The Divine Imprint

Thou art the head of an assembly which is the very imprint of the Company on high, the mirror-image of the all-glorious realm.

(Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Baha:164)

       The statement of ‘Abdu’l-Baha above, written to the members of a Local Spiritual Assembly, attests to an ancient principle, namely, that the human social world is a mirror-image, an imprint of light, of an existing, perhaps pre-existing, celestial society.  This image is often used in sacred Scriptures to describe the relation of the divine world with that organic world of human society that is growing toward it.  By growing toward it I mean looking more and more like it.  For example, ‘Abdu’l-Baha says: “Perchance, God willing, this terrestrial world may become as a celestial mirror upon which we may behold the imprint of the traces of Divinity, and the fundamental qualities of a new creation may be reflected from the reality of love shining in human hearts.”  (The Promulgation of Universal Peace:235)

If we want to grasp metaphorically how that relationship between the two realms works and for what purpose the Bahá’í Administrative Order was constructed, 'Abdu'l-Baha remarks, "so that the perilous darkness of ignorant prejudice may vanish through the light of the Sun of Truth, this dreary world may become illumined, this material realm may absorb the rays of the world of spirit.” (Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Baha:105) Thus, it is constructed to advance human society, and the closer human society gets in structure and activity to the divine structure the more rays of the world of the spirit are absorbed, and it is this light-energy when it is absorbed that is power of advance.

This is the social structure and process I have been describing as the oneness and wholeness of human relationships.  These relations are, Shoghi Effendi explains, “a fundamental principle of life.”  They are stable, yet flexible, rooted yet capable of growth.  They develop according to organic principles, but only as long as they absorb spiritual energy, which they are designed to do, as the mirror is designed to absorb and reflect the rays of the sun.

Underpinning the governance of this Order are the stable unchanging forms of the Local Assembly, elected everywhere by the same direct method, and the Baha'i Feast, the common institution of Baha'is everywhere. National Assemblies and the Universal House of Justice, the supreme governing body of the Baha'i world, are elected by indirect representation.  Universality of values (e.g. absence of prejudice, equality of the sexes, truthfulness, trustworthiness) and purposes (e.g. spiritual development, unity of all human beings, justice), is an essential element of each part of this order and its functioning, and is the touchstone of its stability and simplicity. Yet, because each level of the order has its own sphere of jurisdiction and individuality, it can also continually modify it secondary aspects so to respond innovatively to change.  But I want to focus in this post on the Bahá’í Feast, setting it in full historical context.

Because they embrace, contain and direct the material, social and spiritual relations of people, as a fundamental principle of life, the oneness and wholeness of human relationships have always been the essential form of human society.  But today, because of communications technology and the developing world consciousness, they can be fully manifest as the fundamental principle of a global civilization.  Thus the House of Justice explains: “The Feast may well be seen in its unique combination of modes as the culmination of a great historic process in which primary elements of community life -- acts of worship, of festivity and other forms of togetherness -- over vast stretches of time have achieved a glorious convergence. The Nineteen Day Feast represents the new stage in this enlightened age to which the basic expression of community life has evolved. Shoghi Effendi has described it as the foundation of the new World Order, and in a letter written on his behalf, it is referred to as constituting "a vital medium for maintaining close and continued contact between the believers themselves, and also between them and the body of their elected representatives in the local community." (A Wider Horizon, Selected Letters 1983-1992:67-68)

Thus the Feast is not just a social gathering like other polite social gatherings, nor is it something totally new.  The House of Justice says it is the culmination of a great historic process of human civic life, a convergence of different forms of human togetherness.  But it is also a new stage in this ages-long evolution of community life.  While one aspect of the Baha'i Feast opens a vast new way to look at the Bahá’í Order historically—as the culmination of social relations that have always existed—the new stage aspect points to an equally vast future vision of community life built upon the foundation of the Feast. 

The House of Justice continues: “Moreover, because of the opportunity which it provides for conveying messages from the national and international levels of the administration and also for communicating the recommendations of the friends to those levels, the Feast becomes a link that connects the local community in a dynamic relationship with the entire structure of the Administrative Order. But considered in its local sphere alone there is much to thrill and amaze the heart. Here it links the individual to the collective processes by which a society is built or restored. Here, for instance, the Feast is an arena of democracy at the very root of society, where the Local Spiritual Assembly and the members of the community meet on common ground, where individuals are free to offer their gifts of thought, whether as new ideas or constructive criticism, to the building processes of an advancing civilization. Thus it can be seen that aside from its spiritual significance, this common institution of the people combines an array of elemental social disciplines which educate its participants in the essentials of responsible citizenship.” (A Wider Horizon, Selected Letters 1983-1992: 67-68)

            This is an absolutely amazing statement.  The House of Justice sees the Feast as an arena where pathways of energy running through the whole hidden Order, from the individual up to the House of Justice and back, connect in an open, dynamic relationship.  Again Feast is not just a regular time and place set aside for Bahá’ís to get together in worship or to discuss their business.  Seen in its full context, the Feast is both the end, or culmination, of a vast historical process in social evolution and the beginning of an even vaster social process into the future, for attending and participating in a Bahá’í Feast is a way for every individual to be linked to “collective processes by which a society is built or restored.”  The Feast is a community institution of an Administrative Order that is “the pattern and nucleus” of an emerging world order.  It is “an arena of democracy at the very root of society” combining “an array of elemental social disciplines which educate its participants in the essentials of responsible citizenship.” Hence by participating enthusiastically in a Feast one is helping to restore and rebuild one’s own society, and learning the ways to do that.  

         The Bahá’í Order is truly an organic entity, growing through a process of absorbing the light of spirit, for the purpose of restoring true human society.  The Feast, as a community institution and an integral part of that Order, is one mirror of the Kingdom receiving the imprint of light from that higher society.  Next post will discuss the Local Spiritual Assembly, the other bedrock institution of the Order of Baha’u’llah.

A direct link to my book, Renewing the Sacred ishttp://tinyurl.com/cndew5a It is now also in Kindle