Hi Matthew,
My faith tradition says that the fundamental purpose God has for us to
exist
on this earth is to develop virtues and learn to resist the irrational
callings of desire. We are told that our purpose is to know and love God
and detach ourselves from all else. God is the source of all virtue, and
detachment from worldly desire is a first step toward Him.
A paragraph about virtue:
Briefly; the Blessed Perfection bore all these ordeals and calamities in
order that our hearts might become enkindled and radiant, our spirits be
glorified, our faults become virtues, our ignorance transformed into
knowledge; in order that we might attain the real fruits of humanity and
acquire heavenly graces; although pilgrims upon earth we should travel the
road of the heavenly kingdom; although needy and poor we might receive the
treasures of life eternal. For this has He borne these difficulties and
sorrows. (Abdu'l-Baha, Baha'i World Faith - Abdu'l-Baha Section, p. 224)
More than a paragraph about desire:
The soil is inferior to the tree; the tree is nevertheless dependent upon
it
for its existence. In spite of this dependence, the tree grows in the
opposite direction, away from the soil. As if disliking the soil, it
raises
up its branches high towards the sky. This is similar to man and his state
of detachment from the material world when his soul aspires to spiritual
things and renounces earthly desires.
By growing upwards, away from the soil, the tree becomes the recipient of
the rays of the sun, the most precious thing in this physical world. As a
result of the outpouring of energies released by the sun, the tree becomes
verdant and produces beautiful blossoms and fruit. Of course, the growth
of
the tree is involuntary. But let us suppose that it had a choice and,
because it loves the earth and is dependent on the soil, inclined its
branches downwards and buried itself in the ground. Then it could no
longer
receive the rays of the sun; in the end, it would rot away.
The same principles apply to a human being who has to live in this world
and
work to earn a living, and who depends upon material things for his
existence. God, however, has destined in His Covenant with man that the
soul
of man should become detached from the things of this world and aspire
towards spiritual realms. But unlike the tree, which has no choice, man
has
free will. If he chooses to disregard the provisions of the Covenant and
to
fall in love with the world, its vanities and its material attractions,
then
he becomes a bondslave of earthly things and his soul, deprived of the
power
of faith, becomes impoverished.
On the other hand, when the individual aspires to spiritual things, turns
to
the Manifestation of God, and does not direct all his affections towards
this mortal world, then his soul becomes illumined with the rays of the
Sun
of Truth and will fulfil the purpose for which it has been created. The
above example showing the similarity between tree and man demonstrates
that
the physical and the spiritual worlds of God are related to each other by
similar laws. It is therefore possible to discover some spiritual
principles
by examining physical laws. Similarly, the basic laws and teachings of a
religion can be seen as the laws of nature in a higher realm. The
difference
is that as the laws of a lower kingdom are applied to a higher kingdom,
certain features are added which are absent in the lower one. This fact
was
noted in the above example; the added feature is that man exercises his
free
will to decide his own destiny, while the tree grows involuntarily, the
element of choice being absent in the vegetable kingdom. (Adib
Taherzadeh,
The Covenant of Baha'u'llah, p. 9)
Our faith tradition is insistent upon independent investigation of truth,
that each of us are responsible to find our own path to God using the
guidance we constantly receive from reading the Writings and our efforts
on
behalf of our fellow humanity.
Thanks for reading, and looking forward to questions.
--Kent
<matthew.public.lowe@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:aoidnXQHltleo0janZ2dnUVZ_gmdnZ2d@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Hello, everyone.
>
> I am interested in the ideas of virtue and desire, and am curious to
> hear what you think your faith tradition has to say about these ideas.
>
> I'm trying to get the bird's-eye view, so it would be helpful to me if
> you could summarize, limiting yourself to three paragraphs: a
> paragraph about virtue, a paragraph about desire, and perhaps another
> paragraph on how these ideas fit into the larger framework of your
> tradition. I know you won't be able to say everything in three
> paragraphs, but if you mention something in your summary that I find
> intriguing, I promise I'll ask for details. =)
>
> Thanks,
> Matthew Lowe
>
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