The Spirit of 1893

This is the seond in a series looking at the multifarious groups and organizations around the world that have been inspired to envision in their own way the Teachings Bahá’u’lláh loosed upon the world in the 19th Century. Bahá’ís not only consort with the followers of all religions in a spirit of friendliness, but seek especially to connect with like-minded people who seek to inculcate these ideals for the betterment of the planet and its inhabitants.

In 1892 Bahá'u'lláh passed from this world, having completed His mission to bring a Revelation from God to this needy world. In 1893 a Columbian Expo was held in Chicago to commemorate the 400th Anniversary of Columbus’ discovery of America, showcasing the glorious advancements in science and technology. Almost as an afterthought, a World Parliament of Religions was added to it, ostensibly to show the superiority of the Christian Faith over all the others that were slowly garnering public attention with the opening up of the world to travel and communication. However, man plans and God laughs. Events did not follow the script. The Parliament of Religions outshone the Expo in notoriety, and the stars of the show were deemed minor players at the outset.

7000 attended, and some of the notables were Gandhi representing the Jains, and Annie Besant representing the Theosophical Society. Enter Swami Vivekananda (pictured above), #31 on the roster. Indian spiritual thought preceded any actual exponents to America through the Transcendentalist Movement headed by such figures as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Walt Whitman, but now here was one in the flesh, not merely a Hindu priest but the chief disciple of the latest God-man of India, Ramakrishna (1836 -1886). The delegates arose one by one and delivered prepared speeches, but when it came his turn, Vivekananda was too nervous to speak, seized with stage fright, so postponed several times. It became known that he did not have a prepared script and would speak from his heart. So when he finally got up the gumption, all eyes were expectantly on him. He began by bowing to Saraswati, the Goddess of Wisdom, and began, “Sisters and Brothers of America,” which so touched a nerve that these five words aroused a spontaneous 2-minute standing ovation. He proceeded to speak to everyone’s astonishment not of his own religion as all of the others had, but of tolerance and acceptance, quoting “As different streams, having their sources in different places, all mingle their water in the sea, so, O Lord, the different paths which men take . . . all lead to Thee.” Deafening applause followed his final plea for the quick termination of sectarianism, bigotry, and fanaticism. He had hit on the hidden hope of all, a desperate desire for unity.

He gave six addresses over the course of the Parliament, which included these words on Sept. 19: “If there is ever to be a universal religion, it must be one which will have no location in place or time; which will be infinite, like the God it will preach, and whose sun will shine upon the followers of Krishna and Christ, on saints and sinners alike; which will not be Brahminical or Buddhist, Christian or Mohammedan, but the sum total of all these, and still have infinite space for development; which in its catholicity will embrace in its infinite arms, and find a place for, every human being, from the lowest groveling savage, not far removed from the brute, to the highest man, towering by the virtues of his head and heart almost above humanity, making society stand in awe of him and doubt his human nature. It will be a religion which will have no place for persecution or intolerance in its polity, which will recognize divinity in every man and woman, and whose whole scope, whose whole force, will be centred in aiding humanity to realize its own true, divine nature.”

There was yet another event of significance at the Parliament that was less evident at the time. On Sept. 23, Rev. George Ford of Syria read a paper sent by Henry Jessup, Director of Presbyterian Missionary Operations in North Syria, which ended thus:

“In the Palace of Bahjí, or Delight, just outside the Fortress of 'Akká, on the Syrian coast, there died a few months since, a famous Persian sage, the Bábí Saint, named Bahá'u'lláh --the "Glory of God"-- the head of that vast reform party of Persian Muslims, who accept the New Testament as the Word of God and Christ as the Deliverer of men, who regard all nations as one, and all men as brothers. Three years ago he was visited by a Cambridge scholar [Edward Granville Browne] and gave utterance to sentiments so noble, so Christlike, that we repeat them as our closing words:

“‘That all nations should become one in faith and all men as brothers; that the bonds of affection and unity between the sons of men should be strengthened; that diversity of religions should cease and differences of race be annulled. What harm is there in this? Yet so it shall be. These fruitless strifes, these ruinous wars shall pass away, and the 'Most Great Peace' shall come. Do not you in Europe need this also? Let not a man glory in this, that he loves his country; let him rather glory in this, that he loves his kind.’”

