13. Bountiful Spiritual Sustenance
THE PATH OF SEARCH, Chapter 13.
The month of Qawl (Speech) 176 BE
Memorising the 13th Paragraph of The Tablet of the True Seeker
As each chapter and Paragraph of the Tablet has come into synchronisation with the Badíʿ calendar, a screen shot of the month of Qawl introduces this final chapter, taken from a beautiful arrangement of the calendar, with each month AND the whole 19 months of 361 days arranged into a hexagram, by New York Bahá’í Friend Leland Wright, and available online as a pdf or hard copy decorative wall calendar…
In these cities
spiritual sustenance is bountifully provided,
and incorruptible delights have been ordained.
The food they bestow is the bread of heaven,
and the Spirit they impart is God’s imperishable blessing
Upon detached souls they bestow the gift of Unity,
enrich the destitute, and offer the cup of knowledge
unto them who wander in the wilderness of ignorance.
All the guidance, the blessings, the learning,
the understanding, the faith, and certitude,
conferred upon all that is in heaven and on earth,
are hidden and treasured within these Cities.
4 Qawl (Speech) 176 BE 26 November 2019 CE
Today is one of the annual Bahá’í Holy days, the Day of the Covenant, which made me focus on the meaning of this day and look it up online, where I find on Bahaiteachings.org the following comments. This special Bahá’í Holy Day recognizes and celebrates the appointment of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá as the Center of Bahá’u’lláh’s Covenant, that unbroken, unified line of guidance which safeguards the Bahá’í Faith from division and disunity. So, Bahá’ís celebrate the Unity of their Faith—and the essential unity of all Faiths—on the Day of the Covenant. They also recognize, on this special day, the wider covenant that exists between God and humanity, which expresses itself in the singular purpose, common principles, and prophetic connections that link every Faith. This eternal covenant between God and humanity calls on each human being to recognize and accept all of the founders of the world’s great Faiths, acknowledging the system of divine education Bahá’ís call progressive revelation.
A bit further on in the article I found the Center of the Covenant Himself explaining what the Covenant was all about, and it was no surprise to find that it related to the first Words in this month’s Final Paragraph and Final Chapter of The Path of Search, with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá talking about the Lords of the Abrahamic Ark of Prophets, and their Cities, about which we are beginning the memorisation process this month with these Words… In these cities spiritual sustenance is bountifully provided, and incorruptible delights have been ordained.
Abraham, on Him be peace, made a covenant concerning Moses and gave the glad-tidings of His coming. Moses made a covenant concerning the promised Christ, and announced the good news of His advent to the world. Christ made a covenant concerning the Paraclete and gave the tidings of His coming. The Prophet Muhammad made a covenant concerning the Báb, and the Báb was the One promised by Muhammad, for Muhammad gave the tidings of His coming. The Báb made a Covenant concerning the Blessed Beauty, Bahá’u’lláh, and gave the glad-tidings of His coming, for the Blessed Beauty was the One promised by the Báb. Bahá’u’lláh made a covenant concerning a Promised One Who will become manifest after one thousand or thousands of years. – ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Bahá’í World Faith, p. 358.
Following the hyperlink then took me to the whole tablet, and the Words I found from the Center of the Covenant in the first paragraph had a powerful effect igniting the flame in the centre of my chest, and then perhaps to illustrate the meaning of the Attribute of God on which we are focusing in this month of Qawl Speech, feeling that flame rising to the throat and bringing forth expression of that great Love that motivates and inspires everything…
O ye beloved of God, know that steadfastness and firmness in this new and wonderful Covenant is indeed the spirit that quickeneth the hearts which are overflowing with the love of the Glorious Lord; verily, it is the power which penetrates into the hearts of the people of the world! Your Lord hath assuredly promised His servants who are firm and steadfast to render them victorious at all times, to exalt their word, propagate their power, diffuse their lights, strengthen their hearts, elevate their banners, assist their hosts, brighten their stars, increase the abundance of the showers of mercy upon them, and enable the brave lions to conquer.
I was also curious about the Word ‘Paraclete’ mentioned by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and looked up its meaning online, also recalling the first book we searched for guidance on this quest, Scripture and Revelation Bahá’í Studies Volume III, collected and edited by Dr Moojan Momen, had a whole chapter on the Paraclete. On wikipedia I found …In the Jewish tradition the word was transcribed with Hebrew letters and used for angels, prophets, and the just as advocates before God's court. The word also acquired the meaning of 'one who consoles' …. The word is filled with a complex meaning: the Spirit replaces Jesus, is an advocate and a witness, but also consoles the disciples.
Then getting out my box of books and finding Dr Momen’s book once again, which drew a nice full circle between the first and last chapters of this book, I was again deepened in the Covenant by the awesome scholarship of Stephen Lambden, in his chapter Prophecy in the Johannine Farewell Discourse: The Advents of the Paraclete, Ahmad and the Comforter (Mu’azzi). In this chapter there was a huge deepening into the meaning of the Covenant as it extended over ALL the Comforters to come that Jesus promised to John and the other disciples, including Muhammad, the Báb, and Bahá’u’lláh, though most Christians regard the Comforter or Paraclete as “the Holy Spirit”, and even missed Muhammad, let alone the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh, though these Prophets were all total fulfilments of the Covenant and the Paraclete Promise and Prophecies of Jesus recorded in the Book of John.
During my 10 days off there was one Quote of the Day that I felt to include in the last chapter, as it also shed some more light on the nature of these cities in which spiritual sustenance is bountifully provided, and incorruptible delights have been ordained. It was a writing of the Báb in which he identified the Primal Will appearing in each of the Beloved Lords shining resplendent in each City or dispensation … “In the time of the First Manifestation the Primal Will appeared in Adam; in the day of Noah It became known in Noah; in the day of Abraham in Him; and so in the day of Moses; the day of Jesus; the day of Muḥammad, the Apostle of God; the day of the ‘Point of the Bayán’; the day of Him Whom God shall make manifest; and the day of the One Who will appear after Him Whom God shall make manifest. Hence the inner meaning of the words uttered by the Apostle of God, ‘I am all the Prophets’, inasmuch as what shineth resplendent in each one of Them hath been and will ever remain the one and the same sun.”
