The Kingdom of Names
shadi December 1st, 2008
For the past few years, I have occasionally confided to my husband that I hope people see me as a kind person. “You know… I just wish when my name was brought up in conversation, people would say ‘Oh, I know Shadi, she’s really kind!’ with an exclamation mark.” I would tell him that of all the qualities in the world, kindness was the most important for me and the one I actively worried others would not see in me. And in response, my husband would reassure me that I was in fact a kind person and should not stress about being seen as kind.
A few days ago I was reading The Covenant of Baha’u'llah (by Adib Taherzadeh) and learned that Baha’u'llah explains “there are three barriers between man and God…The first barrier is attachment to the things of this world, the second is attachment to the rewards of the next world, and the third is attachment to the Kingdom of Names.” (pg.20)
The Kingdom of Names is described as essentially God’s attributes that are revealed in this world to man.
Every created thing manifests the names and attributes of God. In the spiritual world, these attributes are manifest with such intensity that man will never be able to comprehend them in this life. In the human world, however, these attributes appear within the ‘Kingdom of Names’ and man often becomes attached to these names.
Wait a minute! I’m pretty attached to kindness I must admit AND really try my best to be kind AND really want people to see my kindness… is that essentially the wrong way to go about it? And the passage very eloquently went on to reply:
Human society at present exerts a pernicious influence upon the soul of man. Instead of allowing him to live a life of service and sacrifice, it is highly competitive and teaches him to pride himself on his ego and to seek to exalt himself above others, in the ultimate aim of achieving self-importance, success and power… The Revelation of Baha’u'llah aims to reverse the process. The soul of man needs to be adorned with virtues of humility and self-effacement so that it may become detached from the Kingdom of Names.
This new way of looking at my attachment to kindness has definitely spurred some critical self reflection and consequently opened the door to other attributes I realize also need to be thrown into the kindness pot. I found a very encouraging sentence from the Covenant of Baha’u'llah that I keep rereading to myself in order to guide this transition in thinking and acting around attributes:
If a man can realize that his virtues are not intrinsically his own, but rather are manifestations of the attributes of God, then he is freed from the Kingdom of Names and becomes truly humble.
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- Comments(9)
Thank you so much for this post! It really has got me thinking because I too have been too attached to the Kingdom of Names. I am often been too attached to being seen as “knowledgeable” as well as “compassionate”. It is really beautiful to think about how we can cultivate virtues without inflating the ego, and that is by focusing on God. It is also important to try to cultivate many of the attributes and not attach too much significance to one without the others. Moderation is key. Again thank you for sharing these words because I too have been struggling and reading them has been really helpful as well as you sharing the example in your own life.
Thank you Maeve for your thoughtful comments! I was nervous about posting this particular blog because I thought “oh great, now I’m drawing even more attention to wanting to be seen as kind,” but it’s great to see that the example has served the intended purpose.
Some of my favorite analogies are the “magic window” images… or looking at the Sombrero Galaxy through an amateur telescope.
In both cases, the images cannot be seen when one focuses on them. One must use unfocused or averted vision to see them clearly.
As I understand the meaning of Oneness… it is all One. All of this. And everything outside of our senses and faculties. MUCH bigger than we can ever imagine… or describe with “names”. When we take the edge off a “name” – in other words – lose the specific definition (stop “looking” at the surface of the magic window image or the Sombrero Galaxy), and merge that “name” with the other attributes we strive to emulate, we may find ourselves, just for a moment, in a nameless state of unconditional love – for our Creator and for all that He has created.
Phew!
That’s such a cool way of looking at virtues… as a culmination of “unconditional love!” Thanks for your thoughts Liz!
Such an important topic! Thanks for sharing your insights. The idea that the virtues are not my own but only a reflections on God’s virtues is truly liberating! I will be reflecting on that. And trust me, you are not the only one with such an attachment.
A friend made me reflect on the dichotomy between “standing well with God” versus “surrendering to the Will of God”. She shared the words of Meister Eckhart who in his “Talks of Instruction” says:
Some people say ‘Alas, sir, but I would prefer to stand well with God, to have the devotion and divine calm of some people.”
To that, he replies, ‘There can be no restlessness unless it comes from self-will…. Begin, therefore, first with self and forget yourself!”
cool post, good reflexions. Thanks. Posting now on my facebook account.
Hi Mitko & Vahid,
Thank you both for your encouragment and thoughts. I’m really surprised and glad at much interest this blog has sparked. I hope that we can keep exploring this issue within our social circles.
All the best,
Shadi
Thanks Shadi
I just stumbled upon this post due to the interest my wife has expressed in the Kingdom of Names (she is a Baha’i) and I never quite grasped the idea until now.
It is a fascinating and thought provoking idea that we become so focussed on exhibiting certain ‘traits’ or ‘qualities’ that they become the end in themselves if we are not careful. I guess the point is that we need to be conscious of/understand what the good qualities or characteristic of humanity are without becoming obsessed with trying to ‘prove’ that we exhibit them. Knowing something yet not becoming self-conscioius of it is a real challenge for a mortal being I think.
I suppose (and correct me if I am wrong) the objective is to allow the qualities such as kindness to emanate from ourselves without trying? These things, we often refer to as being (hopefully) ’second nature’ to us (but which – given that they are reflections of God, must actually be ‘First Nature’ – I suppose?) should be exhibited without purposing to gain any recognition for exhibiting them.
I have sort of had this conversation before, without necessarily knowing the context of the Kingdom of Names. In almost all human endeavour it if frequently the case that we do things out of the ‘motivation’ for achieving acceptance, recognition, belongingness (at least according to common ‘Motivational Theory’). The pinnacle of the ‘Hierarchy of Needs’ (the motivational pyramid proposed by Maslow, that almost all students get to hear about at some time or other, in UK teaching at least) relates to ’self-actualisation’ or ‘becoming all a man can be’. We are typically bought up to have goals and seek achievment and recognition. This in itself has important implications for us recognizing ourselves as individuals, and ‘knowing who wwe are’ (supposedly) – the notion that we are recognized even if only by a small ‘group’ of people, perhaps just our parents, siblings and/or friends – seems to be of great importance in a world where we are not simply ’striving for survival’.
I understand that our true goal as a species is unity – which sems to mean seeing ourselves as a small part of something that will become much bigger than the sum of its parts! Evidently to achieve this we maybe need to understand the notion of self-fulfillment and achievement and recognition, and then also recognize the need NOT to seek these things but to do everything we do altruistically, from the heart, and without hopes and goals of receiveing any kind or reward, aprobation or payback…
It is a fascinating challenge that – given the current popular obsession with ‘celebrity’ – and ‘being famous for being famous’ is evidently going to be a long and difficult one for Mankind to meet.
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