Now it sounds like Jessup was trying to affirm that the teachings of Christ were gaining ascendancy among the Muslim strongholds in the Holy Land, but Bahá’ís point to this as the first public mention of the Bahá’í Faith in America. This paved the way for several pockets of burgeoning Bahá’í communities, and the 239-day tour of North America by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, son of Baháu’lláh in 1912 was feted with great celebrity by the media, and this “Persian sage” spoke to audiences of thousands in universities, churches and synagogues, hotels, etc., from New York to San Francisco, as well as leaders and intellectuals of the day, such as Theodore Roosevelt and Alexander Graham Bell. The most visible legacies of this are the communities of believers in every state and major city in America, and the magnificent House of Worship in Chicago that draws visitors in six figures annually. The legacy of Vivekananda is also two-pronged, spawning interest in the Orient from which have sprung virtually all authentic spiritual movements, and the establishment of hospitals in India which still bear the names of him and his master.

There are a number of remarkable parallels in the careers of Vivekananda and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá: they were both the celebrated right-hand man of the central figure that they humbly served, both blazed trails in America and Europe, both were instrumental in social and spiritual revolutions, and both were indispensable heroes to the propagation of holy messages, both spoke of the new consciousness of unity of religion and mankind, and they were virtual contemporaries, though the two never met.

Damanhur -- Temples of Humanity

Beautiful!!!

This is the first in a series looking at the multifarious groups and organizations around the world that have been inspired to envision in their own way the Teachings Bahá’u’lláh loosed upon the world in the 19th Century. Bahá’ís not only consort with the followers of all religions in a spirit of friendliness, but seek especially to connect with like-minded people who seek to inculcate these ideals for the betterment of the planet and its inhabitants.

By accident I ran across a large picture-book at my local library entitled Damanhur – Temples of Humanity, and I was intrigued. The story goes that in 1978 a group of artisans and visionaries led by one Oberto Airuadi gathered around a campfire near Turin, Italy watched a meteor leave a trail of stardust in its wake. They took this as a sign to begin turning the dream they’d harboured for some time into a reality and forthwith picked up their shovels and picks and began to dig. For the next 13 years the subterranean building went on in secret, all by hand tools, in 8,500 cubic metres on 5 levels, joined by hundreds of metres of corridors, inside a seam of mylonite.

In 1991 the secret was leaked, and only upon threat that the mountainside would be exploded if they refused to reveal the location of the temples, beginning four years of a predictable dogfight with political and religious authorities and ensuing court battle.

This self-contained kibbutz-like community of 800 people sports its own laws, constitution, and currency, considers itself a “template for a sustainable world with a permaculture future,” and the temples as a modern-day Noah’s Ark. Their philosophy attempts to be universal and inclusive, but is based heavily on ancient pagan traditions, especially from Mediterranean cults, with tarot, astrology, meditation, spiritual healing, and other occult sciences (including time travel). Added to this are ecology, a concentration on the arts, and an overarching New Age sensibility. All this might suggest that they are a hermetic commune, but their doors are open to visitors and those who would learn from the courses they offer, and they are making efforts to collaborate and co-operate with large worldwide organizations. They produce publications and have hosted festivals.

I should leave no doubt that their ideals are high but not all of its esoterica is in line with Bahá’í teachings, rather in its ideas of unity of religion and humanity, commitment to the environment, and harmony of science and religion. But what really got my attention is the phantasmagorical artwork. Murals, sculpture, mosaic, and stained glass of astonishing skill and inventiveness adorn the walls of the Blue Temple, Hall of Water, Hall of the Earth, Hall of Metals, Hall of Spheres, Hall of Mirrors, and adjacent smaller spaces. A maze of illuminated pathways called the Labyrinth is dedicated to the harmony and union of Divine Forces; in it are contained 35 stained glass windows, each in honour of a spiritual tradition, from ancient to modern, representing all parts of the globe, each one with a central image surrounded by what they term Sacred Language ideograms. All this can be best viewed in the book: Ananas, Esperide (2006). Damanhur: Temples of Humankind. New York: CoSM Press. ISBN 1-55643-577-0, but a fairly good peek can be had at: http://www.damanhur.org/temple/ -- click on the images and follow the slide show.

