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| Bahá’í News | May 1989 | Bahá’í Year 146 |
12 ‘Vision to Victory’
conferences in U.S.
Bahá’í News[edit]
Riḍván message to Bahá’ís of world from Universal House of Justice | 1 |
A pictorial review of the 12 ‘Vision to Victory’ conferences in the U.S. | 3 |
A review of Quantum Questions, the mystical writings of physicists | 7 |
Around the world: News from Bahá’í communities all over the globe | 10 |
Bahá’í News is published monthly by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States as a news organ reporting current activities of the Bahá’í world community. Manuscripts submitted should be typewritten and double-spaced throughout; any footnotes should appear at the end. The contributor should keep a carbon copy. Send materials to the Periodicals Office, Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091, U.S.A. Changes of address should be reported to the Management Information Systems, Bahá’í National Center. Please attach mailing label. Subscription rates within the U.S.: one year, $12; two years, $20. Outside the U.S.: one year, $14; two years, 24$. Foreign air mail: one year, $20; two years, $40. Payment in U.S. dollars must accompany the order. Second class postage paid at Wilmette, IL 60091. Copyright © 1989, National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. World rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A.
World Centre[edit]
Riḍván message to Bahá’ís of the world[edit]
To the Bahá’ís of the World
Dearly loved Friends,
The spiritual current which exerted such galvanic effects at the International Bahá’í Convention last Riḍván has swept through the entire community, arousing its members in both the East and the West to feats of activity and achievement in teaching never before experienced in any one year.
The high level of enrollments alone bears this out, as nearly half a million new believers have already been reported. The names of such far-flung places as India and Liberia, Bolivia and Bangladesh, Taiwan and Peru, the Philippines and Haiti leap to the fore as we contemplate the accumulating evidences of the entry by troops called for in our message of a year ago. These evidences are hopeful signs of the greater acceleration yet to come and in which all national communities, whatever the current status of their teaching effort, will ultimately be involved.
We look back with feelings of humble gratitude and heightened expectations at the stupendous developments which have taken place in so brief a period. One such development has been the adoption of the architectural design conceived by Mr. Faríburz Sahbá for the Terraces of the Shrine of the Báb, which launches a new stage toward the realization of the Master’s and the Guardian’s vision for the path along which the kings and rulers will ascend the slopes of Mount Carmel to pay homage at the resting place of Bahá’u’lláh’s Martyr-Herald.
Other developments include: the approval by the central authorities in Moscow of the application submitted by a number of Bahá’ís in ‘Ishqábád to restore the local Spiritual Assembly of that city; the initiation of steps to open a Bahá’í Information Center in Budapest, the first such agency of the Faith in the Eastern Bloc; the establishment of a branch of the Bahá’í International Community’s Office of Public Information in Hong Kong in anticipation of the time when the Faith can be proclaimed on the mainland of China.
Also outstanding among these developments have been the successful co-sponsorship by the Bahá’í International Community of the “Arts for Nature” program in London held to benefit the work of the World Wide Fund for Nature; the signing of an agreement in Geneva establishing formal working relations between the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Bahá’í International Community; the official approval of a Bahá’í curriculum for public schools in New South Wales, Australia; the immense stream of visitors to the Temple in New Delhi, swelling to some four million since that edifice’s inauguration in December 1986, and including an unusual number of high government officials and other prominent persons from many lands, among them China, the Soviet Union and countries of the Eastern Bloc. These, added to numerous other highlights of this single year, merge with the over-all record of accomplishments thus far in the Six Year Plan, presenting a dynamic picture of accelerated activity throughout the Bahá’í world.
No reference to such marvelous progress could fail to acknowledge the spiritual and social impact effected by the decade-long episode of persecution inflicted with such cruel excesses on our Iranian fellow-believers. Only in the future will the full consequence of their sacrifice be known, but we can clearly recognize its influence on the extraordinary success in proclaiming the Faith and in establishing good relations with governmental authorities and major non-governmental organizations around the world.
It is therefore with profound thanksgiving and joy that we announce the release of the vast majority of Bahá’í prisoners in Iran. Even as we rejoice we cannot forget that there remain to be realized the full emancipation of the Iranian Bahá’í community and the assurance of the human rights of its members in all respects.
In the gladness of the moment, we extend a warm welcome to the two National Spiritual Assemblies being formed this Riḍván: one in Macau in Southeast Asia, the other in Guinea-Bissau in West Africa.
Through the shadow of confusing deranging present-day society, there is a far glimmer, yet so faint but discernible, of an approach, slow but definite, toward the culmination of the three collateral processes envisaged by the beloved Guardian, namely: the emergence of the Lesser Peace, the construction of the buildings of the Arc on Mount Carmel and the evolution of National and local Spiritual Assemblies. Indeed, throughout the Six Year Plan, during this fourth epoch of the Formative Age, and particularly during the year just ended, this glimmer, still so distant, has drawn closer.
For who could have imagined, even at the beginning of this Plan, the sudden changes of attitude moving political leaders in some of the most troubled spots on the planet to break away from seemingly intractable positions—changes which in recent months have prompted editorial writers to ask: “Is peace breaking out?” To any observer conscious of the divine Source of such occurrences, this development must certainly be encouraging, although the precise circumstances attending the establishment of the Lesser Peace are not known to us; even its exact timing is concealed in the
[Page 2]
Major Plan of God.
The two other processes, however, are directly influenced by the degree to which the followers of Bahá’u’lláh fulfill their clearly delineated tasks. There is good reason to take heart. For have not the architectural concepts for the remaining buildings on the Arc been adopted and the detailed specifications which will effect their realization as splendid monumental structures been undertaken? Have we not witnessed the increasing strength of National and local Spiritual Assemblies in their ability to conceive and execute plans, in their capacity to deal with governmental authorities and social organizations, to respond to public calls upon their services and to collaborate with others in projects of social and economic development? Are these Assemblies not reinforced by the alert, loving support of the Continental Counselors, the Auxiliary Board members and their assistants, all of whose burgeoning energies are being skillfully coordinated by the International Teaching Center—an institution whose augmented membership has already displayed a verve, a vision and a versatility evocative of warm admiration?
