| ←Issue 4 | Star of the West Volume 13 - Issue 5 |
Issue 6→ |
 Proofread onceReturn to PDF view
|
We are working hard to have proofread and nicely formatted text for you to read. Here is our progress on this section:
|
| VOLUME 13 | NO. 5 |
| CONTENTS FOR AUGUST, 1922 | ||
| PAGE | ||
Abdul Baha | Frontispiece | |
Progress in Religion | By Abdul Baha | 99 |
Happiness from a Bahai Viewpoint | Compiled by Martha Root | 101 |
A Fortune that Bestows Eternal Happiness | By Abdul Baha | 102 |
The Writings of Bahá 'Ullah | By Horace Holley | 104 |
When the Sun of Reality Becomes Truly Manifest | By Abdul Baha | 107 |
Meditation and Its Effect Upon Conduct | By Mary Hanford Ford | 109 |
Green Acre | By William H. Randall | 110 |
Editorials | 112 | |
| Join the Army of Peace | ||
| Can We Change Human Nature? | ||
| Signs of the Times | ||
A Visit to Bahje | By Nellie S. French | 116 |
A Beautiful Message from the Holy Land | By Rouha Khanum | 118 |
The Shrine of the Báb and the Bahai Temple of America | By Corinne True | 120 |
An American Teacher Goes to Persia | By Albert Vail | 121 |
Bahai News | 122 | |
New Books | 124 | |
Persian Section. A Tablet to Abul Fazl | 127 | |
Published twelve times a year
By the Publications Committee of the Bahai Temple Unity
| Mountfort Mills, Chairman | |
| Roy Wilhelm | Edna True |
| William H. Randall | Albert Vail |
| Albert Vail—Acting Editors—Emily Vail | |
| Dr. Zia M. Bagdadi—Persian Editor | |
Subscriptions: $3.00 per year; 25 cents a copy
Two copies to same name and address, $5.00 per year
Address Communications to Bahai News Service
P. O. Box 283, Chicago, or to
Bahai Publishing Society, Room 450, 508 South Dearborn St.,
Chicago, Illinois, U. S. A.
Entered as second class matter, April 9, 1911, at the postoffice at Chicago, Ill., under the Act of March 3, 1879.
--PHOTO--
ABDUL-BAHA
AT ABOUT TWENTY-FOUR YEARS OF AGE
The Question of Evolution
BY ABDUL BAHAONE of the most universally discussed topics of the day is the subject of evolution. Modern science has revealed the immensity of creation and the countless ages of its development with such a wealth of evidence that a new universe is opened before our astonished vision.
In the following comprehensive address given by Abdul Bahá at the great Annual May Festival of the American Unitarians in Boston, May 22, 1912 he explains the foundation principle of the new age, "The Independent Investigation of Truth" and applies the principle of evolution to progressive revelation in religion, to spiritual brotherhood and to the divine dynamic in the reconstruction of the world. The address is as follows:
Consider ye that all the created beings are in motion for motion is the sign of life and immobility is the sign of death. Every created thing that you see moving it is alive. And every created thing that you find not moving is dead. All creation is growing and evolving. It never ceases.
Of the creations of reason one is religion. Religion must be moving and day by day must grow and evolve. If it remains motionless it becomes decadent and declines for the bounties of God are continuous. Inasmuch as the bounties of God are continuous religion must be growing and evolving.
Consider carefully that all affairs have been renewed because this illumined century is the century of the renewal of all things. Sciences and arts were renewed. Industries also were in wonderful fashion renewed. Laws and ordinances were renewed. Conduct and customs were made new. Thoughts became new. The sciences of the past centuries are today fruitless. The laws of past centuries are fruitless. Old customs are useless. For this century is the century of miracles. It is the century of the manifestations of reality and compared to the past centuries is like the sun. Consider for a moment the sciences. The arts and sciences of past centuries are they fruitful today? The laws of ancient medicine—are they useful today? Or the ordinances of the despotism of ancient ages—are they fruitful today? It is evident that not one of them has any fruit.
Imitations that have emanated from imaginations and are not in accord with the foundations laid by the prophets of God—is it possible today for these imitations to give any benefit especially to people of intellect and science—for they see that these imitations are not in conformity with reality and science; nay, rather, they are superstitions. Therefore the materialists have in their hands a great excuse for their opposition to religion.
The divine prophets have established the true religion and from these imitations they are completely free. Nay, rather, they have spread divine knowledge, have given intellectual evidences, up-built human character, and promulgated the virtues of the world of humanity. The foundations laid by the prophets are the cause of the life of mankind. They became the cause of illumination of the world of humanity. But, alas, that all their teaching was entirely changed and altered. The realities that the prophets, with calamities and suffering, have spread abroad were lost through imitations. Every one of the prophets endured calamity and tortures with super-human endurance. Some of them became martyrs, some were exiled
in order that the divine foundation might be established. But in a short time the real foundation was lost, and imitations appeared. And because those imitations are different therefore they became the cause of discord and strife among mankind. For this reason strife and war appeared.
But the prophets are entirely without knowledge of these imitations; nay rather, they repudiate them, for the divine prophets were the founders of reality.
Now if the nations of the world forsake imitations and investigate reality they will become united and agreed. Reality is one. Reality does not admit multiplicity. And reality is the light of unity and the foundation of the oneness of the world of humanity. But imitations are the cause of the separation of mankind and are conducive to war and strife. All the religions that you know today are products of the imitation of fathers and grandfathers. A person whose father was a Jew, he is a Jew, too. If his father was a Christian he, too, is a Christian. If his father was a Buddhist he is a Buddhist. If his father was a Zoroastrian, he is a Zoroastrian also. All these sons imitate their fathers. They never investigate reality; and because they do not investigate reality they are ruled by imitation. These imitations became the cause of the world of humanity being entirely corrupted. And until imitations pass away unity and harmony will not be realized. Until these imitations are the happiness and comfort of the world of humanity will not be realized. Therefore the reality of the divine religions must be renewed.
Every religion was at one time in the state of a seed. It sprouted; it formed branches and leaves; it blossomed and bore fruits. Then that tree became old. The leaves fell away. The tree lost its fruits; nay, rather, it decayed. Then to hold on to it is useless. Therefore we must plant new seed once more for the foundation of divine religions is one. Should mankind relinquish these imitations all the nations and religions will be united. All will be kind to one another. There will remain no strife nor quarreling, for all are the servants of one God. God is kind to all. God is the provider for all. God is the reviver of all. God is the giver to all. As His Holiness Christ says, the sun of Divinity shines upon the evil and the good. That is to say, the mercy of God is universal. All humanity are under the shadow of the bounty of Truth. And all creation is submerged in the sea of the bestowals of God. The outpouring and the bounty of God are all encircling. Therefore today the path of progress is being prepared.
There are two kinds of progress. First the physical; second the spiritual. Physical progress is the cause of the comforts of life. But spiritual progress is the cause of the glory of the world of humanity for it serves the world of morality. Physical civilization is the cause of worldly happiness. But divine civilization is the cause of the everlasting glory of mankind. The divine prophets have established spiritual civilization. They have rendered service to the world of morals. They have established spiritual brotherhood.
Now brotherhood is of several kinds. There is brotherhood in the family. There is national brotherhood. There is racial brotherhood. There is moral brotherhood. There is brotherhood of language. But these kinds of brotherhood do not uproot and destroy strife and war among mankind.
But spiritual brotherhood which emanates from the Holy Spirit causes a perfect bond of union among mankind. It uproots and destroys completely the foundations of war. It makes different nations one nation. It makes the many countries one country because it establishes the oneness of the world of humanity, and promotes universal peace.
Therefore we must become acquainted with the foundations of divine religions,
forget these imitations, spread and practice whatever proves to be the reality of the divine teachings so that among mankind a universal spiritual brotherhood may be established. And this cannot be save through the power of the Holy Spirit. The happiness of the earth-world lies in the Holy Spirit. The glory of heaven is in the Holy Spirit. And all the degrees of receptivity to the Eternal depend upon the Holy Spirit. The declaration of universal peace, the oneness of the world of humanity all depend upon the Holy Spirit. By this power of the Holy Spirit the century is illumined, progress and prosperity are obtained, all mankind are united, all the countries become one country, all nations one nation. For the human world there is no higher attribute than this. Thanks be to God that in this century sciences have progressed, arts have progressed, liberty has progressed, justice has progressed. Therefore it has become worthy of these divine bounties. It is the century of the establishment of universal peace and the oneness of the world of humanity.
BY MARTHA ROOT.
(Reprinted by permission from the June issue of the Roycroft magazine.)THE BAHAI Cause now encircling the world is a movement for unity of religions, universal peace and a universal language. Its founders, the Bab, Baha 'Ullah and Abdul Bahá have brought to humanity a message which transforms for its followers this earth world into a spiritual Rose-Garden.
To present to you some of their thoughts on happiness is the purpose of this compilation of quotations. Asked the ultimate goal of a human life Abdul Baha replied that it assuredly was not to eat, nor to sleep, nor to dress, nor to repose on the couch of negligence. Rather it is to find one's way to eternity and understand the divine signs; to receive wisdom from the Lord of Lords and to move steadily forward like a great sea.
Speaking with a group of friends he said: "To see the joy of divine gladness on your faces is the cause of my happiness for when I see you happy, I am happy also. The divine messengers come to bring joy to this earth, for this is the planet of tribulation and torment and the mission of the great masters is to turn men away from these anxieties and to infuse life with infinite joy.
"When the divine message is understood all troubles will vanish. Shadows disappear when the universal lamp is lighted, for whosoever becomes illumined thereby no longer knows grief. He realizes that his stay on this planet is temporary and that life is eternal. When once he has found reality he will no longer retreat into darkness.
"Reflect on the tribulations the divine messengers endure in each age—exile, prison, the cross, decapitation; yet they ever remain tranquil.
"Behold the apostles of Christ! They had many trials. The friends of Bahá 'Ullah in Persia have undergone unspeakable calamities. Their possessions were seized and destroyed, their children captured, their lives sacrificed yet at the hour of martyrdom they danced with joy, for they were completely detached from the life of this world. Trials have never prevented men from knowing the happiness of the beyond. Nay, rather, this is the path."
"The world needs more happiness and illumination. The star of happiness is in every heart, we must remove the clouds so that it may twinkle radiantly. Happiness is an eternal condition. When it is once established, man will ascend to the supreme heights of bliss. A truly happy man will not be subject to the shifting eventualities of time. Like unto an eternal king he will sit upon the throne of fixed realities. He will be impervious to outward, changing circumstances, and through his deeds and actions impart happiness to others. A Bahai must be happy, for the blessings of God are bestowed upon him.
