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| VOL. 18 | OCTOBER, 1927 | NO. 7 |
| Page | |
Editorial, Stanwood Cobb | 195 |
On Earth as it is in Heaven, Keith Ransom-Kehler | 198 |
Reflections on the Great Eclipse, Florence E. Pinchon | 202 |
The International School of Geneva, Mme. Jeanne Stannard | 205 |
Nineteenth Universal Congress of Esperanto, Martha L. Root | 208 |
The Conductor of the Symphony on the Pacific, Setsuichi Aoki | 212 |
The Background of the Chinese Women, Mrs. C. F. Wang | 213 |
The Present Tendencies of the Korean People, Helen K. Kim | 215 |
Educators in Council for World Progress, Henry W. Hetzel | 218 |
Some Experiences Among the Poor in Brazil, Leonora Holsapple | 220 |
The Spiritual Need in Education, Excerpts from address of President Coolidge | 223 |
of Mi'rza Ahmad Sohrab and Dr. Zia M. Bagdadi: preserved, fostered and by them turned over to the National Spiritual Assembly, with all
valuable assets, as a gift of love to the Cause of God.STANWOOD COBB | Editor |
MARIAM HANEY | Associate Editor |
ALLEN B. MCDANIEL | Business Manager |
Subscriptions: $3.00 per year; 25 cents a copy. Two copies to same name and address, $5.00 per year. Please send change of address by the middle of the month and be sure to send OLD as well as NEW address. Kindly send all communications and make postoffice orders and checks payable to Baha'i News Service, 706 Otis Building, Washington, D. C., U. S. A. Entered as second-class matter April 9, 1911, at the postoffice at Washington, D. C., under the Act of March 3, 1897. Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in Section 1103 Act of October 3, 1917, authorized September 1, 1922.
--PHOTO--
The northern flower gardens around the Shrine of Bahá'u'lláh at Bahjí, 'Akká.(See page 200)
| VOL. 18 | OCTOBER, 1927 | No. 7 |
graceful, elegant, and beautiful it may be, it is dead. Divine civilization is like the spirit, and the body gets its life from the spirit, otherwise it becomes a corpse. It has thus been made evident that the world of mankind is in need of the breaths of the Holy Spirit.”
WHILE SCHOLARS and humanitarians are conceiving and working for a more perfect civilization, those who have spiritual vision are aware that the outlines of the ideal civilization for this terrestrial globe already exist on the plane of Reality—that is to say, in the Divine Plan which is preexistent and creative, both antecedent and causative to the human efforts which shall establish it. Christ saw such a splendid civilization in potentiality when He urged His followers to strive for the establishment of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. And He laid down the spiritual principles necessary as foundational to such a divinely ordered perfect state. Into details He did not go, for humanity was not then ready for such a message.
AFTER TWO THOUSAND years of the Christian dispensation, although the Kingdom of Heaven seems far from being realized on earth, this much has been accomplished—that gradually the ethics, the spiritual principles taught by Christ, have become accepted as ideal, even if not realized or easily realizable. All great social, economic, and political reforms are based on that love and sympathy for one’s fellow man which characterizes the Christian as against the previous pagan civilization.
But new forces have come into play, new and vast movements of humanity, which not only make possible but necessitate a clearer and more detailed definition of the perfect civilization which God plans for this planet.
CHRIST urged us to love our neighbor. Today through the marvelous inventions of science in speeding up transportation and communication, all the peoples of the world have become our neighbors. If we are to apply at all the Christian principle, it must be on a vaster scale than ever man had dreamt of till the twentieth century. And so closely do the races and nations of the world contact each other, that we are coming to realize we must either find a way of expressing the love taught of Christ in definite political and social institutions based on justice, sympathy, and understanding; or else in the very frictions and contentions which develop from unbrotherly living, the human race will, like the fabled scorpion, sting itself to death with that fratricidal poison which emanates from hate and strife.
’ABDU’L-BAHÁ HAS SAID that only in love and unity can constructiveness and cohesion be found, while from disharmony and the lack of
love result disintegration, destruction, death. A very notable example of the effect of vibrations of strife is the fact that during a recent prize-fight which was reported by radio, ten men who were listening in in different parts of the country died from mere shock. What a striking illustration of the fact that strife produces death! It is not merely that in the physical struggle one man may kill another. That is a minor evil compared to the effects of those dire and sinister vibrations which emanate from all strife into which the human heart or tongue or body become engrossed. If the vibrations of love are peace, the vibrations of strife and hatred are death. Upon such vibrations, and upon a humanity which finds delight in such vibrations, certainly no perfect civilization, no Kingdom of God, can be built.
LOVE IS A force which, emanating from the heart of God, has the constructive power to mould humanity into new and more ideal patterns. And through Bahá’u’lláh, that great and majestic Manifestation of God promised man all down through the ages, has been revealed to man—praise be to God!—not only the precise patterns for the New Civilization, but the power of love that can achieve. Wondrously as only God can design, is laid before us through the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh the divine institutions—social, economic, political—in accordance with which man is to live in the New Day. Poverty, misery, war, hatred, and intolerance, all are to be swept away. And in their place glorious edifices will arise outshining the most majestic conceptions of scholar, of statesman, of idealist.
THE GREATEST thinker can find no flaw in the perfection of the Bahá’í civilization with its various institutions as delineated by Bahá’u’lláh. And, vice versa, there is no pressing need, no world problem, that is not met and satisfied by these divinely instituted measures.
Upon the foundation of love, of mercy, of mutual sympathy and concord as laid down by Christ, is now to be erected the true Temple of Humanity, the perfect edifice under whose dome all mankind may find protection from poverty, from oppression, from strife. But of this Temple the structure must be unity and the power love. How apparent it is that ideal institutions can not arise and function except by means of an ideal humanity. There is no use of talking about the institution of universal peace so long as men’s hearts, severally and individually, are repositories of envy, hatred, and strife. There is little gain in formulating plans for the abolition of poverty and class struggle so long as individual man desires to exploit his fellow man.
THE NEW CIVILIZATION can come about only as the universal expression of an individual ethics and spirituality superior to that which prevails amongst men today. There is no denying this fact. Merely to dream of fair and noble institutions is not sufficient to bring them into existence. If we desire to be of aid in the establishment of that great and lofty world civilization, the archetypal form of which Bahá’u’lláh has revealed to us, it can only be through the individual perfectioning, by aid of the Holy Spirit, of the human race. And we must begin at home. It is our own deeds that we must scrutinize, not those of our fellow men. It is our own hearts that we must examine for that fatal defect of egotism and selfishness which ruins all vision and effort toward
the good either of ourselves or of the human race.
