Whoso ariseth, in this
Day, to aid Our Cause, and summoneth to his assistance the hosts of a
praiseworthy character and upright conduct, the influence flowing from such an
action will, most certainly, be diffused throughout the whole world.
(Gleanings from the Writings
of Baha’u’llah: 287)
Another individual purpose is to “carry forward an ever-advancing
civilization.” (Gleanings: 214) Here I don’t wish to get into a sociological discussion of this purpose, because that strays too far into examining social
institutions. At this
juncture, suffice it to say that social institutions everywhere and at every level will no doubt
evolve and become more humane as they buckle, then crumble, then are rebuilt in
new global form by wise leaders of humankind under the imperative of
manifesting the oneness of humanity.
However, before that civilization becomes the
reality that we live within and not just dream about, every individual has
still an important role to play in advancing civilization toward that
goal. While most individuals can only
negligibly advance material civilization, every person can play a central role
in advancing spiritual civilization by acting as a catalyst and model of virtuous
behavior. In this we are following the
example of humanity’s great Spiritual Lights.
The power of example lies in its effect of raising the general
consciousness of humanity’s spiritual nature.
Uplifting human consciousness subtly influences society and people
toward ends that benefit everybody.
Virtues are powers not verbal platitudes.
They are not set-in-stone gems, mere adornments to a pious
life. Virtues are gem-like potentials of
“inestimable value” that have been deposited within every human being. They are fields of inner power: radiant
divine energies with vibrating influence.
Virtues are talismanic powers that attract whatever is needed from the
spiritual realm. But, in the practical
world, virtues are the right and proper way for human beings to behave toward
each other. They are templates of moral action. By beholding their expression in some people,
others can recognize their own divine nature.
Virtues attract the divinity of others and evoke a spiritual response
from them.
We are created rich in such potentials. Educing and practicing our virtues releases
their powers and aids humanity to create prosperity. How? We
know how to create material wealth by investing capital and organizing work
production, and with the technological revolution of the last two hundred years
we have the means at hand to produce wealth beyond the dreams of past
kings. But the earth does not contain
the non-renewable natural resources to produce unlimited material plenty for
all. One of the revolutions spawned by
the industrial revolution was a psychological transformation in economics from
supply to demand as the drive of material production. For millennia supply limited demand, but the
early promise of a universal cornucopia from industrial production was that we no longer
need have any limit on desire. Demand
now drives supply and a continuous revolution in science and technology is
supposed to deliver on that promise. But
the promise is false when it is made to all who want a share in a global
consumer economy based upon non-renewal, finite commodities.
Now we must learn to create ever-renewable wealth by investing through
service our innate moral capital in each other, and organize the creation and
distribution of material wealth upon spiritual principles. The proper distribution of wealth will
further augment collective human spirituality as it does individual
spirituality, and this collective spiritual advance will lead to even better
social productivity and the sharing of wealth and opportunity. Having realized material prosperity for some,
we must now go into a higher realm of virtue to obtain true wealth and real
prosperity for all.
Virtues transmute the base metal of ego thoughts and selfish actions into
the pure gold of selfless moral behavior.
They act to overcome and redirect a materialist value system revolving
around me-first into a spiritual one based on you-before-me. They replace the lies, injustice,
faithlessness, greed, irresponsibility, pride, discontent, and the passive/predatory
attitude characteristic of that me-first way of life with truth, justice, faith, and with responsible actions and altruistic attitudes that “enable mankind to benefit therefrom.” There is no doubt that if we nurture even
some of our innate virtue a new kind of civilization will emerge whose people look out first for each other rather than for "number one".
But again, knowledge of these virtues is not enough. They must be put into practice. They must be
manifested. The Master said: “We know
that to help the poor and to be merciful is good and pleases God, but knowledge
alone does not feed the starving man, nor can the poor be warmed by knowledge
or words in the bitter winter; we must give the practical help of
Loving-kindness.” (‘Abdu'l-Baha in London:
60)
No one can deny the difficulty of
believing that just “being good” will do much good. We live in a world where unconscionable
amounts of poverty, inequity, exploitation, discrimination, and prejudice are
allowed to exist. The situation seems
utterly hopeless to many. But that is
because we are bucking hundreds of years of conditioning that has, frankly,
delayed our understanding of the powers of spirit, warped our thinking and
blinded our insight, though we are, generally, unaware of this. And it has filled our minds with unmanageable
levels of anxiety, fear, and insecurity—and we are acutely aware of this!
The House
of Justice pointed to a way out: “The light of the Revelation is destined to
illumine every sphere of endeavor; in each, the relationships that sustain society
are to be recast; in each, the world seeks examples of how human beings should
be to one another. We offer for your
consideration, given its conspicuous part in generating ferment in which so
many people have recently been embroiled, the economic life of humanity, where
injustice is tolerated with indifference and disproportionate gain is regarded
as the emblem of success. So deeply
entrenched are such pernicious attitudes that it is hard to imagine how any one
individual can alone alter the prevailing standards by which the relationships
in this domain are governed.
Nevertheless, there are certainly practices a Bahá’í would eschew, such
as dishonesty in one’s transactions or the economic exploitation of others. Faithful adherence to the divine admonitions
demands there be no contradiction between one’s economic conduct and one’s
beliefs as a Baha’i. By applying in
one’s life those principles of the Faith that relate to fairness and equity, a
single soul can uphold a standard far above the low threshold by which the
world measures itself. Humanity is weary
for want of a pattern of life to which to aspire.” (The Universal House of
Justice, Ridvan 2012)
In sum, we can say that every
individual has three main purposes: first, to acquire virtues, which means to
express innate powers; secondly, to attain a share of the grace of God, which
is also connected with developing innate talents and abilities and finding a
calling; and, finally, to advance civilization by striving to achieve the first
two purposes. These are not separate purposes,
but, rather, intimately connected purposes that flow out naturally from true
self-knowledge. Now that we know
something of human purpose and how it is intimately linked with knowledge of
our true and inmost self we can go to the third question and discuss how we
should act toward one another. In the
next few posts I will present what I call the ten personal virtues of
prosperity, and indicate how they can actually impact our daily economic life.
A direct link to purchase my book, Renewing the Sacred: A
New Vision of Education, is:
No comments:
Post a Comment