Chapter 58
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The
Ruhi Institute/Method
is not in keeping with Divine Unity, a fundamental teaching.
In the past two decades or so,
the "Ruhi Institute"
has been widely promoted in Baha'i communities as a way of
learning a rather narrow set of Baha'i teachings, so Baha'is can more
effectively teach the Faith to the wider world, and "advance the
process of entry by troops". According to Baha'u'llah and Abdu'l-Baha,
in this Compilation on Teaching, the qualities needed to effectively teach the faith are: purity, wisdom,
and knowledge of the divine teachings, including knowledge of divine
mysteries. Some criticisms of Ruhi can be found online; for example, at the following page. In browsing through the Ruhi materials, no mention can be found of the station of Baha'u'llah, the Independent Prophet (the station of the Most Great Infallibility), and its fundamental importance to the Baha'i Faith. Baha'u'llah himself warns, "The followers of the previous Dispensation [Islam] grievously failed to acquire an adequate understanding of this station [the station of the Most Great Infallibility]". Passage 1 below contains a reply
by the House to a Baha'i who wrote to them about his/her decision not
to participate in Ruhi. Ruhi adopts a literal reading
of the Baha'i Holy Texts, often ignoring the broader context applicable
to the snippets of various writings provided; and, as detailed below, is not in keeping with Divine Unity, a fundamental teaching. In the Kitab-i-Iqan, Baha'u'llah warns:
"in every age, the reading of the scriptures and holy books is for no
other purpose except to enable the reader to apprehend their meaning
and unravel their innermost mysteries. Otherwise reading, without
understanding, is of no abiding profit unto man." In past dispensations, the literal reading of the Holy Texts, or reading without understanding, has led to many rejecting the Manifestations of God (the two classes of Prophets) when they appear. For example, in the era of Muhammad, the vast majority of Muslims (Sunnis) rejected the Holy Imams (the Cord of God, the Angels, God's Chosen Ones) as Muhammad's divinely ordained Successors, despite the many symbolic references to the Holy Imams in the Quran,
as explained by Baha'u'llah in passage 2. In passage 3, Abdu'l-Baha
addresses the same theme of literalism. Passages 4 - 8 show some
examples of Holy
Texts cited in the Ruhi Books with links to the missing broader context
(and related compilations).
1)
Say: Each section of this unit opens with a
thematic statement or quotation from the Baha’i Writings, and continues
with a series of exercises designed to help participants comprehend the
language and the concepts of the statement.
The impetus given to the institute process in the past two years and,
in particular, to having the believers proceed through a sequence of
courses was felt on all continents. The number of participants who have
completed at least one institute course in the basic sequence continues
to rise, but the most significant achievement is that a swelling stream
of friends has proceeded through higher level courses. For example, 18
months into the Five Year Plan, more than 10,000 believers had
completed Ruhi Institute Book 6, accounting for an increase of over 500
percent since April 2001, and more than 8,000 had completed Ruhi
Institute Book 7, resulting in a dramatically enlarged pool of trained
tutors.
Gradually most national communities around the world adopted for their
basic sequence of courses the Ruhi Institute curriculum, which had been
developed over many years specifically in response to large-scale
expansion. In light of the focus and energy being devoted to furthering
the institute process in every national community, concerns were
expressed by some believers about the emphasis on training and the use
of a uniform curriculum. In such a wide-scale enterprise of taking
great numbers of friends through a set curriculum, it is to be expected
that some individuals might not find the materials suited to their
learning style. Responding to this circumstance, the House of Justice
made the following comment in a letter written on its behalf to an
individual believer:
… reports
from countries of diverse backgrounds suggest that many national Bahá’í
communities which have adopted the books of the Ruhi Institute are
finding them highly effective. It is natural that any given
educational program would not appeal to everyone and that some would
not wish to participate.… Nevertheless, a choice has been made by the
institutions in your country to offer certain courses to the believers
in the context of their plans to advance the process of entry by
troops. The House of Justice is happy to see from your letter that you
respect this decision and do not want to make your own evaluation of
the program a cause for disunity.[11]
-- The Universal House of Justice / Part III Additional Documents:
Building Momemtum: A Coherent Approach to Growth, a document prepared
by the International Teaching Centre, April 2003.
2)
In the passage below by Baha'u'llah, Imam Ali,
the first Dependent/Lesser Prophet of Muhammad, is named a Temple (i.e. a Prophet),
and is the first of the angels referred to in Qur'án 2:210: "Will they
wait until Allah comes to them in canopies of clouds, with angels (in
His train)." "angels (in His train)" refers to the Holy Imams who appeared after the ascension of Muhammad, as his Successors. "A Day
that God shall come" is also a reference to the fact that the Holy Imams are Manifestations of God (Dependent Prophets of Muhammad, one of the two classes of Prophets). Those
who rejected Imam Ali ("He came down in the clouds of Revelation in the Temple of 'Ali"), a Manifestation of God, brought their own perdition.
