Spiritual life is the process of living for God, while living for the world leads to spiritual depravation and spiritual death.

 

270. Spiritual life is the process of living for God, while living for the world leads to spiritual deprivation and spiritual death:  Babi Religion: “This mortal life is like unto the carcass of a dog, around which none would gather, nor would any partake thereof, except those who gainsay the life hereafter.” (The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 18) Living life for the pursuit material goods and worldly desires is the road to spiritual deprivation and death. When a man places his hopes and desires on the world he reflects the aspects of the world and not the aspects of the spiritual kingdom of God. He becomes worldly, engulfed in the darkness of this world:  Christianity: John 3:31 “He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth:”

BAHA’I FAITH: “The meditative faculty is akin to the mirror; if you put it before earthly objects it will reflect them. Therefore if the spirit of man is contemplating earthly subjects he will be informed of these.” “But if you turn the mirror of your spirits heavenwards, the heavenly constellations and the rays of the Sun of Reality will be reflected in your hearts, and the virtues of the Kingdom will be obtained.” “Therefore let us keep this faculty rightly directed — turning it to the heavenly Sun and not to earthly objects — so that we may discover the secrets of the Kingdom, and comprehend the allegories of the Bible and the mysteries of the spirit.”

(Bahá’í Faith, Abdu’l-Baha, Paris Talks, p. 175)

 BABI RELIGION: “You have been called to this station; you will attain to it, only if you arise to trample beneath your feet every earthly desire, and endeavour.”

The Bab: (Shoghi Effendi, The Dawn-Breakers, p. 93)

 CHRISTIANITY: Galatians 1:3 “Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ,” Galatians 1:4 “Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father:” Philippians 3:18 “For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ:” Philippians 3:19 “Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.” 1 John 2:15 “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” James 4:4 “…..know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” 1 John 2:16 “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” The world is anything that turns us away from God and attracts us to the vanities of this life. 1 John 2:17 “And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.” Colossians 2:8 “Beware lest any man spoil you through rudiments of the world.” Colossians 3:2 “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.” Romans 12:2 “Be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect…..”  Judaism: Psalms 27:16 “A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked.” Psalms 69:32 “Your heart shall live that seek God,” freeing up one’s self from the delusions of this earthly life.

BAHA’I FAITH: “Delight not yourselves in the things of the world and its vain ornaments, neither set your hopes on them. Let your reliance be on the remembrance of God, the Most Exalted, the Most Great.”

(Bahá’í Faith, Baha’u’llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah, p. 127)

 BABI RELIGION: “Purge your hearts of worldly desires, and let angelic virtues be your adorning. Strive that by your deeds you may bear witness to the truth.”

The Bab: (Shoghi Effendi, The Dawn-Breakers, p. 92)

 JUDAISM: Isaiah 55:3 “Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live;”  Christianity: 2 Peter 1:4 “Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” Romans 8:5 “For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.” Romans 8:6 “For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” Romans 8:7 “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” Romans 8:13 “For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die:”

   Those people who only think worldly thoughts holding onto the pleasures of this earthly life are considered, by God, to be dead to the spirit even though they may be living and breathing in this physical world.

 CHRISTIANITY: 1 Timothy 5:6 “But she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth.” Mark 8:36 “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” Mark 8:37 “Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”

BAHA’I FAITH: “Blessed is the man whom the affairs of the world have failed to deter from recognizing Him Who is the Lord of all things.”

(Bahá’í Faith, Baha’u’llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah, p. 39)

 BABI RELIGION: “Such must be the degree of your detachment, that into whatever city you enter to proclaim and teach the Cause of God, you should in no wise expect either meat or reward from its people. Nay, when you depart out of that city, you should shake the dust from off your feet. As you have entered it pure and undefiled, so must you depart from that city.”

The Bab: (Shoghi Effendi, The Dawn-Breakers, p. 92)

BAHA’I FAITH: “Whatsoever deterreth you, in this Day, from loving God is nothing but the world. Flee it, that ye may be numbered with the blest. Should a man wish to adorn himself with the ornaments of the earth, to wear its apparels, or partake of the benefits it can bestow, no harm can befall him, if he alloweth nothing whatever to intervene between him and God, for God hath ordained every good thing, whether created in the heavens or in the earth, for such of His servants as truly believe in Him. Eat ye, O people, of the good things which God hath allowed you, and deprive not yourselves from His wondrous bounties. Render thanks and praise unto Him, and be of them that are truly thankful.”

