Reward and the Crimson Book

Reward and the Crimson Spot,

Crimson Book Series, Part Three

By John Taylor; 1 January, 2006

"For he is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto
him." (Luke 20:38)

Blood, they say, is thicker than water. Most people spout this saying
when one is in some sort of trouble and other family members come to
their aid. We are solicitous to family in a way that we would not
otherwise be, so we say "blood is thicker than water" spontaneously,
as a reflex, without thinking what it means. Actually blood does not
seem all that much more viscous when you pour it from a beaker over
your hands. I think the saying means that inside, within the veins it
normally is not any thicker than water but in an emergency it rapidly
thickens and forms a clot to stop up the loss of blood. The clot then
not only stanches outflow from the cut, it also initiates the first
healing steps in recovering from the injury.

In view of that, the Crimson Book is thicker than water in that unlike
any earlier religious system, the covenant of Baha'u'llah based upon
it allows complete self-recovery from attacks on its unity, either
from within or without. The original reading of Baha'u'llah's will,
the Kitab-i-Ahd, the document primarily but not exclusively described
by Baha'u'llah as the "Crimson Book," shows in the most dramatic way
just how crimson this book really was. Almost from the moment the
Kitab-i-Ahd was read most of the family of Baha'u'llah, starting with
the calculating, envious brothers of `Abdu'l-Baha, were disaffected
from the Heir, `Abdu'l-Baha, appointed as leader of Baha'u'llah's
Cause. The green eyed clan of betrayers began a vigorous smear
campaign against `Abdu'l-Baha, but eventually were caught up in the
very web that they had woven.

Strife is harmful to any movement but with one whose be all and end
all is unity? You would expect internal dissension to be utterly
fatal. It did not turn out that way because of the Crimson Book. The
word "crimson" describes nicely how the new covenant worked. Crimson
is not red but is a purplish shade of red. So with clotting blood,
when it responds to an inside cut -- internal bleeding is of course
known as bruising or contusions -- usually shows from outside as a
dark purple bruise. Drying blood, in or out, goes from red to black
but when light passes through several layers of fat and skin, clotted
blood appears a purplish crimson color. Like the reds of late sunset
or early dawn, crimson light penetrates when other shades are blocked
out.

Crimson is also the color of several species of bush that grow
abundantly in the holy land, including Napoleon's Hill and other
locations around `Akka and Haifa. Baha'u'llah, a nature lover, was
known to pitch His tent and spent day trips in such places for
seclusion, recreation, commemoration of Holy Days, or entertaining
guests. Hasan Balyuzi writes,

"There were several gardens in the vicinity of Mazra'ih and the
Mansion of Bahji, such as the Garden of Ridvan, the garden of Firdaws,
the gardens of Junaynih and Bustan-i-Kabir at Mazra'ih. He also
visited nearby villages, such as Yirkih and Abu-Sinan. At Yirkih, He
had His tent pitched on the top of a hill, spending the day in the
tent and the night in the village itself. Then there were hills nearer
to 'Akka, such as Tall-i-Fakhkhar, which is also known as Napoleon's
Hill, and is situated near the Garden of Ridvan; recent archeological
work has demonstrated that it is the site of the ancient
Phoenician/Canaanite city of 'Akka. And the hill named Samariyyih,
which overlooks Bahji, and where red flowers grew in abundance, was
called Buq'atu'l-Hamra' - the Crimson Spot; today it is occupied by
the army. In the springtime when the hill was verdant and covered with
red flowers such as poppies and anemones, Baha'u'llah would have His
tent pitched there. Many years later, when 'Abdu'l-Baha was again
incarcerated within the city walls of 'Akka, He would wistfully ask
those who had gone to visit the Shrine of His Father: 'Were red, red
flowers blooming on Buq'atu'l-Hamra'?'" (H.M. Balyuzi, Baha'u'llah -
The King of Glory, 363-364)

So if this hill overlooking the Shrine of Baha'u'llah, the Mecca or
point of adoration for all Baha'is, is called Buq'atu'l-Hamra, or
Crimson Spot, the color would seem to broadly signify wherever the
Manifestation happens to be. Similarly, the crimson bushes are also a
frequent metaphor for a prophet, one used by Jesus Himself: "For every
tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs,
nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes." (Luke 6:44, KJV) Earlier we
highlighted this declaration of the Bab to a family member that uses
this color to symbolize the utter servitude of a Manifestation of God.

