Where is the kingdom of God? Where is the entrance that goes through from this physical world into the kingdom of God?
The kingdom of God is found in a mysterious and unexpected place. Just as the entrance to Narnia was unexpectedly discovered at the back of a wardrobe, the entrance to the kingdom of God is also located in a mysterious and unexpected place. It is in the heart of each person.
Does the entrance have a door? Yes. How do you open the door? Is it locked? Yes, you need a key to unlock the door.
Where is the key? Is it hidden too? Yes, it’s hidden in a place most people overlook because they don’t think it holds anything of value for them. They are too busy trying to create the kingdom of God in the physical world. They think that’s the way to enter the kingdom – you build a physical one on earth and then declare it to be divine. It never works out. But they keep trying anyway because they don’t know about the key, or they write off as fantasy reports about the key’s potential. And even if they wonder about a key, they are too stuffy to go searching for it in weird places like a wardrobe. That’s why only the true explorers, who roam about like children, find it.
Where is the key then? The key is a magical power mysteriously tucked away in the words of Baha’u’llah.
How do you access this magical power that is somehow concealed in the words? You have to read the words. But you can’t just read them like you read ordinary words, you have to read them very carefully, so as to activate their elixir. That involves allowing the subtle meanings hidden in the words, and the stories and imagery, to penetrate very deeply into your heart. As I said above, the kingdom of God is in the human heart, and the key to opening it is the words.
Are you saying that the kingdom of God is only in there – in the hearts of people? That sounds radical! Yes, I am saying that. And yes, it is radical.
You mean it has nothing to do with the world? That’s right, it has nothing to do with the world. The kingdom of God is found in hearts. That’s the place where the magic happens. In order to get there, you have to forget entirely about the world, and turn inward into the magical kingdom in the heart. That is the kingdom of heaven. It’s counter intuitive, I know. It’s natural to assume that the setting for the kingdom should be in the physical world, but when it comes to divine matters, the business doesn’t take place in this world because God is unlimited and the world is constrained by limits. By trying to fix the kingdom in this world, you end up with only a limited result.
Are you saying, then, that the most important thing that I can do is read Baha’u’llah’s words carefully and let their magic penetrate into my heart? Yes, that’s the most important thing to do. And after that, the next most important thing to do is to share Baha’u’llah’s words with others, so that their hearts can be unlocked too. That way, the kingdom of God will appear on earth, because everyone will be reflecting it through themselves. As for the physical world – well, it’ll turn into a heavenly world as a result of that.
“The Great Being saith: The Word is the master key for the whole world, inasmuch as through its potency the doors of the hearts of men, which in reality are the doors of heaven, are unlocked.”
Baha’u’llah, Tablet of Maqsud, in Tablets of Baha’u’llah, p173