Paragraph 153

 Strive, therefore, O my brother, to grasp the meaning of “Resurrection,” and cleanse thine ears from the idle sayings of these rejected people. Shouldst thou step into the realm of complete detachment, thou wilt readily testify that no day is mightier than this Day, and that no resurrection more awful than this Resurrection can ever be conceived. One righteous work performed in this Day, equaleth all the virtuous acts which for myriads of centuries men have practiced—nay, We ask forgiveness of God for such a comparison! For verily the reward which such a deed deserveth is immensely beyond and above the estimate of men. Inasmuch as these undiscerning and wretched souls have failed to apprehend the true meaning of “Resurrection” and of the “attainment unto the divine Presence,” they therefore have remained utterly deprived of the grace thereof. Although the sole and fundamental purpose of all learning, and the toil and labor thereof, is attainment unto, and the recognition of, this station, yet they are all immersed in the pursuit of their material studies. They deny themselves every moment of leisure, and utterly ignore Him, Who is the Essence of all learning, and the one Object of their quest! Methinks, their lips have never touched the cup of divine Knowledge, nor do they seem to have attained even a dewdrop of the showers of heavenly grace.

Back in paragraph 151, Baha'u'llah said, in the last sentence, "...the Day of Resurrection... is the Day of the rise of God Himself through His all-embracing Revelation." That is it, His definition. When He tells us to "Strive... to grasp the meaning of 'Resurrection'", this is the meaning He is telling us to work hard to understand. And, of course, in paragraph 152 He elaborated on that definition. He reminded us that there is nothing more wonderful and marvelous than to be alive at the time of a Messenger of God.

Now, here in paragraph 153, He goes a bit further. First He reminds to not bother ourselves with the sayings and definitions of those who don't get it. If some bozo says that the Day of Resurrection is something wild, nonsensical and fantastical, who cares? Just ignore them. They're yahoos. Baha'u'llah has given us a good definition. Go with it. Use it. Strive to understand it better. And as we do, we will come to understand more of the world around us.

Later in this paragraph, He helps us make this connection. He says that the "sole and fundamental purpose of all learning... is attainment unto... this station..." Of course, most of the people are only concerned about the material aspect of their studies. They don't concern themselves with the spiritual, but that is only to their detriment.

Imagine a scenario in which some fool goes into a science classroom before the class begins and proceeds to give some silly idea of the nature of light or evolution. Can you imagine a question on the final exam about what they said? Of course not. When the class begins, though, you will ask the person to move aside so that the true teacher can now begin their class. And then you will quiz the students on what they said, not on the silly ideas that were presented earlier.

In this scenario, the good science teacher would not only explain the principles and laws involved, but would go on and talk about the application of those ideas. They would address the moral issues involved, and talk about the impact on society. It is not only useless to talk about, for example, nuclear energy in terms of how to start a nuclear reaction, it is actually dangerous if you do not address the impacts such a reaction can have on the health of the people. But when you talk about the importance of unity, health, safety, the need for clean energy, and so forth, then the beneficial effects of these laws becomes more apparent.

Now, let's go back to the word "strive". It means to work hard. It means to put great effort into something. Here, it seems to imply that overcoming the previous mis-understandings of what was meant by "resurrection" will require strength of character. We need to build up that inner strength in order to carry the weight of this new definition, which implies serious work on our part later.

And He ends all this with a reference to water, first referred to way back in paragraph 1 with the "ocean of true understanding". Here we are getting a "true understanding" of the meaning of "Resurrection", and it will have implications on our life and actions, which He will address in the rest of the book.

Paragraph 152

This is the meaning of the “Day of Resurrection,” spoken of in all the scriptures, and announced unto all people. Reflect, can a more precious, a mightier, and more glorious day than this be conceived, so that man should willingly forego its grace, and deprive himself of its bounties, which like unto vernal showers are raining from the heaven of mercy upon all mankind? Having thus conclusively demonstrated that no day is greater than this Day, and no revelation more glorious than this Revelation, and having set forth all these weighty and infallible proofs which no understanding mind can question, and no man of learning overlook, how can man possibly, through the idle contention of the people of doubt and fancy, deprive himself of such a bountiful grace? Have they not heard the well-known tradition: “When the Qá’im riseth, that day is the Day of Resurrection”? In like manner, the Imáms, those unquenchable lights of divine guidance, have interpreted the verse: “What can such expect but that God should come down to them overshadowed with clouds,”109—a sign which they have unquestionably regarded as one of the features of the Day of Resurrection—as referring to the Qá’im and His manifestation.

