Author: Firoozeh

The World Beyond

#EthnoQuotes by #EthnosphereRadio Like/SHARE/Comment: Last night, a precious soul winged his flight to the Abhá kingdom. To experience his passing and "THE LOVE" that surrounded him, profoundly affected me and the course of my life. I will never forget his last gentle smile which is, by now etched in my heart and soul. [Al, thank you for the Unforgettable Gift] Sohrab ... O Lord, glorify his station, shelter him under the pavilion of Thy supreme mercy, cause him to enter Thy glorious paradise, and perpetuate his existence in Thine exalted rose garden, that he may plunge into the sea of light in the world of mysteries. ... Bahá'í Sacred Writings --------------------------- Spent the entire night contemplating on: << Life After Death >> Bahá’u’lláh tells us that the life in the flesh is but the embryonic stage of our existence, and that escape from the body is like a new birth through which the human spirit enters on a fuller, freer life. He writes:— Know thou of a truth that the soul, after its separation from the body, will continue to progress until it attaineth the presence of God, in a state and condition which neither the revolution of ages and centuries, nor the changes and chances of this world, can alter. It will endure as long as the Kingdom of God, His sovereignty, His dominion and power will endure. It will manifest the signs of God and His attributes, and will reveal His loving kindness and bounty. The movement of My Pen is stilled when it attempteth to befittingly describe the loftiness and glory of so exalted a station. The honor with which the Hand of 189 Mercy will invest the soul is such as no tongue can adequately reveal, nor any other earthly agency describe. Blessed is the soul which, at the hour of its separation from the body, is sanctified from the vain imaginings of the peoples of the world. Such a soul liveth and moveth in accordance with the Will of its Creator, and entereth the all-highest Paradise. The Maids of Heaven, inmates of the loftiest mansions, will circle around it, and the Prophets of God and His chosen ones will seek its companionship. With them that soul will freely converse, and will recount unto them that which it hath been made to endure in the path of God, the Lord of all worlds. If any man be told that which hath been ordained for such a soul in the worlds of God, the Lord of the throne on high and of earth below, his whole being will instantly blaze out in his great longing to attain that most exalted, that sanctified and resplendent station. … The nature of the soul after death can never be described, nor is it meet and permissible to reveal its whole character to the eyes of men. The Prophets and Messengers of God have been sent down for the sole purpose underlying their revelation hath been to educate all men, that they may, at the hour of death, ascend, in the utmost purity and sanctity and with absolute detachment, to the throne of the Most High. The light which these souls radiate is responsible for the progress of the world and the advancement of its peoples. They are like unto leaven which leaveneth the world of being, and constitute the animating force through which the arts and wonders of the world are made manifest. Through them the clouds rain their bounty upon men, and the earth bringeth forth its fruits. All things must needs have a cause, a motive power, an animating principle. These souls and symbols of detachment have provided, and will continue to provide, the supreme moving impulse in the world of being. The world beyond is as different from this world as this world is different from that of the child while still in the womb of 190 its mother.—Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, pp. 155–157. Similarly, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá writes:— The mysteries of which man is heedless in the earthly world, those will he discover in the heavenly world, and there will he be informed of the secrets of the truth; how much more will he recognize or discover persons with whom he has been associated. Undoubtedly the holy souls who find a pure eye and are favored with insight will, in the kingdom of lights, be acquainted with all mysteries, and will seek the bounty of witnessing the reality of every great soul. They will even manifestly behold the Beauty of God in that world. Likewise will they find all the friends of God, both those of the former and recent times, present in the heavenly assemblage. The difference and distinction between men will naturally become realized after their departure from this mortal world. But this distinction is not in respect to place, but in respect to the soul and the conscience. For the Kingdom of God is sanctified (or free) from time and place; it is another world and another universe. And know thou for a certainty that in the divine worlds the spiritual beloved ones will recognize one another, and will seek union with each other, but a spiritual union. Likewise a love that one may have entertained for anyone will not be forgotten in the world of the Kingdom, nor wilt thou forget there the life that thou hadst in the material world.
Ethnosphere Radio

… O Lord, glorify his station, shelter him under the pavilion of Thy supreme mercy, cause him to enter Thy glorious paradise, and perpetuate his existence in Thine exalted rose garden, that he may plunge into the sea of light in the world of mysteries.