Igniting the flame in my chest again felt good after travelling home with lots of activities and socialising taking me off the meditative practice and observance of daily Obligatory Prayer I found necessary to keep in that powerfully ecstatic condition which I had come to recognise as being present in the City of the New Beloved, in which … within every blade of grass are enshrined the mysteries of an inscrutable wisdom, and upon every rose bush a myriad nightingales pour out, in blissful rapture, their melody. Looking back on the 10 days break, even though I had got out of that condition, there were some awesome signs and tokens, and even one Zikru’llah Khadem moment from the Valley of Wonderment, MG’s translation “O Lord, increase my astonishment at Thee!” and new translation in The Call of the Divine Beloved… Increase my wonder and amazement at Thee, O God!
The moment unrolled as follows: During the end of the last month at work my beloved wife had taken a quick flight to Rarotonga to visit our Bahá’í Friends there, about the same time as I was making the big order of Bahá’í Books for our holiday ahead… I was very happy about the order and had found everything I was looking for, except for one book, Dr Nader Saiedi’s scholarly book Logos and Civilization. That book I spent at least a half hour searching for online and could not find it anywhere, not even for a thousand dollars! Then on getting home and catching up with my wife about her trip to Raro, she reached in her handbag and brought out a parcel. Unwrapping it I was gob smacked, totally astonished, to unwrap the very book I wanted so badly… Logos and Civilisation, Spirit, History, and Order in the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, by Nader Saiedi. “How did you get that?!” I gasped. As it turned out our Friend we know as Lady Jane was packing up her house and library to move to NZ and just had a feeling, perhaps brought by a fragrance on the breeze, an unmistakeable message, that this book should go to my wife when she visited.
Táhirih’s courageous deathless personality forever will stand out against the background of eternity, for she gave her life for her sister women. The sweet perfume of her heroic selflessness is diffused over all the 5 continents. People of all religions, and of none, of all races, and all classes, till this day cherish the attar of her deeds, and weep tears of love and longing when her great poems are chanted. Through her fearless stand the balance is shifting, men and women are becoming more equal. Force, the old standard, is losing its dominance, and intuition, insight, glimpses of cosmic consciousness, and the spiritual qualities of love and service in which woman is strong are gaining ascendency. And you see that this new epoch is an age in which masculine and feminine elements of civilisation are becoming more evenly adjusted. Man and woman are as the two wings of the bird of humanity. This bird cannot attain its highest flight until these two wings are equally strong and equally poised. One of the important teachings of the Bahá’í faith is that women should be regarded as the equals of men and should enjoy equal rights and privileges, equal education, and equal opportunities. Táhirih had to die for these great ideals, but today our task is to live for them.
Looking again at the piece about the Covenant I found some more deepening into the Bahá’í covenant including one feature that previous dispensations had not specified… the identification of an interpreter and exemplar in ‘Abdu’l-Bahá… As to the most great characteristic of the revelation of Bahá’u’lláh, a specific teaching not given by any of the Prophets of the past: It is the ordination and appointment of the Center of the Covenant. By this appointment and provision, He has safeguarded and protected the religion of God against differences and schisms, making it impossible for anyone to create a new sect or faction of belief. To ensure unity and agreement He has entered into a Covenant with all the people of the world, including the interpreter and explainer of His teachings, so that no one may interpret or explain the religion of God according to his own view or opinion and thus create a sect founded upon his individual understanding of the divine Words. – ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, pp. 455-456.
The article finished up with a view of the future in a Unified civilisation encompassing the whole planet, which to my mind was a precondition for the unification and re-establishment of connections with many other cultures on many other planets out there in the cosmos… The future ahead was looking more and more astonishing and exciting, and I gave thanks for the signs on the path of guidance… The Bahá’í teachings say that everyone on Earth will gradually awaken to Bahá’u’lláh’s prophetic vision of our planet as a single homeland and humanity as one family. Bahá’u’lláh’s Covenant, with its emphasis on unity and oneness, helps us heal past differences and divisions, while building a new, mutual relationship between us and our Creator.
I dived immediately into Dr Saiedi’s beautiful book, and quickly found some strong teachings, though the depth of the scholarship made me read over the Introduction 3 times before I started perceiving some of the magic and the beauty and the relevance to this Final chapter of The Path of Search… During this Search up till now I had been totally consumed by the Mystical alchemical teachings of the Blessed Beauty and their interaction with the ancient Persian poets, but Nader Saiedi in his Introduction pointed out that this was only the first phase of the Mission of Bahá’u’lláh, and in the first chapter Mysticism and Methodology, he deepens into this idea, in which the Mystical path as in the Tablet of the True Seeker or the 7 Valleys or the 4 Valleys, are preparations for the next phase of the journey, which is a more practical phase. Bahá’u’lláh sums this up and clothes the idea with the garment of brevity in his 153 Hidden Words…
5 Qawl (Speech) 176 BE 27 November 2019 CE
I was drawn off my focus on this story last night with a call from my other wing who is at present about a thousand leagues away across the sea… She was concerned about the “evil angel” we had identified a month ago who had seemingly been around last night and after a sleepless night full of restless dreams she now had identified who this angel was as a previous friend of mine who recently passed on to the next world and was interfering with her. She wanted to know my commitment, whether it was a Christian one “till death do us part”, or a Bahá’í marriage through all the worlds of God, a fortress of well-being, which made me look deeply into my commitment, and was pleased to be able to say yes it was so much fun and so exciting the idea of exploring all the worlds of God together, especially if she carried on delivering such amazing synchronicity as the Nader Saiedi book for instance.
It also made me look at the idea of reincarnation and realise again what ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was referring to when he said there was no such thing as reincarnation. Our two incarnations were unique in time and space, and we were a combination of two sets of parents’ double helix DNA together, so each of our souls, our essential beings, were born new and unique in this Ark of time, and combined our two souls have become a new bird on the Ocean of Time, in the Ark of the New Beloved… At the same time there was no doubt in my mind that actual reincarnation of memories of past lives in the physical world do occur as well, and this is seen more as an expression of Spirit, as ‘Abdu’l-Bahá goes into in detail in His Some Answered Questions, in which he specifies that the Spirit exists in the atom, the rock, the mineral, the plant, the animal, the human and the angel, at many different levels of existence.