"This is the meaning..." What is the meaning to which He is referring? To get the answer, we need to look at the last couple of sentences in the previous paragraph.

To put this into context first, though, let us remember where He is in His argument. The uncle of Bab had asked about the sovereignty of the Bab, claiming that He was a merchant, a prisoner, and even executed. How, he wondered, did this demonstrate sovereignty?

Previously, we had understood these various statements about the promised Qa'im to refer to some Messenger who would appear in the future. Baha'u'llah turns this around on us and shows us that they refer to all the Messengers. If we claim that the Bab was a merchant and could not have been a divine Messenger, well, so was Muhammad. If we say He was executed and therefore could not be the Promised One, Jesus was also executed. Any claim we make against the Bab for not showing the sovereignty of God in the way we expect can be turned around to try and deny another Messenger we already recognize.

Conversely, any statements we read about the wonder and awe of the promised Day to come can also be applied to the Day of any Messenger we already recognize.

Over and over Baha'u'llah continually draws us back to this concept of singularity and unity. To recognize one of the Messengers is to recognize them all. To deny one is to deny them all.

These glorious statements about the "Presence of God" at the time of the Resurrection refer to the time of any and all of the other Messengers, too. "...(W)hosoever, and in whatever Dispensation, hath recognized and attained unto the presence of these glorious, these resplendent and most excellent Luminaries, hath verily attained unto the 'Presence of God'..."

"Reflect" He says, "can a more precious, a mightier, a more glorious day than this be conceived..?" Remember from way back at the beginning of Part 1? Whenever He tells us to consider, meditate or reflect, it is always because He has introduced a new concept that we may naturally resist. The same holds true here. He is giving us a new understanding of a concept we thought we understood. And now, in the middle of this paragraph, He is asking us to consider it before outright denying it.

"(N)o day is greater than this Day, and no revelation more glorious that this Revelation..." That Day which is so precious is not just the time of the Bab, nor only the time of Baha'u'llah, but rather that Day in which any Messenger of God is walking the earth.

Of course, this leads us to very important question, which is at the heart of all that Baha'u'llah is addressing here. Are we living at such a time?

Paragraph 151

And were they to say that by “divine Presence” is meant the “Secondary Revelation of God,” interpreted as the “Holy Outpouring,” this is admittedly applicable to the world of creation, that is, in the realm of the primal and original manifestation of God. Such revelation is confined to His Prophets and chosen Ones, inasmuch as none mightier than they hath come to exist in the world of being. This truth all recognize, and bear witness thereto. These Prophets and chosen Ones of God are the recipients and revealers of all the unchangeable attributes and names of God. They are the mirrors that truly and faithfully reflect the light of God. Whatsoever is applicable to them is in reality applicable to God, Himself, Who is both the Visible and the Invisible. The knowledge of Him, Who is the Origin of all things, and attainment unto Him, are impossible save through knowledge of, and attainment unto, these luminous Beings who proceed from the Sun of Truth. By attaining, therefore, to the presence of these holy Luminaries, the “Presence of God” Himself is attained. From their knowledge, the knowledge of God is revealed, and from the light of their countenance, the splendour of the Face of God is made manifest. Through the manifold attributes of these Essences of Detachment, Who are both the first and the last, the seen and the hidden, it is made evident that He Who is the Sun of Truth is “the First and the Last, the Seen, and the Hidden.” Likewise the other lofty names and exalted attributes of God. Therefore, whosoever, and in whatever Dispensation, hath recognized and attained unto the presence of these glorious, these resplendent and most excellent Luminaries, hath verily attained unto the “Presence of God” Himself, and entered the city of eternal and immortal life. Attainment unto such presence is possible only in the Day of Resurrection, which is the Day of the rise of God Himself through His all-embracing Revelation.

