Show reverence to God on all occasions.

 

197. Show reverence to God on all occasions: God, Allah, Brahma, Vishnu, Ahura Mazda, The Most Great Life, Haiyi, Manda-d-Hiia, The Tathagata and any of the countless trillions of other names, The Most Ancient, The Uncreated One goes by, He must be shown reverence unconditionally, on all occasions, under all circumstances, or we are not living up to this most wonderful, this most glorious gift of life and existence He has bestowed upon us. Now I know there are some people out there who, on hearing this statement, will think I am as crazy as a loon to make such a brazen statement or believe such a controversial ideal, when at least half the world wish they had never been born, at least part of the time, myself included during some earlier times in my life, or even the Apostle Paul:  Christianity: 2 Corinthians 1:8 “For we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life:” But it is just a matter of faith that God will do what He says He is going to do that makes the difference for me, and others like me.  Christianity: 1 Corinthians 8:3 “But if any man love God, the same is known of Him.” “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.” Baha’i Faith: “If only thou couldst know what a high station is destined for those souls who are severed from the world, are powerfully attracted to the Faith, and are teaching, under the sheltering shadow of Bahá’u’lláh! How thou wouldst rejoice, how thou would-stay, in exultation and rapture, spread thy wings and soar heavenward -for being a follower of such a way, and a traveler toward such a Kingdom.” “May my life be a sacrifice for His loved ones…..what a glorious sovereignty The Lord hath destined for them in His Kingdom, surely they would be filled with ecstasy, would behold themselves crowned with immortal glory and carried away with transports of delight.” With all this waiting for us, how can we not glorify God and show reverence for our creator?

(Bahá’í Faith, Abdu’l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of Abdu’l-Baha, pp. 100 and 309)

 BABI RELIGION: “Glorified is He before Whom all the dwellers of earth and heaven bow down in adoration and unto Whom all men turn in supplication.”

        (The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 3) 

 And the books of the other religions of God agree with this high regard we must show to our One Creator also:

    (Reverence: honor, obeisance, fear, adore, worship, venerate)

 CHRISTIANITY: Hebrews 12:28 “Let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God is a consuming fire.” 1 Timothy 1:17 “Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour (reverence) and glory for ever and ever. Amen.” 1 Corinthians 14:25 “So falling down on his face he will worship God,” John 4:24 “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship (and revere) him in spirit.” Philippians 3:3 “For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.” Revelation 7:12 “Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, (and reverence) and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.”  Judaism: 1 Kings 2:30 “The LORD saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour (revere) Me I will honour,” 1 Chronicles 16:29 “Give unto The LORD the glory due unto His name: bring an offering, and come before Him: (in reverence) worship The LORD in the beauty of holiness.” 16:30 “Fear before Him, all the earth: the world also shall be stable, that it be not moved.” 16:31 “Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice: and let men say among the nations, The LORD reigneth.” Psalms 89:7 “God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had (held) in reverence.” Psalms 99:9 “Exalt The LORD our God, and worship at His holy hill; for The LORD our God is holy.” 4. Ezra “Behold, saith God, I will call together all the kings of the earth to reverence Me.” (Deuterocanonical Apocrypha, Esdras 2) Sirach 50:17 “All the people together hasted, and fell down to the Earth upon their faces to worship (revere) their Lord God Almighty, the most High.” (Deuterocanonical Apocrypha)

BAHA’I FAITH: “The spiritually learned must be characterized by both inward and out-ward perfections; they must possess a good character, an enlightened nature, a pure intent, as well as intellectual power, brilliance and discernment, intuition, discretion and foresight, temperance, reverence, and a heartfelt fear of God.”

(Bahá’í Faith, Abdu’l-Baha, The Secret of Divine Civilization, p. 33)

 BABI RELIGION: “There is none other God but Him and all men bow down in adoration before Him.”

        (The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 9)

 ISLAM: 1. “O mankind! reverence your Guardian-Lord, Who created you from a single person, created, of like nature, his mate, and from them twain scattered (like seeds) countless men and women; reverence Allah (God), through Whom ye demand your mutual (rights), and (reverence) the wombs (that bore you): for Allah ever watches over you.”

        (The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surah   4)

Islam: 205. “And do thou (O reader!) bring thy Lord to remembrance in thy (very) soul, with humility and in reverence, without loudness in words, in the mornings and evenings; and be not thou of those who are unheedful.”

        (The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surah   7)

Islam: 50. “They all revere their Lord, high above them, and they do all that they are commanded.” 51. “Allah has said: ‘Take not (for worship) two gods: for He is just One Allah: then fear Me (and Me alone).”’ 52. “To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and on earth, and to Him is duty due always: then will ye fear other than Allah?”

         (The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surah  16)

Islam: 28. “He knows what is before them, and what is behind them, and they offer no intercession except for those who are acceptable, and they stand in awe and reverence of His (glory).”

(The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surah  21)

 ZOROASTRIANISM: “With reverence for Asha (Righteousness the Best, Ahura, God), and offerings offered up, I vow this: I shall nevermore damage or plunder the Mazdayasnian settlements, even if I have to risk life and limb.”

(Zoroaster, The Zend-Avesta, Avesta – Yasna chapter 12)

 Zoroastrianism: 20. “Your blessings shall ye give us, all that are one in will, with whom Right, Good Thought, Piety, and Mazda (are one) according to promise, giving your aid when worshipped with reverence.”

