The Oneness of the Religions of God.

 

By clicking on the table of contents link, right below this sentence, the reader viewing this website can go right to the table of contents for this website and click on any of a few hundred religious topics I have researched, and see what any of nine world religions: Christianity, Islam, Judaism, The Baha’i Faith, Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, The Babi Religion, Buddhism and Sabeanism, the religious writings of Adam, (thought to be the father of mankind) and his 3rd son Seth; and see what these nine religions, that I have chosen to investigate, actually have to teach and say about that topic:

 Table of Contents:

(This is a website that is dedicated to the peace, unity and the education of mankind)

Prologue

  (Please read the prologue first, so you will get a better understanding of the nature of this work and get the instructions on how to best use this website!!! You should also know that this prologue is fairly lengthy, and is more like the traditional book form, while the rest of this work is in the form of topics that you can attain by just clicking on the table of contents link found above this sentence, and go to the table of contents and click on any of a number of topics, that might be of interest to you).

There is also a charity associated with this work, Universal Concord, that talks a lot about world problems and the reasons and solutions to many of these problems and difficulties associated with this modern world of ours. This charity can be visited by just clicking on the website link right at the end of this sentence, where you will find the charity header with the words peace and unity in fifty different languages, and many examples of why humanity should truly act as one human family; that should be united and not divided.  Universal Concord

And so, moving on:

If the message is truly important, and God really wants us to know it, then that message is found in The Word of God; the whole Word of God, from all of God’s holy, divine teachers and manifestations, in all of God’s Holy Divine Religions, sent to all of mankind, and not to just a few scattered groups of people, here or there. You see, The Creator, in reality, actually loves all of His children, example: Christianity, Ephesians: 2:4 “God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us.” 1 John: 4:7 “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.” 4:8 “He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.” 4:19 “We love Him (God), because He first loved us,” because He created all of humanity, not just part of us:  Judaism, Deuteronomy: 7:12 “The LORD thy God, He will love thee, and bless thee.” Jeremiah: 31:3 “Yea, I (The Lord) have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with loving kindness have I drawn (made) thee.”  13. “O mankind! We (loved, cherished and) created you.” 172. “Am I not your Lord (Who cherishes, loves and sustains you)?” 79. “Be ye worshippers of Him Who is truly the Cherisher (lover) of all.” “Hold fast, all together, by the rope (The Love) which Allah (God) stretches out for you;” 73. “and Allah careth for all, (loveth all) and He knoweth all things.” (Islam, The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surahs 3 and 7)  “The relation between Mazda (God) and man is preeminently that of the lover and The Beloved.” “Man is both the lover and the beloved of Mazda (God).” “God is all love, and His loving presence may be felt everywhere.” The “love of God is calculated to remove the distinction between one nation and another.” “The religion of the Gatha is the religion of love, and Ahura Mazda is the friend of men.” (Zoroastrianism, Hymns of Atharvan pp. 375, 376, 507, 544, 676 and 834) 3. “All rests upon the laud and love of Him, God (Brahma),” and 5. “God is furthering on us with loving-kindness.” “I know thee, righteous Rama (Vishnu, God), soul of piety and love,” 4 “The Eternal Lord who loves (all).”(Hinduism, Ramayana and Vedas, Rig Veda – Books 1, 5, 10) “Within these innumerable worlds are every form of sentient life with all their various mental capacities, dispositions, and temperaments, all alike are fully known to (Brahma/Vishnu/God) The Tathagatas, and The Tathagatas are filled with Compassion and Love for them.” “Our Lord’s parental (Fatherly) love.” (Buddhism, Diamond Sutra and The Surangama Sutra)  “We have arranged (all things) according to Thy loving-kindness from beginning to end.” “Thou art Love and Enduring, First Life (God),” “cut me not off from Your Good, Loving, wonderful, presence.” (Sabeanism, the religious writings of Adam, Ginza Rba- chapters 10, 75, 77 and 89) “God‘s all-encompassing love and protection will surround them.” “He hath cherished and will ever cherish the desire that all men may attain His gardens of Paradise with utmost love.” (The Babi Religion, The Dawn-Breakers, p. 197 and Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 86 )“O Son of Man! I loved thy creation, hence I created thee. Wherefore, do thou love Me, that I may name thy name and fill thy soul with the spirit of life.” You see, “God has created us, one and all,” (Bahá’í Faith, The Kitab-i-Aqdas, p. 175 and Paris Talks, p. 120), and so He is therefore, actually teaching and instructing all of the human race, and not just a few scattered groups of people, living here on this world with us: “He (God) loves and protects all His children.” (Bahá’í Faith, Paris Talks, p. 120) You see, the things that God does with us here in this world, and the teachings He sends to us, are from One of tremendous, wisdom, logic and astuteness; of unfathomable scope, proportion and power. A Creator of absolutely everything in existence, would have to be like this to do all of the things that have been done, and are being done in this creation, think about it. In-other-words, The Creator is uncomprehendingly intelligent, far beyond anything we can even conceive or ever hope to imagine; and so the things He has His messengers teach and proclaim, should, in reality, make logical, comprehensible sense to us, and His words should appear to be backed by rational reason and logic when we read and study them or we are somehow missing out on the real inner truth and meaning hidden within His Holy Words and Teachings; because The Creator that I am familiar with, is actually one of Omniscient, All Knowing, All Comprehending Intelligence, and not someone who is of low wit or lacking in reason or intelligence, as some people, by their words and actions, seem to treat His words and teachings. So this work is about, The Oneness of an intelligent, capable Creator, and The Oneness and brotherhood of All the human race and absolutely, The Oneness of All The Real, True Religions, of The One True, All-Encompassing, All-Knowing, Almighty God; The Creator of absolutely Everything! And that includes you, me and everyone and everybody else, living and breathing here, on this tiny, little globe of a planet that we all find ourselves living on and call home! Because, this work is really, actually all about unity and peace, and the very real word of God actually making real, actual sense when we read it; and all of God’s very real, divine religions; and the actual words and teachings of God‘s divine religions, actually agreeing with one another, in all essential matters; because we, as in all of mankind, are really, actually supposed to read the words of God, and we are all, actually supposed to study the word of God, for our very own selves, and than come to our very own conclusions; because:   Christianity, 1 Corinthians: 14:33 “God is not the author of confusion, but of peace!!!” And so if any of the things we choose to believe, leads to confusion, uncertainty and doubt or any of the things we imagine to be true and correct, leads to hatred, hostilities, aggression and violence, that teaching is from out of the mind of man, and is not a true, actual teaching from The Creator, but is a creation and misunderstanding from the words, thoughts and doctrines of men!  Judaism, Daniel: 9:7 “O LORD, righteousness belongeth unto Thee, but unto us confusion.” So, 6:25 “peace be multiplied unto you,” for Proverbs: 6:16 “The LORD hate(s) discord.”  Islam, 103. “It was not Allah (God) Who instituted (superstitions and confusions).” 85 “He saith, (men) work not (mischief and confusion) in the earth;” 224. “and make not Allah’s (name) an excuse in your oaths against doing good, or acting rightly, or making peace.” (The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surahs 2, 5 and 7) For,  Lamentations: 3:38 “Out of the mouth of The Most High proceedeth not evil!” So if evil actions and deeds come from a teaching men have decided to believe in, that teaching again, is not an actual teaching from God, The Creator, but again, comes from the thoughts, doctrines, minds and beliefs of men!  1 Peter: 3:12 “For the eyes of The Lord are over the righteous, and His ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of The Lord is against them that do evil.”  179. “Allah, separates what is evil from what is good;” 256. “whoever rejects evil and believes in Allah hath grasped the most trustworthy hand-hold.” (The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surahs 2 and 3)

So clearly men and women need to study the words of The Creator for their very own selves; because:  Christianity: 2 Peter: 2:1 “There were (are) false prophets also among the people, even as there (are) shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies.” Mark: 7:7 “Howbeit in vain do they worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.” 7:8 “For laying aside the commandment(s) of God, ye hold the tradition(s) of men.” 7:9 “And full well ye reject the commandment(s) of God, that ye may keep your own tradition(s).” Colossians: 2:22 “Which all are to perish with the using; after the commandments and doctrines of men.” Ephesians: 4:14 “Henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive.” (King James Bible) For,  Judaism: Jeremiah: 50:6 “My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray.” 23:1 “Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith The LORD.” Malachi: 2:7 “For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of The LORD of Hosts.” 2:8 “But ye are departed out of the way (and) ye have caused many to stumble at the law (and) ye have corrupted the covenant, saith The LORD of Hosts (and) ye have not kept My ways, but have been partial in the law.” (The King James Bible)  Islam: 69. “It is the wish of a section of the People (people found within all religions) to lead you astray.” 5. “It is those who believe not in the Signs of Allah (God), that forge falsehood: it is they who lie!” 107. “This because they love the life of this world better than the Hereafter.” 4. So, 116. “say not, any false thing that your tongues may put forth, ‘This is lawful, and this is forbidden,’ so as to ascribe false things to Allah.” 2. “But the transgressors among them changed the word from that which had been given them.” 4. “But who doth more wrong than one who invents a lie against Allah, to lead astray men without knowledge? For Allah guideth not people who do wrong.” 1. “Such as took their religion to be mere amusement and play, and were deceived by the life of the world.” 78. “And there are among them illiterates, who know not the Book but (see therein their own) desires, and they do nothing but conjecture.” 79. “Then woe to those who write the Book with their own hands and then say: ‘This is from Allah,’ to traffic with it for a miserable price! Woe to them for what their hands do write.” (The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surahs 2, 3, 6, 7, 16).  Zoroastrianism: Denkard. Zoroaster, “Those priests who disseminate vice among men are morally blind.” “The teacher of evil destroys the lore, (perverts and destroys the spirit of the word). He by his false teachings destroys the design of (spiritual) life and he prevents the possession of Good Thought from being prized.” 2. “They by their lore would pervert men from the best doing.” 5. “This is the way of things on this earth.” “It is ignorance that ruins most people, those ill-informed ones.” And so, “from This True Spirit have the liars fallen away.” (Zoroastrianism, Hymns of Atharvan pp. 87, 197; Yasna 32; Avesta Fragments)  Hinduism: “It is, however, not improbable that our text is disfigured by several very old (man induced) corruptions.” For, “In many cases a literal translation may convey an entirely wrong meaning, and  a strictly literal translation would be wrong, and would convey no meaning, or a wrong meaning;” “Nor must we forget that – oral tradition, is not without its dangers; many a word may have been misunderstood, many a sentence confused, as it was told by father to son.” “Lastly, we must remember that those who handed down the ancestral treasures of ancient wisdom, would often feel inclined to add what seemed useful to themselves, namely it was allowed to form part of the tradition that had to be handed down, as a sacred trust, from generation to generation. The priestly influence was at work, even before there were priests by profession, and when the priesthood had once become professional, its influence may account for much that would otherwise seem inexplicable in the sacred codes of the ancient world.” So then, “one steadfast rule we seem to have here; while shifting souls (people who don’t understand the teachings or don’t mind changing the words and teachings to suit themselves) have laws, many and hard, (They can be) specious, but also, wrongful deemed speech of those ill-taught ones who extol The Letter of their Vedas, saying, ‘This Is all we have, or need;’ promising men Much profit, following whereon Large merit shall accrue towards wealth and power; Albeit, who wealth and power do (they) most desire.” (Hindu, Vedas, Rig Veda – Book 5, 9, Bhagavad Gita (Edwin Arnold tr) chapter 2 and Upanishads vol. 2, Introduction to the Upanishads, vol. 2 and Laws of Manu chap 4)  Buddhism: “There are common heretics Of this world who teach amongst humans what is not true. You will be beset by these heretics on every hand within and without. There will be plenty of these heretics about hiding themselves in the very personalities of the saints, the better to carry out their deceitful tricks on the un-weary persons.” “Blinded indeed is this world. Few are those who see the truth.” “Who-so on account of false (superstitious) views Scorns the teaching of the Noble Ones, The Worthy and Righteous Ones, He, the foolish man, destroys himself.” (Buddha, Surangama Sutra and Dhammapada – Sayings of the Buddha)  Sabeanism: So, “to you (people) do I call and (to you) do I teach; Men who have received the sign. Hearken not to the talk of all people and generations; and let not their stumblings: (doctrines, dogmas, theologies and traditions), cause you to stumble, stumble not because of their stumblings, (rantings and ravings)!” “If thou readest (the holy word and teachings), read it as it is written, and be careful and make inquiry, into the word of Haiyi (God).” (Sabeanism: The Holy writings of Adam, considered by many to be the father of all mankind, and his third son Seth: The Ginza Rba- chapters 89 and 410)  The Babi Religion: “Let not the deeds of those who reject the Truth shut you out as by a veil. Such people have warrant over your bodies only, and God hath not reposed in them power over your spirits, your souls and your hearts. Fear ye God that haply it may be well with you.” For, “in every city, all the divines and nobles rose to hinder and repress them, and girded up the loins of malice, of envy, and tyranny for their suppression.” For, “in every nation thou beholdest unnumbered spiritual leaders who are bereft of true discernment, and among every people thou dost encounter myriads of adherents who are devoid of the same characteristic; whose prophecies (words and explanations) were false and forged by false traditionalists (that) could only be the superstitions of diseased brains,” “forsaking every principle of justice and decency.” Ponder for a while in thy heart, have pity on thyself and turn not aside thine attention from proofs and evidences.” (The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, pp. 24, 59, 90, 110, 124, 133, 136, 137, 142, 143, 146, 153, 161, 184, 199 and Shoghi Effendi, The Dawn-Breakers, pp. I, 47, 98, 174, 258, 298, 397, 642)  The Baha’i Faith: “The beginnings of all great religions were pure; but priests, taking possession of the minds of the people, filled them with dogmas and superstitions, so that religion became gradually corrupt.” “The religion of God has two aspects in this world. The spiritual (the real) and the formal (the outward). The formal side changes, as man changes from age to age. The spiritual side which is the Truth, never changes.” “The Prophets and Manifestations of God bring always the same teaching (the essential teachings); at first men cling to the Truth but after a time they disfigure it. The Truth is distorted by man-made outward forms and material laws. The veil of substance and worldliness is drawn across the reality of Truth.” “He (Baha’u’llah) lays stress on the search for Truth. This is most important, because the people are too easily led by tradition. It is because of this  that they are often antagonistic to each other, and dispute with one another.” (Abdu’l-Baha in London, pp. 27, 56 and 125)

 

So we must therefore, actually take the initiative upon ourselves, to actually know and discover the real, true, actual facts and hidden truths found within The Words and Teachings of The Creator for our very own selves; because we do not know that which is just the influence and words of men, from the actual words and teachings of The Creator Himself. That takes actual reading and studying, of the actual writings of God for our very-own-selves, and not just listening to the hearsay of others; as all of God‘s actual writings, do in-fact, actually tell us to do; if we are to actually ascertain the truth of the words for ourselves:

 Christianity: 1 Thessalonians: 5:21 “Prove all things; (and) hold fast that which is good!” 5:15 “ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men.” 

 2 Timothy 2:15  So then, “study to shew thyself approved unto God,” 2:9  for, “the word of God is not bound (by the words or imaginations or superstitions or wants and desires of men).” 1:13  So, “hold fast the form of sound words,” 2:16 “but shun profane and vain babblings, for they will increase more ungodliness.”

             Romans: 12:2 “And be not conformed to this world: (influenced by, and acting in compliance and compromise or filled with idle wants and desires to this worldly life); (but) prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect…..”

  2 Corinthians 13:5 Then, “examine, (and) prove (for) your own selves.”

  Judaism: Deuteronomy 27:26 Then, “cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words!“

  Isaiah 34:16 But, “seek ye out – the book of The LORD, and read!!!”

                                                 Lamentations 3:40 Then, “let us search and try our ways, and turn again to The LORD.”

  Proverbs 27:23 So, “be thou diligent to know (the) truth: bind them (the words of God), about thy neck;  (and) write them upon the table of thine heart:” 3:4 “so shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man.”

  Islam: 121. “Those to whom We have sent the book study it as it should be studied;”48. “To thee We sent the Scripture in truth, confirming the scripture that came before it;” “so judge between them by what Allah (God) hath revealed, and follow not — vain desires, diverging from the truth that hath come to thee!” 4. “O ye who believe, investigate carefully.” (The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surahs 2, 4 and 5)

  Zoroastrianism, (the religion of the three wise men spoken of in the Christian bible):  31. “We worship Ahura Mazda (God) to keep the Holy Word. We worship the understanding of Ahura Mazda, to study the Holy Word.” So 2. “Hear with your ears the best things; look upon them with clear-seeing thoughts, for decision, each man for himself.” For, “One should rely on his own conviction, and not allow himself to be drifted by the opinions of others.” (Zoroaster, Hymns of Atharvan pp. 30, 87, 197 and The Zend-Avesta, Khorda Avesta – Book of Common Prayer pt. 1)

  Hinduism: 106. “(To study) this is the best means of securing welfare, it increases understanding!” 17. “Let him — study the Veda (the writings and teachings of Brahma/God); because the Veda-study secures the realization of his aims!“ (Hindu, Laws of Manu chapters 1 and 4)

  Buddhism: 20. “You yourself should make an effort, The Tathagata can but show the Way.” 10. “By confidence, virtue, effort and concentration, By the investigation of the Doctrine, By being endowed with knowledge and conduct And by keeping your mind alert, Will you leave this great suffering behind.” “(Give) devout attention to the teaching(s) of the Blessed One.” Study the word for yourself!” “Get into the habit of affirming that things are just so and not otherwise.” ((Buddhist, Dhammapada – Sayings of the Buddha 3 (tr. J. Richards and Buddha Lankavatara)

 Sabeanism: “Seek and find for yourselves, for your friends, for your friends’ friends and for those who love the great Family of Life. Your eyes shall not turn away from Me unsatisfied.” “Be careful; make inquiry, display kindness, show compassion.” (Sabeanism, Ginza Rba- chapters 35 and 74; The religion of Adam, thought to be the father of mankind, and his 3rd son Seth)

  Babi Religion: “TAKE heed to carefully consider the words of every soul, then hold fast to the proofs which attest the truth.” “Be thou neither a divine without discernment, nor a follower without discernment, for both of these shall perish on the Day of Resurrection. Rather it behooveth thee to be a discerning divine (and) to walk with insight in the way of God.” “Ponder in thy heart, and turn not aside thine attention from proofs and evidences. However, seek not proofs and evidences after thine idle fancy; but rather base thy proofs upon what God hath appointed.” “It behooveth you, O creatures of God, to help your own selves and to believe in the Verses revealed.”  (The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, pp. 100, 123 and 133)

 Baha’i Faith: “He (Bahá’u’lláh) lays stress on the search for Truth. This is most important, because the people are too easily led by tradition. It is because of this that they are often antagonistic to each other, and dispute with one another. But the manifesting of Truth discovers the darkness and becomes the cause of (the) Oneness of faith and belief: because Truth cannot be two! That is not possible.” “The first teaching of Bahá’u’lláh is the duty incumbent upon all to investigate reality. What does it mean to investigate reality? It means that man must forget all hearsay and examine truth himself, for he does not know whether statements he hears are in accordance with reality or not. Wherever he finds truth or reality, he must hold to it, forsaking, discarding all else; for outside of reality there is naught but superstition and imagination. For example, during the days of Jesus Christ the Jews were expecting the appearance of The Messiah, praying and beseeching God day and night that the Promised One might appear. Why did they reject Him when He did appear? They denied Him absolutely, refused to believe in Him. There was no abuse and persecution which they did not heap upon Him. They reviled Him with curses, placed a crown of thorns upon His head, led Him through the streets in scorn and derision and finally crucified Him. Why did they do this? Because they did not investigate the truth or reality of Christ and were not able to recognize Him as the Messiah of God. Had they investigated sincerely for themselves, they would surely have believed in Him, respected Him, and bowed before Him in reverence. They would have considered His manifestation the greatest bestowal upon mankind. They would have accepted Him as the very Savior of man; but, alas, they were veiled, they held to imitations of ancestral beliefs and hearsay and did not investigate the truth of Christ. They were submerged in the sea of superstitions and were, therefore, deprived of witnessing that glorious bounty; they were withheld from the fragrances or breaths of the Holy Spirit and suffered in themselves the greatest debasement and degradation.”(Bahá’í Faith, Abdu’l-Baha, Abdu’l-Baha in London, p. 27 thru 28 and The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 62)

                               

So than, we must read and study The Creator’s Holy Words and Writings, for our very own selves, if we wish to follow His Holy Teachings and Commands; and than by reading the real, true holy words, writings and teachings of The Creator, for our very own selves, and than actually thinking about what we have just read, and using very real reason, to know and understand all that we are reading; (for we must, in reality, actually read and study The Words of God for our very own selves), if we are to actually come to know and understand the real, truth concealed and hidden deep within His Holy Words, and the true, actual spirit shrouded and veiled deep within His Holy Teachings; for His true, actual words and writings are spiritual and symbolic in nature, example:  Christian: 1 Corinthians: 2:4 “My speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit.” For, 2:10 “God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit: (the hidden, deeper meanings and allusions within His teachings).” Galatians: 4:24 “Which things are an allegory (symbol).” For, “the Sayings (God’s Holy words and teachings) are not intended to be interpreted literally!” (The Gospel of Thomas) “For, it is impossible to understand (all) the hidden truths of God which are in His sayings, and the multitude of their meanings!” (St. John) Example: Romans: 5:14 “The similitude (the allegory or symbolic story) of Adam’s transgression.” So, even the story of Adam and Eve, with the tree and the forbidden fruit is a similitude, a spiritual story not to be taken literally according to the words of The Apostle Paul. And Paul further tells us: 1 Corinthians: 10:1 “Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, 10:3 And did all eat the same spiritual meat; 10:4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock.” So, even the manna from heaven and the water gushing forth out of the rock, (though these things may have actually happened quite physically and literally for the people), seem also to have had, spiritual symbolic meanings as-well, according to The Apostle Paul.  Judaism: For, Proverbs 25:2 “It is the glory of God to conceal a thing.” For, Hosea: 12:9 “I that am The LORD thy God,” 12:10 “I have also spoken by the prophets, and I have multiplied visions and have used similitude’s, (allegories) by the ministry of the prophets.” So than, Isaiah: 42:18 “Hear, ye deaf; and look, ye blind, that ye may (truly) see;” Zechariah: 7:12 “the words which The LORD of hosts hath sent in His spirit by the former prophets.” 4:6 “This is the word of The LORD, not by might, nor by power, but by My spirit, saith The LORD of hosts.” (King James Bible)  Islam: For, 102. “The Holy Spirit has brought the revelation (the word and message) from thy Lord, in truth.” For, 85. “The Spirit (of the word cometh) by the command of my Lord of knowledge, (but) it is only  little of (the spirit of the word) that is communicated to you, (O men!)” 193. “With it (the word) came down the Spirit of Faith and Truth.” For, 5. “by His command doth He send the spirit (of inspiration).” 30. That “he (man) might Grow (in spiritual understanding)?” Because, 27. “We have put forth for men, in this Qur’án every kind of Parable;” 25. “They are given things in similitude;” for, 26. “Allah disdains not to use the similitude (spiritual, symbolic messages in His writings).” For, 7. “He (Allah/God) it is Who hath sent down to thee The Book, in it are verses basic and fundamental, (while) others are allegorical (symbolic, mystic, and of the spirit; they are spiritual symbolisms or parables, not so readily seen, or understood, by men),” “Without a doubt, it is (announced) in The Mystic, (Spiritual) Books of the former peoples, (and prophets).” So, 27. “if all the trees on earth were pens and the Ocean(s) (were ink), with seven Oceans behind it to add to its (supply), yet would not the Words (and meanings) of Allah’s (words) be exhausted; for Allah is Exalted in power, Full of Wisdom.” (The Qur’an Yusuf Ali, Surahs 2, 3, 16, 17, 26, 31, 39, 40 and 80)  Zoroastrianism: 11. “And this our word I have proclaimed as a symbol (parable, allegory) to be learned.” “The Gathas (may) be to us; our guardians and defenders, and our spiritual food, yea, which (may) be to our souls both food and clothing, such are these Gathas to us, guardians, and defenders, and (spiritual) food, even such they are, both food and clothing to the soul.” “O Spitama Zarathushtra, these are the words of spirit, which I pronounced before the creation of this heaven.” (Zoroaster, Hymns of Atharvan and The Zend-Avesta, Avesta – Yasna 19, 55)  Hinduism: “Before beginning any spiritual text (writing) it is customary to clear the mind of all distracting thoughts, to calm the breath and to purify the heart.” For, 218. “As the man who digs with a spade (into the ground) obtains water, even so, an obedient (pupil) obtains the knowledge which lies hidden (within);” “The hidden (spiritual) truths of religion embalmed in the ancient Upanishads.” “Thus hath been opened thee This Truth of Truths, the Mystery more hid Than any secret mystery.” “The hymn has a mystical meaning.” (Hindu, Bhagavad Gita (Edwin Arnold tr) chapter 18 and Hindu, Laws of Manu chapter 2 and The Mababharata and Hindu, Vedas, Rig Veda and The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali)  Buddhism: “The Tathagatas do not teach a Dharma that is dependent upon letters.” “Therefore, take good heed not to become attached to words as being in perfect conformity with meaning.” “(Give) devout attention to the teaching(s),” “Study the words for yourself,” for “to hear the true spiritual teaching of the Buddha is difficult;” for “the meaning of the Blessed One’s (Buddha’s) discourses, He has no (real, absolute) system of doctrine that can be specifically formulated, because of what the Blessed One adumbrates (gives partial disclosure, or hints at) in the terms of the Dharma, which is, in reality, inscrutable and inexpressible, with the true message being of a purely spiritual concept.” (Buddhism, The Lankavatara Sutra and Buddha, The Tevigga Sutra)  Sabeanism: “The name of the great Mystery, the mystic (spiritual) Word, is pronounced upon thee.” “He who partaketh of this bread (pihta, the spiritual word, bread), put out (for him) will be sinless in the Place of Light, the Everlasting Abode.” “Every man who openeth it, (the spiritual word) and readeth (the book and teachings) therein shall live and shall be whole.” (Sabeanism, Ginza Rba- chapters 43, 63 and 173)  Babi Religion: “Reduce not the ordinances of God to fanciful imaginations of your own; rather observe all the things which God hath created at His behest with the eye of the spirit, even as ye see things with the eyes of your bodies.” “The least, scriptural texts were to be understood in terms of symbol and metaphor.” For, “The Báb, his only weapon was the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” “My words are born of the Spirit.” (Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 145, The Dawn-Breakers, pp. 174, 297 and  Peter Smith, The Babi & Baha’i Religions, p. 37)  Bahá’í Faith: “All the texts and teachings of the Holy Testaments have intrinsic  spiritual meanings. They are not to be taken literally.” “Such are the mysteries of the Word of God, which have been unveiled and made manifest, that haply thou mayest apprehend the morning light of divine guidance, mayest quench, by the power of reliance and renunciation, the lamp of idle fancy, of vain imaginings, of hesitation, and doubt, and mayest kindle, in the inmost chamber of thine heart, the new-born light of divine knowledge and certitude.” “The spirit, it clotheth the words with meaning, it is the fountain of the light of wisdom and understanding.”  “Know verily that the purpose underlying all these symbolic terms and abstruse allusions, which emanate from the Revealers of God‘s holy Cause, hath been to test and prove the peoples of the world; that thereby the earth of the pure and illuminated hearts may be known from the perishable and barren soil.” “Consider how the parable makes attainment dependent upon capacity. Unless (spiritual) capacity is developed, the summons of the Kingdom cannot reach the ear, the light of the Sun of Truth will not be observed, and the fragrances of the rose garden of inner significance will be lost.” “Alas, alas! the world has not discovered the reality of religion hidden beneath the symbolic forms!” “Let us acquire a new intelligence in order to interpret the symbols and become acquainted with the mysteries.” (Baha’u’llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 15  and Abdu’l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace. pp. 149, 459 and Baha’u’llah, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 48 and Abdu’l-Baha, Divine Philosophy, pp. 36 and 187)