"Every soul must strive to impart to mankind that joy and happiness the nature of which its permanent."
"This is the day of happiness. In no time of any manifestation was there the cause for happiness as now. A happy state brings special blessings. When the mind is depressed the blessings are not received."
"Laugh and talk, don't lament and talk. Laugh and speak."
"Laughter is caused by the slackening or relaxation of the nerves. It is an ideal condition and not physical. Laughter is the visible effect of an invisible cause. For example, happiness and misery are super-sensuous phenomena. One cannot hear them with his ears or touch them with his hands. Happiness is a spiritual state. But happiness is caused either by looking at a beautiful picture, or witnessing a delectable panorama, or associating with the person whom you love, or listening to a good voice, or solving an intellectual problem. All these are the motives of happiness, but the real cause is spiritual."
"What is necessary is divine joy. Divine happiness is the speaker of the heart. . . . The soul of man must be happy no matter where he is. One must attain to that condition of inward beatitude and peace; then outward circumstances will not alter his spiritual calmness and joyfulness."
From 1868 to 1908 Abdul Bahá was a prisoner in Acca, Palestine. His teachings of universal peace and brotherhood were too far in advance of his time. But as he said, "Every morning when I awoke I praised God there was another day to serve Him in His prison. Every night I thanked Him that He had permitted me to serve His Kingdom one more day in His prison. I was in a Turkish prison forty years but every day was a day of perfect joy."
"My happiness," he said, "comes from the Kingdom of Abha! My joy is from the Delectable Paradise! My health is gained through the rays of the sun of Reality. My spirituality descends from the world of lights. My enkindlement is obtained from the Fire of the Love of God. My attraction is vouchsafed from the mainspring of all truths. My life is maintained through the fraternization of all mankind, the progress of the Cause of God and the unity of the friends."
Talks given by Abdul Bahá on Mount Carmel to a group of college students during their summer vacation. Recorded and translated by Mirza Ahmad Sohrab.
"TRUE happiness is found in purity of thought. Whenever I look into your radiant faces I am made most happy because your thoughts are pure. You must live in such a manner that whenever I think of you I may be made joyous; whenever I behold your shining countenances I may become happy; whenever I hear good news of you my heart may be filled with delight.
"Man must so live that he may become beloved in the sight of God, beloved in the estimation of the righteous ones and beloved and praised by the people. When he reaches this station the feast of eternal happiness is spread before him. His heart is serene and composed because he finds himself accepted at the threshold of His Highness, the One. His soul is in the utmost felicity and bliss even if he be surrounded by mountains of tests and difficulties. He will be like unto a sea on the surface of which one may see huge white waves, but in its deeps it is calm, unruffled and undisturbed. If he trusts his happiness to worldly objects and fluctuating conditions he is doomed to disappointment. Should he gain a fortune and anchor his happiness to that he may hypnotize himself into a state of so-called joy for a few days, and then that very fortune will become a mill-stone around his neck, the cause of his worry and melancholy.
"But if he lives in accordance with the good-pleasure of the Lord he will be favored at the court of the Almighty. He will be drawn nigh unto the throne of Majesty. He will be respected by all mankind and loved and honored by the believers. This fortune bestows eternal happiness. The tree of this fortune is ever green. The autumnal wind does not sear its leaves nor does the frost of winter rob it of its perennial freshness. This is a happiness which is not followed by any misery but is always a source of gratefulness and blessedness. The most great, peerless gift of God to the world of humanity is happiness born of love—they are the twin sisters of the superman; one is the complement of the other. Everything that contributes to the sum total of this human happiness is a gift on the part of God, and that thing which does not add to the aggregate of this ideal felicity must be, little by little or all at once eliminated.
"Therefore, it becomes self-evident that the first bestowal to the world of humanity is happiness, that kind of happiness which is unalterable and ideal. If, by happiness physical enjoyment of material things is meant then the ferocious wolf is made happy because he kills the innocent lamb and satisfies his hunger for a few hours. This is not happiness. Happiness is a psychological condition created in brain, mind and heart, the effect of which works out from the center to the circumference. For example, after many days and nights of reflection the philosopher unravels a seemingly unsolvable problem. As the result, a wave of supreme happiness surges through his being. The philanthropist comes to the assistance of thousands of half-starved, half-clothed, afflicted people of a nation. In his deed he wins much contentment. An engineer spans a large river with a suspension or cantilever bridge, or an architect makes the design of an edifice. Each finds true enjoyment in his work.
"It is related that Baseer Tousy was well versed in the science of astronomy. Many nights he walked on the roof of his house watching the stars. Whenever he happened to discover the true position of a planet or to locate the place of a constellation he became so enraptured with the joy of a new idea that he would get up and dance and sing, saying: 'Where are the kings? Where are the monarchs of the earth? What is true felicity? Let them come and see what real happiness means, what ideal bliss really is.'
"It is for this reason that Bahá 'Ullah in all his tablets has made it incumbent upon all to study sciences and arts, encouraging everyone in the acquirement of learning and a liberal education for the eternal happiness of mankind lies in these (things).
"Praise be to God that for the present you are all well and happy! I have met you and associated with you this hour. You are living on the slope of Mount Carmel, are near to the Holy Tomb of the Bab, inhaling the fragrance of its rose garden, are looking at the unique
panorama and are enjoying the gifts of heaven. This is the ultimate hope of the lovers of truth, to be in the neighborhood of the Most Eminent Mercy!"
In the evening there was a large meeting. When the Master entered the room he looked over the bright faces of the Bahai students and exclaimed with delighted heart:
"God be praised! How wonderful are these students! I am looking forward with great hope to their future. In reality they are beneath the shade of the Blessed Perfection and they are being animated with the spirit of the Holy Land. For this reason they are superior to many other students. Their mettle will become known in the future. They are now in the process of refining; when they come out of the crucible their brightness will become manifest. The word of God is the refining which will polish them, suffering them to become as tested gold.
"Every single assured and firm believer will consider himself the servant of all the friends of God, nay, rather, the servant of the world of humanity. The honor of man depends upon this. The everlasting glory of mankind lies in this. For this reason his holiness Christ says: 'The last shall be first; the least among you in the Kingdom is the greatest.' Whosoever desires to walk in the path of the Kingdom, so that he may reach the court of the Almighty, he must be a true servant. The path of God cannot be compared with the paths of men. The humbler man is in the path of God the more exalted is he; the greater his meekness and submissiveness the more beloved is he; the more he is surrounded with tests and trials the vaster the tranquillity and composure of his spirit. Nay, rather, in the path of God humility is honor, trouble is rest, affliction is bestowal, poverty is wealth, indigence is sovereignty and lowliness is nobility. Truly, I say, whosoever is the real servant of the believers of God is their assistant and helper. We must all walk in this divine path."
AS taught us all in the schools, literature tends to become either a classification according to its form—the novel, drama, essay and poem—or according to its historical continuity. Both methods externalize the reality of literature away from our personal experience. We are inclined to know the author by his work rather than the work by its author. We are inclined even to glorify the work at the expense of the creator from whom it came. The student unconsciously begins to conceive the poem, say, as being the poet refined to the utmost degree, the poet translated temporarily and accidentally to a higher condition, much as though the man were to his own production just as the oyster is to its pearl. Since the poem exists above and beyond our own capacity, we feel that it exists above and beyond the human character of the poet. But any person who has ever actually felt the creative impulse within his own consciousness realizes that the work produced, even at its best, renders only a fraction of the significance that impulse contained. During creation, the author feels an infinite resource opened within him, a resource which the work created never satisfactorily records. The work itself, then, represents merely the author's power of responding to the impulse, not the capacity of the impulse itself. In other words, literature is the record of what the infinite impulse has been able to effect in and through certain limited lives.
This distinction between creative impulse and sensitive instrument is vital. Every literary work is like a telescope which can be held up to the eye at either end. According as we experience literature through the limitations of minds to respond, or the unlimited capacity and appeal of the creative impulse itself, we are led to believe that writing, like a tower, can never rise above a certain height, or we believe that, like a fine musical instrument, its power grows forever with the touch of the hand by which it is played.
It is actually as though the individuals capable of producing literature were themselves each one a definite number of notes on the entire, indefinite scale of the instrument. Authors differ vastly as to what notes sound through their work, and what notes remain silent. In one we have aesthetic sensitiveness without moral discrimination; in another able logic without feeling of beauty. The whole of literature is far from being literature as a whole. The whole of literature, historically, is nothing more than a long series of limited parts, and literature as a whole can no more be imagined from grouping together these parts than could a sound man be imagined by one who knew only different forms of disease.
But to externalize literature is to miss even the ability to perceive this fact. It is to miss even the true humility characteristic of the creator, by which the creator tends to belittle poems even while glorifying poetry. The creative mind is well aware that if somehow the silent notes could be made to sound, all that literature has done in the past would seem by comparison nothing. He is impatient of his own work, knowing that its excellence is merely the power of commanding a small field. But without knowing what literature is in its essense, our reading continually goes astray. We travel the road of experience, but we travel backward. We scale the creative power by what has actually been created, rather than what has been created by the creative power; which is to measure the heavens by the highest visible hill.
Thus it seems to most students that Shakespeare is and must be supreme in literature for all time. Shakespeare, it seems, sounded all the available notes on the keyboard of life. One by one he brings every type of man and woman upon the stage, where one by one their inmost secrets are exquisitely, completely told. The gesture of good and evil, power and weakness alike he rendered in all its deepest significance.
But with the decay of personal experience, the very power of estimating values passes away. We expect nothing beyond Shakespeare, because we stand within the superficial completeness of the work and not within the profound incompleteness of the man. We do not even follow Shakespeare himself to his own consummation, his own self-estimation as a mind transcended by power unencompassed on every hand. But I recall that his old age, in the person of Prospero, deliberately broke the wand by which all those dear enchantments had been raised. Even about this mind the darkness fell. Master of motives within the range of his own experience, Shakespeare at last paid reverent homage to motives outside its ken. Breaking the magician's wand seems, to the lesser mind, merely as though the poet withdrew from poetry in the weakness of old age; but to the mind capable of standing beside Shakespeare himself the broken wand signifies nothing less than his recognition that all human drama had begun to crumble away with the perception of a greater and a beyond. Triumph is the glory of the lesser mind; humility is the glory of the great. Shakespeare's old age cannot be taken as the guttered candle, the empty lamp—it was the opening of a weary student's window at dawn, when the rising sun shames the candle to his own gladdened eyes. Shakespeare knew
within himself the silent notes, and where he could not invoke masterful music he left the instrument to less sensitive hands.
