> Both the Baha'i Faith and Islam discuss the idea of a spiritual disease > and there appears to be more than one sort). But what is a spiritual dis > ease really? Is it some sort of imbalance? Is it an invasion by a spiri > tual organism? What? > Best Regards, > Matt
As you indicate, just like there are different kinds of physical diseases there are different kinds of spiritual diseases. Some are due to an imbalance, and some to invasion in the sense of contagion. I think that the contagion is one of attitude, and not one of a spiritual organism in the sense of a being. That seems more in keeping with the Writings, which reject any sense of possession. The Master said in one of His addresses: "Every soul who lives according to the teachings of Bah�'u'll�h is free from the ailments and indispositions which prevail throughout the world of humanity; otherwise, selfish disorders, intellectual maladies, spiritual sicknesses, imperfections and vices will surround him... " (The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 204) What that quote does is place illness in proper context: Against the backdrop of spiritual health. It is difficult to understand or see disease, unless you know what is supposed to be there. We may well not even know what spiritual diseases we avoid, as we comply with the laws of the Aqdas, reciting our obligatory prayers, performing our ablutions, paying the Right of God ... As far as contagious spiritual disease, we have this description, only a part of which I am quoting here, from one who saw it at all too close a range: "It is difficult for those who have neither experienced what this disease is, nor devoted any consideration to the subject, to grasp the reality of the power for destruction it possesses. All the members of the family of Bah�'u'll�h grew up in the shadow of Covenant-breaking. The storms, separations, reconciliations, final sundering of ties, which are involved when a close, distinguished and often dear relative is dying spiritually of a spiritual disease, are inconceivable to one who has not experienced them. The weakness of the human heart, which so often attaches itself to an unworthy object, the weakness of the human mind, prone to conceit and self-assurance in personal opinions, involve people in a welter of emotions that blind their judgment and lead them far astray. In the East, where the sense of family to this day is still strongly clannish, its members cling to each other much more intensely than in the West. No matter what Yahya had done there was a lingering feeling in the family that, after all, some reason must be on his side, not all justification in a "family matter" was necessarily on Bah�'u'll�h's side. One can readily see that if even the faintest trace of such an attitude existed amongst members of Bah�'u'll�h's own family the children would not grow up to see Covenant-breaking in its true proportions. The flaw would be there, the most dangerous of all human doubts, that after all the Perfect One might not under all circumstances be perfect, but sometimes just a little prone to error in judging others. When this doubt enters the germs are present in one's own system, perhaps to lie dormant forever, perhaps to flare up into disease." (Ruhiyyih Khanum, The Priceless Pearl, p. 121) She then draws a dramatic parallel to the last stages of grave physical disease: "But when year after year a house is torn by heart-breaking emotions, shaken by scenes that leave one's brain numb, one's nerves decimated and one's feelings in a turmoil, it is not simple, it is just plain hell. Before a patient lies on the operating table and the offending part is removed there is a long process of delay, of therapeutic effort to remedy the disease, of hope for recovery. So it is with Covenant-breaking; the taint is detected; warning, remonstrance, advice follow; it seems better; it breaks out again, worse than before; convulsive situations arise - repentance, forgiveness follow - and then all over again, the same thing, worse than before, recommences." (Ruhiyyih Khanum, The Priceless Pearl, p. 122) I have only been in the presence of a devoted Covenant-breaker one time. At the time I was a Protection Board member, and I spoke for a time with a follower of Leland Jensen. He seemed to me to be the most confused person I ever met. I had a sense that someone had taken a dictionary, cut out all the words, then used an egg-beater and mixed them up thoroughly, and put them back into this young boy's brain. It was not illogic in his statements; it was in his spirit. At the same time I came away with a sense that between the lines of illogic, there was a powerful disease, and one should treat it with as much respect as, say, that Australian fellow who picks up deadly snakes on TV. Finally, I want to take this opportunity to pick up on something Ruhiyyih Khanum mentions above -- when she speaks of removing the offending part. Three months ago a young hiker named Aron Ralston was hiking in the Utah wilderness. A boulder rolled and trapped his right hand, pinning him hopelessly. After four days he figured out how to free himself: Break both of the bones in his forearm, then use his pocketknife to sever his forearm. He did so, then calmly walked out of the canyon, and is now in good health -- minus his right hand and wrist. I was reminded of the words of Christ in the Gospel: "And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off and cast it from thee. For it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell." (Matthew 5:30) This verse, and its twin, in which Christ says to pluck out your right eye if it offends (misleads) you, I had never understood -- not until I read the Master's Last Tablet to America. In that Tablet He warns the believers repeatedly to shun the Covenant-breakers, and explains how He and Baha'u'llah had cast them out of the Cause. The Master then (Baha'i World Faith, p. 432) quotes the above verse from the Gospel of Matthew, and explains that this refers to cutting off a member of the body of the Cause -- not a part of the human body. Then it became clear. Often Baha'u'llah praises the truly learned person as an "eye" to the body of humanity (ESW 83, Tablets 208). He, and His Successors, designated believers as "Hands" of the Cause. These are crucial organs in the human body -- the eye and the hand. They aid in the development and function of the human being. And yet -- if they threaten the life of the organism they should be plucked out and cut off. This is what happened when the Hand Remey was severed, and when the "eyes", scholars like Sohrab and Avarih and Ruhi Afnan, were plucked out. This young man, Aron Ralston, showed a vivid example of how hesitant one is to take this step; how painful it is; yet ultimately, how liberating. Brent ---------- You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Baha'i Studies is available through the following: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://list.jccc.net/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=bahai-st news://list.jccc.net/bahai-st http://www.escribe.com/religion/bahaist (public) http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED] (public)
