In Search of the Supreme Talisman/Text

[Page 2]

In Search Toasns Supreme — “Jalisman

A Baha fT Perspective on Education

By Daniel C. Jordan [Page 3]In Search of the

Supreme ‘Talisman

A Baha’i Perspective on Education

CULTURE is the ubiquitous educator of man. Over long periods of time human groups have accumulated vast bodies of experience which have been distilled into particular patterns of thinking, feeling, and acting. These patterns constitute the culture of any given group and are reflected in its basic institutions, such as family, school, or economic system. Functioning as mediators of educative experience, these institutions transmit from generation to generation the culture which sustains them.

It is possible to accomplish the transmission of culture to the oncoming generation only because man is a creature with extraordinary capacity for learning. It is the process of learning in all its multifarious forms to which education in its broadest sense refers. Since man is endowed with few instincts, he has to rely almost entirely on what he learns—his culture—for survival. Thus, the kind of education available to man at any given point in time has direct implications for both the probability and quality of his survival.

The Crisis in Culture and Education

THE RELATIONSHIP of man to his environment is not static. It is dynamic and therefore always changing. His interaction with the environment changes it, and those changes have reactive effects on him. If patterns of thinking, feeling, and acting—man’s culture—are not modified to reflect a constructive accommodation to those changes, the culture may easily become nonpro 3 [Page 4]gressive, eventually maladaptive, and ultimately genocidal.

For instance, we have succeeded in polluting the air and our water resources to such an extent that we now face ecological problems serious enough that our survival may depend on their solution. This is a good example of how culturally sustained patterns of behavior, when continued beyond a certain point, become dysfunctional and even dangerous. Whenever this happens, the culture enters a period of crisis. In the past, if new ways of thinking, feeling, and acting could not be ‘found and accepted by the majority of people comprising the society facing such a crisis, the culture died out along with the people who clung to it; or a neighboring group that was more progressive absorbed it and in the process changed it. Such crises in themselves are usually educative experiences and may be regarded as extracultural in the sense that they force a search for new patterns of acting that are outside of those sanctioned by the culture that has become maladaptive.

At the present time the world of humanity and the different cultures it represents are in the midst of the most extensive crises ever known to man. The ways we have learned to feel, think, and act in relationship to both our physical and social environments are no longer functional. Instead of bringing us peace and tranquility, they cause us to bé destructive of each other through internecine riots and wars; of our own selves through drugs, alcohol, and a variety of psychological disorders; and of our physical environment through pollution, uncontrolled erosion, and ruthless exploitation of natural resources.

These crises are forcing humanity to seek a new culture—one that is universal and therefore functional for all men everywhere; one that can create a new race of men, new social institutions, and new physical environments. To survive these crises, we must learn new ways of thinking, feel~ ing, and acting. Man must be reeducated.

But what will the reeducation of mankind consist of? What new patterns of thinking, feeling, and acting have a reasonable hope of success in de 4 [Page 5]livering us from these crises? No answer can be fully appreciated without understanding how a shift in values has brought us to our present condition.

Changes in Value Priorities— An Analytical Perspective on the Crises

WE ARE TAUGHT by our culture how to feel about everything in our environment—ideas, events, people, and objects. It is the culturally sanctioned pattern of positive and negative feelings about these things which constitutes the value system of any society. Every value system can be understood in terms of three subsystems organized around the way man defines his relationship to three different types of environments: physical, social, and supernatural.! The function of these value systems is to bring some kind of order and structure into those relationships. A certain kind of balance must be maintained among the subsystems if the whole society is to have an order that is functional, adaptive, and progressive. ‘Understanding the changes in relationships which have occurred over the last century and a half among these three subsystems not only sheds light on the present crises but also establishes the indispensable nature of the Baha’r’perspective on education.

