.

“灵性是上帝给与人最伟大的礼物。”

“Spirituality is the greatest of God's gifts”

“唯一真神显示自己的意图时，召唤人类顺从上帝的意愿，做到诚实和真挚，虔诚和可信，忍耐和仁爱，正直和智慧。他的[上帝的]目的是给每个人披上圣洁品格之装。”（《巴哈欧拉圣典选集》，299 页）

“The purpose of the one true God in manifesting Himself is to summon all mankind to truthfulness and sincerity, to piety and trustworthiness, to resignation and submissiveness to the Will of God, to forbearance and kindliness, to uprightness and wisdom. His object is to array every man with the mantle of a saintly character, and to adorn him with the ornament of holy and goodly deeds.” (“Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah”, p. 299)

在宇宙中所存在的和谐与一体性，我们的统一和警醒的符合更与比我们自己有限的存在更大的，即无限 存在之源，明确地反映世界上万物的一体和创造界的一致性。祈祷就是这种理解和实现的手段与表示；由于它的影响扩大而伸展我们有限的力量和致命的能力 ，并将它们连接到宇宙来源的无限辅助力量。如果与洞察力和有自由的思想，以真诚和纯洁的心灵说，祈祷将吸引神圣力量的辅助， 因而将滋养我们的期望与能力，并将给于我们做出的努力和行动支持。不过， 祈祷本身是足不够的---为了神圣的力量和帮助达到我们，我们需要做出努力，必须发挥我们的作用和贡献。我们尽力的这行为是对我们自己的发展；还有，为了改善全世界和人类文明的前进给不间断的、值得称赞的服务和努力。祈祷和实行与行动是相辅相成的。

Harmony and oneness, unity and vigilant conformity with something far greater than our own limited self, is a reflection of the true coherence and actual oneness that exists in the world of creation.  Prayer is a testimony to such understanding and realization; it is the way of expanding our mortal abilities and stretching our limited forces to reach and connect with the Source of power and might in the universe.  Prayer, a communion between our limited self and its limitless Source, attracts divine forces and powers, awakens and uplifts our beings, expands our limits and nourishes our abilities, empowers our minds and fills them with high aspirations; and it supports and sustains our actions and endeavors.  Of course, prayer alone is not enough; in order for the spiritual forces and divine powers to reach us, and to support and assist us, we need to make the effort, attracting the blessings through rendering our share and playing our part well.  This effort, this exertion on our part is the praiseworthy deed and the continuous action that we perform in developing ourselves and in bettering the world and its people around us.  Prayer and action go hand in hand.

 

 

“上帝啊！望你畅奋而畅快我的精神，净化我的心田，启发我的智能。我托付所有我的事情在你的手中。你是我的向导，我的庇护。我将不再忧愁悲伤；我将作一个快乐喜悦的人。上帝啊！我将不再满怀焦虑，也不会让困难来烦扰我。人生不愉快的事情，我将不会记在心上。上帝啊！你对我比我对自己更为亲善。主啊！我立志为你献身尽瘁。”  （阿博都.巴哈；《巴哈伊祷文》，页141）

“O God! Refresh and gladden my spirit. Purify my heart. Illumine my powers. I lay all my affairs in Thy hand. Thou art my Guide and my Refuge.  I will no longer be sorrowful and grieved; I will be a happy and joyful being.  O God! I will no longer be full of anxiety, nor will I let trouble harass me. I will not dwell on the unpleasant things of life.  O God! Thou art more friend to me than I am to myself. I dedicate myself to Thee, O Lord!”

(`Abdu'l-Baha, “Baha'i Prayers”, p. 141)

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If interested you are welcome to visit my two other blogs in English:

Learning Felicityhttp://learningfelicity.blogspot.ca/
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认识与理解，知识与 崇拜

Recognition and understanding, Knowledge and Worship

“我的上帝啊，我见证， 你创造了我以认识你和崇拜你。在此刻，我印证我的无能和你的权能，我的贫穷和你的富有。除你之外，别无上帝，你是苦难中的救助者，自上自在着。”（巴哈欧拉，“义务祷文.短的”，《巴哈伊祷文集典》，页4）

