Prayers for peace

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Category: Alison Marshall's Column

Created: Tuesday, 21 February 2006 10:40

Published: Tuesday, 21 February 2006 10:40

Written by Alison

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"Therefore, O My God, leave them not by themselves;
take their hands by the supremacy of Thy grace,
then resurrect them in the presence of Thy regal generosity.
Send them forth, O my Beloved, to that
which Thou didst desire for them by the majesty of Thine eternity.
For this is that Good that shall never
have any peer or likeness in all creation;
and verily, Thou art Powerful over all things.

Praise be to Thee, my Beloved.
I ask Thee by Thy hidden Name,
then by Thy concealed description
and Thine impregnable mystery,
not to deprive them of the billowing seas of Thy unicity.
Bring them, O my Goal, aboard the ship of Thy Grandeur,
nor deprive them, O my Desire, of that which is with Thee.
Then reveal to them what will
soothe their breasts,
delight their hearts,
render their souls upright,
cause their tongues to speak forth,
cause their hearts to soar,
solace their eyes,
give hearing to their ears,
and endue their yearning with ardent passion,
that they might be attracted
by the breezes of Thy glorious verses,
to which none hath attained save those
whom Thou didst single out
for the mystical knowledge of Thy Self;
whom Thou didst select to receive
the treasures of Thy resplendent Unity;
whom Thou didst advance in order to make manifest
Thy Cause and Thy sovereignty;
whom Thou didst render the dawning-point
of Thy Being in Thy lands,
the rising-place of Thine eternity among Thy creatures
and the manifestation of Thy divinity
between Thy heaven and Thy earth."

Baha'u'llah: Tablet of the Sacred Night

The 'sacred night' refers to the night of the declaration of the Bab. You can read all about it at the link, where Juan has included a detailed introduction.

The delight of hearts

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Category: Alison Marshall's Column

Created: Sunday, 19 February 2006 14:05

Published: Sunday, 19 February 2006 14:05

Written by Alison

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Another book published by Kalimat Press, which is well worth reading, is Stories from the Delight of Hearts. The memoirs of Haji Mirza Haydar Ali, translated from the original Persian and abridged by A Q Faizi. The book is structured a bit like Memorials of the Faithful in that it is a collection of short stories, sometimes a couple of paragraphs long and sometimes a few pages long. When Haydar Ali was asked to come and live in Akka with the Master, Abdu'l-Baha asked him to write down his memoirs. This book is a translation of some of the recollections he wrote down.

The book tells us how Haydar Ali became a Babi and then a Baha'i. The most extraordinary aspect of the book is his account of his years of imprisonment. If you think to yourself how terrible the Siyah Chal was, then you have some idea of what Haydar Ali suffered. Only for him it went on for years rather than just four months.

We can get some idea of Haydar Ali's superhuman endurance when we compare his experience with a modern-day event. A few weeks ago, I learned on the news about a New Zealand man who was out diving. Somehow he became separated from his boat and the sea took him quite a long way away. He saw the searchers trying to find him but they could not see him floating in the water. As it turned out, they found him three days later. By this time, everyone believed that he would be dead. They imagined that no one could survive floating in the sea for three days. But he had undergone navy training, which had taught him how to survive that kind of situation. The navy officer that took the course explained that survival came down to mental endurance. That was the principal thing he taught his students. It puts into perspective what Haydar Ali endured. His intense torments lasted for months at a time, culminating in years of imprisonment overall.

He had been imprisoned for some time in Iran and then was to be taken by camel to the Sudan. Before the prisoners set out, they were put into permanent shackles. Haydar Ali describes what happened (pages 44 to 47):

On the sixteenth day the soldiers took us to ironsmiths and carpenters in order to place permanent fetters on our feet and chains around our necks. This process proved to be more painful than anything which we had previously endured. We could not control ourselves and cried out in pain. The soldiers, blacksmiths, and carpenters wept at our plight. This was particularly true of the blacksmiths and carpenters, who cursed their professions for making them instruments for the torture of innocent people.

The last operation was to put our hands in stocks. The heavy fetters on our feet, the terrible chains on our necks and hands made every little movement a torment. We could not move our hands much, nor was it possible for us to lift the chains on our feet in order to make their weight less painful while walking.

The fashioning of the chains and the stocks began about two o'clock in the afternoon and was finished a little after sunset. ...

