At Peace, Apace With the Universe

`Abdu'l-Bahá is our primary mentor as we live our daily lives in this existence. All the guidance that He left us in His writings should be considered a template in how best to live our lives, not only in service to the Faith, but logically in our attempts to be viable citizens of the earth. A general theme of His is to be radiant and happy in all that we do, even in times of adversity.

It is so easy for us to rationalize our own personal situation, particularly amidst all the chaos and horrors of today’s life. But think about it; how much chaos did `Abdu'l-Bahá have to deal with in His daily life? I daresay that the traumas of our lives are a walk in the park when compared with His. We may remind ourselves that He led His life surrounded by a peaceful radiance, in spite of imprisonment and constant harassment from authorities.

I have often pondered how He managed to exude a happy radiance under those circumstances, and thought that His Station provided Him the extraordinary vigor and capacity to do that. Notwithstanding that, further contemplation leads one to conclude that he expected each of us to follow His example and to strive to attain a similar radiance in our composure.

He showed us the way; it is up to us to attempt to attain His example. He challenged each of us with the following simple prayer: “O God! Refresh and gladden my spirit. Purify my heart. Illumine my powers. I lay all my affairs in Thy hand. Thou art my Guide and my Refuge. I will no longer be sorrowful and grieved; I will be a happy and joyful being. O God! I will no longer be full of anxiety, nor will I let trouble harass me. I will not dwell on the unpleasant things of life. O God! Thou art more friend to me than I am to myself. I dedicate myself to Thee, O Lord.”

`Abdu'l-Bahá summarized His expectations for us with His “…if you are not happy in this Day, when will you be happy…” I believe that we can approach `Abdu'l-Bahá’s expectations through contemplating the rhythm of the Universe; by being at peace, apace with the natural cadence of nature. Logic should tell us that there is a natural rhythm in nature, and that it is a part of the rhythm of the Universe. A natural rhythm has to exist in all things in order for there to be order in all things. The Universe and our
Planet always conform to certain reliable cycles that we are accustomed to. The Planets all exist within their assigned orbits. Should only one small part of the Universe depart from that conformity, its fiery destruction follows. There are countless additional examples of a conforming rhythm that has to be in effect for the universe to continue at all.

I daresay that there is a regulated pace, or rhythm, that is in existence for each and every organism in God’s existence. Now, if one concludes that, he should also contemplate that there must be an optimal cadence that humans were designed to follow in order to function optimally. What might that be? Meditation At Peace, Apace With the Universe comes to mind as a viable doorway to a peaceful and rhythmic cadence with the
Universe. Meditation has been with humans for countless centuries but has the stigma among the West of being an “Eastern” philosophy, and thus not really applicable to us in this day. Not so, I would say. However, it does have requirements that most would rather not bother with in the frantic pace of today’s world.

Assuming that there most likely is an optimal pace for humans in order to conform to the pace of the Universe, how shall we reach that? `Abdu'l-Bahá, in His Wisdom, most assuredly understood that, otherwise how else could He have bridged the chasm between this life and the spiritual world so effectively? Why would He have asked us to be happy regardless of when we lived, nor what the circumstances were in the age in which we lived? How many countless souls have lived, and will live before the Peace of the Kingdom will manifest completely on earth? Yet, He determined that each human had the potential to be happy, even during the chaos required to achieve that eventual Peace.

Let us then assume that there is a cadence, a rhythm available to the human condition that may optimally connect with the natural rhythm of the Universe to the best degree possible. A degree that humans may achieve the utmost in spiritual power leading to spiritual accomplishment for themselves and for other humans as well. Could it be that by living in the moment, really living in the moment, as they say, pushes all the destructive thoughts of lament and sadness of what happened in the past, and all the unrealistic thoughts we employ as we imagine a pie-in-the-sky future, out of our consciousness and allows the energy of the Universe to occupy the space that those two destructive patterns vacated through our conscious efforts? Could it be that by being in the moment we provide an avenue that welcomes the power of the Universe into our lives at a pace that is in a conformance with it?

We know that there must be a conduit for the Holy spirit to reach us, but that we must be receptive to that power in order to complete the connection. Could it be that the quality we call the power of the Universe is actually a highway that the power of the Holy Spirit uses to travel more easily to humans who pray for its guidance in their lives? It almost seems to be too simple for that to be the case; however, we do know that Bahá'u'lláh and `Abdu'l-Bahá provided all the essential tools that humans need for achieving the goals of the Bahá'í Faith during whatever era of its existence is occurring at any particular time.

Since the power of meditation is known to be an effective device for reaching spirituality, perhaps the quality of being in the present moment is merely a practical means of reaching the same result, by its inherent ability to push the twin negative thought patterns of the past and the future from our working minds as we go about our daily activities. When that happens, then the Holy Spirit gains a more natural access to our being.

At Peace, Apace With the Universe
Should that be the case, then perhaps we have found a means to be at any given moment, “At Peace, Apace with the Universe.”

By Hand of the Cause David Maxwell