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File merge of Bahá'í World Volume IV. 570 total files joined.
****************The oblects of the Society are stated in the attached
Articles.Two copies of the Society's Regulations are attached.
Yours faithfully,The Association is composed of Shoghi Effendi Rabixini or whoever may lawfully succeed him as the Guardian of
Bahá'í Faith, Rflhi Afninand such other persons as may be appointed from time to time by Shoghi Effendi RabMni or his lawful successors with consent of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada organized and existing under the
Declaration of Trustadopted on the 4th of April, 1927, New York City, New York, U.S.A. 3. Purposes.
The Association is formed in order to hold and to administer various movable and immovable properties belonging to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada in Palestine, and generally to act on behalf of and to represent the said
Assembly.or whoever may lawfully succeed him as the Guardian of Bahá'í Faith or any other person appointed by Shoghi Effendi Rabb&ni or his lawful successors with approval of the
National Spiritual Assemblyof the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada shall be entitled to act on behalf of the Association, to sign any deeds or documents, to represent the Association in any dealings or transactions, to enter into any agreements, to receive moneys and to give effectual receipts or discharges, to appear before the Courts and Government Offices, to acquire properties, lands, houses, and other immovables in the name of the
Page 166Association and to dispose of any such properties, lands, houses and immovables by way of sale, mortgage, gift, partition or otherwise and generally to do validly any acts which may be lawfully done by the
Association.5. The affairs of the Association shall be conducted in conformity with such directions and instructions as may be given by the
National Spiritual AssemblyIn the event of dissolution of the Association all and any properties movable or immovable and all and any assets of the Association shall be disposed of in such a manner as may be decided by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and
Canada.The present Articles can be altered by decision of Shoghi Effendi Rabb~ni or whoever may lawfully succeed him as the Guardian of Bahá'í Faith with approval of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United
States and Canada.Certified true copy of regulations submitted to the District Commissioner s offices for registration.
(Sigd) F. MacLaren, for District Comn-iisKoner.PETITION ADDRESSED BY THE NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY OF THE
BAnk 'is OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA TO THE PRIME MINISTER
OF THE EGYPTIAN GOVERNMENTAssembly of the Bahá'ís of the United Staves and Canada conveys to you and your Government its greetings and good wishes, on the part of the Bahá'ís of this continent.
Our purpose in addressing you at this time is in order to draw your attention to the adverse and unwarranted burdens and persecutions at present and for some time laid upon the Bahá'ís of Egypt, through the application of certain religious tests to their religious and domestic life. The use of these (tests) we would respectfully emphasize, is in no wise called for or justifiable in the light of the special circumstances of the Egyptian Ba-M'is, the principles and elements of their Faith, or their relation to the Religion of Muhammad. We are assured that the just and equitable Egyptian Government would wmh to become informed of all the basic facts underlying this matter, so vital to your Bahá'í subjects, and to remedy any wrong that may have been done to these faithful and loyal citizens in the past, as well as to provide for their protection in future.
In this connection, we ask permission to place before you certain salient facts bearing upon the civil rights of the Egyptian Baha'is.
We are informed that some time prior to March 1930, at Kawmu's-S&iyidih, Markaz
Bab, certain Bahá'íswere put on trial, on religious grounds, in the Shariab court, as a result of which the Q~di gave judgment against them, as heretics. This judgment was followed by decrees arbitrarily divorcing the wives of these men and without other cause than the finding of heresy.
None can deny the suffering and extreme humiliation which fell upon these Bahá'ís and their families because of this sweeping judgment.
We are, we believe, correctly advised that in the Islamic countries, and according to the accepted view of various highly regarded Muslim doctors, heresy consists in
Page 167THE WORLD ORDER OF IBAHÁ'U'LLÁH 167
the denial of AlITh, or of Muhammad, or any one of the Divine Messengers and Prophets. Yet, it is one of the most outstanding teachings of the ]Sah&i Religion that every Bahá'í must believe in AuTh and in all His Books, and Prophets. These Ba-M'is in Egypt, therefore, recognize and acknowledge the truth and validity of Mu � kiammad and the Qur'an, and are the friends and well-wishers of every sincere Muslim. How, then, can such a finding of heresy be justified or permitted to stand against these souls, whose loyalty to the Egyptian Government is unquestioned, and whose lives and conduct are examples of goodness and rectitude to all who witness?
We are further informed that instead of investigating this matter with iustice and open-mindedness, the Q~idi and, in certain instances, the people themselves, have displayed an unbelievable prejudice, and also showed forth anger and wrath against these helpless ones, thus preventing a proper and unbiased presentation of their case to the tribunal.
The situation seems to urgently require the application of that justice so brilliantly set forth in the Qur'an, to the Bahá'ís of Egypt.
Your honorable Governmenthas, we understand, had before it for considera-don, over a considerable period, the question of legal competence among non-Mus-urn communities. We would respectfully emphasize and urge upon your Excellency the adoption of a decree �
(1) Recognizing the Bahá'ícommunity of Egypt as an integral and fully coordinated religious body, among the several religious sects or groups, fully qualified and entitled to jurisdiction over its own internal religious affairs; and over the personal status of its adherents; (2) To prohibit the application of the rule growing out of the Ijisbih case (which appears to have been a religious case against heretics) to the religious status of Bahá'ís in
Egypt;(3) And to so order that the Bahá'ís of that country be permitted to apply the Bahá'í law in all matters of personal and family status, and, in ac cordance with the Baha law, administer the marriage sacrament and act in all matters of divorce between themselves and in the adjustment of legacies and inheritance.
In other words, to administer and carry on their purely religious affairs in accordance with the laws of their religion, in the same measure as enjoyed by other religious coin-munities.
In the writings of Bahá'u'lláh, the founder and establisher of this religion, it is stated � "Consort ye, 0 People, with all religions with joy and fragrance." And also � "Let every one of the Kings � may God strengthen them � arise to protect and assist this oppressed
(Baha'i) community. Eachmust precede the other in serving and showing love unto them." Again, it is written � (CJ~ every country or government where any of this (Baha'i) community reside, they must behave toward that government with faithfulness, trustfulness and truthfulness."
In countless epistles, Bahá'u'lláh testifies to the sacredness and validity of the Mission of the Prophet, Muhammad, and unfolds to men's understanding the pearls of divine wisdom contained in the Qur'an.
This (Baha'i) Religionand the believers therein, constitute an eloquent testimony of 'ow, faith and knowledge to the fundamental and divine basis of IsUm. The Egyptian Government possesses nowhere in its dominions subjects of greater loyalty and service than the Baha'is.
These souls are well-wishers of your Government. Their standards of life are pure example to all who know them.
They are never engaged in sedition but rather in good deeds. They are lovers of humanity, and faithful to their promise. More than this, they are followers of a religion which contains just and constructive laws for the conduct of their internal affairs.
Are not such souls entitled to the protection of the Government? Is it right that their lives be disrupted, their homes and families separated, their wives torn from them, all because of the finding of a prejudiced Court whose judgment in
Page 168yokes a religious test from which, under the greatest tenets of their Faith, they are and should be wholly exempt? These men are not heretics but believers in A1L&h, and His
Prophets.Therefore should this unjust judgment be expunged, and these faithful servants of your Excellency's Government restored to their deserved position in the community. And upon these basis we found our above appeal to your Excellency that a just law be promulgated at this time, granting to the Baha the rights and the protection which their faith and good citizenship merits, and to which the sincere believer in any religious faith contributing to the general welfare, is entitled.
In the United States, the Bahá'í Community is known to all as an orderly, spiritually devoted and exemplary body. This is the case throughout the world. Please note the enclosed certified copy from the Federal Department of State, in which the American Government acknowledges the deposit in its records of the
Declaration of Trustentered into by the American Bahá'ís and forming the rules governing the administration of their internal affairs.
We trust that should the Egyptian Bahá'ís desire to adopt a similar Declaration your Excellency's Government will likewise permit its filing and give your approval thereto.
The deposit and official Government certification issued at Washington of the Declaration of Trust of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada must convince your Excellency of the peaceful, nonpolitical nature of this community.
We unhesitatingly assure you that the Egyptian Bahá'ís possess qualities at least equal in integrity and good-citizenship to those of the American Baha'is, � since all are followers of BaJA'-u' llAh, believers in the Oneness of God and the unity of mankind, lovers of their fel-low-men, and obedient to government.
In short, these, your subjects, are worthy of managing the affairs of their religion, and of being free from the undeserved status and penalties of heresy. We confidently look forward to remedial action by your Excellency along the lines above set forth, and the placing of the Bahá'í Religion in Egypt upon that free and coordinate religious basis, to which all these facts clearly point.
Thus will the respected Egyptian Government demonstrate not only its justice but also its statesmanlike insight into the field of religious freedom and universality. Such action wiii at once arouse and deepen the respect of the western world for that just Government and implant in that ancient land the seed of a degree of religious tolerance, which w'il in the near future glorify and bless its people.
Trusting to be assured of your favorable consideration, and with high regard,
Sincerely yours, The NationalThe First National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of 'Iraq. 19311932.
Page 170r~High aims and pure motives, however laudable in themselves, will surely not suffice if unsupported by measures that are practicable and methods that are sound. Wealth of sentiment, abundance of good will and effort, will prove of little avail if we should fail to exercise discrimination and restraint and neglect to direct their flow along the most profitable channels. The unfettered freedom of the individual should be tempered with inn/na1 consultation and sacrifice, and the spirit of initiative and enterprise should be reinforced by a deeper realization of the supreme necessity for concerted action and a fuller devotion to the common sveal." � SHOGHI EFFENDI.
THE character of Bahá'í unity and administration is such that its full power and significance can oniy be manifest when the believers are not oniy thoroughly informed but imbued with the true spirit of cooperation.
The ideal text book for this study is, of course, the published letters of Shoghi Effendi, since that volume includes important extracts from the Master's Will and Testament and also the
Declaration of Trustand ByLaws adopted by the National Assembly and approved by the Guardian and recommended by him as the model to be fol-Iowa!
by all other Nationalstudy and discussion of the Guardian's letters will produce a body of believers capable of carrying out all the spiritual and material teachings of the Cause.
In order to maintain a true balance between the Teachings that apply to the spiritual phases of the Cause and those that apply to the administrative elements, it might be well to trace the sequence of authority by which the text of the Revelation has successively come into being.
The foundation of the Cause for American believers is Bahá'u'lláh and not the Mb, for the reason that no American believer participated in the Cause during the era when the Báb was the expression of the Divine Will. 'We, therefore, never shared the experience of those Persian believers whose devotion was first directed toward the Báb and, after His martyrdom, transferred to Bahá'u'lláh.
Here, in the West, we have on the contrary accepted the station of the BTh as the result of our acceptance of Bahá'u'lláh and we appreciate the vital importance of the Bib's mission and ~he majesty of His life in the Light of the statements made by Bahá'u'lláh and tAbdu'1-Bahi concerning Him.
For American believers, therefore, the starting point of spiritual authority for this age is Bahá'u'lláh.
Those who accept the station of Bahá'u'lláh can oniy fulfil their obedience by accepting also those passages in His Writings which concern the appointment of tAbdu'1-BaM as the
Center of His Covenant.These passages are found in Ba-M'i Scriptures, paragraphs 527, 529,
540 and 541. Most Americanbelievers also were not called upon to undergo the test of transferring their loyalty and allegiance to tAbdu'1-Bahi after
Bahá'u'lláh's ascension. Thefew who failed in this test justified themselves by the argument that Bah4'u' � fiSh had written that another Manifestation would not come for a full thousand years, and that, consequently, the station filled by the Master was in contradiction to the revealed text of the Holy Book. Knowing the Master's life and message as we do at the present time, it is possible for us now to realize that the appointment of Abdu'l-Bahá was not equivalent to the coming of another Manifestation but was rather the direct prolongation and extension of the Manifestation of Bahá'u'lláh. The Master's prayer, found in Bahá'í Scriptures at the beginning of the second part which contains quotations from the writings of 'Ab
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du'1-IBahA, makes it perfectly clear that the Master fulfilled His appointment by selfless servitude to the Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh. The one was as the root and the other the trunk or "Greatest Branch" of the same tree.
The one was as the Sun of Truth, the other the rays by which the sun is made visible and effective throughout the world.
As far as the believers are concerned, the words of tAbd'lBh' have the same authority as those of Bahá'u'lláh. The Master, therefore, had the power to leave a Will and Testament to guide the believers and control the work of the Cause after His own ascension.
Although the beginnings of Bahá'í administration were made during the
Master's lifetime, Hiswords and efforts were directed far more toward the awakening of hearts and illumination of minds than toward the development of formal administrative bodies. During the Master's lifetime, all the powers and functions now exercised in Bahá'í administrative bodies were concentrated in Him. Nevertheless, anyone who makes a careful study of the Tablets published in the three volumes of Tablets of rAbdu~l.Bahd, and the Tablets published in the bound volumes of the Star of the West, can trace very clearly the gradual evolution of the local and National Assemblies as they exist today. For example, the Master instructed the annual Bahá'í Convention to select the Temple design, and it is incredible that this authority would have been given the delegates from the local Assemblies unless the Master had felt that this responsibility would be rightly fulfilled.
The student of Bahá'í administration should also give particular attention to the Tablet revealed to the Chicago Assembly, in which that body was addressed as
"The House of Justice"and also to the Tablet published on page 107, Vol. 10 of the Star of The West, in which the Master informed the American believers, through Dr. Zia Bagdadi, that as conditions changed new instructions would be sent. This is a clear indication that, following the greatest change of all � the Master's own ascension � the American believers could expect definite instructions enabling them to meet such an emergency.
The next significant document, in the order of time, is, of course, the Master's Will and Testament, appointing Shoghi Effendi to the station of Guardian of the Cause and outlining the institutions of the National and International Houses of Justice and the Hands of the Cause. The Master's Will and Testament terminates the Revelation in this age as far as its writings are concerned. With the closing of the Book, the Cause entered upon the era of establishing the institutions which will reflect in the material world blessings already disclosed in the world of the heart.
It was inevitable that our efforts to administer the affairs of the Cause locally and nationally during the years preceding the appointment of the Guardian should have reflected the manners and habits of the society in which we lived. The years since November 28, 192 1, have, consequently, been largely devoted to the elimination of any non-Balti'i views which might exist and to our reeducation in Bahá'í administration by the Guardian.
Perhaps none of us will understand the real blessings of the institutions given us in this age until the institutions and organizations of the society in which we live come to further collapse. Under such conditions the unity of the friends in the Guardian and the institutions and Bahá'í bodies he is perfecting would be an ark of safety not oniy for the believers but for the world. Every step we take toward fuller understanding of these institutions at the present time is a contribution to the welfare of the Cause as necessary as our study and practice of the spiritual
Teachings.The culmination of Bahá'í administration was indicated by the Guardian in his letter published in the spring of 1929 under the title The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh. As we learn to soive the local and national problems that continue to arise from time to time, and perceive how only the personal ego can blind us to the privilege of obedience to responsible Bahá'í bodies, we shall collectively draw near to the complete fulfillment of that world order which is the Divine Kingdom on earth.
HORACE HaLLEY.To the Members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada.
Dearly-beloved coworkers: I have been acquainted by the perusal of your latest communications with the nature of the doubts that have been publicly expressed, by one who is wholly misinformed as to the true precepts of the Cause, regarding the validity of institutions that stand inextricably interwoven with the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh. Not that I for a moment view such faint misgivings in the light of an open challenge to the structure that embodies the Faith, nor is it because I question in the least the unyielding tenacity of the faith of the American believers, if I venture to dwell upon what seems to me appropriate observations at the present stage of the evolution of our beloved Cause. I am indeed inclined to welcome these expressed apprehensions inasmuch as they afford me an opportunity to familiarize the elected representatives of the believers with the origin and character of the institutions which stand at the very basis of the world order ushered in by Bahá'u'lláh. We should feel truly thankful for such futile attempts to undermine our beloved Faith � attempts that protrude their ugly face from time to time, seem for a while able to create a breach in the ranks of the faithful, recede finally into the obscurity of oblivion, and are thought of no more. Such incidents we should regard as the interpositions of Providence, designed to fortify our faith, to clar-if y our Vision, and to deepen our understanding of the essentials of His
Divine Revelation.It would, however, be helpful and instructive to bear in mind certain basic principles with reference to the Will and Testament of eAbdu~l~Bahd, which together with the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, constitutes the chief depositary wherein are enshrined those priceless elements of that Divine Civilization, the establishment of which is the primary mission of the Bahá'í Faith. A study of the provisions of these sacred docu-.
ments will reveal the close relationship that exists between them, as well as the identity of purpose and method which they inculcate. Far from regarding their specific provisions as incompatible and contradictory in spirit, every fair-minded inquirer will readily admit that they are not oniy complementary, but that they mutually confirm one another, and are inseparable parts of one complete unit. A comparison of their contents with the rest of Bahá'í Sacred Writings will similarly establish the conformity of whatever they contain with the spirit as well as the letter of the authenticated writings and sayings of Bahá'u'lláh and tAbdu'1-BabA.
In fact, he who reads the Aqdds with care and diligence will not find it hard to discover that the
Most Holy Book [Aqdds]itself anticipates in a number of passages the institutions which cAb~ du'i-BaM ordains in His Will. By leaving certain matters unspecified and unregulated in His Book of Laws [Aqdds], Bahá'u'lláh seems to have deliberately left a gap in the general scheme of Bahá'í Dispensation, which the unequivocal provisions of the Master's Will has filled. To attempt to divorce the one from the other, to insinuate that the Teachings of Bahá'u'lláh have not been upheld, in their entirety and with absolute integrity, by what !AJJd 'lB If has revealed in His Will, is an unpardonable affront to the unswerving fidelity that has characterized the life and labors of our beloved Master.
I will not attempt in the Least to assert or demonstrate the authenticity of the Will and Testament of Abdu'l-Bahá, for that in itself would betray an apprehension on my part as to the unanimous confidence of the believers in the genuineness of the last written wishes of our departed Master.
I will oniy confine my observations to those issues which may assist them to appreciate the essential unity that underlies the spiritual, the humanitarian, and the admims-trative principles enunciated by the Author and the Interpreter of the Bahá'í
Faith.I am at a loss to explain that strange mentality that inclines to uphold as the sole criterion of the truth of the Bahá'í Teachings what is admittedly only an obscure and unauthenticated translation of an
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oral statement made by !Abd~1Bh~ in defiance and total disregard of the available text of all of His universally recognized writings.
I truly deplore the unfortunate distortions that have resulted in days past from the incapacity of the interpreter to grasp the meaning of CAbdu~1~BahA, and from his incompetence to render adequately such truths as have been revealed to him by the Master's statements.
Much of the confusion that has obscured the understanding of the believers should be attributed to this double error involved in the inexact rendering of an only partially understood statement.
Not infrequently has the interpreter even failed to convey the exact purport of the inquirer's specific questions, and, by his deficiency of understanding and expression in conveying the answer of cAbdu~1 DaM, has been responsible for reports wholly at variance with the true spirit and purpose of the Cause. It was chiefly in view of the misleading nature of the reports of the informal conversations of ~Abd'1Bh' with visiting pilgrims, that I have insistently urged the believers of the 'West to regard such statements as merely personal impressions of the sayings of their Master, and to quote and consider as authentic only such translations as are based upon the authenticated text of His recorded utterances in the original tongue.
It should be remembered by every follower of the Cause that the system of Bahá'í administration is not an innovation imposed arbitrarily upon the Bahá'ís of the world since the Master's passing, but derives its authority from the Will and Testament of Abdu'l-Bahá, is specifically prescribed in unnumbered Tablets, and rests in some of its essential features upon the explicit provisions of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas.
It thus unifies and correlates the principles separately laid down by Bahá'u'lláh and cAbd~1Bh* and is indissolubly bound with the essential verities of the Faith. To dissociate the administrative principles of the Cause from the purely spiritual and humanitarian teachings would be tantamount to a mutilation of the body of the Cause, a separation that can oniy result in the disintegration of its component parts, and the extinction of the Faith itself.
Local and National Housesof Justice It should be carefully borne in mind that the local as well as the international Houses of Justice have been expressly enjoined by the Kitáb-i-Aqdas; that the institution of the National Spiritual Assembly, as an intermediary body, and referred to in the Master's Will as the t~Secondary House of Justice," has the express sanction of CAbdu~1 Baha; and that the method to be pursued for the election of the International and National Houses of Justice has been set forth by Him in His Will, as well as in a number of His Tablets. Moreover, the institutions of the local and national Funds, that are now the necessary adjuncts to all Local and National Spiritual Assemblies, have not only been established by tAbdu~1~ BaM in the Tablets He revealed to the Bahá'ís of the Orient, but their importance and necessity have been repeatedly empha � sized by Him in His utterances and writings.
The concentration of authority in the hands of the elected representatives of the believers; the necessity of the submission of every adherent of the Faith to the considered judgment of Baha Assemblies; His preference for unanimity in decision; the decisive character of the majority vote; and even the desirability for the exercise of close supervision over all Bahá'í publications, have been sedulously instilled by tAbdu'1 � Baha, as evidenced by His authenticated and widely-scattered
Tablets. To accept Hisbroad and humanitarian Teachings on one hand, and to reject and dismiss with neglectful indifference His more challenging and distinguishing precepts, would be an act of manifest disloyalty to that which He has cherished most in His life.
That the Spiritual Assembliesof today will be replaced in time by the Houses of Justice, and are to all intents and purposes identical and not separate bodies, is abundantly confirmed by tAbd'lBh' Himself.
He has in fact in a Tablet addressed to the members of the first Chicago Spiritual Assembly, the first elected Bahá'í body instituted in the United States, referred to them as the members of the ccHouse of Justice" for that city, and has thus with His own pen established beyond
Page 174with the Houses of Justice referred to by Bahá'u'lláh.
For reasons which are not difficult to discover, it has been found advisable to bestow upon the elected representatives of Bahá'í communities throughout the world the temporary appellation of Spiritual Assemblies, a term which, as the position and aims of the Bahá'í Faith are better understood and more fully recognized, will gradually be superseded by the permanent and more appropriate designation of House of Justice.
Not only will the presentdaybe styled differently in future, but will be enabled also to add to their present functions those powers, duties, and prerogatives necessitated.
by the recognition of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh, not merely as one of the recognized religious systems of the world, but as the State Religion of an independent and
Sovereign Power. Andas the Bahá'í Faith permeates the masses of the peoples of East and SMest, and its truth is embraced by the majority of the peoples of a number of the Sovereign States of the world, will the Universal House of Justice attain the plenitude of its power, and exercise, as the supreme organ of the Baha Commonwealth, all the rights, the duties, and responsibilities incumbent upon the world's future super-state.
It must be pointed out, however, in this connection that, contrary to what has been confidently asserted, the establishment of the
Supreme House of Justiceis in no way dependent upon the adoption of the Bahá'í Faith by the mass of the peoples of the world, nor does it presuppose its acceptance by the majority of the inhabitants of any one country. In fact, tAbd~1Bht Himself, in one of His earliest Tablets, contemplated the possibility of the formation of the Universal House of Justice in His own lifetime, and but for the unfavorable circumstances prevailing under the Turkish r6-gime, would have, in all probability, taken the preliminary steps for its establishment. It will be evident, therefore, that given favorable circumstances, under which the Báb's of Persia and of the adjoining countries under Soviet Rule, may be enabled to elect their national representatives, in ac cordance with the guiding principles laid down in tAbdu'1-Babi's writings, the oniy remaining obstacle in the way of the definite formation of the International House of Justice will have been removed. For upon the National Houses of Justice of the East and the West devolves the task, in conformity with the explicit provisions of the W/iIl, of electing directly the members of the International House of Justice. Not until they are themselves fully representative of the rank and file of the believers in their respective countries, not until they have acquired the weight and the experience that will enable them to function vigorously in the organic life of the Cause, can they approach their sacred task, and provide the spiritual basis for the constitution of so august a body in the Bahá'í world.
The Institution of GuardianshipIt must be also clearly understood by every believer that the institution of Guardianship does not under any circumstances abrogate, or even in the slightest degree detract from, the powers granted to the Universal House of Justice by Bahá'u'lláh in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, and repeatedly and solemnly confirmed by tAbdu'1-BaN in His Will. It does not constitute in any manner a contradiction to the Will and Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, nor does it nullify any of His revealed instructions.
It enhances the prestige of that exalted assembly, stabilizes its supreme position, safeguards its unity, assures the continuity of its labors, without presuming in the slightest to infringe upon the inviolability of its clearly defined sphere of jurisdiction. We stand indeed too close to so monumental a document to claim for ourselves a complete understanding of all its implications, or to presume to have grasped the manifold mysteries it undoubtedly contains. Only future generations can comprehend the value and the significance attached to this Divine Masterpiece, which the hand of the Master-builder of the world has designed for the unification and the triumph of the worldwide
Faith of Bahá'u'lláh.Only those who come after us will be in a position to realize the value of the surprisingly strong em
Page 175THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 175
phasis that has been placed on the institUtion of the House of Justice and of the Guardianship.
They only will appreciate the significance of the vigorous language employed by tAbd'lBh' with reference to the band of Covenant-breakers that has opposed Him in His days. To them alone will be revealed the suitability of the institutions initiated by cAbdu~1~Bah4 to the character of the future society which is to emerge out of the chaos and confusion of the present age. In this connection, I cannot but feel amused at the preposterous and fantastic idea that Muhammad 'Au, the prime mover and the focal center of unyielding hostility to the person of CAbdu~1 Baha, should have freely associated himself with the members of the family of tAbdu'1 � Bah~ in the forging of a will which in the words of the writer, herself, is but a "re-cital of the plottings" in which for thirty years Muhammad ~A1i has been busily engaged. To such a hopeless victim of confused ideas, I feel I can best reply by a genuine expression of compassion and pity, mingled with my hopes for her deliverance from so profound a delusion. It was in view of the aforesaid observations, that I have, after the unfortunate and unavoidable delay occasioned by my ill health and absence from the FLoiy Land during the Master's passing, hesitated to resort to the indiscriminate circulation of the Will, realizing full well that it was primarily directed ta the recognized believers, and only indirectly concerned the larger body of the friends and sympathizers of the Cause.
The Animating PurposeAnd now, it behooves us to reflect on the animating purpose and the primary functions of these divinely-established institutions, the sacred character and the universal efficacy of which can be demonstrated only by the spirit they diffuse and the work they actually achieve. I need not dwell upon what I have already reiterated and emphasized that the administration of the Cause is to be conceived as an instrument and not a substitute for the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh, that it should be regarded as a channel through which His promised blessings may flow, that it should guard against such rigidity as would clog and fetter the liberating forces released by His Revelation. I need not enlarge at the present moment upon what I have stated in the past, that contributions to the local and national Funds are of a purely voluntary character; that no coercion or solicitation of funds is to be tolerated in the Cause; that general appeals addressed to the communities as a body should be the oniy form in which the financial requirements of the Faith are to be met; that the financial support accorded to a very few workers in the teaching and administrative fields is of a temporary nature; that the present restrictions imposed on the publication of Bahá'í literature will be definitely abolished; that the World Unity activity is being carried out as an experiment to test the efficacy of the indirect method of teaching; that the whole machinery of assemblies, of committees and conventions is to be regarded as a means, and not an end in itself; that they will rise or fall according to their capacity to further the interests, to coordinate the activities, to apply the principles, to embody the ideals and execute the purpose of the Bahá'í Faith. Who, I may ask, when viewing the international character of the Cause, its far-flung ramifications, the increasing complexity of its affairs, the diversity of its adherents, and the state of confusion that assails on every side the infant Faith of God, can for a moment question the necessity of some sort of administrative machinery that will insure, amid the storm and stress of a struggling civilization, the unity of the Faith, the preservation of its identity, and the protection of its interests? To repudiate the validity of the assemblies of the elected ministers of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh would be to reject these countless Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá, wherein they have extolled their privileges and duties, emphasized the glory of their mission, revealed the immensity of their task, and warned them of the attacks they must needs expect from the unwisdom of their friends as well as from the malice of their enemies. It is surely for those to whose hands so priceless a heritage has been committed to prayerfully
Page 176watch lest the tool should supersede the Faith itself, lest undue concern for the minute details arising from the administration of the Cause obscure the vision of its promoters, lest partiality, ambition, and worldliness tend in the course of time to becloud the radiance, stain the purity, and impair the effectiveness of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh.
Situation in EgyptI have already referred in my previous communications of January 10, 1926, and February 12, 1927, to the perplexing yet highly significant situation that has arisen in Egypt as a result of the final judgment of the Muslim ecclesiastical court in that country pronounced against our Egyptian brethren, denouncing them as heretics, expelling them from their midst, and refusing them the application and benefits of the Muslim Law. I have also acquainted you with the difficulties with which they are faced, and the plans which they have conceived, in order to obtain from the Egyptian civil authorities a recognition of the independent status of their Faith, It must be explained, however, that in the Muslim countries of the Near and Middle East, with the exception of Turkey which has lately abolished all ecclesiastical courts under its rule, every recognized religious community has, in matters of personal status such as marriage, divorce and inheritance, its own ecclesiasticaL court, totally independent of the civil and criminal tribunals, there being in such instances no civil code promulgated by the government and embracing all the different religious communities, Hitherto regarded as a sect of Islam, the Bahá'ís of Egypt, who for the most part are of Muslim origin, and unabLe therefore to refer for purposes of marriage and divorce to the recognized religious tribunals of any other denomination, find themselves in consequence in a delicate and anomalous position. They have naturally resolved to refer their case to the Egyptian Government, and have prepared for this purpose a petition to be addressed to the head of the Egyptian Cabinet, In this document they have set forth the motives compelling them to seek recognition from their rulers, have asserted their readiness and their qualifications to exercise the functions of an independent J3ab&'i court, have assured them of their implicit obedience and loyalty to the State, and of their abstinence from interference in the politics of their country.
They have also decided to accompany the text of their petition with a copy of the judgment of the Court, with selections from Bahá'í writings, and with the document that sets forth the principles of their national constitution which, with few exceptions, is identical with the
Declaration and ByLawsI? have insisted that the provisions of their constitution should, in all its details, conform to the text of the Declaration of Trust and ByLaws which you have established, endeavoring thereby to preserve the uniformity which I feel is essential in all Bahá'í National Constitutions. I would like therefore in this connection to request you what I have already intimated to them that whatever amendments you may decide to introduce in the text of the Declaration and ByLaws shouLd be duly communicated to me, that I may take the necessary steps for the introduction of similar changes in the text of all other National Bahá'í
Constitutions.It will be readily admitted that in view of the peculiar privileges granted to recognized religious Communities in the Islamic countries of the Near and Middle East, the request which is to be submitted by the Bahá'í Egyptian National Assembly to the Government of Egypt is more substantial and far-reaching than what has already been granted by the Federal Authorities to your Assembly. Vor their petition is chiefly concerned with a formal request for recognition by the highest civil authorities in Egypt of the Egyptian National Spiritual Assembly as a recognized and independent Bahá'í court, free and able to execute and apply in all matters of personal status such laws and ordinances as have been promulgated by Bahá'u'lláh in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas.
I have asked them to approach informally the authorities concerned, and to make the fullest possible inquiry as a preliminary measure to the formal presentation of their historic petition.
Any assistance which yourTHE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 177
Assembly, after careful deliberation, may find it advisable to offer to the valiant promoters of the Faith in that land will be deeply appreciated, and will serve to confirm the solidarity that characterizes the Bahá'í Communities of East and West. Whatever the outcome of this mighty issue � and none can fail to appreciate the incalculable possibilities of the present situation � we can rest assured that the guiding Hand that has released these forces will, in His inscrutable wisdom and by His omnipotent power, contrnue to shape and direct their course for the glory, the ultimate emancipation, and the unqualified recognition of His Faith. (February 27, 1929.)
And now in conclusion, may I be permitted to direct your attention to the lesson which the trend of worLd events brings home to us, the little band of His chosen workers who, according to the intelligent efforts we exert, can prove ourselves the determining factor in the immediate fortunes of the society we live in, As we witness on ali sides the growing restlessness of a restless age, we are filled with mixed feelings of fear and hope � fear, at the prospect of yet another deadly encounter, the inevitability of which is alas! becoming increasingly manifest; hope, in the serene assurance that whatever cataclysm may yet visit humanity, it cannot but hasten the approaching era of universal and lasting peace so emphaticalLy proclaimed by the Pen of Bahá'u'lláh, In the political domain, where we have lately witnessed, in the coun-cii of the leading nations of the world, the surrender of humanity's noblest conception to what may be regarded only as a transient phase in the life of peoples and nations; in the industrial world, where the representatives of the wage-earning classes, either through violence or persuasion, are capturing the seats of authority and wielding the scepter of power; in the field of religion, where we have lately witnessed widespread and organized attempts to broaden and simplify the basis of man's faith, to achieve unity in Christendom and restore the regenerating vigor of IsUm; in the heart of society itself, where the ominous signs of increasing extravagance and profligacy are but lending fresh impetus to the forces of revolt and reaction that are growing more distinct every day � in these as in many others we have much cause for alarm, but much to be hopeful and thankful for also. To take but one instance more fully: Observe the fierce and as yet unsilenced dispute which the proposal for the introduction of a binding and universal pact of nonaggression among the nations of Europe has aroused among the avowed supporters of the League of Nations � a League so auspiciously weLcomed for the ideal that prompted its birth, yet now so utterly inadequate in the actual principles that underlie its presentday structure and working. And yet, in the great outcry raised by postwar nationalism in blindly defending and upholding the unfettered supremacy of its own sovereignty, and in repudiating unreservedly the conception of a world super-state, can we not discern the reenactment only on a larger scale of the dramatic struggles that heralded the birth of the reconstructed and unified nations of the 'West?
Has not authentic history clearly revealed in the case of these nations the painful yet inevitable merging of rival, particularistic and independent cities and principalities into one unified national entity, the evolving of a crude and narrow creed into a nobler and wider conception? Is not a parallel struggle being now manifested on the world stage of ever-advancing humanity?
Can it lead to any other result than that which shall reaffirm the truth of humanity's onward march towards an ever-widening conception, and the ever-brighten-ing glory of its destiny?
Reverses and setbacks, such as we have already witnessed, no doubt will retard the ripening of the choicest fruit on the tree of human development.
Yet the fierceness of controversy, the weight of argument advanced in its disfavor, cannot but contribute to the broadening of the basis and the consolidation of the foundations upon which the stately edifice of unified mankind must ultimately rest, Let us take heart therefore, and labor with renewed vigor and deepened understanding to contribute our share to those forces which, whether or not cognizant of the regenerating Faith of Bahá'u'lláh in this
Page 178age, are operating, each in its respective sphere and under His all-encompassing guidance, for the uplift and the salvation of humanity. (October 18, 1927.)
At this grave and momentous period through which the Cause of God, in conformity with the divine wisdom is passing, it is the sacred duty of every one of us to endeavor to realize the full significance of this hour of transition, and then to make a supreme resolve to arise steadfastly for the fulfillment of our sacred obligations.
A perusal of some of the words of Bahá'u'lláh and Abdu'l-Bahá on the duties and functions of the Spiritual Assemblies in every land (later to be designated as the local Houses of Justice), emphatically reveals the sacredness of their nature, the wide scope of their activity, and the grave re � sponsibility which rests upon them.
Addressing the members of the Spiritual Assembly in Chicago, the Master reveals the following: ~'Whenever ye enter the council chamber, recite this prayer with a heart throbbing with the love of God and a tongue purified from all but His remembrance, that the All-powerful may graciously aid you to achieve supreme victory: ~O God, my God! We are servants of Thine who have turned with devotion to Thy Holy Face, who have detached ourselves from all beside Thee in this glorious Day. We have gathered in this spiritual assembly, united in our views and thoughts, with our purposes harmonized to exalt Thy Word amidst mankind. 0 Lord, our God! Make us the signs of Thy Divine Guidance, the standards of Thy Exalted Faith amongst men, servants to Thy Mighty Covenant, 0 Thou, our Lord Most High! Manifestations of
Thy Divine Unity in ThineAbhd Kingdom, and resplendent stars shining upon all regions.
Lord! Aid us to become seas surging with the billows of Thy Wondrous Grace, streams flowing from Thy All-glorioits Heights, goodly fruits upon the Tree of Thy Heavenly Cause, trees waving through the breezes of Thy Bounty in Thy Celestial Vineyard.
0 God! Make our souls dependent upon the Verses of Thy Divine Unity, our hearts cheered with the out pourings of Thy Grace, that we may unite even as the waves of one sea and become 'merged together as the rays of Thine Effulgent Light; that our thou ghts, our views, our feelings may become as one reality, manifesting the spirit of union throughout the world. Thou art the Gracious, the Bountiful, the Bestower, the Almighty, the Merciful, the Corn passionate.'
Furthermore, Abdu'l-Baháreveals the following: "It is incumbent upon everyone not to take any step without consulting the Spiritual Assembly, and they must assuredly obey with heart and soui its bidding and be submissive unto it, that things may be properly ordered and well arranged. Otherwise every person will act independently and after his own judgment, will follow his own desire, and do harm to the Cause.
"The prime requisites for them that take counsel together are purity of motive, radiance of spirit, detachment from all else save God, attraction to His Divine Fragrances, humility and lowliness amongst His loved ones, patience and longsuffering in difficulties and servitude to His exalted Threshold. Should they be graciously aided to acquire these attributes, victory from the unseen Kingdom of Bah& shall be vouchsafed to them.
In this day, assemblies of consultation are of the greatest importance and a Vital necessity. Obedience to them is essential and obligatory. The members thereof must take counsel together in such wise that-no occasion for ill-feeling or discord may arise.
This can be attained when every member expresseth with absolute freedom his own opinion and setreth forth his argument. Should anyone oppose, he must on no account feel hurt for not until matters are fully discussed can the right way be revealed.
The shining spark of truth cometh forth oniy after the clash of differing opinions. If after discussion a decision be carried unanimously, well and good; but if, the Lord forbid, differences of opinion should arise, a majority of voices must prevail."
Enumerating the obligations incumbent upon the members of consulting councils, the Beloved reveals the following: "The first condition is absolute love and harmony amongst the members of the Assembly. They must be wholly free from estrangement and must manifest in themselves the
Page 179THE WORLD ORDER or BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 179
Unity of God, for they are the waves of one sea, the drops of one river, the stars of one heaven, the rays of one sun, the trees of one orchard, the flowers of one garden. Should harmony of thought and absolute unity be nonexistent, that gathering shall be dispersed and that Assembly be brought to naught.
The second condition: They must, when coming together, turn their faces to the Kingdom on high and ask aid from the Realm of Glory. They must then proceed with the utmost devotion, courtesy, dignity, care and moderation to express their views. They must in every matter search out the truth and not insist upon their own opinion, for stubbornness and persistence in one's views will lead ultimately to discord and wrangling and the truth will remain hidden. The honored members must with all freedom express their own thoughts, and it is in nowise permissible for one to belittle the thoughts of another; nay, he must with moderation set forth the truth, and should differences of opinion arise a majority of voices must prevail, and all must obey and submit to the majority.
