"So free must be your thoughts of any trace of prejudice--racial, religious, economic, national, tribal, class, or cultural--that even the stranger sees in you loving friends."
The above is an excerpt from a letter of the Universal House of Justice, supreme governing body of the Baha'i Faith, addressed this past spring to the Baha'is of the world.
A couple of days ago, I was thinking about the humility that is needed to overcome prejudice. If we feel we are completely free of it, then how will we be able to muster up (paraphrasing Shoghi Effendi): the ceaseless exertions called for, the care and vigilance demanded, the moral courage and fortitude required, the tact and sympathy necessitated, to eliminate every trace of prejudice from our minds and hearts?
Abdu'l-Baha writes about racial prejudice:
"Throughout the animal kingdom we do not find the creatures separated because of color. They recognize unity of species and oneness of kind. If we do not find color distinction drawn in a kingdom of lower intelligence and reason, how can it be justified among human beings, especially when we know that all have come from the same source and belong to the same household?"
May we strive to translate into reality this next quote on a daily basis:
"Let all associate, therefore, in this great human garden even as flowers grow and blend together side by side..."
(Abdu'l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 69)
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5 comments:
Thanks for posting this entry. It beautifully highlights one of the subtler aspects of humility in that cultivating it is a 'ceaseless' process of removing prejudice from our hearts and minds and in recognizing oneness of creation.
Very interesting Amritha how you've put it. By the way, what does the name halfpast_aftachrist symbolize?
Oh! It's from an email id made in high school in frivolous word play of the fairly long journey we are on, into eternity, unto Light.:)
On humility, one striking thing that your post elegantly captures, is how the very process of cultivating it illustrates the infinitude of the Divine One’s qualities and just how much we, as humans, need to do to scale up.
Yes, it really is an endless process, isn't it! As Abdu'l-Baha says: 'Little by little, day by day'. Each day, we try be a little more humble, a little more kind, a little more courageous. And these little steps add up..
Another thing that, to me, happens in little steps - faith. Was discussing this with Casia yesterday, how one takes little leaps of faith along the spiritual path, constantly checking back to see if those leaps of faith were justified. This, I believe, prevents one from making any huge leaps of blind faith.
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