I also recalled that the ancient Egyptians in the Pyramid Texts at Saqqara specified about 8 different soul or spirit aspects or vehicles, referred to by incredible discoverer and researcher Graham Hancock in his latest book America Before. It didn’t matter really, as this was a new dispensation, still at its very dawn 176 years into it, and all things were becoming new with a promise of peace and harmony to come, but still it was interesting to look at these other Cities in space and time and to draw inspiration from the magnificent teachings of past manifestations of the Primal Will.
In pursuit of more depth of knowledge about just who and what we are, with the new levels of intelligence beginning to function, even though a couple of thousand leagues or so apart at the time, in fact at the uttermost ends of east and west across the dateline in Rarotonga, I saw again the promise of the Blessed Beauty about the wonderful world we would find if we fulfilled the 36 conditions and therefore …if in the uttermost corners of the East the sweet savors of God be wafted, he (the seeker) will assuredly recognise and inhale their fragrance, even though he be dwelling in the uttermost ends of the west. That same pursuit of knowledge also makes me now create another link with the beginning chapters, in which I originally mentioned the teachings from the Pyramid texts at Saqqara in Graham Hancock’s book, and perhaps it is now time, since we understand that our two souls have become the two wings of our bird, and have done so partly by the channel of our souls being free of any worldly and impeding attachments, that we look up the other human vehicles specified in the Pyramid Texts, already knowing from our perusal of William Henry’s Books of Knowledge that one of them will be the Rainbow body of the Resurrected Osiris, seen here along with the Tibetan Padmasmbhava in his Rainbow body for comparison...
In a section entitled Souls of Ancient Egypt Graham Hancock wrote the following … In both Ancient North America and ancient Egypt the universe was believed to be “layered”—with This World, the everyday material realm, inhabited by humans, sandwiched between an Underworld below (often with powerful Underwater aspects) and an Upper World, or Sky World, above. In both ancient Native North America and ancient Egypt the afterlife journey was envisaged as unfolding in the Sky World, among the stars. But in both this apparently celestial setting had contradictory Below World characteristics, including bodies of water and other obstacles to cross, architectural spaces to navigate, and monstrous adversaries to face. Ancient Egyptian notions of the soul can seem extremely complex at first glance.
Indeed, according to the great authority on the subject, Sir E. A. Wallis Budge, formerly Keeper of Egyptian Antiquities at the British Museum, it’s not just a matter of one soul but of multiple souls—all of them separate from but in some way connected to the khat, or physical body— “that which is liable to decay.”12
In Budge’s summary, these separate, nonphysical “souls”—perhaps “aspects of the soul” would be a better description—include notably: The Ka, or “double,” that stays earthbound after death in the immediate vicinity of the corpse and the tomb. The Ba, depicted as a bird or human-headed bird that can fly freely “between tomb and underworld.” The Khaibit,or shadow. The Khu, or “spiritual soul.” The Sekhem, or “power.” The Ren, or “name.” The Sahu,or “spiritual body,” which formed the habitation of the soul. The Ab, or heart, “regarded as the center of the spiritual and thinking life. … It typifies everything which the word ‘conscience’ signifies to us.” The heart, and what its owner has imprinted upon it by his or her choices during life, is the specific object of judgment in the Netherworld.13
In his interpretation of the 8 different “soul aspects” or “soul vehicles” mentioned in the Pyramid Texts, Graham Hancock felt that they could be boiled down to 2 basic aspects, physical and spiritual. However I think there are many great lessons and adventures in studying and meditating on all these aspects, and realising the separation that must occur after death, with one aspect that continues associated with our bones interacting with our families and tribes, and other aspects that have gone on like the Ba flying free of the physical remains in this ancient Egyptian drawing included in his book.
I was looking forward to exploring the Worlds of God with my other wing, and I felt very happy in my quest to fly on these wings, and to realise that all of the guidance was very clear ahead, and written in hues of crimson, carnelian, and golden yellow. There were more than enough signs tokens revelations and splendours in these writings for us to discover our true natures in the worlds ahead, and I felt very grateful that I had memorised the beautiful Words of the Blessed Beauty in Gleanings previously when he said… O Ye Mortal Birds! Whoso followeth this council will break his chains asunder, will taste the abandonment of enraptured love, will attain 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.
At the same time another writing surfaced when yesterday I spent some time remembering it and singing the song that Steve Lockie put together with the wall of guitars from our first Ruhi Book 1 class way back 13 odd years ago and realising that it spoke about a spirit part of us that had some pre-existence as a mighty bird… from Gleanings CLIII: 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 lustre, or stain the sanctity, of so lofty a station.
Ye are even as the bird which soareth, with the full force of its mighty wings and with complete and joyous confidence, through the immensity of the heavens, until, impelled to satisfy its hunger, it turneth longingly to the water and clay of the earth below it, and, having been entrapped in the mesh of its desire, findeth itself impotent to resume its flight to the realms whence it came. Powerless to shake off the burden weighing on its sullied wings, that bird, hitherto an inmate of the heavens, is now forced to seek a dwelling-place upon the dust. Wherefore, O My servants, defile not your wings with the clay of waywardness and vain desires and suffer them not to be stained with the dust of envy and hate, that ye may not be hindered from soaring in the heavens of My divine knowledge.
Having just had a break from the writing and run a hot bath to immerse myself and recite the above words, feeling the awesome power of the Words resonating in different parts of my consciousness to create the condition they described, I also decided to do the Prayer for the Departed for the possible lost soul of my ex-friend. I was then quite excited and definitely very chuffed and happy on emerging from the bath to get a message from my other wing, thinking we should do just that, and then recite it again together when we were next together in the material world! It was heart-warming to be able to text… ‘funny you should say that!’… and then to get a big red heart back in return!
The other sign that came today on the Bahá’í blog was an article about meditation, which I felt was important to include in the final chapter, as the true Path of Search depends on our being able to get into deep theta meditation and find our wings of eternal communication in a state of higher consciousness, i.e. zone travellers through space and time, spirit bodies, soul aspects, resonant connections to other zones of time and space, and able to access the Ocean of knowledge sometimes referred to as the Akashic records.
