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Good evening everybody,
Tonight I am studying the Scriptures by the Bab.
I came across a passage where He mentions the importance of turning to the Messenger of God in every Dispensation.
I have touched upon this matter twice lately saying "it doesn't matter what religion you have, what matters is that you are ready to receive the Holy Spirit for the age in which you are living."
This is how the Messenger of God puts it.:
"No created thing shall ever attain its paradise unless it appeareth in its prescribed degree of perfection. For instance, this crystal representeth the paradise of the stone whereof its substance is composed. Likewise there are various stages in the paradise of the crystal itself...So long as it was a stone it was worthless, but if it attaineth the excellence of ruby - a potentiality which is latent in it-how much a carat will it be worth? Consider likewise every created thing.
Man's highest station however, is attained through faith in God in every Dispensation and by acceptance of what hath been revealed by Him, and not through learning; inasmuch as in every nation there are learned men who are versed in divers sciences. Nor is it attainable through wealth; for it is similarly evident that among the various classes in every nation there are those possessed of riches. Likewise are other transitory things.
True knowledge, therefore, is the knowledge of God, and this is none other than the recognition of His Manifestation in each Dispensation. Nor is there any wealth save in poverty in all save God and sanctity from aught else but Him - a state that can be realized only when demonstrated towards Him Who is the Day-Spring of His Revelation. This doth not mean, however, that one ought not to yield praise unto former Revelations. On no account is this acceptable, inasmuch as it behooveth man, upon reaching the age of nineteen, to render thanksgiving for the day of his conception as an embryo. For had the embryo not existed, how could he have reached his present stage?.
Likewise had the religion taught by Adam not existed, this Faith would not have attained its present stage. Thus consider thou the development of God's Faith until the end that hath no end."
I know that many religionists think that if you belong to one religion you are automatically opposed to another. Alas for that way of thinking. If there is opposition it is actually between the sects within a religion.One sect thinks it is most important to be baptized, another stresses the importance of "speaking in tongues" , the list is long.Nowadays it seems that several Christian sects have reconciled themselves regarding many issues. That is good, but there remains a lack of understanding that all the worlds religions agree. Their Revealers predict each other and refer to each other, to the former one and to the one who is to come with the next Dispensation at the end of time = at the end of His own Dispensation. The golden rule is to be found in all religions. Only the social prescriptions vary according to the exigencies of time, never the spiritual message and the love of God which is flowing continuously for ever to mankind.
When you realize this, the widest perspective opens in your soul.In the words of Bahaullah
"...he will enter
The Valley of Knowledge
and come out of doubt into certitude, and turn from the darkness of illusion to the guiding light of the fear of God. His inner eyes will open and he will privily converse with his Beloved; he will set ajar the gate of truth and piety, and shut the doors of vain imaginings. He in this station is content with the decree of God, ...and findeth in death the secrets of everlasting life. With inward and outer eyes he witnesseth the mysteries of resurrection in the realms of creation and the souls of men, and with a pure heart apprehendeth the divine wisdom in the endless Manifestations of God. In the ocean he findeth a drop, in a drop he beholdeth the secrets of the sea..."
This quotation is from the Seven Valleys. The first one is The Valley of Love.
Good Night
from
Laila
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