3/28/2024

“this Divine Law…hath branched out from Thy [God’s] most great Ocean”; “the Word through Which the heavens of men’s idle fancies and vain imaginations have been split asunder”

Praised be Thou, O Lord my God! I implore Thee by Them Who are the Tabernacles of Thy Divine holiness, Who are the Manifestations of Thy transcendent unity and the Day-Springs of Thine inspiration and revelation, to grant that Thy servants may not be kept back from this Divine Law which, at Thy will and according to Thy pleasure, hath branched out from Thy most great Ocean. Do Thou, then, ordain for them that which Thou didst ordain for Thy chosen ones and for the righteous among Thy creatures, whose constancy in Thy Cause the tempests of trials have failed to shake, and whom the tumults of tests have been powerless to hinder from magnifying Thy most exalted Word—the Word through Which the heavens of men’s idle fancies and vain imaginations have been split asunder. Thou art, verily, the Almighty, the All-Glorious, the All-Knowing. 

- Baha’u’llah  (‘Prayers and Meditations by Baha’u’llah')

3/23/2024

God: - “He Himself, independently of all else, hath ever been a witness unto His own oneness, the revealer of His own nature, the glorifier of His own essence.”; “He holdeth within His grasp the empire of all things, and on His right hand is fixed the Kingdom of His Revelation.”

God testifieth to the unity of His Godhood and to the singleness of His own Being. On the throne of eternity, from the inaccessible heights of His station, His tongue proclaimeth that there is none other God but Him. He Himself, independently of all else, hath ever been a witness unto His own oneness, the revealer of His own nature, the glorifier of His own essence. He, verily, is the All-Powerful, the Almighty, the Beauteous.

He is supreme over His servants, and standeth over His creatures. In His hand is the source of authority and truth. He maketh men alive by His signs, and causeth them to die through His wrath. He shall not be asked of His doings and His might is equal unto all things. He is the Potent, the All-Subduing. He holdeth within His grasp the empire of all things, and on His right hand is fixed the Kingdom of His Revelation. His power, verily, embraceth the whole of creation. Victory and overlordship are His; all might and dominion are His; all glory and greatness are His. He, of a truth, is the All-Glorious, the Most Powerful, the Unconditioned. 

- Baha’u’llah  ('Prayers and Meditations by Baha’u’llah')

3/18/2024

“the physical body is an instrument over which the human spirit spreads a luminosity”: - “Ponder…during sleep”

Ponder ye, that during sleep the human body and the five physical senses, viz., sight, smell, taste, hearing and touch are passive, i.e. all physical forces are inactive. Notwithstanding this, human reality has spiritual life and the spiritual powers are penetrative, and wonderful disclosures are made in both the East and the West, and perchance one may discover some matters, which, after a long time, may become apparent in the physical world.

Therefore it has become evident that the continuity and influence of the human reality does not depend upon the physical instrumentality; nay, rather, the physical body is an instrument over which the human spirit spreads a luminosity. It is like unto the sun, which shining upon the mirror, causes its brilliancy, and when the reflection is withdrawn from the mirror, it becomes dark. Likewise, when the luminosity of the human spirt is withdrawn from the body, that instrument becomes useless. 

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha  (From a Tablet; Star of the West, vol.2, no. 15, December 12, 1911)

3/15/2024

Baha’u’llah: “appointed as the Manifestation of Thine [God’s] own Being” and God’s “discriminating Word unto all that are in heaven and on earth”

I beseech Thee [God], by Thine own Self and by Him Whom Thou hast appointed as the Manifestation of Thine own Being and Thy discriminating Word unto all that are in heaven and on earth, to gather together Thy servants beneath the shade of the Tree of Thy gracious providence. Help them, then, to partake of its fruits, to incline their ears to the rustling of its leaves, and to the sweetness of the voice of the Bird that chanteth upon its branches. Thou art, verily, the Help in Peril, the Inaccessible, the Almighty, the Most Bountiful. 

- Baha’u’llah  (‘Prayers and Meditations by Baha’u’llah’)

3/09/2024

To “ponder in your hearts and meditate upon His [Baha’u’llah’s] words”

It is incumbent upon you to ponder in your hearts and meditate upon His [Baha’u’llah’s] words, and humbly to call upon Him, and to put away self in His heavenly Cause. These are the things that will make of you signs of guidance unto all mankind, and brilliant stars shining down from the all-highest horizon, and towering trees in the Abhá Paradise. 

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha  (‘Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Baha’)

3/02/2024

“in the realm of truth, past, present, and future are the same, and future events are even as past and present occurrences”

Consider for example the sun itself: It knows neither morning, nor noon, nor evening — all times are one; all moments are the same. But on account of the rising and setting of the sun, the inhabitants of the earth see mornings and evenings and reckon the days and nights. Thus all these times are one in the sun and all these days are identical and indistinguishable.

Likewise, in the realm of truth, past, present, and future are the same, and future events are even as past and present occurrences. From the perspective of that realm, all events and incidents take place in the present and are witnessed by the Prophets and the chosen ones. And so it is that the Prophets herald events that will transpire two or three thousand years hence, for they abide in the realm of truth, wherein the mysteries of the universe are revealed and laid bare. Infer from this statement the truth of the spiritual discoveries of the Holy Ones and reflect and ponder thereon — the matter is indeed clear and manifest. 

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha  (From a talk, New resources available at Online Baha’i Reference Library of the Baha’i World Center)