The Human Heart One and Undivided Following My Heart’s Inspirations from Catholic Priest to Bahá’í
Wolfgang A. Klebel
GEORGE RONALD OXFORD
George Ronald, Publisher Oxford www.grbooks.com
© Wolfgang A. Klebel 2020 All Rights Reserved
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978-0-85398-636-2
Cover design: Steiner Graphics
CONTENTS Acknowledgements Preface, by Judge Dorothy W. Nelson Introduction
vii ix 1
1 Discovering God, Age 4 9 My first religious experience 11 Representation of God 13 2 Call to Priesthood, Age 12 18 Second spiritual experience, ‘You should become a priest’ 20 The human heart as a physical and spiritual concept 22 3 Acceptance of Call to the Monastery, Age 22 Call to the monastery Neurocardiology, the ‘little brain of the heart’
28 30 33
4 Ordination, Age 27 Spiritual experience of dedication Language of the heart
44 46 48
5 Spiritual Message of Meaning at the Opera, Age 29 Death of my father Quantum mechanics
78 78 80
the human heart one and undivided
6 Crisis, Age 30 An affair Quantum mechanics, and the human mind and consciousness
84 85
7 Losing All, Age 32 Leaving the Church and the priesthood, and getting married Modern atheism
95
88
97 99
8 Becoming a Bahá’í, Age 61 Finding the Bahá’í Faith The vision of the heart as unity in diversity
108 110 114
9 ‘True of Thyself ’, Age 63 An ecstatic spiritual experience The word as the key to spirituality
118 120 126
10 Knowledge Is a Gift from God, Age 63 to Present Knowledge as given to humankind The heart’s inspirations can be good or evil
137 138 140
Conclusions
150
Appendix: The Bahá’í Faith
153
Bibliography Notes and References Index
159 165 177
vi
PREFACE by Judge Dorothy W. Nelson After Wolfgang Klebel declared his desire to become a Bahá’í at a fireside at my home, I encouraged him to begin immediately to write about his experience of becoming a Bahá’í, due to his unique background. Four of his recent fireside presentations were so outstanding that I encouraged him to put them into book form. This he has done. This remarkable and well-written book recalls how Dr Klebel became a Catholic priest, then left the priesthood and became a Bahá’í. He demonstrates how living from the heart has helped him find fulfilment in the Bahá’í Faith that he calls the religion of heart and unity. He describes how the nervous system of the heart has been called ‘the little brain of the heart’ and that it is undivided. In contrast, the nervous system of the ‘cranial brain’ is divided into a left and right hemisphere. He writes that the underlying unity of a person encompasses both the heart and the brain, the heart representing the unity and the brain representing the diversity in everyone. The heart expresses itself through our feelings, often today referred to as ‘emotional intelligence’. We know about the heart’s decisions and conclusions only when they become conscious in the brain. The author cleverly uses the story told by Bahá’u’lláh, the Prophet-Founder of the Bahá’í Faith, in His book The Seven Valleys. It is the story of a lover who finds his beloved only
the human heart one and undivided
after watchmen chase him to his goal against his will. He uses his personal life as an example for us to apply this story to our own lives. He shows how this will help us to find the watchmen in our lives in discovering more about our hearts. He writes that the story is a parable for the life of a seeker who earnestly seeks meaning in life, wishes to be his best, and is willing to strive for the highest goals. He describes how the physical heart in its newly discovered properties can actually be the seat of knowledge and right decisions. He presents the new science of neurocardiology and how it has reestablished the importance of the heart for mental, emotional and physical well-being. He shows how this is important when considering the Bahá’í Writings about the heart. He persuasively concludes that we must look at the heart with new eyes, seeing it as much more than a blood pump. In so doing, we may understand ourselves in finding a better way to human happiness. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has this goal.
