Promised Kingdom by William Sears

Promised Kingdom, A Talk by Bill Sears

By John Taylor; 2007 June 19

Last week I had the chance to be among the first to visit the newly integrated and re-organized Baha’i library of Hamilton (after the amalgamation of several regional communities the size of its collection increased several times). The collection includes some rare, unique and irreplaceable books, as well as much audio-visual material that you are not going to get from the BDS.

For some reason a copy of “Thief in the Night” surfaced at one point in my visit and Joe, one of the librarians, pointed out to me something that I had not realized about it. He said that of all Baha’i books, this is the only one that has never gone out of print through all these years. It is the only one that you regularly find in used book sales, and one of the few that you can order from non-Baha’i bookstores. So, I would think that whatever our egghead friends may want to say about the scholarship behind this work, it is definitely doing something right, something that we would do well to emulate.

My curiosity was tweaked about Bill Sears. I chose to borrow from among the large selection of A/V material an old VHS cassette from around 1983, evidently made during a fund crisis, by that Hand of the Cause called: “The Promised Kingdom.” This was toward the end of Mr. Sears life and though his strength and memory were visibly shaky by this time, I was very impressed with what I saw and heard, with his enthusiasm, sincerity, gentle humor, kindness, his firm conviction and, yes, with his knowledge, especially of the early Babi years. And, as he makes clear, much of what he says and what he chose to highlight from among the Writings came out of his meetings and talks with the Guardian. In this sense, the fact that he does not have a heavy academic background makes his contribution all the more pure and interesting, for you can be fairly sure that his perspective is from Haifa, and not Harvard or Oxford.

In fact, I was so impressed with Bill Sears’ talk that I am taking detailed notes of this tape and will include them, along with the full quotations that he reads there, in this or an upcoming mailing. This is because, as I say, Bill Sears is of more than historical interest, he has had success and covered ground, as both teacher and “deepener,” as both writer and speaker, that no other Baha’i has come close to.

Let me tell you why I think he was so great as a speaker.

Okay, the first reason is that I got the chance to hear him speak at all. Unlike just about every other Baha’i speaker he did not imagine he had covered Canada, or Ontario, when he spoke in Toronto. He took the step beyond, he hit the QEW and came to Hamilton, and thus gave me the chance to meet him more than a couple of times. The other reason he was great is that he had that charisma, the “it” factor, star quality. Clearly, if not waylaid by Baha’u’llah, he was well on the way to becoming a celebrity, either on film or television. It was a sense of humor combined with enthusiastic faith that gave him soul power.

Even this tape, made in his golden years with little more than a cameraman, an old analog camcorder and some hokey felt stickup props, Mr. Sears makes into a truly touching production. The director, if there is one, is clumsy throughout, but at the end, with a single parting shot, makes up for it all. By a stroke of genius, perhaps suggested by Mr. Sears, he ends the video with a close-up of Marguerite Sears looking on at him, and I do not think you would even have to have read “God Loves Laughter” to be moved by the life-long love affair in faith that Bill and Marguerite had going on.

The Promised Kingdom
by William Sears

A deepening on the Baha’i faith at Batterwood Summer School

Part One

Close-up of the red cover of the book “Baha’u’llah” (by Hasan Balyuzi).

Wasn’t that thrilling to see the name of Baha’u’llah filling the entire screen? This is just a simple video, you know video means to see, and that is what Baha’is do, we see spiritually. This is a talk about the fund. But I am not going to talk about money – is that not marvelous? A new approach… Of course I might say, `free and without a price,’ how else would I express the gift that Baha’u’llah has given us.

Contribute means con and tribute, it is our tribute to Baha’u’llah for his love. And then, I might incidentally once in a while mention the word money, but then I will wash out my mouth with soap later.

You know, the beloved Guardian said that the fund is the most spiritual part of the Faith, for by it we can all measure our love and devotion for Baha’u’llah.

The Master said that the Faith is a love affair. And that is why I am here with you today. I want to know if you are still in love with the Faith. I am going to talk to your heart (points to head), not your head (points to heart, then realizes error) Well, it does not matter, they are all the same in the Baha’i Faith.

You will see just exciting this is, I can hardly wait myself. Not because of me, because of the writings. You will see.

Let us start with a chart. I should say right at the beginning that the Guardian said it is alright to use charts, as long as you make it clear that it is your own limited understanding of the great theme you are portraying. Of course, there is no way that you can chart the Cause of God. I mean no way. You will come to see that more and more as you get into it.

