Bahais commemorate Ascension of Bahaullah

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alborz
by alborz
27-May-2008
 

May 29 marks the anniversary of the Ascension of Baha'u'llah, the founder of the Baha'i Faith. The day is one of nine holy days on which Baha'is suspend work and school.

Baha’u’llah died after a brief illness in 1892 in the mansion of Bahji outside Akka, in what is now northern Israel. After spending most of His life in exile, He was able to live his later years at Bahji in relative tranquility. He was buried in a small stone house adjacent to the mansion. This Shrine is the holiest place on earth for Baha’is, the place toward which they turn in prayer each day.

Six days before His death, Baha’u’llah gathered his followers and family members and delivered what would be His last address to them:

"I am well pleased with you all. Ye have rendered many services, and been very assiduous in your labors. Ye have come here every morning and every evening. May God assist you to remain united. May He aid you to exalt the Cause of the Lord of being."

About a year prior to His passing, Baha’u’llah revealed His Will and Testament, which named His eldest son, Abdu’l-Baha, as His successor.

For a week after Baha’u’llah’s death, writes Shoghi Effendi, the grandson of Abdu'l-Baha, “a vast number of mourners, rich and poor alike, tarried to grieve with the bereaved family. . . Notables, among whom were numbered Shí'ahs, Sunnis, Christians, Jews and Druzes, as well as poets, ulamas and government officials, all joined in lamenting the loss. . .”

In 1992, on the centenary of Baha’u’llah’s passing, several thousand Baha’is from more than 200 countries gathered to pay homage to Him at His shrine outside Bahji. The following November, approximately 27,000 followers assembled in New York City to celebrate the anniversary of the inauguration of Baha’u’llah’s Covenant, which has preserved the unity of the Baha'i Faith since its inception

Baha'u'llah's ministry came to an end in 1892. He left to humanity a priceless heritage of spiritual and social teachings, which He claimed would lead humanity to true and abiding peace. He endured decades of suffering to accomplish this mission. As he says In His own words:

"The Ancient Beauty hath consented to be bound with chains that mankind may be released from its bondage, and hath accepted to be made a prisoner within this most mighty Stronghold that the whole world may attain unto true liberty. He hath drained to its dregs the cup of sorrow, that all the peoples of the earth may attain unto abiding joy, and be filled with gladness. This is of the mercy of your Lord, the Compassionate, the Most Merciful. We have accepted to be abased, O believers in the Unity of God, that ye may be exalted, and have suffered manifold afflictions, that ye might prosper and flourish.

He Who hath come to build anew the whole world, behold, how they that have joined partners with God have forced Him to dwell within the most desolate of cities!

Related Items:

View photo history of the life of Baha'u'llah

Photos of the Shrine of Baha’u’llah in Akka, Israel

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Mona 19

The Ascension of Baha'u'llah

by Mona 19 on Wed May 28, 2008 04:33 AM PDT


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alborz

Dear Parthian...

by alborz on Tue May 27, 2008 09:40 PM PDT

Your views are salient and need not face the rath of anyone, particularly those of Baha'is. Your frustration, your disappointment, and perhaps even disgust with the state of religion as we know of it today is understandable. 

The question : "How much more must we witness the evils of once "peaceful" religions turned "bad" by its practicioners before we say enough is enough? " is profound and I am grateful that you have expressed it in this way.  So may times, people don't make the distinction between the religion and what the followers have made of it.  Baha'is are very cognizant of this distinction.

The conclusions you have reached and have posed in the form of many questions are in fact a protest born out of a deep sense of understanding of the issues for which you care for.  Few Iranians express their frustration in this way.  They mostly curse and use profanity or remain silent and numb towards this topic.

I invite you to investigate that which you feel so strongly about, as it is one the chief animating forces in the world.  At the very least, as an Iranian, make sure that you are so informed about it that  you will not be influenced by the interpretations of others.

Alborz

PS- Alborzi is someone else on this site...with a very different temperament.


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default

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

by Seagull (not verified) on Tue May 27, 2008 08:53 PM PDT

Dear Parthian, thank you for your thoughts.
Of course you are welcome to criticize. After all religion is not for everyone. We are all free to choose.
As far as what religion can and can not do, on a personal level it is between the individual and God to reconcile faith and belief and its secret spiritual dealings! But as you state physical Ascension does require overcoming gravity. Likewise spiritual ascension requires overcoming self that is a much stronger force than gravity to reckon with! Failure of one individual dose not imply anything. you will surely not experience in any capacity someone else's ascension, it happen at a different plane!! yet simply it requires need and faith, the kind of faith that will stay with us till the needs are met!
To much philosophy maybe, but is it real? It is more real than gravity, but to conceive that reality is a privilage not a right.
As far as Religion and society, we may discredit any and all religions based on our misconception of the evil they have helped accomplish, nonetheless, the alternative, had there not been any religion is far to frightening.
We cant imagine humanity would have even survived its own very basic fears were it not for the courage, hope, purposefulness of creation and compassion which religion has taught us from the beginning.
The part of religion that has to do with society ensures that some of us who do the math, continue and some of us who don't succumbs to the alternative! Alternative being any kind of extremism, or possibly the void that untamed materialism creates in us instead of spirit and turns us into over-civilized yet still savage and crude.
In a world without God and His prophets, the worth of our lives would be no more than its physical value! And that in itself would have tragically been the unfairest of all phenomenons!


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Parthian

if this is true

by Parthian on Tue May 27, 2008 07:48 PM PDT

This is not a commentary on the plight of bahais in Iran, people should be free to practice what they want. But there should be also be freedom to criticize religion at all levels. We do that here with Islam often. I had to say all this, because what I am about to say, I know people will jump on me with the situation in Iran. But if everything Alborzi wrote is true, I have to say, this is the same crap repackaged as "bahai faith". When are we going to get over these kind of craps, worshiping other human beings who have managed to manipulate people? When are we going to evolve in understanding that no one is going ascend any where, unless they have a "scientifically" manufactured rocket attached on their ass so they can fly up 60 or 70 miles to escape gravity? When are we not going to manipulate people in the name of god? Celebrate him as a man, and for his accomplishments, don't turn to him for prayers...what a bunch of "bull" crap propagating, repeating itself over and over..there is no hope for us human beings. How much more must we witness the evils of once "peaceful" religions turned "bad" by its practicioners before we say enough is enough?


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Tahirih

What if???

by Tahirih on Tue May 27, 2008 07:31 PM PDT

Today I read a sad question ,from a bereaved father saying " what if my son was alive".I cried for him . For all those lost potentials.

The same thing  came to my mind when I read your article about Bahaullah a real Iranian "bozorg mard", a man that brought message of love ,unity and tolerance to Iranians and then the world.

And I cried the same, for all the potential lost for our beloved land. I asked myself what if ?????

Tahirih


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