Tempting as it may be to dwell upon the positive features of our progress, better that we should be spurred on by them than that we should rest on our achievements. Let us continue, therefore, undeflected and confident, to seize the magnificent possibilities which the mix and blend of these ongoing processes and events allow for actualizing the immediate interests of our sacred Cause.
These interests, to be sure, are identified in the major objectives of the Six Year Plan, on the second half of which we are now embarked, fully conscious of the not-too-distant approach of the Holy Year, 1992-1993, and its significant commemorations.
In conjunction with the ever-widening thrust of teaching, we must proceed by every possible means with projects of the most critical importance. Work is continuing on the preparation for publication in English of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, the Mother Book of the Bahá’í Revelation. Arrangements must now be made for a befitting commemoration in the Holy Land of the Centenary of the Ascension of Bahá’u’lláh.
The plans for the World Congress in 1992 in New York must continue to advance on schedule. Moreover, further systematic attention needs to be given to the eventual elimination of illiteracy from the Bahá’í community, an accomplishment which would, beyond anything else, make the Holy Word accessible to all the friends and thus reinforce their efforts to live the Bahá’í life. Similarly, assisting in endeavors to conserve the environment in ways which blend with the rhythms of life of our community must assume more importance in Bahá’í activities.
Regarding the projects on Mount Carmel, the Office of the Project Manager has been established, and a technical staff is being assembled. Geological testing at the sites of the designated buildings on the Arc is about to begin—a step preliminary to the ground-breaking anticipated by the entire Bahá’í world. Hence, we seize this opportunity to apprise you of the urgency for the required funds both to initiate construction and to sustain this work once it has begun.
All these requirements must and will surely be met through reconsecrated service on the part of every conscientious member of the Community of Bahá, and particularly through personal commitment to the teaching work. So fundamentally important is this work to ensuring the foundation for success in all Bahá’í undertakings and to furthering the process of entry by troops that we are moved to add a word of emphasis for your consideration.
It is not enough to proclaim the Bahá’í message, essential as that is. It is not enough to expand the rolls of Bahá’í membership, vital as that is. Souls must be transformed, communities thereby consolidated, new models of life thus attained. Transformation is the essential purpose of the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh, but it lies in the will and effort of the individual to achieve it in obedience to the Covenant. Necessary to the progress of this life-fulfilling transformation is knowledge of the will and purpose of God through regular reading and study of the Holy Word.
Beloved friends: The momentum generated by this past year’s achievements is reflected not only in the opportunities for marked expansion of the Cause but also in a broad range of challenges—momentous, insistent and varied—which have combined in ways that place demands beyond any previous measure upon our spiritual and material resources. We must be prepared to meet them.
At this mid-point of the Six Year Plan, we have reached a historic moment pregnant with hopes and possibilities—a moment at which significant trends in the world are becoming more closely aligned with principles and objectives of the Cause of God. The urgency upon our community to press onward in fulfillment of its world-embracing mission is therefore tremendous.
Our primary response must be to teach—to teach ourselves and to teach others—at all levels of society, by all possible means, and without further delay. The beloved Master, in an exhortation on teaching, said it is “not until the candle is lit that it can shed the brightness of its flame; not until the light shineth forth that its brilliance can dispel the surrounding gloom.” Go forth, then, and be the “lighters of unlit candles.”
Our abiding love, unabating encouragement, constant, fervent prayers accompany you wherever you may go, whatever you may do in service to our beloved Lord.
Riḍván 1989
United States[edit]
The ‘Vision to Victory’ conferences[edit]
From November through February 12 ‘Vision to Victory’ conferences were held under the auspices of the U.S. National Spiritual Assembly to inaugurate a two-year period of personal sacrifice and commitment to the Cause of God in that country. Also begun were four large-scale teaching campaigns: in Atlanta, Georgia; Chicago; San Jose, California; and the greater Boston area. The main purposes of the conferences were to ignite teaching activities while underscoring for the friends the significance of the Arc project on Mount Carmel. We present on these pages a pictorial overview of the 12 ‘Vision to Victory’ conferences.
Counsellor Robert Harris addresses the conference in Chicago.
Above: Those at the ‘New York conference hear Dr. Peter Khan, a member of the Universal House of Justice. Below: In Chattanooga, the Hendersonville Bahá’í Choir with Dash Crofts (in white turban) performs.
[Page 4]
Friends in Houston, Texas, talk with Jack McCants, a member of the National Spiritual Assembly.
Above: Some 500 Bahá’ís from the Atlanta area march in the annual parade honoring the memory of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.
In Seattle, a display advertises a teaching campaign
Pulling a ‘rabbit’ out of the hat in Chicago is Morris Taylor, an Auxiliary Board member and part-time magician.
Do’ah entertains at the conference in Boston.
[Page 5]
Pictured above are some of the nearly 1,500 Bahá’ís who attended Chicago’s ‘Vision to Victory’ conference.
The Louis Gregory Institute Choir performs at the conference in South Carolina.
In Atlanta, Jack McCants (left) and Counsellor Wilma Ellis.
The Hand of the Cause of God William Sears speaks in Los Angeles.
[Page 6]
Clockwise from top left: The children
take their turn onstage, exemplifying
‘unity in diversity’ at the conference
for the Washington, D.C., area; two
tiny ‘musicians’ do their thing in Chicago; the friends enjoy a break between sessions in Los Angeles; Bahá’ís
listen to Judge Dorothy Nelson, chairman of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States,
during the conference in Alexandria,
Virginia, a suburb of Washington.
Book review[edit]
Mystical writings of leading physicists[edit]
QUANTUM QUESTIONS: Mystical Writings of the World’s Great Physicists (ed. Ken Wilber). Boston and London, 1984: New Science Library, an imprint of Shambhala Publications Inc. Distributed in the U.S. by Random House.
This volume is a collection of the mystical writings of some of the world’s greatest physicists, most of whom were Nobel Prize recipients. Included are essays by Werner Heisenberg, Erwin Schroedinger, Albert Einstein, Prince Louis de Broglie, Sir James Jeans, Max Planck, Wolfgang Pauli and Sir Arthur Eddington.