During our captivity, our clothes had never been changed. We had worn them for months and they became so torn and dirty that they were intolerable. Now that we were chained we could not even take them off to wash them.

Gradually, God inspired the hearts of the guards and soldiers, and they took a liking to us. Out of pity they prepared us long, white garments. They had to tear the clothes off our bodies. Then they washed us with hot water and clothed us with the new long robes. We felt so happy that we thought it was New Year's Day and we were wearing clothes for the festivities....

On the third day, the guards were changed, and new ones came with camels for us to ride. But chained together as we were, our feet in one stock and our wrists joined by chains, how could we ride on camels? The guards were at a loss for what to do and how to carry us to our next destination. Eventually they brought some long pieces of strong, white cloth. They placed the hands and feet of each pair of us on the saddle, one person hanging on one side of the camel, and the other on the other side. Then they tied our hanging bodies to the camels with the white cloths. A more tortuous way to travel cannot be imagined!

Although we were in great pain and torture, as we watched each other hanging from the camels, the sight was so ridiculous that we could not help laughing.

In addition to Haydar Ali's account of his imprisonment, he also tells us about his travel teaching around Iran and about the things he witnessed when he was living in Akka with Abdu'l-Baha. That is the other gruelling part of the book, the horrific stories of what Abdu'l-Baha endured at the hands of the covenant breakers.

Miracles

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Category: Alison Marshall's Column

Created: Friday, 17 February 2006 15:24

Published: Friday, 17 February 2006 15:24

Written by Alison

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I am in the process of reading Some Answered Questions cover to cover. I have been meaning to do it for a long time, but these things always come in their own good time. Now that I am finally doing it, I am getting a great deal out of it. I am glad that I waited until after I had read all those books about Abdu'l-Baha, which gave me a feeling of who he is.

Now that I read Some Answered Questions, I have a sense that Abdu'l-Baha is saying just one thing over and over again in different ways. That feeling overwhelms me now when I read Baha'u'llah's writings. The remark from the Imam Ali, which Baha'u'llah quotes in the Iqan, "Knowledge is a single point but the ignorant have multiplied it." captures what I'm trying to say. The same idea is found in this Hidden Word: "O essence of negligence! Myriads of mystic tongues find utterance in one speech, and myriads of hidden mysteries are revealed in a single melody; yet, alas, there is no ear to hear, nor heart to understand." (PHW, 16)

The passage that got me going this morning was the following, from the chapter on miracles, chapter 22:

"But in the day of the Manifestation the people with insight see that all the conditions of the Manifestation are miracles, for They are superior to all others, and this alone is an absolute miracle. Recollect that Christ, solitary and alone, without a helper or protector, without armies and legions, and under the greatest oppression, uplifted the standard of God before all the people of the world, and withstood them, and finally conquered all, although outwardly He was crucified. Now this is a veritable miracle which can never be denied." (SAQ, p101)

This short summary of what Christ achieved moved me to tears. It is a description of the glory and grace of God. Without help from anyone in the physical world and, in fact, despite the enormous oppression and opposition from the forces in the physical world, and Christ's seeming defeat through his crucifixion, he nevertheless came out the winner. For me, this summarises everything that is worth knowing and everything that is beautiful. It is indeed a miracle.

And today, as we Baha'is look at the situation we find ourselves in, this principle applies to us too. We look around us and we see that the Baha'i administration is lost in the wilds of remoteness and no longer gives off Baha'u'llah's fragrance, and it seems that all has been lost. But we are not unique in feeling this way and in being in a situation that seems hopeless. Every generation that wishes to be remembered in spiritual history has found itself in a hopeless situation. This is the point. We win anyway, despite the fact that, on the face of it, we have lost.

Mirza Abu'l-Fadl, in his book The Baha'i Proofs (published by Kalimat!), explains that this is the greatest proof of Baha'u'llah's revelation and, indeed of any revelation. The religion of each of the manifestations prevails despite the fact that each of the manifestations was opposed by all the forces on the earth. This is the proof -- something other than worldly forces has brought the religion into being and made it successful. And that spiritual force is on our side too, if we look to it and not to worldly things for support.

