Dear Friends,
When I say the Greatest Name 95 times, I often find that counting to 95 interferes with my concentrating on the spiritual act. As a solution, I have begun saying Allah'u'abha *without* counting; I just make sure I repeat it enough so that I am sure of saying it at least 95 times, probably more. For me, this is a good way to fulfill this spiritual obligation, because I don't want to let the counting distract me from the significance of the devotional act. Yes, I know about using fingers to count, and I do have a beautiful set of prayer beads my wife made for me. Even with those, counting is sometimes distracting.
The general principle here is that the reason for saying this 95 times is spiritual, not numerical :). To let the counting be the focus of my attention defeats the purpose. As long as I make sure to say it at least 95 times, I don't see any harm in this method.
Another example: Sometimes while driving, I say the short obligatory prayer.
Since I'm driving, I am sitting, and not necessarily facing Bahji.
As long as I say one of the obligatory prayers in the prescribed way, I see no harm
in saying it extra times, not in the prescribed way.
Do any of you know of passages from the writings that addresses this?
That is, places in the writings that discuss observing the spirit of the law,
while not adhering strictly to the letter.
Please note that I am restricting this principle only to laws concerning personal devotions; I don't think it is correct to apply this to laws about abstention from drugs or alcohol, chastity, backbiting, etc.
Thanks in advance for your insights and references from the writings, Tim Nolan
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