Not in quantity of work, not even in what the world calls quality, therefore, does the essence of literature lie. Shakespeare surpassed other men merely by combining in himself certain qualities other men share among themselves. There is no one elment in Shakespeare not manifested since his time by many poets. He possessed no notes beyond our capacity severally to possess. But where all minds are dumb, he is dumb. What all men seek, he also sought, with an inquiry more poignant, more insistently phrased. The essence of literature consists in its power to reveal. Shakespeare's revelation is the perplexity of human life when actuated by motives resident in the personal, the outer layer of thought.
So much it is desirable to say by way of approach to the writings of Bahá 'Ullah. By minds limited to the customary closed circle of experience, these writings can be read over and over without understanding. The supreme benefit of reading them, indeed, is to learn merely how they are to be read. A lifetime might well be spent pondering them word by word, if real understanding came pure and full at the end. For in Bahá 'Ullah we have a mind whose response to the infinite creative impulse begins precisely where the "literary" effort stops. Apparently Bahá 'Ullah has not that masterful intimacy with "life" itself for the revelation of a new dominion over the generations. The truth is, however, that Bahá 'Ullah, taking "life" for granted, stands outside "life" itself for the revelation of a new motive. He does not sound the Shakespearian notes, because he sounds the notes that have been silent in us all. No comparison between Bahá 'Ullah and other writers is possible. The closest similarity to Bahá 'Ullah's writings are the utterances of Jesus. By those who love them Jesus' utterances are not comparable with literary productions. They are absorbed into the yearning spirit as from a source deeply hidden within, that the spirit may be re-actuated and transformed.
But there is a subtle distinction even here. Jesus' message was that to the infinite power surrounding our consciousness an infinite response can be made. Jesus made himself the Way for human experience to travel—every painful furlong of the Way, from the birth of the spiritual child into the indifferent flesh to the resurrection of the spiritual man at the hands of the flesh furious at its own threatened subordination. Thus the words of Jesus are the manifestation of the Christ—the power of men to respond infinitely to the infinite power of God. But Bahá 'Ullah's message does not repeat the message of Christ—it completes that message. Whereas Christ planted his words as seeds within the soul, Baha' Ullah's writing fertilizes those seeds as by the shining of the sun in spring. He manifests the surrounding, controlling Infinite of universal spirit just as Christ manifested the response on the part of consciousness to that Infinite control. Christ was Religion working up to its source through the painful experience of reluctant humanity; Baha 'Ullah is Religion self-subsistent, unchanging, the beginning as well as the end of the Way.
Thus in the writings of Bahá 'Ullah there is an influence not dwelling elsewhere in literature or philosophy. That influence permeates and proceeds from a literary and philosophic form, but the power of the influence well-nigh shatters the cup of speech. Here is Truth, in distinction to facts; Reality in distinction to logic; immovable Power in distinction to emotion. Our categories and our systems fail to contain this writing, as engineers would fail to dam the sea. Our critical faculties even prevent us from approaching its outpouring effect, for its very purpose is to create
new faculties as standards in the mind. It is a Mystery, but not secretive; a Revelation, but not argumentative; Love, but not enticement. In numberless passages the flame burns visibly forth and the wine intoxicates. It is a spiritual geography for the searching mind, a home for the heart outworn. But alas, even in the abundance of midspring, the dead tree stands unmoved.
"Revelation is a fire from which proceed two effects: It creates the flame of love within the faithful, but produces the cold of heedlessness within those that hate."
"The proof of the sun is its light which shines forth encompassing the world; and the evidence of the shower is the bounty renewing the earth at its fall."
PASSING OF THE CLOUD OF THE BODY
A Tablet by Abdul Bahá to the Great Scholar, Abul FazlWhen in 1892 Bahá 'Ullah, after fifty years of glorious teaching in Persia, in Bagdad, in the most great prison of Acca, passed into the unseen world his disciples were prostrate, even the saintly Abul Fazl. It seemed as if nothing could console them. Abdul Bahá wrote twice to Abul Fazl but he was so grief stricken that he sent no answer. The spiritual radiance reflected from the mirror of Bahá 'Ullah's earthly temple was so life-giving even Abul Fazl was desolate when the physical mirror was broken. Then Abdul Bahá wrote him the following marvelous tablet. It has a deep significance for all his friends today.—Editor.
O thou father, mother and brother of Faza'il (virtues)!
It has been a long time since the fragrance of significances from the rose-gardens of the heart of that fountainhead of knowledge has reached the nostrils of the longing ones or the flame of the heat of the vibrations of yearning have reached the meadows of the hearts of the true friends. Although at the commencement of the burning anguish caused by the separation of the Beloved of the Horizons (Baha 'Ullah), a letter was sent, yet the acknowledgment of its receipt has not appeared, nor has the sign of acceptance been made manifest. It is evident that this distress and depression are due to the severity of the grief for the separation of the Beloved of the Horizons and this inactivity is due to the effect of the great calamity. But the lights of the Sun of Reality have no setting, nor have the waves of the great sea any quiet or calm. The bounties of the Abha, the most glorious Kingdom are uninterrupted and the splendors of the Empyrean heaven are permanent. The clouds of the April of bestowals are overflowing and the artery of the love of God is pulsating in the body of the world. The confirmations of the most glorious, Abha companion are incessant and the grace of his holiness the Most High is continuous. Though that most luminous Sun has set in the lower horizon, which is the horizon of beings, yet it has risen and shone forth from the highest horizon. Though, until the present time, the eyes of mankind on account of veils have been deprived, blinded and covered, new that veil which in every dispensation and age has been the cause of denial is being removed. For in all dispensations when the Manifestation of His Oneness appeared
from the horizon of beings the greatest excuse of the people was this: they said, "Thou art only a human being like us." . . . "He is only a human being like you." In short, they considered the appearance of those Manifestations of Oneness the cause of falsehood and ground for rejection. But after the ascension (of the Manifestation) they became believers and assured, for then they did not regard the physical, human person; therefore, they became aware of the power, evidences and proofs of God. They became the manifestation of, "Thy sight today is iron-sight."
Thus, should you kindly reflect upon this it would become evident that in all ages the ascendency of the Word of God has been after the ascension of the Dawning Points of Lights to the supreme horizon. For the people, naturally, are more inclined and more attracted to believe in the invisible. In all times, in the day of the Manifestation they rejected him, evinced pride, found excuses, and in the abode of superstitions they built their nests. When they looked upon Him as a person who had appeared in a human temple and physically resembled them they became veiled from the divine bounty.
When the eyes of Satan looked upon the body of dust and the earthly talisman of his holiness Adam he became deprived of sight and blind to that boundless treasure which is the greatest bestowal of God and the noblest human characteristic. "Thou hast created me from fire and thou hast created him (Adam) from clay," he said. Now, the purpose is this, that in the Book of Ighan (Baha 'Ullah) considered the human temple as a cloud and the Divine Reality as the sun;—"and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory." He interpreted and explained the verse from the Gospel in the foregoing manner.
Therefore, now is the time to become ablaze and This is the hour of proclamation and attraction. This is the hour for you, like unto the sea, to be surging; like unto the clouds, to be flashing with lightning; like unto the dove of the garden of faithfulness to break forth into songs and melodies; like unto the birds of the heaven of eternity to be ever singing and warbling.
O, ye nightingales of the rose-garden of guidance! O, ye messengers* of the home of bounty! It is the time of rejoicing and acclamation. It is the hour of songs and anthems. Sit ye not with hearts distressed and sleep ye not with hearts broken. Soar ye to the apex of sublimity. Start ye singing in the rose-garden of guidance. Seek ye the abode of the Merciful and the melodies of the rose-garden of His Holiness, the Beneficent.
If in this Divine spring-time ye do not sing in what season will ye sing and become familiar and well-acquainted with the roses of significances?
O thou Abul Fazl. Where is the blaze of the fire of thy tree? Where is the effulgence of the light of thy love? Where are the waves of thy knowledge? Where is the breeze of the rose-garden of thy assurance? Where are thy melodies which cheer the ears? Where are thy fragrances which perfume the nostrils of the people of the world? Where is the attraction of thy heart? Where is the expansion (dilation) of thy breast? Where are the glad-tidings of thy spirit? Where is the glow of thy fire and where is the flame of thy torch? Forsake inactivity even though in these days inertness from the graveness of anxieties is commended and praised. Then come out from the corner of oblivion; seek the summit of acceptance; soar in this Abha, most glorious space; enter into the rose-garden of the Cause of God by thy arising to diffuse the
*Literally "lapwings" or Messengers of Solomon.
fragrances of His sanctity and to elevate His word with such rising that the pillars of polytheism will totter, the hearts heedless to the Lord of Lords will tremble, the centers of knowledge will be uplifted, the standards of assurance will be spread abroad, the banners of explanation will wave and the sails of life will be hoisted in the ark of safety on the sea of creation.
ABDUL BAHA ABBAS.
Translated by Dr. Zia M. Bagdadi.
MEDITATION AND ITS EFFECT UPON CONDUCT
By MARY HANFORD FORD
THE human being is a creature who is ordinarily governed by impulses which rise within him comparatively unwatched and unguarded. If he feels happy or melancholy, angry or patient, his action reflects the conditions of his being, and if one reproach him for faults which might disappear with a little self-control he is apt to reply—"Well, I am made that way, and I can't help it."
He is only conscious of the physical impulse which prompts a certain nervous expression and he has not yet learned that there are two of him and that if he would become acquainted with his greater self, the soul or reality, life might be very different, and the disagreeable elements of his temperamental man could easily disappear.
There is a wave of psychological study passing over the world which has excellent results and which is causing many persons who never gave much thought previously to the existence of the "inner man" to perceive something of this interesting individual, who presently becomes vastly more important as an element of personality than is indicated by that mysterious and baffling term, "the subconscious." The subconscious is in fact the true self, the soul, or as Abdul Bahá often calls it, the reality.
There is no part of his wonderful teaching which is more clear and convincing than that relating to the soul in its contact with life, the body, and God. As we follow it we realize that the soul is the avenue through which we know God and receive the Holy Spirit, that it is always a distinct entity becoming more luminous and powerful as we turn to God and control the animal man in us. It often surrounds us like an aureole in our earlier stages of development, but as we progress, and reflect its light, it leaves us even in our waking hours and carries on its own activity. The subconscious, in other words, is the true thinker and revealer in us, through whom words become real prayer, and impulse becomes intuition and veritable guidance.
But how is this possible? We ask anxiously, and Abdul Baha's reply is, through prayer, meditation and deeds, because without the deeds which express the results of meditation and prayer these remain only delightful experiences of the soul, and do not transform life. Abdul Bahá says in the great address on meditation in the Paris Talks—the one who cannot meditate is still in the animal kingdom!