… Bahá’í Sacred Writings

Bahá’u’lláh tells us that the life in the flesh is but the embryonic stage of our existence, and that escape from the body is like a new birth through which the human spirit enters on a fuller, freer life.
He writes:—
Know thou of a truth that the soul, after its separation from the body, will continue to progress until it attaineth the presence of God, in a state and condition which neither the revolution of ages and centuries, nor the changes and chances of this world, can alter. It will endure as long as the Kingdom of God, His sovereignty, His dominion and power will endure. It will manifest the signs of God and His attributes, and will reveal His loving kindness and bounty. The movement of My Pen is stilled when it attempteth to befittingly describe the loftiness and glory of so exalted a station. The honor with which the Hand of 189 Mercy will invest the soul is such as no tongue can adequately reveal, nor any other earthly agency describe. Blessed is the soul which, at the hour of its separation from the body, is sanctified from the vain imaginings of the peoples of the world. Such a soul liveth and moveth in accordance with the Will of its Creator, and entereth the all-highest Paradise. The Maids of Heaven, inmates of the loftiest mansions, will circle around it, and the Prophets of God and His chosen ones will seek its companionship. With them that soul will freely converse, and will recount unto them that which it hath been made to endure in the path of God, the Lord of all worlds. If any man be told that which hath been ordained for such a soul in the worlds of God, the Lord of the throne on high and of earth below, his whole being will instantly blaze out in his great longing to attain that most exalted, that sanctified and resplendent station. … The nature of the soul after death can never be described, nor is it meet and permissible to reveal its whole character to the eyes of men. The Prophets and Messengers of God have been sent down for the sole purpose underlying their revelation hath been to educate all men, that they may, at the hour of death, ascend, in the utmost purity and sanctity and with absolute detachment, to the throne of the Most High. The light which these souls radiate is responsible for the progress of the world and the advancement of its peoples. They are like unto leaven which leaveneth the world of being, and constitute the animating force through which the arts and wonders of the world are made manifest. Through them the clouds rain their bounty upon men, and the earth bringeth forth its fruits. All things must needs have a cause, a motive power, an animating principle. These souls and symbols of detachment have provided, and will continue to provide, the supreme moving impulse in the world of being. The world beyond is as different from this world as this world is different from that of the child while still in the womb of 190 its mother.—Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, pp. 155–157.

Similarly, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá writes:—
The mysteries of which man is heedless in the earthly world, those will he discover in the heavenly world, and there will he be informed of the secrets of the truth; how much more will he recognize or discover persons with whom he has been associated. Undoubtedly the holy souls who find a pure eye and are favored with insight will, in the kingdom of lights, be acquainted with all mysteries, and will seek the bounty of witnessing the reality of every great soul. They will even manifestly behold the Beauty of God in that world. Likewise will they find all the friends of God, both those of the former and recent times, present in the heavenly assemblage.

The difference and distinction between men will naturally become realized after their departure from this mortal world. But this distinction is not in respect to place, but in respect to the soul and the conscience. For the Kingdom of God is sanctified (or free) from time and place; it is another world and another universe. And know thou for a certainty that in the divine worlds the spiritual beloved ones will recognize one another, and will seek union with each other, but a spiritual union. Likewise a love that one may have entertained for anyone will not be forgotten in the world of the Kingdom, nor wilt thou forget there the life that thou hadst in the material world.

Part 10 of How Do We Know God Exists?

Part 10 of How Do We Know God Exists? :

Theoretical physicists have begun to wonder whether our universe might not be the only one.

Ever hear the phrase “I think I live in a parallel universe?”  You’ve got the basic idea, then.

