London World Peace Forum

1260

2012-03-06T13:40:00.000-08:00

1260

In three chapters of the Book of Revelation, the number 1260 is referred to six times. Four times in chapter eleven, once in twelve and one more time in thirteen. At the end of chapter thirteen there is a reference to the number 666.

Chapter eleven starts with an a angel telling the prophet John to measure the temple of God, the alter and those who worship therein, but in verse two he is told not to measure the court outside of the temple for it is given to the gentiles. These same gentiles will walk over the holy city for forty-two months.

In prophesy each day represents a year and a month is 30 days. Forty-two months therefore represents 1260 years.

In verse three mention is made of two witnesses who will prophesy for 1260 days, again representing 1260 years. These two witnesses are given some amazing powers. Verse five says that fire proceeds from their mouths and devours their enemies. In prophesy that which proceeds from the mouth represents the words they speak, so it is their words that devour their enemies. These two witnesses have complete power until the beast appears. When they have finished their testimony the beast will ascend out of the bottomless pit and make war against them, overcome them and kill them.

These witnesses would not be buried but their bodies would lie in the great city where our Lord was crucified for three and a half days. In prophesy this represents three and a half years, each year representing 12 months of 30 days or 360 days. Three and a half times three hundred and sixty is equal to one thousand two hundred and sixty days. If we again take a day for a year we have 1260 years or this may mean just 1260 days.

The people of the earth rejoiced at their death and celebrated until the spirit of Life from God entered into them. In verse eleven we have our fourth reference to 1260 when it states that they came alive and stood up after three and a half days. Now their enemies would see them ascend into Heaven in clouds and great disasters would torment the earth killing many.

In chapter twelve we are introduced to a woman who would give birth to a man child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. A great red dragon pursued the woman with intentions of devouring her child, but the child was snatched up into heaven and the woman hid in the wilderness for 1260 days. (verse 6)

Now chapter thirteen opens with an introduction to a beast named Blasphemy. Having seven heads and ten horns and wearing ten crowns, it would seem this beast represents ten nations ruled by seven leaders. This is the big one. It had authority and power and it blasphemed God. The people of earth reverenced it and stood in awe before its power, even worshipping this beast. It was given power to continue for forty-two months. This is the sixth reference to 1260.

This beast was given power and a mouth to blaspheme, but that was not enough. Another beast appears with equal power and causes the people of earth to worship the first beast. He now makes an image of the first beast and gives it life. All who refuse to worship the beast are to be killed. No one can buy or sell unless he has the mark of the beast, the name of the beast or the number of his name on his right hand or forehead. The chapter concludes by telling us that the number of the beast is the number of a man and that his number is 666.

I have shortened this synopsis and left many things out, so it would be wise to read these chapters for yourself and see what understanding you come to.

I once went to a study class on revelation and had the mark of the beast explained in this way.

Forehead means understanding, as it is in the frontal lobe of the brain where understanding occurs. 666 is 999 upside down. 9 is the number for perfection since it is the largest single digit and is said to have all other numbers within it. Perfection upside down would refer to corruption. Repeated three times means corruption of the mind, soul and body. So taking the mark of the beast in your forehead means that you have corruption in your understanding.

It wasn’t explained what it means by the right hand, but I think this refers to what we do as the right had is usually employed in most of our tasks.

1260

To me it can be no mere coincidence that the number 1260 appears so many times in prophesies and that the declaration of the Báb occurred in the year 1260 AH. It is the description of the things that occur for and duration of 1260 years that I find confusing. I suppose trying to understand spiritual things with a physical brain has its drawbacks. Perhaps the 1260 is repeated simply so we will recognize the significance of that year in history, but time being a physical limitation has no meaning in the spiritual.

The man mentioned in chapter 12 that was destined to rule may refer to Mohammad or Baha’u’llah. Since they are regarded as one, this is not a problem. Mohammad was destined to rule but was snatched into Heaven to protect Him from the Dragon. His Mother, representing the creative force that brought Him into being, was kept alive in the wilderness for 1260 years. We know that the creative power is the word of God, so the woman represents the Qur’an. Although Mohammad’s physical being lived on earth for a short time, His true abode was Heaven were the dragon could not reach Him.

