Dear Baha'i friends,
The following is an excerpt from a letter written recently in response to questions from an individual believer. As it is of general interest we are sending it to you so that you may share it with the friends within your jurisdiction in whatever manner you judge wise and necessary.
Just as there are laws governing our physical lives,
requiring that we must supply our bodies with certain foods, maintain them
within a certain range of temperatures, and so forth, if we wish to avoid
physical disabilities, so also there are laws governing our spiritual lives.
These laws are revealed to mankind in each age by the Manifestation of God, and
obedience to them is of vital importance if each human being, and mankind in
general, is to develop properly and harmoniously. Moreover, these various
aspects are interdependent. If an individual violates the spiritual laws for
his own development he will cause injury not only to himself but to the society
in which he lives. Similarly, the condition of society has a direct effect on
the individuals who must live within it.
As you point out, it is particularly difficult to follow the laws of Baha'u'llah in present-day society whose accepted practice is so at variance with the standards of the Faith. However, there are certain laws that are so fundamental to the healthy functioning of human society that they must be upheld whatever the circumstances. Realizing the degree of human frailty, Baha'u'llah has provided that other laws are to be applied only gradually, but these too, once they are applied, must be followed, or else society will not be reformed but will sink into an ever worsening condition. It is the challenging task of the Baha'is to obey the law of God in their own lives, and gradually to win the rest of mankind to its acceptance.
In considering the effect of obedience to the laws on individual lives, one must remember that the purpose of this life is to prepare the soul for the next. Here one must learn to control and direct one's animal impulses, not to be a slave to them. Life in this world is a succession of tests and achievements, of falling short and of making new spiritual advances. Sometimes the course may seem very hard, but one can witness, again and again, that the soul who steadfastly obeys the law of Baha'u'llah, however hard it may seem, grows spiritually, while the one who compromises with the law for the sake of his own apparent happiness is seen to have been following a chimera: he does not attain the happiness he sought, he retards his spiritual advance and often brings new problems upon himself.