Here is part of an e-mail I sent Esperide Ananas (Silvia Buffagni) :

You might be interested in knowing of the Baha'i Faith because you share many of its ideals and purposes. From its inception in Iran in 1844, its avowed one thousand year mission is to effect the organic unity of the entire human race, and has been given the tools and method to actually achieve this. The Founder, Baha'u'llah (Glory of God), stated, "The well-being of mankind, its peace and security, are unattainable unless and until its unity is firmly established." Furthermore, He derived His authority from the same source as Jesus and Muhammad, Buddha, Krishna , Abraham, Moses, and others who have been sent by God to educate humanity, and His claim is that He is the Promised One foretold in all the Scriptures of the past, the One who will usher in the Golden Age.
In 164 years, the Faith has spread all over the planet, its 6 million believers spread like a thin veneer over the surface of the globe. Already in its short history, the Baha'i Faith has an intimate connection with Italy in that the marble for the buildings on the "mountain of the Lord" (Mount Carmel in Haifa , Israel), was transported there from Italy .
I am sure that the promotion of Damanhur and its vision occupies your entire life and being, its model offering a spiritual alternative to the downward spiral of the crumbling civilizations of humanity. I encourage you to investigate the Baha'i Faith as a like-minded partner in the building of a new World Order.

She answered me back within minutes, telling me a government official had recently informed her about the Babaji [sic] Faith, figuring the two had compatible aims and beliefs.

Gambling With God

Einstein famously asserted that God does not play dice with the universe. Nevertheless religion and gambling have a long history.

Yuddhishtira in the Sanskrit epic Mahabharata is the eldest of the five Pandava brothers, and he has a list of virtues as long as his wife’s sari (check that story out), but also a fatal flaw, a weakness for dice games. The brothers are to inherit the kingdom, but Yuddhishtira is lured into a “friendly” game of dice by his cousin Duruyodhana who wants to usurp the throne. To no one’s surprise (except the Pandavas – apparently a knowledge of human nature is not on that long list of virtues, like Vitamin C missing from the nutrients the body produces – talk about design flaws!), Duruyodhana has enlisted a ringer to play on his behalf, and after initial winnings, Yuddhishtira begins to lose. Like all gamblers after him, he feels his luck must turn, but it doesn’t, and not only does he lose all his earthly possessions, but also his birthright, their wife (again, you really have to check this story out), and finally the lives of himself and his brothers, who must become slaves. And after the many years they submit to their loss and work off their debt, they return to claim their inheritance, and are refused. This ultimately results in the battle of Kurukshetra, on the eve of which Lord Krishna reveals to Yuddhishtira’s brother, the master archer Arjuna, the Bhagavad-Gita, holy book of the Hindus.

Fast forward to 17th century Cartesian France. Mathematician Blaise Pascal, dour and sickly, a Jansenist Catholic, whose previous claim to fame was demonstrating the existence of a vacuum, was contacted by a gambler to help increase his odds of winning, and through their correspondence the laws of probability were first established, sparking a revolution in European intellectual and philosophical thought. Then he had his “night of fire,” his personal mystical meeting with God, a fact which was not discovered until after his death – people simply knew he had changed, though they couldn’t fathom the reason. It caused him to want to integrate his mathematical knowledge with his newly-intensified belief. And so he formulated his “wager” on belief in God, which consisted of only four possibilities:

1. You believe in God, and are correct. You win the jackpot in heaven forever.
2. You believe in God, but you are wrong. All you have lost is a few years of debauchery, a blink in the infinite vastness of time. The House wins.
3. You don’t believe in God, and you are right. So you spend a few years following your own passions, but when it’s over, it’s really over. The House wins.
4. You don’t believe in God, but you are wrong. You are in deep deep doodoo for all eternity.
So roll the dice, how do you like the odds? What’s it going to be?

Now gambling is expressly forbidden in the Bahá’í Writings, though interestingly the playing of lotteries is not, and many Bahá’ís assert that the Faith would see the fruits of their winnings. But the most famous example of gambling in the Bahá’í Faith involved no less a person than its Founder, Bahá’u’lláh. It happened during the early 1860s in Baghdad. The local clergy were not amused at the high esteem in which He was held by members of all levels of society, including not only high-standing government officials, but some among their very own ranks. Plus there was that endless stream of visitors paying him homage, traveling hundreds of miles on foot to do so, a worship they could only watch and covet, regardless of how much they desired it for themselves. And He had never studied Qur’anic exegesis, philosophy, theology – in short, He was an amateur! This would not do. But getting Him denounced as a dangerous heretic didn’t fly, as they couldn’t obtain the necessary signatures. So they resorted to a ploy of public humiliation, which would see His career come tumbling down. A mullá was dispatched to interview Him and then ask that He perform a miracle for them, which would be solid proof of His divinity. Instead of being insulted that these clowns would make a circus of religion, He called their bluff: "Although you have no right to ask this, for God should test His creatures, and they should not test God, still I allow and accept this request.... The [scholars] must assemble, and, with one accord, choose one miracle, and write that, after the performance of this miracle they will no longer entertain doubts about Me, and that all will acknowledge and confess the truth of My Cause. Let them seal this paper, and bring it to Me. This must be the accepted criterion: if the miracle is performed, no doubt will remain for them; and if not, We shall be convicted of imposture."*

The clergy deliberated for three days, but couldn’t decide. Their problem now was: what if He actually pulled it off? Then they would have no further recourse. Oops! – they hadn’t quite thought this one through. They were forced to cut their losses and drop the matter. They gambled and lost. The House, as always, won.

