One Common Faith ~ The Story – Part Four
Baha'i Perspectives November 15th, 2008
Part four? But where are parts one, two and three you ask? In his blog Our Evolution: Culture and Spirituality, writer Alexander Zoltai seamlessly interweaves his own search after spiritual truth with principles explored in the document One Common Faith. Following on from the first three installments, part four of this captivating series – republished below – considers the relationship between morality, spirituality and religion. Read on…
More on my spiritual war with religion.
In the last installment, I’d said, “I was known for my spirited discussions about religion, challenging anyone available to prove to me even a shred of evidence that religion was the correct way to worship God…”
Even though I’d had a huge turn-off toward religion, I continued to search for one I could call my own, devote myself to, claim as my Truth.
I should inject a bit of clarity concerning morality, spirituality, and religion.
Having a “moral code” may keep you from reprehensible actions but it won’t necessarily help you transform your consciousness or achieve the heights of spiritual awareness.
Being “spiritual” may bring some measure of heightened consciousness and may or may not have an influence on moral behavior.
Being “religious” can improve the morals, heighten spirituality, and induce an attitude that aids an individual in working cooperatively to build better forms of social existence.
Our ancestors had a chance to try all three modes of behavior and understanding, over and over again. They, with the help of the Avatars and Prophets down through the ages, built moral codes, devised activities to heighten spirituality, and formed religious societies. Something they also did, that worked against all three forms of social betterment, was to weave highly materialistic and basely human rituals and institutions around the pure forms bequeathed to them by the Prophets. This is what led to the divisiveness of religion against religion—the fighting against the outer forms of worship and dogmatic theologies while ignoring the eternal spiritual truths.
I did the very same thing in my individual development. I’d receive a small bit of the Truth, immediately appropriate it to my personal whims and fancies, project it on anyone willing to listen, and defend it till I’d lose the other person’s respect…
I came from an American-Christian background. I’ve always honored and respected Jesus. I also explored other religions and found cause to honor and respect their Prophet-Founders. The predominant American religious game is to deal out a deck stacked against any religion but the one crafted by either very mortal popes or very mortal ministers. I’d grown up with two very mortal ministers (mom and dad), had them shape my early understandings of religion. How in the world to reconcile my religious birthright of the exclusivity of Jesus with the apparently equal exclusivity of the other Prophet-Founders?
The answer was found after an excruciatingly painful descent into my Dark Night of the Soul.
Spiritual Quote :
“What ‘oppression’ is more grievous than that a soul seeking the truth, and wishing to attain unto the knowledge of God, should know not where to go for it and from whom to seek it? For opinions have sorely differed, and the ways unto the attainment of God have multiplied. This ‘oppression’ is the essential feature of every Revelation. Unless it cometh to pass, the Sun of Truth will not be made manifest. For the break of the morn of divine guidance must needs follow the darkness of the night of error.”
Bahá’u’lláh, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 31
For an in-depth and rigorous discussion of the principles explored in this story, reference One Common Faith and Changeless Faith.
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- General Interest , Society
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You do me honor.
More importantly, you do our Faith honor!
~ Alex
(humor alert)
I “discovered” Baha’u'llah after a lifetime battle with “churchianity” and just after enduring a year at a missionary-run school overseas. I finally condemned all forms of organized religion as hypocritic and proclaimed myself an agnostic.
At that moment, I stopped trying to find acceptance in an existing church and, in hindsight, became a real seeker.
Of course, when you are 16 in the ’60s, you know everything there is to know and have insights that generations over the centuries past have failed to discover… (grin).
So when the logical, intelligent, spiritual, reasonable and inspirational message of Baha’u'llah first reached my ears, I was faced with the spectre of having to eat crow and admit that not ALL organized religions were bunk.
The realization that I had not been taught the difference between religion and sectarianism began to dawn and I was swept up in the wonder that IT IS ALL ONE! All knowledge emanates from the SAME SOURCE and RELIGION is ALL of them, not just one over another.
Today, as a grandma, I shake my head at how our society still struggles to grasp the principle of oneness. I guess we need to be 16 again. Funny, how the Universal House of Justice and the International Teaching Centre keep telling us that.
“The realization that I had not been taught the difference between religion and sectarianism began to dawn and I was swept up in the wonder that IT IS ALL ONE!”
Liz, as always, your comments are a precious addendum to the articles.
“eat crow” – now there’s a unique expression
!
It’s great to see Alexander’s fine post here on Baha’i Perspectives, too. His passionate reflections deserve to be widely shared.