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The Bahá’í Magazine
STAR OF THE WEST
| VOL. 14 | SEPTEMBER, 1923 | No. 6 |
THE search for truth has caused the forward march of mankind in all ages of the world. The will to know is one of the most powerful mainsprings of action and the greatest incentive to progress. Freedom and happiness, both for the individual and collective man, depend upon the knowledge of truth. Greater joy there cannot be than that of discovery. But this attainment is impossible for man unless he becomes an independent seeker. He should, for this noble purpose, put aside empty forms and servile imitations. And while reverence for ancestors is praiseworthy, the independent investigator must weigh his conclusions in the balance of sound logic. However long established the view-points of others, he must strive to know for himself. While this station is possible for all men, its attainment requires courage. For no discoverer of truth can hope to escape the sneers and jeers of prejudice and ignorance. But although the path is difficult, it is yet glorious. Through the degrees of martyrdom the soul of man is freed from its earthly cage and makes extraordinary advancement. The bold and untrammelled search for truth is the light of genius in all times. The power of truth removes the stagnant pools and dead seas of outworn usages. It refreshes the soul of man with living streams that flow from the Bosom of God.
Job said: "I know that my Redeemer liveth!" Such an exalted height of knowledge is not impossible for any man. For the very purpose of man's existence is to know his Creator. The powers by which he may know God are hidden within his own being. Attraction to the beauty of truth reveals man's inward powers. The genial flame of truth sets in motion new vibrations, unfolds the true virtues of religion and the laws of science, apprehends the mysteries of God and His endless creations. Great and wonderful are the reaches of mind. Deep and subtle are the mysteries of the heart. When the inner sight is clear through powers that are heart-dwelling, the mind is brightened and man is thereby elevated to his true station of glory and splendour above the world of matter. If he does not discover these latent powers the purpose of life is lost. If he does not use these forces, by what sign can he prove himself man? The hand, the eye, and other powers of the physical temple have their manifest functions and improve their skill by service. Should not those greater powers, which attest the emanations of Divinity in man, adorn his career and crown his destiny? The aspiration of man soars Heavenward as he strives to awaken these powers. Spiritual unity is the reality of man and the presence of Divine Bounty.
The beginning of truth-seeking, which
may lead through Divine Favor to the Greatest Light, is very simple. First of all, let us have faith; and as a sign of faith let us humbly ask the Giver of Bounty for light and knowledge. If one thereupon subjects whatever is presented him to a reasonable inquiry, he may be astonished at his own growth. If the mind is free from bias or hate, the horizon will widen and faith will become confidence. Even as when, as hungry children, we go to our parents for food, fully confident that they will answer our needs, even more firm should be our assurance that the Light of God will not mislead us.
The Bahá’í teachings, which focalize reality, reveal the unity of truth, however diversified its aspects. The oneness of God reveals the oneness of truth. The singleness of truth reflects the singleness of God. All things in creation are related through their common emanation from Divinity. Because reality is indivisible, it can never be plural. The Divine Light which is the essence of truth, is the universal Glory of God, now manifest. "It is the Bahá of Abhá which covers the earth as the waters cover the deep." When this fact becomes generally known, how conducive will it be to the unity of religions, the end of strife and the establishment of eternal peace! When hearts are aflame with the sacred fire of truth, thoughts will coincide in the reflection of One Reality and constructive service will heal the world. And since this wondrous light and knowledge are impossible save through the Manifestation of God, the ascent of man depends only upon his detachment from all else and his attraction in greater and greater degree to that manifest Splendour. Marvellous poise! Infinite joy! Universal Harmony!
How sad and depressing is the bedlam caused by the opposite! Not long ago, before a noted gathering, a theologian was heard to state very dogmatically the basis of his own faith and that which in his opinion made it superior to all others. But it so happened that the dogma he selected as the holy of holies and sine qua non of salvation was no other than a blind superstition, sans scientific, rational, spiritual or even common sense basis. He was even mistaken in the assumption that his own faith was the only one that relied upon the said superstition. For inquiry makes it appear that the ancient Egyptians, thousands of years before Christ, as well as millions of non-Christian religionists in the world today, have adhered to the same unprovable belief. Thus in one breath this good man showed himself an alien to science as also to the comparative study of religions. The statement of this dogma is omitted here although it is one which many people unthinkingly and blindly support. The purpose is educational rather than controversial, to stimulate investigation and discovery rather than to shock those who lie dormant. A religious leader may, in his own way, lord it over the masses for a long time. But if he has no universal vision of truth where is his capacity to serve mankind in their progress toward unity and freedom? The attitude of bigotry, narrowness and pride time out of mind has divided the realm of humanity into a multitude of warring sects, belying the spirit of true religion and execrating those whom they should love. Hopeless is the task of establishing unity on the basis of dogma and superstition. Yet the veils are being removed; for all the opposition of mice and men cannot prevent the sun from rising!
Truth is the light of God in the world; and God is love. Truth is the descent of Heaven to man; and Heaven is man's home. Truth is the manna upon which God feeds His children; and all souls are hungry. Truth is the outpouring of God's Holy Spirit in the morning of the resurrection; and this is the morning of that great Day of God! All the Holy Manifestations of God, throughout cycles and ages, have trained humanity in truth. Their pure and perfect lives were
standards of truth. Their sacrificial examples applied the truth. These perfect mirrors of divinity reflected the truth. For this noble purpose Jesus Christ and the other Divine Messengers of the past, Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá in this day, came to earth in human temples, suffered affliction, pain and martyrdom. Assuredly their purpose was not to exalt themselves. Else why should such intelligent beings descend from a realm of pure delight to dwell in the world of dust? Or whence their indifference to the praise of men? Their true purpose was to free humanity from the thralldom of nature; to remove the barriers caused by blind imitations, spiritless forms, savage dogmas and ignorant prejudices. Kindly they wrought, lovingly they taught, that hatred and warfare might be displaced and truth enthroned. Their oneness of love is outpoured upon all. Their far reaching Guardianship protects all. Can man afford to be headless to this call? The reign of ignorance and the sovereignty of calamity have ever been for man convertible terms. The still small voice, stronger than the clash of armaments, counsels peace. Will the children of men hear the Voice of God?
The devotee of truth avoids contention. The follower of light seeks its blessing for others. Disciples of truth are signs of guidance. One vivified by the spirit of truth may become the means of imparting life to his companions, for he has turned with reverence to the Sun of Truth, the Creative Word, which brightens and cheers all the worlds. Whoever perceives this wondrous Light will not be misled by a torch or candle, or the will-o'-the-wisp of formalism. Yet one who is divinely favored will not only seek light and guidance for his kind, but be merciful even to the animals. Insight reveals the relationship of the part to the whole. Guidance brings humility.
Once upon a time, the story runs, six blind men of Hindustan went to see an elephant. As all were blind, their impressions were dependent upon the sense of touch. One, touching the elephant's head, said he was like a ball; another, touching his leg, thought him like a tree; another touched his trunk and declared him like a snake; another his tail, likened him to a rope; another his ear, spoke of him as a fan; another his side, insisted that the elephant was like a wall. They then quarrelled over their various opinions, each adhering to his own with the greatest rancor and obstinacy. They abused and denounced each other and even fought. Each partly right, but all generally wrong, the educational effect of listening to each other's points of view was entirely lost. So it ever is with bigotry and pride.
Happy is he, in this day of hostile creeds and clashing dogmas, who can see the elephant in full proportion. It symbolizes in this day the Sun of reality and truth. Yet how difficult is this, because men are so much attached to the idols of their own fancy! The divine hand ever beckons us to the pathway of light. There seems a touch of humor, as well as pathos in the divine injunction to the truth-seeker:
"Leave them to amuse themselves with their vain discourse!"
Man should ever mount higher and higher in seeking reality. He should never let the mind and heart be limited by the imaginations of men. The vision that is universal is a true emanation from the Divinity of the Word. The same God gives good gifts to all his children. The same vital truth is declared in all religions. The hidden mystery of truth, Divine Love, is the cause of all life. The inner law is changeless; the outer law is varied by the Giver of Bounty from cycle to cycle to relieve human needs. Because men are so forgetful, the Merciful Providence in this cycle of truth and knowledge decrees the renewal of the spirit. What favor can be greater than this? It is the appearance of this Lordly Splendour which rend the veils of superstition and error and reveals the light of assurance and knowledge.
The great and luminous Apostle Paul
foresaw the greatness of this day when he wrote:
"When that which is perfect has come, that which is in part shall be done away." Though men adhere, for limited reasons, to that which is limited, such attachments must ultimately give way; for the darkness is powerless to defeat the light. As mists disappear before the rising sun, so must error and limitations depart as the Sun of Truth mounts higher and higher, approaching its full power and glory. The light and heat of this genial Sun will bring to full growth the minds and hearts of men. There is no night but ignorance! There is no light but truth!
This blessed assurance is given by Bahá'u'lláh:
"Every soul who sincerely accepts the Word of God hath verily passed through the path and succeeded in approaching the paradise of God's pleasure, and hath assembled with those who are near to God, the chosen ones."
