Whack the Platypus

A current bestselling novelty book is entitled Plato and Platypus Walk Into a Bar, which quite deftly explains philosophy through jokes, most of which we’ve hear before, but their context makes them funnier in the deconstruction process. On page 86, it lists the various incarnations of the Golden Rule in spiritual traditions chronologically. Bahá’ís are very familiar with this, as we often use this to illustrate the unity of religion, and I was pleased to see Bahá’u’lláh’s Arabic Hidden Word #29 quoted: “O Son of Being! Ascribe not to any soul that which thou wouldst not have ascribed to thee, and say not that which thou doest not. This is My command unto thee, do thou observe it.” And since it was chronological, the Bahá’í quotations are always final. However, the authors located one even more recent, from Episode Twelve of the Sopranos: “Whack the next guy wit the same respect you’d like to be whacked with, you know?” Ha ha ha!! I got a good laugh out of that one.

Epistle to a Philosopher

(Recently sent to Jacob Needleman at San Francisco University)

Dear Professor Needleman,

I read your book Why Can’t We Be Good? with keen interest and genuine enthusiasm, and thought you might like to hear from a reader with no professional or academic skew in its apprehension. I was drawn to many aspects of your presentation and argument, one of which was keeping God in the equation without making it contentious in any way; another was that you kept the content personal, both for yourself and the reader, thus maintaining a knife-edge immediacy and keeping it on a plane of human intimacy rather than imposing the imperious distance of the theoretical.

I do not have venom- or envy-tinted glasses, and am hereby an admirer, though not flatterer. I noticed from your jacket biography that you are a former director of the Center of the Study of New Religions at Berkeley. From that I have to tentatively surmise that you are acquainted with the Bahá’í Faith, though if you are you didn’t breathe a specific word of it in this particular work.

As a lifelong student of the inner mysteries, I recognize and commend that though your commitment to your Jewish Faith is evident, you do more than give token honour to the world’s great spiritual traditions. As a Bahá’í myself, I can pay you no greater tribute than to confirm many of your hard-won insights with the supreme authority of the Word of God, and invite you to investigate for yourself the veracity of its claims.

On pg. 6 you wrote: “But to know these ideas only with the mind is not enough. They must be allowed to penetrate a man or a woman’s heart and soul down to the very tissues of the body. Struggle with and within oneself is necessary to allow the inner opening to what is called God, a force which alone makes possible a sense of responsibility to one’s neighbor, and hence, genuine moral action.”

Shoghi Effendi, Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith, in a letter to the believers of America, dated Sept. 24, 1924, made this unequivocal statement: “One thing and only one thing will unfailingly and alone secure the undoubted triumph of this sacred Cause, namely, the extent to which our own inner life and private character mirror forth in their manifold aspects the splendour of those eternal principles proclaimed by Bahá'u'lláh.”

Throughout the first half of the book you refer to the marvelous phenomenon of “thinking together.” For every Bahá’í, high or low, and for all the Institutions of the Faith, this mandated. Since there is no clergy in the Faith and for the sake of unity it is forbidden to foist one’s understanding of the scripture on anyone else -- “For the faith of no man can be conditioned by any one except himself.”1 -- Bahá’ís habitually “deepen” (note this word) their understanding by studying together. And to all is given the command to “consult,” an innocuous and unglamourous-sounding word with far-reaching ramifications. “Consultation bestoweth greater awareness and transmuteth conjecture into certitude. It is a shining light which, in a dark world, leadeth the way and guideth. For everything there is and will continue to be a station of perfection and maturity. The maturity of the gift of understanding is made manifest through consultation.”2
Breaking the Semitic tradition of arguing for one-upmanship, we are told that, “The shining spark of truth cometh forth only after the clash of differing opinions.”3 In fact, the guidance is unequivocal: “The text of the Divine Book is this: If two souls quarrel and contend about a question of the Divine questions, differing and disputing, both are wrong. The wisdom of this incontrovertible law of God is this: That between two souls from amongst the believers of God, no contention and dispute might arise; that they may speak with each other with infinite amity and love. Should there appear the least trace of controversy, they must remain silent, and both parties must continue their discussions no longer, but ask the reality of the question from the Interpreter. This is the irrefutable command!”4
The model of consultation operates thus: when the friends desire a solution to a problem, they gather together with the mindset of seeking the best path, purging their breasts of any other motive. Then they pray together in sincerity to unify their hearts and minds. Then each person puts their best ideas on the table, freely and frankly (but with courtesy and moderation), and no one must belittle the idea of another. But – and this is the pivotal point – once an idea is expressed, it is no longer that person’s idea, but the property of the group in its consultation. So there is no jockeying for position or lobbying for one’s own ideas over another’s. It is though the table were a boiling cauldron in which the ideas are stirred until the right solution presents itself. The group strives for consensus; failing this, a vote is taken, and the majority prevails. Once a decision is reached, all the members accept it spontaneously and unreservedly, and implement it forthwith. There is no dissension; if an individual strongly believes that the wrong decision was arrived at, he may ask for the mater to be raised again, but he does not criticize it to others.
I’m sure this scenario will raise an eyebrow or two and give rise to many questions.