Values organized around man’s relationship to the physical environment.—Man’s struggle to'relate himself to the physical environment in ways that increase the probability of his survival has led to a progressively more detailed knowledge of the nature of matter. The accumulation of this knowledge and its application to the environment gave rise to a subsystem of scientific values which now supports a technological order of ‘vast proportions. This order has been so effective in giving man extensive control over the physical environment that few people would even consider questioning its “rightness.”

Values organized around man’s relationship to the social environment.—The experience and wisdom man has accumulated concerning how to live with others and function in groups are formally ex 5 [Page 6]pressed through patterns of law and government and informally expressed through custom and tradition. Both expressions are sanctioned by a system of social values which sustains the moral order. The stability of community life depends upon members of the community sharing the social values which support the moral order. When the moral order disintegrates, there is no basis for community life.

Values organized around man’s relationship to ultimate unknowns.—Man’s capacity for consciousness has impelled him to strive continually for an understanding of his relationship to everything which exists, including the unknown in himself and the mysteries underlying the infinitude and order of the universe. From time to time, down through history, prophets and visionaries have appeared and articulated man’s relationship to these unknowns. The events transpiring in the wake of their appearances have generated subsystems of spiritual values which sustain the religious orders of the communities in which they

appeared.

Type Related Type of Order of Value Sustained by Environment System the Value System physical scientific technological human beings social moral supernatural spiritual religious

(ultimate unknowns)

The scientific, social, and spiritual values that maintain respectively the technological, moral, and religious orders of society are all interrelated. Changes in one have effects on the others. The three subsystems and the values they represent are not held to be equally important or significant. Different societies at different times accorded them different priorities depending upon their past history and the exigencies they happened tobe facing at any given moment. Whatever the priorities were or are, the values that are dominant determine the goals of a society and how its re-: sources will be used—in effect, its destiny.

6 [Page 7]For most of man’s history, spiritual values have generally been dominant over social values, which in turn have usually been considered more important than values which related man to his physical environment. However, when science, as a method of discovering and verifying truths about our physical environment, began to develop, conflicts among the subsystems of values also developed and the dominant position of spiritual values was challenged. Since that time, scientific values have been accorded an increasingly more powerful position in the total value system. It is partly for this reason that we have seen in the last 150 years the emergence of a portentous secularism accompanied by a deemphasis of spiritual values and a disintegration of the religious order.? The major institutions which stood as the bulwarks of the religious order have either crumbled or joined the rising tide of secularism and in both cases have lost their potency.

Any chronicle of the outstanding events of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries would disclose the collapse of the most prestigious and seemingly invulnerable ecclesiastical institutions and religious systems of the world. This includes, for instance, the dissolution of the caliphate and the consequent secularization of Turkey; the crumbling of the Shi‘ih hierarchy in Persia and the rapid decline of its fortunes; the evaporation of the temporal sovereignty of the Pope; the disintegration of the Holy Roman Empire; and the accelerating fragmentation of Christianity in general. That traditional religions are dying out in almost every land is so well documented that it can no longer be questioned.

As religion fades, the sanctions which sustain the structure of the moral order lose their force and result in a confusion of social values. In the midst of such confusion, secular theories of morality become popular, This gives rise to an increase in moral laxity, a disregard for manners, a weakening of self-discipline, and the abandonment of self to excessive indulgence and pleasures, all of which are concomitants of the incapacity to assume a variety of important social responsibilities,

7 [Page 8]particularly those related to marriage and the family. Yet marriages continue to be contracted and dissolved while children are conceived and born, bereft of the growth-fostering atmosphere and stability of a home life characterized by the watchful care of mature and loving parents. Personalities formed under such adverse conditions are almost certain to be unstable. The increase in crime, the expanding rate of divorce, mental illness, and alcoholism, the dependence upon tranquilizers, the escape from reality into the drug experience, the breakdown of law and order, the corruption of political institutions, and the unethical practices of modern business and industry are all symptomatic of the decomposition of the moral order.

