Baha’i Perspectives

nava August 19th, 2008

Adam and Eve. Our progenitors. The Garden of Eden. The birthplace of shame and forbidden fruit, satanic snakes and temptressy women. Possibly one of the most famous Biblical accounts of all time. Certainly the most popular. But, what does it actually mean? What are the inherent values we are supposed to glean and learn from this anecdote?

A literal interpretation of this account proves troublesome as the numbers just don’t add up. From a scientific perspective, it is well-documented and proven that human beings have existed on this planet in some evolutionary form or another long before Sir Adam or Madame Eve ever made an appearance. From a biological point of view, the populating of the planet would seem miraculous if actually initiated by the two—who did their sons marry? And why didn’t all the children end up with severe disabilities (as modern medicine has proven time and again that the odds are way against us as a race when we marry within the bloodline)? From a spiritual stance, couldn’t a God who punishes perpetual generations of His creation for the sins of the first two be considered somewhat childish, if not outright cruel? Clearly, this story is not intended literally.

An early Baha’i believer from a Christian background asked Abdu’l-Baha, the son of the Founder of the Baha’i Faith, what the true significance of this allegory was. He explained that the story of Adam and Eve had many different meanings, one of which he would expound for her. He says the following regarding the symbolism of the main “protagonists” of this story (Adam, Eve, the tree of good and evil, the serpent, and the tree of life):

Adam signifies the heavenly spirit of Adam, and Eve His human soul. For in some passages in the Holy Books where women are mentioned, they represent the soul of man. The tree of good and evil signifies the human world; for the spiritual and divine world is purely good and absolutely luminous, but in the human world light and darkness, good and evil, exist as opposite conditions.

The meaning of the serpent is attachment to the human world. This attachment of the spirit to the human world led the soul and spirit of Adam from the world of freedom to the world of bondage and caused Him to turn from the Kingdom of Unity to the human world. When the soul and spirit of Adam entered the human world, He came out from the paradise of freedom and fell into the world of bondage. From the height of purity and absolute goodness, He entered into the world of good and evil.

The tree of life is the highest degree of the world of existence: the position of the Word of God, and the supreme Manifestation. Therefore, that position has been preserved; and, at the appearance of the most noble supreme Manifestation, it became apparent and clear. For the position of Adam, with regard to the appearance and manifestation of the divine perfections, was in the embryonic condition; the position of Christ was the condition of maturity and the age of reason; and the rising of the Greatest Luminary[1] was the condition of the perfection of the essence and of the qualities. This is why in the supreme Paradise the tree of life is the expression for the center of absolutely pure sanctity — that is to say, of the divine supreme Manifestation. From the days of Adam until the days of Christ, They spoke little of eternal life and the heavenly universal perfections. This tree of life was the position of the Reality of Christ; through His manifestation it was planted and adorned with everlasting fruits. [1= Baha’u’llah]

(Abdu’l-Baha, Some Answered Questions, p. 123)

In layman’s terms, Adam and Eve are one reality, Adam representing the physical self and Eve his soul. The tree of good and evil is this very world we exist in, a world full of dualities, as opposed to the spiritual worlds of God — the heavenly realms, as some theological language would term them — which are only good. The serpent represents attachment to this material world (maybe things like our looks, our cars, our status, our things) — the true source of evil. The tree of life represents the Manifestation of God (such as Christ and Baha’u’llah). They are the tree of life because They are the source of all spiritual good, and the true nature of man is spiritual. Though he is both a body and a soul, the body is the vehicle for the soul to progress through life acquiring the spiritual attributes he will need in the spiritual worlds of God. So when we forget our true reality, when we become so caught up in the affairs of the flesh that we neglect our souls, we not only succumb to evil, we bind ourselves to it.

Evil is not a seperate entity that exists on its own, stalking us through dark hallways and creepy dreams, waiting to plant itself in our bodies so that only an exorcism can restore us to humanity. Evil is a turning away from good; a daily struggle. A part of our very selves. A lower, animalistic nature which drives us to focus only on our worldly needs and turn away from the tree of life. From the laws of the Manifestation of God which are, in fact, the source of all good, and the only true sustenance of the spiritual reality of man.

Paradise and hell exist within our own selves — rest in the decisions we make every day. To be watchful or to neglect. To be godly or to be satanic. To be obedient or to rebel. To strive or to settle. To be wordly or to be heavenly.