Many books have been written probing the possibilities opened by quantum physics for the exploration of a relationship between “physics, the hardest of sciences, and mysticism, the tenderest of religions.” This book also addresses that topic by presenting the beliefs of those who were the pioneers of quantum mechanics. While the physicists whose writings are contained in Quantum Questions do not appear to have believed that modern physics could or should be used to support mystical beliefs, neither did they believe that physics in itself offered any objection to those beliefs. Some of them advocated the value of maintaining a separate mystical world view, free from dependence upon changing scientific paradigms and the threat of obsolescence. Yet all were eloquently mystical.
In delving into this phenomenon, editor Ken Wilber examines differences between Newtonian and quantum
‘We have learnt that the exploration of the external world by the methods of physical science leads not to a concrete reality but to a shadow world of symbols, beneath which those methods are unadapted for penetrating.’
physics. In the Newtonian model, the universe was a “deterministic machine,” wherein, if sufficient data were to be collected, all future events could be accurately predicted. This view was theoretically hostile to the ideas of God, free-will, divine intervention, and spirit. While Newtonian physics continues to explain macroscopic events, quantum physics refutes absolute determinism because in the sub-atomic realm only probabilities can be predicted with accuracy. But Mr. Wilber does not believe that this, or any other discrepancy between the two, constitutes the crucial difference that enables modern physics to be so much more conducive to mysticism.
Before quantum discoveries, scientists felt that they were dealing with reality—the world itself. But modern physicists cannot directly observe the sub-atomic realm that they explore; their observations depend upon abstractions, mathematical symbols of reality, bringing, in the words of Sir Arthur Eddington, “the frank realization that physical science is concerned with a world of shadows.” As Sir James Jeans summarized it:
“The essential fact is simply that all the pictures which science now draws of nature, and which alone seem capable of according with observational fact, are mathematical pictures.... Many would hold that, from the broad philosophic standpoint, the outstanding achievement of twentieth-century physics is not the theory of relativity with its welding together of space and time, or the theory of quanta with its present apparent negation of the laws of causation, or the dissection of the atom with the resultant discovery that things are not what they seem; it is the general recognition that we are not yet in contact with ultimate reality. We are still imprisoned in our cave, with our backs to the light, and can only watch the shadows on the wall.”
Mr. Wilber believes it was this recognition of the shadowy nature of scientific enterprise that led so many scientists to explore beyond physics, into the metaphysical. He quotes Sir Arthur Eddington’s explanation:
| This review of the book Quantum Questions: Mystical Writings of the World’s Great Physicists is by Bonnie J. Taylor, a Bahá’í from Glencoe, Illinois. |
“We have learnt that the exploration of the external world by the methods of physical science leads not to a concrete reality but to a shadow world of symbols, beneath which those methods are unadapted for penetrating. Feeling that there must be more behind, we return to our starting point in human consciousness—the one centre where more might become known. There we find other stirrings, other revelations than those conditioned by the world of symbols....Physics most strongly insists that its methods do not penetrate behind the symbolism. Surely then that mental and spiritual nature of ourselves, known in our minds by an intimate contact transcending the methods of physics, supplies just that ... which science is admittedly unable to give.”
The collection contains several essays by Werner Heisenberg who, at age 24 and in the space of one day and night, invented what came to be known as matrix quantum mechanics. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in physics in 1932.
[Page 8]
Dr. Heisenberg felt a compelling desire to ponder the relationships between science and religion, and believed that both point to aspects of
reality that are vital components of civilization. He stressed the need for spiritual values in formulating goals to
guide the development of science and
technology; however, he felt that care
should be taken to keep science and religion distinct and apart, thereby
avoiding any weakening of their content: “The correctness of tested scientific results,” he wrote, “cannot rationally be cast in doubt by religious
thinking, and conversely, the ethical
demands stemming from the heart of
religious thinking ought not to be
weakened by all too rational arguments
from the field of science.”
In an essay entitled “Science and the Beautiful,” Dr. Heisenberg questions “where we can meet the beautiful in the sphere of exact science,” and through this theme presents an eloquent discourse on the human capacity for intuitive recognition of connections, the basis for many momentous scientific discoveries. Dr. Heisenberg refers to a definition of beauty found in ancient philosophy which describes beauty as “the proper conformity of the parts to one another, and to the whole.” He compares that definition to the discovery that strings vibrating under equal tension sound together in harmony if their lengths are in a simple numerical ratio. Thus mathematical relationships are found to a source of the harmony which the human ear finds beautiful. Dr. Heisenberg writes: “Beauty, so the first of our ancient definitions ran, is the proper conformity of the parts to one another and to the whole. The parts here are the individual notes, while the whole is the harmonious sound. The mathematical relation can, therefore, assemble two initially independent parts into a whole, and so produce beauty.” He compares the experience of the perception of beauty to that of human understanding, which is also made possible by conceiving “the conformity of the parts to one another and to the whole.”
The question is then presented: what is it that makes these connections, the conformity of parts to one another and to the whole, shine forth and become recognizable, even before they can be rationally interpreted and understood? Dr. Heisenberg draws from several sources in response to the question, beginning with Plato’s theory of the origin of ideas:
“... the apprehension of Ideas by the human mind is more an artistic intuiting, a half-conscious intimation, than a knowledge conveyed by the understanding. It is a reminiscence of forms that were already implanted in this soul before its existence on earth. The central Idea is that of the Beautiful and the Good, in which the divine becomes visible and at sight of which the wings of the soul begin to grow. A passage in the Phaedrus expresses the following thought: the soul is awe-stricken and shudders at the sight of the beautiful, for it feels that something is evoked in it that was not implanted to it from without by the senses but has always been already laid down there in a deeply unconscious region.”
Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) was a German astronomer who, because of his conviction that God had created the universe according to an underlying mathematical harmony, formulated the three laws of planetary motion that became the basis for the principles of Newtonian physics. Dr. Heisenberg believed that Kepler’s keen awareness of the beauty of connections had guided him in the formulation of these laws. Kepler, he writes, compared “the revolutions of the planets about the sun with the vibrations of a string and spoke of a harmonious concord of the different planetary orbits, of a harmony of the spheres.” After completing his work on the harmony of the universe, Kepler cried out, “I thank thee, Lord God our Creator, that thou allowest me to see the beauty of thy work of creation.”
