"God has given man the eye of investigation by which he may see and recognize truth. He has endowed man with ears that he may hear the message of reality and conferred upon him the gift of reason by which he may discover things for himself. This is his endowment and equipment for the investigation of reality. Man is not intended to see through the eyes of another, hear through another's ears nor comprehend with another's brain. Each human creature has individual endowment, power and responsibility in the creative plan of God." 1
In the Hidden Words, Baha'u'llah has written:
"O SON OF SPIRIT!
The best beloved of all things in My sight is Justice; turn not away therefrom if thou desirest Me, and neglect it not that I may confide in thee. By its aid thou shalt see with thine own eyes and not through the eyes of others, and shalt know of thine own knowledge and not through the knowledge of thy neighbor. Ponder this in thy heart; how it behooveth thee to be. Verily justice is My gift to thee and the sign of My loving-kindness. Set it then before thine eyes." 2Every of us is individually responsible for what we believe. We all have an inner sense of what is right and what is wrong, without being told. We tend to hide those doings of ours which we fear may, if discovered, be worthy of punishment. We show for all the world to see those things we do which are laudable and excite admiration in our peers. If we live a good life, recognize God, and pray for His Guidance, we deepen our understanding of what we should be, and how we should act. God has provided His directions to us about how we should live. It's up to us to listen and to put His directives into action. We cannot take any other person's word for what is right because in the end, we stand before God all by ourselves. It will not be acceptable to Him that another told us what was right or wrong and that we blindly accepted this because we were raised in a certain tradition. Each of us is responsible to achieve a degree of education that permits us to investigate on our own power. We cannot say that because our parents hold such and such a belief that we automatically also believe. We must investigate for ourselves and determine the truth to our own satisfaction.
In the opening statements of the Kitab-i-Iqan (The Book of Certitude), Baha'u'llah has written these Words:
"IN THE NAME OF OUR LORD, THE EXALTED, THE MOST HIGH.
No man shall attain the shores of the ocean of true understanding except he be detached from all that is in heaven and on earth. Sanctify your souls, O ye peoples of the world, that haply ye may attain that station which God hath destined for you and enter thus the tabernacle which, according to the dispensations of Providence, hath been raised in the firmament of the Bayan.
The essence of these words is this: they that tread the path of faith, they that thirst for the wine of certitude, must cleanse themselves of all that is earthly – their ears from idle talk, their minds from vain imaginings, their hearts from worldly affections, their eyes from that which perisheth. They should put their trust in God, and, holding fast unto Him, follow in His way. Then will they be made worthy of the effulgent glories of the sun of divine knowledge and understanding, and become the recipients of a grace that is infinite and unseen, inasmuch as man can never hope to attain unto the knowledge of the All-Glorious, can never quaff from the stream of divine knowledge and wisdom, can never enter the abode of immortality, nor partake of the cup of divine nearness and favour, unless and until he ceases to regard the words and deeds of mortal men as a standard for the true understanding and recognition of God and His Prophets."
1 'Abdu'l Baha, Promulgation of Universal Peace, Baha'i Publishing Trust, Wilmette, IL, 1982, p 293
2 The Hidden Words of Baha'u'llah, No.2, from the Arabic