It is again not permitted that any one of the honored members object to or censure, whether in or out of the meeting, any decision arrived at previously, though that decision be not right, for such criticism would prevent any decision from being enforced.
In short, whatsoever thing is arranged in harmony and with love and purity of motive, its result is light, and should the least trace of estrangement prevail the result shall be darkness upon darkness.
If this be so regarded, that Assembly shall be of God, but otherwise it shall lead to cooiness and alienation that proceed from the Evil One. Discussions must all be confined to spiritual matters that pertain to the training of souls, the instruction of children, the relief of the poor, the help of the feeble throughout all classes in the world, kindness to all peoples, the diffusion of the fragrances of God and the exaltation of
His Holy Word. Shouldthey endeavor to fulfill these conditions the Grace of the Holy Spirit shall be vouchsafed unto them, and that Assembly shall become the center of the divine blessings, the hosts of divine confirmation shall come to their aid, and they shall day by day receive a new efl?usion of spirit."
This is indeed a clear indication of the Master's express desire that nothing whatever should be given to the public by any individual among the friends, unless fully considered and approved by the Spiritual Assembly in his locality; and if this (as is undoubtedly the case) is a matter that pertains to the general interests of the Cause in that land, then it is incumbent upon the Spiritual Assembly to submit it to the con-sicteration and approval of the National body representing all the various local Assemblies.
Not oniy with regard to publication, but all matters without any exception whatsoever, regarding the interests of the Cause in that locality, individually or coi-lectively, should be referred exclusively to the Spiritual Assembly in that locality, which shall decide upon it, unless it be a matter of national interest, in which case it shall be referred to the National (Baha'i) body. With this National body also will rest the decision whether a given question is of local or national (Baha'i) interest.
(March 5, 1922.)As the administrative work of the Cause steadily expands, as its various branches grow in importance and number, it is absolutely necessary that we bear in mind this fundamental fact that all these administrative activities, however harmoniously and efficiently conducted, are but means to an end, and should be regarded as direct instruments for the propagation of the Bahá'í Faith. Let us take heed lest in our great concern for the perfection of the administrative machinery of the Cause, we lose sight of the Divine Purpose for which it has been created. Let us be on our guard lest the growing demand for specialization in the administrative functions of the Cause detain us from joining the ranks of those who in the forefront of battle are gloriously engaged in summoning the multitude to this
New Day of God. Thisindeed should be our primary concern; this is our sacred obligation, our vital and urgent need. Let this cardinal principle be ever borne in mind, for it is the mainspring of all future activities, the remover of every embar
Page 180rassing obstacle, the fulfillment of our Master's dearest wish. (January 10, 1926.)
The administrative machinery of the Cause having now sufficiently evolved, its aim and oblecv fairly well grasped and understood, and its method and working made more familiar to every believer, I feel the time is ripe when it should be fully and consciously utilized to further the purpose for which it has been created. It should, I strongly feel, be made to serve a twofold purpose.
On one hand, it should aim at a steady and gradual expansion of the Movement along lines that are at once broad, sound and universal; and on the other it should insure the internal consolidation of the work already achieved.
It should both provide the impulse whereby the dynamic forces latent in the Faith can unfold, crystallize, and shape the lives and conduct of men, and serve as a medium for the interchange of thought and the coordination of activities among the divers elements that constitute the Bahá'í community.
(May 11, 1926.)'With this vision clearly set before us, and fortified by the knowledge of the gracious aid of Bahá'u'lláh and the repeated assurance of tAbdu'1-BahA, let us first strive to live the life and then arise with one heart, one mind, one voice, to reinforce our numbers and achieve our end. Let us recall, and seek on this sad occasion the comfort of, the last wishes of our departed yet ever-watchful Master: ~ beloooveth them not to rest for a moment, neither to seek repose. They must disperse themselves in every land, fiass by every clime, and travel throughout all regions.
Bestirred, without rest, and steadfast to the end, they must raise in every land the triumphal cry rYa..Bahd~u~4Abhd!) (0 Thou the Glory of Glories!)
The dis-ci4les of Christ forgot themselves and all earthly things, forsook all their cares and belongings, purged themselves of self and fiassion, and with absolute detachment scattered far and wide and engaged in calling the peoples of the world to the divine guidance; till at last they made the world another world, illumined the surface of the earth, and even to their last hour proved self-sacrificing in the pathway of that beloved One of God. Finally in various lands they suffered glorious martyrdom.
Let them that are men of action follow in their footsteps!"
Having grasped the significance of these words, having obtained a clear understanding of the true character of our mission, the methods to adopt, the course to pursue, and having attained sufficiently the individual regeneration � the essential requisite of teaching � let us arise to teach His Cause with righteousness, conviction, understanding and vigor. Let this be the paramount and most urgent duty of every Baha'i. Let us make it the dominating passion of our life. Let us scatter to the uttermost corners of the earth; sacrifice our personal interests, comforts, tastes and pleasures; mingle with the divers kindreds and peoples of the world; familiarize ourselves with their manners, traditions, thoughts and customs; arouse, stimulate and maintain universal interest in the Movement, and at the same time endeavor by all the means in our power, by concentrated and persistent attention, to enlist the unreserved allegiance and the active support of the more hopeful and receptive among our hearers. Let us too bear in mind the example which our beloved Master has clearly set before us. Wise and tactful in His approach, wakeful and attentive in His early intercourse, broad and liberal in all His public utterances, cautious and gradual in the unfolding of the essential verities of the Cause, passionate in His appeal yet sober in argument, confident in tone, unswerving in conviction, dignified in His manner � such were the distinguishing features of our Beloved's noble presentation of the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh.
(November 24, 1924.)It would be impossible at this stage to ignore the indispensability or to overestimate the unique significance of the institution of the National Spiritual Assembly � the pivot round which revolve the activities of the believers throughout the American continent.
Supreme is their position, grave their responsibilities, manifold and
Page 181THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 181
arduous their duties. I-low great the privilege, how delicate the task of the assembled delegates whose function it is to elect such national representatives as would by their record of service ennoble and enrich the annals of the Cause! If we but turn our gaze to the high qualifications of the members of Bahá'í Assemblies, as enumerated in Abdu'l-Bahá'í Tablets, we are filled with feelings of unworthiness and dismay, and would feel truly disheartened but for the comforting thought that if we rise to play nobly our part every deficiency in our lives will be more than compensated by the all-conquering spirit of His grace and power. Hence it is incumbent upon the chosen delegates to consider without the least trace of passion and prejudice, and irrespective of any material consideration, the names of oniy those who can best combine the necessary qualities of unquestioned loyalty, of selfless devotion, of a well-trained mind, of recognized ability and mature experience. May the incoming National Spiritual Assembly � the privileged and chosen servants of the Cause � immortalize their term of stewardship by deeds of loving service, deeds that will redound to the honor, the glory and the power of the Most
Great Name.I would also earnestly entreat all the delegates at this coming Convention, and through them I appeal to the larger body of believers whom they represent, to ever bear in mind the supreme injunction of tAbdu'1-BaLi, to teach unceasingly until the "head cornerstone of the foundation" of the Cause of God is firmly established in every heart. Let those whose time, resources and means allow, travel throughout the length and breadth of that vast continent, let them scatter to the most distant regions of the earth and, fired with enthusiasm and detachment, hand on the torch of God's undying flame to the waiting multitudes of a sadly-stricken world.
(June 3, 1925.)As already intimated, I have read md reread most carefully the final draft of the ByLaws drawn up by that highly-talented, much-loved servant of Bahá'u'lláh, Mountfort Mills, and feel I have nothing substantial to add to this first and very creditable attempt at codifying the principles of general Bahá'í administration.
I heartily and unhesitatingly commend it to the earnest perusal of, and its loyal adoption by, every National Bahá'í Spiritual Assembly, whether constituted in the East or in the West. I would ask you particularly to send copies of the text of this document of fundamental importance accompanied by copies of the Declaration of Trust and the text of the Indenture of Trust, to every existing National Spiritual Assembly, with my insistent request to study the provisions, comprehend its implications, and endeavor to incorporate it, to the extent that their own circumstances permit, within the framework of their own national activities. You can but faintly imagine how comforting a stimulant and how helpful a guide its publication and circulation will be to those patient and toiling workers in Eastern lands, and particularly Persia, who in the midst of uncertainties and almost insuperable obstacles are straining every nerve in order to establish the world order ushered in by Bahá'u'lláh.
You can hardly realize how substantially it will contribute to pave the way for the elaboration of the beginnings of the constitution of the worldwide Bahá'í Community that will form the permanent basis upon which the blest and sanctified edifice of the first International House of Justice will securely rest and flourish.
I would specifically remind you that in the text of the said ByLaws which to the outside world represents the expression of the aspirations, the motives and objects that animate the collective responsibilities of Bahá'í Fellowship, due emphasis should not be placed only on the concentrated authority, the rights, the privileges and prerogatives enjoyed by the elected national representatives of the believers, but that special stress be laid also on their responsibilities as willing ministers, faithful stewards and loyal trustees to those who have chosen them. Let it be made clear to every inquiring reader that among the most outstanding and sacred duties incumbent upon those who have been called upon to initiate, direct and coordinate the affairs of the Cause, are those that requIre them to win by every means in their power tbe confidence and affection of those whom it is their privilege to serve.
Page 182Bahá'í Marriage Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Persia.
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Page 183Bahá'í Marriage Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Egypt.
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D~t~~Ah r*aP~1 Certificate of the Palestine Government incorporating the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada as a Religious Society in Palestine.
185I, DANIEL 1~. FINN, Clerk of the County of New York; a~d also Clerk of the Supren~e Court in and for said com~ty, DO HEREBY CERTIFY, that I hayc ~compared the_within photographic c copy of a /2~,~/4f~.
office, trnde the&', ;73 ;~-and and I do further certify~ that such photographic copy i~ a correct transcript of such record and of the whole of ~aid original.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have he~'eu~ito ~et my hand and the. al of said court and county at the City of New York, this day of 193 Z~ C k of th Cou~f fATc~~ or more unscrupulous members of society. We must remember that up to compara direly recent times, huge masses of humanity were either slaves, possessing no right to property of any kind; serfs, with an inchoate right at best to a meagre ownership; or feudatories, holding their fiefs, lands or properties conditioned strictly upon an oath of unrestricted service to their lord or baron.
As a consequence, the favored classes held all property in their sway, and vied with each other, often by private war or foray, to attain larger and larger possessions.
Many of the medieval wars had their rise in these inordinate contentions of barons and princes, in which the hapless serf or feudatory bore the brunt of the fighting.
With the successive destruction of feudalism, serfage and slavery, the struggle for existence devolved upon all men. Theoretically each man had his chance.
But, here, the innate differences in the character and capacities of men became disclosed in a universal sense and for the first time. Initiative, education, ability, ambition for fame and power, cunning, cruelty, greed found abundant contrast with sloth, timidity, incapacity, ignorance and resignation.
These innate differences, excellencies and defects, being part of the natural order, appeared insurmountable, and opened the way for a kind of economic slavery.
Money being a seed for the reproduction of itself, tended to multiply in the hands of its possessor.
Monopolies became the order of the day. In monarchical countries, the nobility held tightly to their landed estates, and wielded power over the commoner. In the republics the wealthy classes, fortified by the laws of inheritance, and tending to accumulate ever larger ratios of the available wealth and to control it, have gradually consoli 435
Page 436Peoples of many races, creeds and nationalities from New York and surrounding cities meeting in real brotherhood at West Engleivood, N. 1�. June 1930, at the Annual Commemoration of the visit and address of Abdu'l-Bahá there in 1912.
Page 437dated their position, to the weakening of the agricultural element, the office worker and the day laborer.
ECONOMIC INSECURITYAlthough the universal, public school system of the West unquestionably fits the average boy and girl for a higher level of social living, and has greatly diminished the illiterate percentage, the levels above have, at the same time, proportionately advanced in wealth and power, so that the grades and degrees of society have not materially changed.
The average graduate of the public schools finds his or her economic icyci as a mechanic, a factory worker, a clerk, a farmer, or as proprietor of a small business. 'While this represents a striking improvement over the condition of the poorer classes of past centuries, it is, nevertheless, a fact that the vast majority of the inhabitants, even in the western countries of the globe, are not economically secure, beyond the weekly receipt of their pay envelopes, and when confronted with disaster, sickness or unemployment soon deplete their small reserves.
This is strikingly illustrated in the current wave of economic collapse and its consequent unemployment which has numbed the financial nerves of every country.
The normal unemployment ratio has swelled to a three or fourfold extent, and hardships and anxieties multiply. Selfrespecting family beads discharged from employment and unable, after urgent quest, to find remunerative jobs, reluctantly turn to the charitable agencies.
The City of Boston,' alone, is disbursing $24,000 daily 2 to an ever increasing number of destitute families.
This is but an instance of what is taking place in hundreds of American cities and commu-nifles.
Doles and public aid in other countries have brought great nations to the verge of national bankruptcy. The overproduction of commodities which followed and had its source in the feverish war period, has failed to adjust itself to the requirements of peace, and the demand for goods, seriously im.
1 Massachusetts, U.S.A. 2 In Oct., 1931, a total annual disbursement of $8,640,000.
paired by the diminished payrolls, gives no promise of restoring the economic balance of the past decade and returning the workers to the factories in the numbers and with the earnings to which they had become accustomed since 1914.
In the face of these conditions, industrial leaders and statesmen have proved themselves largely impotent.
The old order, developed from the feudal system, enchains and blinds those who are at once its beneficiaries and its victims. While it would be idle to say that no recovery can be expected from the present economic crisis, since the economic law of suppiy and demand ultimately reestablishes a balance, it is, notwithstanding, equally true that such a system, susceptible, as history proves, to these repeated debacles in our economic life, is far from perfect. The prime, devastating cie-ment that at present dominates the economic life of the nations is their supine and abject surrender to the natural law of the survival of the fittest.
The claws of nature are unyielding and essentially cruel. The vegetable and animal world are its truest exponents. But is humanity likewise condemned to the cruelties of this soulless law of the lower levels of the creation? This point we shall endeavor to unfold.
am not my brother's keeper," by which Cain sought to escape the questioning of the Supreme Judge, has been adopted and made a part of man's daily life. Granted that countless exceptions exist among us, the fact remains that in the economic relationships, this purely natural law has full sway. We salve our conscience with various forms of charitable aid and poor-relief, but this is but an evasion of the issue. A fundamental malady in the human body can be lastingly healed only by ascertaining the real cause of the malady, then by a prescription that meets the exact conditions.
May it not be that definite human rights are being ignored, that divine relationships exist which, recognized and applied, contain the solution?
We know that any undue separation of functions in an organism, any impairment of the reciprocal relations between its parts, is a certain cause of disease.
This is equivalent to disorder and discord, and may be
Page 438termed the operation of the law of decomposition in the organism. Its course, unless interrupted, is ever towards the dissolution and death of the organism.
On the other hand, the unity and health of the organism is synonymous with the perfect reciprocity of its parts, their full cooperation each to each.
Happiness, welfare and efficiency, according to the creative plan under which the organism came into existence is thereby bestowed. Under these conditions, the beneficent law of composition pours its blessings of life and health upon the creature. These primordial laws of composition and decomposition are rooted in the creation and are not inherently controllable by man. They bestow life and death, and constitute the inevitable fate of all created life in a world of ttbecoming~~ and contingency.
But although these basic laws of destiny are inviolable in their sphere of action, they are powerless to operate except under the exact conditions that call them forth. They are compulsory and selective but neither voluntary nor fickle. Like the arrow to the mark, they obey oniy the law of attraction, and unerringly choose the habitations of their affinities. And by this I mean it is impossible for the law of decomposition to operate in a healthy body. Like maggots or fruit flies arising in a basket of decayed fruit or a heap of animal refuse, spontaneously appearing within rather than from without their host, decomposition enters an organism oniy because it is attracted by the disordered condition that exists therein.
In other words, disorder, disunity, discord � the three d's of a dismal triad � invite decay. As Bahá'u'lláh said � ttLike seeks like and has affinity with its own kind."
The body of man represents and is the highest organism we know. Logically, and by corollary, the body of humanity, homo sapiens as a race, is likewise entitled to this distinction, in the collective or racial sense.
The picture we have endeavored to paint but dimly and faintly depicts the vast cosmic forces that proceed from the inmost recesses of Nature, governing, limiting, expanding and controlling every material atom in the universe.
Whether composition or decomposition, fire or humidity, sour or sweet, ebb or flow, or any of the great natural dualities, these colossal forces are, in a word, the unyielding arms, the adamantine jaws, the very claws of Nature, and at the same time � since the duality persists and its other aspect must be translated into terms of human consciousness � they are the tireless servants of humanity, furnishing heat and moisture, cooling water to parched lips, life and movement to the blue ocean, and delectable fruits and grains to the taste. Are these forces friends or foes? Shall we fear and shun them, content with a palsied ignorance of their true origin and function, � or shall we approach closely and examine them with faith and assurance, conscious of a certain oneness with them, mindful that the Lord of all Being is our common Author? And more important, shall we submit utterly to their dominion, or shall we examine carefully the reality of these forces? Perchance, we may possess weapons by which to conquer and subdue them.
If we treat Nature as we have been accustomed to treat our foreign nations of various colors and origins, with fear and poorly concealed detestation, it is certain she will, in her time, turn and rend us, or at least will have the last word. This is because oniy by studying her changing moods, born of the duality, in a sympathetic and dauntless spirit, can we adapt these forces to the upbuilding of civilization. As we cannot control or change the inherent properties of the laws of life and death, as was previously stated, so we cannot change natural elements such as fire into moisture, or water, per se, into something lacking humidity.
But we can, and have, converted the action of fire into grateful warmth, and diverted it from turning into a destructive conflagration; we have transformed certain chemical elements into a humane, soothing anesthetic, and we, also, have, shameful to say, utilized other natural elements and cunningly and coldheartedly converted them into deadly and devastating vapors today threatening, with the menace of potential war, millions of living men, women and children.
Man has done this. And it is a fair question to ask, whether Nature, workshop of the mysteries of creation as she is, hurler of the thunderbolt and the twisting tornado, is to be feared as are those men to be feared
Page 439who consciously and deliberately in the name of an abandoned, rejected and false patriotism, hideous in their ferocity and cruelty, today forge the implements which, should war come again, will break the heart of mankind?
A NEW AND GREATER CONQUESTTo resume. The purpose of this apparent diversion from the subject is to provide the basis upon which to certify to two outstanding verities.
First, that man can adapt the blind, unintelligent forces of nature to purposes apparently contrary to their normal uses, as, for instance, sending his body under and beneath the sea in a submarine containing oxygen, which defeats the natural Law that has for ages barred the body of man from thb ocean depths; or imprisoning within a storage batt?ry or confining to wires, the rampant force of electricity whose nature, undisturbed, is to be elusive, free, cosmic and unrestrained. In a word, � rnan possessed of a power unknown to Nature, superior to Nature and transcending Nature even as the mind, transcends the mere instinct, � bends the natural forces to his own ends.
And, second, that while we cannot change or recreate the inherent properties of the natural elements, such as converting water into aridity, we can, � to a degree not yet wholly understood and determined as to its scope, � forrnulate and prepare the conditions in a particular device, or (and this is the all important issue), within our (man's) own organism, both individually and racially, which will attract the beneficent, kindly, life-giving forces of nature, rather than those containing the elements of destruction.
And this is but the first step. For behind these beneficent and kindly forces, the Sun of Truth which is the Word of God pours forth a love and a knowledge compared to which the greatest light of Nature is but a guttering candle. It is these divine powers that are our ultimate goal. A point of receptivity for these reposes in the breast of man. But the fortifications of Nature must first be stormed.
It may, here, be objected that we are confusing fusing the disease itself with the process or law of decomposition, or attributing to every disease two major causations.
That the disease sets up its own pathology and no force enters from without in the sense of an all-embracing iaw.
Furthermore, that all diseases are seif-communicatory and do not, and cannot, per se, constitute an affinity which attracts anything whatsoever.
We submit, however, that the equilibrium of the elements within an organism is the point from which all deviations from the normal must depart. As we conceive this abstruse problem, and take as the most perfect example, the body of man, it is plain, for example, that if, in such a body, the prime elements of organic iron, calcium or manganese, or any of these, are either in excess of the normal or abnormally diminished in volume, in the blood stream, a departure from the health equilibrium is thereby instanced which sooner or later must produce a disordered functioning.
This is the first step toward what we call disease. The resistant factors within the body do their utmost to combat and neutralize tbe poisons that are automatically created by the disturbance, but if the conditions setting it in motion are not drastically changed, through a dietary and regime adapted to the need, and then oniy in case the organic functions are not too greatly impaired, the disorder is progressive and death intervenes. Because of this basic law of life and health, cAbd~1Bht in an illuminating and profound Tablet at one time stated that when materia medica had advanced on scientific lines sufficiently to become competent to analyze a drop of blood, to the extent of disclosing the presence and ratio of every essential element there present, each to each, medical science would at that moment have within its hands the key to health. Once knowing the degree of the departure or deviation from the normal of the elements requisite to health, and comparing this with the known proportions which each element should occupy in the blood flowing through a healthy body, the restoration of health was to be found in the assimilation of those organic aliments necessary to restore the equilibrium, or, conversely, in the reduction of intake of those aliments which had been
Page 440found to be in excess in the blood of the patient.
There remains to be proved the part played by the natural disintegrating force at the focal point of the disease we have instanced.
This force ever seeks to break down and destroy any composed organism. It is antithetical to that which draws together and composes the essential particles that, as units, we know as living beings.
It is separative, disorganizing and ever tends to resolve the combination of elements back into their original, unrelated, and independent status. Thus, the decomposition of water releases the molecules of hydrogen and oxygen, hitherto held together by the sanction of composition, � into their original loneliness. The affinity that drew them together as moisture, is shattered. Similarly, the more complex organisms, such as the animal, in death yield up their elements which had been conjoined during the life of the animal. The moving force in this process is this natural law of change and death. Other demonstrations exist of which lack of space prevents the details, but the essential process has become clear.
But, in all this, the application of our thesis is primarily that a departure from the equilibrium of health and composition must exist before the destructive element can assert its power and accelerate the progress of the disease through the inflow of the separative impulse.
Without this departure, the organism is immune. Secondly, that an intelligent organism, as is man, may, through this knowledge, and the power of self-analy-sis, become cognizant of three things: (1) The existence of a diseased state within his collective or racial body, in its economic relationships; (2) His recognition of a power which he innately possesses to change voluntarily, and in accordance with these basic, universal laws, the disorder within himself for which he, alone, is responsible; and (3) By thus applying the eternal axiom "Physician, heal thyself," employing those economic remedies that are the true ments" for the restoration of economic equilibrium, he will rout the enemy of his wellbeing by depriving it of the nutrition it must have for the accomplishment of its fell purpose. The situation calls for a racial adaptation of the story of Hercules and the earth-giant Antacus. The giant's strength became atrophied and impotent when deprived of the vitalizing forces of his earth mother. May humanity shake off the tentacles of this strangling power by summoning its God-given resolution, drinking deep of the Cup of Knowledge which God has extended to this storm-tossed planet in this New Day, and with the divine weapons of heart and soui destroy forever the selfish and egotistic veils that have made him iose hope in successfully changing what he calls cchu. man nature," which is in reality but a base surrender to the natural law that holds him in its grip.
The being who has succeeded in harnessing the fire and the lightnings of Nature, will not fall short in subduing the more interior and subtle natural force that has so long tyrannized over the use and distribution of the vital necessities of his life, such as food and drink, shelter and comfort.
He, man, will not, must not fail in this greatest of all conquests even though, to thus finally assert his divinely bestowed spiritual sovereignty over the power of Nature, he must pay the full price, by sacrificing and yielding up the dpubtful guerdon of living unto himself alone. The New Age calls him to this greater happiness; the law of unity, deposited by the Ancient of Days in every infinitely small and infinitely great created being, calls him to establish now his own unity; to put aside the playthings of the past and lay hold of the strong rope that God has revealed in this dawn of human maturity; to place himself under a law greater than Nature, a law emanating from Him who created Nature and all her works through
His Wisdom and Power.Why should mankind, possessing attributes and powers directly derived from Divinity Itself, and never possessed by Nature, the intelligence and will to conquer Nature's cosmic forces, be content to subject himself any longer to her domination over his most precious material relationships? The instillation of love for his fellowmen, the assertion of his divinely given Will are invincible forces, that no merely natural power can withstand. The Way is open. Shall we walk therein, or continue to wander in the gloomy morasses of self-delusion?
Page 441Our thesis, then, is � that since humanity, through its noble and gifted inventors and scientific discoverers, has proved its God-given right to invade the darksome cavern which is Nature's fastness and stronghold, bringing forth therefrom, bound and captive, the titanic forces which he, mankind, has proceeded to adapt to his material service upon the earth, � it is certain, that through a spiritual Power he even now possesses, he will apply this same process, on a higher plane, to release and free millions of his own race, made in the temple and image of Almighty God, and still held fast within the claws of Nature, from the economic shackles that, today, deprive them of inherent and innate rights, withhold from their outreached hands the little comforts they crave, confine them to factory, office building and mine unnecessarily long hours, and deny them that vital interest in the great businesses they have assisted to up-build, to which, under the law of God, they are entitled.
To remedy these diseases that, in this century, have brought iow the industrial and commercial structure over well nigh the whole earth, is the task and duty of every soui informed of the divinely spiritual basis upon which the economic relationships rest; of every farseeing business man who has realized even a trace of the organic unity of mankind; and of every labor leader whose vision is big enough to see beyond the ranks of his own group and to identify their true interests with those of every other basic element of the industrial fabric.
The reason for this is because ttth fundamentals of the entire economic condition are divine in nature and are associated with the world of the heart and spirit." ' Without knowledge of the principles contemplated in this preceding quotation, no improvement in the economic state can be realized.
Nature is powerless to confer upon men the knowledge of how to achieve this new economic freedom.
Nay, rather, the mind and heart of mankind, derived from a Source that is supernatural, even from God, possess those keys that will unlock the treasuries of knowledge that have been prepared against this very use in this
New Age. Butlet not man suppose he can, in this, ignore or forget the power of Nature which has for so long defeated and enslaved him. He must watch her even as the cat watches the mouse, or, more accurately, the mouse watches the cat. Up to now, the cat has toyed with the mouse almost as it willed, in the great economic kitchen of humanity. Man, unwittingly or urged on by greed, has left wide open the door through which the similitude of Nature delights to stalk. This door is no other than human covetousness, ignorance, strife and discord, the cutting off, by violent and harsh means, of the essential relationship that exists within the Kingdom of Man and between its component parts (individual men). This essential relationship is that which, in the Divine Mind, has made of humanity, as a whole, an organism of sacred and highest destiny.
Put in another way, every human being, white or colored, it matters not, is a cell within this vast organism and entitled by divine right to the cooperation and reciprocal aid of every other cell, without exception or possibility of error; even as he in turn con � tributes of his full strength and function to the welfare of the whole. Who is so blind, after consideration of this strictly accurate and dynamically scientific fact, as to deny its truth?
We have previously demonstrated the unanswerable truth that the human body is the archetype of all organisms.
Can the aggregate of human beings, fortified as they are by the possession of mind and soul, be less organically one than is a single cell of this great collective racial entity?
Applying these sacred and basic truths, and emphasizing again the deadly accuracy of that spiritual science that informs man of this divine reality of his own essential oneness, we would now apply it as the sole and inevitable formula for the healing of our economic life.
Wise men of all nations will grasp this formula, even as the sore athirst seizes the cup of cool water.
From countless sources, today, men of vision are recorded in expressions that prove their awakening to the penetrating power of this truly divine remedy.
Even as "My people perish for Lack of knowledge," equally it may be said � ~tMy people are revivified and made
Page 442whole by accepting and applying the advices of Him who is the Knower, the Generous.
In this demonstration, we are not yet done with old Mother Nature. Her law of decomposition is not so easily overpowered as are some of her lesser children, such as fire and electricity. This is because that death dealing law is associated with the ultimate destinies.
There are strict limits to which mankind can guide its operations; although even in its more terrifying aspects it is, in reality, as are all natural laws, the symbol of Divine Providence, and the pathway to His
Nearness and Good Pleasure.Since the decompositional phenomena invariably appear, as has been mentioned in detail, within an organism which has, consciously or ignorantly, allowed its original functions to become disordered, we must, in fairness, admit that these reappearing economic upheavals, this present state of suffering and siow starvation in which millions of human beings today find themselves, comprise unerring evidence that the economic life of humanity has become the prey of the destructive, obdurate, negative power of nature, the sinister element of its duality.
What can humanity do to stein this tide, which engulfs not only our industrial life, but is also the prime cause of every war that history records? Must the race perish for lack of knowledge?
The answer is plain. The causes contributing to the disease that has sapped our industrial strength must be uncovered and the remedy administered.
Without attempting to enumerate every pathological lesion in our economic system, it will suffice to point out some of the major elements that, at present, operate to attract the destructive forces which have assailed the world.
THE CONSTRUCTIVE REMEDYLet us begin with the greatest constructive remedy, in a general sense, � following this with an enumeration of the existing maladjustments that are opposed to economic health: 1. The inculcation of love and of unity between all men is a mighty restoring agency for all these ills. This must be realized. It is, in reality, the essence of the divine elixir, which has been prescribed by the Divine Physician of this Age. The oneness of mankind, our essential brotherhood, is the hope and promise of every one of the great, universal
Teachers and Prophets.This century marks the fulfillment and practical expression of this great truth in the life of humanity.
This is the reality of man. Every strife and discord in our common life to � gether arises from the conflict of personalities. But the realities of the souTh are in accord. The leaders of the business world must investigate this resplendent reality, and apply this unity in the business life of the world. On this point, tAbdu'1-BahA says � "Science cannot cure the illness of the body politic. Science cannot create unity and fellowship in human hearts.
Neither can patriotism or racial prejudice effect a remedy. It can be accomplished soicly through the Divine bounties and the spiritual bestowaL which have descended from God in this Day for that very purpose.
2. Failure to recognize and apply the trust relationship essentially existing between the poor and rich, the fortunate and the unfortunate. Since in every trust there must be a trustee, a trust fund, and a beneficiary, no room is left under this arrangement for further continuance of the laissez faire policy by which man contemplates his fellow man as a creature apart, admitting no responsibility towards him. Pauperism, wretchedness and misery cannot exist in the same world with this trust principle, for this is based upon the right of every member of the human family to the necessities of life, provided he, in turn, contributes his part as a worker in the world. This basic remedy will, further on, be elaborated, as will certain of the other headings of this section.
3. Almost entire ignorance of the divine and basic law governing the tithe or income tax.
4. The barrier which has been built up between labor and capital, employee and employer. This is, in effect, a lack of unity and understanding among the leaders of
Page 4435. A system of taxation which ignores the true principle upon which contributions to the state or government should be based.
6. Strikes and lockouts in industry are a symptom, merely, of the faulty relations of worker and employer. The bargaining power of the great trades unions is based upon the collective influence of multitudes of workers whose oniy protection against injustice has been conceived to lie in the creation of a class bound together by a coin-munity of interest. But this cornfriunity of interest is wrongly placed. It should be with the employer whose success and profit depends upon the worker's faithfulness and efficiency.
Classes are an indication of separation in the business organism, and this has attracted the destructive forces of which strikes and labor troubles are but an inevitable result. The conflicting elements, therefore, must be bound together in unity through a common interest. This interest is attained through true profit-sharing which contemplates a type of partnership or ownership in the business, on the part of the worker.
This means, rightly worked out, a new and hitherto unknown peace will come to the industrial ranks, which no outside force can break. Besides this, the principle of wages sufficient to assure the workmen of an adequate support should be supplemented by the adoption of a method of pensions to be accorded to faithful workers who have become feeble and helpless.
The purpose in all this is to confer a sense of security upon the worker who comprises the vast majority of all men.
This is brotherhood illumined by the light of justice.
'Wages, alone, fall short of justice to the man or woman whose hands, skilled or unskilled have become calloused and hardened by countless hours and successive years of faithful service to his or her employer, firm or corporation. Without this toil, the wheels of industry cannot turn; without this daily grind of human tissues and energies, no profits will appear. These workers are a component and essential part of the business organism with which they have allied themselves and are entitled to their part in its ownership.
Only a blind and unsound reasoning can justify the continuance of the class theory, in industry.
To do so is to descend to the level of inorganic life, the lowest mineral state. No, � rnan, and his economic relationships with his fellow man, is organic, interrelated, cohered. The lowly functions of the nails, hair and skin in the human body are essentials to bodily health and efficiency.
The finer organs of the brain and heart, the eye and the ear all contribute instant succor and unfailing cooperation to those lowlier parts, which, in turn, protect and round out the perfection of the whole. No neglect appears in a true organism for any of its parts. The welfare of each is the vital concern of all. And, conversely, the af-fiction or impairment of any is a menace to the health of the whole body. It takes but little acumen to apply this example of a universal solvent of industrial harmony to the present confused, uncoordinated industrial picture.
7. At the present time, the economic status of the farmer has suffered owing, in part, to overproduction in a world wide sense, and the lessened demand which characterizes the present impoverishment of the general population.
Agriculture is of first importance in the modern state.
Plans of a cooperative nature must be laid to strengthen and fortify the producer through the application of the new principles of trust relationship, mutual aid and taxation, to the agricultural communities.
Encouragement and assistance must be extended to the large mass of our urban floating populations, now economically insecure, to return to the land, where many of the necessities of life may be provided through scientific farming.
The present unbalanced artificial and highly abnormal life of the cities is, at best, a symptom of immoderation, and has built up false standards of living for millions who are thereby deprived of the blessings of that normal existence which is synonymous with a country life. Moderation, without which the truly balanced life is impossible, is a vital feature of the civilization now dawning upon humanity.
8. The failure of employers, generally, to grant the workers any part of the savings in the cost of operation of a business effected by the enormous increase in the use of labor
Page 444saving machinery, and 9, a corollary of 8, the retention of schedules of working-hours which are a survival of conditions existing before the advent of the machine age.
10. Servile and selfish submission of the business world to the unchecked operation of the natural law of the survival of the fittest which is cruelly and unwittingly applied to the elimination from industry of workers who have passed a certain age, regardless of their ability or physical fitness.
11. The present faulty system of provision for work, due, in part, to the maladjustment now existing between the urban and the agricultural occupations. In this New Age, arts, sciences and all crafts are considered as worship, when undertaken in the right spirit. The basis for this is that all effort and exertion put forth by man from the fullness of his heart is worship, if prompted by the highest motives and the will to do service to humanity. Since all men are commanded to work and engage themselves in some one occupation, the avenues of permanent occupation must be opened through suitable enactments and provisions. Bahá'u'lláh tells us � ttWe have made this � your occupation � identical with the worship of God, the True One." This will release into the fields of production and wealth vast numbers of persons at present occupying, economically speaking, a purely parasitic status.
12. Brief mention has been made of the tariff barriers that separate the nations. This subject is of baffling complexity uniess the touchstone presented in this thesis is courageously, unflinchingly and universally applied.
Granted that every tariff, other than nominal, constitutes a barrier between the nations who are, from this point of view, interdependent cells or functions of the grand organic body of the race, it is clear that such unnatural and purely provincial enactments must, inevitably, set up a pathology quite outside and contrary to the fundamental and divine proposition that humanity is essentially one family. The reprisals visited by other countries upon an inordinately high tariff made into law by a particular country, the resentments that are set up, and, more practically speaking, the boomerang-like effect upon the particu lar country in the impairment of its foreign trade as a consequence of the inability of foreign nations to pay their commodity debts in goods because of the high premiums exacted by the tariff impositions, is an evidence of this truth. This fact is well known, and is a material contribution to the present international economic catastrophe.
There is a growing realization of this which the rapid rapprochement of nations together, in recent years, has engendered. The old order justified itself in its tariff policy because it was founded upon the conception of nations as independent entities, supremely sufficient unto themselves. Other nations were foreign, untrustworthy, or, at best, precariously inimical to the fatherland.
Racially they were of a different order, according to this view, ever hatching sinister designs against the fatherland, and in some strange way less human than ourselves.
The strange and unknown is ever synonymous in the human mind with fear and distrust. But the new world order instituted by Bahá'u'lláh knows neither strangeness nor foreignness. Under its dynamic impulse, nations are being drawn together, while in the process the scales of superstition and fear fall from the eyes of the different peoples, as the snowflake melts and vanishes under the warm sun. This is because of the universal action of the Sun of Truth whose powerful rays are penetrating the densest veils.
The liquidation of the tariff question will necessarily be a gradual process; paralleling the attainment of homogenesis by the nations. The strongest bulwark of the tariff is its appeal for the preservation of the standards of living in a country fortunate enoygh to enable its people to utilize a larger degree of comforts and luxuries than is possessed by less favored nations. Only as the sharing of benefits is applied, only as the consciousness of the organic oneness of the whole race is implanted, only to the degree that the entire body of mankind becomes sensitized to the needs of its weaker members, will the appeal of the argument for the sustainment of a specialized and strictly localized standard of living lose its force.
But since this fundamental spiritual precept is an essential element of the new world order, that transforming power is
Page 445certain, in the coming days, to eliminate every outworn element, even as the mighty surges of ocean cast upon the shore every impurity.
13. The demands and exactions of national governments for military and naval expenditures, which consume the major part of all governmental income, based upon both direct and indirect taxation of the people, and arc a moving cause of tariff walls between countries, enacted for the purpose of revenue production.
14. The reinforcement of industry in the international relations by concentration, without further delay, upon the selection of a universal language, through which improved communication and understanding with foreign business houses and industries will result, is an important remedy to the existing confusion and misunderstandings witnessed in international business dealings.
Let us now elaborate, somewhat, certain of these major headings that are of special importance in the readjustment aimed at. It must not be supposed that a deep-seated disease, which has baffled the best economic specialists by its stubborn and frequently violent symptoms, a disease that is so chronic that those whom it has made ill have, indeed, confused its manifestations with those of normality, can be cured with mere bread and water, or sugar, pills.
Nay, the patient, in this case, is so near dissolution that a strong and bitter remedy must be administered, an aqua fords, as it were, and the reactions may be, at first, convulsive, and akin to the agonies of resuscitation.
Headings 2, 3, 5 and 11 are closely allied. These constitute the point of adjustment, or moderation, between the crystallized theories of extreme capitalism and its polar opposite, socialism. This balance, in the midst of unbalance, is one of the greatest contributions in economic thought to be unfolded by Bahá'u'lláh. Fundamentally stated by Bahá'u'lláh, its teaching was extended and applied practically by tAbdu'1 Baha.
