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Surah 112
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Surah 112
Al Ikhlas (The Purity of Faith)
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
1. Say: He is Allah, the One and Only;
2. Allah, the Eternal, Absolute;
3. He begetteth not, nor is He begotten;
4. And there is none like unto Him.
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Wherefore, O my loving friends! Consort with all the peoples, kindreds and religions of the world with the utmost truthfulness, uprightness, faithfulness, kindliness, good-will and friendliness, that all the world of being may be filled with the holy ecstasy of the grace of Baha, that ignorance, enmity, hate and rancor may vanish from the world and the darkness of estrangement amidst the peoples and kindreds of the world may give way to the Light of Unity.
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Wherefore, O my loving friends! Consort with all the peoples, kindreds and religions of the world with the utmost truthfulness, uprightness, faithfulness, kindliness, good-will and friendliness, that all the world of being may be filled with the holy ecstasy of the grace of Baha, that ignorance, enmity, hate and rancor may vanish from the world and the darkness of estrangement amidst the peoples and kindreds of the world may give way to the Light of Unity.
(Abdu'l-Baha, The Will and Testament, p. 14)
"The teacher should not see in himself any superiority; he should speak with the utmost kindliness, lowliness and humility, for such speech exerteth influence and educateth the souls."
(Abdu'l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Baha, p. 30)
'Not everything that a man knoweth can be disclosed, nor can everything that he can disclose be regarded as timely, nor can every timely utterance be considered as suited to the capacity of those who hear it.' Such is the consummate wisdom to be observed in thy pursuits
(Abdu'l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Baha, p. 268)
O SON OF DUST!
The wise are they that speak not unless they obtain a hearing, even as the cup-bearer, who proffereth not his cup till he findeth a seeker, and the lover who crieth not out from the depths of his heart until he gazeth upon the beauty of his beloved.
(Baha'u'llah, The Persian Hidden Words)
I will return in a few days to reply. Be well.
with love,
2129
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@Bodhi
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@Bodhi
Let us now return to our subject. All the peoples of the world are awaiting two Manifestations, Who must be contemporaneous; all wait for the fulfillment of this promise. In the Bible the Jews have the promise of the Lord of Hosts and the Messiah; in the Gospel the return of Christ and Elijah is promised.
In the religion of Muhammad there is the promise of the Mihdi and the Messiah, and it is the same with the Zoroastrian and the other religions, but if we relate these matters in detail, it would take too long. The essential fact is that all are promised two Manifestations, Who will come, one following on the other. It has been prophesied that in the time of these two Manifestations the earth will be transformed, the world of existence will be renewed, and beings will be clothed in new garments. Justice and truth will encompass the world; enmity and hatred will disappear; all causes of division among peoples, races and nations will vanish; and the cause of union, harmony and concord will appear. The negligent will awake, the blind will see, the deaf will hear, the dumb will speak, the sick will be cured, the dead will arise. War will give place to peace, enmity will be conquered by love, the causes of dispute and wrangling will be entirely removed, and true felicity will be attained. The world will become the mirror of the Heavenly Kingdom; humanity will be the Throne of Divinity. All nations will become one; all religions will be unified; all individual men will become of one family and of one kindred. All the regions of the earth will become one; the superstitions caused by races, countries, individuals, languages and politics will disappear; and all men will attain to life eternal, under the shadow of the Lord of Hosts.
(Abdu'l-Baha, Some Answered Questions, p. 38)
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I grew up Catholic Christian. I have not been aware of meeting anyone who believes Christ will be seen coming down to Earth, nestled amongst the clouds.
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I have recently developed an interest in this faith myself, finding the teachings of unity of mankind and such appealing. This is a good thing that the world needs and it saddens me to know that my fellow Muslims in places such as Iran are persecuting Baha'is simply because they believe in a prophet after Muhammad.
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You won't get many Baha'is tonight: 9 PM on the 22nd of May until the same time the next day.
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You won't get many Baha'is tonight: 9 PM on the 22nd of May until the same time the next day.
It is a holy day.
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Read from top to bottom. haha.
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Read from top to bottom. haha.