The two witnesses in chapter 11 may very well represent the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh. Of course we are not to make any distinction between the Manifestations of God so they are therefore equivalent to Mohammad. Bahá’u’lláh revealed to us, “Beware, O believers in the Unity of God, lest ye be tempted to make any distinction between any of the Manifestations of His Cause, or to discriminate against the signs that have accompanied and proclaimed their Revelation.” ^{(Gleanings p59)}

So the Manifestation of God held awesome power over the earth for 1260 years, but the people didn’t like it so they rejoiced when the beast rose from the bottomless pit and killed them. By this time they had finished their revelation and now they would lie as dead in the great city for 1260 years. In other words the life of their revelation was gone and only the outward form (their bodies) remained. The people rejoiced at their death for 1260 years until they were given new life. They then watched in terror as the two witnesses ascended into Heaven in a cloud. We know that clouds are that which obscure the vision, so our spiritual eyes do not see clearly the significance of these witnesses. Somehow, now, time has no meaning. These two witnesses had complete power for 1260 years and they were as dead for the same 1260 years. They rose again and ascended into Heaven to possibly rule forever. However they were always in Heaven and always alive, have always ruled and will forever rule the earth. It is only our perception of them that changes. Sometimes they appear to us as dead outward forms of something that was once alive and powerful. Other times they appear as All Powerful and All Mighty. They are the channel through which we see God and so they appear as God to us. They are dead when God appears as dead to us. This is when our relationship with God is dead, for God Himself is always alive. When we become dead to his revelation He appears as dead to us.

At the same time He is alive and All Powerful. We recognize that we can’t control Him and that we are subject to His laws. If we don’t submit to His will we will hate the control He has over us. This makes us dead to Him and makes Him appear as dead to us, so we rejoice that He no longer can control us, but then we experience horror as we see Him come back to life because we realize that our evil deeds will be found out. This cycle continues as our finite minds try to comprehend the infinite. Of course the finite can never comprehend the infinite, so we are left with inklings of an All Powerful, Omnipotent Being. In some way we learn that which He desires for us to learn and we know enough to keep us on the path that He has destined for us.

Now I am left with no more head knowledge than when I began. My spirit is content for somehow I know that He is All Powerful and in control. I don’t have to understand His will for me; I only need to submit to it. When I feel I am in trouble I only need to remember this prayer of the Báb.

Is there any Remover of difficulties save God? Say: Praised be God! He is God! All are His servants, and all abide by His bidding!

(Baha'i Prayers, p. 27)

All are His servants. All abide by His bidding. He is in control. I have nothing to fear so long as I am acting within His will.

Science and religion continued

2011-09-13T13:32:00.000-07:00

Religion must agree with science, so that science shall sustain religion and religion explain science. The two must be brought together, indissolubly, in reality. Down to the present day it has been customary for man to accept blindly what was called religion, even though it were not in accord with human reason.

(Abdu’l-Bahá, Divine Philosophy, p. 26)

At whatever time highly-skilled physicians shall have developed the healing of illnesses by means of foods, and shall make provision for simple foods, and shall prohibit humankind from living as slaves to their lustful appetites, it is certain that the incidence of chronic and diversified illnesses will abate, and the general health of all mankind will be much improved. This is destined to come about. In the same way, in the character, the conduct and the manners of men, universal modifications will be made.

(Abdu’l-Bahá, Selections from the Writings of Abdu’l-Bahá, p. 155)

We sometimes need to think things over before we act. I learned the hard way that, just because someone claims to be spiritually guided, it does not mean they are acting in my best interest. Perhaps you remember the chiropractor that explained that he was opening up the channels for the nerves running through your back in order to get them back to the way the creator meant them to be. Since, as a Baha’i I accept that science and religion must go hand in hand, I jumped on this philosophy and went about promoting him. Then I went to another meeting where he talked of how all illness could be cured by opening up the channels of communication through the body’s nervous system. Okay, now I’m a little suspicious since I’ve heard a few cure all theories before. He continued on to explain that it did not matter what you put into the body explaining that even people who smoke sometime live to a very old age. It is all about the condition of the back and how the nerve cells are relaying the body’s messages. Now something is not right. This does not seem to be in conformity with science and reason. Surely, with all the scientific knowledge to the contrary, a competent doctor would not promote smoking and lustful eating habits.

Still, with my doubts, I continued to talk with him and stupidly allowed him to give me a free adjustment. Ouch! That hurt. Three months later I still have pain and have finally made an appointment to see a medical doctor.

