Baha'i Perspectives

iman May 26th, 2009

Recently, the following cute story was shared with me by a mother:

After the mother had explained to her 5-year-old son about the importance of preferring your “brother”, or thinking of others ahead of yourself, the 5-year-old brother chases his 8-year-old sister around the house repeatedly trying to force her to accept something which she doesn’t particularly want. When asked by his mother to explain his behaviour, he reminds her of what she had explained to him about preferring others ahead of himself…

Blessed is he who preferreth his brother before himself. Verily, such a man is reckoned, by virtue of the Will of God, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise, with the people of Baha who dwell in the Crimson Ark.

Baha’u'llah : Tablets of Baha’u'llah revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdas

Drawing a parallel to this story, in today’s commercial world where personal gain seems to be driving force behind most individuals or organisations, one should be wary of being taken advantage of or over-exploited, whilst at the same time not disregarding the need to consciously heed the aforementioned quotation.

I feel that over-cautious cynicism and the expectation of “good” always being returned prevents us from wholeheartedly preferring our fellow man ahead of ourselves.  What are ways in which we can overcome these hindrances?

Starting at the apex of the organisational pyramid, those in prominent positions — leaders of organisations or rulers of countries — could go a long way in dispelling cynicism if a sincere effort is made in upholding altruistic principles:

Concerning the prerequisites of the learned, He saith: “Whoso among the learned guardeth his self, defendeth his faith, opposeth his desires, and obeyeth his Lord’s command, it is incumbent upon the generality of the people to pattern themselves after him….”

Baha’u'llah : The Summons of the Lord of Hosts

At the level of the individual, the expectation of personal gain dims our potential to be genuinely sacrificial:

…a religious individual must disregard his personal desires and seek in whatever way he can wholeheartedly to serve the public interest; and it is impossible for a human being to turn aside from his own selfish advantages and sacrifice his own good for the good of the community except through true religious faith.  For self-love is kneaded into the very clay of man, and it is not possible that, without any hope of a substantial reward, he should neglect his own present material

Abdu’l-Baha : The Secret of Divine Civilization

Tags: sacrifice

• Baha'i Concepts , Society
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iman October 2nd, 2008

In the third part of this series on happiness, examining the “three S’s” above, it is proposed that the trials of suffering can make one happier.  Sounds counter-intuitive. “Does the soul progress more through sorrow or through the joy in this world?” was the question posed to Abdu’l-Baha in Paris, in the early 20^th century.  He replied:

The mind and spirit of man advance when he is tried by suffering…His attitude in this world will be that of divine happiness. Man is, so to speak, unripe: the heat of the fire of suffering will mature him. Look back to the times past and you will find that the greatest men have suffered most…. Through suffering he will attain to an eternal happiness which nothing can take from him. The apostles of Christ suffered: they attained eternal happiness.

(Abdu’l-Baha, Paris Talks, p. 178)

No-one enjoys sorrow. Suffering presents itself in countless ways and it is for this reason that no-one is left unaffected.  Everyone is tested in various ways; ways which may differ from person to person. Whilst many a time we may find circumstances unbearable,  it is how we deal with, and accept the latent wisdom that lies within these challenges, that provides a path to happiness:

…suffering, although an inescapable reality, can nevertheless be utilised as a means for the attainment of happiness. This is the interpretation given to it by all the prophets and saints who, in the midst of severe tests and trials, felt happy and joyous and experienced what is best and holiest in life. Suffering is both a reminder and a guide. It stimulates us better to adapt ourselves to our environmental conditions, and thus leads the way to self improvement. In every suffering one can find a meaning and a wisdom. But it is not always easy to find the secret of that wisdom. It is sometimes only when all our suffering has passed that we become aware of its usefulness. What man considers to be evil turns often to be a cause of infinite blessings.

(Shoghi Effendi, The Unfolding Destiny of the British Baha’i Community)

Be it illness, the loss of a loved one, or poverty, amongst the many struggles we are faced with, a lot of the times it is through suffering that we develop more compassion and are more willing to sacrifice ourselves for the betterment of the lives of those around us:

To attain eternal happiness one must suffer. He who has reached the state of self-sacrifice has true joy. Temporal joy will vanish.

(Abdu’l-Baha, Paris Talks, p. 178)

Ever wondered why the simple act of giving gifts makes us happy?  In its purest form it is not merely the act of giving the gift, but sacrificial interplay on a higher level. How much more the mutual happiness that can be derived from acts of service on a highly participatory, more global scale?  How much more rewarding to unceasingly sacrifice for our  Creator, the Infinite?:

In the Bahá’í Cause arts, sciences and all crafts are (counted as) worship. The man who makes a piece of notepaper to the best of his ability, conscientiously, concentrating all his forces on perfecting it, is giving praise to God. Briefly, all effort and exertion put forth by man from the fullness of his heart is worship, if it is prompted by the highest motives and the will to do service to humanity. This is worship: to serve mankind and to minister to the needs of the people. Service is prayer. A physician ministering to the sick, gently, tenderly, free from prejudice and believing in the solidarity of the human race, he is giving praise.

(Abdu’l-Baha, Paris Talks, p. 176)

In addition, service helps us overlook our own perceived shortcomings (and, sometimes, imaginary remedies), which are often a source of discontent:

The more we search for ourselves, the less likely we are to find ourselves; and the more we search for God, and to serve our fellow-men, the more profoundly will we become acquainted with ourselves, and the more inwardly assured. This is one of the great spiritual laws of life.

(From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, February 18, 1954)

Suffering and sacrifice can be overwhelming at times so what can sustain us? – it is the faith that our sacrifices can be the cause of irreversible spiritual growth, both for us and for those around us.   Faith will be discussed in the next post.

“…and the food of them who haste to meet Thee is the fragments of their broken hearts.”
(Baha’u'llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 95)

Tags: happiness, sacrifice, service, tests

• Baha'i Concepts , General Interest
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