About Spiritual Evolution

A great article:

http://www.enlightennext.org/magazine/j35/evo-spirituality.asp

Spiritual Evolution

Not only, but also to contradict the image of not leaving a good hair on Baha'u'llah:

I've been listening to the first day of an internet conference called: Awakening the Impulse to Evolve - The Birth of Evolutionary Spirituality.

It's for free, anybody can sign in to listen, participate, ask questions.  I felt it is a wonderful, great, inspiring synopsis of what is going on in consciousness. It helps to identify the woods, if the vision of it might have gotten lost for the trees.

The upshot is: The spiritual realm is evolving just as the physical universe is. Most great religions and spiritual teachings have been incepted at a time when the world view was on the whole static, or cyclical at best. Since Darwin our perception has changed and essentially this change is now carried over to the spiritual realm.

This concurs really well with Baha'u'llah's notion of progressive revelation.

The program goes into the recent spiritual history and discerns a "lineage" of teachers who began to work in this new way, Teilhard de Chardin being one of the first, Sri Aurobindo as well. They did not talk about Baha'u'llah though.

And I must admit, the fact that Baha'u'llah ruled out any genuine new teaching for another 1000 years undercuts the dynamic potential of a profound understanding of the evolving nature of spirit. His claim to absolute correctness has a similar effect. Certainly the dogmatic approach of the UHJ limits and curbs the potential awareness that we all could contribute and co-create, depending on what goes on between our own two ears.

So, after all, - and I did not intend this when I started this letter, when I consider carefully the theory and the practical application of progressive revelation and spiritual evolution in the Baha'i Faith, I again come to the conclusion that even though Baha'u'llah saw and verbalised a true concept, he and his followers corrupted its transformative power and rendered it useless for the betterment of mankind.

Sorry.

Anyway, for the interested here's the registration page for the conference:
http://www.evolutionaryspirituality.com/

Baha'u'llah's writings contradictory and counterproductive

I do relate the militarism, lack of critical thinking, violent tendencies etc not just to an unfortunate development within the Baha'i Community for whatever reason, but to the scriptures themselves and therefore to Baha'ullah.

Of course it is correct to also say that Baha'u'llah urged people towards peace and peaceful ways of social change etc. The contradiction lies within his own writing, imo.

I am not saying he did it intentionally. It just happened, just as it happened that

• his treatment of women flew in the face of his calls for gender equality, 
• his policy of declaring people as covenant breakers annihilated any chance for genuine unity and spiritual transformation, 
• his counsel to shun people poisoned his proclaimed healing medicine for humanity, 
• his advise regarding interest corrupted a just economic system from the outset and 
• now I am adding the obedience to government and the inclusion of war as a legitimate measure to deal with problems as essentially prohibitive to worthwhile social change.

For all these very concrete reasons I believe he is the manifestation that is there to force people to internalise their relationship with God and the spiritual laws and become independent of dogma.

I don't know what the future will bring, or let's say I have no idea how the pattern will play itself out and within what time frame.

I am certain, however, that sooner or later, either on the earthly or on the subtle plane there will be something that the Bible calls "separating sheep from goats".

Baha'u'llah is imo the great separating agent.

To belong to a religion or faith because of desire for power, for status, for connections, for righteousness, for comfort, for safety etc. is an affliction that comes with being human. And there is nothing wrong with power, status, connections and so forth.

However, when these benefits become more important than truth and the commitment to the well being of humanity,  it becomes a test for the soul.

I could not remain in the BF and by the same token: I cannot not speak out.

Even if I am mistaken, I still must act with integrity. If there is a truth I do not see, I pray that I may be enabled to see it - and in the meantime I share my process as honestly and as clearly as possible.

Change, yes, but how???

How to change a society, how to reach a future worth living?

Understanding history can help, for example the abolition of slavery in the US. How did this very positive change come about?

Abdul Baha lauded the US especially for their extraordinary spirit of sacrifice that fought a war to abolish slavery.

He is quite incorrect for doing so according to Professor of History Howard Zinn:


The facts mentioned in the speech fly in the face of the two Baha'i recommendations about what constitutes good behavior for citizens:

• Go to war if your government sends you and 
• otherwise obey the rules it sets out.

Zinn explains that wars have never been fought for good and moral reasons, they have been sold to the people using moral justifications but the objectives could have been achieved without war as well.

Howard Zinn's speech on the American "Holy Wars" is a wonderful speech. (I feel grateful that a man like Zinn exists. He, by his presence is a redeeming factor to humanity.) It has lots of interesting detail on the War of Independance, the way the constitution was conceived, the Civil War and also the third of America's holy wars, WWII.