Many, perhaps most, of CAbdu~ Bahá'ís most profound discourses on the economic phase of life, were declared on American and Canadian platforms, and in western pulpits.
CAPITALISM AND SOCIALISMThe sternest and most unrelenting objection to the adoption of the maxims of socialism has been and is its supposed assault upon the right to hold private property, and its feared interference with the vested right of individual initiative.
In western countries this threat to an ancient inheritance of individual rights has produced a determined resistance that has successfully curbed any noteworthy political advance of the socialist state. No socialist political party, even in the brief days of power it may have attained in a few instances, has applied to the government of the state the full impact of socialism. This is because of this inherent, somewhat unaccountable urge within the human breast, which instinctively opposes any undue limitation of its alleged right to self-expression and self-advancement.
Russia alone has succeeded, through the terrorism of revolution and regicide, in implanting a new theory of government, pseudo-socialistic in its nature, but only by the institution of a new ruling class deriving its power from a minority of the population. The differentiation of class is not, per se, a basic doctrine of true socialism, which contemplates, rather, an average levelling of all society, and the ultimate elimination of economic class distinctions.
The Bahá'í Economic Plansupplies the remedy for two major defects in the capitalistic and socialistic conceptions.
As stated above, it is the moderating force that ever seeks the equilibrium of the two extremities or opposing polarities.
The defect of capitalism has been its unwillingness to apply the doctrine of human unity in its relationship with the working class; its failure to recognize its interdependence, which calls for sharing and cooperation, with the other integral elements of the business organism.
Regardless of the increase of profits in favorable times, notwithstanding the lowering of the cost of operation and production through the wholesale discharge of workers occasioned by new laborsaving machinery, the capitalistic idea has, in the main, been to absorb for itself, its owners and stockholders, every dollar of net profit.
Page 446The true theory is that the benefits derived from new inventions be distributed, in a reasonable and just way, to those directly affected, in this case employer and employee. Independent of the profit-sharing plan, elsewhere treated, this blow to labor may be at least in part redressed by new and diminished schedules of working hours, thus making unnecessary the discharge of workers, while at the same time preserving wage schedules so far as possible. Such action would have an intensely stabilizing effect. Very recently, one of the largest industrial corporations in America has announced its intention to place its workers on a six hour basis, while simultaneously increasing its working forces to correspond with the new conditions.
The inherent defect in the socialistic philosophy, on the other hand, is its refusal to recognize the innate and created differences in human capacity and attainment. Any departure from the conception of humanity as an organism, merely confuses the issue. The organic relationships are synonymous with the differences in capacities; and each proves the existence of the other. This being true, no dead level can be successfully brought about in human society. The function of the heart can never be imposed upon the function of the liver, or the finger nails. To attempt this is oniy to repeat the dubious experiment of Lycurgus, King of Sparta, who divided all the property of the kingdom equally, and assigned to each man his place. After Lycurgus left the kingdom, believing it to be permanently established in accordance with his plan, these innate differences of capacity among his former subjects speedily reasserted themselves, and the old order was reestablished.
The problem, therefore, is to build, in accordance with the new order of this century, the true reciprocal cooperation between all the human cells of this vast organism, in closest mutual service.
This is the true law of being; this is the condition basically essential to the happiness and welfare of humanity.
Under such a condition, there will be no extreme poverty, no man without the necessities of life. Nor will it be possible for a wealthy man, possessed of means far beyond his needs, to live in happiness piness side by side with one who is starving and wretched. The trust principle as applied to the economic worlC is inclusive of the rights of all; it is protective of the rights of private property and initiative, and at the same time destroys pauperism and insures the necessities of life, as a right rather than a dole, to every willing worker and to every unfortunate one who without fault on his part is the victim of economic disaster. This truly divine law is the point of reconciliation between the contending forces of capitalism and socialism.
It destroys fear and will draw men together in the solution of their common problems. It is a solvent of the present incongruous economic chemistry that has arrayed its elements against each other in fear and distrust, leaving itself wide open to the influx of the destructive forces.
THE DIVINE PHYSICIANLet us turn at this point to the utterances of Bahá'u'lláh and of tAbdu'1-BaM and see of what this remedy of the Divine Physician is composed. We are painfully aware of the disease, and the oniy question is whether we have suffered enough to awaken us to acceptance of a real remedy, rather to continue to imbibe mere nostrums and sedatives.
We have hitherto refrained from excessive quotation from these Words of Life and Guidance, realizing that this matter must be capable of expression in its practical applications, by a simple layman who may be assumed to represent, to some degree at least, the viewpoint of students of this world wide problem.
But any inspiration we have received is due to the power and justice of these Words about to be quoted:
In the Hidden Words, Bahá'u'lláhsays: ~'o ye rich ones upon the earth! The poor in your midst are My Trust.
Therefore guard My TrustTell the rich of the midnight sighing of the poor, lest heedlessness may lead them (the rich) into the path of destruction; and deprive them of the tree of wealth. To give and to be generous
Page 447are attributes of Mine; well is it with him that adorneth himself with
My Virtues.""0 son of Man! Bestow My wealth upon My poor, that in heaven thou mayest draw from stores of unfading splendor and treasures of imperishable glory."
~ Son of Spirit! Vauntnot thyself over the poor, for I lead him on his way and behold thee in thy evil plight and confound thee forevermore.~~ "0 Son of Man! Thou dost wish for gold, and I desire thy freedom therefrom. Thou thinkest thyself rich in its possession, and I recognize thy wealth in thy sanctity therefrom.
By My Life! This is MyKnowledge, and that is thy fancy; how can My Way accord with thine?"
tCQ Son of Being! If poverty overtake thee, be not sad; for in time, the Lord of wealth shall visit thee. Fear not abasement, for glory shall one day rest upon thee."
"0 Son of Man! Shouldprosperity befall thee, rejoice not; and should abasement come upon thee, grieve not; for both shall pass away and be no more.
(CO Quintessence of Passion!Put away all covetousness and seek contentment; for the covetous hath ever been deprived, and the contented hath ever been loved and praised."
CCO My servants! Ye are the trees of My garden, ye must give forth goodly and wondrous fruits, that ye, yourselves, and others, may profit therefrom. Thus it is incumbent upon every one to engage in crafts and professions, for therein lies the secret of wealth. 0 men of understanding!
For results depend upon means, and the Grace of God shall be all-sufficient unto you. Trees that yield no fruit have been and will ever be fit for the fire."
"0 My servant! The best of men are they that earn a livelihood by their calling, and spend upon themselves and upon their kindred, for the love of God, the Lord of all the
Worlds."Withdraw your hands from tyranny, for I have pledged Myself not to forgive any mah's injustice.
This is My covenant which I have irrevocably decreed in the preserved tablet and sealed it with My seal of glory."
~ Children of Negligence!Set not your affections on mortal sovereignty and rejoice not therein.
Ye are even as the unwary bird that with full confidence warbieth upon the bough; till of a sudden the fowler Death throws it upon the dust, and the melody, the form and the colour are gone leaving not a trace. Wherefore take heed, 0 bond-slaves of desire!"
Bahá'u'lláh, from Bahá'ícdt is incumbent upon everyone of you to engage in some one occupation, such as arts, trades and the like. We have made this � your occupation � identical with the worship of God, the True One. Reflect, 0 people, upon the Mercy of God and upon His Favors, then thank Him at dawn and at dusk."
Bahá'u'lláh, reHiddenMen! Know ye not why We created you all from the same dust? That no one should exalt himself over the other. Ponder at all times in your hearts how ye were created. Since We have created you all from one same substance, it is incumbent on you to be even as one soul, to walk with the same feet, eat with the same mouth and dwell in the same land, that from your inmost being, by your deeds and actions, the signs of oneness and the essence of detachment may be made manifest. Such is My counsel to you, 0 concourse of light!
Heed ye this counsel that ye may obtain the fruit of holiness from the tree of wondrous glory."
Abdu'l-Bahá, Tablet to the Hague. � ccThrough the Ideal Power he (man) should be emancipated and free from the captivity of the world of nature � as the struggle for existence is one of the exigencies of the world of nature.
This matter of the struggle for existence is the fountainhead of all calamities and is the supreme affliction." (Italics ours.)
t�Abdu'l-BaIod ee Promulgation of Universal Peace," P. 1 39. � ~'Re1igion is the outer expression of the divine reality. Therefore, it must be living, vitalized, moving and
Page 448progressive. If it be without motion and nonprogressive, it is without the divine life; it is dead. The divine institutes are continuously active and evolutionary; therefore the revelation of them must be progressive and continuous. All things are subject to reformation.
This is a century of life and renewal. Sciences and arts, industry and invention have been reformed.
Law and ethics have been reconstituted and reorganized.
The world of thought has been regenerated.Sciences of former ages and philosophies of the past are useless today. Present exigencies demand new methods of solution; world problems are without precedent. Old ideas and modes of thought are fast becoming obsolete.
Ancient laws and archaic ethical systems will not meet the requirements of modern conditions, for this is clearly the century of a new life, the century of the revelation of the reality, and, therefore, the greatest of all centuries."
eAbdu~l~Bahd ~~Promulgation of Universal Peace," P. 128 .~~ccThe essence of the matter is that divine justice will become manifest in human conditions and affairs and all mankind will find comfort and en-joyrnent in life. It is not meant that all will be equal, for inequality in degree and capacity is a property of nature.
Necessarily there will be rich people and also those who will be in want of their livelihood, but in the aggregate community there will be equalization and readjustment of values and interests, In the future there will be no very rich nor extremely poor. There will be an equilibrium of interests, and a condition will be established which will make both rich and poor comfortable and content. This will be an eternal and blessed outcome of the glorious twentieth century which will be realized universally. The significance of it is that the glad-tidings of great joy revealed in the promises of the holy books will be fulfilled.
Await ye this consummation.c(The disease which afflicts the body politic is a lack of love and absence of altruism. In the hearts of men no real love is found, and the condition is such that unless their susceptibilities are quickened by some power so that unity, love and accord develops within them, there can be no healing, no relief among mankind. Love and unity are the needs of the body politic today.
Without these no progress nor prosperity can be attained. Therefore, the friends of God must adhere to that Power which will create this love and unity in the hearts of the Sons of men."
ttThis is an exigency of the times, and the divine remedy has been provided. The spiritual Teachings of the Religion of God alone can create this love, unity and accord in human hearts.
Therefore, hold to these heavenly agencies which God has provided so that through the love of God this soui-tie may be established, this heart-attach-ment realized, the light of the reality of unity be reflected from you throughout the universe.
tcThe secrets of the whole economic question are divine in nature, and are concerned with the world of the heart and spirit. In the Baha Teachings this is most completely explained, and without the consideration of the Bahá'í Teachings it is impossible to bring about a better state."
From The Promulgationof Universal Peace, P. 128. � ttAmong the results of the manifestation of spiritual forces will be that the human world will adapt itself to a new social form, the justice of God will become manifest throughout human affairs and human equality will be universally established. The poor will receive a great bestowal and the rich attain eternal happiness.
For although at the present time the rich enjoy the greatest luxury and comfort, they are nevertheless deprived of eternal happiness; for eternal happiness is contingent upon giving and the poor are everywhere in the state of abject need. Through the manifestation of God's great equity the poor of the world will be rewarded and assisted fully and there will be a readjustment in the economic conditions of mankind so that in the future there will not be the abnormally rich nor the abject poor.
The rich will enjoy the privilege of this new economic condition as well as the poor, for owing to certain provision and restriction they will not be able to accumulate so much as to be
Page 449burdened by its management, while the poor will be relieved from the stress of want and misery. The rich will enjoy his palace and the poor will have his comfortable cottage."
From Star of the West, Address of eAb~ du'l-Bahd in Montreal, Canada in 1912, Vol. 13, No. 9, P. 227.~ccThe mystery of this phenomenon (that man cannot live to himself alone) the cause thereof is this, that mankind has been created from one single origin, has branched off from one family. Thus in reality all mankind represents one family. God has not created any difference. He has created all as one that thus this fain-ily might live in perfect happiness and wellbeing."
c~Regarding reciprocity and cooperation: each member of the body politic should live in the utmost comfort and welfare because each individual member of humanity is a member of the body politic and if one member of the members be in distress or be afflicted with some disease all the other members must necessarily suffer. For example, a member of the human organism is the eye. If the eye should be affected that affliction would affect the whole nervous system. Hence, if a member of the body politic becomes afflicted, in reality from the standpoint of sympathetic connection, all will share that affliction since this (one afflicted) is a member of the group of members, a part of the whole. Is it possible for one member of part to be in distress and the other members be at ease? It is impossible!
Hence God has desired that in the body politic of humanity each one shall enjoy perfect welfare and comfort."
"Although the body politic is one family yet because of lack of harmonious relations some members are comfortable and some in direst misery, some members are satisfied and some are hungry, some members are clothed in most costly garments and some families are in need of food and shelter. Why?
Because this family lacks the necessary reciprocity and symmetry. This household is not well arranged.
This household is not living under a perfect law. All the laws which are legislated do not ensure happiness. They do not provide comfort.
Therefore, fore, a law must be given to this family by means of which all the members of this f am-ily will enjoy equal wellbeing and happiness.
ttls it possible for one member of a f am-ily to be subjected to the utmost misery and to abject poverty and for the rest of the family to be comfortable? It is impossible unless those members of the family be senseless, atrophied, inhospitable, unkind.
Then they would say, tThough these members do belong to our family � let them alone. Let us look after ourselves. Let them die.
So long as I am comfortable, I am honored, I am happy � this my brother � let him die.
If he be in misery let him remain in misery, so long as I am comfortable.
If he is hungry let him remain so; I am satisfied.
If he is without clothes, so long as I am clothed, let him remain as he is. If he is shelterless, homeless, so long as I have a home, let him remain in the wilderness.'
ttSuch utter indifference in the human family is due to lack of control, to lack of a working of the law, to lack of kindness in its midst. If kindness had been shown to the members of this family surely all the members thereof would have enjoyed comfort and happiness."
ttGod is not partial and is no respecter of persons.
He has made provision for all. The harvest comes forth for everyone. The rain showers upon everybody and the heat of the sun is destined to warm everyone.
Therefore, there should be for all humanity the utmost happiness, the utmost comfort, the utmost wellbeing."
t~But if conditions are such that some are happy and comfortable and some in misery; some are accumulating exorbitant wealth and others are in dire want � under such a system it is impossible for man to be happy and impossible for him to win the good pleasure of God. God is kind to all. The good pleasure of God consists in the welfare of all the individual members of mankind."
ttThe purport is this, that we are all inhabiting one globe of earth. In reality we are one family and each one of us is a mem
Page 450ber of this family. We must all be in the greatest happiness and comfort under a just rule and regulation which is according to the good pleasure of God, thus causing us to be happy, for this life is fleeting."
"The man who thinks oniy of himself and is thoughtless of others is undoubtedly inferior to the animal because the animal is not possessed of the reasoning faculty. The animal is excused; but in man there is reason, the faculty of justice, the faculty of mercifulness. Possessing all these faculties he must not leave them unused.
He who is so hardhearted as to think only of his own comfort, such a one will not be called a man.
ttW ask God to endow human souL with justice so that they may be fair, and may strive to provide for the comfort of all, that each member of humanity may pass his life in the utmost comfort and welfare. Then this material world will become the very paradise of the Kingdom, this elemental earth will be in a heavenly state and all the servants of God will live in the utmost joy, happiness and gladness.
We must all strive and concentrate all our thoughts in order that such happiness may accrue to the world of humanity."
From eeLight of the World," P. 45. � "The solution begins with the village, and when the village is reconstructed, then the cities will be also. The idea is this, that in each village will be erected a storehouse.
In the language of Religion it is called the House of Finance. That is a universal storehouse which is commenced in the village. Its administration is through a committee of the wise ones of the community, and with the approval of that committee all the affairs are directed."
"First, whatever contributions are necessary, they obtain from the bank at interest. For instance, they borrow from the bank at three per cent and loan to the public at four per cent. Any farmer who is in need of implements, they suppiy and give him all his necessities.
'When the crop is harvested, it will be the first income of the storehouse. The first revenue is this.
But this revenue is not equally distributed. For instance, a person may have a crop of one thousand kilos and this is only sufficient for his wants and living.
From him nothing will be taken because he needs it all. If something is taken from him, he will remain hungry. But again, there may be one whose needs require one thousand kilos and his income is two thousand kilos.
From him one-tenth is taken. Again, one needs two thousand kilos, but his income is ten thousand kilos. From him two-tenths will be taken. He needs two thousand kilos. If two thousand are taken from him he still has six thousand remaining."
Wne has fifty thousand kilos, from him one-third is taken. One may have ten thousand kilos expenses, but has one hundred thousand kilos income. One half is taken. The greater the income, the greater is the ratio of taxation."
"Sd It is also the same with the cattle. They take proportionately the revenue from the cattle. For example, if a man has two cows necessary for his wants, nothing is taken from him. The more he has, the more is taken from him. This is the second revenue.~~ ccTh third revenue of the storehouse comes from one who dies without heirs."
ccTh fourth revenue comes from mines. If a mine is found upon the land of a person, one third of it belongs to him and the remainder to the storehouse."
C(The fifth revenue is hidden treasure. If a person finds a hidden treasure in the earth he takes half of it, and the other half goes to the storehouse."
"The sixth revenue. If it (treasure) is found on the way, also half of it belongs to the storehouse."
"The seventh revenue is voluntary contributions to the storehouse. Of their own free will and with utmost willingness, the peo-pie will give."
ttThese are the seven revenues, but there are seven fixed expenditures."
Page 451"The first expenditure: The storehouse ought to give one-tenth to the Government, to the public treasury for the public pense.
"The second expenditure is for the poor. The poor who are in need, those who are exempt, not those who arc idle. For instance, if a person's crop is burned or he has a ioss in his business, and for this reason has become poor, these poor people are to be taken care of."
ttThird the infirm, who come to want and cannot work."
CCFourt1~: The orphans.ttFfth The schools. The schools must be organized for the education of the children."
"Sixth: For the deaf and blind."tcSth Public health. Whatever is necessary for the public health must be arranged.
Swamps should be filled in, water should be brought in; whatever is necessary for the public health."
"If there is something left over (after these expenditures), it should be given to the Great House of Justice. And thus there will be no want in the village.
The people will not remain hungry, they will not remain naked. All will be in the utmost welfare and comfort."
From rrThe Wisdom of rAbdU~1Ba/9d,~ Pages 140143. � 'tOne of the most important principles of the Teaching of Bahá'u'lláh is: t~The right of every human being to the daily bread whereby they exist, of the equalization of the means of livelihood."
"The arrangements of the circumstances of people must be such that poverty shall disappear, that everyone, as far as possible, according to his rank and position, shall share in comfort and wellbeing."
"A financier with a colossal wealth should not exist whilst near him is a poor man in dire necessity.
When we see poverty allowed to reach the condition of starvation, it is a sure sign that somewhere we shall find tyranny. Men must bestir themselves in this matter, and no longer delay in altering conditions which bring misery or grinding poverty to a very large number of people. The rich must give of their abundance, they must soften their hearts and cultivate a compassionate intelligence, taking thought for those sad ones who are suffering from Lack of the very necessities of life."
!!~/~~ Promulgation of211, 212. � "Bahá'u'lláh has revealed principles and laws which will accomplish the adjustment of varying human capacities. He has said that whatsoever is possible of accomplishment in human government will be effected through these principles. When the laws he has instituted are carried out there will be no millionaires possible in the community and likewise no extremely poor. This will be effected and regulated by adjusting the different degrees of human capacity.
The fundamental basis of the community is agriculture, tillage of the soil. All must be producers."
rfBahd~i Scriptures," Pages 3413 42. � CCBt here is the real solution. The rich should be merciful to the poor, but with their freewill, not with force.
Should it be with force it would be useless. It should be according to law and not by violence, so that through a general law every one might know his duty. For example, a rich person has a large income and a poor person a small income. To put it in a more explicit way: a rich person has ten thousand kilos of products, and a poor person has ten kilos. Now is it fair to tax them equally? Nay, rather the poor person in this case must be exempt from taxes. If the poor person gives one-tenth of his income and the rich person one-tenth of his income, it will be unjust. Thus in this way a law should be made that the poor person who has oniy ten kilos and needs them all for his necessary food, be exempt from paying taxes.
But if the rich person, who has ten thousand kilos pays one-tenth or two-tenths taxes on his products, it will not be a hardship to him. For example, if he gives two thousand kilos, he will still have eight thousand kilos.
If a person has fifty thousand kilos, eventhough he gives ten thousand kilos he will still have forty thousand kilos.
Therefore, laws must be made in this way. These laws must do away with the present system of wages and earnings. If today the owners of factories increase the wages of their employees, after a month or a year, they will again cry and strike and ask for more increase.
This work has no end.""For example, the farmers plant near a village. They get products from their cultivation. They take one-tenth from the rich and the poor according to their income. A general store may be built in that village for all the incomes and products to be brought therein. Then it will be considered who is rich and who is poor.
The farmers whose incomes are sufficient oniy for their food and expenses must be free from paying taxes.
All products and incomes gathered and collected must be put in the general store.
If there is a helpless one in that village his daily needs must be given to him. On the other hand a rich person who needs only fifty kilos of products and still has five hundred kilos, after all his expenses are paid, should be taxed two-tenths and at the end of the year whatever remains in the store should be distributed for the general expenses."
rAbdu~1~Bghd, "Star of the West," Vol. 22, No. 1. � One of the Bahá'í principles 'tsuggests a plan whereby all the individual members of society may enjoy the utmost comfort and welfare. The degrees of society must be preserved.
The farmer will continue to till the soil, the artist pursue his art, the banker to finance the nations.
An army has need of its general, captain, and private sol � diers. The degrees varying with the pursuits are essential.
But in this Bahá'í plan there is no class hatred.Each is to be protected and each individual member of the body politic is to live in the greatest comfort and happiness.
Work is to be provided for all and there will be no needy ones seen in the streets.~~ rAbdldlBahd from Address in New York City, Dcc.
2, 1912. � ttNo religious books of the past Prophets speak of the economic question, while the economic problem has been thoroughly solved in the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh."
rAbdlt~1.Bahd Philadelphia, June 9, 1912. ~c~Among the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh are principles which concern the readjustment of livelihood, that is to say, certain regulations are revealed which insure the welfare and well being of all humanity.
Just as the rich man enjoys his rest and his pleasures surrounded by luxuries, the poor man must likewise have a home, be provided with sustenance, and not be in want. In order that all human kind may be at ease, the readjustment of the economical situation is necessary and of utmost importance; until this is effected happiness is impossible."
Abdu'l-Bahá Tablet to 0. Schwarz, Stuttgart, Germany, Feb., 1 92O.~~~ccJn the Divine Teachings equality is brought about through a ready willingness to share. It is commanded as regards wealth that the rich among the people, and the aristocrats should, by their own free will and for the sake of their happiness, concern themselves with the care of the poor.
This equality is the result of the lofty characteristics and noble attributes of mankind."
!Abdu'l-Bahá Star of the West, Vol. 3, No. 2. � ttArnong the most important principles of the Teachings of Bahá'u'lláh is the equalization of the means of existence. There are in the world at present numerous cases of men who are either too poor or too rich. While some live in palaces, others have nowhere to lay their head; some have many courses to their meals, while others scarcely have enough bread to keep them alive. This state of affairs is wrong and must be remedied."
ttThe remedy, however, cannot consist in the bringing to pass of equality, absolute equality among men; this would be impossible. There is needed some organization which will bring about an order in this disorder. Equality is a mere dream and absolutely impracticable. If equality existed the whole order of the world would be destroyed. In mankind there is always a difference in degree. Since creation men have never been the same. Some have superior in
Page 453tdlligence, others are more ordinary and some are devoid of intellect.
How can there ever exist equality between those who are clever and those who are not? Humanity is like an army. An army must have a general, captains and soldiers, each with their appointed duties; it cannot consist of generals, only, or captains or soldiers only � there must be degrees in the organization."
"Some are too rich, some are too poor, some have millions and some have nothing. As organization is necessary to control this state of affairs, it is necessary to limit riches or it is necessary to limit poverty. Either extreme is wrong. There should be a medium state. If it is right for a capitalist to possess a great fortune, then it is also just that a workman should have the means of existence.
If poverty is allowed to reach a condition of starvation, it proves that there is tyranny.
Men must see that this does not happen in any case.
There must be special laws. The rich must give of their plenty. If they have more than they need, they must think of those who are in want."
"The government of a country should make laws which conform to the Divine Law.
The Law of God exacts that there should be neither excessive wealth nor e. cessive poverty.
eAbdu~l.Bahd, reStar of the West," Vol. 3, No. 6. � ttThere is need of an equalization so that all may have an apportionment in the comforts of life.
For example, the wealthy man, whose table is adorned with all kinds of delicacies, must allow the poor to have at least his necessities.
It is not right that one should have all the delicacies and all foods on his table when another is in want of the necessities of life.
The rich must be merciful to the poor and out of their own willing hearts should they uplift them, they should not be forced.
There must be a readjustment and legislation which shall equalize conditions until humankind may have composure and rest with utmost ease.
eAbdu~lBahd from the Tablet CCTo Guide the Guides." � tt 0 people of wealth and riches!
If you see a poor man suffering from any calamity, do not run away from him, but sit with him and ask him about the things heaped upon him from the seas of determination and predestination."
~ erpromulgation of Universal Peace;' Vol. 2, P. 233. � ttThe Bahá'í Cause covers all economic and social questions under the heading and ruling of its laws. The essence of the Bahá'í spirit is that in order to establish a better social and economic condition, there must be allegiance to the laws and principles of government. Under the laws which are to govern the world, the socialists may justly demand human rights but without resorts to force and violence.
The governments will enact these laws, establishing just legislation and economic policies in order that all humanity may enjoy a full measure of welfare and privilege; but this will always be according to legal protection and procedure.
Without legislative administration, rights and demands fail and the welfare of the commonwealth cannot be realized. Today the method of demand is the strike and resort to force which is manifestly wrong and destructive of human foundations.
Rightful privilege and demand must be set forth in laws and regulations."
"While thousands are considering these questions, we have more essential purposes. The fundamentals of the whole economic condition are divine in nature and are associated with the world of the heart and spirit.
This is fully explained in the Bahá'í teaching, and without knowledge of its principles no improvement in the economic state can be realized. The Bahá'ís will bring about this improvement and betterment but not through sedition and appeal to physical force; not through warfare, but welfare.
Hearts must be so cemented together, love must become so dominant that the rich shall most willingly extend assistance to the poor and take steps to establish those economic adjustments permanently.
If it is accomplished in this way, it will be most praiseworthy because then it will be for the sake of God and in the pathway of His service. For example, it will be as if the rich inhabitants of a city should say tlt is neither just nor lawful that we should possess great wealth while there is
Page 454abject poverty in this community,' and then willingly give their wealth to the poor, retaining only as much as will enable them to live comfortably."
Bahá'u'lláh, !!Baha� Man should know his own self, and understand those things which lead to loftiness or to abasement, to shame or to honor, to affluence or to poverty.
After man has realized his own being, and become mature, then (material) means are required. If wealth is acquired through a craft or profession, it is approvable and praiseworthy for men of wisdom, especially for those who arise to train the world and beautify the souls of the nations.
These are the cup bearers of the Kawthar of Knowledge, and the guides of the ideal path. They direct the people of the whole world to the right path, and instruct them in that which is conducive to the elevation and progress of being."
~A/JdU'LBa/Jd C!Some AnsweredQuestions," P. 313 .~~~~CCFor instance, the manufacturers and the industrials heap up a treasure each day, and the poor artisans do not gain their daily sustenance: that is the height of iniquity, and no just man can accept it. Therefore, laws and regulations should be established which would permit the workmen to receive from the factory ownet their wages and a share in the fourth or the fifth part of the profits, accordng to the wants of the factory: or in some other way the body of the workmen and the manufacturers should share equitably the profits and advantages.
Indeed, the direction and administration of affairs come from the owner of the factory, and the work and labour, from the body of the workmen.
In other words, the workmen should receive wages which assure them an adequate support, and when they cease work, becoming feeble and helpless, they should receive from the owner of the factory a sufficient pension.
The wages should be high enough to satisfy the workmen with the amount they receive, so that they may be able to put a little aside for days of want and helplessness.~~ '~Good God! is it possible that, seeing one of his fellow-creatures starving, destitute of everything, a man can rest and live comfortably in his luxurious mansion?
He who meets another in the greatest misery, can he enjoy his fortune?
That is why, in the Religion of God, it is prescribed and established that wealthy men each year give over a certain portion of their fortune for the maintenance of the poor and unfortunate. That is the foundation of the Religion of God, and the most essential of the Commandments."
CCAS now man is not forced nor obliged by the Government, if by the natural tendency of his good heart, with the greatest spirituality, he goes to this expense for the poor, this will be a thing very much praised, approved and pleasing. Such is the meaning of the good works in the Divine Books and Tablets."
aBahd~i Scriptures," P. 669. � ttNow I want to tell you about the law of God. According to the Divine law, employees should not be paid merely by wages. Nay, rather they should be partners in every work. The question of socialization is very difficult.
It will not be solved by strikes for wages.All the governments of the world must be united, and organize an assembly, the members of which shall be elected from the parliaments and the noble ones of the nations. These must plan with wisdom and power, so that neither the capitalists suffer enormous losses, not the laborers become needy.
In the utmost moderation they should make the law, then announce to the public that the rights of the working people are to be effectively preserved; also the rights of the capitalists are to be protected. When such a general law is adopted, by the will of both sides, should a strike occur, all the governments of the world should collectively resist it. Otherwise the work will lead to much destruction, especially in Europe. Terrible things will take place."
CCO of the causes of a universal European war will be this question.
The owners of properties, mines and factories, should share their incomes with their employees, and give a fairly certain percentage of their profits to their workingmen, in order that the employees should receive5 besides their
Page 455wages, some of the general income of the factory, so that each employee may strive with his soui in the work."
"No more trusts will remain in the future. The question of the trusts will be wiped away entirely. Also, every factory that has ten thousand shares, will give two thousand of these ten thousand to its employees, and will write them in their names so that they may have them, and the rest will belong to the capitalists.
Then at the end of the month, or year, whatever they may earn, after the expenses and wages are paid, according to the number of shares, should be divided among both. In reality, so far great injustice has befallen the common people.
Laws must be made because it is impossible for laborers to be satisfied with the present system. They will strike every month and every year. Finally, the capitalists will lose. In the ancient times a strike occurred among the Turkish soldiers. They said to the Government: CO wages are very small and they should be increased.' The Government was forced to give them their demands.
Shortly afterwards they struck again. Finally all the incomes went to the pockets of the soldiers, to the extent that they killed the king, saying: Why didst thou not increase the income so that we might have received more?'
SOCIAL PEACE AND UNITYThe above quotations are but a few of those that might be adduced from the writings and discourses of Bahá'u'lláh and tAb-du'1-BaM if space permitted, directly applicable to this intimate study of human relationships.
We have, however, had to rest content with these basic extracts from a source whose every utterance is a call to humanity's inmost reality; a message of love, peace, and unity for the race; a universal diagnosis and prescription. The true Physician penetrates the veil of symptoms into the field of causation. Likewise, when he finds the body overcome with a complication of diseases, he is not concerned with one disordered function only, but seeks the remote cause that has also affected or infected the other organs. The dawn of its maturity has come upon the race. The playthings and crass ignorance of childhood days have been set aside. The newly understood unity of science and religion calls for the adaptation of scientific principles to our economic life. These principles, being essentially divine, cannot conflict with the fundamental religious foundation which is the love of God and of mankind (which Christ defined as both "the law and the prophets"), and the knowledge of God, the eternal search for which is the revealer of science and heavenly mysteries. It is the lack of this love, and ignorance of this knowledge that the Wise Physician has declared to be the primary cause of man's present turmoil and ravaging illness.
The introduction of the trust principle, i. e., that the poor are a divine trust, possessing certain rights as contrasted with mere charity, establishes a new economic axiom: That every human being, who is willing to work, is entitled, as of right, to the necessities of life.
Since the Creator has made sufficient provision for all, and has deposited in the earth the elements essential to the production of food and slid � ter, it is no longer allowable that any man should starve or be without the means of existence. Man, generically speaking, is a beneficiary of the bountiful trust confided to nature by the Lord of men. If a beneficiary, he is entitled to a share in the proceeds of this trust endowment. In his turn, he must contribute to the general enrichment through his labor, art or calling, and be not found wanting in this.
The governments and communities must make work available when ordinary means fail.
Relieved of the enormous burden of war expenditures, which will surely come to pass, the internal adjustments of a people will be subjected to a far deeper scrutiny than has yet been possible, and the surplus wealth of governments and general cooperative contributions alike devoted to the constructive upbuilding of the New Order.
Poor houses, and pauperism, would be erased from the picture. The millions of underfed and under developed, now deprived of normal development both of body and soul, will find transformation through attaining to their destined place in the organic life. The innate qualities of growing
Page 456children will be lovingly and carefully studied by a new type of teacher, so that the God-given talents may be early ascertained, and the divers capacities encouraged and led to their special goal of service. New knowledge and new scientific means of determining the innate capacity of a soui will be uncovered. Poor bankers will no longer be made out of good mechanics; and boys and girls who love the soil and the sweet tang of country air will not, for lack of this knowledge, find themselves in a clerical position. The inner realities of human beings will tend to a greater revealment for the abundance they attract.
The second important change in our social structure is the principle of mutual assistance. This has already been referred to as the right to necessities.
A farmer whose crop is ruined by forces beyond his control, a widow with young children, a cripple unable to work, a worker ill and without means, an orphan lacking kind relatives, an unemployed, though willing and self-re-specting worker or artisan, all these and a hundred other types of misfortune that are daily encountered, are protected under this plan from the ioss of self-respect, or from sinking into criminality, or from the humiliation of poor-relief and the cognomen of pauper. These possess a right to share in the abundance of their common mother, earth.
God does not withhold from such His rain and sunshine. The children of men must not withhold from their neighbors and brothers of the race, these rights which the Mercy of God bestows, nor classify them as outcasts. Under this system, a man can, with head up and eyes unashamed, reveal to his village House of Justice his needs, his woes, his hopes, and be conscious that, in so doing, he is but receiving what is due him as a child of God. His need is usually but temporary, and let it not be supposed that the vast majority of mankind fall short in self-respect. He offers to work, and work is given, but his crushing temporary burden of debt and anxiety has been lifted, and he breathes a prayer of thanksgiving for this evidence of Divine Providence among his fellow men. A year hence he may be contributing to the funds of the common storehouse.
The new consciousness that will be builded through experiences like these, will enrich humanity � for the bars of individual and isolated selfishness have been rent asunder; the sharp claws of nature have been clipped.
Two sweeping changes appear.One is limitation upon the taxing power; and, by the same token, an expansion of that power. In the first case, the power of the community or government to tax would come into being only when the income of the citizen exceeds his actual necessary expenses. Up to that point, he is exempt, since to tax him would be an act of tyranny, in that it would automatically deprive him of at least a portion of his necessities, thus defeating the essential purpose. This is a new princi-pie in taxation.
The expansion of the tax power, however, as it would apply to the incomes in the higher levels, is not a new principle, at least in certain western countries. The graduated income tax has become almost a tradition. The tithe, moreover, has a most ancient inheritance, even to the days of Meichizedek, King of Salem, to whom the patriarch and prophet Abraham rendered the tithe.
Originally the rights of God, � the tithe, through this new and merciful command, becomes the means of succor to the unfortunate, as well as the salvation of the state. In this plan, however, emphasis is laid upon the preservation of the right of individual initiative, capacity, and private ownership.
Whatever expansion the taxing power achieves, it will always fall short, substantially short of confiscation. An abundant residue is retained by the wealthy man who has generously contributed to the welfare of the commonwealth, and his initiative is never deprived of its reward. Nevertheless, through his recognition of his innate relationship with the living organism of his community, he has furnished that cooperation and reciprocal help that the organic life requires for its health and wellbeing.
For example, the brain demands and receives the largest volume of blood, in the entire circulation of the body. For this, it renders the most vital and commanding service.
Similarly, those in the high places of the tower of humanity, must reciprocate.
Page 457457 And, here, I believe, we will hear the ttwell done" of the socialist.
Capital, so long entrenched, will, under this plan, step into its true place in the economic organism.
It will have taken a long step toward the middle position, the path of moderation. Socialism, likewise, will advance toward that greatly to be desired equilibrium � and the two contending theories of social and industrial life find union in their common sacrifices. The principle of individual ownership and initiative, the degrees of capacity and service have been maintained, and on the other hand, the recognition of a common humanity, organic cooperation, and the rights of all men, have been subserved and instituted. Meditate upon this divinely practical and practically divine plan, ye who are at present full of fear of the future, and ye who have become almost disheartened and discouraged over the intractable abyss that has separated you from your brothers! Adopt this plan and invite the warming life-giving forces of composition, health and happiness, for this is one picture of human unity and mutuality.
In the face of this system, the dole loses its appeal and fades away to nothingness. The plan, through which a nation, or state virtually chioroforms its unemployed into quiescence by opening its treasury to weekly unearned stipends, is both faulty and dangerous. It is only another symptom of social disorder. Ignoring the law of work and self-respect, the dole is an artificial political remedy with reactionary final results.
Outside the law of compensation for services rendered, it cannot be regarded as a pernia-nent or effective means of solving this all embracing problem.
The principle involved differs widely from that herein set forth, which affirms the sacredness and essentiality of work, and provision for work. Although seemingly parallel to the Bahá'í plan, in providing means from the public treasury to those in need or unfortunate, the parallelism fades because the basis upon which aid is given is, in the one case, based upon charity, and in the other, upon right.
Moreover, the dole deals mainly with unemployment, while this plan covers the entire field of misfortune.
The dole is the extended hand of the state to its unemployed, needy ones, but it does not confer employment. The hand of labor is nerveless, for lack of available work. No service appears, to balance the payment.
More basically, the need and excuse for the dole is brought about by the existence of the very disorders in our general economic life, which are alone responsible for these terrific fluctuations in the demand and suppiy of labor, these recurring industrial depressions whose cure depends upon the administration of all the ingredients of the divine prescription, not one oniy. While the dole is a gesture along the line of least resistance, to quiet a threatened revolutionary impulse on the part of the hungry and destitute, it is admittedly ineffective in any permanent sense.
That prosperity which in current parlance is always CCjust around the corner," if too long delayed, will come too late to preserve the financial integrity of a state weakened and emasculated by the employment of a purely artificial device as a substitute for employment.
We readily admit that in the present state of the economic consciousness, some such method was inevitable.
We are not criticizing those who invented the dole. No other avenue was at hand. We are, however, criticizing the hit or miss system which made it necessary. The new consciousness of man's real organic life, which sees the material and spiritual civilizations indissolubly joined, which rejects and denies the right of purely material interests to dominate, any longer, the destinies of mankind, will insist upon the establishment of the balance.