“I bear witness, O my God, that Thou hast created me to know Thee and to worship Thee.  I testify, at this moment, to my powerlessness and to Thy might, to my poverty and to Thy wealth. There is none other God but Thee, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting.”  (Revealed by Baha’u’llah, “Short Obligatory Prayer”, “Baha’i Prayers”, p. 4)

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万象中，人类是上帝所有创造物的最完美，是独占的具有珍贵的礼物，即智慧。使用了这权力，这宝贵的礼物，人类才能意识到上帝的存在和领悟，由于它能会一次又一次地向人类派遣使者所启示的真理。 上帝的品格是绝对性的，他是永恒的，是代表绝对的真理。但，人的智慧虽然是在世界造物中具有的最唯一的，它有有限的而勿能超过他的限度。人只能由于认识 上帝派遣的各位使者，可以间接的认识上帝，因为这些使者是上帝的显示，是他派向人间的代表。巴哈伊认为，人类的进步和完美的动力是认识和接近上帝，“了解上帝是一切事物的开始。”

From among all created beings, human being is God’s most perfect creation that possesses the most precious and unique gift, which is the power of reason and wisdom. Using that power man can attain the recognition of God and His existence. Through the power of thought and reasoning man can day by day draw closer to the Truth.    The existence of God is an absolute state of authority, is eternal and the essence and manifestation of the most sublime sovereignty that has had no beginning and shall have never an end. It stands on its own and by itself, and the entire universe and every existent being stands by it and depends upon it.  Of course, to know the essence of God is not possible for the finite human mind and perception, but through the recognition of the Manifestations of God—sent by Him as Divine Educators at every age for the guidance of the people—man can and should acquire the knowledge of God and partake of the ocean of His blessings and source of wisdom.  Man’s development and advancement depends upon such recognition, and his continuous progress on towards his perfection is closely related and pending to his nearness to God.  Baha’u’llah has stated:  “The knowledge of God is beginning of all things.”

“存在之子啊！以威权之手我塑造了你。以力量之指我创造了你；在你之中我以置放了我光明之精髓。你该以此满足而勿另寻其它， 因为我的作品是完美的，我的命令是必须遵守的。不要询问，也不要有一丝怀疑。”（《巴哈欧拉之隐言经》，阿拉伯 12 号）

“O Son Of Being! With the hands of power I made thee and with the fingers of strength I created thee; and within thee have I placed the essence of My light. Be thou content with it and seek naught else, for My work is perfect and My command is binding. Question it not, nor have a doubt thereof.”  (Revealed by Bahá’u’lláh, “Hidden Words”, Arabic #12)

如果有兴趣的话,欢迎您访问以下我两个英文的博客：

If interested you are welcome to visit my two other blogs in English:

Learning Felicityhttp://learningfelicity.blogspot.ca/
Inked ThinkPenhttp://inkedthinkpen.blogspot.ca/

“做真理面容上的宝饰，忠诚之额上的冠冕， 正直殿宇中的栋梁，人类躯体的生命气息，正义万军的旗帜， 美德地平线上的星辰，慈润人心土壤的露珠， 知识海洋上的方舟，恩惠天空中的朝阳， 智慧冠冕上的宝石， 当代苍弯中的光亮的光芒，谦虚之树上的果实。”（巴哈欧拉，《巴哈欧拉圣典选集》，285 页）

“Be an ornament to the countenance of truth, a crown to the brow of fidelity, a pillar of the temple of righteousness, a breath of life to the body of mankind, an ensign of the hosts of justice, a luminary above the horizon of virtue, a dew to the soil of the human heart, an ark on the ocean of knowledge, a sun in the heaven of bounty, a gem on the diadem of wisdom, a shining light in the firmament of thy generation, a fruit upon the tree of humility.”

(Revealed by Baha'u'llah, "Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah", p. 285)

巴哈伊神圣蓄兹万节日是巴哈欧拉在1863年，在蓄兹万花园中向随从流放者公开宣告他之使命和新时代届临的喜悦信息的周年纪念。蓄兹万的纪念节在四月21 日到五月2 日之内的时期， 一共十二天，被巴哈伊信仰者庆祝。

Baha'i Ridvan Festival, which is commemorated and celebrated each year for tweleve days, during the period of April 21-May 2--marks Baha'u'llah's Declaration of His Mission to His companions in 1863. It is the "holiest and most significant of the Baha'i Festivals".

