Eyes that see not, ears that don’t hear.

 

66. Eyes that see not, ears that don’t hear: One of the big warnings found in the numerous religions of God is the warning that there will be many among those who hear the words of the prophet that will not understand the meaning of what the messenger is trying to communicate to them. The various books state that the people have eyes, but they see not. They have ears to hear, but they just don’t hear past the material content of the words being spoken to them and they just can’t see into the deeper hidden spiritual meaning of the words the manifestation of God is trying to tell them. They have minds to know, but they just don’t comprehend the true intent behind the words and this seems to be a problem common to and inherent in all of God’s religions.

One only has to look at the various teachings of the books of God to see the truth of these words.  JUDAISM: Deuteronomy: 29:4 “Yet The LORD hath not given you an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day.” Isaiah: 6:9 “And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.” Isaiah: 6:10 “Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.” Jeremiah: 5:21 “Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not:” Ezekiel: 12:2 “Son of man, thou dwellest in the midst of a rebellious house, which have eyes to see, and see not; they have ears to hear, and hear not: for they are a rebellious house.” Lamentations: 4:13 “For the sins of her prophets, and the iniquities of her priests, that have shed the blood of the just in the midst of her,” 4:14 “They have wandered as blind men in the streets.” Isaiah: 59:10 “We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes: we stumble at noon day as in the night; we are in desolate places as dead men.” Isaiah: 44:18 “They have not known nor understood: for he hath shut their eyes, that they cannot see; and their hearts, that they cannot understand.” 44:19 “And none considereth in his heart, neither is there knowledge nor understanding.” CHRISTIANITY: Matthew: 13:13 “Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.” Matthew: 13:14 “And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:” Matthew: 13:15 “For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.” Mark: 8:18 “Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember?” Luke: 8:9 “And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be? 8:10 “And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God; but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand.” John: 9:39 “And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.” Hebrews: 5:11 “We have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing.” Romans: 11:7 “What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded. 11:8 (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day.” 2 Corinthians: 4:3 “If our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost;” 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.” 3:14 “But their minds were blinded: for until this day.” 1:12 “For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom.” 1 Thessalonians: 4:13 “But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.”

 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)

 179. “Many are the Jinns and men, We have made for Hell: They have hearts wherewith they understand not, eyes wherewith they see not, and ears wherewith they hear not. They are like cattle, nay more misguided: for they are heedless (of warning).” 22. “For the worst of beasts in the sight of Allah are the deaf and the dumb, those who understand not. 108 Those are they whose hearts, ears, and eyes Allah (God) has sealed up, and they take no heed.”

(The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surahs 7, 8 and 16)

 20. “O ye who believe! obey Allah and His Messenger, and turn not away from him when ye hear (him speak).” 21. “Nor be like those who say, ‘We hear,’ but listen not:” 22. “For the worst of beasts in the sight of Allah are the deaf and the dumb, those who understand not.” 23. “If Allah had found in them any good, He would indeed have made them listen.”

(The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surah   8)

 “Verily! The worst of beasts in the Sight of Allah are the deaf and the dumb — — those who understand not.” “Verily! You cannot make the dead to hear (i.e. benefit them, and similarly the disbelievers) nor can you make the deaf hear.”

(Hadith, Bukhari Vol 6, Book 60 # 169 and Vol 2, Book 23 # 453)

 “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.

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

 ZOROASTRIANISM: 1. “Now I will proclaim to those who will hear the things that the understanding man should remember, for hymns unto Ahura (God) and prayers to Good Thought; also the felicity that is with the heavenly lights, which through Right shall be beheld by him who wisely thinks.” 2. “Hear with your ears the best things; look upon them with clear-seeing thought, for decision between the two Beliefs, each man for himself before the Great consummation, bethinking you that it be accomplished to our pleasure.”

(Zoroaster, The Zend-Avesta, Avesta – Yasna 30)

 Denkard. Zoroaster, “Those priests who disseminate vice among men are morally blind.” “Purity unaccompanied with religious deafness.” (is needed)

 “They see yet they see not; they would like to get rid of their arrogance, yet they cannot.” “Rub your eyes so that you may see well.” (ZOROASTER, Hymns of Atharvan p. 664 and 788)

 HINDUISM: “The unenlightened ones Mark not that Spirit when he goes or comes, Nor when he takes his pleasure in the form, Conjoined with qualities; but those see plain Who have the eyes to see. Holy souls see.”

(Hindu, Bhagavad Gita (Edwin Arnold tr) chapter 15)

 3. “Make his ears hear, that he may show his vigour and may be joyful in the way he loveth.”

(Hindu Vedas, Rig Veda – Book  4)

 BUDDHISM: “TO GIVE oneself up to indulgence in sensual pleasure, the base, common, vulgar, unholy, unprofitable; and also to give oneself up to self-mortification, the painful, unholy, unprofitable: both these two extremes the Perfect One has avoided, and found out the Middle Path, which makes one both to see and to know, which leads to peace, to discernment, to enlightenment, to Nirvana.”

