Baha'is under the Provisions of the Covenant (BUPC)

Thursday 23 December 2021

Spiritual Existance is Immortality

 

According to divine philosophy, there are two important and universal conditions in the world of material phenomena; one which concerns life, the other concerning death; one relative to existence, the other non-existence; one manifest in composition, the other in decomposition. Some define existence as the expression of reality or being, and non-existence as non-being, imagining that death is annihilation. This is a mistaken idea, for total annihilation is an impossibility. At most, composition is ever subject to decomposition or disintegration; that is to say, existence implies the grouping of material elements in a form or body, and non-existence is simply the de-composing of these groupings. This is the law of creation in its endless forms and infinite variety of expression. Certain elements have formed the composite creature man. This composite association of the elements in the form of a human body is therefore subject to disintegration which we call death, but after disintegration the elements themselves persist unchanged. Therefore total annihilation is an impossibility, and existence can never become non-existence. This would be equivalent to saying that light can become darkness, which is manifestly untrue and impossible. As existence can never become non-existence, there is no death for man; nay, rather, man is everlasting and everliving. The rational proof of this is that the atoms of the material elements are transferable from one form of existence to another, from one degree and kingdom to another, lower or higher. For example, an atom of the soil or dust of earth may traverse the kingdoms from mineral to man by successive incorporations into the bodies of the organisms of those kingdoms. At one time it enters into the formation of the mineral or rock; it is then absorbed by the vegetable kingdom and becomes a constituent of the body and fibre of a tree; again it is appropriated by the animal, and at a still later period  is found in the body of man. Throughout these degrees of its traversing the kingdoms from one form of phenomenal being to another, it retains its atomic existence and is never annihilated nor relegated to non-existence.

Non-existence therefore is an expression applied to change of form, but this transformation can never be rightly considered annihilation, for the elements of composition are ever present and existent as we have seen in the journey of the atom through successive kingdoms, unimpaired; hence there is no death; life is everlasting. So to speak, when the atom entered into the composition of the tree, it died to the mineral kingdom, and when consumed by the animal, it died to the vegetable kingdom, and so on until its transference or transmutation into the kingdom of man; but throughout its traversing it was subject to transformation and not annihilation. Death therefore is applicable to a change or transference from one degree or condition to another. In the mineral realm there was a spirit of existence; in the world of plant life and organisms it reappeared as the vegetative spirit; thence it attained the animal spirit and finally aspired to the human spirit. These are degrees and changes but not obliteration; and this is a rational proof that man is everlasting, everliving. Therefore death is only a relative term implying change. For example, we will say that this light before me, having reappeared in another incandescent lamp, has died in the one and lives in the other. This is not death in reality. The perfections of the mineral are translated into the vegetable and from thence into the animal, the virtue always attaining a plus or superlative degree in the upward change. In each kingdom we find the same virtues manifesting themselves more fully, proving that the reality has been transferred from a lower to a higher form and kingdom of being. Therefore non-existence is only relative and absolute non-existence inconceivable. This rose in my hand will become disintegrated and its symmetry destroyed, but the elements of its composition remain changeless; nothing affects their elemental integrity. They cannot become non-existent; they are simply transferred from one state to another.

Through his ignorance, man fears death; but the death he shrinks from is imaginary and absolutely unreal; it is only human imagination.

The bestowal and grace of God have quickened the realm of existence with life and being. For existence there is neither change nor transformation; existence is ever existence; it can never be translated into non-existence. It is gradation; a degree below a higher degree is considered as non-existence. This dust beneath our feet, as compared with our being is non-existent. When the human body crumbles into dust we can say it has become non-existent; therefore its dust in relation to living forms of human being is as non-existent but in its own sphere it is existent, it has its mineral being. Therefore it is well proved that absolute non-existence is impossible; it is only relative.

The purpose is this;—that the everlasting bestowal of God vouchsafed to man is never subject to corruption. Inasmuch as He has endowed the phenomenal world with being, it is impossible for that world to become non-being, for it is the very genesis of God; it is the realm of origination; it is a creational and not a subjective world, and the bounty descending upon it is continuous and permanent. Therefore man the highest creature of the phenomenal world is endowed with that continuous bounty bestowed by divine generosity without cessation. For instance, the rays of the sun are continuous, the heat of the sun emanates from it without cessation; no discontinuance of it is conceivable. Even so the bestowal of God is descending upon the world of humanity, never ceasing, continuous, forever. If we say that the bestowal of existence ceases or falters it is equivalent to saying that the sun can exist with cessation of its effulgence. Is this possible? Therefore the effulgences of existence are ever-present and continuous.

The conception of annihilation is a factor in human degradation, a cause of human debasement and lowliness, a source of human fear and abjection. It has been conducive to the dispersion and weakening of human thought whereas the realization of existence and continuity has upraised man to sublimity of ideals, established the foundations of human progress and stimulated the development of heavenly virtues; therefore it behoves man to abandon thoughts of non-existence and death which are absolutely imaginary and see himself ever living, everlasting in the divine purpose of his creation. He must turn away from ideas which degrade the human soul, so that day by day and hour by hour he may advance upward  and higher to spiritual perception of the continuity of the human reality. If he dwells upon the thought of non-existence he will become utterly incompetent; with weakened will-power his ambition for progress will be lessened and the acquisition of human virtues will cease.
Therefore you must thank God that He has bestowed upon you the blessing of life and existence in the human kingdom. Strive diligently to acquire virtues befitting your degree and station. Be as lights of the world which cannot be hid and which have no setting in horizons of darkness. Ascend to the zenith of an existence which is never beclouded by the fears and forebodings of non-existence. When man is not endowed with inner perception he is not informed of these important mysteries. The retina of outer vision though sensitive and delicate may nevertheless be a hindrance to the inner eye which alone can perceive. The bestowals of God which are manifest in all phenomenal life are sometimes hidden by intervening veils of mental and mortal vision which render man spiritually blind and incapable but when those scales are removed and the veils rent asunder, then the great signs of God will become visible and he will witness the eternal light filling the world. The bestowals of God are all and always manifest. The promises of heaven are ever present. The favors of God are all-surrounding but should the conscious eye of the soul of man remain veiled and darkened he will be led to deny these universal signs and remain deprived of these manifestations of divine bounty. Therefore we must endeavor with heart and soul in order that the veil covering the eye of inner vision may be removed, that we may behold the manifestations of the signs of God, discern His mysterious graces, and realize that material blessings as compared with spiritual bounties are as nothing. The spiritual blessings of God are greatest. When we were in the mineral kingdom, although endowed with certain gifts and powers, they were not to be compared with the blessings of the human kingdom. In the matrix of the mother we were the recipients of endowments and blessings of God, yet these were as nothing compared to the powers and graces bestowed upon us after birth into this human world. Likewise if we are born from the matrix of this physical and phenomenal environment into the 267 freedom and loftiness of the life and vision spiritual, we shall consider this mortal existence and its blessings as worthless by comparison.

In the spiritual world, the divine bestowals are infinite, for in that realm there is neither separation nor disintegration which characterize the world of material existence. Spiritual existence is absolute immortality, completeness and unchangeable being. Therefore we must thank God that He has created for us both material blessings and spiritual bestowals. He has given us material gifts and spiritual graces, outer sight to view the lights of the sun and inner vision by which we may perceive the glory of God. He has designed the outer ear to enjoy the melodies of sound and the inner hearing wherewith we may hear the voice of our creator. We must strive with energies of heart, soul and mind to develop and manifest the perfections and virtues latent within the realities of the phenomenal world, for the human reality may be compared to a seed. If we sow the seed, a mighty tree appears from it. The virtues of the seed are revealed in the tree; it puts forth branches, leaves, blossoms, and produces fruits. All these virtues were hidden and potential in the seed. Through the blessing and bounty of cultivation these virtues became apparent. Similarly the merciful God our creator has deposited within human realities certain virtues latent and potential. Through education and culture, these virtues deposited by the loving God will become apparent in the human reality even as the unfoldment of the tree from within the germinating seed. 

- Abdu'l Baha

Tuesday 14 December 2021

Public Announcement from the living guardian of the Baha'i Faith

 Public Announcement from the living guardian of the Baha'i Faith

 

Dear friends,

Allah’u’Abha!

‘Abdu’l-Baha has explained in his many writings that a person is already a Baha’i if they are the personal living embodiment of the Spirit of Baha’u’llah and all His teachings, the primary focus being their personal devotion and understanding of the knowledge of the Oneness of Humanity. He states they are real Baha’is even if they have never heard the word or name of Baha’u’llah. The Baha’i understanding of this truth and verity can be found in Baha’u’llah and the New Era for example.

The same holds true for those souls and communities who are already aware of the name and identity of Baha’u’llah and who are living the perfect embodiment of the Baha’i teachings even if they have never heard the word or the name of the true Covenant and successorship of Baha’u’llah today.

As of the year 2001 AD, when the Divine Standard of the genealogy of Baha’u’llah was first unfurled (signalizing the start of the Golden Age of the Dispensation of Baha’u’llah) we can see by this spiritual criteria the majority of the people of all the world are in fact now already Baha’i.