Many persons are not aware of the difference between concentration and meditation, which is very positive. Through concentration we enter the psychic or mental world, we hypnotize, we develop the personal will. But in meditation we enter the Abha kingdom by temporarily eliminating the personal will. In this state we penetrate the consciousness of the reality, and can receive the divine commands through the Holy
Spirit, and if we are strong enough to obey the commands we receive our impulses are overcome, we obtain eternal life and become rational beings instead of merely animals who walk erect.
Many believers are only mental believers. They have never taken time to abstract themselves from the turmoil of the outer life and hear the "still, small voice" which is only audible to the inner ear. Bahá 'Ullah says: "We speak one word and by it we intend one and seventy meanings—each one of them we can explain."
These one and seventy meanings are not simply shades of mental and spiritual interpretation but often facts of life which we can only understand through prayer and self-control. The individual who is no longer capable of anger, envy, ambition or revenge, who does not feel such impulses, who is made ill by indulgence in gossip and scandal, and therefore no longer tolerates them has entered the spiritual path and is beginning to know eternal life.
These are some of the results of real meditation, when it is sought as a means of purifying the outer man, not merely as a spiritual pleasure and intoxication. The latter is delightful but not educating, and people who form the habit of meditation without deeds sometimes fall into serious nervous trouble. Meditation lights a fire within us which demands fuel, the fuel of growth and thoughtful activity, and if we refuse to feed it with these, it is liable to burn up its own oven! And this, of course, is not particularly agreeable or advantageous for the oven. However, Abdul Baha says: "The test of existence is motion. An object which has in itself the power of motion lives; if motion is withheld growth ceases. That is mortality. . . . If the reality of man is not confirmed by the divine power there is no doubt whatsoever but that it will stop along the path of human progress, and after its stop there will be a fall."
The confirmation of this divine power comes to us through meditation and its resultant deeds. And one sees the great advance daily among those who are seeking spiritual truth. Sight comes into the eyes, happiness to the heart, and though outward circumstances may not be what one desires, the light and happiness are not diminished. Such light and such happiness are from within and are not dependent upon exterior happenings.
THERE is one spot in America that has always been the soil of Peace, and before Columbus dreamed of a Western world, it was a zone dedicated to Peace by the Indian Chiefs who gathered on this sacred ground to smoke the Pipe of Good-will; it was owned by all and possessed by none, just as God created the earth.
This historic spot is situated in Eliot, Me., on the banks of the beautiful Piscataqua River, named by the Indians "River of Light," as the sunset turned it to gold. As in those days the camp fires heralded from tribe to tribe the covenant of the peace of the red men, so in this day, on the same spot, the Green Acre flag bears the emblem "Peace" to the whole world.
On his return from America the very first night Abdul Bahá spoke to the friends who had gathered at the evening meeting in his home at Haifa in these words: "There is a place in America called Green Acre. It is customary during the months of summer for people of different creeds and religions to gather there and the leaders
of various movements and thoughts deliver lectures and addresses; thus they have combined most effectively education and recreation. The significance and usefulness of this unique place lie in the fact that they offer a free and unrestricted platform to the citizens of every nation and the adherents of every religion. Thus every subject is discussed with that full liberty of conscience which alone is enjoyed in the United States. The Founder of these Conferences, wherein every nationality and religion is worthily represented, is Miss Farmer. To her is due all praise and commendation for having thus initiated this wonderful plan, which must be carried out to its logical conclusion—a universal platform for all mankind, irrespective of race, religion or nationality. As the name Green Acre is similar to the town of Acca, when I arrived there I was made very happy. I spent one week in that green and delightful Acca. It is a most beautiful country place. Its water is pure, its air is salubrious and its atmosphere is spiritual. Here they have many pine groves, under which people gather to hear lectures. Mirza Abul Fazl, when in Green Acre, used to give his addresses under some of these pines and so they are known as the Persian Pines."
Green Acre is one of the lovely summer spots of New England, combining an Inn, Fellowship House, music and lecture hall, tea room and cottages, now hidden, now revealed through pines, green meadows and sloping hills. Much has been done the past year to improve and modernize the physical needs of Green Acre and to make practical the inner and outer worlds of our welfare.
Green Acre has a call, a distinct call, to the universal mind and to the universal heart to advance material and spiritual ideals, to further economic and social justice, to sense Reality in the miniature of the advancing civilization of this Day of God. Its natural beauty and the standard of its Conferences combine recreation and inspiration. It is becoming one of the great spiritual centers of America, because it has no creed or sect, but welcomes all in the terms of humanity. Its religion includes the world, its doctrine is brotherhood. Its doorways lead to the kingdom of world peace, the equality of men and women, the unity of science and religion, a magnet of Universal Realities.
Miss Farmer was a Bahai and she received many Tablets from Abdul Baha in regard to the foundation and fulfillment of Green Acre, and in conclusion we quote a few words from several of these Tablets:
"Consider the divine splendors in Green Acre: One of them is the tree of fire, and another is what was witnessed by thy friend . . . . . . . ., a light shining forth unto all sides. . . . Verily, I beseech God to make Green Acre as the Paradise of El-Abha, so that the melodies of the nightingale of sanctity may be heard from it and that the chanting of the verses of unity may be raised therein; to cause the clouds of the great gift to pour upon it the rains falling from Heaven, . . . These signs shall surely appear and these lights shall shine forth. . . . Consequently, if one looks for praiseworthy results and wishes to produce eternal effects, let him make exceeding effort, in order that Green Acre may become an assemblage for the Word of God and a gathering place for the spiritual ones of the heavenly world."
EDITORIAL
TWELVE years ago a group of friends in Chicago felt that the light of the Bahai Cause, which was just beginning to shine in the west, should have a mirror to reflect its heavenly teachings and its world-wide progress. They started a little paper called the Bahai News. Mr. Albert Windust and Miss Gertrude Buikema stepped forward to take up the work of editing and circulating the little sheet. Abdul Baha wrote beautiful tablets concerning the universal magazine into which it was to develop. Mirza Ahmad Sohrab started the Persian section which, when he went to the Orient, was taken over by Dr. Zia Bagdadi. Their devoted services have made a visible bond between the east and the west and brought news and heavenly words to multitudes in the Orient.
The Bahai News became the STAR OF THE WEST. It was enlarged to its present size during the epochal tour of Abdul Bahá to the United States in 1912. During the following years it has published Abdul Baha's addresses in churches and synagogues, in universities and before progressive societies,—those addresses which are the charter of the new civilization.
All these years Mr. Windust and Miss Buikema with self-sacrificing devotion prepared and circulated the issues in addition to their regular business, often stealing their hours of sleep and their holidays needed for rest that the STAR OF THE WEST might shed its light. Today the growth of the STAR has made the work too heavy for them and so the National Spiritual Assembly through its Publication Committee has come to their assistance.
Miss Mary Lesch, through fourteen years of heroic devotion, has built up the Bahai Publishing Society with its present splendid stock of Bahai literature. Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Agnew were the brave pioneers who, seeing the light of the star in the east began in 1902 to publish the books that should reflect its universal glory into the west. Through their loving service and that of Miss Mary Lesch a wonderful library of the Bahai writings has been put at the disposal of the National Spiritual Assembly and the English-speaking friends.
Now the two activities are to be united through the Publications Committee, with present headquarters at Room 450, 508 South Dearborn Street, Chicago. The STAR OF THE WEST will be published twelve times a year according to the western calendar until the Universal House of Justice works out in detail the calendar of the new age.
JOIN THE ARMY OF PEACE!
THE divine religion is the religion of service. Spirituality, says Abdul Baha, is love in action. A supreme service in this the greatest of all centuries, as Abdul Bahá wrote to an American friend, is "service to the Kingdom of Peace." "The army of the oneness of the world of humanity will regenerate the world like heavenly angels. The sharp sword of this army is the love of God and its power the knowledge of God."
With the Genoa conference failing, the nations on the verge of bankruptcy and despair, hatred and suspicion rending asunder the ties of international friendships and threatening the very foundations of humanity the call to peace and reconciliation rings like the bell of the voice of God through the world.
"Hasten ye toward guidance!
Hasten ye toward union!
Hasten ye toward love and prosperity!
Hasten ye to behold the Light of the World!
Hasten ye toward peace and reconciliation!
Hasten ye toward the law of disarmament!
Hasten ye toward harmony and success!
Hasten ye toward co-operation and mutual help in the path of guidance."
ABDUL BAHA.
Our age cries for the fulfillment of the vision of John on Patmos when "a multitude which no man could number, out of every nation and of all kindreds and peoples and tongues" shall arise before the throne of God, arrayed in the white robes of pure intentions and universal love, dedicated to the establishment of a universal society of nations, a universal peace. To join this army of the most great peace one must first be equipped with the heavenly teachings; secondly, try to practice them in his own life and then spread them by loving, selfless deeds and radiant words among the people.
To listen to the divine call and sense the Kingdom, "this," writes Abdul Baha, "is the first step in the path of God, but the distance of the way is great. . . . That pathway is that of
Severance from the world-tie;
Reliance upon God;
Baptism through spirit and fire;
Attainment to the spirit of the knowledge of God;
Conflagration with the fire of the love of God;
Trustworthiness;
Faithfulness and firmness in the Covenant;
Steadfastness in the Cause, and,
Service to the Kingdom of Peace which shall soon establish its tent in the center of the world."
"O ye my soldiers of the Kingdom!" calls Abdul Baha. "Be ye valiant and fearless! Day by day add to your spiritual victories. Be ye not disturbed by the constant assaults of the enemies. Attack ye like unto the roaring lions. Have no thought of yourselves, for the invisible armies of the Kingdom are fighting on your side. Enter ye the battlefield with the Confirmations of the Holy Spirit. Know ye of a certainty that the powers of the Kingdom of Abha are with you. The hosts of the heaven of Truth are with you. The cool breezes of the Paradise of Abha are wafting over your heated brows. Not for a moment are ye alone. Not for a second are ye left to yourselves. The Beauty of Abha is with you. The Glorious God is with you. The King of Kings is with you."
CAN WE CHANGE HUMAN NATURE?
A BAHAI CONVERSION.
ALL programs for world peace, for economic right and justice depend for their execution upon the creation of a new heart in our race of human beings, "the establishment of the Kingdom of God first in the hearts of men and then upon earth." To educate this new humanity is the supreme need of the century. Because Bahá 'Ullah and Abdul Bahá are able to train that new type of men and women by the divine elixir of their life and teachings they have made this century radiant with the hope of a new world-society in which dwelleth righteousness.