((The Eightfold Path), Buddha, the Word (The Eightfold Path))

 13. “Blinded indeed is this world. Few are those who see the truth. Like a bird breaking out of the net, few are those who go to heaven.” “This world is blinded; only a few can see here.” “To see the essence in the essential and the unessential as the unessential it is means one does get to the essence, being on the road of right intentions.”

(Buddhist, Dhammapada – Sayings of the Buddha 1 and 2 (tr. J. Richards))

 SABEANISM: “Thou hast shown us that which the eye of man hath not seen, and caused us to hear that which human ear has not heard. Thou hast freed us from death and united us with life, released us from darkness and united us with light, led us out of evil and joined us to good. Thou hast shown us the Way of Life and hast guided our feet into ways of truth and faith so that Life cometh and expelleth darkness and goodness cometh and casteth out evil. (Like) the mingling of wine with water, so may Thy truth, thy righteousness and thy faith be added to those who love Thy name of Truth, And Life be praised.” (Sabeanism, Ginza Rba- chapter 45)

 “I came to the congregation of souls, For The Life (Haiyi/God) sent me, sent me forth. There were some who bought my wares, There those who came to their end and lay down. There were those who bought my wares. 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 To behold The Great One in the House of Perfection. As They called them and they answered not, When they call, who will answer them? Because it was given to them but they took not, Who will give to them when they ask? They hated the Way of Life and its Abode But loved the abode of the wicked. And lo! in the abode of the wicked Will they be held captive.” (Sabeanism, Ginza Rba- chapter 90)

 “Their hands fell (powerless) on their knees; their eyes were blinded and unable to see and their ears became deaf and unable to hear.” (Sabeanism, Ginza Rba- chapter 13)

 BABI RELIGION: “Grant, O my God, that I may not be reckoned among those whose ears are deaf, whose eyes are blind, whose tongues are speechless and whose hearts have failed to comprehend.”

(The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 215)

 “Seeing on every side how the people were deaf to his call, he cried aloud: “Oh, the perversity of this generation! How heedless of the fragrance which that imperishable Rose has shed! Though my soul brim over with ecstasy, I can, alas, find no heart to share with me its charm, nor mind to apprehend its glory.”

The Bab: (Shoghi Effendi, The Dawn-Breakers, p. 452)

 “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. 78)

BAHA’I FAITH: “It is easy to read the Holy Scriptures, but it is only with a clean heart and a pure mind that one may understand their true meaning. Let us ask God‘s help to enable us to understand the Holy Books. Let us pray for eyes to see and ears to hear, and for hearts that long for peace.”

“God‘s eternal Mercy is immeasurable. He has always chosen certain souls upon whom He has shed the Divine Bounty of His heart, whose minds He has illumined with celestial light, to whom He has revealed the sacred mysteries, and kept clear before their sight the Mirror of Truth. These are the disciples of God, and His goodness has no bounds. You who are servants of The Most High may be disciples also. The treasuries of God are limitless.”

(Bahá’í Faith, Abdu’l-Baha, Paris Talks, p. 56)

“The Pen of The Most High is unceasingly calling; and yet, how few are those that have inclined their ear to its voice! The dwellers of the kingdom of names have busied themselves with the gay livery of the world, forgetful that every man that hath eyes to perceive and ears to hear cannot but readily recognize how evanescent are its colors.”

(Bahá’í Faith, Baha’u’llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah, p. 195)

“And, now, strive thou to comprehend the meaning of this saying of Ali, the Commander of the Faithful: ‘Piercing the veils of glory, unaided.’ ‘Among these (veils of glory) are the divines and doctors living in the days of the Manifestation of God, who, because of their want of discernment and their love and eagerness for leadership, have failed to submit to the Cause of God, nay, have even refused to incline their ears unto the divine Melody.’ ‘They have thrust their fingers into their ears.’ And the people also, utterly ignoring God and taking them for their masters, have placed themselves unreservedly under the authority of these pompous and hypocritical leaders, for they have no sight, no hearing, no heart, of their own to distinguish truth from falsehood.”

(Bahá’í Faith, Baha’u’llah, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 163)

“It is my hope that out of the bestowals of The Lord of Hosts ye will become the spiritual essence and the very radiance of humankind, binding the hearts of all with bonds of love; that through the power of the Word of God ye will bring to life the dead now buried in the graves of their sensual desires; that ye will, with the rays of the Sun of Truth, restore the sight of those whose inner eye is blind; that ye will bring spiritual healing to the spiritually sick.”

(Bahá’í Faith, Abdu’l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of Abdu’l-Baha, p. 36)