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":

the quote in question

As to thy question concerning interest and profit on gold and silver: (...) Because if there were no prospect for gaining interest, the affairs of men would suffer collapse or dislocation. One can seldom find a person who would manifest such consideration towards his fellow-man, his countryman or towards his own brother and would show such tender solicitude for him as to be well-disposed to grant him a loan on benevolent terms. [2] Therefore as a token of favour towards men We have prescribed that interest on money should be treated like other business transactions that are current amongst men. Thus, now that this lucid commandment hath descended from the heaven of the Will of God, it is lawful and proper to charge interest on money, that the people of the world may, in a spirit of amity and fellowship and with joy and gladness, devotedly engage themselves in magnifying the Name of Him Who is the Well-Beloved of all mankind. Verily He ordaineth according to His Own choosing. He hath now made interest on money lawful, even as He had made it unlawful in the past. Within His grasp He holdeth the kingdom of authority. He doeth and ordaineth. He is in truth the Ordainer, the All-Knowing.

(Baha'u'llah, Tablets of Baha'u'llah, p. 132)

What kind of "men" whose "affairs would suffer collapse or dislocation" was Baha'u'llah thinking about? Somehow it can't have been the ones paying interest ??

However, Baha'u'llah admonishes:

They who dwell within the tabernacle of God, and are established upon the seats of everlasting glory, will refuse, though they be dying of hunger, to stretch their hands and seize unlawfully the property of their neighbor, however vile and worthless he may be.

(Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 298)

I can only say: Let them, who have ears, hear.

Letter to the UHJ and Baha'i functionaries

Dear members of the Universal House of Justice,

I want to venture a prediction: The Baha'i Faith may or will begin to enjoy noticeably a lot more favorable media attention in the coming years (first especially in America and the other Anglosaxon countries) - and a wave of new believers.

As you know or remember I resigned from the faith two years ago. However I am still aware of it's implications and role in the world.

Just two days ago, in Erlangen, the town where I live, was a quite remarkable event. The annual "Peace March of the Religions" had chosen "Money and Religion, a Critical View of our Finance System" as a topic this year. It started with a rally where representatives of Baha'i, Buddhists, Catholic & Protestant Christians, Jews and Muslims read short statements of their respective scriptures to the subject. Generally the to-be-expected reasonable and sound advice was offered, only the Baha'i and the Muslim stood out. The Islam was quoted for its unequivocal call for interest to be abolished. The Baha'i representative on the other hand chosen to read Baha'u'llah's text about how unreasonable it is to expect of anyone so much care and tenderness of heart as to lend money without expecting a return and therefore allowing interest.

After the rally the participants went on a march to Pacelli Haus, - seat of the Catholic University Congregation and venue of the scheduled expert panel discussion, again between representatives of said religions, (only the Jews had not sent someone there). -

It was great. Much was said openly and publicly many had so far only thought about privately. - I was very surprised to learn that the Pope had issued a statement in recent months(?) where he praised the Islamic banking system urging the decision makers to strive to emulate it.

The Lutheran expert talked about his collaboration with the University of Istanbul and an Islamic woman scientist in drafting guidelines and principles to supply a rationale for alternative banking services or even future re-structuring of the whole finance sector. An Islamic bank should operate without interest and cover expenses through fees only, though apparently not all of them abide by those rules either. There are more interesting details, like the principle of shared risk and participation, which I haven't totally understood at this point, so I cannot explain them here.Some Islamic banks seem to have survived the crisis a lot better than others and are happy to take customers from all religions. -

The Catholic expert started with a quotable line:"The Vatican's best kept secret is it's teaching on social ethics" - (perhaps because it reads like a communist manifesto) -

The Christian and Muslim experts talked extensively about the implications of interest taking as a tool to shift money from the base of society to the top. In Germany, the daily amount of money transferred by the calculation of interest stands at one billion Euro. The exponential character of interest taking means it can never create a stable situation. He explained - in the context of "private" banks - that the word "privare"(lat) means "to rob". The Deutsche Bank CEO Ackermann - and also other private bankers - have since talked about 25% return on investment again - in a time of no or negative economic growth. However if interest could ever be justified it could only derive from real economic value created with the help of finance. Therefore these 25% interest must be translated into 25% booty robbed from the majority of people.

