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Once, when I was in my tweens, my dad warned me against the “supermarket” model of belief. “Many people think you can just pick and choose what beliefs feel good to you and live your life without problems,” he said.
“Aren’t people supposed to choose their beliefs?” I asked. “I thought Baha’is believed in free will!”
My dad went on to teach 12 year old me about the concept of an ontology. Everyone has one in the back of their mind, we learned together–whether they know it or not. Beliefs are informed by ontologies, and ontologies are built on assumptions. Those assumptions have implications for how you think life and reality works. He encouraged me to always be aware of the ontologies driving my choices; to do so would not only be empowering, but help me make decisions in my life that didn’t contradict each other.
Ontology was developed as a branch of metaphysics, which is a field of philosophy concerned with the study of what is “real”. Aristotle called it “first philosophy” in his Metaphysics series. His position was that you have to determine what reality is before you can begin theorizing about how it should work, or how we should exist within it. What is real? How do we know it’s real? And what are the fundamental characteristics of this reality? These are questions a metaphysicist, or a generally nosy person such as myself, might ask. Under this umbrella we have ontologies: theories or assumptions about the nature of being, reality, or existence in general.
Here’s an example. Say I am a scientist using the scientific method. The scientific method hinges on the ontological assumption that reality is empirically observable, and to some degree a reflection of objective truth. If it wasn’t, we couldn’t make any scientific statement with real confidence; the best we could do is say, “well, I observed all of this, but that could just be my opinion”. If we agree that scientific study is a good source of information about the world around us, then to some degree we are agreeing with the ontological assumption underlying that method.
Ontologies aren’t limited to the secular realm. Many faith-based frameworks have explicitly and allegorically articulated ontological assumptions that adherents of those faiths consider true. What draws me over and over again to the Baha’i Faith is what I would describe as an ontology of oneness.
The Baha’i scriptures discuss three overlapping spheres of oneness: oneness of God, oneness of religion, and oneness of humanity. Starting with the first sphere, Baha’u’llah proclaims, “Thy unity is inscrutable, O my God, to all except them that have recognized Him Who is the Manifestation of Thy singleness and the Dayspring of Thy oneness.”1
Oneness and unity in the Baha’i writings do not mean uniformity. Let’s consider the second sphere, oneness of religion. Discussing Manifestations of God across global and historical religions, Baha’u’llah highlights Their essential spiritual oneness while still emphasizing the importance and beauty of diversity:
“Conceive accordingly the distinction, variation, and unity characteristic of the various Manifestations of holiness, that thou mayest comprehend the allusions made by the creator of all names and attributes to the mysteries of distinction and unity …” 2
To me, this expresses a core belief in a diverse and expansive world of religious truth united by essential characteristics that all stem from the same divine source. In another tablet, Baha’u’llah encourages us to approach our reality with an “eye of oneness”:
“The essence of all that We have revealed for thee is Justice … for man to free himself from idle fancy and imitation, discern with the eye of oneness [God’s] glorious handiwork, and look into all things with a searching eye.”3
The Baha’i Writings repeatedly offer me this encompassing ontology of oneness as a tool for understanding my reality. More than that, they suggest that constructs like justice, which the world around me seems to be struggling to understand, can be achieved by aligning my own thoughts and actions with that reality. This brings us to the third sphere of oneness: oneness of humanity. Shoghi Effendi writes that the principle of the oneness of humanity is “no mere outburst of ignorant emotionalism or an expression of vague and pious hope.” Instead, he describes it as rational and almost scientific in how it can impact essential relationships across individuals, communities, and nations.
This breakdown forces me to reflect on how I view my own relationships. If every human being shares a core connection to a divine source of oneness, then I cannot see an individual in a different part of the world as inferior to myself. I can’t wish for their harm or feel apathetic to their suffering. I am encouraged to immediately look for that connecting point–that point of oneness.
In my experience, this has practical implications. I’ve seen too many well-intentioned community-building or equity-focused initiatives that fall apart because they have not defined their core ontological assumptions, and thus reach a limit of who they are willing to include. Circling back to my dad’s advice, understanding what my ontological assumptions are has helped me practically and consciously align my choices with an ontology that encourages universal connection. When I come to contribute to the improvement of my reality, I am anchored in an assumption that very systematically transcends the social, biological, and historical boundaries that divide the world.
There are many more layers of depth to the Baha’i Faith’s ontology of oneness. Central texts of the faith such as The Kitab-i-Iqan, The Kitab-i-Aqdas, or The Tabernacle of Unity are places where you can begin to learn more about the details of this ontological approach. Even if an ontology of oneness doesn’t sound quite right to you, I encourage you to ask yourself the questions my dad asked me: What ontologies underlie your beliefs? Are they consistent with one another? And, perhaps most importantly, how do they impact the way you live your life in the world?
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Wishing you all best on your journey to success.
Feraidoon (October 10, 2024 at 7:26 AM)