’ABDU’L-BAHÁ made clear to the world the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh not only by explanation but, what is infinitely more important, by exemplification. He lived to show mankind how to live; how to express naught but love and service in our thoughts, words, and deeds. His message was simple to hear: “Be kind; love one another; serve.” But the carrying out of this teaching is in very effect the building of the Temple—each kind deed a brick, each thought of love a bit of mortar welding eternally together the separate parts of that colossal cosmic structure, the New Jerusalem.
If our present civilization is chiefly the refined expression of man’s selfishness, the ideal future civilization must be the sincere expression of man’s unselfishness. A great gulf separates the twain. It is that gulf across which Lazarus cried in vain for that wherewith to quench his burning thirst. It were well with us each and all if we make now great effort to bridge this gulf, and to transfer our being to the land of perfection, where the Spirit and not matter reigns, for as ’Abdu’l-Bahá asks, “If the hope of man be limited to the material world what ultimate result is he working for?”
efforts in spiritual directions. Material civilization has reached an advanced plane but now there is need of spiritual civilization. Material civilization alone will not satisfy; it cannot meet the conditions and requirements of the present age. Its benefits are limited to the world of matter. There is no limitation to the spirit of man, for spirit in itself is progressive, and if the divine civilization be established the spirit of man will advance. Every developed susceptibility will increase the effectiveness of man. Discoveries of the real will become more and more possible and the influence of divine guidance will be increasingly recognized. All this is conducive to the divine form of civilization. This is what is meant in the Bible by the descent of the New Jerusalem. The heavenly Jerusalem is none other than the divine civilization, and it is now ready. It is to be and shall be organized, and the oneness of humankind will be a visible fact. * * * The world shall at last find peace and the equalities and rights of men shall be established * * * a readjustment of the economic order will come about, the divine sonship will attract, the Sun of Reality will shine forth and all phenomenal being will attain a portion.”
This is the fourth in a series of Excerpts from the Diary Letters of the distinguished writer and teacher, Mrs. Ransom-Kehler. The first was published in the November, 1926, Star of the West; the second in March, and the third in June, 1927.
THE Governor of ’Akká commissioned the leading architect of his time to build this dazzling mosque. The minaret seems very high and ethereal. On the first hot day, viewed from the marble steps of the Pilgrim House in Haifa, a mirage carried it far off into the midst of the Mediterranean; a witness to that day when there shall be no more sea—nothing left to separate and divide us.
Legend or history, the story goes that when the mosque was completed the Governor was delighted with its appearance.
“Would you ever be able to build a finer mosque than this?” he blandly inquired of the unsuspecting architect.
“God willing I might build one better,” he answered unguardedly.
Whereupon the despot ordered his immediate execution to forestall the erection of a house of Worship superior to the Governor’s own.
White deflects and disperses the light of the sun. On account of the excessive heat everything here is white, inside and out; cities of white—gaunt, lofty rooms, stark with untinted whitewash. It seems very bare and unfriendly to us to whom a white candle in a room is an offense against good taste. White, not only scientifically but psychologically, is out of key with everything else in the world, and it does not really combine with anything. For this very reason nothing is lovelier than a white house set in a green field: it definitely marks the end of nature and the beginning of art. But in an interior where all is man’s handiwork, white assaults the eye with nerve-wracking insistence.
In this mosque, for instance, in caligraphy beautiful as a work of art, texts from the Qurán are inscribed in vivid blue bands that outline doors and windows and also form a frieze. There is a sense of violence in the way in which they detach themselves from the aloof white background and spring upon the eye. The floor is soft with fine rugs, delicate and subdued; a colored-glass window of Arabesque design marks the direction of Mecca (toward which three hundred and sixty million souls are abjured to turn themselves five times a day); the quaint cool courtyard shaded with palms and foliage is restful and inviting; charming little kiosks in long attached rows, each with a miniature dome, open on this patio, forming a wall upon the outside; the reverent young theological students quietly come and go, each from his own little room in the wall; everything is alluring except these undisciplined white interior walls that rob the setting of its grace and tranquillity, recalling the almshouse or the chicken-coop.
This is Ramadan—the month of fasting—a time of unusual piety. Today not one, but three muezzins chant from the minaret the call to midday prayer. Their resonant, clear voices recount the sure mercies of God to those who follow His commandments
and abide in His law. Out over the blazing city ring the words of that wild descendant of Abraham, a son of Ishmael, who with intense Semitic fervor swept out of the desert from a menial calling to summon the idolators of Arabia to a knowledge of the one true God, and incidentally to lift himself to a position of royal power. That fierce and zealous passion that burns in the heart of Semites for the singleness of God, His unity and His indivisability has in truth made them a chosen people to disseminate this inconquerable adherence to monotheism throughout the world.
Buyer and seller cease their bargaining as the chant proceeds, camel and driver kneel by the roadside, little veiled girls perform their ablutions, and travelers distribute alms to the needy who surge around the doors of the mosque.
The most prevalent a name for Allah is the Merciful, but His mercies reach man from a very far distance in Muhammadan psychology. So fearful are they of making unto Him any likeness in heaven or in earth that He seems–to the student of this mighty religion–though not inaccessible, incalculably remote. Of course the spiritual fervor of the Sufi, and the mystical experiences of many devout Moslems make God near and personal; He is typified to such as a Lover, not as a Father; but to the average exponent of Islam, He rules man from afar with despotic power, an august monarch, conspicuously gracious as befits so exalted a Sovereignty.
To one side, leading from the mosque, are two tombs, of saints or dignitaries–I don’t quite gather which. The abomination of desolation from my point of view is a Muhammadan cemetery or tomb. Bodies are buried above ground in a stone or marble sarcophagus with a flat, uprights head-stone; never so much as a sprig of green, the ground gravel-strewn and unyielding. To us who have closed beloved eyelids and embalmed the memories of youth in the myrrh and cassia of many tears, there is a feeling eternally tender toward those untenanted souvenirs of an earthly sojourn, into which God once breathed a living soul.
The present vogue in ethnology is to regard the civilizations of the Orient as masculine; those of the Mediterranean basin and Occident as feminine. In the masculine civilization woman is relegated to an inferior station; in feminine cultures woman stands on an equality with man. One of the characteristics of a masculine outlook is detestation of death and of dead bodies; they are burned or exposed to ravenous beasts—anything quickly to dispose of them. In feminine comity there is always a strong sense of solidarity with the dead, and the preservation of dead bodies. (The ancestor-worship of the Chinese is accounted for on still another basis.) But any feeling for the dead in these countries must have been taken on as an acquired custom during the slavery of Israel in Egypt, and then transmitted to Islam, for practically all Muhammadan laws are taken bodily from the Mosaic code.
