On Ruhi Book 8 / Livro Ruhi 8: It is due to the Covenant that we arise to silently burn as candles in the service of the Cause of God

 

The 8th book in the Ruhi series is on the Covenant. Sam has drafted a reflection on participating in a Ruhi Book 8 study circle in Brazil which utilized the only available section of the book which is on Abdu'l-Baha who was the Center of the Covenant. Sam has kindly given permission to excerpt from his document. -gw

It is thanks to the study of the life and work of the beloved Master ‘Abdu’l-Bahá that we know how to live the Covenant in its totality, comprehending the univocal vision of our reality as Bahá’ís. It is thanks to the stimuli given by the Servant of Bahá that we learn to be awaken, indefatigable and constant, faithful and firm to the Covenant, parting away with those souls that distort the truth, that discretely whisper, that seek no other pleasure but the one from their own egos (

nafs-i-sheytání). And it is due to the love for this Covenant that we arise to silently burn as candles, in the service of the Cause of God, the Cause of the well-being of mankind, under the shadow of Truth and Love of God, demonstrating such virtues as shall make the enemy a companion and the stranger a friend: love, sincerity, rectitude, faithfulness, benevolence, good will, friendship, justice, attraction, candor, healing, and truthfulness.

It is here that we learn about coherence and we penetrate the death of dichotomies between “us” and “them”, that we join together out of love, the generatrix force that binds together the very own universe, and we demonstrate that both our beliefs and appearance are one and the same: not only do we believe; we act!!

Those of you who had the opportunity to immerse yourselves in the study of this unity from Book 8 will surely agree that the study of this volume, the manifold memorizations of the passages within it, the perusal of three works by ‘Abdul’Bahá, the research concerning the life of one of the early Bahá’ís and the recollections of Haifa had the celestial impetus of making us see that the Covenant is not merely an expression, just one more expression, one more abstract theological expression. To follow the orientations of the Universal House of Justice is to follow the Covenant. To participate in Study Circles, despite the fact we may not dully grasp their purpose at first, is to be firm in Covenant. The respect shown the friends (whether Bahá’í or not) is to be firm in the Covenant.

Photo: Uploaded on August 28, 2007by mararie on flickr, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic

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