A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T U V W X Z

The Reconciliation of Races and Religions

T >> Thomas Kelly Cheyne >> The Reconciliation of Races and Religions




'How It has changed the Occidentals into Orientals, and illumined the
Western Horizon with the Luminary of the East!

'Then, in thanksgiving for this great gift, favour, and grace, rejoice
ye and be exceeding glad, and engage ye in praising and sanctifying
the Lord of Hosts.

'Hearken to the song of the Highest Concourse, and by the melody of
Abha's Kingdom lift ye up the cry of "Ya Baha-'ul-Abha!"

'So that Abdul Baha and all the Eastern Bahais may give themselves to
praise of the Loving Lord, and cry aloud, "Most Pure and Holy is the
Lord, Who has changed the West into the East with lights of Guidance!"

'Upon you all be the Glory of the Most Glorious One!'

Alas! the brightness of the day has been darkened for the Bahai
Brotherhood all over the world. Words fail me for the adequate
expression of my sorrow at the adjournment of the hope of Peace. Yet
the idea has been expressed, and cannot return to the Thinker void of
results. The estrangement of races and religions is only the fruit of
ignorance, and their reconciliation is only a question of
time. _Sursum corda._



PART V

A SERIES OF ILLUSTRATIVE STUDIES BEARING ON COMPARATIVE RELIGION


A SERIES OF ILLUSTRATIVE STUDIES BEARING ON COMPARITIVE RELIGION

EIGHTEEN (OR, WITH THE BAB, NINETEEN) LETTERS OF THE LIVING OF THE
FIRST UNITY

The Letters of the Living were the most faithful and most gifted of
the disciples of the so-called Gate or Point. See _Traveller's
Narrative_, Introd. p. xvi.

Babu'l Bab.
A. Muhammad Hasan, his brother.
A. Muhammad Baghir, his nephew.
A. Mulla Ali Bustani.
Janabe Mulla Khodabacksh Qutshani.
Janabe Hasan Bajastani.
Janabe A. Sayyid Hussain Yardi.
Janabe Mirza Muhammad Ruzi Khan.
Janabe Sayyïd Hindi.
Janabe Mulla Mahmud Khoyï.
Janabe Mulla Jalil Urumiyi.
Janabe Mulla Muhammad Abdul Maraghaï.
Janabe Mulla Baghir Tabrizi.
Janabe Mulla Yusif Ardabili.
Mirza Hadi, son of Mirza Abdu'l Wahab Qazwini.
Janabe Mirza Muhammad 'Ali Qazwini.
Janabi Tahirah.
Hazrati Quddus.


TITLES OF THE BAB, ETC.

There is a puzzling variation in the claims of 'Ali
Muhammad. Originally he represented himself as the Gate of the City
of Knowledge, or--which is virtually the same thing--as the Gate
leading to the invisible twelfth Imâm who was also regarded as the
Essence of Divine Wisdom. It was this Imâm who was destined as
Ka'im (he who is to arise) to bring the whole world by force into
subjection to the true God. Now there was one person who was obviously
far better suited than 'Ali Muhammad (the Bab) to carry out the
programme for the Ka'im, and that was Hazrat-i'-Kuddus (to whom I
have devoted a separate section). For some time, therefore, before the
death of Kuddus, 'Ali Muhammad abstained from writing or speaking
_ex cathedra_, as the returned Ka'im; he was probably called
'the Point.' After the death of this heroic personage, however, he
undoubtedly resumed his previous position.

On this matter Mr. Leslie Johnston remarks that the alternation of the
two characters in the same person is as foreign to Christ's thought as
it is essential to the Bab's. [Footnote: _Some Alternatives to
Jesus Christ_, p. 117.] This is perfectly true. The divine-human
Being called the Messiah has assumed human form; the only development
of which he is capable is self-realization. The Imamate is little
more than a function, but the Messiahship is held by a person, not as
a mere function, but as a part of his nature. This is not an unfair
criticism. The alternation seems to me, as well as to Mr. Johnston,
psychologically impossible. But all the more importance attaches to
the sublime figure of Baha-'ullah, who realized his oneness with God,
and whose forerunner is like unto him (the Bab).

The following utterance of the Bab is deserving of consideration:

'Then, verily, if God manifested one like thee, he would inherit the
cause from God, the One, the Unique. But if he doth not appear, then
know that verily God hath not willed that he should make himself
known. Leave the cause, then, to him, the educator of you all, and of
the whole world.'

The reference to Baha-'ullah is unmistakable. He is 'one like thee,'
i.e. Ezel's near kinsman, and is a consummate educator, and
God's Manifestation.

