Learn contentment and be patient with the events of the world God has ordained for us in this life.

 

35. Contentment. The religions of God tell us that we need to learn contentment and be patient with the events of the world God has ordained for us in this life:  Babi Religion: “Remain patient as we have remained patient.” (The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 15) How else can we use the tests and trials of this life to grow stronger spiritually. Tests and trials come to us for a reason!  Judaism: Job 6:28 “Now therefore be content,” Psalms 37:7 “Rest in The LORD, and wait patiently for Him: fret not thyself.” Be content. Ecclesiastes 7:8 “Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof: and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.” Judges 19:6 “Be content, I pray thee.” Sirach 29:22 “Better is the life of a poor man in a mean cottage, than delicate fare in another man’s house. Be it little or much, hold thee contented, that thou hear not the reproach of thy house.” (Deuterocanonical Apocrypha,)  Christianity: Philippians 4:11 “Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.” 1 and 2 Timothy 6:8 “And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.” 2:24 “And the servant of The Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient,” Hebrews 13:5 “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” 1 Peter 2:20 “For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.” Romans 12:10 “Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;” 12:11 “Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving The Lord;” 12:12 “Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;” 12:13 “Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality.”

 BABI RELIGION: “O God! Recompense those who endure patiently in Thy days and strengthen their hearts to walk undeviatingly in the path of Truth.”

(The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 211)

 ISLAM: 45. “Seek (Allah’s, God‘s) help with patient perseverance and prayer: it is indeed hard, except to those who bring a lowly spirit.” 46. “Who bear in mind the certainty that they are to meet their Lord, and that they are to return to Him.”

(The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surah   2)

Islam: 153. “O ye who believe! seek help with patient perseverance and prayer: for Allah is with those who patiently persevere.”

(The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surah   2)

Islam: 28. “And keep thy soul content with those who call on their Lord morning and evening, seeking His Face; and let not thine eyes pass beyond them, seeking the pomp and glitter of this Life; nor obey any whose heart We have permitted to neglect the remembrance of Us, one who follows his own desires, whose case has gone beyond all bounds.”

(The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surah  18)

 ZOROASTRIANISM: “O Spenta Armaiti, kindly Do this out of kindness to the creatures open asunder and stretch thyself afar, to bear flocks and herds and men.” “May peace triumph over discord here, and generous giving (benevolence) over avarice, (patience over intolerance), reverence over contempt, speech with truthful words over lying utterance. May the Righteous Order gain the victory over the Demon of the Lie.”

(Zoroaster, The Zend-Avesta, Avesta – Vendidad and Yasna 60)

 Zoroastrianism: 8. “He is patient, like a priest; he wants only a small piece of bread, like a priest; in these things he is like unto a priest.”

(Zoroaster, The Zend-Avesta, Avesta – Vendidad)

 HINDUISM: “By good or ill; patient, contented, firm In faith, mastering himself, true to his word, Seeking Me, heart and soul; vowed unto Me, That man I love!”

(Hindu, Bhagavad Gita (Edwin Arnold tr) chapter 12)

 Hinduism: 12. “He who desires happiness must strive after a perfectly contented disposition and control himself; for happiness has contentment for its root, the root of unhappiness is the contrary (disposition).”

(Hindu, Laws of Manu chapter 4)

 Hinduism: 246. “He who is persevering, gentle, (and) patient, shuns the company of men of cruel conduct, and does no injury (to living creatures), gains, if he constantly lives in that manner, by controlling his organs and by liberality, heavenly bliss.”

(Hindu, Laws of Manu chapter 4)

 BUDDHISM: 23. “It is good to have companions when occasion arises, and it is good to be contented with whatever comes. Merit is good at the close of life, and the elimination of all suffering is good.”

(Buddhist, Dhammapada – Sayings of the Buddha 1 (tr. J. Richards))

 Buddhism: “Mahamati, you and all the Bodhisattvas should discipline yourselves in the realization and patient acceptance.” (Buddha, Lankavatara Sutra)

 SABEANISM: “Praise Thee, for amongst them all hatred, Envy and dissensions exist not.” Forbearance and patience reigns. “Enlargement of life there shall be for the believing.”  (Sabeanism, Ginza Rba- chapters 71 and 75)

 BABI RELIGION: “I seek patience only in God. Verily He is the best protector and the best helper. No refuge do I seek save God. Verily He is the guardian and the best supporter…”

(The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 19)

 Babi Religion: “Remain patient as we have remained patient.” “BE Thou patient,”

(The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, pp. 16 and 56)

BAHA’I FAITH: “It behoveth thee to be content with the Will of God, and a true and loving and trusted friend to all the peoples of the earth, without any exceptions whatever.”

(Bahá’í Faith, Abdu’l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of Abdu’l-Baha, p. 25)

Baha’i Faith: “If anyone revile you, or trouble touch you, in the path of God, be patient, and put your trust in Him Who heareth, Who seeth. He, in truth, witnesseth, and perceiveth, and doeth what He pleaseth, through the power of His sovereignty. He, verily, is The Lord of strength, and of might.”

(Bahá’í Faith, Baha’u’llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 24)

Baha’i Faith: “Be generous in prosperity, and thankful in adversity. Be worthy of the trust of thy neighbor, and look upon him with a bright and friendly face. Be a treasure to the poor, an admonisher to the rich, an answerer of the cry of the needy, a preserver of the sanctity of thy pledge. Be fair in thy judgment, and guarded in thy speech. Be unjust to no man, and show all meekness to all men. Be as a lamp unto them that walk in darkness, a joy to the sorrowful, a sea for the thirsty, a haven for the distressed, an upholder and defender of the victim of oppression. Let integrity and uprightness distinguish all thine acts. Be a home for the stranger, a balm to the suffering, a tower of strength for the fugitive. Be eyes to the blind, and a guiding light unto the feet of the erring. Be an ornament to the countenance of truth, a crown to the brow of fidelity, a pillar of the temple of righteousness, a breath of life to the body of mankind, an ensign of the hosts of justice, a luminary above the horizon of virtue, a dew to the soil of the human heart, an ark on the ocean of knowledge, a sun in the heaven of bounty, a gem on the diadem of wisdom, a shining light in the firmament of thy generation, a fruit upon the tree of humility.”

(Bahá’í Faith, Baha’u’llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah, p. 284)