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Forces of Our Time - The Dynamics of Light and Darkness
Anyone looking at the condition of the world today will be struck by the dramatic changes taking place. On the one hand is the visible deterioration in so many fundamental processes and institutions, from the financial world, politics and the fabric of society to climate change and energy. On the other is an enlivening upsurge in knowledge, in concern for human rights and in technologies that bring people together.
These energies are spiritual in nature and result from the coming of God's most recent representative to humankind, Bahá'u'lláh. He has set in motion processes that are creating a new, divine civilization. In response to this, negative forces have risen to resist the divine purpose.
The nature of these spiritual forces is a prominent theme in the Bahá'í writings, particularly in those of Shoghi Effendi. They convey vital principles and laws, systematic processes and insights into the workings of the world. They explain the changes that are taking place and give us a glimpse into our own nature and reality.
In this book Hooper Dunbar examines the character of the spiritual forces as set out in writings of Shoghi Effendi. The first part considers the terms 'force', 'energy' and 'power' in these writings, while the second comprises a selection of quotations drawn from the writings of Shoghi Effendi – many published here for the first time – arranged chronologically, so readers may consider the ideas in their original context.
These energies are spiritual in nature and result from the coming of God's most recent representative to humankind, Bahá'u'lláh. He has set in motion processes that are creating a new, divine civilization. In response to this, negative forces have risen to resist the divine purpose.
The nature of these spiritual forces is a prominent theme in the Bahá'í writings, particularly in those of Shoghi Effendi. They convey vital principles and laws, systematic processes and insights into the workings of the world. They explain the changes that are taking place and give us a glimpse into our own nature and reality.
In this book Hooper Dunbar examines the character of the spiritual forces as set out in writings of Shoghi Effendi. The first part considers the terms 'force', 'energy' and 'power' in these writings, while the second comprises a selection of quotations drawn from the writings of Shoghi Effendi – many published here for the first time – arranged chronologically, so readers may consider the ideas in their original context.
143 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2009
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March 10, 2019
This book is most suitable for Baha’is, or, at least, as the book says, “to an audience with a basic familiarity with Bahá’í scriptures and institutions.” It’s certainly not a light read. There were countless parts that had me pausing to think and going back to re-read them. Published in 2008, it’s all about the situation of the world today. While there were some parts that were rather disheartening, the more that I read, the more I was reminded that there is hope. The author is someone that I follow on You Tube. His talks are among my favorites. Many years ago, I had a friend who served at the Baha’i World Centre in Haifa, Israel. She would attend the study sessions that he held for youth. The way that she would describe these sessions, had me quite envious, wishing that I could have attended.
Here are some of my favorite quotes. My apologies for including too many. Feel free to ignore or scroll down. Good Reads usually allows me to add quotes, but I haven't been able to with this one, so I'm including them all here in the body of my review.
“Far more than holy scripture to be read and left upon a page, the Word of God is the source of light and life, and separation from it is darkness and death.”
“The life energy of every person comes from God but the choice of how to use it is left to each human soul.”
“Just as the sun is the source of physical existence, the Word of God is the source of human life and civilization.”
“… whoever turns towards God is blessed and whoever denies Him is beset by woe.”
“According to the Bahá’í teachings, there is no single, independent evil power in the world. The Devil, or the ‘Evil One’, is any human being while in submission to his or her base animal nature. All of the talents of human beings – our intellectual vision and creative capacities – can be diverted and perverted by our lower nature into very real and powerful negative forces.”
“Good and evil, paradise and hell, are the outcome of our choices, and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá points out that ‘the paradise and hell of existence are found in all the worlds of God, whether in this world or in the spiritual heavenly worlds’. Bahá’u’lláh clarifies this when He says, of paradise and hell, that, ‘The one is reunion with Me; the other thine own self’. And again: ‘Every good thing is of God, and every evil thing is from yourselves.’”