Material and selfish interests have deprived this organic body of its soui, notwithstanding that the body without the soui is as a lamp lacking both oil and light. To join these once more together is as du'1-Bahi expressed it � "light upon light." The day of overweening material dominion is swiftly passing.
Love and brotherhood will attract and establish the spiritual elements of civilization side by side with our material necessities.
In the industrial depression of 192021, the wages of workers in the United States were cut approximately 23 %, but dividends decreased but 3 %, while at the same time interest paid on investments increased $71,000,000.
In this current depression,193031, the aggregate wages paid in 1930 diminished to the extent of $9,600,000,000, while durihg the same period, astonishing to relate, interest payments and dividends rose from the 1929 figures of $7,500,000,000, to a total of $8,000,000,000.
This is stated on the authority of a recent article in Collier's, by Mr. Owen P. White.
These figures, if accurate, disclose the protection which employers in industry accord themselves in troublous times, and illustrate the fact that the worker, discharged or on half time, pays the real price of the depression, and is, in effect, its principal victim. ft is fair to assume, as well, that the use of laborsaving machinery, without regard to the just interests of labor, has played a substantial part in this inequality of distribution of the earnings of industry. No more concrete example of the doctrine of living "unto oneself" need be adduced than these amazing statistics.
This is the direct application of the theory of separation, and the denial of organic reciprocity. Can we longer doubt that our industrial life is attacked by the evil force of decomposition, when these prime elements of its attraction are thus disclosed? Mention has already been made, in detail, of the remedy for this particular form of class selfishness.
Now, in paying out these huge sums to stockholders and investors during depressed periods, it must be assumed that industry at least to some extent, drew upon corporate reserves accumulated in more prosperous years.
The author of the article referred to cites several illuminating facts on this subject, and applies the existence of such reserve funds directly to the subject of unemployment reserve insurance. tAbdu~1~Bah4 in one of his discourses on the matter of profit-sharing, says that other means of alleviating the lack of work should also be employed. In good business years, this unemployment reserve plan has built up, in several major instances in America, a solvent fund which, in the present crisis, has operated to keep the unemployed workers from these factories from the bread lines. Three per cent of the payroll was set aside in this fund by the employers, 1 %2 % by the employees, during the favorable years, and from this, during the existing depression, 30% of full time wages was paid each entitled worker. 'Were this system allowed to operate during a reasonably long term of favorable years, it would undoubtedly accumulate, through investment and interest, to a point enabling an even larger percentage of normal earnings to be paid in the time of need. But as Mr. White points out, this 30% has preserved the self-respect of these workers, and is the best argument against the dole, or even the charitable community chest. Another large and wellknown corporation, which put this system in operation in 1915, found the accumulation, this year, warranted a payment to its unemployed workers, with dependents, of 80% of their normal wage, and 60% to those without dependents. Numerous other examples are cited, in which large, foresighted corporations have installed this beneficent plan.
These reserve funds must always remain solvent, and in case of unduly protracted periods of unemployment, the depletion of the fund would terminate its benefits until it again became solvent.
This constructive and humane plan is an example of what unemployment insurance can accomplish.
Stabilization in industry is an attainable goal once the minds and hearts of employers are opened to the influx of the spirit of the Age. Every such measure will surely attract the divine confirmation.
In one of His Tablets ("Epistle to the Son of the Wolf," p. 22) Bahá'u'lláh says � ttThe most important quality, in the education of man, is the love of God; blessed are they who possess it." And on the same page and on p. 23 � "Verily, I declare that the love of God is in itself a manifest protection, and a solid f or-tress for all the peoples of the earth.
It is their supreme safeguard."ttfl~Q%j~ religion is weakly supported, ignorance, presumption and temerity thrive; verily, I assert that whatsoever is withheld from it becomes profit to the irresponsible, and the final result is anarchy." "Uphold religion, for it will organize the world and diffuse harmony among the creatures."
These statements of reality penetrate to the innermost heart of our problem.
In this sense, "religion" is used as identical with the
Page 459divine foundations revealed by the Prophets in all ages, as contrasted with the religious systems later established by human agencies. rcReligions (religious systems) are many but Religion is one" is a divine utterance furnishing the key.
There is but one way a man can show his love for God, and that is the degree of his service to his fellowmen. As it is written � "Deeds show the station of the man," for all are partners in mere words. It is the practical application of this truth in the field of industry and within the social structure of humanity, that will rout the de � compositional process just now so firmly fastened upon us all. A deepening consciousness of man as the most sacred of all crc � ated organisms, and the destruction of the superstitious, imaginary, false belief that he is individually independent and inorganic, is essential.
Herein, the educators of mankind must play a leading part. While true consciousness is the light of heart and soui, the education of the mind is a pathway thereto. The new education will guide and illumine this path, and will be a powerful aid to this end in the very near future.
The eradication of fear, which holds the most of humanity in a grip more relentless than death itself, and is, alas, oniy too well founded, in view of the unrestrained and selfish disregard of the rights of men by those who at present control the means of livelihood, � can be accomplished oniy by the adoption of the balanced principle of moderation we have endeavored to set forth. 13y the eradication of fear, Bahá'u'lláh says � "the very nature of man will be changed." Fear, an inheritance of the animal world, is, like darkness, a manifestation of the sinister, negative power of Nature. When hope and happiness arise side by side with it, it vanishes, even as darkness is found to be nonexistent when the light shines.
The economic gloom of today nourishes and vitalizes fear to the nth power.
What is this fear that blights the countenances of millions of men with its livid and ghastly infection? It is the fear of pauperized old age; of closed doors of opportunity while the wolf crouches upon the doorstep of the workman's cottage; of the widow with little ones wending her way disconsolately to the office of the Poor Relief; of the unemployed worker turned away again and again from the door of factory and shop; of the wounded and maimed returned from the wars; of the hard-toiling farmer whose crops Nature has blighted in a single night, or upon whose fields swarms of insects have descended, raised up perchance by this very disorder that flourishes in our social structure; of the cripple who looks forward only to a lifetime of dependency; of the 50 year old worker denied the right to give of his strength and experience; yes, of the business man oppressed with anxieties as his books reveal the red ink entries of deficit. Because of this fear, because of impending bankruptcies and the fancied ioss of financial standing, how many suicides are recorded as the iron wheels of industry turn day by day? Visualize, if you may, the faces of countless thousands of the children of men, by which I mean men and women, endowed as are all humanity with heart, soui and mind, white and drawn, in whose linca-ments the cruel knife of fear and anxiety has carved deep and ineradicable furrows. The juggernaut of a feverish and unrestrained industrial machine has turned these children of an all loving Father into unrecognizable shadows of their true humanity. The claws of Nature have sunk deep into their vitals, numbing the finer forces, preventing the achievement of the divine destinies they might have attained.
In truth, have we surrendered to the natural law of the survival of the fittest, the ~!suprerne affliction."
Indifference worse than hate itself, the shame of Cain flaunting itself in the face of the Divine Command to keep and cherish his brother, selfish greed that seizes the results of toil, � are these not the insignia of man's degradation, of the terrible forces of decomposition hovering ever nearer to the scene of final dissolution?
These agonies and this truly satanic condition are not of God, for they are blind, unintelligent, unloving, while He is the Seer, the Knower, the Loving.
His Love has poured forth in this New Time, His favor to the poor and oppressed is evident. In the sight of God, man has no justification for longer living unto himself alone. Nor can he find excuse in pleading tthuman nature" in this light.
Page 460For this disorder is not of human origin. Rather is it of a world lower than the animal. This is because man has been endowed with a power to know the Divine, while the animal does not possess that power. Man is responsible, the animal is not responsible, since it has no means of knowing God. Indeed, Nature, herself, is "uninformed of God, the Almighty."
By surrendering, therefore, to the natural law, humanity has accepted the sovereignty of a blind and unintelligent force. Reflect, then, upon this word Prom the Hidden Words of Bahá'u'lláh (from the Arabic, no. 13) � ~ Son of Spirit! I created thee rich, why dost thou bring thyself down to poverty? Noble I made thee, wherewith dost thou abase thyself? Out of the essence of knowledge I gave thee being, why seekest thou enlightenment from anyone beside Me?
Out of the clay of iove I moulded thee, how dost thou busy thyself with another?
Turn thy sight unto thyself, that thou mayest find Me standing within thee, mighty, powerful and self-subsisting."
(Italics ours) This moving appeal is directed to the slumbering spiritual consciousness of humanity, to that capacity within with which the world of nature has no part, to the human reality itself, a reality that transcends Nature, and is destined to achieve sovereignty over her, even as today she has been permitted to usurp sovereignty over a being superior to her both intrinsically and innately. Ignorance of this supreme fact has humbled and retarded the race. But the hour has arrived when this tyranny is to be conquered. Happy are they who awaken to the divine gifts of nobility, spiritual wealth, knowledge, and iove that have been deposited within them, and gird up their loins to enlist in the army that is gathering to carry the last and strongest redoubt in Nature's dark citadel.
Page 461(Miss Martha L. Root, American journalist and international Bahá'í teacher and icc-tuner, , has spoken in more than four hundred of the leading universities and colleges and other higher institutions of learning in the five continents. At the time of writing this article, she was completing a tour across the United States from Honolulu and San Francisco to New York and Washington, D. C. She has spoken in the universities and colleges and broadcast in every city through which she passed during her stay of eleven months in America. She had an unusual opportunity to meet the university circles of the United States, both in lecturing and in individual contacts with students and professors.
. Owing to her constant and uninterrupted traveling, writing and daily lecturing, , she has oniy summarized here a few of the impressions of the Bahá'í Movement and American university circles, but they throw a light upon the minds, the aims and the spiritual needs of the students of North America, or, one might almost say the cosmopolitan n needs, for in these universities are students, not oniy of the United States, but representative students from almost every country of the world. � EDIToR DURING my trip across our
North American Continentmy theme in the university circles has been the universal principles of Bahá'u'lláh, the great World Educator.
I presented His vision of a spiritual world with universal peace and complete disarmament through universal education, and the kind of international education our colleges and universities should teach. I stressed the education of the inner spirit of man, as well as the intellect and the training of the reality that leads to genius, the presentation of the harmony of science and religion, and the program to unite religions and send men out in order to be brothers to their fellowmen. Sometimes the topic was the new solution of the economic problem through the Divine Economic World Plan of Bahá'u'lláh, by which every child in every country can have the proper education to develop the capacity to earn his living and at the same time be an asset to the corn-Aunity. Sometimes the subject was a universal auxiliary language with proofs of what the unification of language can do to help bring world understanding.
Often the theme was outlined of a Parliament of Man which is a higher League of Nations, and the neces-461 sity of a World Court was made clear through the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh.
The doing away of prejudices, racial, national, political and religious, was explained.
This article will have to do oniy with the most vivid impressions that came to me from these visits to North American university circles.
I found that there was keen interest in religion as a spiritual solution for world problems among many students; and among a class of students who were sometimes misrepresented as agnostics, I found that they are not nonbelievers in the pure teachings of Christ and the other World Teachers but oniy disbelievers in theology, and by that I mean the outer forms of religion.
To begin first with the youth who are not satisfied, a number of times in our American universities, students would say to me: ccSome older people think that we students are Godless, that we do not believe in any religion. This is not quite true. Many of us do wish religion but we wish it liberalized." One group of young men and women still in the 'teens � whose parents are all prominent literalists in religion � said: "We refuse to be bored by religion that has to do oniy with forms and dogmas and unscien
Page 462Baha is assembled for their Summer School, June, 1930.
462tific creeds, but the liberal side of religion would interest us." When I asked one student what he considered the function of religion, he replied: ttAn important function of religion should be to get rid of our rituals, of things that mean nothing, to free our speech of dead orthodox words and to find something that will solve living problems."
One young man in one of the most distinguished universities of America said: tParenrs and professors think they are dealing with the generation that refuses to believe in ancient authority. They are. They are dealing with a generation that cannot believe in it. The college undergraduate body feel that their intelligence is being insulted when little or no attempt is made in religion to take account of those facts they have just come from hearing about in their sociological and scientific courses. We students want to know whether the teachings of Jesus are significant for this age, whether they are in accordance with what we know to be true and whether there are any other new teachings, or renewed teachings, equally or more important for this universal age.
The mere fact that the past has accepted Jesus and that His life has become a tradition is not enough. If people did instinctively think of Jesus in every act of their life, there might be more justice in such an emotional approach."
Another student said: "There is very little association between the student and the church." Another student quoted Niebuhr that modern religion is being discredited much more through its ethical failure than by its inability to conform to present day intellectual ideas and that religion must be able to impress the mind of modern men with the essential possibility and scientific respectability of its fundamental aflirma-tons.
One student said: ttThe oniy sane and rational way to achieve a religion that will have any meaning for us students, is to examine them all, to confront the facts of science and to draw our own conclusions. Certainly no one religion should be given the sole authority in a college or university where the mind of the student is presumably receptive and ready to form such opinions and conclusions."
He felt that the student, himself, should take part and express his doubts and beliefs and make issues of the questions that are troubling him.
He stated that under such a system there would at least be some interest in religion.
The same student also said: tcwhether we embrace catholicism or humanism, whether we are iconoclasts or compromisers, whether we accept Jesus Christ or reject Him, we must begin to think about these vital problems.
We wish to show a definite reason carefully thought out for what we have decided to believe and why we believe it." I found that students like these without any prejudices, did many times listen with eagerness to the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh concerning a spiritual world plan. These students had my sympathy and I thought that they are like the students in Japan, for as long ago as 1915 when I took a journalistic trip around the world during the world war, Count Okuma, founder of Waseda Univer-sky and at that dine one of the greatest statesmen of that nation, had said to me, when I visited him in his home in Tokyo: CCWhat the youth of Japan need more than anything else is pure religion, not the creeds of the Christians nor the dogmas of the Buddhists but the pure teachings of Christ and the pure teachings of the Buddha. I will look into the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh and if they offer pure religion, I shall teach them to the youth of Japan."
Everywhere across the continent I was impressed with the profound interest some students have in religion as a solvent of world problems. Several times, young men would say: CCThis is the first time I have heard of Bahá'u'lláh's teachings, they are a dynamic solution." One evening I spoke in a great western university before the engineering section on the new economic solution.
Immediately after the lecture, a young man spoke to me and said: "This is the first time I have heard of these teachings and they sweep me off my feet. I am the President of the Young Men's Christian Association in this university.
I wish to introduce to you one of the girls here who is the President of the Young Women's
Christian Association.Would you come up to our sorority house tomorrow afternoon and speak
Page 464to a group of students whom we shall invite to hear more about these universal principles of Bahá'u'lláh" I promised to come, and I gave the girl a photograph of CAbdu~1~BahA. The next afternoon when I went to the sorority house to speak, I saw on the bulletin board this photograph of tAbdu'1-Bah~i and below it was an announcement of who tAbdu'1-BaM is and a r6sum~ of the Bahá'í solution of the economic problem (the notes which this young woman had taken at the lecture the evening before). A group of students came to listen to the talk and to ask questions.
The interest was so great that the students sent out and had a box supper brought in and the questions continued until eight o'clock in the evening.
International houses in universities are a liberal education. President Nicholas Murray Butler,
President of ColumbiaCity, went even farther. He said, "International House is the oniy real university," meaning a place where all may come to exchange ideas.
Intellectually and spiritually it is a place to talk over ideas and ideals.
Mrs. Harry Edinonds, in International House, expressed it this way: "The spiritual life of the Columbia University students naturally was a lonely one, before we had this House. It is difficult to develop a spiritual life without friends, understanding and appreciation.
A little child was very lonely and went in his sadness to one of the family for consolation. He was told that he should talk about his troubles with God.
The little boy answered, ~I want to talk with some one and have some one love me who has a "skin face." ' Increasingly we are learning that it is through our Cskin faces' that the light of love and sympathy must shine."
I found too that the atmosphere in International House in the University of California was distinctly cosmopolitan. Many scholars of international repute are counted among the members of the faculties and there is a constant flow of visiting professors and kcturers from both Occidental and Oriental countries.
The student group is distinctly international in character. I found in my two lectures there and in a general lecture in the university, that forty national and cultural groups were present in this great university situated at one of the main gateways to the United States.
International House in the University of Oregon, in the heart of the City of Eugene, Oregon, though smaller, had a fine cosmopolitan spirit and a high academic standard.
Speaking in most of the international houses and meeting the students, I thought of the words of Benjamin Ide Wheeler: "The plain fact is that we are members one of another and that we are not living in accordance with the nature of things � that is, we are not living in accordance with the facts, if we think only our own thoughts and sit nowhere ever except upon the lonesome throne of our own outlook. Hatred between men, hatred between classes, hatred between peoples, represents always this stubborn unwillingness to get over onto the other hilltop and see how the plain looks from there.
The call of an International House is unto larger and better things."
Several international houses have religious committees where all the religions of the world are freely discussed. In one of these international houses, after one of my lectures, a beautiful girl from Yugoslavia came to me and said: ccThi truth of Bahá'u'lláh's principles is something that I have been searching for all my life and here in an American university I have found what I seek in religion."
At that meeting fifteen nations were represented and I spoke about the Bahá'í Movement and its progress in each of their countries, for they had requested me to speak directly on, ttWhat is the Bahá'í Movement?" In another great international house, one of the Chinese students said after the lecture: CCWWh are not these teachings of Bahá'u'lláh taught in every university in the United States?"
Once when I gave a lecture and a forum followed, three Chinese students were sitting on the front seat; one said: ttMy father is a Gonfucianist," another said: "My father is an atheist," the third said: ~tMy father is a Mul2ammadan, but we three are great friends and we have decided to study all the teligions and all the philosophies and when we find out which one is the best, all three of us are going to believe in that religion."
Pasadena Junior Collegein California, where I spoke to thirty-two hundred stu
Page 465dents, has a principal with a vision. Principal John Wesley Harbeson, in conversation with me about the lecture and in his introduction, said about as follows: "In the hands of youth, the progress of the world is assured; before the determined drive of youth, no impediments can stand and no failure can be final.
In the ideas of youth lie the hopes of a progressive world, a spirit of uncompromising idealism is enthroned in the hearts of our young people. Unbiased by blind prejudice; undiscouraged and uncrushed by a thousand defeats and miscarried plans; unafraid of the hazards and uncertainties of an unseen future; undaunted by obstacles and obstructions in the path of progress, youth faces the future with clear vision, dauntless courage and an unbounded faith."
He also said that youth is not just a period of life; gray hairs and wrinkled brow are not the unfailing evidence of senility. The unmistakable signs of declining age are prejudiced minds; the discouraged and crushed spirit; the fearful heart; the hopeless future and the surrendered cause. He told the students that some men grow old in early life, others advance far in their three score years and ten and remain young. He also stressed the high spiritual ideal of life.
Visiting a few of our universities and colleges in America, I thought of the one criticism � and there is only one that I heard � made by the Far Eastern educators of our Western education. Some of the greatest Far Eastern scholars said that the greatest fault in American education, as they saw it, was the fact that religion is not allowed or is never stressed in some of the American institutions.
They said that it is the spiritual that adds greatly to the morality and the culture of nations.
Speaking of Asiatic culture, I had a stimulating interview with Professor Arthur W. Hummel, Lecturer in
Chinese History in ColumbiaUniversity, New York City, and also Chief of the Division of Chinese Literature in the Library of Congress, 'Washington, D. C. He said that our universities really teach only onehalf of the culture of the world, they have the culture of Rome, Greece and of Palestine � but the great culture of the Far East is not taught in our American universities.
I asked him what he thought should be done about the transla � don of Chinese literature and documentary materials into Western languages.
He replied: ttThere are great masses of Chinese documents outside of the Chinese classics themselves which need to be translated and placed before Western scholars. One of the most urgent tasks is the translation of the twenty-six dynastic histories, which are now closed books to the West, but which contain facts of tremendous importance to the 'Western historians, sociologists, ethnologists, and others. The translation work should be undertaken as a joint enterprise by competent Western and by Chinese scholars."
He added: "We should be sending every year a score or more of picked American youths to study the language both written and spoken, to observe and report Chinese customs, and interpret Chinese life in the villages as well as in the larger cities. These students should go to China with open eyes and with an unprejudiced point of view. They should not go as teachers, but in the humble attitude of learners, which is the only attitude in which genuine scholarship can be carried on. All this is selfevident and commonplace to anyone who looks at the world as a whole, but unfortunately, it needs to be impressed upon even the most educated Western minds, who think solely in terms of the culture of Greece and Palestine and
Rome."Dr. Hummel remarked that what he said of China is almost equally true of Japan, and Korea, and of India, and Persia, though he emphasized China because the Chinese formed the largest group numerically, and their literature is more voluminous and covers a greater number of centuries.
Professor Hummel explained to me the misconception in the 'West that the Chinese are stagnant in everything that is worth while.
He said: CThi idea of stagnation is really a stagnation in our own point of view; or that the Chinese are stagnant oniy in those directions in which students and professors in the West are particularly strong, that is in physical sciences; but the Chinese were not stagnant in those fields in which they themselves wish to progress. There are fields in which the Chinese have progressed
Page 466and in which we cannot be regarded as their equals at all, that is to say in the study of human relations and all that pertains to self-cultivation in the ethical and moral spheres.
The Chinese never developed a political democracy but they did develop a high degree of social democracy and we owe a great deal to their cultivation of right relationships between men.
"Do you think the West could with profit, study the Chinese family system?"
I asked this keen professor, who knows whereof he speaks, for he has spent two years in Japan and thirteen years in China, and his life work is interpreting the culture of China to 'Western thinkers. He replied that with all its defects, the Chinese family system trains the individual to think primarily of his relationship to others rather than of his personal rights, and both the Confucian and Buddhist idea that self-cultivation rather than the cultivation of others has produced a type of individual who was not personally aggressive but was trained to be sensitive to the desires and the wants of others. It is just because the values in Chinese culture are not tangible ones and are comparatively little concerned with the outside world that in the past Western observers easily leaped to the conclusion that we have nothing to learn. We think of ourselves primarily as teachers and not as learners.
We do have a great deal to teach the Ear East in physical sciences, in the true concept of law and the technic of political democracy, but in the other realms we have much to learn. We need in the West today a new sense of humility.
We need to put ourselves in the mood of learners rather than teachers.
This is precisely the mood in which the Far East has been for a number of decades but this mood is oniy beginning to arise in the 'West. It is important that we in 'Western universities should take full opportunity to place before our youth the best examples of Chinese art and give our students the tools that are necessary to open to them the treasures of Chinese literature, history and philosophy.
There is not one of our social sciences that could not profit by the study of Chinese folk lore, anthropology, ethnology interpreting all the phenomena in these fields in terms of parallel materials in other parts of the world. It happens that in some of the very fields in which we are the least developed that the Chinese have a unique contribution to make.
I asked Dr. Hummel if he did not think that the future peace of the world depends in part upon our full cultural understanding. He rep1i~d: "There cannot be genuine political understanding unless it is based in some degree upon cultural understanding, but cultural understanding must be reciprocal if it is to be worth while.
We cannot expect the peoples of the Far East to go on indefinitely attempting to understand us, unless we, ourselves, make some commensurate effort to understand them. There must be this kind of understanding as well as political understanding."
He said that the people of Asia will change, but they will not change to the point of losing their cultural identity and it is to our avantage as well as to theirs that they should be permitted to cultivate all the values that they hold to be good. There are thousands of youths in our colleges and universities who in the present arrangement of the courses have no opportunity to obtain even a glimpse of the rich materials to be found in Chinese literature and philosophy, and hence are in no position to know whether specialization in those fields would be worth while or not.
Our students are being trained in the culture of half a world and do not, intellectually speaking, have an opportunity to know that the world is round. It is really tragic that many thousands who might benefit by such studies are missing values that might add richness and enjoyment to their lives.
Twenty-five years from now they will not thank us for leaving them in the dark, for failing to place these opportunities before them. It is true too, that in times of financial depression, the first courses to be eliminated are those courses considered to be luxuries, but in terms of the future there could be nothing more worth while.
"How do the Chinese interpret religion?" was another question I asked Dr. Hummel. He replied: ~tThey interpret religion almost exclusively in terms of ethical and moral ideas. They take almost no interest in sects or in theology, but the supremacy of the
Page 467ethical life is the assumption that underlies all of their classics and was the basis of all their older education. The Chinese believe that the most fundamental part of education is the teaching of humane social relationships."
The Chinese Clubs in several of the American Universities arranged for me to speak especially to them. Many of them are taking postgraduate work in our universities and they certainly will be among the great moulders of thought in the life of their country when they return to China.
Our university training, like our economics, our universal suffrage, is no longer to be thought of in terms of yesterday's nationalism.
Our students think in terms of tomorrow with its new ideal of internationalism and universal education.
I have written at length of the interview with Prof. Hummel because it opens a new vista to Western universities and what has been said of the older culture of China and the study of Chinese by a few of our best scholars could be urged for the study of the ancient Persian culture and literature and above all the study and translation of the
Works of Bahá'u'lláhfrom the Persian and the Arabic. Our country has fewer Oriental departments than the great universities of Europe. There is great need for an Oriental department in some of the Universities of the Middle West.
Some of the students in universities where I spoke and especially in the
Schools of Religions'departments, decided to take the subject: "The Bahá'í Movement" for their theses.
Many of the students said: ccYour message of these universal peace principles will be promulgated by us" or "Your message will be passed on. Your message will reverberate.~~ Often when I spoke before one department in a University, students and sometimes professors from other departments would come and invite me to their groups.
Sometimes the lectures were arranged before the entire student body, sometimes before the
School of Journalism;lecture in Leland Stanford University was arranged by four groups jointly, the Young Men's Christian
Association, Young Women'sButler, President of Columbia University in New York, had arranged for tAbdu~1Bah5 to speak in Earl Hall in the University when Abdu'l-Bahá was in the United States in 1912. I gave Dr. Butler
"Foundations of World Unity"compiled from the Writings of tAb-du'1-BahA. "May I keep it?" he asked.
And when I said I had brought it for him, tc~ should like so much to have it," he said. President Butler spoke of the university and the international mind and gave me his lecture on this subject which he had delivered at Charles University in Praha, Czechoslovakia, this year. He said: "The twentieth century university fails of its mission if it does not seek and claim leadership in this new movement of international understanding, international cooperation and international responsibility for meeting the great problems which face mankind. It possesses a freedom of thought and action which is denied to the political organized state and which is quite impossible for the diverse and conflicting forms of religious belief. The university is the natural leader toward the new day and no matter in what country its home be found, no matter what language it habitually speaks, it must rise to the full height of its new opportunity and not oniy accept but claim responsibility for leading human effort into new fields of understanding and achievement and for inspiring humanity to new accomplishment.
The university may not content itself with being only the expounder and defender of old and well-established truth; it must in justice to its history and its purpose claim its place of leadership in discovery and proclaiming truth which is new."
Dr. Robert B. Hume, Professor of the Institute of Religions of Columbia Univer-sky, New York City, arranged for me to address his students on "The Bahá'í
Movement." Introducingme he spoke of Abdu'l-Bahá and showed His picture.
He also showed them a photograph of the Bahá'í Temple in Chicago and explained its significance. One of his statements too, about religion I shall always remember. He said: "Even as nations have been learning that no one of them suffices to itself, but that each needs to help and to be helped by others,
Page 468so also the religions of the world will come to see that each must seek to serve and to be served in the work of peace, and to go hand in hand towards the common goal."
One student in this Institute of Religions decided to make the subject for her thesis, "Th Bahá'í Movement." Several addresses were given in the schools of religion in connection with American universities.
Some of the students asked their professors to have courses in Bahá'u'lláh's Teachings as a part of the curriculum and that credit be given.
One talk was given in the beautiful chapel of Colorado College. Dr. James G. McMur-try, Professor of Biblical Literature and Applied Religion of that college gave me an excellent definition of education and religion.
He said in part: "Education is discipline � a gradual, progressive, continuous discipline of mind. The quality of education is not to be defined through the subject of education, but through the effect of education on the student's mind.
The end of education is not information, but inspiration; not facts, rules, tables; but insight, initiative, grasp, growth."
He quoted President Nicholas MurrayButler, of Columbia University, who said, (cIt becomes impossible for us ever again to identify education with mere acquisition of learning. It means a gradual adjustment to the spiritual acquisitions of the race.
Dr. McMurtry explained his idea of religion as "adjustment to the spiritual acquisitions of the race." He stressed that the field of religion is the field of the spirit.
His own words were: "The man of today reads few books, and especially few magazine articles, who does not see that our age is fast moving toward the assurance that in education the intellect alone is not able to curb desire; that the physical, untrained by the moral, is as an uncaged lion and works devastation in the realms of the finer sensibilities and gentler natures. So religion is coming back. The spiritual in education is looming larger and larger. A reaction has set in. The universities are taking a new attitude, courses in the Philosophy of
Religion, ComparativeReligions, History of Religion, Religion and Ethics are being scheduled in most of the colleges and universities."
He spoke, too, of the great foundations for the carrying on of religious work among the students and that these foundations have been formed at the urgent desire of American students.
President Livingston Farrandof Cornell University in Ithaca said: ~ quite agree that we are turning toward broader conceptions of religion. More and more a universal view and effort must be expressed. That is what the university is now concerned with.
Of � ficially it does not care whether you are Jew or Christian if you are sincere and seeking the true values of life.
Any sincere search for truth or thought that is based on the search for truth is welcome here.
(tReligious work at Cornell is one of the most encouraging things in American education today. More I cannot say."
Dr. Robert Andrews Millikan, of Pasadena, was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1923. In an interview, he said: "Personally, I believe that essential religion is one of the world's supremest needs, and I believe that one of the greatest contributions that the United States ever can or ever will make to world progress � greater by far than any contribution which we ever have made, or can make, to the science of government � will consist in furnishing an example to the world of how the religious life of a nation can evolve intelligently, inspiringly, reverently, completely divorced from all unreason, all superstition, and all unwholesome emotionalism."
The wife of one of the distinguished Professors of Howard University, in Washington, D. C., the world's leading institution for the higher education of the negro, said to me in thanking me for my talk to the students: "Thank you a thousand times for what you have done for peace and goodwill since you have been in this city. The hearts of youth have been touched, and no one can tell what suffering and injustices have been saved from children yet unborn because those of today have listened to your glorious message.~~
One Director of ReligiousActivities in an American college, in introducing me said: "For the eleven years in which I have made a special study of the American Race Problem, .the Bahá'í Movement has done more
Page 469than anything else to convince me that ~eo-pie can live together in harmony regardless of race or color."
One Professor also said to the college students in introducing me: CCThe Bahá'ís live the life of Christ in regard to the race problem."
Still another Professorin a college said in introducing me: "The Bahá'ís are the finest white people I have ever met." After the lecture he said: ctThe antislavery movement in the United States began just the same way, by peopie quietly speaking to groups everywhere, just as you are doing, about a higher way.
The University of Wisconsinis said to be the first in the United States to install a radio station to broadcast higher education. The writer gave two lectures over the air from that studio as well as seven other lectures in the university. Also, there was a bill before the
'Wisconsin Legislatureat that time to introduce the universal auxiliary language of Esperanto into the University of Wisconsin and I spoke in the Legislature Hall on
"The Progress of EsperantoProfessors in summing up my talks after my addresses thanked me for presenting to their pupiis the vision of a world of peace and how to make this vision a solid reality.
One lecture was given in Temple University in Philadelphia. The founder of that university, Dr. Russell H. Conwell, in an interview with me several years ago had made the following significant statement which I quoted to the students: "You may quote me as saying that the Bahá'í Movement is the biggest movement in the world today for worldwide Christianity and CAb du'1-Bah4 is the peace Prophet of this age. I spent seven months in the Orient and I saw that millions of Orientals have come up beautifully into our Christianity through becoming Baha'is.
I cabled to Egypt asking CAbdu~1~Bah6 to speak in my church, Baptist Temple, in Philadelphia, when He would come to the United States in 1912."
There is not time in this article to describe fully the work at all the different universities and colleges where I spoke in this trip across the continent, but some among those where groups of lectures were given or at least one lecture, those not already mentioned, are: Fresno State Normal School, Unitarian School of Religion, Oakland, Calif., University of Washington, Reed College in Portland, Oregon, Agricultural College,
Colorado, huff Schoolof Religion, Denver, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor,
University of IllinoisSchool, Chicago, Jewish Peoples Institute, Chicago, Art Institute, Chicago, Allegheny College, Meadville, Pennsylvania, University of New Hampshire, Harvard University, Summer Session,
Boston University, TeachersTraining School for Teachers, Swartlimore College,
Haver-ford College, AmericanUniversity, Washington, D. C., Mt. Vernon Seminary, Chevy Chase School for Girls, Howard University, Miner
Normal College, VirginiaCollege, Baltimore, � and about sixty high schools.
As this is written lectures are being arranged in the universities and colleges in and around Boston, Worcester and a few more talks in universities and colleges in Philadelphia and New York City before I sail for Europe in four weeks. In all of these institutions I met with an eager and enthusiastic response from the students.
So these Baha Teachingsdo speak to the souis of the students. Opinions flow and ebb; philosophies come and go; fashions of thought change with the rise and fall of civilizations and empires, but man remains what Plato called him, the spectator of eternity; and what Christ called him, the Son of the Most High. He is stirred now by the Logos brought again to earth by the great
World Educator Bahá'u'lláh.He may not know so well the history of the Source perhaps, but he feels the beauty of these universal principles; he is summoned by the compelling voice of the unselfish love. He looks with wonder upon the Truth which has come forth from Persia and the Most Great Prison in 'Akka, Palestine.
Page 470EXPRESSION is the keynote of modern education. To the former aim of pedagogy � the acquisition of knowledge � is now added a further goal: the ability and the enthusiasm to use the knowledge acquired in the way of expression and achievement. Release the creative energies of the child � this is the slogan of the progressive educator. It is the nature of that Self which is within us to be constantly seeking to express itself in terms of activity and achievement, and this self-expression becomes the means of growth and expansion. Marvelous results are being obtained with children educated in this new way. Their earnestness, their enthusiasm, their love of study and of school � these things are most noticeable. As they work under such inspiration their whole beings seem to expand and to blossom out.
Now to this evolutionary tendency in education the Bahá'í Movement brings a unique contribution in its teachings of the power of that Divine Creative Force, of which the Cosmos is but the manifestation, to energize and inspire the individual. So that in addition to the force of natural and human environment stimulating the child from without, we have the concept of a great Creative Force stimulating and nourishing the child's soui from within.
'What a marvelous means of intellectual growth to childhood and to youth, that a student should be able to appeal to God and in actual prayer petition for greater powers of comprehension, and of acquisition of knowledge.
Bahá'í youths know where to turn for Divine aid in this so serious responsibility of a young life � the development of the intelligence and the acquirement of the arts and sciences.
For another and very important reason the stimulating and directive force of the Spirit is needed in the development of the child and of youth. We believe in self-ex-pression for the child, but what is the nature of this self that is to be expressed?
Bahá'ís realize in man two selves struggling within us � that which Paul called the carnal man which is prone to express itself in selfishness, in egotism and in sensuality; and the spiritual self, which is striving to acquire noble attributes and to grow into greater and greater perfection. But without aid from the Divine Source the spiritual self has not a chance. Our physical environment adding to the forces of our physical propensities, give too much power to man's lower self for the spiritual to be able to attain victory unless it receives the assistance of the Holy Spirit. This assistance fortunately is immediately at hand; for the Holy Spirit, like those mysterious cosmic rays discovered by Milliken, penetrates all existence.
It is part of the educational training of every Bahá'í youth to make use of the utterances and prayers of Bahá'u'lláh in order to aid his spiritual growth.
Intellectual perfection is not enough. Spiritual perfection is also earnestly sought by Bahá'í youth everywhere, of whatever race or creed.
When I had the privilege of an interview with tAbdu'I-BabS in Paris at a time when I was connected with a traveling school for boys, He inquired about the program of the school.
After I had told Him the different subjects I was teaching, He looked at me with His deeply quizzical smile and said, "Do you teach the spiritual things?" I had to inform Him that there was no time or place in the curriculum for these things. I have realized ever since, however, that education in subordinating the spiritual development to the intellectual development is ~ the cart before the horse.'' The spiritual should come first, and is indeed made preeminent in the life of youth in all Bahá'í schools.
There is no question in my mind but that 470BAHÁ'Í IDEALS OF EDUCATION 471
under such an educational arrangement not oniy does the character of youth become superior, but capacity for knowledge is enlarged and improved as a result of spiritual growth. This is because the Spirit is causal � back of all existence; back even of intelligence, of which it is the Creator.
When this unique Force is drawn upon for development, an increase is felt in every phase of our existence � an added power, an added grip on life. That such is the case educationally is quite manifest in the radiant faces, the earnest bearing, and the high intelligence of Bahá'í youth in the various schools and colleges of the world. They appear to be outstanding students.
Just as the individual needs to express the higher nature within him, so humanity as a whole is in dire need of this type of expression. When it expresses its egoistic self we see clearly what happens. All the warfare, all the political and economic upheaval of the present epoch, are traceable directly to the fact that humanity in the mass as well as in the individual is expressing its lower self and not its higher self.
Let us conceive what would be the condition of a society composed of individuals trained in youth under a spiritual type of education which we have been describing. Such a society would express the higher self within it, and its institutions would be marvelous indeed.
Baha youths know this to be true. It is indeed this vision of a perfected humanity that inspires their enthusiasm and their effort for study, in order that they may attain to the utmost capacity for helping to achieve the divine civilization blazoned to the world by Bahá'u'lláh.
Bahá'í youth do not loaf and malinger at their study as do so many of the students of today in our high schools and colleges. This is because they realize the duty as well as the privilege of acquiring knowledge.
Bahá'u'lláh says: "Knowledge is like unto wings for the being (of man) and is like a ladder for ascending. To acquire knowledge is incumbent upon all, but of those sciences which may profit the people of the earth, and not such sciences as begin in mere words and end in mere words.
The possessors of sciences and arts have a great right among the people of the world. Indeed, the real treasury of man is his knowledge.
Knowledge is the means of honor, prosperity, joy, gladness, happiness and exultation."
Universal education was one of the chief principles laid down by Bahá'u'lláh for the new humanity, and wherever we find communities in which Bahá'ís predominate, we find Bahá'í schools.
In Persia the Bahá'í schools are the oniy ones in many villages, certainly the oniy schools for girls. tAb-du'1-Bahi says, ttEducation holds an important place in the new order of things.
The education of each child is compulsory.The mothers are the first educators of mankind; if they be imperfect, alas for the condition and future of the race.
Therefore the mothers must be capably trained in order to educate both sons and daughters. All the children must be educated so thit there will not remain one single individual without an education.
In cases of inability on the part of the parents through sickness, death, etc., the state must educate the child."