Another point is also important. The Bab expressed a wish that his
widow should not marry again. Subh-i-Ezel, however, who was not,
even in theory, a monogamist, lost no time in taking the lady for a
wife. He cannot have been the Bab's successor.


LETTER OF ONE EXPECTING MARTYRDOM
[Footnote: The letter is addressed to a brother.]

'He is the Compassionate [_superscription_]. O thou who art my
Kibla! My condition, thanks to God, has no fault, and "to every
difficulty succeedeth ease." You have written that this matter has no
end. What matter, then, has any end? We, at least, have no discontent
in this matter; nay, rather we are unable sufficiently to express our
thanks for this favour. The end of this matter is to be slain in the
way of God, and O! what happiness is this! The will of God will come
to pass with regard to His servants, neither can human plans avert the
Divine decree. What God wishes comes to pass, and there is no power
and no strength, but in God. O thou who art my Kibla! the end of the
world is death: "every soul tastes of death." If the appointed fate
which God (mighty and glorious is He) hath decreed overtake me, then
God is the guardian of my family, and thou art mine executor: behave
in such wise as is pleasing to God, and pardon whatever has proceeded
from me which may seem lacking in courtesy, or contrary to the respect
due from juniors: and seek pardon for me from all those of my
household, and commit me to God. God is my portion, and how good is He
as a guardian!'


THE BAHAI VIEW OF RELIGION

The practical purpose of the Revelation of Baha-'ullah is thus
described on authority:

To unite all the races of the world in perfect harmony, which can only
be done, in my opinion, on a religious basis.

Warfare must be abolished, and international difficulties be settled
by a Council of Arbitration. This may require further consideration.

It is commanded that every one should practise some trade, art, or
profession. Work done in a faithful spirit of service is accepted as
an act of worship.

Mendicity is strictly forbidden, but work must be provided for all. A
brilliant anticipation!

There is to be no priesthood apart from the laity. Early Christianity
and Buddhism both ratify this. Teachers and investigators would, of
course, always be wanted.

The practice of Asceticism, living the hermit life or in secluded
communities, is prohibited.

Monogamy is enjoined. Baha-'ullah, no doubt, had two wives. This was
'for the hardness of men's hearts'; he desired the spread of monogamy.

Education for all, boys and girls equally, is commanded as a religious
duty--the childless should educate a child.

The equality of men and women is asserted.

A universal language as a means of international communication is to
be formed. Abdul Baha is much in favour of _Esperanto_, the noble
inventor of which sets all other inventors a worthy example of
unselfishness.

Gambling, the use of alcoholic liquors as a beverage, the taking of
opium, cruelty to animals and slavery, are forbidden.

A certain portion of a man's income must be devoted to charity. The
administration of charitable funds, the provision for widows and for
the sick and disabled, the education and care of orphans, will be
arranged and managed by elected Councils.


THE NEW DISPENSATION

The contrast between the Old and the New is well exemplified in the
contrasting lives of Rammohan Roy, Debendranath Tagore, and Keshab
Chandra Sen. As an Indian writer says: 'The sweep of the New
Dispensation is broader than the Brahmo Samaj. The whole religious
world is in the grasp of a great purpose which, in its fresh unfolding
of the new age, we call the New Dispensation. The New Dispensation is
not a local phenomenon; it is not confined to Calcutta or to India;
our Brotherhood is but one body whose thought it functions to-day; it
is not topographical, it is operative in all the world-religions.'
[Footnote: Cp. Auguste Sabatier on the _Religion of the Spirit_,
and Mozoomdar's work on the same subject.]

'No full account has yet been given to the New Brotherhood's work and
experiences during that period. Men of various ranks came, drawn
together by the magnetic personality of the man they loved, knowing he
loved them all with a larger love; his leadership was one of love, and
they caught the contagion of his conviction.... And so, if I were to
write at length, I could cite one illustration after another of
transformed lives--lives charged with a new spirit shown in the work
achieved, the sufferings borne, the persecutions accepted, deep
spiritual gladness experienced in the midst of pain, the fellowship
with God realized day after day' (Benoyendra Nath Sen, _The Spirit
of the New Dispensation_). The test of a religion is its capacity
for producing noble men and women.


MANIFESTATION

God Himself in His inmost essence cannot be either imagined or
comprehended, cannot be named. But in some measure He can be known by
His Manifestations, chief among whom is that Heavenly Being known
variously as Michael, the Son of man, the Logos, and Sofia. These
names are only concessions to the weakness of the people. This
Heavenly Being is sometimes spoken of allusively as the Face or Name,
the Gate and the Point (of Knowledge). See p. 174.