The multiverse, scientists call the concept, and it describes a hypothetical set of an infinite number of possible universes, which when taken together make up everything that exists and can possibly exist.  Scientists and theoreticians who work in astronomy, physics, quantum mechanics and cosmology have all proposed some variation of the multiverse idea, and it has begun to gain some credence in a host of scientific and spiritual contexts.  No proof yet exists, but so-called M-theory physicists have surmised that our familiar “Big Bang” creation scenario might have been the result of a collision between two universes in the multiverse; or may have sprung from a super-massive black hole.

While theories like this one may sound wild, and hard to even conceptualize or imagine, scientists who study the collapsed stars in this familiar universe have begun to discover some equally strange and disorienting facts about the black holes at the center of galaxies, including our own Milky Way.

Here’s how it works: when stars die, a supernova explodes into space; and gravity squeezes the remaining core of the dying star, collapsing it into a white dwarf or a neutron star or a quasar — or a black hole.

Recently, physicists and astronomers determined that black holes reside at the center of most galaxies.  The Milky Way’s central black hole, called Sagittarius A* (pronounced A-star), weighs 4.3 million times as much as the sun, and its immense gravitational pull draws in everything nearby, even including light itself.  That’s why no one can see a black hole – we only know it’s there because of its effect on other celestial bodies.  This reminds many spiritual thinkers of their conception of God.

Black Hole in the Milky Way

Beyond its invisibility, here’s the most amazing thing about a black hole – it can literally warp time.  Black holes, because of their enormous gravitational pull, alter time itself by bending the space-time continuum.  A century ago, Einstein proved that gravity can actually bend space.  Building on that knowledge, we know now that the massive gravitational pull of a black hole not only bends space, but time itself.  National Geographic puts it this way:

Black holes, with their incredible gravitational pull, are basically time machines.  Get on a rocket, travel to Sagittarius A*…. For every minute you spend there, a thousand years will pass on earth.  It’s hard to believe, but that’s what happens. Gravity trumps time. – Michael Finkel, Star Eater, National Geographic, March 2014, p. 102.

For those who believe in a completely explainable, logical and rational view of our human existence, these scientific findings challenge that view by breaking all known physical laws.

In fact, this relatively new scientific information completely contravenes and upends the two major theories that have previously tried to explain the workings of the physical universe – quantum mechanics and general relativity.  But this stunning information may give us a clue about how the multiverse creates new universes in a hyper-massive, never-ending, cyclical process of creation and re-creation:  a giant star dies and becomes a black hole, which in turn becomes the womb for the big bang that gives birth to new stars or even a new universe.

If you believe that science has all the answers, or that science has removed much of the beauty and mystery of existence, this information should challenge those views.  If you believe that the basic “laws” of physics always apply to everything, then the very nature of black holes negates that belief.  And if you accept the Baha’i principle of the agreement of science and religion, then this perpetual, galactic, multiversal engine of creation sounds a lot like the work of a Supreme Being, a Creator, a First Cause, an incubator of Being, a generative spiritual force far beyond the abilities of science to conceptualize or understand.

These contemporary scientific theories and discoveries support the remarkable Baha’i view that creation has no beginning and no end.  Perhaps the writings ofBaha’u’llah can give us a hint about the enormity of this realization:

A drop of the billowing ocean of His endless mercy hath adorned all creation with the ornament of existence, and a breath wafted from His peerless Paradise hath invested all beings with the robe of His sanctity and glory. A sprinkling from the unfathomed deep of His sovereign and all-pervasive Will hath, out of utter nothingness, called into being a creation which is infinite in its range and deathless in its duration. The wonders of His bounty can never cease, and the stream of His merciful grace can never be arrested. The process of His creation hath had no beginning, and can have no end. – Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah, p. 61.

 

 

David Langness

David Langness writes and edits for BahaiTeachings.org and is a journalist and literary critic for Paste Magazine. He and his wife Teresa live in the Sierra foothills in Northern California.

