Just as the earth attracts everything to the centre of gravity, and every object thrown upward into space will come down, so also material ideas and worldly thoughts attract man to the centre of self. Anger, passion, ignorance, prejudice, greed, envy, covetousness, jealousy and suspicion prevent man from ascending to the realms of holiness, imprisoning him in the claws of self and the cage of egotism. The physical man, unassisted by the divine power, trying to escape from one of these invisible enemies, will unconsciously fall into hands of another. No sooner does he attempt to soar upward than the density of the love of self, like the power of gravity, draws him to the centre of the earth. The only power that is capable of delivering man from this captivity is the power of the Holy Spirit. The attraction of the power of the Holy Spirit is so effective that it keeps man ever on the path of upward ascension. (‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Bahá’í Scriptures, p. 241)
This is one of my very favorite analogies in the Faith and I’m always sorry I can’t find it in a more acceptable translation. It may just be that it’s there and I’m just using the wrong search terms to find it, so if anyone has an equivalent quote in something more authoritative, please let me know.
In the meantime, this seems to be the Bahá’í equivalent of the Christian “7 Deadly Sins” (anger, passion, ignorance, prejudice, greed, envy, covetousness, jealousy and suspicion). It makes sense that each of this prevents us from ascending to the realms of holiness. I’ve certainly found that when I try to master one, another pops up and I fall into hands of another. It feels a bit like God’s playing “whack a mole” with me!
Just as man is incapable of defying gravity, so too are we unable to escape from one of these invisible enemies without assistance from a divine power. It’s not that we need help from the Holy Spirit, but it seems to be that all that’s required from me is that I’m attracted to the power of the Holy Spirit.
Knowing that the attraction of the power of the Holy Spirit is effective in keeping me on the path of upward ascension, I am grateful!
What jumped out for you as you read through today’s meditation? I’d love it if you would share so we can all expand our knowledge of the Writings!
If you liked this meditation, you might also like my book Letting Go of Anger and Bitterness
This passage reaches just in time to help me respond to questions offered on “Masters of Mindfulness”. In the lesson pertaining to transforming our experience with anger I’ve been searching for several areas in my life in which I had no recourse other than submersing this anger deep within. The first I thought about is how angry I was in a summer school in Trois Pistols, Quebec. We were talking about the cathedrals, churches, etc. of Quebec. I suddenly found myself VERY ANGRY and referred to a relic we were discussing in a very angry comment. I don’t remember the comment – I DO remember the anger. I was surprised that my colleague seemed to be repelled by my comment. He was a teacher in a large catholic school in Toronto. This was my first glimpse of the anger that may have been embedded in my brain due to the damaging misinformation I was given when making my first communion!! In a forceful, authoritarian way, I came to “understand” that having any kind of food after midnight before communion on that day is a MORTAL sin which insures you will go to hell. Caught in a “catch-twenty-two” I had no way of reversing the drop of sugar frosting I had sneaked from a batch of fresh cinnamon rolls NOR any person to talk to about it, I chose to receive the communion and taking the chances. I couldn’t imagine communicating my dilemma to anyone – it would put me in the “open” and, as the 12th child in our family, my role was to “keep out of sight”. I didn’t feel worthy of ANYONE’S attention. The incident in the summer school came about when I was 35 years old. By this time I had become accustomed to not going to Mass or confession. I was vaguely aware that the Catholic Church was not for me, but I didn’t realize I was harboring that anger. In fact, I was ashamed that I was angry and strived to recognize that others felt positively about the church. So I covered the anger again and focused on creating happiness in my family. I think I could benefit from “cleansing” my soul of this anger and will look for ways to do so. There is another point of anger that I have been dealing with. I’m married to a man who spent 21 years in the Brothers of Christian Life. When he was 33 years old, he withdrew from that group on the grounds that the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience required were not actually in operation. Teaching the children of diplomats in Tokyo attracted him to consider a more normal life. Flack!! I showed up in his life at the age of 29, wondering how I would finish my “term” on this planet. Of course I was not clearly involved in this search, just riling somewhat at the assumptions of my birth family that getting married and having children is the BEST way to do it. So we had a lovely wedding with this man who is truly in love with me. Most of the time I felt sorry for him because I could not offer him the conversation, interest and companionship he might desire. Nonetheless we had two children and were happy to raise them. Of course I was not able to offer nurturing that I had never experienced. Thus I was not able to breast feed my children! This was a HUGE disappointment!! I had had natural births with LaMaze trained doctors. I was surrounded by mothers who had done the same thing … yet I could not interact with them with my VERY limited social skills. So for this I feel anger – I don’t feel I was treated fairly by God in having allowed/prepared such circumstances for me. He put me in a family that was/is controlled by the limited Christian revelation and led to a religion which is focusing on developing spiritual reality to inevitably evolve into peace in the world. Again with my limited social skills I am invited to participate in numerous grassroots initiatives for which I gained an M.Sci at age 58. Yet, I was not able to respond to these initiatives with the confidence required to function effectively in collective activities. Thus I needed to “pull back” my efforts and work on my “self-identity”, hithertoo, almost completely explored. I have been VERY fortunate to uncover hidden resources which came to my attention in various times of my checkered life. Currently I’ve been focusing on developing our family as a “nucleus” to engage in these activities. My number one barrier is that my husband does not see these activities as urgent and vital to our own growth. For the past ten years I’ve cut done such activities so as to be present to work through the challenges in our marriage. Now I’m having to accept that he is not willing to study the Writings with me so I can develop my own capacity to share the Teachings, I have to accept that my dream/hope of creating a family unit which lives, prays and teaches together has not yet evolved. I feel anger and disappointment about this. That I need to spend my last twenty years learning what is more or less normally learned in one’s teens or early adult life. I’ve reconciled to this necessity and strive to achieve it for the love of God, relying on His bounty!! At this time relationships are evolving – my daughter is now able to overcome her frustration, perhaps anger, with me because I was not accessible to her in her teens. There was a time then when she asked for help – I felt totally useless, since previous attempts to assist her had fallen on deaf ears – I was “broken” and about to go to a women’s shelter to recover what was left of myself. My son also holds his distance from me, possibly because he has witnessed and experienced the sight of his parents in deeply emotional clashes.
With this journaling I’ve completed the first question of the “homework” coming from my “Great Course”. I’ll leave it for now.
Thanks for this deeply personal sharing Terry! I’m hoping everyone will be able to relate to it in their own lives.
I think God gave us strong emotions for a reason. It’s OK to be angry at an injustice, and we need anger to develop detachment and patience among other virtues.
Hi Susan, has my comment reached its goal? Thanks, Terry
dear Susan I love your translation of this so deep subject excellent God bless you!
I’m glad you loved it Simin!