You see,

God really does love all of mankind, and so He is calling out to all of mankind; but it is to a spiritual realm that He is actually calling us, not to the comforts and allures of this world; and so  His word is spiritual in nature and His teachings are of the spirit, because it is to the spirit and the spiritual realm He is calling us: Isaiah: 48:17 “Thus saith The LORD, I am The LORD thy God, which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go;” and it is the spirit inside of us that He is actually trying to wake up, because He desires the next world for us, not this one:  Christianity: Luke: 12:32 “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom, (give you heaven).” 1 Timothy: 2:4 “Who will have all men to be saved,” and 4:10 “Who is The Saviour of all men.” 1 Thessalonians: 5:9 “For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation.”  Judaism: Isaiah: 45:17 “Be saved in The LORD with an everlasting salvation!” 59:1 “Behold, The LORD’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear.” 45:22 “Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I Am God, and there is none else.” Ezekiel: 18:32 “For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith The Lord GOD.” And, 33:11 “I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live.” Psalms: 149:4 “For The LORD taketh pleasure in His people.” 49:8 “For the redemption of their soul is precious;” 49:9 “That he should still live for ever, and not see corruption (or see hell).” For, Proverbs: 20:27 “The spirit of man, is the candle of The LORD, (not the physical body).”  Islam: 67. “Ye desire the lure of this world and Allah (God) desireth (for you) the Hereafter (paradise).” (The Qur’an Pickthall, Sura 8) 67. “Ye look for the temporal goods of this world; but Allah looketh (wishes for you) the hereafter (heaven).” (The Qur’an Yusuf Ali, Surah 8)  Zoroastrianism: 21. “I created, O Spitama Zarathushtra! good renown and salvation of the soul;” 22. “That is to say, good renown in this world and salvation of the soul in the next.” “I will (aid him and) bring his soul over the Bridge of Chinvat, I who am Ahura Mazda, (God) (I will help him to pass over it) to Heaven (the best life).”  Hinduism: 3. “Heaven’s light, most excellent, I offer, (Brahma/God offers us heaven).” 3. “This treasure of heaven, (Brahma, Vishnu, God’s, gift, and creation for man).”  Buddhism: He, “Brahma (God) only desires that which is of good benefit for us;” you see, “no beings are left outside by the will of the Tathagatas; some day each and every one will be influenced by the wisdom and love of the Tathagatas and ascend the stages of heaven.” For, “Brahma; only desires good benefit for us, [our true, actual salvation].”  Sabeanism: For, “to every man whose term of life is over Thou wilt be a Helper, Saviour and Guide.” “I (Haiyi/God), will take his hand and be his Saviour and Guide to the great Place of Light and to the Everlasting Abode; (Heaven).  The Babi Faith: “God hath cherished, and will ever cherish, the desire that all men may attain His gardens of Paradise, (heaven) with utmost love, that no one should sadden another, not even for a moment, and that all should dwell within His cradle of protection and security.”  The Bahá’í Faith: 70. “Know thou, that I have wafted unto thee all the fragrances of holiness, have fully revealed to thee My word, have perfected through thee My bounty and have desired for thee, that which I have desired for My Self. Be then content with My pleasure and thankful unto Me.” “We, verily, desire for you naught save what shall profit you, and to this bear witness all created things, had ye but ears to hear.” (Arabic Hidden words). “He summoned (summoneth) all the peoples and kindreds of the earth to the kingdom of eternity, and invited (inviteth) them to partake of the fruit of the tree of faithfulness.” (Baha’u’llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah, p. 19)

So you see,

The Creator really does want us in heaven with Him, but He is having to use the very limited words of a human vocabulary, that was created to describe a physical world and the mindset of a physical existence, to try and explain something that is essentially completely spiritual in nature. Oh sure, there are some words and teachings that have a physical place in this world, like do good things to one another and a cow is basically for food; but even with some of these words and phrases, that would appear to be of a completely physical translation and only of a worldly nature and existence; the scriptures still tell us that these words and phrases can also be spiritual in nature and connotation as-well. Example, cows that can be used in sacrifice can also teach us of the nature of sacrifice in our lives, by our actions in making the sacrifice. And so, I want to mention again: 1 Corinthians: 10:1 “brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud;” 10:3 “And did all eat the same spiritual meat;” 10:4 “And did all drink the same spiritual drink.” The things that some of us thought could only be taken as physical in nature, like the food (manna) and drink spoken of in The Old Testament, given by Moses unto the Hebrew children, might also have had some spiritual meaning as well; as in spiritual meat and spiritual drink that Moses fed to the Hebrew children, by his spiritual teachings that he taught to the Hebrew children, example: Revelation: 2:17 “He that hath an ear, let him hear, To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna;” so the food or manna, was also spiritual in nature. Also, we have Jesus giving his disciples bread and wine telling them this is my body and this is my blood:  Mark: 14:22 “And as they did eat, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake it, and gave to them, and said, Take, eat: this is my body.” 14:23 “And he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them: and they all drank of it.” 14:24 “And he said unto them, This is my blood;” surely these things can be looked at as spiritual in meaning, since Jesus was sitting there talking to them. All that I am trying to say here, is that human words lack the depth or the capability to truly, adequately describing the true nature of the spiritual realm or the ability to adequately describe what is needed here for us to develop there:  Baha’i Faith: “In the beginning of his human life man was embryonic in the world of the matrix. There he received capacity and endowment for the reality of human existence. The forces and powers necessary for this world were bestowed upon him in that limited condition. In this world he needed eyes; he received them potentially in the other. He needed ears; he obtained them there in readiness and preparation for his new existence. The powers requisite in this world were conferred upon him in the world of the matrix, so that when he entered this realm of real existence he not only possessed all necessary functions and powers but found provision for his material sustenance awaiting him.” “Therefore in this world he must prepare himself for the life beyond. That which he needs in the world of the Kingdom must be obtained here. Just as he prepared himself in the world of the matrix by acquiring forces necessary in this sphere of existence, so likewise the indispensable forces of the divine existence must be potentially attained in this world.” “What is he in need of in the Kingdom which transcends the life and limitation of this mortal sphere? The world beyond is a world of sanctity and radiance; therefore it is necessary that in this world he should acquire these divine attributes. In that world there is need of spirituality, faith, assurance, the knowledge and love of God. These he must attain in this world so that after his ascension from the earthly to the heavenly Kingdom he shall find all that is needful in that life eternal ready for him,” etc, etc… (Abdu’l-Baha, Foundations of World Unity, p. 63) So you see, the things that we will need there, on the other side, we need to try and obtain them here, in this life; but those things are of the spirit and are spiritual in nature, because we will, in-fact, be spirits on the other side when we die:  Genesis: 1:26 “And God said, Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness;” 1:27 “So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them.” and  John: 4:24 “God is a Spirit.” (King James Bible) So we will be of the spirit or spirits when we die, because we were created in The Creators image, Who is a spirit, as John clearly tells us. So we need to try and develop the spiritual characteristics needed there, on the other side, here in this existence. So what do we need? Well some of the things we need to obtain here are spiritual values, good morals and spiritual understandings; which we will later use on the other side. So how do we do this? Well The Creator tries to teach us what we are going to need there, by what means He has at His disposal here in this world; and that again, is through the use of human words, no matter how inadequate they are for the task at hand. The Creator tries to explain spiritual things to us that we need to know and develop here in this life, for our future existence there. His manifestations and prophets fill His teachings and writings with spiritual knowledge, truisms and understandings that need to be sought out here, so we will be better able to live and existence in our new lives there, on the other side.  But again, “divine things are too deep to be expressed by (mere) common words.” “The spirit, it clotheth the words with meaning.” So we must therefore endeavor to discover the true, inner, spiritual light and truth hidden within His Holy Words for our very own selves and than try and implement these words and teachings into actions within our lives. (Baha’i Faith, Abdu’l-Baha in London, p. 79 and Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 15) Christianity, 2 Peter: 1:3 He, “according as His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness.” 1 Corinthians: 2:10 “But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.” But, 2 Corinthians: 10:7 “Ye look on the things after the outward appearance?” But, 4:18  “We look not at the things which are seen, but at the things, which are not seen: for the things, which are seen, are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal;” 1 Corinthians: for, 2:4 “my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit.” 4:5 “Therefore, The Lord (The Creator), bring to light the hidden things.”  Judaism, Daniel: 2:22 “He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness.” Job: 12:22 “He discovereth deep things out of darkness, and bringeth out to light.” For, Hosea: 12:10 “I have also spoken by the prophets, and I have (used) multiplied visions, and used similitudes (symbologies stories) by the ministry of the prophets.” It is, Zechariah: 7:12 “the words which The LORD of hosts hath sent in His spirit by the former prophets.” For, Proverbs: 25:2 “It is the glory of God to conceal a thing.” But, Deuteronomy: 29:29 “The secret things belong unto The LORD our God.” 7. “He (Allah), it is Who has sent down to thee The Book: in it are verses basic, or fundamental, (of established meaning), while others are allegorical,” (they are spiritual symbolisms, or parables, not so readily seen, or understood, by the people). 25. “They are given things in similitude;” because, 26. “Allah (God) disdains not to use the similitude of things.” For, 85. “The Spirit (of the word cometh) by the command of my Lord of knowledge, (but) it is only  little of (the spirit of the word) that is communicated to you,” and “no one knows (all) its (the holy words true) hidden meanings except Allah,” for the true spirit within the holy word is concealed from the understanding of most men, and is to deep for mortal words to reveal. So, 27. “if all the trees on earth were pens and the Ocean(s) (were ink), with seven Oceans behind it to add to its (supply), yet would not the Words (and meanings) of Allah’s (words) be exhausted; for Allah is Exalted in power, Full of Wisdom.” (Islam, The Qur’an, Surahs 2, 3, 16, 31 and 50)  “Mazda (God) gives to the prophet, the scriptures. The scripture containing the lessons of the prophet is his main instrument. It lays down the rules and regulations which bring salvation to mankind. But unless man has the goodwill to accept the (real spiritual truths of the words) of the gospel (and go beyond the symbols hidden within the words) it does not benefit him at all.” “This Our word, (Our spiritual message), I have proclaimed as a symbol, (The True, Spiritual, Word of Ahura), to be (discovered) and learned!” “The most glorious Holy Word (itself), this is what in the Holy Word is fit to discern, (the hidden message of The Creator within the words).” And “he (the true seeker) grazes the hidden ways” “of deep understanding” “To whom will this (hidden, mystic gift) of ours be given.” 3. “For him that knows, that is the best of teachings, which the beneficent Ahura teaches through the Right, he the holy one, even thyself, O Mazda, that knows the secret lore through the wisdom of Good Thought.” (Zoroastrianism, The Zend-Avesta, Avesta – Yasnas 19 and 48 and Hymns of Atharvan p. 87 and The Zend-Avesta, Khorda Avesta – Book of Common Prayer pt. 1)  224. “The chief good consists in (the acquisition of) spiritual merit,” from “the hidden truths of religion, embalmed (hidden, buried deep) within the ancient Upanishads.” “Thus hath been opened thee This Truth of Truths, the Mystery more hid Than any secret mystery.” “Now will I open unto thee- whose heart Rejects not- that last lore, deepest-concealed, That farthest secret.” “The great unbroken silence in learning’s secret things; The lore of all the learned, the seed of all which springs (from the holy words).” “Thus hath been opened thee This Truth of Truths, the Mystery more hid Than any secret mystery.” “Now is the sacred, secret Mystery Declared to thee! Who comprehendeth this Hath wisdom!” (Hindu, Bhagavad Gita (Edwin Arnold tr) chapters 9, 10, 15, 18, Laws of Manu chap 2 and The Mababharata) “The Tathagatas do not teach a Dharma that is dependent upon letters.” So, “do not to become attached to words as being in perfect conformity with meaning.” “The Truth of Noble Wisdom that is beyond the reasoning knowledge of the philosophers as well as being beyond the understanding of ordinary disciples and masters; and which is realizable only within the inmost consciousness; for your sake’s.” “The true message (of the holy word is) purely spiritual.” (Buddha, Lankavatara Sutra) “Lord of The mystic (spiritual) books;” “the great Mystery, the mystic (hidden message within His) Word.” (Sabeanism, Ginza Rba- chapters 90 and 173) The “mere (literal translation of the) words are unacceptable, (being of a spiritual nature hidden deep within the holy words);” “observe all the things which God hath created at His behest with the eye of the spirit, “The least, scriptural texts were to be understood in terms of symbol and metaphor.” (Babi Religion, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 119 and 145) “Such are the mysteries of the Word of God, which have been unveiled and made manifest, that haply thou mayest apprehend the morning light of divine guidance.” “All the texts and teachings of the Holy Testaments have intrinsic  spiritual meanings. They are not to be taken literally,” for again, the “divine things are too deep to be expressed by (mere) common words.” “The spirit, it clotheth the words with meaning.” (Baha’i Faith, Baha’u’llah, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 48 and The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 459 and Abdu’l-Baha in London, p. 79)

                                                                     

                                                                 Let us truly think of peace and truly reflect peace in our lives!!!   

We also need to understand:

He is God!!! (The Creator, The Ever Existing, The Most Great Life, Haiyi, The First and The Last, Yahweh, I Am That I Am, Jehovah, The Uncreated One, The Eternal Being, Brahma, Vishnu, The Most Great Spirit, Ahura Mazda, Allah, The Alpha and The Omega, The Almighty, The All-Powerful–Omnipotent One, The All-Knowing-Omniscient One); and any number of the untold, infinite number, of other names our Creator goes by; but you see, His teachings, the religious teachings of God, (Allah, Jehovah, Ahura, Brahma, Haiyi, The First Life, The Uncreated One, The Creator), are like a huge, all-encompassing puzzle. A puzzle that takes many, untold centuries to solve, and many thousands of years, spanning between the many different religions that The Creator has sent to mankind, for his investigation; but if we take the time, and carefully look through these seemingly different religions, these religious pieces come together, forming a vast picture, that spans the centuries and forms the social glue that forms the society of humanity, up to the present day and time. But for us, what this means, is that we can take these seemingly, different religions, and religious pieces, that help form the framework for the development of  the  society of humanity, and the advancement of the human soul within man, and look at these pieces individually; and we can see how all of these religions interact with one another, and how each of these religions, build on the messages and teachings of the other previous religions, before it, and how each of these religions build on the further, future development of the society of men, and the advancement of the soul within all of mankind. This is also a way, I have found, to shed some light on the activities of God, with regards to humanity and what His great plans may be for us here, in this earthly life. It also reveals to us, a vast network of teachings and prophecies, that tell of a story, of how the works of the various prophets and manifestations of God (the messengers of God), relate to one another, and how their many prophecies all interact with one another, indicating the advent of the various messengers, in relation to one another; and telling a story of the oneness of God, the oneness of the religions of God and the overall oneness of all of mankind, into one human family; which is told, in such a way, that it would seem to have indicated, that the messengers of God, would have appeared to have personally known one another, and yet, this is something that is, really, totally out of the question, given the great distances between the places in-which these messengers of God appeared on this earth, and the great intervals of time between their revelations; which I believe, is a pretty good indicator, in itself, as to the existence of a God, or a Creator, or an Uncreated One, overseeing these various manifestations; but that story is for another time…

                                   

The purpose of this work is to help people learn to understand one another better, and to care about one another, through the writings and teachings of God’s Holy Manifestations (The Holy Messengers), and to help stop the spread of hatred within humanity and to help alleviate some of these tensions found within the human race. So, one of the biggest reasons for this whole website is to help free up mankind, from these awful, debilitating, preconceived notions that one group of people is somehow better than or superior to another group of people: “In case there was any doubt in your mind about where you come from, where your roots are, or who you are related to, (Dr. Spencer Wells) has proven that we are all of the same extended human family. By tracking a Y chromosome marker (found in all males) passed on to each generation through men, he has plotted the path of human migration over the entire planet from a single tribe in Namibia, Africa beginning 50,000 years ago. (We are all one human family). We are all related to people of all cultures, religions and skin colors.” “It’s official!” (by Mark Smollin) And than we have further proof of the oneness of humanity found in the mitochondria of women; (mitochondria are organelles found within our cells that are basically the powerhouses of all human and animal eukaryotic cells and are passed on by all females to their offspring; so they are passed on by all human women to their children). “Mitochondrial Eve,” “is the most recent common female ancestor of everyone alive today. This work has since been extended to show unequivocally that “Mitochondrial Eve” was an African woman who lived sometime during the past 200,000 years.” So you see, we are all one human family and one human race, but “in the days of old an instinct for warfare was developed in the struggle with wild animals; this is no longer necessary; nay, rather, co-operation and mutual understanding are seen to produce the greatest welfare of mankind.” (Baha’i Faith, Abdu’l-Baha in London, p. 19)

And so, with further investigation into the oneness of humanity, I find that the religions of The Creator clearly speak of the oneness of mankind by further telling us: 

  CHRISTIANITY: 1 Timothy: 2:5 “For there is one God;”  and so, 1 Corinthians: 8:4 “there is none other God but one.” And so, Galatians: 6:10 “as we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men.” Matthew: 5:45 “That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” So, Mark: 12:31 “thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” And, Matthew: 5:44 “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you!” Romans: 12:20 “Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink.” Ephesians: 4:2 “With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;” 4:3 “Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” 10:15 “How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!” For, 1 Corinthians: 7:15 “God hath called us to peace.” 4:4 “There is one body, and one Spirit;” 4:6 “One God and Father of all, Who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” 1 Corinthians: 1:10 “Now I beseech you, brethren, that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together.” Romans: 12:10 “Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;” 13:10 “Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.” 1 Peter: 3:8 “Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous:” 1 John: 4:7 “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.” But, 4:8 “he that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.” 4:11 “Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.” Matthew: 7:12 “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.” Luke: 6:31 “And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.”

 JUDAISM: Malachi: 2:10 “Have we not all one Father? hath not one God created us? Why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother?” Leviticus: 19:33 “If a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him. 19:34 But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself.” Deuteronomy: 10:19 “Love ye therefore the stranger.” 15:11 “Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land.” Proverbs: 25:21 “If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink:” Psalms: 133:1 “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” 31a. “What is hateful to you, do not to your fellow men.” The Talmud, Shabbat Numbers: 10:32 “Do unto us, the same will we do unto thee.” Isaiah: 32:17 “And the work of righteousness shall be peace.” 2:4 “And He shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” 

 ISLAM: “Develop mutual liking, friendship and love and help one another.” “Be forgiving, merciful and compassionate. These traits will help you to gain your salvation.” 15. “We have enjoined on man Kindness.” 43. “Be steadfast in prayer; practice regular charity.” “Help ye one another in righteousness and piety.” 36. “Do good to parents, kinsfolk, orphans, those in need, neighbors who are near, neighbors who are strangers, the companion by your side, the wayfarer (ye meet), and what your right hands possess: for Allah (God) loveth not the arrogant, the vainglorious.” “You should be a source of comfort, love and respect.” 3. “Hold fast, all together, by the rope which Allah (stretches out for you), and be not divided among yourselves; and remember with gratitude Allah’s favor on you; for ye were enemies and He joined your hearts in love.” 148. “Then strive together (as in a race, as one race) toward all that is good. Where-so-ever ye are, Allah will bring you together. For Allah hath power over all things.” 10.“The believers are but a single Brotherhood: So make peace and reconciliation between your two brothers: And fear Allah, that ye may receive Mercy.” “Allah’s Apostle said, ‘Beware of suspicion, for suspicion is the worst of false tales. and do not look for the others’ faults, and do not do spying on one another, and do not practice Najsh, and do not be jealous of one another and do not hate one another, and do not desert (stop talking to) one another. And O, Allah’s worshipers! Be brothers!’” And be not enemies, but help one another. “The Prophet said, ‘I just wanted to attract and unite their hearts.”’ “Those who have the same religion as you have; they are brothers to you, and those who have religions other than that of yours, they are human beings like you. Men of either category suffer from the same weaknesses and disabilities that human beings are inclined to, they commit sins, indulge in vices either intentionally or foolishly and unintentionally without realizing the enormity of their deeds. Let your mercy and compassion come to their rescue and help in the same way and to the same extent that you expect Allah to show mercy and forgiveness to you.” “Let there be peace and tranquility for all the creatures of Allah.” “enter not into conflict.” Letter 31. “Whatever you like for yourself, like for others, and whatever you dislike to happen to you, spare others from such happenings. Do not oppress and tyrannize anybody because you surely do not like to be oppressed and tyrannized. Be kind and sympathetic to others as you certainly desire others to treat you kindly and sympathetically.” “Do unto others as you wish others to do unto you.” “Whatever you like for yourself, like for others, and whatever you dislike to happen to you, spare others from such happenings.” “The Prophet said, ‘None of you will have faith till he wishes for his brother what he likes for himself.”’ “No one of you is a believer until he desires for his brother that which he desires for himself.” (The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surahs 2, 3, 4, 5, 46, 49 and Hadith, Bukhari Vol 1, Book 2, # 12, Vol 8, Book 73 # 92, book 93 # 527 and Ali b. Abi Taalib, Letters from Nahjul Balaagh, Masnavi Vol 1 and Sunnah) 

 ZOROASTRIANISM: “Maha Ratu Zarathustra enjoins love for the whole of mankind. One who does not love man, does not really love God. It should be realized that one soul resides in all. Thus one should be a friend to everyone. This social service, which is the concrete of the life of the individual, is not to be confined to any particular country but should extend throughout the world to the whole of humanity.” Thereby, will peace and security rein amongst humanity and war and violence be a thing of the past. (ZOROASTER, Hymns of Atharvan pp. 547 and 548) “Brotherhood of man is the idea that appealed to Him (Mazda) most. And that is the only meaning of the Service of the soul of the world.” “For if God is the one Father of all men then all men are equal.” (ZOROASTER, Hymns of Atharvan pp. 549 and 550) “Equality, equity, is the basis of rectitude: one who sees others in himself and himself in others, does not stray from rectitude.” “When one sees everybody in his own self and sees his own self in everybody, that is universal life.” (ZOROASTER, Hymns of Atharvan pp. 130 and 368) “No one should make a distinction between himself and another person. All men should be treated as equals. No one should claim for himself an exception.”  (ZOROASTER, Hymns of Atharvan p. 634) “Love attracts, while fear repels. Thus love is the principle of unity, unity with God and unity with men.” “When men love and help one another to the best of their power they derive the greatest pleasure from loving their fellow-men.” “The religion of the Gatha is the religion of love, and Mazda is the friend of men.” Thus, the religion of Ahura (God) is a religion of love, peace and unity, where violence is dispelled by peace, in the name of God. (ZOROASTER, Hymns of Atharvan p. 500, 507 and Denkard)  9. “I pledge myself to the Mazdayasnian religion, which causes the attack to be put off and weapons put down;” “And we worship the victorious Peace.” 7. “Violence must be put down! against cruelty make a stand!” (Zoroaster, The Zend-Avesta, Avesta – Visperad and Yasnas 12, 48) “Mazda is not the God of any particular tribe. The doors of Mazda are not closed to foreigners. So soon as anyone of them becomes fit he is to be included in the fold.” “Love of God is calculated to remove the distinction between one nation and another.” (ZOROASTER, Hymns of Atharvan pp. 542 and 544) “A conscience virtuous man can convert an enemy into a friend.” (ZOROASTER, Hymns of Atharvan p. 67) “Strive for the good and fight against the evil, but without losing equanimity of the mind and without any malice towards the evil doer and leave the result to Mazda.” (ZOROASTER, Hymns of Atharvan p. 777) 6. “Come thou with Good Thought, give through Asha, O Mazda, as the gift to Zarathushtra, according to Thy sure words, long enduring mighty help, and to us, O Ahura, whereby we may over-come the enmity of our foes.” 11. “Piety linked with Right shall advance the Dominion of Good Thought.” (The Zend-Avesta, Avesta – Yasna 28 and 34)  “None desires inequity to his own self. Thus one should not do to others, what he does not desire for himself.” (Zoroaster, Hymns of Atharvan p. 230) “Do to others as you would that they should do to you.” “Do not do to others that which you would that they would not do to you.” (ZOROASTER, Hymns of Atharvan p. 816) “The basis of rectitude is equity (equal treatment for all). Do unto others what you would do unto yourself.” (ZOROASTER, Hymns of Atharvan)

  HINDUISM: “Be united, be in harmony, in affection, Radiant, with kindly thought, Clothed in food and strength, United have I made your minds, your ordinances, your hearts.” (Be ye a) “helper to (your) brother men.” 6. “Then thy friendship with thy friends is most mighty, Thy brotherhood.” “Be united!” 1. “Unity of heart, and unity of mind, freedom from hatred; take delight in one another, as a cow in her (new) born calf!” “The world is overcome- aye, by such as fix their faith on Unity. The sinless Brahma dwells in Unity, And they in Brahma (God).” 6. “Show love and kindness here below,” 9. “speak out for brotherhood,” and 13. “confirm our brotherhood.” “Who doeth all for Me; for Love’s sole end;” 9. “seek brotherhood with holy act.” “He unto whom- self-centered- grief and joy Sound as one word; to whose deep-seeing eyes The clod, the marble, and the gold are one; Whose equal heart holds the same gentleness For lovely and unlovely things, firm-set, Well-pleased in praise and dispraise; satisfied With honour or dishonour; unto friends And unto foes alike in tolerance; Detached from undertakings,- he is named Surmounter of the Qualities!” 2.30 “Self-restraint in actions includes abstention from violence, from falsehoods, from stealing, from sexual engagements, and from acceptance of gifts.” 2.35 “When one is confirmed in non-violence, hostility ceases in his presence.” And, peace reigns supreme. “May union and peace be ours.” Peace earned through a united world.” “This is the sum of all true righteousness: deal with others as thou wouldst thyself be dealt by. Do nothing to thy neighbour which thou wouldst not have him do to thee after.” (Hindu, Bhagavad Gita (Edwin Arnold tr chapters 5, 11, 14) and Vedas, Rig Veda – Books 1, 2, 4, 8 and 10 and Yajur Veda – Kanda IV, V, VII and Atharva Veda and Sutras of Patanjali and Mababharata).