关于巴哈伊蓄兹万节(Ridvan Festival) 以获取更多的信息请访问以下网站：

To learn more about the Ridvan Festival and the history of the Declaration of Baha'u'llah, please visit:

http://www.Bahai.org/

如果有兴趣的话,欢迎您访问以下我两个英文的博客：

If interested you are welcome to visit my two other blogs in English:

Learning Felicityhttp://learningfelicity.blogspot.ca/
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焕发着喜悦的容颜
Faces Beaming with Joy

“把你们自己沉浸在我话语之海洋中，庶几你们能启开其奥秘，发现隐伏在其深处的智慧之珍珠。要谨慎不要动摇你们拥抱着声道的决心----经由此声道，上帝全能的潜在之力已显现，他之无上权威已奠立。已焕发着喜悦的容颜，赶紧趋向他吧。这是上帝不变的信仰，永恒于过去及未来。让那寻求的得到它；至于那已拒绝寻求它的----真确的，上帝是自居的，起越于任何他创造物的需求。”（巴哈欧拉，《巴哈欧拉圣典选集》，136-137 页）

“Immerse yourselves in the ocean of My words, that ye may unravel its secrets, and discover all the pearls of wisdom that lie hid in its depths. Take heed that ye do not vacillate in your determination to embrace the truth of this Cause—a Cause through which the potentialities of the might of God have been revealed, and His sovereignty established. With faces beaming with joy, hasten ye unto Him. This is the changeless Faith of God, eternal in the past, eternal in the future. Let him that seeketh, attain it; and as to him that has refused to seek it—verily, God is Self-Sufficient, above any need of His creatures.”(Revealed by Baha'u'llah, “Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah", pp. 136-137)

一切事都有其自己适合的时间,每个时间也都有其自己的要求和条件。在夏季需要的什么好事，是不适宜冬天的时间；必于春天进行的工作，要在冬季的时候做就太迟而不相关了。很久产生的东西虽然在其时间接受了满意，可能不会总是继续良好而令人满足。一件漂亮的服装和新的装备,在适当的时间与季节成为非常和适；但，一使用地旧了就应被抛弃。一种行为和生活方式尽管小的时候被人认为很好值得称赞的，不过人一长大了那个实行不再合适而无值得赞扬，它实际上也可能被看作是一个很大的叛逃和不完善的态度和姿势。在以前的时代只有英勇地保护和保障家庭单位的利益是足够的而是非常值得称赞的；虽然家庭的权益还是特别重要，但是，现在 就保障家庭单位是不够的。要为了自人的城市和区域全心全意地争取与努力，在尽一切的英勇由于自己的国家和民族战斗，尽管都从前算是最崇高的荣誉，现在这样是不够的而不再有助于单一的区域或地区的保护和繁荣。需要现在的是把全地球看它更一个国家一样而算全世界的人一个国家的人民，是为了全人类努力地参加保护和维护地球及其它所有资源和财富。 在遵守这种原则的过程中和这时代的需求，我们所独立的国家和地区的保护与善良将得到保证而肯定地被保障。就当时人类都值得的繁荣和完善才将发现，那样每个人希望的善良情况才将正当地被发生。

Everything has its own time and every time has its own requirement and conditions.  What is good and needed in summer, would not be suitable for the winter period; and what is to be done in spring, could be too late and irrelevant to be undertaken in wintry season.  Something that had been good and acceptable in a certain time, might not continue to be always good and satisfactory.  Once a nice garment and a new outfit, cannot be expected to remain becoming and fit at all times—it would need to be discarded when used and old. A behavior and a way of life and conduct that was considered to be right and praiseworthy in childhood, would not be commendable and appropriate—in fact may even be seen as a great defection and mere imperfection—for a grown up and adult person.  In former times it was very praiseworthy and heroic to safeguard and protect the interests of a family unit, whatever it took and however the sacrifice—and it surely is important and shall ever to be so—but to just think of one’s own family is certainly not enough, no more.  To devotedly endeavor and fight for one’s city and region, and heroically exert every effort in battle-fields for one’s country and nation, was the noblest act and honor; but now that alone is not sufficient, nor conducive to the protection and prosperity, safeguard and advancement of that single region or that one country.  What is the requirement of this time, sufficing and fit for the demands of this age, is to see the world as one planet and its people as one people. It is joining the will and the effort to protect and safeguard the planet, preserving it and its resources and wealth, for all.  Abiding by this principle and meeting the calls of this age and this period of time, the goodness and protection of our own independent nations and regions, our own neighborhoods and families too shall all be safeguarded and treasured.  Then, everyone will attain the prosperity and perfection which each one rightfully deserves and aspires for it to happen.    

