The Baha'i Studies Listserv I was going throught Lights of Guidance, and I found the following quotes:
"Regarding the materialization of spirits through mediums: A person finding himself in a state of trance, or unconsciousness, is like one who sleeps; whatever he feels and sees he imagines to be matter and of material things, but in reality they are wholly immaterial." "… The Guardian would suggest that you study very carefully the statement of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in connection with the question of visions, dreams, etc., as ‘Abdu’l-Bahá has very fully explained this delicate subject. You will find references to this in 'Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era,' 'Some Answered Questions' and the Books of Tablets. The Guardian likewise has commented on this matter. "Briefly, there is no question that visions occasionally do come to individuals, which are true and have significance. On the other hand, this comes to an individual through the grace of God, and not through the exercise of any of the human faculties. It is not a thing which a person should try to develop. When a person endeavors to develop faculties so that they might enjoy visions, dreams etc., actually what they are doing is weakening certain of their spiritual capacities; and thus under such circumstances, dreams and visions have no reality, and ultimately lead to the destruction of the character of the person." On Thu, Aug 19, 2010 at 7:32 AM, Patti Goebel <[email protected]> wrote: > The Baha'i Studies Listserv > I'm not certain where one draws the line between astral projection/lucid > dreaming and meditation, but I would suggest that they are clearly different > things. I believe I recall seeing a letter/compilation from the House on > the subject of psychic forces several years ago. It indicated that psychic > forces are real, but not to be actively pursued in this world. I believe > the gist of it is covered in the passage pasted below. > > My take would be that astral projection & lucid dreaming fall within the > category of psychic forces (not to be actively worked to develop in this > world) while meditation is encouraged as a means of preparing one's soul for > active use of psychic forces in the next world. > > Patti > > _________________________ > > 806. To tamper with psychic forces while in this world interferes with the > condition of the soul in the world to come. These forces are real, but are > not to be active on this plane. > > The child in the womb has its eyes, ears, hands and feet, but these powers > are not in activity. The whole purpose of the womb-life is the coming forth > into this world. So, the whole purpose of this matrix-world life is the > coming forth into the world of Reality, where all these (psychic) forces > will be active. They belong to that world. > > This mineral and these trees have no knowledge of the animal and human > worlds; they cannot imagine them, they deny their very existence. While the > human world is helping the animal and developing the vegetable kingdoms, > these kingdoms are unconscious of it. Similarly, the human world cannot > comprehend the world of the Kingdom; it is absolutely ignorant of the > Kingdom, while the heavenly spirits have influence in the human world. > > Observe how clear this point is, yet the professors and philosophers of the > world ignore this Reality! The psychic mediums, however, are speaking of the > world of thought and not the world of Reality. But a heavenly soul who is > conscious of the divine world, whose eye of discernment is open, who is > severed from the world of nature, and has attained to spiritual power -- > this soul is cognizant of the divine world and the world of spirits. Reality > is pure spirit, it is not physical. That is, it occupies no space. 443 > > (Compilations, Baha'i Scriptures, p. 442) > , but > > > __________________________________________________ > You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:[email protected] > Unsubscribe: send a blank email to mailto:[email protected] > Subscribe: send subscribe bahai-st in the message body to [email protected] > Or subscribe: > http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/all_forums/subscribe?name=bahai-st > Baha'i Studies is available through the following: > Mail - mailto:[email protected] > Web - http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/?forum=bahai-st > News (on-campus only) - news://list.jccc.edu/bahai-st > Old Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] > New Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] > __________________________________________________ You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:[email protected] Unsubscribe: send a blank email to mailto:[email protected] Subscribe: send subscribe bahai-st in the message body to [email protected] Or subscribe: http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/all_forums/subscribe?name=bahai-st Baha'i Studies is available through the following: Mail - mailto:[email protected] Web - http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/?forum=bahai-st News (on-campus only) - news://list.jccc.edu/bahai-st Old Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] New Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]