The Muslim expert told the story "Joseph's Penny" - a penny invested at Jesus' (peace be upon Him, a beloved prophet of Islam as well) time 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.

The Buddhist expert reminded all again and again that new rules won't help if people won't change their inner selves. Actually even new rules would be broken or otherwise circumnavigated unless people transform themselves and respect the law of karma, that is cause and effect.

The Baha'i expert was noticeably left out of this general consensus due to the expressed acceptance of interest-taking by his scriptures. It was an odd feeling. He even felt it himself, quoted the official Baha'i view only briefly and almost under breath to quickly rescue himself into accounts of social entrepreneuring ventures, which of course are wonderful and promising solutions.

For the first time I saw a Baha'i publicly to be in the "wrong" camp, in bed with the "old order", more in harmony with the old paradigm. Of course I already have felt this to be so but now, with this blessed financial crisis, it becomes public and obvious for all to see.

Today, after a couple of days reflection, there is another point to add: Interest obviously accrues to such exorbitant amounts that it cannot ever be paid up - nor be expected to be paid up. I am certain this is only news to me but bankers and owners of large fortunes must have understood this a long time ago. So interest is primarily not about money but about obligation. All people, individuals as well as whole countries who cannot pay their interest payments become dependent on the mercy of their creditors. So it is about power and dictating terms. In China there is a saying that it is better to starve than to accept rice from an enemy. The most interesting return of interest is not money but debt, indebtedness, obligation and therefore power.

With his endorsement of interest taking Baha'u'llah again reveals his interest in power. Power not as in divine power or power over oneself, one's thoughts, emotions and actions, - not shared power as in a team, not creative power or any other benign form of power but power on a wordly scale, - the only power, God never claimed for himself: POWER OVER OTHERS. According to God, we have free will, remember!? - (The only exception: We die. But that's on another level)

Here I want to quote from a previous blog entry:
(from: http://bahaiblog1919.blogspot.com/2007/11/with-or-without-ruhi.html

(..) when I read between the lines of much of Baha’u'llah’s writings I find a languishing for power, an iron fist threatening people into surrender, a long term vision of worldly control, really an incapacitation of people rather than a vision of a mature and responsible humanity, supposedly all in the service of peace and well-being for humanity. (..)

To string it all together: There is a never-before-seen alliance between Judaeism, Christianity and Islam brought about by the financial crisis and cristallised by the seed-issue of interest taking. It looks as if they will start speaking with a unified voice and people may start to listen. Only the Baha'i Faith makes an exception.

And to add the conclusion: Therefore I think an orchestrated wave of positive media attention to the Baha'i Faith likely- of course not mentioning small details like permitted interest, just as the issues of covenant breaking, polygamy, punitive measures in the Aqdas etc. won't be mentioned. So, maybe a whole new wave of new members will be generated, who will incidentally accept interest taking as ordained by God.

The UHJ and many Baha'i may feel, as if the golden age finally wants to dawn for them and welcome this turn of events. However it would come from the wrong side, for the wrong reasons and for the wrong ends. It would pervert most Baha'i's own expressed desires for the future of mankind.

It could possibly succeed in out-levering the influence of the fledgling Judaeo-Christian-Islamic alliance on money matters. In a worst case scenario it would serve to perpetuate the rule of darkness, prevent yet again Justice to prevail and thwart the cause of God for yet another period of time. What kind of future are we looking at? -

I would be glad if I am mistaken. After all my prediction came not from a dream or a vision, just from plain old logic and, I admit, I put it out there to attract your interest and make you read the article.

On the other hand, I take it seriously enough to have sat down and written this piece, as i believe the best way to prevent it from happening is to talk about it, put it out there, so that, if it happens people may not fall into the trap - or warn others not to fall into it.

Especially I want to submit this letter to you as people and as functionaries in the Baha'i institutions. Despite all theological differences I count on your commitment to social justice and love for human well-being over and above any scriptural dogma.

This is no trifle. Interest taking is a fundamental issue. For centuries people have accepted and gone along with interest taking despite the prohibition in the scriptures. People are selfish, have an unbending desire to try out everything.

