“O Son of Man! Breathe not the sins of others so long as thou art thyself a sinner. Shouldst thou transgress this command, accursed wouldst thou be, and to this I bear witness.”
(Baha’u’llah, The Hidden Words)
Are we so careless with our words and love for each other as human beings that we find it acceptable to so easily toss our assumptions and accusations out to the world at large? Why is it so easy to say hurtful and damaging things about each other without a second thought? We have so much work to do to heal this world, and instead we concern ourselves with the faults of others.
In ‘Star of the West’…there is a record of a reply given by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in a private interview in Paris in 1913. He was asked ‘How shall I overcome seeing the faults of others – recognizing the wrong in others?’, and He replied: ‘I will tell you. Whenever you recognize the fault of another, think of yourself! What are my imperfections? – and try to remove them. Do this whenever you are tried through the words or deeds of others. Thus you will grow, become more perfect. You will overcome self, you will not even have time to think of the faults of others…’
(Compilations, Lights of Guidance, p. 89)
5 thoughts on “When will we learn?”
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I’ve been struggling with this lately, these quotes are always a good reminder. Sometimes I feel like all around me there are whispers about other people, and then there’s following our first impulses before thinking (which is mostly what I do), so then I’m no better for avoiding those whispers. Thanks for posting this.
Yeah. This is incredibly heart-breaking. It’s harder when we’re wrapped together with beautiful bonds of friendship and love, looking at others with respect and admiration. I don’t think we know what to do when the actions of others whom we love so much happen to run counter to our own wishes…
These are great quotes.
PS: Miss you
Lacey: you’re welcome.
Andrew: Right on. And I miss you so much! Two people told me they talked to you recently, and I seriously almost teared up.
thanks for sharing this, sholeh. its hard not to get caught up when we’re hurt or angry at something. sometimes the ego becomes a veil of forgetfulness to our inherent virtue. i often analyze how i expressed or did not express a virtue along with how i contributed or did not contribute to a situation. i guess asking for His assistance, accounting each day and striving for awareness is the key.
Its sad when others lives are so boring that they have to be concerned with yours.GO OUT AND LIVE PEOPLE!