The conflict in value systems has created many basic uncertainities, and, as the moral order has decomposed, feelings of personal anxiety and social insecurity have increased. It is therefore not surprising to find that trying to deal with insecurity has become a pervasive concern of modern society. On the personal level this concern is formally expressed in the development of the “helping professions” such as counseling and psychiatry (a development which is basically secular and replaces the support and guidance formerly available through the religious order). On the social level one of the basic reactions to insecurity has been mistrust and the consequent buildup of elaborate and costly defense systems and tenuous alliances. Rather than identify the fundamental causes of insecurity and deal with them, we have created institutions to deal with the symptoms: mental hospitals to help those who can no longer cope with anxiety; prisons for those who react to anxiety by threatening the security of others; foreign aid to help those who cannot remove social insecurities because war has ruined their means of obtaining adequate resources; armed forces to deal with those who are regarded as enemies and a threat to our own security. People. who are conflict-ridden or suppressed by injustice can either withdraw (create a fantasy world to escape anxiety and finally become institution; alized) or strike out (pursue the route of crime and

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4 [Page 9]end up in prison or join violent political movements). Nations which are conflict-ridden internally by injustice and in conflict with other nations or externally oppressed can also withdraw or attack. Without a sharing of universal values, however, both withdrawal and attack are dysfunctional and only create further disunity and therefore more insecurity. The size of the institutions created to deal with the symptoms and the staggering amount of resources required to maintain them reflect the magnitude of the problem; their strangely contradictory nature betrays the conflicts in our value system,

One of the most effective antidotes to insecurity and anxiety is meaning. A primary source of meaning for man is the perception of sensemaking relationships and an emotional acceptance of them. As history shows, traditional religion was unable to make sense out of it relationship to the emergence of science. It failed to arrive at a distinction between faith and superstition, went on to deny the truth of science, and drove a wedge between reason and faith—between science and religion. Instead of facilitating the perception of sense-making relationships by adjusting to the truths of science, religious }eaders insisted upon ignorance or intellectual aishonesty and thereby increased man’s insecurity. The effect was to abandon to science the responsibility of making sense out of things. Science took the responsibility seriously. During the last half-century there has been an almost frantic investment of time, energy, and material resources in all of the enterprises of science. It is no wonder that man has delivered to himself an awesome technology that has brought him on the one hand a measure of security because of the increased predictability of events in the material world, but on the other hand has provided him with a power of almost incalculable dimensions which, because he has lost his moral bearings, is a constant threat to his survival.

The crisis humanity presently faces can be simply stated: because true religion is dying out, the moral order is collapsing while science and ‘ technology, guided by a profusion of materialistic and secular philosophies, have been per 9 [Page 10]mitted to concentrate too many of their powers on developing more efficient ways of destroying man. In other words, the priorities in values are being reversed and are causing widespread disorder in man’s relationship to his environment. He has thus entered a period of crises fraught with many dangers.

Teetering on the edge of oblivion, what can man do to face this crisis of incomprehensible proportions? If the foregoing analysis is correct, we have only one hope—a renaissance of religion based on spiritual values that do not deny the truth of science but which can direct the awesome power of modern technology into constructive channels of service to a mankind that is unified by the power of a new moral order derived from those values.

Rebirth of Religion and the Reeducation of Humanity

IN THE MIDST of the accumulating wreckage of the old order, a new faith—the Baha’i Faith—has appeared. The wellspring of this faith, the revelation of Baha’u’llah bountifully showered upon humanity a little over a century ago, has demonstrated to an ever-growing circle of concerned human beings its power to prevent the crisis from extinguishing the human race. The tangible manifestation of this power is a rapidly expanding worldwide Baha’ Community which thrives upon a new culture—a culture which educates the children born into it and reeducates the adults who join it. It is the creation and spreading of this new culture—new ways of thinking, feeling, and acting—that constitute the most powerfully constructive educational force at work on the planet today. Placing this process of enculturation in a broad but simple educational context, we can regard the whole world as the classroom, all of humanity as the class, Baha'u'llah as the teacher, and His revelation as the curriculum.?

