Transcript:Sam Augustine/Bahá’í talks from the heart No 2
| Transcript of: Bahá’í talks from the heart, No 2 |
 Proofread onceDownload: mp3, Source: (1),(2)
|
[0:12] Friends, this is Sam "Bald Eagle" Augustine. In my native tongue, which is Mi'kmaq, they call me Sam Gitpu. Gitpu is a Mi'kmaq word for an eagle, a bald eagle.
[0:38] Intone, O My servant, the verses of God that have been received by thee, as intoned by them who have drawn nigh unto Him, that the sweetness of thy melody may kindle thine own soul, and attract the hearts of all men. Whoso reciteth, in the privacy of his chamber, the verses revealed by God, the scattering angels of the Almighty shall scatter abroad the fragrance of the words uttered by his mouth, and shall cause the heart of every righteous man to throb. Though he may, at first, remain unaware of its effect, yet the virtue of the grace vouchsafed unto him must needs sooner or later exercise its influence upon his soul. Thus have the mysteries of the Revelation of God been decreed by virtue of the Will of Him Who is the Source of power and wisdom.
[1:49] I am honoring our Messengers of God, and I had just smudged my body with sweetgrass, and everything in my room. And this way I know that the Messengers of God came to our people. Many have come to the native people, and many have came from across the waters. So when I burn sweetgrass, I am honoring all the Messengers of God who came to this Turtle Island many, many years, thousands of years, had come at various times. And when I burn sweetgrass, it's our way of remembering some of the Messengers, the Holy Men, the Prophets that came to us. In our area was Glooscap. And as we go a little further, we had [?], we had Quetzalcoatl for the Aztecs, Black Elk, Obkoa[?] and so-on. Many Messengers of God had came to us, long before we have heard of the other Messengers of God, and so with that in mind, like I have been taught by my elders everything, anything we do, first, we pray and ask for guidance. We ask for support from our Creator.
[4:43] O Lord, my God and my Haven in my distress! My Shield and my Shelter in my woes! My Asylum and Refuge in time of need and in my loneliness my Companion! In my anguish my Solace, and in my solitude a loving Friend! The Remover of the pangs of my sorrows and the Pardoner of my sins!
Wholly unto Thee do I turn, fervently imploring Thee with all my heart, my mind and my tongue, to shield me from all that runs counter to Thy will in this, the cycle of Thy divine unity, and to cleanse me of all defilement that will hinder me from seeking, stainless and unsullied, the shade of the tree of Thy grace.
Have mercy, O Lord, on the feeble, make whole the sick, and quench the burning thirst.
Gladden the bosom wherein the fire of Thy love doth smolder, and set it aglow with the flame of Thy celestial love and spirit.
Robe the tabernacles of divine unity with the vesture of holiness, and set upon my head the crown of Thy favor.
Illumine my face with the radiance of the orb of Thy bounty, and graciously aid me in ministering at Thy holy threshold.
Make my heart overflow with love for Thy creatures and grant that I may become the sign of Thy mercy, the token of Thy grace, the promoter of concord amongst Thy loved ones, devoted unto Thee, uttering Thy commemoration and forgetful of self but ever mindful of what is Thine.
O God, my God! Stay not from me the gentle gales of Thy pardon and grace, and deprive me not of the wellsprings of Thine aid and favor.
‘Neath the shade of Thy protecting wings let me nestle, and cast upon me the glance of Thine all-protecting eye.
Loose my tongue to laud Thy name amidst Thy people, that my voice may be raised in great assemblies and from my lips may stream the flood of Thy praise.
Thou art, in all truth, the Gracious, the Glorified, the Mighty, the Omnipotent.
[8:09] My friends, I have many things to tell you, but I'm not enabled to see you all. And I know time does not permit us to be able to talk the way we would want to, so with the help of this tape recorder, I hope that maybe in your time of rest in your home, when you have a few minutes, maybe you may be driving in your car, or whenever you get a chance to listen to these words of this old man, I hope you will get some advice that I'm trying to convey to you and I hope you will use some of the things I've told you, I am about to tell you, that you will not waste your life, that while you are yet still young you can use the God-given things that you have. You have your strength, your knowledge. You are able to move about. And what I'm trying to share with you is that, just maybe, it may not take you as long as it did me to realize that there is a better way of life. While I have a pipe in my hand, I would like to mention something and I want you to remember it and do not forget it, that we must respect each man's or woman's way of worship because we do not know who God listens to. We cannot safely or honestly say that God does not listen to this person, this person's way of worship. We cannot honestly [?] because we are not God and we cannot tell God what to do, who He must listen and who He does not listen. So you see, we as people of this world, we must respect one another in how we worship our Creator. Whatever way you want to call Him. Some people, the Christians, call him Christ. Some people call him Jehovah. Some people call him Muhammad, and various, various names of our native people on this continent, on this Turtle Island. So you see, nobody can see through the eyes of our Creator and say yours or mine or anybody else's way of worship is not being heard.