Say I swear by God! They to whom you attribute knowledge and have
accepted them as your divines they are in the sight of God the worst of
men nay the quintessence of evil flees from them. Thus has the matter
been inscribed in the scrolls of God's knowledge. We testify that they
have not drunk from the fountains of knowledge and they have not
attained unto a word of Wisdom and have not become aware of the
mysteries of Revelation and have been racing in the land of their
selfish desires. Nothing of rejection and denial against a prophet or a
successor of a prophet has come to pass except after their permission.
Thus has always been their injunction carried out on the Countenances
of holiness.
Say to them: O ignorant ones! Did We not reveal in the past: "A Day
that God shall come in the canopies of clouds."[4] How is it that when
He came down in the clouds of Revelation in the Temple of 'Ali [Imam
Ali], you turned away and rejected Him and waxed haughty and brought
about your own perdition?[5] Was it not also revealed in your Book:
" the Day when Thy Lord comes or certain of the signs of Thy Lord."[6]
And when He did come with evident signs wherefore did ye turn away from
those signs and veiled yourselves with the veils of self?..
[4] Qur'án 2:210.
[5] Qur'án 25:18 and 48:12.
[6] Qur'an 6:158.
-- Baha'u'llah, Surih-i-Sabr (Lawh-i-Ayyúb), Surih of Patience or Tablet of Job. Translation by K. Fananapazir.
2:208. O ye who believe! enter into Islam whole-heartedly; and follow
not the footsteps of the Evil One; for he is to you an avowed enemy.
2:209. If ye backslide after the clear (signs) have come to you, then know that Allah is Exalted in Power, Wise.
2:210. Will they wait until Allah comes to them in canopies of clouds,
with angels (in His train) and the question is (thus) settled? But to
Allah do all questions go back (for decision).
2:211. Ask the Children of Israel how many Clear (Signs) We have sent
them. But if anyone, after Allah's favor has come to him, substitutes
(something else), Allah is strict in punishment.
2:212. The life of this world is alluring to those who reject faith,
and they scoff at those who believe. But the righteous will be above
them on the Day of Resurrection; for Allah bestows His abundance
without measures on whom He will.
-- The Qur'an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surah 2.
The Holy Qur'án hath testified that true Faith is recognition of divine unity and confession to both the Prophet [recognition of Muhammad, the pre-existent Independent Prophet, the Manifestation of God] and the Imámate [recognition of the Holy Imams, the pre-existent Dependent/Lesser Prophets of Muhammad, the Manifestations of God].
He who attaineth unto both hath fulfilled his faith. A true believer is
the one who does not reject any matter pertaining to Us, for God
Himself hath dilated His Breast such that He may accept all. He will
not doubt or be mistrustful. He who cavileth why and wherefore becometh
a disbeliever. We are, verily, the Cause of God!
-- Imam Ali, The Sermon of Ma'rifat bin-Nurániyyat (Recognition with Luminousness). Translation by K. Fananapazir.
Full text available at: https://bahai-library.com/imam-ali_marifat_nuraniyyat
Whoso faileth to quaff
the choice wine which We have unsealed through the potency of Our Name,
the All-Compelling, shall be unable to discern the splendours of the
light of divine unity or to grasp the essential purpose underlying the
Scriptures of God, the Lord of heaven and earth, the sovereign Ruler of
this world and of the world to come. Such a man shall be accounted
among the faithless in the Book of God, the All-Knowing, the
All-Informed.
-- Bahá'u'lláh, Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 105
This sign of the revelation of the Divine Being in them that have
joined partners with Him may, in a sense, be regarded as a reflection
of the glory with which the faithful are illumined. None, however, can
comprehend this truth save men endued with understanding. They that
have truly recognized the Unity of God should be regarded as the
primary manifestations of this Name. It is they who have quaffed the
wine of Divine Unity from the cup which the hand of God hath proffered
unto them, and who have turned their faces towards Him. How vast the
distance that separateth these sanctified beings from those men that
are so far away from God!...
-- Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 191
3)
The obstacle which prevents the so-called religious man from accepting
the teachings of God is literal interpretation. Moses announced the
coming of Christ. The Israelites were awaiting him with the greatest
impatience and anxiety, but when he came they called him Beelzebub.
"The conditions laid down in the Bible for the coming of the expected
one were not fulfilled," they said. They did not understand that the
conditions were symbolical.
For instance, it is written -- "He will come from an unknown place."
Jesus came from Nazareth. "How can this be the Messiah?" they reasoned.