The objective of this divine curriculum is to unify man through the creation of a universal culture, the ultimate concern of which is man’s relationship to God. In this culture the religious order

10 [Page 11]determines the moral order in a way that enables the technological order to be controlled and utilized for the benefit of all mankind. In other words, its purpose is to educate man to his spiritual reality; establish a world order which reflects that reality, replace materialism as the motivating force behind human conduct, and restore technology to a position of service. It makes clear the order of priority among the value systems, removes the conflicts among them, and therefore deals with the causes of social and personal insecurity.

Turning away from materialism is a prerequisite to the attainment of social unity precisely for the reason that material things taken as an ultimate concern draw out of man characteristics which work against the achievement of unity” greed, avarice, covetousness, reckless ambition to dominate, and injustice in dealing with those who are weak or belong to minority groups.‘ What the new moral order requires are the opposites of these characteristics. We cannot rely upon science and scientific values to develop such characteristics in man because they do not, by themselves, create the kind of motivation needed. Scientific inference can only confer probability upon its'conclusions. As important as this is, the transformation of humanity will nonetheless depend upon a power and dynamic born of certitude and affirmation rather than probability. Religion, because of the spiritual values it can generate, confers certitude upon altruistic aspirations and makes selfless action possible. These, in turn, help to create and maintain the bonds of unity on which the new moral order must depend for its structural durability. For these reasons, the reeducation—the transformation—of man is contingent upon the emergence of a culture in which universal spiritual values are dominant. In essence, this is the basic rationale underlying the Baha’ perspective on education.

It should be noted that the Baha’ Faith, in establishing a value system which rejects materialism as a basis for community life, does not teach that science and technology are in themselves bad. It is only when technology and science are directed by a materialistic philosophy rather than by a

11 [Page 12]highly developed religious sense that they no

longer serve mankind and, in fact, may destroy it.

Baha'u'llah has stated: “Your sciences shall not profit

you in this day, nor your arts, nor your treasures, nor

‘your glory. Cast them all behind your backs, and set your faces towards the Most Sublime Word. . . .”5‘Abdu’lBaha, the son of Baha'u'llah, even goes so far as to say that the sciences, which are accepted and beloved when operating under the influence of the love of God, are not only fruitless without it, but are the cause of insanity.® He pleads for us to “turn

our hearts away from the world of matter and live in the spiritual world,” for “It alone can give us freedom!”7 and asserts that if “the spiritual nature of the soul bas been so strengthened that it holds the material side in subjection, then does man approach the divine; his buman ity becomes so glorified that the virtues of the celestial assembly are manifested in him; he radiates the mercy of God, he stimulates the spiritual progress of mankind, for he becomes a lamp to show light on their path.” ®

The Supreme Talisman— Man Spiritually Educated

BaAHA’U’LLAH, the Educator of the new era, characterized man as a treasury of potentialities which could be drawn out through education:

Man ts the supreme Talisman. Lack of a proper education hath, however, deprived him of that which he doth inherently possess. Through a word proceeding out of the mouth of God he was called into being; by one word more he was guided to recognize the Source of his education; by yet another word his station and destiny were safeguarded. The Great Being saith: Regard man as a mine rich in gems of inestimable value. Education can, alone, cause it to reveal its treasures, and enable mankind to benefit therefrom. If any man were to meditate on that which the Scriptures, sent down from the heaven of God's holy Will, have revealed, he will readily recognize that their purpose is that all men shall be regarded as one soul, so that the seal bearing the words, “The Kingdom shall be God's,” may be stamped on every

12 [Page 13]heart, and the light of Divine bounty, of grace,

and mercy may envelop all mankind. °

Man's only hope of becoming the supreme talisman, of developing his potentialities, is to have a “proper education.” The meaning of “talisman” points to the spiritual nature of those “gems of inestimable value”—the potentialities of man—and confirms the thesis that a proper education must therefore be based upon his spiritual realities. A talisman is an object which is cut or engraved with a sign “that attracts power from the heavens” and is thought to act as a charm which averts evil and brings good fortune. In the statement quoted above, Baha’u’llah specifies the nature of the seal or engraving (which signifies the spiritual quality of man’s identity because of the Source of his being and his education),.assures him protection from evil (safeguards hi station and destiny), and brings him good fortune (envelops him with “the light of Divine bounty, of grace, and mercy”).