Likewise those that self-identify as Baha’is knowingly in the various communities throughout the world, are in fact reckoned under the provisions of the Covenant spiritually, even if they have not as yet received the direct outward knowledge of the identity of the Covenant in this day: and the proof is that they are obviously the living embodiments of the Spirit of the Covenant today as fellow equal heirs in the Kingdom; and as soon as the hear the news, they accept it without hesitation.

The Centenary of the Covenant (this November 28, 2021) marks the opening of the second Epoch of the Golden Age of the Dispensation of Baha’u’llah, the first Epoch being the first Vahid from 2001 until now in 2020/2021 AD. According to Shoghi Effendi:

The “Golden Age of that Dispensation--a Dispensation which, as the Author of the Faith has Himself categorically asserted, must extend over a period of no less than one thousand years, and which will constitute the first stage in a series of Dispensations, to be established by future Manifestations, all deriving their inspiration from the Author of the Baha’i Revelation, and destined to last, in their aggregate, no less than five thousand centuries.” (Citadel of Faith (CF), p. 5)

“In the course of the Golden Age, destined to consummate the Dispensation itself, the banner of the Most Great Peace, promised by its Author, will have been unfurled (September 11-21, 2001, the Autumnal Equinox), the World Baha’i Commonwealth will have emerged in the plenitude of its power and splendor, and the birth and efflorescence of a world civilization, the child of that Peace, will have conferred its inestimable blessings upon all mankind.” (Citadel of Faith (CF), p. 6)


The “birth and efflorescence of a world civilization” is now taking place as promised during the Golden Age of Baha’u’llah. The firm and indestructible foundation (of this first centenary of the current appointed phase) for the future election of “the Supreme Tribunal” mentioned in the Will and Testament (page 13) has been permanently laid and established. The presence of God (shekinah) upon the earth shall never be altered or removed as embodied in the “House of the Lord” the “House of Justice” as now permanently Tabernacled upon the planet earth as it is in heaven, through the life-giving power of the Covenant.

“This House of Justice enacteth the laws and the government enforceth them. The legislative body must reinforce the executive [the Guardian], the executive [BRANCH--Davidic] must aid and assist the legislative body so that through the close union and harmony of these two forces, the foundation of fairness and justice may become firm and strong, that all the regions of the world may become even as Paradise itself.” (Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Baha, p. 15)


This second Epoch of the Golden Age, of which we are now entering within, shall see the News of the Covenant, and the truth of the divine Testament, spread rapidly, like wide-fire, throughout the entire Baha’i word, in a more vigorous and unstoppable fashion, and simultaneously, the world at large will hear more and more about the Baha’i faith in general and the revelation of Baha’u’llah for the Oneness of Humanity in particular.

As the people of the world deepen, knowingly or unknowingly, in the 12 Principles of Baha’u’llah, the Baha’i peoples of the world, are deepening knowingly or unknowingly, in the Spirit of the Covenant, which (through the authentic House of Justice (head and body both)) directs all the affairs of the faith upon the earth, whether they are aware of that fact outwardly or not.

Shoghi Effendi provides some glimpses and insights into the Golden Age of Baha’u’llah we are in now:
“The “Golden Age” is the maturity of the Revelation of Baha’u’llah and it will start with the unification of the world [begun at the 9-11, 2001, the year al-mustaghath]; that marks its beginning… As far as this planet is concerned, there is nothing beyond this Golden Age. Thence its endurance for five hundred thousand years [see Cablegram Jan. 9, 1951: “5000 century cycle], just as the individual States in the U.S.A. united to form one federal government, so the nations of the world will unite to form one federal international government, which is the highest thing for this planet…The Cause is impelled forward through crises. The spread of the Cause precipitates crises, and the crises gives the spread of the Cause a chance to overcome it, and the solution of the crisis through the operation of the Cause facilitates the spread of the Cause. Growth, crisis, and the manifestation of the spirit of the Cause; and then it starts again, further growth, crisis, triumph, etc. The Bab’s Revelation released the forces required to bring about the maturity of the human race. When we enter the Golden Age of this Cause [begun in 2001 AD], then this maturity becomes a fact. The Golden Age is when it yields its fruit. The culmination of a process, the consummation of a cycle…The Cause is like the body of a man, growing continuously, and crises occur which are a sign of growth. There will always be crises even in the Golden age. The Golden Age will witness no decline. It is a new phase--the Golden Age!”

“To re-establish Islam from a spiritual point of view, will be one of the tasks of the Baha’is in the Golden Age. To vindicate the spiritual position of the Imams, not to re-establish the machinery of Islam. It is these crises in the world [such as the current global World War of Terror] that unfold to us the importance of these events.”

“Peter’s position in relation to Christianity and Ali’s in relation to Islam is represented by two institutions in the Cause: the Guardianship and the International House of Justice.”


“The stage of mass conversion will come after the next war [WW III]. Accepting the Cause in the days of the Manifestation when its glory is not yet manifest is one stage, and then conversion in the Golden Age which is very easy. Three stages, a) the Heroic Age: the days of the Bab, Baha’u’llah and the Master; next is b) the Formative Stage, consolidation of the administration [establishment of the IBC/UHJ in 1991: “the last and crowning stage in the erection of the framework of the Administrative Order” (CF, p. 6)]; and then the Golden Age and mass conversion.”


“The catastrophe is inevitable and needs be to purge the world. It will be something the world has never seen and will effect every nation, country, class and creed. The world has high blood pressure and this will be the blood letting. Blood will run everywhere. It will purge the world and then cement the remnants together…The new World Order is the child [see Isaiah 11] and it will mature into the world civilization. There will be no decline in the future. It will be like a spiral, ever upwards. There may be moments that stop, but no decline. This is the Day that is not followed by night--the Golden Age!” (Shoghi Effendi to May Maxwell, 1937; and to Gladys and Elmer Beasley, 1953)


Greetings this blessed day in the Golden Age!

I remain yours,
your servant,
Neal.

Saturday 27 November 2021

Thursday 25 November 2021

Sunday 7 November 2021

Saturday 6 November 2021

Monday 21 June 2021

Saturday 12 June 2021

निषेध ! निषेध ! निषेध !

 



निषेध ! निषेध ! निषेध ! 

आम्ही, भारतातील बी.यू.पी.सी. बहाई, आमच्या संघटनेवर करण्यात आलेला खटला आणि आमची बदनामी करण्याच्या व इतर हास्यास्पद व निराधार प्रयत्नांचा निषेध करतो. आमच्या संप्रदायाची वेबसाइट बंद करण्याचा आणि इंटरनेटवर आमच्या संप्रदायाचा प्रचार-प्रसार प्रतिबंधित करण्याच्या आणखी एक प्रयत्न आहे. (फाईल संलग्न केलेली पहा).

बहाउल्लाहची शिकवण न्यायावर आधारित असताना पाखंडी विश्व न्याय मंदिर, इतर बहाई पंथांच्या प्रचार-प्रसार प्रयत्नांना अडथळा आणण्याची संधी सधी सोडत नाही.

स्मरणपत्र म्हणून, यापूर्वीच्या प्रयत्नांवर पाखंडी विश्व न्याय मंदिराचा कोर्टात तीन वेळा पराभव झाला - डब्ल्यू.आय.पी.ओ. २००:: http://www.bupc.org/wipo/wipo-press-release.html) आणि युनायटेड स्टेट्स फेडरल कोर्ट ऑफ 7th सर्किट मध्ये आणि अमेरिकेच्या  फेडरल  कोर्ट च्या 7th सर्किट ऑफ अपीलमध्ये २०१० साली (https://cite.case.law/f3d/628/837/). पाखंडी विश्व न्याय मंदिर भूतकाळपासून शिकला नाही आणि चौथ्यांदा अपमानित होण्याची हिम्मत करित आहे.

इराण, इराक, भारत, कोरिया इत्यादी विविध देशांवर बहाईंचा छळ केल्याबद्दल टीका करण्यार्या हेटरोडॉक्स बहाईंच्या या हुकुमशाही प्रयत्नाचा निषेध करण्यासाठी जगातील सर्व न्यायप्रेमी जनतेला आम्ही आवाहन करतो. न्यायालयीन खटल्यांची धास्ती घेऊन इतर संप्रदायांना धमकी देण्यात देत आहे. पाखंडी विश्व न्याय मंदिराला त्याच्या पैशांवर आणि शक्तिवर जास्त विश्वास आहे आणि त्यांना वाटते की ते काहीही करू शकतात. त्यांचे मूल्यांकन गंभीर चुकांवर आहे.

अशा प्रत्येक प्रयत्नामुळे आम्हाला आमच्या अखंड जागतिक शैक्षणिक अध्यापनाच्या प्रयत्नांना पुढे नेण्यास मदत होते आणि लोकांच्या मनामध्ये आणि आत्म्यावरील देवाच्या प्रेमाच्या ज्वालांची तीव्रता वाढविण्यास मदद होते.

बहाई संविदाच्या तरतूदीखाली (बी.यू.पी.सी.) भारत.


Translated by Baha'i Council of Mumbai

Originally Posted on https://bupcindia.blogspot.com/2021/06/blog-post.html

Thursday 10 June 2021

We Condemn the Unjustified Court Case Against the BUPC Baha’is

We Condemn the Unjustified Court Case Against the BUPC Baha’is

 


We, BUPC Baha’is of India, condemn the frivolous suit and the other ridiculous and unfounded attempts to defame us or forestall teaching efforts. It is yet another attempt to shut down our Baha’i websites and restrict our public internet teaching effort (see file attached).