An instance of this power is recorded by Mirza Ahmad Sohrab when he was living at Haifa. It is an account of the conversion of a Russian highwayman who visited Abdul Bahá in the Holy Land in 1914. "Before he accepted this revelation he was well-known in all those parts as a dangerous character whose very name struck terror to the heart of the members of the community. It may be an exaggeration, but I have heard from several persons that, in his former whirlwind desperado life he killed about two hundred people. Physically he is a giant, tall and powerfully built. Well, when this man embraced the Bahai Cause and learned of its lofty and spiritual principles a most miraculous
transformation occurred in his life. It was more than miraculous. We have no word for it in the dictionary. Whereas formerly he was ferocious, he became meek. He was a wolf; now he became more gentle than a lamb. He was a Satan; he became a radiant angel. He walked among the people as a standing miracle. They looked at him, rubbed their eyes, and could not believe. Mystery of mysteries! Wonder of wonders! What divine alchemy had changed the base metal of this man into pure gold!
"By and by they came around and asked the reason—not from him, but from others. He did not have to open his mouth to teach the Cause. This singular and instantaneous transformation of his character was the greatest act of teaching. Then all of a sudden it dawned upon the minds of many citizens of the town what a truly marvelous miracle had transpired in their midst. They became Bahais, and today are the most wonderful body of true, noble Bahais in all Russia. . . . Let the agnostics and materialists who deny the religion of God and negate the good it has rendered study the psychology of this case!"
Speaking of such spiritual rebirth, Abdul Bahá once said: "Ordinarily a moral teacher strives day and night until a person abandons one of his many evil attributes. But as soon as the guidance of God and the faith of God dawn from the horizon of a heart that person is a changed man. All his evil characteristics are transformed into praiseworthy attributes. Whereas formerly he was a coward, he becomes courageous. Whereas before he was debased, he becomes sanctified and holy. Even in his intelligence, his knowledge, his sagacity and his mentality he is a different man."
SIGNS OF THE TIMES
As the wireless telephones radiate their messages around the globe in a new miracle of world-communication there comes the call for an international code, a universal language. The physical means of world brotherhood are ready,—steamships, railroads, air planes, wireless, radio,—all prepared for men to come from the east, west, north, south and sit down in the kingdom of God. Now we need a universal auxiliary language so that they can understand each other, universal education so that they can know each other, universal religion so that they can love each other.
A friend of Rabindranath Tagore is traveling through America presenting the literary jewels of India, and the east as a means to the unity of the Orient and Occident. He tells this story:
Once in the jungle of India a man saw a strange object moving through the dark. He thought it was a ghost. It came nearer; he thought it was a tiger. It came nearer; he thought it was a robber. It came still nearer and behold, it was his brother! So are we recognizing brothers in all countries. We shall see them best in the light of the Sun of Reality which is now dawning, a glorious sunrise of divine recognition, spiritual vision, universal consciousness.
A vital question is being debated within the churches especially among those of the Northern Baptists, the largest of the Protestant Christian sects in the United States. The conservatives, called Fundamentalists, insist on a return to the Bible as the great fundamental, but they interpret the Bible literally. Their central contention is that the great war, the present world disorder and disillusionment following in its wake make manifest how impossible it is for weak human power to save a falling world. Only the return of Christ, the rending of the heavens, the new earth of his millennial kingdom can save mankind. Prophesy has been fulfilled,
his coming is at hand, they proclaim.
The liberals insist that the fundamentalists lay too much stress on the literal text of the Bible and the coming of a kingdom of wrath and vengeance. They call for a deeper and more scientific understanding of the Bible.
From the Bahai point of view both parties have caught and are reflecting the rays of the new day, but each sees different rays. Prophets always write in figures of speech. As Abdul Baha says, it is only figures of speech that can outlast the changes in languages. A symbol drawn from nature or age-long human relations has an external quality. But figures of speech like divine poetry must be interpreted. They are tests of spiritual insight. "When Christ came nineteen hundred years ago," says Abdul Baha, "those who interpreted the scriptures literally denounced and slew him, saying: 'This is not the one for whom we wait. Behold, when the Messiah shall come signs and wonders will testify that he is in truth the Christ. We know the signs and conditions and they have not appeared. The Messiah will arise out of an unknown city. He will sit upon the throne of David, and behold he will come with a sword of steel and with a scepter of iron will he rule.' . . . The letter they knew by heart, but of the life-giving Spirit they understood not a word.
"Hearken and I will show you the meaning thereof. Although he came from Nazareth, which was a known place, he also came from heaven. His body was born of Mary, but his spirit came from heaven. The sword he carried was the sword of his tongue, with which he divided the good from the evil, the true from the false, the faithful from the unfaithful and the light from the darkness. His word was indeed a sharp sword! The throne upon which he sat is the Eternal Throne from which Christ reigns forever, a heavenly throne, not an earthly one, for the things of earth pass away but heavenly things pass not away."
All over Christendom today is ringing the thought, the glorious expectation: "The Master is coming!" On some of the doors of the houses at Haifa, Palestine, for seventy years men have read: "The Lord is Near!" This thought of the return of Christ is ringing through the world today with an insistance never known perhaps in two thousand years. The real spiritual meaning of Christ's return will be brought out in the next issue of the STAR OF THE WEST."
But the great need is to return to the pure teaching of Jesus.
How the hearts of the nations cry for a return of the pure teachings of Christ, of Buddha, of Mohammed, the eternal essence of religion which is universal love! A Christian minister in 1912 called on Abdul Bahá in Boston and asked: "How can we help this Bahai movement toward universal peace and brotherhood?" Abdul Bahá replied: "Teach the pure gospel of Jesus without dogmatic additions or imitations."
A professor in one of the American universities asked Abdul Baha: "If I become a Bahai can I keep the religion of my saintly Christian mother?" Abdul Baha replied: "Of course you may keep it. If you become a Bahai you will apply it."
"To be a Bahai simply means to love all the world; to love humanity and try to serve it; to work for universal peace and universal brotherhood."—Abdul Baha.
A VISIT TO BAHJE BY THE WAY OF THE SEA.
"The Spell of the Holy Land."
BY NELLIE S. FRENCH
AS I sit at my desk wondering which of the deep and lasting impressions of our visit to the Master, Abdul Baha, during the days of the Rizwan in May, 1921, I should commit to paper for the good pleasure of the friends, I am so insistently drawn to the incidents of the journey and the arrival in the presence of the Master, that I must begin with those at least, and let the rest take care of itself. Not a thousandth part of what is really implanted and constantly growing in my mind and heart could possibly find expression, for there are no words with which to make those impressions clear to the reader, nor indeed was I myself conscious of all that I was imbibing, nor of the doors of knowledge which were being opened before my face at the time.
Five days of patient waiting in Haifa, for the time when we might go had given us a beautiful insight into the loving service and devotion of the friends there, and were preparation for the crowning event of our pilgrimage. We took the little train at about five-thirty on Friday afternoon, occupying a railway carriage of the most primitive type in company with what might have been a party of laboring "commuters" returning to Akka for the night. The train traveled slowly, but as it ran along the very edge of the Mediterranean the cool sea breeze soon rose, to the discomfort of the other travelers, and one by one the wooden shutters of the car were raised, entirely shutting out all light and air and the fresh sweet breeze of the sea.
We seemed not to be of special interest to our traveling companions, though I confess I was intensely interested in them, to know what they knew of the wonderful story of the ages which had been, and was being, enacted in their very midst, and I would have given much to know the language of the country.
We reached the station of Akka, a short distance from the city walls, just as the sun was sending its last horizontal rays across the sea, bathing the valley of "Achor" in its last crimson rays. Starting on foot toward Bahje, where Abdul Bahá was sojourning, in the little house adjoining the Shrine of Bahá 'Ullah, we left the calm blue sea beating its ceaseless rythm on the sandy beach behind us, and turned our faces toward the plain. Never shall I forget the sight which lay before us! A light shower had fallen, leaving everything fresh and green, with that indescribable fragrance which only a shower in a dry land can produce. Over the Lebanon mountains there lay the last glow of the sunset and far away in the distance here and there curls of smoke rose to indicate some little hamlet gathering its people for the evening meal. All was still and a peace reigned quite unbroken save for the sound of the waves which grew fainter and fainter as we progressed. Then out of the twilight came little groups of pilgrims, Persians for the most part, who had traveled for weeks to spend a few hours in the presence of Abdul Baha! They were very quiet, walking with the even, slow gait of those eastern peoples; each carrying a small bundle of belongings. They seemed not even to be conversing as we approached them, but when we were near they stopped, and I saw on the faces of those men a joy not of this world, as they greeted us in the name of God, and seemed to impart to us without words the sense of fellowship and sympathy.
Our path led further and further into the country, past the distant walls of the prison town, over the battlefield of the ages. It was rather a rough road in places, and the hour and the still of the night coming down kept each one wrapt in his own thoughts. Finally in the distance there appeared a light; it seemed
a long way off, for we were forced to go slowly and to pick our way, but night had entirely closed in when we came to a stop before the low doorway of a little one-story house. One of the young men, secretary of the Master, came out to meet and greet us, and for a few tense moments we were kept waiting in the hall of the house before we were told that we might enter the Master's room.
How strange it seems to be trying to express the sensations of those moments! I cannot say what was most deeply impressed on me at the time for everything was so new and I was so utterly unprepared for all that I was to see, even though I had listened to many accounts of visits of pilgrims before it became my own blessing to go. Abdul Bahá rose as we entered the room and stretching out his hands he bade us welcome and seated us beside him quite as if we had always been known to him, removing for us once and for all time the feeling of diffidence which was only natural when stepping into that majestic presence. Here indeed was majesty, but the surroundings were of the simplest that I had ever seen. Here was hospitality, a hospitality which might have been used toward persons of great distinction; and here was dignity, a dignity which is only born of heavenly knowledge and which walks with the Lord of men!
Each phase of the Master's manner sank deeply into my heart as each new impression was born within me, a new sense of how we should be to be worthy to deliver to the world the teachings of the Cause of God which he came to establish and to fulfill.
How small we seemed, how weak and immature, how unworthy and how fruitless! To have been ushered into that presence and to have gone empty-handed to have been accepted of him, and to have had nothing to offer but our humble willingness! Oh the shame of it! And yet he welcomed us as if we had been deserving children returned for our reward!
