Guest Author - Sandy Mullins

The first principle Baha’u’llah talked about was the Independent Investigation of Reality, by this, he meant that we should each read and learn to find out what is reality. Reality has changed through time. If you think about it historically in the earliest days of man, we had no concept of God, the world or the Universe as a whole. All mankind was concerned with were their basic survival needs, food, water and shelter.

As man progressed, his world grew and mankind built boats and wagons and they traveled farther and met with other tribes and cultures. Survival wasn’t the only thing on man’s mind. Mankind traded goods and kept animals as livestock, they pondered the world and how it came to be. Different cultures created different gods and set up their own ways of practicing their religions. All mankind wanted was just to make sure that life continued as well as it was and even possibly better. In the earliest days of civilization it was only the priests, scribes and nobility that could read and write. The rest of mankind had to be told what was law. Religion was taught the same way, a priest or Holy man would tell stories or tell religious law. Sometimes it would vary on the interferers understanding of what they read. This interpretation or sometimes lack of it lead to the many different religions that are around today.

Think about the fact that hundreds of years ago the theories of the world. One theory, was the world was flat, that the stars, planets and sun revolved around us. That was the truth of the era. Not until later was it discovered that the world was round and we revolved around the sun. Truth changes and reality as we evolve and learn more. Just because our ancestors believed one way doesn’t make it true now.

As Baha’is it is imperative that we investigate all truths for ourselves, we don’t have to follow the path of previous beliefs. That now, there is one truth and it will lead us to the beginnings of equality, and then peace.



“Among these teachings is the independent investigation of reality, so that the world of humanity might be saved from the darkness of imitation and attain to the truth; might tear off and cast away this ragged and outworn garment of one thousand years ago and put on the robe woven in the utmost purity and holiness in the loom of reality. As reality is one and cannot admit of multiplicity, therefore different opinions must ultimately become fused into one.”
(Abdu'l-Baha, Foundations of World Unity, p. 28)

“He must not rely implicitly upon the opinion of any man without investigation; nay, each soul must seek intelligently and independently, arriving at a real conclusion and bound only by that reality”
(Abdu'l-Baha, Foundations of World Unity, p. 74)

“The independent investigation of reality, whether scientific or religious, is strongly encouraged in Bahá'u'lláh's writings. Individuals should strive, He said, to free themselves from prejudices, preconceptions and reliance on tradition or traditional authorities. Consultation
is a critical tool for discovering truth”
(Baha'i International Community, 1992, Magazine - The Baha'is)

“Therefore the independent investigation of truth will lead to the oneness of the world of humanity.”
(Compilations, Japan Will Turn Ablaze, p. 35)

For more information on the Baha'i Faith please check Baha'i Links