The Reconciliation of Races and Religions Part 10

A universal language as a means of international communication is to be formed. Abdul Baha is much in favour of _Esperanto_, the n.o.ble inventor of which sets all other inventors a worthy example of unselfishness.

Gambling, the use of alcoholic liquors as a beverage, the taking of opium, cruelty to animals and slavery, are forbidden.

A certain portion of a man's income must be devoted to charity. The administration of charitable funds, the provision for widows and for the sick and disabled, the education and care of orphans, will be arranged and managed by elected Councils.

THE NEW DISPENSATION

The contrast between the Old and the New is well exemplified in the contrasting lives of Rammohan Roy, Debendranath Tagore, and Keshab Chandra Sen. As an Indian writer says: 'The sweep of the New Dispensation is broader than the Brahmo Samaj. The whole religious world is in the grasp of a great purpose which, in its fresh unfolding of the new age, we call the New Dispensation. The New Dispensation is not a local phenomenon; it is not confined to Calcutta or to India; our Brotherhood is but one body whose thought it functions to-day; it is not topographical, it is operative in all the world-religions.'

[Footnote: Cp. Auguste Sabatier on the _Religion of the Spirit_, and Mozoomdar's work on the same subject.]

'No full account has yet been given to the New Brotherhood's work and experiences during that period. Men of various ranks came, drawn together by the magnetic personality of the man they loved, knowing he loved them all with a larger love; his leadership was one of love, and they caught the contagion of his conviction.... And so, if I were to write at length, I could cite one ill.u.s.tration after another of transformed lives--lives charged with a new spirit shown in the work achieved, the sufferings borne, the persecutions accepted, deep spiritual gladness experienced in the midst of pain, the fellowship with G.o.d realized day after day' (Benoyendra Nath Sen, _The Spirit of the New Dispensation_). The test of a religion is its capacity for producing n.o.ble men and women.

MANIFESTATION

G.o.d Himself in His inmost essence cannot be either imagined or comprehended, cannot be named. But in some measure He can be known by His Manifestations, chief among whom is that Heavenly Being known variously as Michael, the Son of man, the Logos, and Sofia. These names are only concessions to the weakness of the people. This Heavenly Being is sometimes spoken of allusively as the Face or Name, the Gate and the Point (of Knowledge). See p. 174.

The Manifestations may also be called Manifesters or Revealers. They make G.o.d known to the human folk so far as this can be done by Mirrors, and especially (as Tagore has most beautifully shown) in His inexhaustible love. They need not have the learning of the schools.

They would mistake their office if they ever interfered with discoveries or problems of criticism or of science.

The Bab announced that he himself owed nothing to any earthly teacher. A heavenly teacher, however, if he touched the subject, would surely have taught the Bab better Arabic. It is a psychological problem how the Bab can lay so much stress on his 'signs' (ayat) or verses as decisive of the claims of a prophet. One is tempted to surmise that in the Bab's Arabic work there has been collaboration.

What const.i.tutes 'signs' or verses? Prof. Browne gives this answer: [Footnote: E. G. Browne, _JRAS_, 1889, p. 155.] 'Eloquence of diction, rapidity of utterance, knowledge unacquired by study, claim to divine origin, power to affect and control the minds of men.' I do not myself see how the possession of an Arabic which some people think very poor and others put down to the help of an amanuensis, can be brought within the range of Messianic lore. It is spiritual truth that we look for from the Bab. Secular wisdom, including the knowledge of languages, we turn over to the company of trained scholars.

Spiritual truth, then, is the domain of the prophets of Bahaism. A prophet who steps aside from the region in which he is at home is fallible like other men. Even in the sphere of exposition of sacred texts the greatest of prophets is liable to err. In this way I am bound to say that Baha-'ullah himself has made mistakes, and can we be surprised that the almost equally venerated Abdul Baha has made many slips? It is necessary to make this p.r.o.nouncement, lest possible friends should be converted into seeming enemies. The claim of infallibility has done harm enough already in the Roman Church!

Baha-'ullah may no doubt be invoked on the other side. This is the absolutely correct statement of his son Abdul Baha. 'He (Baha-'ullah) entered into a Covenant and Testament with the people. He appointed a Centre of the Covenant, He wrote with his own pen ... appointing him the Expounder of the Book.' [Footnote: _Star of the West_, 1913, p. 238.] But Baha-'ullah is as little to be followed on questions of philology as Jesus Christ, who is not a manifester of science but of heavenly lore. The question of Sinlessness I postpone.

GREAT MANIFESTATION; WHEN?

I do not myself think that the interval of nineteen years for the Great Manifestation was meant by the Bab to be taken literally. The number 19 may be merely a conventional sacred number and have no historical significance. I am therefore not to be shaken by a reference to these words of the Bab, quoted in substance by Mirza Abu'l Fazl, that after nine years all good will come to his followers, or by the Mirza's comment that it was nine years after the Bab's Declaration that Baha-'ullah gathered together the Babis at Baghdad, and began to teach them, and that at the end of the nineteenth year from the Declaration of the Bab, Baha-'ullah declared his Manifestation.