Now, two things have changed:
1) We have reached a mental level able to create stories like the Joseph's Penny, to make us intellectually and intuitively grasp the reason behind the scriptural prohibition
2)We begin to directly see the negative consequences of the perpetration on a global scale.

So finally we may have a chance to create a consensus powerful enough to change the system.

Just in this incredible window of opportunity comes another "divine" voice permitting interest taking. - Perhaps you remember what I wrote about Baha'u'llah's fallibility, his mixture of dark and light. Also that I see him to be a final test for our ability for independent investigation of truth. God demands of us to take heart and say "No" to dogma and scripture, when it doesn't correspond. We must have internalised God to the degree that we can feel this certainty that is strong enough to withstand any outside pressure. In essence it is what happened to Martin Luther as well. It's not an intellectual certainty, in fact the intellect is surrendered and the self is just a servant of the heart.

Anyway, this is for you to decide, how you want to evaluate this.

My purpose is to remind you of yourself before you are or have become a Baha'i, where you are first and foremost a human being dedicated and committed to the unspeakable.

Please do not be corrupted.

with my best regards

Prediction

The Baha'i Faith may or will begin to enjoy noticeably a lot more favorable media attention in the coming years ( first especially in America and the other Anglosaxon countries) - and a wave of new believers.

Just two days ago, in Erlangen, the town where I live, was a quite remarkable event. The annual "Peace March of the Religions" had chosen "Money and Religion, a Critical View of our Finance System" as a topic this year. It started with a rally where representatives of Baha'i, Buddhists, Catholic & Protestant Christians, Jews and Muslims read short statements of their respective scriptures to the subject. Generally the to-be-expected reasonable and sound advice was offered, only the Baha'i and the Muslim stood out. The Islam was quoted for its unequivocal call for interest to be abolished. The Baha'i on the other hand chosen to read Baha'u'llah's text about how unreasonable it is to expect of anyone so much care and tenderness of heart as to lend money without expecting a return and therefore allowing interest.

After the rally the participants went on a march to Pacelli Haus, - seat of the Catholic University Congregation and venue of the scheduled expert panel discussion, again between representatives of said religions, (only the Jews had not sent someone there). -

It was great. Much was said openly and publicly many had so far only thought about privately. - I was very surprised to learn that the Pope had issued a statement in recent months(?) where he praised the Islamic banking system urging the decision makers to strive to emulate it.

The Lutheran expert talked about his collaboration with the University of Istanbul and an Islamic woman scientist in drafting guidelines and principles to supply a rationale for alternative banking services or even future re-structuring of the whole finance sector. An Islamic bank should operate without interest and cover expenses through fees only, though apparently not all of them abide by those rules either. There are more interesting details, like the principle of shared risk and participation, which I haven't totally understood at this point, so I cannot explain them here.Some Islamic banks seem to have survived the crisis a lot better than others and are happy to take customers from all religions. -

The Catholic expert started with a quotable line:"The Vatican's best kept secret is it's teaching on social ethics" - (perhaps because it reads like a communist manifesto) -

The Christian and Muslim experts talked extensively about the implications of interest taking as a tool to shift money from the base of society to the top. In Germany, the daily amount of money transferred by the calculation of interest stands at one billion Euro. The exponential character of interest taking means it can never create a stable situation. He explained - in the context of "private" banks - that the word "privare"(lat) means "to rob". The Deutsche Bank CEO Ackermann - and also other private bankers - have since talked about 25% return on investment again - in a time of no or negative economic growth. However if interest could ever be justified it could only derive from real economic value created with the help of finance. Therefore these 25% interest must be translated into 25% booty robbed from the majority of people.

The Muslim expert told the story "Joseph's Penny" - a penny invested at Jesus' (peace be upon Him, a beloved prophet of Islam as well) time 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.

The Buddhist expert reminded all again and again that new rules won't help if people won't change their inner selves. Actually even new rules would be broken or otherwise circumnavigated unless people transform themselves and respect the law of karma, that is cause and effect.

The Baha'i expert was noticeably left out of this general consensus due to the expressed acceptance of interest-taking by his scriptures. It was an odd feeling. He even felt it himself, quoted the official Baha'i view only briefly and almost under breath to quickly rescue himself into accounts of social entrepreneuring ventures, which of course are wonderful and promising solutions.