Whatever the reason the cheerless, repellant, hopeless aspect of these sepulchres always leaves an active depression in the heart.
The mosque-keeper holds out his hand for the customary tip and mutters some conventional cant.
No contrast could be greater than that of these tombs to the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh. Who could ever apply the word tomb to this spot where lies the dust that commemorates God’s tabernacle among men? Right here in the midst of the desert is a garden perennially bright with flowers and
--PHOTO--
The Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh at the left, and at the right entrance way for pilgrims
fruits. The body lies buried in a house that stood there at the time of our Lord’s ascension, thus giving the impression of something close and human–the impression that death makes us whole from sorrow, and vivifies us with the blossoms of eternity. The open court is now glass enclosed and planted with luxuriant foliage, around which runs a narrow passage on four sides covered with beautiful Persian carpets of leaf-green background strewn with coral-colored butterflies. There is an awesome cheerfulness about this antechamber to Paradise. The realization that death is not somber or lugubrious mingles with holy veneration in this room where the mortal remains of Bahá’u’lláh will quicken and enrich the very fibre of our earth forever.
*“And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God. And
*Rev. 21: 3 and 5.
he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.”
We kneel trembling before the very Threshold where ’Abdu’l-Bahá so often chanted His supplications. Nobody could ever attain to this commemoration, ever bury his longing face in the jasmine-covered door-sill, and not arise from that ecstatic burial a recreated soul. To whatever degree I shall be able to carry away with me the imprint of this divine visitation, here at least my naked heart has throbbed out its inmost aspirations before God. Almighty God, my Father, my Lord, and the Lord of all flesh, whom Thou hast created from a Single Breath of Thine inscrutable command, take, I implore Thee, this pinched and narrow heart of mine, and by Thy “strange work, Thy strange act”† transmute it into fire. Oh, my Beloved, from Whose compassion no soul, however slight and trivial, can escape, Thou seest with Thine all-beholding Eye that I lie before Thee, dispossessed and broken, with no art,
†Isaiah 28:21.
no virtue, no vision, no achievement to offer Thee, with naught but a fainting voice to implore Thee never, never oh God to quench the divine intoxication of love which I have quaffed in this, Thy Presence.
It is impossible at first to bring oneself to look within the Shrine. Here is a bush that burns but does not consume away, from which by its very intensity we must perforce withdraw our eyes. Gradually the soul sweeps into the rhythm of the march of unseen hosts, a new courage descends, a new hope, a new dedication; one lifts expectant eyes and sees a quiet lovely room unlike any other tomb ever devised or dreamed of. There are windows to the north and west—several of them, curtained with blue damask hangings; the floor is rich with fine silk rugs, as level as a drawing-room, with no suggestion of a mound or grave; standing all about are glistening candlesticks and vases bright with flowers; the place is as joyous as is compatible with the great mystery of death.
In ’Akká one begins to understand the meaning of that dreadful death from which the Manifestations of God come to redeem us: death to spiritual understanding, to social responsibility, to righteousness, to the joys of sacrifice, and to the beauty of holiness. With unexperienced buoyancy the soul lifts to the city not made with hands and inaccessible to those entombed in earthly desires. Then comes a quickened realization that leaving the body is leaving the clumsy mechanism of sense perception, which is but a merciful prelude to Reality; accustoming the soul, through imperfect impacts from worlds unseen, to a gradual heightening of its inherent capacity to know the Truth. Scientists tell us that we have never beheld real light: that the modified light from
the sun, before which the stoutest eye quails, is a very mild counterfesance of Light’s own quality. And yet God, hidden behind seventy thousand barriers of glory, descended to this earth in order to release His Greatest Name, Bahá (Light), to the world. Psychology knows that light can be independent of the eye; in the world of dreams its scenes are illumined, and oftentimes out of darkness a great light shines in the gloom of the mind. Some vague reflex of the splendor of that celestial city leaves its beautiful, troubled outline on the seeking soul as one arises at last to return to the world, never again to find oneself entirely a part of it, never again to lose the sense of the sojourner in an alien land. For like John, we too, here at Bahjí, have “heard a cry like the shout of a great host and the sound of many waves and the roar of heavy thunder—Hallelujah, now the Lord, our God Almighty reigns! Let us rejoice and triumph, let us give Him the glory.”* And we, too, “see no temple in the city, for its Temple is the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb. And the city needs no sun or moon to shine upon it, for Bahá’u’lláh illumines it and the Lamb lights it up. By its light will the nations walk, and into it will the kings of earth bring their glories (the gates of it will never be shut by day and night there shall be none).†
The Thief‡ who was to come to steal the treasure of men’s souls from the night of confusion, prejudice, and corruption, has come and gone while the drowsy householder is yet sleeping; but the dawn of that Day is already breaking-when mankind will awake from his slumber to find that his real treasure is in
*Rev. 19:6-7. †Rev. 21:22-25.
‡Matt. 24:42-47.
heaven, the heaven of God’s Will, the paradise of His Law.
An irrepressible conflict arises here in the soul: an intense desire to stay before this Threshold forever, the sense that one can never know comfort, or peace again apart from it; over against a holy determination
never to return again until, however unworthily and imperfectly, one has some tiny accomplishment to lay here before the feet of God in token of incommunicable gratitude for having come to birth in this time of His Might and Grandeur.
(To be continued)
THE magnificent spectacle witnessed in England in the early morning hours of June 29, 1927, was surely the object of the most widespread attention any total eclipse has, so far, ever received. For it was over two centuries since such a phenomenon had occurred in these islands, and not till the year 1999—a time beyond the range of most of us—will it be seen here again.
Of even more significance to me, however, than the great event itself, was this apparently sudden uprush of interest—an interest too that was not in the least confined to any particular class or section of society, offering a striking example of the progress which education and enlightenment are making, have made, indeed, even within the lifetime of the radio.
As I read of the small armies of eminent scientists, professional and amateur astronomers, photographers, radio experimenters, film experts, and airmen observers camped along the whole belt of totality, from north Wales to Yorkshire, it seemed difficult to realize that less than three centuries and a half ago the science of astronomy was struggling, like a new faith, in the talons of superstition and ignorance; that bitter persecution dogged the researches of a
Galileo, while a Giordano Bruno, who maintained that the earth moved around the sun, bore witness to the fact at the stake! For the pioneer scientist, like the pioneer saint, carries forward the guiding torch of Truth at his peril!