Another difficulty arises. The Bab does not always say the same thing. There are pa.s.sages of the Persian Bayan which imply an interval between his own theophany and the next parallel to that which separated his own theophany from Muhammad's. He says, for instance, in _Wahid_ II. Bab 17, according to Professor Browne,

'If he [whom G.o.d shall manifest] shall appear in the number of Ghiyath (1511) and all shall enter in, not one shall remain in the Fire. If He tarry [until the number of] Mustaghath (2001), all shall enter in, not one shall remain in the Fire.' [Footnote: _History of the Babis, edited by E. G. Browne; Introd. p. xxvi. _Traveller's Narrative_ (Browne), Introd. p. xvii. ]

I quote next from _Wahid_ III. Bab 15:--

'None knoweth [the time of] the Manifestation save G.o.d: whenever it takes place, all must believe and must render thanks to G.o.d, although it is hoped of His Grace that He will come ere [the number of]

Mustaghath, and will raise up the Word of G.o.d on his part. And the Proof is only a sign [or verse], and His very Existence proves Him, since all also is known by Him, while He cannot be known by what is below Him. Glorious is G.o.d above that which they ascribe to Him.'

[Footnote: _History of the Babis_, Introd. p. x.x.x.]

Elsewhere (vii. 9), we are told vaguely that the Advent of the Promised One will be sudden, like that of the Point or Bab (iv. 10); it is an element of the great Oriental myth of the winding-up of the old cycle and the opening of a new. [Footnote: Cheyne, _Mines of Isaiah Re-explored_, Index, 'Myth.']

A Bahai scholar furnishes me with another pa.s.sage--

'G.o.d knoweth in what age He will manifest him. But from the springing (beginning) of the manifestation to its head (perfection) are nineteen years.' [Footnote: Bayan, _Wahid_, III., chap. iii.]

This implies a preparation period of nineteen years, and if we take this statement with a parallel one, we can, I think, have no doubt that the Bab expected the a.s.sumption, not immediate however, of the reins of government by the Promised One. The parallel statement is as follows, according to the same Bahai scholar.

'G.o.d only knoweth his age. But the time of his proclamation after mine is the number Wahid (=19, cabbalistically), and whenever he cometh during this period, accept him.' [Footnote: Bayan, _Brit. Mus. Text_, p. 151.]

Another pa.s.sage may be quoted by the kindness of Mirza 'Ali Akbar. It shows that the Bab has doubts whether the Great Manifestation will occur in the lifetime of Baha-'ullah and Subh-i-Ezel (one or other of whom is addressed by the Bab in this letter). The following words are an extract:--

'And if G.o.d hath not manifested His greatness in thy days, then act in accordance with that which hath descended (i.e. been revealed), and never change a word in the verses of G.o.d.

'This is the order of G.o.d in the Sublime Book; ordain in accordance with that which hath descended, and never change the orders of G.o.d, that men may not make variations in G.o.d's religion.'

NON-FINALITY OF REVELATION

Not less important than the question of the Bab's appointment of his successor is that of his own view of the finality or non-finality of his revelation. The Bayan does not leave this in uncertainty. The Kur'an of the Babis expressly states that a new Manifestation takes place whenever there is a call for it (ii. 9, vi. 13); successive revelations are like the same sun arising day after day (iv. 12, vii. 15, viii. 1). The Bab's believers therefore are not confined to a revelation constantly becoming less and less applicable to the spiritual wants of the present age. And very large discretionary powers are vested in 'Him whom He will make manifest,'

extending even to the abrogation of the commands of the Bayan (iii. 3).

EARLY CHRISTIANITY AND BAHAISM AND BUDDHISM

The comparisons sometimes drawn between the history of nascent Christianity and that of early Bahaism are somewhat misleading. 'Ali Muhammad of Shiraz was more than a mere forerunner of the Promised Saviour; he was not merely John the Baptist--he was the Messiah, All-wise and Almighty, himself. True, he was of a humble mind, and recognized that what he might ordain would not necessarily be suitable for a less transitional age, but the same may be said--if our written records may be trusted--of Jesus Christ. For Jesus was partly his own forerunner, and antiquated his own words.

It is no doubt a singular coincidence that both 'Ali Muhammad and Jesus Christ are reported to have addressed these words to a disciple: 'To-day thou shalt be with me in Paradise.' But if the Crucifixion is unhistorical--and there is, I fear, considerable probability that it is--what is the value of this coincidence?

More important is it that both in early Christianity and in early Bahaism we find a conspicuous personage who succeeds in disengaging the faith from its particularistic envelope. In neither case is this personage a man of high culture or worldly position. [Footnote: Leslie Johnston's phraseology (_Some Alternatives to Jesus Christ_, p. 114) appears to need revision.] This, I say, is most important. Paul and Baha-'ullah may both be said to have transformed their respective religions. Yet there is a difference between them. Baha-'ullah and his son Abdul-Baha after him were personal centres of the new covenant; Paul was not.