While the teachings of Bahaullah are based on justice, Universal House of justice  leaves no opportunity to scuttle efforts of other sects of Baha’is.

As a reminder, on previous such attempts, the fake UHJ has been defeated three times in court {at WIPO 2005: http://www.bupc.org/wipo/wipo-press-release.html) and in the United States Federal Court of the 7th circuit and upheld in the US 7th circuit Federal Court of Appeal in the year 2010 (https://cite.case.law/f3d/628/837/)}. UHJ has not learnt from the past and dares to be humiliated fourth time.

We appeal to all justice loving people of the world to condemn this un-democratic attempt of Heterodox Baha’is, who leave no stone unturned to criticize various countries like Iran, Iraq, India, Korea etc for persecuting the Baha’is, while they themselves are treating the other sects of Baha’is with intimidation of court cases. The UHJ is over-confident of its money and muscle power and think it can get away with anything and everything. Alas, their assessment is at grave error.

Every such attempt only helps us to further serve our united global educational teaching efforts, and fan the flames of the love of God in the hearts, minds and souls of all the peoples of the world

Baha’is under the provision of Covenant of India

Tuesday 11 May 2021

Ridvan 2021 - The Centenary Of the Heroic Age!

The flame of every fire hath been extinguished except the Flame which the hands of Thine omnipotence have kindled, and whose radiance Thou hast, by the power of Thy Name, shed abroad before all that are in Thy heaven and all that are on Thy earth. As the tribulations deepen, it waxeth hotter and hotter. Baha’u’llah





Dear friends,


Allah’u’Abha!


The promises of God for the unification of the entire human race, functioning cooperatively as a loving and caring family, kind to all, compassionate to all, and having the well-being of all first and foremost in the intentionality all our endeavors has finally come upon us all due to the current global crisis that effects us all. “As the tribulations deepen” the fires of the love of God and for the Oneness of Humanity are only more strongly fueled and set ablaze by the breaths of the Holy Spirit which Baha’u’llah states can be heard in the sighs and prayers of all the people for the Victory of His Cause, the Triumph of His will, and the growth and fast acting solutions enshrined in His everlasting Kingdom.


“Will this misery-laden world ever attain happiness?” a visitor asked one day. The Master replied: “It is nearly two thousand years since His holiness the Lord Christ taught this prayer to His people: ‘Thy Kingdom come, It will be done on earth, as it is in Heaven.’ Thinkest thou that He would have commanded thee to pray for that which would never come? That prayer is also a prophecy.”


“‘Abdu’l-Baha, when will the Kingdom come? How soon will His Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven?”


“It depends on how intensely you, each and every one of you, serve day and night. Ye are all torches that I have lighted with mine own hands. Go forth, light others till all the separate waiting servants are linked together in a Great Unity.


“Those who are working alone are like ants, but when they are united they will become as eagles.


“Those who work singly are as drops, but, when united, they will become a vast river carrying the cleansing water of life into the barren desert places of the world. Before the power of its rushing flood, neither misery, nor sorrow, nor any grief will be able to stand. Be united! It is rather dangerous to be an isolated drop. It might be spilled or blown away.”



On November 28, 1921 ‘Abdu’l-Baha ascended into the Abha realm, and the sacred Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Baha (W&T), the CHARTER of the Kingdom (see World Order of Baha’u’llah, p. 144 for more) became activated and went into effect. The passing of ‘Abdu’l-Baha marks the close of the Heroic Age of the Faith and the opening of the Age of fulfillment in the world where everyone and their neighbor is able to have direct and immediate access to the Kingdom of God, understand their personal role in the Covenant and Administration, and receive their personal inheritance of their rays of the Holy Spirit, activating their true genius, winning their spiritual station--the perfection of their own selves--and congregating in the Assembly of their fellow believers in the Presence of God and the Holy Angels in both this life and the next, in this world and in the world to come.



If we consider nature, and the creation of the entire universe, we find a dynamic flowing and growing system of diversity and plurality that is self perpetuating, self-organizing, and self-sustaining according to the inscrutable will of God. Yet when we gaze upon the world of humanity we see the suffering of the people, manmade wars, manmade pollution, unkindness, callousness toward other human beings, disease and starvation, profits above people and the ignorance and lack of a proper education that undergirds these many diverse problems. Since the first telegraph message was sent in 1844 stating “Look what God has wrought!” the communications ability of human beings has reached such a high degree of development, that now a message can be sent instantaneously through the internet and mass media all around the world in not only lightning speeds of rapidity, but actually reaching almost all the members of human family in that same single instant individually. Through this great power, many things that have been occurring and have occurred before are now transparent for all the world to see immediately. Not only that, but this capability gives the human beings the power to respond and take action--and mobilize immediately in groups--to aid and assist the people who may be effected by the consequences of the dire stages in changing world events and local happenings as we move as a unified people through this transitional period from nationalism to internationalism; as the Oneness of Humanity blossoms, blooming-full and abundant, and souls and societies are spiritually transfigured both from within and from without.


Today’s Century--marked on the prophetical calendars of all the peoples of the world--is the Epoch of the Divine Evolution of all human beings upon planet earth. Nothing can stop the cosmic clock of transforming all and every species into the essential features of its true being, when instinct, and God given natural selection, cause that peculiar mutation and maturation, to forever change and evolve that species into something new. Such is the caterpillar and the butterfly--and such are all of us now on planet earth: such that God consciousness has flowed forth over the entire world even as the waters cover the face of the sea.

The elimination of prejudice today--all prejudiced--including of the utmost import religious prejudiced needs to be removed and eliminated from all human society, thought, conduct, behavior, and appearance. The cocoon of the old must be discarded to make way for the new. Only in this way we will all be able to give our fullest and strongest attention to this most important and overlooked fact: the Role of the Divine Manifestations of God in Human Evolution.


No one can stop the spiritual transformation of the hearts, minds, and souls of the people: as the spirits of their ancestors rise, like prayers of the martyrs and saints from beneath the altar, and the prophecies of the religions of the past are all fulfilled now in this day today. As stated in the sacred scriptures when  it appears darkest in the world, that is where the Cause of God will be made to shine the brightest! For the Manifestations of God are the First Teachers leading up to the Revelation of the Oneness of Humanity in this very day and Age!

Thus along with the problem comes the solution. But we have to choose to implement the solution, and we have to want that solution and be motivated for it. And we are not alone. God has a Plan, and never changes His method of sending us that solution that we need, by sending us guidance from God in the form of the great educators and first primordial teachers of human kind, the manifestations of God and His prophets and promised ones. These great personages all have revealed the same basic principle of cooperation at the foundations of their various religious systems. If we take a historical view here, we will see that God has been building greater and greater unities amongst the peoples of the world through the appearance of the Holy Manifestations of God as the divine revelators of an ever advancing civilization of which “religion” and “spirituality” are an essential component part that serve the function to stabilize the humanistic and spiritual foundation of God in the hearts, minds, and souls of the people, so that religious prejudiced should be removed; individual differences appreciated, honored and encouraged, not despised nor rejected; and that the diversity of life and life abundantly in both our interior and exterior lives may grow better and better and wax greater and greater in health, well-being and personal and communal satisfaction every day, each day even better and more radiant than the next.


In the past, the teachers gave great revelations, and the appearance of the greater and lesser lights (their loyal followers) and civilization building reached the heights of many golden ages. Egypt at the time of Adam and Enoch and the building of the great pyramid of Giza; Greece, Jerusalem, and Babylon at the time of Moses, David, and Solomon; India in the time of Krishna and later in China in the time after the Buddha in the days of King Asoka; Persia, after the appearance of Zoroaster; Europe, the Middle East, and the Far East after the appearance of Christ whose message of “love thy enemy” was sent out all along the silk road route of the ancient world; and the rise of the Islamic Dynasties after the appearance of the prophet Muhammad. But none of this was televised or seen on the internet by all the people of the world all at once. Thus these unities that God formed through these teachers were limited in their time and scope, and specifically tuned to the peculiar needs of their day and age, and when these great cultures and civilizations fell, we were left with the husks of the original revelations, now devoid of the fiery civilization building spirit that they once enshrined, and this is what the people mean when they think about “religions” this day today.

They are ancient forms of ritual, dogma, doctrine and creeds, that once upheld a beautiful and flourishing loving human civilization in some region of the world, and then later fell into oblivion, in which the surviving devotees merely carry our ritual acts, ceremonies, and commemoration of historical past days once performed by that active society. The result--if studied closely by thinking people with religious prejudice removed--is manifold.

In the eyes of man clergy classes were established to preserve the ancient forms of ritual and tradition. These have benefitted the people of the world by preserving a large variety of spiritual traditions and religious experiences that individuals are able to have access to, that the people utilize in their own personal and group and community practices: the essence being prayer and fasting, and the personal development of the mystic experience in God as they understand it.


