Chapter 6
Baha'u'llah
and the New Era:
Chapter
Six: Prayer
Prayer
is a ladder by which everyone may ascend to Heaven.
-- MUHAMMAD.
Conversation
with God
"Prayer,"
says Abdu'l-Baha, "is conversation with God." In order that God may make known
His Mind and Will to men, He must speak to them in a language which they can understand,
and this He does by the mouths of His Holy Prophets. While these Prophets are
alive in the body They speak with men face to face and convey to them the Message
of God, and after Their death Their message continues to reach men's minds through
Their recorded sayings and writings. But this is not the only way in which God
can commune with and inspire those whose hearts are seeking after truth, wherever
they are, and whatever their native race or tongue. By this language the Manifestation
continues to hold converse with the faithful after His departure from the material
world. Christ continued to converse with and inspire His disciples after His crucifixion.
In fact He influenced them more powerfully than before; and with other Prophets
it has been the same. Abdu'l-Baha speaks much of this spiritual language. He says,
for instance: -- We
should speak in the language of heaven -- in the language of the spirit -- for
there is a language of the spirit and heart. It is as different from our language
as our own language is different from that of the animals, who express themselves
only by cries and sounds. It
is the language of the spirit which speaks to God. When, in prayer, we are freed
from all outward things and turn to God, then it is as if in our hearts we hear
the voice of God. Without words we speak, we communicate, we converse with God
and hear the answer. ... All of us, when we attain to a truly spiritual condition,
can hear the Voice of God. (from a talk reported by Miss Ethel J. Rosenberg).
Baha'u'llah declares that the higher spiritual truths can be communicated only
by means of this spiritual language. The spoken or written word is quite inadequate.
In a little book called The Seven Valleys, in which He describes the journey of
travelers from the earthly dwelling to the Divine Home, He says, in speaking of
the more advanced stages of the journey: -- The
tongue is unable to give an account of these, and utterance falls exceedingly
short. The pen is useless in this court, and the ink gives no result but blackness.
... Heart alone can communicate to heart the state of the knower; this is not
the work of a messenger, nor can it be contained in letters.
The
Devotional Attitude
In order that we may attain the spiritual condition in which conversation with
God becomes possible, Abdu'l-Baha says: -- We
must strive to attain to that condition by being separated from all things and
from the people of the world and by turning to God alone. It will take some effort
on the part of man to attain to that condition, but he must work for it, strive
for it. We can attain to it by thinking and caring less for material things and
more for the spiritual. The further we go from the one, the nearer we are to the
other. The choice is ours. Our
spiritual perception, our inward sight must be opened, so that we can see the
signs and traces of God's spirit in everything. Everything can reflect to us the
light of the Spirit. (from a talk reported by Miss Ethel J. Rosenberg). Baha'u'llah
has written: -- "That seeker ... at the dawn of every day ... should commune with
God, and, with all his soul, persevere in the quest of his Beloved. He should
consume every wayward thought from the flame of His loving mention. ..." -- Gleaning
from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 265.
In the same way, Abdu'l-Baha declares: -- When
man allows the spirit, through his soul, to enlighten his understanding, then
does he contain all creation. ...
But on the other hand, when man does not open his mind and heart to the blessing
of the spirit, but turns his soul towards the material side, towards the bodily
part of his nature, then is he fallen from his high place and he becomes inferior
to the inhabitants of the lower animal kingdom. Again,
Baha'u'llah writes: -- Deliver
your souls, O people, from the bondage of self, and purify them from all attachment
to anything besides Me. Remembrance of Me cleanseth all things from defilement,
could ye but perceive it. ... Intone,
O My servant, the verses of God that have been received by thee, ... that the
sweetness of thy melody may kindle thine own soul, and attract the hearts of all
men. Whoso reciteth, in the privacy of his chamber, the verses revealed by God,
the scattering angels of the Almighty shall scatter abroad the fragrance of the
words uttered by his mouth. ... -- Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah,
pp. 294-295.