Kepler’s conviction of the accuracy of the Copernican concept of the solar system (which was essential to the development of his theories) apparently did not arise from any data obtained through astronomical observation. Kepler used an archetype, a mandala (graphic symbol of the universe), as a symbol for the Trinity. He perceived the center of the sphere as God, the prime Mover; the outer rim as the world, where the Son of God functions; and the beams radiating from the center to the rim as the Holy Ghost. He was drawn to the Copernican system because he saw the connections between it and the mandala.
Dr. Heisenberg also examines the essays of Wolfgang Pauli, who received the Nobel Prize for physics in 1945, and psychologist C.G. Jung, in addition to those of Kepler, all of whom agreed that the human soul contains “primordial images” or “archetypes” that are innate, as the number of seed chambers is innate within the apple. Pauli wrote: “The process of understanding in nature, together with the joy that man feels in understanding, i.e., in becoming acquainted with new knowledge, seems therefore to rest upon a correspondence, a coming into congruence of preexistent internal images of the human psyche with external objects and their behavior....Kepler ... speaks, in fact, of ideas, preexistent in the mind of God and imprinted accordingly upon the soul, as the image of God.”
In closing his essay on “Science and the Beautiful,” Dr. Heisenberg returns again to the ancient philosophical definition of beauty as the proper conformity of the parts to one another, and to the whole. This, he declares, is the most important source of illumination and clarity in the field of exact science, as well as in art.
Another essay which may be of particular interest was written by Prince Louis de Broglie, who was born in 1892 and received the Nobel Prize in physics in 1929 for his theory of “matter waves.”
In “The Mechanism Demands a Mysticism,” Prince de Broglie quotes from Henri Bergson’s work, The Two Sources of Morality and Religion, which points to the tremendous extension of power humanity has added to its being by harnessing the energies accumulating in the earth for millions of years. This power, disproportionate to the human spirit which has not grown and developed the capacity to direct it, he writes, now endangers the human species and all other life.
Although de Broglie recognizes the potential benefits to be derived from the fission of uranium, he also recalls with sorrow that this discovery was first used to create a weapon of immense destructive potential. Therefore, he feels the moral problem has acquired much greater significance, and concludes, “Confronted by the dan-
[Page 9]
gers with which the advances of science
can, if employed for evil, face him,
man has need of a ‘supplement of soul’
and he must force himself to acquire it
promptly before it is too late. It is the
duty of those who have the mission of
being the spiritual or intellectual guides
of humanity to labor to awaken in it
this supplement of the soul.”
In another of de Broglie’s essays, he writes of the ever-increasing efforts of scientists to discover more of the extent of order and harmony in nature. He perceives “the divine joy of discovering such harmonies” as the raison d’etre of many of these individuals, who otherwise may profit little from their time and labor. De Broglie claims that all sincere scientists recognize that it is this search for truth which justifies the efforts of pure science, and which constitutes its nobility.
Like Drs. Heisenberg and Pauli, Prince de Broglie believes that there are archetypes inherent in man that enable him to respond with recognition to the underlying harmony in nature:
“... in reality, in order that humanity should have been able to adapt itself to live in the world which surrounds us, it would undoubtedly be necessary that there should be already between this world and our minds some analogy of structure....”
Erwin Schroedinger, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in physics in 1933, writes in several essays of the brotherhood of man, determinism and free-will, and the failure of science to provide answers to questions about the reality and purpose of human existence.
Also contained in Quantum Questions are two essays by Albert Einstein, who is widely regarded as the greatest physicist who ever lived. Dr. Einstein saw science, religion and art as distinctly separate endeavors, but he believed that wonder in the face of “the Mystery of the Sublime” was the motivating force behind all of them. In “Cosmic Religious Feeling,” Dr. Einstein writes: “The individual feels the futility of human desires and aims and the sublimity and marvelous order which reveal themselves both in nature and in the world of thought. Individual existence impresses him as a sort of prison and he wants to experience the universe as a single significant whole.”
In compiling these essays, Ken Wilber hoped to discourage the trend to confuse “temporal, relative, finite truth with eternal-absolute truth,” as well as the idea that physics and mysticism are two different approaches to the same reality and that all one need do to understand one is to learn about the other. The study of physics, Mr. Wilber writes, is the study of the realm of least-Being, which lies at the very bottom of the Great Chain of Being containing spirit, soul, mind, life and the material realm. He claims that the reason we have not (and indeed never will) find the “missing link” between man and animal also reveals why we find so few links between the levels in the Great Chain: each higher level contains but also transcends its predecessors, and as such is novel and emergent.
All of the physicists whose writings are included in this volume felt compelled to go beyond the analysis of the functioning and composition of the material order, and to explore the metaphysical reality. Their writings reflect their belief in dialogue among disciplines, as well as their interest in the exploration of the possibility of relationships between science and religion. According to Mr. Wilber, they were all successful in their aim of finding that physics was compatible with, not contradictory to, a mystical view of the world.
Mr. Wilber’s intended audience is not those who already are firmly convinced that quantum physics automatically supports or proves mystical views, but rather those men and women who believe that natural science can and will answer all of the important questions, those who “bow to science as if it were a religion itself.” All of the essays in this collection address themselves to Mr. Wilber’s central theme: “What does it mean that the founders of your modern science, the theorists and researchers who pioneered the very concepts you now worship implicitly, the very scientists presented in this volume, what does it mean that they were, every one of them, mystics?”
In presenting these eloquent examples of search and discovery, Mr. Wilber invites us to listen to “some of the finest dialogues between physics and philosophy and religion ever authored by the human spirit.”
Fiji[edit]
One of the chiefs in Rewa Province of Viti Levu, Fiji (left) is presented a copy of the peace statement during a three-hour proclamation event held last August 20 at the Nasilai community hall. Seventy copies of the statement in Fijian and two in English were presented to local dignitaries during the program.
The world[edit]
South Africa reaches out to media[edit]
The first major media event in South African Bahá’í history was held January 15 in observance of World Religion Day.
The event was reported in prime time on three national television stations as well as on English-speaking and ethnic radio stations and Afrikaans and English-language newspapers, reaching at least 10 million people of all races.
The celebration was opened by David Neppe, the mayor of Johannesburg, who is Jewish. He said that diversity of religions in Johannesburg is welcome as people realize more and more that no one religion has a monopoly on truth.