For example, slavery was not abolished through the Civil War. The Emancipation Declaration freed only the slaves in the Secession States, not the states that fought on the side of the Union. The Declaration was a strategic move to win an essentially territorial war, not a matter of conscience or virtue. So after the war there was still slavery - in the slave-states that had fought with the winning side. So why did Congress have to pass the 13th, 14th and 15th amendment, abolishing slavery? - Because a powerful social movement had formed around the issue from 1830 to 1860. People forced the issue and - I am sure they shouted and screamed from the top of their voices as well as wrote submissions etc. Essentially they used civil disobedience. This would not be suitable for a Baha'i.

Social movement, protest is a necessary tool to effect change. Wars have not been fought for "good" reasons. The population has to always be forced or bribed into fighting. The natural way of the people to create change is by social movement. That is slower but a lot healthier than war.

So, essentially Baha'u'llah's recommendations for good citizenship would not have gotten rid of slavery in the past and by extension, I dare say, will not be suitable to create social and economic justice in the future and all the other lofty goals, the scriptures otherwise endorse.

Again, Baha'u'llah's advice is counterproductive and betrays his allegiance to the ruling powers rather than to the well-being of humankind.

resenting interest

The only circumstance in which money lent should or could increase in value is, if it contributes to the creation of value. This is the classic case also in Yunus' microfinance scheme. So if repayments factor in a certain portion of the wealth that was created with the help of this money it is fair, correct and sound. In this case, if someone has soooo much money which they use to fertilise other peoples' wealth, they are to be commended, respected and given a place of honor at the table.

However the situation is the other way round. Interest is fixed on money not on economic growth. Therefore the economy has to frantically make profit at all cost in order to satisfy the obligation. What is more: Even now, in a time of no or negative economic growth the bankers talk about 25% return - again!! - This is not a matter of begrudging someone their wealth. It is more the understanding that the "valuta" they command is sucked away from the common wealth.

We all, even if we have no loan to pay, pay about 40 percent of our income to the richest 10% of the population through the interest that is factored into the goods and services of daily life. This is in no way an instrument of creating wealth and furthering prosperity, but it is blatant exploitation and immoral conduct.

If you transcribe this situation into feudal society you would have serfs paying 40% of their revenue to the king, then another 25 to 50 % to the various local lords (taxes and social security).

But of course, Baha'u'llah said, you are allowed to fix interest on money, so no need to think twice about it, eh?? - This is such a fine test of people's true conscience. If God tells you to strangle your neighbor you do it?? - It doesn't even help you that on another occasion your scriptures tell you, any religious prescription which doesn't further peace and well-being of people is better not to be obeyed? - What or who decides between your own two ears, that this principle only applies to other religions and not the Baha'i Faith? 

so interesting...

To members of the Baha'i faith and Baha'i functionaries,

"Just as much as the practice of shunning and excluding people from the community ultimately destroys the emotional health of people, interest taking destroys the economic health. Those two little things corrupt all lengthy declamations of goodness and render them hollow and meaningless for future generations."

(this is a follow up on the issues raised here:
Letter about Interest
 "Joseph's Penny" and
Baha'u'llah's quotes in question )

The interesting question of interest hasn't gone away. As I had hoped, on the weekend at the Vision Summit in Berlin there were some precious opportunities to clarify the issue.

First Professor Yunus was asked by the chancellor of the Freie Universität Berlin whether his business practise of charging interest contravenes Islamic rule. He explained that Islam is not concerned with the word but the meaning of the word. Interest is a tool of exploitation. His bank is owned by the borrowers and any money that is charged goes in full to the owners. He has been assured that his conduct is even more in line with Islmic law than the Islamic banks.

You can watch the dialogue -. I have uploaded some of the videos to YouTube, some will come in the next few days.

So, along the lines of contemplating words vs. meaning I would concede that no-one can know whether Baha'u'llah didn't mean some Yunus-style interest when he permitted it. So he could be given the benefit of the doubt. In this case it will be crucial for the respected members of the UHJ to elaborate and clarify the issue.

As it stands interest is the single most destructive rule in the whole of our economic framework of rules.

A few examples I gathered from various sources at the weekend:

Professor Breidenbach: A loan of 20 000 Euro is more likely to be declined than a loan of 1 000 000 Euro because the bank doesn't make as much profit out of the small loan due to interest and compounding interest.

Professor Margrit Kennedy (when I asked her about the subject she handed me an article she had written on the subject):
The sum of all donations going to the third world in one year equals the interest payments the banks receive from those poorest countries within 14 days.

In 2000 the Nigerian President Obasanjo told the G8 summit: Up to the year 1986 Nigeria had borrowed 5 billion dollars. Up to now (2000) it has repaid 16 billion dollars and is told, it owes another 28 billion dollars.

For every dollar borrowed by developing countries they pay on average 13 dollars back.

