The word  of God is hid from the spiritually blind.

 

261. The word is hid from the spiritually blind and those individuals who, by some action in this life, God chooses to withhold the truth from their eyes: This is a very common reaction to men at the inception of a new dispensation. Many people just can’t see the hidden truth veiled within the heart of the words of God.  Christianity: John 4:24 “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit.” Since God is a spirit it only stands to reason that we should worship Him in spirit, and that His words are, in reality, spiritual in context, so the word is hidden from most people who think on a more physical level.  Judaism: Isaiah 6:9 “And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.” 29:10 “For the LORD hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered.” 29:11 “And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed,” Jeremiah 5:21 “Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not:” 5:22 “Fear ye not me? saith the LORD: will ye not tremble at my presence, which have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it: and though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it?” 5:23 “But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone.”  Christianity: Luke 9:45 “But they understood not this saying, and it was hid from them, that they perceived it not:” 2 Corinthians 4:3 “But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:” 2 Corinthians 4:4 “In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” 2 Corinthians 4:18 “While 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.” 2 Corinthians 8:12 “For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not.”

ISLAM: 7. “He it is Who has sent down to thee the Book: in it are verses basic or fundamental (of established meaning); they are the foundation of the Book: others are allegorical.” (symbolisms or parables not so readily seen)

(The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surah   3)

Islam: 46. “Think ye, if Allah (God) took away your hearing and your sight, and sealed up your hearts, who — a god other than Allah — could restore them to you? See how We explain the Signs by various (symbols): Yet they turn aside.” 108. “Those are they whose hearts, ears, and eyes Allah has sealed up, and they take no heed.”

(The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surahs 6 and 16)

Islam: 46. “Do they not travel through the land, so that their hearts (and mind) may thus learn wisdom and their ears may thus learn to hear? Truly it is not their eyes that are blind but their hearts which are in their breasts.”

(The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surah  22)

Islam: “Let every nation follow what they used to worship, and now we are waiting for our Lord.’ Then the Almighty will come to them in a shape other than the one which they saw the first time, and He will say, ‘I am your Lord,’ and they will say, ‘You are not our Lord.”’ They will be blind to the new manifestation of God, Allah will send them. They have eyes to see, but don’t see the true light of Allah when it dawns, and fail to hear the truth of His words, but, instead, hold onto the literal words of their holy books, failing to see the new light of the spirit of God in the words of the new manifestation, and the new book.

(Hadith, Bukhari Vol 9, Book 93, # 532)

ZOROASTRIANISM: 50. “Blind are all those who, on this earth, do not follow the religion, do not benefit the living, and do not commemorate the dead.”

(Zoroaster, The Zend-Avesta, Avesta Fragments)

Zoroastrianism: Denkard. Zoroaster, “In this world, among men and the brute creation there are beings which live and move about in (spiritual) blindness.”

HINDUISM: “Krishna. Now will I open unto thee whose heart Rejects not that last lore, deepest-concealed, That farthest secret of My Heavens and Earths, Which but to know shall set thee free from ills.”

(Hindu, Bhagavad Gita (Edwin Arnold tr) chapter 9)

Hinduism: “Thus hath been opened thee This Truth of Truths, the Mystery more hid Than any secret mystery. Meditate! And- as thou wilt- then act!” “That which was hidden by their love, is made manifest.”

(Hindu, Bhagavad Gita (Edwin Arnold tr) chapter 18 and Upanishads vol. 1, Aitareya-Aranyaka Part 1)

BUDDHISM: 8. “Better than a hundred years of not seeing the supreme path is living one day if a person does see the supreme path.” “Better is a single day’s life of one Who understands the truth sublime Than a hundred years’ life of one Who knows not that truth.”

