12th Chapter
Attachment to the appearance of the world makes it easy to lose our insight.
Attachment to outward sound and melody makes it easy to lose our inner hearing.
Attachment to the flavor of spices makes it easy to lose the satisfaction of the food itself.
When our mind is galloping in the hunt for material desires, we will become crazy too.
When we hunt for rare things, then we lose sense of boundaries.
A wise person guards his senses and focuses on his inner being, not his outer self.
He knows what is good for him and what is not.

Implications from the Holy Books

Thine eye is My trust, suffer not the dust of vain desires to becloud its luster. Thine ear is a sign of My bounty, let not the tumult of unseemly motives turn it away from My Word that encompasseth all creation. Thine heart is My treasury, allow not the treacherous hand of self to rob thee of the pearls which I have treasured therein. Thine hand is a symbol of My loving-kindness, hinder it not from holding fast unto My guarded and hidden Tablets. —Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh 152

The Pen of the Most High is unceasingly calling; and yet, how few are those that have inclined their ear to its voice! The dwellers of the kingdom of names have busied themselves with the gay livery of the world, forgetful that every man that hath eyes to perceive and ears to hear cannot but readily recognize how evanescent are its colors. —Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh 96

O CHILDREN OF NEGLIGENCE!
Set not your affections on mortal sovereignty and rejoice not therein. Ye are even as the unwary bird that with full confidence warbleth upon the bough; till of a sudden the fowler Death throws it upon the dust, and the melody, the form and the color are gone, leaving not a trace. Wherefore take heed, O bondslaves of desire! —Bahá’u’lláh, The Hidden Words, Persian 75

O YE DWELLERS IN THE HIGHEST PARADISE! Proclaim unto the children of assurance that within the realms of holiness, nigh unto the celestial paradise, a new garden hath appeared, round which circle the denizens of the realm on high and the immortal dwellers of the exalted paradise. Strive, then, that ye may attain that station, that ye may unravel the mysteries of love from its wind-flowers and learn the secret of divine and consummate wisdom from its eternal fruits. Solaced are the eyes of them that enter and abide therein! —Bahá’u’lláh, The Hidden Words, Persian 18

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