Different understandings: moving beyond quarrels

Furthermore, know ye that God has created in man the power of reason, whereby man is enabled to investigate reality. God has not intended man to imitate blindly his fathers and ancestors. He has endowed him with mind, or the faculty of reasoning, by the exercise of which he is to investigate and discover the truth, and that which he finds real and true he must accept. He must not be an imitator or blind follower of any soul. He must not rely implicitly upon the opinion of any man without investigation; nay, each soul must seek intelligently and independently, arriving at a real conclusion and bound only by that reality.

Whosoever seeks the pavilion of glory, the garden of oneness, the paradise of divinity, and desires to recognize the Manifestation of Lordship, the Temple of Eternality, and the Essence of Divinity, must needs hear with the ear of God and see with the eye of God, not with the eyes of others. As He hath said--and His word is the truth: "Thy hearing is My hearing, therefore hear thou with it; thy sight is My sight, therefore see thou with it, that thou mayest attest within thy innermost being My lofty sanctification, and I may attest within My Self thy exalted station." And the Point of the Bayan--may the life of all else be sacrificed for His sake--hath said: "Whoso regardeth that Tree with other than the eye of God meriteth not the decree of salvation. For if one in this station were to entrust the reins to another, he would never attain unto his goal nor recognize the presence of his Beloved." His example is like unto him who shutteth his eyes and seeketh to know the sun of heaven through the description of others. Such a one will neither benefit nor prosper, and his is eternal ignorance. For were he to rely upon the words of another, he would have no proof save heat, and the heat which he taketh as evidence of the sun might well proceed from a fire kindled in that place, yet in his blindness he would fail to distinguish between them through ignorance and forgetfulness. Take heed lest ye shut your eyes while seeing, and close your vision while beholding.

Through the tongue of His Manifestation, God has revealed: "O Son of Spirit! The best beloved of all things in My sight is Justice; turn not away therefrom if thou desirest Me, and neglect it not that I may confide in thee. By its aid thou shalt see with thine own eyes and not through the eyes of others, and shalt know of thine own knowledge and not through the knowledge of thy neighbor." Therefore a person must see things through his own eyes and not through the eyes of others and investigate the truth of the matters by himself and not rely on the words of others. Every group has its own claim, and each nation has its own proclivities. If people would consider matters with equity and investigate the veracity of things by themselves, then no discord would remain, and all would embrace one another in unity and oneness.

Today every soul must ponder what hath been revealed and search with their own intellect and understanding, lest they be deprived of the effulgent rays of the Sun of Truth.

Suffer not yourselves to be wrapt in the dense veils of your selfish desires, inasmuch as I have perfected in every one of you My creation, so that the excellence of My handiwork may be fully revealed unto men. It followeth, therefore, that every man hath been, and will continue to be, able of himself to appreciate the Beauty of God, the Glorified. Had he not been endowed with such a capacity, how could he be called to account for his failure? If, in the Day when all the peoples of the earth will be gathered together, any man should, whilst standing in the presence of God, be asked: “Wherefore hast thou disbelieved in My Beauty and turned away from My Self?”, and if such a man should reply and say: “Inasmuch as all men have erred, and none hath been found willing to turn his face to the Truth, I, too, following their example, have grievously failed to recognize the Beauty of the Eternal,” such a plea will, assuredly, be rejected. For the faith of no man can be conditioned by anyone except himself.

Thus in one passage He says that those among the people of the Bayan who attain to the Day of the Manifestation of the dawning Suns of the glory of Oneness must, by themselves and of their own accord, draw nigh unto that divine Tree, and must attain to the station of His recognition - which is the reality of the wondrous Paradise and the Ridvan of Oneness - through their own intellect, heart and ears, rather than making themselves dependent upon the acceptance or rejection of the leaders of the age. And He has elevated this theme further and specifically mentioned that if any of the Letters were to exist in that Day and deny Him, none should be prevented by their prohibition nor deprive themselves of the bounty of the heaven of glory. What if they remain deprived of nearness to the Tree due to their attention to transient causes or outward leadership?

It hath been known to that honored one that the purpose of creation hath ever been and shall ever be the knowledge of God, and this knowledge dependeth upon the recognition of His servants who perceive the Truth through their own vision and heart and nature, for imitation sufficeth not, whether in acceptance or rejection. If thou attainest unto this most glorious and most exalted station, thou shalt reach the Greatest Perspective, which is the station of steadfastness after striving in God.

Behold thy Lord's Cause with thine own eyes, then recognize Him through thyself and thy spirit, for the recognition of others shall not serve as proof for thee, nor shall the rejection of all else stand as evidence against thee.

