What a power is love!
It is the most wonderful,
the greatest of all living powers.
Dear Angels,
As THE BAHA'I MASTER exemplified with unwavering confidence and authority, the flowering of the gifts and abilities of the soul is essential not only for our eternal happiness, but for our lasting impact as the world community of the Greatest Name:
For the Bahá’í Faith is above all a way of life. It is not a mere philosophical or social doctrine. It is a closely-knit and harmoniously functioning community, a worldwide spiritual fraternity which seeks to reform the world first and foremost by bringing about a deep inner spiritual change in the heart of individuals.
So, let's explore the path that leads to the enlightenment of the soul, to be useful here and to be eternally happy in the world to come.
As the Master says:
As the Master says:
...this spirit is permanent and eternal, we must strive to learn it. May you be informed of its power, hasten to make it divine, to make it sanctified and holy and to make it the very light of the world illuminating the East and the West.
His other assertions about the inconceivable phenomenon of the soul will be our starting point:
Be it known that to know the reality or essence of the soul of man is impossible...*...in this glorious age the divine confirmations are like unto the rays of the sun. The hearts and souls are like unto the surface of crystal. The clearer the crystal the greater the refulgence of the sunlight...
If the individual soul can be visualized as the luminous reflection of the qualities immanent in the eternal spirit, these qualities must be cultivated with time and effort on this earthly plane, the only remaining vestiges of our previous life when we enter the disembodied world, our spiritual and everlasting treasure.
Now imagine that this treasure is relatively poor in moral virtues, which are the only ones that allow us to live happily and comfortably in the afterlife, an existence that is mainly conditioned by the qualitative nature of our previous life.
In view of the fact that it is much more difficult to acquire these attributes once we are in GOD'S INFINITE WORLDS, would we not be inclined to increase the amount of effort required to attain a greater wealth, a more resplendent Self-image whilst still in this mortal plane?
But how?
The Scriptures and the lives of the prophets and saints remind us that the blood of the soul is Love. The form of love that is consistent with the divine will, those pure acts and intentions that aimed at improving the social, spiritual, economic or material order:
Listen to what John said long ago to the Christian world long ago, echoed in the Baha'i Writings:Know thou that in every age and dispensation, all the divine laws and ordinances are changed and altered according to the requirements of the times, except the law of love which, like a stream,
floweth continually, and whose course never suffereth alteration or change.*...love is the greatest law in this vast universe of God.*
Love is the cause of the development of every enlightened man!
God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
*
The essence of wealth is love for Me; whoso loveth Me is the possessor of all things, and he that loveth Me not is indeed of the poor and needy. This is that which the Finger of Glory and Splendour hath revealed.
Of necessity, the requirements of the present Age not being those of the past, to love God in honoring all that He invites us to do for the betterment of all forms of life implies the knowledge of the LATEST DIVINE TEACHINGS to ensure the simultaneous societal and personal evolution -the supreme goal of the Divine Revelations- clinging to them as our only perfect guide. Since the requirements of the present age are necessarily not those of the past, you will admit that to love God by honoring all that He invites us to do for the betterment of all forms of life, requires the knowledge of the LATEST DIVINE TEACHINGS to ensure the simultaneous social and personal evolution - the supreme goal of the Divine Revelation - by clinging to them as our only perfect guide.
But not in words, in deeds!
But not in words, in deeds!
In essence, to progress on the spiritual path, we must live with love for everything and everyone. And this practice of authentic love will naturally develop all other virtues, leading to our enlightenment and eternal happiness. Easy rule, hard practice! Here's a start:
The language of kindness is the lodestone of hearts and the food of the soul...
Be wonderfully blessed !
Loesha
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Loesha
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