Waters of Life.

 

247. Waters of Life or fountain of life: The waters of life can be open to interpretation, depending on the reader who is reading the quote, but all the religions of God mention the waters in some form that appear to be related to the pouring out of the spiritual life, or spiritual teachings of God onto mankind, which seems to be a means of obtaining eternal life for the soul of man.  Judaism: Enoch 96:6 “Woe to you who drink water from every fountain, For suddenly shall ye be consumed and wither away, Because ye have forsaken the fountain of life.” (fountain of life or waters of life) Enoch 48:11 “And in that place I saw the fountain of righteousness Which was inexhaustible: And around it were many fountains of wisdom: And all the thirsty drank of them, And were filled with wisdom,” 4 Ezra 14:47 “For in them is the spring of understanding, the fountain of wisdom, and the stream of knowledge.” Sirach 1:5 “The word of God most high is the fountain of wisdom;” Sirach 21:13 “The knowledge of a wise man shall abound like a flood: and his counsel is like a pure fountain of life.” (fountain of life or waters of life) (Deuterocanonical Apocrypha) Deuteronomy 8:7 “The LORD thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills;” Jeremiah 17:13 “O LORD, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth because they have forsaken The LORD, the fountain of living waters.” Psalms 36:9 “For with Thee is the fountain of life: in Thy light shall we see light.” Proverbs 13:13 “Whoso despiseth the word shall be destroyed: but he that feareth the commandment shall be rewarded.” Proverbs 13:14 “The law of the wise is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death.”  Christianity: John 4:14 “But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” Revelation 7:17 “For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.” Revelation 21:6 “And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.” 22:1 “And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.”

ISLAM: “Be patient till you meet Allah (God) and meet His Apostle at Al-Kauthar (i.e. a fount in Paradise).”

(Islam, Hadith, Bukhari Vol 4, Book 53, # 375)

Islam: “The Water of Life will be poured on them and as a result they will grow like the seeds growing on the bank of flowing water.”

(Islam, Hadith, Bukhari Vol 1, Book 12, # 770)

Islam: 45. “The righteous (will be) amid Gardens and fountains (of clear-flowing water).”

(The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surah  15)

ZOROASTRIANISM: 4. “The springs of Righteousness most verily Thou art, (and the fountains of the ritual find their source in Thee)!

(The Zend-Avesta, Avesta – Yasna 10)

Zoroastrianism: 10. “O ye good waters, the Ahurian ones of Ahura (God)!  which entail abundant glory, and a legitimate scion, and a long enduring life, and (Heaven at the last), the best life of the saints, shining, all glorious.

(The Zend-Avesta, Avesta – Yasna 68)

HINDUISM: “The Fount whence Life’s stream draws All waters of all rivers of all being: The One Unborn, Unending, Unchanging and Unblending!” (God, Brahma)

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

Hinduism: “All they who see the light have drunk their fill thereat: together they have made the watery fount flow forth.”

(Hindu, Vedas, Rig Veda – Book 2)

“Self-illusion, Skepticism, and Attachment to mere Rule and Ritual.”

BUDDHISM: “Those disciples in whom these three fetters have vanished have entered the Stream, have forever escaped the states of woe, and are assured of final enlightenment.” “A Sotapan, or ‘Stream-Enterer’ i.e. ‘one who has entered the stream leading to Nirvana,’ is free from the first three fetters.”

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

Buddhism: “More than any earthly power, More than all the joys of heaven, More than rule o’er all the world, Is the Entrance to the Stream.”

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

1 Buddhism: 3. “Better than being sole king of the whole earth, better than going to heaven or sovereignty over the whole universe is the fruit of becoming a stream-winner.”

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

SABEANISM: “Be to me Life in life; give me to drink of freshly-flowing Water of Life.” “Living waters shone forth (in splendour).” (Sabeanism, Ginza Rba- chapters 56 and 410)

BABI RELIGION: “You are the first Letters that have been generated from the Primal Point, the first Springs that have welled out from the Source of this Revelation.”

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

Babi Religion: “Verily I am the ‘Gate of God’ and I give you to drink, by the leave of God, the sovereign Truth, of the crystal-pure waters of His Revelation which are gushing out from the incorruptible Fountain situate upon the Holy Mount.”

(The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 50)

BAHA’I FAITH: “Universal benefits derive from the grace of the Divine religions, for they lead their true followers to sincerity of intent, to high purpose, to purity and spotless honor, to surpassing kindness and compassion, to the keeping of their covenants when they have covenanted, to concern for the rights of others, to liberality, to justice in every aspect of life, to humanity and philanthropy, to valor and to unflagging efforts in the service of mankind. It is religion, to sum up, which produces all human virtues, and it is these virtues which are the bright candles of civilization. If a man is not characterized by these excellent qualities, it is certain that he has never attained to so much as a drop out of the fathomless river of the waters of life that flows through the teachings of the Holy Books, nor caught the faintest breath of the fragrant breezes that blow from the gardens of God; for nothing on earth can be demonstrated  99  by words alone, and every level of existence is known by its signs and symbols, and every degree in man’s development has its identifying mark.”

(Bahá’í Faith, Abdu’l-Baha, The Secret of Divine Civilization, p. 98)

Babi Religion: “Refresh my heart, O my God, with the living waters of Thy love and give me a draught, O my Master, from the chalice of Thy tender mercy. Let me abide, O my Lord, within the habitation of Thy glory.”

(The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 208)

Baha’i Faith: “A vast multitude of every class have drunk their fill of the living waters of divine knowledge, and, intoxicated, have hastened with heart and soul to the field of sacrifice in the way of the Beloved.”

(Bahá’í Faith, Baha’u’llah, The Summons of the Lord of Hosts, p. 112)

Babi Religion: “Cause our souls to be enkindled with the fire of Thy tender affection and give us to drink of the living waters of Thy bounty. Keep us steadfast in the path of Thine ardent love and enable us to abide within the precincts of Thy holiness. Verily Thou art the Giver, the Most Generous, the All-Knowing, the All-Informed.”

(The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 198)

Baha’i Faith: “Incline your ears to the sweet melody of this Prisoner. Arise, and lift up your voices, that haply they that are fast asleep may be awakened. Say: O ye who are as dead! The Hand of Divine bounty proffereth unto you the Water of Life. Hasten and drink your fill. Whoso hath been reborn in this Day, shall never die; whoso remaineth dead, shall never live.”

(Bahá’í Faith, Baha’u’llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah, p. 213)