On pg. 86, you state: “How to remember, how to see that being swallowed by moral despair (and its crippled spawn of guilt and passive helplessness) actually conceals from us the fact that we simply do not understand what Man is, what place he occupies in the cosmos.” Bahá'u'lláh makes this extraordinary assertion: “All men have been created to carry forward an ever-advancing civilization.”5 Therefore, there are no superfluous men, and all play a part in the destiny of the human race.

One of your noble themes is the nature of true love and its expression. You may be inspired, even astounded perhaps, by this description of love given by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá: “Know thou of a certainty that Love is the secret of God's holy Dispensation, the manifestation of the All-Merciful, the fountain of spiritual outpourings. Love is heaven's kindly light, the Holy Spirit's eternal breath that vivifieth the human soul. Love is the cause of God's revelation unto man, the vital bond inherent, in accordance with the divine creation, in the realities of things. Love is the one means that ensureth true felicity both in this world and the next. Love is the light that guideth in darkness, the living link that uniteth God with man, that assureth the progress of every illumined soul. Love is the most great law that ruleth this mighty and heavenly cycle, the unique power that bindeth together the divers elements of this material world, the supreme magnetic force that directeth the movements of the spheres in the celestial realms. Love revealeth with unfailing and limitless power the mysteries latent in the universe. Love is the spirit of life unto the adorned body of mankind, the establisher of true civilization in this mortal world, and the shedder of imperishable glory upon every high-aiming race and nation.”6

Or by Bahá'u'lláh on justice: “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. Ponder this in thy heart; how it behooveth thee to be. Verily justice is My gift to thee and the sign of My loving-kindness. Set it then before thine eyes.”7

One of your most beautiful passages can be found on pg. 246: “. . . pure duty, pure morality, is intrinsically joyous; it is meant as a call to that in us which brings ultimate happiness and meaning to human life.” In the first 5 paragraphs of His Most Holy Book of laws for this Dispensation, Bahá'u'lláh writes, “O ye peoples of the world! Know assuredly that My commandments are the lamps of My loving providence among My servants, and the keys of My mercy for My creatures. Thus hath it been sent down from the heaven of the Will of your Lord, the Lord of Revelation. Were any man to taste the sweetness of the words which the lips of the All-Merciful have willed to utter, he would, though the treasures of the earth be in his possession, renounce them one and all, that he might vindicate the truth of even one of His commandments, shining above the Dayspring of His bountiful care and loving-kindness.” “Think not that We have revealed unto you a mere code of laws. Nay, rather, We have unsealed the choice Wine with the fingers of might and power. To this beareth witness that which the Pen of Revelation hath revealed. Meditate upon this, O men of insight!” Furhter, “They whom God hath endued with insight will readily recognize that the precepts laid down by God constitute the highest means for the maintenance of order in the world and the security of its peoples . . .We, verily, have commanded you to refuse the dictates of your evil passions and corrupt desires, and not to transgress the bounds which the Pen of the Most High hath fixed, for these are the breath of life unto all created things.” Morever, here’s the joy: “From My laws the sweet-smelling savour of My garment can be smelled, and by their aid the standards of Victory will be planted upon the highest peaks. The Tongue of My power hath, from the heaven of My omnipotent glory, addressed to My creation these words: ‘Observe My commandments, for the love of My beauty.’ Happy is the lover that hath inhaled the divine fragrance of his Best-Beloved from these words, laden with the perfume of a grace which no tongue can describe.” And finally, the challenge: “The first duty prescribed by God for His servants is the recognition of Him Who is the Dayspring of His Revelation and the Fountain of His laws, Who representeth the Godhead in both the Kingdom of His Cause and the world of creation. Whoso achieveth this duty hath attained unto all good; and whoso is deprived thereof hath gone astray, though he be the author of every righteous deed. It behoveth every one who reacheth this most sublime station, this summit of transcendent glory, to observe every ordinance of Him Who is the Desire of the world. These twin duties are inseparable. Neither is acceptable without the other. Thus hath it been decreed by Him Who is the Source of Divine inspiration.”8

