Revision as of 15:19, 13 November 2015

The faith and its founders

The Times of India, Nov 12 2015

A K Merchant 

Tribute to founders of the Baha'i faith

 As Baha'is we believe that our life has a spiritual purpose and every time a spiritual luminary appears the human race or sections of it are called upon to align themselves to the new truths. When Rama came the most important teaching he gave was being true to one's promise; when Krishna came, it was justice; when the Buddha appeared it was the practice of compassion. In the same fashion Moses emphasised adherence to the Ten Commandments; Christ stressed the role of forgiveness; Prophet Muhammad taught of the brotherhood of man; for our age, the twin Divine Luminaries ­ the Báb and Baha'u'llah ­ have given a blueprint for the globalisation of humankind. The Báb, served as the “gate“ or “doorway to divine knowledge“. From childhood he exhibited unusual piety and knowledge. He lost his father at a tender age and was raised by his maternal uncle who provided for his upbring ing and education. His mother and uncle got him married thinking that once he got into his family responsibilities he would have no time for spiritual pursuit.The turning point came in May 1844, the same time when Samuel Morse transmitted the first telegraphic message from Baltimore, Maryland to Washington DC with the words from the Bible: “What God hath wrought.“ This was when the Báb disclosed his true identity as the avatara of a New Age. The Báb's teachings were very simple. He proclaimed the unity and truth of all the great religions, enjoined upon his disciples to break with past rites and ways of worship and to live in harmony with men of all beliefs, and prepared them for the coming of Bahá'u'lláh.

As the forerunner of Bahá'u'lláh his role was critical i Bahá'u'lláh his role was critical in preparing the people to understand and accept the dawning of a New Age.Bahá'u'lláh, means “the Glory of God“ His family could trace its ancestry back to the Sassanian dynasty of Iran's imperial past. Bahá'u'lláh led a princely life as a young man, receiving an education that focussed largely on calligraphy , horsemanship, classic poetry and swordsmanship.

Abdu'l-Bahá, said this His son, ` concerning his father's childhood: “Bahá'u'lláh, belonged to the nobility of Persia. From earliest childhood he was distinguished among his relatives and friends ... In wisdom, intelligence and as a source of new knowledge, he was advanced beyond his age and superior to his surroun dings. All who knew him were astonished at his precocity . It was usual for them to say , `Such a child will not live', for it is commonly believed that precocious children do not reach maturity.“

Bahá'u'lláh taught that all the divine educators such as Moses, Zoroaster, Krishna, Buddha, Christ, Prophet Muhammad and the Báb have successively prepared humanity to reach its present state of development and now was the time for its collective maturity .

Bahá'u'lláh, therefore, formulated the blueprint of a new world order and wrote: “Let your vision be world-embracing ...Soon will the present-day Order be rolled up, and a new one spread in its stead.“ He clearly foresaw the disturbed equilibrium of Dharma and wrote: “The world's equilibrium hath been upset through the vibrating influence of this most great, new world order ... this wondrous system, the like of which mortal eyes have never witnessed.“ If we continue making the wrong decisions, squabbling over petty issues, destroying each other for a larger share of the planet's finite resources through ever more lethal weapons we shall only hasten the annihilation of present-day civilisation.