Numberless were the special excursion trains, countless the cars which rushed tens of thousands of ordinary folk, students, scholars, reporters, to the various vantage points. Hotels, cafés, and public places were thrown open all night. For weeks beforehand, series of lectures by wireless and otherwise instructed the country in every aspect of the subject. The daily press poured out information and sustained enthusiasm. And I found myself instinctively glancing backward through history, comparing with grateful heart the enlightenment of these great days with those of former times, when the splendors and terrors of natural phenomena smote all hearts with fear; when, as in ancient Egypt, before such a spectacle the people stood trembling and awestruck, believing it to be some mighty miracle wrought by priestly power.
Standing in the very shadows of that early morning, I wondered how many among all those throngs of
(Photo by Underwood & Underwood) Yorkshire, England, witnessed first sun eclipse in two hundred years. Picture shows the sun’s rays breaking through the clouds after the period of totality
sightseers, eagerly adjusting their masks and smoked glasses, those busy groups intently focusing their marvelous instruments, realized that yonder dazzling ball, set in its arc of blue, about which swept masses of storm-wracked clouds, was but a cosmic symbol, “a single sign of the splendor of that Ideal Sun which hath neither comparison, likeness, equal, nor peer.” And that we stood in the early morning of a Spiritual Day “the Light of which hath been
made holy
above the
sun and its
effulgence.”
What, one pondered, was the subtle influence at work impelling thousands to spend time and money upon an event that was neither a race nor a football-match? Whence had come this willingness to be stirred by a sight which could but emphasize the transitoriness of their own little lives, the insignificance of all material affairs? There was, of course, the obvious reason of the rarity of the phenomenon—a rarity of which Emerson wrote:
“If the stars should appear one night in a thousand years, how men would believe and adore; and preserve for many generations the remembrance of the city of God which had been shown! But every night come out these envoys of beauty and light the Universe with their admonishing smile. An eclipse
of the sun affords a similar rare and impressive vision.”
And that vision millions, in the dawn, awoke to behold. Was it a breath of the Spirit of the New Age? An unconscious reaching out after those things which are eternal? For Science is only another pathway to God—the handmaid and complement of Religion. Today, slowly but steadily this idea is permeating the consciousness of all truly thoughtful people.
And those gifted scientists absorbed in studying the effects of physical light radiations, did they realize something of the nature of that Inner Light, which, shining through their own minds, was unlocking to them the treasures, revealing to them the mysteries of a Universe? A Universe within which lay vibration upon vibration, force within force, meaning enfolded in meaning, power beyond power, only waiting man’s capacity to reveal, control, employ them. So that modern science might declare in the words of Bahá’u’lláh:
“To His Beauty there are no
veils but Light, and His Face hath no covering save Manifestation. Yea, He is concealed by the intensity of manifestation, and He is hidden by the ardor
of emanation.”
And in those few breathless moments, while the giant shadow flung itself across the earth, one seemed to catch a fleeting consciousness of cosmic things, of tiny specks on a dark planet sweeping through illimitable space! of staggering distances! of stupendous forces and mighty unseen powers before which imagination faltered. And like the Psalmist when considering the jeweled glory of an eastern sky, the cry burst from one’s heart: “What is man that Thou art mindful of him,
or the Son of man that Thou visitest him I!”
The Bahá’í Teachings emphasize that the universe is one and indivisible, that there is connection and association between all the worlds visible and invisible, so that appearances in the phenomenal heavens may be linked to events taking place on the earth. Thus it is that stars have appeared as though to herald the coming of a Manifestation of God; and then a forerunner is sent into the world to prepare hearts and awaken souls from the sleep of ignorance and negligence, that they may make ready to perceive the shining of these “Most Great Orbs.” It is on record that phenomena of this kind appeared before the advent of many of the Manifestations, such as Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad; and preceding the dawn of the Bahá’í Revelation, most of the astronomers reported the appearance of a new star in the sky.
One recalls some of the rich analogies drawn from natural phenomena used by the ancient prophets of the Bible, the Qurán and in the Bahá’í Scriptures, when describing the signs which accompany the coming of the Promised One at the beginning of a new world cycle. Joel’s vivid word picture:
“And I will show wonders in
the heavens and in the earth, blood and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and
terrible day of the Lord come.”
And Christ’s own words:
“Immediately after the tribulations
of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from Heaven, and the» powers of the heavens
shall be shaken.”
In the Qurán we read:
“When the sun shall be shrouded, And when the stars shall fall, When the mountains are made to pass away * * *.”
In the Book of Iqán Bahá’u’lláh gives us many simple yet wonderful explanations of the meanings of such passages. Dr. Esslemont in “Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era” writes:
* * * “These prophecies about the sun, moon, and stars, the heavens and the earth, are symbolical and are not to be understood merely in the literal sense. * * * When they (the prophets) mention the sun, in connection with the Day of Judgment, they refer to the Sun of Righteousness. The sun is the supreme source of light, so Moses was a Sun for the Hebrews, Christ for the Christians, and Muhammad for the Muslims. When they speak of the sun being darkened, what is meant is that the pure teachings of these spiritual Suns have become obscured by misrepresentation, misunderstanding and prejudice, so that the people are in spiritual darkness.”
But thus it is that although in the spiritual worlds previous Manifestations, spiritual Suns, shine forever, yet for humanity they become obscured and suffer eclipse. Speaking, for instance, of Buddha and Confucius, ’Abdu’l-Bahá said:
“Now is not the time when
we discuss the stations and positions of those who have passed away. We must concentrate our attention upon the present, upon the most great Luminary of peace and salvation in this age. The sovereignty of Buddha and Confucius in this world is ended
and their cycle fulfilled.”
“The Divine Reality is to man what the sun is to the earth—life, radiance, heat, power, and energy. The earth * * * alone is but a senseless clod. The sun in its remoteness cannot reach the earth—the earth cannot attain to the glory of the sun. But through the media of light and heat, fragrance and bloom are carried to the earth. So the Holy Spirit brings to man perfection and inspiration; so it touches the heart of man and awakens him to eternal life.”
In the following article Mme. Stannard shows the unique opportunity which is presented in this splendid school for noteworthy services toward the ideal of a cooperative system of international relationships. The theory of “personal and national tolerance” is actually instilled daily into the lives of the students. “In the domain of moral education, all the activities of this school tend to create the sentiment of personal responsibility and social interdependence. In the field of religion the school inculcates the most absolute respect for every sincere conviction * * * Amongst the older pupils discussions are stimulated upon the larger and moral issues in order to direct thought upon the necessity of an interior life conforming to a high and spontaneously accepted ideal.”—Editor.
