The Baha’i Religion

     

This blog post is all about The Baha’i Faith based on my research and opinions.

Who are the divine messengers of God?

“WHENEVER, O DESCENDANT OF BHARATA, THERE IS A DECLINE OF DHARMA, AND RISE OF ADHARMA, THEN I BODY MYSELF FORTH. FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE GOOD, FOR THE DESTRUCTION OF THE WICKED, AND FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF DHARMA I COME INTO BEING IN EVERY AGE.” REFERENCE: BHAGAVAD GITA CHAPTER 4, VERSES 7-8

Throughout history, whenever the world was drowned in the ocean of evil, God continued to send His divine messengers to save and enlighten the world.

 

The major divine messengers of God are:

• Adam
• Abraham
• Moses
• Krishna
• Zoroaster
• Buddha
• Jesus Christ
• Muhammad
• The Báb
• Bahá'u'lláh

Now, a question could arise: if God has sent His messengers to enlighten the world, then why the first messenger of God (Adam) was not sufficient for the world? Why Abraham, Moses, Krishna, Jesus Christ, Muhammad, etc came to the world? In my opinion, there can be two conditions.

 Let's dive into both conditions.

First condition:

As we know, human nature is always being forgetful. And, many times they misinterpret the teachings.

Example: 

Once, a father told his child: "Stay at home only. It's raining."

The child said: “Okay.”

The next day, the father asked: “Go to school”.

Now, the child refused to go to school.

He said: ”But father, yesterday you did not allow me to step outside, and now, you are asking me to go to school?”

  The father explained the logic:

“Everything has its own appropriate time.

  Yesterday, it was raining. If you were outside, you    could get wet and sick. Now, since the weather is    clear and it's your school time you should go”.

Likewise: 

we can relate to the same concept with all the manifestations of God. Each divine messenger had spread their teachings as per the requirements and conditions of their time. 

This process continued up to The Báb and Bahá'u'lláh. This proves that there will be endless divine revelations.

Second condition:

 We live in a progressive world. There are tremendous advancements in the fields of science and technology.

Example:

Our computer keeps updating itself after a certain period. Or people like to buy the latest model of computers or mobiles. 

The divine revelations work similarly.

Let's say: 

Before  Adam brought the first mobile with few features, or maybe there was just a calling feature. It was a big mobile with some buttons. Adam came, decreased the size of the mobile, and installed some new features. Later on Abraham, Moses, Krishna, etc came and included some new features in the mobile.

Likewise:

Let’s consider religion to be like a mobile that the first messenger brought to mankind, Adam brought some laws to update whatever people were following at that time. In the same way, Abraham, Moses, Krishna, Zoroaster, etc came to update people.

Each messenger of God brought their teachings as per the requirements and people's understanding levels. We can not teach university-level subjects to a child in first grade. The child should be qualified in all grades (first to twelfth) to qualify for a university.

All the messengers of God are one. No one is superior to the other. We can not claim that grade 10 is much better than grade 1. Of course, we can claim that grade 10 is more advanced. It has more advanced subjects than grade 1. But grade 1 is a step on the ladder, to reach grade 10. Likewise, Religions work in the same way.

Example: The Lord Christ taught “Love thy neighbor as thyself”. From the Holy Bible

Meaning: Love your neighbor just the way you like yourself. But, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá (the eldest son of the Bahá'u'lláh) extends: “To be a Bahá’í simply means to love all the world"

Meaning: As a Baha'i, our love should not be restricted within our neighborhood, city, state, or country. It should be for the whole world.

Now, you might wonder, Why The Christ says: Just love your neighbors? Why not the whole world?

Answer: In His time, when the people could not love even their neighbors, how they could love beyond their neighbors?

Today, The Bab and the Bahá'u'lláh are the latest twin manifestations of God.The Bab (meaning- The Gate, in Arabic) and Bahá'u'lláh (meaning- The Glory of God). He tells us: The Whole World is But One Family.

Let's say: I (as an Indian) meet an American. I claim India is the best country, and I want to make him agree too. So, I should put myself in his place. If he claimed the same, that: the US is the best country. Should I agree with him? God didn't create just India or US. He created the whole universe.