  BUDDHISM: “The true Samana who is seeking the way to Brahma (God), let him have thoughts of love everywhere throughout the whole world pervading with thoughts of love far reaching, beyond measure, all embracing. Regard all with mind set free and filled with deep felt love. this is the way to a state of union with Brahma. Be filled with thoughts of pity, sympathy and equanimity far reaching beyond measure all embracing even for all things that have form or life with deep felt pity, sympathy and equanimity not one is set aside.” (Buddha, Tevigga Sutra) “The ‘Analysis of the Body,’ and the Contemplation on the Buddha, the Law, the Holy Brotherhood, Morality, etc., will…. produce Neighborhood-Concentration.” “After they attain self-realization they will find themselves reacting spontaneously to the impulses of a great and compassionate heart endowed with skillful and boundless means and sincerely and wholly devoted to the emancipation of all beings.” “Not until all discrimination is abandoned is their perfect emancipation.” (Buddha, Lankavatara Sutra) “They are transported by emotions of love and compassion as they become aware of the part they are to perform in the carrying out of their vows for the emancipation of all beings. Thus they do not enter into Nirvana, but, in truth, they too are already in Nirvana because in their emotions of love and compassion there is no rising of discrimination; henceforth, with them, discrimination no more takes place.” (Buddha, Lankavatara Sutra) “He unites those that are divided, and those that are united he encourages; concord gladdens him, he delights and rejoices in concord, and it is concord that he spreads by his words. He avoids harsh language and abstains from it. He speaks such words as are gentle, soothing to the ear, loving, going to the heart, courteous and dear, and agreeable to many. He avoids vain talk and abstains from it. He speaks at the right time, in accordance with facts, speaks what is useful, speaks about the law and the disciple; his speech is like a treasure, at the right moment accompanied by arguments, moderate, and full of sense.” “The primary cause of pure unity of enlightenment that has existed from the beginning of time is compassion, purity, harmony, likeness, permanency and peace.” (Buddha, Surangama Sutra) “He has cast away Ill-will; he dwells with a heart free from ill-will; cherishing love and compassion toward all living beings, he cleanses his heart from ill-will.” “Even in time of dispute and quarrel, we should treat intimates and enemies alike and never think of retaliation.” 1. “Occasions of hatred are certainly never settled by hatred. They are settled by freedom from hatred. This is the eternal law.” “Even in time of dispute and quarrel, we should treat intimates and enemies alike and never think of retaliation.” (Buddha, Sixth Patriarch) “Cast away Restlessness and Mental Worry; dwell with mind undisturbed, with heart full of peace,” 15.  “There is no Happiness greater than peace.” Than, “Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful.” Udana-Varqa, 5:18 (The Eightfold Path, Dhammapada and Buddha, Surangama Sutra) (Buddha, Sixth Patriarch) ((The Eightfold Path), Buddha, the Word (The Eightfold Path) Sayings of the Buddha 1)

  SABEANISM: “Diffuse Thy light over all who love.” For Thy sake do we love all that liveth, humanity is one in love. (Sabeanism, Ginza Rba- chapter 76) “May the gate of sin be barred to them and the gate of light be open for them. May they be knit together in the communion of Life in which there is no separation.” (Sabeanism, Ginza Rba- chapters 34 and 76) “We ask of Thee, of The Great (Life, God), a petition for ourselves, for our friends, for our friends’ friends and for those who love the great Family of Life (all humanity).” “Praise Thee, for amongst them all hatred, Envy and dissensions exist not. The Place which is all portals of radiance, light and glory Praiseth Thee.” (Sabeanism, Ginza Rba- chapters 75 and 76) “Blessed and praised be Life Who is filled with compassion for these souls. Praised be Thou, my Lord, Manda-d-Hiia, For thou raisest up these souls” “Thou a Lord who art all mercy.” “Praise Thee, for amongst them all hatred, Envy and dissensions exist not (forbearance and patience reigns), display kindness, show compassion,on all alike,” (the friend and the foe, on others as with thyself). (Sabeanism, Ginza Rba- chapters 35, 70, 74 and 75) “I shall be pure in all my words (thoughts); and life,” and do no harm to others.  (Sabeanism, Ginza Rba- chapter 1) “Bliss and peace there will be on the road which Adam attained,’ ‘Bliss and peace there shall be on the road which the soul takes,’ ‘My vigilance and praise,’ ‘Go in peace, chosen, pure and guiltless one in whom there is no spot.”’ (Sabeanism, Ginza Rba- chapter 74)

  THE BABI RELIGION: “UNTO every people We have sent down the Book in their own language.” “Become as true brethren in the one and indivisible religion of God, free from distinction, for verily God desireth that your hearts should become mirrors unto your brethren in the Faith, so that ye find yourselves reflected in them, and they in you. This is the true Path of God, the Almighty, and He is indeed watchful over your actions.” “Our grace assuredly pervadeth all that dwell in the kingdoms of earth and heaven and in whatever lieth between them, and beyond them all mankind.” “Verily We are equitable.” “To each you will convey the expression of My love and tender affection. You will strive to inflame their hearts anew with the fire of the love of the Beauty of God; a flock the different members of which love each other so bitterly.” “Love, the mainspring of every energy, tolerance towards each other, desire of understanding each other, knowing each other, helping each other, forgiving each other.” “O ye that are invested with the Bayan! Denounce ye not one another, ere the Day-Star of ancient eternity shineth forth above the horizon of His sublimity. We have created you from one tree and have caused you to be as the leaves and fruit of the same tree, that haply ye may become a source of comfort to one another. Regard ye not others save as ye regard your own selves, that no feeling of aversion may prevail amongst you so as to shut you out from Him Whom God shall make manifest on the Day of Resurrection. It behooveth you all to be one indivisible people; thus should ye return unto Him Whom God shall make manifest.” “I am bidden by Him to instill into men’s hearts the ennobling principles of charity and love, and to refrain from all unnecessary violence. My aim and that of my companions is, and ever will be, to serve our sovereign loyally and to be the well-wishers of his people.” “So great shall be your faith that should the enemy mutilate and tear your body to pieces, in the hope of lessening by one jot or tittle the ardor of your love, he would fail to attain his object.” “No one should sadden another, not even for a moment.” “Unity was (is) the goal that ‘excelleth every goal!” “The chief aim of Bábísm is still however the unity of every religion. It advocates therefore toleration of all creeds, abolition of polygamy, emancipation of females.” “War,’ old Abbas had said, ‘is not of God because it does not unify.” “Regard ye not others save as ye regard your own selves, that no feeling of aversion may prevail amongst you. It behooveth you all to be one indivisible people; thus should ye return unto Him Whom God shall make manifest.” “Love, (is) the mainspring of every energy; tolerance towards each other, desire of understanding each other, knowing each other, helping each other, forgiving each other.” “May the peace of God be with those who have been guided aright through the power of divine guidance. He is God, the Supreme Ruler, the Sovereign Truth, He Whose help is implored by all.” “O PEOPLES of the earth! be guided aright to the ways of peace and, by the leave of God, step out of the darkness into the light.” “You must neither defraud your neighbour nor allow him to defraud you.” Again, “regard ye not others save as ye regard your own selves, that no feeling of aversion may prevail amongst you. It behooveth you all to be one indivisible people.” (The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, pp. 35, 44, 56, 60, 86, 127, 160, 260, 663  and Shoghi Effendi, The Dawn-Breakers, pp. 302, 313, 553 and The Babi & Baha’i Religions, pp. 60, 83, 342, 363)

  BAHA’I FAITH: “The principle or teaching of Bahá’u’lláh is the proclamation of the oneness of the world of humanity — that all are servants of God and belong to one family; that God has created all and, therefore, His bestowals are universal; and that His providence, training, sustenance and loving-kindness surround all mankind.” “A fundamental teaching of Bahá’u’lláh is the oneness of the world of humanity. Addressing mankind, He says: “Ye are all leaves of one tree and the fruits of one branch.” By this it is meant that the world of humanity is like a tree, the nations or peoples are the different limbs or branches of that tree and the individual human creatures are as the fruits and blossoms thereof. In this way His Holiness Bahá’u’lláh expressed the oneness of humankind.” “As the East and the West are illumined by one sun, so all races, nations, and creeds shall be seen as the servants of the One God. The whole earth is one home, and all peoples, did they but know it, are bathed in the oneness of God‘s mercy. God created all. He gives sustenance to all. He guides and trains all under the shadow of his bounty. We must follow the example God Himself gives us, and do away with all disputations and quarrels (and live in peace with one another).” “Do not only say that Unity, Love and Brotherhood are good; you must work for their realization.” “So powerful is the light of unity that it can illuminate the whole earth.” “Live together in peace and agreement.” “We work and pray for the unity of mankind, that all the races of the earth may become one race, all the countries one country, and that all hearts may beat as one heart, working together for perfect unity and brotherhood.” “Therefore, the Lord of mankind has caused His holy, divine Manifestations to come into the world. He has revealed His heavenly Books in order to establish spiritual brotherhood and through the power of the Holy Spirit has made it practicable for perfect fraternity to be realized among mankind. And when through the breaths of the Holy Spirit this perfect fraternity and agreement are established amongst men — this brotherhood and love being spiritual in character, this loving-kindness being heavenly, these constraining bonds being divine — a unity appears which is indissoluble, unchanging and never subject to transformation.” “Be in perfect unity. Never become angry with one another. Let your eyes be directed toward the kingdom of truth and not toward the world of creation. Love the creatures for the sake of God and not for themselves. You will never become angry or impatient if you love them for the sake of God. Humanity is not perfect. There are imperfections in every human being, and you will always become unhappy if you look toward the people themselves. But if you look toward God, you will love them and be kind to them, for the world of God is the world of perfection and complete mercy.” “The divine purpose is that men should live in unity, concord and agreement and should love one another.” “We must look higher than all earthly thoughts; detach ourselves from every material idea, crave for the things of the spirit; fix our eyes on the everlasting bountiful Mercy of the Almighty, who will fill our souls with the gladness of joyful service to His command ‘Love One Another.’” “Equality and Brotherhood must be established among all members of mankind. This is according to Justice. The general rights of mankind must be guarded and preserved. All men must be treated equally. This is inherent in the very nature of humanity.” “Let us be united and love one another.” “All are the servants of God and members of one human family. God has created all and all are His children. He rears, nourishes, provides for and is kind to all. Why should we be unjust and unkind? This is the policy of God, the lights of which have shone throughout the world. His sun bestows its effulgence unsparingly upon all, His clouds send down rain without distinction or favor, His breezes refresh the whole earth. It is evident that humankind without exception is sheltered beneath His mercy and protection. Some are imperfect; they must be perfected. The ignorant must be taught, the sick healed, the sleepers awakened. The child must not be oppressed or censured because it is undeveloped; it must be patiently trained. The sick must not be neglected because they are ailing; nay, rather, we must have compassion upon them and bring them healing. Briefly; the old conditions of animosity, bigotry and hatred between the religious systems must be dispelled and the new conditions of love, agreement and spiritual brotherhood be established among them.” “Bahá’u’lláh has clearly said in His Tablets that if you have an enemy, consider him not as an enemy. Do not simply be long-suffering; nay, rather, love him. Your treatment of him should be that which is becoming to lovers. Do not even say that he is your enemy. Do not see any enemies. Though he be your murderer, see no enemy. Look upon him with the eye of friendship. Be mindful that you do not consider him as an enemy and simply tolerate him, for that is but stratagem and hypocrisy. To consider a man your enemy and love him is hypocrisy. This is not becoming of any soul. You must behold him as a friend. You must treat him well. This is right.” “Now must the lovers of God arise to carry out these instructions of His: let them be kindly fathers to the children of the human race, and compassionate brothers to the youth, and self-denying offspring to those bent with years. The meaning of this is that ye must show forth tenderness and love to every human being, even to your enemies, and welcome them all with unalloyed friendship, good cheer, and loving-kindness.” “When Christ came this was changed; the old axiom ‘an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth’ was converted into ‘Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you,’ the stern old law being changed into one of love, mercy and forbearance!” “It is incumbent upon all the peoples of the world to reconcile their differences, and, with perfect unity and peace, abide beneath the shadow of the Tree of His care and loving-kindness.” “He that wisheth to promote the Cause of the one true God, let him promote it through his pen and tongue, rather than have recourse to sword or violence.” “O son of man! If thine eyes be turned towards mercy, forsake the things that profit thee, and cleave unto that which will profit mankind. And if thine eyes be turned towards justice, choose thou for thy neighbor that which thou choosest for thyself.” “O SON OF BEING! Ascribe not to any soul that which thou wouldst not have ascribed to thee, and say not that which thou doest not. This is My command unto thee, do thou observe it.” “Wish not for others what ye wish not for yourselves; fear God, and be not of the prideful.” (Bahá’í Faith, Baha’u’llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, pp. 13, 29, Baha’u’llah, The Kitab-i-Aqdas, p. 72, Baha’u’llah, The Arabic Hidden Words, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah, pp. 6, 329, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, pp. 92, 106, 245, 267, 391, Baha’i World Faith – pp. 233, 239, 246 and Abdu’l-Baha in London, pp. 28, 38, 60, 61, Paris Talks, pp. 39, 99, 142 and Selections from the Writings of Abdu’l-Baha, p. 21) 

So in retrospect, “wars are caused by purely imaginary racial differences; for humanity is one kind, one race and (one) progeny, inhabiting the same globe. In the creative plan there is no racial distinction and separation such as Frenchman, Englishman, American, German, Italian or Spaniard; all belong to one household. These boundaries and distinctions are human and artificial, not natural and original. All mankind are the fruits of one tree, flowers of the same garden, waves of one sea.” “In the animal kingdom no such distinction and separation are observed. The sheep of the East and the sheep of the West would associate peacefully. The oriental flock would not look surprised as if saying, ‘These are sheep of the Occident; they do not belong to our country.’ All would gather in harmony and enjoy the same pasture without evidence of local or racial distinction. The birds of different countries mingle in friendliness. We find these virtues in the animal kingdom. Shall man deprive himself of these virtues?” “Man is endowed with superior reasoning power and the faculty of perception; he is the manifestation of divine bestowals.” “Shall racial ideas prevail and obscure the creative purpose of unity in His kingdom?” “Shall he (man) say, “I am a German,” “I am a Frenchman,” or an “Englishman” and declare war because of this imaginary and human distinction? God forbid!“ “This earth is one household and the nativity of all humanity; therefore the human race should ignore distinctions and boundaries which are artificial and conducive to disagreement and hostility.” “Man is endowed with powers to investigate reality, and the reality is that humanity is one in kind and equal in the creative plan. Therefore false distinctions of race and nativity which are factors and causes of warfare must be abandoned.” “Today the one overriding need is unity and harmony among the beloved of The Lord, for they should have among them but one heart and soul and should, so far as in them lieth, unitedly withstand the hostility of all the peoples of the world; they must bring to an end the benighted prejudices of all nations and religions and must make known to every member of the human race that all are the leaves of one branch, the fruits of one bough.” (Baha’i Faith, Foundations of World Unity, p. 23, Selections from the Writings of Abdu’l-Baha, p. 277)

So we as the human race, should live in peace and harmony, regardless of race, religion or nationality; and speaking of religion I must reiterate:  “The old conditions of animosity, bigotry and hatred between the religious systems must be dispelled and the new conditions of love, agreement and spiritual brotherhood (must) be established among (the religions);” (Baha’i World Faith, p. 239). We are one human family under One God! But you see, many religious people do not trust the people of other religions, because, in many cases, they do not understand the people of other faiths or are ignorant of their beliefs. And some of these people are so blind and bias to the beliefs of other people, as to be filled with animosity and even hatred towards the believers of other faiths; because some feel that their religious writings and beliefs are the one best way to get to God or maybe the only way to get to God, and that all of the other religious teachings are just plain wrong or lacking in the right spiritual teachings and guidance to allow people to get to know God or allow people to get into heaven; which is an all-controlling, all-encompassing factor, in the way many of these religious people think and behave towards one another. But Baha’u’llah, the prophet founder of the Baha’i Faith, tells us: “True religion is the source of love and agreement amongst men; the cause of the development of praiseworthy qualities; but the people are holding to the counterfeit and imitation-negligent of the reality which unifies, so they are bereft and deprived of the radiance of religion.” “He proclaimed that if the reality underlying religious teaching be investigated, all religions would be unified and the purpose of God, which is love and the blending of human hearts, would be accomplished.” (The Promulgation of Universal Peace, pp. 179 and 354) “It is incumbent upon all the peoples of the world to reconcile their differences, and, with perfect unity and peace, abide beneath the shadow of the Tree of His (God‘s) care and loving-kindness” (Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah, p. 6) For, “The Divine Purpose is that men should live in unity, concord and agreement and should love one another.” (Baha’i World Faith, p. 245) And, “he that wisheth to promote the Cause of The One True God, let him promote it through his pen and tongue, rather than have recourse to sword or violence;” which has been the actions and case for many of the people of these religions, past and present! (Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah, p. 329) But you see, in my studies, into this topic, I find that there is no real, true reason for religious conflict, dispute, dissension, coercion and agitation, because I find that there is no one and only way to God, and that all of the essential religious teachings are found within all of the religions of God; it’s just with some of the newer religions, there is more clarity and more spiritual content to be studied and understood. Statements to this effect and other quotations from the writings of God‘s religions have been indicated by quotation marks, singling out these religious quotations; separating them out from my statements.

As to some of the religious proofs indicating the overall unity and oneness of the religions of The Creator, let us read on:

  Islam: For, 62. “Those who believe, and those who follow the Jewish (Scriptures), and the Christian (Scriptures) and the Sabians, (Sabeans, the writings of Adam (thought to be the father of mankind) and his 3^rd son Seth) and (17. the Magians, the followers of Zarathustra, (Zoroaster) the religion of the three wise men; The Magi spoken of in the bible), and who believe in Allah (God) and the last day, and who work righteousness, shall have their reward with their Lord; on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve.” So according to Muhammad and Islam, everyone, from all of God‘s divine religions, can go to heaven; Muhammad is very clear on this. The people need to believe in The Creator and live righteous lives. And Muhammad again tells us: 69. “Those who believe, and those who follow the Jewish (Scriptures), and the Sabians and the Christians, and who believe in Allah (God) and the Last Day, and work righteousness, on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve.” Than, 136. “We believe in Allah (God), and the revelation given to us, and to Abraham, Isma’il, Isaac, Jacob, and the Tribes, and that given to Moses and Jesus and that given to (all) Prophets from their Lord.” 3. “The same religion has He established for you as that which He enjoined on Noah, the which We have sent by inspiration to thee and that which We enjoined on Abraham, Moses, and Jesus: Namely, that ye should remain steadfast in Religion, and make no divisions therein.” “Allah’s Apostle said, ‘Both in this world and in the Hereafter, I am the nearest of all the people to Jesus, the son of Mary. The prophets are paternal brothers; their mothers are different, but their religion is one.”  9. “We have, without (any) doubt, sent down the Message (to the) Messengers before thee, amongst the religious sects of old:” 68. “Do they not ponder over the Word of (Allah/God), or has anything (new) come to them that did not come to their fathers of old? (the true essential teachings).” 60. “Believe in the revelation that has come to thee and to those before thee (the other revelations of God; the other religions of Allah).” For, 106. “none of Our revelations do We abrogate or cause to be forgotten, but We substitute something better or similar; knowest thou not that Allah hath power over all things?” “Allah did not send any prophet but shepherded sheep (taught the people God/Allah’s Holy Word),” “There was no prophet who was not a shepherd.” Qur’án Yu-suf Ali, Surahs 2, 4, 5, 22, 29, 42 and The Hadith, Bukhari Vol 3 and 4, Book 55, Number 652)).

These spiritual truths were taken from right out of The Qur’án, in Muhammad’s very own words. And we can also hear this same kind of teaching being taught to us, from right out of the Yasnas of The Zoroastrian Religion, taught by Zoroaster, himself:

  Zoroastrianism, (the religion of the three wise men spoken of in the Christian bible): “And we worship the former religions of the world devoted to Righteousness; which were instituted at the creation, (from our very beginning, and the beginning of time itself); the holy religions of The Creator Ahura Mazda (God), The Resplendent and Glorious.” (The Zend-Avesta, Avesta – Yasna 3:16). And, “Ahura Mazda (God) is not unmindful of His creatures and sends a prophet to each and every nation (and people). He had already said that the religion(s) taught by all the prophets are one in all essential points.” “Do not make any distinction between any of the prophets!!! For, “the busy world is apt to forget the most important lessons of life so The Merciful Mazda sends (His) prophets now and then to remind men of their highest destiny.” 2. “If by reason of these things the better path is not in sight for choosing, then will I come to you all as judge of the parties twain whom Ahura Mazda knoweth, that we may live according to the Right.” So, ‘”Through my brightness and glory, keep all good things, made by Mazda, the offspring of the holy principle, just as a shepherd keeps his flock;” “the good shepherd, O holy Zarathushtra!” (ZOROASTER, Hymns of Atharvan p. 651 and The Zend-Avesta, Khorda Avesta – Book of Common Prayer pt. 1 and Vendidad)

  Judaism: Hosea: 12:9 “And I — am The Lord thy God, (and) I have spoken by the prophets, (Manifestations), and I have multiplied visions and used similitude’s, by the ministry of the prophets, (ALL OF THE PROPHETS AND MANIFESTATIONS)!!!” Zechariah: 7:7 “Should ye not hear the words which The LORD hath cried by the former prophets.” For, 4 Kings: 21:10 “The LORD spake by His servants the prophets.” Ezra: 6:38 “And I said, O Lord, Thou spakest from the beginning of the creation,” “by the mouth of His holy prophets.” For, Ezekiel: 34:12 “As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out My sheep, and will deliver them out of all places,” and Exodus: 3:1 “Moses kept (took care of) the flock.”

Is it not starting to become clear that The Creator has been talking to all of mankind through the ages, throughout time itself, by all of His divine teachers?

 Christianity: Luke: 1:70 “He (God) spake by the mouth of His holy prophets; which have been since the world began:”

  John: 10:16 “And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.” With this one statement Jesus implies the oneness of the religions of God. He has other sheep not of the fold he is with; the other religions of God; because if you think about it, the other denominations of Christianity did not actually exist at this point in time, and Christianity is only a single religion based on Jesus Christ, so he could only be referring to the other religions of God.

For, Christ tells us:

  John: 10:16 “Them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd,” or there will actually be only one religion with the one shepherd overseeing all; because there is, in reality, only one real, true actual religion of God on this earth; for God has, in-fact, actually been sending messengers to all of mankind throughout the ages. But, it is not through the unity of the Catholics, Lutherans and Baptists etc… as I have actually heard some people imply, as to the true meaning to this statement; because again, as I just stated, these splintered Christian groups of people are actually all from one religion, Christianity, and just did not really, actually exist on the earth, at the time of Jesus Christ, when he made this statement to his disciples; but the other religions of God did actually exist in the world, at that time. So Jesus, seems to be telling us, that these other religions, actually also need to be united together under the actual one, true banner, of the oneness of God’s religions, into an actual single religious understanding; because of-course, God actually did create all of mankind, and so He is actually teaching and educating all of humanity, and not just a few scattered groups of people, here or there, or only the Christians, as some people would like for you to believe, discounting all other believers and faiths as heretics or infidels!

For,

Acts: 3:21 “God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.” 

And,

 2 Peter: 3:1 “I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance,” 3:2 “that ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets;” with 1 Peter: 1:11 “the Spirit of Christ, which was in them (the holy manifestations);“ for all the holy prophets and manifestations of the other religions of The Creator, sent to mankind, are one in God and each other.