6 Qawl (Speech) 176 BE 28 November 2019 CE
The fires are burning fiercely still in Northern NSW and there is now a massive fire wall approaching from the north, the whole extent of which is about 140kms inland from the east coast to the mountain tops in the west, with several active hotspots including the area at Ashby heights where the fire is encroaching on a whole village driven by a fierce northerly wind blowing embers across the big river and lighting fires in the sugar cane fields! A few days ago I called our kaumatua and tohunga 0r elder and shaman who looks after our House of Medicine in NZ, Te Whare Rongoā; the one whose karakia in te Reo Maori had been so effective for our friend in Hawaii (see Chapter 7 – Perfection and Salvation), about a few other people who had asked me for help, and he made karakia for each of them, including one prayer he made in English that went something like this, from my notes: A drop of water from heaven touches the smoke of the fire of the earth and seals it in the mists of time!
I was struck by the prayer and asked him if it was possible to make such a prayer for the forests over here that were burning… He looked into it and said we could do it if we looked at the source of the heat – then he said the source is in space, for example in the chem-trails and other technologies of fire – so we annihilate that and balance the fire and the water to rain like a shower, not a flood, that waters and nourishes deeply seated in the earth… He then went into a direct prayer to God, Whom I’m sure I heard him address as E hoa o nga manu, which into English would be O friend of the birds!– a resonance with the flight paths and wings we discovered in last nights excursion! The prayer felt very profound especially when it was repeated in the Maori tongue, and I was impressed when the next night we had our first rain for months with a few peals of thunder, and some nice heavy drops of rain that wet the streets of the town, but only lasted about 2 minutes… It gave me cause to think that we may see an end to the fires very soon, although now a couple of days later the fires are burning fiercely and the whole town here is shrouded with heavy smoke and the sound of helicopters and small water dowsing aircraft is continuous out there, brought faintly to the ears along with the gusts in the trees of the brisk northerly wind fanning the flames, seen here taken by one of my colleagues from the hospital looking north across the big river.
It was the same in the world of global politics, there was a continuous burning up of the old stuff, with the latest fallout being the complete exposure of the Queen’s son Prince Andrew as a despicable selfish podophile, which he confirmed in an extended interview online, so the old world is crumbling around Jeffrey Epstein’s capture and exposure, and the rulers of the world, identified as rats, cockroaches, and paedophiles, are getting flushed out of their holes and coming out into the light of the sun and being instantly annihilated, just like Prince Andrew’s high flying career as a ‘royal’. Meanwhile in the USA, described in the amused commentary and tweets of master chess player DJ Trump, the neocons are using the military-industrial complex to shoot themselves in their own feet repeatedly, even though their instruments like the New York Times and Washington Post are still parroting the lies of the assassination agenda, exposed nakedly this week by DJ and Dr Joseph Farrell in X-series #74.
Hillary Clinton’s bad mouthing of Tulsi Gabbard has now shot Tulsi into the top 5 in the presidential race, and the divine guidance and support seems to be continuing for this white (and sometimes red) cloaked lady from Mauna Kea to rise to her calling like a Maid of Heaven to eradicate the evil doers and annihilate the war mongers! On her public YouTube channel, she was also seen last month to be honouring another one of these cities in which the food they bestow is the bread of heaven, and the spirit they impart is God’s imperishable blessing, in the Hindu Ark or City of Krishna, when she observed one of His Holy days by the name of Diwali…
That brings us back to today, which is the last of the 11 Bahá’í Holy days observed every Badí Year… the Ascension of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá… This year is an extra special year for ‘Abdu’l-Bahá because it is the year of the crystallisation of architectural plans for his own shrine in Bhaji, north east across the bay from Mt Carmel, pointed at like a bow and arrow by the 18 steps and the ark of the gardens on Mt Carmel, and which to my mind also seems to draw on the crop circle phenomenon for inspiration in this fantastic drawing…
At midnight I received a beautiful text from my other wing, at 2am in her time zone which was the hour of His ascension… It brought back to mind my recent completion of MG’s beautiful book Dawn over Mt Hira, in which she wrote the story of one of the original American Bahá’ís, John Bosch, and his connection with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá on his trip to America. Many people know that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá passed on to the next world at the age of 77 on 6 Qawl 77 BE 28 November 1921, but less people I think know that he was born on another Bábí Bahá’í Holy day, 8 'Azamat 1BE, May 23, 1844 CE, the very Day of The Declaration of the Báb! No wonder He was Center of the Covenant and Bahá’u’lláh entitled Him "The Mystery of God"! Some unique features of His nature and station are illustrated in this story movingly related by MG with her light masterly touch at story telling.
John was present on November 19 at the Master’s last public talk: ‘Abdu’l-Bahá pointed to John on this occasion and addressed the talk to him: He spoke of divine love, and how different it is from human love, which fails in the testing and in which there is no element of self-sacrifice. He told John the Persian believers loved him, although they could not speak their love, and that if John went to Persia they would if necessary give up their own lives to protect his. He said: When lovers meet it may be that they cannot exchange a single word, yet with their hearts they speak to one another. Thus do the clouds speak to the earth and the rain comes down; (Increase my astonishment OMG!) the breeze whispers to the trees; the sun speaks to the eyes of men. Although this is not actual speech, yet this is the way in which the hearts of the friends communicate … for instance, you were in America and I was in the Holy Land. Although our lips were still yet with our hearts we were conversing together.
Surely besides the universal meaning, there was a special message here for John, something for him to remember over the long future before he could again be in the presence of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. ‘You were in America and I was in the Holy Land … yet with our hearts we were conversing together.’
It was beautiful how many of the themes and memes of previous chapters along with the different expressions of the Beloved, were coming briefly into focus in this last chapter, to bring everything full circle as well as to the next level of the spiral leading up (and down), out (and in) to the flight paths of the Universe. One of these I remembered was the love and appreciation I had felt for Dr Nader Saiedi’s work, and I now felt a desire rising to listen again to the 4th of his small set of Teaching Videos the last one of the series, entitled Bahá’u’lláh and Peace: The Reconstruction of the Temple, a concentrated 1hour and 20minutes of teaching, way too profound to summarise here, but bringing in many threads to show that in the future a perfected humanity as one would become the perfect Temple, which was the same lesson that the old tohunga who brought us his travelling map was teaching me by directing me to the Book of Ezekiel so many years ago.
