p25pur The Baha'i Way, Truth and Light

Purity and Toxic Waste

The Prophet Muhammad had personal tastes, which included a preference for cats over dogs, and a dislike for garlic. This is reflected throughout the Middle East; dogs are unpopular and tend to run wild on the streets rather than on the laps of fine ladies; garlic is completely excluded from the national cuisine of Islamic nations. I was interested, therefore, to read lately that Baha'u'llah shared this aversion, at least to some extent.

"One day, while travelling from Kazimayn to Baghdad, the Blessed Beauty observed, `How removed from good manners are the Shi'ihs! In spite of their acknowledgment of the Hadith, "The believers are alive in both worlds"; they enter into the holy places with stained clothing and mouths reeking of onions and garlic. The repugnancy of unpleasant odors in these places is such as We are disinclined to describe.' Shuja'u'd-Dawlih (a prince and high-ranking Persian official) used to remark, `The reverence which You feel for the Imams defies description.'" (Ali-Akbar Furutan, Stories of Baha'u'llah, p. 24)

This saying, that a believer lives in this world and the next at the same time, it is wise always to bear in mind. That is why Baha'u'llah asked that we attend the feast in our best clothes, which should be spotlessly clean. This helps both worlds, it reduces the chances of spreading communicable diseases, and conduces to joy and spirituality.

Scientific studies have confirmed that the most dangerous substance to our bodies is organic waste. Our excrement, for example, is over fifty percent bacteria, most of which are very unfriendly and contagious. Science also discovered -- not surprisingly from an evolutionary point of view -- that the organic variety of toxicity registers as the most disgusting of all, both to eyes and noses. Shown pictures of various dangerous and repulsive substances, humans pick out infections and bacteria-ridden substances almost every time. Ditto for the smells they let off.

Some atheists claim that the greatest problem with belief in a compassionate God is the fact of suffering. How can a kind Creator tolerate so much pain? Others dismiss suffering as the "toxic waste of free will." We have a choice, and when we make the wrong choices, the result is pain and agony. No error, no effluent. Certainly God creates both purity and waste, including the waste of free will, suffering. But He also creates ingrained into our being a strong aversion for even the thought of it. So strong, in fact, that many reject a God that allows suffering at all. But again, if we only followed our own inclinations and tastes, we would avoid unnecessary suffering, in the same way that we avoid disgusting smells and repulsive sights whenever possible.

Another thing that the mind draws back from instinctively is conflict. When someone is liable to get angry over something, everyone around them avoids even mentioning it. When a group shows itself willing to enter into conflict over an issue, this earns it respect and deference. Nobody wants to see and smell the toxic waste of the emotions, anger and contention. This is why "politicizing" an issue is an extremely effective strategy. It is why abuse is so common as a coping technique in school and the workplace. It is why monkeys throw excrement at all who displease them. But as the Hadith says, we live in both worlds at once, and there are spiritual costs, spiritual toxicity, for trampling the wills of others by intimidation. I think that this is why Jesus advised that we never sit down to pray unless we are reconciled with everybody we know. God by His very nature draws back from anyone who reeks of filth of any kind, be it physical, emotional or spiritual. I think it is in this spirit that Baha'u'llah in His Will and Testament held up as a universal cure for impurity the five word remedy "all things are of God." Here is the scrip:

"Say: O servants! Let not the means of order be made the cause of confusion and the instrument of union an occasion for discord. We fain would hope that the people of Baha may be guided by the blessed words: 'Say: all things are of God.' This exalted utterance is like unto water for quenching the fire of hate and enmity which smouldereth within the hearts and breasts of men. By this single utterance contending peoples and kindreds will attain the light of true unity. Verily He speaketh the truth and leadeth the way. He is the All-Powerful, the Exalted, the Gracious. (Tablets, Lawh-i-Ahd, 222)

To rephrase this slightly, this is the way, the truth and the light for Baha'is: to remember that God owns us, he owns our waste and our by-products too, and it is our sacred duty to purify ourselves and to recycle our waste as effectively as possible. In that sense I completely agree with the Vatican's recent inclusion of the crime of "failure to recycle" as one of the modern "seven deadly sins." If we really do purify effectively, we will finally be worthy to enter into His holy places, be they of body, emotions or spirit.