In a protracted dialogue with a Baha’i member of the forum it seems to me the particular distinction between orthodox or traditional Christianity and the Baha’i is a rebuttal of the idea of the Immanent Presence in the latter, and a subsequent lack of a shared comprehension of the mystical dimension of the Christian faith. It was with this in mind that I was looking for insight, and came across this article published online, from a Baha’i magazine.
Entitled:
Mysticism and the Bahá’í Faith by Farnaz Ma’sumian, published in Deepen, 1995 Spring, 6:3, pages 12-17.
Introduction
Almost every claim made here is demonstrably mistaken … I was going to list them, but I realised I would be refuting every statement made. If anyone would like to discuss this further, I’m open to it.
The Realm of the Divine Essence
The transcendental nature of the Divine Essence is greatly emphasized in the Bahá’í Writings. He is beyond man’s comprehension and imaginative power. In other words, man can never hope to understand the Divine Essence through his intelligence nor through his feelings and inner experiences.
It would seem the Transcendent is emphasised at the expense of the Immanent, and this I would point to as a short-coming of the Baha’i doctrine generally, and thus impacting on its discussion of the mystical dimension.
The conceptions of the devoutest of mystics, the attainments of the most accomplished amongst men, the highest praise which the human tongue or pen can render are all the product of man’s finite mind and are conditioned by its limitations. …..From time immemorial He hath been veiled in the ineffable sanctity of His exalted Self, and will everlastingly continue to be wrapped in the impenetrable mystery of His unknowable Essence…(Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings, 1973, p. 62).
And the Christian mystics would assert the same, yet at the same time assert a profound sense of union with the Divine, a cessation of the sense of ‘I and Thou’, a deep and sustaining sense of that ‘unknowable essence’ which nevertheless makes itself known, if only in part.
The Bahá’í conception of God envisions a Being Who is independent of His creation … is completely separate from it, in the same manner that the painter is separate from his painting. In other words, He does not dwell in man. Man is not a portion of God nor can he ever hope to become united with His Essence.
Here we see no sense or sign of the dimension of the Divine Immanence – the painter and painting analogy disallows it.
This Immanent sense is there in the Abrahamics, in the Greek Philosophers, in nearly all the world’s Religious traditions. Even Buddhism encompasses it, albeit in a non-theistic manner.
Here lies one of the major differences between mysticism as viewed by most mystics and the Bahá’í Faith. The ultimate goal of the mystic is to attain the presence of the Absolute, and to become one with Him. This idea is well expressed in the words of the fourteenth century mystic Henry Suso:
He forgets himself, he is no longer conscious of his selfhood; he disappears and loses himself in God, and becomes one spirit with Him, as a drop of water which is drowned in a great quantity of wine. (Happold, 1990, p. 99).
The Bahá’í Faith emphatically rejects the idea that the finite man will ever be able to attain the presence of the Infinite or that a creature can merge with the Uncreated.
This sunders and places a chasm between the Baha’i Faith and the Abrahamics, and indeed most all of the traditions it claims to speak for.
The Realm of the Prophets
For the mystic there are simply two planes of existence; the realm of God (the world of Divine Essence), and the realm of creation which includes man and the prophets. The Bahá’í Writings maintain that in addition to the two aforesaid realms, there is the world of the prophets which acts as a link between the world of God and the world of creation. In other words, God reveals Himself to man through His prophets. It is through Them that God’s covenant with man is renewed in every dispensation (Schaefer, 1983).
Here the sundering is made irrevocable.
The Baha’i writings effectively introduce a third realm, or rather an intermediate realm between God and man, the realm of the prophets, and in so doing allows Divine Immanence with regard to the prophets, but in so doing disallows immanence with regard to common humanity.
Bahá’u’lláh said:
The door of the knowledge of the Ancient Beauty hath ever been, and will continue for ever to be, closed in the face of men….
This is a staggering statement … it utterly ignores – or refutes – the prayer of Jesus in John 17…
… No man’s understanding shall ever gain access unto His holy court.
Again, an absolute statement that refutes the idea of Immanence, of Union between self and Self … I think it refutes a central idea of every religious tradition. I stand to be corrected.
As a token of His mercy, however, and as a proof of His loving-kindness, He hath manifested unto men the Day Stars of His divine guidance, the Symbols of His divine unity, and hath ordained the knowledge of these sanctified Beings to be identical with the knowledge of His own Self. Whoso recognizeth them hath recognized God….(Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings, p. 49).
This stands in utter contrast to the self-understanding of the Prophets of Israel, and even the Prophet Muhammed himself (pbuh). While distancing himself as among the prophets who stand apart from humanity, he also claims divinity by his enjoyment of the self-knowing of God.
These Manifestations of God have a unique station, and no matter how far man may spiritually advance he can never reach the station of prophethood… It is not a difference in degree, but in kind (typology) which distinguishes Prophets from the rest of mankind… They are, by nature, a higher form of existence.
Emphasis mine. The Manifestations are some for of demiurgic being.
The Bahá’í Faith maintains that human beings have a dual nature: a physical body and an immortal soul. Nonetheless, the Manifestations of God, besides these two natures possess a third one that is unique to Their station. This third nature is the capacity to receive divine revelation and to infallibly transmit it to mankind.
Know that the Holy Manifestations, though they have the degree of endless perfections, yet, speaking generally, have only three stations. The first station is the physical: the second station is the human, which is that of the rational soul: the third is that of the divine appearance and the heavenly splendor … The physical station is phenomenal … The second is the station of the rational soul … The third station is … the Word of God, the Eternal Bounty, the Holy Spirit… (Abdu’l- Bahá, Some Answered Questioned, pp. 151-152).
There we have it … the Holy Spirit is the private purview of the ‘Manifestations’.
I am thunderstruck … I would have considered the Bah’i as misguided … now I think it’s worse than that.
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