Bahá'u'lláh and the New EraEsslemont, J. E. (John Ebenezer)
Religion
Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era
Esslemont, J. E. (John Ebenezer)
Bahai Faith; Bahá'u'lláh, 1817-1892
We must strive to attain to that condition by being separated from
all things and from the people of the world and by turning to God
alone. It will take some effort on the part of man to attain to
that condition, but he must work for it, strive for it. We can
attain to it by thinking and caring less for material things and
more for the spiritual. The further we go from the one, the nearer
we are to the other. The choice is ours.
Our spiritual perception, our inward sight must be opened, so that
we can see the signs and traces of God’s spirit in everything.
Everything can reflect to us the light of the Spirit. (from a talk
reported by Miss Ethel J. Rosenberg).
Bahá’u’lláh has written:—“That seeker ... at the dawn of every day ...
should commune with God, and, with all his soul, persevere in the quest of
his Beloved. He should consume every wayward thought from the flame of His
loving mention. ...”—Gleaning from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 265.
In the same way, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá declares:—
When man allows the spirit, through his soul, to enlighten his
understanding, then does he contain all creation.... But on the
other hand, when man does not open his mind and heart to the
blessing of the spirit, but turns his soul towards the material
side, towards the bodily part of his nature, then his he fallen
from his high place and he becomes inferior to the inhabitants of
the lower animal kingdom.
Again, Bahá’u’lláh writes:—
Deliver your souls, O people, from the bondage of self, and purify
them from all attachment to anything besides Me. Remembrance of Me
cleanseth all things from defilement, could ye but perceive it....
Intone, O My servant, the verses of God that have been received by
thee, ... that the sweetness of thy melody may kindle thine own
soul, and attract the hearts of all men. Whoso reciteth, in the
privacy of his chamber, the verses revealed by God, the scattering
angels of the Almighty shall scatter abroad the fragrance of the
words uttered by his mouth....—Gleanings from the Writings of
Bahá’u’lláh, pp. 294–295.
Necessity for a Mediator
According to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá:—
A mediator is necessary between man and the Creator—one who
receives the full light of the Divine Splendor and radiates it
over the human world, as the earth’s atmosphere receives and
diffuses the warmth of the sun’s rays.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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