Truthseeker
Non-debating member when I can help myself
From the Divine Art of Living - Prayer and Meditation – Praising and Glorifying God
This is part of my continuing series of pondering sections of the Divine Art of Living, writing down my thoughts, and sharing them with other Baha'is.
I give praise to Thee, O my God, that the fragrance of Thy loving-kindness hath enraptured me, and the gentle winds of Thy mercy have inclined me in the direction of Thy bountiful favors.
Bahá’u’lláh, "Prayers and Meditations", 150.1
If the loving-kindness of God reaches us, it enraptures us, and we should praise Him then. Same goes with being inclined by His mercy in the direction of His bountiful favors. God chooses us to be inclined towards His bountiful favors in His mysterious ways.
Immeasurably glorified and exalted art Thou. How can I make mention of Thee, O Thou the Beloved of the entire creation; and how can I acknowledge Thy claim, O Thou, before Whom every created thing standeth in awe. The loftiest station to which human perception can soar and the utmost height which the minds and souls of men can scale are but signs created through the potency of Thy command and tokens manifested through the power of Thy Revelation. Far be it from Thy glory that anyone other than Thee should make mention of Thee or should attempt to voice Thy praise. The very essence of every reality beareth witness to its debarment from the precincts of the court of Thy nearness, and the quintessence of every being testifieth to its failure to attain Thy holy Presence. Immeasurably glorified and exalted art Thou! That which alone beseemeth Thee is the befitting mention made by Thine Own Self, and that only which is worthy of Thee is the anthem of praise voiced by Thine Own Essence.…
The Báb, "Selections from the Writings of the Báb", 7.3
Every time I lift up mine eyes unto Thy heaven, I call to mind Thy highness and Thy loftiness, and Thine incomparable glory and greatness; and every time I turn my gaze to Thine earth, I am made to recognize the evidences of Thy power and the tokens of Thy bounty. And when I behold the sea, I find that it speaketh to me of Thy majesty, and of the potency of Thy might, and of Thy sovereignty and Thy grandeur. And at whatever time I contemplate the mountains, I am led to discover the ensigns of Thy victory and the standards of Thine omnipotence.
Bahá’u’lláh, "Prayers and Meditations", 176.15
I don't know what this passage is doing in this section. To me it speaks of seeing the attributes of God in everything, which we should strive to do. In part we say prayers to reach this high spiritual station.
Glory be to Thee, O my God! The power of Thy might beareth me witness! I can have no doubt that should the holy breaths of Thy loving-kindness and the breeze of Thy bountiful favor cease, for less than the twinkling of an eye, to breathe over all created things, the entire creation would perish, and all that are in heaven and on earth would be reduced to utter nothingness. Magnified, therefore, be the marvelous evidences of Thy transcendent power! Magnified be the potency of Thine exalted might! Magnified be the majesty of Thine all-encompassing greatness, and the energizing influence of Thy will! Such is Thy greatness that wert Thou to concentrate the eyes of all men in the eye of one of Thy servants, and to compress all their hearts within his heart, and wert Thou to enable him to behold within himself all the things Thou hast created through Thy power and fashioned through Thy might, and were he to ponder, throughout eternity, over the realms of Thy creation and the range of Thy handiwork, he would unfailingly discover that there is no created thing but is overshadowed by Thine all-conquering power, and is vitalized through Thine all-embracing sovereignty.
Bahá’u’lláh, "Prayers and Meditations", 58.4
The part in bold is what I have added to this selection, that is not in the Divine Art of Living. This is part of my favorite prayer in Prayers and Meditations. There is no better way to get spiritually high than saying a prayer like this, praising God like this. The whole prayer I think was too long to be in regular prayer book.
Blessed is the spot, and the house, and the place, and the city, and the heart, and the mountain, and the refuge, and the cave, and the valley, and the land, and the sea, and the island, and the meadow where mention of God hath been made, and His praise glorified. —Bahá’u’lláh
Bahá’u’lláh, the Báb, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, "Bahá’í Prayers"
This seems to say that our surroundings are “spiritualized” by our prayers. When I went on pilgrimage, the sites there seemed to exude a spirit to me sometimes because of the spiritual potency of the People that were there.