'Abdu'l-Bahá thus reveals to us the beauty of truth and the ultimate goal of man's attainment:
"What is truth? Truth is the word of God, which gives life to humanity. It restores sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf; it makes eloquent those who are dumb, and living beings out of dead beings; it illumines the world of heart and soul; it reduces into nothingness the iniquities of the neglectful and erring ones. Beauty, perfection, brilliancy and spirituality in this existence come from or through the word of God. For all it is the supreme goal, the greatest desire, the cause of life, light, instruction. The road to attain to this Truth is the love of God. When the light of the love of God is burning in the mirror of the heart, that flame shows the way and guides to the Kingdom of the Word of God.
"As to what causes the growth of the love of God, know that it is to turn one's self toward God."
From the Words of Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá, with an introduction by Jináb-i-Fádil
THE Holy Spirit is the power which is in the Manifestations of God. When man is freed from his natural conditions he draws near to the Holy Spirit. In the early dawn at Haifa, in the Holy Shrines on Mount Carmel, one finds souls intoxicated with the love of God, at this time of prayer and meditation. Through meditation the spirit is delivered from the cage of the human nature; real communication is established and divine gifts are granted. The attitude becomes holy, and we long to serve.
It has been asked: "Should the heart be emptied, to let God speak?" The Bahá’ís have many beautiful prayers and supplications in which the spirit of Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá dwell and when we are using these supplications and thinking of their meaning our spirit expands.
Christ lived for a long time in the caves of the mountain and it is said that Satan came to test His Holiness Christ, but had no effect upon him. What was Satan and what was the test? Satan was materialistic thought. Satan tried to test the Christ because he was leaving behind human thoughts and was turning to the spiritual Kingdom. Christ had a human body, but his body had no effect upon his spirit. It is written, "The spirit, indeed, is willing, but the flesh is weak."
Before his declaration, Bahá'u'lláh lived alone in a cave for two years, in a high mountain in a very dangerous country called Kurdistan. When the simple shepherds of that region heard him praying in the early morning they felt such a spiritual power that they gathered around the cave to listen.
My meaning is this, that when prayer
or supplication is rising from the heart and is uttered by the tongue, especially if the words are divine words, it attracts divine qualities, like a magnet.
GOD is Universal Consciousness, unlimited, infinite, unknowable, incomprehensible to our finite minds. The Infinite cannot be included in the finite, but is reflected from every atom in the universe. Each kingdom reflects God according to its degree of receptivity, whether mineral, vegetable, animal or human; but the heart of man is the greatest reflector of all. If you split an atom in the heart of it you will find a sun. "Dost thou think thy body a small thing, while within thee is enfolded the universe?" said Bahá'u'lláh.
Science has proved that God is not a man in the sky, for there is no place which can be located as Heaven. An ant with long horns tipped with olfactory nerves would think that God was a very large ant, with long horns just as man thinks God is a great, perfect man. We have so pictured God as a large man with eyes and ears, who could speak and, perhaps, eat. As there is no physical Heaven, therefore there is no place for such a God to live in. Science has released us from this superstition.
But the universe is full of the spirit, the attributes of God, and the heart is a mighty magnet. True prayer is thinking of, reaching out to God, lifting up our hearts, freeing them from self and material things; and after we have freed the heart it acts as a magnet to attract these qualities, these attributes. It becomes attuned to these vibrations, as a wireless receiver becomes attuned to certain wave lengths in the air. The prayers of Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá help to put the heart in tune.—From two talks recently given by Jináb-i-Fádil.
"IN all the worlds of existence there is nothing more important than prayer. Prayer confers spirituality upon the heart."* "Spirituality is the greatest
*All quotations are from the words of 'Abdu'l-Bahá unless otherwise indicated.
of God's gifts and life everlasting. It means turning to God." "Turn your faces away from the contemplation of your own finite selves and fix your eyes upon the Everlasting Radiance; then will your souls receive in full measure the divine powers of the Spirit and the blessings of the Infinite Bounty.
"Keep yourselves entirely clear of the world's condition of gloom and show forth the characteristics and qualities of divine souls that ye may consider to what extent the radiance of the Divine Sun is shining and brilliant and how the signs of favor are shining forth from the invisible world of Unity."
MORNING THOUGHTS
"Everyone upon awaking in the morning awakes with a thought. The commercial man awakes with the thought of commerce; the inventor awakes with the thought of his inventions; the banker with the thought of money. But you when you awake, must at once think of God and begin the day with an earnest desire to attain to the will of God and His good pleasure."
"Man must be freed from every material tie and must seek the path of the Kingdom. He must not look backward, he must look forward; not downward, but heavenward."
"The meditative faculty is akin to the mirror; if you put it before earthly objects it will reflect them. Therefore if the spirit of man is contemplating earthly subjects he will be informed of these.
"But if you turn the mirror of your spirit heavenward the heavenly constellations and the rays of the Sun of Reality will be reflected in your heart and the virtues of the Kingdom will be acquired."
"We should not be occupied with our failings and weaknesses, but concern ourselves with the will of God so that it may flow through us, thereby healing these human infirmities."
"Neglect not praying and communing in the gloomy midnights and at morn and eve, and offer glory unto thy Lord, the
Supreme. Know that nothing will benefit thee in this life save:
"Supplication and invocation unto God,
"Service in His vineyard, and
"With a heart full of love to be in constant servitude unto Him."
"Draw nigh unto God and persevere in communion with thy Lord so that the fire of God's love may glow more luminously in the heart, its heat may grow stronger and give warmth to that region and its sound reach the Supreme Concourse."*
Abul Fazl, the Bahá’í saint and philosopher, one of the most brilliant scholars of his age, prayed, we are told, seven times every day. Great souls keep strong by reading and prayer. When he went into exile, Bahá'u'lláh gave him the following prayer to be repeated whenever he was in need: "O my God! I beg of Thee by the King of Names and Maker of heaven and earth, by the rustling of the leaves of the Tree of Life, and by the Utterances through which the realities of things are drawn unto us, to grant me—"
THE JOY OF PRAYER
"There is nothing sweeter in the world of existence than prayer."
"Prayer and supplication are two wings whereby man soars toward the heavenly mansion of the True One. However, verbal repetition of prayer does not suffice. One must live in a continual attitude of prayer. When man is spiritually free his mind becomes the altar and his heart the sanctuary of prayer. Then the meaning of the verse, 'We will lift up from before his eyes the veil' will become fulfilled in him."
"It is most difficult to stand unshaken during the days of trials. When we were living in Baghdad conditions at one time were such that the friends of God were always in danger of losing their lives. Not a night passed during which they were sure that they would be alive in the morning
*See the compilation of 'Abdu'l-Bahá's words on "Prayer," Star of the West, Vol. 8, No. 4.
and not a morning did they arise with any certainty that they would see another night. Yet they lived in the highest state of faithfulness, firmness, spirituality and attraction. Aga Reza and seven others lived in one small room. They rested, ate and slept in this one room. Every night they had spiritual meetings, chanting prayers and poems till long past midnight. Often their food consisted of a few dates. These Bahá’ís were peddlers in the bazaars. Some of them sold nothing all day. When in the evening they returned home they all pooled the few piastres which they had made and with that small sum bought their dinner. Some days they made only twenty pares. With this they bought dates and of them made their meal. However, they were the richest men on the face of the earth. They lived in a state of holiness, sanctity, attraction and devotion.
"There was a man, Pedar Jan. I cannot praise him enough. He was the embodiment of spirituality. He used to carry under his arm while walking in the bazaars a dozen pairs of stockings, hoping to sell them. But, forgetting his surroundings, he would slowly chant the communes (prayers). Then someone would come up softly, behind him, and take the stockings from under his arm. If a customer wanted a pair of stockings Pedar Jan would look under his arm—but there would be nothing there. So he thought he would carry the stockings on the palms of his hands. Again he would become absorbed, reading the supplications, and again the stockings would be stolen without his knowledge."—Words of 'Abdu'l-Bahá recorded by Mirza Ahmad Sohrab.
HOW PRAYER BECOMES REAL
In all centuries those who have learned the spiritual laws prepare for prayer by reading or repeating sentences through which a saint or prophet has reflected the effulgence of the Holy Spirit. The great Manifestations of God reveal prayers which are ablaze with divine love, which melt the heart, and usher one into the
court of the Eternal Presence. The heavenly books are like a city, writes Bahá'u'lláh. "What shall we mention of the signs, tokens, appearances and splendours ordained in that city by the command of the King of Names and Attributes. It quenches thirst without water and increases the heat of the love of God without fire. . . . It bestows wealth without gold and grants immortality without death. . . . This city is renewed and adorned every thousand years, more or less. Therefore, O my friend, we must make an effort to attain to that city."
The more one reads with "longing, fervor, with love, rapture, attraction and devotion" the sooner does "the Ideal Herald" "dawn like the true morn from the Divine City with spiritual glad tidings and awaken the heart, soul and spirit from the sleep of negligence with the trumpet of knowledge." "Those who earnestly endeavor in the path of God after severance from all else will become so attracted to that city that they will not abandon it for an instant."