Therefore it becomes the spiritual duty of every Bahá'í parent to see that his children acquire the utmost possible amount of education, and great sacrifices are made in order to carry out this injunction.
As regards the children, they realize the importance of education both because of the earnest attitude on the part of their parents in this direction, and because of the direct precepts of Bahá'u'lláh and tAbdu'1-Bahi regarding the necessity of acquiring knowledge.
To the Bahá'í youth who visit Shoghi Effendi, Guardian of the Bahá'í Cause, he urges the study of economics, history and sociology in order that they may be prepared intelligently to interpret to the world of today the great principles of Bahá'u'lláh. The social sciences thus receive earnest study by Bahá'í youth, not only in connection with their school work, but also in voi-untary research outside of school life. In
Page 472different cities Bahá'í youth associate together in classes for the study and discussion of political, social and economic problems, and of the solution to these problems as presented by the Bahá'í Movement.
The curriculum in the world of Bahá'í education will be somewhat modified inevitably from that which exists in present educational systems. In fact one can hardly refer to an existing curriculum for the reason that there is today no standard curriculum. Colleges and universities are in a quandary as to what should constitute education for the youth of today.
Each university is trying out its own ideas. There has not yet arrived any consensus of opinion as to any requisite minimum of knowledge that should be the attainment of every student. Charles W. Eliot gave a blow to the old standard classics from which it has never recovered and from which it undoubtedly never will recover. But as yet no great constructive intelligence has arisen to build up a standard curriculum for the new age.
The conviction that such a curriculum is necessary seems to be growing in the minds of many educators.
In time the whole world will inevitably arrive at a universal curriculum.
Bahá'u'lláh speaks of this as part of the Divine Plan for humanity. But what will be the nature of this curriculum? Bahá'u'lláh has given us the clue.
Teach not those subjects which begin in words and end in words, but rather those things which pertain to human welfare. Following such a guidance one can think of many subjects which would be discarded and of other subjects which should be included in a minimum curriculum.
The dead languages, it is apparent, begin in words and end in words.
Any content value in them which pertains to human welfare could be derived from their translations.
The dead languages are already on the wane 'educationally.
They have no future that is apparent even from a worldly viewpoint.
But what about the living languages and their usefulness in travel and international procedure? The citizens of the small countries of Europe are obliged to know fluently three or four languages in addition to their own.
Most of the students at Roberts College where I once taught, had to master five languages before they graduated. Indeed many of the clerks in the Constant-nopie stores were able to manage seven languages fluently. An immense amount of time and labor has to be given by the youth of today to acquiring modern languages for the purpose of facility in the international life of today.
But the Bahá'í Movementhas the remedy for this situation in the universal auxiliary language which shall be studied by all the students throughout the world in addition to their own native language.
Either this auxiliary language may be an existing language, or a manufactured language like Esperanto. The nations of the world are to confer and settle upon such a language and thereafter prescribe it for their educational systems � a very simple matter to settle, once the consciousness of humanity is aroused and turned in this direction.
Eliminating from our ideal curriculum, then, the burden of languages ancient and modern, and advanced work in mathematics which plainly is no advantage to the average student in his later life, we may by a process of elimination arrive at the conclusion that after proficiency is gained in one's native language and in the new universal language, the subjects for study should be those per-taming to a knowledge of the universe in which we live. One might describe such a course as this by the term ttuniverse-knowl-edge."
The importance of such knowledge is incontrovertible.
We find ourselves thrown into the midst of a magnificent, mysterious and sometimes terrifying universe.
This is the theatre of our existence. It behooves us to understand its nature and its laws, and to know how to apply these laws both to our corporate and our individual lives upon this planet.
Thus we need to know the origin and the nature of the stars; their life as suns, radiating heat, light and life itself to the satellites about them. We need to know the nature of the earth we live in, � its origin, its composition, its nature both physical and
Page 473BAHÁ'Í IDEALS OF EDUCATION 473
chemical, and its evolution to the point where it was capable of sustaining life. W'e need to know the nature and composition of life itself, and its evolution from the molecule to man.
When we have reached the point of seeing man emerge upon the theatre of life, then begins the study of man both as an individual and as a social animal.
NVe need to study deeply his political, his social and his economic development, in order to understand his needs and tendencies in these directions.
We need to teach these subjects in abbreviated form, using the laboratory only to demonstrate the concrete ways in which knowledge is attained. We must, in order to maize such a curriculum successful, humanize the sciences and organize them in a new way. We must perceive the essential unity of knowledge. Bahá'u'lláh said that knowledge is one point but scholars have multiplied it. We cannot give all details of the sciences. In fact, we should not. (Today in the teaching of sciences a student sees not the woods because the trees are in the way.) What we need is a broad sweeping view of these subjects for the purpose of enlarging our horizon and giving us foundations upon which to build in every direction later in life. For education only begins in the college and university. Its real fruition is certainly not attained in youth.
Therefore it is very important that youth acquire broad and inspiring foundations in the scholastic period, in order that it may go on through life enthusiastically acquiring knowledge in every line from the marvelous cultural environment which surrounds the modern citizen of a civilized country.
I cannot say that such is to be the Bahá'í curriculum, the universal curriculum of the future. This is only my suggestion in that direction. But clearly such a curriculum, when chosen, will be one that pertains closely to the needs of humanity and one which can be perennially reformulated in consistence with the advancement and progress of humanity.
4.Bahá'í youths undertake education not oniy as a means to development and to assertive and individual success, but as a means of attaining to greater capacity for universal service. They long, because of their religion, to become better citizens of city, country and the world. They are deeply imbued with the ideal of world peace, of universal brotherhood, of abolition of prejudices.
They have world vision � whether they live in Boston, Washington, London, Paris, Germany, China, Japan, Tihr6~n; or in the humble villages of the Persian plains or Burmese jungles.
Bahá'í youths, thus trained, are superior in their vision to the average adult of the secular world.
Their whole lives are keyed to high ideals both of individual attainment and of universal service.
They do not fritter away and waste their energies.
They work as a spiritual duty; for idleness, they are taught, is a sin.
They are given a great commandment: "Work done in the spirit of service is the highest form of worship." Therefore when they toil at their studies for the sake of the future humanity as well as for the sake of their own intellectual and spiritual development, they realize that they are performing a spiritual function.
I presume this is what tAbdu'1-BaM meant when He said to me, (cAre you teaching the spiritual realities?"
It can easily be seen what a great motivating and directive force for the attainment of a new world civilization this body of Bahá'í youth will be when they reach the platform of world activity.
Some are already emerging from the universities and beginning their actual life as citizens of their country and of the world. The brilliancy and cogency of their intellectual life is equalled oniy by the purity of their spiritual nature. We may look for great things from these youths. They will be the greatest proof and the greatest testimony as to what education should be, and what it should do for the youth of the world.
Page 474HE Old Testament says that when Moses, the great Messenger of God, led his nation from the land of slavery, a great pillar of fire went before them, showing the way. What that pillar of fire might symbolize, could be interpreted in different ways, but there is no doubt but that Moses himself was for his nation such a pillar of fire, by which, as time passed, all that was dark and unseemly left from the slavish period, burned away, and by its dazzling light it showed to the children of Israel the new way, the way to the land promised to them by God.
Every prophet is such a dazzling pillar of fire.Each one casts a light on the way of mankind, and each rediscovers the way for those who had lost it. But the time comes when the eyes of men turn from the blinding purity of this light, when this light, though inwardly resplendent as before, seems to become paler in their eyes, and little by little they turn away from it. They kindle lamps made by themselves, and by their flickering lights they look for their way. But those lamps of guidance, made by man, often lead to errors, if a spark of the divine flame does not fall into them. Only the light of Him, Who created them all and knows all the ways, shows the direction without error. And at last, when their own poor lights in their mad dance entice them towards dangerous marshes, a powerful pillar of fire reappears between earth and heaven to guide and show the way.
Reappears? No, it is the same fire, from which men had turned away, and which now, perfumed with myrrh and aloes, comes back in a more perfect form, in a more resplendent glory.
But the Hand that had kindled it is ever the same.
Now the question comes, why did so many lights shine, why did so many
Mes-474sengers come into the world, why did so many teachings show to men the way to perfection, and often what was taught by one prophet was not in harmony with what another said? Flow is it possible, if we are to believe, that they all are rays emanating from the same Sun?
The rays of the material sun illuminate feebly the world in winter but for a few hours, whilst in the middle of summer they pour living fire on the heads of men. The rays of the material sun at the equator burn the sands of the desert and in wildernesses cause wonderful plants to grow, whilst in the regions of the Pole they shine upon the diamonds of ice and array the frozen sky with the unique wonder of the Aurora Borealis. Yet they are the rays of the same sun. It is not the sun that is capriciously changeable; it is not the sun that now kindly favors, now coldly turns away; it is but the position and movement of the earth that are the causes of these diverse changes. Those regions that turn their faces fully togards the life giving star, gain the full bounty of its rays and clothe themselves with abundant green, and those that are turned away, gain but a small portion and array themselves not with green, but with cold white.
So does mankind resemble the terrestrial globe.It has degrees and differences too, and the states may be compared now to the cold of the regions of the Pole, now to the progress and richness of nature of the torrid zone.
The Spiritual Sun forgets none of the parts, but endows each of them according to its responsiveness. "Would it not be strange to us if palms grew at the North Pole and white bears roamed over Sahara? Why then should we fail to understand that during the early severe months, when the cold of
Page 475the passed night was still lying heavily over mankind, the rays of the Spiritual Sun brought to men the freezing principle of eye for eye, of tooth for tooth? That afterwards, when the spring came and the olive-trees became green, the rays of the Spiritual Sun brought other words to bloom: Whosoever smiteth thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also? In these two rules, so extremely unlike each other, there is no essential difference, there is only progress from one state to another.
For just as in the material world everything is constantly moving, beginning with the stars and finishing with the particles of an atom, and this movement is what keeps the whole enormous system in order, so it is in the spiritual world.
There is constant movement, and if the movement onward stops, a movement backward would ensue: regress would take the place of progress, and instead of the Christ's rule we would have another one: a head for an eye, all teeth for one.
If it is so � one could ask � why is the way of mankind not as an even road, why are there sometimes stones on it, why at other times do the feet not feel a firm foundation, but sink in the sand; why is this sand sometimes like moving dunes with hidden dangers beneath them, swallowing up everything in a terrible cataclysm?
Are there black spots on the Spiritual Sun, too?there are no spots; it radiates always warmth, never cold. The shadows, that drearily put themselves on the way, are the shadows of earth-born clouds.
For from the earth, from the waters and swamps vapors appear, sometimes poisonous; heavily they hang above the earth without letting through one ray of the sun; or gales of earthly passions throw on the way sands and stones and push into ditches the wayfarers whose steps are not firm enough.
Evil are these clouds that hide the sun, evil is this dust that covers the way, and all that keeps back man in his onward march. If God has created all things, has He created evil, too, and is He responsible, if mankind Limps on His way?
The conflict between good and evil has brought difficulties to many. Many because of it abandoned every belief, for, they thought, if there were the One
Most Mighty God, the Godto Whom we attribute all the good qualities, then there would be no room for evil in the world.
So perhaps we should abandon the monotheist conception of God and return to the ancient myths about Or-muzd, the god of Good, and Aliriman, the god of Evil?
Or should we perhaps accept the conception, that is nearer to us, about Lucifer, the eternal enemy of God, ever trying to destroy roses in the garden of God and to plant weeds therein?
To this disturbing question of good and evil, till now apparently unsolvable, the Bahá'í Teachings answer: there is oniy good in the world. There is no positive evil.
What is evil? We say that light is good and darkness is evil, that sight is good and blindness is evil, that peace is good and war is evil.
But what brings us the rays of the sun, is light.Darkness is simply lack of light. What is by nature connected with our eyes, is sight; blindness is oniy lack of sight. What is the normal state of the heart is peace; war comes oniy when this normal state is changed.
Sometimes a seeming vice is simply misdirected virtue. There are people whose chief feature is avidity. They wish for more gold, more power, more glory. But avidity in its essence is the desire to have more than one already possesses.
The question is only, in which direction this desire goes. If a man desires to acquire more knowledge and understanding, is it not praiseworthy?
But when instead of some great ideals he chooses the human vanities for his aim, then he is really miserable, for the glorious impulse bestowed on him by God has been used for unworthy aims, and the pearls of his sensitiveness thrown to the pigs of vanity.
All the high human qualities are given to man, not imposed on him. It depends on him to rise to heaven or to fling himself down into mud, and he himself is responsible for his lot.
He is not being driven will-lessly by arbitral fate, as a withered leaf by autumn wind. It is as if Destiny carried him on the great way of humanness and led him to a spot, whence two proverbial ways come out: one broad and comfortable, the way to hell,
Page 476and the other steep and narrow, the way to heaven.
And since now the choice is his: whither he goes, thither he will come. If there is a way to hell, it is that men may consciously, by their own will, enter the way to paradise, however difficult it may be. Therefore freedom is given to man, that he may himself choose his way and by his own decision reach perfection, that he may not be as a ball, thrown on the top of a roof, but as a spider, reaching bravely and with perseverance the top of a tree by means of a very thin thread.
So man is himself responsible for his own progress.
The rays of the Sun of Perfection shine and are reflected in the mirror of the human heart. But if instead of an even and polished surface man turns to them a mirror the surface of which is rough, then in place of a clear picture there appears an ugly caricature, and thus is born what we call evil.
That man may choose the way to heaven, he must be first of all informed.
He must understand that the comfortable way will lead him lower and lower, and will finally bring him where oniy brutes feed, and where he himself will become equal to brutes. He must know, that the steep path will lead him to heights, where the air is clear like crystal, free of all earthly vapors, where before his eyes will spread a vast horizon and he himself will be nearer to the blue heavens than to the gray earth.
Knowledge is necessary.Intellect is a great treasure, which should not be kept in a chest, but let out into the world, that it may bring profit. It is a light, which one should not hide under the bushel, but ii-luminate with it dark corners. Intellect is given to us, that we may from things known conclude about things unknown, and, that having discovered the secrets of the earth, we may discover those of heaven.
In fact none of the religions was ever against science.
If Giordano Bruno was burnt, it is not Christ, the merciful Lamb of God, who is responsible for that, but the merciless fanatics, anathematizing all, that in their shortsighted eyes thought Bruno was against the letter of the Books. But Bahá'u'lláh was the first, who by the authority of the Word of God exalted the importance of science and gave religious sanction to the duty of learning and education.
But science alone is not sufficient. Man may understand the beauty and utility of a principle, and yet remain inert and lack forces to conform his life with it. There have been in the world many philosophers, who confessed beautiful theories, but lacked determination to follow them. On the other hand there was a stammerer of a race of slaves, known as one who had committed murder, who yet by the force that no philosophy could inspire, laid foundations of a new civilization; there was a modest carpenter; an illiterate camel-driver � mocked at by sages, crowniess kings with crowns of thorns � and compared with them all the great philosophies grew pale, as do the stars when the sun appears.
People who feed on philosophy alone, are often as sickly children. Their bones are not firm, they bend and grow crooked, and the whole figure gets misshapen.
But the rays of the sun endow them with strength and give them health.
The pale and wavering philosopher of yesterday becomes a hero of his own convictions.
Mankind, the great child, is often falling ill. Every time when its malady becomes very serious and dangerous, there comes an inspired physician, the prophet, and brings remedy.
Oh, the patient is not willing to take it, lie struggles, gets angry and excited because of the struggle, pushes the physician away � but all this is in vain: he must obey the physician, whatever his commands may be.
What makes up the malady of the world of today?When a man is ill, the symptoms of his disease may be many, while the disease is one. We see also many symptoms of the disease of mankind, but the disease is one.
Itlack of sympathy and understanding between its different members.
Bahá'u'lláh teaches men, that they are all leaves of the same tree, drops of the same sea, that they are all created from the same dust, that no one should exalt himself over the other. He teaches, that among the sheep of God no one should be considered as a black one, that there are no differences of
Page 477races and nations: a rose is beautiful, in whatsoever garden it may bloom, a star has the same radiance, whether it shines from the east, or from the west.
Love and equality! How old these ideals are!In fact there was no prophet, who did not preach them; there was no spiritual standard without these words written upon it with golden letters.
Old are the Bahá'í ideals, and old is the way they show. It is the same way, upon which mankind had trodden in the past, when the pillars of fire � the former prophets � led it onward. It is the same way, which was afterwards covered with dust, and which now, cleansed again, unrolls be.-f ore our feet. Yes, it is the same way, but it is a long way, very long.
To reach its end neither generations nor centuries suf lice. Today the pillar of fire is once more shining on it. But today it is more resplendent than before, and it leads mankind farther. Let it go on this everlasting way, following the light of the New Day, for this is the way, worthy of the steps of true mankind, and the greatest honor of true mankind is to go always on the way of progress � towards perfection.
(Translation of the address prepared and delivered by Miss L. Zamenhof at the Ba-h~'i Session of the 23rd Universal Congress of Esperanto held in Cracow, Poland, August 1st to 8th, 1931. Miss L. Zamenhof is the youngest daughter of the late Dr. L. Zamenhof, creator of Esperanto.
She was the honorary President of two Bahá'í Esperanto sessions held at Antwerp, Belgium, in August, 1928.)
Page 478(The Esperanto text of Miss Zamenhof's article) U NU tre malnova libro rakontas, ke kiam 'a granda Diosendito, Mosco, elkondukis sian popolon ci 'a lando de mallibereco, tiam antati iii iris grandega fajra kolono kaj mon-tris la vojon. Kion simbolas tiu fajra kolono � oni povas diverse kiarigi, sed sendube Mo-seo mem estis por sia nacio tia kolono de fajro, de fajro, en kiu kun 'a tempo forbrulis Uo malluma kaj malpura, kio reads el la skiava epoko, fajro, kiu per sia fulmoforta lumo montris al Ia idoj de Izraelo novan vo-jon, vojon al la lando, promesita al iii de Dio.
Ciu profeto estas tia fajroflama kolono. tSu estigas lumon sur Ia vojo de la homaro kaj Uu retrovas la vojon por Ia vojperdintoj.
Sed venas Ia tempo, kiam la homaj okuloj alkutimigas al 'a lumimpreso, kiam flu lumo, kvankam mem brila, kid antajie, paligas en iliaj okuloj, kaj join post join iii deturnas de gi la rigardon. Honrfaritajn lampojn iii lu-migas, kaj ~e ilia lumo ser~as voj on. Sed la homfaritaj lampoj de gvido ofte erarigas, se ne falis en jun fajrero de 'a dia ilamo. Nut Ia lumo de Tiu, kiu kreis kaj kiu konas eiujn vojojn, montras Ia direkton senerare. Kaj fine, kiam iliaj propraj lumetoj en disa danco logas jun al kotaj dronejoj, denove aperas inter Ia tero kaj la ejelo potenca fajra kolono, por gvidi kaj lumigi la vojon.
Denove aperas? Ne, fti estas tiu sama fajro, de kiu La homoj forturnis sin, kaj kiu nun, aroma per mirho kaj aloo, reaperas en formo ph perfekta, kun brilo ph granda. Sed la Mano, kiu gin lumigis, estas Ia sama.
Nun aperas demando, kial tiei multaj lumoj brilis, kiM tie' mtiltaj Diosenditoj vents en Ia mondon, kial del multaj in-struoj montris al homoj la vojon al perfek-teco, kaj ofte do, kion instruis unu profeto, ne harmonjis kun do, kion diris alia.
Kiel do estas ebb, se ni volas kredi, ke duj tiuj grandaj instruistoj estas senditaj de unu Sendinto, ke iii estas kiel radioj, emanantaj el unu Suno?
La radioj de Ia materiala suno vintre apenaii dum kelkaj horoj senvarme lumigas Ia mondon, dum en Ia mezo de somero iii ver~as vivan fajron sur la homajn kapojn. La radioj de 'a materiala suno & la ekva-toro bruligas Ia sablon de dezerto kaj en sovagaj arbaregoj kreskigas mirindajn kres-kajojn, dum en Ia polusaj regionoj iii brilas sur Ia diamantoj de glacioj ati vestas Ia frostan ejelon per la senkompara Iukso de La polusa ejeirugo. Tamen '5iam iii estas radioj de 'a sama suno.
Ne la suno estas kaprice gan~ema, ne la suno jen bonhumore favoras, jen malvarme sin deturnas, sed Ia situacio kaj movigado de Ia tero estas la kaiizoj de tiuj diversefikaj ~angoj.
Tiuj giaj regionoj, kiuj plenvizage turnas sin al la vivodona astro, ricevas malavare giajn radiojn kaj vestas Sin per abunda verdo, sed tiuj, kiuj estas for, flanke, ricevas nur malmulte, kaj ne per verdo, sed per malvarma blanko sin ornamas.
La homa gento estas kiel la tergiobo. Gi ankati havas partojn, kaj 'a statojn de tiuj partoj oni povas kompari jen aI La malvarmo de Ia polusaj regionoj, jen al la progreso kaj naturri&eco de la varmzono.
La Spirita Suno forgesas neniun parton, sed donas a' ~in la~ gia ricevkapablo.
tu ne estus strange al ni, se sur Li norda poluso kreskus palmoj, kaj tra Saharo vagus blankaj ursoj? Kial do ni ne komprenu, ke dum la fruaj severaj monatoj, kiam ankorati la ma1-varmo de Ia jus pasinta nokto duonombre restis super la homaro, la radioj de la Spirita Suno vivigis inter La homoj 'a glacian regu-ion: okulo por okulo, dento por dento, kaj ke kiam venis Ia printempo kaj verdigis la olivajn arbojn, pro la radioj de flu sama Suno ekfloris la vortoj: Se iu frapos vim sur unix vangon, turnu al Ii Ia alian? En tiuj du, tiel ekstreme malsimilaj reguloj, ne estas esenca diferenco, estas nur progreso de unu stato al aba..
478tar kiel en Ia materiaL mondo ejo estas en movo, komencante de 'a 5elaj korpoj, kaj finante per Ia eroj de atomo, kaj tiu movo tenas en ordo la tutan sistemegon, tiel same estas en la spirita mondo. Movado regas tie, kaj se la movado antatien &esus, ekestus Ia movado malantaijen: maiprogreso okupus Ia lokom de progreso, kaj anstatati Ia krista regulo ni havus alian: kapo por okulo, ~iuj dentoj por unu.
Se estas tiei, oni povas demandi, kial la vojo de la homara progreso ne estas kiel ebena ~oseo, kial kelkfoje ku~as sur ~i ~tonoj, kial alifoje la piedoj ne sentas plu firman fundamenton, sed vagas en sablo, kial tiu sablo similas kelkfoje al droniga sablo, en kiu formiftas funelegoj kaj sorbas dion en terura kataklismo? Cu eble anka~ sur La Spirita Suno estas nigraj makuloj?
Ne, sur La Spirita Sunode Ia Vero estas neniaj makuloj; gi dam radias varmon, neniam malvarmon.
La ombro, kiu malserene metas sin sur Ia vojon, estas nur ombro de terdevenaj nuboj. Car ci Ia tero, el akvoj kaj maraoj levas sin vaporoj, kelkfoje vene-naj, pezas super la tero kaj ne allasas al fti sunradion, ati ventoj de teraj pasioj jetas sur La vojon sablon kaj ~tonojn, kaj pu~as en foson vojiranton, kies pa~oj ne estas sufiae firmaj.
Malbonaj estas tiuj nuboj, kiuj ka~as Ia sunon, malbona estas tiu polvo, kiu kovras la vojon, kaj aio tio, kio retenas homon en ha anta~enmar~o. Se
Dio estas Ia Kreintode ~io, Li kreis ankaji Ia malbonon, kaj Li estas responda, se Ia hornaro lamas sur Lia 'vojo?
La konflikto inter bono kaj malbono jam al multaj katizis malfacilajojn.
Multaj pro gi forlasis ejan kredon, Car iii pensas, ke se efektive ekzistus Unusola Plejpotenca Dio, La Dio, al kiu ni atribuas aiuj bonajn ecojn, tiam en Ia mondo ne estus loko por ma1-bono.
Eble do ni devas forlasi La monoteistan koncepton pri Dio, kal reveni al Ia antikvaj mitoi pri Ormuzdo, Ia dio de bono, kaj An-mano, la dio de malbono? Au eble akcepti 'a ph proksimajn aI ni konceptojn pri Luci-fero, la eterna malamiko de Dio, penanta ~iam detrui rozojn en Ia gardeno de Dio, kaj planti tie malbonherbojn?
Al tiu maltrankvila, gis nun ~ajne nesol-vebla demando de bono kaj malbono, la BaLm Instruo respondas: nur bono estas en Ia mondo.
Pozitiva malbono ne ekzistas.Kio estas malbono? Ni diras, ke lurno estas bona, kaj mallumo malbona, ke vido estas bona, blindeco � malbona, ke paco estas bona, milito � malbona.
Sed tio, kion alportas al ni Ia radioj de Ia suno, estas lumo. Mallumo estas simple manko de lumo. Tio, kio denature ligas sin kun niaj okuloj, estas vido; blindeco estas nur manko de vido.
Tio, kio estas Ia nor-maLt stato de 'a koro, estas paco; milito sekvas nur, kiarn tiu natura stato estas ma1-naturigita.
Kelkfojc ankati ~ajna malvirto estas simple misdirektita virto. Ekzistas homoj, kies eef a trajto estas avideco: iii deziras ph da oro, ph da potenco, ph da gloro. Sed avideco estas ja en sia esenco deziro hazi ion ph, ol oni jam havas. La demando nur estas, en kiun direkton iras tiu deziro. Se homo de-ziras akin ph da scienco kaj kompreno, Cu tio ne estas latidinda? Sed se anstatail La grandaj idealoj ii faras sia celo Ia homajn vantajojn, tiam vere ii estas mizera, ear la glorindan, de Dio donitan impulson Ii uzis por neindaj celoj, kaj Ia perlojn de siaj sentkapabloj jetis a! Ia porko~ de vanteco.
tar Ia altaj homecaj trajtoj estas al homo donitaj, sed ne truditaj. Al li mem apartenas, eu levi jun al ejelo, a~ ieti en koton, kaj ii mem estas responda por ilia sorto.
Li ne estas senvole pelata de arbitra Fato, kid velkinta folio de atituna vento.
Estas tiei, kvazati Ia Destino portus un sur la grandan vojon de homeco kaj kondukus al unu loko, de kie disiras Ia du proverbaj vojoj: unu lar~a kaj oportuna, Ia vojo al infero, 'a alia kruta kaj mallarga, la vojo al ejelo. Kaj de nun Ia elekto apartenas al ii: kien ii iros, tien ii venos. Se ekzistas tiu vojo al infero, fri estas por tio, ke la homoj konscie kaj propravole suriru Ia vojon al paradizo, kiel ajn malfacila ~i estas. Por tio libereco estas donita al homo, ke ii mem elektu Sian VOjOfl kaj per le propra decido atingu perfektecon, kaj ne estu kiel pilko, jetita sur pinton de tegmento, sed kiel araneo, kiu per maldikega fadeno pene, persiste kaj kurage atingas ~h~-ton de arbo. Homo do estas mem responda por sia progreso. La radioj de la Suno de Perfekteco brilas kaj respegulas sin en Ia spegulo de homa koro. Sed se anstatati ebena
Page 480polurita platajo homo turnas al iii spegulon kun malebena surfaco, dam sur la loko de kiara bildo aperas bildo malbela, karikatura, kaj naski~as tio, kion ni nomas malbono.
Por ke homo elektu La vojon aL la aielo, Ii devas antaii do esti informita.
Li devas kompreni, ke la oportuna vojo &am ph mallevas sin kaj fine kondukos un tien, kie nur brutoj sin pa~tas kaj kie ii mem egaligos kun brutoj. Li devas scii, ke tiu kruta irejo kondukos un al altajoj, kie Ia aero estas kristale kiara, pura de 6aj teraj vaporajoj, kie antaii liaj okuloj etendos sin vastega horizonto kaj Ii mem estos ph proksima al Ia blua 5elo, ol al La griza tero.
Scio esras nepra. Sen scio ne ekzistas per-fekta homeco. Intelekto estas grandega tre-zoro, kiun oni ne devas teni en kesto, sed ellasi en la mondon, por ke gi donu profitojn. di estas lumo, kiun oni ne devas meti sub grenmezurilon, sed lurnigi per gi senlumajn angulojn.
Jntelekto estas al ni donita, por ke el aferoj konataj ni konkludu pri aferoj nekonataj, kaj ekkoninte La sekretojn de la tero, ekkonu Ia sekretojn de la ~ielo.
Fakte neniu el la religioj estis jam kon-vraii la scienco. Se Giordano Bruno pereis sur ~tiparo, por do responda estas ne Kristo, la kompatema Safido de Dio, sed la senin-dulgaj fanatikuloj, anatemantaj Uon, kio en iliaj rniopaj okuloj estis kontrail la litero de Ia Libroj. Sed Bahá'u'lláh estis la unua, kiu per la ajitoritato de la
Dia Vorto glorlevis Iasignifon de la scienco kaj al la devo de lernado kaj kierigado donis religian sankcion.
La scienco sola tamen ne sufiaas. Homo povas kompreni belecon kal utilecon de iu principo, kaj tamen resti inerta kaj ne havi La forton alkonformigi al ~i Sian vivon. Estis en la mondo multaj filozofoj, kiuj konfesis belajn teoriojn, sed ne havis 'a decidemon sekvi jun. Aliflanke estis balbutulo ci skiava gento, konata kid mortiginto, kiu per forto, kiun ncniu filozoflo povus inspiri, metis fundamentojn de nova civilizacio; estis mo-desta &arpentisto, nekiera kamelisto, mokataj de saguloj senkronaj regoj kun dornaj kro-noj � kaj kompare kun iii paligis Ia grandaj filozofioj, kid paligas Ia steloj, kiam la suno aperas.
Homoj, kiuj nutras sin sole per filozoflo, estas ofte kiel raliitaj infanoj.
Al iliaj ostoj mankas firmeco, iii fleksas sin, kurbigas, kaj la tuta figuro senformigas.
Sed la radioj de Ia suno inspiras al iii forton kaj donas sanon. La hierajia pala, ~anceligema filozofo farigas heroo de siaj konvinkoj.
La homaro, granda infano, malsanadas. tiufoje, kiam ftia malsano farigas tre sen-oza kaj dangera, venas inspirita kuracisto-profeto, kaj alportas medikamenton.
Ho, la paciento ne ~atas kuracilon, ne volas gin, baraktas, varmi~as kaj ekscitigas, repu~as la kuraciston � sed do estas vana: fti devas fine obei Ia kuraciston, kion ajn ii ordonas.
El kio konsistas 'a malsano de 'a hodiatia mondo?Kiam homo malsanas, la simptomoj de ha malsano povas esti multaj, dum Ia mal-sano estas unu.
Ni vidas ankati multajn simptomojn de la malsano de la homaro, sed La malsano estas unu: gi estas: manko de simpatio kaj kompreno inter giaj diversaj membroj.
Bahá'u'lláh instruas la homojn, ke iii aiuj estas folioj de unu arbo, gutoj de unu maro, ke iii diuj estas kreitaj ella sama argilo, par ke neniu levi~u super alian. Li instruas, ke en la gafaro de Dio neniun ~afon oni devas konsideri nigra, ke ne ekzistas diferencoj de rasoj kaj nacioj: rozo estas bela, en kiu ajn gardeno gi floras, stelo egale brilas, ~ti de Ia oriento, ati de Ia okcidento.
Amo kaj egaleco! Kiel malnovaj idealoj do estas!Fakte ne estis profeto, kiu jun ne predikis; ne estis spirita standardo, sur kiu tiuj &i vortoj ne estis skribitaj per oraj literoj.
Malnovaj estas la bahaaj idealoj, kaj ma1-nova estas La vojo, kiun iii montras. Gi estas tiu sama vojo, sur kiu la homaro pagis en 'a pasinreco, kiam la fajraj kolonoj � la antatiaj profetoj � gvidis gin anta~en. ti estas tiu sama vojo, kiun posre kovris ruboj, kaj kiu nun, repurigita, denove kiare etendas sin antati la irantoj. Jes, gi estas Ia sama VOjO, sed gi estas vojo longa, tre longa.
Por gin finiri sufleas nek generacioj, nek j arcentoj. Hodiati denove brilegas sur gi fajra kolono. Sed hodiati gi brilegas ph antaile, ol jam, kaj ph antaiien gvidas la homaron. Iru gi sur tiu eterna vojo, sekvante Ia lumon de la Nova Tago Car do estas la vojo, inda je 'a pa~oj de la vera homaro, kaj la plej granda honoro de la vera homaro estas in konstante La vojon de progreso � al perfekteco.
Page 481B~ A. J. WIENBERG The following article was published in the Jewish paper, Canadian Adler, of Montreal, l, Canada. Translated from the Jewish by Ethel Moss Murray.
DR. A. FISHEL, Jewish Professor of the Oriental Institute, Hebrew University,1 on his return from Persia, CIrAq and Kur-distin, stated to the Ita (Jewish News Agency) that a mass conversion is predominating among the Persian Jews. Whole communities turn to Baha'ism, the religion of Persia. What is the Bahá'í belief?
The BábS'i Movement originated in Persia in 1844 and then spread in the Near East and also in European and
American countries. Themain centers of the Bahá'í religion today are CAkki and Haifa, Palestine, where its Founders are buried in specially erected Shrines. Few in our generation know of this modern religion.
It really sounds like a paradox, that religion and reformation, spirituality and social progress, Prophet and revolutionary, could get together and actually unite without conflict.
Many European historians have delved into this religion, and with great enthusiasm express their opinion about the Asiatic thinker 2 who was far from the influence of European philosophy.
His religion is a calm and tranquil philosophy of life, but, a very active religion which requires the translation of the teachings into deeds.
Historians have written about BaM'u' � Ihili, the
Founder of BaM'ism. Hisreligion carries the promise of a great progress, and is international in scope.
This revelation from the East which offers a solution to the problems of the West, is in the form of an international or universal religion.
In 1844 appeared in Persia before a multitude an enthusiastic young man, twenty-five years of age, who called Himself the
1 In Palestine.481 Báb [which means Gate or Door]. He began to preach a doctrine designed to create new conditions for humanity. The masses immediately accepted the teachings, which had a great effect on account of His divine name.
In 1850 the BTh was killed at the instigation of Muslim clergy who saw in this Movement a great danger for Isl4m.
After the martyrdom of the BTh, His followers turned to the One whom He prophesied would come after Him and who would be the Lawgiver for this dispensation, namely, Bahá'u'lláh [which means the Glory of
God].In 1852 the Muslims started an inquisition against the followers of this religion. Every day many thousands were put to death and thrown into dungeons.
In 1863 Bahá'u'lláh, with his family and some seventy-two of His followers, were exiled to Constantinople and then later to Adrianople where they rennined about five years. Then they were exiled to Haifa in Palestine, and were put in heavy chains and committed to the prison of CAkk~ Bahá'u'lláh, while in prison, was occupied in giving out His teachings. He proclaimed twelve great basic principles of the Bahá'í Movement, namely: (1) The oneness of mankind.
(2) Independent investigation of truth. (3) The foundation of all religions is one.
(4) Religion must be the cause of unity. (5) Religion must be in accord with science and reason. (6) Equality between men and women.
(7) Prejudice of all kinds must be forgotten. (8)education. (10) Spiritual solution of the economic problem. (11) A universal language. (12) An international tribunal.
Page 482In 1892 Bahá'u'lláh died in the prison city of tAkk~. In His will and testament He had appointed His son, tAbMs Effendi, as His successor.
After the revolution in Turkey, perfect freedom was given to the Baha'is, and Akka became for the believers a second Mecca.
CAbb~s Effendi called Himself tAbdu'1-BaM, the Servant of God. In
1912 He visited Europeand America, and the Bahá'í teachings were widely proclaimed. The Ba. M'i Cause has spread around the world.
On November 28, 1921, tAbdu'1-Bah~i died in Haifa, Palestine. His body rests in a tomb on Mt. Carmel, where also rests the body of the
BTh.The Bahá'ís are spiritual but not emotional. They are good and refined people. They love each other and are ready to sacrifice for each other.
All are equal in spirit � rich or poor.The Bahá'í Temples are open to every one. There are no clergy or officials in them. In the Temple there is worship, and in the future as the Bahá'í Cause grows, the plan is to have all kinds of accessory buildings surrounding the Temple which will be used for definite services to humanity.1
Bahá'ís can have but one wife. Divorce is granted under certain conditions.
Bahá'ís1 Bahá'ís believe that divine and material civilization must go together.
must not gamble, or drink intoxicating beverages, and must not use drugs.
The true believer loves every one irrespective of belief, race or nationality.
Bahi'ism also advocates love for animals.The Bahá'í Teachings resemble in many instances a Kabala (mysticism) Movement. The creation of the world in accordance with the Baha teachings is God's creation where God alone manifests His supremacy. All mountains, hills, flowers and grass, oceans and lakes, fields and other creations of nature, are all created so that God's attributes may be manifested.
The sun and the moon areis the highest type of creation, and man must strive, with all his marvelous endowments, to attain his birthright.
A person must be free from oppression. A slave cannot serve his Creator because the Lord loves freedom and justice.
Slavery is against truth and freedom.This Ba1A'i religion is now predominating in Persia, and the Jews of Persia follow it because the Movement teaches love and respect for other beliefs. cAbdu~1~BahA explained that people have to love and respect other religions and beliefs.
All are worshiping God in their own way no matter by what Name � Jew, Buddhist, Muhammadan, Christian, and others. The main thing is to live a life of righteousness,, love and good deeds.
Page 483LEMON BLOSSOMS and swaying shadows, amber lakes and glimmering fogs, all the elusive beauty of the world is supposedly the heritage of youth. To youth is permitted a tampering with or postponement of age-old principles, a margin of play, a lingering in some quiet garden while the work of life goes on. It has become habitual for the older generation to project in a sense its own desires of frivolity upon the youth; parents wish, however unconsciously, that their children should be flamboyantly young � and crowd them with toys and adolescent equipment, in an effort at renewal of years that have faded.
Poetry that the world has cherished celebrates youth; enjoins the rapid gathering of roses, the gulping of life's wine before one shall be ttold and gray, and full of sleep."
Explorers of the past dreamed of discovering the fountain of youth, and wore their days away in search for it; moderns send to Europe for creams and lotions, and are afraid to weep because wrinkles may follow.
The world is clutching at youth, sacrificing to it, keeping life bright with the memory or the hope of April moments.
Certainly to the materialist this life can give nothing better than a few brief years of youth. But the lovers of reality are not interested in the physical aspects of time. To them an old person of any age is one who is bound to his self, not even to his present self but to his self of long ago; the experiences of life, essential for development, cannot affect him; any new occurrence merely sends him back to his memories, to old situations and faded settings; his ideas are merely remembered prejudices. And a young person is one whose heart is filled with the love of God; one who is continually renewed and recreated, because he is close to the springs of life.