To be fair, the chiropractor did offer further adjustments and explained that pain after the first adjustment was normal, but I wasn’t willing to risk it. For three months now, I have been unable to do normal work and sometimes something as simple as lifting my hand to point a finger causes a sharp pain to shoot through my back and stomach area. He may be right and be able to correct it, but reason tells me that, when the pain continues to get worse over three months, something is happening that another whack in the back is unlikely to correct and could very well do more damage. So tonight I will endure another painful night of sleep and tomorrow I will get another opinion, this time from a medical doctor.

O God! Refresh and gladden my spirit.

2011-07-29T12:37:00.000-07:00

Are You In Need of Divine Assistance?

2011-07-16T07:26:00.000-07:00

I was one who thought that I needed to look after material needs first. I was thinking that once I had my business up and running, I would have time for teaching and Baha'i Activities. Was I in need of divine assistance? That is for sure. Then, after reading the following passage I realized I had it all backwards.

Abdu’l-Bahá says: "it is impossible that the friends of God could receive assistance unless they be engaged in delivering the Message." I definitely needed divine assistance so I definitely need to be engaged in delivering the Message. When I accomplish this, my life will fall back into place.

It is known and clear that today the unseen divine assistance encompasseth those who deliver the Message. And if the work of delivering the Message be neglected, the assistance shall be entirely cut off, for it is impossible that the friends of God could receive assistance unless they be engaged in delivering the Message. Under all conditions the Message must be delivered, but with wisdom. If it be not possible openly, it must be done quietly. The friends should be engaged in educating the souls and should become instruments in aiding the world of humanity to acquire spiritual joy and fragrance. For example: If every one of the friends (believers) were to establish relations of friendship and right dealings with one of the negligent souls, associate and live with him with perfect kindliness, and meanwhile through good conduct and moral behavior lead him to divine instruction, to heavenly advice and teachings, surely he would gradually arouse that negligent person and would change his ignorance into knowledge.
Souls are liable to estrangement. Such methods should be adopted that the estrangement should be first removed, then the Word will have effect.
If one of the believers be kind to one of the negligent ones and with perfect love should gradually make him understand the reality of the Cause of God in such a way that the latter should know in what manner the Religion of God hath been founded and what its object is, doubtless he will become changed; excepting abnormal souls who are reduced to the state of ashes and whose hearts are like stones, yea, even harder.
If by this method every one of the friends of God were to try to lead one soul to the right path, the number of the believers would be doubled every year. But this should be carried out with perfect wisdom and in such a manner that no harm would ever result therefrom.
(Abdu’l-Bahá, Tablets of Abdu’l-Bahá v2, p. 390 - 392)

By leading one soul to the right path, we will double our numbers every year. If you were like me and thought that you didn’t have the time to do this, then think if you want divine assistance in your life. It is difficult for me to leave my store to go to meetings on a Saturday, but today I will be closing for a few hours to attend the reflection meeting. I hope to see you there.

Discussion on peace continues.

2011-07-01T15:26:00.000-07:00

We gather at DR Discount & Wholesale, 639 Nelson St. London, Ontario Every Tuesday at 7:30 PM (store will be closed for the day) for a discussion on peace. If you would like to join us, call 519-850-6651 or email peace@drdiscount.ca for more information. If you have ideas on how we can live peaceably with our fellow word citizens you are welcome to come and share. If you have run into challenges in your struggle to remain at peace you are welcome to share that as well. Perhaps others have had similar experiences and can help to find solutions.

This is strictly a sharing forum. No one has the answers, but together we can learn from each other. World peace begins with individuals like you and me. We must be at peace with ourselves and those we come into contact with if we want to see a peaceful world. We want to avoid all prejudice of every sort, whether racial, patriotic, economic or religious, so all are welcome regardless of where one stands.

Killer Instinct

2011-06-29T13:17:00.000-07:00

In the days of old an instinct for warfare was developed in the struggle with wild animals; this is no longer necessary; nay, rather, co-operation and mutual understanding are seen to produce the greatest welfare of mankind. Enmity is now the result of prejudice only.

(Abdu’l-Bahá, Abdu’l-Bahá in London, p. 19)

A few days ago, as I was walking to work, I saw a cat approaching in “attack” mode. Claws in the air, it jumped out in front of me and then immediately went into “make a friend” mode. It seems that when he noticed the relative size of his intended victim, friendship seemed like a better idea. As he purred and rubbed up against my legs, I tried to reason with him, but to no avail. It seems trying to reason with a cat is an act of futility. However, he did draw my mind to some facts of nature.