  Hinduism: “I come, and go, and come. When Righteousness Declines, O Bharata! when Wickedness Is strong, I rise, from age to age, and take Visible shape, and move a man with men, Succouring the good, thrusting the evil back, And setting Virtue on her seat again.” “As I before have been So will I be again for thee; with lightened heart behold! Once more I am thy Krishna, the form thou knew’st of old!” (Hindu, Bhagavad Gita (Edwin Arnold tr) chapter 4 and 9)

 2. “Agni (another name for God) shall be thy most excellent shepherd and overseer!” “Him that has control of departure, that has control of coming home, return, and turning in, that shepherd do I also call.” (Vedas, Atharva Veda)

 Buddhism: “I am not the first Buddha who came upon earth, nor shall I be the last.” (Buddha: Buddhism, sermon of the great passing)

 “Among all the Buddhas there is a sameness of Buddha-nature, there is no distinction among them except as they manifest various transformations according to the different dispositions of beings who are to be disciplined and emancipated by various means; all the Buddhas of the past, present and future, are of one sameness.” “I am known by uncounted trillions of names. They address me by different names not realizing that they are all names of the one Tathagata;” “a guardian (shepherd) of truth, wise and just.” (Buddha, Lankavatara Sutra and Sayings of the Buddha Sayings of the Buddha 2)

 “The Lord Buddha continued (through) Numberless ages – there were many other Buddhas.” (Buddha, Lankavatara Sutra)

 Sabeanism: “In the Name of The Great Life (Haiyi/God). Vines shone in the water And in the Jordan mighty they grew. Ye are flourishing offshoots. Messengers hither I bring you.” “Establishing Your (Haiyi/God’s) likeness and giving us light, Let your radiance shine upon us.” (The religion of Adam: Sabeanism, Ginza Rba- chapters 177 and 382)

  Babi Religion: “He (The Bab) laid stress on the continuity of Divine Revelation, asserted the fundamental oneness of the Prophets of the past, and explained their close relationship to the Mission of the Báb;” “the Qá’im Himself, who is their Shepherd.” (The Bab: Shoghi Effendi, The Dawn-Breakers, pp. 437 and 463)

 “UNTO every people We have sent down the Book in their own language.” (The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 44)

“He Who is The Eternal Truth beareth me witness, whoso followeth this Book hath indeed followed all the past Scriptures which have been sent down from heaven by God, the Sovereign Truth. Verily, He is well informed of what ye do…” “Every religion proceedeth from God, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting.” (The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, pp. 44 and 138)

 “With each and every Prophet Whom We have sent down in the past, We have established a separate Covenant concerning the Remembrance of God and His Day.” “The Lord of the universe hath never raised up a prophet nor hath He sent down a Book unless He hath established His covenant with all men, calling for their acceptance of the next Revelation and of the next Book; inasmuch as the outpourings of His bounty are ceaseless and without limit.” (The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, pp. 68 and 86)

Baha’i Faith: “UNTO every people We have sent down The Book in their own language.” “There is One God; mankind is one, the foundations of religion are one.” “All men are the sheep of God, and God is their loving Shepherd, caring most tenderly for all without favouring one or another. ‘No difference canst thou see in the creation of the God of mercy.” (Bahá’í Faith, Abdu’l-Baha, Abdu’l-Baha in London, p. 20 and The Selections from the Writings of the Bab, pp. 44 and 248)

 “From the days of Adam until today, the religions of God have been made manifest, one following the other, and each one of them fulfilled its due function, revived mankind, and provided education and enlightenment. They freed the people from the darkness of the world of nature and ushered them into the brightness of the Kingdom. As each succeeding Faith and Law became revealed it remained for some centuries a richly fruitful tree and to it was committed the happiness of humankind. However, as the centuries rolled by, it aged, it flourished no more and put forth no fruit, wherefore was it then made young again;” God sent a new manifestation to mankind with new spiritual teachings. (Selections from the Writings of Abdu’l-Baha, p. 51)

 “The religion of God is one religion, but it must ever be renewed. Moses, for example, was sent forth to man and He established a Law, and the Children of Israel, through that Mosaic Law, were delivered out of their ignorance and came into the light; they were lifted up from their abjectness and attained to a glory that fadeth not. Still, as the long years wore on, that radiance passed by, that splendour set, that bright day turned to night; and once that night grew triply dark, the star of the Messiah dawned, so that again a glory lit the world.” (Bahá’í Faith, Abdu’l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of Abdu’l-Baha, p. 51)

These are just a few statements or nuggets of truth found within the writings of God’s Holy Divine Religions, that enlighten us to the truth, of the oneness of mankind, the oneness of the religions of God, and the essential, unity and oneness of all the prophets and manifestations of The Creator; by way of the essential teachings that are found within all of God’s True, Holy, Divine Religions. It just takes some searching and study on the part of the one looking for these similar religious teachings to see this truth; but because some of these, essential teachings, are not so readily apparent in some of the older religions, conflicts between the religions sometimes tend to arise. But the true reality is, the concepts for these religious teachings are found scattered throughout all of God’s true religions; and when you put some of these statements together, with some of the other statements and concepts found throughout the religious writings, you will find that these essential teachings are, in reality, actually being taught in all of the religions of God. It just takes the gathering together of these combined truths found throughout God’s writings, to reveal to you that this true, essential teaching, is actually being taught in the particular religion you may be looking at, as well as, being taught in all of the other religions of God. Another thing that I find, in these various books of God, is that the exact wording, and phrasing of these religions, may differ from one religious faith to another; but if you take the time, and look up the meanings of these words, in a good, reliable thesaurus or a very good dictionary, you will find that the synonyms of these words (words that have the same or similar meanings), have roughly the same meaning as the words that are being used in all of the other religious books of God. Therefore in principle, the meanings of the words are basically the same, as far as the meanings of the words go. As for the different kinds of phrasing used in these various religious books; the wording of God’s books may vary from one manifestation (messenger) to another, due to the various uniquenesses of the different manifestations, and the uniquenesses of the cultures we find them in, but the actual meanings of the phrases found within these various, different books of God have essentially, again, the same meanings, as those found in all of the other books of God; example, the golden rule:  Judaism: “What is hateful to you, do not to your fellow men.”  Christianity: Luke: 6:31 “And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.”  Islam: 31. “Do unto others as you wish others to do unto you.”  Zoroastrianism: “None desires inequity to his own self. Thus one should not do to others, what he does not desire for himself.” (Zoroaster, Hymns of Atharvan p. 230)  Buddhism: “Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful.” Udana-Varqa, 5:18.  “Be careful; make enquiry, display kindness, show compassion,” (on others as with thyself). (Sabeanism, Ginza Rba- chapter 74) “Regard ye not others save as ye regard your own selves.” (Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 129)Bahá’í Faith: “O son of man! If thine eyes be turned towards mercy, forsake the things that profit thee, and cleave unto that which will profit mankind. And if thine eyes be turned towards justice, choose thou for thy neighbor that which thou choosest for thyself.” “O SON OF BEING! Ascribe not to any soul that which thou wouldst not have ascribed to thee,” and “wish not for others what ye wish not for yourselves.” (Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 29, The Kitab-i-Aqdas, p. 72 and The Hidden Word) As can be easily seen here, all of these phrases may be different from one another, and worded differently from one another in these different religions, but they are all saying essentially the very same thing; so, essentially all of the teachings of God, like these examples of the golden rule, are the same teachings from one of God’s religions to another; which again, helps us to establish the essential oneness and unity of the religions of God!!!

                                            

Another thing we need to bear in mind, is that material or accidental laws and ordinances or the nonessential teachings of the religions, related to civil world order and maintenance, can vary from one religion to another and can change from religion to religion, depending on the laws and ordinances needed by the people in the world at the time of the coming of God‘s manifestation to mankind. Example: Moses taught, Deuteronomy: 19:21 “And thine eye shall not pity; but life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.” But later, in another time, when the world was less harsh, and Roman laws and order was prevalent in the land, and the Hebrew children weren’t living in tents wandering through the wilderness, Jesus taught:  Matthew: 5:38 “Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth;” 5:39 “But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil; but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.” (The King James Bible) It is partially because of this, the material laws and ordinances or the nonessential teachings, that the religions of God can appear to differ from one religion to another; because of the different ordinances needed by man at the different times of the coming of The Creator’s manifestations. It is also partially because of this, that many regard the religions of other people to be different from their own religion and regard the other people as completely foreign and different from themselves; but we are educated to the future coming changes from one religion to another; if we look closely into God‘s teachings and writings: 2 Peter: 3:2 “Be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets;” with 1 Peter: 1:11 “the Spirit of Christ, which was in them.” For,  Acts: 3:21 “God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.” 1 John: 2:8 “Again, a new commandment I write unto you.” Hebrews: 8:13 “In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old.” “Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.” 12:24 “And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant.” Mark: 1:27 “And they were all amazed, insomuch that they questioned among themselves, saying, What thing is this? what new doctrine is this?” But, John: 16:12 “I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.”  Hosea: 12:9 “And I, – The Lord thy God, I have spoken by the prophets.” Ezra: 6:38 “And I said, O Lord, Thou spakest from the beginning of the creation,” “by the mouth of His holy prophets.” Zechariah: 7:7 “Should ye (we) not (than) hear the words which The LORD hath cried by the former prophets,” and Enoch: “The Lord will do a new thing on the earth.” (Other Apocrypha) Than, Isaiah: 43:19 “Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it.” 42:10 “Sing unto The LORD a new song, and His praise from the end of the earth,” 48:6 “I have shewed thee new things from this time, even hidden things, and thou didst not know them.” 48:7 “They are created now, and not from the beginning.” Jeremiah: 31:31 “Behold, the days come, saith The LORD, that I will make a new covenant.” 68. “Do they not ponder over the Word, or has anything come to them that did not come to their fathers of old?” 106. “None of Our revelations do We abrogate or cause to be forgotten, but We substitute something better or similar; knowest thou not that Allah hath power over all things.” 13. “The same religion has He established for you as that which He enjoined on Noah-the which We have sent by inspiration to thee-and that which We enjoined on Abraham, Moses, and Jesus: Namely, that ye should remain steadfast in Religion, and make no divisions therein.” 151. “A similar (favor have ye already received) in that We have sent among you a Messenger of your own, rehearsing to you Our signs, and sanctifying you, and instructing you in Scripture and wisdom, and in new Knowledge.” 15. “There hath come to you from Allah a (new) Light and a perspicuous Book.” 14. “We did take a Covenant, but they forgot a good part of the Message that  was sent them,” 49. “the Truth has arrived, and Falsehood neither creates anything new, nor restores anything.” 100. “Is it not (the case) that every time they make a Covenant, some party among them throw it aside?” 81. “Behold! Allah took the Covenant of the Prophets, saying: ‘I give you a Book and Wisdom.”’ (The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surahs 2, 3, 5, 23, 34 and 42)  “And we worship the former religions of the world devoted to Righteousness; which were instituted at the creation; the holy religions of The Creator Ahura Mazda (God), The Resplendent and Glorious.” “Ahura Mazda is not unmindful of His creatures and sends a prophet to each and every nation (and people). He had already said that the religion(s) taught by all the prophets are one in all essential points.” 8. “I announce (and) carry out (this Yasna), for the new and the later,” and the 14. “righteous man is thy friend for the great covenant.” 19. “He who accomplisheth for Me, even Zarathushtra, in accordance with Right that which best agrees with My will, to him as earning the reward of the Other Life;” this agreement or covenant is made by Ahura Mazda to Zoroaster, for our good, and is part of the continuing covenant God makes with mankind through His continuing revelations brought to us by His manifestations, (messengers). (The Zend-Avesta, Avesta – Yasnas 1, 3, 16 and 46) “We must draw in every religion a broad distinction between what is essential and what is not, between the eternal and the temporary, between the divine and the human; and that though the non-essential may fill many volumes, the essential can often be comprehended in a few words, but words on which ‘hang all the law and the prophets.” Than, “New meaning is read into the mantras,” and “new well-spoken words.” Than, 1. “may we be in harmony, (and) establish here agreement (covenant) among us,” 2. “may we agree in mind and thought, may we not struggle with one another, in a spirit displeasing;” than, “surely shall (our) spirit rise To those regions where the Blest, Free of flesh, in joyance rest.” This is more of Brahma, God‘s continuing covenant with man, brought to us by His continuing line of manifestations to mankind. (Upanishads vol. 1, Introduction and Atharva Veda 1, 2)  “The religious discourses (the religious messages and teachings) are given by myself (The Buddha) and all of the other Tathagatas, (all of the other Buddhas, before and after him) in response to all of the varying needs of the beings (to be taught);” the varying needs of all of the people to be taught at the given time of the coming of the divine teacher, “passing out of one existence, and the entering into a new existence; the growth, increase, and development of consciousness; if fire does not get new fuel, it will become extinct.” This agreement (covenant) we make, 18. “make yourself an island; work hard; be wise. When your impurities are purged and you are free from guilt, you will enter into the heavenly world.”  This is Vishnu’s, Brahma’s, God‘s agreement (covenant) with Buddha for mankind, and part of the continuing covenant, continuously being brought to mankind promising him good reward, in the afterlife, for living a good, pious life here in this life. (Buddha, Lankavatara Sutra and The Eightfold Path and Dhammapada – Sayings of the Buddha)  “Thou wast in existence before all.” “In the name of The Life! I worship The First Life. Thou art immeasurable, infinite and (for-ever).” “I worship and praise that channel of light, The messenger of all rays-of-light.” “In the Name of The Great Life (God). Vines shone in the water And in the Jordan mighty they grew.” “Ye are flourishing offshoots. Messengers hither I bring you. Establishing Your (Haiyi/God’s) likeness and giving us light.” “And it was revealed to me and to all of them in this book, and they acted upon this reliable baser acting according to this (its) light, this writing of great revelation that was given to Adam the first man and to his descendants (and to) all who bear witness unto this light and illumination until worlds end, (at the latter end of the age). Naught shall pass away from the Word of the great Father of Glory, praised be his name!” “Thy name, (O) Life, is excellent: its glory is great, its light abundant, its goodness came over (overflowed), inaugurating the First Mystery, life which proceeded from Life and Truth which existed before the beginning. This is a wellspring of life which sprang forth from the Place of Life: we drink thereof, of this Fount of Life which Life transmitted was established in the House of Life, which crossed worlds, (leaving a new message and teachings) revealed.” And, “Thou hast spoken to us with Thy Word, (Thy covenant) and hast commanded us with Thy commandment ‘Be My glory and I will be your Glory. Be my light and I will be your Light. And my name shall be in your mouths And I will be with you;” this, again, is part of God‘s eternal covenant with man, renewed in every age, with the coming of each new manifestation. (Sabeanism, The religion of Adam (thought to be the father of all mankind): The Ginza Rba- chapters 45, 75,  177 and 382) “UNTO every people We have sent down the Book in their own language.” “He Who is The Eternal Truth beareth me witness, whoso followeth this Book hath indeed followed all the past Scriptures which have been sent down from heaven by God, the Sovereign Truth. Verily, He is well informed of what ye do…” “Every religion proceedeth from God, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting.” “These utterances are revealed according to your measure, not to God‘s,” “the message of the New Day.” “Ours is the duty to raise the call of the New Day and to proclaim this Divine Message, a new and wondrous Message, unto all people,” to “summon the people to a new Book and to new laws.” “With each and every Prophet Whom We have sent down in the past, We have established a separate Covenant concerning the Remembrance of God and His Day.” “The Lord of the universe hath never raised up a prophet nor hath He sent down a Book unless He hath established His covenant with all men, calling for their acceptance of the next Revelation and of the next Book; inasmuch as the outpourings of His bounty are ceaseless and without limit.” “FEAR ye God and breathe not a word concerning His Most Great Remembrance other than what hath been ordained by God, inasmuch as We have established a separate covenant regarding Him with every Prophet and His followers. Indeed, We have not sent any Messenger without this binding covenant.” (Selections from the Writings of the Bab, pp. 6, 44, 45, 67, 86 and 138 and The Dawn-Breakers, pp. 89, 107, 117 and 321) “All that I have revealed unto thee with the tongue of power, and have written for thee with the pen of might, hath been in accordance with thy capacity and understanding, not with My state and the melody of My voice.” “From the days of Adam until today, the religions of God have been made manifest, one following the other, and each one of them fulfilled its due function: revived mankind, and provided education and enlightenment. They freed the people from the darkness of the world of nature and ushered them into the brightness of the Kingdom. As each succeeding Faith and Law became revealed it remained for some centuries a richly fruitful tree and to it was committed the happiness of humankind. However, as the centuries rolled by, it aged, it flourished no more and put forth no fruit, wherefore was it then made young again;” God sent a new manifestation to mankind with new spiritual teachings; “the Bearers of the Trust of God are made manifest unto the peoples of the earth as the Exponents of a new Cause and the Revealers of a new Message. Inasmuch as these Birds of the celestial Throne are all sent down from the heaven of the Will of God, and as they all arise to proclaim His irresistible Faith, they, therefore, are regarded as one soul and the same person. For they all drink from the one Cup of the love of God, and all partake of the fruit of the same Tree of Oneness,” “establishing the new Teachings,” “indicative of a new Faith, a new Law, and a new Revelation.” Therefore, “the Covenant of God is like unto a vast and fathomless ocean. A billow shall rise and surge therefrom and shall cast ashore all accumulated foam;” “nothing save the power of the Covenant is able to stir and move the heart of humanity, just as the New and Old Testaments propounded throughout all regions the Cause of Christ and was the pulsating power in the body of the human world.” “Remain firm and steadfast in the Covenant and Testament, and strive day and night in order to awaken those who are asleep, to make mindful those who are heedless, to make confident of the mysteries of the Kingdom.” “The Covenant of God and His Testament is a bounty to the righteous and a curse to the wicked.” (Selections from the Writings of Abdu’l-Baha, pp. 51, 223 and Tablets of Abdu’l-Baha v1, p. 40 and v2, p. 438 and Abdu’l-Baha in London, p. 27, and Baha’u’llah, The Arabic Hidden Words and Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah, p. 50 and The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 239)

In summery, some laws and teachings remain the same from revelation to revelation throughout time; but beyond this, there are different laws and ordinances, and different teaching needed by mankind with the coming of each new manifestation of God. These quotes from The Creator’s divine teachers tell us this truth fairly, clearly if they are really thought about. As the world changes and the needs of mankind changes, there is a need for new teachings and regulations from The Creator, that can better relate to the changing needs of humanity in this world of ours. Also, with the coming of each new manifestation of God, mankind grows a little closer to The Creator, becomes a little bit more spiritual, and becomes a little better at being a spiritual human being created in The Creators image. It is also partially because of this again, that causes some of the religious divisions in the world between some of the older religions in the world and some of the newer ones, because there are newer and clearer teachings in some of the newer religions and more elaboration on the religious issues.      

Some of the other things that cause some of these apparent differences in the religions are, human misunderstanding, mishandling, misinterpretation and just plain willful, purposeful interference with the writings and teachings and/or the apparent interpretation of the words of The Creator. Example: people again, changing the teachings and writings and meanings of the messages of God to suit themselves. And again the religious books tell us:  2 Peter: 2:1 “There were (are) false prophets also among the people, even as there (are) shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies.” Mark: 7:7 “Howbeit in vain do they worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.” 7:8 “For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men.” 7:9 “And full well ye reject the commandment(s) of God, that ye may keep your own tradition(s).” Than, John: 5:44 “How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only?“ 5:45 “Do not think that I will accuse you to The Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust.” 5:46 “For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me; for he wrote of me.” (King James Bible) Malachi: 2:7 “For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of The LORD of Hosts.” 2:8 “But ye are departed out of the way (and) ye have caused many to stumble at the law (and) ye have corrupted the covenant, saith The LORD of Hosts (and) ye have not kept My ways, but have been partial in the law.” Jeremiah: 10:21 “For the pastors are become brutish, and have not sought The LORD: therefore they shall not prosper, and all their flocks shall be scattered.” (The King James Bible)  69. “It is the wish of a section of the People (people found within all religions) to lead you astray.” 5. “It is those who believe not in the Signs of Allah (God), that forge falsehood: it is they who lie!” 107. “This because they love the life of this world better than the Hereafter.”4.  So, 116. “say not, any false thing that your tongues may put forth, ‘This is lawful, and this is forbidden,’ so as to ascribe false things to Allah.” 2. “But the transgressors among them changed the word from that which had been given them.” 78. “And there are among them illiterates, who know not the Book but (see therein their own) desires, and they do nothing but conjecture.” 79. “Then woe to those who write the Book with their own hands! Woe to them for what their hands do write.” “Do not listen to the exciting whispers of those who want to tempt you and do not make them believe that they and their heinous whisperings have any importance in your mind.” (The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surahs 2, 3, 6, 7, 16 and Ali b. Abi Taalib, Letters from Nahjul Balaagh)  Denkard. Zoroaster, “Those priests who disseminate vice among men are morally blind.” “The teacher of evil destroys the lore, (perverts and destroys the spirit of the word). He by his false teachings destroys the design of (spiritual) life and he prevents the possession of Good Thought from being prized.” 2. “They by their lore would pervert men from the best doing.” And so, “from This True Spirit have the liars fallen away.” 17. “Which is the greater — what the follower of Asha or what the follower of Druj believe? Let him that knows inform the wise; no longer let him that knows nothing deceive.” (Zoroastrianism, Hymns of Atharvan pp. 87 and 197 and Yasnas 31 and 32)  95. “All those traditions and those despicable systems of philosophy, which are not based on the Veda, produce no reward after death; for they are declared to be founded on Darkness.” “It is, however, not improbable that our text is disfigured by several very old (man induced) corruptions.” “Nor must we forget that – oral tradition, is not without its dangers; many a word may have been misunderstood, many a sentence confused, as it was told by father to son.” “Lastly, we must remember that those who handed down the ancestral treasures of ancient wisdom, would often feel inclined to add what seemed useful to themselves, namely it was allowed to form part of the tradition that had to be handed down, as a sacred trust, from generation to generation.” (Hindu, Vedas, Rig Veda – Book 5, 9, Bhagavad Gita (Edwin Arnold tr) chapter 2 and Upanishads vol. 2, Introduction to the Upanishads, vol. 2 and Laws of Manu chaps 4 and 12)  “There are common heretics Of this world who teach amongst humans what is not true. You will be beset by these heretics on every hand within and without. There will be plenty of these heretics about hiding themselves in the very personalities of the saints, the better to carry out their deceitful tricks on the un-weary persons,” “For people’s conduct is mostly low.” (Buddha, Surangama Sutra and Dhammapada – Sayings of the Buddha 3)  “Hearken not to the talk of all people and generations; and let not their stumblings: (doctrines, dogmas, theologies and traditions), cause you to stumble, stumble not because of their stumblings!” (Sabeanism: The Holy writings of Adam, considered by many to be the father of all mankind, and his third son Seth: The Ginza Rba- chapters 24, 35, 43,  74, 76, 77, 89, 99, 173 and 410 and and The Instructions of Adam)  “Let not the deeds of those who reject the Truth shut you out as by a veil.” For, “in every nation thou beholdest unnumbered spiritual leaders who are bereft of true discernment, and among every people thou dost encounter myriads of adherents who are devoid of the same characteristic; whose prophecies (words and explanations) were false and forged by false traditionalists (that) could only be the superstitions of diseased brains,” “resorting to all manner of treachery, false oaths and coercion,” “forsaking every principle of justice and decency.” (The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, pp. 13, 24, 59, 90, 110, 124, 133, 136, 137, 142, 143, 146, 153, 161, 184, 199 and Shoghi Effendi, The Dawn-Breakers, pp. I, 47, 98, 174, 258, 298, 397, 642)  “The beginnings of all great religions were pure; but priests, taking possession of the minds of the people, filled them with dogmas and superstitions, so that religion became gradually corrupt.” “The Prophets and Manifestations of God bring always the same teaching (the essential teachings); at first men cling to the Truth but after a time they disfigure it. The Truth is distorted by man-made outward forms and material laws. The veil of substance and worldliness is drawn across the reality of Truth.” “Shall man gifted with the power of reason unthinkingly follow and adhere to dogma, creeds and hereditary beliefs which will not bear the analysis of reason.” “He (Baha’u’llah) lays stress on the search for Truth. This is most important, because the people are too easily led by tradition. It is because of this  that they are often antagonistic to each other, and dispute with one another.” “When we speak of religion we mean the essential foundation or reality of religion, not the dogmas and blind imitations which have gradually encrusted it and which are the cause of the decline and effacement,” “This is the day when dogmas must be sacrificed in our search for truth,” “seek independently for truth putting aside all dogmas.” (Abdu’l-Baha in London, pp. 27, 56 and 125 and Baha’i World Faith, pp. 225 and 272 and Divine Philosophy, pp. 67 and 82)

