 The body of God, major themes in the surah of the temple. The body of God may sound like a pretentious title, and perhaps it is, but by the end of the presentation, I hope you get the sense of what I mean by this symbolic statement. Obviously, one of them is the idea of the temple itself, which as Bahá'u'lláh explains in this work relates to his personification of the attributes and powers of God. We begin with as really every discussion of Bahá'í theology and ontology does with the hadith of the hidden treasure. The entirety of creation and all relationships among every created thing derived from the single but encompassing desire of the Creator to be known and loved, not for his own ratification, but to share his bounties with a being capable of freely choosing to participate in that endlessly joyful and beneficent and beneficial relationship. Until one understands disparity that constitutes the rationale underlying creation and progressive revelation and then all other knowledge and understanding is of minimal value. I'm not going to get into that a lot in this presentation, but it's a very important thing to understand. Until you understand the rationale for creation, God's rationale for creating, you can't really appreciate how everything else works to contribute to that enterprise. So we have first to begin with this very important statement, not from the Suri Haqqal, but from a letter the Guardian wrote in 1947. But it's very profound bearing on what we're about to discuss. We will have experience of God's spirit through his prophets in the next world, but God is too great for us to know without this intermediary. The prophets know God, but how is more than our human minds congrats. We believe we may attain in the next world to seeing the prophets. There is certainly a future life, heaven and hell are conditions within our own beings. So the importance of this is that the prophets are not only the most perfect representation of God and godliness in this life, but even in the next life. So that's very important for us to then understand and appreciate exactly who and what they are. So the Suri Haqqal is an allegory. And that is, it's the rest of what took place in the conversation between the made of heaven that appears as an apparition before Bahá'u'lláh in this dream vision he has in the Si'a Chang. So she doesn't literally exist. And as to here's a they says in his discussion of this work, it's interesting that really what you have in this work is a conversation between Bahá'u'lláh and himself in one sense. In another sense, it's similar to the idea of what we go through when we reflect on something or meditate on something. As Abba Bahá'u'lláh says it's a conversation between our self, our rational self and our spirit. The main narrative of the made of heaven is the Holy Spirit operating through the personage of the persona, if you want to use a literary term, of Bahá'u'lláh. The voice of Bahá'u'lláh, which is distinguished in the work, whose speaking and so on. And the whole discourse is dominated by the made of heaven speaking to Bahá'u'lláh. The voice of Bahá'u'lláh is the persona or character of the manifestation seeking assistance and guidance. The five world leaders that are included in the final version of the Surah Haqqal, and this is the version that was finished by Bahá'u'lláh in Akko where he had it put into the form of a Haqqal or a five pointed star that represents the human body for symbolic reasons we'll get to in a second. So he includes within that work five world leaders, the letters he had written to five world leaders, and it's not tacked on, it's right in the central part of the work. The peoples of the world are ultimately the recipients of both the guidance, the mandate, and the access to God. So in one sense, this is a description of how power and guidance is generated by God through the manifestations. First to those who are in charge of guiding humankind at the secular level by the manifestations and finally to the populace as a whole, since as Bahá'u'lláh as we believe we all are on the same journey to attain the presence of God through the manifestations but also because ultimately in the Baha'i concept of universal suffrage, we all are participants in constructing the edifice of secular governance. So who are the five representative recipients that Bahá'u'lláh chose to include? Well, the Pope, the head of Christendom, Napoleon III, who at the time of this writing, this was a second letter that Bahá'u'lláh sent to him, was one of the most noteworthy powers in Europe, though only a few years after this letter was composed. He was defeated at Sudan and he escaped to England and deceased there, so he lost his power, as predicted by Bahá'u'lláh. Zahra Alexander II of Russia, Queen Victoria and Nasir Dinshah, the monarch of Shia Islam, or the monarch really of Persia, but of course sort of a titular head of Shia Islam as well. So there is this dramatic narrative taking place in the Shia Chal, and Bahá'u'lláh describes this in the Suri Heiko. He says, pointing with her finger into my head, she addressed all who are in heaven and all who are on earth, saying, by God, this is the best beloved of the worlds, and yet you comprehend it not. This is the beauty of God amongst you and the power of his sovereignty within you, could ye but understand. This is the mystery of God and his treasure, the cause of God and glory is glory unto all who are in the kingdoms of revelation and of creation, if you be of them that perceive. This is he whose presence is the ardent desire of the denizens of the realm of eternity, and of them that dwell within the tabernacle of joke glory, and yet from his beauty ye death turn aside. So you have again this allegorical presentation of the Holy Spirit. And of course these are the words of Bahá'u'lláh he has created them, but he has decided to devise this allegory, so you can get the sense of how the Holy Spirit, even though working through him, and the best access we have to it is not dependent on him. In other words, you have all of the other manifestations. It is an emanation from God. And so the Hegel represents the pentacle, the five-pointed