鈥淭he well-being of mankind, its peace and security, are unattainable unless and until its unity is firmly established.鈥�
These words of , and the full measure of His Revelation, are guiding us to unity and peace - to the time when 鈥溾�hy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.鈥澨� Today, we celebrate the 199th anniversary of His Birth.
I want to follow the thread of unity that started in my first post on this blog in September called 听鈥淔inding the Spirit of Unity鈥�. 听There, I talked about the ever-present ego getting in the way of unity with others. 听I realize that the more I live from the place of my spirit, the more connected I am with others.听 And collectively, the more we see the members of the human race as one family, the closer we get to the reality of our oneness.听 expresses this in a beautiful analogy:
鈥淐onsider the flowers of a garden.听 Though differing in kind, color, form and shape, yet, 鈥�, this diversity increaseth their charm and addeth unto their beauty鈥�.Diversity of hues, form and shape enricheth and adorneth the garden,鈥︹��听 听 听 听
We need to appreciate and celebrate unity in diversity and realize it is our strength.听
Many years ago when I was visiting a friend, I saw a framed quotation in her daughter鈥檚 room that said:
鈥淥ne must see in every human being only that which is worthy of praise.听 When this is done, one can be a friend to the whole human race.鈥� 听听The words went straight to my heart and I committed them to memory.听 I felt that if each of us lived those words, we would have peace on earth. 听In our society, we have the opposite.听 We have developed a habit of criticizing and fault finding - the antithesis of unity.听 I started trying to be more conscious of my thoughts and judgments.听 When I catch myself being critical, I interrupt the negative pattern and look for a quality worthy of praise.听 It is not always easy, but the process of disengaging from my fault-finding ego and seeing with my spirit is an empowering spiritual practice.听
Fault finding at the collective level such as religious fanaticism has been a source of much conflict in our world. 听听When followers of any religion feel they have the sole hold on truth; feel they are right and others are wrong, we cannot have peace. I love what , the 13th century Persian poet, said, 鈥淥ut beyond all ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field.听 I鈥檒l meet you there.鈥�
And 鈥楢产诲耻鈥檒-叠补丑谩 says,鈥淩eligion should unite all hearts and cause wars听and disputes to vanish from the face of听the earth,听give birth to spirituality, and bring life and light to听each heart. If religion becomes a cause of听dislike,听hatred, division, it were better to be without it,听. .听.鈥�
In speaking of the Prophets of God throughout the ages, 叠补丑谩鈥檜鈥檒濒谩丑 says, 鈥�Every one听of听them is the Way of听God that connecteth this world with the听realms above, and the Standard听of听His Truth听unto everyone in the kingdoms听of听earth and heaven. They are the Manifestations听of听God听amidst men, the evidences of His Truth, and the听signs听of听His glory.鈥�
He goes on to say, 鈥�鈥渓f听thou wilt observe with discriminating eyes,听thou wilt behold them all abiding in the same听tabernacle, soaring in the same heaven, seated听upon the same throne, uttering the same speech,听and proclaiming the same Faith. Such is the听unity of those Essences of Being, those听Luminaries of infinite and immeasurable听splendour!鈥� 鈥淭his is the changeless Faith of God, eternal in the past, eternal in the future.鈥�
I sometimes imagine all the Prophets of God consorting together in a spirit of pure love and joy in the realms above.听 It brings a smile to my face and such joy to my heart.听 Let us follow in their ways and 鈥渃onsort with the followers of all religions in a spirit of friendliness and fellowship.鈥�
鈥淪o powerful is the light of unity that it can illuminate the whole earth.鈥�
Susan Mottahedeh is a writer living in Richmond, B.C. and is a member of the world-wide .
You can read more articles on our interfaith blog, Spiritually Speaking
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