It is because of this misunderstanding men have for one another’s religious beliefs that much hostility, conflict and hatred arises in the world between the people of different faiths! Also, we must keep in mind, that the teachings of the prophets of The Creator come to us at different times, in accordance with the spiritual capacities and needs of mankind at the time of the coming of the manifestation of God. A clear example of this again, is what Moses taught and then Christ later annulled: Deuteronomy: 19:21 “And thine eye shall not pity; but life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.” But later Jesus taught:  Matthew: 5:38 “Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth;” 5:39 “But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil; but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.” And, Deuteronomy: 24:1 “When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favour in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her: then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house.” But Jesus later tells us: Matthew: 5:31 “It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let  him give her a writing of divorcement:” 5:32 “But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.” 19:6 “What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.” And than we have other further examples of this, again found within the scriptures:  John: 16:12 “I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.” (King James Bible) This also leads to misunderstanding within the world of mankind, do to the closed mindedness of some of the people being taught, and some of the blatant refusal of some people, in this world of ours, who refuse to look at anything beyond the material laws of their religion, to see the essential teachings being taught within all religions; but we have indicators of this as-well: John: 3:12 “If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?” For, 16:12 “I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.” 16:13 “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, (unto you) he will guide you into all truth;” Matthew: 11:25 “because thou hast hid these things,” 11:26 “for so it seemed good in thy sight.” 1 Corinthians: 4:5 “Therefore judge nothing before the time, until The Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things.” Hebrews: 5:11 For, We have many things to say, (but) hard (is it) to be uttered, seeing (that) ye are dull of hearing.” (King James Bible) For, Deuteronomy: 29:29 “The secret things belongeth unto The LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children.” For, Proverbs: 25:2 “It is the glory of God to conceal a thing:” Isaiah: 48:6 “Thou hast heard, see all this; and will not ye declare it? I have shewed thee new things from this time, even hidden things, and thou didst not know them.” 48:7 “They are created now, and not from the beginning; even before the day when thou heardest them not; lest thou shouldest say, Behold, I knew them.” 48:8 “Yea, thou heardest not; yea, thou knewest not; yea, from that time that thine ear was not opened.” (King James Bible) 3. “We believe in the Revelation which has come down to us and in that which came down to you; Our Allah (God) and your Allah are one; and it is to Him we bow.” 48. “We sent the Scripture in truth, confirming the scripture that came before it, to each among you have We prescribed a Law and an Open Way.” 23. “Allah has revealed (from time to time) the most beautiful Message in the form of a Book, consistent with itself, (yet) repeating (some of its teaching in various aspects).” 6. “By degrees shall We teach thee.” 23. “We sent a long line of prophets for your instruction,” 11. “For it is indeed a Message of instruction.” 82. We send down (stage by stage) that which is a healing and a mercy to those who believe: to the unjust it causes nothing but loss after loss.” 101. “We substitute one revelation for another, and Allah knows best what He reveals (in stages).” 38. “For each period is a Book (revealed).” 106. “None of Our revelations do We abrogate or cause to be forgotten, but We substitute something better or similar; knowest thou not that Allah hath power over all things.” 10. “We have revealed for you (O men!) a book in which is a Message for you,” 5. “but there comes not to them a newly-revealed message from (Allah) Most Gracious, but they turn away therefrom.” 6. “they have indeed rejected (the Message).” But, 13. “the same religion has He established for you as that which He enjoined on Noah-the which We have sent by inspiration to thee-and that which We enjoined on Abraham, Moses, and Jesus: Namely, that ye should remain steadfast in Religion, and make no divisions therein: to those who worship other things than Allah, hard is the (way) to which thou callest them.” 38. “O our Lord! truly Thou dost know what We conceal and what We reveal.” 7. “If thou pronounce the word aloud, (it is no matter): for verily He knoweth what is secret and what is yet more hidden,” 7. “for He knoweth what is manifest and what is hidden;” 87. “let nothing keep thee back from the Signs of Allah after they have been revealed to thee.” (The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surah 2, 13, 14, 16, 17, 20, 21, 23, 26, 28, 29 42, 69, 80 and 87 and The Qur’an (Rodwell tr), Sura 17 – The Night Journey) “Mazda (God) gives to the prophets His scriptures. The scripture containing the lessons of the prophets are His main instrument to mankind. It lays down the rules and regulations, which brings salvation to mankind.” “By His wisdom let him teach – what is best,” with “instruction of, and guidance for all who are, were, and will be, (the future teachings),” 3. “through the powerful teachings of the wisdom of the future Deliverers, who are they to whose help Good Thought shall come.” 3. “For him that knows, that is the best of teachings which the beneficent Ahura teaches through the Right, he the holy one, even Thyself, O Mazda, that knows the secret lore through the wisdom of Good Thought.” “We worship all the teachings of Zarathushtra. We worship all well done deeds (those already) done, and those that will be done (in the future).” “And we worship the former religions of the world devoted to Righteousness; which were instituted at the creation; the holy religions of The Creator Ahura Mazda (God), The Resplendent and Glorious.” “Ahura Mazda is not unmindful of His creatures and sends a prophet to each and every nation (and people). He had already said that the religion(s) taught by all the prophets are one in all essential points.” “I will declare unto ye so that ye can discern the wise and the unwise. … Through these actions ye shall acquire Right according to the primeval laws of Ahura,” but “according as it is with the laws that belong to the present life, so shall the Judge act with most just deed towards the man.” “Deliver him back as one who knows the Gathas, who knows the Yasna, and the (current) revealed Law, a wise and clever man.” (The Zend-Avesta, Khorda Avesta – Book of Common Prayer pt. 1,  Avesta – Vendidad and The Zend-Avesta, Avesta – Yasna 3, 16, 33, 45, 46, 48) “We must draw in every religion a broad distinction between what is essential and what is not, between the eternal and the temporary, between the divine and the human; and that though the non-essential may fill many volumes, the essential can often be comprehended in a few words, but words on which ‘hang all the law and the prophets.” “The Eternal Place, Hath thus hath been opened to thee, This Truth of Truths, this Mystery more hid Then any secret mystery. “The hymn has a mystical meaning,” “undeclared, hidden behind My magic veil,” “the knowledge — lies hidden.” (Hindu, Bhagavad Gita (Edwin Arnold tr) chapters 7, 9, 18 and Upanishads vol. 1, Aitareya-Aranyaka Part 1, Vedas, Rig Veda – Book 10 and Laws of Manu chapters 2, 11 and 12 and The Mababharata (R. Dutt, abridged tr and Upanishads vol. 1, Introduction) “Among all the Buddhas there is a sameness of Buddha-nature, there is no distinction among them, except as they manifest various transformations according to the various different dispositions of beings who are to be disciplined and emancipated by various means.” “The religious discourses (all the messages and teachings of Brahma, Vishnu, God, etc…) are given by myself (Buddha) and all of the other Tathagatas, (all the other divine, teachers and manifestations of God) in response to all the varying needs and faiths of all manner of beings (all mankind).” “Like one pointing out hidden treasure, the wise man ever delights in the Dhamma (the laws and teachings of this day) revealed by the Noble Ones.” (Buddha, Lankavatara Sutra and Dhammapada – Sayings of the Buddha)  “Thou wast in existence before all.” “In the name of The Life! I worship The First Life (God). Thou art immeasurable, infinite and (for-ever).” “I worship and praise that channel of light, The messenger of all rays-of-light.” “In the Name of The Great Life. Vines shone in the water And in the Jordan mighty they grew.” “Ye are flourishing offshoots. Messengers hither I bring you. Establishing Your (Haiyi/God’s) likeness and giving us light.” We have acknowledged, Your Praises, and ‘Thee (O Life, Haiyi, God); so that there may be commemoration for You on this, Thy earth, by the revelations of all Thy prophets, (since the foundation of the world).” “Thou, Manda-d-Hiia, hast established for thy chosen that which thou hast (created and) revealed to us from the book, (Haiyi’s current book to mankind).” (The religion of Adam: Sabeanism, Ginza Rba- chapters 177 and 382) The Babi Religion: “This is the divinely inscribed Book, the outspread Tablet – the utterance which lay concealed (within God’s Holy Word).” All of, “these utterances are revealed according to your (limited) measure, not to God‘s, and unto this beareth witness that, which is enshrined in the knowledge of God, did ye but know. Unto this testifieth He Who is the Mouthpiece of God, could ye but understand.” “There are many authentic traditions showing that the Qá’im on His appearance would bring new laws,” “it is then necessary that these religious laws be diverse; it is necessary that sometimes the older regulations be annulled.” “It is necessary that these precepts contain some things which are doubtful and some things which are certain; some things general and some things specific; some things absolute and some things finite.” “By the righteousness of God! Were We to lift the veil (and reveal what We know), ye would swoon away.” (Shoghi Effendi, The Dawn-Breakers, pp. xxx and 38)(Shoghi Effendi, The Dawn-Breakers, pp. xxx and 38) “O SON OF BEAUTY!” “By My spirit and by My favor! By My mercy and by My beauty! All that I have revealed unto thee with the tongue of power, and have written for thee with the pen of might, hath been in accordance with thy capacity and understanding, not with My state and the melody of My voice.” (Baha’u’llah, The Arabic Hidden Words) For, “Were We to reveal the hidden secrets — all they that dwell on earth and in the heavens would swoon away and die, except such as will be preserved by God, The Almighty, The All-Knowing, The All-Wise (for) such is the inebriating effect of the words of God.” (Bahá’í Faith, Baha’u’llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah, p. 35) “The religion of God has two aspects in this world. The spiritual (the real) and the formal (the outward). The formal side changes, as man changes from age to age;” “laws formerly valid were (are/can be) annulled.” “The spiritual side which is the Truth, (the essential teachings) never changes.” (Abdu’l-Baha, Abdu’l-Baha in London, p. 56 and The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 365)

Clearly, misunderstandings of The Creator’s holy teachings and writings, and false interpretations, whether unintentional or on purpose; and different teachings being needed by mankind and being taught to man, at different times throughout human history, has led to much distrust, hostility, conflict and disunity within the human race over the years. This is because people have failed, in many cases, to adequately examine their own religious writings for themselves, with open thoughtful, inquiring minds, and have failed to truly investigate what the other people in this world actually think and truly believe. Many people, in this world, have just became so use to other people telling them what they should think and believe, that a lot of people have just became complacent, and unused to thinking for themselves when it comes to their beliefs in God and religion. But for the sake of unity and peaceful interactions and understanding of people within the human race, these things need to change; because complacency and ignorance do not lead to peace and goodwill within the human race. Instead, these things lead to compulsion and the suppression of one group of individuals by another  group of more demanding, dominating people; and this in no way leads to peace and respectful interactions within the society of men, nor does it lead to a peaceful, comforted mind within the people!

                                                                   

Now, as to the essential teachings I mentioned earlier; by essential teachings, I mean the same spiritual teachings and spiritual laws found throughout all of the religious books of God. You see, these teachings are eternal truths, that are never subject to change, because they are spiritual truths, sent to us by God Himself, through all of God’s heavenly divine manifestations; because they are eternal spiritual truths that deal with the development of good, praiseworthy, moral traits and the spiritual development of all mankind. A simple way to look at all of this is: If it is important enough for some of us to know; it is important enough for God to put in all of His writings and religious Holy Books, so everybody and everyone that He has created and loves, will know this truth.

Abdu’l-Baha tells us:

“The divine religions contain two kinds of laws (and) ordinances. One division concerns the world of morality and ethical institutions, (things that help cause our spiritual development and help our spiritual interactions with other people).” “These are the essential ordinances. They instill and awaken the knowledge and love of God, the love for humanity, the virtues of the world of mankind, the attributes of the divine kingdom (and) rebirth and resurrection from the kingdom of nature. These constitute one kind of divine law which is common to all and never subject to change. From the (very) dawn of the Adamic Cycle unto the present day this fundamental law of God has ever continued changeless. This is the foundation of divine religion.” (Abdu’l-Baha, Foundations of World Unity, p. 81)

And again, Abdu’l-Baha tells us:

“The divine religions embody two kinds of ordinances; First, those which constitute essential or spiritual teachings of the Word of God. These are faith in God, the acquirement of the virtues which characterize a perfect manhood, praiseworthy moralities, the acquisition of the bestowals and bounties emanating from the divine effulgences; in brief, the ordinances which concern the realm of (good) morals and ethics. This is the fundamental aspect of (all of) the religions of God and this is of the highest importance, because knowledge of God is the fundamental requirement of (all) man. Man must comprehend the oneness of divinity. He must come to know and acknowledge the precepts of God and (he must absolutely) realize, for a certainty, that the ethical development of humanity is dependent upon religion. He must get rid of all defects and seek the attainment of heavenly virtues in order that he may prove to be the image and likeness of God (for which we were created in the first place). It is recorded in The Holy Bible that God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.’ It is than, self-evident, that the image and likeness mentioned does not apply to the form and semblance of a human being, (or our physical body), because the reality of divinity is not limited to any form or figure.”  For John: 4:24 “God is a Spirit:” (King James Bible,) “Nay, rather (it’s) the attributes and characteristics of God intended. Even as God is pronounced to be just, man must likewise be just. As God is loving and kind to all men, man must likewise manifest loving-kindness to all (of) humanity. As God is loyal and truthful, man must show forth the same attributes in the human world. Even as God exercises mercy toward all, man must prove himself to be the manifestation of mercy. In a word, ‘the image and likeness of God,” or man must acquire and obtain the attributes of God to become the true image of God on this earth. “Surely, when we realize how God loves and cares for us, we should so order our lives that we may become more like Him.” (Bahá’í Faith, Abdu’l-Baha, Foundations of World Unity p. 92 and Abdu’l-Baha, Paris Talks, p. 120)

“Secondly: Laws and ordinances which are temporary and non-essential. These concern human transactions and relations. They are accidental and subject to change according to the exigencies of time and place. These ordinances are neither permanent nor fundamental. For instance during the time of Noah it was expedient that sea foods be considered as lawful; therefore God commanded Noah to partake of all marine animal life. During the time of Moses this was not in accordance with the exigencies of Israel’s existence, therefore a second command was revealed partly abrogating the law concerning marine foods. During the time of Abraham — Upon him be peace! — camel’s milk was considered a lawful and acceptable food; likewise the flesh of the camel; but during Jacob’s time because of a certain vow he made, this became unlawful. These are non-essential temporary laws.”

“It has been shown conclusively therefore that the foundation of the religion of God remains permanent and unchanging. It is that fixed foundation which insures the progress and stability of the body politic and the illumination of humanity. It has ever been the cause of love and justice amongst men. It works for the true fellowship and unification of all mankind for it never changes and is not subject to supersedure. The accidental or non-essential laws which regulate the transactions of the social body and everyday affairs of life are changeable and subject to abrogation.” (Abdu’l-Baha, Foundations of World Unity, pp. 92 and. 93)

But for our further growth and spiritual development as human beings, God‘s manifestations always bring to us essential laws and ordinances to encourage and inspire our further spiritual development as individual souls and as a species; here are further examples of the essential teachings of religion being passed on from religion to religion:

  2 Peter: 3:2 “Be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets (of God), and of the commandment(s); for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation,” 2 Thessalonians: 2:16 “and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation,” Revelation: 14:6 “the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth.” The essential teachings of God‘s word to mankind, has traveled down throughout time itself. 1 Peter: 1:22 “Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:” 1:23 “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.” 1:24 “For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:” 1:25 “But the word of The Lord endureth for ever.” Luke: 1:68 “Blessed be The Lord God of Israel; for He spake by the mouth of His holy prophets, which have been since the world began, that we should be saved.” (King James Bible)

 Psalms: 119:151 “Thou art near, O LORD; and all Thy commandments are truth,” and “Thy testimonies, I have known of old that Thou hast founded them for-ever.” Isaiah: 30:8 “Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever.” 40:8 “The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.” 40:21 “Have ye not known? (And) have ye not heard? Hath it not been told (to) you from the (very) beginning? Have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth?” Leviticus: 16:34 “And this shall be an everlasting statute unto you,” Proverbs: 10:25 “the righteous is an everlasting foundation.” God‘s essential teachings again, has traveled down through time itself. Psalms: 105:8 “He hath remembered His covenant for ever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations.” 119:160 “Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever.” Ezekiel: 38:17 “Thus saith The Lord GOD; I have spoken in old time by my servants the prophets.” (King James Bible) 4 Ezra: 6:38 “O Lord, thou spakest from the beginning of the creation,” by the mouth of the holy prophets.

 23. “Allah has revealed (from time to time) the most beautiful Message in the form of a Book, consistent with itself, (yet) repeating its teaching in various aspects;” 31. “that which We have revealed to thee of the Book is the Truth — confirming what was (revealed) before it.” 48. “We sent the Scripture in truth, confirming the scripture that came before it, and guarding it in safety; to each among you have We prescribed a Law and an Open Way.” “None of Our revelations do We abrogate or cause to be forgotten, but We substitute something better or similar; knowest thou not that Allah (God) hath power over all things? Knowest thou not that to Allah (God) belongeth the dominion of the heavens and the earth! And besides Him ye have neither patron nor helper.” 9. “We have, without (a) doubt, sent down the Message; and We will assuredly guard it; (for) We did send Messengers before thee amongst the religious sects of old;” 65. “it has already been revealed to thee — as it was to those before thee.” 84. “Say: ‘We believe in Allah, and in what has been revealed to us and what was revealed to Abraham, Isma’il, Isaac, Jacob, and the Tribes, and in (Books) given to Moses, Jesus, and the Prophets, from their Lord.” 35. “We (most) assuredly sent amongst every People a Messenger, (with the Command), ‘Serve Allah and eschew all Evil,” 196. “For my protector is Allah, Who revealed the Book (from time to time).” (The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surahs 2, 3, 5, 7, 12, 15, 16, 35 and 39)

  3. “And we worship the former religions of the world, devoted to Righteousness, which were instituted at the creation, the holy religions of The Creator Ahura Mazda (God/Allah/Brahma/Haiyi), The Resplendent and Glorious;” “and we worship the utterances of Zarathustra, (Zoroaster) and His (Ahura’s) religion, His faith and His lore.” “In all essential matters there is no difference between (the spiritual teachings) of one prophet and another;” all are the same. But, because, “the busy world is apt to forget the most important lessons of this life, The Merciful, Ahura Mazda (God) sends prophets, now and then, to help remind men of their highest destiny.” In which case we are again reminded, that “the path, O Ahura, which You tell us to be of conscience of, and which happens to be the religion of all the prophets and which, by good deeds, happens to promote rectitude, which brings to the righteous recompense, of which Ahura Mazda is the giver; (by) the way of all the saints (saoshyants): for in all the essential matters, of the religions of Ahura, there is no difference between one prophet and another. In as much as, the same God is worshiped everywhere. All of them are different phases of the same religion;” Because, “Ahura Mazda is not unmindful of His creatures and sends a prophet to every nation (and people, as needs be). He had already said that the religion taught by all the prophets is one in all essential points.” “Do not make any distinction between any of the prophets.” (ZOROASTER,The Zend-Avesta, Avesta – Yasna 16 and The Hymns of Atharvan pp. 314 thru 316, 651 and 769)

  “I come, and go, and come again. Whenever, Righteousness Declines, O Bharata! Whenever, wickedness Is strong (in the world and takes hold of mankind), I rise, from age to age, and take on the visible shape and move, a man with men; Succouring the good, thrusting the evil back, And setting Virtue on her seat again.” “As I before have been, so will I be again, for thee; with lightened heart behold! Once more, I am thy Krishna, the form thou knew’st of old!” “Emanations, (the prophets from Brahma) constantly proceed and return. It has been explained in various ways by the ancient prophets.” “His (Brahma/God’s) manifestations have been declared before (throughout time unto all nations and peoples).”  2. “An everlasting Vedic” “we should worship it as what is endless.” “the nature of that which is endless.” 3 “Ye raised the Sun to heaven by everlasting Law, and spread broad earth,” 5. “Whose statute shines on high through everlasting Law, whose places of sure refuge are the heavens and earth,” 1. “flows the stream of Soma who beholds mankind: by everlasting Law.” and 1. “never breaks their everlasting laws,” 20. ” “who knows the whole Veda endless.” “These are all alike, all endless.” (Hindu, Bhagavad Gita (Edwin Arnold tr) chapters 4 and 9 and Upanishads vol. 1 and 2 Brihadaranyaka-Upanishad Part 2, Introduction to the Upanishads, vol. 1 and Maitrayana-Brahmaya-Upanishad and The Dharma Sutras, Apastamba Prasna 2, Patala 3, Khanda 7 and Vedas, Rig Veda – Book 3, 9, 10 and Gutama 5)

  “The Perfect Ones (Buddhas) appear in the world (throughout the ages) my past existence at that time real, but unreal the future and present existence and my future existence will be at one time real, but unreal the past and present existence; and my present existence is now real, but what is unreal is the past and future existence. All these are merely popular designations and expressions, mere, conventional terms of speaking, mere popular notions, of the notions of The Perfect Ones. Indeed, The Perfect Ones, The Buddhas, makes use of all of these, without, however, clinging to them.” “I am not the first Buddha who came upon earth, nor shall I be the last. In due time another Buddha will arise…. He shall reveal to you the same eternal (essential) truths, which I have taught you. He will preach to you His religion, glorious in its origin, glorious at the climax and glorious at the goal, in the spirit and in the letter,” “an endless process, a continuous change, a becoming, consisting in a producing, and in being produced; in a process of action, and in a process of reaction.” (The Eightfold Path), Buddha,  the Word (The Eightfold Path and Sermon of the Great Passing)

  “In the Name of the Great Life (Haiyi/God) Vines shone in the water, and in the Jordan mightily they grew. Ye are flourishing offshoots. Messengers hither I bring you.” “Establishing and revealing to us Your (Haiyi/God’s) likeness and giving us light. Let your radiance (Haiyi) than shine upon us,” messengers and manifestations of God, on this earth. “We have acknowledged, Your Praises, and ‘Thee (O Life, Haiyi, God); so that there may be commemoration for You on this, Thy earth, by the revelations of all Thy prophets, (since the foundation of the world).” “Thou, Manda-d-Hiia, hast established for thy chosen that which thou hast (created and) revealed to us from the book.” “Naught shall pass away from the Word of the great Father of Glory, praised be his name!” “Cometh not to an end nor passeth away for an age of ages and for world without end.” (Sabeanism, Ginza Rba- chapters 3, 35, 53, 75, 77, 114, 177 and 382)

 “ALL praise be to God Who hath, through the power of Truth, sent down this Book unto His servant, that it may serve as a shining light for all mankind… Verily this is none other than the sovereign Truth; it is the Path which God hath laid out for all that are in heaven and on earth. Let him then who will, take for himself the right path unto his Lord. Verily this is the true Faith of God, and sufficient witness are God and such as are endowed with the knowledge of the Book. This is indeed the eternal Truth which God, the Ancient of Days, hath revealed unto His omnipotent Word — He Who hath been raised up from the midst of the Burning Bush. This is the Mystery which hath been hidden from all that are in heaven and on earth, and in this wondrous Revelation it hath, in very truth, been set forth in the Mother Book by the hand of God, The Exalted…” “He Who is The Eternal Truth beareth me witness, whoso followeth this Book hath indeed followed all the past Scriptures which have been sent down from heaven by God, the Sovereign Truth.” “God hath raised up Prophets and revealed Books as numerous as the creatures of the world, and will continue to do so to everlasting.” “The Lord of the universe hath never raised up a prophet nor hath He sent down a Book unless He hath established His covenant with all men, calling for their acceptance of the next Revelation and of the next Book; inasmuch as the outpourings of His bounty are ceaseless and without limit.” (The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, pp. 41, 44, 86, 125)

So you see, “the essential quality of divine religion (is) not subject to change or transformation. It is the one foundation of all the religions of God. Therefore, the religions (of God) are essentially one and the same.” (Abdu’l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 364)

 

So then, we should now be able to clearly see now, from each of these religions of The Creator, that religious teachings are passed on from one religion to another, from previous religions to later religions, and so: “Each of the divine religions, (I repeat) embodies two kinds of ordinances. The first is those which concern spiritual susceptibilities, the development of moral principles and the quickening of the conscience of man. These are essential or fundamental, (the true basis for this work), one and the same in all religions, changeless and eternal — reality not subject to transformation. Abraham heralded this reality, Moses promulgated it, and Jesus Christ established it in the world of mankind. All the divine Prophets and Messengers were the instruments and channels of this same eternal, essential truth.”

“The second kind of ordinances in the divine religions (I repeat) are those which relate to the material affairs of humankind. These are the material or accidental laws which are subject to change in each day of manifestation, according to exigencies of the time, conditions and differing capacities of humanity. For instance, in the day of Moses ten commandments in regard to murder were revealed by Him. These commandments were in accordance with the requirements of that day and time. Other laws embodying drastic punishments were enacted by Moses — an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. The penalty for theft was amputation of the hand. These laws and penalties were applicable to the degree of the Israelitish people of that period, who dwelt in the wilderness and desert under conditions where severity was necessary and justifiable. But in the time of Jesus Christ this kind of law was not expedient; therefore, Christ abrogated and superseded the commands of Moses.”

 “In brief, every one of the divine religions contains essential ordinances, which are not subject to change, and material ordinances, which are abrogated according to the exigencies of time. But the people of the world have forsaken the divine teachings and followed forms and imitations of the truth. Inasmuch as these human interpretations and superstitions differ, dissensions and bigotry have arisen, and strife and warfare have prevailed.” (Abdu’l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 105)

So, I reiterate:

Moses tells us, Deuteronomy: 19:21 “And thine eye shall not pity; but life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.” But later, in another time, when the world was less harsh, Jesus taught:  Matthew: 5:38 “Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth;” 5:39 “But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil; but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.” And Moses further taught:   Deuteronomy: 24:1 “When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favour in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her: then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house.” But Jesus later tells us:  Matthew: 5:31 “It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let  him give her a writing of divorcement:” 5:32 “But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.” 19:6 “What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.” (King James Bible)

And the other religions further tell us:

68. “Do they not ponder over the Word, or has anything come to them that did not come to their fathers of old?” 106. “None of Our revelations do We abrogate or cause to be forgotten, but We substitute something better or similar; knowest thou not that Allah hath power over all things.” 48. “We sent the Scripture in truth, confirming the scripture that came before it, to each among you have We prescribed a Law and an Open Way.” 23. “Allah has revealed (from time to time) the most beautiful Message in the form of a Book, consistent with itself, (yet) repeating (some of its teaching in various aspects).” 6. “By degrees shall We teach thee.” (The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surah 2, 5, 23, 39, 42 and 87)

“And we worship the former religions of the world devoted to Righteousness; which were instituted at the creation; the holy religions of The Creator Ahura Mazda (God), The Resplendent and Glorious.” “Ahura Mazda is not unmindful of His creatures and sends a prophet to each and every nation (and people). He had already said that the religion(s) taught by all the prophets are one in all essential points.” “We worship all the teachings of Zarathushtra. We worship all well done deeds (those already) done, and those that will be done (in the future).” “By His wisdom let him teach – what is best.” (The Zend-Avesta, Avesta – Yasna 3, 16 and Book of Common Prayer pt. 1)

 “We must draw in every religion a broad distinction between what is essential and what is not, between the eternal and the temporary, between the divine and the human; and that though the non-essential may fill many volumes, the essential can often be comprehended in a few words, but words on which ‘hang all the law and the prophets.” “The hymn has a mystical meaning,” “undeclared, hidden behind My magic veil,” “the knowledge — lies hidden.” (Upanishads vol. 1, Introduction)

“The religious discourses (the religious messages and teachings) are given by myself (The Buddha) and all of the other Tathagatas, (all of the other Buddhas, before and after him) in response to all of the varying needs of the beings (to be taught).” (Buddha, Lankavatara Sutra)

 “UNTO every people We have sent down the Book in their own language.” “He Who is The Eternal Truth beareth me witness, whoso followeth this Book hath indeed followed all the past Scriptures which have been sent down from heaven by God, the Sovereign Truth. Verily, He is well informed of what ye do…” “Every religion proceedeth from God, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting.” “These utterances are revealed according to your measure, not to God‘s.” (Selections from the Writings of the Bab, pp. 6, 44 and 138)

“All that I have revealed unto thee with the tongue of power, and have written for thee with the pen of might, hath been in accordance with thy capacity and understanding, not with My state and the melody of My voice.” “From the days of Adam until today, the religions of God have been made manifest, one following the other, and each one of them fulfilled its due function: revived mankind, and provided education and enlightenment. They freed the people from the darkness of the world of nature and ushered them into the brightness of the Kingdom. As each succeeding Faith and Law became revealed it remained for some centuries a richly fruitful tree and to it was committed the happiness of humankind. However, as the centuries rolled by, it aged, it flourished no more and put forth no fruit, wherefore was it then made young again;” God sent a new manifestation to mankind with new spiritual teachings. (Selections from the Writings of Abdu’l-Baha, p. 51 and Baha’u’llah, The Arabic Hidden Words

So, I state again one more time, to stress this point and observation. One of the biggest reasons why the various religions of the world appear to disagree so much with one another, is the different material laws and ordinances that were needed at different times by mankind. These material laws tend to differ from one religion to another over time, from manifestation to manifestation; which in turn, has been reflected in the way some of the people, in this world, treat one another. These differences between the religions of God has led to some of the most terrible disagreements, the most devastating wars and some of the most horrific crimes one human can perform against another human being; that heartfelt words don’t seem capable of describing such events and atrocities; and it seems that all of the religions of God have, at one time or another, been the subject of such confrontations from the adherents of one religion or another, or the adherents of that religion have been the ones tormenting the adherents of another religion. This seems to be very typical of the behavior on the part of some of the adherents of every religion that God has sent to man at one time or another; and it only seems to get worse with the coming of each new manifestation of God, because, it seems, the adherents of the previous religions, especially those of the religion immediately preceded by the new religion, seem to be extremely intent on putting out the light, of the new word that God has sent to mankind, in, at times, extremely harsh methods and cruelties. In fact, this seems to be one of the main ways a person can recognize a new dispensation from God, from just man-made religious minutia. According to Muhammad; The adherents, usually of the very religion immediately preceded by the new religion of God, try to, in no uncertain terms, completely destroy, or devastate the new message from God and stop, by all means necessary, the adherents of the new faith, from spreading God’s new teachings to mankind. 11. “But never came a Messenger to them but they mocked him.” “The Quraysh (the idolaters of Mecca) stopped Him (Muhammad) from praying in the Ka’bih, they pursued Him, they covered Him and His disciples with filth when they were praying, they incited children and the rabble to follow and mock them, a woman strewed thorns where He would walk.” (The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surah 15 and Islamic Miscellaneous, Gail – Six Lessons on Islam, p. 7)

It has never been easy for the manifestations and their followers at the dawn of a new revelation. The believers have always been persecuted; example:

  (Islam) 34. “Rejected were the Messengers before thee: with patience and constancy they bore their rejection and their wrongs.” 21. “As to those who (would) deny the Signs of Allah, and in defiance of right, slay the Prophets and slay those people who teach just dealings with mankind, announce to them a grievous penalty.” 30. “Remember how these unbelievers plotted against thee, to keep thee in bonds, or slay thee, or get thee out (of thy home). They plot and plan, and Allah too plans, but the best of planners is Allah.” 110. “Verily thy Lord to those who leave their homes after trials and persecutions and who thereafter strive and fight for the faith and patiently persevere, thy Lord, after all this, is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” “Ah! alas for (My) servants! There comes not an messenger to them but they mock Him!” 10. “Mocked were (many) Messengers before thee.” And “the Muslims were persecuted,” also for believing. 65. “Say: ‘Was it at Allah, and His signs, and His Messenger, that ye were mocking?“‘ 66. “Make ye no excuses: ye have rejected faith.” 32. “Mocked were (many) Messengers before thee.” 6. “They have indeed rejected (the Message).” 18. “And if ye reject (the Message), so did generations before you.” 5. “Why do ye vex (persecute) and insult me, though ye know that I am the messenger of Allah (sent) to you?” 54. “They reject Allah and His Messenger!” 80. “Allah will not forgive them: because they have rejected Allah and His Messenger; and Allah guideth not those who are perversely rebellious.” 90. “Miserable is the price for which they have sold their souls, in that they deny (the revelation) which Allah has sent down, in insolent envy that Allah of His Grace.” “To them came Messengers with Clear (Signs); but they put their hands up to their mouths, and said: “We do deny (the mission) on which ye have been sent.” (The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surahs 2, 3, 6, 8, 9, 13, 14, 16, 26, 29, 36, 61 and Hadith, Bukhari Vol 3)

  (Christianity) Matthew: 5:11 “Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.” 5:12 “Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.” Acts: 14:22 “Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.” John: 16:2 “They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.” 16:3 “And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known The Father, nor me.” Luke: 18:32 “For he (Jesus) shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on;” 18:33 “And they shall scourge him, and put him to death.” John: 19:1 “Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged him.” 19:2 “And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head.” Mark: 15:19 “And they smote him on the head with a reed, and did spit upon him.” and bowing their knees worshiped (mocked) him.” 15:20 “And when they had mocked him,” Matthew: 27:31 “and after that they had mocked him,” 27:35 “they crucified him.” Luke: 23:46 “And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.” Hebrews: 11:36 “And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment;” 11:37 “They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword; they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;” 11:38 “(Of whom the world was not worthy) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.” Galatians: 4:29 “But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.” John: 15:20 “Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you.” Romans: 8:36 “As it is written, For Thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” Luke: 6:22 “Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake.”

