Reality, Soul and the Worlds of God
III.   The Reality of the Soul – Understanding Your True Self
I.   The Soul as Man Reacts and Lives
6.   Divine Nature Seeing Reality, Reacting Spiritually
[from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh:]
1076.If ye follow in His way, His incalculable and imperishable blessings will be showered upon you.
(Bahá’u’lláh: Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, Selection V, p. 9)
1077.Take heed lest ye allow yourselves to be shut out as by a veil from this Day Star that shineth above the dayspring of the Will of your Lord, the All-Merciful, and whose light hath encompassed both the small and the great. Purge your sight, that ye may perceive its glory with your own eyes, and depend not on the sight of any one except your self, for God hath never burdened any soul beyond its power.
(Bahá’u’lláh: Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, Selection LII, pp. 106-107)
1078.Hear Me, ye mortal birds! In the Rose Garden of changeless splendor a Flower hath begun to bloom, compared to which every other flower is but a thorn, and before the brightness of Whose glory the very essence of beauty must pale and wither. Arise, therefore, and, with the whole enthusiasm of your hearts, with all the eagerness of your souls, the full fervor of your will, and the concentrated efforts of your entire being, strive to attain the paradise of His presence, and endeavor to inhale the fragrance of the incorruptible Flower, to breathe the sweet savors of holiness, and to obtain a portion of this perfume of celestial glory. Whoso followeth this counsel will break his chains asunder, will taste the abandonment of enraptured love, will attain unto his heart’s desire, and will surrender his soul into the hands of his Beloved. Bursting through his cage, he will, even as the bird of the spirit, wing his flight to his holy and everlasting nest.
(Bahá’u’lláh: Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, Selection CLI, pp. 320-321)
1079.O My servants! Could ye apprehend with what wonders of My munificence and bounty I have willed to entrust your souls, ye would, of a truth, rid yourselves of attachment to all created things, and would gain a true knowledge of your own selves—a knowledge which is the same as the comprehension of Mine own Being. Ye would find yourselves independent of all else but Me, and would perceive, with your inner and outer eye, and as manifest as the revelation of My effulgent Name, the seas of My loving-kindness and bounty moving within you. Suffer not your idle fancies, your evil passions, your insincerity and blindness of heart to dim the luster, or stain the sanctity, of so lofty a station.
(Bahá’u’lláh: Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, Selection CLIII, pp. 326-327)
1080.Until thou enter the Egypt of love, thou shalt never come to the Joseph of the Beauty of the Friend; and until, like Jacob, thou forsake thine outward eyes, thou shalt never open the eye of thine inward being....
(Bahá’u’lláh: The Seven Valleys and The Four Valleys, “Valley of Love”, p. 9)
1081.On this plane, the self is not rejected but beloved; it is well-pleasing and not to be shunned. Although at the beginning, this plane is the realm of conflict, yet it endeth in attainment to the throne of splendor.
(Bahá’u’lláh: The Seven Valleys and The Four Valleys, First Valley of Four, p. 47)
1082.....grant that the breeze of Thine inspiration may sustain my soul, that Thy wondrous voice may reach my ear, that my eyes may behold Thy signs and Thy light as revealed in the manifestations of Thy names and Thine attributes, O Thou within Whose grasp are all things!
(Bahá’u’lláh: Bahá’í Prayers (US), “Spiritual Growth” section, p. 169)
1083.Happy are they who act; happy are they who understand; happy the man that hath clung unto the truth, detached from all that is in the heavens and all that is on earth.
(Bahá’u’lláh: Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 139)
1084.Happy are they that observe God’s precepts; happy are they that have recognized the Truth; happy are they that judge with fairness in all matters and hold fast to the Cord of My inviolable Justice.
(Bahá’u’lláh: Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh, “Kalimát-i-Firdawsíyyih” or “Words of Paradise”, p. 62)
1085.Happy are they that have cast behind their backs all else save God and have held fast unto that which the Lord of strength and power hath enjoined upon them.
(Bahá’u’lláh: Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh, “Excerpts from Other Tablets” (excerpt #3), p. 235)
1086.Happy are the righteous that have attained unto the most great truth; happy are the wise that have recognized the straight path of God and turned unto His Kingdom; happy are the glad and sincere, the lamps of whose hearts burn with the knowledge of the All-Merciful and are protected from the rough winds of tests and sorrows; happy are the brave whose hearts the power of the oppressor cannot daunt; happy are the clear-sighted that have learned to distinguish the transitory from the eternal, that have turned their faces to the Imperishable and are named among the Immortals in the realm of power and glory.
(Bahá’u’lláh: excerpts from epistles, quoted in Bahá’í World, Vol. 2, p. 63)
[from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá:]
1087.....man’s supreme honor and real happiness lie in self-respect, in high resolves and noble purposes, in integrity and moral quality, in immaculacy of mind.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá: The Secret of Divine Civilization, p. 19)
[from the talks of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá:]
1088.Happy are those who spend their days in gaining knowledge, in discovering the secrets of nature, and in penetrating the subtleties of pure truth!
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá: Some Answered Questions, Chapter 34: “Peter’s Confession of RevelationFaith”, p. 137)
[from the talks of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá (no authority):]
1089.When you call on the Mercy of God waiting to reinforce you, your strength will be tenfold.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá: Paris Talks, “The Universal Love, October 24th”, p. 39)
1090.May all our actions be spiritual, and all our interests and affections be centred in the Kingdom of Glory!
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá: Paris Talks, “Discourse at ‘L’Alliance Spiritualiste’, Salle de l'Athenee, St. Germain, Paris, November 9th”, p. 88)
1091.The honor allotted to man is the acquisition of the supreme virtues of the human world. This is his real happiness and felicity.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá: Promulgation of Universal Peace, “2 June 1912, Talk at Church of the Ascension, Fifth Avenue and Tenth Street, New York, Notes by Esther Foster”, p. 166)
1092.Asked “What is true greatness in man?” ‘Abdu’l-Bahá answered, “His spiritual attributes. No one can destroy his spiritual qualities; they are from God.”
(Words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Ten Days in the Light of Acca, p. 13, quoted in Star of the West, Vol. 7, No. 16, “The Divine Art of Living—Chapter One”, p. 153)
[from the Writings or talks of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá (no authority):]
1093.Anybody can be happy in the state of comfort, ease, health, success, pleasure and joy; but if one will be happy and contented in the time of trouble, hardship and prevailing disease, it is the proof of nobility.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá in the compilation Bahá’í World Faith, p. 363)
[Ed: also in Tablets of Abdul Baha Abbas, Vol. II, p. 263]