When animals are domesticated their instincts remain. In their natural setting, cats needed to hunt for food. Now being fed by humans their hunting is no longer necessary, but the instinct remains so we often see them out chasing birds or other small creatures. So long as you don’t leave a cat alone with your budgie or hamster no real problem occurs.

Dogs are another matter. Having worked with a turkey farmer in the past, he told me how pet dogs were the worst menace to his free range turkeys. When recognizing a neighbours pet chasing his turkeys, he would inform the neighbour who claim that it could not have been his dog since it never left his farm. Many times, unknown to the owners, pet dogs join together at night and form hunting packs that may even attack humans. These animals, in nature would kill their food. Now, as pets they do not need to do that, but the killer instinct is still there. This turkey farmer informed me that a wild animal may attack his flock and kill one bird which it would haul away and devour. These pets aren’t hungry, so they attack and kill many birds and leave them there to rot.

Now we bring this up one level to humanity. Ancient humanity lived by hunting and gathering. They not only had to kill what they would eat, but had to protect themselves from wild animals that were sizing them up for lunch. In modern society this is no longer necessary; however man does possess the killer instinct. The difference with man is that he has a spiritual side and has reasoning powers that animals don’t possess. When humans develop their spiritual side the desire to kill is abolished and they live peaceably with their own, but animalistic mankind still wants to kill for personal gain or to squelch a perceived threat. It has been said that when a man acts like an animal he becomes lower than the animal. The animal has no reasoning power and acts on instinct through ignorance. When man allows his animal nature to take over, he has reasoning power and can override his instincts, so he knowingly inflicts cruelty on his fellow man and is worse than the ferocious beasts.

Let Us Try Peace, as an Experiment

2011-06-23T16:56:00.000-07:00

Whatever thou dost and upon whatever occasion thou showest any effort, the end will prove fruitless except in teaching the Cause of God and in serving the divine Kingdom.(Abdu’l-Bahá, Tablets of Abdu’l-Bahá v1, p. 212)

Although the London World Peace Forum has attracted a great deal of interest, yet those who have looked have not participated. Yes, you are free to leave comments and even post your own blog on this site. Email me at peace@drdiscount.ca for more info.

Is peace achievable without religion? In my view, I think not. How can religion be the cause of peace when so many wars were fought in the name of religion? Yes, religion has been corrupted by man and used as an excuse for war, but the essence of true religion is peace. God commands us, “Thou shalt not kill,” (Exodus 20:13) but man does not listen. Christ Jesus expanded this,

Ye have heard that it was said of them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. (Matthew 5: 21 - 24)

If there is one God, There must be one religion. If we are all God’s Children, then we must love one another. We are one family. We share one Earth. The multiplication of gods has always been regarded as evil. If your god tells you to kill me because I do not follow in his ways, then one of us must follow a false god. The True God that created us to know Him and to worship Him tells us that we are not even to get angry with one another.

God periodically sends messengers to us to keep us on track. There was Adam, Abraham, Buddha, Jesus of Nazareth, Mohammad, the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh to name a few. So many times mankind has clung to the messenger and forgotten the message. They all taught us to love. They all taught peace. When we use their names as an excuse to go to war, we do Them a great injustice.

You do not need to agree with me. Only turn to the message that your religion has brought and find in it a reason to love all mankind. As I said, there is only one true religion and the fact that it has been called by different names throughout the ages in inconsequential. If you have a different concept of God than I do, that is not surprising. God the creator must be infinitely greater than His creation. Therefore He is beyond our comprehension and we may have experienced Him from completely different aspects. The Ocean is only a tiny part of His creation, but someone living in Hawaii would have a different perception of the Ocean than someone from Alaska. Do we need to kill each other because one sees it as warm and the other cold? No, but we can learn from each other and get a greater understanding of the Ocean.

This is the purpose of this forum. We learn from each other about our own humanity and no longer fear the unknown. When I learn that you desire peace and security, a good life for your children, and have much the same concerns that I do, I learn that you are not much different than me. Now we can help each other instead or fearing each other. Fear leads to hate and hate leads to war. Now learning from and about each other makes the unknown to be known, fear to vanish, hate to transmute into love and war to become peace. Is that not better? We can at least try it to see if we like it. We can always go back to hatred and war if we think that is better. But let’s at least try peace.

