Who is not a Bahai?

Our society is divided on various counts. These divisions are on the basis of geography, religion, caste, language, food habits, occupation, etc. While it is a fact that no two creations of Nature are exactly the same, it is also a fact that essentially the whole creation is one. The ultimate goal of life is to realise this fact and that state is the ultimate in our spiritual journey. Once we understand and move in the direction of this understanding, the duality starts diminishing and our disharmony with the world starts lessening. Eventually, all our conflicts disappear and we live in a state of perfect joy.

I had an interesting experience of this process a few years back in Lucknow. The head of CMS schools there, Sri Jagdish Gandhi is a follower of Bahai faith. This faith is very liberal in the sense that it talks of universal brotherhood and believes in no rituals. The faith appeals to all those rational persons who find this lacking in other religions. The concept of universal brotherhood has always appealed to me and I find myself very comfortable in the company of such persons who believe so. One day, Sri Gandhi invited me for breakfast with a senior fellow of the Bahai faith from the USA, who was on a visit to Lucknow. It was a pleasure to accept his invitation because it was a good opportunity to know more about the Bahai faith apart from respecting the invitation.

We were at the breakfast table for over an hour and during this period we were so engrossed in the discussion that breakfast became a secondary affair. I was in agreement with almost everything the American friend said and perhaps, he also appreciated my way of thinking. When we rose from the table, he warmly asked if I was also a Bahai. Certainly, I am not a Bahai in the strict sense of the term. But to say no at that point of time didn’t appear appropriate to me. Therefore, after a pause of few seconds, I answered in the form of a question only. And my question was, “Who is not a Bahai?” This answer pleased him a lot and obviously he could understand the deep connotation of this statement, which came from me spontaneously. Thereafter, we took leave of each other after exchanging greetings and never met again.

However, this meeting and more so the concluding part of it, keeps coming to my mind wherever I notice any conflict on account of various divisions in the society. I have always thought that there can never be a conflict between the essential nature of two persons, and if it is so, it is on account of our ignorance. Therefore, the need is to remove this ignorance, and all our pursuits, whether secular or spiritual, should also be for removing this ignorance. Greater the success in this direction, greater would be the harmony in society. And ultimately, it would be possible for us to feel that we all are Bahais. Not only that, we should develop similar feelings towards other faiths also. After all, being a true Bahai only means to be a good person who cares for others more than for himself. By this definition of a Bahai, a good Hindu, a good Muslim, a good Christian, a good Sikh and so on, are all the same. 

Rakesh Mittal I A S