"Even or odd, thou shalt win the wager." The friends of God shall win and profit under all conditions, and shall attain true wealth. In fire they remain cold, and from water they emerge dry. Their affairs are at variance with the affairs of men. Gain is their lot, whatever the deal. To this testifieth every wise one with a discerning eye, and every fair-minded one with a hearing ear. (Baha'u'llah: Crisis and Victory, p 154)

Worship

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Category: Alison Marshall's Column

Created: Tuesday, 14 February 2006 13:25

Published: Tuesday, 14 February 2006 13:25

Written by Alison

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I was thinking over what I said in my last podcast about being dutiful about saying my prayers but not feeling as though I was getting closer to Baha'u'llah. I found that I was caught up in the duty of saying my prayers but my heart was somewhere else.

I find that my devotions work much better if I am honest about where I am and take that reality about my condition with me into my prayers. Sometimes I feel cut off from Baha'u'llah and sometimes I feel so exhilarated that every word leaps off the page at me. If I acknowledge these feelings at the beginning, it really helps. I know that Baha'u'llah understands how I am feeling and appreciates my being honest about it. I know that he loves me and is supportive at times when I just can't get the feeling right. I also say to myself, "Well, struggle is part of the path and the important thing is that I persevere." And, invariably, things come right.

But in any case, here are a couple of quotes about not letting the activity of worship get in the way of worship.

"Say: Take heed lest your devotions withhold you from Him Who is the object of all devotion, or your worship debar you from Him Who is the object of all worship. Rend asunder the veils of your idle fancies! This is your Lord, the Almighty, the All-Knowing, Who hath come to quicken the world and unite all who dwell on earth." The Summons of the Lord of Hosts, page 58, paragraph 109

And here is an interesting piece from Marzieh Gail's Summon up Remembrance (Oxford: George Ronald, 1987). Florence describes how she went to morning prayers while she was staying in Abdu'l-Baha's house. She describes the room and identifies the people sitting on divans around the walls and by the windows. As she enters the room, one of Abdu'l-Baha's daughters is chanting. At one end of the room were the samovars and women were quietly moving about serving tea. As Florence puts it, "The tea was being unobtrusively served and drunk simultaneously with the prayers. The meeting was not cold and informal -- it was natural and easy, more like people gathered as a family to listen to music." This certainly caught me by surprise. How wonderful that things at Abdu'l-Baha's house should be so natural and informal.

Have the stars fallen?

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Category: Alison Marshall's Column

Created: Monday, 13 February 2006 14:22

Published: Monday, 13 February 2006 14:22

Written by Alison

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Last night, I had some more thoughts about the movie As it is in Heaven. As I have explained in my podcast (below), the movie is about a famous conductor who comes to his village and begins teaching the local church choir how to sing together. Gradually, the choir learns how to sing together and how to be together -- the two activities being inseparable. As a result, they experience and reflect light and spirituality and challenge others in the village who do not love the light in themselves.

One of those people is the church pastor. At one point, someone wryly comments that more people attend choir practices than attend Mass. The church pastor is eaten up with envy at the success of the choir and its conductor. He hates the conductor. At one crisis point, he rings the conductor and invites him over to his place. The pastor points a shotgun at him and threatens to shoot him. He says to the conductor, "I used to be someone around here before you took it away from me." The pastor represents established religion and its inability to embrace the spirit. It was true that the pastor had lost everything -- he had lost his authority and respect in the village. But, most importantly, he had lost the spirit which now permeated the choir. The honest, loving and supportive relationships among the members of the choir had attracted the spirit and generated light. The pastor and his church no longer had this.

Last night it dawned on me that this was an excellent example of how the stars have fallen. In the Iqan, Baha'u'llah tells us that the prophecy about the stars falling from the sky refers to the leaders of religion losing their authority. The pastor in the movie was an example of a star that had fallen. He was attached to his position of authority and steadfastly refused to join in with the choir on an equal footing with others. He saw himself as being the one to control and rule the choir, not to participate in it. But he was fighting a losing battle because what he had lost had been taken from him by Baha'u'llah and it was never going to come back.

It also occurred to me that the same principle applies to the Baha'i institutions. Generally, we think that the stars falling applies to the leaders of religion of previous revelations. But there is no basis for this assumption. Baha'u'llah tells us that the main characters of each revelation return in subsequent ones. If the Baha'i institutions act in the same way that the religious institutions of old have acted, then their stars fall also. There is no difference from a spiritual point of view. What matters and what lives on in eternity is the spirit between the people. Wherever that exists, that is where Baha'u'llah is -- and that is where the Baha'is are.