The Inner and Outer Realities of Life

This is something I wrote to prepare myself for speaking at a Baha'i Fireside Saturday, titled : "Independent Investigation of the Inner and Outer Realities of Life."

I want to speak about who we are as humans, that is one "I", and who is this Unknowable Essence, the infinitely large and loving Creator of us all, the other "I", and how we can come to connect.

Some people have told me that they were aware from their first moment of consciousness that there was a loving God, that they were loved, and surrounded by this unfathomable, unconditional love, and they could trust in Him to care for them. Blessings on them. That wasn't true for me: I had to reason my way through the whole way, fight with my own perceptions and limitations, fight with things I learned about Religion which made no sense, which were untrue, which seemed to denigrate my station as a human being. Those things came from human teachings, not from God, and it is necessary to distinguish the difference.

What is our station as a human? Are some people worthy, and others unworthy?

I work at Rainier School which is a residence for people with intellectual disabilities, and our Administrator, Neil Crowley, told the new recruits something which really touched my heart, something obvious when you think about it. He said, "these people, these clients, are every bit as good as you are."  Who among us is so saintly that we never looked down on someone else for some reason? In the past, I have looked down on people because of their mental capacity. I was ignorant. Now I know better. I keep learning in newer and deeper ways how we are all connected, whatever our skin color or whatever language we speak or whatever faith, or no faith, that we follow, or whatever way our brain is wired and how we were created to be our own different unique selves with our own unique limitations and challenges. We are one because we are all spiritual beings, walking on a spiritual path, having our own spiritual journey, and the direction we are meant to go is towards greater oneness, towards greater love and kindness and acceptance, towards understanding and loving our Creator more and more.

How do we do this? How do we connect with this Unknowable Essence that we call God or Allah or Khoda or Grandfather? We are created as spiritual beings, and the world is a spiritual place, but we are sort of tossed out into this physical matrix and our own human family with this mission to connect, to develop the spiritual qualities we will need in the next worlds of God, and we have 5 or more senses and our intellect, our feelings, and our spiritual capacity to connect, so this human "I" can connect with the divine "I". Can I sense the Creator with my senses? Hearing, sight, touch, smell, taste, something called "proprioception" which is our physical position in space, and other senses: these are inadequate to connect. Can you touch, taste, or see God with your own eyes?

Can the Unknowable Essence physically come to Earth in Person? Can the physical sun land on the Earth? Of course not. God has to communicate with the hearts of human beings in some other way. That spiritual Sun must be reflected as in a mirror, by the spirit of some exceptional human being who can, by faultlessly reflecting and revealing this Divine Light, connect the human "I" with that Divine "I".

I learned while I followed Christianity, this deep and immutable message: I AM THE WAY, THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE,  AND NO ONE COMES TO THE FATHER EXCEPT BY ME.

If you believe in Christ, you know this is true. So, Who is this Christ? Who is this "I"? What is that station?

Some people think that the Christ spirit is just a specially enlightened human being. And I need to say that we all have our beliefs, and beliefs are personal, and that I need to explore differing beliefs with respect, and we need to talk about them and not be upset because our beliefs seem to be different. We are all learning, and we are all fallible, and we all have this uniquely human capacity to connect with our Creator, and however we are learning to do that, that is acceptable. I think this Unknowable Essence, God, is delighted that we are seeking Him out. So we can look at varying beliefs and points of view without breaking into a sweat about it.

So here is my point of view, what I have learned in the Baha'i Faith, and we can look at what we have been taught according to our own beliefs and see what we can learn from each other.

Who is this "I", this divine Christ Spirit? I am a person slogging along looking for God: I can sit under a tree meditating for a hundred years, but I will not have the divine station of a Buddha. I can go up the mountain and behold the incessantly burning fire of the love of God and I will still not attain the station of a Moses. I can fast for forty days, be baptized, teach the Cause of God and share the Bread of Life with multitudes, and sacrifice my life so that all mankind can have the life of loving God, and as a regular person I cannot have the station of Christ.

Who is this divine Spirit, who by sacrificing His life connects our hearts to the Divine Creator that we cannot connect with directly? Who is this "I"? And how can I recognize Him? The prophecies say that every eye shall "see"; but shall every eye recognize this station, this Christ spirit? What conditions must be in my heart to recognize Christ?

Maybe I can travel back in time to Palestine at a certain time, and I meet a Man on the road; will I recognize him as the Christ? Of course! I have his photo right here in my pocket . . . no, wait, that's a painting, it won't help. I might walk right by. Will my heart be pure enough to recognize Him, and not just see Him? And when He comes back to Earth, as He promised that He would, will I recognize Him then? He will be coming back with a new name; will I recognize His new name?

The Baha'i teachings say that Christ has a "dual" station: the station of a man, and the divine station of a perfect mirror reflecting all the attributes of God and giving us the divine message for the day in which He appeared. As a man, He has all the physical attributes and limitations of a human being: He is born, eats and sleeps, wears clothing, gets cold when it's cold and gets hot when it's hot. He can become ill. He can marry and have children--sometimes more than once--or He can stay single and celibate because His life is so taken up with wandering the country and teaching the Cause of God that there is no place to lay His head; no way to care for a family. Maybe all mankind is His family. He can suffer pain and He can certainly die and be killed. As a man, He may live in different countries, coming at different times, speaking a different language, having a different name and a different Title. The One Who Speaks For God; the Annointed One; the Son of God; the Friend of God; the Gate of God; the Glory of God.

His message will always be the same--love each other, you were created by God to seek Him out, everything has an inner and an outer reality, the reality of this world is spiritual, not physical. And His message is also always different, depending on the needs of the time: here's what to eat to stay healthy; yes you can divorce or no, you may not divorce; remember the Sabbath and keep it holy; or, no, we are harvesting food on the Sabbath to meet our needs, because I have Divine Authority and I am changing that law. Because this is the essence of My law: love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your mind and all your soul, and love your neighbor as yourself.

In the Divine Station, the "I" , the I-am-the-Way "I", is divine, spiritual, eternal, universal. In this station, there are many Mirrors, and all stainlessly reflect the light of God. There are many Points on the horizon where the Sun may appear, depending on the season. There are many Lamps, and all give the light  of God. How many times as a child you slammed your door, "Just leave me alone!" God will never leave us alone. As a parent He has bothered us many times with a new Christ, and will always continue to do so. Humankind is growing up, attaining the station of maturity, so we need new teachings adequate for the day in which we live. No more door-slamming. "I have many things to tell you, but you cannot bear them yet. Howbeit, when He Who is the Spirit of Truth is come, He will guide you unto all truth."

So this is the Day of Judgment: whether you recognize Christ when He appears again, in His new attire, with a new Name, speaking a new Language, teaching a new Message.