Part of your assessment on pg. 249 reads: “Progress made in one sphere is inevitably offset by barbarism in another.” Witness Bahá'u'lláh’s apostrophe to the leaders of the world: “O ye the elected representatives of the people in every land! Take ye counsel together, and let your concern be only for that which profiteth mankind and bettereth the condition thereof, if ye be of them that scan heedfully. Regard the world as the human body which, though at its creation whole and perfect, hath been afflicted, through various causes, with grave disorders and maladies. Not for one day did it gain ease, nay its sickness waxed more severe, as it fell under the treatment of ignorant physicians, who gave full rein to their personal desires and have erred grievously. And if, at one time, through the care of an able physician, a member of that body was healed, the rest remained afflicted as before . . . We behold it, in this day, at the mercy of rulers so drunk with pride that they cannot discern clearly their own best advantage, much less recognize a Revelation so bewildering and challenging as this. And whenever any one of them hath striven to improve its condition, his motive hath been his own gain, whether confessedly so or not; and the unworthiness of this motive hath limited his power to heal or cure.
“That which the Lord hath ordained as the sovereign remedy and mightiest instrument for the healing of all the world is the union of all its peoples in one universal Cause, one common Faith. This can in no wise be achieved except through the power of a skilled, an all-powerful and inspired Physician. This, verily, is the truth, and all else naught but error.”9

And finally, on page 19 you assert: “God is One – yes, but also, and of the highest importance: God is Oneness. God is Unity.” Bahá’ís believe not only in the unity of God, the unity of His Manifestations, and the unity of religion, but are entrusted with a thousand-year mission to effect the organic unity of the entire human race, for as Bahá'u'lláh famously proclaimed: “The well-being of mankind, its peace and security, are unattainable unless and until its unity is firmly established. This unity can never be achieved so long as the counsels which the Pen of the Most High hath revealed are suffered to pass unheeded.”10 “It is incumbent upon every man of insight and understanding to strive to translate that which hath been written into reality and action.”11


1 Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, pg. 143
2 Bahá'u'lláh, The Compilation of Compilations. Vol. I, p. 93, #168
3 Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu'l-Bahá, pg. 87
4 Bahá’í World Faith, pg. 428-429
5 Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, pg. 214
6 Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu'l-Bahá, pg. 26
7 Bahá'u'lláh, The Arabic Hidden Words, #2
8 Bahá'u'lláh, The Kitáb-i-Aqdas, par. 1-5
9 Bahá'u'lláh, The Summons of the Lord of Hosts, pg. 90-92
10 Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, pg. 286
12 Tablets of Baha'u'llah, pg. 166

(The Bahá’í Writings may be found at http://www.bahai-library.org/)

May you receive continued blessings and confirmations on your unremitting search for what is true and real.

An Open Letter to Bahá’í Fiction Writers

I would like like to address those Bahá’ís who wish to write stories and novels, and to some extent, plays (poetry is an altogether different matter), caution against some pitfalls, and offer some words of encouragement.

The worst mistake and the one to avoid the most is to be didactic, to make the story an excuse for teaching the Faith. As all Bahá’ís are exhorted to teach the Faith and are in varying degrees eager to do so, it may seem only natural to think of fiction as a way of reaching a wide public for disseminating Bahá’í ideas. There are already a number of science fiction books in circulation written by Bahá’ís which examine Bahá’í principles in futuristic settings, and there is certainly a large market out there for inspirational books, either of purely Christian ideals or the pseudo-mystical exoticism of writers such as Paulo Coelho, but here I wish to deal with books with higher artistic aspirations, those that attempt to plumb the depths of the human soul, to express the inexpressible, make others see what they themselves are searching for, to find the truly beautiful.