His audience was a microcosm of the South African people including Zulu, Sotho, Twsana, Xhosa, Venda, Asian Indian, Malay, Chinese, Afrikaaner and English-speaking South Africans. An estimated 80 percent of those present were not Bahá’ís.
Included were many leaders of thought such as a professor of religious studies at Witwatersrand University, the president of the South African Wildlife Society, and the deputy-mayoral couple of Sandton as well as leading educators and artists.
Among the speakers were many widely known religious leaders: the head of the Catholic seminary of Pretoria; the chief rabbi of the Reformed Synagogue of Johannesburg; the prayer leader of the Saivait Hindu Temple; and the International Link (president) of the Co-Workers of Mother Theresa, and her deputy.
Two Bahá’í children, one black and one white, read the Golden Rule from each religion as its turn came on the program, stealing the hearts of the audience with their clear and earnest delivery.
Bahá’í passages were read by Counsellor Daniel Ramoroesi, a black South African who was later interviewed about his responsibilities as a member of the Board of Counsellors.
Panama[edit]
A teaching team composed of Guaymi Bahá’ís in Panama prepares for the Bernabe Bejerano Campaign during a three-day training course held last December. After the course, the participants planned to embark on the three-month campaign.
Cook Islands[edit]
A steady flow of traveling teachers from New Zealand over the past six months has given encouragement to the Bahá’ís of the Cook Islands and helped consolidate relationships between the Bahá’í community, local residents and the media.
Teachers have visited the islands of Rarotonga, Mangaia, Aitutaki and Mauke, conducting firesides and deepenings, giving interviews on radio, visiting teachers and students at a center for the handicapped, and working with youth.
Paul Bennett, an entertainer from New Zealand who is well-known in the Cook Islands as a result of previous visits, was able to record some of his music during his most recent visit.
The recording includes a Bahá’í prayer in the indigenous language, and verses from The Hidden Words. A report of his visit appeared in the Cook Island News which said that the songs would soon be heard on the radio.
Ken Zemke, a Bahá’í who is a filmmaker, presented talks at the Rotary Club and the University of the South Pacific (Cook Islands) Extension Center on the effects on society of violence in films and videos.
Kenya[edit]
In collaboration with the Canadian Public Health Association, the Bahá’ís of Kenya have begun a major long-term health program.
The program, the first that the Bahá’ís have undertaken with this association, involves the immunization of children under the age of five against major communicable diseases.
Dr. Ethel Martens, a Bahá’í from Canada who is a well-known health professional, arrived in Kenya last December to help with the project.
Dr. Martens’ sister, May Townshend, an artist and expert in the use of local materials to create her art, also came to Kenya to help women there learn to make hand-crafted objects of art.
Young Bahá’ís throughout Kenya are taking a leading role in teaching and community development work in that community.
The youth of Menu are actively involved in arranging their own conferences, working at extension teaching goals, developing programs of music and drama, teaching weekly children’s classes, attending deepening sessions, and working on a small-scale economic development project.
The Bahá’í Centre in Kimogoi, western Kenya, was filled to overflowing last November 12 as 908 people gathered to celebrate the anniversary of the Birth of Bahá’u’lláh.
The occasion included performances by eight choirs.
Participants listen to a fellow student at the Community Health Worker Training Institute in Menu, Western Province, Kenya. The Institute, conducted by Dr. Ethel Martens, a Bahá’í from Canada, was held last December 19-30.
Dominica[edit]
As a result of the first translation of The Hidden Words into Creole, the National Spiritual Assembly of Dominica has received letters of appreciation from the Prime Minister, the President and the Minister for Community Development.
The translation was included in the Independence Day celebration and in Creole Week (Semenn Kweyol), and is recognized as having advanced the goal of preserving and developing Dominican culture.
The book is also available on cassette tape and was featured recently on the Dominican Broadcasting Service.
Hawaii[edit]
Last December 6-7, more than 200 delegates and observers representing a cross-section of Hawaii’s leadership met at the “Governor’s Congress on Hawaii’s International Role” convened by Gov. John Waihee.
Among the invited delegates was Florence Kelly, director of the Bahá’í Office of External Affairs in Hawaii.
The meeting was called to consult on Hawaii’s role in the Pacific area and to explore the contributions Hawaii’s multi-ethnic society can make in the international arena.
Belgium[edit]
Dr. Niky Kamran, a Bahá’í from Belgium, received the “Grand Prix de l’Académie des Sciences de Belgique,” the annual award of the Royal Science Academy of Belgium, during a ceremony held last December 17 at the Bahá’í National Center in Brussels.
Dr. Kamran won the award for his work in mathematics, specifically for a paper entitled “Contribution to the study of the equivalence problem of Eli Cartan and its applications to partial and ordinary differential equations.”
The 120 guests at the award ceremony heard message of congratulations from the Universal House of Justice in which the Supreme Body said it would offer prayers for the 29-year-old scientist for “further success in his worthy endeavors field of science and Faith.”
Dr. Kamran, who received his doctorate in applied mathematics from the University of Waterloo, Canada, was a professor in the Institute for Advanced Studies at Princeton University, has published or co-published 43 scientific papers since 1983, and has lectured in Canada, Colombia, France, Italy and the United States. He has been the recipient of significant grants in mathematics from four sources including Princeton and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
Colombia[edit]
A team of eight Bahá’ís including Auxiliary Board member Habib Rezvani and seven Bahá’í youth completed last fall the initial three-month phase of an ongoing teaching campaign in Colombia. As of the end of December, 1,245 new believers had embraced the Faith.
The campaign took the team to 15 communities in the departments (states) of Atlantico, Bolivar and Sucre.
Two of its special aims were the formation of youth groups and finding youth who would be capable of conducting regular children’s classes.
After the first phase ended in December, one of the Bahá’ís returned to the community of Santa Catalina and found a youth group already holding children’s classes. They were teaching reading to a group of 30 children using the Bahá’í literacy training booklet, “God Illumine Us.”
A forum entitled “Women, Equality, Development and Peace,” hosted by the Bahá’ís of Cali, Colombia, drew an audience of about 100 last December 12.
Presentations were made by Isabel Arenas, an economist; Mariello Carillo Bedoya, national vice-president of the Citizens Union program of Colombia; and Haleh Arbab de Correa, a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of Colombia and program coordinator of community development projects for FUNDEAC (Foundation for the Teaching and Application of Sciences).
