Dear Brent,
Thank you very much for this reply. I am meditating upon it and I fidn it
helpful. Thanks sincerely.
ron
On Jan 4, 2008 12:04 PM, Brent Poirier Attorney <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
wrote:
> Ron, you asked whether Sen's views are "problematic" since they are
> close to your own. I can't approach these views that way. I can say
> that there is some I agree with, and some I don't agree with. But I'm
> no standard of anything. You have to read the Writings for yourself and
> see what you come up with.
>
> As to whether the Writings are a proof in the same sense as in Islam, or
> whether they are a third-tier proof. That's an interesting point,
> because it follows what Baha'u'llah says about His Person and His
> Revelation being superior proofs. This is similar to the passage in SAQ
> where the Master says that if the Manifestation was alive, one could
> enter His presence and that would provide all proof needed; but since He
> has left this realm, logical proofs are needed. The Master then proceeds
> to present proofs from the Book of Daniel; and that's the chapter of SAQ
> His comment is in.
>
> However, what does it mean that the verses of the Qur'an, for example,
> are a proof? Abu'l-Fazl explained this very well in a book published by
> Kalimat, stating that it's not that there's some magic in the
> arrangement of word and letters, but rather (if memory serves correctly)
> that if one applies the Teachings of the Qur'an, spiritual changes
> occur, and these are the miracles and the proof of the verses of the
> Qur'an. And this is similar to what the Guardian says, that we don't
> follow Baha'u'llah blindly, He asks us to consider His teachings in the
> light of current problems, then the truth is apparent; and I see this as
> essentially the same as Abu'l-Fazl's explanation of the nature of the
> proof of the verses of the Qur'an. But exactly where the hierarchy is,
> what's 1 and 2 and 3 in the order of proofs I can't say for sure. We
> are discussing something that is above human nature, so we have to be
> careful about any pronouncements, because our little minds can't wrap
> themselves around these things that are greater than our minds and
> spirits are.
>
> 2. There are two different approaches mentioned in the Writings. For
> example, in one place Baha'u'llah urges adoption of a universal
> auxiliary language, but in another place He writes:
>
> "We have formerly ordained that people should converse in two languages,
> yet efforts must be made to reduce them to one, likewise the scripts of
> the world, that men's lives may not be dissipated and wasted in learning
> divers languages. Thus the whole earth would come to be regarded as one
> city and one land." (Tablets of Baha'u'llah, p. 68)
>
> That it is His directive to have a transitional period of indeterminate
> length where there would be diversity of languages with one common world
> tongue; but ultimately have only one language for the world; seems to be
> what He expresses here:
>
> "Second: Languages must be reduced to one common language to be taught
> in all the schools of the world." (Tablets of Baha'u'llah, p. 89)
>
> "Likewise He saith: Among the things which are conducive to unity and
> concord and will cause the whole earth to be regarded as one country is
> that the divers languages be reduced to one language and in like manner
> the scripts used in the world be confined to a single script." (Tablets
> of Baha'u'llah, p. 165)
>
> So, if my understanding is correct, first there will be a world
> auxiliary language; then later, the other languages will be dispensed
> with, and there will be only one language for the entire world.
>
> I read the admonitions related to diversity of religion in the same
> light. We Baha'is are supposed to excel at promotion of tolerance and
> understanding among the religions:
>
> "Consort with the followers of all religions in a spirit of friendliness
> and fellowship." (Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 95)
>
> However, as Baha'u'llah reportedly said to E.G. Browne:
>
> "We desire but the good of the world and the happiness of the
> nations...that all nations should become one in faith and all men as
> brothers; that the bonds of affection and unity between the sons of men
> should be strengthened; that diversity of religion should cease...
> (Baha'u'llah, quoted in The Advent of Divine Justice, p. 37)
>
> Likewise He writes:
>
> "The second question concerneth faith and religion. The Faith of God
> hath in this day been made manifest. He Who is the Lord of the world is
> come and hath shown the way. His faith is the faith of benevolence and
> His religion is the religion of forbearance. This faith bestoweth
> eternal life and this religion enableth mankind to dispense with all
> else. It verily embraceth all faiths and all religions. Take hold
> thereof and guard it well." (Baha'u'llah, Tabernacle of Unity)
>
> So it is my understanding that there is a period of transition, and that
> ultimately all will recognize Baha'u'llah. He writes to Queen Victoria:
>
> "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." (The Summons of the
> Lord of Hosts, p. 91)
>
> The phrase "one common Faith" is vahdat shari'at. That is, one common
> divinely revealed Law--which I understand to mean the universal
> application of the Aqdas. So long as there are followers of the earlier
> Revelations, their rights will be scrupulously protected by the House of
> Justice. But ultimately it is my understanding that all will recognize
> Baha'u'llah, that "diversity of religion will cease," that "every eye
> will see," that, as the Bab said in the Bayan, everyone on earth will
> become a believer.
>
> "In the "Bayan" the Báb says that every religion of the past was fit to
> become universal. The only reason why they failed to attain that mark
> was the incompetence of their followers. He then proceeds to give a
> definite promise that this would not be the fate of the revelation of
> "Him Whom God would make manifest", that it will become universal and
> include all the people of the world."
> (From a letter dated 20 February 1932 written on behalf of Shoghi
> Effendi to an individual believer) (The Compilation of Compilations vol
> II, p. 4, #1275)
>
> Brent
>
>
>
>
>
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