These “unities” of the past: due to their lack of potency, the limited restrictions of geography and communications, and the limitations of the growth and development of the spiritual capacity of the peoples in those past days, while able to unite many people for many years, and give rise to other golden ages of the past, were and are still unable to bring about the greater unity of all the people of the world needed now at this time. In fact now, due to “the job security” mentality of the various clergy classes, these former “unities” and their current devotees and populations, now find one another in competition, at odds with each other, and at variance with one another. With no international and universal agreement upon religion, the truth of God, the sanctity of personal spiritual experience, and in the current climate of religious prejudice and warring and competing religious ideas and factions, is it no wonder there is also warfare in the material world of our human material civilization?

The foundation of true religion is universal agreement and universal cooperation. Therefore in God’s Plan, all these sacred traditions, practices, and unities that have their origin in God, also contain the infallible prophecy of God for the golden age of the future. This golden age is one of mass communication, where everyone has an influence, even as each drop adds to the sea. It is hallmarked by the Oneness of Humanity being is major and first theme. A deep and powerful and greatest potency of a revelation that appears within the very heart and mind and soul of everyone, and is reflected by us all into the formation of the institutions of our outer material and inner burgeoning spiritual civilization.



“In every Dispensation, the light of Divine Guidance has been focused upon one central theme…In this wondrous Revelation, this glorious century, the foundation of the Faith of God, and the distinguishing feature of His Law, is the consciousness of the oneness of mankind.” (‘Abdu’l-Baha)

Through the science of many cooperating minds material civilization has progressed until today: we are now in the communication age. Now with the apparatus and means for worldwide communication begun with the first telegraph sent in 1844 we come to the centenary--the 100 years anniversary of the culmination of the Heroic Age in the appearance of the first century of the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Baha. Through the religion and spirituality of many co-operating minds--deepened and loyal to every single provision of the CHARTER of the Kingdom (W&T)--the religions and revelations of the past are RE-VISIONED in the minds of the people of spirit as one divine progressive plan--called the covenant--leading up to our working together as one for the betterment of the world now today as we most need it! The global pandemic, the universal march for justice and fairness for all, the reformation of the world economic system, a need for universal education for all, a high tech environmentally conscious work  for global agriculture, the need for a world federal system of government preserving the diversity of our world both within and amongst the peoples and nations of our global village is now not only possible in human capability, but is more than probable, due to the rising costs of and emotional tolls of the spiritual, emotional, mental and material traumas experienced in these manifold crises: it is inevitable. And the educated Baha’i peoples know that the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Baha--now seen in the first century of its workings and operation (1921-2021)--is the God given instrument for alleviating the sufferings and ills of all mankind: the Charter of the Kingdom, the Charter of Cooperation that God gave: the Covenant of Friendship and Universal Agreement that every eye shall see, once religious prejudice is removed.


 


Shoghi Effendi writes:



“The contents of the Will of the Master is far too much for the present generation to comprehend. It needs at least a century of actual working before the treasures of wisdom hidden in it can be revealed. How can we at this stage and with our limited understanding denounce its spirit and purport.”



“Now of the utmost importance is for the believers, each and all, to cling firmly to the provisions of our beloved Master’s Will and Testament, as by this means alone the unity of the Cause, and its safe and speedy growth can be maintained, safeguarded and insured. Such an absolute and unwavering fidelity to ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s Will, and firm adherence to the principles of the Administrative Order is indeed incumbent upon every one of the friends, without any distinction whatever. Upon this basis alone the Faith can be safeguarded and flourish.”



From the Master:


“It is indubitably clear, that the pivot of the Oneness of Mankind is nothing else but the power of the Covenant…. The power of the Covenant is as the heat of the sun which quickeneth and promoteth the development of all created things on earth. The light of the Covenant, in like manner, is the educator of the minds, the spirits, the hearts and souls of men.”


Thus the “unities” of the past were given by God to form even greater and greater “unities” until this time today when the people have the capacity for reading, spirituality, and universal understanding: when the rise of science in harmony with religion is understood by the majority, a time when religious prejudiced and ethnic and cultural intolerance are now removed, when justice and fairness for all is the universal cry of the people, when all shall wish to eliminate absolute poverty, and global starvation, when all will rise up for universal education for all, healthcare through whole-person approaches for all, environmental consciousness and clean air and clean water for all. These material gifts and bounties of God are dependent upon the people recognizing God and turning to God and His Plan so that universal cooperation in God may be promulgated, and with our spiritual diversity understood, and the mystery of our unity in God made know, any and every problem that faces and confronts the people of the world, in every day and age, can be resolved by the cooperating people of God, in the greatest unity and golden age that this world has ever seen: the Unity of God, known as the Kingdom of God now established upon the earth as it is in heaven.


Now this Kingdom is both a spiritual and everlasting Kingdom that the souls throughout all time enjoy the presence of God, and it is an outward material and spiritual civilization for the planet earth, that empowers the people through the principles of world spiritual democracy to resolve all the difficult affairs of the world.


“The foundation of this Cause is pure spiritual democracy, and not theocracy” (‘Abdu’l-Baha, Baha’i Scriptures, p. 449). “Just as in the world of politics there is need for free thought, likewise in the world of religion there should be the right of unrestricted individual belief. Consider what a vast difference exists between modern democracy and the old forms of despotism. Under an autocratic government the opinions of men are not free, and development is stifled, whereas in democracy, because thought and speech are not restricted, the greatest progress is witnessed. It is likewise true in the world of religion. When freedom of conscience, liberty of thought and right of speech prevail--that is to say, when every man according to his own idealization may give expression to his beliefs--development and growth are inevitable.” (‘Abdu’l-Baha, Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 197)


In order for its non-violent life-giving spirit to be made know, and the life-giving potency of the indestructible power of this revelation to unify all the peoples of the world through the fulfillment of the prophecies of all previous faiths, religions, seers, traditions, visions, hopes and dreams and promises: God has chosen in the 6000 years cycle of Adam (4000 BC - 2001 AD) and within this first century of the Covenant (1921 AD - 2021 AD) to demonstrate that God is the essence of humility. He does this by allowing the people to do whatsoever they want to His servants the prophets, manifestations of God, promised ones, guides and teachers, and greater and lesser lights. The personal lives of the Central figures in the Faith, the Bab, Baha’u’llah, and ‘Abdu’l-Baha demonstrate this truth, as does the unfolding destiny of the dual successorship fulfilled in the living Davidic Kings (the guardians) and of the Alim, the people of Baha’u’llah who are the loyal adherents and fellow joint heirs to the Covenant of Baha’u’llah and the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Baha. Consider this Tablet of Baha’u’llah:


“Praise be to Thee, O Lord My God, for the wondrous revelations of Thy inscrutable decree and the manifold woes and trials Thou hast destined for Myself. At one time Thou didst deliver Me into the hands of Nimrod; at another Thou hast allowed Pharaoh’s rod to persecute Me. Thou, alone, canst estimate, through Thine all-encompassing knowledge and the operation of Thy Will, the incalculable afflictions I have suffered at their hands. Again Thou didst cast Me into the prison-cell of the ungodly, for no reason except that I was moved to whisper into the ears of the well-favored denizens of Thy Kingdom an intimation of the vision with which Thou hadst, through Thy knowledge, inspired Me, and revealed to Me its meaning through the potency of Thy might. And again Thou didst decree that I be beheaded by the sword of the infidel. Again I was crucified for having unveiled to men’s eyes the hidden gems of Thy glorious unity, for having revealed to them the wondrous signs of Thy sovereign and everlasting power. How bitter the humiliations heaped upon Me, in a subsequent age, on the plain of Karbilá! How lonely did I feel amidst Thy people! To what a state of helplessness I was reduced in that land! Unsatisfied with such indignities, My persecutors decapitated Me, and, carrying aloft My head from land to land paraded it before the gaze of the unbelieving multitude, and deposited it on the seats of the perverse and faithless. In a later age, I was suspended, and My breast was made a target to the darts of the malicious cruelty of My foes. My limbs were riddled with bullets, and My body was torn asunder. Finally, behold how, in this Day, My treacherous enemies have leagued themselves against Me, and are continually plotting to instill the venom of hate and malice into the souls of Thy servants. With all their might they are scheming to accomplish their purpose…. Grievous as is My plight, O God, My Well-Beloved, I render thanks unto Thee, and My Spirit is grateful for whatsoever hath befallen me in the path of Thy good-pleasure. I am well pleased with that which Thou didst ordain for Me, and welcome, however calamitous, the pains and sorrows I am made to suffer.”


This is also along the lines of what Jesus has said as applied to ourselves the heirs of the Kingdom in our joint inheritance:


“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. They will treat you this way because of my Name, for they do not know the One [Baha’u’llah: the Father--Baha’u’llah literally means the “the glory of the father” (see Mark 8:38)] who sent me. (John 15:18-21 NIV)


“In the conduct of this twofold crusade,” writes Shoghi Effendi, “the valiant warriors struggling in the name and for the Cause of Baha’u’llah must, of necessity, encounter stiff resistance, and suffer many a setback. Their own instincts, no less than the fury of conservative forces, the opposition of vested interests, and the objections of a corrupt and pleasure-seeking generation, must be reckoned with, resolutely resisted, and completely overcome. As their defensive measures for the impending struggle are organized and extended, storms of abuse and ridicule, and campaigns of condemnation and misrepresentation, may be unloosed against them. Their Faith, they may soon find, has been assaulted, their motives misconstrued, their aims defamed, their aspirations derided, their institutions scorned, their influence belittled, their authority undermined, and their Cause, at times, deserted by a few who will either be incapable of appreciating the nature of their ideals, or unwilling to bear the brunt of the mounting criticisms which such a contest is sure to involve. ‘Because of ‘Abdu’l-Baha,’ the beloved Master has prophesied [concerning the faithful and loyal souls adhering to every single provision of His Will and Testament] “many a test will be visited upon you. Troubles will befall you, and suffering afflict you.’


