Spirit and Spiritual

We are talking about the seeds of destruction, present from the very origins of modern western civilization, which have grown to take over the lives of most people on earth.  What do I mean by seeds of destruction?

‘Abdu’l-Bahá  explains: “until material achievements, physical accomplishments and human virtues are reinforced by spiritual perfections, luminous qualities and characteristics of mercy, no fruit or result shall issue therefrom, nor will the happiness of the world of humanity, which is the ultimate aim, be  attained. For although, on the one hand, material achievements and the development of the physical world produce prosperity, which exquisitely manifests its intended aims, on the other hand dangers, severe calamities and violent afflictions are imminent.

Consequently, when thou lookest at the orderly pattern of kingdoms, cities and villages, with the attractiveness of their adornments, the freshness of their natural resources, the refinement of their appliances, the ease of their means of travel, the extent of knowledge available about the world of nature, the great inventions, the colossal enterprises, the noble discoveries and scientific researches, thou wouldst conclude that civilization conduceth to the happiness and the progress of the human world. Yet shouldst thou turn thine eye to the discovery of destructive and infernal machines, to the development of forces of demolition and the invention of fiery implements, which uproot the tree of life, it would become evident and manifest unto thee that civilization is conjoined with barbarism. Progress and barbarism go hand in hand, unless material civilization be confirmed by Divine Guidance, by the revelations of the All-Merciful and by godly virtues, and be reinforced by spiritual conduct, by the ideals of the Kingdom and by the outpourings of the Realm of Might.

Consider now, that the most advanced and civilized countries of the world have been turned into arsenals of explosives, that the continents of the globe have been transformed into huge camps and battlefields, that the peoples of the world have formed themselves into armed nations, and that the governments of the world are vying with each other as to who will first step into the field of carnage and bloodshed, thus subjecting mankind to the utmost degree of affliction.” (Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá:283-285)

Those perilous growths of the materialist order, this society of moral evils hidden in the dark till now behind the glitter and sparkle of material promise and progress, have reached their own fruition in the contemporary world, when they are released as universal forces of dissension, commotion and tumult.  This is the mortal defect of building a civilization upon a quicksand of material thoughts, of relativistic values, of scientific knowledge alone, of a loss of transcendent principle and moral example.  All these can be traced back to the deadening of religion in imitations, because civilization and barbarism advance together without the intellectually coordinating, socially unifying and morally progressive power of real religion. 

In short, barbarism—the absence of morals grounded in true religious faith—is and has always been the Achilles heel of human progress.  Lack of moral discipline and fiber always eventually brings progress to a crashing halt, yet the only place to find the morals—not as mere principles of belief but as conviction generating action—is the one place that materialism, secularism, science and modern philosophy say NOT to look, the religion that inspires higher human nature. 

Thus the first renewal must be in religion itself.  The transcendent spirit of religion must be reaffirmed.  The spiritual dimension must be renewed, reinvigorated, regenerated.  Religion was marginalized—or better, marginalized itself—during the materialist era.  It must be brought back to center.  But from the materialist point of view that is a revolt against its authority, an agitation against its view of reality which it is vainly trying to keep intact.  But real religion does not come from human beings, but from God, and it is God that brings religion to center again.  Only God can renew the spirit of religion and recharge the spiritual dimension, but only human beings can recenter their lives around that spirit and dimension.  Shoghi Effendi wrote:  “Nothing but the abundance of our actions, nothing but the purity of our lives and the integrity of our characters, can in the last resort establish our claim that the Bahá’i spirit is in this day the sole agency that can translate a long-cherished ideal into an enduring achievement.” (24 November 1924 to the NSA of the United States and Canada, Bahá’í Administration: 68  also compilation on Trustworthiness p. 20 #66)

Now what is meant by the phrase spiritual dimension?  “Although there are mystical aspects that are not easily explained, the spiritual dimension of human nature can be understood, in practical terms, as the source of qualities that transcend narrow self-interest. Such qualities include love, compassion, forbearance, trustworthiness, courage, humility, co-operation and willingness to sacrifice for the common good—qualities of an enlightened citizenry, able to construct a unified world civilization.” (Baha'i International Community, 1993 Apr 01, Sustainable Development and the Human Spirit)

But, while the source of moral qualities is the "spiritual dimension of human nature", human beings don’t reach up and bring them down by their own thought and volition, like laden fruit from a tree.  Nor, to use another metaphor, do they bring them out from themselves by their own unaided effort.  Rather, they are brought into the world and given form by the Spiritual Luminaries of history.   ‘Abdu’l-Bahá again: “The moral world is only attained through the effulgence of the Sun of Reality and the quickening life of the divine spirit. For this reason the holy Manifestations of God appear in the human world.” (The Promulgation of Universal Peace: 329)  And: ‘These virtues do not appear from the reality of man except through the power of God and the divine teachings, for they need supernatural power for their manifestation.  It may be that in the world of nature a trace of these perfections may appear, but they are unstable and ephemeral, they are like the rays of the sun upon the wall.” (Some Answered Questions:80) 

Nonetheless, there is a kind of reaching or bringing forth that can be done.  That is through the power of faith, and true faith and the hope of eternal reward play an essential, but mostly unrecognized, role in abolishing materialism.  How?  The Master wrote: “Sincerity is the foundation-stone of faith. That is, a religious individual must disregard his personal desires and seek in whatever way he can wholeheartedly to serve the public interest; and it is impossible for a human being to turn aside from his own selfish advantages and sacrifice his own good for the good of the community except through true religious faith. For self-love is kneaded into the very clay of man, and it is not possible that, without any hope of a substantial reward, he should neglect his own present material good. That individual, however, who puts his faith in God and believes in the words of God—because he is promised and certain of a plentiful reward in the next life, and because worldly benefits as compared to the abiding joy and glory of future planes of existence are nothing to him—will for the sake of God abandon his own peace and profit and will freely consecrate his heart and soul to the common good." (The Secret of Divine Civilization: 96-97)

The moral result of being deprived of the religious spirit, the Word of God, is that discord and malice, perversity and rancor become characteristic of human life.  Having to endure this awful situation leads many, as modern society determinedly shows, to powerful psychological counter-thrusts, where “more and more people from all strata of society frantically seek their true identity, which is to say, although they would not so plainly admit it, the spiritual meaning of their lives.” (From a letter of the Universal House of Justice to the Bahá'í youth of the world, January 1984)  But this spiritual impulse often gets betrayed into a narrowly religious one.  We will examine this next.