The Joseph's Penny: at 5 % interest invested at the year 0 it would now total 500 billion times the weight of the planet earth in gold. However if no compounding interest were charged the sum would only be 1,01 Euro. Unfortunately it is unpractical to eliminate compounding interest alone. It could only be done with inconvenient and laborious rules.

It is a common error to believe that we only pay interest when we take out a loan. In fact we pay interest throuigh many goods and services because it is factored into them: refuse collection fees: 12%, drinking water 38% , rents in state houses: 77% and for goods and services on average: 40%. If we would use another type of currency we would on average double our income or have to work half as much to maintain our standard of living. 80% of households pay more interest than they receive, 10% are breaking even and 10% make all the profit. In (Germany alone) 2001 the amount of money that flowed in one day from the lower 80% of the population to the top 10% was one billion Euro.

The most destructive attribute of interest is however the systemic effect it has on the whole economy:
1) destabilization through speculative investments, wrong risk assessments due to lack of transparency, control and co-operation.
2) growth at all cost: Due to the pressure of debt companies will try to grow regardless of the consequences for the standard of living, whether it means a better life or the opposite.
3) investments are made for quick returns, so long-term developments are neglected.
4) Interest is the force that wedges society apart: it is the basis of the divide between rich and poor within the nations and between the nations.
5) It forces the economic players to devalue and erode social capital: minimum wage, social security, health care, superannuation etc.

Her most famour book available on the web: http://userpage.fu-berlin.de/roehrigw/kennedy/english/
for German speakers:http://userpage.fu-berlin.de/~roehrigw/kennedy/1996-geld-ohne-zinsen-und-inflation.pdf

The last but not the least person I asked about the interest question was an exceptional investment banker:
Info for English speakers:
http://www.visionmicrofinance.com/index.php?id=26&L=1
http://www.visionmicrofinance.com/en/vision-microfinance/
in German:
http://www.visionmicrofinance.com/
http://www.controlling.jku.at/Vortraege/Downloads/SAM%20Seiler.pdf
http://www.microfinance.at/index.php?id=14

He had an annual growth of his fund of 6,3% last year. He manages microfinance, however only for businesses or agencies who operate successfully for three or more years. So he looks after his clients and makes sure they receive their returns on their investments. In the break time I went up to him and asked him what he, as a private person without regard for his job or any other obligations thinks about interest. His answer came straight like a bullet: "Do away with it completely."

Peter Spiegel, the organiser of the vision summit is a Baha'i and some of the participants probably as well, I am sure, even though there was not a single word uttered about it. The unquestioned consensus between speakers and participants alike was a unanimous understanding of the obsolescence of interest. It was a wonderful gathering - not just because of this interest question, in fact it was only dealt with in passing, but because of the unity of spirit, incredible intelligence, creativity, humour and fun that filled the air. It was a very academic affair, most of the activists, speakers and panel members were university prof's. It felt like at long last the sciences climb down from the ivory tower and now they mean business.

ceterum censeo interest is to be abolished - and Baha'u'llah didn't  get it right.

Unless the UHJ clearly distances itself from interest taking it will turn on it's head all efforts to bring about justice and well being for all people.

Just as much as the practice of shunning and excluding people from the community ultimately destroys the emotional health of people, interest taking destroys the economic health. Those two little things corrupt all lengthy declamations of goodness and render them hollow and meaningless for future generations.

Joseph's penny

The story "Joseph's Penny" - a penny invested perhaps by his caring father on Jesus behalf at the time of his birth even at a modest interest rate would now have amassed a sum of many thousand times the weight of the planet earth in gold. -

To me this story, more than any scripture makes me understand on a gut level how obsolete interest taking is. Obviously it is the complete opposite to a sustainable set-up. This kind of value could not ever be created.

What is more: It is obvious that amounts on this scale could never ever be paid off, so the lender would be aware that he will just have to take whatever he can get and write the rest off.

The taking of whatever he can get will make him rich but the writing off creates indebtedness and therefore puts him in control. For the debtor this means loss of sovereignty and of personal or collective freedom. Countries in debt must play by the rules of their creditors.

Therefore the true significance of interest taking is not the creation of wealth but the creation of a power and control structure.

The need to give credit to enterprises so that wealth can be created and the economy can thrive is real and must be met. It has been already proven that it can be met in other ways.

See the JAK Bank Report of Sweden's no-interest bank and a report on the first Islamic Bank in Britain.

Baha'u'llah's support of interest taking again reveals his fallibility. He was not at all times connected with the pure stream of divine omniscience.

Some more interesting resources:
The end of Money and the Future of Civilisation







and this very informative video:"Money as Debt":


 
 Here are the linksfrom Eric's comment:
http://www.digitalcoin.info/
http://www.salt-spring.com/josephspenny.htm
http://www.saltspringdollars.com/

thanks Eric!