The Kingdom of God of this current burgeoning Golden Age of civilization is at once the fulfillment and transcendental culmination of all the previous golden ages on this planet of the past. Its great instrument of unity in the Covenant of God provides a means for a one-world value system that holds the Oneness of Humanity as the axis of true spiritual activity and perspective and the touchstone of all right deeds. It is world inclusive of all peoples and all faiths, all arts and all sciences, all cultures and all languages. It is inclusive of God in the consciousness of all the peoples as they understand it. It is not a secular humanism, that we are now seeing the rampant collapse of the Godless society--not godless in the hearts, minds and souls of the people of the world, but absent from the doctrines, dogmas and creeds of the outworn political, religious, social and educational institutions of the past, and absent from the nonsensical stranglehold of immature and false belief systems that relegate or dismiss the presence of God to a mere dogma or creed, instead of experienced dynamically, personally and socially as the real active power and motive operating force that breaths, moves, and flows forth from God as the operating reality behind the scenes.

 

Once Varqa asked Baha’u’llah: “How will the Cause of God be universally adopted by mankind?” Baha’u’llah prophesied:


“First the nations of the world will arm themselves with infernal engines of war, and when fully armed they will attack each other [without mercy] like bloodthirsty beasts. As a result, there will be enormous bloodshed throughout the world. Then the wise from all nations will gather together to investigate the cause of such bloodshed. They will come to the conclusion that prejudices are the cause, a major form being religious prejudice. They will therefore try to eliminate religion so as to eliminate prejudice. Later [NOW] they will realize than man cannot live without religion. Then they will study the teachings of all religions to see which of the religions conforms to the prevailing conditions of the time. It is then that the Cause of God will become universal.”

 

This universal global crises of the pandemic, seen by all in the media and on the internet, giving rise for the spiritual cry of justice, equality, and fairness for all in establishing a global economy for our global village that cares for all, protects all, includes all, and accepts all has already overwhelmed the peoples and nations of the world. The depth of the tragedy, the terrible loss of loved ones, the failure to have agreement on the real medical science behind the problem, its origin and its treatment and cure, the failure to act in harmony throughout all the regions of the world as one in response to contain such a threat in the first place--has given rise to the questioning of the deeper meaning of our human purpose in life, our personal unique missions in this world, the direction of our journey as a group and individually. Wisdom from the Baha’i center of the EU, under the provisions of the Covenant, written by MP:

 


As promised here are some of my thoughts on the significance of the cholera outbreak in Shiraz and the connection with the corona crisis (and any other health crisis I guess), which I shared during yesterdays...meeting....Please share any thoughts you have with me ��:



In the Dawnbreakers chapter 9 a cholera outbreak happens in Shiraz.


In a footnote we are referred to a reference in the DALÁ’IL-I-SAB’IH, the book of 7 proofs, written by the Bab. :


“Recall the first days of the Manifestation — how many men were dead at that time of cholera! That was one of the marvels of the Manifestation, and nobody understood it. During four years the plague reigned among the Shi’i Muslims without anyone grasping the significance thereof....”


The Bab who is meant to be brought to the governor and to be captured, ends up being released because the governor has fled the city due to the cholera outbreak. And He heals the son of his capturer in his own home who then pleads with the governor to release the Bab. Surely this is a great marvel by itself: but to me the book of 7 proofs seems to have a deeper meaning.


The book continues on the subject like this:


“...See this verse in the Quran: ‘The infidels have thought that they could take as patrons those who are only our servants? We have prepared for them jahannam (hell) as a dwelling place.’

This verse was descended for them who took the Christian priests as guides against the Prophet of God, and this very chastisement was their hell during their lives, for there has not been and there is no greater recompense for him who does pious deeds in this world than the approbation of God, and there is no fire more violent than to be far from God in this lower world. Know that this menace of hell is made for those who adore others save God: to adore means here to obey. One does not obey God in this lower world except in obeying that One in Whom one can see God in each Manifestation. Understand well this so as not to obey others besides God. The day in which Him Whom God shall manifest will appear, you will have acted against Him and consequently against God if you continue to obey one of the doctors of the Bayán”....and it continues and I’m not sure where the subject continues or flows into the next, so I will stop here.


In another footnote Nicolas writes: “Once more an outbreak of cholera, and no awakening of the population of Shiraz from its heedlessness and unbelief.”


What is the significance of a plague amongst the Shi’i Muslims for 4 years that no one can grasp? Why is the outbreak one of the marvels of the manifestation which nobody understands?

Of course it made me think of our own ‘plague’ in these years. Are the significance’s spiritual, social, scientific, economic, biological...?


When I googled ‘Cholera and Covid 19’ I found a few articles. One from Zimbabwe, where, following unwise, corrupt and greedy economic reform structures, there was a terrible cholera outbreak in 2008, The author tells us how the disease can have a 50% death rate, even though with simple things like clean water, hygiene, hydration and electrolytes it can be reduced to 1%. Finally NGO’s stepped in and saved many people’s lives but..only for a little time. Just to save the people and the situation for a moment. The program is reactive and not preventative, not to fix the real problems, to look at why it happened in the first place...


From my understanding clean water and cleanliness for everyone would go a long way...Water is mentioned a total of 722 times in the Bible, more often than faith, hope, prayer, and worship. “We made from water every living thing,” the Koran tells us, it’s the foundation of life material and spiritual. With water still being such an unsolved mysterious thing, being able to hold memory, being used in our ablutions, 70% of the planet is water so are our bodies made up of 70% water, and many other components and ideas which helps me understand water is very special and sacred... we are perhaps more literally ‘drops of one ocean’ than we think, when we read this at first ... and then cleanliness; being next to godliness, I’ve heard people in here say before...so.. I believe that ensuring these 2 things for all the people will solve so many things. Health wise, spiritually, economically, socially, scientifically...


Going back to the Dawnbreakers chapter 9 for a moment...While people were told not to drink unboiled water to avoid the plague, The Báb told the son of the governors man, who was dying of cholera, to drink the water He had used for His ablutions, that this would save his life. Which it did. Such great potency in the water!


The article from Zimbabwe ends with: “Epidemics are tests of social and political systems. Will the coronavirus do the same 12 years later?” (it was written about a year ago by the way.)

With this corona virus, our current day systems all over the planet are tested, pushed and reformed. In all different areas, socially, technologically, scientifically, and so on...

While politicians and media have us believe that locking people down, masking healthy children in school, testing healthy people to prove their unsickness, and focusing fully on the one and only solution for humanity, the big bandage on the open seeping wound...a vaccine....


Meanwhile scientists and doctors and lawyers with a more advanced and holistic approach are being pushed harder to come with solutions and to speak out. For our health, for our happiness, economics etc. Pushing humanity forward.


Zach Bush MD tells almost a love story about viruses, giving us an update in our evolutionary process and helping us deal with an ever increasing toxic environment. I remember Neal also saying that viruses give us an update, a spiritual one I guess?



Other scientists claim viruses don’t exist in the way we think at all. We still know so little about all this ever getting smaller stuff...the science is definitely not settled, nor will it ever be I’m guessing.


Could this be one answer to understanding one of the marvels of the Manifestation, which nobody understood...


Just as we now don’t understand why and how a system can be so corrupt, to offer retarded, short sighted and inept ways to solve a health crisis and not just to provide access to clean water when they do have the understanding and the power to do so, perhaps later on in the future we won’t understand why we used retarded, short sighted and inept ways to put a bandage, on a big, seeping, open wound... instead of looking at the root of the problem. Now, we might have less feces in the water in most countries to cause cholera, but now we have a more complex situation at hand, we have pharmaceuticals in the water, toxins in the water, glyphosate, and other harmful things...and not only in our water but also in our air, our ground, our food...even so our minds, are full of toxic thoughts...


We must live in harmony with nature and God, is that part of the significance of these ‘pandemics’?


In the Bab’s book of 7 proofs he writes: “During four years the plague reigned among the Shi’i Muslims without anyone grasping the significance thereof.” Why does the Bab specifically mention the Shi’i Muslims, surely it affected all citizens? Will it much later ‘in a 1000 years’ be written that a corona virus reigned among the Baha’is without anyone grasping its significance?