[13:00] So but we have to start someplace. I would say to you, be the best of who you are. If you are a Christian, be a good Christian. I believe, to me, Christian means to live Christlike. After you have really listened and try to live a good life, you will advance to another plane. If you have studied the Indian way diligently, you will find you want more. If you have searched for the truth in the various religions that are in this world, and if you are a true seeker and seeking for happiness, seeking a good life, you will understand maybe like I did. I look too the Baháʼí Faith and the Messenger of God for this age, Bahá’u’lláh, as the return of all the Prophet's of God. He's the return of Christ. He's the return of Muhammad. He's the return of Zoroaster. He's the return of Glooscap. He's the return of [?]. He's the return of quetzalcoatl. He's the return of Black Elk, Oboka[?], all the Holy Men. Now, the reason I mentioned it this way, I had a book, a study on the depopulation study of the Mi'kmaq. And we numbered around 90-100 thousand before the European contact, and because of the genocide, and the things that have happened, we were whittled down to 1,200 souls in the year 1844. Now this may be, or I would say I thought at the time it was a coincidence, but see when Glooscap left us, he told us that he would return when we needed him the most. In 1844, we were going down and finally we went down 1,200 souls. There's more people living on my reservation in Big Cove right now, we number around 1,700-1,800 souls, so there were not very many, considering that we numbered between 90-100 thousand. And so in 1844, the Baháʼí Faith came in to being. Now, it makes me think about that very much. Why in 1844? Is that... that to me is the return of Glooscap. If this trend had continued, we would have been wiped out, like the people in Newfoundland, the Beothuk. This to me leaves no doubt in my mind that He is the return of all the Prophets of God.
[18:41] This is why today, I study the writings and as again, I have never found anything wrong with these people. We are told that it is the first time in the history of man that the messenger of God, messenger of God, wrote in His own handwriting. When we read and study these writings and how we are going to set this world in order, and really you think about it. There is no doubt that it came from God. This is one thing that is very significant. Who were the native people to [?]? We are told that when the native people of Americas learned and embraced the Baháʼí Faith, they will lead all of mankind back to spirituality. This is the prophecy that's given to us. We, as native people of this continent, have a tremendous responsibility to teach the rest of mankind our basic teachings. We will lead the rest of mankind, all the peoples of the world, know that. To you, my friends, your destiny, very great. Very, very great. This is what Bahá’u’lláh says in one of His writings:
"O My servants! Sorrow not if, in these days and on this earthly plane, things contrary to your wishes have been ordained and manifested by God, for days of blissful joy, of heavenly delight, are assuredly in store for you. Worlds, holy and spiritually glorious, will be unveiled to your eyes. You are destined by Him, in this world and hereafter, to partake of their benefits, to share in their joys, and to obtain a portion of their sustaining grace. To each and every one of them you will, no doubt, attain."
The mystic and wondrous bride [?] beneath the wailing of utterance, and now for the grace of God and His divine favor, being made manifest even as the resplendent light shed by the beauty of the beloved. I bear witness, old friends, that the favor is complete, the argument fulfilled, proved manifests and the evidence established. Let now be seen what your endeavors in the path of detachment will reveal. And this wise have the divine favor being [?] saved unto you, and all of them that are in heaven and earth. All praise to God, the Lord of all the worlds.
[25:05]Hello, my friends. This is Sam "Bald Eagle". I'm going to speak to you about the Baháʼí Faith. And please excuse me, I'm going to do a lot of reading. And if some of the words, I do not pronounce properly, please excuse me, but first, we must pray.
O God! O God! This is a broken-winged bird and his flight is very slow—assist him so that he may fly toward the apex of prosperity and salvation, wing his way with the utmost joy and happiness throughout the illimitable space, raise his melody in Thy Supreme Name in all the regions, exhilarate the ears with this call, and brighten the eyes by beholding the signs of guidance.
