DAY 11/19 Fortitude
“O SON OF MAN!
For everything there is a sign. The sign of love is fortitude under My decree and patience under My trials.”
- Bahá’u’lláh
Fortitude is that quality of strength that roots you into the ground, that regardless of whether the earth and heavens rise against you type of thing, you will never waver.
“And be thou so steadfast in My love that thy heart shall not waver, even if the swords of the enemies rain blows upon thee and all the heavens and the earth arise against thee.” - Bahá’u’lláh (excerpt from the Tablet of Ahmad)
Definition of Fortitude: courage in pain or adversity
Definition of Steadfast: resolutely or dutifully firm and unwavering
Fortitude is the 2/3 Kriyas, meaning ‘purifications’ in Sanskrit.
The first Kriya is Self-Study which we learned about yesterday
The third Kriya is Surrendering to God (tomorrows theme)
Kriyas are meant for the second type of Life’s Student.
First type of life’s student: Those that are unwavering in what they know, those that have reached enlightenment and are still living on this earthly plane, have no questions left to investigate in life, their sole duty is to perform good deeds and forget their good deeds and services, and then repeat over and over again, until death.
Second type of life’s student: Those that still have questions about life, those that are still searching for the truth, their tools of life are the three Kriyas we have mentioned in the 19 day purification series which is,
Self-Study
Fortitude
Surrender To God/ Higher Power
The second type of student, repeatedly does these three actions in rhythmic cycles, they study themselves, they practice fortitude in times of trials and test, they are consistent, persistent in their actions and inquiry into life, and they surrender their challenges to God and ask for assistance when they need to overcome them.
Third type of life’s student: those that don’t know where to begin life’s quest, or pinpoint what questions to ask about life, they are recommended to follow the 8 limbs of ashtanga yoga, also known as 8 steps of enlightenment.
1# Yamas (The don’ts in life)
Non-violence
Truthfulness
Non-stealing
Practicing restraint with the senses
Non-covetousness/Non-hoarding
2# Niyamas ( The do’s in life)
Purity/cleanliness
Contentment
Fortitude
Self study
Surrendering to God
3# Asanas (Physical postures - what you see the majority of yogi’s practicing in studios)
4# Pranayama (Guiding the Life force energy, breath practices)
5# Pratyahara (Withdrawal of the senses)
6# Dharana (Concentration)
7# Dhyana (Single pointed focus/Uninterrupted focus)
8# Samadhi (Enlightenment)
All three types of life’s students’ path or journey, lead to the exact same place, we just require different tools to get there, each level of student is not better or worse than the other, it is simply important to have awareness and clarity of where you are at, to know which actions you need to take from here for your life’s spiritual journey.
Fortitude, is one of those essential qualities, that regardless of which level of student you consider yourself to be, you will always require the virtue of fortitude in your life’s spiritual path.
Even in the first level of student, fortitude is required to be able to perform only good deeds, and be able to maintain that forgetfulness of the self, both of which require steadfastness, fortitude and consistency.
We circle back to Day 2’s Unbreakable Habit of being consistent with your prayer and meditation throughout the 19 days of purification, specifically because, certain themes of purification, actually the practice of purification itself, is the uprooting of ideas and thoughts that may have sunk deep, and would require us uprooting thoughts and habits that no longer serve our higher purpose, which is an understandable painful process. The consistent prayer and meditation is to shield you of unnecessary suffering, and fortify you in courage to continue forward.
“The only difference that separates you from a monk might be the consistency, and perhaps length, of how you meditate and pray.
If you think about the actual factors that deepen spirituality, it’s simple yet quite profound.
Consistency, meaning frequency, as well as length of earth time, mines your spirituality.” - Excerpt from Day Two’s Purification Series.
Fortitude is that quality needed in order to be consistent. Things are bound to come up that make it difficult for you to pray, to make it difficult for you to meditate, that make you question whether or not you should even pray and meditate, fortitude is that courage to overcome in pain and adversity.