 


*****


 


Dear Friends! Along with the instrument of cooperation, the Revelation of Baha’u’llah founded upon the Oneness of Humanity provides an infallible source of guidance for the remediation of all the ills that perplex the peoples of the world:



“The American nation, of which the community of the Most Great Name forms as yet a negligible and infinitesimal part, stands, indeed, from whichever angle one observes its immediate fortunes, in grave peril. The woes and tribulations which threaten it are partly avoidable, but mostly inevitable and God-sent, for by reason of them a government and people clinging tenaciously to the obsolescent doctrine of absolute sovereignty and upholding a political system, manifestly at variance with the needs of a world already contracted into a neighborhood and crying out for unity, will find itself purged of its anachronistic conceptions, and prepared to play a preponderating role, as foretold by ‘Abdu’l-Baha, in the hoisting of the standard of the Lesser Peace, in the unification of mankind, and in the establishment of a world federal government on this planet. These same fiery tribulations will not only firmly weld the American nation to its sister nations [such as India, Iran, Israel and Russia] in both hemispheres, but will through their cleansing effect, purge it thoroughly of the accumulated dross which ingrained racial prejudice, rampant materialism, widespread ungodliness and moral laxity have combined, in the course of successive generations, to produce, and which have prevented her thus far from assuming the role of world spiritual leadership forecast by ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s unerring pen--a role which she is bound to fulfill through travail and sorrow.” (Shoghi Effendi)


And moreover:


“Difference of capacity in human individuals is fundamental. It is impossible for all to be alike, all to be equal, all to be wise. Baha’u’llah has revealed principles and laws which will accomplish the adjustment of varying human capacities. He has said that whatsoever is possible of accomplishment in human government will be effected through these principles. When the laws he has instituted are carried out there will be no millionaires possible in the community and likewise no extremely poor. This will be effected and regulated by adjusting the different degrees of human capacity. The fundamental basis of the community is agriculture, tillage of the soil. All must be producers. Each person in the community whose income is equal to his individual producing capacity shall be exempt from taxation. But if his income is greater than his needs he must pay a tax until an adjustment is effected. That is to say, a man’s capacity for production and his needs will be equalized and reconciled through taxation. If his production exceeds he will pay no tax; if his necessities exceed his production he shall receive an amount sufficient to equalize or adjust. Therefore taxation will be proportionate to capacity and production and there will be no poor in the community.” (‘Abdu’l-Baha)


As we all transition through the next six years of the Hopi Purification, the influence, and protecting guidance vouchsafed to our community of the Most Great Name through the joint heirship bequeathed from God through the Covenant of Baha’u’llah (Kitab-i-Ahd) as delineated in the sacred Will and Testament of ‘Abdul-Baha shall continue to be the touchstone to see us through:


“Far from yielding in their resolve, far from growing oblivious of their task, they should, at no time, however much buffeted by circumstances, forget that the synchronization of such world-shaking crises with the progressive unfoldment and fruition of their divinely appointed task is itself the work of Providence, the design of an inscrutable Wisdom, and the purpose of an all-compelling Will, a Will that directs and controls, in its own mysterious way, both the fortunes of the Faith and the destinies of men. Such simultaneous processes of rise and of fall, of integration and of disintegration, of order and chaos, with their continuous and reciprocal reactions on each other, are but aspects of a greater Plan, one and indivisible, whose Source is God, whose author is Baha’u’llah, the theater of whose operations is the entire planet, and whose ultimate objectives are the unity of the human race and the peace of all mankind.



“Reflections such as these should steel the resolve of the entire Baha’i community, should dissipate their forebodings, and arouse them to rededicate themselves to every single provision of that Divine Charter [the sacred Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Baha] whose outline has been delineated for them by the pen of ‘Abdu’l-Baha.” (Shoghi Effendi)

 


Dear Friends!

 

Our prayers for all the fellow believers and citizens of India during the time of this terrible calamity and crisis that has encircled the entire globe, touched the lives of all--and contains the seeds of uniting us all. May God guide all the people of the world to the waters of life that are free of price. That all should see the truth with their own eyes and not through the eyes of their neighbor--where this everlasting Covenant of friendship will result in the appearance of the Most Great Justice the everlasting foundation for the Most Great Peace of Our Time!


The purpose of the descendant of King David being the president of Baha’u’llah’s Universal House of Justice is so that we can recognize Baha’u’llah’s true Universal House of Justice from fakes, frauds, and imitations.


Please find Baha’u’llah’s Tablet of the Howdah attached. It is the companion tablet to the Tablet of the Holy Mariner in which, ‘Abdu’l-Baha states that “the Blessed Beauty has indeed foretold future events”!

 


I remain yours, your servant,


Neal.

UHJ.net

BUPC.org



Suffer me not, O God, my God, to be kept back from the heaven of Thy bounties and the daystar of Thy favors. I beseech Thee by that Word through which Thou hast subdued all things visible and invisible to assist me and to assist Thy chosen ones to accomplish that which shall exalt Thy Cause amidst Thy servants and throughout Thy regions. Do Thou ordain for me, then, every good thing which Thou hast sent down in Thy Book.


Verily Thou art the Almighty, the Ever-Forgiving, the Most Generous. 

Saturday 20 March 2021

Naw Ruz message from Baha'i Guardian Neal chase

 

“The day of the appearance of God's messenger on earth is ever a sacred day, a day when man commemorates his lord...This sacred day when the sun illumines equally the whole earth is called the equinox and the equinox is the symbol of the divine messenger. The sun of truth rises on the horizon of divine mercy and sends forth its rays on all.” (Abdu'l-Baha, Divine Philosophy, pp. 74, 75)


 

Dear Friends!

 

Allah’u’Abha! And greetings during this day of breaking the fast.

 

“Since thou hast adorned them, O my Lord, with the ornament of the Fast prescribed by Thee, do Thou adorn them also with the ornament of Thine acceptance, through Thy grace and bountiful favor.  For the doings of men are all dependent upon Thy good-pleasure, and are conditioned by Thy behest.  Shouldst Thou regard him who hath broken the Fast as one who hath observed it, such a man would be reckoned among them who from eternity had been keeping the Fast.  And shouldst Thou decree that he who hath observed the Fast hath broken it, that person would be numbered with such as have caused the Robe of Thy Revelation to be stained with dust, and been far removed from the crystal waters of this living Fountain.” (Baha’u’llah, Naw Ruz Prayer)

 

Something I looked up recently was the origin of a saying I heard, “good fences make good neighbors,” (Victor said it)--I was surprised to find out so much about that. I have included a link; after the poem:

 

Mending Wall

By Robert Frost

Something there is that doesn't love a wall,

That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it,

And spills the upper boulders in the sun;

And makes gaps even two can pass abreast.

The work of hunters is another thing:

I have come after them and made repair

Where they have left not one stone on a stone,

But they would have the rabbit out of hiding,

To please the yelping dogs. The gaps I mean,

No one has seen them made or heard them made,

But at spring mending-time we find them there.

I let my neighbor know beyond the hill;

And on a day we meet to walk the line

And set the wall between us once again.

We keep the wall between us as we go.

To each the boulders that have fallen to each.

And some are loaves and some so nearly balls

We have to use a spell to make them balance:

‘Stay where you are until our backs are turned!’

We wear our fingers rough with handling them.

Oh, just another kind of out-door game,

One on a side. It comes to little more:

There where it is we do not need the wall:

He is all pine and I am apple orchard.

My apple trees will never get across

And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him.

He only says, ‘Good fences make good neighbors.’

Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder

If I could put a notion in his head:

‘Why do they make good neighbors? Isn't it

Where there are cows? But here there are no cows.

Before I built a wall I'd ask to know

What I was walling in or walling out,

And to whom I was like to give offense.

Something there is that doesn't love a wall,

That wants it down.’ I could say ‘Elves’ to him,

But it's not elves exactly, and I'd rather

He said it for himself. I see him there

Bringing a stone grasped firmly by the top

In each hand, like an old-stone savage armed.

He moves in darkness as it seems to me,

Not of woods only and the shade of trees.

He will not go behind his father's saying,

And he likes having thought of it so well

He says again, ‘Good fences make good neighbors.’

https://www.thesunchronicle.com/foxboro_reporter/opinion/columns/mitchell-mending-wall/article_26e2b176-ccc4-5b20-9931-b2300207fd62.html

 

And as the Cause of God so advances, the Oneness of Humanity presumes, the next six years of Hopi purification will be undoubtedly for the all the people of the world for bridges to build and fences to mend, so to speak (or tear them down or throw them away depending upon the pov)--not only on a personal level, but also professionally, on the level of the faith advancing into this New Beginning this Naw Ruz.

 

Now, I maintain my unwavering stance, that all actions before Naw Ruz 2021 are the past. The year 2020, by my calculations in the Great Pyramid, the Bible, the Baha’i writings, and Hopi prophecy mark 2020 as the year zero, and thus this Naw Ruz 2021 begins the Year One, of A New Beginning--and six more years of the seven year Hopi purification.

 

This purification process is stated in the Kitab-i-‘Ahd of Baha’u’llah (Book of the Covenant) where it is said: “This is a Day great and blessed. Whatsoever is hidden in man is today being revealed.” Thus like when gold is purified, the hidden impurities of the people come to the surface and then tumultuously burn off and away until the surface of the Gold is like a pure and polished mirror--in which Doc said, then God can see His own reflection in man. According to ‘Abdu’l-Baha, God seeing His own reflection in creation, that is the creation of each individual human being like you and I (and in the creation of active functional human Baha’i community and society when created in His image of the spiritual qualities and attributes of God as demonstrated in deeds not words) is the “Love of God for God” as Mike Golden has explained in his important paper about “Oneness of Humanity ACTIONS”; and again He saith:

 

“The light of the following utterance shineth from the horizon of the Divine Tablet, which should be observed by all: O peoples of the world! I counsel you to act in a manner which shall tend to elevate your stations. Cling to divine virtue and obey the divine law. Truly I say, the tongue is for mentioning what is good; do not defile it by evil speech. “God hath forgiven your past ways.” You must henceforth speak that which is worthy. Shun reviling, maligning, and whatsoever will offend your fellow men.” (Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-‘Ahd)

 

Thus, this Naw Ruz, 2021 marks a NEW DAY of the Forgiveness of Sins for the Baha’i world and all the peoples of the world, if those behaviors are past, as He states: “God hath forgiven your past ways” that is not current behaviors--but that which is past.