And finally, from the words of Baha'u'llah: "Even or odd, thou shalt win the wager." The friends of God shall win and profit under all conditions, and shall attain true wealth. In fire they remain cold, and from water they emerge dry. Their affairs are at variance with the affairs of men. Gain is their lot, whatever the deal. To this testifieth every wise one with a discerning eye, and every fair-minded one with a hearing ear.**
___________________________________________

* Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, pg. 144
**Baha'u'llah (The Compilation of Compilations volume. I, pg. 154)

p.s.: In response to several comments made, I should make it clear that what I meant is that the clergy were gambling, not Baha'u'llah.

Trustees of God's Faith

On July 11, The Associated Press reported: “For the second time in a week, Pope Benedict XVI has corrected what he says are erroneous interpretations of the Second Vatican Council, reasserting the primacy of the Roman Catholic Church and saying other Christian communities were either defective or not true churches.” This was not a new pronouncement from the Vatican, but nevertheless sent ripples of consternation throughout the non-Catholic Christian world. Most reaction was that this is a setback for the Interfaith movement, and even for Christian ecumenism, though there were a few conciliatory voices, such as The Rev. Sara MacVane, of the Anglican Centre in Rome: “there's the huge amount of friendship and fellowship and worshipping together that goes on at all levels, certainly between Anglican and Catholics and all the other groups and Catholics."

In April 2002, the supreme administrative body of the Bahá’í Faith, the Universal House of Justice, sent a letter to the religious leaders of the world, detailing the progress the human race is making in so many areas of human endeavor, but that religion is hampered in its development. It identified claims of exclusivity to be the single greatest obstacle. It quoted its founder, Bahá'u'lláh:

“There can be no doubt whatever that the peoples of the world, of whatever race or religion, derive their inspiration from one heavenly Source, and are the subjects of one God. . . Cleave unto that which draweth you together and uniteth you.”

The Universal House of Justice went on to explain: “Such an appeal does not call for abandonment of faith in the fundamental verities of any of the world's great belief systems. Far otherwise. . . What the above words do unequivocally urge is renunciation of all those claims to exclusivity or finality that, in winding their roots around the life of the spirit, have been the greatest single factor in suffocating impulses to unity and in promoting hatred and violence.”

The letter goes on to argue that there is an emerging global consciousness that humanity is one entity, that the earth is one common homeland for all peoples, that rights and privileges belong to all. This vision is yet fragile and not fully formed, and under attack by cataclysmic events, and therefore the peoples of the world look to their leaders, including religious ones, to cement and support this “intuitive awareness.” “It is to this historic challenge that we believe leaders of religion must respond if religious leadership is to have meaning in the global society emerging from the transformative experiences of the twentieth century.”

This letter was not only sent to major religious leaders of every established faith around the globe, but was carried by individual rank and file Bahá’ís to the pastors, deacons, mullahs, priests, lamas, and other clergy in their immediate communities. The reactions, were, predictably, mixed, and, predictably, there was not a wholesale and spontaneous acceptance of the appeal. But there was much in there for the trustees of the spiritual life to mull, such as:
“In order for this diffuse and still tentative perception to consolidate itself and contribute effectively to the building of a peaceful world, it must have the wholehearted confirmation of those to whom, even at this late hour, masses of the earth's population look for guidance.”

Furthermore the message contains not only an earnest plea for religion to catch up with human progress and become a moving force in morality, peace, unity, and knowledge, but it contains admonitions as well: “What cannot be morally justified is the manipulation of cultural legacies that were intended to enrich spiritual experience, as a means to arouse prejudice and alienation. The primary task of the soul will always be to investigate reality, to live in accordance with the truths of which it becomes persuaded and to accord full respect to the efforts of others to do the same.”

For Bahá'u'lláh Himself had warned: “Religious fanaticism and hatred are a world-devouring fire, whose violence none can quench. The Hand of Divine power can, alone, deliver mankind from this desolating affliction.” (Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, pg. 288) Therefore Bahá’ís continue to promulgate this message of the oneness of humanity, the oneness of religion, calling mankind’s spiritual legacy “one common faith,” believing that true progress for civilization in this age consists of organically unifying our human heritage at every level.

