15  From Maturity to Devotion

15.1 The First Responsibility

In the prior chapter we established some basic rights all people have from conception until maturity. In this chapter, we will begin a series of chapters of life once maturity is reached and the devotional identity expected of a Person of Baha. This devotional identity will guide and inform all rights and responsibilities for the remainder of Part 3.

Before explaining what maturity is, I want to introduce what I believe is the first responsibility we have at maturity. Baha’u’llah says “no one should object to those who rule over the people.”1 Instead of objecting to rule, we should leave leaders to what they have, such as their power, and focus our attention on the hearts of people. This is also a right. Every person has the right to peacefully be led. They also have the right and responsibility to guide hearts, through their conduct and speech. Every responsibility a person has from maturity must be exercised in a way which does not overstep the bounds of law, no matter where you live. To change or influence law and leadership, the changing of hearts is the core of the devotional identity.

Maturity will be a good way to help understand how to frame this concept.

15.2 What is Maturity?

The Kitab-i-Aqdas mentions maturity twice. The first is when prayer and fasting become obligatory2 and when to receive inheritance.3 On the latter right, Baha’u’llah conditions trusteeship if the descendant is weak instead of being mature. What might weakness be related to?

Weakness is usually associated with physical strength, but strength is not a sole determination of maturity. I believe weakness in this case is associated with two major characteristics. The first would be a person who lacks firmness in character, or maybe someone who is still understanding who they are as a person. The second characteristic would be the inability to function normally or fully. This might be a level of codependency, whether it be financial or emotional, which does not exist when someone is mature.

To support these ideas, we can look further in Baha’u’llah’s revelation. In the Lawh-i-Rais (A Tablet to a Chief), Baha’u’llah closes with an instruction for Ali Pasha. He says “Ask God to help you reach maturity so that you become aware of the beauty and ugliness of deeds and actions.” To reach maturity, one must understand the consequences of their actions.

Finally, the Kitab-i-Aqdas also conditions marriage upon the consent of both potential spouses. This would be the final qualification for the determination of maturity, the ability to consent.

15.4 The Devotional Identity of a Mature Adult

Maturity marks the official beginning of the devotional identity of an adult, if they choose to do so. Baha’u’llah says in tablet BH00528:

When man attaineth the age of maturity, he must investigate and, putting his trust in God and sanctified from love and hate, reflect upon that whereunto the people adhere. He must hear with his own ears and see with his own eyes, for if he looketh through the eyes of another, he will be deprived of beholding the effulgent rays of the Sun of Divine Knowledge. Various parties exist in the world, and each hath regarded itself as being in the right, as He, exalted be He, hath said: “Each party rejoiceth in what it possesseth.”

He goes on to say the “understanding of every soul must…. behold itself independent.”5 This establishes the next set of rights and responsibilities of every person after they reach maturity. We have the right to independently seek truth and the responsibility to be independent as we seek truth. To be a Person of Baha means to actively believe in and see the truth of Baha’u’llah, not to do so blindly. If there is a criticism or argument against Baha’u’llah or the People of Baha, do not turn your back on it. Investigate. Always be diligent in understanding each side of an argument or perspective, much like a judge allowing both a prosecutor and defender in cross examining evidence while presenting their cases. We have the responsibility to do the spiritual work ourselves, not to defer it upon others.

15.5 Right to Belief

Every mature person has a right to believe as they wish, even if Baha’u’llah says this comes with consequences. You may not believe in anything in Part 1 of this book, or maybe have partial belief. You might even believe in Baha’u’llah but are part of an organization which claims infallibility. This is your right. Baha’u’llah says it is the responsibility of every mature adult to reflect on what people adhere, see with your own eyes, and react from there. His hope is to be one with the People of Baha, but this hope comes without coercion.

A person of Baha has the right and responsibility to every spiritual practice described in Part 2, and the right and responsibility to develop their own Unity Constellation of virtues. Those who are not a person of Baha has the right to practice any or all of these practices and develop any or all of those virtues according to their belief. None should ever be deprived, no matter who they are.