THE PRAYER THAT IS ANSWERED
"There are many subjects which are difficult for man to solve, but during prayer and supplication they are revealed." "Muhammed said, 'Prayer is a ladder by which everyone can ascend to heaven'; if one's heart is cut from the world his prayers are the means of the ascension."
"If our ruling desire binds us to God we shall receive what is God-like. 'I link myself to God and not to dust.' If one prays to be whole (perfect), on God's part the answer is eternally complete. We must fulfil the conditions to expect God to fulfil His promises. To pray is to lift the soul into union with the Eternal Goodness. Wholeness is the natural result of abiding in God."
PRAYER AND SERVICE
In the supreme adjustment one turns the glory received from prayer into the channel of daily business and service to the Kingdom. "Go," said 'Abdu'l-Bahá to a student coming to America, "with the intention and aim of teaching the Cause of God and spreading the fragrances of God. Then thy study and worldly affairs will both prosper."
"O God! O God! Cause me to drink from the cup of Thy bestowal. Illumine my face with the light of guidance. Make me firm in faithfulness and steadfastness in Thine Ancient Covenant. Suffer me to become one of Thy sincere servants. Open before my face the doors of prosperity. Prepare for me the means of livelihood. Give me my bread through channels over which I have no control, Thy heavenly treasures. Grant me the power to turn my face toward Thy merciful Countenance, to be faithful to Thy Cause.
"O Thou Clement and Compassionate One! Verily, Thou art gracious to those who are firm and steadfast in Thy strong and impregnable Covenant. Praise be to God, the Lord of the worlds!"
"The Essence of Oneness is sanctified above the servitude of the world of mankind and independent of the devotion of all else. One should, therefore, engage in serving His servants, which act is identical with serving Him. Then will the essential unity, harmony and oneness become manifest and unveil their beauty."
WHEN WORK BECOMES WORSHIP
In the coming spiritual renaissance, the glorious Day of God which is now dawning, work, study and scientific research when performed in a spirit of unselfish service will be accounted as worship. Such is the new teaching. It all depends upon the motive, the pure intention. "We should do little things as well as great things for the love of God." said 'Abdu'l-Bahá. "Service in the love of mankind is unity with God. He who serves has already entered the Kingdom and is seated at the right hand of his Lord." "His Holiness Bahá'u'lláh has even said that occupation and labor are devotion. All humanity must obtain a
livelihood by the sweat of the brow and bodily exertion, at the same time seeking to lift the burden of others, striving to be a source of comfort to souls and to facilitate their means of living. This in itself is devotion to God. Bahá'u'lláh has thereby encouraged action and stimulated service. But the energies of the heart must not be attached to these things; the soul must not be completely occupied with them. Though the mind is busy the heart must be attracted toward the kingdom of God in order that the virtues of humanity may be attained from every direction and source."
"A profession, a trade, farming, these are worshipping God. A farmer who cultivates his land with the utmost application is like a worshipper who with deepest reverence and humility prays to God in a temple. When the laborer works honestly and sincerely it is as though he were praying." "Every soul who occupies himself in an art or trade," wrote Bahá'u'lláh, "this will be accounted an act of worship before God."
Prayer in the peace of solitude or worship in the spiritual meeting will prepare for the prayer without ceasing in home or shop, school or office.
"Mayest thou ever be in a prayerful attitude," said 'Abdu'l-Bahá to a friend who was seeking the radiant pathway of the spiritual life. "In all the worlds of existence there is nothing more important than prayer."
This Tablet to Mr. and Mrs. Rabb of San Francisco was found by Shoghi Effendi among the papers of 'Abdu'l-Bahá after 'Abdu'l-Bahá's ascension. It was unsigned, also no date was attached.
O YE faithful ones of the Holy Threshold!
Your letter, which was expressive of your supplications to the Holy Threshold was received. Thanks be to God, that you have remained firm in spite of all the trying temptations.
This material world of ours is a world of contrasts. It has in itself abundance and destitution, joy and sorrow, youth and old age. It is all the time changing and one has to undergo these different stages. Hence it behooves every faithful person to be patient and to be grateful for that which he receives.
It is fitting for those in the Kingdom to be satisfied with their fate and look only toward the increase of the heavenly spark in their hearts for this, alone, will give them rest and consolation. And you, too, should endeavor to increase that spiritual flame, known as the love of God, for through its increase you will enter into a new world of love and contentment.
I beseech the Lord to help you to overcome these hard conditions and to bestow upon you abundance of gifts from His bounties.
I think of you always and pray for you. Be comforted, and trust in the mercy of the Merciful One, for it is said, "He who is not contented with what he receives, let him seek a God other than Me."
Therefore we have to be contented and devote our time to the worship and the praise of our God.
Upon you be my greetings.
Translated May 19, 1922, by Mirza Assadi, a Persian student attending the California State University, Berkeley, California.
LIKE a boat laid up alongside a rapid stream, our impulse continually feels the tug of a current flowing past, a current in whose urgent flow it seems natural for impulse to be cast, a current in which impulse continually does cast itself. Refreshed and renewed by journeys down this current, journeys long or short, impulse lies again just outside its urge, like a boat drawn to the bank. But the stream never ceases to flow by, its invitation never relaxes its instinctive appeal.
In the current of custom, popular manners, social convention and use, our personal impulses find their most lasting and most urgent expression. Traced to their source, few impulses are personal at all. Few leap cleanly from the man himself, his own expression; most impulses are drawn forth from the man by outside forces—they express the environment immediately about him; for the man, they are impressions so urgent as to require response. Society is the continual, strong current tugging at the boat of our lives. In impulse released we feel a personal vitality and purpose, an enlargement of personal consciousness; but the release of impulse down the social current brings only a reflected self into being. With the dissolve of the determining conditions, the vitality and purpose also dissolve. They disappear like images from a mirror when the room is emptied of its things. The realization of this comes seldom enough, for almost invariably new images immediately replace the old. The ordinary person's habitual self, his reflected self, seems real enough year on year and life on life. For seldom is the room actually emptied of its things before the mirror of mind. When, in sickness or catastrophe, the mirror finds nothing before it to reflect, its own emptiness becomes dreadfully acute. For this extraordinary thing does happen to ordinary people—to feel one's self ebb slowly but completely away. The social current does stop unexpectedly from flowing past the boat of our impulse; and when this happens, the boat lies deep enough in mud, unable to follow. This extraordinary sense of losing the sense of ordinary things actually occurs more than once in every one's experience. It happens to us all, but it is an experience we do not communicate to others. The failure of personal impulse to move on the current of reality seems to each one a unique, individual failure. It is a universal experience, but it is never considered universally. We regard it as an experience special and particular to ourselves. It is not a pleasant experience.
But the result is that we continue to take the power supplied to impulse from the attractions environmental to impulse, as a power resident in impulse itself. We invariably hasten our thoughts over this painful lapse of self, and dwell rather upon the occasions when impulse seemed most successfully to seize its own in the outer world. The fact remains, however, that personal impulse is rather passively effective, like a boat, than actively effective, like a stream. The stream takes the boat so completely within its own movement that the movement seems from the boat itself. The boat's own lack of motivity only emerges as a perceptible fact when the stream turns away out of reach.
At such times, if we face the experience squarely enough, impulse actually weakens and fails like a boat out of water. The social needs dry up first, but the personal needs fade out soon after them. Eating and drinking, apparently personal beyond the range of social influence, become faint and tepid
functions as soon as imitation is completely removed. Life settles down into a state of passive torpor—we continue to be, but our being is not our self—our "natural self"—at all. The lover who expects to find his mistress at the rendezvous, and awaits her in vain, feels all his vitality ebb away. The mother who loses a child undergoes this experience. The miser is a mere nothing without his wealth. These extreme cases are extreme simply because in each one the social environment has concentrated into a single influence. To remove that influence, in these cases, is to remove the entire experienceable world.
But if we face that experience earnestly enough another fact grows apparent. As the tide of social influence runs out, leaving personal impulse high and dry, another tide seems to flow in. The boat of personal impulse seems to rise upon the current of another stream. This other stream seems to flow within the man himself. It seems to flow less urgently, and before the boat has ridden fairly upon it the unusual condition of things usually changes. The accustomed world swings back, bringing the sense of relief as from a crisis more difficult even than the sense of failure as of a boat in mud.
For some, however, the world swings back too late. It flows in with the old currents of influence after the new current has become a fact. The boat has gone a new journey, through landscapes more desirable, on a stronger tide. The "self" that ebbed away has been recovered, a new "self" the man would not willingly yield.