One of the participants, a journalist, asked for an interview with the speakers for a radio program that is broadcast nationally.
Thailand[edit]
The Regional Bahá’í Teaching Committee of Yasothon, Thailand, and the Santitham Bahá’í School together planned and carried out Peace Week activities January 9-15, bringing extensive publicity to the Faith and to the cause of peace.
At its opening event, the education officer of Yasothon spoke to an audience of about 100 parents, teachers and students, praising the Bahá’ís and the Santitham School for their efforts to teach peace.
A special feature of Peace Week was a peace poster contest that involved about 150 students from eight schools.
In addition, the Bahá’í kindergarten and children from the commercial school presented a performance to commemorate National Children’s Day, and two members of the National Spiritual Assembly of Thailand conducted a symposium on peace.
Following Peace Week, the Bahá’ís hosted a meeting for students, teachers and parents to consult on ways to continue to promote peace.
As a result, a peace club comprised of four students and a Bahá’í pioneer was formed.
The Ben Vinai Hmong camp in Thailand recently opened a school to teach English, Hmong and the Bahá’í Faith. One hundred thirty-eight students are enrolled, and a library soon will open. The Spiritual Assembly reports that the teaching work is being actively pursued.
The first Spiritual Assembly of Napho (Lao camp) was elected last September. At that time there were 109 Bahá’ís in the camp; as of February, there were 199.
In Amphil Site II (Khmer camp), the Bahá’ís are operating a rice mill project to raise money for community development. The local Assembly has also organized classes in mathematics, chemistry and English.
Meanwhile, the first Spiritual Assembly of Obok Site II (Khmer camp) was elected last September.
The Bahá’í community of Ritthysen Site II south (Khmer camp) has grown to more than 400 in the past year. The local Assembly conducts daily children’s classes; about 300 students attend to learn English and to study aspects of the Faith.
The Bahá’ís of Aranyaprathet, Thailand, organized an exhibition on peace and the Bahá’í Faith for the Cantaloup Fair held last December 24-January 1.
During the fair the deputy Minister of the Interior, Sanoh Thienthong, was given a copy of the peace statement and a bouquet.
Two thousand peace pamphlets were given away, two people embraced the Faith, and the Bahá’ís were invited to present a lecture January 19 at the Aranyaprathet High School.
The first member of Thailand’s Karen people to embrace the Faith did so in January in Tha Kham Nua, Chiang Mai Province.
Five more of the Karen people were enrolled later in Amphur Om Koi.
A Bahá’í winter school held January 13-15 in Chiangmai, Thailand, resulted in three enrollments, contributions to the Arc fund by all those in attendance, and the initiation of a Bahá’í Children’s Arc Fund.
The Gambia[edit]
During her recent visit to The Gambia, Counsellor Beatrice Asare met with members of the National Spiritual Assembly and the Auxiliary Board, visited dignitaries, traveled to many villages, visited development projects, and took part in a three-day Winter School.
Following the school, an interview with the Counsellor was broadcast as a news item on Radio Gambia in English and all other local languages.
As a result, the religious affairs officer for the radio station offered to cover future Bahá’í events for the media.
Counsellor Asare visited the chief executive of the Women’s Bureau, whom she encouraged in her vital work of bringing about the equality of women and men, and with whom she discussed the importance of prayer.
She also met a Gambian lawyer in the Ministry of Justice, and was instrumental in drafting a bill to revise the country’s laws on the status of women.
United Nations Human Rights Day was commemorated last December 10 at the National Hazíratu’l-Quds in Banjul, The Gambia.
The opening address was given by Fatoumata Tambajang, assistant program officer of the UN Development Program in Banjul and president of the National Women’s Council.
Following the keynote address by Auxiliary Board member Dale Robertson, who is principal of the Marina International School, closing remarks were offered by the Hon. Alkali James Gaye, a member of Parliament and secretary of The Gambia’s Ministry of External Affairs.
Jamaica[edit]
A major breakthrough for the Caribbean Bahá’í communities came recently when the National Spiritual Assembly of Jamaica was asked to prepare a detailed curriculum for a chapter on the Faith to be included in the first-year compulsory Caribbean Examination Council course on comparative religion.
In their second year, high school students in Jamaica will be able to study in depth the religion of their choice.
India[edit]
Members of the volunteer ‘Temple Brigade’ work on a landscaping project in the gardens surrounding the Bahá’í House of Worship in New Delhi, India.
Sir David Goodall, the British High
Commissioner in Delhi, is shown a
booklet during his visit in January to the Bahá’í House of Worship in Bahapur, New Delhi, India.
A special prayer service dedicated to the memory of those who died in the recent earthquake in Armenia was held last December 11 at the Bahá’í House of Worship in New Delhi, India.
Two days later, Counselor S. Konstantinov of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs visited the Temple, spending more than an hour in the library where he asked many questions about the Faith and requested several Bahá’í books.
A paper on “Science and Spirituality” was presented by a Bahá’í at the fifth International Conference Toward the Harmonic Convergence of Science, Culture and Consciousness.
The conference was held January 3-5 in India.
The paper, which was well-received, was to be published as a part of the conference proceedings.
Argentina[edit]
The Bahá’í Cultural Centre of Buenos Aires, Argentina, which has been named the May Maxwell Centre, presents a puppet show for the children of the district every 15 days.
The show is given by El Retablo del Mosquito (The Mosquito’s Retable), a group composed of Bahá’ís and their friends. It is also taken to events arranged by other groups.
The performances at the Centre are open to the public, and an average of 15 children of non-Bahá’í families attend regularly.
More than 300 people attended a celebration last September 18 in Burzaco, Argentina, of the International Day of Peace.
The event, which was planned by a group of Auxiliary Board members and the entire Bahá’í community of Burzaco, included such activities as a children’s drawing contest, judged by kindergarten and primary school teachers and one member of the local Spiritual Assembly; a peace conference that featured a United Nations film and presentations by many notables from the community; and a performance by the children based on the theme of peace.
Puppets from the May Maxwell Bahá’í Cultural Centre in Buenos Aires, Argentina, entertain adults and children in nearby Centennial Park. The Cultural Centre presents puppet shows for children in the district about twice each month.
