Sprinking of the Cloud Beyond Being (audio and intro)

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Category: Alison Marshall's Column

Created: Thursday, 20 April 2006 14:45

Published: Thursday, 20 April 2006 14:45

Written by Alison Marshall

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Greetings to all, and happy Ridvan! In celebration of this day I am putting up another audio. This time it is of the poem Baha'u'llah composed in the Siyah Chal. It seems to me to be a fitting poem to put up today, as it celebrates the vision Baha'u'llah had of the houri while he was in prison and the ushering in of the Day of God.

4-minute audio of Mark Choveaux reading Sprinking of the Cloud Beyond Being

Or listen to it here:
{sstreamtalk}http://www.whoisbahaullah.com/Alison/readings/Sprinkling_Cloud_Beyond_Being.mp3|250|Sprinking of the Cloud Beyond Being|#5192CA{/sstreamtalk}

The translation is by Juan Cole and is at http://www.whoisbahaullah.com/Alison/sprinkle.html.

The background music to the audio is "Meditations", by Massenet (from Thais). Played by Nigel Kennedy. From "The Greatest Classical Stars on Earth" Decca

My introduction to the poem follows.

Read more: Sprinking of the Cloud Beyond Being (audio and intro)

Matthew 9:16-17

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Category: Alison Marshall's Column

Created: Wednesday, 19 April 2006 12:53

Published: Wednesday, 19 April 2006 12:53

Written by Alison Marshall

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"No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment and the rent is made worse. Neither do men put new wine into old bottles, else the bottles break and the wine runneth out and the bottles perish. But they put new wine into new bottles and both are preserved." Matthew 9:16-17

"In like manner, strive thou to comprehend from these lucid, these powerful, conclusive, and unequivocal statements the meaning of the 'cleaving of the heaven' - one of the signs that must needs herald the coming of the last Hour, the Day of Resurrection. As He hath said: 'When the heaven shall be cloven asunder.'[Qur?an 82:1] By 'heaven' is meant the heaven of divine Revelation, which is elevated with every Manifestation, and rent asunder with every subsequent one. By 'cloven asunder' is meant that the former Dispensation is superseded and annulled. I swear by God! That this heaven being cloven asunder is, to the discerning, an act mightier than the cleaving of the skies! Ponder a while. That a divine Revelation which for years hath been securely established; beneath whose shadow all who have embraced it have been reared and nurtured; by the light of whose law generations of men have been disciplined; the excellency of whose word men have heard recounted by their fathers; in such wise that human eye hath beheld naught but the pervading influence of its grace, and mortal ear hath heard naught but the resounding majesty of its command—what act is mightier than that such a Revelation should, by the power of God, be "cloven asunder" and be abolished at the appearance of one soul? Reflect, is this a mightier act than that which these abject and foolish men have imagined the 'cleaving of the heaven' to mean?" Baha'u'llah: Kitab-i-Iqan, pp 44-45

Matthew 9:10-13

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Category: Alison Marshall's Column

Created: Tuesday, 18 April 2006 13:23

Published: Tuesday, 18 April 2006 13:23

Written by Alison Marshall

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"And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners? But Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." Matthew 9:10-13

"Show forbearance and benevolence and love to one another. Should any one among you be incapable of grasping a certain truth, or be striving to comprehend it, show forth, when conversing with him, a spirit of extreme kindliness and good-will. Help him to see and recognize the truth, without esteeming yourself to be, in the least, superior to him, or to be possessed of greater endowments. The whole duty of man in this Day is to attain that share of the flood of grace which God poureth forth for him. Let none, therefore, consider the largeness or smallness of the receptacle. The portion of some might lie in the palm of a man's hand, the portion of others might fill a cup, and of others even a gallon-measure." Baha'u'llah: Gleanings, V

