diamondsouled
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Howdy,
Baha'u'llah had this to say about being a person of Baha':
Every receptive soul who hath in this Day inhaled the fragrance of His garment and hath, with a pure heart, set his face towards the all-glorious Horizon is reckoned among the people of Baha in the Crimson Book. Grasp ye, in My Name, the chalice of My loving-kindness, drink then your fill in My glorious and wondrous remembrance.
(Baha'u'llah, Tablets of Baha'u'llah, p. 220)
There is no mention here of a administerial body that a person of Baha' needs turn their face to.
As Shoghi Effendi clearly spelt out the administration of the Baha'i Faith is to be conceived of as an instrument, a tool , a means, not an end in itself:
"I need not dwell upon what I have already reiterated and emphasized that the administration of the Cause is to be conceived as an instrument and not a substitute for the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh, that it should be regarded as a channel through which His promised blessings may flow, that it should guard against such rigidity as would clog and fetter the liberating forces released by His Revelation."
(Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 9)
"It is surely for those to whose hands so priceless a heritage has been committed to prayerfully watch lest the tool should supersede the Faith itself, lest undue concern for the minute details arising from the administration of the Cause obscure the vision of its promoters, lest partiality, ambition, and worldliness tend in the course of time to becloud the radiance, stain the purity, and impair the effectiveness of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh."
(Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 9)
Abdu'l-Baha' often spoke of the fact that a person could be a Baha'i and have not even heard of Baha'u'llah. In doing this I believe He was pointing to the spiritual reality of being a Baha'i. Being a Baha'i at heart is more than putting one's thumb print or signature on a piece of paper.
If a person truly regards all of humanity as being 'as soul' with themselves, if you are a Buddhist and regard all of humanity as one, even if the soul aspect is not a part of it, then I would say that under Baha'u'llah's understanding you have fulfilled the purpose for all scripture, the purpose for all religion. This identity transcends Baha'iness or Buddhistness, it transcends all names.
As I stated in another post the Baha'i Administrative Order has rendered Baha'i membership meaningless. Howso? Through counting over two million individuals in India who still consider themselves to be Hindu as Baha'is, through counting hundreds of thousands of individuals in the West as Baha'i even though they have had no active addresses for those individuals for several years and those individuals would be unlikely to answer that they are Baha'i on a census.
Abdu'l-Baha' well understood the spiritual reality of Baha'i identity:
"Know this; the Kingdom of God is not in any Society; some seekers go through many Societies as a traveller goes through many cities till he reach his destination. If you belong to a Society already do not forsake your brothers. You can be a Bahá'í-Christian, a Bahá'í-Freemason, a Bahá'í-Jew, a Bahá'í-Muhammadan. The number nine contains eight, and seven, and all the other numbers, and does not deny any of them. Do not distress or deny anyone by saying 'He is not a Bahá'í!' He will be known by his deeds. There are no secrets among Bahá'ís; a Bahá'í does not hide anything."
(Abdu'l-Baha, Abdu'l-Baha in London, p. 97)
" He will be known by his deeds. "
It is through a persons character and behavior that their spiritual identity can be seen. A persons professed beliefs do not distinguish them spiritually what does distinguish them are their actions, their words, their deeds.
If a person accepts the reality of the oneness of humanity and lives in a manner befitting that truth they are of the people of Baha' in both Baha'u'llah's and Abdu'l-Baha's eyes.
The inclusivity of belief in the oneness of humanity makes all distinctions drawn through race, ethnicity, gender, religion, nationality, sexual orientation, as well as religious or philosophical interpretation, fall away. This is the most great unity. That unity which transcends all lesser unities of self interests, even the lesser unity of the self interests of the Baha'i Faith.
This is the spiritual reality of Baha'i identity.
There is only us, we are them, 'as one soul'
Yours
Larry Rowe
Baha'u'llah had this to say about being a person of Baha':
Every receptive soul who hath in this Day inhaled the fragrance of His garment and hath, with a pure heart, set his face towards the all-glorious Horizon is reckoned among the people of Baha in the Crimson Book. Grasp ye, in My Name, the chalice of My loving-kindness, drink then your fill in My glorious and wondrous remembrance.
(Baha'u'llah, Tablets of Baha'u'llah, p. 220)
There is no mention here of a administerial body that a person of Baha' needs turn their face to.
As Shoghi Effendi clearly spelt out the administration of the Baha'i Faith is to be conceived of as an instrument, a tool , a means, not an end in itself:
"I need not dwell upon what I have already reiterated and emphasized that the administration of the Cause is to be conceived as an instrument and not a substitute for the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh, that it should be regarded as a channel through which His promised blessings may flow, that it should guard against such rigidity as would clog and fetter the liberating forces released by His Revelation."
(Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 9)
"It is surely for those to whose hands so priceless a heritage has been committed to prayerfully watch lest the tool should supersede the Faith itself, lest undue concern for the minute details arising from the administration of the Cause obscure the vision of its promoters, lest partiality, ambition, and worldliness tend in the course of time to becloud the radiance, stain the purity, and impair the effectiveness of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh."
(Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 9)
Abdu'l-Baha' often spoke of the fact that a person could be a Baha'i and have not even heard of Baha'u'llah. In doing this I believe He was pointing to the spiritual reality of being a Baha'i. Being a Baha'i at heart is more than putting one's thumb print or signature on a piece of paper.
If a person truly regards all of humanity as being 'as soul' with themselves, if you are a Buddhist and regard all of humanity as one, even if the soul aspect is not a part of it, then I would say that under Baha'u'llah's understanding you have fulfilled the purpose for all scripture, the purpose for all religion. This identity transcends Baha'iness or Buddhistness, it transcends all names.
As I stated in another post the Baha'i Administrative Order has rendered Baha'i membership meaningless. Howso? Through counting over two million individuals in India who still consider themselves to be Hindu as Baha'is, through counting hundreds of thousands of individuals in the West as Baha'i even though they have had no active addresses for those individuals for several years and those individuals would be unlikely to answer that they are Baha'i on a census.
Abdu'l-Baha' well understood the spiritual reality of Baha'i identity:
"Know this; the Kingdom of God is not in any Society; some seekers go through many Societies as a traveller goes through many cities till he reach his destination. If you belong to a Society already do not forsake your brothers. You can be a Bahá'í-Christian, a Bahá'í-Freemason, a Bahá'í-Jew, a Bahá'í-Muhammadan. The number nine contains eight, and seven, and all the other numbers, and does not deny any of them. Do not distress or deny anyone by saying 'He is not a Bahá'í!' He will be known by his deeds. There are no secrets among Bahá'ís; a Bahá'í does not hide anything."
(Abdu'l-Baha, Abdu'l-Baha in London, p. 97)
" He will be known by his deeds. "
It is through a persons character and behavior that their spiritual identity can be seen. A persons professed beliefs do not distinguish them spiritually what does distinguish them are their actions, their words, their deeds.
If a person accepts the reality of the oneness of humanity and lives in a manner befitting that truth they are of the people of Baha' in both Baha'u'llah's and Abdu'l-Baha's eyes.
The inclusivity of belief in the oneness of humanity makes all distinctions drawn through race, ethnicity, gender, religion, nationality, sexual orientation, as well as religious or philosophical interpretation, fall away. This is the most great unity. That unity which transcends all lesser unities of self interests, even the lesser unity of the self interests of the Baha'i Faith.
This is the spiritual reality of Baha'i identity.
There is only us, we are them, 'as one soul'
Yours
Larry Rowe