Necessity
for a Mediator
According to Abdu'l-Baha:--
A mediator is necessary between man and the Creator -- one who receives the full
light of the Divine Splendor and radiates it over the human world, as the earth's
atmosphere receives and diffuses the warmth of the sun's rays. If
we wish to pray, we must have some object on which to concentrate. If we turn
to God, we must direct our hearts to a certain center. If man worships God otherwise
than through His Manifestation, he must first form a conception of God, and that
conception is created by his own mind. As the finite cannot comprehend the Infinite,
so God is not to be comprehended in this fashion. That which man conceives with
his own mind he comprehends. That which he can comprehend is not God. That conception
of God which a man forms for himself is but a phantasm, an image, an imagination,
an illusion. There is no connection between such a conception and the Supreme
Being. If
a man wishes to know God, he must find Him in the perfect mirror, Christ or Baha'u'llah.
In either of these mirrors he will see reflected the Sun of Divinity. As
we know the physical sun by its splendor, by its light and heat, so we know God,
the Spiritual Sun, when He shines forth from the temple of Manifestation, by His
attributes of perfection, by the beauty of His qualities and by the splendor of
His light. (from a talk to Mr. Percy Woodcock, at Akka, 1909). Again
He says:
Unless the Holy Spirit become intermediary, one cannot attain directly to the
bounties of God. Do not overlook the obvious truth, for it is self-evident that
a child cannot be instructed without a teacher, and knowledge is one of the bounties
of God. The soil is not covered with grass and vegetation without the rain of
the cloud; therefore the cloud is the intermediary between the divine bounties
and the soil. ... The light hath a center and if one desire to seek it otherwise
than from the center, one can never attain to it. ... Turn thine attention to
the days of Christ; some people imagine that without the Messianic outpourings
it was possible to attain to truth, but this very imagination became the cause
of the deprivation.
A man who tries to worship God without turning to His Manifestation is like a
man in a dungeon trying through his imagination to revel in the glories of the
sunshine.
Prayer Indispensable and Obligatory
The use
of prayer is enjoined upon Bahá'ís in no uncertain terms. Baha'u'llah says in
the Kitab-i-Aqdas: -- Chant
(or recite) the Words of God every morning and evening. The one who neglects this
has not bee faithful to the Covenant of God and His agreement, and he who turns
away from it today is of those who have turned away from God. Fear God, O my people!
Let not too much reading (of the Sacred Word) and actions by day or night make
you proud. To chant but one verse with joy and gladness is better for you than
reading all the Revelations of the Omnipotent God with carelessness. Chant the
Tablets of God in such measure that ye be not overtaken with fatigue and depression.
Burden not the soul so as to cause exhaustion and langour, but rather refresh
it that thus it may soar on the wings of Revelation to the Dawning-place of proofs.
This brings you nearer to God, were ye of those who understand. -- Kitab-i-Aqdas
Abdu'l-Baha says to a correspondents: -- "O thou spiritual friend! Know thou that
prayer is indispensable and obligatory, and man under no pretext whatever is excused
therefrom unless he be mentally unsound or an insurmountable obstacle prevent
him." Another
correspondent asked: "Why pray? What is the wisdom thereof, for God has established
everything and executes all affairs after the best order -- therefore, what is
the wisdom in beseeching and supplicating and in stating one's wants and seeking
help?"
Abdu'l-Baha replied: -- Know
thou, verily it is becoming in a weak one to supplicate to the Strong One, and
it behooveth a seeker of bounty to beseech the Glorious Bountiful One. When one
supplicates to his Lord, turns to Him and seeks bounty from His Ocean, this supplication
brings light to his heart, illumination to his sight, life to his soul and exaltation
to his being. During
thy supplications to God and thy reciting, "Thy Name is my healing," consider
how thine heart is cheered, thy soul delighted by the spirit of the love of God,
and thy mind attracted to the Kingdom of God! By these attractions one's ability
and capacity increase. When the vessel is enlarged the water increases, and when
the thirst grows the bounty of the cloud becomes agreeable to the taste of man.
