, and that His followers would lead the way. The question is not whether these things will come to pass but whether we as individuals wish to be part of the building of the new order or the destruction of the old order. These are the twin processes transforming the world at this time, and they are doing so at Bahá'u'lláh's bidding.

The coming of the Promised One is associated in some religious scripture as the "Day of Judgment." Bahá'u'lláh identified the advent of every divine Messenger as the "Day of Judgment," and most particularly His own. In the Kitáb-i-Iqán He explained the meaning of judgment in these terms:

As the adherents of Jesus have never understood the hidden meaning of these words, and as the signs which they and the leaders of their Faith have expected have failed to appear, they therefore refused to acknowledge, even until now, the truth of those Manifestations of Holiness that have since the days of Jesus been made manifest. They have thus deprived themselves of the outpourings of God's holy grace, and of the wonders of His divine utterance. Such is their low estate in this, the Day of Resurrection! They have even failed to perceive that were the signs of the Manifestation of God in every age to appear in the visible realm in accordance with the text of established traditions, none could possibly deny or turn away, nor would the blessed be distinguished from the miserable, and the transgressor from the God-fearing. Judge fairly: Were the prophecies recorded in the Gospel to be literally fulfilled; were Jesus, Son of Mary, accompanied by angels, to descend from the visible heaven upon the clouds; who would dare to disbelieve, who would dare to reject the truth, and wax disdainful? Nay, such consternation would immediately seize all the dwellers of the earth that no soul would feel able to utter a word, much less to reject or accept the truth.

(Kitáb-i-Iqán , p. 80-81)

We are judged by our reaction to the new Revelation. The Revelation itself is the test. In volume one of The Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh, Adib Taherzadeh describes the contents of an as-yet untranslated Tablet known as Lawh-i-Fitnih (The Tablet of the Test):

The Lawh-i-Fitnih, as its title indicates, is all about tests and trials which are associated with the Day of God. In it Bahá'u'lláh alludes to His own Revelation and states that through His advent the whole creation will be tried; no soul will be exempt. All those who are the embodiments of piety and wisdom, of knowledge and virtue, and even the realities of the Prophets and Messengers of God, will be tested.

(The Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh, vol 1, p. 129)

As we look around us, we can indeed see that the world and its denizens are being sorely tried and tested at every turn. In the end, it is only through spiritual insight and purity of motive that these tests can be passed and these trials overcome. Bahá'u'lláh's Revelation, the instigator of these tests, the motive force propelling us toward unity, is also the guiding light that will enable us to safely navigate the dangerous course ahead.