x
INTRODUCTION In this book, you will read two autobiographies. The autobiography proper is about my own life, seen from the viewpoint of the heart as I made my way from becoming a Catholic priest to leaving the priesthood and becoming a Bahá’í.1 The other description could better be called an ideography, a presentation of my ideas, again seen in a special way. It is about the considerations I developed during my life and studies of the human heart. I will present my deepest thoughts about the heart – the physical, emotional, and spiritual centre in every human – and its importance in our lives. While all this seems to be theoretical and highly philosophical, even going into theological issues, the purpose of this writing is eminently practical. Understanding more about the heart, living more from the heart, and seeing life from the heart’s perspective will not only enhance life’s experiences, will not only give certainty and direction to life’s actions and achievements – it will assist in all human relationships and support belief and faith in humankind and in God. Since I studied philosophy, theology and psychology, these aspects will contribute to this book. You will find in each chapter a section of my story and then a section of ideas developed during my life about the human heart from different scientific, emotional, and neurological points of view. I hope that you will understand why I wrote this book in that way. Furthermore, I hope it will tell you something about your life 1
the human heart one and undivided
as well and about the meaning your heart gives to your life, as my heart has given me. There is an interesting story in The Seven Valleys by Bahá’u’lláh, the story of the watchman in the Valley of Knowledge, which will guide us through this book. In two different Tablets, Bahá’u’lláh, the founding Prophet of the Bahá’í Faith, stated this very important fact about the human heart, that it is created by God as ‘one and undivided’. He draws an important conclusion from this fact, stating that its affections need to be one and undivided as well, and directed toward God: And as the human heart, as fashioned by God, is one and undivided, it behoveth thee to take heed that its affections be, also, one and undivided. Cleave thou, therefore, with the whole affection of thine heart, unto His love, and withdraw it from the love of any one besides Him, that He may aid thee to immerse thyself in the ocean of His unity, and enable thee to become a true upholder of His oneness.2
This fact of being one and undivided even physically differentiates the nervous system of the heart from that of the brain. The nervous system of the heart, which has been called ‘the little brain of the heart’ is one and undivided, while the nervous system of the cranial brain is divided into a right and left hemisphere. Since a person cannot be identified with the brain or the heart, the underlying unity of the person encompasses both the heart and the brain, actually the whole body. Therefore, the person is more than the brain and more than the heart, even though the heart represents the unity and the brain the diversity in everybody. This is certainly a crucial distinction and has its consequences for the different ways these two systems function. Without going into details here, the brain always limits and separates, sets ideas against each other, sees opposition and polarity, sees things as happening before and after, always 2
introduction
doubts and tries to play both sides. The thinking of the brain is self-conscious, we are aware of our thinking. The heart, on the other hand, unites, sees unified pictures, can see one thing in the other, does not have before and after, therefore presents everything clearly and with certainty in pictures and events. When the heart makes a decision, there is no doubt, there is confidence and conviction, there is faith and honest belief. The heart has no self-awareness, what happens in the heart is unconscious, the heart expresses itself through our feelings. We know about the heart’s decisions and conclusions only when they become conscious in the brain. We will follow these differences in the physical structure of the respective nervous systems by getting involved in the new science of neurocardiology, the study of the nervous system of the heart. We will even need to make an excursion into modern physics, into quantum mechanics, in order to explain how physiological events are caused by the human spirit and willpower. We will learn about the heart from the many heart transplants performed, and will understand how this affects the receiver of the heart of another person. We will coordinate all of these new scientific findings with the Bahá’í Revelation as presented mainly in the writings of Bahá’u’lláh, the Báb and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. A better and updated knowledge about the heart can be life-changing. After a fireside I presented about the heart, a lady came to me very excited and stated that this talk had changed her whole life. Explaining this, she said, ‘All my life I tried to solve my problems with my brain and could never succeed, now I know I have to solve my problems with my heart to be successful.’ Obviously, she understood what it is all about. While living from the heart was not mentioned explicitly in this presentation, she understood and tried to apply the message about the heart to herself. Therefore, in the first autobiographical part of the chapters, I will present a story, actually a very personal story, about 3
