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closeOn faith: A source of new spiritual light
Dr. Chris Gilbert
guest columnist
Having just returned as one of 170 delegates charged with electing the nine members of our National Spiritual Assembly, I am renewed with the spiritual challenge to help in the great effort now assailing our daily lives — uniting the peoples in this world into one world community.
No small task, this. But I have a faith that empowers this purpose with new guidance from the one God who sparked all of the Great Faiths in our world.
As spring begins this year, I am happy to provide some basic information about this new religion and its perspectives on how to live well through the tumultuous events of our current age.
With more than 6 million adherents worldwide, the Baha’i Faith is an independent, world religion founded on the principles of the Oneness of God, the Oneness of Religion and Oneness of mankind. The purpose is to unite all peoples in one common purpose under one common faith.
While these are lofty in tone, in practice, Baha’is see all the past great prophets as coming from the same one God and progressively teaching mankind the truths of His faith.
This is perhaps the most unique spiritual shift followers of the faith have made. Rather than looking at religion based on one prophet appearing at one time to one people, Baha’is recognize progressive revelation.
In essence, all the great religions, including Hinduism, Buddhism, the Jewish faith, Christianity, Islam and Baha’i, spring forth in a cycle of renewal about every 1,000 years. All these prophets bring with them reminders of the Universal Truths common to all the great religions of all ages.
They also bring to our evolving society new rules for each age. These rules catalyze great social change. Mankind’s spiritual evolution has been sparked in different ages not by one but by a progression of teachers delivering God’s message.
The last messenger, Baha’u’llah (in Persian, the “Glory of God”), fulfilled the prophecies of all the great faiths that another teacher would return.
Baha’u’llah was born in what is now Iran and forsook his nobleman family background to declare his mission to the world in 1863. For this, he was bitterly opposed and imprisoned for 40 years. During this long exile, he committed his revelations and prayers to writing and authored letters to the great rulers of the time around the world.
This newest covenant directly calls for the equality of men and women, the elimination of all prejudice, universal education accessible to all peoples, the elimination of the extremes of wealth and poverty, and the protection of unity and cultural diversity.
The Baha’i faith encourages an individual’s search for spiritual truth and promotes the harmony of science and religion. These issues, so vital to our world, were prophesied 160 years ago in a time and place where they were considered revolutionary and heretical.
What does this mean to our daily lives? Baha’u’llah said, “Unless and until unity is firmly established upon the Earth, there shall never be peace.”
Baha’is see this as primary to the mission of religion in the world today.
There are remarkable elements of this faith that daily herald a new view and spiritual purpose for our planet. The Baha’i faith has no clergy and advocates no ritual. Community is built through consultation rather than traditional models of leadership.
Spiritual Assemblies made up of nine community-elected members serve administratively at the local, regional, national and international levels to assist the affairs of the faith.
Only members of the faith can contribute economically to it, and only those older than 15 are allowed to formally and individually declare as Baha’is.
Divisions and the sense of powerlessness they create are at the heart of social, economic, political and spiritual ills. Baha’is focus their lives on creating and supporting community — locally and globally. They seek unity in message and action inclusive of all faiths, peoples and nations in order to heal division and eliminate unjust disparities.
To that end, there are many spiritual paths to one God, and the Baha’i faith offers new information for this vital journey.