The “engraving” on the supreme talisman is a spiritual one. It is synonymous with the image of God.!° That image represents all the attributes of God which are inherently possessed by man and can be expressed in the form of virtues."' It is these virtues, latent within us as potentialities, that are the “gems of inestimable value” which “proper education” can reveal.

The criterion for determining whether or not any educative experience is “proper” is whether or not it furthers God’s purpose for man. Baha'u'llah affirmed knowing and loving God as the “generating impulse and the primary purpose” underlying man’s creation.!? Any experience which reflects that purpose will have the power to release human potential—to reveal those gems of inestimable value which we inherently possess. It is imperative that we be aware of this verity, because it is consciousness of that purpose which keeps us in touch with our spiritual reality, inhibits selfalienation, and safeguards our destiny. Being out of touch with that purpose will always create an identity problem, for one cannot become his true self—find his true identity—if his capacities for

13 [Page 14]knowing and loving are impaired or suppressed. When formal systems of edugation become attuned to God’s purpose for man, they will function as institutionalized means of assisting every student to become his true self.'?

Formal Means of Education in the New World Order

WHILE Most societies have both formal and informal means of educating the young, the formal means, represented by such institutions as schools, universities, or other training agencies, make up only a small, although important, part of -he total educative force present within any given culture. The detailed specifications of educational institutions that will be produced by a Baha’i culture cannot be made with any certainty so early in the development of the Faith. However,

Bahd’u'llah and ‘Abdu'l-Bahé made numerous statements about education which provide basic guidelines for the development of educational institutions. In the new world order education will be compulsory.!4 It will consist in part of a standard curriculum for the whole world!5 and will include, at least, all sciences,!® agriculture, !7 art,'® music,!® literature and speech,?° and a universal auxiliary language.?! Training will emphasize the development of “good manners,” “praiseworthy virtues and qualities,” and spirituality .?? Science and religion will exist as complementary areas in the curriculum, rather than as conflicting systems of thought and action.?? Particular care will be given to promote the understanding and acceptance of the oneness of mankind as essential to world peace.?* Special attention will be given to the education of very young children,?> of parents,?® of both girls and boys with a preference given to girls if the education of both cannot be managed (since mothers usually have more responsibility for training children),?’ and of members of minority groups.” In the new order the process of becoming educated will be in itself regarded as an act of worship?° and will therefore be a spiritual activity motivated by religious con 14 [Page 15]viction rather than a secular activity motivated by purely economic considerations.

The above list is far from complete, but, whatever the specifications and functions of Baha’reducational institutions of the future, they will fully reflect the essentials of the culture created by Bahi’'u'llah, for if culture—that ubiquitous educator of man—is to provide a “proper” education, it must reflect a scale of values which places spiritual values in a dominant position among all others. It is only that kind of culture which has the power to release the potentialities of man and create the supreme talisman that man is longing to become. Nothing short of a Manifestation of God— a Moses, a Christ, a Buddha, a Muhammad—has the power to generate a new culture in which spiritual values are dominant.

In this age a new culture has been generated by Bahi#’u'llah. It is based on His revelation and is promulgated by the Baha’rinstitutions which He fashioned. This new culture, which is being spread from country to country and transmitted to the oncoming generation, brings to mankind the great promise of becoming spiritually reeducated and insures a quality of survival that is both purposeful and munificent.

15 [Page 16]Notes

1. ‘Abdu'l-Baha uses similar categories to classify types of education: “. . . education is of three kinds: material, human, and spiritual.” See Some Answered Questions (Wilmette, Il.: Baha’ Publishing Trust, 1964), p. 9.