This is the mystery of supplication and the wisdom of stating one's wants. (from
a tablet to an American believer, translated by Ali Kuli Khan, October 1908). Baha'u'llah
has revealed three daily obligatory prayers. The believer is free to choose any
one of these three prayers, but is under the obligation of reciting one of them,
and in the manner Baha'u'llah has prescribed.
Congregational
Prayer
The prayers which Baha'u'llah has ordained as a daily obligation for Bahá'ís are
to be said privately. Only in the case of the Prayer for the Dead has Baha'u'llah
commanded congregational prayer, and the only requirement is that the believer
who reads it aloud, and all others present, should stand. This differs from the
Islamic practice of congregational prayer in which the believers stand in rows
behind an imam, who leads the prayer, which is prohibited in the Bahá'í Faith.
These ordinances,
which are in accordance with Baha'u'llah's abolition of professional clergy, do
not mean that He attached no value to meetings for worship. Regarding the value
of gathering for prayer, Abdu'l-Baha spoke as follows: -- Man
may say: "I can pray to God whenever I wish, when the feelings of my heart are
drawn to God; when I am in the wilderness, when I am in the city, or wherever
I may be. Why should I go where others are gathered upon a special day, at a certain
hour, to unite my prayers with theirs, when I may not be in a frame of mind for
praying?" To
think in this way is useless imagination, for where many are gathered together
their force is greater. Separate soldiers fighting alone and individually have
not the force of a united army. If all the soldiers in this spiritual war gather
together, then their united spiritual feelings help each other, and their prayers
become acceptable. (from notes taken by Miss Ethel J. Rosenberg).
Prayer
the Language of Love
To someone who asked whether prayer was necessary, since presumably God knows
the wishes of all hearts, Abdu'l-Baha replied: -- If
one friend loves another, is it not natural that he should wish to say so? Though
he knows that that friend is aware of his love, does he still not wish to tell
him of it? ... It is true that God knows the wishes of all hearts; but the impulse
to pray is a natural one, springing from man's love to God. ...
Prayer need not be in words, but rather in thought and action. But if this love
and this desire are lacking, it is useless to try to force them. Words without
love mean nothing. If a person talks to you as an unpleasant duty, finding neither
love nor enjoyment in the meeting, do you wish to converse with him? (article
in Fortnightly Review, Jul.-Dec. 1911, p. 784 by Miss E. S. Stevens). In
another talk He said: -- In
the highest prayer, men pray only for the love of God, not because they fear Him
or hell, or hope for bounty or heaven. ... When a man falls in love with a human
being, it is impossible for him to keep from mentioning the name of his beloved.
How much more difficult is it to keep from mentioning the Name of God when one
has come to love Him. ... The spiritual man finds no delight in anything save
in commemoration of God. (from notes of Miss Alma Robertson and other pilgrims,
November and December 1900).
Deliverance
from Calamities
According to the teaching of the Prophets, disease and all other forms of calamity
are due to disobedience to the Divine Commands. Even disasters due to floods,
hurricanes, and earthquakes are attributed by Abdu'l-Baha indirectly to this cause.
The suffering
that follows error is not vindictive, however, but educative and remedial. It
is God's Voice proclaiming to man that he has strayed from the right path. If
the suffering is terrible, it is only because the danger of wrongdoing is more
terrible, for "the wages of sin is death." Just
as calamity is due to disobedience, so deliverance from calamity can be obtained
only be obedience. There is no chance or uncertainty about the matter. Turning
from God inevitably brings disaster, and turning to God as inevitably brings blessing.
As the whole
of humanity is one organism, however, the welfare of each individual depends not
only on his own behavior, but on that of his neighbors. If one does wrong, all
suffer in greater or less degree; while if one does well, all benefit. Each has
to bear his neighbor's burdens, to some extent, and the best of mankind are those
who bear the biggest burdens. The saints have always suffered abundantly; the
Prophets have suffered superlatively. Baha'u'llah says in the Book of Iqan:--"You
must undoubtedly have been informed of the tribulations, the poverty, the ills,
and the degradation that have befallen every Prophet of God and His companions.
