Spiritually blind! Many of the people in the world are spiritually blind, to the word of God, and just don’t know it.

 

25. Spiritually blind. One thing that seems very common to the religions of God is the number of spiritually blind people who assail God’s prophets and chosen followers and try to stop God’s Holy Process: This is something that seems to be fairly universal, and very common, in all of the religions of God, in the early days of a religion, when one of God’s holy manifestations makes an appearance on this earth.  Babi Religion: “Their hearts are deprived of the power of true insight, and thus they cannot see.” (Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 79)  Christianity: John 8:38 “I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father.” Mark 7:8 “Laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, 7:9 “Ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.” 7:13 “Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.”  Judaism: Amos 2:4 “Thus saith The LORD.…They have despised the law of The LORD, and have not kept his commandments, and their lies caused them to err, after the which their fathers have walked:” Islam: 104. And, “when it is said to them: ‘Come to what Allah (God) hath revealed; come to the Messenger:’ they say: ‘Enough for us are the ways we found our fathers (and ancestors) following.’ What! even though their fathers (and ancestors) were void of knowledge and guidance?” (The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surah 5) One of the very first forms of blindness man can have to God’s messengers and the word of God, comes from following in the ways of our parents and ancestors, blindly, strictly, accepting the ways of our forefathers, without any real investigation into the actual word of God. When we strictly adhere to that which we were told beforehand, by our parents and religious leaders, it becomes very difficult for people to accept anything new, as when God sends a new messenger and divine teacher to educate mankind with a brand new heavenly message. When people strictly hold onto and adhere to that which they have always been taught and told to believe by their parents and religious leaders, they can’t really see much of anything else beyond the words and instructions of these people; so when God sends a new messenger with a new message, these people are totally blind to God’s new message and bereft of seeing the new teachings of God for themselves.

Spiritually blind people, and those people like them, who cannot see past the literal meaning of the word, often try to rise up and stamp out God’s holy religion. They do this, most often, by trying to destroy God’s holy manifestations and His followers. This has happened throughout the many religious histories; and even those prophets, who like Moses, who was a literal redeemer of the people, even Moses had problems with the people not listening to him and following his words. Islam: 83. “But none believed in Moses except some few children of his People.” (The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surah  10) There was Pharaoh that Moses had to contend with, of course: For, “none believed in Moses — because of the fear of Pharaoh and his chiefs, lest they should persecute them, and certainly Pharaoh was mighty on the earth and one who transgressed all bounds,” as well as, the followers of Moses rebelling whenever they were given a chance. His people rebelled and turned away from God on a regular basis, even when he was alive; and God would have to discipline them, once more, and turn their eyes back to Him and the true path.  Judaism: Deuteronomy 29:2 “And Moses called unto all Israel, and said unto them, Ye have seen all that The LORD did before your eyes in the land of Egypt unto Pharaoh, and unto all his servants, and unto all his land;” 29:3 “The great temptations which thine eyes have seen, the signs, and those great miracles:” 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 42:20 “Seeing many things, but thou observest not; opening the ears, but he heareth not.” Isaiah 42:23 “Who among you will give ear to this? who will hearken and hear for the time to come?” Ezekiel 12:1 “The word of The LORD also came unto me, saying,” 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.” Hosea 4:6 “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee.” The people of The Old Testament were blind and refused to see the truth of God’s word; this is clear from the writings of Moses, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, and a number of other prophets, found in the Old Testament, that I chose not to quote. The people were completely blind and chose to ignore or reject the word of God; and Hosea tells us that God chose to ignore, or reject these people. Now this lack of sight, or blindness on the part of so many people, didn’t stop there with the sightlessness of the early Hebrew people; but continued on with the coming of Jesus Christ, and his almost total rejection and abandonment by the Jewish people, who use to be called the Hebrew people; thousands of years before.  Christianity: 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.” 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:” 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.” Luke 6:39 “And he spake a parable unto them, Can the blind lead the blind? shall they not both fall into the ditch?” Matthew 15:14 “Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.” 2 Corinthians 4:3 “But 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.” John 5:46 “For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me; for he wrote of me, but if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?” Not seeing past the literal interpretation of the word of God is a fairly common mistake on the part of the religious leaders and those who follow them. We plainly see this in the Jewish and Christian scriptures, and we can clearly see this in all the other religions that God’s manifestations have brought to mankind. Man’s sightlessness and blindness to God’s divine teachers and message is clearly part of the overall nature of the manifestations delivery of God’s message to mankind, and the free will God has given to mankind. Clearly, man’s blindness and hostility toward God’s messengers and followers is part of the dynamic nature and process of God’s true word being brought to mankind; and so, this human blindness to God and the spiritual nature of His word is therefore found in all of the religions of God; because, of course, God is a spirit and His word is of a spiritual nature:  Christianity: John 4:24 “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit.” 4:23 “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit, and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.” God, The Father, is a spirit, therefore His word and teachings are of a true spiritual nature; so, it only makes sense, and stands to reason, that the true worshippers of God must worship Him, in truth, with our true spiritual nature, coming forth, spiritually seeking out the truth of God’s hidden spiritual message found within His words and teachings, for: “The true worshippers shall worship the Father (God) in spirit and in truth.” We need to, absolutely, and in truth, study God’s Holy Word seeking out the spiritual meaning found within His message; and Jesus Christ clearly tells us this in John: “The true worshippers shall worship the Father (God) in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.” Jesus Christ is very clearly telling us, in John, that we have to; that we absolutely must, study, his Father’s, holy word, looking for the spiritual content found within God’s message. This is an absolute must, absolutely, and yet how many, who profess to be true believers in God, actually do this? This is, of course, the real reason why so many people are blind to the word of God, and why so many people blindly reject God’s messengers and the word of God. And this is, of course, why this human blindness, to the word of God is found so universally in all of His religions. God is a spirit and so His message is spiritual, and man, of course, is worldly:  Christianity: 1 Corinthians 3:18 “Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolish unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things.” 2:11 “For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.” “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.” “Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.” So clearly, according to both Jesus Christ and Paul, God’s word and teachings are spiritual in nature; so, of course, most of the people in all of the religions have missed this, because most men are, inherently worldly and materialistic in nature, not really looking for anything beyond the physical nature of this world. So, the spiritual nature of God’s word is basically, for the most part, far beyond the thinking of most people. Men are not looking for the spiritual side of anything, or thinking of it; therefore they are not seeing it or hearing it. So, of course, whenever God’s manifestations, have come to mankind and attempted to teach mankind, throughout all the ages, within all of His true religions; whenever and wherever God has attempted to teach His message to mankind, and educate men, most men have been blind to the true nature of God’s spiritual message and teachings, and have denied His manifestations and have universally risen up against God’s divine teachers and followers and tried to stamp out God’s message and persecute all of His prophets and true, actual believers.