For the first time I saw a Baha'i publicly to be in the "wrong" camp, in bed with the "old order", more in harmony with the old paradigm. Of course I already have felt this to be so but now, with this blessed financial crisis, it becomes public and obvious for all to see.

Today, after a couple of days reflection, there is another point to add: Interest obviously accrues to such exorbitant amounts that it cannot ever be paid up - nor be expected to be paid up. I am certain this is only news to me but bankers and owners of large fortunes must have understood this a long time ago. So interest is primarily not about money but about obligation. All people, individuals as well as whole countries who cannot pay their interest payments become dependent on the mercy of their creditors. So it is about power and dictating terms. In China there is a saying that it is better to starve than to accept rice from an enemy. The most interesting return of interest is not money but debt, indebtedness, obligation and therefore power.

With his endorsement of interest taking Baha'u'llah again reveals his interest in power. Power not as in divine power or power over oneself, one's thoughts, emotions and actions, - not shared power as in a team, not creative power or any other benign form of power but power on a wordly scale, - the only power, God never claimed for himself: POWER OVER OTHERS.
According to God, we have free will, remember!? - (The only exception: We die. But that's on another level)

Here I want to quote myself:
(from: http://bahaiblog1919.blogspot.com/2007/11/with-or-without-ruhi.html

(..) when I read between the lines of much of Baha’u'llah’s writings I find a languishing for power, an iron fist threatening people into surrender, a long term vision of worldly control, really an incapacitation of people rather than a vision of a mature and responsible humanity, supposedly all in the service of peace and well-being for humanity. (..)

To string it all together: There is a never-before-seen alliance between Judaeism, Christianity and Islam brought about by the financial crisis and cristallised by the seed-issue of interest taking. It looks as if they will start speaking with a unified voice and people may start to listen. Only the Baha'i Faith makes an exception.

And to add the conclusion: Therefore I think an orchestrated wave of positive media attention to the Baha'i Faith likely- of course not mentioning small details like permitted interest, just as the issues of covenant breaking, polygamy, punitive measures in the Aqdas etc. won't be mentioned. So, maybe a whole new wave of new members will be generated, who will incidentally accept interest taking as ordained by God.

The UHJ and many Baha'i may feel, as if the golden age finally wants to dawn for them and welcome this turn of events. However it would come from the wrong side, for the wrong reasons and for the wrong ends. It would pervert most Baha'i's own expressed desires for the future of mankind.

It could possibly succeed in out-levering the influence of the fledgling Judaeo-Christian-Islamic alliance on money matters. In a worst case scenario it would serve to perpetuate the rule of darkness, prevent yet again Justice to prevail and thwart the cause of God for yet another period of time. What kind of future are we looking at? -

I would be glad if I am mistaken. After all my prediction came not from a dream or a vision, just from plain old logic and, I admit, I put it out there to attract your interest and make you read the article.

On the other hand, I take it seriously enough to have sat down and written this piece, as i believe the best way to prevent it from happening is to talk about it, put it out there, so that, if it happens people may not fall into the trap - or warn others not to fall into it.

Please forward this message and/or give me ideas on what else could be done pre-emptively.
How about writing an open letter to UHJ and National assemblies? - Anybody got energy for that?

Life's Phenomena

Dear Anonymous,

my reply to your comment on "re-ligious sentiments" is a bit to long for the comment box, so I make it into a separate post:

You wrote:
Would not personal observation concerning life's phenomena qualify as a legitimate reference point?

and this is what comes to my mind:

That is exactly my point: personal observation of life's phenomena qualifies. I can see no healing coming from the example of the central figures. There is a lot of artificial "goodness" but no genuine reconciliation neither inter- nor intra-personal. - Shunning just doesn't qualify as an instrument of healing nor does stigmatising. The pattern of exclusion is pathological.

Even without knowing any details about a religious or philosophical system, as long as it supports itself by condemning and alienating some members of the group or family, it has not solved the fundamental riddle of non-duality. Baha'i invoke "unity" a lot and indeed this is the spiritual pace-counter. Just they themselves - in the tradition of their central figures - fall short of creating unity.

