Paragraph 176

Notwithstanding the divinely inspired admonitions of all the Prophets, the Saints, and Chosen ones of God, enjoining the people to see with their own eyes and hear with their own ears, they have disdainfully rejected their counsels and have blindly followed, and will continue to follow, the leaders of their Faith. Should a poor and obscure person, destitute of the attire of men of learning, address them saying: “Follow ye, O people! the Messengers of God," they would, greatly surprised at such a statement, reply: “What! Meanest thou that all these divines, all these exponents of learning, with all their authority, their pomp and pageantry, have erred, and failed to distinguish truth from falsehood? Dost thou, and people like thyself, pretend to have comprehended that which they have not understood?” If numbers and excellence of apparel be regarded as the criterions of learning and truth, the peoples of a bygone age, whom those of today have never surpassed in numbers, magnificence and power, should certainly be accounted a superior and worthier people.

 

We're still looking at the concept of the first of the two stations of the Manifestations of God, that of "pure abstraction and essential unity". And this is the sixteenth of thirty paragraphs dedicated to this lofty theme.

As we read over this paragraph, the phrases about seeing with our own eyes and hearing with our own ears really struck us. Why, we wondered, does Baha'u'llah repeat this here? What is He trying to show us?

As we discussed it, we were also reminded of the second Hidden Word in Arabic, which says, "...The best beloved of all things in My sight is Justice; turn not away therefrom if thou desirest Me, and neglect it not that I may confide in thee. By its aid thou shalt see with thine own eyes and not through the eyes of others, and shalt know of thine own knowledge and not through the knowledge of thy neighbor. Ponder this in thy heart; how it behooveth thee to be. Verily justice is My gift to thee and the sign of My loving-kindness..."

What is He saying here? And how does it relate to our recognition of the Manifestation in their own lifetime?

We already know that the religious leaders He is condemning have their own agenda. They are not concerned about Truth, but more concerned about maintaining and expanding their own power. Anything that threatens that power is immediately condemned by them. Naturally, if someone comes along and claims that these leaders are not being obedient to the laws of their own faith, these petty leaders will lash out and attack them.

If we blindly follow these leaders, then we, too, will follow through on those attacks.

But now, look at concept of justice and being fair to others. If we ignore what others say, and look at the actual lives of these Messengers, what do we think? In part one of this book, Baha'u'llah gave us the tools to make a fair comparison and see their unity. If we look back at paragraph 6, He tells us to look at "the indignities heaped upon the Prophets of God", and points out "the more closely you observe the denials... the firmer will be your faith..." He then goes on for another dozen or so paragraphs comparing the lives of some of the Messengers, showing us how they all follow the same arc. Through all of this, He is exhorting us to look at their lives. He is also pointing out to us the problem with taking the word of others regarding these issues

And most importantly, if approach these issues with fairness and justice, ignoring the prejudices of our day, then we will recognize the truth of these divine Messengers.

But if we allow ourselves to be swayed by what others say or think, then we probably will not recognize them in their lifetime.

All of this is to say that it is through our purity of heart, by solely seeking the truth and not the acclamation of our peers nor power within our society, that we will be able to recognize. Anything else will merely get in the way.

After all this, He also points to the issue of the one who may introduce us to these ideas. What if they are poor? What if they are not a recognized authority on religion?

So what?

If what they say is true, or makes sense, why wouldn't we acknowledge it?

How often did the early Babis or Baha'is remind the people of their day that Muhammad told them to be kind to the stranger? How often did they remind them that their own Prophet encouraged them to listen to others and consider what they said? Even if we disagree with someone else, we are still to show them all courtesy. But over and over, these people were being encouraged to attack or even kill those that said anything different from what was the norm of the day.

"Be kind. Show mercy. Treat others with compassion." How, in the name of justice, could anyone find fault with these ideas?

In truth, they couldn't. Instead, they tried to find fault with the one delivering that message. They would point to the messenger's lack of authority, or the state of their clothing. They would point to the fewness of followers of this new way.

They would say, "See? This person wears a big hat. He has golden robes. He must know what he's talking about."

We can, of course, see the shallowness of that argument. After all, Jesus wore simple clothing, and was not a member of the Sanhedrin. Does that mean that He was not telling the truth? Of course not.

All of this is but another of those "veils of glory" obscuring the Messenger from our eyes. We need to be detached, as He says back in paragraph one, "from all that is in heaven and on earth" if we want to have a chance to recognize the Manifestation of God.