The Ocean of His Utterances
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The Ocean of His Utterances by Howard Colby Ives 1963/1977 An advanced study course in the Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh Using the books of Bahá'u'lláh, Ábdu'l-Bahá, and Shoghi Effendi As compiled by and with the remarks of Howard Colby Ives Table of Contents Preface to the 1977 Edition..................................................................................1 INTRODUCTION:................................................................................................2 BOOK LIST FOR READINGS...............................................................................4 SUGGESTIONS FOR CONDUCTING THE DEEPENING......................................5 The Mysteries of God..........................................................................................6 The Heaven of Significances.............................................................................17 The Two Natures of Man...................................................................................27 The True Station of Man....................................................................................41 Immortality and Eternity..................................................................................51 Real Life and Death..........................................................................................63 The Gift of the Holy Spirit.................................................................................75 The Kingdom of God on Earth..........................................................................83 The Meeting with God.......................................................................................94 Prayer and Meditation.....................................................................................101 The Science of the Love of God........................................................................109 The Word of God.............................................................................................116 The first emanation of the Almighty" Its importance. Its study. Its effect. Its power. "The Word of God is the source of all good, all power and all wisdom." Ábdu'l-Bahá Preface to the 1977 Edition [2017 Re-formatted to PDF document, spell checked, recovered lost text except one portion, notes enclosed in [ ] by Ernie Jones] In this edition of the Ocean of His Utterances the Readings have been incorporated into the study guide so that all of the material is in one continuous text. The quotations from the writings have been indented and labeled so that they stand apart from the commentary by Howard Colby Ives. The quotations from the writings of Bahá'u'lláh have been typed in script. This edition is a retyping of the material typed by Muriel Ives Barrow Newhall in 1963 when a copy of the study guide was given to her by a friend. In this previous edition all readings were typed in one volume, while the remarks by Howard Colby Ives were in another volume. We have proof read all quotations against the original texts and have striven for accuracy. Should any questions be raised we urge you to go to the source material as the best remedy to doubt. The reading lists have been included at the beginning of each chapter for those who wish to refer to the published texts. Our gratitude to June Levine and Nicolena Miller whose efforts contributed to this edition. Reginald G. Barrow/ Laguna Beach, CA / 1977 Preface to the 1995 Edition This edition of The Ocean of His Utterances has been typed into a word processor, to facilitate the reproduction and distribution of this material for classes and communities wishing to use this deepening course. It may also be noted that the machine readable editions of the writings, published as Refer Twin Manifestations, Refer Ábdu'l-Bahá, and Refer Shoghi Effendi have been used to obtain the quotations for the last four chapters, as well as some passages in the earlier chapters. One can identify those passages which were extracted, since the identification placed at the end of the passage by the Refer software has been retained. Due to the removal of duplicate quotations from the Refer databases, the citation at the end of an extracted passage may not be the same as the original citation. Passages in Bahá'í World Faith or Gleanings may have come originally from Promulgation of Universal Peace or The Kitab-I-Aqdas. The typing of chapters one to eight by Nya Luc Leapold in 1992, and the proof reading by the youth class of the Douala community in 1995 contributed to this edition. Members of the youth class of Douala in 1995 were: Adam Ives Barrow Shoghi Ettehadulhagh Isaac Grant Barrow Lua F. Fongod Payman Bidanjiri Nabil F. Fongod Nahal Bushuri Ruhullah F. Fongod Anis Ettehadulhagh Vafa Shahidi R. G. Barrow/ Douala, Cameroon/ Sept. 1995 1 THE OCEAN OF HIS UTTERANCES An Advanced Study Course In the Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh "O peoples of the world! Cast away in my name that transcendeth all other names, the things ye possess, and immerse yourselves in this ocean in whose depths lay hidden the pearls of wisdom and of utterance, an ocean that surgeth in my name, the All-Merciful." Gl. pg. 33 INTRODUCTION: The object of this course of reading and study, of the holy utterance of the Divine Revelation of this day of God, is a very practical and inspiring one. It is simply this, that we may thereby be induced to take the first few steps towards the unveiling of the sublime potentialities lying dormant in the true self. "An effort is needed that we may annihilate the animal condition that the meaning of the human may become manifest." - Seven Valleys. In this day, as never before, the true nature of man is revealed, his origin, purpose and destiny explained, and the techniques of the steps necessary for the tearing away of the mask of the lower, animal self disclosed., That man is composed of two natures, a lower and a higher, has always been recognized to some extent. The ancient Greek and Roman mysteries dealt with this enigma; our modern theologies are based upon it. Such well-known phrases as `conviction of sin', `conversion', `conquest of self', and many others, presuppose its acceptance. ' But all of these, though marking the deepest aspirations of the race over thousands of years, have been marred by human ignorance, superstitions and prejudice. Upon them have been built orders of priestcraft, cults of vague, unscientific mysticism and too often organizations of selfish powers and cruelty which, in spite of much inherent truth and values, have in the course of the centuries, relegated them to comparative oblivion. Nevertheless there is a supreme and sublime truth underlying these aspirations and gropings. All of the prophets have taught it; many of the words of Jesus Christ implied it "Ye must be perfect even as your Father in Heaven is perfect." "Your life is more than meat", "Let the dead bury their dead". "He that is born of the spirit is spirit." These are examples-many more could be cited. In fact His whole life is a trumpet call for man to slough off the false, transient, delusive self that he may live the true life of reality, freedom and eternality. But because man, until this Day, has been in the stage of immaturity, the reality of the matter has been hidden under parables and symbols. That is to say it has been a mystery hidden from the eye and soul of man because he had not attained to the maturity necessary for its understanding and application. "God screens us from premature ideas" - though they stare us in the face, we do not see them. But with the Manifestation of God, in the perfect Mirror of Bahá'u'lláh, with the example of the Perfect Man, 2 Ábdu'l-Bahá, and with the establishment of the Guardianship and the House of Justice which pre-supposes the possibility of relatively perfect men to organize and administer the kingdom of God on earth, all that has heretofore been 'whispered in closets' is now 'shouted on the housetops', and there is 'nothing hidden which is now concealed from the seeking, sincere, severed and self-renouncing soul. This course of reading and study is designed for those who are intellectually convinced of the truth involved in the revelation of Bahá'u'lláh, who have accepted him as the Manifestation of God the Father foretold by Christ; who wish to probe further into the hidden mysteries of God as revealed in utterances, books, tablets of Bahá'u'lláh and Ábdu'l-Bahá, and are willing to pay the price of sacrifice of the lower self in order that the true self, the divine self, 'The Self of God, 'may manifest. The Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh is a divine mine whence endless wealth of spiritual realm is to be dug. Endless are these tremendous promises to those who fulfill conditions necessary for their attainment. IS NOT THE GOAL WORTHY THE STRIVING? Can there be anything more important than this wisdom, this solution of all problems of life, so overwhelming in this crisis of human destiny? When the portals of true knowledge are opened to us should anything deter us from entering? Is any price too great to pay for this understanding which makes the path of life clear before us and enables us 'to pass from sorrow to happiness, to return from sadness to joy, and changes depression and dejection to gladness and cheerfulness?' May the assistance of the invisible attend every sincere heart. The goal set before us is nothing less than the eternal life of the spirit; the life of ideal happiness and peace; the life of freedom and love; citizenship and service in God's Kingdom on earth and preparation for boundless, ancient and eternal life. 3