O Lord! I am single, alone and lowly. For me there is no support save Thee, no helper except Thee and no sustainer beside Thee. Confirm me in Thy service, assist me with the cohorts of Thy angels, make me victorious in the promotion of Thy Word and suffer me to speak out Thy wisdom amongst Thy creatures. Verily, Thou art the helper of the weak and the defender of the little ones, and verily Thou art the Powerful, the Mighty and the Unconstrained.
Create in me a pure heart, O my God, and renew a tranquil conscience within me, O my Hope! Through the spirit of power confirm Thou me in Thy Cause, O my Best-Beloved, and by the light of Thy glory reveal unto me Thy path, O Thou the Goal of my desire! Through the power of Thy transcendent might lift me up unto the heaven of Thy holiness, O Source of my being, and by the breezes of Thine eternity gladden me, O Thou Who art my God! Let Thine everlasting melodies breathe tranquillity on me, O my Companion, and let the riches of Thine ancient countenance deliver me from all except Thee, O my Master, and let the tidings of the revelation of Thine incorruptible Essence bring me joy, O Thou Who art the most manifest of the manifest and the most hidden of the hidden!
[28:55]About the first half of the century, 19th century, many Christians were stirred by the hope of the return of Christ. This expectancy [?] of a New Testament found his most vivid expression in the [?], but it by no means was limited to humble Christians was it limited to America. Europe, too, was stirred by this phenomena. A group of German templars left their native land and set the permanently at the foot of Mount Carmel to await their Lord. What most Westerners do not understand at all is that at the same time a wave of expectancy swept through Islam. Emerson would have understood this, but few are Americans. Other Americans were prepared at the time to consider any other world Faith with even [?] sympathy, but the fact remains that in Islam, some students and theologians felt that Islam prophecies indicated an [?] laws of Quran in the beginning of new spiritual age. Thinking of these, theologians was that the [?], to use the Islamic phrase, would appear. In 1844, a young merchant of Shirazi names Sayyed ʻAlí Muḥammad suddenly began to teach the Faith in Persia. He has sown the title of the Báb, which literally means the gate. The Báb's character and entrance was like a bombshell in that backward priest-written land. Pleasant academic discussions as to the meeting of the traditions of Islam were at an end. A slam of interest in the Báb and devoted acceptance of Him swept the country. The astonished priest reacted with the orthodox fury. They arrested and imprisoned the Báb and instigated a systematic massacres of His followers. The Báb taught that an old spiritual era was at end. He criticized vehemently the hypocrisy and intellectual dishonesty of the Muslim clergy. He urged the highest standard of character, and he promised that within 19 years, Him whom God would make manifest would begin to teach and bring to men the basic laws and principles for the new age.
[32:10] The degenerate clergy, long corrupted by their for position in the church state of Persia, feared and hated the movement initiated by the Báb. It was as if a strong, clean wind had suddenly swept through the dank atmosphere that have long closed. The massacres of the Bábis find their parallel in the bloody holidays of ancient holidays of ancient Rome. Hypocrisy and tyranny tried to destroy faith by sword. The Báb was soon arrested and imprisoned in a remote mountain village. On July 9th, 1850, hatred found its climax when the Báb was publicly murdered in the barrack square in the city of Tabriz, and attempt was made to completely exterminate the new faith in Persia. Bloody scenes multiplied throughout the country and the surviving faithful went underground.
O SON OF SPIRIT! I created thee rich, why dost thou bring thyself down to poverty? Noble I made thee, wherewith dost thou abase thyself? Out of the essence of knowledge I gave thee being, why seekest thou enlightenment from anyone beside Me? Out of the clay of love I molded thee, how dost thou busy thyself with another? Turn thy sight unto thyself, that thou mayest find Me standing within thee, mighty, powerful and self-subsisting.
[34:55] The consternation of the priest who had born these late years had been deepened by the fact that many of their outstanding members had accepted the teachings of the Báb. Also outstanding men in another walks of life had accepted Him. Among these was, Mirza Husayn-'Ali, a young man [?] and wealthy family. Ignoring the jibes of family and class Mirza Husayn-'Ali, who is know in the history as Baháʼu'lláh, the glory of God, publicly championed the Báb. And the nationwide campaign to exterminate the Faith, Bahá’u’lláh's position has caused Him to be spared, but in 1852 when two crazy young Bábis made attempt to kill the Shah, Baháʼu'lláh was imprisoned for four months in Síyáh-Chál, a dreadful underground prison Tehran. Bahá’u’lláh's innocence was clearly proven in the courts, but this incident is a great historic significance because during the imprisonment Bahá’u’lláh became aware that He was the promised one foretold by the Báb. Immediately after being released from prison, He was exiled to Baghdad by the Persian government in an effort to remove from the country the last effective leader of the detested new faith. Bahá’u’lláh was an exile in Iraq for about 10 years. During this time, He transformed the outlook and the character of the followers of the Báb. His own fame spread to such an extent that scholars and men of renowned visited Him in increasing numbers. The Muslim priests and a Turkish and a Persian [?] as Islamic Church states could not tolerate the birth of a new faith under Bahá’u’lláh. So it was decreed that Bahá’u’lláh be exiled from Baghdad to Constantinople on the theory that distance would dissipate his influence. A theory repeatedly tried and repeatedly bringing opposite results.