This alone is the reason for many excellent people to take one look at the reality of the BF and dismiss it without even knowing the details of the lofty claims. It doesn't measure up.

Science as in psychology, neurology, neuroscience has proven that devious behaviour results from a glitch in neuronal patterning that comes basically from feelings of abandonment, lack of love and lack of wisdom. There are no bad people, but people turn bad when they are ill-treated. -

It is a great temptation for us people to try and solve our relationship problems by splitting up and cutting ties. Perhaps we even know deep down, that this is wrong, we may have a little bad conscience. However, the example of the central figures serves as a confirmation to the wrong attitude, an attitude that is excruciatingly painful to suffer, when it concerns you personally. This I know from my own experience.

It is very hard not to turn bitter, not to become what is being projected, not to fill those negative expectations with reality. In other words, if you want to make a person into an "antagonist of goodness" just isolate them. Unless they are exceptionally strong in spirit, they will go mad with grief.

Viewed from another angle: Condemning people, isolating them and punishing by withdrawing love has been the way we tried to deal with conflict in our collective past. Psychologically it is like inflicting death on a person. We all bear the scars of generations of compounded condemnations and rejections. It is to be expected that we have the tendency to fall into this trap. -

Our time is the time of crisis. The hurts have become so bad they cannot be tolerated any longer. This applies to individual and collective pain. People and societies need to heal. So, collectively we found ways of doing that - and have become stronger in spirit.

Alone to know and hold fast to the knowledge, that alienation is never "deserved", isolation is a phenomenon of the crisis and a temporary suffering because of unenlightened attitudes and unfortunate confusion helps to not sink into despair. Still, time spent in isolation damages the soul and I personally have not found healing for it, not yet. -

I think it will always hurt, and it will hurt more rather than less, the more I become aware of God and love and life. After all, pain serves a purpose of alerting us to something in need of correction. - So how could being alienated ever be in accord with life?

Again, the central figures of the BF continue the old and bad ways and therefore the followers do the same. It is understandable and not especially bad, just not congruent with the claim of redeeming mankind.

On a less personal level: the alienation of Muslims on the global scale is IMO - not caused - but aggravated by the Baha'i attitudes, past and present. If we cannot overcome this, we are in danger of loosing the planet as a place to live.

So perhaps this may be the vice that grips painfully enough for Baha'i to face the reality of their own secret darkness, the lack of love and connection to God, that makes it impossible for them to extend communication. It is not about the shunned but about the shunners. The Muslims are great shunners themselves, this makes the mix so explosive. -

Is this enough personal observation concerning life's phenomena? ;-)

- Or would you rather observe, that nobody likes Muslims anyway and therefore it is legitimate to assume, they are somehow bad?

Knowing Our Equality

These are excerpts of letters to some of my Baha'i family members. It's a long piece, but I hope you have the patience to read it. All in all it is a contribution to the issues of fault finding, finger-pointing, shunning etc., the pitfalls of the dualistic vision, which unfortunately is the flip side and necessary condition of life in this magnificent material dimension...

What gets in the way of knowing our equality? –

People, who are made to feel inferior sometimes desire revenge; that is understood. Yet it is not a good solution. When someone makes you feel inferior, they are only using your own desire to be superior against you. In a way they are just holding up a mirror. Certainly, we feel bad, when we are treated disrespectfully, that is as automatic a response as the pain, when we cut our finger. But then, what? -

Understand that we are and have always been equal in the sight of God and the pain is just a sign of disharmony with our true and natural state? – Reel with anger and hate and repay in kind at the first possible opportunity? Or create a set of reasons why in truth it is us, who is superior and flee into the inner ivory tower of unrecognized greatness? –

When we are kids, we have no other chance than to copy our caregivers. So there is no blame for no-one, - including our care-givers. It is not about shifting blame or finding guilt. It is about seeing things clearly, coherently and completely, - and allowing the deep movement of intelligence to flow through us and irreversibly change us for good. In this way we can improve on the past, - only in this way, I think.

Given the human design of "learning by doing", of "ever increasing refinement", any and all differing opinions, other states of existence, colors, shades etc. raise the question: "If this is different, is it better or worse, is it closer to or farther from God?"