You must have heard how the heads of their followers were sent as presents unto
different cities. ..." -- Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 73. This
is not because the saints and Prophets have merited
punishment above other men. Nay, they often suffer for the sins of others, and
choose to suffer, for the sake of others. Their concern is for the world's welfare,
not for their own. The prayer of the true lover of humanity is not that he, as
an individual, may escape poverty, ill-health or disaster, but that mankind may
be saved from ignorance and error and the ills that inevitably flow from them.
If he wishes health or wealth for himself, it is in order that he may serve the
Kingdom, and if physical health and wealth are denied him, he accepts his lot
with "radiant acquiescence," well knowing that there is a right wisdom in whatever
befalls him in the Path of God. Abdu'l-Baha
says: -- Grief
and sorrow do not come to us by chance; they are sent by the Divine Mercy for
our perfecting. When grief and sorrow come, then will a man remember his Father
Who is in Heaven, Who is able to deliver him from his humiliations. The more a
man is chastened, the greater is the harvest of spiritual virtues shown forth
by him.
At first sight it may seem very unjust that the innocent should suffer for the
guilty, but Abdu'l-Baha assures us that the injustice is only apparent and that,
in the long run, perfect justice prevails. He writes: -- As
to the subject of babes and children and weak ones who are afflicted by the hands
of the oppressors ... for those souls there is a recompense in another world ...
that suffering is the greatest mercy of God. Verily that mercy of the Lord is
far better than all the comfort of this world and the growth and development appertaining
to this place of mortality.
Prayer
and Natural Law
Many find a difficulty in believing in the efficacy of prayer because they think
that answers to prayer would involve arbitrary interference with the laws of nature.
An analogy may
help to remove this difficulty. If a magnet be held over some iron filings the
latter will fly upwards and cling to it, but this involves no interference with
the law of gravitation. The force of gravity continues to act on the filings just
as before. What has happened is that a superior force has been brought into play
-- another force whose action is just as regular and calculable as that of gravity.
The Bahá'í view is that prayer brings into action higher forces, as yet comparatively
little known; but there seems no reason to believe that these forces are more
arbitrary in their action than the physical forces. The difference is that they
have not yet been fully studied and experimentally investigated, and their action
appears mysterious and incalculable because of our ignorance.
Another difficulty which some find perplexing is that prayer seems too feeble
a force to produce the great results often claimed to it. Analogy may serve to
clear up this difficulty also. A small force, when applied to the sluice gate
of a reservoir, may release and regulate an enormous flow of water-power, or,
when applied to the steering gear of an ocean liner, may control the course of
the huge vessel. In the Bahá'í view, the power that brings about answers to prayer
is the inexhaustible Power of God. The part of the suppliant is only to exert
the feeble force necessary to release the flow or determine the course of the
Divine Bounty, which is ever ready to serve those who have learned how to draw
upon it.
Bahá'í Prayers
Baha'u'llah and Abdu'l-Baha have revealed innumerable prayers for the use of Their
followers at various times and for various purposes. The greatness of conception
and depth of spirituality revealed in these utterances must impress every thoughtful
student, but only by making their use a regular and important part of one's daily
life can their significance be fully appreciated and their power for good realized.
Unfortunately, considerations of space prevent our giving more than a very few
short specimens of these prayers. For further examples the reader must be referred
to other works.
O my Lord! Make Thy beauty to be my food, and Thy
presence my drink, and Thy pleasure my hope, and praise of Thee my action, and
remembrance of Thee my companion, and the power of Thy sovereignty my succorer,
and Thy habitation my home, and my dwelling-place the seat Thou hast sanctified
from the limitations imposed upon them who are shut out as by a veil from Thee.