the human heart one and undivided
the major decisions and events of my life as I first became a Catholic priest, then left the priesthood, and finally became a Bahá’í. This story is centred on ten crucial events in my life, events following decisions made in my heart, which changed my life. It will be shown how this living from the heart has helped me personally to find my way from being a Catholic priest to becoming a Bahá’í and finding my fulfilment in this Faith, which can be called the religion of heart and unity. The second part of each chapter will present the scientific, psychological, and neurological findings of my studies that are relevant to these life events, and explain them from different perspectives. This section will support and clarify many things I experienced during my life, giving me a deeper understanding, and demonstrating the importance of the heart in life. It needs to be stated here that the insight and deeper understanding of what happened in my life did not take place at the same time as the autobiographical events. Most understanding came much later, and only now, in retrospect, do I have the ability to put these two life stories together in this book – the stories of the crucial events in my life and the stories of how to understand these events. Being of advanced age and looking back on my life, I can see now what I did not see when it happened. Many mistakes, and even really wrong decisions, were made by me, yet they directed me finally to the place where I am now. This, applied to my life, is the story told by Bahá’u’lláh in The Seven Valleys of a lover who finds his beloved only after watchmen chase him to his goal, against his will. So I will tell you who the watchmen were who brought me to my goal, and you can find the watchmen in your life who made you read this book and find something new about your heart, so that this Hidden Word of Bahá’u’lláh may become true in your life: O my Brother! Hearken to the delightsome words of My honeyed tongue, and quaff the stream of mystic holiness 4
introduction
from My sugar-shedding lips. Sow the seeds of My divine wisdom in the pure soil of thy heart, and water them with the water of certitude, that the hyacinths of My knowledge and wisdom may spring up fresh and green in the sacred city of thy heart.3
The story of my heart as presented here is set out in the following chapters: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
Discovering God, age 4 Call to priesthood, age 12 Acceptance of call to the monastery, age 22 Ordination, age 27 Spiritual message of meaning at the opera, age 29 Crisis, age 30 Losing all, age 32 Becoming a Bahá’í, age 61 ‘True of thyself ’, age 63 Knowledge is a gift from God, age 63 to the present
The first five chapters cover positive events, the next two are negative happenings, and the last three are again positive. Altogether, they are the story of my life.
The story of the watchmen Bahá’u’lláh’s Tablet The Seven Valleys was written before He declared His mission as a Manifestation of God. It is described by Shoghi Effendi, His great-grandson, Guardian of the Faith and interpreter of His Writings, in the following words: To these two outstanding contributions to the world’s religious literature [the Book of Certitude and the Hidden Words] . . . was added, during that same period, a treatise that may well be regarded as His greatest mystical composition, 5
the human heart one and undivided
designated as the ‘Seven Valleys,’ which He wrote in answer to the questions of Shaykh Muḥyi’d-Dín, the Qáḍí of Khániqayn, in which He describes the seven stages which the soul of the seeker must needs traverse ere it can attain the object of its existence.4
What Shoghi Effendi calls the ‘greatest mystical composition’ describes the seven states that the soul of the seeker needs to traverse. In the fourth valley, the seeker is united with the True One, the Manifestation of God; the first three valleys, the Valleys of Search, of Love, and of Knowledge, describe the way to this unification; the last three valleys describe the situation of the wayfarer who has been united with the Loved One. In the third valley, the Valley of Knowledge, Bahá’u’lláh presents a story of a lover who seeks his love but cannot find it. He is depressed; while leaving his house in desperation, he is followed by watchmen who drive him in different directions, and finally, after many deterrents, he finds his beloved one in a garden after climbing a difficult wall. In the conclusion of this story, Bahá’u’lláh said this: Indeed, his words were true; for he had found many a secret justice in this seeming tyranny of the watchman, and had seen how many a mercy lay hid behind the veil. In one stroke of wrath, the guard had joined one who was athirst in the desert of love to the sea of his beloved, and dispelled the darkness of separation with the shining light of reunion. He had led one who was afar to the garden of nearness, had guided an ailing soul to the heart’s physician.5
The lover finally finds his ultimate goal, the satisfaction of all of his desires, and is united with the beloved one, giving him mercy and healing from the heart’s physician. While the story is a love story, the point Bahá’u’lláh makes is related to knowledge. The wayfarer despises the first watchman, who has persecuted 6
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