The Individual’s Response to Baha’u’llah

Time and again, Baha’u’llah announced the joyous news that the promises of God have been fulfilled in this day.

Summoning the peoples of the world to investigate his Cause, he invited every sincere seeker after truth to experience the joy of reunion with the Beloved of the World:

The true seeker hunteth naught but the object of his quest, and the lover hath no desire save union with his beloved. – Baha’u’llah, The Seven Valleys, p. 7.

Elsewhere he wrote:

My holy, My divinely ordained Revelation may be likened unto an ocean in whose depths are concealed innumerable pearls of great price, of surpassing luster. It is the duty of every seeker to bestir himself and strive to attain the shores of this ocean, so that he may, in proportion to the eagerness of his search and the efforts he hath exerted, partake of such benefits as have been pre-ordained in God’s irrevocable and hidden Tablets. – Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah, p. 326.

As we have seen, the Baha’i writings emphasize that the search for spiritual truth is essentially personal in nature. Success depends upon sincerity of intent and freedom of spirit. Abdu’l-Baha said:

… this is the station of searching after truth and seeking the knowledge of the real—that station wherein the sore athirst longs for the water of life and the struggling fish reaches the sea, wherein the ailing soul seeks the true physician and partakes of divine healing, wherein the lost caravan finds the path of truth and the aimless and wandering ship attains the shore of salvation—the seeker must therefore be endowed with certain attributes. First, he must be fair-minded and detached from all save God. His heart must be entirely directed towards the Supreme Horizon and freed from the bondage of vain and selfish desires, for these are obstacles on the path. Furthermore, he must endure every tribulation, embody the utmost purity and sanctity, and renounce the love or hatred of all the peoples of the world, lest his love for one thing hinder him from investigating another, or his hatred for something prevent him from discerning its truth. This is the station of search, and the seeker must be endowed with these qualities and attributes—that is, until he attains this station it will be impossible for him to gain the knowledge of the Sun of Truth. – Abdu’l-Baha, Some Answered Questions, newly revised edition, pp. 44-45.

Baha’u’llah invited each individual to investigate his Cause. This is expressed here, in tones both poignant and joyous:

Hear Me, ye mortal birds! In the Rose Garden of changeless splendor a Flower hath begun to bloom, compared to which every other flower is but a thorn, and before the brightness of Whose glory the very essence of beauty must pale and wither. Arise, therefore, and, with the whole enthusiasm of your hearts, with all the eagerness of your souls, the full fervor of your will, and the concentrated efforts of your entire being, strive to attain the paradise of His presence, and endeavor to inhale the fragrance of the incorruptible Flower, to breathe the sweet savors of holiness, and to obtain a portion of this perfume of celestial glory. Whoso followeth this counsel will break his chains asunder, will taste the abandonment of enraptured love, will attain unto his heart’s desire, and will surrender his soul into the hands of his Beloved. Bursting through his cage, he will, even as the bird of the spirit, wing his flight to his holy and everlasting nest …

The everlasting Candle shineth in its naked glory. Behold how it hath consumed every mortal veil. O ye moth-like lovers of His light! Brave every danger, and consecrate your souls to its consuming flame. O ye that thirst after Him! Strip yourselves of every earthly affection, and hasten to embrace your Beloved. With a zest that none can equal make haste to attain unto Him. The Flower, thus far hidden from the sight of men, is unveiled to your eyes. In the open radiance of His glory He standeth before you. His voice summoneth all the holy and sanctified beings to come and be united with Him. Happy is he that turneth thereunto; well is it with him that hath attained, and gazed on the light of so wondrous a countenance. – Baha’u’llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah, pp. 320-322.

In the end, each of us must decide whether Baha’u’llah’s claims are true. This series of essays, and the book they’re based on, was written in that spirit by one of the many millions of people who believe that God has spoken again and that His messenger is Baha’u’llah.