IN VIEW of the ever growing importance of Geneva as an international center—a focal point—in Europe, where one may find every
kind of progressive religious, educational, philanthropic institution represented, and where every year heads of governments link. up to
deliberate under one roof on the welfare of nations that are making for peace, special interest attaches to any educational enterprise that has the courage to prepare growing minds for a new outlook on life. It is essential, indeed imperative, that parents should support by every possible means in their power the newer systems of education which, guided by devoted thinkers, are calculated to develop those ideals of interracial sympathy and understanding that should make future wars impossible.
These newer methods of imparting instruction have an international expression and are adopted to promote natural instincts of a fraternal and humanitarian character, and thus become the true fundamentals for imparting naturally evolved cosmopolitan sentiments, discrimination and knowledge. A character may be moulded that exhibits broad-mindedness, instinctive interracial understanding, the unprejudiced view, and the cooperative spirit, all of which will help these children to become
--PHOTO--
The International School of Geneva occupies a part of this building
true citizens of the world in adult life; Happiness through the right adjustment of one’s powers in work, whether mechanical, artistic or scientific in its objective, is one of the
main ideas that has been psychologically studied by the new school of pedagogy.
Mind, body and soul or heart, should all contribute in the construction of this higher synthesis on balanced lines. As all know, educational methods have changed, and are still changing, all over the world. Doubtless America could tell us more about this than any other country, but here in older environments these changes are more striking. From the time of Pestalozzi, Froebel, to Montessori and moderns like Ferrière, we can at least perceive the new systems have succeeded and are coming into their own. Schools are springing up in every country basing their teachings on higher ideals and with a scientific unanimity that bids well for the establishment of those principles which we proudly and lovingly quote as Bahá’í. If continued we shall ultimately see a wonderful standardization all over the world of basic moral or ethical ideas. brought about quite naturally in the race consciousness, because the young will have developed suggestive thoughts on lines that could express life only one way—i.e., truthfully. Beauty, love, sympathy, expressed in conjunction with constructive ability and power of reflection must in the end express life at its best and highest.
The Ecole of Geneva has the great advantage of coming under Prof. Adolphe Ferrière’s special observations as the slow unfolding of newer methods goes on. In one of their own descriptive leaflets we find the following extract: “The international school was founded (in 1924) in the attempt to create a new type of education amidst the unique opportunity afforded by Geneva’s progressive outlook, rich history, and natural beauty * * * Scrupulous respect will be paid to the religious, moral and patriotic convictions of each pupil,
and the principle of personal and national tolerance will be all the more easily instilled for the reason that it will be part of the daily common work and play during the most formative years.”
This scholastic institution has two sections—one for day scholars in the city, and the other for resident pupils in the charming country suburb of Onex. A school omnibus conveys classes into the town, and carries the children to the country for physical or other exercises every afternoon, so that no break in the general educational curriculum takes place. Winter sports are carefully organized in the cold season, while in summer many forms of recreational and educative activities are available. Day and boarding pupils play or study together all the time.
Beginning with quite a small number of children, the attendance has gradually increased, and some idea of the nations represented can be seen from their list. For example, there are Americans, French, English, Dutch, Japanese, Russians, Swiss, Spanish, and in addition an Egyptian, Armenian, German, Norwegian, Polish, etc.
Seizing the opportunity of a fine afternoon one day recently, I made the trip in the school motor omnibus to see the country establishment at Onex. There were one or two other visitors besides myself and we thoroughly enjoyed the beauty and peace of these special surroundings. Everything that could minister to healthful work or play was there, and the young scampered about the grassy slope of the hill in joyous exhilaration. Physical drill was in progress for the elder pupils when we arrived, while the younger were engaged in various forms of employment or in games or gardening. One could not wish for a better environment—a more beautiful and
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The suburban section of the International School of Geneva at Onex
health-giving cultural development—than this Onex residential villa offers.
I regret that it has been out of my power to see class work going on in the city school. This institution, however, is well worth a visit from those who may have certain interests to consider, or children they may wish to place under special care and attention. All reasonable demands of parents are willingly met.
Everyone interested in the establishment of a better social order will find encouragement in the progressive ideals being worked out in this school, for its founders have had real vision and are practicing what ’Abdu’l-Bahá advocates in the following words:
“The doors of colleges and universities must be wide open to the adherents of all religions and the members of all nationalities, so that these people from widely scattered countries may meet and associate with each other in those educational institutions, learn each other’s customs and habits, interchange their ideas and discard their purposeless prejudices. In this way these young men and women will grow up with the ideas of world patriotism.”
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A group of approximately one thousand Esperantists assembled in Congress at Danzig, July, 1927. A marvelous piece of group photography
THE Ninteenth Universal Congress of Esperanto in Danzig Free City, July 28-August 3, was remarkably successful. One thousand delegates came from thirty-five countries. This was Jubilee Year of this international language. If one considers the slowness of progress in evolution, forty years is not a long time in comparison with the development of mankind, yet in this short space Esperanto has almost conquered the world. The Pyramids of Egypt have remained silent forty centuries! What may not be accomplished if for
forty centuries Esperanto, this universal language, calls aloud to international understanding!
There were greetings and salutations by representatives of governments, State ministers sent by Kings; but the message from Shoghi Effendi* was considered by all who know the Bahá’í Movement as the most important, standing above that of kings and statesmen, because it was a message of a spiritual movement which is the most perfect realization
* Guardian of the Baha’i Cause.
of the Esperanto idea, and of which the Esperanto idea is one part. Like Esperanto, the Bahá’í Movement is supernational, superreligious. It is the spirit of brotherhood of which Esperanto is the language of communication. Universal brotherhood needs a universal language; and Esperanto is this language. The greetings from Shoghi Effendi, great grandson of Bahá’u’lláh, Who more than fifty years ago prophesied and commanded a universal language, was most impressive. No king, no minister of any government can compete with the representative of the spiritual reign founded by Bahá’u’lláh—this spirit of universal love and unity which lies in the Bahá’í Movement. His letter which was read to one thousand delegates at the formal opening of the Congress, is as follows:
“HAIFA, PALESTINE.
To the delegates and friends attending the Nineteenth Universal Congress of Esperanto:
My dear fellow-workers in the service of humanity:
I take great pleasure in addressing you, on the occasion of the opening of the Nineteenth Universal Congress of Esperanto in Danzig, and in wishing you from all my heart the fullest success in the great work you are doing for the promotion of the good of humanity.