“Our physical being operates in accordance with the laws of the animal kingdom, and the lower aspect of a person is intended to become the servant of the higher, spiritual nature. The human body may be compared to a horse and the human spirit to its rider. When the rider is in control, the horse becomes a very useful vehicle that can scale mountains, undertake difficult journeys and accomplish what the human spirit aspires to do. If the rider is not in control of the horse, the animal nature of the person will dominate the spiritual aspect and the horse then takes the rider wherever it desires. Driven by self and passion, the horse constantly endangers both the equilibrium and the well-being of the rider.”
“Irreligion comes in a variety of forms, one of which has been termed functional atheism. We see a lot of this in the world today. A person may think that God exists but believe that human nature, economic forces or political traditions are the reason that things are, inevitably, the way they are.”
“Inner discipline is an essential tool because combatting dark forces requires asserting the dominance of our higher nature over our lower. The lower aspect of our being is all too comfortable with materialism, egotism and suspicion. Spiritual discipline is the antidote to the dark forces with which we are all infected to some degree.”
“It is often easy to attribute the world’s problems to remote and powerful causes beyond human control. Some people blame the ‘military-industrial complex’, ‘big business’ or ‘the multi-nationals’; in other quarters the culprit is seen as ‘the liberals’, ‘the great powers’ or ‘the corrupt politicians’. Some may think the real problems stem from ‘the capitalists’ or ‘the class system’ or ‘the neo-colonialists.’ Only when the individuals composing human society begin to understand that the real source of negativity is within human nature and that we each have the capacity to express a more exalted reality, however, can humanity as a whole effectively come to grips with the enormous problems of the world and begin to solve them.”
“Among the forces of darkness identified by the Guardian are conditions that appear in humanity when it turns away from God: irreligion, atheism, naturalism, unbelief, secularism and paganism. Other dark forces named by Shoghi Effendi are what a wayward humanity worships in place of God: materialism, nationalism, racialism and communism. He conveys the perversions of religion with another set of terms, among them being fanaticism and superstition. Still other dark forces are the consequences of humanity’s losing the moral compass provided by living religion: prejudice, corruption, immorality, moral laxity and widespread lawlessness, for example.”
“A great many of the widely-accepted theories and concepts of the world about us are fundamentally materialistic: they have gained popularity because their outlook is confined to man’s material existence and usually pander to selfish instincts. Often the appeal is made to one ethnic group, or racial group, or social class, to advance themselves at the expense of others. Sometimes it is just a general appeal to the egotistical tendencies of human beings. This is clearly the case with many ephemeral fads of self-help popular psychology, some groupings generally thought of as religious and, at times, even movements whose stated goal proposes improving the conditions of society. Such schemes and plans for the betterment of the human race attract people for a time but once they are tested their inadequacy becomes evident. They are dissolved, as Shoghi Effendi indicates, by the very forces that had given rise to them. In defining these phenomena he states: ‘Springing from a finite mind, begotten of human fancy, and oftentimes the product of ill-conceived designs, such movements succeed, by reason of their novelty, their appeal to man’s baser instincts and their dependence upon the resources of a sordid world, in dazzling for a time the eyes of men, only to plunge finally from the heights of their meteoric career into the darkness of oblivion, dissolved by the very forces that had assisted in their creation.’”
“In one of the Guardian’s letters a distinction is drawn between those whose religion is the Bahá’í Faith and those whose life is the Bahá’í Faith. There are two kinds of Bahá’ís, one might say: those whose religion is Bahá’í and those who live for the Faith. Needless to say if one can belong to the latter category, if one can be in the vanguard of heroes, martyrs and saints, it is more praiseworthy in the sight of God.’”
“Belief in an innate ‘goodness of human nature’ can be a subtle form of irreligion. The Universal House of Justice, in The Promise of World Peace, states that the possibility of creating peace rests on awareness of the positive capacities of human beings but those human potentialities are not automatically realized. People have always – by struggle and free will, by exertion and endeavour – had to win their portion of goodness.”