Against the backdrop of our fundamental – painful - experience of being separated from and the equally fundamental – blissful – experience of union with God, in the depth of our consciousness we evaluate everything in life along those parameters, thus creating and maintaining the dualistic vision of reality: Do circumstances, events or people challenge or support our feeling of harmony with God, - translated ordinarily into the feeling of being OK or not OK, of being home or alienated, right, wrong, unconditionally loved and accepted or rejected and despised.

Have you ever witnessed the suffering of a young animal that is weaned by its parent? It will cry and cry, heart-wrenchingly.

Whatever mimics the celestial feelings of closeness to God, we love, strive for and feel as "good", even if it is far from it, like alcohol, drugs, violence, power games, lots of money, control, "love", admiration, entertainment, pleasure, you name it. In all those pursuits you can identify an element of God's attributes. God is intoxicating, powerful, omnipotent, free, the Origin of all wealth, the Source of abundance, the Slayer and the Healer, the Most Feared and the Most Desired. We just love anything that reminds us of any of His Qualities.

From the Hindus I learnt to discern three forces of manifestation: Tamas, Rajas and Sattva . If satisfaction of the craving for God is attempted by using the forces of Tamas, that is the level of physical sensation – addictions are the result and we get a complete reversal of intent and effect: We want something good and end up with something bad, like ruined health etc. When we operate the force of Rajas, we try to get our needs met on the level of concepts and the satisfaction happens on the mental-emotional plane. Wealth, appearance, status and relationships fall into this category. They have in common that they are impermanent and all the good feelings we gain from them we will inevitably loose. So we want something good and get something good that will predictably turn to sorrow after some time. Only by the power of Sattva, the level of the "soul", the "spiritual mind", our "true nature" can we manifest real satisfaction, can we meet the object of our desire (union with God). However, here we at first feel, as if we have to sacrifice our comfort and well-being, we have to apply discipline, go against our conditioning, question and challenge our habits, expose our innermost self, be vulnerable, go through the fire, crack open our shell, loose our self-assured confidence (the smug variety) etc. Yet the results are the only ones that have real value, they are permanent and indestructible.

Coming back to the quest for equality. [Usually we operate in Rajas. All our attempts to become better, to divide the world in good (future) and bad (past) belong here.] When we do something that elicits pain in someone, be it another person or ourselves, we tell ourselves, "I have made a mistake", or we blame another: "you have made a mistake." This, we feel, is the original catastrophe, we can't handle it. It throws us out of the feeling of equality, we put either ourselves or the other person down, we cancel our belongingness and dis-integrate.

Yet we need to be part of the whole. We know and feel: we cannot survive alone. So we replace the whole with a group - gender, age, income, ability, physique, race and of course religion - and create dividing sets of features, traits, rules and rituals. We do this because we pretend to ourselves that it is possible to be on the good side. Conversely the "others", - or that nasty part within us, that we want to overcome, - are branded with the stigma of the "bad side".

We try to resolve the problem of separation from God by separating from our own intrinsic nature of making mistakes, being a "learning machine". Just consider: Learning is impossible for the one who is all perfect and only possible for the one who makes mistakes.

Just as we set ourselves apart as a group in society we cut up our internal self. Inner and outer peace are impossible.

Unity within and without is incompatible with concepts that make us feel more or better than the rest of the mortal world.

This is nothing new. It has been said but is has not been enacted. To the contrary: Stemming from Baha'u'llah's original condemnation of his half-brother, his long laments against his enemies as well as his effusive and adulating praises for his friends, followed consequently by Abd'ul Baha's and Shoghi Effendi's various and copious repetitions of selfsame pattern, the Baha'i Faith has distinguished itself by giving its members the feeling of belonging to an illustrious band of a select few, superior and chosen by God. Little wonder that it seems to be balm on the wounds of the downtrodden.

Unfortunately it doesn't heal those wounds as it doesn't inspire integration rather it fosters arrogance, reverse racism, sexism, religion-ism etc. The Baha'i with all their unearthly goodness vindicate shunning and condemning, ripping apart of families and are set to mete out punishments like stigmatizing, which violates human rights and dignity. Under the guise of saving the world a subtle but cruel revenge is taken. Therefore healing doesn't occur, cannot occur, only more and more hurts are piled on.