Chart One

The Báb

Bahá’u’lláh

Abdu’l-Bahá

I wanted to start with this chart, “The Three Central Figures of the Faith.” Of course you know the Bab, Shoghi Effendi said that the Bab was not just the Herald of our Faith, glorious as that was. No. He was an independent messenger of God. He said that the fact that He was an independent prophet is the most distinctive part of our entire Faith! The fact that the Bab and Baha’u’llah are both independent manifestations of God demonstrates the power, strength and authority of the Cause of God, and that hints at why it will last five hundred thousand years. The Guardian said that the chief reason he translated the Dawnbreakers was that,

Dearly-beloved friends! That the Báb, the inaugurator of the Bábí Dispensation, is fully entitled to rank as one of the self-sufficient Manifestations of God, that He has been invested with sovereign power and authority, and exercises all the rights and prerogatives of independent Prophethood, is yet another fundamental verity which the Message of Bahá'u'lláh insistently proclaims and which its followers must uncompromisingly uphold. That He is not to be regarded merely as an inspired Precursor of the Bahá'í Revelation, that in His person, as He Himself bears witness in the Persian Bayan, the object of all the Prophets gone before Him has been fulfilled, is a truth which I feel it my duty to demonstrate and emphasize. We would assuredly be failing in our duty to the Faith we profess and would be violating one of its basic and sacred principles if in our words or by our conduct we hesitate to recognize the implications of this root principle of Bahá'í belief, or refuse to uphold unreservedly its integrity and demonstrate its truth. Indeed the chief motive actuating me to undertake the task of editing and translating Nabil's immortal Narrative has been to enable every follower of the Faith in the West to better understand and more readily grasp the tremendous implications of His exalted station and to more ardently admire and love Him.” (Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, 123)

The Guardian emphasized that the Bab was not only a herald but a co-founder, and that this added greatly to the majesty and greatness of Baha’u’llah. Let me share one or two pages about it, again from World Order,

It would be more correct, and in consonance with the established principles of Bahá'u'lláh and the Báb, if instead of maintaining this fictitious identity with reference to 'Abdu'l-Bahá, we regard the Forerunner and the Founder of our Faith as identical in reality -- a truth which the text of the Suratu'l-Haykal unmistakably affirms. "Had the Primal Point (the Bab) been someone else beside Me as ye claim," is Bahá'u'lláh's explicit statement, "and had attained My presence, verily He would have never allowed Himself to be separated from Me, but rather We would have had mutual delights with each other in My Days." "He Who now voiceth the Word of God," Bahá'u'lláh again affirms, "is none other except the Primal Point Who hath once again been made manifest." "He is," He thus refers to Himself in a Tablet addressed to one of the Letters of the Living, "the same as the One Who appeared in the year sixty (1260 A.H.). This verily is one of His mighty signs." "Who," He pleads in the Suriy-i-Damm, "will arise to secure the triumph of the Primal Beauty (the Bab) revealed in the countenance of His succeeding Manifestation?" Referring to the Revelation proclaimed by the Báb He conversely characterizes it as "My own previous Manifestation.” (Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, 138-139)

In addition, the Master wrote,

"Every proof and prophecy," is His still more emphatic warning, "every manner of evidence, whether based on reason or on the text of the scriptures and traditions, are to be regarded as centered in the persons of Bahá'u'lláh and the Báb. In them is to be found their complete fulfillment." (Abdu’l-Baha, cited in Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, pp. 127 - 128)

So we in our Faith have not only one but two messengers of God. But do not swoon away just yet. The world has never seen the like of it, nor ever will again.

Chart Two; The Adamic Cycle and the Baha’i Cycle

This is another thing that comes out of “The World Order of Baha’u’llah”. As you see, the Bab closed the cycle of prophesy, the Adamic Cycle. Imagine that, five thousand centuries, and the Bab was at the center of both.

Also in World Order, prophesy states that up until the coming of the Bab, known as the Qa’im, the one who will arise,

Shoghi Effendi: “In the Íqán, Bahá'u'lláh, wishing to emphasize the transcendent character of this new Day of God, reinforces the strength of His argument by His reference to the text of a correct and authorized tradition, which reveals the following…” (Shoghi Effendi, World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 24)

"Knowledge is twenty and seven letters. All that the Prophets have revealed are two letters thereof. No man thus far hath known more than these two letters. But when the Qá'im shall arise, He will cause the remaining twenty and five letters to be made manifest."

(Baha'u'llah, Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 243)

And then immediately follow these confirming and illuminating words of Bahá'u'lláh:

Consider; He hath declared Knowledge to consist of twenty and seven  letters, and regarded all the Prophets, from Adam even unto the "Seal," as Expounders of only two letters thereof and of having been sent down with these two letters. He also saith that the Qá'im will reveal all the remaining twenty and five letters.