And Apologise for the length; I debated on whether or not to shorten this all significantly to keep it wihtin the aimed for limit, and I fully intend to do so with subsequent responses, but for this I felt as though more were needed since the first is largely to address side questions from your post. I also numerically-labled them incorrectly actually, as the first is not labeld at all, and the second is labled PART I hahaha. -Oops!- So simply consider it PART 0.5 as it is not really connected with your question anyway.
Sorry for the confusion,
(enjoy? haha)
2129 -->
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You may be interested about the Orthodox Baha'i Faith at http://orthodoxbahai.com/
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As my expertise on the beliefs and practices, etc., of Baha'i are limited to what i read on SP and in items on the web, it would be non-productive for us to try to weed through the beliefs i have and in which ways these beliefs are consistent/inconsistent with Baha'i.
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As my expertise on the beliefs and practices, etc., of Baha'i are limited to what i read on SP and in items on the web, it would be non-productive for us to try to weed through the beliefs i have and in which ways these beliefs are consistent/inconsistent with Baha'i.
Such things as progressive revelation, i believe i have already addressed.
Other practices that may involve some amount of "ostracizing" members, for whatever reasons Baha'i may hold, are contrary in my belief, and cause the following:
1. A sense of intimidation.
2. No room for human nature to question and doubt and discover within a group.
3. Particularly in the U.S., imo, there is Constitutional violation of the First Amendment, freedom of speech, but again this concept comes second-hand. (I am not holding Baha'i as the only "group" who violate freedom of speech.)
If my comments seem confusing to you, i understand. They are confusing to myself.
My best advice is to discuss with other Baha'i f-2-f.
Imho, and speaking only for myself, i am not comfortable within the constaints of any spiritual group, i call myself a consensus of one.
My best wishes in your quest.
Peace
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Congratulations Bodhi!!
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Congratulations Bodhi!!
As for your question...oh man...I think I could write a book on it! Maybe I'll just write one things that I like about it.
- How it puts to rest the big question "What about all the other religions?" When I was searching for the truth, this question was killing me before I heard of th Baha'i Faith. I said how is it that there could be one true religion and all others are wrong (and usually going to hell), when what religion one is mostly depends on where you were born and who your parents were? And at the same time, how does one make sense of all these seemingly contradictory religions? What should I believe? The Baha'i Faith is the perfect answer with the concept of progressive revelation. Someone who used to be Catholic once said to me "Progressive revelation sold me." And I know exactly how he feels.
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Hey Bodhi! Congratulations and welcome! I have been a Bahá'í my entire life and I have to say that I like everything about the Faith. It hasn't always been that way. I have been through quite a journey in my own individual investigation of Truth. But in recent years I have reached a new level of understanding and appreciation for the beauty of the Revelation brought by Bahá'u'lláh and new levels of detachment and maturity along my spiritual path. I feel so blessed to have the Faith in my life. I know why I was created and what I should strive to accomplish in this life and that makes me happy and brings me contentment. A peace that I never would have had otherwise.
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Hi!
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Hi!
I like the fact that the Baha'i Faith's central emphasis is on unity--what we call the "Three Onenesses": those of God, humanity, and the various religions!
I also very much appreciate its stress on love, peace, concord, and harmony!
And the fact that it recognizes and reveres ALL the Divine Messengers and all the religions They founded is wonderful, too (as well as a HUGE contrast from certain other religions)!
Best! :-)
Bruce
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My beloved friend, many years ago I was where you are. If you can translate the following, write to me. I am joecounsel, as you see here. Some years ago, I opened an email account with msn. Of course, it was dot com. I am isolated now, as a technicality. I have friends your age age who would love to talk to you. They are at the local college. Welcome to our faith.
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I'm a Baha'i and I was drawn to it because of its message of unity. It takes away so many of the reasons we fight. Which race is superior? The Baha'i Faith says that humanity is one race! Which country is the greatest? The Baha'i Faith says the Earth is but one country! Which religion is right? The Baha'i Faith says that there is only one religion and our different faiths are a part of that one religion that has been unfolding throughout the ages with the latter building on to the former. The Baha'i Faith is truly a message for our time!
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Hi, just to let you know that I'm a Baha'i on here too (since '98). I'm kindof tired now, so I'll let the others chat for now. Good to see ya, and like it was mentioned before, there are a lot of youth activities in various parts of the country as well as "schools".
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:) awesome.
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