 

Now this cleansing of the Hopi purification includes ALL the people of the word, as begun by the plague of Covid19, by my calculations which I made prior to these occurrences, as published and documented in all the Chinvats (re-published in the front matter of Victor’s book Nostradamus Prophecy!, of which everyone is certainly fully awake and aware, and if not undoubtedly they will go back and read these significant and important documents of infallible guidance and attain certitude in this condition. I have also included a paper (see attached) written by the current head of the Knights of Baha’u’llah in direct succession to Dr. Leland Jensen, Knight of Baha’u’llah, Nefratiri Weeks, entitled ALL ARE CREATED BY GOD written at the same time as Victor’s book, which sets forth may important truths and insights concerning the global war and underlying patters of current events as they pertain to the now unfolding glory of the Baha’i Covenant and Administration at this time.

 

As this cleansing comes from the top down, so to speak, and as it includes all the people of the world, than certainly the living Davidic King, and all the IBC members (and their families and private and public lives)--that is all those who remain active and firm and steadfast in the Covenant and Administration and attend meetings and feasts, etc. are subject to be the first  to experience these tremendous spiritual forces of purification and the outpouring and gift (‘ata) of the divine bounty of the Holy Ghost unto salvation for all the peoples of the world. Thus I am to be included (and not excluded) in this too; as ALL (including myself) must be purified and made whole, that is complete, even as the cornerstone is now in place on the completed Hopi Fireclan Tablet--sealed with Doc’s seal (for a seal on the forehead--representing the intellect--symbolized by the “serpent”)--as depicted in the photograph of the complete tablet to wholeness (lomakatsi) held in the hand of grandfather Martin. So it is written of the Christ:

 

“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have life eternal.” (Jn. 3:14-15 KJV)

 

The Fireclan Tablet, according to Doc, is an outward symbol, with the cornerstone being symbolical (as is the capstone of the Great Pyramid of Giza, see Doc’s book The Beast is about to be Dead for more about the capstone prophecy), for the person of the living Guardian, as Doc explains, who is seated upon King David’s throne, that Doc wrote in his book Entry By Troops is: “the Christ of the Baha’i World Order [the Covenant & Administration].” According to Dr. Jensen, in the section of the Book entitled “Seven Churches,” Doc writes:

 

“This [Philadelphia/BUPC] is the only group that knows the meaning of “Christ,” and the true meaning of the guardianship, the Christ of the Baha’i World Order, thus is mentioned the “key of David.” Because of this knowledge they know that the other groups are false.”

 

And again he writes:

 

Shoghi Effendi provided only one criteria in order to determine who was and who was not a true Baha’i:

“Regarding the very delicate and complex question of ascertaining the qualifications of a true believer,...[I only state]...the principal factors that must be taken into consideration before deciding whether a person may be regarded a true believer or not.

“Full recognition of the station of the Forerunner, the Author, and the True Exemplar of the Baha’i Cause, as set forth in ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s Testament; unreserved acceptance of, and submission to, whatsoever has been revealed by their Pen; loyal and steadfast adherence to every clause of our Beloved’s sacred Will; and close association with the spirit as well as the form of the present-day Baha’i administration throughout the world--these I conceive to be the fundamental and primary considerations that must be... ascertained before reaching such a vital decision.”

And concerning the “Christ of the Baha’i World Order,” the Guardian, he again writes:

 

“The institution of guardianship, now restricted to the presidency of the UHJ, remains the “Sign of God” on earth, meaning that whatever Baha’i administration has this sign from God, the guardian, at its head, that is the true Baha’i administration, and any other is false.” (Dr. Leland Jensen, “Seven Churches,” http://entrybytroops.uhj.net/seven-churches.html)

 

Thus this current TEST inaugurated during the year zero, 2020 AD, has already birthed all best results! The Baha’i International group of the secretary pool, chaired by the secretary general of the IBC/UHJ, has consolidated and organized the friends around the globe to meet and exchange one with another in spiritual fellowship and oneness of humanity actions. This outpouring of the spirit upon the extension has allowed for the National Baha’i Council of the Americas to emerge strong, firm and standing upon its own two feet now at this time. Having survived the devastating covenant-breaking attack against it in 2016 (from forces and individuals both inside the faith and without) the USNC has emerged firm and strong and is now consolidating its efforts, taking charge of all the financial and material responsibilities that are its by right, welcoming all the friends to board the safe haven of its ark to survive the next six years of purification, and fulfills the prophecy of the “maiden” spoken of in Revelation chapter 12 that shall be given the “two wings of the eagle” after 70 years (1951 + 70yrs = 2021). The eagle being the symbol of the US. As a citizen of one, and as an exilarch (exiled monarch of King David) I remain a citizen refugee of the US and under the jurisdiction, protection, and safe haven of the USNC--and the protection of the local Baha’i Council within the community God sets me to live.

 

I do not know if you know some things about my personal history or not. But 19 years ago, my homestead here in Montana was illegally taken from me, against court order defying the explicit injunction by the judge in Colorado upon both parties not to sell or dispose of any property during the hearing and proceedings of my first divorce. For this reason, I have been homeless for 19 years, and the Baha’is lost their international center building in Missoula, MT, and international registered offices of the IBC/UHJ, and the Teaching Center, Open Library, reading room, and archival space. If We still had this property and the guardian had retained managerial control and authority over it as caretaker and guardian of that property, these current conditions and circumstances that continue to menace the faith at this time would be free, and my personal condition, that is the same personal condition as that of Baha’u’llah--described on page 56 of The Covenant of Baha’u’llah, by Teherzadeh, would be alleviated of the unnecessary stressors and hardships that naturally fall upon the human being who is to function as purposed by God in the role as guardian. Nevertheless, “not my will O Lord but Thine!” About the role of guardianship, my father and predecessor to that office Pepe has written:

“From what Mason told me about Shoghi Effendi’s experience as Guardian and how it affected him…..plus what I experienced in the first person regarding what the Guardianship did to Mason, believe me, I wouldn’t wish that role on my worst enemy.”

Nevertheless, I do have that role, and have taken that up publically now for 19 years, and another 7 prior to that counting from April 11, 1994. Pepe continues:

“Nevertheless, if I were convinced that coming forth and taking a definite stand as Mason Remey’s successor would result in peace and harmony amongst all the Baha’is, I should not hesitate one minute to do so…. Mason awaited the day when the masses of Baha’is (now termed sans-guardian Baha’is) would WANT a Guardian. Should the time come when those masses should turn to me, I could NOT refuse to fulfill the role, for not to do so would be a violation of the faith and trust that Mason Remey placed in me.... I am dedicated to that end.” (Pepe, 9 May 1992. Personal names omitted for privacy) http://www.bupc.org/test-of-god.html#tablettest

Thus, the Hopi Fireclan Tablet completed is symbolic of the world body of believers (the church) and the president of the UHJ (the head)--“the Christ of the Baha’i World Order”--functioning together (in healthful happiness and union head and body both) as Paul has stated in his letters:

 

“And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.” (Colossians 1:18 KJV)

 

The word “church” here in Greek is ecclesiasia and refers to the body of believers, not the temple that referred to the physical buildings they met in back in those days.

 

Again Paul speaking spiritually in symbolic parable refers to a spousal relationship between the head and the body:

 

“Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave his life for it... Always thank God the Father for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Place yourselves under each other’s authority out of respect for Christ. Wives, place yourselves under your husbands’ authority as you have placed yourselves under the Lord’s authority. The husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. It is his body, and he is its Savior.” (Ephesians 5:25; 5:20-23 God’s Word Translation (GWT))

 

Paul continues:

 

“Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave his life for it. He did this to make the church holy by cleansing it, washing it using water along with spoken words. Then he could present it to himself as a glorious church, without any kind of stain or wrinkle-holy and without faults. So husbands must love their wives as they love their own bodies. A man who loves his wife loves himself. No one ever hated his own body. Instead, he feeds and takes care of it, as Christ takes care of the church. We are parts of his body. That’s why a man will leave his father and mother and be united with his wife, and the two will be one [wood + iron = gold; the two wings of one bird, etc]. This is a great mystery. (I’m talking about Christ’s relationship to the church.) But every husband must love his wife as he loves himself, and wives should respect their husbands.” (Ephesians 5:25-33 GWT)

 

So it is written in the 12th chapter of Revelation that the maiden shall be protected by the wings of the eagle. It is also stated in Exodus:

 

“Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself.” (Exodus 19:4 KJV)

 

And again the maiden in Revelation chapter 21, the New JerUSAlem, that descends adorned like a bride from heaven:

 

“And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.“ (Revelation 21:2 KJV)

 

This mystical union between the body of believers and Christ, the Supreme Manifestation of God, as revealed in the potency of the everlasting father seated upon the throne of King David in the personage of Baha’u’llah, and its reflection and incarnation in the visible order (see WOB, pp. 9 & 19) in the Covenant & Administration upon the earth as it is in heaven, is a deep mystery that all the friends should ponder in the deep recesses of their hearts, minds and souls in order to pass through these tests of the next six years of Hopi purification.