star, which itself of course throughout history of literature and religion has many symbolic meanings, but it is explicitly in the context of this work representing the human body, as I've taken this particular work from history from 1533 to demonstrate that. Here is another demonstration of what the Suri Hegel might have looked like. We do not have the original, unfortunately, but the Bahá'u'lláh used the same device, this artistic representation of how he is addressing humankind by this calligraphic beautiful calligraphy in the form of a pentacle. And the same way we can imagine that the Suri Hegel was. So, in my own discussion of the Suri Hegel, I discuss at least six levels of symbolic meaning of what the Hegel itself means. The first is, as we just saw, the human body, the means by which our soul associates with physical reality, and learns about and prepares us for the birth, our birth into the divine realm, therefore a means by which we first gain access to God. The reason our bodies after death are, according to Bahá'u'lláh, treated with respect. The body though now dust was once exalted by the immortal soul of man. So that's the first level of meaning, the very obvious, sort of the lowest level that represents the human body. And that is a place of worship. Of course, this is the very literal use of the word temple, such as the Bahá'í houses of worship, of worship, where we enter to attain the presence of God in a sacred place and of course the Bahá'í, the design for the temples have in common the nine equal entrances, all culminating in a central dome, meaning that regardless of through what path or religion you enter the presence of God, all of our prayers and all of our desire to attain spirituality are through connection with the same being, the same God. The temple as alluding to the third rebuilding of the temple of Solomon as foretold in Shoghi Effendi, as foretold in the scripture, and Shoghi Effendi alludes to this regarding the rebuilding of the temple, ostensibly alluding to the third temple, as actually a reference to the advent of Bahá'u'lláh, as opposed to an allusion to an actual third building, temple building to be constructed after the second temple was destroyed in 70 AD or the common era by the Roman siege of Jerusalem. Then a fourth level of interpretation, the temple as the physical appearance of the manifestation, which is our means of gaining proximity to God. And here's a quote, probably the most famous quote from the Suri Haqqal and it sort of sums up in one sense, the whole idea of the station of the manifestation as our access to God both in this realm and the realm to come as we just read. Not as seen in my temple, but the temple of God, and in my beauty, but his beauty, and in my being, but his being, and in myself, but his self, and in my movement, but his movement, and in my acquiescence, but his acquiescence, and in my pen, but his pen, the mighty, the all praise, there, there has not been in my soul, but the truth, and in myself not can be seen but God, very powerful statement, and it relates very importantly to another passage that I'm not going to read right now but where the where Bahá'u'lláh says that the divine unity is attaining the state of divine unity is achieved when we accept everything the prophet does and says as equivalent to being the word of God and the guidance of God. Then the fifth level of symbology, the word Haqqal or temple is composed in Arabic of four letters now this is right from the work itself. These symbols are explained in the work of Haqqal, Yaqaf, and Lam. The first letter is taken to symbolize the word Juvia, the essence of divinity, the second word Karir or Almighty, of which Yaq is the third letter. Its third letter, the word Karin, are all bountiful, and its fourth letter, the word Fazal, are Grace, of which Lam is the third letter. And this is from note 3 to 37 of summons of the Lord of Hosts, in particular the word the Suri Haqqal. Finally the sixth level of symbolism, the universe as and this is my own idea and this this is sort of getting at why I chose to title the work the body of God. The universe as the totality of physical reality is on a symbolic level, the most expansive expression of the body of God. The physical reality created according to the Hadith of the Hidden Treasure, as a means by which the Creator could make himself known. And so in other words, if you think about it, it's not just one planet would suffice to bring about the fruition of the wish of God, but rather the entire entirety of creation that's become sort of the physical aspect of the divine creation of God, and the spiritual aspect of course is a counterpart of that so together they form the sort of body of God, not literally. God is autonomous self sufficient and independent of his creation. Now the main themes of the work. Well of course this the symbols are one, but the Prophet represents then the incarnation perfect incarnation of all the attributes of God, through his utterances through his actions, and then the delegation of authority is a second theme that I think is extremely important. And that I've already mentioned first God delegates authority to the level of command of the Prophet as the intermediary between God and creation, and then from the Prophet to human governance as is represented in this work by the letters of Bahá'u'lláh to the five rulers, to the peoples of the world ultimately because not only in these letters does he address and allude to the peoples of the world who are also obliged to follow his guidance. But as I said, because the governance designed by Bahá'u'lláh includes universal suffrage so that the peoples of the world are responsible for being the pillars upholding this whole process. Another theme is justice manifest at every level of society, this is a repeated theme in every letter to all five rulers, and in the work itself, justice, justice, and of course, in particular he's concerned with justice of the rulers to those who are under their charge and seek from them, but justice, sufficiency, and so on. This was much discussed at that time because you have the decline and ultimate eradication of all of these