“The well-being of mankind, its peace and security, are unattainable unless and until its unity is firmly established.”
These words of Bahá’u’lláh, and the full measure of His Revelation, are guiding us to unity and peace - to the time when “…Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Today, we celebrate the 199th anniversary of His Birth.
I want to follow the thread of unity that started in my first post on this blog in September called “Finding the Spirit of Unity”. There, I talked about the ever-present ego getting in the way of unity with others. I realize that the more I live from the place of my spirit, the more connected I am with others. And collectively, the more we see the members of the human race as one family, the closer we get to the reality of our oneness. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá expresses this in a beautiful analogy:
“Consider the flowers of a garden. Though differing in kind, color, form and shape, yet, …, this diversity increaseth their charm and addeth unto their beauty….Diversity of hues, form and shape enricheth and adorneth the garden,…”
We need to appreciate and celebrate unity in diversity and realize it is our strength.
Many years ago when I was visiting a friend, I saw a framed quotation in her daughter’s room that said:
“One must see in every human being only that which is worthy of praise. When this is done, one can be a friend to the whole human race.” The words went straight to my heart and I committed them to memory. I felt that if each of us lived those words, we would have peace on earth. In our society, we have the opposite. We have developed a habit of criticizing and fault finding - the antithesis of unity. I started trying to be more conscious of my thoughts and judgments. When I catch myself being critical, I interrupt the negative pattern and look for a quality worthy of praise. It is not always easy, but the process of disengaging from my fault-finding ego and seeing with my spirit is an empowering spiritual practice.
Fault finding at the collective level such as religious fanaticism has been a source of much conflict in our world. When followers of any religion feel they have the sole hold on truth; feel they are right and others are wrong, we cannot have peace. I love what Rumi, the 13th century Persian poet, said, “Out beyond all ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I’ll meet you there.”
And ‘Abdu’l-Bahá says,“Religion should unite all hearts and cause wars and disputes to vanish from the face of the earth, give birth to spirituality, and bring life and light to each heart. If religion becomes a cause of dislike, hatred, division, it were better to be without it, . . .”
In speaking of the Prophets of God throughout the ages, Bahá’u’lláh says, “Every one of them is the Way of God that connecteth this world with the realms above, and the Standard of His Truth unto everyone in the kingdoms of earth and heaven. They are the Manifestations of God amidst men, the evidences of His Truth, and the signs of His glory.”
He goes on to say, ““lf thou wilt observe with discriminating eyes, thou wilt behold them all abiding in the same tabernacle, soaring in the same heaven, seated upon the same throne, uttering the same speech, and proclaiming the same Faith. Such is the unity of those Essences of Being, those Luminaries of infinite and immeasurable splendour!” “This is the changeless Faith of God, eternal in the past, eternal in the future.”
I sometimes imagine all the Prophets of God consorting together in a spirit of pure love and joy in the realms above. It brings a smile to my face and such joy to my heart. Let us follow in their ways and “consort with the followers of all religions in a spirit of friendliness and fellowship.”
“So powerful is the light of unity that it can illuminate the whole earth.”
Susan Mottahedeh is a writer living in Richmond, B.C. and is a member of the world-wide Baha’i community.
You can read more articles on our interfaith blog, Spiritually Speaking HERE