It will interest you, I am sure, to learn, that as the result of the repeated and emphatic admonitions
of ’Abdu’l-Bahá, His many followers even in the distant villages and hamlets of Persia, where the light of Western civilization has hardly penetrated as yet, as well as in other lands throughout the East, are strenuously and enthusiastically engaged in the study and teaching of Esperanto, for whose future they cherish the highest hopes.
I am voicing the sentiments of the unnumbered followers of the Faith throughout the world, when I offer you through this letter, the cordial expression of sincere best wishes and fervent prayers for the success of your noble end.
Yours faithfully,
Another interesting feature was the planting of the oak tree in a new square which has been named “Esperanto Ground.” Esperantists were all invited to bring earth from their homelands for this ceremony. Nearly all of the thousand delegates brought their national earths as a symbol of the oneness of mankind and the internationality of this language. The writer had requested and received earth from the shrines of the Báb, Bahá’u’lláh and ’Abdu’l-Bahá in Haifa and ’Akká, Palestine, sent by Bahiyyih Khanum, daughter of Bahá’u’lláh. Earth was also received from the Roy C. Wilhelm Estate, in West Englewood, N. J., where ’Abdu’l-Bahá had stood when He spoke to the New York City friends and Bahá’ís from many lands.
This oak tree truly symbolizes the language creation of Dr. Zamenhof, for it is nourished by the whole earth; by every nation. This is fitting, for Esperanto comes from the universal spirit and must be nourished by the universal spirit. This is surely the first time in history that such a monument has been erected.
A tree generally requires three essentials: sun, rain and soil. There is one sun which gives warmth and light to every plant. There is one rain gathering and falling down; but before there have been many soils-American, English, German, French. But now a tree has been planted on one soil, not belonging to one nation but to all humanity. It is now one soil, for the roots of this tree are to be nourished by all. This is a sign that the nationalities of peoples can be overbridged; that religions and races can be united. There was the precious earth from the shrines of the Báb, Bahá’u’lláh and ’Abdu’l-Bahá—those Divine Messengers Who came into physical being in Persia. Also falling with these gifts was earth from the shrine of Dr. Zamenhof, a Jew, our dear author of Esperanto; as well as earth from San Souci Garden of Frederick the Great, atheist, of Potsdam, Germany, the ruler who arose and declared: “In my country everybody can become blessed in his own way; every one is free to believe what he wishes; if he is a good man, I do not care whether he is a Jew, a Catholic or a Protestant.” Any one who knows a little of history and has feeling of what will come, realizes that in this century a new race is being formed.
One session of this Congress was devoted to the pronunciation of the language. Only four were present who had attended the first Universal Congress of Esperanto held in Boulogne-sur-mer in 1907. They stated that at the first Congress the fellow-thinkers pronounced the language just a little differently one from another, because each one had studied it by himself and had never heard anyone else speak it. There had been no contact between the different countries. Now gradually by contact not only the words and expressions but even the pronunciation tend toward unification, so that the universal spirit of the language conquers
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A snapshot of the Oak Tree Planting, Nineteenth Universal Congress of Esperanto, in Danzig, July 31. First row, left to right, Mr. Robert Kreuz, Secretary of the Universal Esperanto Association; Mrs. Anna Tuschinsky, 85 years young, pioneer of Esperanto in Danzig; Mr. Bernhard Aeltermann, Chairman of the event and President of the Danzig Committee; Miss Martha Root, Bahá'í Speaker; Dr. Ernst Kliemke, President of the Esperanto Society of Germany, (seated); the Representative of Danzig (name not furnished); and Dr. Sophia Zamenhof, daughter of the late Dr. Zamenhof.
even the different tongues, the different pronunciations. So when Esperantists entered this International Parliament, it was like coming into a National Parliament as far as language was concerned; one did not notice that different nations were present. It was a most interesting demonstration and shows that later when the universal spirit prevails everywhere, how like one family the world will become.
The two Bahá’í sessions as part of this great Congress were well attended and many Esperantists left their addresses asking that copies of the speeches be sent to them later. Among the guests were Miss Lydia Zamenhof, youngest daughter of the creator of Esperanto, Dr. Ludovik Zamenhof; Mr. Carl Lindhagen, Mayor of. Stockholm; Mrs. Anna Tuschinsky, pioneer of Esperanto in Danzig; several members of the International Language Committee, and some members of the International Academy.
Bahá’í Assemblies from six countries sent telegrams of salutation to this Congress. Dr. August Forel, the great scientist of Switzerland, sent the following telegram: “My dear friends, with all my heart I send you my warmest best wishes for your Nineteenth Universal Congress of Esperanto and for your Bahá’í Esperanto sessions. Long live Esperanto! Long live the supernational religion, Bahá’í! Long live the social universal good!”—Dr. Ernst Kliemke, of Berlin, President of the Esperanto Association of Germany, spoke on the Bahá’í Principles.
The Twentieth Universal Congress of Esperanto will be held next year in Antwerp, Belgium, and in 1929 in Budapest, Hungary.
The following impressions on the second session of the Institute of Pacific Relations recently held in Honolulu were sent to the Bahá’í Magazine by Miss Agnes Alexander, and were written by Mr. Aoki on board the steamer “President Taft” as it was starting on its trip from Honolulu back to Japan. In the beautiful picture accompanying the article the author is seen in the center, and on the right is Dr. Shiroshi Nasu, professor of economics in the Imperial University of Tokyo, who spoke at the Institute on the “Problem of Japan's Food Supply.” Our friend Roy Wilhelm writes us: “Dr. Nasu is now ranked among the foremost agricultural economists of the world, and certainly is at the head of this branch of science in Japan. He is an old and valued friend of mine, is much attracted to the Bahá'í Movement and owns nearly all of our leading books.” Editor.
THE second session of the Institute of Pacific Relations had a profound significance to me, personally. Attending as I did, as a representative of the Secretariat of the League of Nations, I was an observer at the conference, without affiliating myself with any group. This peculiar status has given me, I believe, an opportunity to learn merits as well as demerits of the discussions with due fairness.
The Institute of Pacific Relations has contributed greatly toward promotion of international good-will and friendship. Various topics discussed at the conference gave an idea of the nature of Pacific problems. Some have learned the true weariness of the present world, while others have learned various channels for the solution of problems. As a whole we were led from the study of facts to knowledge, to understanding, to sympathy, to cooperation, and from co-operation to the ideal of international peace.
