Tuesday, January 25, 2022

Paragraph 150

And were they to maintain that by “divine Presence” is meant the “Specific Revelation of God,” expressed by certain Ṣúfís as the “Most Holy Outpouring,” if this be in the Essence Itself, it is evident that it hath been eternally in the divine Knowledge. Assuming the truth of this hypothesis, “attainment unto the divine Presence” is in this sense obviously possible to no one, inasmuch as this revelation is confined to the innermost Essence, unto which no man can attain. “The way is barred, and all seeking rejected.” The minds of the favorites of heaven, however high they soar, can never attain this station, how much less the understanding of obscured and limited minds.
This is the second of three definitions He offers around the phrase, "attaining unto the divine Presence" in the Day of Resurrection. The first definition, offered in paragraph 149, was attaining to the Revelation of God. He says that it cannot refer to this as this has happened in every Dispensation. All the Messengers have brought their message, their Revelation. So, in a sense, it is too broad a definition.

Here, in this paragraph, He says that some think of it as referring to seeing "the innermost Essence" of God. This, He says, is impossible. Nobody can ever do that, not even the Manifestations.

In Prayers and Meditations, number LXXV, He says, "Whoso claimeth to have known Thee hath, by virtue of such a claim, testified to his own ignorance; and whoso believeth himself to have attained unto Thee all the atoms of the earth would attest his powerlessness and proclaim his failure."

He seems to say that if we believe that we can attain the actual presence of God, and approach His innermost essence, we are sorely mistaken. It's not that we, or the Manifestations, are any lesser or lower for this inability, but rather that God is just that much greater than we ever imagined. Here, as elsewhere, Baha'u'llah is raising our vision, giving us a grander view of reality.

It all hearkens back to paragraph 104, and His explanation of God. He explained to us that God is "immensely exalted beyond" anything we can conceive, and this, our inability to attain His innermost Essence, is a natural implication of this new understanding of God's station.

 Two questions, though, stand out for us. First, why is it "the minds" at the end of this paragraph, and not the hearts or the souls? Second, who are the "favorites of heaven"?

In regards to the first, we can find the beginning of an answer in the Arabic Hidden Words, number 66:

"O Children of the Divine and Invisible Essence! Ye shall be hindered from loving Me and souls shall be perturbed as they make mention of Me. For minds cannot grasp Me nor hearts contain Me."

As we get closer to God, we come to understand God more and more. Here, He points out that we can never get so close to God as to understand His inner Essence. And in fact, we can never get close enough to another individual to understand their inner essence either. Why would we presume to be able to get close enough to God to do the same? To presume we can is the pinnacle of egotism, which merely leads us further away.

As for who is a "favorite of heaven", the only other time we see this phrase in the Writings is earlier in this book, in paragraph 89. It is used in relation to showing the fallacy of those who use "specious discourses" to try and disprove the Manifestation. He points to a quote in which it is said, "Our Cause is sorely trying, highly perplexing; none can bear it except he be a favorite of heaven, or an inspired Prophet, or he whose faith god hath tested."

So, who would be a favorite of heaven? That's a great question. We'll leave it as one of the mysteries of the faith. Besides, our minds are quite limited and obscured, so who are we to say.