As I think of the opportunities which he has made possible for us, of the example which he came to set for us, nothing, with the help of the Power of the Covenant, is impossible. I wonder how we can ever fall short of the greatest reverence of which humanity is capable, of the greatest delicacy for which all things of the Spirit call! It is time that we should be adorning ourselves with those attributes which will make worthy exponents of the Cause. Let these words of his be our constant inspiration and reminders:
I desire for you distinction. The Bahais must be distinguished from others of humanity. But this distinction must not depend upon wealth—that they should become more affluent than other people. I do not desire for you financial distinction. It is not an ordinary distinction that I desire; not scientific, commercial, industrial distinction. For you I desire spiritual distinction; that is, you must become eminent and distinguished in morals. In the love of God you must become distinguished from all else. You must become distinguished for loving humanity; for unity and accord; for love and justice. In brief, you must become distinguished for all the virtues of the human world; for faithfulness and sincerity, for justice and fidelity, for firmness and steadfastness, for philanthropic deeds and service to the human world, for love toward every human being, for unity and accord with all people, for removing prejudices and promoting international peace. Finally, you must become distinguished for heavenly illumination and acquiring the bestowals of God. I desire this distinction for you. This must be the point of distinction among you."
This must not be of profession only, but by actually making these words part of our every day life. Upon us depends the greatest of all responsibilities. That we may be worthy!
The Bahai Community, Persian Colony, Haifa, Palestine, Rizwan 1922.
Dear sisters and brothers in the Cause of God:—
At last I am pleased to be able to answer your very kind letters and to thank those friends, who sent messages of loving sympathy to us in the first days of our crushing sorrow.
Until now I have been broken down with grief, my heart was sore distressed, my eyes were overflowing with bitter tears; I could not collect my thoughts sufficiently, I had no power to write to those dear friends, who had sent such affectionate words of consolation to me in my overwhelming loss.
Now we can comfort our hearts with the assurance that, though our beloved Master is no longer in his mortal body, yet his eternal Spirit is present with us for evermore. Whilst here on earth his humanity was as a cloud, which hid his divine Spirit from us. That veiling cloud is now removed, and we feel the intensity of his spiritual Guidance.
As the Master said after the Ascension of Bahá 'Ullah:
"The Light of the Sun of Truth will never set. The waves of the Sea of Truth will surge for all time. The divine rain from the Kingdom of Glory will never fail. Inspiration from the Realm of the Supreme will not cease for evermore.
"Life-giving showers are constantly flowing from the clouds of Mercy. Help is still being poured out from the Heavenly Land, and aid from the Supreme Lord is being given without ceasing. Though that Glorious Sun (Baha 'Ullah) has set in the horizon of this world, it has risen in radiant splendour in the divine sky of celestial grandeur.
"The eyes of the people were veiled by his earthly body from seeing the Light of the Sun of Truth. . . . .
"As that veil has been withdrawn, it is now the time to proclaim the Word of God, to send forth the lightnings of the Spirit, to chant the melodies of Faithfulness in the Rose-Garden of God the Beloved.
"Oh Nightingales of the Garden of Virtue! Now is the day to sing the beautiful harmonies of Heaven!
"Let your heart be no longer troubled, neither sit idle in sorrow and mourning, but arise; wing your flight into the Celestial atmosphere, singing the triumphant hymns of holiness in the garden of Love, always with your heart fixed on that Divine Home of the Radiant Beloved, towards which we are all as pilgrims, making our Pilgrimage!
"In this day of the Spiritual Springtime if we do not arise in the glorious work of establishing the Unity of the Kingdom, at what season should we choose to begin? Verily now is the appointed time."
These words apply equally to our days, when our hearts bear the burden of the agony of parting with our Beloved Master.
Now my friends, I implore you, let us each and all stand together in a vast army of Light, steadfastly and loyally determined to vanquish the Powers of Darkness on the pitiful battlefield of the World.
Let us remember the disciples of His Holiness the Lord Christ—how after his Ascension they, though few in number, stood faithfully together, united in
soul and heart and mind, striving to accomplish that work, for which their Lord had suffered.
Thanks be unto God, that Abdul Bahá has left many friends, who are ready to give up all their days, their comfort and earthly happiness, to spread the teachings of the Bahai Cause, which, when known and understood by the noble and pure-minded, will change the heart of the world.
We have been consoled and comforted by the visits of many dear friends from all parts of the world. They have been our great support in these sorrowful days. We are very glad to have one of these friends, Lady Blomfield, still with us. She accompanied our beloved Shoghi Effendi and his sister when they returned from England. She was just like a very kind mother to them in the hour of their deepest sorrow; and ever since she has been here, she has been occupied with many useful works, connected with various matters, necessary to the good of the Cause. We are all extremely sorry that she is leaving us in the immediate future, to continue her work in Europe on her return journey to London.
I am sure we shall achieve much more in these days, than in the earth life of the Master, because the agony of the parting has so softened our hearts, that our one aim and desire is to give joy to his blessed Spirit.
When the Shepherd is gone, the sheep must stand closer together to protect each other from the attacks of wolves.
Therefore let us not be depressed. I know that if we turn our whole hearts to God, we shall surely hear the music of the voice of Abdul Bahá singing therein. Listen in the night season, we shall hear him say: "I am with you, fear not, neither be cast down by sorrow!"
Hearken at morn: He is saying: "Arise for the service of the Cause of God, and the spreading of His Truth."
Listen at noontide, you will hear him say: "Faint not, though the flame of your sorrow be burning hot, for soon you shall be refreshed by the cooling breeze of God's Mercy."
Listen at twilight—his voice is saying: "Be happy, rest and trust in me, for I love you, and I will never leave you nor forsake you, my children. Be united! Be patient! Be hopeful, be faithful!"
I am sure our Beloved desires for us all, joy, happiness of heart and an abundant baptism of the Holy Spirit.
Therefore let us prepare our souls to receive this great and glorious Gift in these, our wonderful days—which the Prophets and Saints in past ages longed to see! They were deprived of this blessing, to which we have attained!
I am thankful to say that we have glad tidings from Persia, where the friends are arising in renewed strength and unity to serve the Cause with faithfulness and loyalty.
It is ever thus, when our Beloved passes from earth into the wider world, those, whose sorrow is overwhelming, find relief in striving to accomplish all he would wish to have done.
I am glad to say that our dear Protector of the Cause, Shoghi Effendi, is now resting from the work which was so immense. He felt it necessary to go into retreat, in order to pray, and concentrate and meditate on the glorious and difficult task entrusted to him, and to gain the strength needed for its fulfilment.
Shoghi Effendi is precious to all the Bahai friends, for he is our leader, bequeathed to us by Abdul Baha.
Concerning him a Persian friend has quoted: "When the rose has faded and its garden is destroyed—how shall we inhale its fragrance? Nowhere, but from the attar which is its essence!"
I conclude my letter by asking all the dear friends to pray for the family of Abdul Bahá that they may receive power to transmute the agony of the parting into determination to help Shoghi Effendi in his work, for indeed we all miss the Master more and more every day! He was all the world to us, our spiritual and our earthly father, our comfort, our hope, our companion and our guide in all the affairs of our daily life.
The only joy we have is when, from all countries we hear the good news of the unity of the dear friends and the growth of the Divine Cause.
The Greatest Holy Leaf, my mother and my sisters join me in love and Bahai greeting to you all, and in assuring you that we always pray at the Holy Shrines for the dear friends, that they may be assisted and strengthened in the path of Servitude so that they may accomplish a great work in the spreading of the Divine Cause in this Day, for "Now is the appointed time."
Ever your loving friend and spiritual sister in the service of the Cause of God.
SOME STRIKING CONNECTIONS BETWEEN THE SHRINE OF THE BAB AND THE MASHREQ'UL AZKAR OF AMERICA.
BY CORINNE TRUE
THE first convention of Bahai Temple Unity was held in Chicago on the very day that Abdul Bahá placed the remains of the great Báb to rest on Mount Carmel, in the marble casket sent by a believer from Rangoon, India. This casket is beautifully worked with the Greatest Name in relief and gilded three times on each side. The body of Abdul Baha rests today in the same shrine that he had so lovingly built for the holy Bab.
Regarding the two events that happened simultaneously in the Bahai Cause, the one in the East and the other in the West, on March 21, 1909, Abdul Baha wrote:
"Praise be to God that in the blessed day of Narooz the sanctified remains of his holiness the Bab,—may my life be a sacrifice to him,—after sixty years of wandering were carried to the most beautiful spot of the Mountain of the Lord, the Mount of Carmel; and one of the divine miracles was this, that in that very day the Convention of the Bahai Delegates was inaugurated in Chicago, and unanimously and effectively rules were adopted for the building of the Temple. Consider thou how heavenly Providence has effected such confirmation that these two great matters transpired in the same day. This is an evidence of the most great assistance and help!" (From tablet to Miss Annie Boylan, New York City. Translated by Mirza Ahmad Sohrab, June 10, 1909, Washington, D. C.)
"When some of the American friends visited the holy shrine of the Báb and Abdul Bahá shortly after the ascension of Abdul Baha, to our astonishment we found two large pictures of the American or "Mother Mashreq'ul Azkar" (as named by Abdul Baha) hanging on the walls of the two rooms used by the pilgrims who visit the shrine. These are the only pictures on those sacred walls and were placed by the Center of the Covenant, himself.
Members of the Master's family repeatedly told us of his love for the model of this Mashreq'ul Azkar and that they had heard him tell the architect, Mr. Louis Bourgeois, that its design had come to him from Bahá 'Ullah.
In moments of overwhelming grief that deluged our hearts while visiting the shrines of the Báb and Abdul Baha,—the one to whom we had turned for so many years for guidance in the path of God,—this sign of Abdul Baha's love for the "Mother Mashreq'ul Azkar" as indicated by the presence of those pictures lifted our spirits and comforted our hearts. We returned to America to work for the completion of this beautiful edifice with an earnestness and self-sacrifice that we had not realized before. We long to build it now because he loved it and commanded it to be built. Its accomplishment will be a living, thrilling expression of the love and fidelity of the people of Bahá for the great Center of the Covenant of Bahá 'Ullah.
--PHOTO--
MISS GENEVIEVE COY.
WITH the passing of the beloved Miss Lillian Kappes who had dedicated her life so gloriously to teaching girls in the Tarbiat School of Teheran, Persia, there came a word from Abdul Bahá asking if someone could be sent in her stead. The Annual Convention of last year with his confirmation chose Miss Genevieve L. Coy, a specialist in the education of gifted children and teacher of psychology in one of the great State Universities, who this spring took her Ph. D. at Columbia University, New York. During the year she has been studying Persian and preparing for her work of teaching English to the children in Teheran. She sailed from New York for Egypt, May 10, 1922. She will stop in the Holy Land on her way to Persia.
