Independent Investigation of Truth
The first Bahá’í principle is the independent investigation of reality. Not found in any sacred Book of the past, it abolishes the need for clergy and sets us free from imitation and blind adherence to unexamined, dogmatic beliefs. Bahá’í believe that no soul should follow ancestral or traditional beliefs without first questioning and examining their own inner landscape. Instead, the first Bahá’í principle gives each individual the right and the duty to investigate and decide what they believe on their own:
…every individual member of humankind is exhorted and commanded to set aside superstitious beliefs, traditions and blind imitation of ancestral forms in religion and investigate reality for himself. Inasmuch as the fundamental reality is one, all religions and nations of the world will become one through investigation of reality. – Abdu’l-Bahá, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 433.
The Bahá’í writings usually list this fundamental core principle first. It achieves that primacy because of its importance and its essential nature, calling everyone on earth to open their minds, using their mental faculties and their hearts and their spirits to determine what they believe:
Bahá’u’lláh continually urges man to free himself from the superstitions and traditions of the past and become an investigator of reality, for it will then be seen that God has revealed his light many times in order to illumine mankind in the path of evolution, in various countries and through many different prophets, masters and sages. – Abdu’l-Bahá, on Divine Philosophy, p. 8.
When you endeavour to search, to make your own decision about your spiritual beliefs, you actually do set yourself free – from imitation, from falsehood, from fossilised traditions that do harm to humanity and continue the mistakes of the past. Most importantly, you set yourself free from the prison of prejudice, which all of us inherit from our traditions and our cultures and our upbringing. The primary goal of the independent, unfettered investigation of truth focuses on eradicating prejudice and freeing our hearts and minds from its corrosive impact.