[38:00]In 1863 the exile was ordered, and in a few days, while the caravan was being prepared for the long journey, Bahá’u’lláh announce to His followers that He was the one whose coming the Báb foretold. After being four months in Constantinople, Bahá’u’lláh was banished to Adrianople. He here publicly proclaimed this message, addressing collectively the Temple and the [?]. He wrote some of the first series of letters known collectively as the Tablets to the Kings. The fourth and final exile was ordered, this time 1868, sending Bahá’u’lláh to the prison-city of 'Akká. It'll be a high front in the holy man. Bahá’u’lláh was in exile 'Akká and the surrounding countryside until the end of His life in 1992.
O SON OF SPIRIT! With the joyful tidings of light I hail thee: rejoice! To the court of holiness I summon thee; abide therein that thou mayest live in peace for evermore.
O SON OF MAN! Sorrow not save that thou art far from Us. Rejoice not save that thou art drawing near and returning unto Us.
O SON OF MAN! Rejoice in the gladness of thine heart, that thou mayest be worthy to meet Me and to mirror forth My beauty.
[40:35] The chief principle of Bahá’u’lláh's teaching is the oneness and wholeness of the human race. This is the palpable point of all that He taught. The purpose of the Baháʼí Faith is to unite the entire world in one common faith, in one common social order. We may perhaps state that Bahá’u’lláh's second [challenging?] contribution to the unity of the human race is a set of principles and a social structure designed to reduce justice. He called justice the beloved of all things in the sight of God. He urged moderation and warned against fanaticism and excesses a lot of times. The acquiring of education is essential to everyone. True religion and science are in agreement. Consultation is the key method for settling of disputes and for developing plans and policies for the common good. To achieve the unity of human race was Bahá’u’lláh's compelling life purpose. The aim of religion is to produce strong intangible bonds of unity. Bahá’u’lláh clarifies the historic development of religion as the evolution of one faith, serving different needs in each age. Abraham, Moses, Buddha, [?], Krishna, Jesus, Muhammad, the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh have been successive manifestations through whom God has progressively revealed the purpose of religion. Because of ignorance, the followers of these manifestations make war, but the open-minded individual can see the pattern of agreement and evolution what the supreme educators taught. Stripped of the many layers of theology and custom, the different faiths of the world assume an integrated relationship, each leading to the other in historic development as links in the chain.
[43:30] And none of the great founders of the world religions have ever taught that [?] was the only or the last Revealer of divine teachings. Instead, each of them have praised the prophet who lived and taught before him and also has pointed to the future on another such educator or spirit of truth as Jesus had taught would live. Bahá’u’lláh claimed to speak the same divine authority as Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad. He taught that the time was now ripe for the coming of the human race, the age of the human race and the beginning of its conscious unity. To achieve this, he urged the abolition of racial, religious, political, and economic prejudice, the adoption of international auxillary language, equal opportunities and privileges for men and women, a universal system of education, the independent investigation of truth, the adoption of a world court of human rights and responsibilities, and the creation of world federal government. He taught at each community there should be a House of Justice, this finally culminating in the Universal House of Justice. Bahá’u’lláh has called into being a constantly growing body of followers in the five continents of the globe. These people come from different racial and religious background in the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh to become united belief in action. More wars are waged and the moral fabric of modern civilization becomes more and more tattered. Baháʼís continue to tell the story of Bahá’u’lláh's life, of the reawakening of men to the call of God in our time. For the Baháʼís quite literally, this is the changeless faith of God, eternal in the past, eternal in the future. While the rotten modern materialism does its deadly work, Baháʼís continue to patiently sacrifice and work to build the group consciousness of the social institutions which Bahá’u’lláh promised them would in time flower into a world civilization. To a Baháʼí, religion encompass all of life, it is civilization itself. All men have been created to carry forward an ever-advancing civilization. The earth is but one country and mankind, its citizens.
