I think one the most crucial sentences in the Seven Valleys comes at the beginning of the Valley of Unity, where Baha’u’llah says that the Valley of Knowledge is “the last station of limitation”: “After passing through the Valley of Knowledge, which is the last station of limitation, the wayfarer cometh to the First Station…
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What is eternal life?
In chapter 36 of Some Answered Questions, Abdu’l-Baha identifies the spirit of heaven as the light rays that emanate from the Sun of revelation (that is, the Manifestation of God). It is the bounty of God. If a person chooses to focus their attention up toward the Sun of revelation, the mirror of their soul…
Book of the Tigris, now on YouTube
New video up on the Windflower Readings YouTube channel: Book of the Tigris, by Baha’u’llah. Book of the Tigris (or Book of the River) is a letter Baha’u’llah wrote for a believer who asked him about the truth of reports attributing miracles to Baha’u’llah and other Babis. The letter is, for the most part, a…
Who does Baha’u’llah communicate with?
I’ve had a question in response to my blog post: God is not the essence of things. Someone asked, if God transcends all creation, then who does Baha’u’llah communicate with? That is a difficult question to answer, not least because it asks for information about something human beings will never be able to understand. However,…
The tests of gold
Baha’u’llah often refers to hell as “the fire”, which is how the world feels when it deals a serious blow. He counsels people to stay out of the world’s affairs so that they are not caught up in its deceptions and tribulations. In the following hidden word, he makes some subtle, and very important points…
Baha’u’llah translates from his native tongue
The hidden word below illustrates the difficulty Baha’u’llah faced when it came to delivering his message to his audience. Just think about it for a moment. If his message came from God, that would mean that it came from a wholly creative and innovative source. And a message coming from such a source would be…
God is not the essence of things
One hard and fast principle that Baha’u’llah emphasises repeatedly is that the essence of God is unknowable to all created things without exception. Even the prophets have no access to, or knowledge of, the essence of God. The reason for this is that God’s essence transcends all of creation. In other words, God’s essence should…
Changing pronouns in prayers allowed
The quote below is a provisional translation of a question-and-answer interaction between Baha’u’llah and his amanuensis (that is, the man who wrote down the words Baha’u’llah dictated to him). It begins with the amanuensis asking Baha’u’llah about a hypothetical situation where a person, during prayer, changes a pronoun from “him” to “me” in order to…
Spiritual nearness
The relationship between Baha’u’llah and the heart is a tricky one to grasp because it involves spiritual concepts of nearness and distance and not everyday ones. Typically, a person on the other side of the world is considered far away, and the person next door is considered near. But when looked at from the point…
Is there a Baha’i mysticism?
Is there a Baha’i mysticism? Strictly speaking, Baha’u’llah has rendered the question redundant by making the process of acquiring mystical insight into God fundamental to his religion. One of the most important books Baha’u’llah wrote is called the Most Holy Book. In it, he sets out the principles, observances, exhortations and laws of his faith….