Deepening:

A Plan for a Deepening on the Four Valleys

by Ruth Ahearn

Revelations 1, March, 1999

A Plan for a Deepening on the Four Valleys

The structure of the deepening is designed to promote discussion and thoughtfulness, rather than for me to teach a significant body of knowledge. The group who will be involved in the deepening knows much more than I do about the Faith and Scripture, so would be able to contribute from a great depth of study and experience.

The "other relevant scriptures" I list below are suggestions for my own use if participants do not think of others. The reason I refer to other relevant Scriptures is simply to see how this Work reflects ideas of Baha’u’llah’s Teachings that permeate the body of His Writings. The points I list for discussion are those that seem to me to be key, but are not exclusionary, nor might they all be discussed, given time limitations and the flow of interest in the group.

My purpose is to focus on the particular teachings of the Four Valleys, so that we become better acquainted with a difficult treatise and increase our understanding of the teachings of Baha’u’llah at this historical point in His Ministry.

1. Introduction: Background information–Short presentation

1. Historical Context

1. In Baghdad, in late 1850’s, prior to Rizvan
2. Addressed to a Sufi in Kurdistan where B. had spent 2 years and come to know some Sufi divines; addressee is friendly to Baha’u’llah
3. Sufism background (Law, Essay)

1. Style of the treatise

1. In Persian
2. Persian epistolary style (Valleys 49, note 9)

1. Structure: prologue, four valleys, epilogue
2. Genre: mystical writings
3. Voice: Baha’u’llah writing in the Sufi/Persian epistolary style
4. Tone: authoritative, also loving to addressee

1. Prologue: Group discussion

1. Note epistolary style
2. Note use of poetic quotations and references to Quran
3. Note any important concepts or lessons relevant to our lives:

1. "Faithfulness is a duty on those who follow the mystic way" (48)
2. Others?

1. Are there other scriptures with ideas similar to those presented here?

Seek thou no shelter except in the Sheba of the well-beloved, and O immortal phoenix! dwell not save on the mount of faithfulness. (Persian Hidden Words 1)

1. First Valley: the self

1. Discuss:

1. "The Self of God standing within Him with laws." (50)
2. "This plane is the realm of conflict."
3. The four birds of prey.
4. "We will show them Our signs…in themselves, until it becomes manifest that this is the truth."(51)
5. "One must, then, read the book of his own self."
6. The parable of the grammarian.
7. "And be ye not like those who forget God, and whom He hath therefore caused to forget their own selves."

1. Are there other scriptures that remind us of these?

Purge your sight, that ye may perceive its glory with your own eyes, and depend not on the sight of any one except your self…( Gleanings 106-107)

The Purpose of the one true God, exalted be His glory, in revealing Himself unto men is to lay bare those gems that lie hidden within the mine of their true and inmost selves. (Gleanings 287)

O My servants! Could ye apprehend with what wonders of My munificence and bounty I have willed to entrust your souls, ye would, of a truth, rid yourselves of attachment to all created things, and would gain a true knowledge of your own selves - a knowledge which is the same as the comprehension of Mine own Being. (Gleanings 326-327)

Consider, moreover, how frequently doth man become forgetful of his own self, whilst God remaineth, through His all-encompassing knowledge, aware of His creature, and continueth to shed upon him the manifest radiance of His glory. (Gleanings 186)

Whoso ariseth among you to teach the Cause of his Lord, let him, before all else, teach his own self, that his speech may attract the hearts of them that hear him. (Gleanings 277)

Turn thy sight unto thyself, that thou mayest find Me standing within thee, mighty, powerful and self-subsisting. (Arabic Hidden Words 13)

1. The Second Valley: knowledge

1. Discuss:

1. "Reason signifieth the divine, universal mind, whose sovereignty enlighteneth all created things."(52)
2. "On this plane, the traveler meeteth with many a trial and reversal." (53)
3. "In this realm, to search after knowledge is irrelevant, for…’God will instruct thee.’"(53-4)

1. Other related scriptures:

Thou…shalt know of thine own knowledge and not through the knowledge of thy neighbor.

(Arabic Hidden Words, 2)

He, verily, hath willed for you that which is yet beyond your knowledge, but which shall be known to you when, after this fleeting life, your souls soar heavenwards and the trappings of your earthly joys are folded up. (Kitab-i-Aqdas, 55)

Whatever duty Thou hast prescribed unto Thy servants of extolling to the utmost Thy majesty and glory is but a token of Thy grace unto them, that they may be enabled to ascend unto the station conferred upon their own inmost being, the station of the knowledge of their own selves.

