Purpose By Ronald Tomanio

A "Food for the Spirit" Project

"O my God! O my God! Unite the hearts of Thy servants, and reveal to them Thy great purpose. May they follow Thy commandments and abide in Thy law. Help them, O God, in their endeavor, and grant them strength to serve Thee. O God! Leave them not to themselves, but guide their steps by the light of Thy knowledge, and cheer their hearts by Thy love. Verily, Thou art their Helper and their Lord." -- Bahá'u'lláh, Baha'i Prayers, p.202 (emphasis added)

"But in our concern for such immediate obvious calls upon our succor we must not allow ourselves to forget the continuing, appalling burden of suffering under which millions of human beings are always groaning -- a burden which they have borne for century upon century and which it is the mission of Bahá'u'lláh to lift at last. The principal cause of this suffering, which one can witness wherever one turns, is the corruption of human morals and the prevalence of prejudice, suspicion, hatred, untrustworthiness, selfishness and tyranny among men. It is not merely material well-being that people need. What they desperately need is to know how to live their lives -- they need to know who they are, to what purpose they exist, and how they should act towards one another; and, once they know the answers to these questions they need to be helped to gradually apply these answers to everyday behavior." Universal House of Justice, 19 November 1974, Letter to the NSA of Italy (emphasis added)

Purpose and Power

When we are given divine purposes, we are given the power to achieve those purposes.

"We have assigned to every end a means for its accomplishment;" -- Bahá'u'lláh, The Kitab-i-Aqdas, 160

"Be not dismayed, O peoples of the world, when the day-star of My beauty is set, and the heaven of My tabernacle is concealed from your eyes. Arise to further My Cause, and to exalt My Word amongst men. We are with you at all times, and shall strengthen you through the power of truth. We are truly almighty. Whoso hath recognized Me will arise and serve Me with such determination that the powers of earth and heaven shall be unable to defeat his purpose." -- Bahá'u'lláh, The Kitab-i-Aqdas, p. 32-33

There is a relationship between being in harmony with divine purposes and the attributes of God. We are promised that the power to achieve our God-given purposes will be forthcoming. Who among us hasn't experienced a surge of courage that overwhelmed our fear of giving a fireside and then wondered when we opened our mouths where all that wisdom came from.

"At all times we must look at the greatness of the Cause, and remember that Bahá'u'lláh will assist all who arise in His service. When we look at ourselves, we are sure to feel discouraged by our shortcomings and insignificance!" -- Shoghi Effendi, Guidelines for Teaching, p. 316.

"that our struggles as individuals, often handicapped by the sense of our own inadequacy, are reinforced by the grace of Bahá'u'lláh, Who enables us to achieve the seemingly impossible!" -- Shoghi Effendi, Unfolding Destiny, p. 392

"The source of courage and power is the promotion of the Word of God, and steadfastness in His Love." -- Bahá'u'lláh, Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 156

There is a tremendous source of courage when you are trying to have divine purposes rule your life. This is courage that you can then take and use to work through relationships with individuals or institutions which you might have previously avoided because you felt you couldn't do it.

All you need to do is attempt to fulfill your purposes and the power to do so is supplied by God. Take the first step!

Purpose and Reality

There is a clear connection between purpose and reality.

"A detailed and exact knowledge of the present structure of Bahá'í Administration, or of the By-laws of National and Local Spiritual Assemblies, or of the many and varied applications of Bahá'í law under the diverse conditions prevailing around the world, while valuable in itself, cannot be regarded as the sort of knowledge primarily intended by deepening. Rather is suggested a clearer apprehension of the purpose of God for man, and particularly of His immediate purpose as revealed and directed by Bahá'u'lláh, a purpose as far removed from current concepts of human well-being and happiness as is possible." -- The Universal House of Justice, Ridvan Letter 1967