This hidden inner current, so unreal to the world, is the reality of religion. It is the reality which ordinarily, in comparison with the ease of impulse down the currents of convention, seems an upstream effort, tedious and vain. Of what use to struggle against a current so strong that one's greatest effort only holds one ever in the same spot? It is evident enough, at any rate, that the two currents flow in opposite directions. The downstream of the world is the upstream of the soul. But the spiritual current has its own downstream. It has its own forceful currents which, under the right conditions, carry the boat of impulse not less easily along. It has the same power of communicating its own force to the boat so imperceptibly that the boat's movement seems from the boat itself and not from the stream. But "duty," as opposed to desire; the lonely effort of attainment as opposed to the genial grace of imitation, do not become aware of this fact. One only becames aware of it when, somehow, the stream of spiritual experience takes complete possession of the soul. Then it is convention which seems upstream. Then the sense of struggle, the sense of futility, attaches itself to the world; and to join the common activity, urged to it merely by imitation, becomes repugnant and impossible. The soul's own life, of attainment, becomes natural, inevitable, successive acts of self-expression whereby personal impulse is gratified as never before.
The clear, definite statement seems hypothesis more than experience merely because, in almost every one of us, the boat of impulse lies much farther out in the stream of convention than in the stream of faith. The direction of the forces exerting upon impulse for imitation seem to determine the "upstream" and the "downstream" of experience because they press against a greater area of our being. For those few in all generations whose lives have lain more in faith than in convention, religion has been downstream and the world upstream.
Nothing is so important to realize in this matter of morality. It is the truth at the heart of experience; it is the basis of reality in life; and misconceptions in this region work havoc for the whole of experience at all times. The universal belief that the religious life is a life upstream has dwarfed religion to insignificance in our social development.
We have employed as the working hypothesis of religion throughout our civilization the impression that personal impulse is gratified and justified through convention, but negated and made futile through religion. This impression derives from the experience of minds still adrift on the conventional stream—their sense of struggle, as against a mighty, unresting tide, is actually a struggle not against the spiritual requirement but against the social habit. They have never swung fairly out on the other current.
If we establish our moral truth upon the experience of those who have attained, we vivify it as by the transfusion of living blood to a desperate body. For the struggle against the stream of convention—when one struggles full in the stream itself—is really a futile effort. But this is precisely what religion amounts to in most lives: an occasional struggle against a stream dimly perceived to be leading one's life to emptiness and desolation. The first step toward spiritual reality consists in leaving the stream of imitation itself. It is least effective when taken against the stream; most effective when taken away from the stream. For outside the currents of social imitation other currents, even more rapid, await. As one swings the boat of impulse into the current of faith, a greater power than impulse or will perfects the act. The difficulties of religion are not difficulties inherent to spiritual development—they are inherent in leaving the stream of social convention. Spiritual development brings its own downstream, whence the joy of self-gratification amply returns.
The psychologist usually builds consciousness upon two factors, habit and imitation. But these two factors are really one. Habit is the imitation of oneself. The dominant factor, then, is imitation. Imitation like momentum, tends to carry experience along a straight line. So borne, experience confirms itself at every point. The inability to realize that the strongest habit is but imitation of self many times repeated, proves that we drift unconsciously into a being limited on all sides save the direction of its own definite movement. As momentum gathers weight, the influence exerted to swing experience from the straight line grows continually more ineffective. Thus most of us fail to perceive that the essential nature of experience is dual rather than single. As a matter of fact, consciousness has a double pull, a pull now in one direction, and a pull later on in the opposite direction. Habit merges these two definite forces into one, thus destroying the particular contribution each brings. Habit does not only destroy the value of the spiritual impulse in life—it even destroys the value of the worldly or social impulse.
Were each impulse to be given its own terms of influence, life would not be an experience laid out straight along, like a narrow artificial road; it would be a continual ascent, as one ascends a winding staircase in a tower. To follow out each impulse cleanly and courageously in its turn, is to spend the force of each so that the other force can exert itself effectively. The religious "habit" is quite as impoverishing to experience as the social "habit." In those whose lives respond to needs more vital than habits, the impulse of activity carries them on until that impulse is spent, when the impulse to meditation naturally arises. The normal life—the life that is normal to the inner standard and not merely to the standard of the majority of people—ascends from activity to meditation, but then ascends likewise from meditation to activity. It goes from one phase to the other ever around and upward, from stage to stage of the tower. The phase of meditation enriches the activity just experienced—gathers it up and gives it meaning and value—but also prepares new forces for activity to draw upon. Likewise, the active phase enriches the meditation just experienced—enriches it by bringing its purposes and
its meanings into effect. It is as though meditation created the vision of a picture, and activity laid the vision upon canvas. The two phases are absolutely reciprocal. On the other hand, it is as though such activity emptied the mind and heart of their pressing fulness, preparing the way for another and greater vision. To be normal, then, a life would continually ascend the tower, pausing a little at each landing to look from the window—looking out now on one side, now on the other—but ever urged upward, and from the higher landing obtaining a wider and clearer outlook. This is the normal experience, the experience which our own lives attempt to create for us—a rich, eager experience, ever renewed and ever deepened, fed on the bread of physical toil and gladdened by the wine of mystery in revelation. For the tower has many stages. Meditation and faith return again and again, subtler and larger, clearer eyed. And activity returns again, ever more refined, ever more truly expressing the creative urgency of the soul. No man can exhaust the wonders of the tower of experience. It rises high above the city of commonplace. It rises to the heavens. It is not a tower built up stone by stone from the earth; it is a tower let down from the throne of God.
One further remarks of morality, therefore, that the essence of experience is movement and change, while the one obviously immoral thing is standing still. The extreme of immorality is to stand still at any stage of the tower—whether the stage be that of activity or meditation. It is quite as terrible to spend a lifetime at being "religious" as at unrestingly laying up gold. It is more immoral, for the example is more disastrous to others. The most depressing spectacle in the world is not the worldly who will not ascend above their material wealth—it is the supposedly spiritual folk who will not ascend beyond their stagnant "unworldliness."
In a true civilization, labor and religion are the two pillars of existence. They are the two pillars that stand so close they become one. Your really religious man merges labor and meditation inseparably one in the other. They are the indrawn and the outdrawn breaths that keep the blood pure. Both would be taken for granted, and the relation of each to the other would be taken for granted. Pure blood compels the reciprocal indrawing and outdrawing of breath. Where labor is not a form of worship, and where religion is not the inspiration and control of labor, the blood of life is impure. Life is not life, but sickness.
Yet health is the normal condition of life, while sickness is the abnormal. In every life the instinct to pass from activity to meditation, from meditation to activity, exists and exerts itself. It exerts itself forever throughout life, but becomes the knocking of a child's hand against a barred door. Habit denies this vital instinct its full expression. As habit increases—habit which is nothing more than self-imitation—the instinct urges in vain. The instinct continues year after year, though the knocking sounds fainter and fainter. We build the wall thicker and higher with time, until finally the sound no longer reaches through.
Were we conscious of movement upward in the tower on the part of the lives around us, we ourselves would instinctively ascend. Our all-powerful sense of imitation would respond to truth as completely as it now responds to ignorance. No element in mind or heart would have to change to make us worthy of the true civilization. All the elements necessary to enjoy that civilization, to maintain and develop that civilization, are present in men. The difference between war and peace, between poverty and free self-expression, does not imply an impossible or even improbable making over of human nature. It implies rather the response of human
nature to its own hidden truth. Were there a soul who had mounted the tower to its very top, who had gone through every intervening experience, making each phase his own, then from the top signalled to us standing dejected below—signalled as with a mighty trumpet blown from the forgotten depths of our own souls, should we not gaze upward? Should we not see before us the easy ascent of the Way? Should we not hear the trumpet, hear it—and believe?
The true civilization—its existence, its nearness, its inevitableness—sounds like a clear trumpet in the life and words of 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
THE following narration tells of the glorious martyrdom of three Bahá’í heroes, one a child of twelve, another a youth of seventeen, the third a celebrated poet.
When we view martyrdom from the physical point of view we see only "the destruction of life." But when we behold it from the spiritual point of view it becomes the most perfect manifestation of love and faith the heart can conceive for here the lover of God, the lover of mankind gives his all that the Kingdom of peace may appear in the world. "Deeds speak louder than words." They make words real, "True words," said Bahá'u'lláh, "are verified by action. One without the other will not satisfy the thirsty or open the doors of perception before the blind."
Martyrdom makes the spirit of utter dedication to the service of God so real that it ignites in other hearts a like flame of divine devotion. The martyrdom of Christ on the cross conquered and changed the hearts of untold millions. True martyrdom is the greatest spiritual educator in the world of existence.
An American business man tells of how he was traveling in Persia. He saw a Bahá’í brought forth to execution. He was tied with his chest to a cannon's mouth. A great crowd assembled. The Bahá’í turned to his executioner: "Grant me one request before I enter the heavenly world," he said, "What is it?" asked the executioner. "Turn me around that the crowd may see how happy I am to be in the pathway of God," replied the man.
The executioner turned him around. and blew his body from the cannon's mouth.
"I saw that," said the American business man, "with my own eyes. When I want a religion I am going to be a Bahá’í for there is a religion that has power in it."—Editor.
THERE were thousands of martyrs to this Cause many of whom shine with a brilliance like the sun, dispelling the darkness of night. Among those of great renown was Badi, the messenger who carried the epistle of Bahá'u'lláh to the Shah of Persia. During the reign of this Shah thousands of believers were martyred. This was because enemies of the Cause impressed upon his mind the idea that this great Cause purposed to overthrow the government of Persia and to establish another form of government; therefore the Shah feared lest the believers were plotting against him. As soon as he heard that a person was connected, even remotely with the Cause an order was sent to do away with him.
