How can we see justice through the injustice in this world which is enforced by material power? In the last few weeks, the answer has become more real to me. I would like to share these here.

From past experience, whenever I saw God protecting me or someone else from something unjust, I knew that God is just. This is something we can observe in our personal lives, and personal spiritual battles. But when we serve the Cause, how do we see the justice of God in the battlefield of society? I found when I look into the differences between how the world judges things and how God judges, and the answer becomes clear.  

If we ponder on the meaning of God’s teachings, we will discover they point to the human tendency to seek excessive self-interest, the result of the wrong mindset in the human world. Self-interest has driven nations to occupy the territory of others. Fighting for territory, resources and markets has caused the environmental issues and the wars we observe in human history. This territorialism can also be manifest in invisible ways, such as political preference, philosophies, religious sects and branches, etc. They come from personal self-interest and limited understanding. To see the oneness of humanity, we need to remove all prejudices, which are territories in our consciousness. But the root of prejudice is the mindset of self-interest which God judges against. For example, Baha’u’llah said:

O SON OF MAN! Thou dost wish for gold and I desire thy freedom from it. Thou thinkest thyself rich in its possession, and I recognize thy wealth in thy sanctity therefrom. By My life! This is My knowledge, and that is thy fancy; how can My way accord with thine?

Baha’u’llah, Hidden Words 56

What is the difference between the values of the world and of the Kingdom of God? What is the difference between success as defined by humans and perfection in the teachings of God? What happens in the process of material success and the process toward spiritual perfection? In one case people step on top of each other and in the other case there is support for each other. From here, we can see the differences of mindset if we seek to be near to God or move away from God. With different mindsets, our life moves toward different results, either toward the world to come or the material world. 

We talk about a selfish or selfless orientation because it is related to whether we can truly see justice or not. Also, we can be clearer about where we are from the standpoint of justice in the human world. In the physical realm, everything is recognized by physical phenomena. Justice in society is judged based on human behavior. But in the spiritual realm, the Kingdom of God, God judges by the human heart. Our mindset and the orientation of the heart is what God judges. We can’t understand behavior without knowing one’s mindset. And we can’t change one’s behavior without re-orienting his mindset through spiritual education. In the human world those in authority tend to ask people to change their behavior or face consequences based on their behavior.

The Divine teachers help mankind understand their own spiritual reality. By understanding the power of the mind and adjusting the mindset people can discover their own capacity and act rightly. God judges based on the mindset, the cause of the action. God’s justice also has His loving-kindness, to guide us to the right path. To understand true justice, we must seek to understand God’s teachings, and learn more about the human heart. We also need to develop our insight and sharpen our spiritual perception in order to understand the spiritual reality. Prayer and meditation help us become more familiar with our spiritual perception. Spiritual education can lead us to a better understanding of true justice. Service in spiritual education is part of the divine plan, and it will lead to divine justice. And this is what Baha’u’llah teaches in this dispensation. Bahá’u’lláh said,

“Consume the egotistical veils with the fire of oneness, sincerely for the sake of God. (Bahá’u’lláh)”

Sharp must be thy sight, O Dhabíh, and adamant thy soul, and brass-like thy feet, if thou wishest to be unshaken by the assaults of the selfish desires that whisper in men’s breasts. This is the firm injunction which the Pen of the Most Great Name hath, by virtue of the Will of the Ancient King, been moved to reveal. Keep it as the apple of thine eye, and be thou of the thankful.

Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh 115

This tells us our egoism creates barriers (veils) between men. It stops us from feeling how others feel. To gain the oneness vision we must remove the veils of egoism. Also, egoism is the veils between man and God. True justice can’t be reached without detachment from self. Bahá’u’lláh, the Divine physician of this Day, tells us how egotistical the human world is today. He said,

“Look ye upon this day; consider and discuss its needs. One sees that existence is afflicted with innumerable diseases compelling it to lie upon the bed of suffering. Men who are intoxicated with the wine of self-contemplation prevent the wise Physician from reaching it. Thus have they made themselves and the world to suffer. They know not the ailment nor recognize the cure. They take the wrong for the right, the crooked for the straight, the enemy for the friend.”

Bahá’u’lláh

To understand the Holy books and to see the Kingdom, it requires insight too. When we improve the condition of our heart and orient it to the right mindset, to God’s selflessness, the mystery, the reality of the Kingdom of God, will gradually become real and we will see that the King on the throne is the Most Just.