Another attraction beckoning was to watch the next one of Steven Phelps’ group in California, moving with their study of The Call of the Divine Beloved into the Final Valley of the 7 Valleys, The Valley of TRUE POVERTY AND ABSOLUTE NOTHINGNESS…I definitely had to report on that journey in the final chapter before moving on to the next workshops studying the rest of The Call of the Divine Beloved, including the 4 Valleys, the 4 different ways of navigating the Path of Search… I recalled that Nader Saiedi went very deeply into these different ways of search, and pointed out in his Introduction within Logos and Civilisation, brought to me in such a timely manner by my other wing, that Bahá’u’lláh’s life and career itself reflected those different Ways of life reflecting the Light of God and the Primal Will of the Creator…On page 7 he wrote:
The works to be analysed in this book have been chosen as representing three stages of Bahá’u’lláh’s revelation. The first of these stages (1852-1860) begins with Bahá’u’lláh’s imprisonment as a Bábi and His revelation in the Síyáh-Chál and includes most of His exile to Baghdad and His solitary retreat to the mountains of Sulay-maniyyih. The second stage (1860-1867) opens shortly before His public declaration to His companions in the Garden of Ridvan on the eve of His departure from Baghdad and includes the Istanbul and Edirne periods. The third stage (1867 – 1892) beginning in Edirne with Bahá’u’lláh’s letters to the rulers of the world, comprises His final exile to Palestine and His remaining years in the prison in Akka and environs until His passing in 1892.
Dr Saiedi’s Introduction was so incredibly deep and rich in scholarship that it took 3 or 4 readings to start appreciating the scope of this book, but I was already starting to see the pattern, with the early periods of Bahá’u’lláh’s life immersing into the mystical realms, interacting with the magical Sufi poets of Persia like Rumi and Attar, journeys through the spiritual realms. Then in the later periods Bahá’u’lláh moved to a more practical path of reflecting the Divine Light, and laid down many rules, laws and teachings related to social, political, and historical solutions for a new Peaceful World Order. And as I drew attenti0n to already, this journey from Mystical Knowledge to practical Social solutions is reflected in the structure of His 153 Hidden Words, both in Persian and Arabic…
In a fleeting side thought I also realised that this book, The Hidden Words, was also known as The Book of Fatimih, the Words of God comforting the daughter of Muhammad, often seen as the Beloved of the Islamic world as Mary Magdalene was the Beloved of the Christian World. So, this was the Blessed Beauty’s book for His Beloved, about which Nader Saiedi wrote on page 48 in Chapter 1, Mysticism and Methodology… Bahá’u’lláh has begun His text with a metaphysical conception of the human situation and ends it by translating the spiritual journey into the dynamics of a socially oriented, responsible, and moral life. On page 47-48 Dr Saiedi quoted the 1st and 80th Persian Hidden Words, to illustrate this journey… The Hidden Words display a logic of ideas which links and affirms the three principles of spiritual journey, historical dynamics, and the oneness of humankind. The Persian Hidden Words begins with the description of the true and authentic habitation of the human soul:
O YE PEOPLE THAT HAVE MINDS TO KNOW AND EARS TO HEAR! The first call of the Beloved is this: O mystic nightingale! Abide not but in the Rose garden of the spirit. O messenger of the Solomon of love! Seek thou no shelter except in the Sheba of the well-beloved, and O immortal phoenix! Dwell not save on the mount of faithfulness. Therein is thy habitation, if on the wings of thy soul thou soarest to the realm of the infinite and seekest to attain thy goal.
After this mystical, metaphorical beginning, Bahá’u’lláh discourses about various aspects of the soul’s journey. But then the text ends with a surprising set of statements, a sequence of pronouncements that emphasize involvement in the concrete world of social relations and the obligatory character of productive work, economic independence, and rationality:
80: O MY SERVANTS! Ye are the trees of My garden; ye must give forth goodly and wondrous fruits, that ye yourselves and others may profit therefrom. Thus it is incumbent on every one to engage in crafts and professions, for therein lies the secret of wealth, O men of understanding! For results depend upon means, and the grace of God shall be all-sufficient unto you. Trees that yield no fruit have been and will ever be for the fire.
So, the messages at the end of the Trail of the Tablet of the True Seeker were coming loud and clear… this period of mystical focus on the worlds of God was coming to the end of the trail, much like the period of Bahá’u’lláh’s early years, and ahead was a more social period, focusing on building our community in a cohesive way, practicing my Profession with all the new knowledge of plasma physics, good nutrition, and plant medicine, an increasing knowledge of the ointment needed for salvation, as well as the old tohunga’s map leading us to the flight pathways of the Universe. It was going to be a busy life, and to watch the rest of Steven Phelps workshops I would have to organise to share this wonderful gift with the community inside our new prayer room, recently refurbished and renewed by my other wing. But it was also important to keep in tune with the higher mystical worlds of the soul and continue feeling the magnetic forces of the kingdom helping and assisting to contemplate the manifest signs of the universe and penetrate the mysteries of the soul.
I knew how to do this as well, but it was going to be important to keep that discipline of taking the time twice a day for meditation and obligatory prayer to keep connected with the realms of ecstasy and blissful pouring out of the melodies of the nightingale. Therefore, I thought it was no accident that I received yesterday on the Bahá’í Blog a beautiful piece by a Bahá’í yoga and meditation instructor who drew inspiration from her knowledge of these teachings in the Hindu Ark… entitled Meditation and the Bahá’í Faith – a Personal Exploration. There wasn’t much mention in the Bahá’í writings on meditation but ‘Abdu’l-Bahá made a couple of revealing statements, that were quoted in this article…
In His talks ‘Abdu’l-Bahá describes prayer as “conversation with God,” and concerning meditation He says that “while you meditate you are speaking with your own spirit. In that state of mind you put certain questions to your spirit and the spirit answers: the light breaks forth and the reality is revealed. The spirit of man is itself informed and strengthened during meditation; through it affairs of which man knew nothing are unfolded before his view. Through it he receives Divine inspiration, through it he receives heavenly food.