O servants! Gaze with pure eyes upon the Scene of transcendent glory. Ye have ever been responsible unto your own selves, and the sign of the knowledge of the Countenance of the All-Merciful existeth within you. Verily, He doth not command His servants that which they possess not and are powerless to achieve. If this station existeth in man, then he is responsible unto himself for the knowledge of God and needeth no one else. And if this sign be lacking, no blame attacheth unto him, and the Pen of Command and Prohibition moveth not against him.

Thus it is that on the Day of Resurrection, the Lord questioneth each soul upon his own understanding, not upon his subservience to the opinions of another. How like it is that a soul, upon hearing the Verses, may submit to them, and recognize the True One; nor follow this and that person. It is for this reason that all have been charged with responsibility for themselves, not for others. Upon the appearance of Him Whom God shall make manifest, the most learned of the learned are in the same case with the lowliest of the people. How like it is that this epitome of lowliness may confess the Truth, while that embodiment of learning may remain shut out therefrom as by a veil. Hence it is that in each Revelation, some through following others enter into the Fire.

You see countless learned ones in every religion without insight, and you see countless followers in every religion without insight. Gain some insight, have mercy upon your own soul, turn not away from proof and evidence, and make not proof and evidence subject to your desires. Rather, establish them according to what God has established.

Consider with the eye of reality. The aim of life is reality, and reality is one. Reality does not accept multiplicity. This is the essence of the teachings, and an established, self-evident fact. The light is the light no matter from what lamp it shines. The rose is the rose no matter from which rose-garden it comes. The fruit is the fruit no matter upon which tree it is produced. The breeze possesses life no matter from which direction it is wafted. Always think of the breeze and not of the direction. Look upon the flower and not upon the earth which has produced it. Look upon the light and not upon the lamp. Look upon the jewels and pearls, not upon the depths of the sea. Search and find the pearls from whatever sea they may come, whether eastern sea or western sea. Find the pearls, find the jewels from whichever mine they may be; whether it be the mine of the north or mine of the south. Consider the teachings. If they are truth hold fast to them; but if they are untruth throw them away.

O people of the Bayan! Let Me set forth for you a parable, that perchance ye may inhale the fragrance of the spirit from the direction of your Lord's wisdom and be of those who are convinced. If someone should go to the ocean and take from it a cup, then another handful, then another drop - doth the difference lie in the ocean or in those who have taken according to their capacity and capability? Be fair, then, O heedless ones! Say: By God, the ocean remaineth the ocean in its essence, and the sun remaineth the sun in its reality and is the Dayspring in its essence, shining upon all created things equally. It hath ever remained in one state and will forever continue thus. But ye perceive according to the measure of your sight and vision. Cleanse the rheum from your eyes caused by the veils of fancy and desire, that ye may behold it manifest, evident, rising, and shining upon all the worlds.

It has been witnessed and known that the root of all differences, from the highest realms of meaning to the lowest levels of words, stems from the differences in the forms of mirrors. Each one relates and narrates what exists within itself. For example, observe this very river, which flows in one manner and whose relation to all palaces and edifices is equal, yet each valley receives according to its capacity, and each barrier resists according to its strength. Thus, this difference arises from the recipient. Likewise, observe the dawning of the Eternal Sun, which rises with a single effulgence in the heavens of the hearts of all created things, yet its reflection differs in the forms of mirrors according to the mirrors themselves. Hence, some stand at the height of nature and the summit of purpose, while others rest in the depths of rigidity and the abyss of extinction. All have their stations with God, and all return unto Him.

Therefore these two differ, this one saying to that one "Thou art an extremist", and that one saying to this one "Thou art a rejecter" - this one deriving proof from the word of God and that one deriving proof from the word of God, and I declare that both of ye speak truly and are justified, on condition that thou sayest not unto him "thou art zealous," nor he unto thee "thou art a rejecter." For thou wert created by that verse which none can surpass, while he was created by that verse which perceiveth a station beneath thy being.

Verily, We have created souls with different capacities: Some soar in the highest realms of understanding, while others remain below. For instance, one soul beholds the Unknowable and Inaccessible Mystery manifest in the Temple of Revelation without separation or connection, while another regards the Temple of Revelation as the Manifestation of God and His commandments and prohibitions as the very commandments of Truth. Both these stations are acceptable before the Divine Throne. However, should the holders of these two stations dispute and contend regarding these two ranks, both shall be and are rejected. For the purpose of understanding and expressing the highest stations is to attract hearts, unite souls, and promote the Cause of God. Through the disputation and contention of those who hold these two stations, the Cause of God hath been and will be compromised.

Then Baha'u'llah has provided the illustration of conscience. For example, he says that some consider Christ to be a prophet; others believe that he was the Word of God; some believe that he was divine. These various schools should not interfere with each other, because they have understood according to their comprehension; a part, or school, considers Christ as the prophet; some, whose comprehension was keener, believed Christ to be the Word of God; others consider him divine. Hence, they should not quarrel with each other about these various opinions, because if they quarrel, then all of them are wrong.