Sorry to have missed class last week. : (
Thanks to a comment on the post The Mystery of Prayer… I was able to glean some sparks from your conversations. This, along with actually putting this mystery of prayer into action in a manner declared in The Kitab-i-Aqdas, (The Most Holy Book) has formed some links I thought might be worth sharing. I say, worth sharing, as if you might gain something from this. However, I have found it to be more of an exercise for myself to bring the multitude of thoughts and links that come cascading in my mind into something quantifiable. If, by some coincidence you find it of any benefit … very well. I wonder if this holds true for most anything anybody writes; a written conversation with yourself, which somebody else might benefit from. ??
I was reading the above statement in the title of this Post from an excerpt taken from The Long Obligatory Prayer. The first paragraph:
Thou Who art the Lord of all names and the Maker of the heavens! I beseech Thee by them Who are the Daysprings of Thine invisible Essence, the Most Exalted, the All-Glorious, to make of my prayer a fire that will burn away the veils which have shut me out from Thy beauty, and a light that will lead me unto the ocean of Thy Presence.
(Baha'u'llah, The Kitab-i-Aqdas, p. 92)
Prayer as a fire? Now this begins to make parallel connections in my mind based off a talk given by Adib Taherzadeh on The Nature of the Soul. (This was from a Post back in November.) In this talk he makes parallel connections of things in this physical world with that of the spiritual world. Building off his theme, if we want to understand something about prayer we could study the nature of fire since it appears Baha’u’llah equates fire to prayer. Like a clue in a mystery, having this clue starts to unravel the mystery… even if only a finite amount. It makes sense when you link it to the underlined parts in this prayer that I will provide again for clarity:
Intone, O My servant, the verses of God that have been received by thee, as intoned by them who have drawn nigh unto Him, that the sweetness of thy melody may kindle thine own soul, and attract the hearts of all men. Whoso reciteth, in the privacy of his chamber, the verses revealed by God, the scattering angels of the Almighty shall scatter abroad the fragrance of the words uttered by his mouth, and shall cause the heart of every righteous man to throb. Though he may, at first, remain unaware of its effect, yet the virtue of the grace vouchsafed unto him must needs sooner or later exercise its influence upon his soul. Thus have the mysteries of the Revelation of God been decreed by virtue of the Will of Him Who is the Source of power and wisdom.
(Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 295)
Now we look at the physical fire. At first, it gives off no heat but the source of the fire is within the logs…latent. The logs (me and you) only need an agent (prayer) to act upon them to release these energies. Now if you have ever experienced the beginnings of a fire there is a given amount of time where it smolders before the latent energy becomes activated. No matter how many fires you have made, there is always an element of surprise and expectation awaiting the first phase…the ignition into flame. Yet we know from experience sooner or later... this action will take effect. Here is where the parallel between fire and prayer becomes visible: Though he may, at first, remain unaware of its effect, yet the virtue of the grace vouchsafed unto him must needs sooner or later exercise its influence upon his soul. This is a very tedious time. As the “fire-starter” with any kind of experience, you know the slightest crosswind can snub it out! Knowing this you get close… protective… motherly if you will. None of us knows what is going on at this moment… it is a mystery between the agent being applied and the logs to consummate the actual ignition. Finally, there is ignition! This is where I think many go astray. Seeing the fire is lit (i.e. I accept ________ as the Manifestation of God/Savior.) we can easily become passive and turn our backs from the fire and without continuous stoking, it goes out. This is where the work just begins! This is the time to add some nice dry fir kindling laced with sap. This is the time as noted in an earlier post “to read a single verse with joy and radiance it would be better for him than to read with lassitude all the Holy Books of God.” You don’t necessarily want to throw on some big fat hunk of unseasoned Oak at this juncture. After there is a sufficient bed of hot, glowing coals, maybe. For each fire, this timing is different and unique and to a good fire-starter this is evident.
The other obvious connection with the characteristics of fire is that it constantly needs more food to keep it going. If prayer equals fire than necessarily, we must also keep the element of prayer going to receive the benefits of them. It is usually obvious when a fire needs more fuel but what about us? What is the absolute bare minimum to keep our fire going? Linking to the post from earlier again, we find the answer, “Recite ye the verses of God every morn and eventide.
So why? What is the purpose? With a fire we want to keep warm or cook something but what benefit is there with prayer? As noted in the title of this post it is “to make of my prayer a fire that will burn away the veils which have shut me out from Thy beauty, and a light that will lead me unto the ocean of Thy Presence.” As simple as that. How many veils and to what extent is unique to each individual on any given day. It appears nobody is exempt either by rank or by time. That is, we are never finished growing and we will never not be susceptible to having veils brought between God and us. “Faith in God and steadfastness in His path are relative terms. The strength of a weak person is considered weakness for a strong man. To the saint, the love and devotion of the insincere towards God is nothing but profanity.”[1] Therefore, regardless of the measure of our faith it is in our best interest to keep the fire going. If you have ever experienced heating your house by fire you know what happens when the fire goes out for any length of time. If there are still coals, it is easy to re-ignite. If for whatever reason a long period has passed, you have to start all over again and notably, there is a distinct chill in the house. On the bright side… the warmth of a good fresh fire is just as enjoyable as the first time which keeps us coming back for more; it is imbedded in our creation.
I bear witness, O my God, that Thou hast created me to know Thee and to worship Thee. I testify, at this moment, to my powerlessness and to Thy might, to my poverty and to Thy wealth. There is none other God but Thee, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting.
(Baha'u'llah, The Kitab-i-Aqdas, p. 92)
OK…now that exercise is complete to some degree in my mind but the process seems to have instigated new connections!!! Ahhhh Lucky for me…and you, I have a grocery run that needs tending to… and yes…maybe a few logs will be added to the list.
Peace…
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