The way I interpret ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s definition of meditation of posing a question to your own spirit and waiting for its answer is equivalent to that of Dhyana (focused attention on inner awareness) according to the yogic scriptures. Dhyana is the 7th step in the Eight Steps of Enlightenment, right before the 8th step Samadhi, meaning enlightenment.
Although neither ‘Abdu’l-Bahá nor any other Central Figures of the Bahá’í Faith ever elaborated further on exactly how you put certain questions to your spirit and wait for its answer, from the perspective of yoga, it is not necessarily a challenging activity to pose questions to your spirit or receive Divine inspiration, nor are there too many formulas for “self-inquiry,” as they call it.
However, what is pervasively understood as challenging in the yogic world in reference to Dhyana, is to sustain focus long enough to maintain a conversation with your soul, in order for the light to break forth and reality reveal itself. Traditionally, before a yogi is even allowed to practice Dhyana, focused attention on inner awareness, they are asked to master the following in consecutive order:
Step 1: Yamas— master the cultivation of virtue to the outside world
Step 2: Niyamas— master the cultivation of virtue within one self
Step 3: Asana— health, healing and alignment of the body (yoga postures)
Step 4: Pranayama— awareness of breath and life force (breathing practices)
Step 5: Pratyahara— withdrawal of senses (sight, hearing, taste, touch, smell)
Step 6: Dharana— intermittent concentration
You’ll notice there is a distinct step that precedes the 7th step Dhyana (focused attention on inner awareness), which is Dharana, intermittent concentration; the step that includes the gradual building up of sustained focused. With Dharana, there is focus, but the difference with Dhyana is that it is not sustained. Only when sustained focus has been practiced, could a yogi reach enlightenment.
The article went on to say that the knowledge of these different levels is not that important in Bahá’í meditation practice and the guidance on how to meditate is clear from focus on the writings. One example of a mantra or sound code, as in the Hindu practice, is to use the Word Alláh-u-Abhá (God is the Most Glorious) 95 times as every good Bahá’í is directed by the Blessed Beauty, but I now have certitude from my Path of Search through the 7 Valleys and the Paragraphs of the TOTTS, that there is another way that delivers instant results. That is, as quoted in the Introductory Chapter, and now reminded that it is indeed another aspect of keeping the Covenant, by memorising and reciting the Verses of God every morn and eventide… ‘Recite ye the verses of God every morn and eventide. Whoso faileth to recite them hath not been faithful to the Covenant of God and His Testament, and whoso turneth away from these verses in this Day is of those who throughout eternity have turned away from God. Fear ye God, O My servants, one and all. Pride not yourself on much reading of the verses or on a multitude of pious acts by night and day; for were a man to read a single verse with joy and radiance it would be better for him than to read with lassitude all the Holy Books of God, the Help in Peril, the Self Subsisting. Read ye the sacred verses in such measure that ye be not overcome by languor and despondency.’ Kitáb-i-Aqdas, para 149.
7 Qawl Speech 176 BE, 29 November 2019 CE
I was very happy today to make a note in my personal journey recording our first good thunderstorm of the season just 5 days after the chat with the tohunga. A good heavy shower of rain was washing the smoke from the atmosphere and giving it back to the Mother Earth, though a lot of it had gone east across the Tasman to NZ where the sunsets were deep red and gold for the last week, when I’d been at home. The tohunga originally made that prayer to help a female friend whom he said had been traumatised 11 years before, so her spirit left her body and her body had gone down. She needed to have her spirit back in her body, he said, and then recited the poetic lines … A drop of water from heaven touches the smoke of the fire of the earth and seals it in the mists of time!
Water and fire must be balanced for the Hinengaro to move, he said, and then explained that Hinengaro (usually translated into English as mind and emotions), is actually made up of two words Hine (woman) and Ngaro (hidden). So, I thought, the mind and emotions are the ‘hidden female essence’, sometimes known as the Beloved. At the time that small prayer made it easier to move on to the subject of the fires of the Earth here in NSW, and he made the same prayer again not only for my friend, but also for the blessed beauty that was the Mother Earth in her different forms as mountains, hills, forests, rivers and lakes, equally perceptible as aspects of the Beloved, and I hoped the prayer would be just as effective for my friend as it seemed to have been for the earth and her forest cloak.
It was so meaningful and beautiful that the end of the Trail was taking me into the Valley of Annihilation and Absolute Nothingness, akin to Selflessness, or as Nader Saiedi pointed out in an earlier chapter, losing the pith of self and becoming the hollow reed through which the breath of the Almighty can play a tune… It made me remember the Words in the Visitation of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, in which He made it clear how we should see our souls alongside the mother Earth… O Lord my God! Give me Thy grace to serve Thy loved ones, strengthen me in my servitude to Thee, illumine my brow with the light of adoration in aThy court of holiness, and of prayer to Thy kingdom of grandeur. Help me to be selfless at the heavenly entrance of Thy gate, and aid me to be detached from all things within Thy holy precincts. Lord! Give me to drink from the chalice of selflessness; with its robe clothe me, and in its ocean immerse me. Make me as dust in the pathway of Thy loved ones, and grant that I may offer up my soul for the Earth ennobled by the footsteps of Thy chosen ones in Thy path, O Lord of Gory in the Highest.
This morning on waking I also had an extended meditation contemplating how the new routine would be at the end of the TOTTS, knowing it was important to keep up the twice daily routine of memorising and reciting the Divine Words, and then for the first time starting into Steven Phelps Workshop 7, into the 7th Valley. At 1minute he dived straight into the fearsome nature of the 7th Valley, entered from the Valley of Wonderment, after the Valley of Contentment. The Valley of Contentment can give way to Wonderment, he said, which can also be Bewilderment, and even fear or panic at the sight of the Abyss which is the 7th Valley. Entering the 7th Valley is like falling from a height and there can be great apprehension because the entrance into the final Valley is a plunging into an abyss from which there is no return, or at least not a return in the form that one enters it, he said!
