From: vahid@codes.ICS.UCI.EDU
Subject: Re: Questions about Manifestations of God
Organization: Sun Microsystems of Canada, Inc.
Date: Thu, 8 Oct 1992 17:46:51 GMT


mj115@eng.cam.ac.uk (M. Jones) writes:

> Where is the unity in God's message over the years then?

Hi Matt.  

You have asked an excellent question.  The Baha'i Faith has three central 
teachings, the Oneness of God, the Oneness of Religions, and the Oneness of 
Humanity.  How, one asks, can the world's great religions be harmonious when 
there are apparently many contradictions in their teachings?  Demonstrating 
the essential unity of the religions is an arduous task; even the followers 
of a single religion do not agree on many basic points.  In observing 
theological discussions on TV, radio, social gatherings, computer newsgroups, 
etc., it is my feeling that attempts to 'conclusively prove' the consistency 
or inconsistency of the religions or of any particular interpretation of 
scripture is futile.  Thus I am not inclined to use quotes from various 
scriptures to 'prove' anything.  What we can do is to pose and to consider 
alternative interpretations of various scriptures, and let each individual 
examine these interpretations in their search for truth.  It is in this 
spirit of search that I would like to share the following regarding your 
question concerning Buddhism and Christianity.  I hope others will discuss 
your questions concerning Islam and Christianity.

You point out an apparent contradiction between the teachings of Christianity 
and of Buddhism:

> 2  Jesus shows as a personal relationship with God.
>
>   Buddism etc look to a nhilistic communion with an all enfolding
>   spirit.

As I see it, the above must be viewed in the context of a fundamental
question: What is God?  It seems to me that in western thought there is a 
tendency to think of God as an entity, a very powerful human-like being 
perhaps.  But it may in fact be the case that God is entirely beyond our 
comprehension; Baha'u'llah expresses this idea as follows: "Exalted art thou 
above the description of anyone save Thyself, and the comprehension of aught 
else except Thee".  In this case, there are many simplified ways of thinking 
of God that we can understand.  One way is as a being with whom we can have a 
relationship, a Father, who gave us Jesus, who loves us, who is all-powerful, 
who is all-knowing, and who wants the best for us.  Another way is as a 
universal all-encompassing spirit.  Neither way is even close, for how can 
the finite understand the infinite?  For example, to think of God as one who 
"wants" immediately brings up the question of what it means for a being 
existing outside of time to "want".  In fact, most adjectives attributed to 
God involve a concept of space or time, so must be way off the mark.  I don't 
see either way as right or wrong, but instead as two simplifications of 
something which we can't possibly understand.

I would also like to point out that Buddhism is not necessarily an atheistic
way of thought.  In addition to myself and others who feel we have grown
closer to an understanding of God through the teachings of Gautama Buddha
(including a fellow student on campus who considers herself both a Christian 
and a Buddhist), some Buddhist scholars point out the errancy in the 
assumption of Buddhism being atheistic.  For example, in the book "Buddhism: 
A Way of Life and Thought", written by a Buddhist, we find the following: 
   
   Buddhist teaching in relation to the true nature of the soul or self
   probably accounts in part for the allegation that it is a form of atheism.
   Actually, Buddhism is no more atheistic than it is theistic or pantheistic.
   The charge of atheism can hardly be laid at the door of a Teacher who could
   declare of the universe, or cosmos, in its wholeness (or thusness): `There 
   is an unborn, an unoriginated, an unmade, an uncompounded.  Were there not,
   O mendicants, there would be no escape from the world of the born, the 
   originated, the made and the compounded.'


> If Bahai's are willing to accept these sorts of major U turns in God's
> manifestations then they presumably also can believe that God might in
> his next manifestation decide to tell us that all this unity stuff was
> not Quite the Point....

I don't believe that God would make major U turns.  Considering that there 
are so many different religions around today, I must choose from other 
possible conclusions.   One is that the teachings of Gautama Buddha, Sri 
Krishna, Moses, Jesus, Muhammad, the Bab, and Baha'u'llah are incompatible 
with one another, so either only some or none of them are correct; I don't
agree with this conclusion, even though this is the conclusion most people
have come to.  There is another possible conclusion, which I believe
is the Baha'i perspective, that the teachings are harmonious with one 
another, and that the differences among today's religions exist due to people 
clinging to specific interpretations.  I believe that much earlier scripture 
was written in very symbolic form in order to get certain ideas across.  
I also believe that today much of that symbolism used in the past is no 
longer necessary when educating humans about certain truths.

Concerning `this unity stuff', consider that the teaching of unity among 
people has been taught by the manifestations for thousands of years:

   "Be united in your purpose, let your hearts be as one heart, minds
    of all as one mind, so that your affairs may be cooperatively well
    organized."  Hinduism, Rig Veda 8:7.

   "Have we not all one father?  hath not one God created us?  why do we
    deal treacherously every man against his brother...?"  Judaism,
    Malachi 2:10.

   "God...hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all
    the face of the earth."  Paul, Acts 17:26.

   "Ye are all parts one of another." Koran, 3:195.

   "Do not be angry, nor should ye secret resentment bear, for as a mother
    risks her life and watches over her child, so boundless be your love
    to all, so tender, kind and mild."  The Buddha, Suttanipata, V. 148.

   "Ye are the fruits of one tree and the leaves of one branch."
    Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 218.

I doubt that we are misinterpreting the need for unity, nor that it
is symbolic of a deeper, more difficult to comprehend truth.

Frank