Baha'i feel, as if they know the most important, the most advanced and best of all sets of beliefs. They are told to study all religions, but they very rarely do - and if they do they rarely practise them. The Chinese say: " To know and not practise is to not know." So ordinarily, Baha'i actually don't know very much at all, especially they don't know how little original the writings are. The deepest and most touching insights are all there in the other traditions. So the equal regard for other religions becomes very theoretical and in reality superiority is the true feeling.

From my own experience I feel integration is only possible with deep knowledge of the other religions, as if God would shine through the gaps between the pieces of the puzzle, but never through one particular piece. Baha'u'llah made the claim to be the one piece that covers all, but I have come to the opinion that this is a false claim. His legacy doesn't support it. His followers are too un-healed to vouch for his quality as the one who heals all. His example inspired much hypocrisy and double standards. Many of his rules and theories are unhealthy for people and society.

We can know this because outside of the faith, humanity has developed a modern science that has manifested the better part of Baha'u'llah's principles. We know that stigmatizing and punishing won't work; we know that judgment doesn't work; we know that shunning and alienating people won't work. We begin to understand that crime is not an individual but a collective problem and is related to childhood patterning of the brain. We begin to learn how to change those patterns and invariably judgment, shunning and condemnation are not in the toolkit.

Yet Baha'u'llah is not without merit. He has added a very important and necessary piece of the puzzle. Every time I talk with a Christian or a member of another religion I feel it missing. This makes the matter even more complicated. He had something from God to give, but not all he gave was from God. The audacity to say this, is the result of what I see coming through the cracks between the pieces.

(...)

We all have your own story, I am certain that, could and would we be able to tell our stories with coherence and depth, we would become aware that we did our best at all times.

From the time of being a toddler I have known a dreadful fear of trains. We lived on a property that was bordered by a train track at the back and whenever I heard the approaching noise of the steam engine I felt my hair standing on edge. But what was even worse, was the klicking of the endless strings of boxcars rolling by. Then I regularly felt like fainting but tried to run and invariably fell down, shinning my knees.

(...) It happened in Rotorua with a befriended American-Jewish couple, my ex-husband was there as well. - It was a beautiful full moon night, - it was -, and the woman said to me: "Inge, the way you look you could be Jewish" - I replied from the top of my head: "If I was Jewish I would have been in Warsaw." My ex-husband said: "That would make sense with your fear of trains, because in Warsaw they had the trains." -

In the instant I felt like I shot out from the top of my head and found myself engulfed in a warm and humid cloud of elated souls rising above gas-chambers and furnaces. It was the sweetest, happiest feeling, all wrapped into the hum vibrating in unison through the multitudes: "HOME !! We're on the way home!" - It was pure joy. Like flying into the heart of God, that's how it felt. -

Then I perceived a slightly shrill and insistent mind stream, self-pitying, lamenting, complaining. I didn't like it and suddenly I was alone in a vast space. I became aware of a group of "people"; they formed a circle, perhaps around 20 old, wise and knowledgeable beings. At this moment they just had focussed on the holocaust, but at the time it had been only a possibility in the future and I understood that the meeting must have taken place perhaps 200 or 300 years ago. They had come to the conclusion that the holocaust was going to happen if they didn't somehow interfere.

All the attention went to the Jewish member of the group. Should they take measures to divert and mitigate the course of history? - I could look into the mind of the Jewish Elder. The first image that came up for him was the picture of Jesus on the cross. The sacrifice and the impact it had on human hearts and with it came the image of the Vatican in Rome. What tremendous power was harvested from that sacrifice. He decided and told the group to not interfere but let it happen.

I turned my attention back to earth and felt as if my heart and gut were ripped apart. I understood that the rift between "victims" and "perpetrators" was threatening to split human collective consciousness because the sin couldn't be forgiven as long as part of it remained a secret. The Germans couldn't atone for what they had done because they were not the only ones responsible for it. The world couldn't forgive for they didn't understand how people could have been so unbelievably inhuman, because "normally" it would not have happened.