This may perhaps suffice for the parallels--partly real, partly supposed--between early Christianity and early Bahaism. I will now refer to an important parallel between the development of Christianity and that of Buddhism. It is possible to deny that the Christianity of Augustine [Footnote: Professor Anesaki of Tokio regards Augustine as the Christian Nagarjuna.] deserves its name, on the ground of the wide interval which exists between his religious doctrines and the beliefs of Jesus Christ. Similarly, one may venture to deny that the Mahayana developments of Buddhism are genuine products of the religion because they contain some elements derived from other Indian systems. In both cases, however, grave injustice would be done by any such a.s.sumption. It is idle 'to question the historical value of an organism which is now full of vitality and active in all its functions, and to treat it like an archaeological object, dug out from the depths of the earth, or like a piece of bric- -brac, discovered in the ruins of an ancient royal palace. Mahayanaism is not an object of historical curiosity. Its vitality and activity concern us in our daily life. It is a great spiritual organism. What does it matter, then, whether or not Mahayanaism is the genuine teaching of the Buddha?' [Footnote: Suzuki, _Outlines of Mahayana Buddhism_, p. 15.] The parallel between the developments of these two great religions is unmistakable. We Christians insist--and rightly so--on the 'genuineness' of our own religion in spite of the numerous elements unknown to its 'Founder.' The northern Buddhism is equally 'genuine,' being equally true to the spirit of the Buddha.

It is said that Christianity, as a historical religion, contrasts with the most advanced Buddhism. But really it is no loss to the Buddhist Fraternity if the historical element in the life of the Buddha has retired into the background. A cultured Buddhist of the northern section could not indeed admit that he has thrust the history of Gautama entirely aside, but he would affirm that his religion was more philosophical and practically valuable than that of his southern brothers, inasmuch as it transcended the boundary of history. In a theological treatise called _Chin-kuang-ming_ we read as follows: 'It would be easier to count every drop of water in the ocean, or every grain of matter that composes a vast mountain than to reckon the duration of the life of Buddha.' 'That is to say, Buddha's life does not belong to the time-series: Buddha is the "I Am" who is above time.' [Footnote: Johnston, _Buddhist China_, p. 114.] And is not the Christ of Christendom above the world of time and s.p.a.ce?

Lastly, must not both Christians and Buddhists admit that among the Christs or Buddhas the most G.o.dlike are those embodied in narratives as Jesus and Gautama?

WESTERN AND EASTERN RELIGION

Religion, as conceived by most Christians of the West, is very different from the religion of India. Three-quarters of it (as Matthew Arnold says) has to do with conduct; it is a code with a very positive and keen divine sanction. Few of its adherents, indeed, have any idea of the true position of morality, and that the code of Christian ethics expresses barely one half of the religious idea. The other half (or even more) is expressed in a.s.surances of holy men that G.o.d dwells within us, or even that we are G.o.d. A true morality helps us to realize this--morality is not to be tied up and labelled, but is identical with the cosmic as well as individual principle of Love.

Sin (i.e. an unloving disposition) is to be avoided because it blurs the outlines of the Divine Form reflected, however dimly, in each of us.

There are, no doubt, a heaven where virtue is rewarded, and a h.e.l.l where vice is punished, for the unphilosophical minds of the vulgar. But the only reward worthy of a lover of G.o.d is to get nearer and nearer to Him. Till the indescribable goal (Nirvana) is reached, we must be content with realizing. This is much easier to a Hindu than to an Englishman, because the former has a constant sense of that unseen power which pervades and transcends the universe. I do not understand how Indian seekers after truth can hurry and strive about sublunary matters. Surely they ought to feel 'that this tangible world, with its chatter of right and wrong, subserves the intangible.'

Hard as it must be for the adherents of such different principles to understand each other, it is not, I venture to think, impossible. And, as at once an Anglican Christian and an adopted Brahmaist, I make the attempt to bring East and West religiously together.

RELIGIOUS TEACHERS OF THE EAST

The greatest religious teachers and reformers who have appeared in recent times are (if I am not much mistaken) Baha-'ullah the Persian and Keshab Chandra Sen the Indian. The one began by being a reformer of the Muhammadan society or church, the other by acting in the same capacity for the Indian community and more especially for the Brahmo Samaj--a very imperfect and loosely organized religious society or church founded by Rammohan Roy. By a natural evolution the objects of both reformers were enlarged; both became the founders of world-churches, though circ.u.mstances prevented the extension of the Brotherhood of the New Dispensation beyond the limits of India.

In both cases a doubt has arisen in the minds of some spectators whether the reformers have anything to offer which has not already been given by the Hebrew prophets and by the finest efflorescence of these--Jesus Christ. I am bound to express the opinion that they have.

Just as the author of the Fourth Gospel looks forward to results of the Dispensation of the Spirit which will outdo those of the Ministry of Jesus (John xiv. 12), so we may confidently look forward to disclosures of truth and of depths upon depths of character which will far surpa.s.s anything that could, in the Nearer or Further East, have been imagined before the time of Baha-'ullah.