Thou art, verily, the Almighty, the All-Glorious, the Most Powerful. -- BAHA'U'LLAH.
I bear witness, O my God, that Thou hast created Me to know Thee and to worship
Thee. I testify, at this moment, to my powerlessness and to Thy might, to my poverty
and to Thy wealth. There
is none other God but Thee, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting. -- BAHA'U'LLAH.
O my God! O my God! United the hearts of Thy servants and reveal to them Thy great
purpose. May they follow Thy commandments and abide in Thy law. Help them, O God,
in their endeavor, and grant them strength to serve Thee. O God! leave them not
to themselves, but guide their steps by the light of knowledge, and cheer their
hearts by Thy love. Verily, Thou art their Helper and their Lord. -- BAHA'U'LLAH. O
Thou kind Lord! Thou has created all humanity from the same stock. Thou hast decreed
that all shall belong to the same household. In Thy Holy Presence they are all
Thy servants, and all mankind are sheltered beneath Thy Tabernacle; all have gathered
together at Thy Table of Bounty; all are illumined through the light of Thy Providence.
O God! Thou art kind to all, Thou hast provided for all, dost shelter all, conferrest
life upon all, Thou hast endowed each and all with talents and faculties, and
all are submerged in the Ocean of Thy Mercy. O
Thou kind Lord! United all. Let the religions agree and make the nations one,
so that they may see each other as one family and the whole earth as one home.
May they all live together in perfect harmony.
O God! Raise aloft the banner
of the oneness of mankind.
O God! Establish the Most Great Peace.
Cement
Thou, O God, the hearts together.
O Thou kind Father, O God! Gladden our hearts
through the fragrance of Thy love. Brighten our eyes through the Light of Thy
Guidance. Delight our ears with the melody of Thy Word, and shelter us all in
the Stronghold of Thy Providence.
Thou art the Might and Powerful. Thou art
the Forgiving and Thou art the One Who overlookest the shortcomings of all mankind!
-- ABDU'L-BAHA.
O Thou Almighty! I am a sinner, but Thou art the Forgiver! I am full of shortcomings,
but Thou art the Compassionate! I am in darkness of error, but Thou art the Light
of Pardon! Therefore,
O Thou Benevolent God, forgive my sings, grant Thy Bestowals, overlook my faults,
provide for me a shelter, immerse me in the Fountain of Thy Patience and heal
me of all sickness and disease. Purify
and sanctify me. Give me a portion from the outpouring of holiness, so that sorrow
and sadness may vanish, joy and happiness descend, despondency and hopelessness
be changed into cheerfulness and trustfulness, and courage take the place of fear.
Verily Thou art the Forgiver, the Compassionate, and Thou art the Generous, the
Beloved! -- ABDU'L-BAHA.
O compassionate God! Thanks be to Thee for Thou hast awakened and made me conscious.
Thou hast given me a seeing eye and favored me with a hearing ear; hast led me
to Thy Kingdom and guided me to Thy Path. Thou hast shown me the right way and
caused me to enter the Ark of Deliverance. O God! Keep me steadfast and make me
firm and staunch. Protect me from violent tests and preserve and shelter me in
the strongly fortified fortress of Thy Covenant and Testament. Thou art the Powerful!
Thou art the Seeing! Thou art the Hearing! O Thou the Compassionate God! Bestow
upon me a heart which, like unto glass, may be illumined with the light of Thy
love, and confer upon me a thought which may change this world into a rose-garden
through the spiritual bounty. Thou art the Compassionate, the Merciful! Thou art
the Great Beneficent God! -- ABDU'L-BAHA.
Bahá'í prayer is not, however, confined
to the use of prescribed forms, important as those are.
Baha'u'llah teaches that one's whole life should be
a prayer, that work done in the right spirit is worship,
that every thought, word and deed devoted to the Glory
of God and the good of one's fellows is prayer, in the
truest sense of the world.1
Footnotes:Page
100:
1.
On the subject of Intercessory Prayer, see Chapter 11. [back]
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