The 1868 passport photo of Bahá'u'lláh,
Persian inscription reads Mírzá Ḥusayn-`Alí Núrí
Wiki states: Bahá'u'lláh (English pronunciation: /bɑːhɑːˈʊlə/; Arabic: بهاء الله, "Glory of God"; 12 November 1817 – 29 May 1892), born Mírzá Ḥusayn-`Alí Núrí (Persian: میرزا حسینعلی نوری), was the founder of the Bahá'í Faith. He claimed to be the prophetic fulfillment of Bábism, a 19th-century outgrowth of Shí‘ism, but in a broader sense claimed to be a messenger from God referring to the fulfillment of the eschatological expectations of Islam, Christianity, and other major religions.
Bahá'u'lláh taught that humanity is one single race and that the age has come for its unification in a global society. His claim to divine revelation resulted in persecution and imprisonment by the Persian and Ottoman authorities, and his eventual 24-year confinement in the prison city of `Akka, Palestine (present day Israel), where he died.
He authored many religious works, most notably the Kitáb-i-Aqdas and the Kitáb-i-Íqán.
There are two known photographs of Bahá'u'lláh. Outside of pilgrimage, Bahá'ís prefer not to view his photo in public, or even to display it in their private homes. To honor that,
only his passport photo is displayed here.
An official Bahá'í statement concerning his photos reads:
"For Bahá'ís, the photograph of Bahá'u'lláh is very precious and it should not only be viewed but also handled with due reverence and respect, which is not the case here [on a non-Bahá'í web site]. Thus, it is indeed disturbing to Bahá'ís to have the image of Bahá'u'lláh treated in such a disrespectful way. However, as the creator of the site is not a Bahá'í, there is little, if anything, that can be done to address this matter. We hope these comments have been of assistance."
—Office for Public Information, 4 September 1999, Photo of Bahá'u'lláh on Web Site
Tiny Seeds Of The Living God
We are, Oh God,
but tiny seeds which You have sown
in the soil of Your Love,
seeds which You have caused to sprout
in the hand of Your Bounty.
We are living seeds who crave
in our deepest places
the vibrant waters of Your Mercy,
the vital fountain of Your Grace.
Rain upon us,
that rain of Your Compassion,
and permit us to flourish in Your Light.
We are planted near the borders of Your Court.
You are The One. You wash all
who yearn to be cleansed.
Wash us and give us drink,
give us Your Living Water.
Praise be to You Oh God,
You are the Lord of all the worlds.
_________________
October 19, 2012 3:47 AM
A Baha'i prayer first composed by Bahá'u'lláh,
now paraphrased and rewritten by me,
from a translation found on worldprayers.org
the largest threat to the established world it seems is love (or peace, the manifestation of love) but how foolish it seems to try to jail it.
ReplyDeletei travelled twenty years ago with a group of cross cultural, cross religious peoples. (have i told you this?) we were celebrating the aboriginal peoples of canada. it being a multi-faith tour there were various faiths represented on the bus, many christian denominations, jewish peoples, islamic peoples, various native groups and the baha'i. they seemed like the most enlightened group with us.
at the time i represented agnostics for lack of a better title. i think they were surprised to find an application from me but even then i felt it important to find that thread which was common, which i knew must be common, between all of us, no matter how fervent we were in our beliefs.
xo
erin
I did not post in order to raise the Bahá'ís above the rest but instead to reveal the true yearning that exists there as well as anywhere. Bahá'u'lláh was imprisoned and exiled from his home for the same reasons that Jesus was crucified, esentially a political impossibility placed at the feet of the local power structures.
DeleteThey could not kill him but also could not leave him alone. The risk was intolerable.
I have seen every faith have a shallow theme that dogs it. That Taoists are too magical. The Confucians are too certain they are the center of the world. The Buddhists too pacific, and even in aggressive protest they immolate themselves. The Hindus are stagnant unless they become secular. The Muslims are too fundamentally dogmatic, the worst on the planet. The Jews argue too much and consider themselves too separate from others. The Christians are too certain and evangelize too easily. New thought leads to an exaltation of the material world even though they are classic idealists. I will not go farther because I do not know that much about the others. I am expressing the shallowness that dogs each, not the highest expressions of each.
The Bahá'ís favor a unified vision that extends radically. Thus they tend to focus on outward signs of unity and go out of their way to marry interracially. This is not right or wrong but it also is not to the point of things.
Now that I have offended everybody, I will point out that I could equally have run through the highest forms of each faith. To me, there is a quandary. I believe no one can really grasp the heart of any religion without God's immediate and radical help. Thus the highest expressions are essentially out of reach except by God's Grace. Even the atheist Buddhists rely on Buddha's help in some manifestation, a dynamic ideal that touches the pilgrim and draws him out.
Without such assistance one can only flutter like moths to a flame nearby, risking burning, a real risk. Many then prefer to withdraw to some safer distance. Hence the shallower expressions are well represented in each faith.