"It is written -- he will carry an iron scepter, that is to say, his
shepherd's staff will be a sword. This man has no sword. It was
prophesised -- he will be seated on the throne of David; behold this
man has not so much as a mat whereon to sit. He was to spread the law
of Moses; this man, on the contrary, seeks to destroy it. How can he be
the promulgator of God's law?" they scornfully laughed.
It was prophesised that the east and west would be united under the
Jewish law; the animals would be at peace one with another; that the
wolf would no longer devour the sheep. They did not see these
conditions fulfilled. Roman tyranny enveloped the world and they
crucified the Christ.
The Jews were blind to reality. The real Christ came from the city of
light in the eternal realms Christ is a king. His shepherd's staff,
that is, his tongue, was a sword dividing the true from the false. The throne of David is not a material throne but an eternal kingdom. Christ
re-established this kingdom; it has been forgotten. Christ conquered
the east and the west. This means a spiritual victory, not a material
one.
-- Abdu'l-Baha, Divine Philosophy, p. 3
But as to the Jewish doctors, Christian priests and monks who read those Books, verily, they know the letter only and they utter the words, as parrots, without understanding their inner meanings.
They comprehend them not, because they are engrossed in worldly desires
and lusts and their hearts are attached to mundane allurements. Verily,
are they not heedless of God and understand nothing and find not the
right path?
-- Abdu'l-Baha, Tablets of Abdu'l-Baha v3, p. 622
4)
"Holy words and pure and goodly deeds ascend unto the heaven of celestial glory."[5] [excerpt from Persian Hidden Words #69]
5. What do holy words pure and goodly deeds do? [commentary by Ruhi author(s)]_____________________
-- Ruhi Book 1: Reflections on the Life of the Spirit, Section 1, page 13.
The key missing broader context (which relates to Divine Unity) is: the reference to the Assayers in the Persian Hidden Words #69.
5)
"Ye
are even as the bird which soareth, with the full force of its mighty
wings and with complete and joyous confidence, through the immensity of
the heavens, until, impelled to satisfy its hunger, it turneth
longingly to the water and clay of the earth below it, and, having been
entrapped in the mesh of its desire, findeth itself impotent to resume
its flight to the realms whence it came. Powerless to shake off the
burden weighing on its sullied wings, that bird, hitherto an inmate of
the heavens, is now forced to seek a dwelling-place upon the dust.
Wherefore, O My servants, defile not your wings with the clay of
waywardness and vain desires, and suffer them not to be stained with
the dust of envy and hate, that ye may not be hindered from soaring in
the heavens of My divine knowledge."[17] [excerpt from Gleanings CLIII]
-- Ruhi Book 1: Reflections on the Life of the Spirit, Section 12, page 50.
The key missing broader context (which relates to Divine Unity) is: the reference to the Maids of Heaven in Gleanings CLIII.
6)
4. You may wish to memorize one or more of
the following passages from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh so that you can
quote them when you speak with friends on this subject [commentary by Ruhi author(s)]:
...
...
"Be ye assured, moreover, that the works
and acts of each and every one of these Manifestations of God, nay
whatever pertaineth unto them, and whatsoever they may manifest in the
future, are all ordained by God, and are a reflection of His Will and
Purpose."[7] [excerpt from Gleanings XXIV]
-- Ruhi Book 2: Arising to Serve, Section 3, page 20.
The key missing broader context is: the prohibition against making the slightest distinction between Manifestations of God in Gleanings XXIV.
7)
According to the Holy Writings, there is a relationship between the Covenant and Divine Unity. Those faithful to the Covenant recognise and follow the Manifestations of God (the two classes of Prophets, the Sun and the Moon), who Baha'u'llah refers to as "the Symbols of His divine unity".
For example, in the era of Muhammad, those faithful to the Covenant of Muhammad recognised and followed Twelve Messengers, starting with Imam Ali, "the Moon", "the Commander of the Faithful", "the Object of the Covenant", followed by the other Holy Imams. Baha'is recognise the Bab as the Imam Mihdi (Twelfth Imam), who represents the sun and moon being joined together on the Day of Resurrection (Quran 75:9). A number of prophecies on the coming of the Bab and Bahá'u'lláh were revealed by the Holy Imams.
In the era of Christ, true believers followed the Twelve Apostles. A number of prophecies on the coming of Muhammad, the Holy Imams, the
Bab, and Baha'u'llah, were revealed by the Twelve Apostles.
As stated in the Quran 5:12, in the era of Moses, true believers followed the twelve captains (also referred to as "twelve heads or chiefs of the tribes" by Abdu'l-Baha). At the following link are prophecies of Daniel and Ezekiel on the coming of Jesus, the Bab, and Baha'u'llah.
At the following link is a compilation the Covenant as relates to the two classes of Prophets.