"Be unrestrained as the wind, while carrying the Message of Him Who hath caused the Dawn of Divine Guidance to break. Consider, how the wind, faithful to that which God hath ordained, bloweth upon all the regions of the earth, be they inhabited or desolate. Neither the sight of desolation, nor the evidences of prosperity, can either pain or please it. It bloweth in every direction, as bidden by its Creator. So should be every one that claimeth to be a lover of the one true God." Baha'u'llah: Gleanings CLXI

Matthew 9:2-6

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Category: Alison Marshall's Column

Created: Monday, 17 April 2006 14:27

Published: Monday, 17 April 2006 14:27

Written by Alison Marshall

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"And behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed, and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, be of good cheer, thy sins be forgiven thee. And behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemeth. And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts? For whether is easier to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee, or to say, Arise and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to give sins." Matthew 9:2-6

"It is also recorded in the Gospel according to St. Luke [Cf. Luke 5:18-26.], that on a certain day Jesus passed by a Jew who was sick of the palsy, and lay upon a couch. When the Jew saw Him, he recognized Him, and cried out for His help. Jesus said unto him: 'Arise from thy bed; thy sins are forgiven thee.' Certain of the Jews, standing by, protested saying: 'Who can forgive sins, but God alone?' And immediately He perceived their thoughts, Jesus answering said unto them: 'Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, arise, and take up thy bed, and walk; or to say, thy sins are forgiven thee? that ye may know that the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins.' This is the real sovereignty, and such is the power of God's chosen Ones!" Baha'u'llah: Kitab-i-Iqan, pp 133-134

Matthew 8:21-22

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Category: Alison Marshall's Column

Created: Sunday, 16 April 2006 14:23

Published: Sunday, 16 April 2006 14:23

Written by Alison Marshall

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"And another of his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. But Jesus said unto him, Follow me and let the dead bury their dead." Matthew 8:21-22

"Such things have come to pass in the days of every Manifestation of God. Even as Jesus said: 'Ye must be born again.'[John 3:7] Again He saith: 'Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.'[John 3:5-6] The purport of these words is that whosoever in every dispensation is born of the Spirit and is quickened by the breath of the Manifestation of Holiness, he verily is of those that have attained unto 'life' and 'resurrection' and have entered into the 'paradise' of the love of God. And whosoever is not of them, is condemned to 'death' and 'deprivation,' to the 'fire' of unbelief, and to the 'wrath' of God. In all the scriptures, the books and chronicles, the sentence of death, of fire, of blindness, of want of understanding and hearing, hath been pronounced against those whose lips have tasted not the ethereal cup of true knowledge, and whose hearts have been deprived of the grace of the holy Spirit in their day. Even as it hath been previously recorded: 'Hearts have they with which they understand not.'[Qur?an 7:178]

In another passage of the Gospel it is written: And it came to pass that on a certain day the father of one of the disciples of Jesus had died. That disciple reporting the death of his father unto Jesus, asked for leave to go and bury him. Whereupon, Jesus, that Essence of Detachment, answered and said: 'Let the dead bury their dead.' [Luke 9:60] ?

In every age and century, the purpose of the Prophets of God and their chosen ones hath been no other but to affirm the spiritual significance of the terms 'life,' 'resurrection,' and 'judgment.'" Behold, all the people are imprisoned within the tomb of self, and lie buried beneath the nethermost depths of worldly desire! Wert thou to attain to but a dewdrop of the crystal waters of divine knowledge, thou wouldst readily realize that true life is not the life of the flesh but the life of the spirit. For the life of the flesh is common to both men and animals, whereas the life of the spirit is possessed only by the pure in heart who have quaffed from the ocean of faith and partaken of the fruit of certitude. This life knoweth no death, and this existence is crowned by immortality. Even as it hath been said: "He who is a true believer liveth both in this world and in the world to come." If by 'life' be meant this earthly life, it is evident that death must needs overtake it."

Baha'u'llah: Kitab-i-Iqan, pp 118-121