2. For a lengthy discussion of this issue, see The Secular City Debate, ed. Daniel J. Callahan (New York: Macmillan Co., 1966). The book contains a series of discourses on the basic issues of secularism: how to grapple with “religionless Christianity,” sanctionless morality,” “religion without God,” “religion in the time of the ‘death of God’,” ete.

3. “The prophets of God are the first educators. They bestow universal education upon man and cause him to rise from lowest levels of savagery to the highest pinnacles of spiritual development.”—‘Abdu'l-Baha in Baha’ World Faith (Wilmette, IIl.: Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1943), p. 249. “From the heaven of God’s Will, and for the purpose of ennobling the world of being and of elevating the minds and souls of men, hath been sent down that which is the most effective instrument for the education of the whole human race.” Baha’u’llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah (Wilmette, Ill.: Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1956), p. 95.

4, Baha'u'llah and ‘Abdu'l-Baha, The Reality of Man (Wilmette, Ill.: Baha’ Publishing Trust, 1966), p. 51.

5. Baha'u'llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf (Wilmette, Ill.: Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1953), pp. 97-98.

6. ‘Abdu’l-Baha, Tablets of Abdul-Baba Abbas, UI (Chicago: Bahai Publishing Society, 1909-16), 687-88.

7. The Reality of Man, p. 16.

8. Ibid., pp. 13-14.

9. Gleanings, pp. 259-60.

10. In The Hidden Words of Baha'u'llah (Wilmette, IIl.: Baha’ Publishing Trust, 1963), p. 4, Baha'u'llah writes: “Veiled in My immemorial being and in the ancient eternity of My essence, | knew My love for thee; therefore I created thee, have engraved on thee Mine image and revealed to thee My beauty.”

11. “Upon the inmost reality of each and every created thing He hath shed the light of one of His names, and made it a recipient of the glory of one of His attributes. Upon the reality of man, however, He hath focused the radiance of all of His names and attributes, and made it a mirror of His own Self. Alone of all created things man hath been singled out for so great a favor, so enduring a bounty.”—Gleanings, p. 65.

12. Ibid.

16 [Page 17]13. “Through the Teachings of this Day Star of Truth ev ry man will advance and develop until be attaineth the sta tion at which he can manifest all the potential forces with which his inmost true self bath been endowed.” —Ibid., p. 68.

I+. Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Babd'u'lléb (Wilmette, HL: Bahay Publishing Committee, 1938), Db. Ni 15. ‘\bdu'l-Baha, Promulgation of Universal Peace (Chicago: Executive Board of Bahai Temple Unity, 1921-22), 1, 177.

16. Tablets of Abdul-Baba Abbas, \\, 448-49.

17. ‘Abdu'l-Baha, in Baba’y World Faith, p. 377.

18. Tablets of Abdul-Baba Abbas, \1, 449-50.

19. Ibid., Hl, 512.

20. Ibid., pp. 501-02.

21. ‘\bdu'l-Baha, Baha'r Peace Program (New York: Baha'r Publishing Committee, 1930), p. 16.

22. Tablets of Abdul-Baha Abbas, |, 87. See also Il, 373. It should be noted here that Baha’u'llih’s Writings mention over 1,400 virtues to be acquired by man.

23. ‘Abdu'l-Baha, quoted in J. E. Esslemont, Baha’wllah and the New Era, 3rd rev. ed. (Wilmette, III: Baha'r Publishing Trust, 1970), p. 202.

24. ‘Abdu'l-Baha, Star of the West, IX, 9, p. 98. See also Shoghi Effendi, The Advent of Divine Justice (Wilmette, Ill.: Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1963), p. 30.

25. Tablets of Abdul-Baha Abbas, (II, 606.

26. Ibid., pp. 578-79.

27. Ibid., pp. 579-80.

28. ‘Abdu'l-Baha, America’s Spiritual Mission (Wilmette, IIl.: Baha’ Publishing Trust, 1948), p. 10.

29. ‘Abdu'l-Baha, in Baha’ World Faith, pp. 377-79. �