Miss Coy's experience illustrates the appeal of the Bahai teachings to the highly trained university scientist. Abdul Baha so perfectly unites science and religion that the most skeptical modern scholar is won by his heavenly logic and his creative words. Miss Coy first heard of the Bahai movement while teaching and studying in one of our great American universities. As a specialist in psychology she thought how delightful it would be to collect material on the psychology of the spiritual transformations effected by the Bahai teachings. With this critical spirit of the scientific investigator she began to question the Bahais as to their inner experiences and to read the writings of Abdul Bahá and Baha 'Ullah which they said were the fountain source of that newness of life which she saw shining so brightly in their lives and faces. The result of this investigation she records in the following bit of spiritual autobiography which she wrote at the request of the present writer:
"For five years before I heard of the
Bahai movement my whole attitude toward life had been skeptical and materialistic. I thought that I had absolutely no religious faith left in me. The very words, 'God,' 'spirit,' 'faith,' came to have an utterly disagreeable connotation to me. I lost my faith in everything and everyone. The moral standards of my early youth simply vanished, and I was left with no standards of living, save a strangely unavoidable devotion to my work. For the rest—dying seemed better than living; life looked utterly black to me, and I would gladly have disappeared from existence.
"And yet, down under all that black despair there was the faintest suggestion of some voice of hope that would not be utterly silenced by my own selfishness. But it was too faint to help much. And then, when it seemed to me that I had come to the end of the road, and that there was only darkness ahead—then the light came! I heard the story of the lives of Bahá 'Ullah and Abdul Baha. I learned how these teachers had helped ordinary men and women to live beautifully and joyfully, and I was filled with an intense desire to know more of how they would help me to live the things I had dreamed of doing. All during the following days and nights those two great names rang in my ears, and a glory, as of a new dawn, seemed to fill my heart wherever I went. I read the books they had written. I talked with men and women who had come to love them; and then, like a gift from an unseen hand, came the realization that this glorious new vision was for me, as well as for the others.
"Now I know that there is no true living except as one lives 'in God, and for God.' Nothing is of any importance save to do God's will, as it is revealed by Bahá 'Ullah. And the most wonderful thing of all is that through reading and meditation and prayer power comes to one really to make one's life over, so that one may live joyfully, in service to one's brothers.
"My attitude toward life has been so changed that I could not possibly go back to the old standards. I know that I am in God's hands and that no real harm can ever reach me. I know that He will help me to serve Him and His children. I know that I have come into my Father's home, and that henceforth I must strive to live as one of the children of the Most Glorious. Because of this, the two prayers that I pray most earnestly are these: 'Strengthen me to serve Thy beloved and to help those who need Thee,' and 'May my service be acceptable to Thee, and my actions a praise to Thee.'"
Albert Vail.
LIKE one of the wandering apostles of old, Miss Marion Jack has been travelling from city to city in the vast northern half of the North American continent, quietly telling those she met of the Glad Tidings of the new day of unity. She has been to Alaska and the great Northwest. Her home is in New Brunswick. Her father was a general. Abdul Bahá often called her a general, too. She is seeking to muster one by one the soldiers of the army of light, who, as the wise Zoroaster three milleniums ago predicted would at the end of three thousand years vanquish the forces of darkness and set up the Kingdom of God, "the Wise Lord" upon earth.
Recently Miss Jack has been sowing the seeds of that Kingdom in eastern Canada. The Hamilton Spectator contains a long, beautifully written interview with her, presenting with great charm the Bahai message of world brotherhood. It describes "her sojourn in the little prison city of Palestine whither she went to sit at the feet of the
Persian noble who led the selfless life, and labored for the realization of the true religion of Christ in this world of today.
"Miss Jack stated that she was studying art in Paris and London when she first became interested in the Bahai movement. The fame of the remarkable man whose message had been carried to all countries and to all religions so impressed her that the urge to visit him became too insistent to be disobeyed. In 1908 she journeyed to Acca, the Turkish convict town, where, for forty years Abdul Bahá had suffered imprisonment for his principles. Miss Jack recalled the fact that Acca was the ancient city dubbed by Napoleon 'this grain of sand,' and the resistance of which to his forces, he declared, prevented him from being master of the whole world.
"For six months Miss Jack had the privilege of association with Abdul Baha, teaching his four lovely daughters English; learning from him the basic principles of the cause of Bahá 'Ullah and seeing hourly for herself the selfless life of the spreader of the gospel. She declared that it was a most precious experience, and one which had illumined her whole life. Last fall, at the age of seventy-seven, Abdul Baha passed on, leaving his grandson, Shoghi Effendi, as the guardian of the movement. From all over the world had come pilgrims of every race and creed to sit at the feet of Abdul Baha, and Miss Jack related many remarkable instances of the unifying power of this expounder of the word. . . .
"'The Bahai revelation comes as the confirmation of these truths of the religions of the past and in its teachings the people of the various religions find the fulfillment of the sacred teachings of the past, and also the solution of the great latterday problem of religious unity, for the Bahai teaching confirms and completes all religious teachings which have gone before, and offers a practical philosophy which meets the present-day spiritual needs of humanity.'"
Miss Martha Root has, in between her world-journeys been quietly writing and speaking in her home town in Pennsylvania. She is now giving a series of lectures each Saturday evening before the Chamber of Commerce on the universal principles of the new world-order. The local newspapers contain résumés of each lecture and often outlines in advance. One of these outlines reads as follows:
"The third in the series of Saturday evening talks by Miss Martha Root in the Chamber of Commerce, tomorrow, Saturday evening, will be 'Universal Education—the Four Ways of Acquiring Knowledge.' The theme is what it is to be educated and the power of the Holy Spirit in developing one's insight. The Holy Spirit is for all and the best knowledge is the Knowledge of God's Laws."
The three holy Shrines of Bahá 'Ullah, Abdul Bahá and the Báb were illumined with powerful electric lights for the first time on the first day of the Feast of Rizwan, April 21, 1922.
On the ninth day of April, 1922, the work was started on the building of the new pilgrim house at the foot of Mount Carmel, opposite the home of Abdul Baha.
In Constantinople, notwithstanding the lack of teachers, a great number of Turks, Armenians and Persians have become attracted to the Bahai Cause. For the first time in history the members of these three races are united in one faith.
Jenabe Fazel and his family stopped in Constantinople on their way from Persia to Palestine. They are to live in the Holy Land.
The Bahai children of America have in the last year through their little Temple banks given to the Bahai Temple fund about six hundred dollars.
NEW BOOKS
BAHAI, THE SPIRIT OF THE AGE
Brentano's, New York.
The gifted Bahai thinker and poet, Mr. Horace Holley, has presented in this volume a brilliant introduction to the Bahai movement from the point of view of western science and spiritual aspirations. His introduction on the "Cosmic Trinity" is a searching philosophic argument to prove the reality of spiritual forces, the essential necessity of those master dynamoes called prophets or Manifestations if the cosmic energy of the divine Will, Knowledge, Love is to enter the world of mankind, illumine our path and move our social life up the glorious highway of divine civilization. The pages of the first third of the volume are brilliant with the scientific proofs of the reality of God and His Manifestations and the ascent of man toward "cosmic consciousness."
The remainder of the volume contains dynamic selections from the creative words of Bahá 'Ullah and Abdul Baha, presenting with brief introductions from the pen of the author the Bahai Message to Christianity, to Judaism, to science, to politics and economics, to Christian Science and New Thought, and to Theosophy. The volume closes with a chapter on "The Spirit of the Age," "The Bahai Temple" and with two priceless Bahai documents concerning universal peace and the wonders of "the faculty of meditation" when it "is bathed in the Inner Light and characterized with divine attributes."
Distributed by the Bahai Publishing Society, 508 South Dearborn Street, Chicago; $2.50, postage 20c additional.
LECTURES OF JENABE FAZEL
The Seattle friends have published five little volumes which contain the addresses that Jenabe Fazel gave in their city in the winter of 1921. The little volumes are aglow with the wisdom of that "ideal sage" and are a beautiful introduction to the heavenly teachings. "The New Vision of Immortality" in volume five is a glorious picture of the life of the spirit in the unseen Kingdom. Scattered through the pages are questions asked at the various meetings and the brilliant answers of the spiritual philosopher.
These little books present the most great message with a universality and a modern, western note that is a perpetual refreshment. They reveal how gloriously the beloved Jenabe Fazel was confirmed to ignite in the lamps of the west that universal light which has dawned from the horizon of the east.
Some of the subjects treated in the different volumes are as follows:
Vol. 2—"Palestine in the Days of Reconstruction"; "Solution of the Economic Problem."
Vol. 3—"The Universal Consciousness of Christ"; "The Evolution of the Idea of God in All Ages"; "Physical and Spiritual Healing"; "The Proofs for the Recognition of the Manifestations of God."
Vol. 4—"The Teachings of All Religions Are Identical"; "The True Meaning of Trinity."
Vol. 5—"The New Vision of Immortality"; "Correspondence of Science and Religion"; "The Master Key of Success"; "Universal Brotherhood."
Bahai Literature Center, 106 Madison Street, Seattle, Washington, U. S. A. Bahai Publishing Society, Room 450, 508 South Dearborn Street, Chicago. Bound in paper, 15c per volume, postpaid.
A LIBRARY OF HEAVENLY TEACHINGS.
For twelve years the STAR OF THE WEST has published Abdul Baha's European and American addresses, his illuminating talks given in the Holy Land and his glorious tablets which he scattered to the East and the West like rose petals from the heavenly garden of his love and wisdom. These pages of the STAR OF THE WEST hold the priceless records of the rise of the Cause of God, its spread among the nations, and radiant prophesies of the coming of the divine civilization to appear on earth. These volumes of the STAR OF THE WEST are now accessible, in beautifully bound copies done in three-fourths leather.
Vol. 1 is the little Bahai News. Vols. 2, 3, and 4 record the glorious journey of Abdul Bahá in Europe and America in 1911, 1912, 1913, and his universal addresses before churches, synagogues, New Thought, Theosophical, peace societies, universities and innumerable progressive gatherings. These volumes have been so popular they will soon be exhausted.
Vols. 5 and 6 contain additional addresses of Abdul Bahá and records of Bahai history. These two volumes can be bound together. Vols. 7 and 8 which can also easily be bound together contain the wonderful compilation on "The Divine Art of Living" drawn from the words of Bahá 'Ullah and Abdul Bahá and the glorious pages of the New Testament. They are also filled with the dynamic utterances of Abdul Baha that quicken the souls with the touch of the Holy Spirit. They "create men anew."
Vol. 9 contains the compilation on Bahai methods of education and many wonderful tablets. Vols. 10 and 11 contain many tablets sent out after the war, and beautiful aecounts of visits with Abdul Bahá in Haifa. Vol. 12 gives many addresses of the great Jenabe Fazel and marvelous accounts of the ascension of Abdul Baha.