“From time to time an individual Bahá’í will go through a very difficult period, becoming still or apathetic, and this is something that the person has to fight against – through earnest prayer.”
“Shoghi Effendi, writing through a secretary, warns the Bahá’ís that we should be on our guard lest we allow dark forces to enter into our lives by feeling or thinking negatively about each other. This is an amazing statement. He does not ask us just to watch what we say and how we act but expects us to reach deeper, going beyond those obvious tasks, and not allow ourselves to harbour negative thoughts or resentment towards our fellows. The world is full of evil and dark forces and the friends must not permit these forces to get hold of them by thinking and feeling negatively towards each other . . .”
“The Bahá’í strategies for fighting the forces of darkness require more from the individual.”
Here are some of my favorite quotes. My apologies for including too many. Feel free to ignore or scroll down. Good Reads usually allows me to add quotes, but I haven't been able to with this one, so I'm including them all here in the body of my review.
“Far more than holy scripture to be read and left upon a page, the Word of God is the source of light and life, and separation from it is darkness and death.”
“The life energy of every person comes from God but the choice of how to use it is left to each human soul.”
“Just as the sun is the source of physical existence, the Word of God is the source of human life and civilization.”
“… whoever turns towards God is blessed and whoever denies Him is beset by woe.”
“According to the Bahá’í teachings, there is no single, independent evil power in the world. The Devil, or the ‘Evil One’, is any human being while in submission to his or her base animal nature. All of the talents of human beings – our intellectual vision and creative capacities – can be diverted and perverted by our lower nature into very real and powerful negative forces.”
“Good and evil, paradise and hell, are the outcome of our choices, and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá points out that ‘the paradise and hell of existence are found in all the worlds of God, whether in this world or in the spiritual heavenly worlds’. Bahá’u’lláh clarifies this when He says, of paradise and hell, that, ‘The one is reunion with Me; the other thine own self’. And again: ‘Every good thing is of God, and every evil thing is from yourselves.’”
“Our physical being operates in accordance with the laws of the animal kingdom, and the lower aspect of a person is intended to become the servant of the higher, spiritual nature. The human body may be compared to a horse and the human spirit to its rider. When the rider is in control, the horse becomes a very useful vehicle that can scale mountains, undertake difficult journeys and accomplish what the human spirit aspires to do. If the rider is not in control of the horse, the animal nature of the person will dominate the spiritual aspect and the horse then takes the rider wherever it desires. Driven by self and passion, the horse constantly endangers both the equilibrium and the well-being of the rider.”
“Irreligion comes in a variety of forms, one of which has been termed functional atheism. We see a lot of this in the world today. A person may think that God exists but believe that human nature, economic forces or political traditions are the reason that things are, inevitably, the way they are.”
“Inner discipline is an essential tool because combatting dark forces requires asserting the dominance of our higher nature over our lower. The lower aspect of our being is all too comfortable with materialism, egotism and suspicion. Spiritual discipline is the antidote to the dark forces with which we are all infected to some degree.”
“It is often easy to attribute the world’s problems to remote and powerful causes beyond human control. Some people blame the ‘military-industrial complex’, ‘big business’ or ‘the multi-nationals’; in other quarters the culprit is seen as ‘the liberals’, ‘the great powers’ or ‘the corrupt politicians’. Some may think the real problems stem from ‘the capitalists’ or ‘the class system’ or ‘the neo-colonialists.’ Only when the individuals composing human society begin to understand that the real source of negativity is within human nature and that we each have the capacity to express a more exalted reality, however, can humanity as a whole effectively come to grips with the enormous problems of the world and begin to solve them.”
“Among the forces of darkness identified by the Guardian are conditions that appear in humanity when it turns away from God: irreligion, atheism, naturalism, unbelief, secularism and paganism. Other dark forces named by Shoghi Effendi are what a wayward humanity worships in place of God: materialism, nationalism, racialism and communism. He conveys the perversions of religion with another set of terms, among them being fanaticism and superstition. Still other dark forces are the consequences of humanity’s losing the moral compass provided by living religion: prejudice, corruption, immorality, moral laxity and widespread lawlessness, for example.”