This is the third of three definitions looking at the meaning of "attainment unto the divine Presence".

To recap, the first definition was attaining to the Revelation. But, as He points out, this is always possible, not just in the time of the Manifestation. So, in a sense, it's too broad a definition. The second definition was attaining to the very essence of God Himself. But, as Baha'u'llah points out, this is impossible, even for the Manifestations. So, in a sense, it's too narrow a definition.

Now He offers the understanding that it means attaining the presence of the Manifestation Himself. This is the Goldilocks definition. It is just right. Whatever we see in the Manifestation can be regarded as being of God, too. In essence, He helps turn our vision away from the idea of God, Himself, and towards the concept of recognizing God through the Manifestation.

In this paragraph, Baha'u'llah offers us one of the most concise concepts of a Manifestation we have ever read. He likens them to "mirrors that truly and faithfully reflect the light of God". Now, to be fair, this idea has been there throughout history, but has been easily misunderstood. The mirror is so bright, and so beautiful, that it has been seen to be the sun it is reflecting. We have confused the Manifestation for God Himself. The mirror is not the sun, but a perfect representation of the sun, just as the Manifestation is not God, but the perfect representation of God.

There is an interesting thing about mirrors, though. One is the way in which they reflect the light, how faithfully and accurately you can see what is being reflected. The other is how much light they actually reflect. What we mean by this is, in the first instance, how clear the image is. If the mirror is warped, or has bubbles, then the image will not be accurate. It will be distorted.

On the other hand, the material which makes up the mirror will also determine its ability to reflect. One substance may only reflect 10% of the light, while another might reflect 50%, or more.

We were really made aware of this one day at the Grand Canyon. We were standing at the edge looking over these magnificent rock formations, all the strata and colours. It was truly incredible. But then we noticed a large slab of obsidian next to us. It was highly polished, like a mirror. And when you looked at the rocks reflected in the obsidian mirror, you could actually see more detail than if you looked at the rocks directly. By reflecting only a small percentage of the light, more details were made apparent.

Perhaps the Manifestation is like this. God is so awesome, as in awe-inspiring, and overwhelming, that we require the reflection of His light in the Manifestation to even be able to see a glimmer of the details.

We are also reminded of paragraph 1, once again. Way back at the beginning, we were told that nobody could ever "attain the shores of the Ocean of true understanding except he be detached" from everything. Here, Baha'u'llah refers to the Manifestations as those "Essences of Detachment".

It is also worth noting that the quote He cites, from Qur'an 57, is taken from a discourse on the order of creation. This is noteworthy because this little section about attaining the divine Presence is following His own explanation of the hierarchy of creation. He went from all things reflecting an attribute of God to humanity reflecting all the attributes. He then reminded us that of all people on the planet it is the Manifestations that reflect these attributes to the highest degree. At the same time, this quote also reminds us that all the Manifestations have an underlying essence of oneness about them. They are all "the First and the Last, the Seen and the Hidden". At every turn He draws our attention to the Manifestations and continually shows us how they are all, essentially, the same spirit. In essence, He is really addressing the idea of the Manifestations, their Names and attributes, and showing their relation to God, as intermediaries between God and the world of Creation.

For us today, we can see this as a reminder to look at how people define their terms and help them understand the implications of their definitions, just as He does in these paragraphs. Baha'u'llah showed us how different people understood the phrase "attaining the divine Presence" and then spoke briefly about the implications of each understanding. One was too broad. One was too narrow. One was just right.

Similar to this, we can look at the idea prayer as another example. Some people feel that prayer is only defined as one particular style, such as the Lord's Prayer, which is, of course, too narrow. Others feel that it has no effect, which is also not accurate, for many respond to prayer and are affected by it. But 'Abdu'l-Baha's definition of prayer as "conversation with God" is just right. It allows for the many styles, as well as the different effects it has on people.

One of the greatest gifts we have in the Baha'i Faith is the gift of being able to translate these various ideas through the understanding that Baha'u'llah has shared with us.