(Zoroaster, The Zend-Avesta, Avesta – Yasna chapter 52)

 Zoroastrianism: “In this worship do we exercise our choices; and to it will we approach, and to it will we belong; yea, to revering worship will we confide our settlements and persons for protection, and for care, for guarding, and for oversight, to such worship as is the praise of such as You.” (Ahura Mazda)

(Zoroaster, The Zend-Avesta, Avesta – Yasna chapter 58)

 Zoroastrianism: “Mayest thou be beloved by the gods and reverenced by men.” (Mazda)

(Zoroaster, The Zend-Avesta, Avesta Fragments)

 Zoroastrianism: 7. “I bless in reverence and adoration the abiding offering, the joyous offering, and the devotional offering (offered) to you, O Fire! son of Ahura Mazda.”

(Zoroaster, Zend-Avesta, Khorda Avesta- Book of Common Prayer pt. 1)

 HINDUISM: “These see Thee, and revere (Thee), seeing Thee with form stupendous, With faces manifold, With eyes which all behold, Unnumbered eyes, vast arms, members tremendous, O Eyes of God! O Head! I see no Earth and Heaven! Thee, Lord of Lords! I see, Thee only- only Thee!“

    “In Thy Divine form dwell, And in Thy countenance shine all the features Of Brahma (God), sitting lone Upon His lotus-throne;”

(Hindu, Bhagavad Gita (Edwin Arnold tr) chapter 11)

 Hinduism: 15. “Reverence be to Thee coming, reverence to Thee going; reverence, O Rudra (Brahma, God), be to thee standing, and reverence, also, to thee sitting!” 16. “Reverence in the evening, reverence in the morning, reverence by night, reverence by day!”

(Hindu, Vedas, Atharva Veda)

 Hinduism: 1. “WITH reverence and with offered gifts serve we the God whose flame is bright:”

(Hindu, Vedas, Rig Veda – Book 7)

 Hinduism: “Guard us, and, O God, speak for us. Reverence to Agni (Brahma, Vishnu, God), dweller on earth, maker of room; grant room to this thy sacrificer. Reverence to Vayu (Brahma), dweller in the atmosphere, maker of room; grant room to this thy sacrificer. Reverence to Surya (Brahma), dweller in the sky, maker of room; grant room to this thy sacrificer.”

(Hindu, Vedas, Yajur Veda – Kanda VII)

 BUDDHISM: “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. 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, (revere) 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)

 SABEANISM: “Enlargement of life there shall be for the believing. For any man who giveth an oblation, His oblation will be his helper.” “(Let) our petition, our prayer (our reverence, our praise) and our submission Rise up before Thee, Manda-d-Hiia! That which we have done forgive us, And that which we do, forgive us.” “Praise thee; for Thy knowledge, Thy wisdom, Thine understanding and Thy goodness do they praise Thee.” “Who could praise Thee, Life (Haiyi, God), Or magnify (worthily) the greatness of Thy victories?” “The Mighty, First, Sublime Life from, worlds of light, the Ineffable above all works!” We offer obeisance to. (Sabeanism, Ginza Rba- chapters 8, 71 and 75)

Sabeanism: “Thou, my Lord Manda-d-Hiia, art blessed and praised And thy praise is established (on high). This is prayer and praise which came to them from The great place of Light and the everlasting Abode.” “Arise, worship (revere) and praise The Great Life (God) And praise His Counter-part, that is the image of the Life.” “I worship and praise that channel of light, The messenger of all rays-of-light. (The manifestation of God on this earth) (Sabeanism, Ginza Rba- chapters 114 thru 116)

 BABI RELIGION: “Wert thou to prostrate thyself in adoration from the beginning of life till the end and to spend thy days for the sake of God‘s remembrance, but disbelieve in the Exponent of His Revelation for the age, dost thou imagine that thy deeds would confer any benefit upon thee? On the other hand, if thou believest in Him and dost recognize Him with true understanding, and He saith: ‘I have accepted thine entire life spent in My adoration’, then assuredly hast thou been worshipping Him most ardently. Thy purpose in performing thy deeds is that God may graciously accept them; and divine acceptance can in no wise be achieved except through the acceptance of Him Who is the Exponent of His Revelation.”

(The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 80)

BAHA’I FAITH: “All praise to the unity of God, and all honor (reverence) to Him, the sovereign Lord, the incomparable and all-glorious Ruler of the universe, Who, out of utter nothingness, hath created the reality of all things, Who, from naught, hath brought into being the most refined and subtle elements of His creation, and Who, rescuing His creatures from the abasement of remoteness and the perils of ultimate extinction, hath received them into His kingdom of incorruptible glory. Nothing short of His all-encompassing grace, His all-pervading mercy, could have possibly achieved it.” This is most assuredly a statement of reverence that Bahá’u’lláh is paying to God, The All Glorious, if there ever was one. “All praise, O my God, be to Thee Who art the Source of all glory and majesty, of greatness and honor, of sovereignty and dominion, of loftiness and grace, of awe and power. Whomsoever Thou willest Thou causest to draw nigh unto the Most Great Ocean, and on whomsoever Thou desirest Thou conferrest the honor of recognizing Thy Most Ancient Name. Of all who are in heaven and on earth, none can withstand the operation of Thy sovereign Will. From all eternity Thou didst rule the entire creation, and Thou wilt continue for evermore to exercise Thy dominion over all created things. There is none other God but Thee, the Almighty, the Most Exalted, the All-Powerful, the All-Wise.”

(Bahá’í Faith, Baha’u’llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah, p. 64 and Prayers and Meditations by Baha’u’llah, p. 94)