“A great many of the widely-accepted theories and concepts of the world about us are fundamentally materialistic: they have gained popularity because their outlook is confined to man’s material existence and usually pander to selfish instincts. Often the appeal is made to one ethnic group, or racial group, or social class, to advance themselves at the expense of others. Sometimes it is just a general appeal to the egotistical tendencies of human beings. This is clearly the case with many ephemeral fads of self-help popular psychology, some groupings generally thought of as religious and, at times, even movements whose stated goal proposes improving the conditions of society. Such schemes and plans for the betterment of the human race attract people for a time but once they are tested their inadequacy becomes evident. They are dissolved, as Shoghi Effendi indicates, by the very forces that had given rise to them. In defining these phenomena he states: ‘Springing from a finite mind, begotten of human fancy, and oftentimes the product of ill-conceived designs, such movements succeed, by reason of their novelty, their appeal to man’s baser instincts and their dependence upon the resources of a sordid world, in dazzling for a time the eyes of men, only to plunge finally from the heights of their meteoric career into the darkness of oblivion, dissolved by the very forces that had assisted in their creation.’”
“In one of the Guardian’s letters a distinction is drawn between those whose religion is the Bahá’í Faith and those whose life is the Bahá’í Faith. There are two kinds of Bahá’ís, one might say: those whose religion is Bahá’í and those who live for the Faith. Needless to say if one can belong to the latter category, if one can be in the vanguard of heroes, martyrs and saints, it is more praiseworthy in the sight of God.’”
“Belief in an innate ‘goodness of human nature’ can be a subtle form of irreligion. The Universal House of Justice, in The Promise of World Peace, states that the possibility of creating peace rests on awareness of the positive capacities of human beings but those human potentialities are not automatically realized. People have always – by struggle and free will, by exertion and endeavour – had to win their portion of goodness.”
“From time to time an individual Bahá’í will go through a very difficult period, becoming still or apathetic, and this is something that the person has to fight against – through earnest prayer.”
“Shoghi Effendi, writing through a secretary, warns the Bahá’ís that we should be on our guard lest we allow dark forces to enter into our lives by feeling or thinking negatively about each other. This is an amazing statement. He does not ask us just to watch what we say and how we act but expects us to reach deeper, going beyond those obvious tasks, and not allow ourselves to harbour negative thoughts or resentment towards our fellows. The world is full of evil and dark forces and the friends must not permit these forces to get hold of them by thinking and feeling negatively towards each other . . .”
“The Bahá’í strategies for fighting the forces of darkness require more from the individual.”
December 7, 2010
This book is exceedingly profound. It speaks in highly readable and gracious prose, of the condition of the world today, and the dramatic changes taking place. He addresses the visible deterioration in so many fundamental processes and instittions (financial, political and climage change and energy, and social fabric of society. He gives his readers an enlivening clear upsurge in knowledge, reflects concern for human rights and speaks of gtechnologies that bring people together. From the back of the book, "These energies are spiritual in nature and result from Mr. Dunbar's membership and deep commitment to the Baha'i Faith and its founder, Baha'u'llah (a title meaning the Glory of God). Mr. Dunbar shows how processes creating a new divine civilization have arisen, are arising, and he also speaks of the negative forces which have arisen to resist this divine purpose. He examines the character of the spiritual forces as set out in the writings of the Guardian of the Faith, and the first part of the book considers the terms, 'force,' 'energy' and 'power.' The second part of the book comprises a selection of quotations drawn from the writings of Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Baha'i Cause and many are published within this volume for the first time and arrnage chronologically so readers may consider the ideas in their original context.
5 stars doesn't do it, but that as high as the rating would go.
5 stars doesn't do it, but that as high as the rating would go.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews