The Burning Bush

Baha'u'llah spoke to Moses as the Mouthpiece from God through the Burning Bush.

"O `Ali! That which they accepted from the Bush they now refuse to accept from Him Who is the Tree of the world of existence. Say, O people of the Bayan, speak not according to the dictates of passion and selfish desire. Most of the peoples of the earth attest the truth of the blessed Word which hath come forth from the Bush."

It's interesting - I was reading an article re: trinities (the Father - God, the Son - the Manifestation of God, and the Holy Spirit - the intermediary). The author was asserting that for Moses, the Holy Spirit was the Burning Bush. This would suggest that Baha'u'llah was not only a Manifestation of God, but also an intermediary for other Manifestations of God. So, it it possible to either possess more than one station, or the distinctions we make between those stations arbitrary as they are beyond our comprehension?

Perhaps even, the trinity can be understood in terms of the spiritual worlds of God, as mentioned in the Kallu't-Ta'am. While this Tablet mentions four spiritual worlds, it is important to appreciate that these aren't the only worlds, and they co-exist. To quote Adib Taherzadeh, "Although man remains the same being [in the different kingdoms of mineral, vegetable, animal etc.], me manifests three degrees of qualities and attributes: those of unity, of inferiority and superiority."

These are Hahut, Lahut, Jabarut and Malakut. (note, there are variations, such as the five stated in Sufi tradition, which will be explored below.) These descriptions of of heavens and worlds are very reminiscent of the tiered heavens found in Polynesian culture.

Hahut - the Heaven of Oneness, a realm so exalted exalted, even the Manifestations of God cannot understand it. Or, "the essential nature of God"

Lahut - the plane of Divinity, Heavenly Court - the world of God in relation to His Manifestations and Chosen Ones. Or, "the Divine (creative) Nature"

Jabarut - the All-Highest Dominion, the station of those who abide therein is closely identified with God, insofar as they manifest all the attributes of God - God's Chosen Ones and, in relation to created things, are invested with His authority; Or, "the Divine Power or Immensity, the world beyond form".

Malakut - the Kingdom of God; or, "the Kingdom of angels, the spiritual world"

Nasut - this mortal world, this Heaven of Bounty; or, "human nature, and in particular man's bodily form."

The "ors" is from a dictionary of spiritual terms. Whereas, Baha'u'llahs Tablet is from Adib Taherzadeh's Revelation of Baha'u'llah :).

A sufi description of these worlds, describes them in terms of consciousness. So...

Nasut, is the consciousness dependent on our senses (eyes to see, ears to hear, etc.)
Malakut - a higher consciousness by which we enjoy thought and imagination - but as a state of being; the mental plane
Jabarut - the experience of the person is like a deep, dreamless sleep. (i.e. the spiritual world, which many can only experience when asleep, and few while awake) Sense organs are resting, and the mind is free to work - and it works, but influenced by the consciousness from the Nasut condition. Here, there is Gods own Being, by which we experience the life, purity and peace within us; the astral plane
Lahut - where the individual is raised from the material to the immaterial plane. - communion or, Turiyavastha. The further step is samadhi - merging into God. Here, we can dive so deep to our inner being that we may find God; the spiritual plane
(this reminds me of a phrase from the Hidden Words - Turn thy sight unto thyself, that thou mayest find Me standing within thee, mighty, powerful and self-subsisting.)
Hahut - "manan" or "atonement" - the path of ennobling the soul, and becoming aware of Gods mysteries; the plane of consciousness - the highest state, when one is free from self.

It's interesting how, while mystical, they each describe something completely different. One, stations of reality of God, His manifestations and man, and the planes upon which they interact. Whereas the latter explores levels of consciousness. :)

Looking for: more quotes about the Burning Bush :)

Rebuilding the broken world

6 intense days of summer school:

During the morning sessions I had the privilege of assisting with the children's classes for the 7-8 year olds. (I am eagerly awaiting the DVDs of the morning sessions, as I heard they were amazing!)

The parents dropped their children off for the classes.

We would start with prayers (always very good to have some printed out for the children to read from), beginning with them telling me how to sit and behave during prayer time, and what prayer was:

"There is nothing sweeter in the world of existence than prayer. The most blessed condition is the condition of prayer and supplication. Prayer is conversation with God." [From the writings of 'Abdu'l-Bahá]

We might start with some name games, as most children won't know each other.