The Manifestations may also be called Manifesters or Revealers. They
make God known to the human folk so far as this can be done by
Mirrors, and especially (as Tagore has most beautifully shown) in His
inexhaustible love. They need not have the learning of the schools.
They would mistake their office if they ever interfered with
discoveries or problems of criticism or of science.

The Bab announced that he himself owed nothing to any earthly
teacher. A heavenly teacher, however, if he touched the subject, would
surely have taught the Bab better Arabic. It is a psychological
problem how the Bab can lay so much stress on his 'signs' (ayât) or
verses as decisive of the claims of a prophet. One is tempted to
surmise that in the Bab's Arabic work there has been collaboration.

What constitutes 'signs' or verses? Prof. Browne gives this answer:
[Footnote: E. G. Browne, _JRAS_, 1889, p. 155.] 'Eloquence of
diction, rapidity of utterance, knowledge unacquired by study, claim
to divine origin, power to affect and control the minds of men.' I do
not myself see how the possession of an Arabic which some people think
very poor and others put down to the help of an amanuensis, can be
brought within the range of Messianic lore. It is spiritual truth that
we look for from the Bab. Secular wisdom, including the knowledge of
languages, we turn over to the company of trained scholars.

Spiritual truth, then, is the domain of the prophets of Bahaism. A
prophet who steps aside from the region in which he is at home is
fallible like other men. Even in the sphere of exposition of sacred
texts the greatest of prophets is liable to err. In this way I am
bound to say that Baha-'ullah himself has made mistakes, and can we be
surprised that the almost equally venerated Abdul Baha has made many
slips? It is necessary to make this pronouncement, lest possible
friends should be converted into seeming enemies. The claim of
infallibility has done harm enough already in the Roman Church!

Baha-'ullah may no doubt be invoked on the other side. This is the
absolutely correct statement of his son Abdul Baha. 'He (Baha-'ullah)
entered into a Covenant and Testament with the people. He appointed a
Centre of the Covenant, He wrote with his own pen ... appointing him
the Expounder of the Book.' [Footnote: _Star of the West_, 1913,
p. 238.] But Baha-'ullah is as little to be followed on questions of
philology as Jesus Christ, who is not a manifester of science but of
heavenly lore. The question of Sinlessness I postpone.


GREAT MANIFESTATION; WHEN?

I do not myself think that the interval of nineteen years for the
Great Manifestation was meant by the Bab to be taken literally. The
number 19 may be merely a conventional sacred number and have no
historical significance. I am therefore not to be shaken by a
reference to these words of the Bab, quoted in substance by Mirza
Abu'l Fazl, that after nine years all good will come to his followers,
or by the Mirza's comment that it was nine years after the Bab's
Declaration that Baha-'ullah gathered together the Babis at
Baghdad, and began to teach them, and that at the end of the
nineteenth year from the Declaration of the Bab, Baha-'ullah
declared his Manifestation.

Another difficulty arises. The Bab does not always say the same
thing. There are passages of the Persian Bayan which imply an interval
between his own theophany and the next parallel to that which
separated his own theophany from Muhammad's. He says, for instance,
in _Wahid_ II. Bab 17, according to Professor Browne,

'If he [whom God shall manifest] shall appear in the number of Ghiyath
(1511) and all shall enter in, not one shall remain in the Fire. If He
tarry [until the number of] Mustaghath (2001), all shall enter in, not
one shall remain in the Fire.' [Footnote: _History of the
Babis, edited by E. G. Browne; Introd. p. xxvi. _Traveller's
Narrative_ (Browne), Introd. p. xvii. ]

I quote next from _Wahid_ III. Bab 15:--

'None knoweth [the time of] the Manifestation save God: whenever it
takes place, all must believe and must render thanks to God, although
it is hoped of His Grace that He will come ere [the number of]
Mustaghath, and will raise up the Word of God on his part. And the
Proof is only a sign [or verse], and His very Existence proves Him,
since all also is known by Him, while He cannot be known by what is
below Him. Glorious is God above that which they ascribe to Him.'
[Footnote: _History of the Babis_, Introd. p. xxx.]

Elsewhere (vii. 9), we are told vaguely that the Advent of the
Promised One will be sudden, like that of the Point or Bab (iv. 10);
it is an element of the great Oriental myth of the winding-up of the
old cycle and the opening of a new. [Footnote: Cheyne, _Mines of
Isaiah Re-explored_, Index, 'Myth.']

A Bahai scholar furnishes me with another passage--

'God knoweth in what age He will manifest him. But from the springing
(beginning) of the manifestation to its head (perfection) are nineteen
years.' [Footnote: Bayan, _Wahid_, III., chap. iii.]