For Baha'is, all ages are precious, just as are all the notes in a scale.
"When experi ences are confined to one age-group, monotony results. Existence on a college campus, for example, is existence in an incubator; the undergraduate pines for someone who is neither eighteen nor twenty-three, longs for the sight of nonacademic gray hairs. Rhythms are broken off, conversations are repetitive, ideas are endlessly the same, when a generation is left isolated. Life becomes normalized when somebody tells us that he laughed at our newly-invented witticism sixty years ago, or that white lilacs were just as ioveiy last century. One gathers finally that streams flowed and trees blew for HMiz or Shakespeare just as they do for us, and this knowledge serves to integrate our attitude toward life, and to emphasize the passing of our days. In some old graveyards even the dead continue a service for us; one finds under a mouldering angel the legend, ttJ am what you will be"; or on a broken alabaster column, vague letters tell us "Yesterday for me, today for thee."
Since the coming, in the middle of the last century, of a new order, all things have been made new again.
For this reason the youth-age situation has been revolutionized. There is no longer, among Baha'is, a younger generation" problem, where other youth rebel, our youth have set their shoulder to the wheel, because they know where they are bound; their questions have been answered, their doubts removed, their rights defined.
This life, this gift of consciousness, is used among Bahá'ís for other ends than those envisaged by the world, young and old we know our life on earth as an equipment for the real existence into which death ushers us; we know that here the maximum of consciousness must be developed, a spiritual, independent self built up, a ship rigged for launching in other waters.
Posterity will measure the greatness of the new day in which we live, but even now, in discussing the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh with 483
Page 484members of the younger generation, we see from their reaction how different our language is. Language, however, is of little importance to practical moderns; whatever words create, words can destroy.
Bahá'ís are told that deeds, and not vocabulary, will serve the world, and that our lives must prove the Word of God has been revealed again.
The example, then, precedes the rule; and both the Bahá'í example and the Bahá'í teaching throw new light on contemporary youth.
In general, educated young people of today fall into one of three groups � they are agnostics, pseudo-atheists, or dabblers in the metaphysical.
(It is safe to say that very few retain their orthodoxy after exposure to academic life.) They are sincere, unhappy, spiritually amorphous; they are looking for ideals in laboratories and text books, in conversations which last through the night, in work or in beauty.
They are suffering from popular prejudices, such as the idea that nothing is true, or that liberty denotes the right to live by personal standards irrespective of society's, or that technical knowledge replaces faith.
A characteristic of all three groups is the lack of interest in world affairs; so long as the moment is pleasant. The other side of the planet does not matter. This attitude tends at first to make the stupendous new proclamation � that of human oneness � unintelligible.
The average youth has never thought in terms of humanity at large; his circle of friends is usually composed of people who are repetitions of himself; members of other races and nations are often shadows to be laughed at for their vagaries or stigmatized with passing earnestness as undesirable aliens. The average youth is living out of date in a united world. The Bahá'í principle of universal brotherhood can be explained to such young people oniy through bringing them into Bahá'í communities, where the significance of human oneness is clearly demonstrated.
The Bahá'í teaching regarding the individual's necessity of seeking truth himself, of freeing himself from what he has learned at second hand, meets with quick approval. The youth have deposed their elders, and shifted, like the scientific method, from deduction to experiment. They have, however, in rejecting the ages, given over the good of their rightful inheritance as well as the bad, and are left with no standards to methodize the chaos of information and hypothesis which the printing presses release.
It has been said that a major trouble with modern life is the fact that so many people can read.
The Bahá'í conception of liberty, which asserts the ready yielding of the individual to the community, the harmonious freedom which is possible oniy when the individual develops his own particular function in his group, is a principle oniy gradually understood by average youth. The youth have always conscientiously battered down the institutions which they found about them; they have rebelled against real and imagined wrongs, flaunted their independence in the face of bewildered elders. And yet the "bloody but unbowed" platform has been without charm; the independence assumed by the oncoming generation has been a Simeon Stylites affair � the young have been quarantined in their own point of view; nevertheless, existence in the rather stale atmosphere left by former generations has been intolerable.
Youth has gone into monasteries, built guillotines, overthrown governments, turned its agonies into immortal sentences, but never won the quiet and confidence essential for adequate maturity.
In Bahá'í communities, however, the individual finds nothing to rebel against; rights are clearly defined, and there is a place for everyone~tcThe youth must serve and honor the old, and the old, guard and protect the youth"; assistance is reciprocal, individuality treasured; the oniy laws insisted upon are those which the spirit of man has always longed to obey � the laws of courtesy and compassion, of trust and effort. The youth are steadied by their gift of responsibility; the old are kept young by the removal of their hitherto selfassumed duty of being omniscient.
Of many bounties, the regulation of wants is one which especially encourages the youth in this new day. Wants have always formed barriers; no unity could function where wants had grown up uncon
Page 485trolled, and yet it seemed impossible to modify them.
Reformers have tried down the ages to regulate wants: Geneva was a quiet place under Calvin, and life in Plato's Republic was stark in more ways than one. Some authorities are advocating government repression of wants, and yet the only trustworthy regulation is undoubtedly that imposed by the individual on himself; and it is oniy through divine persuasion that men can be brought to practice "moderation in all things" � to learn the giving up of self to a higher good, the living from a universal rather than a merely personal viewpoint. God has shifted our desires from the quiet of a day to universal peace, from mental complacency to scientific endeavor, from a facile isolation to sympathy. He has brought new wants that unite human beings.
Because the Bahá'í principles include such practical teachings as, obligatory education, sex equality, the abolition of prejudice, the unity of religion and science, and the like, there is one type of young person whose approach to the Bahá'í Cause is sometimes impeded. (cMetaphysica11y~~ inclined youth are not rare just now. These like to discuss spirals and cycles, arcs of ascent, cosmic urges and the rest, to the exclusion of any tangible benefit. They are escaping from a world of street cars, alarm clocks and similar unpleasant realities; they are surprised that we prefer developing a new economic system, for example, to debating the relative merits of Truth and Beauty. The schoolmen who spent their lives discussing whether a certain holy being could have accomplished his mission equally well had he come into the world as a pea, are not dead.
Another aspect of this question is undeniably that many souls have a rich ca pacity for penetrating spiritual significances, and to these the worlds of God give endless worlds to conquer. Moreover they learn that with prayer and meditation, understanding of holy, extra-natural truth comes to each according to his capacity, that two Bahá'ís may grasp the same spiritual fact in different ways and each be right in his degree.
They realize why Bahá'í communities refuse to take issue on spiritual points, and why those agelong feuds, based on varying views of "metaphysical" questions, cannot arise amongst us. The Bahá'í principles of daily living, the beliefs on such fundamental principles as the iove of God through His Manifestations, immortality, reward and punishment, man's duty to mankind, are clearly explained; on the other hand personal adventures into thought, personally attained gifts from spiritual kingdoms, relate to individual experience and are not a basis for argument.
Members of the older generation often ask what the Bahá'í Cause means to youth. The answer is that Bahá'u'lláh's advent has unrolled a new heaven and a new earth � that the youth of today are living in another world, and are dazzled by the light of it. The agonies which youth has always had to meet are quieted, the problems are solved, the pain is healed. The Bahá'í youth does not grow up defenseless; he is safe alike from tyranny and warping adoration; his life has meaning, because it grows toward immortality; he has a guide and a Beloved.
The Bahá'í is protected from f a-naticism, and from the exaggerated ascetic practice of former times; he is asked to rejoice in the gladness of his heart; he is given a world of morning hopes and wide horizons.
Page 486Green Acre and the Bahá'í Ideal of Interracial Amity
HE oneness of mankind is one of the fundamentalof the Bahá'í Faith understand the vital importance of the practical application of such teachings in daily living, for in this age of light deeds that have a truly spiritual basis will transform the world.
Although the message and principles of racial amity as proclaimed by Bahá'u'lláh do not change, yet from time to time capacities and understandings may greatly enlarge. Changes of methods, of workers, of human events and experiences also come and have their bearing, so that each outward effort may seem unique.
Conferences or conventions formally organized for racial amity in America and under Baha auspices have covered a decade and have been uniformly successful.
The latest conference held in Green Acre, Eliot, Maine, in August of 1931 was no exception. Indeed it even surpassed the sanguine hopes of its sponsors. Its structure proved a clearing house for views pertaining to the scientific, aesthetic, sociological and spiritual as they affect the happiness and harmony of mankind.
One of the most significant contributions to the conference was the addresses made by Mr. William Leo Hansberry, Harvard scholar and specialist in the Department of History, Howard University, Washington, D. C., who unfolded recent studies in anthropology, paleontology and archeology bearing upon the continent of Africa.
Under the subject: ~tNegroAfrica," he made a deep impression not only by his profound learning but by his ability to express scientific discoveries in common parlance and a way intelligible to the laity. He presented knowledge of recent years which has completely changed current ideas among the learned about Africa and the influence of its Negro inhabitants upon the great civilization of 486 the past. As a result many now believe that Africa has a prior claim to Asia as the cradle of the human family. Positive proof has come to light of great kingdoms and empires which formerly existed in Eastern, Western and Central Africa and which often surpassed the better known cultures of
Europe and Asia. Thesefindings upset the idea that Central Africa and its Negro peoples have had but little part in human history. This region of the world has had a most decided and positive sway over the destinies of mankind. Science, fortified by ancient literature, now shows that European types of people in very ancient times emigrated there from Africa and this is quite manifest, it is claimed, in most of the Mediterranean races.
It was shown quite clearly that these African peoples played a much more important part than has been realized in early prehistoric civilizations. Among curious statements made by Mr. Hansberry were: That the Sahara and Lybian deserts, once fertile plains, were occupied by Negro peoples. The drying up of these regions caused the inhabitants of these regions to seek homes in Europe and Asia where during the passing ages and cycles they were gradually changed by climatic conditions into lighter hues. That most Egyptian culture began in Central Africa and that the Egyptians themselves had a very large admixture of Negro blood. That many Greek legendary characters were considered by ancient writers as either Ethiopian or Central African in origin. That from the eighth to the fourth century B. C. one of the most virile and powerful civilizations was that of Ethiopia. That during the Middle Ages Negro kingdoms and empires of the Western Sudan were better civilized than contemporary states of Europe. That the drying up of certain vast regions, the rejection by peoples of the Christianity
Page 487of neighboring peopies, the slave trade and other disintegrating influences were factors which entered into the collapse of culture and the downfall of Negro civilization.
Mr. Hansherry's lectures were illustrated by numerous pictures of fossils, monuments, paintings, pictures of tombs, sculptures, temples, etc. These all showed features of kings and other great characters unmistakably takably Negro. His story of the human race in evolution and description of Pro plipit ha-cus cus haekelli, the supposed missing link of the scientist, a very interesting little creature which gradually evolved through such
First InterRacialkindness. Many questions were asked and many voices were raised in consultation with no trace of inharmony. What do we owe to our fellow beings of another race? How can we aid them if victimized by oppression on the one hand or heedlessness and indifference on the other? The lordly ideals of Bahá'u'lláh, , the lofty exhortations of tAbdu'1 Baha, the vibrant notes of Shoghi Effendi gave light to the spirit of consultation. A friend from far off New Zealand gave an enlightening account of the high standards of justice maintained by the English set-tiers s in that country to the Maori, the Amity Dinner held under the auspices of the Pasadena Bahá'í Assembly;
December 1930.stages as Austrolopitloicus africanus and Homo capensis, types found among African fossils and similar to those of other continents, nents, all finally culminating in Horno sapiens, presented a fascinating study. The effect of climate upon hair and complexion over long periods of time was also scientifically tifically explained.
He accepted without reservation from the standpoint of his researches the Bahá'í principle of the Oneness of Mankind.
The social aspects of race relations claimed a session and a half of the convention and two extra special meetings, growing out of a spontaneous desire to deal more intimately and directly with problems of daily life involving the color line and to remove the clouds and cheer the hearts by disinterested aboriginal race, which has brought the latter, , but half a century ago cannibals, to the highest plane of sociM, political, cultural and spiritual awakening. Should any nations of the earth do iess for their peoples, whether black or white, native or foreign born?
The power of the Prophet brings new birth. The new teachings of the new day are adequate for unity in all race relations.
This work is one of the most needed and the most inviting for human service. Justice to our fellow beings clarifies our own vision.
The ignorant can and must be taught. The heedless must be attracted and even the ttdead~~ must be revived! People born in an atmosphere of prejudice are not hopeless.
Such conditions yield to spiritual training.ingly take the stand for right may often bring astonishing results.
Improvements in the ways of travel and service with a just standard raised for all; education which proves the subjective as well as the objective harm of prejudices; practical ways of handling situations and people; the need of keeping willing workers busy and therefore happy; the urge for friends themselves to find opportunities to serve a world full of sorrowing hearts, are some considerations that require action. Amity conferences express the life pulses of action.
The structure of an amity conference is a group of harmonious and willing workers. These must strive wisely to enlarge their circle by conveying their hopes and ideals to others.
The social and welfare workers who are found in every community are often those most likely to respond to an appeal for this humanitarian service, bringing their noblest treasures of heart and mind.
How the psychology of suffering masses may be affected by the knowledge that somewhere in the world there is a group of people who believe in translating high thoughts into action is something to ponder.
That which is, is affected by that which ought to be. The real is influenced by the ideal. Ideals must be cherished and spread.
Should ideals be lost all that is worth while in humanity would soon be lost. The array of idealists and workers who came to this convention augmented the joy of life.
Others were absent in person but present and quite cheering in spirit. Among the latter was a man of great influence, former governor of a neighboring state, who asked to be remembered when such another convention is held. A United States Senator wrote: ~ greatly appreciate the honor of this invitation and wish I could be with you. But my plans for the month of August are already made and cannot be changed.
I have a great deal of sympathy for the splendid work you are doing. You have my best wishes for its continued success.
One of our seasoned workers who could not attend sent her address which with other beautiful thoughts contained this exhortation: ~tAmity is a campaign requiring patience, knowledge and spiritual guidance, holding the good of another in mind vigilantly lest satisfaction with a deed blind us to its quality. Let us determine that not one day shall pass without an effort toward racial amity. Thousands of little acts, small sacrifices that are within the reach of all will bring great results.
God will assist us to march forward to a new day in the relationship of all mankind."
The spiritual part of an amity conference is always the most important and it was emphasised by the chairman on the opening night. After quoting a number of the most powerful and beautiful of the divine teachings, he said: "If the light is one, is it possible any longer to view and treat mankind as separated by color, race, or merely material origin? We are meeting tonight as representatives of many races in a world baffled and confused by the serious problems of adjustment that confront us. If a man wishes to plant a garden and raise fine vegetables or fruits and has no suitable instruments such as piow, hoe and seed, he is helpless.
Such is the condition of the world today. Mighty forces are at work which no man can subdue unless equipped with divine instrumentalities at present unknown or unacceptable to the statesmen and governments of the world. Nevertheless these instruments exist and are divinely fitted for the work at hand. Therefore it remains for those who are informed of their existence, who are conscious of their perfect adaptation to the needs of the world, to demonstrate their perfect fitness, usefulness and uniqueness to heal the wounds of the world.
This is a mighty task.But be assured that Divine Assistance is at hand to strengthen and confirm every soul who arises for this supreme service to mankind."
The Sunday morning session was especially planned to teach man's sole dependence on God and His creative power. The Spirit's Fire of Attraction was the subject. A voice from the far South told of distressing conditions which can be remedied oniy by a heavenly power.
The one universal outlook is the spiritual. The siow process which steadiness makes success certain, that of striving to gain the respect,
Page 489esteem and affection of those whom we try to teach, received due emphasis, as likewise did the need of the friends of truth and justice everywhere, that they should maintain a firm and courageous attitude in upholding the great principle of the oneness of mankind.
A number of striking examples showing victory for the friends under various trying conditions as they adhered to this principle, was set forth.
It is that mysterious power known as the confirmations of God, which enables His servants to execute the difficult task even when it runs counter to all the traditional passions and prejudices of earth.
The Spirit of Bahá'u'lláh, that great and manifest Light, seeks willing mirrors for its reflection in the world of hearts.
Those who pray earnestly and are active in service under the shadow of guidance may perceive its perfections and power. Eyes may see the signs of God. Ears may become attentive to celestial music. Hands may serve. Feet may tread in the footsteps of the True One. Minds may reflect the thoughts of God. Knowledge from Him may teach His ways. Hearts may become knowing through kindness ness to all the creatures, leaving no place for the dust of prejudice and the rust of hatred, and banishing fear. This is the way of racial amity which moves above the world of limitations into that of eternal realities.
One of the most effective amity workers thus sums up this conference: was inwardly impressed during the three days of the conference, and particularly at the unique and wonderful atmosphere of the musical and fellowship meeting Sunday night, that the Pentecostal outpourings were flowing.
I do not think that I have ever seen or experienced before such an utter demonstration of the blending of races as on that evening, nor witnessed such love as passed to and from every heart. This is the first realization at Green Acre of that in which tAbdu'I-Bah~ told us to participate. This is the answer to Green Acre's problems, spiritual and material. The message from Shoghi Effendi through Miss Easterbrook, a recehtly returned pilgrim from the Holy Land, clearly points to this as the solution, can emphasis upon racial harmony.'
You should feel radiantly happy."0 my friends! Have ye forgoEten that true and radiant morn, when in those hallowed and blessed surroundings ye were all gathered in My presence, neath the shade of the tree of life, planted in the all-glorious paradise? Ye all hearkened in bewilderment, as I gave utterance to these three most holy words: "0 friends! Prefer not your will to Mine, never desire that which I have not desired for you, and approach Me not with lifeless hearts, defiled with worldly hopes and desires. If ye but sanctify your souls, ye would, at this present hour, recall that place and those surroundings, and the truth of My utterance shall unto all of you be made manifest." From ~Tersian Hidden Words," verse 19.
'THAT radiant morning is not forgotten! It was on a day in August, 1916, that I found the eternal Light which I had sought and sought with a longing heart for a long time.
At that time I was living in a town by the seashore where the beautiful Mount Fuji could be seen on the horizon. There came a messenger of the Kingdom of AMA and lifted up the veil of my soul. She taught me this simple truth that, ccPossess a pure, kindly and radiant heart, that thine may be a sovereignty, heavenly, ancient, imperishable and everlasting." She brought a new light into my heart, a new thought into my mind and a new ideal into my life. Every word she spoke to me was wonderful and luminous. It dispelled the darkness from my soui, brought fragrances to my heart like the breeze from the green fields, and made my inner sight keener and fresher than ever. This messenger who made me see the Sun of Reality was indeed Miss Agnes B. Alexander, my beloved spiritual mother from Tokyo.
Since that bright morning of my spirit, everything in the world has changed for me; the world into a beautiful garden; strangers into brothers and sisters; sorrows into joy; despairs into hopes and even evil into good. Everything stood in its beauty and perfection in the hands of the creator. I can never, never forget that blessed day, but I must confess that this glorious state of my heart could not be everlasting.
Sometimes it withers like a flower in the sun; sometimes darkness covers it over, sometimes it becomes faded and weak, and now and then sorrows and sadness oppress it heavily. But, praise be to God, how often it encourages me to recall that radiant morn!
How often the melodious music of these Holy Words strengthen my faded heart!
I know the light is real existence and darkness is nonexistence.
In November 1914 MissAlexander first came to Japan, sent by 'Abdu'l-Bahá saying, "While there be engaged in spreading the fragrances of God." So she has been here with us these years working alone for the Cause and sowing seeds of light with steadfastness and unselfishness. Wherever she goes the fragrance of the love of Abh& is diffused.
She has no will and desire of her own, but is a perfect instrument of God that goes anywhere if it is His will. For a long time she has been far away from her home and dear ones. We cannot help thanking her for her love and self-sacrifice.
We hope that you will all pray for her and also for this land she loves, so that her seed-sowing may bear beautiful flowers and fruits. She has traveled not only to various places in Japan, but also to Korea and China carrying to the people the Glad-Tidings everywhere she went and she has made connections and unity among Bahá'í friends in all parts of the world.
I want to mention here some Bahá'ís who have visited us and assisted
Miss Alexander. BeforeHe loved Japan so much that he never forgot us even until his death in Hawaii.
In 1919 Mrs. Ida A. Finch came from America and stayed in Tokyo for over three years. Last year, 1930, Miss Martha Root made her third visit to Japan.
She was for two months with Miss Alexander in Tokyo where she often spoke at different gatherings and once through the radio under 490
Page 491Bahá'ís and their friends, Tokyo, Japan, March 21, 1931, Feast of Nawruz. Seated in the center is Dr. R. Masujima, in whose garden the gathering was held; at his right Miss Agnes B. Alexander, Bahá'í teacher; and fourth from right, standing, Mr.
KokichiSumi. The latter a student, and author of article on page 126 of The Bahá'í Magazine for the month of July 1931.
Page 492the topic: "The Progress of the Bahá'í Movement in Five Continents."
Last summer, 1931, Mrs. Keith Ransom-Kehier visited us on her way to Australia.
These noble friends are never forgot;en. I know that without the Báb Revelation we would have been strangers to each other forever. How wonderful it is for us to be in unity as one f am-ily through the light of the Sun of Truth, all attracted to the Center of the
Covenant of God! May GodIn Japan we have many Esperantists, most of whom are interested in the Bahá'í Teachings, as they have similar ideas such as world peace and the brotherhood of mankind. Miss Alexander speaks Esperanto and has attended the conventions every year and so the Baha Teachings are widely spread among the Esperantists.
Last October when we held a special meeting for the blind Es-perantists, in Kyoto, she gave a beautiful talk about,
"The Bahá'í Movementand the Blind in Japan," which I translated into Japanese.
I think one of the most efficient ways of promoting the Bahá'í Cause in Japan is to have as many Bahá'í books in Esperanto as possible, and also it is very important for us to have books which explain the teachings thoroughly and profoundly, because Japanese young people like to study radically and systematically, otherwise they are not satisfied.
We hope that Bahá'í Esperantists will make an effort to have Bahá'í literature translated into Es-peranro as Lidja Zarnenhof has dohe.
You will surely be interested to know that eAbdu~1~Bah4 wrote 19 Tablets in all to us, the Japanese Baha'is, and that five of these were to the blind. How abundantly He descended His bounty upon us the blind in Japan! He wrote of blindness in my first Tablet dated December 27th, 1918, as follows: '~A1though materially speaking, thou art destitute of physical sight, yet, praise be to God, spiritual sight is thy possession. Thy heart seeth and thy spirit heareth. Bodily sight is subject to a thousand maladies and ultimately and assuredly will be obscured.
Thus no importance may be attached to it. The sight of the heart is ii-lumined, it discerns and discovers the Divine Kingdom and is everlasting and eternal.
Praise be to God, therefore, that the sight of thy heart is illumined and the hearing of thy thought responsive."
How much these precious words of tAb-du'1-BahS encourage the blind and will forever strengthen and comfort them! We have printed and distributed among the blind the following braille publications: "A Letter to the Blind Women in Japan," by Agnes B. Alexander, translated by Mr. K. Nakamura, the blind editor of the Japanese braille weekly, 1917.
"Seek and it Shall be Given You," compiled and translated by Tokijiro Toni, 1917. "What is the Bahá'í Movement," translated by T. Inoue, 1929. ~tLa Baha Revelacio," in Esperanto, 1929.
My lirst book, above mentioned, I am now revising and before long it will be republished. It seems true that the blind are more thirsty and longing for the truth than the sighted, and I dare say that only those who live in darkness will see the real true light, because the light always appears out of the darkness.
It is our supplication that we may have more Bahá'í literature in braille and I ask your prayers also for God's assistance.
With the help of my faithful wife I have copied into braille some of the literature, such as, "Hidden Words," "Book of Prayers," ccSeven Valleys," "Book of tIq~n," ccTablet of Ishr~qAt," "Siiratu'1-Haykal," the last half of, c(Some Answered Questions" and other writings.
Bahá'í publications in Japan. Since the year 1916 Bahá'í booklets have been published in Japanese as follows: "What is Ba-M'ism?" by Dr. G. J. Augur, 1916.
(CA Letter to the Women of Japan," by Agnes B. Alexander, 1916. ttReligion of Love," compiled and translated by Japanese young men, 1917. "The Most Great Peace," translated by D. Inouye, 1917. "New Civilization," by K. Torikai, 1917. ~tMashriqu'1-Adhkir," Translated by D. Inouye, 1918. "The Bahá'í Revelation," translated by D. Jnouye, 1920. cTh Call," by Agnes B. Alexander, translated by T. Toni, 1920. "What is the Bahá'í Movement?"
tans-lated by T. Inoue, 1929. Also in English, (cTablets to Japan," compiled by
AgnesB. Alexander. Besides these publications a monthly magazine entitled, CeSt of the East" was published in 1920 and 1921,
Page 493THE BAHÁ'Í MOVEMENT IN JAPAN 493
and many articles have been written for magazines and newspapers.
We are very happy that the book, "Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era," by Dr. J. E. Esslemont will soon be published in Japanese. Mr. D. Inouye, a Buddhist priest of Kobe, has willingly undertaken this great work as a memorial to his beloved daughter who died last June at the age of sixteen. Let us pray for his dear daughter and for his service of translating.
His Majesty our Emperorreceived seven especially bound volumes of Bahá'í literature which were presented to him by some American Bahá'í ladies as a token of their congratulation at the time of his coronation.
Our Emperor ioves peace and amity among the nations.
However, it may seem especially in these days of fighting in Manchuria, that the Japanese people are a warlike nation. This is an error, although the government, or body-politic may seem sometimes to be so, we love the peace and justice of the world.
The Bahá'í principles are accepted with content, rather we have the same thoughts and hopes though we do not name them Baha'i.
There are many religions in Japan today but there have never been battles among them. They are all living in peace and harmony.
In closing I must express my great regret in not being able to write all my thought and feeling because of my poor knowledge of English. I hope, though, what I have wished to say can be understood.
As for myself, I have been blind since I was three years of age. At present I am a teacher of the school for the blind in Kyoto. I know it is not worth while to be sad because of blindness for often it keeps me from material prejudices and superstitions. Rather, I would say, blest are the blind for they can see the light of truth.
As long as I live I hope to be able to serve my fellow beings. It is my desire some day to visit the Holy Land as 'Abdu'l-Bahá wrote me in his second Tablet dated June �1, 1920, t~w1ien. ever the means of travel is secured, thou art permitted to come. I am supplicating God to strengthen thee and make thee grow like unto a lily in the Garden of the Kingdom."
Accept my hearty Bahá'í love and greetings to you who are all the one family of the Bahá'í world.
Page 494HE vitality of a religion lies no less in the dynamic power of its founder than in the Message that he brings.
For the appearance of a Prophet cannot be likened to that of any other human being, no matter bow great or gifted that being may be, for with the Prophet comes a spiritual Springtime that revivifies all things upon the earth, according to the nature of each; and in the heart of man springs up a love of God and a belief in His messenger that makes him forsake personal aims and ambitions and willingly endure every hardship even to the giving of life itself that humanity may be reborn through the Word of the Prophet.
By the power of God revealed to pure hearts, man receives the impetus to press forward to new goals � could he reach such a realization unaided, there would be no need for the coming of a Prophet, but fettered by tradition, unable to prove even a simple premise without a long process of trial and error, be cannot vision the plan of Almighty God for this plane. Progress and civilization are dependent upon the revealed Word of the Prophet.
The direct rays of Bahá'u'lláh have been focussed upon humanity for a hundred years with a resultant quickening of scientific and philosophic thought.
A few quotations point the trend of consciousness which will be more and more in accordance with the principles of the
Bahá'í Revelation.(cThe Divine Reality is Unthinkable, Limitless, Eternal, Immortal and
Invisible.cannot be said to ascend or descend. It is beyond the understanding of man, and cannot be described in terms which apply to the phenomenal sphere of the created world."
ccMan then, is in extreme need of the only Power by which he is able to receive help from the Divine Reality, that Power alone bringing him into contact with the Source of all life."
"Wisdom of tAbdu'1-Bah6~" page 51."God alone should be realized as the one Power which animates and dominates all things, which are but the manifestations of its energy.
Bahá'u'lláh, "Bahá'í Scriptures,"page 158.Verily that which surrounds is greater than the surrounded, and the surrounded cannot contain that by which it is surrounded, nor comprehend its reality.
However far mind may progress, though it reach to the final degree of comprehension, the limit of understanding, it beholds the divine signs and attributes in the world of creation, and not in the world of
God."ttGod, the unknowable Essence, the Divine Being, is immensely exalted beyond every human attribute.
He is and hail ever been veiled in the ancient eternity of His Essence, and will remain in His Reality everlastingly hidden from the sight of men No sign can indicate His presence or His absence; insomuch as by a word of His command all that are in heaven and on 494
Page 495earth have come to exist, and by His wish, which is the Primal Will itself, all have stepped out of utter nothingness into the realm of being, the world of the visible."
Bahá'u'lláh, ccThe KitTh-i-Iq6m""God is pure Essence, and cannot be said to be anywhere or in any place.
ccGod is infinite; and as terms are finite, the nature of God cannot be expressed in terms, but as man desires to express God in some way, he calls God clove' and ttruth' because these are the highest things he knows. Life is eternal; so man, in order to express God's infinity, calls God life.' But these things in themselves are not God. God is the source of all, and all things that are, are mirrors reflecting His Glory.~~ tAbdu'1-Bahi, "God and the Universe," ttBah~!i
Scriptures," page 300.ccThe Essence of the Divine Entity is holy above imagination and beyond thought. Consciousness does not reach It. Within the capacity of comprehension of a created reality that ancient (uncreated) Reality cannot be contained. It is a different world; from it there is no information.
"All the philosophers and sages knew that it is, but they were perplexed in the comprehension of its existence, and were at last discouraged and left this world in great despair."
"Bahá'í"God singly and alone abideth in His own place which is holy above space and time, mention and utterance, sign, description, and definition, height and depth. And no one knows this save Him and whosoever has knowledge of the Book."
Bahá'u'lláh, ccTablet ofttMan finds that force, space, and time pass all understanding.
In all directions his investigations eventually bring him face to face with an insoluble enigma. He learns at once the greatness of the human intellect � its impotence in dealing with all that transcends experience.
In its ultimate nature nothing can be known the unconditionally, unlimited or the Infinite, cannot positively be construed to the mind.
The First Cause, the Infinite, the Absolute, to be known at all, must be classed, to be positively thought of, it must be thought of as this or that kind.
Can it be like in kind to anything of which we have experienced?
Obviously not. Betweenthe creating and the created, there must be a distinction transcending any of the distinctions between different divisions of the created The infinite cannot be grouped along with something finite; since in being so grouped, it must be regarded as not-infinite. It is impossible to put the Absolute in the same category with anything relative, so long as the Absolute is defined as that of which no necessary relation can be predicated There cannot be more than one First Cause.
How self destructive is the assumption of two or more Infinites; is manifest on remembering that such Infinites, by limiting each other, would become finite Thus, from the very nature of the thought it is to admit that the First Cause is unknowable.
The relativity of our knowledge is inferable in three ways, as we find by analyzing it. And as we see it objectively displayed in every proposition, involving relations, difference, likeness. Whatever does not present each of these does not admit of cognition.
And hence we may say that the Unconditioned as presenting none of them, is trebly unthinkable."
Herbert Spencer, "FirstC(The universe has never had a beginning. From the point of view of essence it transforms itself. God is eternal in essence and in time.
He is his own existence and cause. This is why the material world is eternal in essence, for the power of God is eternal."
'Abdu'l-Bahá, page 107.Prof. J. Arthur Thompson: CtOur solar system was once represented by a nebula, it has been the same material throughout, that has merely changed its distribution and form When we speak the language of science we cannot say, tln the beginning,' for we do not know of and cannot think of any condition of things that did not arise from something that went before."
"Outline of Science," Vol. I."Cl the creation of the infinite universe. This globe of ours is one of the smallest planets.
Those stupendous bodies revolving in yonder immeasurable space, the infinite blue canopy of God, are many times greater than our small earth. To our eyes this globe appears spacious; yet when we look upon it with divine eyes, it is reduced to the tiniest atom."
Abdu'l-Bahá "Divine Philosophy," page 178."Gaze upward through immeasurable space to the majestic order of the colossal suns.
These luminous bodies are numberless. Behind our solar system there are unfathomable stellar systems; above these, are the remote aggregations of the milky way. Extend your vision beyond the fixed stars and again you shall behold many spheres of light. Indeed, the creation of the Almighty is beyond the grasp of the human intellect."
tAbdu'I-BahA, "Divine Philosophy," page 163."The world of creation has had no begin-fling and will have no end, because it is the arena upon which the attributes and qualities of the spirit are being manifested.
Can we limit God and His power? In the same manner we cannot limit His creations and attributes. Just as the reality of divinity is limitless, likewise His grace and bounties are limitless."
tAbdu'1-BaM, "DY Philosophy," page 164.(tAfter centuries of scientific deduction it is proved that there is no fixed heaven; that which we see is an infinite space; these stars are hung like luminous lamps in this immeasurable atmosphere. There are neither eight nor nine nor ninety spheres, and the stars are numberless."
Abdu'l-Bahá, "DivineC(TO enable us to realize, to some extent, what position man holds with reference to the Universe, let us leave our earth for a short.
time, and hasten away, in the Chariot of Imagination, to a point in space halfway between our Sun and Alpha Centauri, the nearest of the other stars Let us now imagine that our eyes improve in light-grasping power till they equal the most powerful telescope in existence. What is now to be seen from our point of vantage?
"The Sun that ruled our Solar System with such undisputed sway is visible still, but it rules no more. It was a Sun that reigned supreme among a thousand little twinkling stars.
It is now but a star among a hundred million fellow-stars.
ttBut though we have lost our Earth and its Sun, we have gained more than we have lost. For we have revealed before us a goodly portion of the Universe itself. And though we see no more a panoramic succession of days and nights, seasons and years, we do not miss these earthly phenomena. For in their stead we see the stately evolutions of countless squadrons of heavenly orbs, circling through neverending time in an ocean of limitless space.
ccWe have no need of the Sun, neither of the Moon; for the everlasting glory of the Great Cosmos enlightens us, and the iridescent mantle of Universal Nature enfolds us.
Edward Irving, C CHOW"Man in the beginning of his existence and in the womb of the earth, like the embryo in the womb of the mother, gradually
Page 497grew and developed, and passed from one form to another, until he appeared with this beauty and perfection, this force and power. It is certain that in the beginning he had not this loveliness and grace and elegance, and that, oniy by degrees, did he attain this shape, this form, this beauty and this grace � Man's existence on this earth, from the beginning until it reaches this stage, form and condition, necessarily lasts a long time � but from the beginning of man's existence he is a distinct species Admitting that the traces of organs which have disappeared actually exist (in the human body) this is not a proof of the impermanence and the non-originality of the species. At the most it proves that the form and fashion and organs of man have progressed.
Man was always a distinct species, a man, not an animal."
CAbdu~1~Bah6 "Some Answered"When we look upon the world of creation from the analytic standpoint we observe that everything is the result of composition of many single atoms which through the law of affiliation have adhered and according to the form, order and position of these atoms, a given being steps forth into the court of objectivity.
Every single atom of these aggregate atoms has its myriad transferences as has been proved by science. For instance that which enters into the composition of a human being was at one time in the mineral kingdom.
In the vegetable kingdom, it again partook of many experiences and through each experience became adorned with added attributes. In the animal kingdom it was incarnated throughout multitudes of animal forms and finally, in the human kingdom the atoms traversed endless forms of humanity, in each form of composition showing forth a particular aspect of the One Power."
tAbdu'1-Eah&, "Divine Philosophy," page 167.CCBahi~u~11~h confirms the biologist who finds for the body of man a history reaching back in the development of the species through millions of years. Starting from a very simple, apparently insignificant form, the human body is pictured as developing stage by stage, in the course of untold generations, becoming more and more complex, and better and better organized until the man of the present day is reached."
"Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era," Dr. J. E. Esslemont, page 240.
Prof. Osborn:ttDOCS the living world also conform to law in its most important aspect, namely, that of fitness or adaptation, or does law emerge from chance? In other words, in the origin and evolution of living things, does nature make a departure from its previously orderly procedure and institute chance for law?
"Let us first make clear what we mean by the distinction between law and chance.
ttAstronomers have described the orderly development of the stars, and geologists the orderly development of the earth: is there also an orderly development of life? Are life forms, like celestial forms, the result of law or are they the result of chance?
"That life forms have reached their present stage through the operations of chance has been the opinion held by a great line of natural philosophers.
"That life forms have arisen through law has been the opinion of another school of natural philosophers, headed by Aristotle �This opinion has fewer scientific and philosophical adherents, yet Eucken, following Schopenhauer, has recently expressed it as follows: tFrom the very beginning the predominant philosophical tendency has been against the idea that all forms, we see around us, have come into existence solely through an accumulation of accidental individual variations, by the blind occurrences of these variations and their actual survival, without the operation of any inner law.
CNatural science, too, has more and more demonstrated its inadequacy.'
This question of law versus chance in the evolution of life is no longer a matter of opinion, but of direct observation so far as law is concerned, we observe that the evolution of life forms is like that of the stars: their origin and evolution as revealed through paleontology (the remains of ancient life forms) go to prove that Aris
Page 498totle was essentially right when he said that !Nature produces those things which, being continually moved by a certain principle contained in themselves, arrive at a certain end.'
Prof. Henry Fairfield Osborn,ccIf we take this story in its apparent meaning, according to the interpretation of the masses, it is indeed extraordinary. The intelligence cannot accept it, affirm it, or imagine it; for such arrangements, such details, such speeches and reproaches are far from being those of an intelligent man, how much iess of the Divinity � that Divinity who has organized this infinite universe in the most perfect form, and its innumerable inhabitants with absolute system, strength and perfection.
"Therefore the story of Adam and Eve who ate from the tree, and their expulsion from Paradise, must be thought of simply as a symbol.
It contains divine mysteries and universal meanings, and is capable of marvelous explanations. We will explain one of them: Adam is the spirit of Adam, and Eve is his soul; the tree is the human world, and the serpent is that attachment to this world which constitutes sin. The sin in Adam is relative to his position.
Attachment to the earthly world, in relation to attachment to the spiritual world, is considered as a sin.
The good deeds of the faithful are the sins of the Near
Ones."tAbdu~1~Bah~ "Some Answered Questions," page 140.
Dr. Gugau:cCThe great resource of Christianity and of most religions is the idea of a Fall. But this explanation of evil by a primitive failure comes to explaining evil by itself; necessarily there must, before the fall, have been some defect in the supposed freedom of the will or in the circumstances which caused it to weaken; no fault is really prima1.