(Judaism) Jeremiah: 50:6 “My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their resting place.” 17:18 “Let them be confounded that persecute me.” 10:21 “For the pastors are become brutish, and have not sought The LORD: therefore they shall not prosper, and all their flocks shall be scattered.” Deuteronomy: 30:7 “And The LORD thy God will put all these curses upon thine enemies, and on them that hate thee, which persecuted thee.” 2 Chronicles: 36:15 “And The LORD God of their fathers sent to them by His messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because He had compassion on His people, and on His dwelling place.” Exodus: 15:24 “And the people murmured against Moses,” 16:2 “And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron.” 36:16 “But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised His words, and misused His prophets.”

(Zoroastrianism) 7. “Spitama Zarathushtra said in answer: ‘No! never will I renounce the good Religion of the worshippers of Mazda, either for body or life, though they should tear away the breath!”’ “Put to flight, that cheat, the Pairika, and to contradict the insulting (mocking) malice of the Ashemaogha (the persecuting heretic) and that of the unholy tyrant.” “He does not delight Ahura Mazda, nor the other Amesha-Spentas, nor Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, he who thus scorns, (mocks at) Mazda,” and His followers. 4. “Yea, we send it forth for the encounter with, and for the overthrow of the murderers of the saints, and of those who hate and torment us for our Faith, and of those who persecute the ritual, and the tyrant full of death.” “So too do I reject the hostile followers of the druj,” even as Zarathushtra rejected the authority of the Daevas (who persecute).” “I reject the authority of the Daevas, the wicked, no-good, lawless, evil-knowing, the most druj-like of beings, the foulest of beings, the most damaging of beings;” “for the destruction of what distresses us, for the destruction of what persecutes us.” (Atharvan Zarathustra’s Avesta) “Is the characteristic message of Iran, her great heritage, for which hundreds of her noblest sons lost their lives at the hands of the fanatics.” “I reject the head, so too do I reject the hostile followers of the druj.” (ZOROASTER, Hymns of Atharvan p. 375 and The Zend-Avesta, Avesta Yasnas 12, 16, 61 and Vendidad 19 and Book of Common Prayer pt. 1)

(Hinduism) “Why dost thou afflict me?” “Why then beholdest thou how men revile (mock) us?” 171. “Let him, though suffering in consequence of his righteousness, never turn his heart to unrighteousness;” 19. “Whoso would kill us, whether he be a strange foe or one of us, May all the Gods discomfit him.” “Hide, the holy Krishna saith, Wisdom’s teaching; hide it from all men who mock.” ” 2. “Let not the fools, or those who mock, beguile thee.” 5 “The men who mock us say, Depart unto another place.” 14 “Burn up the demons with thy fiercest flaming brand, those who have scorned thee in thy manifested might,” “preserve us, O rich in friends, from guile and scorn and slander,” 4. “bear us safe beyond the men who vex us.” “Rejecting those who disregard his worship.” (Hindu, Upanishads vol. 1, Khandogya-Upanishad Part 2,  Laws of Manu chapters 4 and Vedas, Rig Veda – Books 1, 2, 4, 6, 7 and Sama Veda and Bhagavad Gita chapter 18)

(Buddhism) “Patiently one endures wicked and malicious speech, (mocking scorning speech), as well as bodily pains, that befall one, though they be piercing, sharp, bitter, unpleasant, disagreeable and dangerous to life.” 15. “Let us live in joy, not hating those who hate us. Among those who hate us, we live free of hate.” 6. “He who endures undisturbed (scorning) criticism, (mocking) ill-treatment and bonds, strong in patience, and that strength his power – that is what I call a Brahmin.” 3. “Even so will I endure abuse, For people’s conduct is mostly low.” ((The Eightfold Path), Buddha and Buddhist, Dhammapada – Sayings of the Buddha 1, 2 and 3 (tr. J. Richards))

(Sabeanism) “Behold these souls who believed in Thee And for Thy name’s sake stood by on earth And were persecuted.” “Priests, slaughterers, priests who cut up victims, scorners (mockers), those who make evil signs.” “Who chained me in the wall? Who cast me into the stocks, which matches the fullness of the world? Who threw a chain round me, that is without measure?” Look on me, who have borne persecution for Thy name!” “Deliver me from the hands of the wicked, and loosen my feet from the bonds of death.”  “Humiliate us not; cast us not into the hands of tormentors, Liars, hypocrites and the censorious. Let not torturers strike us nor condemners damn our souls!” (Sabeanism, The Soul in its Coat, Adam and Ginza Rba- 15, 71, 76, 176 and 410)

   (Babi Religion) “The Báb His teachings met with instant opposition on the part of the orthodox religionists of the day.” “The cause of the rejection and persecution of The Báb was in its essence the same as that of the rejection and persecution of The Christ.” “Moses was persecuted and driven out into the desert, Abraham was banished, Muhammad took refuge in caves, the Bab was killed and Bahá’u’lláh was exiled and imprisoned forty years. Yet all of Them desired fellowship and love among men. They endured hardships, suffered persecution and death for our sakes that we might be taught to love one another and be united.” “This is the day when man, not content with having abandoned his brother, sacrifices his substance in order to shed the blood of his nearest kinsman!” “A large number of their fellow-disciples were slain in Shiraz by order of Tahmasb-Mirza. The heads of two hundred of these victims were placed on bayonets and carried triumphantly by their oppressors to Abadih, a village in Fars.”  “The people saw marching, between executioners, children and women with deep holes cut into their flesh in which lighted wicks were inserted. The victims were dragged with ropes and goaded on with whips.” “Some of the children expired on the way. The executioners would throw their bodies under the feet of their fathers and sisters,” – they, “kicked them with their  463  feet, and spat upon their faces. They were pelted, cursed, and mocked by the angry multitude.” (Bahá’í Faith, Divine Philosophy, p. 5 and The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 234 and The Dawn-Breakers, pp. 462, 463, 566, 614, 643  and xxxi)

   So, 5:12 “Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets, which were before you.”  John 16:2 “They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God a service.”

 (Bahá’í Faith), “Men are killing their brothers, believing this to be the cause of salvation, believing that such work is approved by God, believing that those whom they kill will be sent (straight) to hell.” “Dreadful persecution ensued and more than twenty thousand martyrs joyfully gave up property and life rather than renounce the faith which they recognized as divine truth. At such variance were his teachings with the creed-bound world about him that BAHA’U’LLAH, with his family and followers, was banished to Bagdad, to Constantinople, to Adrianople and finally to the penal colony of Akká in Syria.” “The Blessed Perfection was a prisoner twenty-five years. During all this time He was subjected to the indignities and revilement of the people. He was persecuted, mocked and put in chains.” “Bahá’u’lláh endured ordeals and hardships sixty years. There was no persecution, vicissitude or suffering He did not experience at the hand of His enemies and oppressors. All the days of His life were passed in difficulty and tribulation — at one time in prison, another in exile, sometimes in chains. He willingly endured these difficulties for the unity of mankind, praying that the world of humanity might realize the radiance of God, the oneness of humankind become a reality, strife and warfare cease and peace and tranquility be realized by all. In prison He hoisted the banner of human solidarity, proclaiming universal peace, writing to the kings and rulers of nations, summoning them to international unity and counseling arbitration. His life was a vortex of persecution and difficulty; yet catastrophes, extreme ordeals and vicissitudes did not hinder the accomplishment of His work and mission. Nay, on the contrary, His power became greater and greater, His efficiency and influence spread and increased until His glorious light shone throughout the Orient, love and unity were established, and the differing religions found a center of contact and reconciliation.” (Bahá’í Faith, Abdu’l-Baha, Divine Philosophy, pp. 5, 101 and The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 145 and Baha’i World Faith, p. 223)

                   

You see, all of God‘s manifestations and believers are persecuted and mocked in the beginnings of God‘s revelations to mankind, but with perseverance the message of God is delivered to mankind. Another thing we find in the writings of God, as mentioned earlier; but which seems to get over looked by many parishioners, is the independent investigation of truth or the call on man to study the writings of God for himself, by which, each individual needs to study and look into God’s holy words and writings for his or hers very own selves; for the ultimate betterment and spiritual development of the individual souls of all the men and women living on this planet. Example:

CHRISTIANITY:

  1 Thessalonians: 5:21 “Prove all things (and) hold fast (to) that which is good,” 5:15 “ever follow that which is good.” 1 Timothy: 4:13 “Give attendance to reading!” 2 Timothy: 2:15 “Study to shew thyself approved unto God,” 1:13 “hold fast the form of sound words.”

JUDAISM:

  Deuteronomy: 27:26 “Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words.” So, Isaiah: 34:16 “Seek ye out – the book of The LORD, and read: no one of these shall fail.” Deuteronomy: 17:19 “And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear The LORD his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes.”

ISLAM:

  121. “Those to whom We have sent the book, study it as it should be studied; they are the ones that believe therein; those who reject faith therein, the loss is their own.” 93. “Say: ‘Bring ye the Law and study it, if ye be men of truth.” 48. “To thee We sent the Scripture in truth, confirming all of the scripture that came before it, and guarding it in safety; so judge then, between them, by what Allah hath revealed, and follow not their vain desires, diverging from the truth that hath come to thee.” 205. “And do thou (O reader!) bring thy Lord to remembrance in thy (very) soul, with humility and in reverence.” (The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surahs 2, 3, 5 and 7)

ZOROASTRIANISM:

  “Hear the best with your ears, and discern by pure mind. Choose the-ought, man by man (every man), for his own self; before the great trial comes, wake up to this my counsel.” “We worship the understanding of Ahura Mazda (God), to study the Holy Word.” “One should rely on his own convictions, and not allow himself to be swayed or drifted by the opinion of others.” (ZOROASTER, Hymns of Atharvan pp. 87 and 197 and Khorda Avesta – Book of Common Prayer pt. )

HINDUISM:

  106. “(To study) this is the best means of securing welfare, it increases understanding!” 17. “Let him — study the Veda (the writings and teachings of Brahma/God); because the Veda-study secures the realization of his aims!“ (Hindu, Laws of Manu chapters 1 and 4)

BUDDHISM:

  Buddhism: 20. “You yourself should make an effort, The Tathagata can but show the Way.” 10. “By confidence, virtue, effort and concentration, By the investigation of the Doctrine, By being endowed with knowledge and conduct And by keeping your mind alert, Will you leave this great suffering behind.” “(Give) devout attention to the teaching(s) of the Blessed One.” “Study the word for yourself!” “Get into the habit of affirming that things are just so and not otherwise.” ((Buddhist, Dhammapada – Sayings of the Buddha 3 (tr. J. Richards and Buddha Lankavatara)

SABEANISM:

  “My chosen, ye sought and ye found, moreover ye shall seek and ye shall find. Ye have sought and found, my chosen ones, as the first (souls) sought and found.” “Be ye careful and make enquiry and display kindness and show compassion.” “Enlargement of life there shall be for the believing ones.” Be careful; make inquiry, display kindness, show compassion.” (Sabeanism, Ginza Rba- chapters 35 71, 74 and 99; The religion of Adam, thought to be the father of mankind, and his 3rd son Seth)

BABISM:

  Babi Religion: “TAKE heed to carefully consider the words of every soul, then hold fast to the proofs which attest the truth.” “Be thou neither a divine without discernment, nor a follower without discernment, for both of these shall perish on the Day of Resurrection. Rather it behooveth thee to be a discerning divine (and) to walk with insight in the way of God.” “Ponder in thy heart, and turn not aside thine attention from proofs and evidences. However, seek not proofs and evidences after thine idle fancy; but rather base thy proofs upon what God hath appointed.” “It behooveth you, O creatures of God, to help your own selves and to believe in the Verses revealed.” “When We educate one we give him a copy of the Scriptures to read for himself.” “Be discerning, ” “Ponder for a while in thy heart, have pity on thyself and turn not aside thine attention from proofs and evidences. However, seek not proofs and evidences after thine idle fancy; but rather base thy proofs upon what God hath appointed” (The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, pp. 100, 123 and 133 and The Bábí Religions, p. 195)

Bahá’í Faith:

  “The first teaching of Bahá’u’lláh is the duty incumbent upon all to investigate reality. What does it mean to investigate reality? It means that man must forget all hearsay and examine truth himself, for he does not know whether statements he hears are in accordance with reality or not. Wherever he finds truth or reality, he must hold to it, forsaking, discarding all else; for outside of reality there is naught but superstition and imagination.“ “For is it not thy clear duty to investigate — to judge with equity, and to cleave unto justice?” (Bahá’í Faith, Abdu’l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 62 and Baha’u’llah, The Summons of the Lord of Hosts, p. 192)

             

  Man must look for the truth in all things if he really wants to know what God is trying to say and tell us. And if he proves all things for himself he doesn’t blindly go down the wrong path following others that may in-fact be the blind ones spoken of in The Creator’s writings.

  CHRISTIANITY: Matthew: 15:14 “Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch (become inhabitants of hell).” Luke: 6:39 “Can the blind lead the blind? Shall they not both fall into the ditch?” Mark: 7:7 “Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.” 7:8 “For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men.” 7:9 “And – full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.” John: 5:45 “Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust.” 5:46 “For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me; for he wrote of me.” 5:47 “But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?” 2 Corinthians 13:5 “Examine, (and) prove (for) your own selves.”

 JUDAISM: Jeremiah: 9:16 “For (the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed),” So, Exodus: 5:9 “Let them (men) (not regard vain words), (but seek out the truth within the words).” Malachi: 2:7 “For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of The LORD of Hosts.” 2:8 “But ye are departed out of the way (and) ye have caused many to stumble at the law (and) ye have corrupted the covenant, saith The LORD of Hosts (and) ye have not kept My ways, but have been partial in the law!” For, 14:15 “The simple believeth every word: but the prudent man looketh well to his going.” 15:14 Because, “the heart of him that hath understanding seeketh knowledge: but the mouth of fools feedeth on foolishness.” So, Isaiah: 34:16 “Seek ye out the book of The LORD, and read.” And than, Lamentations: 3:40 “Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to The LORD.” 2 Chronicles: 6:17 Then, “O LORD God of Israel, let thy word be verified.” And so, Deuteronomy: 27:26 “Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words.”

  ISLAM: Say: ‘Can the blind be held equal to the seeing?’ Will ye then consider not?” 15. “Allah (God) will throw back their mockery on them, and give them rope in their trespasses; so they will wander like blind ones (to and fro), for, 16. “these are they, who have bartered guidance, for error, and they have lost true direction.” For, 17. “Allah took away their light and left them in utter darkness, so they could not see.” 18. “Deaf, dumb, and blind, they will not return (to the path).” 171. “(They are those who) are void of wisdom.” So, 104. “if any will see, it will be for (the good of) his own soul and if any will be blind, it will be to his own (harm).” “What has actually happened to them is that the vicious world has taken possession of them, it is dragging them wherever it likes, and is treating them as if they are blind because it has in reality blind-folded them against Divine light of true religion.” “Therefore, do not give away to doubts (about the truth which Islam has proclaimed) and do not be mislead by schism into blind alleys.” 4. “O ye who believe, investigate carefully.” (The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surahs 2, 4, 5 and 6 and Ali b. Abi Taalib, Letters from Nahjul Balaagh)

 ZOROASTRIANISM: 11. “If, O ye mortals, ye mark those commandments which Mazda hath ordained — of happiness and pain, the long punishment for the follower of the Druj, and blessings for the followers of the Right — then hereafter shall it be well.” “no longer let him that knows nothing deceive, (do not blindly follow the blind ones).” (The Zend-Avesta, Avesta – Yasnas 30 and 31) So, “hear the best with your ears, and discern by pure mind. Choose the ought, man by man (every man), for his own self.” For, “one should rely on his own conviction, and not allow himself to be drifted by the opinions of others.” So than, 2. “Hear with your (own) ears, the best things and look upon them, with clear-seeing thought for decision each man for himself.”( ZOROASTER, Hymns of Atharvan pp. 87 and 197)

 HINDUISM: 5. “Fools dwelling in darkness wise in their own conceits all puffed up with vain knowledge, (and so they) go round and round, staggering to and fro, like blind men led by the blind, (follow them not).” “Nor must we forget that oral tradition, is not without its dangers, many a word may have been misunderstood, many a sentence confused, as it was told.” “We must remember that those who handed down the ancestral treasures of ancient wisdom, would often feel inclined to add what seemed useful to themselves, to be handed down.” “Fourfold are our human duties: first to study holy lore,” (Upanishads vol. 2, Katha-Upanishad),

 BUDDHISM: “A string of blind men clinging to one another, the foremost cannot see the way, the middle ones cannot see the way, nor can the hind most; the talk of the Brahmans versed in the three Vedas is but blind (empty) talk. The first sees not, the middle (ones) sees not, and the hindmost sees not. The talk then of these Brahmans turns out to be (completely) ridiculous, mere words, vain and empty.” (Buddhist Dharma, TEVIGGA SUTTA). So then, One, as in you, or I, has got to be one’s own guard in the study of God’s Holy Word, for who else is there going to be, that is really responsible for one’s own actions and the consequences they will, eventually have, on one’s own soul. For, “The memory-habit of erroneous intellection will ever cling to them. To make the matter worse, the simple-minded ones, poisoned by this erroneous view, will declare this incorrect way of thinking taught by the ignorant, to be the same as that presented by the All-knowing One.”(Buddhism, The Eightfold path, Buddha, Surangama Sutra) 25. “One is one’s own guard. What other guard could one have? (For), One is one’s own destiny. Therefore, one should train oneself, like a merchant does a thoroughbred horse.” “By confidence, virtue, effort and concentration, by the investigation of the doctrine, by being endowed with knowledge and conduct, and by keeping your mind alert, Will you leave this great suffering behind.” (The Buddhist, Dhammapada – Sayings of the Buddha 1 and 3 (tr. J. Richards)).

SABEANISM: Hearken not to the talk of all people and generations; and let not their stumblings: (doctrines, dogmas, theologies and traditions), cause you to stumble, stumble not because of their stumblings, (rantings and ravings)!” “If thou readest (the holy word and teachings), read it as it is written, and be careful and make inquiry, into the word of Haiyi (God).” For, “My chosen ones, ye sought and ye have found, moreover ye shall seek and ye shall find. Ye sought and ye have found, My chosen ones, even as the first (souls), sought and found.” “Not through coercion; but by true self investigation.”

 BABI RELIGION: “You should gird up the loin of endeavour and strive day and night to rend asunder, by the grace of God and by the hand of wisdom and loving-kindness, those veils of heedlessness that have blinded the eyes of men,” “yet these blind and ignoble people have chosen to follow the example of their (unseeing) leaders and to regard their conduct as the pattern of righteousness and justice.” (Shoghi Effendi, The Dawn-Breakers, pp. 16 and 321) “TAKE heed to carefully consider the words of every soul, then hold fast to the proofs which attest the truth.” For, “The path to guidance is one of love and compassion, not of force and coercion.”

BAHA’I FAITH: “The first teaching of Bahá’u’lláh is the duty incumbent upon all, to investigate reality. What does it mean to investigate reality? It means that man must forget all hearsay and examine truth himself, for he does not know whether statements he hears are in accordance with reality or not. Wherever he finds truth or reality, he must hold to it, forsaking, discarding all else; for outside of reality there is naught but superstition and imagination.” For, “the beginnings of all great religions were pure; but priests, taking possession of the minds of the people, filled them with dogmas and superstitions, so that religion became gradually corrupt;” “no man should blindly follow his ancestors and forefathers. Nay, each must see with his own eyes, hear with his own ears and investigate the truth himself in order that he may follow the truth instead of blind acquiescence and imitation of ancestral beliefs.” (Baha’i World Faith – Abdu’l-Baha Section, p. 246)

 

So then, mankind has got to study and investigate the truth of God’s Holy Words and teachings for himself; all of us, for our very own selves; this is beyond question! It is emphatically expressed, in all of the holy religions of God, and it only makes sense and stands to reason. It makes complete sense that God would want men to study His writings and teachings for their very own personal selves. I mean, it only stands to reason for us to study, His (God’s) Holy Words, for our very own selves. This way we will truly learn to know and love The Creator. I mean really, how else will we truly learn to become more like Him, but through our very own personal actions, and not just because someone else is doing this for us. “Surely, when we realize how God loves and cares for us, we should so order our lives that we may become more like Him.” (Abdu’l-Baha, Paris Talks, p. 120) This way, we will become more like Simon Peter, who Jesus Christ praised in The Holy Bible for his deep understanding, clear vision and foresight:  Matthew: 16:18 “And I say, also, unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock, I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (The King James Bible)

So then, it is through our very own actual, personal investigations and actions, that we build our spiritual homes in this life and in the next world, resting on firm, solid, stone foundations. All of this is created from our very own work, and the very real, spiritual strength of our spiritual convictions; that we obtained through our very own personal studies, and not through the words and actions of someone else. This is real spiritual strength, this is real spiritual conviction, and it comes through real studies and real actions on our part; not because we just sit and listen and attempt some half hearted attempts on our parts to know God, while we hope that God will take it, in His heart, to make the effort for us, and just give us enlightenment. For the effort you put into knowing your Creator, is the effort you will get back again, in return; I mean, think about it:

JUDAISM:

  Deuteronomy: 4:29 “But if from thence thou shalt seek The LORD thy God, thou shalt find Him, if thou seek Him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.” Jeremiah: 29:13 “And ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your heart;” 1 Chronicles: 28:9 “if thou seek Him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake Him, He will cast thee off for ever.” Zechariah: 1:3 “Thus saith The LORD of hosts; Turn ye unto me, saith The LORD of hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith The LORD of hosts.”

And, THE BAHA’I FAITH:

“He saith, and He verily speaketh the truth: ‘Whoso maketh efforts for Us, in Our ways shall We assuredly guide him.’” (The Gems of Divine Mysteries, p. 27)

CHRISTIANITY:

So then:

    James: 4:8 “Draw nigh unto God, and He will draw nigh unto you.” For, Hebrews: 11:6 He (God), is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” Matthew: 7:7  “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.”  Acts: 17:27 “They should seek The Lord, if haply they might feel after Him, and find Him, though He be not far from every one of us.”

ISLAM:

  69. “And (to) those who strive in Our (Cause), We will certainly guide them to Our Paths: for verily Allah (God) is with those who do right.” 27. “Allah doth wish to turn to you.” “The Prophet said, ‘Allah says:’ ‘I am with him, If he remembers Me in himself, I too, remember him in Myself; and if he remembers Me in a group of people, I remember him in a group that is better than they; and if he comes one span nearer to Me, I go one cubit nearer to him; and if he comes one cubit nearer to Me, I go a distance of two outstretched arms nearer to him; and if he comes to Me walking, I go to him running.’”  (Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surahs 4, 29 and Hadith, Bukhari Vol 9, Book 93, # 502)

ZOROASTRIANISM:

So then:

  “Make it clear that I (Ahura/God) am The Guide for both worlds.” 6:61 “When you should move (forward) three steps towards Religion, (I) shall come forward a thousand steps to meet thee.“ “Seek and thou shalt find, knock and it shall be opened unto you.” (Zoroaster, The Zend-Avesta, Avesta – Vendidad and Denkard and Hymns of Atharvan p. 629)

HINDUISM:

  9. “Set your faith fast on Me! Fix heart and thought on Me! Adore Me, make Me your super most joy and with undivided (attention) unto Me, rest your spirits (and ye) shall be guided.” “For he that laboureth (maketh effort) right for love of Me, shall finally attain (unto Me)!” (Hindu, Bhagavad Gita (Edwin Arnold tr) chapters 9 and 12)

BUDDHISM:

  “Of all that is created, you know the Uncreated, Holy One.” “We penetrate with loving thoughts, wide, deep, boundless, “Why do you not seek a light?” “The Tathagata can but show the Way.” “One may rightly say of Me: that I teach, that I herein train My disciples.” Seek Him with all thy heart and He, in His ways, will guide you. For, “the one whom those who discriminate praise continually day after day as without fault, wise, rich in knowledge and virtue, who would dare to blame that person, who is like a gold coin from the Jambu river? That one is praised even by the gods, even by Brahma.” (Buddhist, Dhammapada – Sayings of the Buddha 2 and 3 and The Eightfold Path)

SABEANISM:

  “Those who seek of Him (Haiyi/God) find, and to those who ask of Him it will be given. For to him that standeth at a closed door, Thou wilt open the closed door.” “Raising of your right hands (towards Me) My right hand will be lifted towards you. Ye will call, and I will answer you quickly. Ye will seek My hand and I will not withhold it (from) your hands.”  (Sabeanism, Ginza Rba- chapters 35 and 76)

BABISM:

  “Has not God revealed in His Book: ‘Whoso maketh efforts for Us, in Our ways will We guide them?”’ “’Whoso maketh efforts for Us, in Our ways will We guide them.” (The Bab: (Shoghi Effendi, The Dawn-Breakers, pp. 47 and 164)

BAHA’I FAITH:

So then:

  “When-so-ever he (man) hath fulfilled the conditions implied in the verse: ‘Whoso maketh efforts for Us,’ he shall enjoy the blessings conferred by the words: ‘In Our Ways shall We assuredly guide him.”’ “He saith, and He verily speaketh the truth: ‘Whoso maketh efforts for Us, in Our ways shall We assuredly guide him.”’(Bahá’í Faith, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah, p. 266 and Gems of Divine Mysteries, p. 27)

                                              

These are all teachings that lead us to: “The Independent Investigation of Truth” that is, most certainly, expressed; even almost stressed one could even say, in the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, the prophet founder of The Bahá’í Faith; which is also very good advice to follow, whenever you are reading this book and following the format for the studies of the writings and verses that are found within this work. So then, “The first teaching of Bahá’u’lláh is the duty incumbent upon all, to investigate reality. What does it mean to investigate reality? It means that man must forget all hearsay and examine truth (for) himself, (for his very own self), for he does not know, whether the statements he hears, are in accordance with reality, or not. Wherever he finds truth, or reality, he must hold to it, forsaking, discarding all else; for outside of reality there is naught, but superstition and imagination.” “He (Bahá’u’lláh) lays stress on the search for Truth. This is most important, because the people are too easily led by tradition. It is because of this that they, (mankind) are often antagonistic to each other, and dispute with one another. But the manifesting of Truth, discovers the darkness, and becomes the cause of Oneness of faith and belief: because Truth cannot be two! That is not possible!!!” Quite impossible one could almost say. (Bahá’í Faith, Abdu’l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 62 and Abdu’l-Baha in London, p. 27 thru 28).

