Salat: Writing an Individual's Spiritual Constitution
By John Taylor; 2009 Feb 20, 14 Mulk, 165 BE
Seventh essay on Panorthosia, Chapter Twenty, Reform of the Individual
Last fall we studied Comenius's ideas for a family constitution to be posted in every household. He envisioned also a motto or escutcheon to post over the door of a meritorious, united family's home. Now we are at an even more microscopic level, Comenius's plan for individual reform in Chapter Twenty of Panorthosia. The motto that Comenius suggests here for a reformed individual is the virtue for the first month of the Badi' year, Baha, or Splendour: "Here is a splendid image of God." He does not suggest that this phrase be literally tattooed onto people's forehead, but a spiritually perceptive viewer should perceive it nonetheless,
"Therefore no matter who you are, you must reform yourself according to God's good pleasure and with His help, so that angels and pious men are able, as it were, to read on your forehead the inscription: `HERE IS A SPLENDID IMAGE OF GOD.' (Panorthosia, Ch. 20, para 24, p. 28)
Some sort of mention of a mark of a person's spiritual state displayed above the face is found in all scriptures. The Qur'an, for example, talks about dust on Muslims' foreheads -- a dust mark showing a stain (again, not literally) from bowing the head to the ground during the five daily Salat prayers. And Baha'u'llah spoke also of an invisible sign distinguishing those conscious of God's Glory from those who do not,
"O thou that hast remembered Me! The most grievous veil hath shut out the peoples of the earth from His glory, and hindered them from hearkening to His call. God grant that the light of unity may envelop the whole earth, and that the seal, `the Kingdom is God's', may be stamped upon the brow of all its peoples." (Gleanings, 11)
This too implies that the Salat or obligatory prayer leaves a remnant on the forehead.
The beginning of this prayer talks about the light of unity. This is, first, the unity of God. The Baha'i Salat ends with a prostration followed by the believer sitting cross-legged, asserting along with all levels of existence that all is God's possession (Dominion, Mulk, being the penultimate month in the Badi' calendar). As an end-note in the Aqdas explains, "The Arabic expression `haykalu't-tawhid', translated here as "cross-legged", means the `posture of unity'. It has traditionally signified a cross-legged position." (Aqdas, 174) Haykal also means both `body' and `temple,' and `tawhid' or `unity' refers specifically to the oneness of God. Salat ends with the body forming a symbolic temple where the Oneness of God and His Dominion are proclaimed. We do not write this constitution, it is written upon us by the higher Power. This fulfils both verbally and visually the purpose of Salat, which is to serve as a daily reminder.
"All praise be unto God, Who hath revealed the law of obligatory prayer as a reminder to His servants..." (Baha'u'llah, IOPF, Section 1, no. 2)
While family and other institutions are based upon law and written constitutions, the individual's "constitution" must remain unwritten, stamped invisibly on the brow, for it is the mirror of a God Who is utterly beyond human comprehension. Like writing upon a glass mirror, anything humans try to write there would only obscure the moving image within. The letters of the personal constitution are ineffable, amorphous and spiritual, but the message is clear, strong and creative nonetheless. From this come the leadership and followership that allow constitutions for broader unities, from the family level to that of the world government.
"Thus you will be truly reformed as an individual, and truly capable of governing yourself (in all your desires, emotions, and actions) and anyone else as the image of God no less than you are, and then a wider range of people in the family, the school, the state, and everywhere." (para 21, pp. 27-28)
Comenius goes on to say that to reform the self is, as Jesus taught, to be born again, to allow a likeness of God to reflect in the self. As we exercise control over the motions of the body, so when we are reborn His truth controls the heart. However, unlike many Christians today, Comenius did not understand rebirth to mean that we are passive as in the first, physical birth, that is, a helpless baby pushed through the birth canal. Spiritual rebirth demands all the adult virtues, talents and moral fibre that we can muster. We have many stumbling blocks to move out of the way, and to replace with their opposites.
Next time, let us delve into what Comenius saw as our obstacles, and how we should plan to reform our imperfections so that we can be, in the words of Christ, "perfect, as our Father in heaven is perfect." In the meantime, here are two further points that Comenius makes about the goal of individual search. One, the faith we must have that the result of investigation of truth will be general agreement on what is most important, and second, that this will train those who lead to lead in such a way that search by all will be maximized.
"The main effect of Universal Philosophy will be to bring common ideas back into harmony and into the service of all men so that we no longer disagree in our opinions about the meaning of things but reach agreement upon all the essentials. Universal Religion will control common instincts so that they look around again and seek the highest good among all the particular goods -- so that we do not disagree about the goal of eternity and the means to attain it." (Comenius, Panorthosia, Ch. 13, para 12, pp. 202)
"Moreover, all men will know how to reform (every man alive reforming himself, every father of a family, every school master, every minister of the church, every political leader reforming their respective flocks) if their ideas of things are based on sound teaching and they understand correctly what is required to guide themselves and others, and to prevent further transgressions or to reform those that have occurred." (Comenius, Panorthosia II, Ch. 5, para 19, pp. 94-95)
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