11 Qawl Speech 176 BE, 3 December 2019 CE
Perhaps because I was a bit afraid of the abyss, I stopped watching SP’s 7th Workshop there, and drove a few hundred kilometres to have a weekend off with some very good friends. Before leaving I recognised another full circle back to the first chapter, or at least a reminder, actually another small test, perhaps one of the first of the toll-gates or ring-pass-nots in the serpent of ascension in the Russian Christian artworks shown by William Henry. In any case, it took me back to the very beginning of the Path of Search, when I had some interference on my iPhone, with an invasive attachment to one of my favourite news sites, so whenever I clicked on the site, I was taken to a pornography channel. I immediately remembered the wonderful Words of God that shed light on these temptations... He must purge his breast, which is the sanctuary of the abiding love of the Beloved, of every defilement, and sanctify his soul from all that pertaineth to water and clay, from all shadowy and ephemeral attachments. Also I gave thanks for the phrase in Paragraph 3 that taught how to consume any stray lecherous or wayward thoughts with something like a plasma flame... He should consume every wayward thought with the flame of His loving mention, and with the swiftness of lightning pass by all else save Him.
On the way to see my friends I listened to another Dark Journalist episode; an interview made in 2015, which I had long planned to listen to, as DJ said it was such a great interview, and a great exposé of the Deep State. The interview was with an elderly Professor by the name of Peter Dale Scott, who actually coined the term ‘deep state’ and preserved it in the title of his best-selling book The American Deep State, which told a clear story of this horrific organisation built from deeply hidden parts of the government, entirely independent of any oversight, and fulfilling 40+ years of murder, theft, robbery, assassinations, and continual warfare. In my original writing here I wrote the names of a couple of key evil politicians that Professor Scott identified, but then in a very timely way there was an update on Bahá’í Aotearoa, with a 1 December 2019 letter entitled Social Media and Non-involvement in Politics, from the Universal House of Justice to the Global Friends with some advice on how to use social media and a reminder not to get involved with politics. The Words from the UHJ, which are regarded by Bahá’ís as the Word of God on Earth, were so gentle and wise, full of love for humanity, that I had to read them several times, and will transcribe some of them in crimson here for their illumination…
One conspicuous symptom of society’s deepening malaise is the steady descent of public discourse into greater rancour and enmity, reflecting entrenched partisan points of view. A prevalent feature of such contemporary discourse is how political disagreements rapidly degenerate into invective and ridicule. However, what particularly differentiates the present age from those that preceded it is how so much of this discourse occurs in full view of the world. Social media and related communication tools tend to give the greatest exposure to all that is controversial, and the very same tools allow individuals, in an instant, to disseminate more widely whatever catches their attention and to register their support or opposition to various sentiments, whether explicitly or tacitly. The unparalleled ease with which a person can join in such public debate and the nature of the technology make momentary lapses of judgement and incautious actions more likely and their residue more enduring.
This holds particular implications for Bahá’ís, who know well that the principles of their Faith require them to refrain from involvement in political controversies and conflicts of all kinds. “Speak thou no word of politics”was the counsel of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to one believer, adding, “Except to speak well of them, make thou no mention of the earth’s kings, and the worldly governments thereof.” Shoghi Effendi warned against allowing our vision of the Cause to be clouded “by the stain and dust of worldly happenings, which, no matter how glittering and far-reaching in their immediate effects, are but the fleeting shadows of an imperfect world”.
I still felt it was important to pursue the real history however, even if we were to refrain from making political comments on social media, and DJ’s interview with the Professor filled in a lot of details on the two recent DJ X-series episodes 73 and 74, in which he talked with Professor Joseph Farrell, to my mind a conversation between two of the most intelligent brains on the planet, exposing the nefarious activities of various corporations, especially Permindex which appeared to be an acronym for “permanent assassination index”. In any case there was a clear picture painted of the last half century of American history, beginning pretty much with the assassination of JFK, and moving on to global drug running syndicates and other corporations preying on the spoils of war for over 40 years now and counting…
My friend wanted to go and see a movie on the big screen, and I enjoyed the synchronicity of watching a new Charlie’s Angels, in which 3 or 4 beautiful females defeated a cabal of evil doers, who used all sorts of conniving methods, as well as outright assassination, to control and entrap good people. A recent historical example of this I recognised had been in the Global news with the case of Jeffrey Epstein and his organisation who by all accounts used such entrapment on many influential people and world leaders by taking videos of them giving into their lechery and sexual fantasies, thus becoming prime targets for blackmail. This sort of activity appears to have controlled human history for thousands of years, but things appear to be changing and the evil doers are being exposed in the light, and it appears that perhaps Hollywood might be leading the way with its Marvel movies into a whole new era of peace? It was certainly true that a crucial role for America was prophesied, in the coming of the Golden Age of Bahá’u’lláh, as written about by the great Golden Eagle of the Bahá’í dispensation, the Beloved Guardian Shoghi Effendi, in His book of letters entitled The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh.
…For great as have been the attainments and unforgettable the services of the pioneers of the heroic age of the Cause in Persia, the contribution which their spiritual descendants, the American believers, the champion-builders of the organic structure of the Cause, are now making towards the fulfillment of the Plan which must usher in the golden age of the Cause is no less meritorious in this strenuous period of its history. Few, if any, I venture to assert, among these privileged framers and custodians of the constitution of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh are even dimly aware of the preponderating rôle which the North American continent is destined to play in the future orientation of their world-embracing Cause. Nor does any appreciable number among them seem sufficiently conscious of the decisive influence which they already exercise in the direction and management of its affairs.
“The continent of America,” wrote ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá in February 1917, “is, in the eyes of the one true God, the land wherein the splendors of His light shall be revealed, where the mysteries of His Faith shall be unveiled, where the righteous will abide, and the free assemble.”
In any case I felt grateful for the ease with which I recognised and ignored the small lechery test on my iPhone and thought about how easy it can be for people to succumb to these powerful emotions and lustful drives for pleasure, repeatedly and addictively pleasing the flesh or the breast, which is the sanctuary of the abiding love of the Beloved. Just one small slip, I felt, like in a game of snakes and ladders, could take one immediately back to roaming in the wilderness of oblivion and error. I also felt grateful in my two nights off work, sleeping in darkness, and with the sound of continuous rain on the roof all night, with peals of thunder every now and then, bringing tears of gratitude after the long drought. My REM sleep time, after a short catch up period of running to catch a flight, then went on to wonderful travels and adventures with the other wing, and with my friend, with one particularly memorable episode sitting in sticky mud on a steep cliff with him, who appeared to be in a circle of white-robed Essenes all meditating in a circle to clean up the dirt.