(Bahá’í Faith, Baha’u’llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah, p. 276)

   Living for the pleasures of the world leads to our spiritual death and I don’t think more needs to be said about that; however if living only for the pleasures this world can offer leads to death then living for God, living the life He has marked out for us leads to spiritual happiness and spiritual life.

 JUDAISM: Deuteronomy 30:16 “…… I command thee this day to love The LORD thy God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, that thou mayest live,” Do the things God has told us to do, “walk in His ways,” keep His statutes and judgments and thou mayest have life, meaning our spirits will be living a spiritual life. Proverbs 12:28 “In the way of righteousness is life; and in the pathway thereof there is no death.” Deuteronomy 5:33 “Ye shall walk in all the ways which The LORD your God hath commanded you, that ye may live,” If we walk in the ways of The Lord we will have life and if we keep His commandments and live by His laws that life will shine. Proverbs 7:2 “Keep My commandments, and live; and My law.”  Christianity: Luke 10:26 “He said unto him, ‘What is written in the law?’ ‘how readest thou?”’ Luke 10:27 “And he answering said, ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.”’ Luke 10:28 “And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.” Living the life is not just in words it is, as I said earlier, in actions. By following the writings and living by them, incorporating them into our actions and our lives, we live. Romans 8:13 “For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.”

 BABI RELIGION: “IT is better to guide one soul than to possess all that is on earth, for as long as that guided soul is under the shadow of the Tree of Divine Unity, he and the one who hath guided him will both be recipients of God‘s tender mercy, whereas possession of earthly things will cease at the time of death. The path to guidance is one of love and compassion, not of force and coercion. This hath been God‘s method in the past, and shall continue to be in the future! He causeth him whom He pleaseth to enter the shadow of His Mercy. Verily, He is the Supreme Protector, the All-Generous.”

(The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 77)

 ISLAM: Letter 10. “Have you ever seriously considered what would happen to you if all your wealth and property is taken away from you. The possessions, the riches and the luxuries that you have surrounded yourself with, belong to this world, a world which has profusely decorated itself and which is bent upon alluring you with its enjoyments. It has enticed you away and you have fallen an easy prey to its allurements. It has dragged you and you have followed it like a tame animal on the other end of the rope. It has ordered you and you have obeyed its orders submissively.” “You have forgotten that shortly you will be called to bear the consequences of such a life; consequences from which no one can shield, liberate or absolve you.” “Abstain from such a life, keep yourself ready for the Day of Judgement.”

(Islam, Ali b. Abi Taalib, Letters from Nahjul Balaagh)

Islam: 28. “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)

Islam: 46. “Wealth and sons are allurements of the life of this world: but the things that endure, Good Deeds, are best in the sight of thy Lord, as rewards, and best as (the foundation for) hopes.”

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

Islam: 131. “Nor strain thine eyes in longing for the things We have given for enjoyment to parties of them, the splendor of the life of this world, through which We test them: but the provision of thy Lord is better and more enduring.” 77. “Seek, with the (wealth) which Allah (God) has bestowed on thee, the Home of the Hereafter, nor forget thy portion in this world: but do thou good, as Allah has been good to thee, and seek not (occasions for) mischief in the land: for Allah loves not those who do mischief.”

(The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surah  28)

Islam: 1. “The mutual rivalry for piling up (the good things of this world) diverts you (from the more serious things),” “O ye who believe! give your response to Allah and His Messenger, when He calleth you to that which will give you life;”

(The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surah 8 and 102)

Islam: 24. “O ye who believe! give your response to Allah and His Messenger, when He calleth you to that which will give you life;” 97. “Whoever works righteousness, man or woman, and has faith, verily, to him will We give a new life, a life that is good and pure,”

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

  ZOROASTRIANISM: 20. “Perish away, O Druj! Perish away to the regions of the north, never more to give unto death the living world of Righteousness!” 7. “Right and Piety gave continued life.”

(Zoroaster, The Zend-Avesta, Avesta – Yasna 30 and Vendidad 11)

 Zoroastrianism: 50. “For he is pitiless to himself (he does not pity himself) and none of the others shall pity him. Blind are all those who, on this earth, do not follow the religion, do not benefit the living, and do not commemorate the dead.” “There comes a day, O Spitama Zarathustra! or a night, when the soul leaves that body full of desires;”

(Zoroaster, The Zend-Avesta, Avesta Fragments)

 Zoroastrianism: Denkard. Zoroaster, “The shining invisible power is the power that gives the remedy-adopting faculty to the living (man). The separation (of man) from relations with this invisible power is owing to his turning at once towards the dark power connected with this world.”

 Zoroastrianism: 7. “Right and Piety gave continued life.”

