My first and most important teacher was my mother to whom I will be forever grateful. She taught me about telling the truth, being kind, washing my hands and so much more besides, although she never managed to teach me to like eating peas or tidy my room.
Five years later I met my next teacher, at our local school. At that same age, in the nearby church, I was introduced to yet another teacher, Miss Chapman. She and the other church teachers who followed, specialised in the complementary field of spiritual education.
As I recall those days at our local primary school, I remember meeting the young and playful Mr. Tibbits who taught me the excitement of drama. A year or two later I met quiet and serious Mr. Elliot who introduced me to 'times tables', a knowledge which I found to have a very short shelf life. Then plump Mr. Whitmore demonstrated a surprising aptitude in fostering a love for gymnastics, and later prim and proper Miss Smith revealed her intense passion for Shakespeare.
Despite my varying capacity in each of these areas, I knew to treat these teachers with equal respect and courtesy and to value what they taught as stepping stones to my further education. All had my education at heart, although each approached it in different ways that reflected my growing needs and capacity.
When I was eventually guided to meet the woman to whom I now give the title of my Spiritual Teacher, dearest Suzi, I learned from her that religious education shared many features in common with that material education offered at state schools. Since reality is one, it follows that spiritual education should be compatible with material education.
There was no competition between my various childhood teachers, just as there should be no competition between our spiritual teachers. They do not come to the earth as competing 'brands' to foster the many wars that have been fought on their names but as a series of great educators. What we learn in religious education should harmonize with scientific education. If these two are not harmonious, this must be challenged, for science and religion are expressions of the one reality and therefore must be in unity.
Effective schools require knowledgeable teachers. Each teacher is uniquely qualified to teach their specific level. However, he or she is also required to be thoroughly familiar with the previous grades which their children formerly experienced and also of what will be studied in the future classes for which their pupils are now being prepared.
This is the function of a school, to offer a series of progressive classes, each of which builds upon the knowledge received in previous grades. So it is with divine teachers. Each one is teaching the same 'Divine Curriculum' at different levels reflecting the spiritual needs of the people of that time and place.
So, for example, the Buddhist Four Noble Truths and Eightfold Path teach themes that are complementary with all the other religions, although they differ in relationship to the time and place of their teaching. For example, Baha'is believe that just as the Torah tells the story of the early Hebrew prophets and teachers, so the Bible and Quran continue these stories and reinforce them with yet more advanced concepts. So, too, do the teachings of the Bab and Baha'u'llah build upon the earlier teachings of Moses, Christ, and Mohammed; one Divine Curriculum taught to humanity at different stages of our collective development.
It is this continuing revelation of knowledge, both material and divine, which has enabled humanity to develop an ever-advancing civilisation.
Throughout human history we find that although the very apex of human virtues has been reached at various times, yet they were limited, whereas divine attainments have ever been unbounded and infinite. The limited is ever in need of the unlimited. The material must be correlated with the spiritual. The material may be likened to the body, but divine virtues are the breathings of the Holy Spirit itself. The body without spirit is not capable of real accomplishment. Although it may be in the utmost condition of beauty and excellence, it is, nevertheless, in need of the spirit. The chimney of the lamp, no matter how polished and perfect it be, is in need of the light. Without the light, the lamp or candle is not illuminating. Without the spirit, the body is not productive. The teacher of material principles is limited. The philosophers who claimed to be the educators of mankind were at most only able to train themselves. If they educated others, it was within a restricted circle; they failed to bestow general education and development. This has been conferred upon humanity by the power of the Holy Spirit.
-- Abdu'l-Baha, Promulgation of Universal Peace, 73 –18 June 1912 Talk at 309 West Seventy-eighth Street, New York Notes by Emma C. Melic
My first and most important teacher was my mother to whom I will be forever grateful, although she struggled to convince me to eat vegetables, or to keep my room tidy. Her guiding voice lives on, quietly influencing my life in the most important ways, years after her passing, as I guide my own children.
Five years after my birth I met a second teacher at our local school, from where I gained the impression that all teachers were middle-aged women. Mrs. Melrose taught us the the ABC's, where the toilet was, and our class rules. Basic knowledge like numeracy, sanitation and civil law is still essential in our lives today.
Later that same week, at our nearby church I was introduced to yet more teachers, this time specialising in the complementary field of spiritual education, and confirming my original impression that all teachers are women.
It wasn't until 4 years later that I learned teachers could also be men. I met smart young Mr. Tibbits who taught me the excitement of drama. A year or two later I met Mr. Elliot who introduced me to 'times tables', a knowledge which I found to have a very short shelf life. Then rather plump Mr. Whitmore taught me to love gymnastics, whilst later the slim and precisely correct Miss Smith revealed the charms of Shakespeare.
Despite my varying capacity in each of these areas, I knew to treat all these teachers with equal respect and courtesy, and to value what they taught as stepping stones to my further education. Whether man or woman, young or elderly, all had my education at heart. All were experts in the field of education, although each approached it in different ways that reflected the growing needs and capacity of their pupils.
Religion shares many features in common with schooling. Since reality - as for all existence - is just one, it follows that spiritual education must be compatible with material education. Just as material teachers possess knowledge essential to advancing the present knowledge of their students, spiritual teachers also advance our knowledge beyond present levels. But any individual can only be receptive to whatever level of maturity and development they have reached. Otherwise, knowledge is like rich food given to infants; their bodies are unable to digest it.
There was no competition between any of my childhood teachers. Irrespective of their gender or age, they were all teaching the same curriculum at different levels, to pupils of different ages and stages. Similarly there should be no competition between our spiritual teachers. Buddha, Krishna, Zoroaster, Abraham, Moses, Christ, Mohammed, The Bab and Baha'u'llah all came to different places on the planet at different times, before human knowledge had advanced to our present level of communication and awareness of one another.
This is the function of a Divine School, to offer a series of progressive classes, each building upon the knowledge received in previous grades. Each of humanity's Divine Teachers has taught the same ongoing Divine Curriculum, at different levels that reflected the needs of the people of that particular time and place.
So, for example, the Buddhist Four Noble Truths and Eight-fold Path teach themes that are complementary with all the other religions, although they differ in relationship to the time and place of their teaching.
Similarly, Baha'is believe that just as the Torah tells the story of the early Hebrew prophets and teachers, so the Bible and Quran continue these stories and reinforce them with yet more advanced concepts.
The teachings of the Bab and Baha'u'llah build upon the earlier teachings of Moses, Christ, and Mohammed; One Divine Curriculum taught to humanity at different stages of our collective development.
It is this continuing revelation of knowledge, both material and divine, which has enabled humanity to develop an ever-advancing civilisation. Baha'is call this principle 'Progressive Revelation'.
"The proof of the validity of a Manifestation of God is the penetration and potency of His Word, the cultivation of heavenly attributes in the hearts and lives of His followers and the bestowal of divine education upon the world of humanity. This is absolute proof. The world is a school in which there must be Teachers of the Word of God. The evidence of the ability of these Teachers is efficient education of the graduating classes."
---Abdu'l-Baha, Promulgation of Universal Peace, 81.
A short animated Introduction by Rainn Wilson, explaining religion and the Bahai Faith. Please watch and share;