Many of our human problems and struggles find their origin in ignorance. I was firmly convinced that the Institute of Pacific Relations is to combat this universal ignorance.
Personal contacts with leaders of nations, was another by-product of the Institute. The value along this line cannot be overestimated. Two
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weeks spent together on a school campus, often under the same roof, and at the same dining table, gave opportunity to associate intimately with delegates from various countries. It was in reality a school life in which all students were mutual teachers. For this reason, the conference had a profound significance to me, personally.
In every country there are special features. The Institute of Pacific Relations attempts to harmonize these features of the Pacific lands. It was like a great symphony in which all the Pacific countries were the players. This symphony, however, had no particular individual conductor. But I believe the ideal of good-will, which all nations crave, acted far better as the conductor than any human being could. It really was the hands of the Bahá’í that beat the time of the international symphony.
A talk given at Pan, Pacific luncheon in Honolulu. Mrs. Wang, formerly Dean of Canton Women’s College, was a delegate to the second Institute of Pacific Relations in Honolulu.—Editor.
AS a resident of Canton my first education was received at the Woman’s College there. After studying in America, I returned to Canton and served on the faculty of the college. Since my marriage I have moved from one end of China to the other. Perhaps what I have to say may carry a little more weight just because I have traveled and lived in different parts of China.
You may be surprised to hear what the Chinese women have achieved in the nationalist government in China. These Chinese women whom you may have thought were shut up within four walls, are now up and doing in almost every phase of life in China. Many of them are magistrates of different districts, some are educational commissioners, and still others are now on the Board of Disease Control in China. It naturally comes to your mind, as it came to mine, how is it possible that such things can be done? Chinese women are not supposed to have had any education or training for this kind of life, and we hear they are filling these positions very well.
As students of history we generally like to know the cause and effect of things and I feel that you will be eager to hear how such things have happened. In the first place we must know that China has passed her old days. We have a saying in China that man is supposed to control the affairs of the world, but women control the affairs of the home. Then also we must know what is the home. Is it a little cottage where just the husband and
wife and children live? No; the home in China is a big compound. inside of which some ten or fifteen or even more families may live. Therefore, Chinese women have had to learn to live with people, to think of others and to consider the interests of others. That is a great education. We have to move within those limits not only among women but also among men. From childhood up we really learn to see many things from a man’s angle.
Another thing is that in many of the better homes in China we always had tutors, because schools were not a usual thing. Girls were not required to study, but a great many of them did because of their interest, and sometimes because their fathers or brothers appreciated their exceptional ability in learning to write, read, paint, draw, and compose poetry. Many, many volumes of poetry have been written by women who have never attended school. Where did they get their training? Just from their brothers and tutors at home. One woman who had not been asked to study said that when her father found she knew much more than her brother, he had her go to school regularly and compete with her brother as an incentive to him. So you see Chinese women really have had much more education in their old training than we realize. Aside from this of course we learned how to sew, to cook, and take care of our servants.
I must also give credit to the sympathy of the Chinese men in our efforts to rise. This has had a great
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Mrs. C. F. Wang, member Institute of Pacific Relations
deal to do with our present attainment. From my childhood up I have never felt that when an opportunity came for me to be given a chance that a man has stepped in and said "no." My father said when I was born he had seen how the missionary women could not only conduct their affairs at home but could conduct them very ably outside the home. When I was sixteen years old he realized that if China wanted to become a great country it must make use of its latent asset—the women. And so he felt from the time I was born until I went to college and until his death that everything must be done to help the Chinese come into their own. I remember my Chinese
teacher who felt this also and opened a reform school. When my sister and I applied to enter, there were many boys applying, but he said, “No; I will give the chance to the girls because as a rule they are not given as much chance and I feel they should have it.” Whenever a Chinese woman was at all able to do new things, the Chinese men have always felt that she should be given a chance if China was to rise.
With these new opportunities there are dangers and responsibilities. The Chinese women are facing a great many problems. They are accustomed to moving and living within the home, but now they are living out in society with no formed customs to guide them.
Chinese men and women are working together. This year in Canton they were celebrating international day for women in the Y. W. C. A., and there were many women representing different nationalities. Some gentlemen came and wanted to take part in the program, because no women’s affair in China can be successful without the interest of the men. At the same time, my sister, who was President of the International Women’s Club in Canton, was asked to go to the Cadet School to talk to the cadets about the significance of the Women’s Movement in China. That day was set aside as Women’s Day in the cadet school. On that day they had as their slogan, “Down with the obstacles that separate men and women.”
So I think we may say in China, that if China is going to succeed we must have this slogan, “Down with the obstacles that separate men and women.” The Chinese men and women work hand in hand to build up international good-will and friendship.
Miss Kim is the Dean of Ehwa College, Seoul. She was a delegate to the second Institute of Pacific Relations in Honolulu and was the first woman to be sent from Korea as a delegate. At the opening session of the Institute she made the statement for Korea.—Editor.
THE Korean people do not want to be behind other people in material and mental achievements. We realize that we have neglected the application of modern sciences to life, so through educational movements and in sending students to other lands to study, we hope to make up for this loss which we have fallen into through neglect of these sciences.
We realize the importance of material possessions as well as mental. At the present time money seems to be able to do many things. While We realize the importance of it, we want at the same time to watch out that our people as a whole do not become materialistic.
In Korea there is a fever for education which is everywhere in the land and has affected both young and old. Koreans are willing to sacrifice everything for education. Boys are so anxious for education that they go to school in Seoul on one meal a day.
Our people are working for union. Individual wealth and individual strength, however great they may be, cannot combat the strong forces that are hindering our progress today. Realizing this the people are moving toward nation-wide organizations both among men and women. In order to achieve this union, people are giving up the unessential points in their religions and in the philosophies of life. Christians, Buddhists, Confucianists, and those of different views of life are joining
together. In spirit our people are united as a whole.
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Miss Helen Kim, Dean of Ehwa College, Seoul, Korea
The status of women in Korea at present is not what we want it to be. There is no oppression of women, but lack of education makes a large group of our women ignorant and deprived of the enjoyment of the cultural
life. For this reason educated women are trying to pool their resources to lift up the status of women. They are forming a large organization, so that Korea’s women may be stronger and more efficient.