This implies a preparation period of nineteen years, and if we take
this statement with a parallel one, we can, I think, have no doubt
that the Bab expected the assumption, not immediate however, of the
reins of government by the Promised One. The parallel statement is as
follows, according to the same Bahai scholar.

'God only knoweth his age. But the time of his proclamation after mine
is the number Wahid (=19, cabbalistically), and whenever he cometh
during this period, accept him.' [Footnote: Bayan, _Brit. Mus. Text_,
p. 151.]

Another passage may be quoted by the kindness of Mirza 'Ali Akbar. It
shows that the Bab has doubts whether the Great Manifestation will
occur in the lifetime of Baha-'ullah and Subh-i-Ezel (one or other
of whom is addressed by the Bab in this letter). The following words
are an extract:--

'And if God hath not manifested His greatness in thy days, then act in
accordance with that which hath descended (i.e. been revealed),
and never change a word in the verses of God.

'This is the order of God in the Sublime Book; ordain in accordance
with that which hath descended, and never change the orders of God,
that men may not make variations in God's religion.'


NON-FINALITY OF REVELATION

Not less important than the question of the Bab's appointment of his
successor is that of his own view of the finality or non-finality of
his revelation. The Bayan does not leave this in uncertainty. The
Kur'an of the Babis expressly states that a new Manifestation takes
place whenever there is a call for it (ii. 9, vi. 13); successive
revelations are like the same sun arising day after day (iv. 12,
vii. 15, viii. 1). The Bab's believers therefore are not confined to a
revelation constantly becoming less and less applicable to the
spiritual wants of the present age. And very large discretionary
powers are vested in 'Him whom He will make manifest,' extending even
to the abrogation of the commands of the Bayan (iii. 3).


EARLY CHRISTIANITY AND BAHAISM AND BUDDHISM

The comparisons sometimes drawn between the history of nascent
Christianity and that of early Bahaism are somewhat misleading. 'Ali
Muhammad of Shiraz was more than a mere forerunner of the Promised
Saviour; he was not merely John the Baptist--he was the Messiah,
All-wise and Almighty, himself. True, he was of a humble mind, and
recognized that what he might ordain would not necessarily be suitable
for a less transitional age, but the same may be said--if our written
records may be trusted--of Jesus Christ. For Jesus was partly his own
forerunner, and antiquated his own words.

It is no doubt a singular coincidence that both 'Ali Muhammad and
Jesus Christ are reported to have addressed these words to a disciple:
'To-day thou shalt be with me in Paradise.' But if the Crucifixion is
unhistorical--and there is, I fear, considerable probability that it
is--what is the value of this coincidence?

More important is it that both in early Christianity and in early
Bahaism we find a conspicuous personage who succeeds in disengaging
the faith from its particularistic envelope. In neither case is this
personage a man of high culture or worldly position. [Footnote:
Leslie Johnston's phraseology (_Some Alternatives to Jesus
Christ_, p. 114) appears to need revision.] This, I say, is most
important. Paul and Baha-'ullah may both be said to have transformed
their respective religions. Yet there is a difference between
them. Baha-'ullah and his son Abdul-Baha after him were personal
centres of the new covenant; Paul was not.

This may perhaps suffice for the parallels--partly real, partly
supposed--between early Christianity and early Bahaism. I will now
refer to an important parallel between the development of Christianity
and that of Buddhism. It is possible to deny that the Christianity of
Augustine [Footnote: Professor Anesaki of Tokio regards Augustine as
the Christian Nagarjuna.] deserves its name, on the ground of the
wide interval which exists between his religious doctrines and the
beliefs of Jesus Christ. Similarly, one may venture to deny that the
Mahâyâna developments of Buddhism are genuine products of the religion
because they contain some elements derived from other Indian
systems. In both cases, however, grave injustice would be done by any
such assumption. It is idle 'to question the historical value of an
organism which is now full of vitality and active in all its
functions, and to treat it like an archaeological object, dug out from
the depths of the earth, or like a piece of bric-à-brac, discovered in
the ruins of an ancient royal palace. Mahâyânaism is not an object of
historical curiosity. Its vitality and activity concern us in our
daily life. It is a great spiritual organism. What does it matter,
then, whether or not Mahâyânaism is the genuine teaching of the
Buddha?' [Footnote: Suzuki, _Outlines of Mahâyâna Buddhism_, p. 15.]
The parallel between the developments of these two great religions is
unmistakable. We Christians insist--and rightly so--on the
'genuineness' of our own religion in spite of the numerous elements
unknown to its 'Founder.' The northern Buddhism is equally 'genuine,'
being equally true to the spirit of the Buddha.