15.6 Spiritual Accountability

There are various guidelines in the Kitab-i-Aqdas which focus on aspects of spiritual accountability. I will provide a list of these without added explanation.

  1. A responsibility not to destroy what God has built.6 A right to what God has built and created.

  2. A responsibility not to oppose or object to Baha’u’llah.7 A right to support Baha’u’llah and His Cause.

  3. A responsibility not to hesitate in following Baha’u’llah’s command.8 A right to trust in and act sincerely in implementing the Kitab-i-Aqdas and related commands.

  4. A responsibility not to question Baha’u’llah’s actions.9 A right to believe Baha’u’llah’s actions reflect the Will of God, who represents all names to include Most Subtle.

  5. A responsibility not to corrupt the Cause of God.10 A right to allow the Cause of God to reform the Earth.

  6. A responsibility not to measure the Book of God by your own desires.11 A right to measure your desires according to the Book of God.

  7. A responsibility not to object to the fragrance of God, which is His love.12 A right to receive God’s love.

  8. A responsibility not to withhold yourself from the bounties and grace of God.13 A right receiving the bounties and grace of God.

  9. A responsibility not to deny what God has permitted.14 A right to be free from the tyranny of those who deny what God has permitted or allow which God has forbade.

  10. A responsibility to raise up the Sacred Houses and the places whereupon the Throne of the Lord (whereever the Bab and Baha’u’llah had lived and possibly imprisoned).15 A right to raise up and access the Sacred Houses and Thrones of the Lord.

  11. A responsibility to ask about the Cause of God and what your souls need.16 A right to be able to ask about the Cause of God and what your souls need.

  12. A responsibility to never deviate from a verses outward meaning.17 A right to interpret the outward meaning according to its explicit intent. A right to interpret inward meanings without restriction. There is also a responsibility to interpret both the inward and outward meanings.18 This is a right of every mature person.

15.7 The Right to Spiritual Maturity

The writings of Baha’u’llah often refer to another kind of maturity, spiritual maturity. Even if you have reached maturity in the traditional sense, it does not mean you have reached spiritual maturity. To help describe what spiritual maturity is, Baha’u’llah does use the traditional descriptions of maturity as symbols for the spiritual side.

The Kitab-i-Badi is the largest single book by Baha’u’llah, written in response to questions from a man who followed Mirza Yahya, denying belief in Baha’u’llah as a Manifestation of God. This section will not go into a discussion of Mirza Yahya (see Chapter [unspecified yet]. A significant portion of this book discusses the conditions and reasons for lack of belief in individuals, especially those who are led by those who claim belief in God yet are spiritually corrupt.

The first right of spiritual maturity is for a spiritual infant to be from receiving the knowledge of spiritual maturity. There is a corresponding responsibility for a teacher or other person to only give the knowledge of spiritual maturity to those who are capable and ready. This requires a high level for discernment. The Kitab-i-Badi says “most today are considered infants before God.” Part of this lack of maturity is due to their constellation of virtues are not valued, such as the virtue of heedfulness. A sign of maturation is belief in the Manifestation of God.

The Kitab-i-Iqan discusses extensively why people lack this development. Baha’u’llah places considerable blame on religious leaders and institutions who inhibit spiritual maturity. They do this by distorting the Words of God by changing meanings, saying God said things God did not, or by interpreting verses against their explicit intent. These distortions introduce new doctrines, traditions, superstitions, and laws which God had not intended. A spiritually immature person struggles to understand what God actually wants in their life, such as these rights and responsibilities being discussed. The weak and immature are easily led astray by others who fabricate such distortions.19

The rights and responsibilities of spiritual accountability from the Kitab-i-Aqdas is the foundation to spiritual maturity. Even if you do not believe in Baha’u’llah, these principles are incredibly vital to your spiritual health. I personally believe if any person who is part of any religion is able to see what is from God (the source), they have a great chance to reach spiritual maturity. What I mean is if a Christian were to focus on the actual teachings and example of Jesus Christ as the primary source of their religious practice and understanding, while choosing to use all other sources such as the teachings of Saint Paul or their local pastor as secondary, they may have a great opportunity to mature in their God consciousness. “Today, knowledge and ignorance, high and low, nearness and distance, truth and falsehood, life and death, maturity and infancy, wisdom and heedlessness, are all distinguished by the confirmation of the manifestation.”20 With this said, I do believe in what the Kitab-i-Aqdas says in its opening in believing in the Manifestation of God in this age. God says this is the source of all spiritual maturity.