Now you may be asking yourself, just why I went into so much detail into the assertion of the investigation of truth being expressed in all the religions of God, and to this I say, it is incumbent on everyone to investigate the truth for him or herself; because people look at things differently from one to another; God has created us that way. If you really want to know the truth, beyond question, you have to look into it for yourself. You must look into it for yourself, because, as demonstrated earlier, the things you are hearing from the one who is supposed to know what he or she is talking about, may not be in accordance with what is truth, or may only be in accordance with only the amount of truth that he or she knows, but there may be much more truth to know. You may, also be asking yourself, just why I am stressing the study of the writings of God for one’s self almost insistently. And to this I say, you may not see things the way I do, and this is really, just perfectly fine, because God has created us to see things differently and to understand His writings with our very own minds and eyes, looking at His words from various, perspectives and standpoints; so we can learn from one another and see things in the writings of God from new and fresh perspectives. What I see in the different writings of God, is the truth in the way I see things, and may not always be in accordance with the way you see things; and I must admit, some of these writings, I have had to look at more than once to see what I had originally saw in the scripture, in the first place. I have also, taken the time to underlined certain key words and key phrases in some of the paragraphs, to help the reader to see the message, in the scriptures, that I see; but then you and I, being different people, and maybe from different cultures and back grounds; we are bound to see and understand things differently at times, and that is a good thing; because, just because someone sees things a little differently than someone else, it doesn’t mean that one person is wrong and only one person knows the truth; (like some of the people, in this world we live in, seem to, so strongly believe). This is the word of God, and the words of God have more than only one interpretation. This is the Creative Word of God; and the meanings of the words of God, our Creator, Who is, in fact, an All-powerful, All-knowing, All-encompassing Creator, have an infinite and inexhaustible, wide range of possibilities, interpretations and understandings; that we can through time, patients and spiritual development come to see and understand for ourselves; if we will only take the time and study and seek out the other meanings of the words for ourselves.

                           

  Matthew: 9:13 “But go ye and learn what that meaneth.” “There are also, many other ways to look at the words of God. In-fact, there are, inevitably, always other meanings and ways to look at the Holy Writings of God: ‘for it is impossible (for man) to know and understand (all of) the hidden truths of God, which are in His writings and sayings, and the multitude of their meanings.” For, “the Sayings (God’s Holy words and teachings) are not intended to be interpreted literally!” (Christianity, From the writings of St. John and The Gospel of Thomas) 1 Corinthians: 3:2 “I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.” 3:3 “For ye are yet carnal.”

For:

 “Every knowledge hath seventy meanings, of which one only is known amongst the people; ‘We speak one word, and by it we intend one and seventy meanings; each one of these meanings we can explain.’” (Bahá’í Faith, Baha’u’llah, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 254)

 “The Words of God have innumerable significances and mysteries of meanings — each one a thousand and more.” “Divers and manifold are the interpretations of (God’s) words.” (The Bahá’í Faith, Abdu’l-Baha, Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 155 and Baha’u’llah, The Kitab-i-Iqan, pp. 78)

 Isaiah: 6:9 “And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.” So, 28:9 “Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine (the writings)?” And, Psalms: 14:2 “The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God.” For, Jeremiah: 9:12 “Who is the wise man, that may understand this?“

   7. “He (Allah/God) it is Who hath sent down to thee The Book (The Qur’án): in it are verses basic and fundamental, others are allegorical,” with “hidden meanings, but no one knows all of its hidden meanings and understandings, except Allah.” “We believe in the Book; the whole of it is from our Lord; and none will grasp the Message except men of understanding.” (The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surah 3)

And:

  18. “Those who listen to the Word, and follow the best (meaning) in it: those are the ones to whom Allah has (truly) guided, and those are the ones endued with (real), understanding.” 10. “There is a Hadis (Hadith) to the effect that each word of the Qur’án has seven meanings.” For “The Qur’án has been revealed in seven different ways.” “We have put forth for men, in this Qur’án every kind of parable, in order that they (the believers) may receive admonition.” 27. “And if all the trees on earth were pens and the Oceans (were ink), with seven Oceans behind it to add unto its (supply), yet would not the Words (and meanings) of Allah be exhausted: for Allah is Exalted in Power and Full of Wisdom.” 5. “From Allah, verily nothing is hidden on earth, or in the heavens. He it is Who shapes you in the wombs as He pleases. There is no God but Him, The Exalted in Might, The Wise. He, it is, Who has sent down unto thee the Book: in it are verses basic or fundamental, while others are allegorical.” 35 “And Allah (does speak) to mankind in allegories,” for, 26. “Allah disdains not to use the similitude of things, lowest as well as highest.” “for Allah is The Knower of all things.” 18. And “Those who listen to the Word, and follow the best in it: those are the ones whom Allah has guided, and those are the ones endued with understanding.” (Mathnavi of Rumi, Masnavi Vol 3 and Hadith, Bukhari Vol 3, Book 41, # 601 and Qur’an, Surahs 2, 24, 31 and 39) (The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surahs 3 and 39)

And:

  11. “This Our word I have proclaimed (to thee) as a symbol to be learned. So, to whom will this hidden, mystic gift of Ours be given, that he may (learn to know all the multitude of hidden meanings found within) The Zend-Avesta.” “Then consider this, too, thus: namely that one ought to endeavor most for meditations on the Religion, that is, on the (mysterious) Avesta and Zand; for the soul.” (Zoroaster, The Zend-Avesta, Khorda Avesta – Book of Common Prayer pt. 1 and Denkard)

  John: “for (again), it is impossible (for a man) to understand (all) the (many) hidden truths of God which are in His sayings, and the multitude of their meanings.” (From the writings of St. John) For, John: 6:63 “The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” Colossians: 2:1 “For I would that ye knew what great conflict I have for you that their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ;” 2:3 “In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” For, 1 Corinthians: 2:7 “we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God (hath) ordained before the world unto our glory.” (The King James Bible)

And:

  218. “As the man who digs with a spade (into the ground) obtains water, even so the obedient (pupil) obtains the knowledge (and understanding), which lies hidden (in Brahma’s words);” “the hidden truths of religion, embalmed within the ancient Upanishads.” (Hindu, Laws of Manu chapter 2 and the Mahabharata)

And:

  “As I understand the meaning of the Blessed One’s (Buddha’s) discourses, he has no (real, absolute) system of doctrine that can be specifically formulated. And why is this? Because of, what the Blessed One adumbrates (gives partial disclosure or hints at) in the terms of the Dharma which is, in reality, inscrutable and inexpressible. With the true message being of a purely spiritual concept,” (Buddha, Diamond Sutra)

So:

  “Lord of the mystic books of truth, Lord of ‘Letters-of-Truth’ “The name of the Life (Haiyi/God) and the name of Manda-d-Hiia be pronounced upon thee! The name of the great mystic Wellspring is pronounced upon thee and the name of the great Mystery, of the mystic Word, is pronounced upon thee.” (Sabeanism ,Ginza Rba- 173 and 410,)

This is one of the reasons we humans see things, in the writings of God, a little differently from one person to another; there is more than one way to look at, and understand the writings of God; because this is The Living Word of God, and there are innumerable ways to look at and understand the messages God is trying to get across to us; and this is, as I said earlier, a very good thing, because we can help to train and teach one another, and learn from each other, the various intricacies that are found hidden within God’s holy words and writings.

 “None knoweth the meaning (of the words) thereof except God and them that are well-grounded in knowledge.” “Indeed – the ones who have grasped the meaning of that which hath been revealed in the Bayan; they are indeed the sincere ones.” (The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, pp. 118 and 137)

 “O peoples of the world! Cast away, in My name that transcendeth all other names, the things ye possess, and immerse yourselves in this Ocean in whose depths lay hidden the pearls of wisdom and of utterance, an ocean that surgeth in My name, the All-Merciful. Thus instructeth you He with Whom is the Mother Book.” “Immerse yourselves in the ocean of My words, that ye may unravel its secrets, and discover all the pearls of wisdom that lie hid within its depths.” (Bahá’í Faith, Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah, pp. 33 and 136)

                                                        

We have much to learn from our Creator in this life of ours, if we will just learn to work together, one with another. Think of all that we can truly accomplish together, if we only learn to work together. Together, we can unravel the secrets and mysteries that lie hidden within God’s Holy Words. We can study and learn the words of The Creator together, in true unity, not conflict; for the more we know, about our Creator, the closer we can come to our Heavenly Father and the more we can become like our Creator and Heavenly Father, which is, in reality what we were put here for in the first place; (if you think about it):

 Genesis: 1:26 “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: 1:27 So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them.” (Genesis King James Bible).

For:

“Surely, when we realize how God loves and cares for us, we should so order our lives that we may become more like Him.” “The human mind, might be developed to its fullest capacity in the temple of the body; and man become the reflection and likeness of God, even as it hath been revealed in the Bible: We shall create man in Our own image.” (Abdu’l-Baha, Baha’i World Faith – Abdu’l-Baha Section, p. 223 and Abdu’l-Baha, Paris Talks, p. 120)

 “Whatever evidence of bounty is witnessed in the world, is but an image of His bounty; and every thing owes its existence to His Being.” (The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 100)

1 John: 3:1 “Behold, what manner of love The Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; And every man that hath this hope in Him purifieth himself, even as He is pure.” 1 Corinthians: 11:7 “Man is the image and glory of God.”

 17. “He sets up as a likeness to (Allah).” (The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surah 43)

 16. “The understanding man, who strives to – become like Thee, O Mazda Ahura.” (The Zend-Avesta, Avesta – Yasna 31)

 “I adore Him as likeness.’ Whoso adores Him thus, to him comes what is likely (or proper); what is born from Him, is like unto Him.” (Upanishads vol. 2, Brihadaranyaka-Upanishad Part 1) “Holy souls see Which strive thereto. Enlightened, they perceive that Spirit in themselves,”  “for I am That whereof Brahma is the likeness!” (Hindu, Bhagavad Gita (Edwin Arnold tr) chapters 13 and 15)

 “The wise student of the truly enlightened Buddha shines brightly, people human kind and celestial kind.” (Buddha, Lankavatara Sutra)

 “In the likeness of life (Haiyi/God) He supported me. Life supported life, life found its own. Its own self did life (Haiyi/God) find and my soul.” (Sabeanism, Ginza Rba- chapter 96)

The more we become like God the more we will become united in a common cause, and the more we worship and love God, the closer we become like the one human family God created us to be:

BAHA’I:

 “The unity which is productive of unlimited results is first (of all) a unity of mankind, which recognizes that all (men) are sheltered beneath the overshadowing glory of the All-Glorious; that all are servants of One God; for all breathe the same atmosphere, live upon the same earth, move beneath the same heavens, receive effulgence from the same sun and are under the protection of One God.” “For God is One and humanity is one and the only creed of the prophets is love and unity.” (Abdu’l-Baha, Foundations of World Unity, pp. 66 and 99)

THE BAB:

   (The forerunner of Baha’u’llah): “Unity (was/is) the goal that ‘excelleth every goal!” (The Bábí & Baha’i Religions, p. 83)

ISLAM:

  148. “To each is a goal to which Allah turns him; then strive together (as in a race) (even as one race) toward all that is good. Where-so-ever ye are, Allah will bring you together, for Allah hath power over all things.” “The Prophet said, ‘I just wanted to attract and unite their hearts (of men).”’ (Islam, The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surah 2 and Hadith, Bukhari Vol 9, Book 93, # 527)

CHRISTIANITY:

  Ephesians: 4:2 “With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”

JUDAISM:

  Psalms: 133:1 “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!”

ZOROASTRIANISM:

  “Love attracts, while fear repels. Thus love is the principle of unity, unity with God and unity with all men.” “When men love and help one another to the best of their power they derive the greatest pleasure from loving their fellow men,” (in unity) (ZOROASTER, Hymns of Atharvan p. 500, 507)

HINDU:

  “The world is overcome- aye! even here! By such as fix their faith on Unity. The sinless Brahma dwells in Unity, and they in Brahma, (dwell together in unity).” “He who thus vows His soul to the Supreme Soul, quitting sin, Passes unhindered to the endless bliss Of unity with Brahma,” and unity with one another. (Hindu, Bhagavad Gita (Edwin Arnold tr) chapters 5 and 6)

BUDDHISM:

  “He avoids tale-bearing, and abstains from it. What he has heard here, he does not repeat there, so as to cause dissension there; and what he heard there, he does not repeat here, so as to cause dissension here. Thus he unites those that are divided; and those that are united, he encourages.” ((The Eightfold Path), Buddha, the Word (The Eightfold Path))

SABEANISM:

  “Praise Be Thee, for amongst them all hatred, envy and dissensions exist not (for they are united together, in true unity). The Place which is all portals of radiance, light and glory Praiseth Thee.” (Sabeanism, Ginza Rba- chapter 75)

Bahá’í Faith:

  “He Who is The Lord of Being is witness that this Wronged One hath besought from God for His creatures whatever is conducive to unity and harmony, fellowship and concord, by the righteousness of God!” (Baha’u’llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 38)

                                                   

Unity, the unity of man, the unity with God; unity is an extremely, extremely, important concept taught in all of God’s religions; I hope that you can see that now. Clearly, all of the writings of God, express the need for mankind to be united in love and harmony, and live together in peace and goodwill with one another; and yet men, somehow fail to see this. Clearly, there are still a great many human beings, living on this little planet of ours, that still don’t read and study the writings of God for themselves. These people must be letting other people read and interpret God’s Holy Writings for them; because, as I mentioned earlier,  1 Corinthians: 14:33 “God is not the author of confusion, but of peace.” So if we still don’t have peace and love amongst all of mankind, something is definitely wrong with this whole picture. Because, even if you don’t believe in, or follow the writings of the other religions books of God, that still leaves the religious writings that you claim to believe in, which does, in fact, state that we should be living in peace with one another; so, you really have no excuse for bad, hateful behavior towards others. Maybe this is just one of those, very sound, practical reasons why all of God’s holy manifestations, so strongly, encourage all of mankind to read and study God’s holy writings for themselves. So, other men, who have their own personal, twisted agendas, can’t lie to us and confuse and twist God’s Holy Words around, for their own personal gain, while they lead the rest of mankind around by the nose, while they play out their sick, twisted, depraved little games, to the detriment of the rest of humanity. I mean let’s think about this for a minute. Why do men of hate; hate and hurt one another, and claim that it’s all in the name of God? I mean, surly this can’t be, because they are reading God’s holy writings, for themselves; with a completely open mind, unbiased by hatred, or things they have been told to believe in. I mean really, think about it. Where does it really teach of hate and cruelty in the writings of God? I mean get real; God is not a God of meanness and hatred; His teachings and writings speak of love and good will towards all of humanity.

  John: 13:34 “Love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.”

  Romans: 13:8 “Owe no man anything, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.”

  1 John: 4:7 “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.”  3:11 “For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.”  4:8 “He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love!!!”  So, 4:11 “Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought, also to love one another.”

  Deuteronomy: 7:13 “And He (God) will Love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee.”  23:5 “Nevertheless The LORD thy God – loved thee!!!”  33:12 “And, The beloved of The LORD shall dwell in safety by Him; and The Lord shall cover him, all the day long, and He shall dwell between His, (man’s) shoulders (and His, God’s, love shall be found in the heart of men).”  10:19 “Love ye therefore the stranger: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.”

  Leviticus: 19:18 “Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am The LORD.” (King James Bible)

Then I say:

  177. “Believe in Allah and the Angels, and the Book, and spend of out your substance out of your love for Him, for your kin, for orphans, for the needy, for the wayfarer, for those who ask, and for the ransom of slaves; be than, steadfast in prayer and practice regular charity, fulfill the contracts, which ye have made and be patient, in all things; pain, suffering and adversity throughout all the periods of (your life). Such are these people of a truth the Allah fearing.” (Qur’an (Yusuf Ali) Surah  2)

And:

  31. “Allah will love you, and forgive you — for Allah is (Loving), Oft-Forgiving and Most Merciful.” 79. “Be ye true worshippers of Allah (God), Who is truly The Cherisher (Lover) of all, praise be to Allah, the Cherisher and Sustainer of the Worlds!” (The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali) Surahs 3 and 10)

For:

 “You should be a source of comfort, love and respect (to one another).” (Islam, Ali b. Abi Taalib)

  10. “The (real, true) believers are but a single Brotherhood: So make peace and reconciliation — and fear Allah, that ye may receive (His) Mercy.” (The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surah 49)

  “God (Ahura Mazda) is really all about love, and His Loving Presence may be felt everywhere.” “Zarathustra (Zoroaster) enjoins love for the whole of mankind. One who does not love man, does not really love God; for it should be realized that one soul resides in all of mankind. Thus one should be a friend to everyone. This is the social service, which is the concrete of the life of society and the individual, it is not to be held, or confined, to any particular country, but should extend throughout the world to the whole of humanity.” (ZOROASTER, Hymns of Atharvan pp. 547, 548 and 834)

  “The brotherhood of man is the idea that appealed to Him (God/Ahura Mazda) most. And that is the only meaning of the Service of the soul of the world.” “For if God (Ahura) is The One Father of all men, then all men are equal.” (ZOROASTER, Hymns of Atharvan pp. 549 and 550)

  “Love attracts, while fear repels. Thus love is the magnet and principle of unity, unity with God and unity with all men.” “When men love and help one another to the best of their power, they derive the greatest of pleasure from loving their fellowmen.” “The religion of The Gatha (Zoroastrianism) is The Religion of Love and Mazda is the friend of men.” (ZOROASTER, Hymns of Atharvan p. 500, 507 and Denkard)

In Hinduism and Buddhism we find that many gods are talked about by many different names, but I have discovered through my research into the many, various religions of God, that the Hindu and Buddhist people actually believe in only one God, like the majority of the other religions found here on this earth; it’s just that God, in the Hindu and Buddhist beliefs, is known by many different names; but all of those names are actually, in reality, names of The One and only God we all know.

He is:

  “BRAHMA (God) and the flaming AGNI, VISHNU lord of heavenly light, INDRA and benign VIVASAT ruler of the azure height, SOMA and the radiant BHAGA, and KUVERA lord of gold, and VIDHATRI The Great Creator, worshipped by the saints of old, VAYU breath of the living creatures, YAMA monarch of the dead, VARUNA with His fetters, which the trembling sinners dread and the Holy Spirit of GAYATRI goddess of the morning prayer, VASUS and the hooded NAGAS, golden-winged GARUDA the fair, KARTIKEYA the heavenly leader strong to conquer and to bless, DHARMA god of human duty, and of human righteousness, that Shrines of all these bright Immortals ruling in the skies above and Filling the pure and peaceful forest with Calm and Holy Love!” And we, as followers of (Brahma/Vishnu/God) are to “Show love and kindness to all here below.” For, “Thou art Brahma, and thou art Vishnu, thou art Mazda, thou art Rudra, thou Pragapati, thou art Agni, Varuna, Vayu, thou art Indra.” “And when they say sacrifice to this or sacrifice to that god,’ each god is but his manifestation, for He is all gods.” (Hindu, Upanishads vol. 2, Brihadaranyaka and Maitrayana-Brahmaya-Upanishad Part 1 and Hinduism, Ramayana (R. Dutt, abridged tr) and Vedas, Rig Veda – Book 10)

And:

 “I am known by uncounted trillions of names. They address Me by different names not realizing that they are all names of the one Tathagata. Some recognize me as Tathagata, some as The Self-existent One, some as Gautama the Ascetic, some as Buddha. Then there are others who recognize Me as Brahma, as Vishnu, as Ishvara;’ some as Rama, some as Indra, and some as Varuna. Still there are others who speak of me as The Unborn, as Emptiness, as ‘Suchness,’ as Truth, as Reality, as Ultimate Principle; still there are others who see Me as Dharmakaya, as Nirvana, as The Eternal; some speak of Me as sameness, as non-duality, as undying, as formless; some think of Me as the doctrine of Buddha-causation, or of Emancipation, or of the Noble Path; and some think of Me as Divine Mind and Noble Wisdom. Thus in this world and in other worlds am I known by these uncounted names, but they all see Me as the moon is seen in water. Though they all honor, praise and esteem Me, they do not fully understand the meaning and significance of the words they use; not having their own self-realization of Truth they cling to the words of their canonical books, or to what has been told them, or to what they have imagined, and fail to see that the name they are using is only one of the many names of the Tathagata.” (Buddha, Lankavatara Sutra)

  “I Am alike for all! I know not hate, I know not favour! What is made is Mine! But them that worship Me with love, I love; they are in Me, and I in them!” “Yea! Knowing Me (Brahma/God) the source of all; by Me all creatures are wrought. The wise in spirit cleave to Me, into My Being brought; with Hearts fixed on Me; breaths breathed to Me; praising Me, each to each. So have they happiness and peace, with pious thought and speech and unto these- thus serving well. Thus loving ceaselessly- I give a mind of perfect mood, whereby they draw to Me; and all for love of them I with-in their darkened souls dwell, and, with bright rays of wisdom’s lamp, their ignorance I dispel.” “And with Endless Life, and boundless Love, and power sustaineth each one of them.” So, again, now in Hinduism and Buddhism we find that God, by whatever name He chooses to go by, is all about Love and His teachings are for us to show forth love and fellowship to one another.

So

 “We will pray with Thee the ‘uthras’ prayer and ask of Thee, of the Great (Life, Haiyi or God), a petition for ourselves, for our friends, for our friends’ friends and for those who love the great Family of Life.” “Praise Thee, for amongst them all hatred, Envy and dissensions exist not.” (Sabeanism, Ginza Rba- chapters 75 and 76)

 “Diffuse Thy light over all who love.” For Thy sake do we love all that liveth, humanity is one in love. (Sabeanism, Ginza Rba- chapter 76)

God is not a God of meanness and hate, as some of the people, living here in this world, would have us believe; but God is All Loving and His real teachings are all about love and fellowship for all of us:  “Love is the mainspring of every energy! Tolerance towards each other, desire of understanding each other, knowing each other, helping each other, forgiving each other (is a requirement for all).” “The divine purpose is that men should live in unity, concord and agreement and should love one another”  “O Son of Man!” “I loved thy creation, hence I created thee. Wherefore, do thou love Me, that I may name thy name and fill thy soul with the spirit of life.”  5. “O SON OF BEING!” “Love Me, that I may love thee. If thou lovest Me not, My love can in no wise reach thee. Know this, O servant.” (Moojan Momen, The Bábí and Baha’i Religions, p. 60 The Bahá’í Faith, The Kitab-i-Aqdas, p. 175 and The Arabic Hidden Words of Bahá’u’lláh)

And God loves us:

  1 John: 4:19 “We love Him (God), because He first loved us.”

  1 John: 3:16 “Hereby perceive we The Love of God,” So, 4:7 “Beloved, let us love one another: for Love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.” For, 4:8 “He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.”

  1 Corinthians: 13:11 “Finally, brethren, be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.”

  Malachi: 1:2 “I have loved you, saith The LORD. Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us?”

  Isaiah: 43:1 “But now thus saith The LORD that created thee, and He that formed thee. Fear not: for thou art mine, (and) 43:2 I will be with thee; 43:3 For I Am The LORD Thy God, The Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour, 43:5 Fear not: for I am with thee.” 43:4 Since thou wast precious in My sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee:

Jeremiah: 31:3 “The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with loving kindness have I drawn to thee.”

Islam, The Qur’án: 164. “Shall I seek for (my) Cherisher (One Who Loves me) other than Allah, when He is the Cherisher (The Lover) of all things (that exist)?” Remember, 126. “Allah, is your Lord and the Cherisher and the Lord and Cherisher of your fathers of old?” 6. “(And He Loved and created you all). Such is Allah, your Lord and Cherisher: to Him belongs (all) dominion.” God or Allah, which ever name you want to call Him, is about love. He is all about love, as we can clearly see from these quotations taken right out of the Holy Bible and the Holy Qur’an; which only just gives us a glimpse into the Love of God found within His numerous Holy Writings:

(The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surahs 6, 37 and 39)

  “Hold fast, all together, by the rope (The Love) which Allah stretches out for you, 7. “Allah doth love the righteous.” And, “Allah loveth those who make themselves pure.” (The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surahs 3 and 9)

“God/Ahura is all Love, and His Loving Presence and kindness may be felt everywhere.”

(ZOROASTER, Hymns of Atharvan p. 834)

 “The Love of God is the greatest asset of life, as the best means of God realization.” “The Love of Mazda is the life of religion, and without that, the dead ceremonials are worse than useless.” “It is only the love of God that sustains true control over the senses. How can you subdue the senses except by The Love of God?”

(ZOROASTER, Hymns of Atharvan pp. 189, 243 and 726)

“Give Me thy heart! Adore Me! Serve Me! Cling In faith and love and reverence to Me! So shalt thou come to Me! I promise True, For thou art sweet to Me!” Love Brahma, for He most certainly loves us.

(Hindu, Bhagavad Gita (Edwin Arnold tr) chapter 18)

5. “God (Brahma/Vishnu/God) is furthering us; On us with Loving-Kindness.”