A man who is perfect and walks under God's eye does not fall when there are no stones on the road There is hesitation oniy in matters concerning which there is no complete evidence to the understanding � one cannot err in the light and against the light But if God and His work had been really perfect, the opposition between personal and general good would have been impossible. Even to the best human minds this opposition appears merely temporary and provisional.
CtTO know God is to participate in a measure in the supreme Truth � the Divine Consciousness � to have all knowledge would be to be able to reflect the very consciousness of God; how then could a satanic mentality emanate from the all-divine?"
DR. GUGAtY, From trlrreligion del'Avenir."'tAccording to Bahá'í philosophy it follows from the doctrine of the unity of God that there can be no such thing as positive evil. If there were any other power in the universe outside of or opposed to the One, then the One would not be infinite.
Just as darkness is but the absence or lesser degree of light, so evil is but the absence or lesser degree of good � an undeveloped state. A bad man is a man with the higher side of his nature still undeveloped."
Dr. J. II. Esslemont, CCBah&u~11Th and the New Era."
"As to thy remark, that Abdu'l-Bahá hath said that evil never exists, nay rather, it is a nonexistent thing, this is but truth, inasmuch as the greatest, evil is man's going astray and being veiled from truth.
Error is lack of guidance; darkness is absence of light; ignorance is lack of knowledge; falsehood is lack of truthfulness; blindness is lack of sight; and deafness is lack of hearing. Therefore, error, blindness, deafness and ignorance are nonexistent things."
tAbdu~1~Bah4, letter quoted in CCBah~~ u'llAh and the
New Era.""Every human being is primarily pure, for God-created qualities are deposited in him. Personality is obtained through the
Page 499499 conscious effort of man by training and education."
tAbdu'1-Bahi, "Divine Philosophy," page 128.CCThe intellectual realities, such as all the qualities and admirable perfections of man, are purely good, and exist. Evil is simply their nonexistence. So ignorance is the want of knowledge, error is the want of guidance, forgetfulness is the want of memory, stupidity is the want of good sense. All these things have no real existence.
ttj~ the same way, the sensible realities are absolutely good, and evil is due to their nonexistence, that is to say, blindness is the want of sight, deafness is the want of hearing, poverty is the want of wealth, illness is the want of health, death is the want of life, and weakness is the want of strength.
ttA scorpion is evil in relation to man; a serpent is evil in relation to man; but in relation to themselves they are not evil, for their poison is their weapon, and by their sting they defend themselves.
tcOne thing in relation to another may be evil, and at the same time within the limits of its proper being it may not be evil."
tAbdu~1~Bah~ "Some Answered Questions," page 301.
CtEverything in existence is good, and oniy lack of goodness makes a thing syil. The being is created good, but when the lack of good is to be found, then it becomes bad. Evil is not created by God.
Light is created by Cod, but when you put away the light from a room that room becomes dark."
tAbdu'1-Bahi, (cBah~~i Scriptures," page 500.'From the beginning of man's life you may see even in a nursing child the signs of desire, of anger and of temper.
Then it may be said that good and evil are innate in the reality of man, and that this is contrary to the goodness of nature and creation. The answer is chat desire which is to ask for something more, is a praiseworthy quality if used suitably. If a man has a desire to acquire science and knowledge, or to become compassionate, generous and just, it is most praiseworthy.
If he exercises anger and wrath against bloodthirsty tyrants who are like ferocious beasts it is very praiseworthy, if he does not use these qualities in a right way, it is blameworthy. So it is with all the natural qualities of man, which constitute the capital of life; if they are used in an unlawful way then they become blameworthy."
Abdu'l-Bahá "Some Answered(!Hfth the cause and the function of evil is perfectly understandable.
Evil does not arise from the will, nor the impotence nor the want of foresight of a responsible Creator.
Nor is it the result of a Fall. It is the inevitable accompaniment of waking consciousness.
The effort required for the transition from unconsciousness (of lower forms) to consciousness � cannot but be painful. Chaos, gropings, struggle, suffering � all are the consequences of primitive ignorance and the effort to leave it behind. Evolutionary theory is oniy the statement of these gropings, these struggles, and these sufferings � in ignorance, and in evil, its summit is in light, in knowledge, and in happiness.
Evil, in short, is but the measure of inferiority; alike for worlds and the living beings they contain. In the lower phases of evolution it is the price of this supreme good � the acquisition of consciousness.
ccFro the Unconscious to the Conscious."Praise be to God that this century is the century of sciences! This cycie is the cycle of reality!
The minds have developed; the thoughts have taken a wider range of vision; the intellects have become keener; the emotions have become more sensitized; the inventions have transformed the face of the earth, and this age has acquired a glorious capability for the majestic revelation of the oneness of the world of humanity."
tAbdu'1-Bahi, "Divine Philosophy," page 162.ttln short every single primordial atom has had its journeys through every stage of life, and in every stage it was endowed with a special and particular virtue or characteristic.
c!consequently, the great divine philosophers have had the following epigram: All things are involved in all things. For every single phcnomenon has enjoyed the postulates of God, and in every form of these infinite electrons it has had its characteristics of perfection."
tAbdu'1-Bahi, ttThe Microcosm and the Macrocosm," B.S., page 401.
"Nature is the manifestation of the will of God in the apparent world. Verily it is the preordination on the part of One, the predestinor and omniscient. Should it be said that nature is the Divine Primal Will, manifested in the created world, no one has the right to object, for a great power is ordained therein of which the limit and essence could not be comprehended by the people of the world."
Bahá'u'lláh, "Tablet of Wisdom," B.S., page 190.~~Unti1 now it has been said that all religions were composed of tenets that had to be accepted, even if they seemed contrary to science. Thanks be God, that in this new cycle the admonition of Bahá'u'lláh is that in the search for truth man must weigh religious questions in the balance of science and reason.
Abdu'l-Bahá "Divine Philosophy," page 102.!!Composition is subject ever to decomposition or disintegrations; that is to say, existence means that certain elements have become composite and from that composition a being is formed � inasmuch as these elements have gone into the formation of endless forms of genesis we have the variegated expressions of life."
tAbdu'1-Bahi, page 383."Immortality," B.S., "The founders of the material, practical civilization are the scientists and investi gators and the establishers of divine civilization are the celestial universal teachers."
tAbdu'1-BahA, "Divine Philosophy," page 161."That which is in existence was before but not in the condition wherein it is seen today. The worlds were formed through the force emanating from the reaction of the active and passive principles; although the worlds are always the same, nevertheless they change constantly.
Thus doth this Instructor who is greater than this great structure the creation inform thee."
Abdu'l-Bahá, "Tablet of Wisdom," B.S., page 191.ttFor transformation is an essential neces-sky to every contingent reality, and this is what the mature wisdom has deemed advisable."
tAbdu'1-Bah&, "The After Life," B.S., page 405."All things of the world arise through man and are manifest in him, through whom they find life and development; and man is dependent for his (spiritual existence) upon the Sun of the Word of God."
Bahá'u'lláh, "Words of Wisdom." teMatter reflecting the negative aspect of God, is self sufficient, eternal and fills all space.
Spirit, flowing out from God, permeates all matter.
This spirit � love, reflecting the positive and active aspect of God, impresses its nature upon the atoms and the elements. By its power they are attracted to each other under certain ordered relations and thus, uniting and continuing to unite give birth to worlds and to systems of worlds."
CAbdu~1~BahA "God and the Universe," B.S., page 300.
!tSiit in the human world is the discoverer of the realities of existence.
All the inventions, all the sciences, all the hidden mysteries are brought to light through the activity of the spirit on the plane of life."
tAbdu'1-BahA, ttDivine Philosophy," page 16.501 "All these sciences which we enjoy were hidden and recondite secrets of nature, unknowable to nature, but man was enabled to discover these mysteries, and out of the plane of the unseen, he brought them into the plane of the seen. Thus while man's physical reality is captive to nature, man is the governor of nature through this intellectual power."
tAbdu'1-Bah4, B.S., page 400.Prof. J. Arthur Thomson: "The bricks of the cosmos are atoms. Every atom of matter, of whatever kind throughout the whole universe is built up of electrons in conjunction with a nucicus. The electron and its nucleus are particles of electricity. All matter, therefore, is nothing but a manifestation of electricity (or, in other words, light).
No one has ever seen an atom. Even the wonderful new microscope which has just been invented cannot show us particles of matter which are a million times smaller than the breadth of a hair; for that is the size of an atom.
Yet the structure of an atom is not solid in the popular sense of the word. If you put a piece of solid gold in a little pooi of mercury, the gold will take in the mercury, between its molecules (groups of atoms) as if it were a porous sponge.
The hardest solid is more like latticework than what we usually mean by solid. If we could see into the heart of the hardest steel, we should see billions of separate molecules, at some distance from each other all rapidly moving to and fro They are always in a violent state of motion and vibrate about equilibrium positions.
tcT1~ere are some eighty odd chemical elements on the earth today: they are all the outcome of an inorganic evolution, element giving rise to element, going back and back to some primeval stuff from which they were all derived infinitely long ago.
Science is always aiming at simplicity and unity.And the advent of the electronic theory has thrown a flood of light on what before was hidden and not even faintly guessed at. It has given us a new conception of the framework of the universe �tWhat a wonder, then, have we here!' says Prof.
R. K. Duncan. An innocent looking ing pinch of salt and yet possessed of special properties utterly beyond even the fanciful imaginings of men of past time for nowhere in records of thought do we find a hint of the possibilities of things as now regarded today as established facts.
This pinch of salt projects from its surface electrons possessing the inconceivable velocity of over one hundred thousand miles a second, a velocity sufficient to carry them, if unimpeded, five times round the earth in a second Furthermore these elements are charged with negative electricity; they pass straight through bodies considered opaque with a sublime indifference to the properties; they cause bodies which they strike to shine out in the dark; they affect a photographic plate; they render the air a conductor of eledtricity; they cause clouds in moist air; they cause chemical action and have a peculiar physiological action.
Who, today, shall predict the ultimate service to humanity of such extraordinary energy?
"Prof. LeBon shows that the smallest French copper coin contains an energy equal to 81 billion horse power. ~I am of the opinion,' says Sir 'William Bragg, !tht atomic energy will supply all our future needs' 'Th three fundamental entities in the physical universe are Matter, Ether and Energy. So far as we know, outside these there is nothing We shall see that just as no particle of matter, however small, may not be created or destroyed, just as there is no such thing as empty space � because ether pervades everything � so there is no such thing as rest, every particle that goes to make up our solid earth is in a state of perpetual vibration � energy is the universal commodity on which all life depends.
Separate and distinct as these three fundamental entities � matter, ether and energy � may appear, they are oniy different and mysterious phases of an essenstial of the universe."
Prof. J. Arthur Thomson, ttOtl� of Science," Vol. I.
NEED OF SCIENTIFIC TRUTHS"As this is a cycle of science; there must be new teachings, a new revelation is re
Page 502quired and a new life wanted. The minds and hearts refute the veracity of ancient opinions. New ideas are called for and new principles are urgently demanded which fill the requirements of this age, be as the spirit of the century and as the life of this period. Search, labor, investigate, work and show extraordinary effort, so that the center of the light of reality, like unto the witness of love may be revealed."
Abdu'l-Bahá from "Tabletto India" "To acquire knowledge is incumbent on all, but knowledge of those sciences which may profit the people of the earth, and not of such sciences as begin in mere words and end in mere words. The possessors of sciences and the arts have a great right among the people of the world.
Whereunto testifies the mother of divine utterance in the Day of Return.
Joy unto those who hear!"tcVerily those who have denied God and adhered unto nature as nature is, are indeed void of both science and wisdom, � are they not of the erring?
He who arises with steadfastness to serve the Cause of God must be a manifestation of wisdom, striving to remove ignorahce from amongst human beings."
Bahá'u'lláh, ttT bit of 'Wisdom" ttPraise be to God that this century is the century of sciences! This cycle is the cycle of reality!
The minds have developed; the thoughts have taken a wider range of vision; the intellects have become keener; the inventions have transformed the face of the earth."
Abdu'l-Bahá c(DivineccSpare not any effort within thy power to establish the truth with wisdom and explanation, and destroy falsehood from amidst the creatures, thus does the dawning place of knowledge command you from this brilliant horizon."
Bahá'u'lláh, ttBaM'i Scriptures," page 190.The Invention of the Spectroscope "The telescope and spectroscope that are used in modern astronomy are among the finest triumphs of mechanical skill in the world. And without them astronomy, as we know it, would not exist.
ttThe spectroscope is an instrument for analyzing light. Analyzing light, tMeans that the light may be broken up into waves of different lengths.'
Each wave length corresponds to a colour of the rainbow.
The shortest waves give us a sensation of violet and the largest waves, the sensation of red.
(The meaning of the rainbow is that the moist-laden air has sorted out these waves, in the sun's light, according to their length.) Not only sunlight can be analyzed but light from any substance which has been made incandescent may be observed with the spectroscope in the same way; and each element can be thus separated.
It is found that each substance (in the same condition of pressure) gives a constant spectrum of its own. Each metal displays its own distinctive colour The spectrum provides the means for identifying a particular substance.
It was by this means that we discovered in the sun the presence of such well known elements as sodium, iron, and copper.
Whether it is a substance glowing in the laboratory or in a remote star makes no difference to the spectroscope if the light of any substance reaches it, that substance will be recognized. It is thus we have been able to determine what the stars, comets, or nebuix are made of. Every chemical element known, then, has a distinct spectrum of its own when it is raised to incandescence, and this distinct spectrum is as reliable a means of identification for the element as the human face is for its owner.
"Thus in 1868 Norman Lockyerdetected a light coming from the prominences of the sun which was not given by any substance known on earth, and attributed this to an unknown gas which he named
~he1ium.' Inminerals the same gas identified by the characteristic set of waves by the spectroscope. We may say, therefore, that this gas was discovered in the sun nearly thirty years before it was found on earth. The light from the corona of the sun, indicated a gas still unknown on earth, which has been christened Coronium."
The Discovery of X-Rays"In the discovery of radioactive elements, a new property of matter was discovered.
One day in 1869 Prof.William Crookes noticed a strange colouring was caused when an electric charge was sent through a vacuum tube the walls of the glass tube began to glow with a greenish phosphorescence.
What were these rays?Crookes at first thought they corresponded to a cnew or fourth state of matter.' Hitherto we had oniy been familiar with matter in the three conditions of solid, liquid and gaseous. Now Crookes really had a great secret under his eyes. But about twenty years elapsed before the true nature of these rays, finally and independently were established by various experiments In 1895 Roentgen discovered the x-Rays which are now known to every one. Quite accidentally he covered a tCrookes Tube' with some black stuff. To his astonishment a prepared chemical screen which was near the tube began to glow. The rays had gone through the black stuff; and on further experiment it was found that they would go through stone, living flesh, and all sorts of opaque substances. X-Rays were not, as first thought, a fourth property of matter. They were not material particles. They were a new variety of light with a remarkable power of penetration."
Prof. J. Arthur Thomson, "Outline of Science," Vol. I. 'IT
The Discovery of Radium"Now, at the same time Prof. Curie and his Polish wife took up the search (for radiant matter).
A substance was found (salt of the metal uranium) which appeared to be producing x � Rays the rays emitted by uranium would also penetrate the same opaque substances as the x-Rays discovered by Roentgen. They decided to find out whether the emission came from the uranium itself, or from something associated with it, and for this purpose they made a chemical analysis of great quantities of minerals. They found a certain kind of pitchblende which was very active, and they analyzed tons of it, concentrating always on the radiant element in it. In the end they extracted from eight tons of pitchblende about half a teaspoonful of something that was a million times more radiant than Uranium.
There was only one name for it(CTht was the starting point of the new development of physics and chemistry As year has followed year, one substance after another was found to possess the power of emitting rays, that is, to be radioactive. We know today that every form of matter can be stimulated to some degree of radioactivity."
Prof. J. Arthur Tlwmson, "Outline of Science," Vol. I.
RelativityttThe chief characteristic of Einstein's theory is that it takes us behind our present ideas about space, time, and matter, to the primitive reality out of which we have built up those ideas.
"Newton thought the apple fell because the earth exerts upon it an attractive force. Einstein considers that it falls because wherever there is matter, space itself is curved, just as the space we see in a very slightly concave mirror, where there are no straight lines at all, and where if a body is in motion, it must move along a curve. We are asked to believe that space is curved, and that all things moving through it move in curves � all things including light. Einstein's theory asserts that the actual reality which underlies all the manifestations we experience in the physical universe is a blend of time, space, and matter.
This trinity is comprised in one actual reality."The more matter is present, the more space is curved.
And so it happens that the light from a star just behind the sun will come bending round it, like a train round a railway curve. It will appear to be shifted from its true position how far shifted, Einstein has worked out.
At the last eclipse the stars appeared where he had predicted Relativity is probably the most profound and far-reaching application of mathematics to the phenomena of the material universe that the world has ever known Einstein's theory shows us that there is something in the nature of an ultimate entity in the universe, but it is impossible to say anything very intelligible about it. But a certain aspect of this entity has been picked out by the mind as being what we call matter. The mind, having done this, also partitions out space and time in which this matter exists.
Prof. J. Arthur Thomson, C!0 di of Science," Vol. I.
The Overturning of Euclid's"Euclid had stated the existence of parallel lines as a postulate that one line and oniy one parallel to a given straight line can be drawn (he maintained). tlf a straight line meeting two other straight lines make the interior angles on the same side of it equal to two right angles, � the two straight lines will never meet.' The Mathematicians during the middle ages did not always agree but none were strong enough to disprove it. � There can be no greater evidence of the indomitable nature of the human spirit, or of its manifest destiny to conquer all those limitations which bind it down within the sphere of sense, than the grand assertion of Bolyai, the Hungarian, who in 1853 said ~ will draw "two" (parallel lines instead of one)' Man had struggled against the limitations of the body, fought them, despised them, conquered them. But no one had ever thought simply as if all this vast experience of space had never existed.
The Hungarian had mastered and he drew his line."the Evolution of the Soul "Dost thou think thy body a small thing, while in thee is enfolded the universe?"
Bahá'u'lláh, CtS Valleys."ttSpirit is the life of form, and the form is shaped by the spirit.
The evolution of life and form proceeds hand in hand. The powers of spirit are evoluted by the experiences of the form, and the plasticity of the matter of the form is developed by the activity of the spirit.
"Sense perception gives rise to desire, desire to will, will to action, and action again to sense perception and so the powers of thought, memory, reason, and the emotional capacities are evolved in spirit. These powers and capacity of spirit, expressed in individual human being, constitute human characters.
"Wh in the course of evolution the stage of thought and reason has been reached, the human mind acts as a mirror reflecting the glory of God."
tAbdu'1-Bahi, B. S., pp. 301302."Through wisdom the station of man is made evident and manifest. It is the knower and the first teacher in the school of existence, and it is the guide, the possessor of a lofty rank. Under the direction of its influence (wisdom), the element earth was endowed with pure soui and made to surpass the firmament."
Bahá'u'lláh, "The New"The essence of man is the soui, the soui of the world is the subtle growth of spirituality, heavenly morals, divine favors and sacred powers.
Were the physical world not accompanied by the spirit, it could not exist."
cAbdu~1~Bah& ttDivine"All beings, whether large or small were created perfect and complete from the first, but their perfections appear in them by degrees."
tAbdu'1-Bah4, "Some Answered Questions," p. 231."SCIENCE AND RELIGION" 505 ttMan from the beginning possessed capacity and aptitude for acquiring material and spiritual perfections and was the manifestation of the words, cWe will make man in our image and likeness.
tAbdu'1-BahA, "Some Answered Questions," p. 225.tcThis essence or soui of man, because of its innate purity, and its connection with the unseen Ancient Entity, is old as regards time, but new as regards individuality.
This connection is similar to that of the ray of the sun � the effect to the primal Cause. Otherwise the thing generated would have no connection with or relation to the Generator or Creator.
"It is the same reality which is given different names, according to the different conditions wherein it becomes manifest."
CAbdu~1~Bahi "Bahá'í Scriptures," p. 405."The soui can act directly without the intermediary (the body). Thus when we sleep the soul sees without the help of the eyes.
The auditory nerves are inactive, but the soui hears. Our members are in repose, but the soul is in movement. Our body is in a room; our soui travels through all regions.
It is clear, therefore that the soui evolves with and without the intervention of the material body.
"The soui acts in the physical world with the help of the body. When it it is freed from the body it acts without an intermediary."
CAbdu~1~Bahi ~CDivineccThen came Aristotle, the famous wise man. He was the one who discovered the theory of motion."
Bahá'u'lláh, "Tablet of Wisdom," "Ba-h~'i Scriptures," p. 277.
Statement of Prof. Hinton"Thus we see that Aristotle was not far from the recognition of the fourth-dimen-sional existence, both without and within man, and the process of adequately realizing the higher dimensional figures to which we shall subsequently come, is a simple re duction of the practise of his hypothesis of a soul. The next step is the unfolding of the drama of the recognition of the soui, as connected with our scientific conception of the world, and at the same time the recognition of that higher plane of which a three dimensional world presents the superficial appearance. If we pass over the intervening time without a word (that is from Aristotle to the year 1853) it is because th~ soul was occupied with the assertion of itself in other ways than that of knowledge (of itself) "When it took up the task in earnest of knowing this material world in which it found itself (in the year 1853) and of then directing the course of inanimate nature, from that most objective aim, came reflected back as in a mirror its knowledge of itself."
Prof. C. Howard Hinton,"But as to evolution; it is true of both body and spirit (of man).
Consider how many sciences, arts, discoveries and achievements have come into existence since the day of Moses, till the present time, through the progress of the human soul in knowledge and perfections. Similarly, how much the soul has evolved from a moral point of view. When the body of man is perfected, physical evolution comes to an end since nature does not seek to build a higher form but the evolution of spirit continues until reason, the mental powers, and the emotional capacities are evolved in it (the spirit). There are not entities which pass from body to body, but (progress is made) by the universal spirit of man. The result of each individual life experience goes to the enrichment of humanity.
As a hundred lamps may be lit from a single flame, so the one world spirit (is capable of) illumining the minds of countless men. Without this spirit, man's body, like a lamp unlit, is lifeless clay."
Abdu'l-Bahá "Loom of Reality," "Ba-M'i Scriptures," p. 434.
ttAmong the results of the manifestation of the spiritual forces (of this day) will be:
Page 506that the human world shall take on a new social form.
Therefore this twentieth century is the beginning or dawn of the spiritual illumination, and it is evident that day by day it will advance.
It will reach such a degree that spiritual effulgences shall overcome the material."
cAbdu~1~Bah4 ccThe New Age," B. S., p. 319."But the wise souis who are aware of the essential relationships emanating from the realities of things consider that one single matter cannot, by itself, influence the human reality as it ought and should, for until the minds of men become united, no important matter can be accomplished."
tAbdu~1~Bah "Tablet of the Hague," B. S., p. 410.
ctwhenever the sun of reality dawns, the lower sphere expresses the virtues of the higher world. Strive day and night; perchance these sleeping ones may be awakened by the celestial strains of the city of melody and hear the soft, delicate music which is streaming down from the kingdom of El-AbLY tAbdu'1-Bah&, ttDivine Philosophy," p. 78.
"Evolution is another word for race history.It means the ceaseless process of Becoming, linking generation to generation of living creatures.
The doctrine of Evolution states the fact that the present is the child of the past and the parent of the future.
� We are keenly aware of rapid changes in mankind, though these concern the social heritage so much more than the flesh and blood natural inheritance, that we find no difficulty in the idea that evolution is going on in mankind.
We know the contrast between modern man and primitive man, and we are convinced that in the past at least, progress has been a reality. For although there have been retrogressions in the history of life and although great races, the Flying Dragons, for instance, have become utterly extinct, leaving no successors whatsoever, we feel sure that there has been, on the whole, a progress towards nobler, more masterful, more emancipated, more intelli gent, and better forms of life so we think of evolution going on in mankind, evolution checkered by involution, but on the whole progressive evolution."
Prof. J. Arthur Thomson, "Outline of Science," Vol. I.
STATEMENTS CONCERNINGttDo ye know why We have created ye from one clay?
That no one should glorify himself over the other. Be ye ever mindful of how ye were created. Since We created ye all from the same substance, ye must be as one soul, walking with the same feet, eating with one mouth and living in one land, that ye may manifest with your being, and by your deeds and actions the signs of unity and the spirit of oneness.
This is My Counsel to you, 0 people of lights! Therefore follow it, that ye may attain the fruits of holiness from the tree of might and power. Bahá'u'lláh, "Hidden
Words."CtVeriIy, the Words which have descended from the heaven of the will of God are the source of unity and harmony for the world. Close your eyes to racial differences and welcome all with the light of oneness.
Be the cause of comfort and the promotion of humanity.
This handful of dust, the world, is one home: let it be in unity. Forsake pride, it is a cause of discord. Follow that which tends to harmony.~~ Bahá'u'lláh, from B. S., p. 157.
"Boast not of love to your own people but of love to your fellow creatures.
Glory not in loving your homes but in loving the whole world."
Bahá'u'lláh, "Tablet of Wisdom," B. S. p. 190."All prejudices, whether of religion, race, politics or nation, must be renounced, for these prejudices have caused the world's sickness.
It is a grave malady which, uniess arrested, is capable of causing the destruction of the whole human race. Every ruinous war, with its terrible bloodshed and misery,
Page 507has been caused by one or the other of these prejudices."
cAbdu~1~Bah4 ttThe Wisdom of 'Abdu'l-Bahá," p. 136.
"This span-wide world is but one region and one native land. Abandon that glory which is the cause of discord, and turn unto that which promotes harmony."
tAbdu'1 � Bah& ~'The New Age," p. 149."The Bahá'í doctrine of the unity of mankind strikes at the root of another cause of war, namely, racial prejudice.
According to the Bahá'í view people of every race are of equal value in the sight of God.
All have wonderful innate capacities which oniy require suitable education for their development."
Dr. J. E. Esslemont, ttBaM'u'lUh and the New Era."
c!Concerning the prejudice of race; it is an illusion, a superstition pure and simple, for God created all of one race. In the sight of God there is no difference between the various races.
cAbdu~1~Bah4 "The Wisdom of tAb-du'1-BahA."'tThe followers of sincerity and faithfulness must consort with all the people of the world with joy and fragrance; for association is always conductive to union and harmony, and union and harmony are the cause of the order of the world and the life of the nations."
Bahá'u'lláh, "The New Age."Dr. Boas contends that regardless of race prejudices and antipathies, all races are practically equal in their biological attributes. He says, "There is no reason to believe that one race is by nature so much more intelligent, endowed with greater will power, or emotionally more stable than others that the difference would materially influence its culture. Nor is there any good reason to believe that the differences between races are so great that the descendents of mixed marriages would be inferior to their parents. Biologically there is no good reason to object to the intermingling of the principal races.
I believe that the present state of our knowledge justifies us to say, that while individuals differ, biological differences between races are small."
He holds that interbreeding is not the evil that politicians and propagandists maintain, but frequently as in the United States has resulted in increased national vigor.
Lecture to Scientists.ccThere is no known fact of human anatomy or physiology which implies that capacity for culture of civilization or intelligence inheres in this race or that type. How about the Nordics then? How comes it that the AngloSaxon is at the top? The answer is to be found in the cultural history of man. What wave did the Anglo-Saxons ride in the days of Tut-ankh-ainen, or of C~sar or of William the Conqueror? Are his feet riveted to the crest?
Civilization is young; blood is old as salt water. Once there was no AngloSaxon; but there was ccivilization.~ NVere there thigher' or lower' races then? How low' the savage European must have seemed to the Nile Valley African, looking north from his
Pyramid of Cheops."cdt seems to be very difficult for writers on the subject of race to restrain themselves from indulging in speculations as to the mental powers and capacities for civilization of the several existing races of men. 'X"e observe that a group of people differing from ourselves in physical characteristics has also different manners and customs and a distinct material culture. We may judge this culture to be inferior to our own. We are then likely to infer that the people who have produced it belong to a race inferior to ours. In so doing we reason fallaciously.
"One frequently hears this sort of an opinion expressed by educated persons: ~The Negro has never built up a great civilization in Africa; he is responsible for no great in
Page 508ventions or discoveries;he is definitely inferior to the White.'
This kind of an argument, although fallacious, is difficult to meet.
One can attack it, however, in the following way: Archxology has brought to light on the banks of the Niger in West Africa, in the upper part of the Nile Valley and in Rhodesia, extensive monumental remains of great and extinct tcivilizations' which seem to have been Negro or Negroid. In historical times Negroes have built up both in East Africa and in West Africa powerful and well organized kingdoms which merit the name of Ciili C in respect to several of their institutions and cultural aspects.Every civiliza tion grows up, to a great extent, from the borrowings and accretions from other cultures.
The more isolated the habitat of a race or people the more disadvantageous is their situation from this point of view. Central Africa is not oniy a most remote and inaccessible region, but it is also peculiarly unfavorable in climate, flora, and fauna, to the development of human culture. Mere survival in tropical Africa is a great human achievement. In North America sixty-five years of emancipation under conditions of economic, political, and social oppression, furnish no fair basis for estimating the capacity of the Negro for civilization, nor his individual intelligence. What possibilities of cultural achievement would an educated Roman, living in Britain in the fourth century A. D., have attributed to the native inhabitants of that island? How much of ~racial' or ethnic ability would Pericles have granted to contemporary Romans? How much intelligence and capacity for culture building would Minos have assigned to the Athenian? What do you suppose Cheops thought of the Cretans? How did Europeans estimate the Japanese fifty years ago?"
Prof. Ernest A. Hooton, of Harvard University, "Up from the Ape."
Page 509B~ WALTER B. Guy, M.D. 'AKKA; we are on our way to We pass along the seashore ccthe way of the sea."
The billows roll in ceaselessly, their white-topped crests flashing white against the deep blue of the Mediterranean sea and sky.
We are going to the White Spot, the city of most ancient story, with fortress and immense walls that shine vividly in the afternoon sun: yet at one time, not long past, was the spot of cruelty, shame and unsanitary conditions.
Here in this once pestilential spot lived the scourings of Turkey, its criminals and outcasts, sent to linger and die, unfit for human society.
We view the fortress, its citadel where the "One whom God should manifest," Bahá'u'lláh, with His family and loved ones were imprisoned.
We see outside the fortress, yet still within the ancient city wall, the houses and homes of Bahá'u'lláh and CAb du'1-BahA. We cannot today see the squalor and filth of the past, for a New Day has come � not here alone � but all over the world: a New Sun has arisen, and here and there, and everywhere, civilization is advancing with rapid strides. Ignorance and superstitions are fading away. Truly a New Era has dawned for the children of men. In place of ruined fortress and dismal abode in which the Beloved One was immured, we see instead a beautiful hospital where the prisoners of society are healed, and in the old home of Abdu'l-Bahá a municipal headquarters, with beds, and sick ones in the very rooms in which the Master lived.
We pass along the winding streets and through the tunneled ways, among the Oriental bazaars, and look under the fortress walls through ancient windows, and see the arched groins and pillars of that ancient Crusaders Church now being slowly emptied of the d6bris of the centuries.
To me it is a most wondrous symbol � how the coming of Glory has cleansed the city of man, its streets of commerce and trade; transformed the ways and byways into paths of cleanliness; and the d6bris of centuries is being removed from this ancient church, its pristine splendor and beauty in time will be recalled.
So shall it be. "Th Most Great Peace shall come" � the churches of the Prophets shall likewise surely emerge from their accumulated ddbris, and their glorious truths shine again in the light of this Glorious
Sun of Truth.We leave the city and drive to Baha'i, see its gardens and now empty palace, and then place our heads amidst fragrant blooms upon the threshold of this sepulchre, praying that we with our loved ones abroad may prove valiant and true servants in forwarding the splendor of this New Day; that His presence shall be ever with us, and that at last we may ever live with Him in His eternal Home of Glory.
We start once more for the Garden of Ridvan, where the Hope and Light of the World used to sit by the flowing stream, write His messages to His servants, and pray that the Most Great Peace would speedily come into the hearts of all mankind.
We see the flowers and eat of the fruits of this garden, then we return to Haifa; we pass again the foaming breakers, rolling eternally on the shore, and they again remind us of the wonderful power of our Great Creator Whose waves of Love, Light and Truth eternally roll over the world, grinding into powder the things of man that are not in harmony with His ancient plan � forever fructifying the deeds of loving service and giving eternal joy and life to struggling pilgrims seeking to do His will, who are traveling to that Golden City Eternal in the Heayens of His Command.
Haifa: It was NovemberTbe Haziratu'1-Quds of the Bahá'ís of Karachi, the first Baha Edifice to be erected in India.
510A BAHA'uI TRAVELER IN PALESTINE 511
anniversary of the passing of Abdu'l-Bahá from this world of sorrow and struggle, achievement and joy. All day long groups of women and children had been coming and going at the home of cAbdu~1~BaM.
At six P.M. I joined a group of men in the courtyard that led to the main door of the house. They were dressed in various costumes, some in European clothes, others with fez of crimson hue, a few with white cloth and double rings on their heads in the desert Bedouin style. Presently we passed into the large entrance ball and here all shoes were removed before entering the Master's room from where He had ascended to the celestial world of the Spirit.
In the corner of the large room was a tall narrow bed with high posts and white coverings. On a pillow rested the Master's white oriental headdress or fez. The group constantly grew larger until the room was filled, but still others came, forming a group in the large hail outside. Some wore beards, white or gray, others were young or in full manhood and strength. These men were the exiles or prisoners of tAkk& and their descendants who had shared the imprisonment with the Master. As each one entered, he knelt at the side of the Master's bed and doubtless prayed that he might worthily follow in the footsteps so nobly and faithfully trod by their Lord. Sobs and moans filled the room, tears coursed down the cheeks of those grey-bearded men, exiles from far off Persia, their homeland; how poignantly they realized the void in their hearts made by the passing of their loved Master, who, for so many years in prison and at last in freedom, had been ever their leader, master, guide, protector, and friend. Rising from their knees, they kissed passionately the bed, its posts, and some the Master's fez.
Soon all who could get in the room had made their prayer. The sobs were stilled and at a word all sank to the floor.
One of those present in the chamber raised a melodious chant, it was the sublime prayer of tAb-du'1-.BaM, used always at His shrine. Others chanted in and outside the room; one by one we again knelt at the side of the bed, asking that the light, love and power that had upheld, inspired and sustained the Center of the Covenant of God through long years of exile, prison and struggle, might be ours; that we, too, might carry forward to ultimate victory the Kingdom of God in the City of Hearts; and that in some glad day the goal may be won, and all mankind be a unity in love, truth and eternal brotherhood.
Carmel: It was night on the Mountain of God. The stars shone brightly; a chill wind swept down the mountain sides; the beautiful gardens with their flowers, stately cypress trees, fruits, and graveled walks were in densest shade, dimly outlined by electric bulbs moving to and fro in the gusts of an impending storm.
There were many men and boys, also a few women gathered there, to spend the hours of night in prayer and devotion, in commemoration of the Master of tAkk~, Who had ascended to the Eternal Realms eight years ago.
All were not residents of Haifa, for some had come from far off Persia,
Jewish and MuhammadanBaha, others were from Egypt, Syria and the desert.
It was my privilege to represent the Ba-hi'is of the 'West. Japan and Australia were represented by people of those countries.
Soon all had gathered in the Holy Shrine. Shoeless, on rich carpets, two by two, each had knelt at the threshold of the sacred tomb � first in the shrine of cAbdu~1~Ba1vi; next in the tomb of the Mb.
Sacred and holy prayers were chanted in each shrine. Here for the first time I heard the Guardian, Shoghi Effendi, in stately, measured cadences, chant the prayer of His Lord.
It was a deeply spiritual occasion, an experience that can never be effaced from memory's scroll.
It was particularly Oriental in setting. All heads but mine were covered by the Oriental fez � the deep yellow of the Persian coats made a contrast with the dark suits of
European design. Thesoft lights, the fragrant flowers, rich-hued rugs and carpets, the lamps and ornaments in the tomb chamber, and, to me, the strange chanting of the prayers � beautiful, appealing and intensely spiritual � made a scene of simple but holy splendor.
No preaching, no talking or praising, nothing but prayer. It was a promise of that New Day, its dawn already beaming on this mountain of the ancient prophets, when
Page 512man no longer shall tell God what He shall do, but instead, with resigned wills and joyous hearts, hasten to His Courts, rendering all to Him Who gave all, and in return receive the influx of His Divine Reality that alone brings ineffable joy, peace and assurance of an eternal life in the celestial world.
Later all were gathered around the beautiful lawn and drank hot tea; more chanting was rendered, and finally in the large Eastern Pilgrim House, nearby, the Guardian said to me: "Tomorrow you travel early and far; it is my wish that you go to the Shrines and pray alone. There I will bid you f are-well."
Turning to his cousin, the grandson of the Master, he said, CtGO with him."
It was midnight when we together knelt at the holy thresholds, strewn with petals of white fragrant flowers, damp with the tears of the believers and followers of the
Divine Friend and Teacher.The Shrines were empty and silent; the lamps, however, still illumined the beautiful adornments. I could but offer myself as an unworthy servant, one who, however, desired to become worthy, and to serve in such a mighty work; and ask that a portion of His Spirit might descend upon me: ttthat God might be my portion and strength"; and kneeling together we waited for the answer; for are not all such requests answered?
As I recall this scene I am reminded how the prophet Elijah, three thousand years before, had made that memorable cry: "I am the only one left in all Israel to worship Thee." Did not the still small voice after the thunder and mighty wind, speak in his heart the words of comfort and assurance?
As Riihi Afn~n and I waited (he in Persian garb and I in western clothes � a symbol of unity between the East and 'West), into my heart the answer came out of the depths of space and through the thousand veils that intervene between us and infinite love which ever surrounds and seeks to enter into our hearts and souis. It was a word of promise and assurance, comfort and joy, that my sacrifice on the altar had been accepted and His presence should be always with me.
The time of departure had come. The Guardian gave me the threefold embrace and words for the friends. Faithful Fugeta holding my hand, we went together down the narrow way through the straight gate on Carmel's slope that leads to the Shrines which speak so eloquently of Life Eternal. We passed over barren rocks and through dark ways till we came to the Western Pilgrim House, a home of sacrifice and loving service; from thence early next day to travel homeward to service and work in the vineyard of human hearts. The Pilgrimage ended and work begun.
Page 513"Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them." � Matt. 7:20.
"Indeed, the real treasury of man is his knowledge." � Bahá'u'lláh, "The Third IshrAq."
PRAGMATISM comes from the Greek word Ccpragma~~ meaning "an act." According to Professor William James, the pragmatist judges all things by the differences made in the world of man by various lines of thought when carried into action.
What effect will result if this or that thought is applied? Should the result be good then the thought and line of conduct should be accepted. If the results of new thought, when acted, are more beneficial than the results of former lines of thought when acted, then the new thought and action should be substituted for the old.