The references are from the writings of Baha'u'llah, Abdu'l-Baha, the
Quran, and the Holy Imams. Contrast the references in the compilation (for example, Section 7, Section 8, Section 9, and Section 14) with the narrow view of the Covenant provided in Ruhi Book 8, and also all the extraneous
information included in the Ruhi Book 8 materials...
The Covenant of Bahá'u'lláh
Unit 1
The Centre of the Covenant and His Will and Testament
-- Ruhi Book 8 Unit 1: the Covenant.
The Covenant of Bahá'u'lláh
Unit 2
The Guardian of the Faith
-- Ruhi Book 8 Unit 2: the Covenant.
...
8)
SECTION 6
What Bahá’u’lláh did in the district of Núr is that which He asks us to
do—to arise and promote the Cause of God. Let us, then, study and
meditate on the following words of Bahá’u’lláh, remembering that, after
He accepted the Báb’s Revelation, His own first act was to arise and
share the Message with hundreds and hundreds of souls [commentary by Ruhi author(s)].
“O wayfarer in the path of God! Take thou thy portion of the ocean of
His grace, and deprive not thyself of the things that lie hidden in its
depths. Be thou of them that have partaken of its treasures. A dewdrop
out of this ocean would, if shed upon all that are in the heavens and
on the earth, suffice to enrich them with the bounty of God, the
Almighty, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise. With the hands of renunciation
draw forth from its life-giving waters, and sprinkle therewith all
created things, that they may be cleansed from all man-made limitations
and may approach the mighty seat of God, this hallowed and resplendent
Spot.
“Be not grieved if thou performest it thyself alone. Let God be
all-sufficient for thee. Commune intimately with His Spirit, and be
thou of the thankful. Proclaim the Cause of thy Lord unto all who are
in the heavens and on the earth. Should any man respond to thy call,
lay bare before him the pearls of the wisdom of the Lord, thy God,
which His Spirit hath sent down unto thee, and be thou of them that
truly believe. And should anyone reject thine offer, turn thou away
from him, and put thy trust and confidence in the Lord, thy God, the
Lord of all worlds.”2 [excerpt from Gleanings CXXIX]
-- Ruhi Book 4: The Twin Manifestations, Section 6, page 80.
The proper context (which relates to Divine Unity) is: the reference to God's Chosen Ones in Gleanings CXXIX, an important mystical tablet. "be thou of them that truly believe" is Baha'u'llah telling Baha'is to be of the true believers (believers in Divine Unity), who apprehend the reference to God's Chosen Ones (Dependent/Lesser Prophets of Baha'u'llah, one of the two classes of Prophets) in Gleanings CXXIX...
9)
Below is an example of an error, where it says the Dispensation of the Bab lasted only 9 years.
As indicated by the Bab himself in the subsequent passage, his
Dispensation lasted 19 years, until 1863, when Baha'u'llah declared his Prophethood (the Day of the Latter Resurrection) in the Garden of Ridvan. This error is covered in more detail in Chapter 2.
SECTION 1
The Dispensation of the Báb began in
1844 and lasted only nine years. Its primary purpose was to prepare the
way for the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh. Although the period of the Báb’s
Ministry was brief, the forces released by His Revelation were so
intense that their effect will be felt for hundreds of generations to
come [commentary by Ruhi author(s)].
-- Ruhi Book 4: The Twin Manifestations, Section 1, page 17.
A SECOND TABLET ADDRESSED TO `HIM WHO WILL BE MADE MANIFEST'
May the glances of Him Whom God shall make manifest illumine this letter at the primary school.
He is the Most Glorious.
He is God, no God is there but Him, the Almighty, the Best Beloved. All
that are in the heavens and on the earth and whatever lieth between
them are His.
Verily He is the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting.
This is a letter from God, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting, unto
God, the Almighty, the Best Beloved, to affirm that the Bayán and such
as bear allegiance to it are but a present from me unto Thee and to
express my undoubting faith that there is no God but Thee, that the
kingdoms of Creation and Revelation are Thine, that no one can attain
anything save by Thy power and that He Whom Thou hast raised up is but
Thy servant and Thy Testimony. I, indeed, beg to address Him Whom God
shall make manifest, by Thy leave in these words: `Shouldst Thou
dismiss the entire company of the followers of the Bayán in the Day of
the Latter Resurrection by a mere sign of Thy finger even while still a
suckling babe, Thou wouldst indeed be praised in Thy indication. And
though no doubt is there about it, do Thou grant a respite of nineteen
years as a token of Thy favour so that those who have embraced this
Cause may be graciously rewarded by Thee. Thou art verily the Lord of
grace abounding. Thou dost indeed suffice every created thing and
causest it to be independent of all things, while nothing in the
heavens or on the earth or that which lieth between them can ever
suffice Thee.'
Verily Thou art the Self-Sufficient, the All-Knowing; Thou art indeed potent over all things.
-- The Báb, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 8
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