empires represented by these five secular and religious rulers. So what does justice means? It means a global polity and collective security, and this of course are the ingredients for the most great peace and the lesser peace as well. So he charges then every letter, charges each of them to come together and create this pact, this global security. Universal suffrage, he praises particularly Queen Victoria because she relies on the elected parliament to advise her. The inalienable rights of humankind and while he doesn't go into all of them, they are implicit in these letters that people have a right to freedom and to the necessities of life. Then another theme is the rejection of the most great piece something he says explicitly in the letter to Queen Victoria. He says now that you've rejected the most great piece at least try to seize the lesser piece as best you can. And what is clear as he speaks is they have rejected it by rejecting him that even if they at this point come together to form this pact and construct a collective security. They have still to recognize Bahá'u'lláh as the manifestation for this age to heed his advice and thereby accept the lesser piece. They have already foregone the most great piece in their responses to Bahá'u'lláh in which they, the most benign of which of course is Queen Victoria statement where she says that if it be of God it will endure. And of course it did endure, but she didn't accept Bahá'u'lláh even though of course Queen Marie of Romania did. So except of the lesser piece by gathering to consult constructing the pact and disarm to the extent possible and of course this is made more clear in the, or clear in the Katari Agdas. And it's also in these letters that they should retain only those armaments necessary to maintain civil peace. So here are the individuals in picture, the Pope Pius, notice the death dates on all of them are about the same, the end of the 1870s except for Queen Victoria. Also you've got Pope Pius. The Pope, in the letter the Pope he emphasizes that this is the second coming, that the Pontiff himself should get rid of his pomp and circumstance and ceremony, and all his riches give them to the poor, follow the example of Christ. He says, don't repeat what the Pharisees did to Christ by rejecting him and by proceeding to retain their own beliefs to Christians and the people of other religions. So in each of the letters, he talks not only to the individual recipient, but to the people over whom they hold sway. The effect of the Pope's rejection of the whole law. That's very powerful needless to say, and again this is in line with the same thing of the Pharisees rejecting Christ and so that parallel should have had some weight with the Pope but of course it did not in fact shortly after receiving that letter. He instituted the infallibility of the papacy. The Napoleon III, again death date 73, shortly after he received this letter which would have been in about 69 or 70, when the Surrey Haco was completed to the Pope. He has to the Pope and to Alexander both. He's very explicit proofs of who he is that should really have awakened them. And I'm sure in the afterlife that made them have many regrets. And he says we heard what you said about the voices you heard of the people dying in the sea of the black sea. The reason why you waged war in the Crimean war is is that's that's not what the reason you had it all it was for your own prestige and gain. But the fact that he repeats to him words that he said in private would certainly cause anyone of normal sensibilities to take heed. King we heard the words that it's utter an answer to the czar of Russia concerning the decision made regarding the war by Lord barely know with him is informed of all. Again, he emphasizes as he does with all of these, the Christian He's writing that he is the return of Christ, and then he urges Napoleon to heed the obligations he has as a ruler, namely of being just to his subjects and the guidance for this day to the peoples of the world of France and the world as a whole. And then final advice to the emperor, which is a personal thing and that is sort of similar to what he says to mercy Yahya and the August, there's still hope for you individually, all you have to do is turn to God, plead for his forgiveness and exceed to my guidance. Perhaps he did who knows, if not maybe he has by by this point, and his progress in the afterlife. Alexander, the second. Again, death that 1881. The themes in his letter the propitious position of the czar and what he has to do and so far as getting rid of what was essentially the maintaining of a feudal society. And of course, that's what brought about ultimately the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917 appeals to him as a Christian ruler again the return of Christ, and then the inescapable proof we heard what you prayed for and here is the prayer. We heard we barely have heard the thing for which I did supplicate my Lord, while secretly communing with him, where for the breeze of my loving kindness wafted forth in the sea of my mercy surge, and we answered the truth. The Lord verily is the all knowing. So again, this should have just shocked the bizarre to know in that here is a strange prisoner writing to him from a foreign land saying, I know what you prayed about and we answered the prayer. The great peace again, he exhorts him to achieve that. And, of course, by the time you received this it was a fail complete the most great piece had been rejected. This is a station of the monarch who recognizes how this is something very powerful and he says this in other places as well and that is, you think you have power now. If you accept me this revelation, your renown will be unparalleled in the ideals of human history on planet Earth. And of course that's true. And of course, Queen Marie of Romania will outshine in retrospect of history, all of these rulers together. Queen Victoria of course was the most benign responder, and she had a government which was as well points out in his letter. In fact that he applause her use of the parliament, applause her abolition of slavery. But then, after a few kind words he suddenly