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

 HINDUISM: 11. “Let him never, for the sake of subsistence, follow the ways of the world; let him live the pure, straightforward, honest life of a Brahmana.”

(Hindu, Laws of Manu chapter 4)

 Hinduism: “He who thus vows His soul to the Supreme Soul, quitting sin, Passes unhindered to the endless bliss Of unity with Brahma (God). He so vowed, So blended, sees the Life-Soul resident In all things living, and all living things In that Life-Soul contained. And whoso thus Discerneth Me in all, and all in Me,” “What goeth forth from Me, Causing all life to live,”

(Hindu, Bhagavad Gita (Edwin Arnold tr) chapters 6 and 8)

 Hinduism: “They comprehend not, the Unheavenly, How Souls go forth from Me; nor how they come Back unto Me: nor is there Truth in these, Nor purity, nor rule of Life. ‘This world Hath not a Law, nor Order, nor a Lord,’ So say they: ‘nor hath risen up by Cause Following on Cause, in perfect purposing, But is none other than a House of Lust.’ And, this thing thinking, all those ruined ones- Of little wit, dark-minded- give themselves To evil deeds, the curses of their kind. Surrendered to desires insatiable, Full of deceitfulness, folly, and pride, In blindness cleaving to their errors, caught Into the sinful course, they trust this lie As it were true- this lie which leads to death- Finding in Pleasure all the good which is, And crying ‘Here it finisheth!”’

(Hindu, Bhagavad Gita (Edwin Arnold tr) chapter 16)

 Hinduism: “He who thus vows His soul to the Supreme Soul, quitting sin, Passes unhindered to the endless bliss Of unity with Brahma. He so vowed, So blended, sees the Life-Soul resident In all things living, and all living things In that Life-Soul contained. And whoso thus Discerneth Me in all, and all in Me,” “What goeth forth from Me, Causing all life to live,”

(Hindu, Bhagavad Gita (Edwin Arnold tr) chapters 6 and 8)

 BUDDHISM: “The purpose of the Holy Life does not consist in acquiring alms, honor, or fame. That unshakable deliverance of the heart: that, verily, is the object of the Holy Life, that is its essence, that is its goal. Though one were to live a hundred years immoral and with a mind unstilled by meditation, the life of a single day is better if one is moral and practices meditation. He who drinks in the Truth will live happily with a peaceful mind.”

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

 Buddhism: 1. “Even if he does not quote appropriate texts much, if he follows the principles of the Teaching by getting rid of greed, hatred and delusion, deep of insight and with a mind free from attachment, not clinging to anything in this world or the next – that man is a partner in the Holy Life.”

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

 SABEANISM: “Be no son of the House, the world.” “Adam, look upon the world which is a completely unreal thing. It is a unreal thing, in which you can put no trust.” (Sabeanism, Instruction of Adam)

Sabeanism: “Those who listen to the speech of the Life Will be greatly increased, Will be enriched and will not lack.” “Life (is) for those who know, Life (is) for those who believe.” (Sabeanism, Ginza Rba- chapters 88 and 171)

BAHA’I FAITH: “If the health and welfare of man be spent in sensual desires, in a life on the animal plane, and in devilish pursuits — then disease is better than such heath; nay, death itself is preferable to such a life.”

(Bahá’í Faith, Abdu’l-Baha, Tablets of Abdu’l-Baha v1, p. 207)

 BABI RELIGION: “Indeed shouldst Thou desire to confer blessing upon a servant Thou wouldst blot out from the realm of his heart every mention or disposition except Thine Own mention; and shouldst Thou ordain evil for a servant by reason of that which his hands have unjustly wrought before Thy face, Thou wouldst test him with the benefits of this world and of the next that he might become preoccupied therewith and forget Thy remembrance.”

(The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 191)

BAHA’I FAITH: “Purge your hearts from love of the world, and your tongues from calumny, and your limbs from whatsoever may withhold you from drawing nigh unto God, the Mighty, the All-Praised. Say: By the world is meant that which turneth you aside from Him Who is the Dawning-Place of Revelation, and inclineth you unto that which is unprofitable unto you. Verily, the thing that deterreth you, in this day, from God is worldliness in its essence.” “That which is conducive to the regeneration of the world and the salvation of the peoples and kindreds of the earth hath been sent down from the heaven of the utterance of Him Who is the Desire of the world. Give ye a hearing ear to the counsels of the Pen of Glory. Better is this for you than all that is on the earth. Unto this beareth witness My glorious and wondrous Book.”

(Bahá’í Faith, Baha’u’llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 54 and Tablets of Baha’u’llah, p. 222)