 ISLAM: 15. “Allah (God) will throw back their mockery on them, and give them rope in their trespasses; so they will wander like blind ones (to and fro).”

(The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr) Surah 2)

Islam: 46. “Do they not travel through the land, so that their hearts 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 that 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: “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 50)

 Zoroastrianism: Denkard. Zoroaster, “Those priests who disseminate vice among men are morally blind.”

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

 HINDUISM: “Blind are the eyes Which deem the Unmanifested manifest, Not comprehending Me in my true Self!”

(Hindu, Bhagavad Gita (Edwin Arnold tr) chapter 7)

 Hinduism: “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)

 BUDDHISM: 4. “Like a beautiful, fragrant lotus, springing up on a pile of rubbish thrown out on the highway, so a disciple of the Enlightened One stands out among rubbish-like and blinded ordinary people by virtue of his wisdom.”

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

 Buddhism: 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.”

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

 Buddhism: “A string of blind men clinging to one another, the foremost cannot see the way, the middle ones cannot see the way, nor can the hind most. The talk of the Brahmans versed in the three Vedas is but blind talk. The first sees not, the middle sees not, the hindmost sees not. The talk then of these Brahmans turns out to be ridiculous, mere words vain and empty.” (Buddhist Dharma, TEVIGGA SUTTA)

 Buddhism: “The memory-habit of erroneous intellection will ever cling to them. To make the matter worse, the simple-minded ones, poisoned by this erroneous view, will declare this incorrect way of thinking taught by the ignorant, to be the same as that presented by the All-knowing One.” (Buddha, Lankavatara Sutra)

 SABEANISM: “There were those who bought my wares (God’s Holy Words). 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. (Chose not to investigate into the Holy word) 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)

 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. Deliver me, O Lord, from the fire of ignorance and of selfish desire, suffer me to be admitted into the precincts of Thy transcendent mercy and send down upon me that which Thou hast ordained for Thy chosen ones. Potent art Thou to do what Thou willest. Verily Thou art the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting.”

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

BAHA’I FAITH: “Shall blind imitations of ancestral forms and theological interpretations continue to guide and control the religious life and spiritual development of humanity today? Shall man gifted with the power of reason unthinkingly follow and adhere to dogma, creeds and hereditary beliefs which will not bear the analysis of reason in this century of effulgent reality? Unquestionably this will not satisfy men of science, for when they find premise or conclusion contrary to present standards of proof and without real foundation, they reject that which has been formerly accepted as standard and correct and move forward from new foundations.”

(Bahá’í Faith, Abdu’l-Baha, Baha’i World Faith – Abdu’l-Baha Section, p. 225)

Baha’i Faith: “O My brother! Forsake thine own desires, turn thy face unto thy Lord, and walk not in the footsteps of those who have taken their corrupt inclinations for their god, that perchance thou mayest find shelter in the heart of existence, beneath the redeeming shadow of Him Who traineth all names and attributes. For they who turn away from their Lord in this day are in truth accounted amongst the dead, though to outward seeming they may walk upon the earth, amongst the deaf, though they may hear, and amongst the blind, though they may see, as hath been clearly stated by Him Who is The Lord of the Day of Reckoning: ‘Hearts have they with which they understand not, and eyes have they with which they see not.”’

(Bahá’í Faith, Baha’u’llah, Gems of Divine Mysteries)

Baha’i Faith: “O My servant, who hast sought the good-pleasure of God and clung to His love on the Day when all except a few who were endued with insight have broken away from Him! May God, through His grace, recompense thee with a generous, an incorruptible and everlasting reward, inasmuch as thou hast sought Him on the Day when eyes were blinded.” (Bahá’í Faith, Baha’u’llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah, p. 36)