Fortitude was a distinguishing quality of the Prophets of the old, regardless of what hardships They would go through, They were always firm and steadfast in Their Own Mission - a Godly quality for sure.
“Do not say, “How can He speak of God while in truth His age is no more than twenty-five?” Give ye ear unto Me. I swear by the Lord of the heavens and of the earth: I am verily a servant of God. I have been made the Bearer of irrefutable proofs from the presence of Him Who is the long-expected Remnant of God. Here is My Book before your eyes, as indeed inscribed in the presence of God in the Mother Book. God hath indeed made Me blessed, wheresoever I may be, and hath enjoined upon Me to observe prayer and fortitude so long as I shall live on earth amongst you. “ - The Báb
Meditation
For todays meditation, you may re-do the meditation for yesterdays Self-Inquiry, however, this time, the type of questions you could pose to yourself, would be of the nature of Fortitude, such as the following,
When did I practiced fortitude in my life despite the circumstances being exceptionally difficult?
When have I practiced extraordinary courage that under regular circumstances I would not have behaved this way? What was it that gave me this strength?
When do I feel most assertive and powerful ?
What is something I would die believing in?
Guided Meditation on Self Inquiry
The link above directs you to the library of last years meditations during the Baha’i Fast, you are most welcome to listen to any and all of the podcasts and meditation practices! The specific one that is relevant to this topic can be found with the title below - however this link may likely be disabled once the fast is over so do jump on it before March 26th)
Prayer
”O Lord my God! Assist Thy loved ones to be firm in Thy Faith, to walk in Thy ways, to be steadfast in Thy Cause. Give them Thy grace to withstand the onslaught of self and passion, to follow the light of divine guidance. Thou art the Powerful, the Gracious, the Self-Subsisting, the Bestower, the Compassionate, the Almighty, the All-Bountiful.”
—‘Abdu’l-Bahá
Tomorrow’s Day 12/19 purification series will be focusing on surrendering to a higher power.
Remainder of the 19 Days of Purifications Theme Topics
The Three Kriyas
12. Surrender [NEXT]
The Five Koshas
13. Physical
14. Energetic
15. Mental/Emotional
16. The Witness
17. Bliss Body
18. Summary
19. Maintaining purification
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Introduction to the Author
作者简介
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Nahal Haghbin's Chinese name is Chen Nana, a Canadian-born foreigner who grew up in Tianjin, China. She is an Integrative Yoga Therapist (IAYT) in training. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Life Sciences from the University of British Columbia and a Master's degree in Control of Infectious Diseases from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. In 2014, Nahal worked with the World Health Organization on the H7N9, MERS-CoV and Ebola global outbreaks whilst serving in the Assistant Director General's Office Taskforce. It was her teenage experience of SARS in 2003, that led her to choose her eventual profession and future career in the control of infectious disease outbreaks.
作者简介：Nahal Haghbin 中文名字：陈娜娜，出生于加拿大，在中国天津长大的外籍人士。她是一名在训的综合瑜伽理疗师（IAYT），她拥有英国哥伦比亚大学生命科学学士学位和伦敦卫生及热带医学院传染病控制科学硕士学位。2014年，Nahal与世界卫生组织合作处理H7N9、MERS-CoV和埃博拉全球疫情，同时在助理总干事办公室工作组任职。正是2003年她十几岁时的非典经历，让她最终选择了她未来的职业方向：控制传染病的爆发
Nahal has found that she can best be of service to mankind by combining her passions of global health and integrative yoga therapy. To her, both serve as complementary systems of knowledge to interpret the world around her. Nahal has found that by bridging the two disciplines, it broadens the availability of language and understanding that she can access, to share her interpretations of various health conditions.
Nahal发现她能结合自己对全球健康和综合瑜伽理疗的热情，为人类提供最好的服务。对她来说两者是互为补充的知识系统，可以用来帮她解读周围的世界。Nahal发现连接这两个学科拓宽了语言和理解的可用性，使她能够分享她对不同疾病的理解.