And then we have discussion:

What is the name of this summer school?? "Rebuilding the broken world" What does this mean? How is this world broken? Together, we drew out two components of "broken" our world might possess -

1. physically broken: tsunamis, global warming, deforestation, droughts, hurricanes... (one child offered a delightful insight into the causes of global warming)

2. spiritually, or socially broken: corruption, wars, drug abuse, alcohol abuse, exploitation of workers, bullying, lying, fighting, extreme poverty, racism....

and we talked about what it meant to rebuild this broken world of ours - a topic that we added to over the four days. We found that to rebuild this broken world, the remedy had three core components:

1. The virtues. These are: truthfulness, love, consideration, service, justice, joy etc....

"Consider the virtues of the human world and realize that the oneness of humanity is the primary foundation of them all." (Baha'u'llah)

and we talked about how we needed to enjoy the oneness of humanity before we could properly enjoy the fruits of these virtues.

2. The Covenant. The Greater Covenant referring to recognition of Baha'u'llah as the Manifestation of God for this day and age, while the Lesser Covenant is essentially following those Whom Baha'u'llah indicated in His Will and Testament (i.e. Abdu'l-Baha, Shoghi Effendi and the Universal House of Justice).

"The first condition [to attain the station of an Apostle of Baha'u'llah] is firmness in the Covenant of God. For the power of the Covenant will protect the Cause of Bahá’u'lláh from the doubts of the people of error. It is the fortified fortress of the Cause of God and the firm pillar of the religion of God. Today no power can conserve the oneness of the Bahá’í world save the Covenant of God; otherwise differences like unto a most great tempest will encompass the Bahá’í world. It is evident that the axis of the oneness of the world of humanity is the power of the Covenant and nothing else." ('Abdu'l-Baha) [note: we didn't use this quote in the class :)]

So now we have a fortress. At this stage, my class had 9 boys and 1 girl. There was enthusiastic discussion as to the qualities of a fort. This fort, the ultimate fort, would protect us from all:

- a foundation of the oneness of humanity
- a base of "virtue bricks", held together by prayer, faith and love.
- pillars that consisted of the Administrative Order, and the Lesser Covenant,
- a roof that was the Greater Covenant

"9. O SON OF BEING! My love is My stronghold; he that entereth therein is safe and secure, and he that turneth away shall surely stray and perish." (Baha'u'llah)

And then, we made bricks, and built our fort :) lots of team work!

3. These were the social teachings -

The oneness of God!
The oneness of religion!
The oneness of humanity!
Harmony of science and religion,
Equality of men and women,
One universal language,
Elimination of extremes of wealth and poverty,
Elimination of prejudice,

All of these we tied together in a grand finale - a skit performed on the last night. The children were wonderful and remembered their lines and rebuilt the world with great enthusiasm :)

Pangs of Rebirth

For each significant Baha'i event I attend (significant in participation, as any action that is Baha'i inspired is truly significant), I experience pangs of rebirth.

For several reasons.

1) It challenges me: is this what I really want? Where is my place in the Baha'i community? Where is my place to serve?

2) The standard of service: in such an environment, to be consciously striving to push ones endeavors that much closer to.... well, the Baha'i standards of service, joy, love and humility.

These challenges remind me of a quote that we often referred back to in classes relating to children (which could be either with children, or about child rearing):

"Regard man as a mine rich in gems of inestimable value. Education can, alone, cause it to reveal its treasures, and enable mankind to benefit therefrom." (Baha'u'llah)

When you're getting gems out of the rock, it's a painful process. Chipping away the rock, sanding the rough gem with grit, scraping & scraping.

As for me, such experiences are intensified within Baha'i endeavours, I always come away in many ways exhausted. Pangs of rebirth as I remold my character. Reset goals and adjust to my new self until I rise once more to face further challenges.

"O SON OF SPIRIT

Burst thy cage asunder, and even as the phoenix of love soar into the firmament of holiness. Renounce thyself and, filled with the spirit of mercy, abide in the realm of celestial sanctity." (Baha'u'llah)

If only this bursting was a single event :) as opposed to it being a lifelong process to wear the bonds of the cage down, and be liberating ourselves from it ever so slowly.

One of the conclusions that I've been coming back to is the answer to why I am Baha'i: out of my love for Baha'u'llah. This is my love for God, and from whence all desire to serve, and love others comes from.

Deep breath in, deep breath out. With that, nothing can deter me:

"Armed with the power of Thy name, nothing can ever hurt me; and with Thy love in my heart, all the world's afflictions can in no wise alarm me." (Baha'u'llah)