Pakistan[edit]
An important goal of the Six Year Plan in Pakistan was achieved with the inauguration January 4-8 of a Teacher Training Institute at Lahore.
The aim of the institute was to prepare the Bahá’í community of Pakistan for entry by troops.
Forty-five participants from nine centers were cheered by the presence of Counsellor Sábir Áfáqí and by a stimulating program of lectures, workshops, audio-visual presentations, a special session with the relatives of martyrs, and a public meeting entitled “Introduction to a World Religion.”
Among recent visitors to the Office of the Coordinator of Persian Affairs in Lahore, Pakistan, have been government officials who are interested in becoming more closely acquainted with the Bahá’í refugee program and the Bahá’í Faith itself.
Visitors have included members of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in Islamabad and Lahore; an official from the Ministry of Justice of the Netherlands; a delegation from Finland that included the Ambassador from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ambassador of the Embassy of Finland in Tehran, and three senior officials of the Finnish government; and the Australian Immigration Officer from Canberra.
A public meeting organized last October 29 by the local Youth Committee of Peshawar, Pakistan, to commemorate United Nations Day was covered by two major newspapers, the Khyber Mail and the Frontier Post.
The chief guest for the occasion, Dr. Abdul Matin, vice-chancellor of the University of Peshawar, sent a letter of appreciation to the committee, commenting on the well-organized conference and wishing its members “great success in (your) noble mission.”
Spain[edit]
An intensive teaching campaign in northern Spain has led to the formation of a local Spiritual Assembly in Logroño with the enrollment of three Basque believers, the opening of several new localities and the declarations of 13 Romani people.
Bolivia[edit]
One of the goals of the Bahá’í community of Santa Cruz, Bolivia, was to set up 10 groups of Bahá’í children’s classes before Riḍván 1989. As of mid-March, the community had nine functioning classes.
Eight are held in rural areas, and six are taught by Bahá’ís who live in the communities in which they are held.
One of the classes is taught by a Bahá’í, Doña Eloina Montaño, who left school after the fourth grade and now, at age 53, teaches children who cannot afford to go even to the public school.
Some of her students, however, have gone on to the public school, entering at the second or third grade level instead of the first, and receiving honors as outstanding students.
When asked what difference education will make in the lives of these children, Doña Eloina says, “... if they learn to understand what they read, and learn from the Bahá’í books, then they’ll realize the difference themselves.”
Shown with adult Bahá’ís are some of the children who attend Bahá’í children’s classes near Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Their teacher is Doña Eloina Montaño who has been teaching a children’s class for nearly two years.
Philippines[edit]
Last November, the Bahá’ís of the Philippines celebrated the 50th anniversary of the arrival of the Faith in that country.
More than 150 people attended a commemorative luncheon in Solano including Counsellor Vicente Samaniego, members of the National Spiritual Assembly, two Auxiliary Board members, the vice-governor of Luzon, the mayor of Solano, and a number of other distinguished guests.
A two-week teaching project carried out during the period of celebration resulted in the enrollment of more than 400 new believers in the Luzon area and the formation of 14 new local Spiritual Assemblies.
Also, 510 people (more than half of whom were not Bahá’ís) took part in a Bahá’í-sponsored Children’s Festival in the Antipolo Bicol region despite feeling the effects of a recent typhoon.
Following a fireside last October in the Negrito area of Oriental Mindoro, the Philippines, the Chieftain and members of his tribe embraced the Faith.
Another public meeting was requested, and the Chieftain urged his entire tribe to attend.
Sunday Bahá’í classes are being held at the Philippine Refugee Processing Centre. The two-hour classes are supported not only by resident Bahá’ís but by a steady stream of visitors from other parts of the Philippines and overseas.
Nearly 30 Khmer, Lao, Chinese and Vietnamese friends regularly attend the classes.
A recent teaching campaign on the island of Samar in the Philippines resulted in 90 enrollments. It was the first visit by Bahá’ís to Samar in six years.
Bermuda[edit]
The Bahá’ís of Bermuda were awarded a blue ribbon for their “Ebony and Ivory” float in this year’s Heritage Day parade.
The sides of the float depicted a piano keyboard with the words “Come Together in Harmony,” from the popular song by Stevie Wonder, written for the white keys.
Uruguay[edit]
The Bahá’í community of Maldonado helped celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Faith in Uruguay last November by staging a two-day event entitled “Days of Peace.”
Among the varied activities were slide shows, visits to a home for aged and the Children’s Council, a youth gathering, a presentation on women and peace, and a “children’s encounter” that featured clowns and a theatre production.
Throughout the event a visual display about the Faith, supported by a selection of books, was exhibited at the Bahá’í Center.
A nine-day teaching project last December in Belen, Uruguay, led to the enrollment of 158 new Bahá’ís while raising proclamation of the Faith to a higher level among Bahá’í youth and children.
The project, spurred on by the participation of Counsellor Gustavo Correa, several Auxiliary Board members and traveling teachers, included a daily exhibition in the city’s main square and was supported by radio announcements.
Nigeria[edit]
More than 400 new believers were enrolled in the Cause and 10 new local Spiritual Assemblies were formed as a result of the Behin/Calabar-Mamfe Road Teaching Campaign launched last December in Nigeria.
Twenty-two communities were visited during the campaign. Ten of the 414 new Bahá’ís are village chieftains.
As a result of the visits, the spirits of the Bahá’ís were rekindled. Deepenings and children’s classes were begun to consolidate these new and rejuvenated communities.
Farming is a major occupation in the area, and many Bahá’ís suspended their farming activities for two weeks to take part in the campaign.
The area was visited twice before the campaign to inform local communities of upcoming activities and encourage the Assemblies to meet.
A member of the State Teaching Committee arrived two months before the campaign got under way, lived in the Bahá’í Center, deepened the friends and began holding children’s classes and dawn prayers.
An institute was held in two communities one month before the campaign began, and other teachers also arrived in advance to familiarize themselves with the area.
On January 16-22, the Bahá’ís of Nigeria celebrated World Unity Week at the Obafemi Awolowo University.
The Bahá’ís welcomed the participation of Counsellor Hizzaya Hissani who met with university staff and students, visited a nearby village and conducted deepenings in addition to speaking at many of the week’s events.