Let's see what Dr. Daniel C. Jordan, a noted educator, had to say about our need to know our purpose: "If one is out of touch with the purpose of something, he is out of touch with the reality of that thing. What happens then if a human being is out of touch with his reality because he does not understand his purpose? He becomes self-alienated -- a word which has become popular as a description of mental illness. One who is self-alienated does not know who he is or where he is going. If one does not know who he is or where he is going, he is going to be upset. Moreover, one's relationships to other human beings will be disturbed because he will feel impelled to cling to the people around him and impose himself on them; and he will be unable to assume responsibility for himself or for others." (The Meaning of Deepening, p. 13)

Let's consider a practical example of what we are talking about. Say a car is abandoned on the side of the road on some very remote island that still has inhabitants who have never before seen a car. When one of these people finds the car, he might think, 'This would be a great place for me to live and keep my stuff.' He would open the door and climb in. Eventually, the steering wheel would get to him. He might decide that it was interfering with his efficient use of the car and tear it out and throw it away. As time passes, he would find the trunk, which would be more great space to keep his stuff. But, when he finds the engine, again it would be space full of useless metal that wasn't allowing room for his growing family and their stuff so he might rip it out. There are two consequences in this situation that it would probably be best to avoid: 1) you did not receive the full benefit of the car because you were out of touch with its purpose and 2) also, because you were out of touch with it's purpose, the car was not allowed to reach its full potential.

While this may seem a silly example, if you equate the concepts to human situations, to servants of God, you can see that there are far more serious consequences. We are defined in terms of purpose.

"Know that the conditions of existence are limited to the conditions of servitude, of prophethood and of Deity,...." -- 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions, p.230

Notice that when 'Abdu'l-Bahá categorizes the human condition, He doesn't say, "Diety, Prophethood and humanity, or souls or human beings." He defines our reality in terms of our purpose! We immediately comprehend that our true selves will emerge after the journeying on the path of servitude.

If we are out of touch with our purpose as servants of God, then we are out of touch with our true selves. If we do not know who we are, we cannot connect with the true selves of others or with the reality of the divine institutions.

Purpose and Mind

The reason purpose is so critical to understanding our identity and the world around us has to do with how our mind works.

"Know that there are two kinds of knowledge: the knowledge of the essence of a thing and the knowledge of its qualities. The essence of a thing is known through its qualities; otherwise, it is unknown and hidden.
As our knowledge of things, even of created and limited things, is knowledge of their qualities and not of their essence, how is it possible to comprehend in its essence the Divine Reality, which is unlimited? For the inner essence of anything is not comprehended, but only its qualities. For example, the inner essence of the sun is unknown, but is understood by its qualities, which are heat and light. The inner essence of man is unknown and not evident, but by its qualities it is characterized and known." -- 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions, p. 220

Picture an iceberg in your mind. We know most of the reality of the iceberg is unseen beneath the surface of the water.

Qualities/purpose = (Iceberg above the waterline)
Unseen essence = (Iceberg below the waterline)

We have learned some basic facts about the concept of purpose. Let's examine how the knowledge can improve the qualities of our own life and our relationships. After all, that is the purpose of these exercises.

Let's look at the Writings with the concept of purpose fresh in our minds.

"O Thou Whose tests are a healing medicine to such as are nigh unto Thee,..." -- Bahá'u'lláh, Prayers and Meditations, p. 220

"O Thou" (God) -- we cannot know God.
"tests" -- since we are not infallible, we can never be sure what the specific reason for the test is.
"such" (me, you) we are souls, a mystery the mind of no one can fathom.

Here is where purpose saves the day. We do know that:

God's purpose is to send a healing test
The purpose of a test is to heal
My purpose is to be close to God so that I might receive his healing

Notice that although I remain a mystery to my own self, I do know that seeing the test in this light will change me for the better. In time this change will be perceptible and you might get an insight as to the specific purpose behind the test.

There is no wasted energy or excess pain wondering why God is trying to make our life miserable. The only pain you go through is the pain intrinsic to the test itself! Our minds are now focused on drawing nigh unto God.

A lot of tests come from the people around us. See them now as a healing medicine, a reminder that we need to continually progress towards God. Develop that spiritual reflex into a habit that will save you tons of pain.