"This Tree of Holiness, dyed crimson with the oil of servitude, hath
verily sprung forth out of your own soil in the midst of the Burning
Bush, yet ye comprehend nothing whatever thereof..." (The Bab,
Selections, 52)

The Bab's imagery harks back to the Qu'ran's "red ointment," and to
Moses' burning bush from which came the voice of God Himself. A bush
soaked with lamp oil would be extremely volatile, ready to immolate at
the smallest spark. Crimson evidently was a color of the less refined
oils or animal fats used before modern refractory methods. The burning
of lamp oil was the sole means of illumination at night during the
centuries before electrification. Perhaps with that use in mind, in
Ancient Judea kings began their reign ceremonially annointed by oil,
in the expectation that they would bring enlightenment to their
thralls. Both Messiah and Christos mean "annointed."

Baha'u'llah in the Kitab-i-Aqdas (Most Holy Book) carries forward this
persistent image of Moses and the burning bush,

"Advance, O people, with snow-white faces and radiant hearts, unto the
blest and crimson Spot, wherein the Sadratu'l-Muntaha is calling:
`Verily, there is none other God beside Me, the Omnipotent Protector,
the Self-Subsisting!'" (Baha'u'llah, The Kitab-i-Aqdas, 56)

Notice that this is addressed to a people, not a soul alone. Those
called to stand at the crimson Spot are many purified and joyous
individuals congregating to form a new fellowship or collectivity.
Here they are told of a God with two featured attributes, one offering
all-powerful security (Omnipotent Protector) and the other independent
power for growth (Self-Subsisting). That is, direct confrontation with
God on the crimson spot changes the person in her group relations by
renewing the two fundamental human motivators, fear and desire. We
always act out of either fear or desire, always have and will, so the
only way to change is to change what we fear or what we desire. Hence
Isaiah's prophesy of a sea change in human aims for reward.

"Go through, go through the gates, clear ye the way of the people;
cast up, cast up the highway, gather out the stones; lift up an ensign
over the peoples. Behold, the LORD hath proclaimed unto the end of the
earth: say ye to the daughter of Zion: 'Behold, thy salvation cometh;
behold, His reward is with Him, and His recompense before Him.' And
they shall call them The holy people, The redeemed of the LORD; and
thou shalt be called Sought out, a city not forsaken." (Isa 62:10-12)

The gain that we will learn to seek in our life's struggle will not be
divine knowledge alone, but personal friendship with God, in Isaiah's
words, "his reward is with him;" a direct family tie with God, blood
is thicker than water, is needless to say the greatest possession one
can ever desire. Since the recipient of this gain is not an individual
but a group or people, his "recompense (is) before Him," could mean
that the result will be a new social fact or body politic. Visiting
the Crimson Spot gives no vague feeling of esprit de corps but hardens
into an institution, an entity capable of planning and acting.
Institutions are consistent over time, immortal and not subject like a
person to decline and death.

The prophesy about reward cited above from Isaiah comes just before
the frightening prophesy we cited in our first essay, the
unforgettable image of a Lord of Hosts dripping wet with crimson
liquid, furious and fresh from treading wine vats brimming with the
blood of nations. This of course addresses the other of the two human
motivators, fear of punishment. Fear too is given due attention in the
passages in Baha'u'llah's Writings that He labels as derived from the
Crimson Book. We will examine some of these next time.

--
John Taylor

badijet@gmail.com