It was true, I thought, that meditation with the Divine Words at dawn and dusk, was a key in learning how to navigate the flight paths of the Worlds of God that beckoned at the end of this earth trail I had trodden with defiled wings entrapped in the water and clay of the earth below. It also seemed to be simply a matter of jumping into the abyss in meditation, and our wings would open automatically. So, on the drive home I listed to SP’s 7th Workshop in which he talked about this, and drew a wonderful tapestry using Words from the Báb, Bahá’u’lláh, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and the blessed Guardian Shoghi Effendi.
The workshop was too huge and rich to even start quoting these rainbow coloured threads, so anyone reading these words and feeling interested will just have to go and check it out yourself, indeed highly recommended! One thread I do remember clearly is one of the Great openings recommended by SP, into the Valley of Nothingness, or complete annihilation of the self, like a drop going back to the Ocean, or a ray of light going back to the Sun, so we would emerge in a condition impossibly too wonderful to describe, was Nader Saiedi’s book Gate of the Heart. This other great scholarly book, all about the Báb, who apparently had plenty to say about the Worlds of God beyond the Valley of Annihilation, appeared to be kind of like the other wing to his book Logos and Civilization, and what made me exquisitely happy about this little coincidence, was that this book was at the moment winging its way from Kalimat press in America to NZ so I could enjoy my summer break at the beach absorbing both of these amazing works!
Right now, on 11 Qawl Speech, I was aware that I had only 9 more days to memorise the last paragraph, AND complete the last chapter, so I spent my first hour on waking meditating with the Words. Another thing that came to mind from the first listen to SP’s 7th Workshop into the Valley of Absolute Nothingness was the power of the SOP – Short Obligatory Prayer – which I had actually been neglecting for quite a few years now with my focus on the MOP and the LOP. Now it came to attention once again and I realised that now might be the time to roll it out for another run, as while working the night shift I generally slept till about 12 noon every day, the time specified for its recitation, and also it opened up so much more meditation time with the Words of the day, as it was so short and sweet: I bear witness, O my God, that Thou hast created me to know and worship Thee. I testify at this moment to my powerlessness and to Thy might, to my poverty and to Thy wealth. There is none other God but Thee, the help in peril and the self-subsisting!
Then focusing on the Words of the last paragraph, I recognised that in the middle two sentences there was a focus on two words that SP had also dwelt on at length in his deep dive into the Abyss, the soul and the spirit, and the differences between these two phenomena… The food they (the Cities) bestow is the bread of heaven, and the Spirit they impart is God’s imperishable blessing. Upon detached souls they bestow the gift of Unity, enrich the destitute, and offer the cup of knowledge unto them who wander in the wilderness of ignorance. I was also pleased to discover in the Words a circle back to the opening paragraph of this chapter in the mention of the gift of Unity, which we celebrated on the Day of the Covenant.
At the end of this trail I feel the beginning of a whole new cycle of activity, with focus back on the family and the community and getting our healing center working well. Some more details on this had come from our elder tohunga when he made the prayer for one of the ladies I was getting help for last week, when he said that water and fire must be balanced for hinengaro to move. Hinengaro not only had the deeper meanings mentioned already in the chapter of the ‘hidden female essence’ therefore perhaps coming in to the category of one of the blessings … hidden and treasured within these Cities, and even another aspect of the Beloved, but also on another level means ‘mind and emotions’. It was also a word that was included in a widely used model for Maori health as one of the 4 walls of Te Whare Tapa Wha, the 4 walls of the House of Healing, with the other walls being Tinana (physical body), Wairua (Spirit), and Whanau (family and community).
I thought immediately that the reference to the Beloved might be a very good way of bringing this trail to an end. This seeker has for many years had a special relationship with the number 13, as anyone who has perused my 1st book Crystal Mission will know. Now for chapter 13 of The Path of Search I recalled another reference from WH’s bookshelf about a symbol for the Christian Beloved in the beautiful Mary Magdalene being a 13-pointed star that was constructed from opening up one of the points of a pentagram. This symbol brings to mind many hidden mysteries; for example the circle of Christ’s disciples with Mary Magdalene, or a circle of the ancient Ring Lords mentioned in Sir Laurence Gardner’s book Realm of the Ring Lords, or even a sacred coven of 13 witches from the dark ages during which millions of beautiful women healers were burnt alive by the male priests of the Church, hidden in the mists of time but never forgotten. To me this makes the number 13 one of the prime power numbers of the Beloved, therefore the reason for it being suppressed so successfully by the powers that be, but now coming out into the light of a new Day!
In WH’s deep dive into the mysteries of the Beloved in Mary Magdalene, written into his book The Illuminator, he credits Elizabeth van Buren in her book Refuge of the Apocalypse, in which she observes that the highest point of a 5-pointed star opens to reveal a hidden 13-pointed star. Points 1 and 13 are formed of Point 1. This reveals the way to the mystic center (Meru, Tula). WH goes on to reveal many more mysteries related to these secrets, for example on page 67: Astoundingly, one of the great secrets guarded by the Templars is that this symbol referred to a temple in the stars above Jerusalem. A similar ‘stargate plan’ has been perceived in the area of Rennes-le-Chateau in Southern France where five mountains form the shape of a pentagram…
It is clear to me that many more mysteries, blessings, learnings, and understandings are hidden and treasured in all of the Cities referred to by the Blessed Beauty in the final Words of the Tablet of the True Seeker, and I am looking forward to many more miles and many more exciting discoveries to come on the Path of Search, which now appears to be transforming, for the true seeker, through different star gates into the navigational flight paths of the Universe and beyond. So, all that remains now is to complete the last sentence for memorisation in this final paragraph, and I feel incredibly grateful, knowing that in this beautiful new Universe coming into focus, while conversing and communing with the Concourse on High, and able in a heartbeat to fly to any one of a multitude of these Cities, that… all of the guidance, the blessings, the learnings, the understanding, the faith, and certitude, conferred upon all that is in heaven and earth, are hidden and treasured within these Cities.
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