The next right is to be allowed to attain the station of spiritual maturity. Each person has a responsibility to attain spiritual maturity and each person has a responsibility to allow others the ability to reach spiritual maturity, according to their capacities. Baha’u’llah says the children of the age must be nurtured with milk that is delicate and subtle until they attain maturity.21 An associated responsibility is for a person to no longer be moved by desires and illusions.22

15.8 Responsibilities of Spiritual Maturity

There are two important responsibilities for a person who has attained spiritual maturity. These responsibilities do not come with associated rights. The first responsibility of spiritual maturity is to never exceed your station.23 Baha’u’llah says a person can do this by purifying your soul from the world, not speaking of what you do not know, and refraining from mentioning what you do not understand. It is acceptable not to know everything. It is also acceptable to stay away from being placed on a pedestal. It would be worst if you placed yourself, or allowed others to place you in a position which replaces the Manifestation of God.

The next responsibility for a spiritually mature person is to convey God’s Cause.24 This responsibility is reserved only for the spiritually mature. A person who does not place the Manifestation of God as the primary source of God’s Will is unable to convey God’s Cause. They will distort God’s Cause. The purpose of conveying God’s Cause is for others to reach spiritual maturity. Spiritual maturity is the station where the soul has reached liberation. The liberation of the soul is a right afforded to all people.

This is the day that the Most Great Spirit foretold and proclaimed in the wilderness of yearning by His name. Those who drink of the wine must act with wisdom, engage in the proclamation of the Cause, and, in all matters, cling to the cord of consultation and hold fast to the hem of compassion, so that the children of the age may attain maturity through the kindness and mercy of the divine sages and be nourished in complete health.25

15.9 The Bayanic Calendar’s Rhythm of Maturity

The numbers 11, 15, and 19 are not arbitrary. They correspond to the months Masá’il (Questions), Sultán (Sovereignty), and ’Alá (Loftiness) in the Bayánic calendar. This is the divine rhythm by which the world itself matures. Thus, even time testifies that the awakening of awareness, the assumption of will, and the perfection of trust are one continuous act of God’s creation. By the time a person turns 19, they would have completed 19 cycles of 19 months, a complete Vahid of life. This is the essence of unity.

  1. Kitab-i-Aqdas #95↩︎

  2. Kitab-i-Aqdas 10↩︎

  3. Kitab-i-Aqdas 27↩︎

  4. Arabic Bayan Vahid 10, Gate 14↩︎

  5. BH00601↩︎

  6. Kitab-i-Aqdas 73↩︎

  7. Kitab-i-Aqdas 141 & 162↩︎

  8. Kitab-i-Aqdas 132, 162, & 182↩︎

  9. Kitab-i-Aqdas 7, 49, & 126↩︎

  10. Kitab-i-Aqdas 64 & 165↩︎

  11. Kitab-i-Aqdas 165↩︎

  12. Kitab-i-Aqdas 179↩︎

  13. Kitab-i-Aqdas 179↩︎

  14. Kitab-i-Aqdas 36↩︎

  15. Kitab-i-Aqdas 133↩︎

  16. Kitab-i-Aqdas 126↩︎

  17. Kitab-i-Aqdas 105↩︎

  18. The Tafsir of the Surah of the Sun↩︎

  19. Lawh-i-Sirraj↩︎

  20. Kitab-i-Badi↩︎

  21. BH00302↩︎

  22. Words of Paradise↩︎

  23. Kitab-i-Badi↩︎

  24. BH00035↩︎

  25. BH00123↩︎