Another mistake would be to make the Bahá’í characters in a story paragons of virtue, perfect exemplars of an ideal Bahá’í life, better than anyone else, holier-than-thou; worse still, mouthpieces for the teachings of the Faith, for not only would that be poor fiction, but who would want to read it? Virtually any story you can name is in large part about the consequences of breaking one or more of the Ten Commandments or succumbing to one of the Seven Deadly Sins, and the staple of television fare is people lying and misrepresenting themselves in seeking fame, fortune, and other objects of their desires, or simply trying to save face. No, the arts have various rules of their own, which are not above spiritual principles, but are different in nature. Characters themselves may and must hold to certain beliefs, but as soon as they are puppets to an author’s agenda, readers can sniff it out and lose interest. They accuse the author of preaching rather than telling a real human drama. So if, for instance, you wish to show the superiority of consultation in solving the problems of everything from family crises to international conflagrations, you must find a way to make it part and parcel of a human drama that really grabs people’s attention and can hold it.

A story, among other things, needs suspense, conflict, moral ambiguities/dilemmas, temptation, ghosts, mistaken identity, sexual tension, betrayals, class struggle, greed, aggression, longing and the perils of romance to grip the reader and move the plot, all of which and more are absent or unequivocal in Divine Revelation but which consume the inner and outer lives of humans. Spiritual teachings are the antidote to the fires raging within, but oddly resist being the denouement even in a voyage of self-discovery. Witness the drama of Raskolnikov’s purgatory in the aftermath of the murder he committed in Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment, and the flat and unsatisfying redemption and revivification in the arms of Sophie, the soulful prostitute, in Siberia. There are many instructional manuals on how to write fiction, among the best being those of Eudora Welty and Jack Hodgins, and above and beyond that one must read many good books, dissect them to find their inner workings, and then transmogrify one’s experiences and perceptions into stories that will delight, astonish, and challenge others.

The very best model I know of a writer who weaves religion into his work in a meaningful and artistic way, making faith, religious principles, and the moral and ethical struggles of breathing human beings the warp and woof of the fabric of narrative and plot is Isaac Bashevis Singer, a Jew from Poland who moved to New York and wrote in Yiddish, but whose works are all available in English. Almost any of his many novels and stories are a clinic in how to do this, perhaps most notably Satan in Goray or The Slave. There are a handful of others, of course, such as Tolstoy, and I would particularly like to mention Canadian author Miriam Toews’ novel A Complicated Kindness, in a Mennonite setting, quirky and hilarious – how about a shunning booth at the local fair?

And herein is a particularly Bahá’í quandary: at present any book with Bahá’í content written by a Bahá’í must pass a review for accuracy of content before it can be published. The irony of this, of course, is that a non- Bahá’í can write anything about the Faith with impunity, while a believer cannot. (I shall refrain here from examining the very important question of the fate of such a writer in the next world.) And National Review Committees have up until now received only a small number of submissions of literary fiction dealing with the Faith – the overwhelming majority of them are non-fiction. Therefore these committees need the challenge of more experience, for it is a relatively simple matter to review a non-fiction work for Bahá’í accuracy compared to the snake pits of the ways people, even in fiction, are compelled to live in this world. The committees’ roles are complicated when there are Bahá’ís in the stories lead lives that are not in line with the Teachings of the Faith, and since the majority of the world’s population are yet to be familiar with these Teachings, the author must make clear the difference between the principles and laws on the one hand, and the characters’ behaviour on the other. If the author fails on this point, it is likely to be rejected by the committee, for at this juncture, a bestseller featuring a swashbuckling Bahá’í character who loves wine, gambling, making war and whoopee and then raises up trade unions and runs for Governor of the state would be injurious to the profile of the Faith. There are Bahá’í artists that cry “censorship!” and their views on artistic freedom put them to a mighty test of obedience.

One last piece of advice: read The Saddlebag by Bahiyyih Nakhjavání, a very fine piece of literature by a Bahá’í author.