In 1852 he issued an edict that every believer within his domain should be put to the sword, sparing no one. Accordingly, in every city of Persia many believers were thrown into prison and martyred, the greatest of these persecutions taking place in Tihran.
Now, a few years after his incarceration in the fortress city of Acre, Bahá'u'lláh revealed a long and detailed epistle for this Shah of Persia. Those who have studied it realize that this epistle is a heavenly book containing scientific and spiritual teachings. Bahá'u'lláh purposed to send this Tablet by a messenger who would give it into the Shah's own hands for it was a well-known fact that the courtiers around him did their utmost to keep the words of Bahá'u'lláh from his ears, saying that these words had such a power that, should the Shah listen to them, his heart would be changed. Therefore Bahá'u'lláh planned to send this Tablet by a messenger who would carry it to the Shah himself.
When Bahá'u'lláh revealed the Tablet he wrote upon it certain conditions. First, before the bearer accepted the commission he must realize that in accomplishing it he would be killed with severest torture and that he must show utmost steadfastness and assurance. Secondly when on his way to Persia, and in Persia, he must associate with no believers for after the king had apprehended him his deputies would undoubtedly try to find out the names of the believers with whom he was associated in order to seize and kill them also. This was the wisdom of the command of Bahá'u'lláh. He must from the very beginning of his journey meet no believers so that he could declare truthfully that he knew no one of them. The third condition was that he should deliver the epistle with his own hand into the hands of the Shah.
Now Badi was a youth of seventeen, and at that time was in Acre and in the presence of Bahá'u'lláh. Before his arrival in Acre, His Holiness Bahá'u'lláh told his followers there that the messenger who was to carry this Tablet to the Shah would ere long arrive.
One day, when some friends were gathered together His Holiness Bahá'u'lláh took the Tablet and holding it in his hand, said: "Who is the one who will carry this to the Shah of Persia?"
Badi, like a flame of fire, sprang from his seat and bowing down before Bahá'u'lláh said: "I will carry this Tablet." Bahá'u'lláh asked the question a second time; and the youth repeated his supplication.
Bahá'u'lláh called the third time, and the third time Badi petitioned that he might carry the Tablet.
So Bahá'u'lláh gave him the wonderful Tablet, and Badi took it, and started on his great mission.
Badi went to Mount Carmel from the presence of where he engaged in supplication and prayer as though in preparation to meet God. There were with him two other believers.
He dressed in a long white garment and would stand in an attitude of humility, Acre. He seemed like a thirsty man searching for cool and refreshing water. Bahá'u'lláh sent from his presence in the care of one of the believers two small packages to be delivered to Badi, who arose, accepted them in his hands, kissed them reverently and thanked God with great exaltation. The two friends felt that these packages must contain some special command for the service of the Cause, and they asked if it would be possible for Badi to let them read their contents. But he replied: "I have no time," and immediately set out on his journey to Persia.
He did not tarry at all nor rest upon the way but with patience and utmost perseverance followed the instructions of Bahá'u'lláh. One of the old believers, now living, met the young man on the journey and wondered concerning his great abstraction. This man said that every now and then Badi would steal away. "Once I followed him," he said, "to find out what he was doing. Then I saw that he prostrated himself upon the ground, facing Acre, and prayed with utmost reverence. After I heard the story of his martyrdom I realized that he was offering prayers of thanksgiving."
When Badi arrived at the gate of Tihran, the capital of Persia, the Shah
was out of the city on a hunting trip. So Badi mounted a hill on this plain outside the city and stood there in his white garment with the Tablet of Bahá'u'lláh in his hand. For three days and three nights he stood motionless upon the hill. The Shah, scanning the country with his field glasses, looked at him many times and at last, filled with curiosity, sent some of his men to bring the youth to him that he might learn of his errand. The messengers inquired of Badi what he wanted and Badi replied that he had a very important letter for the Shah of Persia and he wished to be allowed to deliver it with his own hand. They tried their utmost to get the Tablet from him but Badi would not give it up. So they returned to the Shah who ordered that Badi be brought to him. Thus Badi at last attained his utmost desire—and delivered the Tablet into the very hands of the Shah.
The Shah realized at once that it was from Bahá'u'lláh. He became very much enraged and, with his attendants, insisted that Badi reveal the names of the believers with whom he was associated. The courtiers began to beat and injure him, and Badi gave thanks to God, exclaiming: "At last I have attained to the station of martyrdom which Bahá'u'lláh prophesied upon this Tablet."
He ordered the officers to take the young man away. So they took him, and branded him with hot irons. Badi, to the utter amazement of those who tortured him cried out, in wonderful joy: "You have branded but one side. Would you not like to brand the other also that I may have this fire of suffering all through my body!" They were so astonished that they reported the matter to the Shah, saying: "Here is no human being. No matter how much we brand him he does not tell the name of any believer but shows still greater happiness." The Shah replied: "Take his photograph and bring it to me." So while they burned Badi with hot irons they took his photograph. This photograph exists today, among us.
Then the Shah commanded that he be put to death immediately and that no one be shown his photograph lest that one become a believer. Thus the prophecy of Bahá'u'lláh, written upon the Tablet, was fulfilled.
Later on the Shah read the epistle of Bahá'u'lláh and a wonderful change took place in him. He understood then that the great purpose of this Cause is to establish universal peace, universal brotherhood and universal reconciliation, that this Cause has appeared in order that all mankind may be united in spiritual oneness and brotherhood. Therefore he never again, personally, interfered with the believers nor himself persecuted them.
His Holiness Bahá'u'lláh in this great Tablet addresses the Shah thus: "Will you invite the mullahs and learned men to meet together and allow me to come also? I will present myself and the mullahs may ask of me any sign which would make them realize the station of this Cause. If these signs are manifested from me, well and good; if not, then you may do with me what you wish."
The Shah sent the Tablet to the mullahs of Tihran, asking what they would do.
They made no answer to the Tablet of which proved to the Shah that these enemies were unjust and prejudiced.
Badi was but one of the many martyrs in this Cause who showed their love for it with fortitude and steadfastness.
ANOTHER martyrdom unique to this Revelation is that of Varga, the poet, and his twelve year old son.
Varga asked of Bahá'u'lláh the meaning of a verse in the Book of Aqdas which refers to the appointment of 'Abdu'l-Bahá as the Center of the Covenant: "When the ocean of My Presence hath ebbed and the Book of Origin is ended, turn ye unto him whom the Lord hath purposed, who hath branched from this Ancient Stock." Bahá'u'lláh replied that the meaning of this verse is 'Abdu'l-Bahá. Therefore from that time Varga with all his heart loved the Master.
Varga constantly supplicated Bahá'u'lláh that he might attain to the station of martyrdom, and finally his petition was granted. As this promise, however, was not fulfilled during the lifetime of after Bahá'u'lláh's departure from this world Varga made his request to 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
Varga was a well known teacher, an illumined speaker and a peerless poet. His poems speak of the love of God and are of such high spiritual quality that they lift the reader to wonderful heights. In several of them he prophesies his own martyrdom.
His son, Ruollah, was a youthful genius, a speaker and a teacher of great power and persuasiveness. At the age of twelve years he wrote beautiful poems. He was a brilliant child. Because he was so young and so full of joy and enthusiasm when he went to see Bahá'u'lláh he (Bahá'u'lláh) would sometimes joke with him and ask him questions. Now and then he would call him "the teacher." One day Bahá'u'lláh said to him: "You have a great gift for teaching. Now suppose that Promised One of the Muhammedans should appear, the One who, according to tradition is like an eagle, and will guide the people to the Kingdom. If this One appears what will you do?"
"Through the confirmation of Bahá'u'lláh," replied the boy, "I will teach him and make him a believer."
Varga with his young son started on a campaign of teaching, in Persia. They arrived at a city whose Governor was a very cruel and merciless man. The people quickly brought to this Governor reports that Varga was a brilliant teacher and that he carried with him much wealth. This wealth consisted of fifty volumes of the writings of Bahá'u'lláh and was indeed very precious. In addition to the spiritual value of these books they had, truly, material value, for they were written on the best of paper and were embellished and bound.
The Governor sent his officer and had Varga and his son taken prisoners. When they examined his possessions the Governor saw that Varga had no wealth, only a few volumes. Varga, who longed to give him the message of the Kingdom, now began to teach him, and begged the Governor to invite the Ulamas and the scholars of the city that he might speak with them. He would, he said, prove to them the validity of this Cause from the text of all the heavenly scriptures and writings. The Governor granted his request and the learned men assembled. Then Varga and his twelve year old son spoke to them. The boy was so eloquent and persuasive that the Governor and many of the people became greatly attracted. The Shah now sent a telegram that these two believers be sent immediately to the capital.