“彼一时，此一时也。”  《孟子.公孙丑下》

“That was that time and another period; this too is this time and another age.”(“Meng Zi.Gong Sun Chou Xia) 

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首要的目的与意义
The Purpose, The Meaning

“万物各具一理，万理同出一源” （朱熹；《四书》）

“Every created thing has a purpose and a cause by which it is created. All causes and reasons originate and come from one common source.”(Zhu Xi; “Four Classics”)

“在创造了世界及其万物后，他 [上苍者]，通过其自由和至高意志的直接操作，独选人类赋予其认识和敬爱他的独一无二的特性与能力---就那种为整个创造界的驱动力和首要目的的能力。”（《巴哈欧拉圣典选集》，65 页）

“Having created the world and all that liveth and moveth therein, He [God], through the direct operation of His unconstrained and sovereign Will, chose to confer upon man the unique distinction and capacity to know Him and to love Him—a capacity that must needs be regarded as the generating impulse and the primary purpose underlying the whole of creation.”(“Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah”, p. 65)

“唯一真神显示自己的意图时，召唤人类顺从上帝的意愿，做到诚实和真挚，虔诚和可信，忍耐和仁爱，正直和智慧。他的[上帝的]目的是给每个人披上圣洁品格之装。”（《巴哈欧拉圣典选集》，299 页）

“The purpose of the one true God in manifesting Himself is to summon all mankind to truthfulness and sincerity, to piety and trustworthiness, to resignation and submissiveness to the Will of God, to forbearance and kindliness, to uprightness and wisdom. His object is to array every man with the mantle of a saintly character, and to adorn him with the ornament of holy and goodly deeds.”   

 (“Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah”, p. 299)

如果一个人，具有生命礼物的、潜力富有的，通过他创造者的认识不在精神上增长而平行与他物理的生存没有得到灵性的生活，他的生命---虽然物质的先进，也就人没觉悟地、无想到的很快地被物理的死亡结束---会有什么特殊的意义呢？一位获得这样壮观的知识也必定要开发而体现值得他被创作地位的高尚特征，竭力获得美德；否则，公开宣称相信上帝于他的生活无能有任何特有意思的影响。除非信仰者的优秀品行证明他并不就接受了但又一直在天天生活之内确认高尚的原则，有洞察力的头脑、公平的良心和敏锐的视觉怎能在他以信念的名义下露面地遵守任何实践会发现什么优点或观看认识精神界的所有利益呢？

If a human being invested with the gift of existence and rich in potential does not grow in spirit and along with his physical living does not attain a spiritual life through the knowledge of his and her Creator, what would be the meaning of one's life—however materially advanced, yet passing by swiftly and ending by a physical death in a twinkling of an eye?  Whoso attains to such sublime knowledge, should develop and manifest noble characteristics worthy of one's creation, and endeavor to attain moral excellence; otherwise, there would be no real meaning, truth and benefit in just professing to a belief in God.  Unless goodly deeds and growing excellence in one's character and conduct continue to testify to not only one's recognition of the spiritual truth, but also to his and her upholding the lofty principles and standards in day to day life, how could a perceptive mind, a fair conscience and a clear vision find a merit for or would view any benefits in adhering to any practices in the name of Faith?

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如果有兴趣的话,欢迎您访问以下我两个英文的博客：

If interested you are welcome to visit my two other blogs in English:

Learning Felicityhttp://learningfelicity.blogspot.ca/Inked ThinkPenhttp://inkedthinkpen.blogspot.ca/