Tags: Bible themes, good & evil

• Baha'i Concepts , General Interest
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nava September 15th, 2008

I was trying to think of a fancy or clever title for this post. Something to embody and encapsulate evil. But I decided, or realized rather, that evil is just one of those words that needs no embellishment. What it represents is so evocative that it needs no dressing up. Evil: just, evil.

So what images does this evocative word conjure? Of course, this may vary from person to person. Maybe when I say evil the name “Harry” flashes in your mind as you remember the evil ex-boyfriend with wandering eyes. Or perhaps you think “neighbors” as images of your evil, music-blasting-til-4am co-dwellers flood your mindwaves. Whatever the case, particulars aside, there are some general images that are not unlikely candidates for immediate word association.

Try: “devil” “hell” “fire” “witch” “satan” “satanic” “angel” (you know, in case you’re one of those opposite-thought types) “cruel” “demonic” “pain” etc.

I doubt, though I have conducted no sociological studies to confirm the matter, that most people would think of the word “ego” as an immediate correlated term. Ego, evil; evil, ego. Perhaps the association should be stronger than it is.

Somehow, many of us have fooled ourselves into believing that ego is a good thing. That at the root of most of our problems is a lack of confidence, low self-esteem, not enough pride. But maybe that’s not the problem at all. Maybe spending so much time thinking about ourselves is the problem. Good bad negative positive confident insecure— it doesn’t matter. Why should the bulk of our thoughts center on our own small, insignificant selves?

As I mentioned in Part I, in the Bahá’í Faith we do not recognize evil as an independent force that exists on its own. Rather evil represents a turning away from good. A purely materialistic outlook that would have us behave as though we were nothing more than breathing bodies with animalistic needs to satisfy, rather than noble souls with heavenly aspirations to fulfill.

In more concrete terms, one of the greatest hindrances to this turning towards good is our ego. Our ego binds us to the material world. Our ego feeds a competitive nature which seeks to prove that we are better than others rather than in harmony with others. This is not by any means a plea for mediocrity. We should all strive for excellence at all times. But the drive behind this striving should not be to improve our status or inflate the positive perception others have of us. Because that kind of motivation may begin as a seemingly innocent one and can soon turn into greed, dishonesty, and a justification of any and all means for mostly self-serving ends.

So, then, even if we accept that evil is a lower nature within us that we have to struggle against, what about those who seem to fail this struggle on a pretty daily basis—are they “evil”? Are they rejected souls in the sight of God?

In “The Promulgation of Universal Peace”, ‘Abdu’l-Baha explains in beautiful language how we must treat all people, regardless of their condition, and in this passage, he also touches upon the idea of the lower nature of man. He says:

[Some] souls are weak; we must endeavor to strengthen them. Some are ignorant, uninformed of the bounties of God; we must strive to make them knowing. Some are ailing; we must seek to restore them to health. Some are immature as children; they must be trained and assisted to attain maturity. We nurse the sick in tenderness and the kindly spirit of love; we do not despise them because they are ill. Therefore, we must exercise extreme patience, sympathy and love toward all mankind, considering no soul as rejected. If we look upon a soul as rejected, we have disobeyed the teachings of God. God is loving to all. Shall we be unjust or unkind to anyone? Is this allowable in the sight of God? God provides for all. Is it befitting for us to prevent the flow of His merciful provisions for mankind? God has created all in His image and likeness. Shall we manifest hatred for His creatures and servants? This would be contrary to the will of God and according to the will of Satan, by which we mean the natural inclinations of the lower nature. This lower nature in man is symbolized as Satan — the evil ego within us, not an evil personality outside.

Maybe the desire to label others, to brand them as rejected, evil, incurable, is another manifestation of our own evil inclinations. Maybe we feel better about ourselves when we can condemn others. Because if my neighbor Becca is a gossip and a rampant liar, my occasional white lies aren’t all that bad, right? I’m not all that bad, right? In fact, I’m awesome. Not like that lying, spattling wench, Becca.

And so it goes.

And we so we must find the balance. Not to dwell on the flaws of others to make ourselves feel good, and simply not to dwell on ourselves- period. We should be aware of our strengths and weaknesses but not be prideful due to the former or feel deflated by the latter.

When we center our thoughts on God, when we work hard to inspect our motives and behave more selflessly, then will we be apart from evil.

Tags: good & evil

• Baha'i Concepts , General Interest , Society
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