Razor of Oneness

The Razor of Oneness; Oneness of God Series, Part II

By John Taylor; 12 February, 2006

Last time we zoomed in on a passage in the Epistle to the Son of the
Wolf with the only mention of "Great Being" outside of the
Lawh-i-Maqsud. Here Baha'u'llah offers a prayer for a leader to say,
to ask God to "sanctify the ears, and the eyes, and the hearts of
mankind, and to protect them from the desires of a corrupt
inclination." (Epistle, 96) Distractions and corrupt leanings, He
says, cause the illness of malice, which blocks out the sun of faith
and acts as a "mighty obstacle" to recognizing the "Great Being." So
here at least "Great Being" refers to the identity of God with His
Representative. This Manifestation is charged with ruling the world
and acting as a captain in the ship of the human soul,

"So also, when the head of the army is unrivaled in the art of war, in
what he says and commands he does what he wishes. When the captain of
a ship is proficient in the art of navigation, in whatever he says and
commands he does what he wishes. And as the real educator is the
Perfect Man, in whatever He says and commands He does what He wishes."
(Abdu'l-Baha, Some Answered Questions, p. 174)

This autonomy of the expert is the distinguishing characteristic of
the Baha'i principle that we are now concerned with, the Oneness of
God. Just as Moses' Ten Commandments all proceeded from obedience to a
single God, a deity who is "jealous" of rivals, so all of the
principles of Baha'u'llah emerge from an understanding of this center,
rather like a butterfly unfolding its wings out of its cocoon. This
gradual enfoldment is evident in the history of religion.

God inspired Isaiah to lay the groundwork for Oneness of God by
stressing the importance of clarifying the unity behind externals, and
of understanding that this unity is personal, for the soul and for the
Lord. "I have declared, and have saved, and I have shewed, when there
was no strange god among you: therefore ye are my witnesses, saith the
Lord, that I am God." (Isa 43:12) In life one is a "witness" to the
operations of providence, which offers proof of the Lord's expertise.
"In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall
glory." (Isa 45:25) Similarly, the Book of Revelations prophesied a
time when, "The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our
Lord..." (Rev 11:15) when we would declare: "Behold, the tabernacle of
God is with men." (Rev 21:3)

The Qu'ran emphasizes the practical benefits that would accrue from a
consensus based upon pure monotheistic presuppositions. "They worship
helpless idols which can confer on them no benefits from heaven or
earth. Compare none with God: He has knowledge, but you have not."
(16:74) This flows naturally out of the admonition of Jesus to know
them by their fruits, but it includes an entirely negative dictum, "do
not dare compare anything to God." From this were born similar knives
designed to cut away needless, fruitless speculation, such as Ockham's
razor, "It is foolish to do with more what can be done with less."
Earlier on in the East, Buddhism had negated immoderate devotions and
the rank metaphysical obsession of Hinduism by prescribing a Middle
Way. It consummated in Zen Buddhism, a razor that cuts as deep as deep
can cut, past language itself.

The Baha'i principle of Oneness of God is a razor principle, born of
humbly accepting that freedom is only in silence about what we know we
do not know, in submission to God's higher intelligence, a Mind that
is incomparable and ineffable by nature. Only that Mind is qualified,
and we should fear treading its ground insolently. The Bab wrote,

"Fear ye God, that haply it may be well with you. All things have been
created for your sakes, and for the sake of naught else hath your
creation been ordained. Fear ye God and take heed lest forms and
apparels debar you from recognizing Him." (Selections, 162)

This recognition comes only upon weighing evidence according to proper
criteria. The Bab laid these out, as well as the goal and the
methodology of principle very succinctly in His Seven Proofs.

"In every nation thou beholdest unnumbered spiritual leaders who are
bereft of true discernment, and among every people thou dost encounter
myriads of adherents who are devoid of the same characteristic. Ponder
for a while in thy heart, have pity on thyself and turn not aside
thine attention from proofs and evidences. However, seek not proofs
and evidences after thine idle fancy; but rather base thy proofs upon
what God hath appointed. Moreover, know thou that neither being a man
of learning nor being a follower is in itself a source of glory. If
thou art a man of learning, thy knowledge becometh an honour, and if
thou art a follower, thine adherence unto leadership becometh an
honour, only when these conform to the good-pleasure of God. And
beware lest thou regard as an idle fancy the good-pleasure of God; it
is the same as the good-pleasure of His Messenger. Consider the
followers of Jesus. They were eagerly seeking the good-pleasure of
God, yet none of them attained the good-pleasure of His Apostle which
is identical with God's good-pleasure, except such as embraced His
Faith." (Bab, Selections, 124)

The goal of principle in general is to gain the good pleasure of God
through thought and action. The methodology of principle is here too.
Its method is the same as any science, careful, disciplined attention
to proof. As he Bab says, "Ponder for a while in thy heart, have pity
on thyself and turn not aside thine attention from proofs and
evidences." In order to please God one must please His Representative.
For our purposes they are identical; the only way to know the sun is
by its light, heat, radiation and other effects. There is no ticket to
the surface of the sun. Those who deny this, the Bab asserts here,
inevitably glory in outer glory, and cynically dismiss pleasing God as
an "idle fancy." There is no end of fancies, but only One Truth, one
razor to cut away all that is not That.

--
John Taylor

badijet@gmail.com