 

Article in Huffpost Religion – Baha’is to Implement New Calendar Worldwide

Baha’is to Implement New Calendar Worldwide

Since the earliest beginnings of human history, the measurement of time has been fundamental to the organization of societies. Examples among many are the ancient monuments such as Stonehenge, where massive stones were arranged to factor in the position of the sun at significant points of the seasons. From the perspective of the history of religions, the spring equinox of next year will be fascinating as the Baha’i community — some five million people in over 200 countries and territories — implements its calendar on a worldwide basis. Up until now, Baha’is have observed certain holy days according to the Gregorian solar calendar for communities in the West, and the Islamic lunar calendar for communities in the Middle East. This implied that some holy days would be celebrated on different dates, depending on where in the world a Baha’i lived. The decision that the Baha’i community will now implement its new “Badi” calendar on a worldwide basis was communicated by the Universal House of Justice, its international governing body, in a letter dated July 10, 2014 (Gregorian calendar).

Even if you know little about the Baha’i Faith or aren’t interested in “religion” per se, you might find it intriguing from the perspective of sociology, history, mathematics or other related fields to learn more as a new calendar system is implemented across tens of thousands of communities ranging from the largest metropolitan cities to the remotest jungle and Arctic villages.

The Badi calendar was introduced by one of the Founders of the Baha’i Faith, who took the title of “The Bab.” It is a solar calendar consisting of 19 months of 19 days each, with 4 or 5 “intercalary” days filling out the remainder of the solar year. Every cycle of 19 years makes up a unit of measurement as well, known as a “vahid” or “unity,” and 19 vahids make up a 361-year cycle (a “kullu shay” or “all things”). Each of the days, months, years and cycles of years according to this system is named after an attribute of Divinity — such as Glory, Grandeur, Mercy, etc. Thus, a person symbolically experiences the passage of time throughout life conscious of the attributes of the Creator. In addition to the measurement of time, the Bab envisioned the possibility that language itself, and the way grammar is taught to children in schools, could reflect symbolic meanings about Divine attributes.

2014-07-12-ShrineBab.jpg

One of the interesting new experiences that Baha’is in the West will have as a result of the adoption of this new calendar is the “Twin Holy Days.” The Baha’i Faith has two Founders – the Bab and Baha’u’llah — whose missions complement each other, whose majestic Shrines now stand in the twin cities of Haifa and Akka in northern Israel, and whose birthdays according to the Islamic lunar calendar fell on consecutive days, but according to the Gregorian calendar were celebrated on October 20 and November 12, respectively. With the implementation of the Badi calendar, these days will now be celebrated as twin holy days, one falling immediately after the other, on 10 and 11 Qudrat (Power) next year in the new calendar. This is also significant as the bicentennial years of the birth of Baha’u’llah and the Bab are coming up soon, and now the entire community will be able to celebrate these historic occasions as one on the same days.

Interestingly, even though the Badi calendar and the Gregorian calendar are solar calendars, they may diverge from each other from year to year because the Badi calendar year begins at the moment of the spring equinox as calculated from Tehran, Iran (the birthplace of Baha’u’llah). The spring equinox can shift by a day or so from year to year in relation to the Gregorian calendar.

So now you know a little bit more about an entirely new calendar system. If you have Baha’i friends, you can ask them what day of what Badi month of what Vahid it is, and if they look a little confused please be forgiving as it may take some time to get adjusted to a new way of measuring one of our most precious common resources — time.

Happy and joyous

 

Happy and joyous

“… The earth is in motion and growth; the mountains, hills and prairies are green and pleasant; the bounty is overflowing; the mercy universal; the rain is descending from the cloud of mercy; the brilliant Sun is shining; the full moon is ornamenting the horizon of ether; the great ocean-tide is flooding every little stream; the gifts are successive; the favors consecutive; and the refreshing breeze is blowing, wafting the fragrant perfume of the blossoms. Boundless treasure is in the hand of the King of Kings! Lift the hem of thy garment in order to receive it.
If we are not happy and joyous at this season, for what other season shall we wait and for what other time shall we look?
…” -‘Abdu’l-Bahá.SeasonFBP