In Tihran they were held captive, in a large mansion. Here some of the believers visited them secretly. At that time Varga wrote a letter to the believers of Tihran in which he said that, in keeping with the promise of Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá, it would seem as though the time was drawing near when he should attain to the station of martyrdom, yet, judging from the kindness and respect with which the Shah and the Prime Minister treated him and the fact that they had put him in such a mansion, he could see no evidence of the approach of martyrdom. Evidently this delay was due to his inability to attain to that high station.
After a while the chief courtier, a very cruel man, carried a report to the Shah which resulted in an order to put Varga and his son in prison. From this prison Varga wrote a letter to the Shah requesting him to invite all the learned men to a meeting and to permit him, also, to attend this gathering. The Shah sent this chief courtier, who had given evidence against him, to Varga to inquire how he wished the meeting arranged. When the courtier entered the prison room and heard from Varga's own lips his request for this meeting he became very angry, and said: "Do you think to spread the
teachings of Bahá'u'lláh throughout the world?"
While these things were happening to Varga the fiftieth anniversary of the reign of the Shah occurred. The Shah wished to make a great celebration of this event; so he planned feasts and parades and demonstrations. In order to do honor to his anniversary the Shah, himself, paid a visit to one of the holy Shrines outside the capital. There a revolutionist, just arrived in Persia, hid himself. From this hiding place he shot and killed the Shah.
Upon hearing the news of the Shah's death the chief courtier went to the prison of Varga and his son and began to upbraid them. Then he drew his sword and cut Varga to pieces before the eyes of his young son.
To the boy he said: "You have now seen how your father has been killed. Recant your beliefs and I will give you the highest position in the kingdom." The boy replied: "I have no other hope save martyrdom. My father has trained me all these years that I may reach to this great station." Then the boy, also, was murdered.
The tree of the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh was watered with the blood of these divine souls. Under this tree all the children of men will find rest and peace.
THE HEAVENLY ARTISTS
WHEN 'Abdu'l-Bahá was in London, in 1913, among his many callers was an actress who spoke to him of the theater and her work. "We also have a theater," said 'Abdu'l-Bahá. The actress immediately became all interest and enthusiasm. "Yes, where is it?" she said. "I should love to see it. Can I play in it?"
"Our theater," 'Abdu'l-Bahá answered, smiling, "is built in a country where there is eternal springtime. The streets of that city are as clean as the surface of a mirror. The lights of that playhouse are the rays of the Sun of Reality, the actors of our drama are the Holy Manifestations of God, the audience is composed of pure and sanctified souls. They play their parts with the most delicate art. They deliver their words with power and potency. The stage of our theater is the arena upon which is played the sublimest tragedy, the most terrible drama, the most thrilling and heart-moving events of life.
"Come and join our company. You have acted all your life upon the material stage. Now come and act on this celestial stage. Your fellow actors will assist you, will coach you in your part and, step by step, you will become a star shining in the galaxy of those heavenly inspired dramatists."
A musician visited 'Abdu'l-Bahá in London and asked for spiritual confirmation in the study of music.
"There are two kinds of music," said 'Abdu'l-Bahá, "divine and earthly music. Divine music exhilarates the spirit, while earthly music has an effect upon the body. Divine music belongs to the Kingdom of God, earthly music is of the mundane world. I hope you will be confirmed to study both kinds of music so that you may be able to sing the anthems of heaven and the songs of this world."
To a portrait painter of New York City, who was in Acre, Palestine, with a party of visitors, 'Abdu'l-Bahá said, picturing in glowing words the work of the heavenly artist: "As to your art, it is one of the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh that art is identical with an act of worship, and you must go on with your art and improve in it; and through this very Cause you will be able to make great progress in your art, for you will be helped from above. Say, 'I have two arts, one physical, the other spiritual. The physical one is that I draw the images of men; my spiritual art is that I draw the images of the angels, and I hope that at last I shall
be able to draw pictures of the perfections of God. My physical art will at last end, but my spiritual art is everlasting. My physical art can be done by many, but my spiritual art is not the work of everyone.'
"Can you paint upon the page of the world the ideal pictures of the Celestial Concourse? The pictures which are in the ideal world are eternal. I wish you to become such an artist. Man can paint those ideal pictures upon the tablet of existence with the brush of deeds.
* * *
"The holy, divine Manifestations are all heavenly artists. Upon the canvas of creation, with the brush of their deeds and lives they paint immortal pictures which cannot be found in any art museum of Europe or America. But you find the masterpieces of these spiritual artists in the hearts."
PRESIDENT HARDING AND WORLD PEACE
"TODAY the most great service to the Kingdom of God," wrote 'Abdu'l-Bahá to Mr. Andrew Carnegie, "is the promotion of the principle of the unification of mankind and the establishment of universal peace." "Every century holds the solution of one predominant problem," he said on another occasion. "In the past century the most important question that occupied the minds of men was the establishment of political freedom and this aim was more or less broadcast. But in this luminous century the greatest bestowal is universal peace."
In future ages the statesmen of our day will doubtless be remembered in the degree that they served in the establishment of universal peace. And the greatest statesmen will be those who call the first universal conference which successfully organizes mankind for the Most Great Peace.
One of the achievements of President Harding's administration was the conference for the limitation of armaments and the preservation of peace about the Pacific Ocean. In his last journey, westward, in which he wore out his strength by his many speeches, President Harding's central plea seemed to be for America's participation in the Court of International Justice. In his address, made public by his secretary, in San Francisco, two days before his death, he sums up the achievements of his administration, and says:
"Peace ought to be the supreme blessing to all mankind. Armed warfare is abhorrent to the ideal civilization. Nations ought no more need resort to force in the settlement of their disputes or differences than do men in this enlightened day. Out of this conviction, out of my belief in a penitent world, craving for the agencies of peace, out of the inevitable Presidential contact with the World War's havoc and devastation and the measureless sorrow, which attended and has followed, I would be insensible to duty and violate all the sentiments of my heart and all my convictions if I failed to urge American support of the Permanent Court of International Justice.
"I do not know that such a Court will be unfailing in the avoidance of war, but I know it is a step in the right direction and will prove an advance toward international peace for which the reflective conscience of mankind is calling."
The need of an International Court of Arbitral Justice and Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá have in their teachings been presenting to the world for some seventy years. They show that it must be the center of an all-inclusive society of nations. To be successful the Society of Nations must be universal, including every country of the world, a palace of peace built upon the divine foundation of
the oneness of mankind. The whole human race must support it and enforce its decrees.*
May the work of President Wilson and President Harding speed the coming of that glorious day when the United States, one of the strongest nations in the world and famous for its idealism, shall call the representatives of the whole world together in a conference which shall realize the vision of prophets and sages, when nation shall no longer lift up sword against nation, neither learn war any more, when God's justice shall arbitrate among many peoples, and through the light of the New Jerusalem of His Universal Law they shall enter upon the long awaited thousand years of peace.
THE world has made more progress in scientific knowledge and its practical application, since 1844, than in all previous recorded history. This advance in science, one phase of which is material communication, is fast making our world one City. The time has come when the inhabitants of this great City must live in unity and realize that "God made of one all the nations of men."
Everything which brings accord among the different nations is preparing the way for this unity. The appeal for a universal language by means of which all peoples can understand each other is now arising from a new quarter, the Radio World. Over the radio, wireless messages will soon flash to us from all parts of the world. Through the radio it is now possible for us to listen to the voices of those who are thousands of miles away.
But suppose a very important communication comes in Greek or Chinese, in Persian, Arabic or Russian! What are we then to do? We must of necessity have a universal language, one which
*The Bahá’í program for universal peace may be found in the July and August, 1923, issues of the STAR OF THE WEST; in the "Compilation" on the Most Great Peace, and in "'Abdu'l-Bahá's Tablet to the Central Organization for a Durable Peace, The Hague," Bahá’í Publishing Society, Chicago.
can easily be acquired in Occident and Orient. This will become a real means of world unity and peace.
THE population of the country is moving to the cities at an astonishing rate, according to a recent study of the fourteenth census of the United States. From 1910 to 1920, one-third of the counties of the United States lost in population. If this exodus from the country continues the vast city population will soon be in need of bread.
Fifty years ago Bahá'u'lláh outlined the vital necessity of developing agriculture. He wrote, in his "Tablet of the World," five of the great requirements in the administration of the modern world:
"First . . . . promote the Most Great Peace, in order that the world may be freed from onerous expenditures. This matter is obligatory and indispensable; for warfare and conflict are the foundation of trouble and distress.
Second: Languages must be reduced to one, and that one language must be taught in all the schools of the world.
Third: All must adhere to the means which is conducive to love and unity.
Fourth: Men and women must place a part of what they earn by trade, agriculture or other business, . . . . . to be spent in the education and instruction of the children.
Fifth: Complete regard should be had to the matter of agriculture. Although this matter is mentioned in the fifth, yet in reality it is endowed with the first station."