I felt as if I tried to swim up a waterfall. For a short while I lost track of myself and came to, holding my head and repeating over and over: "I have to come back, I have to make peace (today I think this was quite presumptuous)." - My friends were holding me and kept telling me that everything was alright.

Only recently I understood that even on that "spiritual" level the Jewish Elder didn't really see the impact his decision would have on the Germans and on the world at large. He only saw the centuries of suffering of his own people, the persecutions and injustice. He wanted to end it, even at a cost to his own people. Could he have seen the far reaching and far more devastating effects on the rest of humanity? - Perhaps, - but only had he been detached enough to really look for long enough, listen patiently enough into the subtle repercussions of his own plan. Yet his desire and, well, selfishness drowned those signals. Is he to blame? Yes and No. Yes, if we want to play the blaming game he will be to blame as any other human being without exception is blameworthy in the eyes of God - and No, because blame is only a trip of the mind down one of the dead end streets of consciousness. Blame is the answer to an erroneous question, a question that ought not to be asked. And if the question is wrong, there cannot ever be a right answer. -

IT IS WHAT IT IS.

Surely, I believe the holocaust made it inevitable for the rest of humanity to join the Germans in committing atrocities. First and foremost the Jews themselves slide deeper and deeper into the depth of the guilt they had thought was reserved only for their enemies. After all, the way God constructed the laws of our existence, we are not allowed to alienate anyone for good and pretend we are better than even only one other person.

(...)

And how separate am I from the Jewish Elder who decided to sacrifice his people? - After all, I witnessed his mind.

Ramblings on the eve of yet more destruction?

I remember a conversation i had in Amman in December 1990, when I was waiting for my visa to go to Iraq to join the international peace camp there. It was in a coffee shop and a crowd of people had gathered around to question the idea of a peace camp. They told me about the prophecies in the Koran and the Jihad and expressed the view that the war was pre-ordained and needed to be fought. - Coming from NZ and having hung out with the Pacific Islanders a lot, i remembered what one of their Matakites (seers) used to say: "It makes no sense to look into the future if you can't change it." - So I began to develop this story and proceeded to tell them about the "Kahunas", the medicine men of the South Pacific. - When they heard the word "Kahuna" and it's explanation they became very excited and interested. As linguistics and fate would have it, they have apparently in Arabic a very similar word, describing a similar kind of person. This was fortunate, I thought, and so I continued with the quote and we dived deeply and finally discussed the issues of fate versus free will. Of course, if such a prediction exists, it says that there is a pattern that must according to cosmic, karmic or divine Law express itself, but it is up to us to what degree and on what level it will materialise. We debated for some time and after all was said, in the end, there was silence. We just sat and looked at each other with hope and a wordless prayer. Then one of the men disappeared and came back with a beautiful thick goat skin to give as a present.

This is so long ago now. Much longer than a mere 17 years. It was a different universe then, so it seems. There was still hope, not only in Amman but also in Baghdad. I don't want to start crying, for I wouldn't know how to stop. - In fact I've been crying ever since. There will be no peace unless there is peace in the Middle East, but now there is almost no more recourse.

I was watching the Russian movie version of Tolstoy's "War and Peace" and even though it's poor in story telling it succeeds in transporting the eternal futility and horrors of war. When towards the end the residue of Napoleon's Grand Army dragged itself westwards through snow and ice I thought how merciful death is. We don't need to suffer endlessly.

Of course there is re-incarnation and the possibility of endless transmigration in Samsara, but it depends on us. That is a power we do have. We can change our vision, we have the choice to see unity beyond conflict and integration of opposites.

I like the concept of the Yugas

1. Satya Yuga or Krita Yuga - 1,728,000 years
2. Treta Yuga - 1,296,000 years
3. Dvapara Yuga - 864,000 years
4. Kali Yuga - 432,000 years

mainly because they are so incredibly long. There really is no shortage of time. Now we are - most likely - only about 5000 years into Kali Yuga, that is the "Iron time" the time of war, conflict and disconnection from the Source. Our karmic vision is the cause of our reality and even if we destroy the biology of our planet, our karmic vision will find another sand pit to play in, fight in, suffer in and little by little perhaps learn.

so long