Try looking at the Writings with the eye of purpose. Make it a habit.

How Purpose Helps Us to Focus

Clearly understanding purpose focuses our energies to accomplish things and serves as a catalyst to action.

You are on an Arctic expedition when you get separated from he others during a blinding storm. You stumble upon a back-up camp. There is a pen with sled dogs. You recognize one dog as an excellent lead dog, some of the others are vaguely familiar or unknown to you. There is also a sled filled with scientific equipment on it. You know the way back to the main camp from here but you are physically deteriorating. What is your plan of action? [Take a moment to think of your plan.]

In this allegorical story, the lead dog is "purpose". The familiar dogs are your memory and senses. The unknown dogs are the complex changes going on inside of you (such as adrenaline surges - shaking and shivering initiated by body to create warmth.)

The point is when you have clarity of purpose, in this case physical survival, it acts both as a catalyst and a point of focus for all of your physical activity. All of this happens at incredible speed. It's safe to say we are only aware of a small percentage of the activity going on within us.

It's also safe to say what you're most clear about is your purpose.

Now you know all of this. What's the point?

Let's go back to one of our linchpin quotes from the identity exercise.

"The spiritual world is like unto the phenomenal world. They are the exact counterpart of each other. Whatever objects appear in this world of existence are the outer pictures of the world of heaven." -- 'Abdu'l-Bahá, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 10

If the known and unknown intricacies of your physical being are galvanized and focused because of a clear sense of purpose to physically survive then it follows that a clear sense of purpose to spiritually survive will galvanize and focus your known and unknown spiritual faculties toward that goal. We need to develop a clear vision of what it means to be a servant of God functioning within the Covenant of Bahá'u'lláh.

Purpose Allows You to Live with Mystery

As long as you know what your purpose is, you are never lost in a state of confusion. In effect, you become more comfortable living with the mystery of your own soul and others.

Purpose and Communication

Say someone comes to your house with a mysterious box. It makes a funny noise and has lots of odd looking gadgets attached to it. What kind of questions would you ask the person who brought it. You are assured it poses no threat. [Take a moment to think of your questions.]

Very quickly on you would want to know what is the purpose of the box.

Think of any situation where you've felt communication has not been clear and consider how speaking in terms of purpose and identifying the powers to achieve the purpose might have clarified matters. [Write it out for yourself.]

How Do Your Personal Goals Match Up with Your Divine Purposes?

Take a sheet of paper and list activities you do during the course of a typical day and why you do them. Now fill in the following chart, matching your human purposes with what the Writings identify as our divine purposes:

DIVINE PURPOSES -- HUMAN PURPOSES
Know and worship God
Acquire Virtues
Bear and Endure
Obey God
Carry forward an ever-advancing civilization
Aid the Cause of God
Goodly deeds
Praiseworthy character
Patience and Submission
Exalt God's Word
Show love to one another
Treat all men equally
Believe in institutions

It's okay to have a material purpose behind what you do in the course of a day but it's definitely better to have a spiritual purpose that originates in "the spiritual Kingdom never causes sadness" ('Abdu'l-Bahá, Paris Talks, p. 110.) If your purposes come from the spiritual kingdom then you are "A man living with his thoughts in this Kingdom knows perpetual joy." ('Abdu'l-Bahá, Paris Talks, p. 110)

This is an intellectually simple concept to grasp but tricky to implement. The key is to merge your material purposes with spiritual purposes that make sense to you, not your husband, wife, best friend or whomever. For example, you have a job that you're not thrilled with but for good reasons you have to stay there. Work done in the spirit of service is worship may not be your cup of tea. Perhaps, "Thou wert created to bear and endure..." (Bahá'u'lláh, Baha'i Prayers, p. 215) is a better fit because it helps you identify with Bahá'u'lláh when he was in prison. That may work for you today, it may not next week, because we are constantly changing and evolving.