IN his Life of Christ which is today so popular, Giovanni Papini says that the return of Christ, "according to the predictions in the Gospels, cannot be far distant. Once again, in these years, nations have risen against nations, the earth has quaked, destroying many lives, and
pestilences, famines and seditions have desolated nations. For more than a century the words of Christ have been translated and preached in all languages." The two great signs that he is at our doors are these: "The Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached to all nations and the Gentiles shall no longer tread down Jerusalem. These two conditions are fulfilled in our own time." Yet "no one thinks of the Divine Thief who will come suddenly in the night, no one waits for the Real Master, who will return unexpectedly, no one looks at the sky to see if the lightning is flashing from the east."
Among other signs are these: that the faith of many has waxed cold, the Jews are returning to Palestine, and we have seen the universal war, the great Armageddon which was to precede the thousand years of peace.
THE cause of the emancipation of women is making rapid strides in Turkey. Mustapha Kemal Pasha favors this movement and recently pointed out that Turkey could perfect itself only if Turkish women are educated and share in the activities of national life. Dr. Bessim Omar, President of the Turkish University, is an ardent feminist. He has helped in bringing to pass the matriculation of women students in the university and has especially encouraged this work in the medical department. The Turkish Minister of Education is a woman, Halidé Hanum. Thus one of the Muslim countries is bringing to pass the words of "Divine justice demands that men and women should have equal rights; there is no difference between them; neither sex is superior to the other in the sight of God."
WHEN I was in Haifa I felt that 'Abdu'l-Bahá was planning to take a very long journey. We did not, however, grasp its significance. We thought that it was to be a physical journey. We did not realize that it was to be to the Kingdom of Abhá.
One day, in the Pilgrim House, it was said that the physical appearance of 'Abdu'l-Bahá showed signs of weariness. Some of us thought that this was due to the small amount of food which 'Abdu'l-Bahá ate. He always divided the food among the guests, a symbol of the way in which he distributed spiritual sustenance. He took almost nothing, himself, but a glass of milk or the yolk of an egg.
A group of friends were selected and their spokesman, a very old and spiritual Bahá’í, went to 'Abdu'l-Baha. Overcome with emotion at the question which he was about to present, he could not speak a word. 'Abdu'l-Bahá took him by the hand, and encouraged him. The old man said: "The believers feel that there are two reasons for 'Abdu'l-Bahá's weariness. First, he does not eat enough. Secondly, he works too hard." Then 'Abdu'l-Bahá very humbly, told him that he was mistaken. "Do you think," he said, "that this material food has any effect upon my body? This food has no effect. Only good news from the believers, the glad tidings which comes from all parts of the world of the advancement of the Cause, of the unity of the believers, this, only, improves my health. As to the second point—I am going to take a long journey and at that time my spirit will rest."
Later, we understood what the Master had meant. These talks showed that 'Abdu'l-Bahá had finished his work, was preparing for the great journey to the Kingdom.
ANOTHER day 'Abdu'l-Bahá said that the Bahá’ís look to the light, many others look to the glass in which the light is shining. The Bahá'is apprehend
the inner reality of man and the light of God which is living in the Being of the Manifestations of God; others look to the outward appearance or the garment of names. The religionists who denied the Manifestations in the past clung to the garment, the glass, Bahá’ís turn to the reality of the light.
At the time when the Báb was being driven by his enemies from place to place there lived in a certain city a believer who had never seen him. He had heard that the Báb wore a green turban, as did all the descendants of Muhammed. This believer went to see the Bab, and he looked for the green turban. It so happened that just before his arrival the Báb had taken off his green turban, putting on instead, a Persian cap. So the man did not recognize him. The Báb joked, saying: "I have heard that you have become a believer in the new movement. What has caused this change?"
The man answered: "The proof of Muhammed was his eloquent Arabic book. I have heard that this young man brought through revelation several eloquent Arabic and Persian epistles which have the spirit of the word of Muhammed."
The Báb said: "Whoever thus reveals, you believe?"
He then began writing verses, like a crystal river. The man, overwhelmed, cried out that such an one must be a Manifestation. "But why does not he wear a green turban?"
So 'Abdu'l-Bahá showed us that we should judge not by the garment, but by the heart beneath.
When but a youth Bahá'u'lláh, dressed at that time, as a government official and not in the turban and flowing robes of the scholar, entered the classroom of a celebrated theologian. Many students were there. The teacher, who was deeply versed in religious philosophy, suggested, for discussion, some very difficult topics. Immediately the class entered into controversy, many voices being raised; and the teacher was not satisfied with the discussion.
Bahá'u'lláh then asked permission to speak. He soon solved the difficult problems. All had heard that he had never attended a school; yet no sooner did he begin to speak than they realized that he was an ocean of thought whose waves washed the shores of every mind in that audience. The teacher said: "Behold! you have all studied! But here is one who has never studied, who gives luminous answers."
When Shoghi Effendi returned to Haifa many did not realize that, though dressed differently, though young, yet he was the perfect mirror reflecting 'Abdu'l-Bahá. I was so fortunate as to be in Haifa when Shoghi Effendi arrived. It was as though he brought an ocean of hope, activity and longing to serve and to sacrifice. No sooner did he arrive than he began to write to all parts of the world. One who met him saw in him the same will, the same love, the same tenderness, the same overpowering desire to serve that he saw in 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
In some of his last talks in Haifa, 'Abdu'l-Bahá said: "After my departure there will be a short time of quiet in the Cause. Then the flame of love and activity will leap forth and there will follow a great period of work, and proclamation of the Cause, of going out to all the highways and byways of the world." This is coming to pass. First, a great shock, a feeling of loss. Now, since the return of Shoghi Effendi, and his correspondence with all parts of the world, there is a great resuscitation. The advices and exhortations in the last Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá that none must rest, but must teach—these are being realized in the visible world.
This is the first year of the mission of Shoghi Effendi. To show him our great attraction in the Cause we must manifest great activity. It behoveth us that in this year we engage in extraordinary service and walk steadfastly toward the city of universal peace and the oneness of hearts and minds.
Haifa, Palestine, June 8, 1923.
THE establishment of Spiritual Assemblies in all centers, where true and sincere friends are, recalls to our minds how the beloved Master when in our midst, time and again, with the usual gentle motion of his hand, freely and abundantly gave to us the noble principles of life and often drew to our attention the fact that the time was not far distant when a much greater cooperation between the different centers would be established through the Spiritual Assemblies. And now we realize that wherever a group is gathered in his name a spiritual rosebud opens up, announcing the inauguration of a new center in the Bahá’í world. These may be likened to radio stations and, as they are strengthened by the confirmations of the Blessed Beauty they must become attuned to the oncoming waves of divine assistance which constantly pour in from the Abhá Kingdom.
The first letter from the Burma Spiritual Assembly and the glowing account therein of the activities of the friends is another indication of the fact that the Cause of God is being guided through invisible powers, and blessing is his who finds his way to give a helping hand at the opportune time.
The letter from Bombay states that the headquarters of the Bahá’í News Magazine of India is being transferred to Rawalpindi, and the new Persian teacher, Háji Mirzá Hasan Nikú, will assist in editing the Persian section of the magazine.
We have interesting accounts concerning the activities of the friends in Tihran. A program has been drawn up for the year and a central fund covering a larger field than before has been established. The different committees formed with the sanction of the Spiritual Assembly are performing their duties with diligence and vigour. The Teaching Committee, whose main purpose is to organize regular meetings, to bring souls nearer to the Truth is very active. A special committee looks after the arrangements for the Nineteen-Day Feasts and, through their efforts, sixty-two meetings were held last year. The Committee of Education has up to the present time sent nineteen teachers to different parts of Persia and has spent about one hundred and nineteen Tumans for that purpose. The Social Service Committees attend to relief work and the Women's Teaching Committee looks after the women members of the Bahá’í Community of Tihran.
A letter from the Spiritual Assembly of Cairo states that the spirit of the Cause bringing fundamental changes in the life of the people. The Muslim women in cooperation with other Egyptians are working for the freedom of women; they have conferences and discussions on the subject. This has brought them very much nearer to the Cause and many of them are interested in the Movement.
In the Tablets of His Holiness Bahá'u'lláh and in those of the beloved Master, 'Abdu'l-Bahá, many references are found regarding the province of Khurásán, Persia. In these Tablets we are told that devoted servants of the Cause will come from that vast province. We are now approaching the realization of these words. The letter from the Spiritual Assembly speaks very highly of the spiritual atmosphere in every town, village and hamlet in Khurásán. There are many meetings held each week; general meetings, for giving the Message, meetings for the religious instruction of the children, and special meetings when the need arises. In one city the friends have, within a period of six months brought thirty-two important notables to the Cause.
The Spiritual Assembly of Khusf is a shining star and has united the friends wonderfully. The Bahá’í paper, Khúrshidi-i-Khávar, in 'Ishqábád is encountering great difficulties due to the unstable conditions, and is temporarily suspended. It is hoped it will soon shine like the Star of the West.
From Baghdad, the ancient capital of the Muslim faith, and onetime place of exile of His Holiness Bahá'u'lláh, there comes the news of the formation of a Spiritual Assembly. Baghdad is becoming important, as many friends will pass through it on their way from Persia to the Holy Land.
We have just received letters from the Spiritual Assemblies of Damascus, Beirut, Aleppo and Alexandretta, all expressing the fact that the believers are doing their best to carry out the principles of the Master.