This is part of my continuing series of pondering sections of the Divine Art of Living, writing down my thoughts, and sharing them with other Baha'is.
I give praise to Thee, O my God, that the fragrance of Thy loving-kindness hath enraptured me, and the gentle winds of Thy mercy have inclined me in the direction of Thy bountiful favors.
Bahá’u’lláh, "Prayers and Meditations", 150.1
If the loving-kindness of God reaches us, it enraptures us, and we should praise Him then. Same goes with being inclined by His mercy in the direction of His bountiful favors. God chooses us to be inclined towards His bountiful favors in His mysterious ways.
Immeasurably glorified and exalted art Thou. How can I make mention of Thee, O Thou the Beloved of the entire creation; and how can I acknowledge Thy claim, O Thou, before Whom every created thing standeth in awe. The loftiest station to which human perception can soar and the utmost height which the minds and souls of men can scale are but signs created through the potency of Thy command and tokens manifested through the power of Thy Revelation. Far be it from Thy glory that anyone other than Thee should make mention of Thee or should attempt to voice Thy praise. The very essence of every reality beareth witness to its debarment from the precincts of the court of Thy nearness, and the quintessence of every being testifieth to its failure to attain Thy holy Presence. Immeasurably glorified and exalted art Thou! That which alone beseemeth Thee is the befitting mention made by Thine Own Self, and that only which is worthy of Thee is the anthem of praise voiced by Thine Own Essence.…
The Báb, "Selections from the Writings of the Báb", 7.3
Every time I lift up mine eyes unto Thy heaven, I call to mind Thy highness and Thy loftiness, and Thine incomparable glory and greatness; and every time I turn my gaze to Thine earth, I am made to recognize the evidences of Thy power and the tokens of Thy bounty. And when I behold the sea, I find that it speaketh to me of Thy majesty, and of the potency of Thy might, and of Thy sovereignty and Thy grandeur. And at whatever time I contemplate the mountains, I am led to discover the ensigns of Thy victory and the standards of Thine omnipotence.
Bahá’u’lláh, "Prayers and Meditations", 176.15
I don't know what this passage is doing in this section. To me it speaks of seeing the attributes of God in everything, which we should strive to do. In part we say prayers to reach this high spiritual station.
Glory be to Thee, O my God! The power of Thy might beareth me witness! I can have no doubt that should the holy breaths of Thy loving-kindness and the breeze of Thy bountiful favor cease, for less than the twinkling of an eye, to breathe over all created things, the entire creation would perish, and all that are in heaven and on earth would be reduced to utter nothingness. Magnified, therefore, be the marvelous evidences of Thy transcendent power! Magnified be the potency of Thine exalted might! Magnified be the majesty of Thine all-encompassing greatness, and the energizing influence of Thy will! Such is Thy greatness that wert Thou to concentrate the eyes of all men in the eye of one of Thy servants, and to compress all their hearts within his heart, and wert Thou to enable him to behold within himself all the things Thou hast created through Thy power and fashioned through Thy might, and were he to ponder, throughout eternity, over the realms of Thy creation and the range of Thy handiwork, he would unfailingly discover that there is no created thing but is overshadowed by Thine all-conquering power, and is vitalized through Thine all-embracing sovereignty.
Bahá’u’lláh, "Prayers and Meditations", 58.4
The part in bold is what I have added to this selection, that is not in the Divine Art of Living. This is part of my favorite prayer in Prayers and Meditations. There is no better way to get spiritually high than saying a prayer like this, praising God like this. The whole prayer I think was too long to be in regular prayer book.
Blessed is the spot, and the house, and the place, and the city, and the heart, and the mountain, and the refuge, and the cave, and the valley, and the land, and the sea, and the island, and the meadow where mention of God hath been made, and His praise glorified. —Bahá’u’lláh
Bahá’u’lláh, the Báb, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, "Bahá’í Prayers"
This seems to say that our surroundings are “spiritualized” by our prayers. When I went on pilgrimage, the sites there seemed to exude a spirit to me sometimes because of the spiritual potency of the People that were there.