As I live among fellow human beings, I ponder over their physical, cultural, behavioral, and intellectual diversity as well as all the contradictions that are associated within them. I see the extremes and all shades in the middle between the rich and poor; healthy and sick; young and old; good and evil; generous and stingy; happy and sad; reserved and permissive; moral and immoral; intelligent and dumb; playful and stern; religious and atheist; gentle and harsh; kind and abusive…My pondering leads me to the ultimate question: What does it all mean?
To Daheshists, there is only one answer: Being one with the Creator. One may wonder, how human diversity and all the contradictions lead to being one with the Creator? According to Daheshist ideology, the entire physical universe is comprised of 150 levels of infernal worlds and 150 levels of lofty worlds. Each level is made up of countless environments where life can form, such as the case for all living entities on Earth. The two extremes represent the furthest from and the closest to the Glory of God, and all in between are varying degrees of these extremes. Our world happens to be at the edge of the infernal worlds and at the same time at the edge of the lofty worlds. Whatever good or bad experiences we find ourselves in are directly related to our conduct in this life or in past lives. In each existence, our free will and conduct will dictate our Spiritual elevation to the lofty worlds or degradation to the infernal worlds. God’s mercy provides us with Spiritual Guides and Prophets to enlighten our path and provide us with salvation.
Since our existence in this life is directly related to our past conduct, then it follows that our existence is mandated. The only exceptions are the Prophets and Guides. Although we had no choice in being born into this life, our Beloved and Guiding Prophet did have a choice and he had chosen to descend to Earth to live among us in order to expose us to new Spiritual truths and to redeem us through his suffering as a human being—the same way he did it 2,000 years ago when he had chosen to be born as our Lord, Jesus Christ.
On April 9, 1984, our Beloved and Guiding Prophet departed from us after laying down the foundation for Daheshism. To his followers, his departure is a bittersweet anniversary. On the one hand, it is sad not to have him among us. On the other hand, it is a joyful reminder of the day his soul was liberated from the prison of the human body. In 1970, he wrote a prose poem titled “O My Worried Soul,” and it is only befitting to present it to the reader on the 26th anniversary of his departure:
O My Worried Soul!
O my worried frustrated soul!
How burdened you are with the sins of this globe!
Exhausted by the troubles of this mortal life,
And trapped within this trivial body!
Wishing to be released, yet you are restrained by the detested shackles of matter!
O soul, ever-longing for liberation and soaring Heavenward!
Seeking a world other than this material world!
O sacred breath of life and lofty waft!
You’ve been predestined to take on an earthly body for a short period of time,
And through this body, you’ll observe in anguish the horrible evils and horrific sins,
Wishing you had not descended to this deceptive and defiled world.
Attempting to provide guidance to people, despite their being intertwined with evil,
girded by sins, and they speak with utmost profanity.
O soul! A handful of individuals comprehended and lived by the truth—to a certain level.
Since man’s days are limited and his nights will come to an end,
why then he doesn’t despise the lure of life and promote virtue,
in order to merit being in lively paradises full of Spiritual bliss and Divine enjoyment,
where he can spend thousands of years experiencing a beatitude that no pen can describe.
All the temptations of this life are incapable of bringing happiness to my soul,
or an illusive happiness—a feeling severed quickly by the horrific sharp sword of death.
When the flame of my life is extinguished;
When the angel of death calls my name and stretches his arms to embrace me;
and when the scenes of this incredibly sinful Earth are no longer within my sight;
On that day I will feel true happiness; taste the delights of the Lofty Realms;
and live in those magical abodes bursting with bliss,
that has not seen or heard by anyone!
On that moment my ecstasy is complete and my Spiritual joys are fulfilled.
When would I be able to escape from the quarters of imprisonment
to the sky of freedom? When?
Dr. Dahesh,
June 27, 1970, at 9:30 PM
At the Sheraton Hotel in Kuwait
Taken from the Book “Selections from the Works of Dr. Dahesh” Pages 307-309