The major event was a Peace Conference sponsored by the Spiritual Assembly of Ife.
In opening the conference, Prof. B. Lawal, representing the vice-chancellor of Obafemi Awolowo University, commended the Bahá’ís for choosing the theme “A Practical Approach to Peace,” adding that the event was a testimony to the Faith’s “genuine concern for the promotion of social harmony on earth.”
He recommended study of the peace statement to help in examining practical measures for achieving universal peace.
Other activities during the week included the 13th annual Ife Book Fair, at which many people received information and bought books about the Faith, and a celebration of World Religion Day.
As a result of the Kaduna-Gwari Teaching Project held last year in northern Nigeria, 145 new believers embraced the Faith and seven new local Spiritual Assemblies were formed.
A report from the National Spiritual Assembly of Nigeria says, “The uniqueness of this project, the fifth such project in Nigeria in the past 14 months, is that it took place among a minority tribe (Gwari) which is mainly Muslim.”
As part of the consolidation work in that area, two tutorial schools have begun operation.
Transkei[edit]
Ndiphine Zenani (center), a 12th grade student from St. John’s College in Umtata, Transkei, won first prize in an essay contest, sponsored by the Spiritual Assembly of Umtata, whose theme was ‘A World Without Prejudice.’ In all, 44 essays were judged by two lecturers from the English department of the University of Transkei and by Mrs. Jan Bassari of the Bahá’í community of Umtata. Also pictured are (left to right) Tammy Mxo and Jan Bassari, representing the Spiritual Assembly of Umtata; Mrs. Mtoba, an English teacher at St. John’s College; and G. French, headmaster at St. John’s.
Peru[edit]
Radio Bahá’í del Lago Titicaca in Puno, Peru, recently celebrated its eighth anniversary with two well-received events.
The first, a “mini-Olympiad,” brought together 30 volleyball and soccer teams and 120 men and 50 women who took part in a marathon “chasqui.”
The second, a folk music festival, drew 3,000 people to see performances by 40 well-known folk groups.
Many local dignitaries congratulated Radio Bahá’í for its great success.
Last December, at a ceremony organized by the Association of Radio Announcers to mark Announcers’ Day, Radio Bahá’í del Lago Titicaca was one of two stations praised as being the only radio stations fulfilling the goals of developing the culture and advancing the progress of the city of Puno, Peru.
At that same event, a Bahá’í youth, Rufino Paredes Lipe, who speaks on Radio Bahá’í and is fluent in Quechua, Aymara and Spanish, was given the title “Star Speaker 1988.”
Radio Bahá’í is being accorded further recognition as high school teachers assign students tasks involving research of the Bahá’í Faith and refer to the station as a resource.
Australia[edit]
The Farhangi Teaching Project in Western Australia, which began with two days of prayer, study and planning, resulted in 85 enrollments.
The seven-member team helped conduct a Bahá’í funeral, attended a meeting with 300 Aborigines from the Pilbara region, and were embraced as members of the Aboriginal family.
The Aboriginal people are reported to be excellent Bahá’í teachers.
Successful teaching efforts continued in northern Australia last October, especially among Aborigines.
Twenty new believers were enrolled in Onslow, Western Australia, and 20 more during an Aboriginal Conference in mid-October in Normanton, Queensland.
The remote Croydon Shire in Northern Australia, with a population of only 320, is now 10 percent Bahá’í.
An Australian bicentennial publication, Dunolly, Yesterday and Today, mentions Effie Baker, who in 1923 became the first woman in Australia to accept the Bahá’í Faith.
The booklet refers to her internationally recognized talent as a photographer.
Miss Baker, who was born in the area of Dunolly, Bet Bet Shire, Victoria, produced the photographs used to illustrate Shoghi Effendi’s translation of Nabil’s classic history of the early years of the Faith, The Dawn-Breakers.
The Rainbow Dancers, a 20-member theatre group composed of Aboriginals, Australians, Chinese, Maoris, Persians and Tongans, which began a teaching tour performing ethnic songs and dances in towns throughout New South Wales following Australia’s recent National Youth Conference and Teaching Conference, have completed their itinerary after pleasing many audiences and receiving extensive publicity on television and radio and in the press.
The most enthusiastic audiences were reported in two Aboriginal communities, one in the interior of New South Wales and the other on the north coast.
Shown with some of the Bahá’ís of Mareeba, northern Queensland, Australia, are Farhad and Roofia Noranbakht, new arrivals in Australia from Iran, who now live in the region. Their efforts among the aboriginals of northern Queensland, despite a limited knowledge of English, have led to great teaching successes.
In late December, a National Youth Conference in Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia, was followed by a National Teaching Conference in Sutherland, NSW.
A special guest speaker at the Teaching Conference was the Hand of the Cause of God Collis Featherstone. The Hand of the Cause William Sears addressed the conference from overseas via telephone, as did Counsellor Joy Stevenson of the International Teaching Centre in Haifa.
Also sharing news from their communities via telephone link-ups were members of the National Spiritual Assemblies of Japan and New Zealand.
Aboriginal Bahá’ís from the far north of the country brought news of recent victories. The National Assembly of New Zealand sent two Maori Bahá’ís to join a multi-cultural theatre group, the Rainbow Dancers, which is now traveling throughout New South Wales after attending both conferences.
On February 5, more than 350 people attended an observance at the Bahá’í House of Worship in Sydney, Australia, of the Chinese New Year.
The service, conducted in English, Korean, Vietnamese and Chinese, was followed by a presentation on the basics of the Bahá’í Faith, in English, and Mandarin, at the Information Centre.
More than half of those attending were of Asian descent, among them Helen Shan-ho, a member of the legislative council of the state parliament for New South Wales, who was given copies of the peace statement in English and Chinese.
Following the recent visit of a teaching team of Bahá’ís to the north of Western Australia, a new local Spiritual Assembly was formed at Three Mile Reserve, near Port Hedland, and 19 people were enrolled in the Faith in Onslow, Roeburne and Three Mile.
Tanzania[edit]
The three-week-long Dorothy Baker teaching campaign, held in the Same area of Tanzania, resulted in about 105 primary and high school teachers learning about the Faith.
Fourteen of these teachers were among the 46 people who embraced the Faith during the course of the campaign.
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