(Gleanings, 4-5)

Therefore, hath it been said: "Knowledge is a light which God casteth into the heart of whomsoever He willeth." (Kitab-i-Iqan 46)

But for the tribulations which are sustained in Thy path, how could Thy true lovers be recognized; and were it not for the trials which are borne for love of Thee, how could the station of such as yearn for Thee be revealed?" (Epistle to the Son of the Wolf 125)

1. The Third Valley: love

1. Discuss:

1. "No soul may dwell on this Kingly Throne save the beauty of love."(54)
2. "This plane requireth pure affection and the bright stream of fellowship."(55)
3. "‘Leave thyself behind and then approach Me.’"(55)
4. "They see but the inner reality of the Beloved." (55)
5. "In this realm, instruction is assuredly of no avail."(56)
6. The poems.

1. Other relevant scriptures?

Each and every thing, however small, would be to him a revelation, leading him to his Beloved, the Object of his quest. (Gleanings 268)

When the channel of the human soul is cleansed of all worldly and impeding attachments, it will unfailingly perceive the breath of the Beloved across immeasurable distances, and will, led by its perfume, attain and enter the City of Certitude. (Gleanings 268)

For whereas in days past every lover besought and searched after his Beloved, it is the Beloved Himself Who now is calling His lovers and is inviting them to attain His presence. (Gleanings 320)

Whoso followeth this counsel will break his chains asunder, will taste the abandonment of enraptured love, will attain unto his heart's desire, and will surrender his soul into the hands of his Beloved. Bursting through his cage, he will, even as the bird of the spirit, wing his flight to his holy and everlasting nest. (Gleanings 321)

Strip yourselves of every earthly affection, and hasten to embrace your Beloved. (Gleanings 322)

O SON OF JUSTICE! Whither can a lover go but to the land of his beloved? and what seeker findeth rest away from his heart's desire? To the true lover reunion is life, and separation is death. His breast is void of patience and his heart hath no peace. A myriad lives he would forsake to hasten to the abode of his beloved. (Persian Hidden Words 4)

Lift up the veil that obscureth your vision, and dispel the darkness with which it is enveloped, that ye may gaze on the naked beauty of the Beloved's face, may behold that which no eye hath beheld, and hear that which no ear hath heard. (Gleanings 320)

1. The Fourth Valley: the apex of consciousness

1. Discuss:

1. This may be a totally different plane of existence or awareness?
2. "This station is the apex of consciousness and the secret of divine guidance. This is the center of the mystery." (57)
3. "This is the station of God’s immutable decree, His foreordained mystery." (58)
4. "The wayfarer...will never reach unto his heavenly goal unless he abandoneth all that man possess." (58)
5. "I catch the fragrance of His garment blowing from the Egypt of Baha; verily He seemeth near at hand...""(59)–refers to Station of Baha’u’llah as Manifestation.
6. "This is the realm of full awareness, of utter self-effacement…For this is the realm of Absolute Command and is free of all the attributes of earth." (60)
7. "This is the land of mercy, not the realm of distinction." (61)
8. "Astonishment here is highly prized, and utter poverty essential." (62)

B. Similar Scriptures

At every moment he beholdeth a wondrous world, a new creation, and goeth from astonishment to astonishment, and is lost in awe at the works of the Lord of Oneness. (Seven Valleys 32)

The Mystic Dove proclaimeth from its blissful bower, in the everlasting Paradise: "The source of all bounty is derived, in this Day, from God, the One, the Forgiving!" (Gleanings 36)

A divine Mine only can yield the gems of divine knowledge, and the fragrance of the mystic Flower can be inhaled only in the ideal Garden, and the lilies of ancient wisdom can blossom nowhere except in the city of a stainless heart. (The Kitab-i-Iqan 191)

Live then the days of thy life, that are less than a fleeting moment, with thy mind stainless, thy heart unsullied, thy thoughts pure, and thy nature sanctified, so that, free and content, thou mayest put away this mortal frame, and repair unto the mystic paradise and abide in the eternal kingdom for evermore. (Persian Hidden Words 44)

Wings have I bestowed upon thee, that thou mayest fly to the realms of mystic holiness and not the regions of satanic fancy. (Persian Hidden Words 79)

O SON OF PASSION! Cleanse thyself from the defilement of riches and in perfect peace advance into the realm of poverty; that from the well-spring of detachment thou mayest quaff the wine of immortal life. (Persian Hidden Words 55)

1. Conclusion

1. Discuss

1. "My pen...it swooned away." (64)
2. "Let us write some other way love’s secrets–better so." (65)
3. What is the significance of the conclusion?

1. Additional thoughts? Relevant scriptures?

Bibliography

Langness, David, The Four Stages of the Heart, found at http://bahai-library.org/essays/four.valleys.html

Law, Roberta, student, Essay, at http://www.usbnc.org/ wilmette/projects/sufis.html

Savi, Julio, Will, Knowledge, and Love as Explained in Baha’u’llah’s Four Valleys, found at http://bahai-library.org/articles/jbs.6-1.savi.html