That great world teacher, tAbdu'1-Bah~ proclaims, "Some men and women glory in their exalted thoughts, but, if these thoughts never reach the plane of action they remain useless: the power of thought is dependent on its manifestation in deeds."
With these ideas as a starting point, a brief survey of the life of Dr. David Starr Jordan, chancellor emeritus of Leland Stanford Jr. University, who died September 19th, 1931, should prove of interest.
Dr. David Starr JordanHe was a pragmatist as regards philosophy, character building, education, science and religion.
Dr. Jordan's ethology sought to give a better citizen to the world, irrespective of nation or race. His philosophy was restless in the world of thought alone, and, like the sap in a tree, it ever endeavored to produce its fruit.
Dr. Jordan's science strove to draw from the realms of the unknown, truths and basic laws in order to add them to the sum of human knowledge.
Dr. Jordan's processes in the realm of education endeavored to train the innate capacity for good of the individual, that it might function along lines of useful and constructive service. This was, indeed, one of his preeminent attributes. He loved the intelligent, the true, the good and the peaceful � as opposed to ignorance, falsehood, the evil, the warring and the hateful.
The body of the scholar and the laborer, that of the king and the servant, alike arise from the dust in their cellular structure, progress by the command of God through the vegetable kingdom, the animal kingdom, unto the human kindom, and return once more to the mineral. The soui, however, not being a composition of different elements, but "of the nature of a single element," plunges into new experiences in the worlds beyond. For single elements, even of matter, are indestructible.
The Prophet Muhammad, in the Qur'an, deprecates the type of soul which has 'tgrown old in vain."
As one's view moves over the emphatic characteristics of Dr. Jordan's life, as chronicled in his progress in both words and deeds, one easily arrives at the conclusion that he was not of this type.
Rather does he come under the saying, in the same Sacred Book, which reads, "Save those who are patient and do right; these � for them is pardon and a mighty hire!"
II.Dr. Jordan, like his most famous student, Herbert Hoover, progressed upwards rapidly from his sturdy beginning as a farme9s boy.
He worked his way through the university, at the start by manual labor; soon after by becoming an instructor in science. His father was able to send him but a few apples to promote his progress.
Blessed with an insatiable appetite for scientific knowledge, this man, who was to 513
Page 514head a splendid university from its very beginning, through great difficulties, until it was safely established, was at all times singularly free from the manifestations of envy. His praise of capacity usefully directed was as noteworthy as was his disgust with superstition; pseudo-knowledge, miscalled science; insincerity, hypocrisy and sham. This latter quality did not, however, make him unwilling to recognize truth that was new, especially when it was based on sound reasoning, and met the pragmatic test of being beneficial to man when carried into deeds.
He was, as tAbdu'1-BaM wishes for those upholding Truth, of the type of a conquering eagle overwhelming the crows of falsehood and superstition.
This characteristic of Dr. Jordan is a basic necessity in cooperative effort and defines the path of a broad-gauge man. It is also the requisite of the true teacher, who rejoices over his pupils developing under his tutelage, and pictures them active in the world of affairs, an activity which lies just around the corner in their fast approaching maturity.
III.Bahá'ís know that universal peace, and its establishment between religions, nations, creeds, races and classes, throughout the affairs of men, is the most important objective of the twentieth century.
As Christ says in His Beatitudes, "Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God."
Therefore it is interesting to find that Dr. David Starr Jordan extended the hospitality of Leland Stanford Jr. University to the great Protagonist of the Bahá'í Cause, CAbdu~1~Bah4 during the year 1912, and introduced Him to the student body and faculty in words from which the following excerpt is taken: "It is our portion to have with us one of the great religious teachers of the world, one of the natural successors of the old Hebrew Prophets.
I have now the great pleasure and the great honor also of presenting to you tAbdu'1-BaM."
The CtPalo Altan" published at Palo Alto, California, beside which lies the beautiful campus of the university, featured this notable able and unique event with headlines across an entire page and then went on to say: "A crowded assembly hail, holding nearly two thousand people, awaited with eager expectancy the appearance last Tuesday morning, of tAbdu'1-BahA Abbas Effendi, the world leader of the Bahá'í Movement.
The venerable prophet with His long gray beard and Persian cloak and turban, gave a true impression of the reincarnation of the Far Eastern prophet of old.
"It seemed to be a notable day when cAb du'1-BahA from the far country of the Orient, met Dr. David Starr Jordan of the far western shore, both carrying the standard of international peace and universal brotherhood.
It was Persia, the oldest nation of the world, indeed the fabled country of the Garden of Eden and the birthplace of the human race, bringing a message to America, the youngest great nation of the world.
Tor there is neither East nor West, Border nor Breed nor Birth, When two strong men stand face to face, Though they come from the ends of the earth.'
CAbdu~1~Bah~ carries the message of religion and Dr. Jordan carries the message of science, both aiming for one great result. As all men are the children of one God so are they all brothers and we are at the dawning of a new day when the relationship of world fraternity will be seen and recognized This appreciative action of Dr. Jordan, at that time the active president of this distinguished university, was followed by a most powerful and penetrating address to the faculty and students by CAbd~1Bh~ an address to which he afterwards referred the famous Bahá'í scientist, Auguste Forel.
In the issue dated November 1, 1912.t The record of the meeting of Abdu'l-Bahá and David Starr Jordan appears in Dr. Jordan's own words in his book, "The Days of a Man," where be writes, on page 414, "Another visitor of the same year (1912) was the Baha'i, Abdu'l-Bahá, son of Bahá'u'lláh, the famous Persian devotee, founder and head of a widespread religious sect holding as its chief tenet the Brotherhood of Man with all that this implies of personal friendliness and international peace.
Through an interpreter the kindly apostle expressed with convincing force a message accepted, ~in name at least, by good men and women all through the ages. He asked for some of my own essays to be translated into Persian and cordially invited me to his abode of peace in the hills of Damascus."
Page 516sent to the learned Swiss scientist, and which has become a classic.
Iv.Dr. Jordan was highly praised by tAb du'1-Bah&, when He later returned to London, England. After speaking of the ~ten-couraging and profitable work being carried on by American universities," He especially commended Dr. Jordan as a "very wise and erudite man, whose mind is full of thoughts of peace.
Perhaps it was the irrefutable solution of the problem of how to achieve peace, as given to the world by Bahá'u'lláh, the great Father of cAbdu~1~BahA, Who was the Exemplar of His Father's teachings, that attracted the sympathetic interest of Dr. Jordan to the Bahá'í Cause.
That there was such interest is amply proven by Dr. Jordan's own words: no longer ago than March 6th, 1929, Dr. Jordan wrote, ".
after many occasional breaks into mysticism I have grown very sympathetic with the work of the Bahá'í people and their point of view.
." Then to show this interest by deeds Dr. Jordan recommended that an article be written about cAbdu~1~Bah4, descriptive of His work for the unity of the world, in a series of biographical sketches which included Dr. Jordan himself. Dr. Jordan's good intention was communicated at the time by this writer to the distinguished Guardian of the Bahá'í Cause, Shoghi Effendi, who found the news very acceptable.
How important it was that Dr. Jordan, occupying so high a position in the esteem of the thoughtful people of the world, should express his recognition of the highest of ideals among people of noble intention.
How well Dr. Jordan exemplified the words of that great Figure, Bahá'u'lláh, Who wrote: ttLet not a man glory in this, that he loves his country, Let him rather glory in this, that he loves his kind."
Page 517Hail to Thee, Scion of Glory, Whose utterance poureth abroad The joy of the heavenly knowledge and the light of the greatest of days!
Poet of mysteries chanting in rapture the beauty of God, Unto Thee be thanksgiving and praise!
Child of the darkness that wandered in gloom but dreamed of the light, Lo! I have seen Thy splendour ablaze in the heavens afar Showering gladness and glory and shattering the shadows of night, And see no other star.
Thy words are to me as fragrances borne from the garden of heaven, Beams of a lamp that is hid in the height of a holier world, Arrows of lire that pierce and destroy with the might of the levin Into our darkness hurled.
Sword of the Father! none other can rend the dark veil from my eyes, None other can beat from my limbs with the shearing blade of God's might The sins I am fettered withal and give me the power to rise And come forth to the fulness of light.
O Gate of God, Ope wide Thy door And let the vista of Thy mystic lore Reveal the preexistent plan To make of earth a paradise for man.
Take Thou our hearts and gently lead us in The chalice of supernal grace to win.
Lead us beyond our hopes; beyond our tears; To see that Beauty Whom Thy soul reveres.
O Gate of God!The living universe bows down And veils its face before
Thee.All angels and archangels bend And happily adore Thee.
II.o Shining Spirit! Light of light! All-flooding, radiant beam, Eternally proceeding Forth from Him, the LORD Supreme; To all immensity of life, Himself Thou art revealing; With Thine intensity of light, Himself Thou art conceali Lo! Thou hast breathed on my sorrow the sweetness of faith and of hope, Thou hast chanted high pxans of joy that my heart's echoes ever repeat And the path to the knowledge of God begins to glimmer and ope l3eforc my faltering feet.
Weak and unworthy my praise. Yet, as from its throbbing throat Some lone bird pours its song to the flaming infinite sky, So unto Thee in the zenith I lift from a depth remote This broken human cry.
� G. TGWNSHEND.o inner heart Thru which the rivers of God's love shall flow, Thou art the Gate By which a waiting world will know
That glorious OrbWho rose o'er Persia's slowly yielding night To flash a host of angels into flight.
III.He is the Essence, Thou the Power, The Glory, Majesty, The Omnipresence. He,
UnknownAbove all height and depth is He, In His own Snr abiding; Through Thee all depth and height He fills. Through Thee Creation guiding.
Iv.As light from flame, Thou art from Him; As fragrance from the flower; As colors from the prism'd light; As rainbow from the shower; As thought from mind; or word from thought; As deed by vision guided.
So He and Thou art oniyThou, Through hosts of wandering suns, Dost quicken dense, material spheres. Where these dull-shining ones 517
Page 518Are lords of matter, time, and space; Their powers from Thee obtaining, Obedient vassals of Thy will, Beneath Thy glory waning.
VI.Light, These burn with imitative fires Through matter's stolid night; With semblance of creative heat; Worlds, moons and earthlings breeding; Yet, all, in traceless paths confined, Thine ordered ways are speeding.
VII.The planets feel Thy quivering life And bring forth of their kind, All plants, and creeping things, and beasts, And men of dust � but blind To Thy Realities are they � In earthy dungeons dwelling, Imprisoned deep in sense and self, The Light Unseen repelling.
VIII.Light! Pierce through the darkening walls; Bring forth the prisoners to Thy Day; Remove the veiling cauls; Create new sight, new hearts, new minds; Reveal the heavenly vision: Disperse the dust-formed clouds of self; Disclose the fields Elysian!
Ix.Thou mighty Logos � come from heaven, The Will Divine to teach!
Incarnate Gift to happy men, Endowed with power perceinng, With speaking tongues and listening cars, With minds and hearts believing.
Speak Thou to seif-endarkened souls! Command, "Let there be Light!"
So shall eternal Day appear To end chaotic night.The morning stars shall sing again The anthem of creation: The sons of God shall shout for joy With new divine elation.
XI.Thy Word, 0 Light, is knowledge, truth! Thy University, The boundless shining realms of life, Which mirrors only Thee.
This mind of mine's a twinkling orb, Toward Thy clear sun advancing: A flickering mote of mental dust, In Thy great splendor dancing.
XII.Tby flame is Love, the living Fire! Thine alchemy divine Transmutes man's spirit into Life, The water into wine.
Within thy crucible, 0 Love, With Thee this heart is blending; Its life outdrawn, to be reborn From death to Life unending.
XIII.calmly pure So penetrating, sweet; The whole creation's living heart Is melted in Thy heat.
The souls of things turn unto Thee, Thy radiant Love divining, As dewdrops glisten in the dawn, Each one a sunlet shining.
XIV.Thou crystal Ocean, limpid, clear, Unstained and colorless!
All life is Thine, all beauty Thine, ALL beings Thee confess.
As fish in sea, I live in Thee, All life but Thine denying.
As gnat in flame, in Thee I die In ecstasy of dying.
xv.I am in Thee, and Thou in me; Else were I not at all.
For what I am, have been, shall be, Is Thine, not of my earning; A debtor I, with naught to pay, Except Thine own, returning.
XVI.Give them new birth in realms of Light, Grant them eternal yough, That they may serve Thy Universe With wisdom, strength, perfection; True stars and suns of Thy pure Light, Ablaze with Thy reflection.
XVII.As iron, glowing in the fire, Shows glistening and more bright, So spirits, serving Thee in love, Are nuclei of light.
Infihled with Thee,all self resgning; Through space empyreal they fly, Pure flames of glory shining.
XVIII.Thou All in all! The worlds of worlds Are flied with naught but
Thee.Both light and darkness, heaven and Ed!, Thou art, 0 Mystery!
Page 519SONG-OFFERIN Thou dost create, sustain, destroy; Yet Thou unchanged abiclest.
With seventy thousand veils of light The INFINITE Thou hidest.
XIX.Heaven-filled, the Universe, aglow Unveils its face before
Thee.All angels and archangels know, And happily adore Thee.
� THORNTON CHASE.0! for a thousand tongues aflame, That I might speak Thy praise!
0! for a voice of seraphim My song of Thee to raise; That I might waken every heart, Enkindled with desire To know of Thee and read Thy Words Filled with celestial fire.
0! for a Pentacostal power To utter forth Thy Name 'With all its glorious Light Divine, Its wonders to proclaim; Thy Name which stirs the universe, Creating thu Its might A world renewed, a heaven renewed, Revealed unto man's sight.
0! for a heart aLl crystal pure And calm as summer sea, That it might catch Thy rays divine And so reflect but Thee!
Thou art God's manifested Love, His glory for all time, His Sun of Truth omnipotent,
His Majesty Sublime!The Making of the Tern pie What Hand arrayed the Hopes of all the Ages In this bright Shape � this many-pointed Star?
What Architect designed this firm foundation On which to build Love's templed Avatar?
What Wisdom set the waningAbove the centuries for evermore; Emblazoning across a mystic portal Those everlasting words, "I am the Door!"
What Mastermind conceived these Gates of Splendor, Nine golden Doors encircling round about; That it should be ~A Dawning-Place of Praises," Claiming the true, the faithful and devout?
Here God is One! 0 MasterIn Thee we trust and all the world is kin, Thus, by Muhammad, "Seal of all the Prophets," By Moses and by buddha � let them in!
By every Cup that frees from sin and sorrow, Enter, ye tribes and nations, and be blest.
Here each hath life beneath its healing shadow, And thus God made the
Temple of His Rest!(To rAbdl~~IBahd) Great Leader, lofty soui, Whose orb of beauty went, A blazing aureole Across the firmament.
Thou calm and vast and wise, Thou shining sweet and good, Whose word brings Paradise If men but understood.
No prison waIls or chain Could stem thy streaming heart; Thy bars are rent in twain, Thy tomb is torii apart Thou Golden Rose of God, Thou bloom within our blight, Thou Star upon our sod, Thou Day within our night.
Thou challenge in this place, Thou lightning, storm and wind, Thou lover of the race, 'Thou servant of mankind!
� ANGELA MORGAN.X saw Him sweep beneath the orange trees, His robe a great white wing against the summer sky.
So swift His majesty that scarce my eager lips Had breathed His name, before He vanished Down the golden aisles.
Today the Gothic arches of these northern pines Are filled with music of the wings of Light; Strange sold mosaics gleam upon the bronzy floor Of this vast forest Temple of our God.
Here once He passed, the radiant Lord of Life, While petalled sunlight fell about His feet; His face was lifted to the fragrant winds That caught the wing6d silver of His robe.
The soaring pillars of the pines are silent now, The paths that knew His Beauty dream, in misted memory.
Yet still, far down the bluegreen corridors There shines the radiance of a swift white wing. o Thou majestic Bird of God,
Page 520'Who knowest the mysteries of interstellar space And all the ancient ways of Heaven, � We would be winged, strong and free!
Give us some little silver wings That We may follow Thee!
� GENEVIEVE L. Coy.0 Heart of Love, we turn to thee To guide us over life's strange, trackless sea.
The thinker thinks his intellect the goal But we know better, you and I, my soul; Love is the clue, and Love the guiding, too; Without it none may pass life's mystic portals through.
And so to that great Splendor of Desire far away, Love be my company, and Love my stay.
� STANWOOD COi~E.By His side I wandered and saw His hands outstretched To give.
Under the beautiful sun of glory He walked, Administering to the poor, � no word of censure, Only a quiet giving of self, always a giving of self.
And I could only smile and wonder, not understanding.
Yesterday, when the blue haze of morning covered the world, I came upon Him unawares; He stood pensive, contemplating the drifting clouds
Above Mount Garmel.Suddenly the garment of sorrow descended upon Him, And I felt Him surrounded by warring elements: A myriad voices tore the delicate fibre of His being; At once He seemed overcome with longing And fell prone upon the warm earth.
Alas, I beard Him sob and I shuddered � But I understood.
"Thine aid, 0 Father!"to heaven with soul-pinions fleet; 'tThine aid, 0 Father!
Thy children stand on a precipice, Caught in a whirlwind of destroying forces; Help me to reveal the loveliness of Thy desire for them!
Let them look into the heart of Thy glory!Thou hast called me. Ere I cast the earth mantle away, I would tie the jeweled sandals of love upon their feet, That when I am gone, they may remember, remember!"
Then I saw the blue haze of morning shift.The destroying forces were withdrawn, And the clamour of tongues was lost In a solemn thrill that came down the mountainside.
Among the 'ow shrubs I lay quiet.Soon a figure, wrapped in a long, flowing robe, passed me, � A figure magnificent.
My soul � burdened, weighed down, beheld the white form, And purged of all else but the heaven I yearned for � Reached out in the silence.
Today I-fe is gone!His mantle of earth I-fe has laid aside; Only the wonderful whiteness of His presence Still lingers.
I have looked into the heart of His desire for me And am content, for I understand.
� EDITH BURR.A waxen Virgin hovers in the gloom Lit with red gems and candles, and the fume Of agate clouds of incense; heavy sighs Hang listless in the air, and upturned eyes Are straining for the brazen trump of doom.
The monks are waiting yet for Christ to come. On Carmel mountain they have made their home, Over the shore where the wan ocean dies.
To beautify His coming roses bloom, And tuberoses, and yellow Spanish broom, And in the chapel singing voices rise; But Christ has come, and gone again, and wise Were they who kissed His feet and saw Him home � M. K. NAnfL.
THE MOUNT OF FAITHFULNESSof The Most High' It is that looming, lofty, matchless Goal For which the mounting faithful only sigh.
o mystic nightingale!Abandon thou The mortal dust, the mire of negligence.
o messenger of love! HearSoar on thy wings into the Infinite! Heed thy Beloved's first call from above.
Immortal phenix! Thy One0 thou who caught the vision crystal clear And brought it forth to man in outer form, A thing so mystical, so wondrous fair, That those who stand before it, bow their heads As if before a shrine and say, "Behold!
Th~5 is the work of God, and not of man!A Temple whose design was drawn above, And given to humanity through thee."
How pure a mirror must have been thy heart, That it could draw from realms invisible This radiant ray qf truth, and it reflect In all its splendor to a waiting world.
This is the Temple of the Living God,and Love; Where all who enter in are one in Him, And in that oneness ever will abide.
Its form divine is like a mighty chord Of sweet celestial music � spreading peace And harmony throughout the world. It is The "Lost Chord" found again, the chord of love, That shall retune each heart with Power Divine Until the whole world joins in one great song,
That Song of Life � the SongBlessed thou art, thrice blessed thou indeed, Whom God didst choose to be a channel pure, To give this Glorious Temple to the world.
Thou art not dead, but risen to higher realms, Thy work not finished; thou shalt still work on And guide the hands of those who daily build, Until completion crowns the Temple's brow; Then with the "Choir Invisible" thou wilt join In songs of praise, while from the temple's doors The songs of little children, sweet and pure, Will float out far upon etheric waves, Encircling all the earth with Peace and Love.
In fondest memory thou wilt still live on, And ever will the Temple speak of thee; For God through thee didst give it unto man A Monument of sacrifice and love 'To shed its glorious light of knowledge true; And in that light shall men see face to face, And East and West forevermore be one.
� SHAI-INLZ WAITE.I would stand on the knoll that overlooks The radiant River of Light; And lift my eyes to the distant hills, From whence come strength and life!
I would walk through forest aisles, where pine Trees rise like cathedral spires; And in the hush of early morning hours, Feel the peace that God inspires.
Once again, I would enter the Inn, The Inn that is glorified, Because it had room and welcome for Him, Our Lord, to enter and abide!
Green Acre, Green Acre, home of my soul, My heart ever turns to thee; The beautiful spot where the Master walked, And hallowed the earth for me!
� ELIZABETH HACKLEY.Throw off the mildewed garments of the past, And don the seamless robe of Unity; Eur ye are all the leaves of one Great Tree, And drops of the One Ocean of God's love; Flowers ye are of many varied hues, All springing from the one kind mother earth, Why then this hatred, prejudice and strife?
These walls of high division and distrust, This lack of understanding, which doth chill And kill, as doth the frost, the buds of faith?
Return ye to your Source where all are One, And there behold each other face to face.
No longer seeing through a darkened glass '~Vhich in the past bath held ye far apart.
The hour hath struck!I-us glory soon shall if 11 the Universe, And His great Tent of Unity be pitched, Where all nations, races, sects and creeds, Shall meet and form a Fellowship Divine, Freed from all discord and oppression dark, REALITY � the Tree of Ancient Root, Is now in bloom, and soon shall bear Its fruit;
The Doors of Knowledgeare flung open wide, The Light of Wisdom shineth on the path, And unto such as do obey God's Will, The Mysteries Divine shall be revealed; Humanity's true heritage of Love Awaits ye at the Court of God's Command.
Put on your garments New of Brotherhood, And come ye forth with Joy to greet the Dawn.
� SHAHNAZ WAITE.The dew is on the petals of the rose; The lark sings out his greetings to the sun; A dewdrop glistens with resplendent light; The dawning of the Jay has just begun.
Upon this misty morn the Master walks, With maiesty and power that thrills the earth, With piercing eyes of far celestial light, He sees each earth-born spirit at its worth.
The floating, graceful robes, illumined face, The glistening turban white, the aba bright; With peace ineffable, no word can name, The Master walks in palpitating light.
Page 522522 o hallowed strip of leafy bower green, 0 rapturous love and glory so divine; o attar of the rose, bowed heads anointing! Delectable fragrance � O to be Thinet The dewdrop glistens in the morning sun, A dazzling prism, radiant and bright.
o may we now be like the clear dewdrop, Reflecting Thy sweet fragrance and
Thy Light.Nay, still I-lie walks among us. We are blind, Wrapped in a storm of self.
14Th sun still shines Into the hearts of men.Then when the storm shall fold us Once again In its gray fury, though we see not clear, Still hands shall clasp, and hearts Shall still remember.
And the temptation shall lead unto light, And the light shall shine.
It shall flame till it burn away Desire and doubt.
And then shall come a river Deep and clear To sweep away the ashes And leave naught But white sand shining sweet and clean Unsoiled by struggle.
And then shall come a voice, Saying � I was the doubt and the desire The light, the flame, the river And the sands, I was the struggle and the triumph.
I am God.From Whom creation's power springs The mission thine to blaze the way Which leads to realms of endless day; To be thyself the mystic sign Of perfect love and power divine; To resurrect the souls of men And wealth devise beyond our ken.
Thy shining form was sometimes sad Yet still thou mad'st creation glad; Through martyrdom didist plant the seeds Which fructified in wondrous deeds.
Grant all, through deeds without desire To witness thy celestial fire.
BAHÁ'U'LLÁHo manifested Sun of Man Thy sheen the reign of peace began.
Tune exile proved to man his home.Thy shackles freed the souls to roam The universe of God's great love Directed by the Heavenly
Dove.The kings, their homage due to thee, Entlironed, etherial majesty, Shall bring the treasures of the earth Memorial to thy cycle's birth.
The sweetest carols angels sing Proclaim the oneness of our King.
o deathless Flame of Beauty bright Set fire our souls, bestow thy might I 'ABDU'L-BAHÁ O Servant of the Light of Cod Help us to bear the chastening rod; Like thee to bless when others curse � So shape our lives by Heaven's verse.
How like the Father through the years Did'st thou restrain the fount of tears Which in thy children sought to flow Forth from the deep of human woe.
How cheered the hearts that turned to thee!With wisdom great thou did'st the Ark Guide through the storms of hatred dark.
To vivify the souls endeared The mystery of God appeared.
� Louis C. GREGORY.Into what painted picture have I stepped Mirror to radiance of more joyous stars, So vainly, vainly beat Spent echoes at my feet � Tired world that fought too many frantic wars, World where Jesus wekt.
A dream of sudden sleep � or I have slept Blind lives away behind imagined bars And broke what cannot break The heart to this awake, Tired world that fought too many fran/ic wars, Vi7orld where Jesus wept.
Page 523Here Memory kindles, long from memory swept, And Love consumes his human mask of scars.
The thunder of his Word From heaven to heaven is heard!
Tired World that fought too 'tizany frantic wars, World where Jesus wept.
I came, I saw, I am.Serenely kept Unmarred among the multitude that mars � Glory of God! � be known Thy Presence to Thy own Tired world that fought too many frantic wars, World where Jesus wept. � HORACE
HOLLEY.I am the Pine of Baha, and my limbs Bear scars of pain, still they are full of light.
Sun love caresses them with golden glow.Muon fills their depth with peacefulness at night.
I am the ancient pine of centuries; The sentinel who stands without a sword, By day, by night, by radiant dawn I guard The Threshold of the Prophct of the Lord.
Before the Prophet came I was alone; All day the caravans went trooping by, Yet no one stopped � the sun was dull like bronze, And there were no bright stars across the sky.
I was alone and blind, nor could I hear The singing of the glad bird on his nest � Until one day two people, passing by, Stopped for a moment in my shade to rest.
Oh glorious day! My branches filled with joy, The sun sent forth her radiating light, I woke, and to my poor blind eyes there came Dawn, and the clearness of eternal sight!
� MARY ALICE PEARMAN.~iw~74~ jj~t 1p ~ I
Page 528for all Soprano the and a Alto o ges In Words thiR by bright JANET shape, BOLTON this ~AfodeTa~oma-ny Mimic pointed by star?
NINA 1.11~~11''Ichi -t~ct designed this firmfoun-da-tion?
?whiclito build love's'ThmpledAv-a .{ IL. Ii IIIjJ~J.
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Page 529A w r I more?Em-b1az-o~ -~~A I ~Ii '~'.
0) '4� Across a mystic Portal those ev-er-]ast-ingwords,lani the Door.
L~I I II I t K tJ What Master Mind � conceived those gatesof splen dor ___ � � � a � � a
~� ItI t I r Nine gold en doors en-cir cling 'round a bout A That it should be a � � � ttt&4r4~*~ yr 'r � 'It2nitr--' I I I I I K E/ � I lJdwn-in'g place 5f prais es es Claim -ing the tjue, .....~ the faith-fri and de 6 6 ~ ~ .. --'I- 'I- 9UET
I- �� __~~~~A~~~~~~k~ ~ __ � II I I. Y I r r vout. Here God is One! OMas ter of the ti .,~ - P~ ~ - a ~ -i~I qi � e � ~ � �
Iw � � I, � � �"i. � .'--s I � I ' � I ~ � .l~ '1 I
THE BAHAI WORLDI K 'l4em pie In Thee we trnsL. and all th~ '~vo ,~ � ~ � rid i~ kin � . ~ ~ I I
I JJ� V J~ K HV I 4. ~7
I I � I IIThus by Mo Seal t V �* ~
ham of ets By Mo- all all mad mad the ses Proph and by by
Buddha~ ~ V ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ II them By eve-rythat cup ~ #11 ~ I I I I - - -4WI 4WI I,~ it he~1-ing sh~yi-owAiyIthy~m-pI1eof His nea~h th~is God mad~e tribes and t~ia-tious and1be blesL... Here each have life be-frees frees from sin and sor row 1~n-ter ye I, I ii,I
Page 531Wel Come to the So the Mas -fer ~i~t i7~ p t~I I I r � � strang er in this des -ert drear, His most ho ly foot prints tiav -elled at God'shigh ~om -malMi, Tea~b -ing Ba hats pm -e~pts atempo I I I I I ri V tol low with out fear. He 'will guide and keep thee; give to Rim thy thru out earth's broad land. Steps grow wid er, deep or, all in blest ao -t~I I -. . atempoj Wfl~v~W Wfl ~w.
w.Internatioual Copy~sigh~ seeureaCoi~ight MCMXXXI 1y Nina Be~ediet Matthisen All fliRhts Reserved
Page 532~ V ~ � I ~ ~ I K � � . to oui~ all corn ing, earth so bAnd. Pro-bets foretold it, jour -ney, safe to God's great light. Lord! ~fhou art no strang er, V
Page 533I F hosts urn urn -phant Now sur round on eve tri ry side J I ry I And inheav-en ly strains are spread that ing Peace and love p~j i,I I,,, I V V Copyright MCMXXX by Louise R.Waite, Hollywood, Calif..
Page 534(~:~\ P will a-bideHark~ the heavenly concourse sing sing -ing 1 ! ~ 1. !
u u vi' fl I I 1' Joy mis prai~ es to their King Lift your voic es �1 f I I now and join them And lovesBen e e -dic dic -tion ion sing i~j1~ I I I IN
~ ~. Er ~And loves Ben e -dic dic -tion sing: � t,j~ I 4
Page 535ECHOES FROM THE SPHERES 535
TEMPLE SONG.as we built it let us send, Up to His throne a -bove, A wer-ship God and Him a , In pray'r and corn -mune sweet. A chanted there the songs of love, The songs of' u -zii ty. And ,,. I I 11 U. song to wa ken ev -'ry heart And sprea4 sweet har. man y; A Tern-pie to the liv -'ing God Who hears our ev -'ry call, The ev -'ry heart that is in tune With His great, by -ing heart, Will as ~ r F F~ ~:
I YI Ilove and song tra -urnph ant clear and strong, bf King Kings and Lord of Lords And Fa flier of us all. The be with in this Tern-pie fair An ev er- last. ing part. WiU
~ FF ~� Nsong tri-urnph- ant, clear arid strong, love and u ni -t3r.
lCin~ of Kings and Lord of Lords, And Fa -ther of us all.
be with in this Tern-pie fair An ev er -I~st -ing part.
~ * . .I � is I I King of King.. For Loire a Love, lone is
For Lovealone I)l'3dt,erse a) I I I I I King. King,For is King.
Love lrLs j~I ~ i4~ liii I I I
Page 537day of God,long looked for, Thy f~awflwedoPro~ Great day of Might and Pow er, Of e and of
II~~claini.Great day when ev ry na -tion Sb~ praiseHis holy name0reat Lig)tt, No clouds of su per- sti -tionCan [now bedim ouz sightGreat � ~r ~
I~~Iday of re-stir-rec -tion,Of un i ty and love, Soon Day,whenGod,the Fa -ther, Is known o~r all the earth, And bright in all its splendor Thy Sun shall shine a -bove to Hiswhole cre-a -tionHath glv-en a new birth I I I j Great Day of the unveiling Of Truth's Deep mysteries, When every bidden secret Of earth and sky and seas, Jn all their wondrous beauty, To man shall be revealed; Nor can an act or motive By man now be con~ea!ed. I I I I Great Day of God,AII glorious; Great Day of Peace,Bo blest; The thought of Thee brings gladness, And dilates every breast.
Great Day of one religion, When all are understood; One faith in Life Eternal, One God, one Brotherhood.
Page 538by E.R. WAITE L His glo -riou~ Sun has ris en, en, to set for us no Go tell the joy -OLIB tid jugs; jugs; His King..
darn now bath Ho ame and dwellt a ong us, withall His wondrous ous rrr
I U I I I-way.way. This is the radiant morn ng' of' the mill en -nial day!
will" May en ter in, and love di vine and peace his heart' A till.
NaxneThyg]o-rzous Sun has ris en its ight no more to wanel ~ r. more; ech o of prais es ring's from The Ills tiow shore to come! in all sor row, ev -'ry doubt Where pain and and suc -pow'rs; pow'rs; Love embracedna. ture birds, the His all th~ trees, the # .,* *1~� * 19* * *-~-P I ' I I I V I W. W W W ~ ~ I shore; came to ban-dark- ness, show the per-He He ish to feet cujnb; tab1ish~dhereitis, and "who so Es Es on earth ev er
-CIow'rs;King0) F Tell the won-drou~ He has come as .A A sto ry, pro -mised mised
Tell He.w. U it near and the Prince of A � �~ I I 9) Of the loxr-ing Come in might and ...J ~J tell it glory
Father.And all strife must ~ � � I I I That all men may Dark ness now must I � ~ I I 1(now flee 42
LXH� V Kingdo in na-~1oflS ~1oflS � ~--I- On this Tell it near earth We and will tell a
F' I"Sing this melody in all gatherings of Love and Harmany of the beloved of God.
Abdu'l-Bahá Abbas.love now hay-er r oe'r us As a dove with out-str8ched wings
II IWhile peace that flows a round us To Hi~ each heart sweet comfort bring's
I~iI I I I May we now receive His spi-nt And its rad-jance shed a far llaq.
Now and here in Love a bid- ing In the realms of EL-AR HA.
Page 541A Statement of the Purpose and Principles of the Bahá'í Faith.
Outline of Bahá'í History.A Statement on Presentday Administration of the Bahá'í Cause.
Bahá'í Calendar and Festivals.Brief History of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar in America.
Extracts from Mashriqu'l-Adhkar Report.European and American Cities Visited by Abdu'l-Bahá
Transliteration of Oriental Terms Frequently Used in Baha Literature.
Dr. J. IL Esslemont.The Relation of the Bahá'í Cause to Modern Progressive Movements.
The Unity of Civilization.A Statement of the Purpose and Principles of the Bahá'í Faith and Outline of I3ih~'i
History.Survey of Current Bahá'í Activities in the East and West.
PART TWOA Statement on PresentDay Administration of the Bahá'í Cause.
Excerpts from the Will and Testament of rAbd1t~IBahd The Spirit and Form of ]labA'i Administration.
Declaration of Trust.Address of tAbdu'1-BahA delivered at Bahá'í Convention, Chicago, 1912.
The Structure of the Baha Temple.Address delivered by !Abdu'l-Bahá at the Dedication of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar Grounds, May, 1912.
The Mashriqu'l-Adhkar of ~IsbqTh~d.Queen Marie of Rumania pays tribute to tbe beauty and nobility of the Baha'i
Teachings.Ba1A'i Groups with names and addresses of correspondents.
Bahá'í Groups.Section One � List One: Bahá'í Publications of America.
544Section Two � List Two: Bahá'í Publications of England.
� List Three: Bahá'í Literature in French.� List Five: Partial List of Baha Literature in Oriental Languages.
Section Three � Alphabetical List of Baha books and pamphlets.
Section Four � References td the Bahá'í Movement in non-BaM'i works.
Section Five � References to the Bahá'í Movement in magazines.
Transliteration of Oriental Terms frequently used in Bahá'í literature.
Guide to the transliteration and pronunciation of the Persian alphabet.
PART FOURIntroduction to The Promulgation of Universal Peace.
Poem~~~ccA Prayer."The Bahá'í Religion � Papers read at the Conference of Some Living Religions Within
the British Empire, 1924.The Bahá'í Cause at the Universal Esperanto Congresses at Edinburgh and Danzig.
On the Borders of Lake Leman.Translation of a Letter from the Israclitish Assembly of Bahá'ís of Tihrin, Persia.
InterRacial Amity.Appendix � Tablet to America revealed by Bahá'u'lláh.
Bahá'í Persecutions in Persia � An Appeal to His Imperial Majesty Ritj~ Sh&h Pahlavi.
Appendix One � Summary of Bahá'í Teachings.Appendix Two � Excerpts from Letters of Bahá'u'lláh to the Sultan of Turkey and the Sh4h of Persia.
Appendix Three � Words of tAbdu'1-BaM concerning Persia.
Page 546Bahá'u'lláh: The Voice of Religious Reconciliation.
The Dawn of the Bahá'í Revelation. (From Nabil's Narrative.)
Survey of Current Bahá'í Activities in the East and 'West.
PART TWO1. Presentday Administration of the Bahá'í Faith.
2. Excerpts from the Will and Test nnent of eAbdu~l~Bahd.
3. The Spirit and Form of Bahá'í Administration.4. Declaration of Trust by the National Spiritual Assembly.
5. Excerpts from the Letters of Shoghi Effendi.6. Text of Bahá'í application for civil recognition by the Palestine Administration.
7. Facsimile of Bahá'í marriage certificates adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assemblies of the Bahá'ís of Persia and Egypt.
Bahá'í Calendar and Festivals.Green Acre and the Bahá'í Ideal of Interracial Amity.
References to the Bahá'í Faith.The Case of Bahá'u'lláh's House in Baghdad before the League of Nations.
Hippolyte Dreyfus-Barney.2. Alphabetical List of Bahá'í Books and Pamphlets.
3. References to the Bahá'í Faith in Non-Bah6?i works.
4. References to the Bahá'í Faith in Magazines.Transliteration of Oriental 'Words frequently used in Bahá'í Literature with guide to the transliteration and pronunciation of the Persian Alphabet.
Definitions of Oriental Terms used in Bahá'í Literature.
546I3ab~i'u'11~h's Divine Economy: a Letter of Shoghi Effendi.
The Hidden Words of Bahá'u'lláh: A Reflection, by G. Townsend.
tAbdu'1-Bahá'í Visit to Woking, England.Impressions of Haifa, by Alaine Locke, A.B., Ph.D. The World Vision of a Savant, by Dr. Auguste Henri Fore!.
The Cultural Principles of the Baha Movement, by Dr. Ernst Kliemke.
The Relation of the B&b to the Traditions of Iskrn, by Wanden Mathews LaP arge.
The Bahá'í Movement in German Universities, by Martha L. Root.
The City Foursquare, by Allen B. McDaniel.The Races of Men � Many or One, by Louis G. Gregory.
Haifa � and the Baha'is, by Dr. John Haynes Holmes.
A Visit to Rnstum Vairtb6ry, by Martha L. Root.The Bahá'í Cause at the XXth Universal Congress of Esperanto at Antwerp Belgium, August 1928, by Martha L. Root.
Shrines and Gardens, by Beatrice Irwin.Bahá'u'lláh and His Teachings, Reprinted from the Japan Times and Mail.
cAbdu~L~Bah~ and the Rabbi, by Willard P. Hatch.Some Experiences Among the Poor in Brazil, by Leonora Holsapple.
A Trip to Tahiti, by Louise Bosch.