"Question.--It is said in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas "...whoso is deprived thereof, hath gone astray, though he be the author of every righteous deed." What is the meaning of this verse?
Answer.--. . . Therefore, the blessed verse means that good actions alone, without the knowledge of God, cannot be the cause of eternal salvation, everlasting success, and prosperity, and entrance into the Kingdom of God." -- 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions, p. 238

Good human purposes are not divine purposes. A human purpose has as its goal a desired result in this world. A person can work to provide food and shelter with the end goal a material necessity. This human purpose is compatible with many possible divine purposes.

The individual needs to be conscious each day of doing things for a spiritual purpose. Without doing this, you thoughts will always be in the human world. When we read "Pain and Sorrow", we see that the Master says a person who has his thoughts in the Kingdom is calm and serene because troubles only affect the surface.

You can eat because you are hungry or for pleasure. But, if you eat to maintain your ability to work for the Cause, you will eat more healthily. If you work not only to support your family but also because t's a form of worship, you will have a heightened sense of conscience about doing anything unethical.

Of all the beautiful eloquent talks by 'Abdu'l-Baha, "Pain and Sorrow" truly stands out.

PAIN AND SORROW
November 22nd [1911]
"In this world we are influenced by two sentiments, Joy and Pain.
Joy gives us wings! In times of joy our strength is more vital, our intellect keener, and our understanding less clouded. We seem better able to cope with the world and to find our sphere of usefulness. But when sadness visits us we become weak, our strength leaves us, our comprehension is dim and our intelligence veiled. The actualities of life seem to elude our grasp, the eyes of our spirits fail to discover the sacred mysteries, and we become even as dead beings.
There is no human being untouched by these two influences; but all the sorrow and the grief that exist come from the world of matter--the spiritual world bestows only the joy!
If we suffer it is the outcome of material things, and all the trials and troubles come from this world of illusion.
For instance, a merchant may lose his trade and depression ensues. A workman is dismissed and starvation stares him in the face. A farmer has a bad harvest, anxiety fills his mind. A man builds a house which is burnt to the ground and he is straightway homeless, ruined, and in despair.
All these examples are to show you that the trials which beset our every step, all our sorrow, pain, shame and grief, are born in the world of matter; whereas the spiritual Kingdom never causes sadness. A man living with his thoughts in this Kingdom knows perpetual joy. The ills all flesh is heir to do not pass him by, but they only touch the surface of his life, the depths are calm and serene.
Today, humanity is bowed down with trouble, sorrow and grief, no one escapes; the world is wet with tears; but, thank God, the remedy is at our doors. Let us turn our hearts away from the world of matter and live in the spiritual world! It alone can give us freedom! If we are hemmed in by difficulties we have only to call upon God, and by His great Mercy we shall be helped." -- 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Paris Talks, p. 109-110

If your purposes come from the Kingdom, your thoughts will too. The more you are able to merge human and divine purposes, the less pain and sorrow you will have in your life. Not only will you have more joy, which makes your strength more vital, your intellect keener, and your understanding less clouded.

When Dr. Dwight Allen gave a talk at Green Acre, in 1996, he mentioned that scientific studies show that the more joyous the classroom, the better the students learn. As a result, one African country made it a rule that the teacher was responsible for a joyous classroom.

If you have successfully merged a human and a divine purpose, you are assured that you will be given the power and the courage to achieve this joint purpose.

Merging human purposes and divine purposes provides a system of checks and balances where human purposes will be more ethical. Your divine purposes will be more practical. The merging has to make sense to you. There is no formula.

If human purposes and divine purposes are one, a huge amount of stress can be eliminated. What you have effectively done is harmonize the goals and directions of your animal, human, and spiritual natures. These three natures are no longer in conflict. This is the key for serenity and happiness.

Now what does all this have to do with relationships?

If you are motivated by a clear, consistent spiritual purpose to be a servant of God then you will be attracted to souls who are like motivated and conversely other souls who are at that maturity level will be attracted to you. Thus leading to more healthy relationships. If you are inconsistent, vague, wishy-washy, whatever you want to call it about your "great purpose" then that's who you will attract and who you will be attracted to.

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