notabsolute

Hi everyone.

I have a question in regards to persons with mild to severe mental and/ or physical disabilities or conditions (whether autism, cerebral palsy or down syndrome etc.) Is there anything in the writings that pertains to these conditions?

I would like more information regarding these conditions from a Baha'i stance/ perspective.

Thank you!

LordOfGoblins

I dont think I have seen anything about specific diseases at least nothing substantial.
I guess these sorts of things fall under the "divine providence". They usually seem to be tests for people that make us angry at God. But of course there is a divine purpose that we cannot always see...
It sortof reminds me of why people have young children who die.
Bad things happen in this life, there is no doubt about that. Severe tests, sometimes so severe we cannot begin to understand why they could happen. Anyway part of the problem is that because we are human and get emotional we often develop a skewed understanding of God that only his mercy can deliver us from. Just consider how the writings themselves can easily be misinterpreted. Baha'u'llah says that we shouldnt sorry or be joyful in times of tests, but I have seen people use this against us to say he is implying that we should be like zombies and that that is extremely unhealthy. I think Baha'u'llah is taking an over-arching perspective. Rather then telling us to cut off our emotion, he is suggesting that we do not let our emotions control us perhaps.
I do not know why this life things are so easy to misinterpret. It is a hard life, at least it has been for me.

arthra

Everyone has a capacity to respond to Baha'u'llah in this day...also we believe the soul is not connected to the infirmities of the body.

See if this relates..

Thou hast asked Me whether man, as apart from the Prophets of God and His chosen ones, will retain, after his physical death, the self-same individuality, personality, consciousness, and understanding that characterize his life in this world.

If this should be the case, how is it, thou hast observed, that whereas such slight injuries to his mental faculties as fainting and severe illness deprive him of his understanding and consciousness, his death, which must involve the decomposition of his body and the dissolution of its elements, is powerless to destroy that understanding and extinguish that consciousness?

How can any one imagine that man's consciousness and personality will be maintained, when the very instruments necessary to their existence and function will have completely disintegrated?

Know thou that the soul of man is exalted above, and is independent of all infirmities of body or mind. That a sick person showeth signs of weakness is due to the hindrances that interpose themselves between his soul and his body, for the soul itself remaineth unaffected by any bodily ailments.


Consider the light of the lamp. Though an external object may interfere with its radiance, the light itself continueth to shine with undiminished power. In like manner, every malady afflicting the body of man is an impediment that preventeth the soul from manifesting its inherent might and power. When it leaveth the body, however, it will evince such ascendancy, and reveal such influence as no force on earth can equal. Every pure, every refined and sanctified soul will be endowed with tremendous power, and shall rejoice with exceeding gladness.

~ Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 153



Mental Illness Does Not Affect Our Spirit or Our Inner Relation to God

"It is very hard to be subject to any illness, particularly a mental one. However, we must always remember these illnesses have nothing to do with our spirit or our inner relation to God. It is a great pity that as yet so little is really known of the mind, its workings and the illnesses that afflict it; no doubt, as the world becomes more spiritually minded and scientists understand the true nature of man, more humane and permanent cures for mental diseases will be found. "The Guardian, much as his heart goes out to you in your fear and suffering, Cannot tell you whether electric shock treatments should or should not be used, as this is a purely medical question, and there is no reference to such details in our Scriptures. The best scientists must pass upon such methods, not laymen. "You must always remember, no matter how much you or your others may be afflicted with mental troubles and the crushing environment of these State Institutions, that your spirit is healthy, near to our Beloved, and will in the next world enjoy a happy and normal state of soul. Let us hope in the meantime scientists will find better and permanent cures for the mentally afflicted. But in this world such illness is truly a heavy burden to bear!"

(From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, April 12, 1948: Selections from Bahá'í Writings on Some Aspects of Health and Healing, a compilation of the Universal House of Justice, June 1974)

(Compilations, Lights of Guidance, p. 281)

notabsolute

Thank you both for your replies, I appreciate it!