Wednesday, March 16, 2022

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.

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