 

Thanksgiving 2020 to Thanksgiving 2021 marks the 400th (Gen. 15:13) year since 1620 AD as inscribed upon Plymouth Rock, by which we arrived at the date for this Exodus of the woman protected by eagle’s wings: both the USNC and IBC/UHJ are in the US.

 

The Covenant & Administration are paramount at this time, for the survival of both the bride, the living Davidic King, and the health well being and union of head and body both. As foretold by ‘Abdu’l-Baha in Star of the West and many of his other writings, letters and epistles, and confirmed and reiterated by the Guardian Shoghi Effendi, the final showdown of the forces of good and evil, the forces light and dark, for the triumph of the power of the Covenant of God over ignorance and peoples addictions to violation, is to take place here in the United States, by the clear light of the 100th year anniversary of the Day of the Covenant, that is the Ascension of the Master ‘Abdu’l-Baha, in which the sacred Will and Testament went into effect on Nov. 28, 1921 + 100 years = Nov. 28, 2021.

 

Thus comes to us some notion of the spiritual and material purifications by fire, Hopi second year shall bring upon all the peoples of the world, with the core group of active members of the BUPC world community, being raised up, doing the inner temple work, and being objects of purification first and foremost, in our loving and wonderful spiritual community, firm in the Covenant, and prepared to take on any task or calling of the spirit that originates from God Almighty, not the mere human impulse of man, self or others.

 

Tears of joy, cannot be held back from raining down upon our happy hearts during this great time of global crisis and group testing. As the sun of reality shines though the manifestation of God Baha’u’llah today from out the ABHA Realm, rainbows fill our eyes, and the love of God is untied with the knowledge of God to form the magic of our own personal direct and immediate experience of God. How we treat one another as each of us purifies in their own way, in their own style and their own time of growth and maturation, will set both the pattern for a future new society of human relationships, as well as the seeds of destruction from our foibles, our faux pas, our violations and wrongs, that will undoubtedly contribute to precipitate the crisis spoken of in the Book of Revelation chapter 20 that shall inevitably come to pass after this first 1000 years are ended. Nine Hundred and Seventy Nine more to go! :)

 

Be that as it may, the purifying crisis of today’s world has seen in this first year’s development the smooth emergence of the European Group Function as well as the USNC coming into its own, and the consolidation and deepening of the National Baha’i Council of India. The extended EU Group includes active participation from the UK, France, and Russia, as well as South Africa, Denmark, Iran, New Zealand, Azerbaijan, and many other nations and people where the Baha’i peoples under the provisions of the Covenant reside on the mainland of Europe proper. The USNC is leading the way for the proper development, implementation and actualization for Baha’i Covenant and Administration in the necessary conditions of the present time.

 

Through these cutting edge and new beginnings, the USNC, will set the pattern (as Shoghi Effendi and ‘Abdu’l-Baha have stated, what happens in the Cause in America sets the pattern) for the blossoming of many local and regional centers simultaneous throughout all the world. In this regard the 7 Years of Hopi purification, seen through a Baha’i lens, can be viewed as the concurrent twin 7 Years plans of Shoghi Effendi (based upon Tablets of the Divine Plan) being unfurled at the present time for the development of Baha’i spiritual function in the Americas and Europe. Likewise the 10 years International World Crusade is happening concurrently as well.

 

The pattern set by the USNC shall allow the many and diverse European centers to consolidate and amplify the form of their own independent groups and councils (on both the local and national/regional  levels), and form their own style of interviewing people, and inviting the people and friends they are connected with through Spirit to the 19 days feast and other social and spiritual Baha’i functions in their respective areas.

 

The Baha’i International on-line group chaired by the secretary General of the IBC/UHJ this last year has been the “gene” pool (secretary pool), so to speak, giving birth to all these great beneficial things, and much, much, more, during this first foundational year of crisis. Where Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian was murdered in London during the bird-flu of 1957-1958 and the Cause outwardly seeming derailed for time by Ruhiyyih Khanum and the Hands; today’s bird flu (Covid19) has seen the complete opposite of that, in fact, with the complete defeat of the company of the covenant-breakers (formerly educated by the Lamb: 2001-2016) today’s bird flu (Covid19) has seen the resurrection and return of the majesty and excellence of the Baha’i World Faith and the Baha’i World Order for those who pass through these tests as the twice-born, that is, for those who have ears to hear and eyes to see!

 

Great and stupendous is the future that awaits our International Community of the Covenant, and upon the breaking of the Fast this Naw Ruz, in which Baha’u’llah has revealed in the Naw Ruz prayer:

 

“He Who is Thy Branch and all Thy company, O my Lord, have broken this day their fast, after having observed it within the precincts of Thy court, and in their eagerness to please Thee.  Do Thou ordain for Him, and for them, and for all such as have entered Thy presence in those days all the good Thou didst destine in Thy Book.  Supply them, then, with that which will profit them, in both this life and in the life beyond.

 

“Thou, in truth, art the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.”

 

This cleansing of past behaviors, attitudes, thought processes, and social interactions from toxic patterns and toxic relationships is--even like the Baha’i Fast--all about what the next six years of Hopi purification really means. Hopi, literally means “obedient” (as in “Obed [Hopi] was the father of Jesse”), and we are all to be obedient unto God and to every single provision of the Master’s scared Will and Testament, which is the Charter for the Kingdom (see WOB, p. 144 for more).

 

Now that the first year (a day is as a year Ez. 4:6) is passed over, we in our fledgling International and Global Baha’i Community of the Covenant (the BUPC everywhere) have experienced the “death” of the first-born and the exodus is upon us for We who are now alive as the twice-born!

 

Thus prophecy is fulfilled, and expectations are not.

 

Allah’u’Abha! And a Happy and wonderful Naw Ruz to us all!

 

I remain yours,

 

your servant,

 

Neal.

 

“The Guardians of the Baha’i Faith cannot be declared to be Covenant-breakers. The people cannot be commanded to shun the Guardian.”--Dr. Leland Jensen.

 

Naw-Rúz
Naw-Rúz, March 20th or 21st (varies based on the Badí‘ calendar), is the first day of the Bahá’í year.

Praised be Thou, O my God, that Thou hast ordained Naw-Rúz as a festival unto those who have observed the fast for love of Thee and abstained from all that is abhorrent unto Thee. Grant, O my Lord, that the fire of Thy love and the heat produced by the fast enjoined by Thee may inflame them in Thy Cause, and make them to be occupied with Thy praise and with remembrance of Thee.

Since Thou hast adorned them, O my Lord, with the ornament of the fast prescribed by Thee, do Thou adorn them also with the ornament of Thine acceptance, through Thy grace and bountiful favor. For the doings of men are all dependent upon Thy good pleasure, and are conditioned by Thy behest. Shouldst Thou regard him who hath broken the fast as one who hath observed it, such a man would be reckoned among them who from eternity had been keeping the fast. And shouldst Thou decree that he who hath observed the fast hath broken it, that person would be numbered with such as have caused the Robe of Thy Revelation to be stained with dust, and been far removed from the crystal waters of this living Fountain.

Thou art He through Whom the ensign “Praiseworthy art Thou in Thy works” hath been lifted up, and the standard “Obeyed art Thou in Thy behest” hath been unfurled. Make known this Thy station, O my God, unto Thy servants, that they may be made aware that the excellence of all things is dependent upon Thy bidding and Thy word, and the virtue of every act is conditioned by Thy leave and the good pleasure of Thy will, and may recognize that the reins of men’s doings are within the grasp of Thine acceptance and Thy commandment. Make this known unto them, that nothing whatsoever may shut them out from Thy Beauty, in these days whereon the Christ exclaimeth: “All dominion is Thine, O Thou the Begetter of the Spirit (Jesus)”; and Thy Friend (Muhammad) crieth out: “Glory be to Thee, O Thou the Best-Beloved, for that Thou hast uncovered Thy Beauty, and written down for Thy chosen ones what will cause them to attain unto the seat of the revelation of Thy Most Great Name, through which all the peoples have lamented except such as have detached themselves from all else except Thee, and set themselves towards Him Who is the Revealer of Thyself and the Manifestation of Thine attributes.”

He Who is Thy Branch and all Thy company, O my Lord, have broken this day their fast, after having observed it within the precincts of Thy court, and in their eagerness to please Thee. Do Thou ordain for Him, and for them, and for all such as have entered Thy presence in those days all the good Thou didst destine in Thy Book. Supply them, then, with that which will profit them, in both this life and in the life beyond.

Thou, in truth, art the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.

--Baha’u’llah.

Baha'u'llah

The Return of Christ

As the Bab gave his life so that Baha'u'llah should live, Baha'u'llah and 'Abdu'l-Baha gave their lives that the Davidic lineage should last for ever as the Presidents of the true Universal House of Justice of Baha'u'llah. The line of David has continued safe in America from the days of the Master's visit to that continent in 1912 when he rested for a day in the Rocky Mountains and where God has established his seed for ever.

http://www.uhj.net

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