As for the Atheist, I have not forgotten you. I once had a friend that would tell those who did not believe in God that she also did not believe in the God that they didn’t believe in. In order to say we do not believe in God, we need to have a concept of God that we don’t believe in. If I said I didn’t believe in xwvrptskd, you would say, “What is that?” You couldn’t say whether or not you believed in it until you knew what it was. So the concept you have of God that you don’t believe in, well I don’t believe in that concept of God either, so we don’t need to kill each other over that either. If I keep going, there will not be any excuse left for war, and that is what I am attempting to do, but I would love to hear your ideas and thoughts whether or not you agree with me. Let’s get this discussion going and start learning what makes each other tick.

Don't be a Bully

2011-06-10T15:44:00.000-07:00

A world Peace Forum would not be complete without a message about anti-bullying. This has become a big problem in schools and workplaces and affects people of all ages. When it happens among children it is especially harmful because our young people are forming traits and habits that they may carry with them for life. Whether it is the bully who learns to get what he/she wants by bullying others or it is the victim who learns that the world is evil and grows up with hatred in her/his heart, harm is done and a perverted sense of worth is carried into adulthood.
One of my heroes in life is a young lady from St Thomas who has devoted her life to stamping out bullying and instilling a sense of self worth into the children of this generation. She takes her message to the schools and anywhere else she is invited to go. Mixing the positive message with hip hop music gets the kids’ attention. If you haven’t guessed yet I am talking about Saidat. Just click on her name to go to her site and learn more.

If you’re on facebook, go to One Million Fans for Saidat register there then click the link to her face book page and click the like button to become a fan.

If you appreciate this article, or if you don’t, feel free to leave be a comment or send me an email to peaceforum@drdiscount.ca

Agreement of Science and Religion / Spiritual and Physical Healing.

2011-06-07T16:36:00.000-07:00

Agreement of Science and Religion / Spiritual and Physical Healing.

Religion and Science are inter-twined with each other and cannot be separated. These are the two wings with which humanity must fly. One wing is not enough. Every religion which does not concern itself with Science is mere tradition, and that is not the essential. Therefore science, education and civilization are most important necessities for the full religious life.
(Abdu’l-Bahá, Abdu’l-Bahá in London, p. 28, 29)

Agreement of Science and Religion is one of the basic principles of the Baha’i Faith so when we see its realization outside of the Faith, we are not surprised, but it excites us to see the Divine Plan of God coming together.

In answer to question from a physician regarding the sympathetic nervous system of the human organism, Abdu’l-Bahá says:

The powers of the sympathetic nerve are neither entirely physical nor spiritual, but are between the two (systems). The nerve is connected with both. Its phenomena shall be perfect when its spiritual and physical relations are normal.
When the material world and the divine world are well co-related, when the hearts become heavenly and the aspirations grow pure and divine, perfect connection shall take place. Then shall this power produce a perfect manifestation. Physical and spiritual diseases will then receive absolute healing.
The exposition is brief. Ponder and thou shalt understand the meaning. Although, on account of lack of time, the answer is short, by close reflection it shall be made long.
(Abdu’l-Bahá, Tablets of Abdu’l-Bahá v2, p. 308)

London World Peace Forum

2011-06-06T10:14:00.000-07:00

Discussion and prayers for peace. If there is only one GOD, why do those who believe in HIM kill each other? London World Peace Forum is a Blog for world Peace. We approach the process of World Peace at a grassroots level where each individual member commits to a non violent life style and attempts to influence at least one other person to do the same each year. This blog is a place where ideas can be exchanged and members can share their successes and struggles in their attempts to influence others. Feel free to leave comments, suggestions and your successes in establishing world peace in your community. Every Tuesday evening at 7:30 pm we gather at my store, DR Discount & Wholesale, 639 Nelson St. London, ON N5Z 1J6 to pray and share ideas. If you wish to join us call 519-850-6651 to confirm you are coming and to be sure that the date or location has not been changed. This week’s question for reflections is, “If there is only one GOD, why do those who believe in HIM kill each other?” We welcome all Faiths, religious persuasions, ethnicities, etc, to join in. I believe when we get to know each other we will learn to trust and respect each other. As Sting said in his hit song Russians; “What will save us, me and you, is if the Russians love their children too.” When we learn that we have common values and all desire to live with peace and security, we will not longer live in fear and hatred. Come back soon for an article on healing and peace.