These bound volumes may be had from either the Bahai News Service or The Bahai Publishing Society, Room 450, 508 South Dearborn Street, Chicago, for $3.50 a volume, or $6.00 when two volumes are bound together.
"The Divine Art of Living"—A smaller volume containing the chapters of the "Divine Art of Living" can be had for $2.50 bound in boards or $3.00 bound in three-fourths leather, postage additional.
ABDUL BAHA ON DIVINE PHILOSOPHY.
Compiled by Isabel Frazer Chamberlain.
A brilliant series of extracts from Abdul Baha's talks given in Paris on science and religion, with a delightful autobiography first published as an interview in one of the London journals. This little volume with its radiant sentences and luminous philosophy, its practical principles and its searching spiritual psychology has re-created the lives of many intellectuals in the western world. Yet, it is so simple that a little girl of nine declared it her favorite Bahai introduction. 184 pages; bound in paper, $0.75, 5 cents additional for postage.
ABDUL BAHA's ADDRESSES IN PARIS
The sentences of this volume are vibrant with the light of the spiritual philosophy and the warmth of divine love. Part 1 gives the simple rules for spiritual rebirth; part 2, the universal principles which will transform the world into a garden of Eden. 171 pages; bound in paper, $1.00; postage 5 cents.
SOME ANSWERED QUESTIONS
By Abdul Baha
Compiled by Laura Clifford Barney
The great masterpiece of Bahai philosophy. It gives a short history of the great prophets of the western world, the new interpretations of Bible symbols and prophesies, marvelous appreciations of Moses and of Christ, luminous chapters on the essence of the Gospels, on Christ's second coming and its real meaning, on evolution and the origin of man, on soul, mind, spirit, immortality, on physical and spiritual healing. This is a book for the modern mind; it unites is such a perfect synthesis exalted thinking and divine insight that it will grow more luminous with every reading. 306 pages, bound in cloth, $2.00; postage 20c additional.
BAHAI REVELATION
By Thornton Chase
An introduction from the point of view of the Bible, written with exquisite spiritual insight by one whom Abdul Bahá called "the first Bahai in America." He was a business man of winsome and radiant spiritual personality. This volume contains magnificent selections from the words of Bahá 'Ullah. 187 pages, bound in paper, 75c; postage 5c.
THE BAHAI MOVEMENT By Charles Mason Remey.
An introduction written by a former professor of architecture and a world traveler. It gives an outline of Bahai principles and Bahai history. It should be read with Mr. Remey's "Observations of a Bahai Traveler," a record of the Bahai communities which he visited in Persia, their unity and their pure, heavenly lives. The Bahai Movement, bound in cloth, 60c, postpaid. Observations of a Bahai Traveler, bound in cloth, 75c, postpaid.
The STAR OF THE WEST in coming issues will present the great Bahai teachings for a new world-order and a new and diviner life within the soul, making each issue an excellent introduction to those teachings which are "the light of this age and the spirit of this century." There will be series of articles on the new methods of spiritual realization and their divine psychology, on pure and sanctified living, on comparative religion and literature, the philosophy of universal religion, the power of the life of Abdul Baha and the application of Bahai principles to the world problems of today. These issues will form such an excellent and progressive Bahai introduction that many will want to subscribe to them for their friends. Two issues sent to one address, $5.00 a year. Single subscriptions, $3.00 a year. Special five-months subscription to new subscribers, $1.00.
BAHAI PUBLISHING SOCIETY
ROOM 450, 508 S. DEARBORN ST.
CHICAGO, ILL., U. S. A.
صفحه 1 - 127
باری مقصود این است که در رسالۀ ایقان هیکل بشری را بمنزلۀ سحاب شمرده اند و حقیقت نورانیّه را بمنزلۀ آفتاب « و حینیئد تشهدون ابن الانسان آتیا علی سحاب السّماء یقدات و مجد عظیم » عبارت انجیل را باینگونه تفسیر و تأویل فرموده اند
پس حال وقت شعله و اشتعال است و هنگام ندا و انجذاب وقت آنست چون فجر در جوش آئید و چون سحاب در برق و خروش و چون حمامۀ حدیقۀ وفا در نغمه و ترانه بکوشید و چون طیور سماء بقاء در تغرّد و نوا آئید ای بلبلان گلزار هدایت و ای هدهدان سبای عنایت وقت جوش و خروش است و هنگام نغمه و آهنگ است دلتنگ منشینید و محزون و دلخون مخسبید پرواز به اوج علا نمائید و آغاز آواز در گلشن هدی نمائید قصد سبای رحمن کنید و آهنگ ریاض حضرت منّان اگر در این بهار الهی نغمه نسرائید در چه موسمی آغاز ساز نمائید و بگلهای معانی همدم و همراز گردید
یا ابا الفضل این اشتعال نار سدرتک و این اشراق انوار محبّتک واین امواج بحر عرفانک و این نسائم ریاض ایقانک و این نغمات السّارة للاذان و این نفحاتک المعطرّة لمشام اهل الامکان این جذبة قلبک و این سعة صدرک و این بشارة روحک و این اشتعال جذوتک و این شعلة قبتک مع الشکرن ولوکان فی هذه الایّام المحمودة من شدّة الحموم ممدوحة محمودة . فاخرج من زاویة الخمول و اقصد اوج القبول و طر فی هذا الفضاء الابهی . فاخرج من زاویة الخمول و اقصد اوج القبول و طر فی هذا الفضاء الابهی و ادخل حدیقة امرالله بقیامک علی نشر روائح قدسه و اعلاء کلمته قیاما یتزلزل به ارکان الشّرک و یرتعد به فرائض الاحتجاب عزّ رب الارباب و تعلو معالم العرفان و تنتشر اعلام الایقان و تحققّ رایات البیان و یرتفع شراع الحیاة فی سفینة النجاة علی بحر الامکان .
جناب آقا سیّد محمّد در خصوص حرکت آن حضرت بصفحات بمبئی تفصیلی مرقوم نموده اید جناب آقا میرزا عزیز الله تفصیلا
صفحه 2 - 127
عرض خواهند نمود اگر چنانچه موافق رأی واقع شد بنظر چنین می آید که وجود آن حضرت مثمر ثمر جدیدی خواهد شد در صورت تصمّم بر عزیمت چنان بنظر میآید که اوّل به زیارت تربت طاهره مشرّف شوید بعد عازم آن سمت گردید والرّوح و البهاء و الثّناء علیک بنهایت استعجال مرقوم شد عفو فرمئید . ( عبده عبّاس)
رسالۀ استدلالیّه که از خامۀ آن جان پاکب بود قرائت و تلاوت شد به شکرانیّت الطاف حضرت احدیّت لسان گشودیم که به تأییدات ملکوت ابهایش نفوسی مبعوث فرموده که بهدایت جمیع فرق قیام نمایند و نطق و بیان و قوتّ برهانشان را در جمیع ملل عالم مماثل و مقاومی نباشد . نشکره علی ما انطقک بشأنه و اقامک علی بیان برهانه و اثبات حججه و دلائله و اظهار امره بین ملکوت خلقه و لو کان للنّاس اذان واعیة و عثول نکیّة و نفوس مطمئنّة و قلوب صافیّة لکنتهم هذه الرّسالة و انّی لاتضرع الی الله ان یجعلک آیة الهدی و رایة التقی و منار العرفان و مطلع الایقان و ممهد الطریق و الدّال علی سواء السّبیل بین ملاء الوجود و قائد جنود الحیات فی ملکوت الشّهود انّه مؤیّد من یشاء و انّه لعلی کلّ شئ قدیر و البهاء علیک ع ع .
نجم باختر
جلد 13 . شماره 5
صفحه 1 - 128
لوح مبارک : لوح مبارک که بعد از صعود جمال قدم جلّ ذکره از برای من ادرک لقاء به آفا میرزا ابوالفضل نازل شده است .
هوالابهی
یا اباالفضئل و امّه و اخیّه چندی است که بوی معانی از ریاض قلب آن معین عرفان بمشام مشتاقان نرسیده و حرارت حرکت شوقیّه شعله اش به خرمن دلهای دوستان حقیقی نرسیده و حال آنکه مکتوب مفصّلی در بدایت حرقت از فرقت وحبوب آفاق ارسال شد دلیل وصول ظهور ننمود و اشارۀ قبول مشهود نگشت معلوم است که این افسردگی و پژمردگی از شدّت احتراق از فراق محبوب آفاق است و این خمودت از کثرت تأثرّات در مصیبت کبری ولکن انوار شمس حقیقت را افولی نه و امواج بحر اعظم را سکونی و کمونی نیست فیوضات ملکوت ابهی مستمرّ است و تجلیّات جبروت اعلی مترادف ابر نیسان عنایت فائض است و شریان محبّت الله در جسد امکان نابض تأیید از رفیق ابهی متتابع است و توفیق از حضرت کبریا متواتر اگر آن آفتاب انور از افق ادنی که افق امکان است غاربست از افق اعلی طالع و لائح اگر تا بحال ابصار بشر بسبب سبحات جسمانی
صفخه 2 - 128
از مشاهدۀ آفتاب حقیقت نورانی محروم و ممنوع و محتجب بود حال آن حجاب که در هر عهد و عصر وسیله انکار بود کشف الغطاء گردید چه که در جمیع احیان ظهور که مظاهر احدیّتش از مطلع امکان طالع شدند بهانه اعظمشان این بود که میگفتند « انّما انت بشر مثلنا و ما هذا الا بشر مثلکم » خلاصه ظهور آن مظاهر احدیّت را از مطالع بشریّت علتّ بطلان میشمردند و سبب انکار میکردند و بعد از صعود مؤمن و موقن میشدند زیرا بظاهر شخص بشری ملاحظه نمیکردند لهذا منیّته قوّت و برهان و حجج الهی میشدند و مظهر « و بصرک الیوم حدید» میگشتند چنانچه اگر ملاحظه بفرمائید مشهود میگردد که در جمیع اعصار اعلاء کلمة الله بعد از صعود شارق انوار بافق اعلی گردید چه که ناس فطرة ایمان به غیب را خوشتر دارند و دلکشتر شمرند در جمیع احیان در یوم ظهور انکار نمودند و استکبار ورزیدند و بهانه جستند و در لانه اوهام آشیانه کردند و چون ملاحظه مینمودند که شخصی به هیکل بشری ظاهر و مشابهت جسمانی دارند از موهبت ربّانی محتجب میماندند چون بصر شیطان که نظر در جسم خاکی و طلسم ترابی حضرت آدم کرد و از آن کنز بی پایان که اعظم موهبت الهیّه و اشرف منقبت انسانیّه است کور و نابینا شد « و خلقتنی من نار و خلقته من طین » گفت .