Behold from this utterance how great and lofty is His station! His rank excelleth that of all the Prophets, and His Revelation transcendeth the comprehension and understanding of all their chosen ones. A Revelation, of which the Prophets of God, His saints and chosen ones, have either not been informed, or which, in pursuance of God's inscrutable Decree, they have not disclosed, -- such a Revelation these mean and depraved people have sought to measure with their own deficient minds, their own deficient learning and understanding. Should it fail to conform to their standards, they straightway reject it. "Thinkest thou that the greater part of them hear or understand? They are even like unto the brutes! yea, they stray even further from the path!" [Qur'án 25:44.] (Baha'u'llah, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 243-244)

Until the Bab, then, through all those ages only two of those letters had been revealed. When the Bab came all the remaining twenty five. Isn’t that fantastic? All the remaining twenty five are in your hands, that means, when you are teaching the Faith to members of other religions they understand things from a platform of only two letters of knowledge that they have, while you have all the rest. 27. Overwhelming. It is all in World Order, in much more detail.

In another way, we are told that the Bab, the shrine, is the center of the world. Not only spiritually, physically as well. It is the center of nine concentric circles. World, holy land, Haram-i-Aqdas, gardens, shrine, three central rooms, central room, white marble sarcophagus that contain the remains of the Bab and His youthful companion. Let me just read two lines about that,

For, just as in the realm of the spirit, the reality of the Báb has been hailed by the Author of the Bahá'í Revelation as "The Point round Whom the realities of the Prophets and Messengers revolve," so, on this visible plane, His sacred remains constitute the heart and center of what may be regarded as nine concentric circles, paralleling thereby, and adding further emphasis to the central position accorded by the Founder of our Faith to One "from Whom God hath caused to proceed the knowledge of all that was and shall be," "the Primal Point from which have been generated all created things." (Shoghi Effendi, Citadel of Faith, p. 95)

“The outermost circle in this vast system, the visible counterpart of the pivotal position conferred on the Herald of our Faith, is none other than the entire planet. Within the heart of this planet lies the "Most Holy Land," acclaimed by 'Abdu'l-Bahá as "the Nest of the Prophets" and which must be regarded as the center of the world and the Qiblih of the nations. Within this Most Holy Land rises the Mountain of God of immemorial sanctity, the Vineyard of the Lord, the Retreat of Elijah, Whose return the Báb Himself symbolizes. Reposing on the breast of this holy mountain are the extensive properties permanently dedicated to, and constituting the sacred precincts of, the Báb's holy Sepulcher. In the midst of these properties, recognized as the international endowments of the Faith, is situated the most holy court, an enclosure comprising gardens and terraces which at once embellish, and lend a peculiar charm to, these sacred precincts. Embosomed in these lovely and verdant surroundings stands in all its exquisite beauty the mausoleum of the Báb, the shell designed to preserve and adorn the original structure raised by 'Abdu'l-Bahá as the tomb of the Martyr-Herald of our Faith. Within this shell is enshrined that Pearl of Great Price, the holy of holies, those chambers which constitute the tomb itself, and which were constructed by 'Abdu'l-Bahá. Within the heart of this holy of holies is the tabernacle, the vault wherein reposes the most holy casket. Within this vault rests the alabaster sarcophagus in which is deposited that inestimable jewel, the Báb's holy dust. So precious is this dust that the very earth surrounding the edifice enshrining this dust has been extolled by the Center of Bahá'u'lláh's Covenant, in one of His Tablets in which He named the five doors belonging to the six chambers which He originally erected after five of the believers associated with the construction of the Shrine, as being endowed with such potency as to have inspired Him in bestowing these names, whilst the tomb itself housing this dust He acclaimed as the spot round which the Concourse on high circle in adoration.” (Shoghi Effendi, Citadel of Faith, pp. 95-96)

Bill Sears: There is no way that we can imagine the closeness between the two, the mystic union of Baha’u’llah and the Bab, unless we immerse ourselves in their Words. They were in continual correspondence:

 “Bahá'u'lláh, maintaining through continual correspondence close contact with the Báb, and Himself the directing force behind the manifold activities of His struggling fellow-disciples, unobtrusively yet effectually presided over that conference (Badasht), and guided and controlled its proceedings.” (Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 31)

When Baha’u’llah was in Badasht, you know when they met in that conference they had two purposes, one to close the old Dispensation of Muhammad, but the other to explore the possibility of rescuing the Bab. The first was successful, the second never happened. But when they were there Baha’u’llah revealed a new Tablet for each of the twenty two days they were there, and to each of the participants He gave a new name. Is that not exciting? From that time on, whenever the Bab wrote to one of those followers He addressed them by the name that they had received in the garden of Badasht.

The Bab said “I am but a ring on the finger of Him Whom God Shall Make Manifest.” Well I had better move on to the next chart or the next Manifestation of God may come before I am done.

Mr. Sears points at “Baha’u’llah” on the chart of the three central Figures.

You all know Baha’u’llah, you know (his wonderful titles) the Promised Redeemer, the King of Kings, the Lord of Hosts… the titles of Baha’u’llah would fill a small book all by themselves.

To be Continued…