It is said that Christianity, as a historical religion, contrasts with
the most advanced Buddhism. But really it is no loss to the Buddhist
Fraternity if the historical element in the life of the Buddha has
retired into the background. A cultured Buddhist of the northern
section could not indeed admit that he has thrust the history of
Gautama entirely aside, but he would affirm that his religion was more
philosophical and practically valuable than that of his southern
brothers, inasmuch as it transcended the boundary of history. In a
theological treatise called _Chin-kuang-ming_ we read as follows:
'It would be easier to count every drop of water in the ocean, or
every grain of matter that composes a vast mountain than to reckon the
duration of the life of Buddha.' 'That is to say, Buddha's life does
not belong to the time-series: Buddha is the "I Am" who is above
time.' [Footnote: Johnston, _Buddhist China_, p. 114.] And is
not the Christ of Christendom above the world of time and space?
Lastly, must not both Christians and Buddhists admit that among the
Christs or Buddhas the most godlike are those embodied in narratives
as Jesus and Gautama?


WESTERN AND EASTERN RELIGION

Religion, as conceived by most Christians of the West, is very
different from the religion of India. Three-quarters of it (as Matthew
Arnold says) has to do with conduct; it is a code with a very positive
and keen divine sanction. Few of its adherents, indeed, have any idea
of the true position of morality, and that the code of Christian
ethics expresses barely one half of the religious idea. The other half
(or even more) is expressed in assurances of holy men that God dwells
within us, or even that we are God. A true morality helps us to
realize this--morality is not to be tied up and labelled, but is
identical with the cosmic as well as individual principle of Love.
Sin (i.e. an unloving disposition) is to be avoided because it
blurs the outlines of the Divine Form reflected, however dimly, in
each of us.

There are, no doubt, a heaven where virtue is rewarded, and a hell
where vice is punished, for the unphilosophical minds of the
vulgar. But the only reward worthy of a lover of God is to get nearer
and nearer to Him. Till the indescribable goal (Nirvana) is reached,
we must be content with realizing. This is much easier to a Hindu than
to an Englishman, because the former has a constant sense of that
unseen power which pervades and transcends the universe. I do not
understand how Indian seekers after truth can hurry and strive about
sublunary matters. Surely they ought to feel 'that this tangible
world, with its chatter of right and wrong, subserves the intangible.'

Hard as it must be for the adherents of such different principles to
understand each other, it is not, I venture to think, impossible. And,
as at once an Anglican Christian and an adopted Brahmaist, I make the
attempt to bring East and West religiously together.


RELIGIOUS TEACHERS OF THE EAST

The greatest religious teachers and reformers who have appeared in
recent times are (if I am not much mistaken) Baha-'ullah the Persian
and Keshab Chandra Sen the Indian. The one began by being a reformer
of the Muhammadan society or church, the other by acting in the same
capacity for the Indian community and more especially for the Brahmo
Samaj--a very imperfect and loosely organized religious society or
church founded by Rammohan Roy. By a natural evolution the objects of
both reformers were enlarged; both became the founders of
world-churches, though circumstances prevented the extension of the
Brotherhood of the New Dispensation beyond the limits of India.

In both cases a doubt has arisen in the minds of some spectators
whether the reformers have anything to offer which has not already
been given by the Hebrew prophets and by the finest efflorescence of
these--Jesus Christ. I am bound to express the opinion that they have.
Just as the author of the Fourth Gospel looks forward to results of
the Dispensation of the Spirit which will outdo those of the Ministry
of Jesus (John xiv. 12), so we may confidently look forward to
disclosures of truth and of depths upon depths of character which will
far surpass anything that could, in the Nearer or Further East, have
been imagined before the time of Baha-'ullah.

I do not say that Baha-'ullah is unique or that His revelations are
final. There will be other Messiahs after Him, nor is the race of the
prophets extinct. The supposition of finality is treason to the ever
active, ever creative Spirit of Truth. But till we have already
entered upon a new aeon, we shall have to look back in a special
degree to the prophets who introduced our own aeon, Baha-'ullah and
Keshab Chandra Sen, whose common object is the spiritual unification
of all peoples. For it is plain that this union of peoples can only be
obtained through the influence of prophetic personages, those of the
past as well as those of the present.


QUALITIES OF THE MEN OF THE COMING RELIGION (Gal. v. 22)

1. Love. What is love? Let Rabindranath Tagore tell us.

'In love all the contradictions of existence merge themselves and are
lost. Only in love are unity and duality not at variance. Love must be
one and two at the same time.

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