Vajradhara, You call these questions 'general', I call them 'great'.
1. you say that your journey is an eternal one. does your tradition posit rebirth or reincarnation?
There is a wonderful answer to your question in a document called Some Answered Questions... 'Abdu'l-Baha . I don't feel I would do it proper to try to summarize it. 'Abdu'l-Baha was the son of Baha'u'llah and after the passing of Baha'u'llah, His will and testament told the believers to turn to 'Abdu'l-Baha to learn to live the life. He is known as the Exemplar. This document is a series of short treatises that were transcribed over a period of time at the supper table. The question of reincarnation is covered very well in treatise #81. If you would care to go to
http://www.ibiblio.org/Bahai/Texts/EN/SAQ/ you may read it and then we can discuss the material. It is somewhat lengthy, a couple of pages long, so I probably shouldn't copy/paste it here, though I will if people think it is ok.
Suffice it to say, that, yes, in a sort we do believe in reincarnation, but since the word has different meanings to different individuals, it would be best to read the whole treatise.
2. is "consultation" a type of mediumship or method of penence? this sounds like it is a dialog between an adherent and a "priest". is this what you call the religious hierarchy?
Well, now, let me first say that we have no ministry or priests in the Baha'i Faith. It is why we are required to investigate for ourselves for the truth and Baha'u'llah gave us the principle of compulsory education.
Consultation is between 2 or more individuals that are looking for a truth. It is a great problem solving technique that is used by many outside of the Faith. We are told that each of us must with dignity and kindness share our thoughts and ideas without fear of ridicule. Once we have offered these thoughts to the forum, they become the property of all the participants of the consultation. Therefore, we do not feel a need to defend our ideas. We are told that through the clash of opinions, truth will be forthcoming.
We believe there is only one truth, so the final conclusion typically will be close to this truth. Many times it is not very popular with some of the participants or sometimes even the majority, but the truth becomes so apparant, that it would become difficult to deny. It is similar to what we are doing here in an open forum, without the chance of continuous flow of ideas and opinions. We are also told it should be approached in a prayerful manner to be most effective and in this type of forum that again is up to the participant.
3. if religion disagrees with science and reason, what is one supposed to do with the teaching?
This could be a tough question to answer without causing somebody distress. I hope I don't and apologize ahead of time to anybody I may offend. If you are dealing with a question that science and your religion are directly opposed, then it is time for you to investigate fully and search for the truth. You may find that neither are acceptable, as we mentioned in an earlier post concerning evolution/creationism. You may find that your religion seems out-moded or old-fashioned, which it may or may not be...remember Progressive Revelation. You may find the scientist point of view is just not provable or measurable and you cannot accept it based on a "...we think this is how it works..." statement.
As individuals, we must be able to investigate our religion and recognize dogma (church doctrine) from truths of God. If it is dogma, then surely it could go against the sciences, the study of what God created. If it is "truths of God", then the explanation could be that science doesn't know enough yet for their theories to be acceptable.
Yep, you are going to have to use your rational mind and the logic God gave you to resolve the issue. We believe that God gave us logic so we could know Him. Anything that is illogical is of man and anything that is logical is of God.
4. when you say that the foundation of all religion is one, do you mean to indicate all monotheistic traditions, all theistic traditions, all non-theisitic traditions or all traditions in general.
No. Religion and tradition are two different cups of tea. Religion is the organized and directed recognition of God's message and will. Tradition would seem to relate to past practices, which could or could not have relevance. I remember a story about a newlywed in the US that was being instructed on how to cook a ham for a family dinner. Mother-in-law said you must always cut the ends off of the ham before cooking. When the daughter-in-law asked why, the mother-in-law said that is the way my mother did it. This was not enough answer for the daughter-in-law, so mother-in-law called her mother and asked her why they had always cut the end of the ham before cooking it. The mother told her she had to or it wouldn't fit in her pan. This is a tradition.
Baha'u'llah told us all the religions of God source from the same God. After all there is only one God and in some religions a large supporting cast. But particularly we recognize the Manifestations (and their message) that founded these religions. They are Abraham, Moses, Krshna, The Buddha, Zoroaster, Jesus of Nazereth, Muhammed, The Bab and Baha'u'llah. We are told there could be others that mankind have forgotten. It is why we use a nine-pointed star to represent the Baha'i Faith. It is why all of our Houses of Worship have nine sides. It is why our Assemblies are made up of nine individuals. Maybe this seems like symbolism working overtime, but it is a constant reminder to us that God has had a plain since Adam and that His plan is eternal.
Hope I have answered your questions. If not please ask away.
warmly,
Mick