(Hindu, Vedas, Rig Veda – Book 1)

  “The true Samana (student) who is seeking the way to Brahma, let him have thoughts of love everywhere throughout the whole world pervading with (true) thoughts of love far reaching beyond measure, all embracing. Regard all with mind set free and filled with deep felt love. This is the way to a state of union with Brahma (God/ Who is all love). Be filled with thoughts of pity, sympathy and equanimity far reaching beyond measure, all-embracing even for all things that have form, or life with deep felt pity, sympathy and equanimity not one is set aside (love all equally).” (Buddha the Tevigga Sutra)

  “Let one live in love; let one be adept in one’s duties; then joyfully one will see the end of sorrow. As the jasmine sheds its withered blooms, people should shed desire and hate.” If one lives in love he loves The Uncreated One; For Brahma, The Uncreated, Loving One, loves him in return. (Buddhist, Dhammapada – Sayings of the Buddha 2 (tr. J. Richards))

  “Diffuse Thy light over all who love.” For Thy sake do we love all that liveth, humanity is one in love. (Sabeanism, Ginza Rba- chapter 76) “We will pray with Thee the uthras prayer and ask of Thee, of The Great (Life or Haiyi or God), a petition for ourselves and for our friends, for our friends’ friends and for those who love the great Family of Life.” “Praise Thee, amongst them all hatred, Envy and dissensions exist not, (does not exist).” “The Place which is all portals of radiance and light and glory, Praised be to Thee.’ ‘May the gate of sin be barred to them and the gate of light be open for them.’ ‘May they all be knit together in the communion of Life, in which there is no separation.’ ‘I will come and will fly and will reach the sons of my Name,’ ‘the sons of my Sign, and the sons of the great Family of Life.” “Diffuse Thy light (and Thy love), over all who love!’ And ‘For Thy sake do we love all that liveth; therefore, humanity is one in love; and brotherhood.” (The Ginza Rba- chapters 34, 75 and 76) “Diffuse Thy light over all who love! For Thy sake do we love all that liveth; and (all of) humanity is one in Thy love. (Sabeanism, Ginza Rba- chapter 76)

                                                     

So:

 “The divine purpose is that men should live in unity, concord and agreement and should love one another” (Bahá’í Faith, Abdu’l-Baha, Baha’i World Faith – Abdu’l-Baha Section, p. 245)

I think this pretty much gets my message across that God is really a God of love and not hate, and that His religions are also about love and not hate. If these various verses that I have picked out for your perusal don’t meet with your approval, or you feel that I haven’t really made a true case that God is really a God of love, Who is telling all of mankind to love one another and to live in peace with one another; then let me challenge you. Open up the books of God and read and study His word and holy writings for yourself. And if you find a real aversion to this, at least open up the book of God that you are familiar with, and read it. If you really want to know the real truth, for yourself, you are just going to have to clear your mind of all the previous things, you have been told to just believe in and just accept, and you are actually going to have to physically read God’s Holy Writings for yourself, and make a decision about all of this, for your very own self. Then if you still feel that the writings of God teach you to hate others and find that your heart is still filled with hate and loathing for your fellow man, than at least you have looked for yourself and came to your very own conclusion and you are not just being told what you should believe in. As for all the rest and what your final actions are going to be towards others, that is something that you are really, just going to have to take up with God, when you meet Him, or one of His representatives; because He is watching you, no matter what you say or do, and no matter what you do to, or for others? Nothing is hidden from Him, no matter how much we might like to hide our actions; we will all be held accountable for our actions and beliefs in the end!!! Jeremiah: 23:24 “Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith The LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith The LORD.” 39. “Allah doth see all that they do.” (The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surah 8)

You may have also noticed that there are quite a few words and sentences enclosed in parentheses. In most of the cases this is the way I found these passages, but in some cases I have used this to help indicate a certain meaning, I see being expressed in the writings, or to help enlighten the reader to a certain truth I see being conveyed to us. You may also have noticed that some of these topics seem to appear more than once throughout this work, and to this I say, the writings of our Creator have more than one meaning, as I have already demonstrated; and since these topics, I am using, look at the writings of God from different angles and standpoints the reader can, again, come to see that the writings of God can be viewed from different perspectives and points of view.

So to recap: All the religions of God tell us that we should be united together, as one human family, which only makes sense, because we all worship the one same God: Allah, Ahura, Haiyi, Brahma, etc… Who loves each and every one of us, because, as I want to state one more time: God is a God of love, and He actually does love each and every one of us!!!

     “We believe in the Revelation which has come down to us and in that which came down to you; (for) Our Allah and your Allah is one; and it is to Him we bow.” Therefore:  103 “Hold (ye) fast, all together, by the rope (The Love) which Allah stretches out for you, and be not divided amongst yourselves; and remember with gratitude Allah’s favor on you; for ye were enemies and He joined your hearts in love, so that by His grace, ye became brethren; Thus doth Allah make His signs clear to you: that ye may be guided.” (The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surahs 3 and 29)

 Malachi: 2:10 “Have we not all one Father (God)? hath not one God created us?”

 Zechariah: 7:9 “Thus speaketh (God) The LORD of hosts, shew mercy and compassion every man to his brother.”

 Mark: 12:32 “For there is one God; and there is none other but He (Him):”

 1 John: 4:21 “And this commandment have we from Him, That he who loveth God (shall) love his brother also.”

 1 John: 3:11 “For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.” (King James Bible)

 “Mazda is not The God, of any particular tribe. The doors of Ahura Mazda are not closed to foreigners. So as soon as anyone of them becomes fit, he is to be included in the fold (the one religion of God).” “Love of God is calculated to remove the distinction(s) between one nation and another.” Thus, “Zarathustra enjoins love for the whole of mankind. One who does not love mankind, does not really love God. It should be realized that one soul resides in all. Thus one should be a friend to everyone.” (ZOROASTER, Hymns of Atharvan pp. 542, 544, 547 and 548)

 “Thou art Brahma, and thou art Vishnu, thou art Mazda, thou art Rudra, thou Pragapati, thou art Agni, Varuna, Vayu, thou art Indra.” “And when they say sacrifice to this, or sacrifice to that god,’ each god is but His manifestation, for He is all of the gods.” “Fourfold are our human duties: first to study holy lore (read the holy writings), and Then we are to live as good householders, feed the hungry at our door, Then to pass our days in penance, last to fix our thoughts above, But the final goal of virtue, it is Truth and deathless Love,” on all alike. “Be united, be in harmony, in affection, Radiant, with kindly thought Clothed in good and strength; united have I made your minds, your ordinances, your hearts.” (Hindu, Upanishads vol. 2, Brihadaranyaka, Maitrayana-Brahmaya and Hindu, Mababharata and Vedas, Yajur Veda – Kanda IV)

 “I (Brahma/God) am known by uncounted trillions of names. They address me by (these) different names, not realizing that they are all names of the one same (God), The Tathagata. Some recognize me as Tathagata, some as The Self-Existent One, some as Gautama The Ascetic, some as Buddha. Then there are others who recognize me as Brahma, as Vishnu, as Ishvara; some see me as Sun, as Moon; what they have imagined, and fail to see that the name they are using is only one of the many names of The Tathagata.” (Buddha, Lankavatara Sutra)

So than:

 “After they, (these people) attain to self-realization, they will find themselves reacting spontaneously to the impulses of a great and compassionate heart that is endowed with skillful and boundless means and sincerely and they will find themselves wholly devoted to the emancipation of all the human beings. Not until all discrimination is abandoned is their perfect emancipation.” (Buddha, Lankavatara Sutra)

So than, now:

 “Owing to their original vows they will be transported by emotions of love and compassion, as they (all 0f humanity) become aware of the part they are to perform in the carrying out of their vows for the emancipation of all beings. Thus for they do not enter into Nirvana, but, in truth, they too are already in Nirvana, because in their emotions of love and compassion, there is no rising of discrimination; henceforth, with them, discrimination no more takes place (only brotherhood with all mankind).” (Buddha Lankavatara Sutra)

 “Manda d-Haiyi (Haiyi/God), Sublimest of beings, Knowledge of Life is Thy name, Truth is Thy name. Pure is Thy name, Magnified is Thy name, Honoured is Thy name, Blessed is Thy name And Abiding is Thy name. Victorious art Thou and Victorious is Thy name. Victorious are the words of Truth, which proceed from out of Thy mouth Over all deeds.” “He is, The Great Life, God is His name; the God of all names.” (Sabeanism, Ginza Rba- chapter 75)

 So:

 “We will pray with Thee and ask of Thee, of The Great (Life, God), a petition for ourselves, for our friends, for our friends’ friends and for those who love the great Family of Life.” “Praise be to Thee, for amongst them all hatred and Envy and dissensions exist not. The Place, which is all portals of radiance, light and glory, Praiseth Thee.” “May the gate of sin be barred to them and the gate of light be open for them. May they all be knit together in the communion of Life in which there is no separation.” “I will come and will fly And will reach the sons of my Name, the sons of my Sign, and the sons of the great Family of Life.” “Diffuse Thy light over all who love. For Thy sake do we love all that liveth; therefore, humanity is one in love and brotherhood.” (Sabeanism, Ginza Rba- chapters 34, 75 and 76)

And:

 “There is none other God but Thee, the Omnipotent, the Self-Subsisting; Thou art God, there is no God besides Thee and that all men shall be raised up to life through Thee.” So, “Denounce ye not one another, ere the Day-Star of Ancient Eternity shineth forth above the horizon of His sublimity. We have created you (all) from one tree and have caused you to be as the leaves and fruit of the same tree, that haply ye may become a source of comfort to one another. Regard ye not others save as ye regard your own selves, that no feelings of aversion may prevail amongst you, (for) it behooveth you all to be one indivisible people.” (Selections from the Writings of the Bab, pp. 1 and 127)

 “There is one God; mankind is one; the foundations of religion are one.” And so, “Our God is one God, The Creator of all mankind (and) He provides for and protects all.” So “there can be no doubt, what-so-ever, that the peoples of the world, of whatever race or religion, derive their inspiration from one heavenly Source and are the subjects of One God (The Creator and The One Heavenly Father).” (Abdu’l-Baha in London, p. 20 Baha’i World Faith p. 279 and Baha’u’llah, The Proclamation of Baha’u’llah, p. 114) “It is not for him to pride himself who loveth his own country, but rather for him who loveth the whole world. The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens.” (Baha’u’llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah, p. 250)

Unity than, is such a small, tiny word, but its implications are so very, very grand and its implications, so profound and far reaching. I have tried to demonstrate that the religious writings of God all agree, with one another, through the essential religious teachings found throughout all of the religions of God; with the oneness of God being taught in all of these religious faiths; so we can see the oneness of religion and the oneness of man being taught and envisioned throughout the words of the manifestations of God; which should, in principal, lead to a united world and peace on earth like it is in heaven; which up to this point has not happened yet.

“Inasmuch as human interpretations and blind imitations differ widely, religious strife and disagreement have arisen among mankind and the light of true religion has been extinguished and the unity of the world of humanity destroyed.” (Bahá’í Faith, Abdu’l-Baha, Baha’i World Faith Abdu’l-Baha Section, p. 225)

So than once again, it all comes back down to us, and the very real investigation into the writings of God independently, and the search of truth for ourselves!!! If man is ever going to find and have any real, true peace, on this earth, men are going to have to open up their eyes and take a real look for him or herself, instead of just blindly accepting whatever dogma and theology the clergy wishes for us to believe in.

“O my brother, when a true seeker determineth to take the step of search in the path leading to the knowledge Of The Ancient of Days, he must, before all else, cleanse and purify his heart, which is the seat of the revelation of the inner mysteries of God, from the obscuring dust of all acquired knowledge, and the allusions of the embodiments of satanic fancy. 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. He must so cleanse his heart, that no remnant of either love or hate may linger therein, lest that love blindly incline him to error or that hate repel him away from the truth. Even as thou dost witness in this day how most of the people, because of such love and hate, are bereft of the immortal Face, have strayed far from the Embodiments of the divine mysteries, and, shepherdless, are roaming through the wilderness of oblivion and error. That seeker must, at all times, put his trust in God, must renounce the peoples of the earth, detach himself from the world of dust, and cleave unto Him Who is the Lord of Lords. He, must never seek to exalt himself above any one, must wash away from the tablet of his heart, every trace of pride and vainglory, must cling unto patience and resignation, observe silence, and refrain from idle talk. For the tongue is a smoldering fire, and excess of speech a deadly poison. Material fire consumeth the body, whereas the fire of the tongue devoureth both heart and soul. The force of the former lasteth, but for a time, whilst the effects of the latter endure a century.” “That seeker should also regard backbiting as grievous error, and keep himself aloof from its dominion, in-as-much as backbiting quencheth the light of the heart, and extinguisheth the life of the soul. He should be content with little, and freed from all inordinate desire. He should treasure the companionship of those that have renounced the world, and regard avoidance of boastful and worldly people a precious benefit. At the dawn of every day he should commune with God, and with all his soul persevere in the quest of his Beloved. 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. He should succour the dispossessed, and never withhold his favour from the destitute. He should show kindness to animals, how much more, unto his fellow-man, to him who is endowed with the power of utterance. He should not hesitate to offer up his life for his Beloved, nor allow the censure of the people to turn him away from the Truth. He should not wish for others that which he doth not wish for himself, nor promise that which he doth not fulfill. With all his heart should the seeker avoid fellowship with evil doers, and pray for the remission of their sins. He should forgive the sinful, and never despise his low estate, for none knoweth what his own end shall be. How often hath a sinner, at the hour of death, attained to the essence of faith, and, quaffing the immortal draught, hath taken his flight unto the celestial Concourse. And how often hath a devout believer, at the hour of his soul’s ascension, been so changed as to fall into the nethermost fire. Our purpose in revealing these convincing and weighty utterances, is to impress upon the seeker, that he should regard all else beside God as transient, and count all things save Him, Who is the Object of all adoration, as utter nothingness.” (Bahá’í Faith, Baha’u’llah, The Kitab-i-Iqan, pp. 192 thru 194)

 1 Corinthians: 14:33 “For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace.” (King James Bible)

So:

“Religion should be the Cause of Love and Affection.” “Religion should unite all hearts and cause wars and disputes to vanish from the face of the earth, give birth to spirituality, and bring life and light to each heart. If religion becomes a cause of dislike, hatred and division, it were better to be without it, and to withdraw from such a religion would be a truly religious act. For it is clear that the purpose of a remedy is to cure; but if the remedy should only aggravate the complaint it had better be left alone. Any religion which is not a cause of love and unity is no religion. (For), all the holy prophets were as doctors to the soul; they gave prescriptions for the healing of mankind; thus any remedy that causes disease does not come from the great and supreme Physician.” (Bahá’í Faith, Abdu’l-Baha, Paris Talks, p. 130)

Now this doesn’t mean that we should never listen to what someone else has to say, it just means that we are responsible to ascertain, for ourselves, whether what we are being told is in accordance with truth or not; which means that we have to investigate the word of God along with anything and everything else that is said to us, for our very own selves; “because there is your truth and my truth and then there is the truth,” which is found by investigation into what we are being told and in the actual teachings and writings of God; which brings us back full circle to the reason why I spent all of these years doing research and spent another number of years writing this book, along with the others that are in the planning stages. I am trying to help mankind to get along with one another by demonstrating that there is, but one God and He loves all of mankind, and He has an actual plan for all of mankind, which He has been trying to tell us, all along, through these various different religions, which all add up to the one religion, which again comprises all of the religions. So, all of these splintered activities on the part of men, and all these conflicts and confrontations are just baseless and the lack of a good, thorough, moral education on the part of these flawed individuals who are perpetrating all these terrible crimes against humanity; and I say again, a severe lack of good, moral, spiritual, religious education on the part of these really, depraved individuals, who would destroy all of humanity, just to satisfy, what they think is their own right, or cause; twisting and turning, and recreating God’s Holy Word just to suit their own debased, twisted needs; because anyone who has truly studied the writings of God, with a searching, inquiring, open mind, knows that real God given morals, don’t condone such activities, as violence and hatred against fellow human beings, or the total disregard for human welfare and life. Because, God’s religions, absolutely, teach of the love of one another and respect and mercy and justice and a whole number of other spiritual teachings, that place mankind on a firm foundation of righteousness and spiritually, promoting healthy life and activities, that lead all of humanity down a road of prosperity and spiritual happiness, that brings all of humanity closer to God; and eventually leads him to a home in heaven; which I hope I have already demonstrated, and will continue to demonstrate throughout the rest of this book.

So:

I dedicate this entire book to peace; in the hope that this work; this whole massive undertaking; may help to bring an end to all of this senseless hatred and violence, that has hindered the true progress of humanity up to this point; and help mankind to get along with one another and help bring unity to the world of mankind, once-and-for-all, through the truths that are discussed in this work. We just need to open up our hearts, to the all-encompassing love God has for all of mankind, not just one little group of people; which, in itself, would help prevent most, if not, all of these senseless atrocities and criminal activities men do to one another; in the name of self-indulgence and love of self. We also need to keep an open mind to the various truths found within all of God’s holy writings and religions, which again, leads to our overall spiritual education and development; and we need to also be observant of the good traits found within our fellow human brothers and sisters, which will help lead us to true harmony and fellowship with one another within this most wonderful human family of ours.

Now as to the format of this work, this book is not broken down into chapters like most books, but is written in a format of individual topics that allows the reader to ether read this whole, entire work through from cover to cover, gleaning what he or she can from these writings, as the reader goes along, or allow the individual reader to pick and choose from any of the over 390+ topics and subtopics, from the table of contents, allowing the person the freedom to skim over the entire list of subjects  in the table of contents and pick and choose what is interesting to the individual, or is useful to their investigation. You only need to click on the topic found within the table of contents and you will be automatically taken there for your reading and investigating convenience. Also, I have taken the extra time and made it a point to indicate, for the reader, where I located each individual quotation from, at either the beginning or ending of each quotation, or series of quotations; so the reader, or researcher, can find the book the quote is found in, and read it for him or herself; allowing each reader to verify the truth and validity of the quotations, used within this work with relative ease; although I must admit, that some of these quotations varied from one translation to another; and the quotations can also vary, as-well, from one book printing to another, due to academic revisions. Also, some of these quotations are buried so deeply within lengthy works that have no paragraph, or page numbers indicated, and there was absolutely nothing I was able do about that; sorry for the inconvenience people, there’s nothing I can do to fix the problem. I had to read and research the materials that were available; maybe people in the future will be able to do something about this problem. “It is what it is” as a friend of mine sometimes tells me, when life gets a little complicated; and there is not much any of us can do about it. Man is always trying to change things, and make, what he thinks are improvements to things found in the world around us, such as the writings of God, which of course, changes the perspective for the reader, as to what the prophet was actually trying to say in the scriptures; and as I said earlier, “it is what it is” and all we can do is try to understand what we have been given and hope that we are, at least, on the right track as to what truth God’s holy manifestations were originally trying to say to us, in the first place. And, I must also admit, that I myself, may be guilty of some of these slight modifications and infractions, because in some instances, there were so many really good, quality examples of topic passages, by one manifestation or another, to choose from, that instead of leaving many quotes out, due to the sheer bulk of this endeavor, I chose to lump some of these quotes together, so the reader would have more good quality information to absorb, to help him or her make better, more in-formed decisions about the word of God and how they may use it for the benefit of mankind.

Also, the reader might have notice that some of these topics I have chosen to include in this work, may not actually be the type of topics that only deal with good morals and the improvement of good genuine character development or are of the essential religious teachings, I talked about so much earlier in this work. And this is because, not all of these various topics I keep finding, that seem to keep appearing over and over again, throughout all the writings of God, are essential teachings that always deal with good character development, and the knowledge of, and about God. But instead, some of these teachings are warnings to mankind; while others are prophecies of events that seem to occur over and over again or just subjects that keep appearing over and over again, with each new manifestation of God; while still others, just seem to be in general, just general guidelines that help guide us along in our quest for a better spiritual understanding of God and in general, just help us to get along with one another; while revealing other teachings, that are ever building on an ever greater developing human civilization, that is slowly moving humanity to the point of being one human family; which will end all warfare and bring about the general hope of a better future for our children and our children’s, children and so forth, into an ever advancing human civilization blossoming across the whole face of the earth.

And so, it is my hope that you will get out of this work, something that will help you along in whatever path you have chosen for yourself, and that maybe you will come to understand a little more about what God’s purpose is for us, here in this life; and maybe you will come just a little bit closer to your Creator and your fellow human brothers and sisters; and that love and peace may finally become a reality in this human world of ours. As for all of these years of research I have put into this work, the main religions I used in the research of this book were Sabeanism; (Sabean, found in the bible or the Sabians of the Qur’an, which is the religion of Adam, the father of mankind, and his 3^rd son Seth). I have also used the religious writings of Hinduism, or Hindu, the religion of Krishna; and Zoroastrianism, which is the religion of Zoroaster (Zarathustra). Buddhism is also one of the main religions I used, in this book, from Buddha; and Judaism, the religion of Moses, as well as The Bible, which is about, The Christian religion, founded by Jesus Christ. I also used quotes from Islam, the religion of Muhammad, which was also one of the main religions I used in the writing of this book; and then I also used writings of the religion of The Bab (the forerunner of Baha’u’llah); and then finally I have used many, many quotes from The Bahá’í Faith, the religion of Bahá’u’lláh, the prophet founder of the newest revelation from God on this earth. The main books I used in this project were quite numerous; many of these books were found right in the Bahá’í Writings, which can now be excessed on line. I also used The Selections from the Writings of The Bab and the Dawn breakers. The Qur’án, the book of Muhammad, and The Holy Bible, and the Torah, the writings of both Moses and Jesus Christ were also used. The Eight Fold Path, the Dhammapada and The Buddhist Bible were among the many religious books I used from The Buddha, as well as the writings of the, Bhagavad gita, The Laws of Manu, The Mahabharata, The Ramayana, and The Vedas as well as The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, I used all from the religion of Krishna. The Avesta, The Denkard and the Hymns of Zarathustra were the books I used from the writings of Zoroaster (Zarathustra), and The Ginza Rba, the canonical prayer book of Mandaeans from the Sabean religion, which is the writings of Adam, the father of mankind, I also used. I sought out the Sabean Writings with some difficulties. I wanted to give the person, reading my work, something different that he or she can study, that is not so readily available, and yet, one can easily see, from the writings of this religion, that this religion, like the nine other religions, I used in the makeup of book, is unmistakably the work of The One, True, God; Who has been guiding the hands and mouths of all of His holy manifestations, to mankind, from the beginning of time.

Now I am sure there are some people out there that are thinking to themselves “Ha I could take the writings from these very same books of religion you used, and write a book ten times the size of this one you wrote, which is actually several thousand pages, showing all of the discrepancies and differences between all of these religions,” and I am the first to admit, I would agree with you on each and every occasion. I could have written this book based completely on all the material laws or the accidental laws, that are subject to change with the advent of each and every manifestation of God, and absolutely shown how all of the writings of, each and every one of these religions differed from one dispensation to another dispensation or from one religion to another religion; and all of this would be absolutely 100% true. The more than numerous, differences between these different religions of God, would seem to appear almost insurmountable, in all of the dissimilarities, divergences and discrepancies between these different religions; but then again, we would also have to take into account, all of the, all too real, differences and divergences, in the human cultures of mankind at these various periods in history; if we were really being true, sincere and honest with ourselves. Because, everything dealing with humanity, would have been completely different from one age to the next, and so there would have been the need for a different set of laws and ordinances for mankind at these different times; so these major dissimilarities in all of these material laws and ordinances, given to mankind at these different periods of time, would have been justified, in the eyes of God, in each and every case. And that is not to even mention, all of the various traditions and dogmas that man would have had time to come up with and create, for himself through the clergy; which would almost, certainly differ from one religion to the next. The thing is, I chose to write about all of the essential laws and teachings of these religions of God, that are the same with each and every religion and dispensation; because these are the ordinances and instructions, that come to us from God Himself, that deal with the progressive nature of the soul in man, and the spiritual advancement of the human soul towards it’s Creator. These are the laws that count! These are the rules that cause the growth and advancement of mankind in this world and in the next. These are the actual, real laws that are actually going to unify man of the future, and bring about “peace on earth like it is in heaven.” The rest of these laws and teachings, are really just dealing with the differing problems and conditions of this mortal world we live in; which are not useless by any means, because all of these laws and regulations deal with the very, real formation and advancement of an ever progressing human civilization throughout the world of mankind; moving us closer towards real solutions to and for, our ever changing, ever present problems of mankind’s interactions with one another, and I’ll leave it at that…

Now, I know that there are some people out there, who are not going to believe in what I am trying to accomplish here or agree with what I am trying to demonstrate to mankind, no matter how much logic and reason I use or how many verses and quotations from the different religions of God I quote, and that’s just fine. I am not trying to convert or change anyone from who or what they are; that is something that is strictly between you and God, your Creator. I am only stating what the religions of God are, in fact, actually saying in His religious books. I’m not sugar coating it, or trying to reinvent it. This is not some new form of theology or dogma, or any other form of man-made inventions and interpretations of the word of God. This is all really just, plain and simple, straight, forward quotations, that I have found in the writings of God, as close to what I could locate, of the true actual statements of the messengers, as I could find. I am not trying to reinterpret the writings of God, though I do state what I think the writings of God are actually saying about the various topics and how they all fit together in this grand puzzle of His, and how they reflect His will towards us; but I’m also telling you to come to your own conclusions about God’s writings for your very own selves; and I am absolutely not trying to convince you to think the way I do. If you don’t see something the way I do, that’s fine. This is not something that is between you and me. I am only putting the writings out there for the people to look at and come to their very own conclusions based on the information and evidence at hand; this is not some preconceived ideas and notions that have been passed down throughout the ages, telling you what to believe in. Your belief is something that is strictly between you and your God. These quotations are all from His verses and His quotations, that He has revealed to all of mankind throughout the ages, through His various manifestations. The only thing I had to do with any of this, was to search throughout the religious writings of His prophets, find the particular quotations, about the various religious topics, I found of interest in His religious books, and record them; generally giving brief statements on what I believe the quotations are actually, in-fact saying to us and telling us, and why these writings are pertinent to that particular topic, and to the general overall needs of humanity at this particular juncture in time; and again, all of this is based on the quotations I have found in His Holy Books. This book is designed for you to examine freely and privately, if you choose, unhindered by people telling you what you should or shouldn’t think and believe in; so you can come to your very own personal, conclusions based on what God’s writings actually have to say about the particular topics indicated here. Your thoughts and conclusions and what you actually decide to do about them, is again, strictly between you and your Creator. The only thing I am doing here is putting the message of God, and His various prophets, out there for you and everyone else to look at and judge for yourselves. As to your investigations, whoever you might be, male or female; Good luck in your studies and in all of your future endeavors. May the gift God has chosen to bequeath on us, settle upon you and those you love, and may true happiness, more abundantly come into your lives and that of your families; and God’s will finally be done on this earth.

Copyright: Edward Anthony Jewell. This work might be copyrighted for my own protection, but feel free to copy sections or excerpts from this work for research, religious use and work in the name of God and such events; and may God’s Love be always with you and in your life.