The complete text of the Universal House of Justice’s Letter to the World’s Religious Leaders may be viewed at:

http://bahai-library.com/published.uhj/religious.leaders.html

from Al Gore's 1992 Book "Earth in the Balance"

Page 261 - 262: One of the newest of the great universalist religions, Baha'i, founded in 1863 in Persia by Mirza Husayn Ali, warns us not only to properly regard the relationship between humankind and nature but also the one between civilization and the environment. Perhaps because its guiding visions were formed during the period of accelerating industrialism, Baha'i seems to dwell on the spiritual implications of the great transformation to which it bore fresh witness:

"We cannot segregate the human heart from the environment outside us and say that once one of these is reformed everything will be improved. Man is organic with the world. His inner life molds the environment and is itself deeply affected by it. The one acts upon the other and every abiding change in the life of man is the result of these mutual reactions." [Shoghi Effendi, through his Secretary, from a letter dated 17 February 1933 to an individual believer, cited in (Baha'i International Community, 1998 Feb 18, Valuing Spirituality in Development).]


And, again, from the Baha'i sacred writings comes this:
"Civilization, so often vaunted by the learned exponents of arts and sciences will, if allowed to overleap the bounds of moderation, bring great evil upon men."
[Baha'u'llah, Gleanings #164]

New Indigo Kids on the Block

During the autumn of 1844, the Báb, forerunner of Bahá’u’lláh, made this startling pronouncement to his earliest followers, known as the Letters of the Living, in Shiraz, Persia, just before they all scattered around the Middle East and India:

"The secret of the Day that is to come is now concealed. It can neither be divulged nor estimated. The newly born babe of that Day excels the wisest and most venerable men of this time, and the lowliest and most unlearned of that period shall surpass in understanding the most erudite and accomplished divines of this age." The Dawn-Breakers, pg. 93

There are voices that claim this prophecy has come to pass. One of the manifestations of this phenomenon has come to be known as the “Indigo children.” The term was coined by American psychic and synesthete Nancy Ann Tappe, who classified people's personalities according to the hue of their auras. Self-help gurus Jan Tober her husband Lee Carroll, gained 15+ minutes of celebrity status with the 1999 publication of The Indigo Children – The New Kids Have Arrived. Perhaps because of the background of the authors, it never attracted the attention of science and research, or serious study of any kind, and was snapped up instead by New Age practitioners, who have made wildly exaggerated unsubstantiated claims, embellishing them with psychic and paranormal phenomena, such as the colours of their auras or even that angels have sent them to regenerate the human race. Some take this further, saying Indigo children have been around for 100 years, paving the way in the new Millenium for Crystal children, who will establish peace and love as the organizing forces of the planet.

Who are they, and do they live in my street or building? Is there one in my family? We are told that they not only seem full of intuitive knowledge, but self-aware, self-composed, self-confident, mature beyond their years, empathic and/or telepathic, do not submit blindly to authority, are creative, nonconforming, and iconoclastic. They also become withdrawn in anti-intellectual, anti-spiritual, anti-creative environments. According to Tappe,

“As small children, Indigos are easy to recognize by their unusually large, clear eyes. Extremely bright, precocious children with an amazing memory and a strong desire to live instinctively, these children of the next millennium are sensitive, gifted souls with an evolved consciousness who have come here to help change the vibrations of our lives and create one land, one globe and one species. They are our bridge to the future.”

Critics say that children have always been this way, and suddenly calling them “special” merely excuses snotty and rude behaviour – the whole phenomenon is a pseudoscience without foundation. Precocious children generally have a hard time socially, and more often that not, their apparent genius fades over time. These supposed indigo kids are troubled, and some of them may have disorders, everything from ADD to autism, that should be met not with praise, lenience, accommodation, and encouragement, but with therapy, discipline, and Ritalin, otherwise they will become sociopaths. Ascribing suprahuman characteristics to them is a result of watching too many science fiction movies.

Is there a new race of men, a new stage in the evolution of human consciousness? If so, are there special children who are growing up to be the first generation of the dawn of a new era? Do we squelch them at our peril, retarding the development of humanity’s entrance into a golden age? Or is this all a chimera, much ado about nothing, “a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing”? Isn’t this worth looking into? Without proper investigation, let’s neither let our imaginations go psychedelic with extravagant fancy nor dismiss it out of hand, throwing out the baby with the bath water. Let’s check it out.