We are also in receipt of the letter from the National Spiritual Assembly of America, dated May, 1923. It was translated into Persian, read in our assembly meeting here and its contents communicated to the friends in the Orient. It gave us a new joy and spirit. We earnestly hope to receive such encouraging news from all the western Assemblies.
Two kind letters have come from the friends at Kenosha. Their letters reach us regularly and we thank them for all that they are doing for the advancement of the cause of peace and progress.
On the anniversary of the departure of the Blessed Beauty, the twenty-ninth day of May, all the friends of Haifa and Acre passed the night at the Holy Tomb in prayer and meditation, earnestly praying for the success of the friends who are heartily spreading the Cause in all parts of the world.
With best wishes that your activities may be crowned with success,
(Signed) Mirzá Badi' Bushru'i,
Secretary.
IN San Francisco, April, 1915, the first International Bahá’í Congress of America was held, in Festival Hall of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition. The permission to meet in this Hall of the magnificent Panama-Pacific Exposition was granted the Bahá’ís by the Director of the Exposition, Mr. John A. Britton.
Mr. Britton passed, suddenly, into the unseen world in July of this year. He was "a national figure, renowned and beloved by all who knew him, revered by the twenty-five hundred employes of his company." He was a friend of the Cause and acted as Honorary President of the West Coast Teaching Conference and Congress which was held in San Francisco, last November.
The following tribute was presented on the occasion of his funeral, in behalf of the San Francisco Bahá’í Assembly, by Dr. Frederick W. D'Evelyn, President of the International Bahá’í Congress of 1915.
IN MEMORIAM
JOHN A. BRITTON
Ceremonies at the Official Reception given to the International Bahá’í Congress April 24, 1915
Director John A. Britton, P. P. I. E., said:
"It may be accepted as a truism that those who are building foundations for the betterment of the human race, which are dealing with the social and economic problems that confront the people of the world today, are doing quite as much for the perpetuation of the betterment of mankind as do those who build the monuments of steel, of granite and of marble. . . .
"To you who represent the great good-will, the peace, which the Master of the world, whoever he may be to all of us, has placed upon us as a part of true education, . . . and who have that solemn duty in hand, seriously, full-mindedly,
reverentially, intelligently,—we of the Exposition family extend welcome to you to our family, co-workers, as your title deeds acclaim,—for the good of the world and the happiness of the nations."
This message, spoken from the soul of John Britton was forwarded, interpreted into their several languages and dialects, to the peoples of the world—Christian, Arab, Jew, Parsee, Brahmin, to China, Japan, Africa and the Isles of the seas, irrespective of colour, creed or caste, and by them received with great rejoicing and ever since revered as a benediction.
On behalf of these peoples, with love, honour and veneration, in memoriam of their well-wisher, John A. Britton, this tribute is affectionately tendered.
Frederick W. D'Evelyn, President,
International Bahá’í Congress.
San Francisco, California,
July 2, 1923.
TWO years ago an Englishwoman, a lecturer on the message of love and brotherhood, heard Jináb-i-Fádil speak in her city, Vancouver, British Columbia, and became deeply interested in the Bahá’í Teachings because of their universal character and the wonderful consciousness of universal brotherhood, which Jináb-i-Fádil brought to the people.
Recently she gave a series of lectures in one of the Hawaiian Islands, where the Bahá’í Cause had not appeared. She formed a class, to whom Mrs. S. A. Baldwin and Mrs. and Miss Cramer soon told the Bahá’í Message.
The result has been that a new group is formed upon this island to study the divinely dynamic words of Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá. Thus are the seeds of the Kingdom carried from city to city.
FOR a number of months Miss Martha Root has been in Peking studying the life of the great and ancient civilization of China and preparing for her lectures and journeys in behalf of the message of world-unity. She gave some twenty lectures in Japan. Recently she received a letter from Mirza Bahadur in Haifa, the secretary of Shoghi Effendi, from which we take the following sentences: "Your letter of April the fourth written to our dear Shoghi from 'Kaga Maru' has been received with great joy. He was exceedingly glad to read your letter and all its interesting tidings which indicate that you are . . . . like a swift-flying bird going to all countries and singing the charming melodies of the Abhá Kingdom.
"Your letter was translated into Persian so that it may be read in the meeting of the friends here and also be inserted in the monthly circular of the Haifa Spiritual Assembly and mailed to different assemblies of the friends in the Orient.
"Shoghi Effendi supplicates heavenly blessing and divine confirmations for you, that wherever you go the Hosts of the Abhá Kingdom may accompany you.
"He approves of the plan of your journey to China, Japan, Australia and South Africa and assures you of its great results."
A Letter from Shoghi Effendi
THE beloved of the Lord and the handmaids of the Merciful in Japan: Susm Awaihara, E. Tanakamura, Y. S. Lo, K. C. Ling, N. Yawata, H. C. Waung, M. Hataya, E. Noguchi, F. Takahashi, Ida Finch, K. Sawada, K. Ono, Tokujiro Torii, Agnes Alexander, Yoshio Ishiguro.
Dearest brethren and sisters in Bahá'u'lláh!
The most welcome letter of our dearly beloved sister, Miss Agnes Alexander, imparting the glad news of the progress of her glorious services in Japan has rejoiced my heart, and has served to strengthen my hope and confidence in the future glories of that far eastern land.
The Ladies of the Holy Household are highly gratified and comforted to learn of your untiring labours in His
Vineyard, of the success that has attended your efforts, of the perseverance and ardour with which you conduct your teaching work in those distant regions of the earth. 'Abdu'l-Bahá is with you always, and your success is assured.
May the visit of our beloved sister, Miss Martha Root, to your shores stimulate widespread interest in the Cause throughout Japan, China and the Pacific Islands, and consolidate the foundation of the Edifice of the Cause in those far-eastern regions. I shall ever pray at the Three Thresholds that the seeds now scattered may bear abundant fruit and the promise of our Master be speedily fulfilled.
I shall remember in my prayers Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Baldwin and their children, as well as Mrs. Cramer and Miss Cramer, and wish them from all my heart signal success in their noble endeavours to promote far and wide the Heavenly Teachings.
It is my earnest hope that the friends in Japan will from now on write me frequent and detailed letters, setting forth the account of their various spiritual activities, and giving me the plan for their future services to the cause of Bahá'u'lláh.
Our devoted brother, Mr. Fugita, is well and happy in the Holy Land, and together with the Ladies of the Household and myself is engaged in the service of the various pilgrims that visit in these days this sacred Spot. He is faithfully and actively carrying on the work which he had started so wholeheartedly during the Master's last years on earth.
I trust that the letters addressed to you by the newly constituted Spiritual Assembly in Haifa have contributed their share in informing you more fully of the onward and irresistible march of the movement throughout the world.
Awaiting your joyful letters,
I am your brother and fellow worker,
(signed) Shoghi
Haifa, Palestine, May 16th, 1923.
GREEN-ACRE has been very fortunate this summer in the presence of the "Ideal Sage," Jináb-i-Fádil, who has conducted two meetings every day and has spoken on Sunday mornings at the Eirenion, the "House of Peace," where many of the conferences are held. Jináb-i-Fádil has lectured upon Zoroaster and the early civilization of Persia, upon the civilization of Arabia and other subjects, and in the morning meetings has given detailed accounts of Bahá’í history, speaking upon the Bab, Bahá'u'lláh, 'Abdu'l-Bahá and Shoghi Efiendi. On July twenty-sixth, in Boston, a son was born Jináb-i and Madame Fádil. His name will be Farang, which means "Reason." Their older son, Houshang, is named for one of the very ancient prophets of Persia.
THE Sun of Truth, published by the Bahá’ís of Germany in Stuttgart, has now added an English section to each issue. At present this section is giving delightful accounts of 'Abdu'l-Bahá's visit to Stuttgart in 1913.
The Bahá’í News of India is now being edited by Prof. Pritam Singh, M. A., Murree Road, Rawalpindi (Panjab), India. The June issue which has just reached us contains stirring words from Shoghi Effendi, accounts of addresses by Dr. Kaushal Kishore, Mirza Niku and Mirza Azizullah Bahadur, who was in India on his way from Persia to Haifa. It has also interesting items of news, and a wonderful Tablet of Bahá'u'lláh.
The STAR OF THE WEST will be glad to take subscriptions for the Bahá’í magazines of the world, as outlined on the inside page of the back cover.
Are you using the STAR OF THE WEST in spreading the Glad Tidings? Special five months' subscriptions ($1.00) are designed to bring this messenger of world unity to those who are watching for the divine solution of our problems.
Each issue presents an introduction to the Bahá’í teachings, from the point of view of the independent investigator of truth.
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The Fellowship House (above) and the Inn (below), at Green Acre, Eliot, Maine. The Green Acre conferences were started by Miss Sarah Farmer, just after the Parliament of Religions at the World's Fair in Chicago, in 1893. Miss Farmer later became a Bahá’í, visiting Acre in 1900. 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke at Green Acre a number of times when he was in America, in 1912.
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