(Buddhist, Dhammapada – Sayings of the Buddha 2 and 3 (tr. J. Richards))

Buddhism: “The ignorant and simple-minded declare that meaning is not otherwise than words, that as words are, so is meaning. They think that as meaning has no body of its own that it cannot be different from words and, therefore, declare meaning to be identical with words. In this they are ignorant of the nature of words, which are subject to birth and death, whereas meaning is not; words are dependent upon letters and meaning is not; meaning is apart from existence and nonexistence, it has no substratum, it is unborn. The Tathagatas do not teach a Dharma that is dependent upon letters. Anyone who teaches a doctrine that is dependent upon letters and words is a mere prattler, because Truth is beyond letters and words and books.” “This does not mean that words and books never declare what is in conformity with meaning and truth, but it means that words and books are dependent upon discriminations, while meaning and truth are not; moreover, words and books are subject to the interpretation of individual minds, while meaning and truth are not. But if Truth is not expressed in words and books, the scriptures which contain the meaning of Truth would disappear, and when the scriptures disappear there will be no more disciples and masters and Bodhisattvas and Buddhas, and there will be nothing to teach. But no one must become attached to the words of the scriptures because even the canonical texts sometimes deviate from their straightforward course owing to the imperfect functioning of sentient minds. Religious discourses are given by myself and other Tathagatas in response to the varying needs and faiths of all manner of beings, in order to free them from dependence upon the thinking function of the mind-system, but they are not given to take the place of self-realization of Noble Wisdom. When there is recognition that there is nothing in the world but what is seen of the mind itself, all dualistic discriminations will be discarded and the truth of imagelessness will be understood, and will be seen to be in conformity with meaning rather than with words and letters.” “The ignorant and simple-minded being fascinated with their self-imaginations and erroneous reasonings, keep on dancing and leaping about, but are unable to understand the discourse by words about the truth of self-realization, much less are they able to understand the Truth itself. Clinging to the external world, they cling to the study of books which are a means only, and do not know properly how to ascertain the truth of self-realization, which is Truth unspoiled by the four propositions. Self-realization is an exalted state of inner attainment which transcends all dualistic thinking and which is above the mind-system with its logic, reasoning, theorizing, and illustrations. The Tathagatas discourse to the ignorant, but sustain the Bodhisattvas as they seek self-realization of Noble Wisdom.” “Therefore, let every disciple take good heed not to become attached to words as being in perfect conformity with meaning, because Truth is not in the letters.” (Buddha, Lankavatara Sutra

SABEANISM: “There were those who bought my wares. (the holy word) The eyes (of such a one) were filled with light, Filled with light were his eyes (On) beholding the Great (One) in the House of Perfection, There were those who did not buy my wares. They went on, reached their end and lay down. they were blind and saw not, Their ears were stopped and they heard not And their hearts were not awakened.” (Sabeanism, Ginza Rba- chapter 90)

BABI RELIGION: “These utterances are revealed according to your 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. By the righteousness of God! Were We to lift the veil ye would swoon away.”

(The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 6)

Babi Religion: “Their hearts are deprived of the power of true insight, and thus they cannot see.”

(The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 79)

BAHA’I FAITH: “These words have streamed from the pen of this Wronged One in one of His Tablets: ‘The purpose of the one true God, exalted be His glory, hath been to bring forth the Mystic Gems out of the mine of man — they Who are the Dawning-Places of His Cause and the Repositories of the pearls of His knowledge; for, God Himself, glorified be He, is the Unseen, the One concealed and hidden from the eyes of men.” “It is now incumbent upon them who are endowed with a hearing ear and a seeing eye to ponder these sublime words, in each of which the oceans of inner meaning and explanation are hidden, that haply the words uttered by Him Who is the Lord of Revelation may enable His servants to attain, with the utmost joy and radiance, unto the Supreme Goal and Most Sublime Summit — the dawning-place of this Voice.” “Inspire then my soul, O my God, with Thy wondrous remembrance, that I may glorify Thy name. Number me not with them who read Thy words and fail to find Thy hidden gift which, as decreed by Thee, is contained therein, and which quickeneth the souls of Thy creatures and the hearts of Thy servants.”

(Bahá’í Faith, Baha’u’llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, pp. 12, 147 and Prayers and Meditations by Baha’u’llah, p. 82)