shifts the tone of the letter and starts talking about governance in general, Bahá'u'lláh specific ammunition to the rulers as a whole. And then finally talks about now that you and again talking to the rulers as a whole not the Queen Victoria herself. And that's what I'm saying the only the first part is to her, and then he sort of shifts and uses it as a vehicle to talk to everyone. So he says that now that this is where he explicitly states, now you have rejected the most great piece, at least do what you can to accept the lesser things. And certainly the most lengthy letter in fact it's longer than all the other letters put together is the letter to Nasser and Shaw. Again, death day 96 or he outlives some of them, but dies on his, the occasion your celebration of his most lengthy of his victims, only to be assassinated before that could occur. So to the show. And of course you're probably familiar with this letter. And so far as this is where he talks about rehearses, hope what happened in the sea a charm. This is where he says, I was like a man like others asleep upon my couch. We're going to look at that in a second. The letter or the delegation of authority, the attendant theme of justice, judge us fairly he talks a great deal about of course the fact that the Shaw was the main instigator of the victims if you will, the killing of the Babis and later of the Baha'is. And yet, strangely, the tone of this letter is kinder and more gentle than the letters to the other rulers. There's nothing to think about. And that is, he is not belligerent. He is not seeking vengeance. He does not in effect throw in his face, the of the Shaw, all of the evil he has done, even though he says you know, you rule over people of all religions. He doesn't have justice and the ability to worship. And yet, look how you treat us. So he does bring it up. But, but not in the way you might think you would. And again brings up this is a new revelation from God and this is where he brings up the, the fight that how he, the first intimations of his revelation and the see a child, of course, the show if you remember putting there at the insistence of mother Shaw's mother was a big prime mover behind the Shaw's attitude towards the by. And of course, you remember the story that the Shaw could hear the voices of the prayers of the Babis singing, singing or chanting their prayers together in the see a child. So he parallels the treatment of himself Bahá'u'lláh's treatment to that of the fourth among the. To Hussein, whose head was severed and so forth and very dramatic and very important figure in Shia Islam in the history and of course, the reason for Bahá'u'lláh's name being Hussein Ali, the urgency of the moment, the fact that now is the time to act which are going to act. And it's going to go by very quickly. So one of the words that here's a window opportunity that you have that will never occur again. And here's a passage from that letter, most famous, probably among all of the passages and so far as the intimations of his revelation in the see a child King I was but a man like others to sleep upon my couch. When low the breezes of the all glorious were wafted over me and taught me the knowledge of all that has been. This thing is not for me, but for one who is almighty and all knowing. And he bad me lift up my voice between earth and heaven. For this there befell me what have caused the tears of every man of understanding to flow. And so was he a man like others asleep upon his couch and this is something that's been sort of a hobby horse of mine and so far as something I like to point out wherever possible because it's so widely misunderstood. It doesn't become a manifestation, none of them do they pre exist in the world of the spirit unlike us. And the point of epiphany, our first intimations are just that as show me if any points out. I'm going to read to you. And this is again the same the same passage I was a man like others asleep upon my couch. But of course there were no couches so he's not talking literally. He is talking about a dream vision. I was like a man asleep upon a couch. I explained this authoritatively in the following way so listen carefully because it's a very important axiom about the ontology of the manifestations. I'll do a lot of them explains the metaphorical meaning of the state of being asleep in this passage in three different ways. For example, sleeping is the state of repose and wakefulness is the state of motion. Sleeping is the state of silence and wakefulness is the state of utterance sleeping is the state of concealment and wakefulness is the state of manifestation. This is the continuation of the same passage. The manifestations of God have ever been and will ever be luminous realities, and no change or alteration takes place in their essence at most before the revelation they are still and silent, like one who is asleep. And after their revelation they are eloquent and effulgent like one who is awake. Once and for all then the very themes and cautions so eloquently and powerfully set forth in the surahicul have now become fully apparent that the body of mankind on planet Earth must like the temple of the manifestation himself be constructed from the ground up. This is my own statement of the conclusion of the whole thing and that is within the work, the voice of the maiden constructs the temple that by that feet, eyes, ears, tongues, breath, and the inmost heart. And so what I'm saying here in the conclusion, both here and in my own book is that we too are exhorted in this work. In this same capacity with feet of iron to stand firm and demonstrate such constancy as to cause the feet of every severed soul to be strengthened in the path of God. And you see the paragraph numbers if you want to turn to these quotes, eyes that will contemplate the manifold signs of their creator ears that will harken to the melodies of your Lord tongues that will praise and extol me amongst the concourse of eternity. Breast cleanse so that the light of my beauty may appear there and in most hearts which become the dawning place of our knowledge and the dayspring of our wisdom unto all who own heaven and earth.