In receiving the Western civilization our people have a critical attitude which was lacking about twenty years ago. When the Western civilization was first introduced into Korea, the young people particularly, welcomed it heartily. In part this was the reaction against the old order of the strict monarchy and reverence for the elders which put the younger generation under their entire control. Young people then were not allowed to determine their own destinies as the young people of today are privileged to do. The days of reaction are now past and our young people are questioning the validity of some of the Western ideas and customs which have already been introduced. An example of this is in regard to the marriage customs. It is all right for the young people to get acquainted before marriage, but was the old way of the parents arranging for the marriage wrong? Parents are more experienced and are anxious for their children’s happiness. So
we are not going to throw our old custom away.
We feel that the introduction of many denominations of the Christian church into Korea was rather unfortunate. Our territory is small, and the people are homogeneous, with one language and one common cultural background; therefore we do not see the necessity of having so many different organized churches. When the different Christian denominations first came to us, we accepted them. Now we are trying to find out if Christ really wanted Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, and so on. In our present state is this the best way to believe in Christ and promote Christianity in Korea? There is a movement now to unite these different churches which were given to us by good friends, and find one common way of worshipping God and believing in Jesus Christ.
The pessimistic people among our foreign friends as well as among our own number tell us that the future of Korea is rather dark and that the Korean people cannot realize their aspirations; but we believe that if our people steadily march on to the goal in the right direction, in the end we will come out winners, as surely as the sun rises.
people, love humanity, consider all mankind as your relations and servants of the Most High God. Strive day and night that animosity and contention may pass away from the hearts of men; that all religions shall become reconciled and the nations love each other; so that no racial, religious or political prejudice may remain, and the world of humanity behold God as the beginning and end of all existence. God has created all and all return to God. Therefore love humanity with all your heart and soul. * * * Emulate God. Consider how kindly, how lovingly he deals with all and follow His example. You must treat people in accordance with the divine precepts; in other words, treat them as kindly as God treats them, for this is the greatest attainment possible for the world of humanity.”
and human virtues Will bear no fruit or result unless joined to the spiritual perfections, merciful qualities and sound morals, and the happiness of the human world which is the original goal will not be attained. For although through the advancement of civilization and the adornment and refinement of the material world happiness is realized, and the sight of hopes fulfilled in perfect beauty wins the heart, yet concomitantly, great dangers, severe ordeals and awful catastrophes are involved.
Now when ye behold the order and regularity of countries, cities and villages, the attractive adornment, the delicacy of the blessings, the suitability of implements, the ease of transportation and traveling, the extension of knowledge of the facts of the world of nature, the great inventions and gigantic undertakings and the fine and artistic discoveries, ye shall say that civilization is the cause of happiness and the development of the human world.
Yet again when ye glance over the inventions of infernal instruments of destruction, the creation of forces of ruin, the discovery of fiery means which cut at the root of life, it becomes plainly evident that civilization is twin with savagery and a concomitant thereof unless material civilization be aided by divine guidance, merciful appearance, heavenly thoughts, and becomes joined to the spiritual states, the perfections of the Kingdom of God and the divine bounties. * * * Therefore this civilization and material development must be led by the great guidance; the mundane world must be made the place for the appearance of the bounties of the kingdom; material advancement must be made twin with merciful revelation. Thus may the human world appear as the representative of the heavenly assembly on the plane of existence, and the exposition of divine evidence may reveal itself in the greatest sweetness and loveliness. Thus may eternal happiness and glory find realization. * * *
Know ye verily that the happiness of the world of humanity is dependent upon the unity and solidarity of mankind, and that material and spiritual progress both rest upon universal friendliness and love among human individuals.”
IT IS increasingly apparent that, as the ideas which are to shape the world of the future are primarily concerns of the schoolroom, a growing responsibility for the outcome must be assumed by the teaching profession. And as the great problems of the future are seen to be increasingly international in their scope, intensive cooperation between teachers in all lands becomes necessary. Particularly the questions of world peace and friendly cooperation between the nations are vital matters from the teacher’s point of view. Chauvinism must be shown to be a misguided and suicidal nationalism; the interdependence of peoples cooperating in friendliness must be held up as the rule of life to be frankly accepted and followed if civilization is to endure.
That educators do sense the scope and gravity of these problems and do realize their responsibilities and opportunities for splendid service the formation of the World Federation of Education Associations is an eloquent evidence. This organization at the call of the National Education Association of our own country held its first meeting in San Francisco in 1923; its second in Edinburgh two years later. Its third Conference in Toronto, Canada, in August of this year, brought together about six thousand educators from more than thirty countries. This most recent Conference, held in the buildings of University of Toronto, was of course, by its very size and the great number of topics presented, too big an event to be “covered” by any participant, even superficially.
The general sessions were held in Convocation Hall, the largest of the University’s auditoriums, and were addressed mostly by public officials and leaders of educational work in America and Europe. The section meetings were many and various, dealing with all manner of questions from adult education to the kindergarten; from military training to international sports, with separate sections devoted to the International Aspect of History Teaching, Religious Instruction, Moving Pictures, Health, Art, Science, Geography, and several others. Limitations of space will not allow us to consider the proceedings in even the most interesting of these groups. In all of them, however, the broad, world-wide aspect of all these questions was the one always presented. Quite unique in the history of educational meetings in this and the two previous conferences of the Federation, the essential oneness of mankind and the necessity of meeting these questions with the cooperating intelligence and sympathetic service of all nations, large and small, were the central themes. Never once did these educators lose sight of the fact that they were engaged in the service of humanity as a whole, in which the word “foreigner” has no place.
Under the “Herman-Jordan Peace Plan,” for the purpose of elaborating its details there had been organized at the Edinburgh Conference these five separate committees: (1) Education for Peace; (2) The Teaching of History; (3) Friendly Contacts Between the Youth of the World; (4) Military Training; and (5) Methods for Peaceful Settlement
of International Disputes. These committees held open meetings. Any one could discuss the topics, and even offer resolutions. On the final day their recommendations were presented to the Delegate Assembly for full consideration, and in nearly every case they were adopted, the important exception being the report of Committee No. 4. While unanimously supporting the declaration that military preparedness makes for eventual war, the Assembly found it not easy to frame a statement concerning military training, and the exact phrasing of this article of the credo was postponed until the next Conference. Most of the other important declarations can be thus summarized: A vigorous teaching of the gospel of peace and a close cooperation between the peace organizations of all lands; elimination from history textbooks of all ultra-nationalism. and hate-producing propaganda; the encouragement of athletic games and contests between the youth of various countries; approval of international correspondence between students; endorsement of organizations like the Boy Scouts and the Girl Guides; encouragement to studies of the League of Nations and the World Court and the economic causes of conflict. The last-named committee also recommended the establishment. of a commission to investigate the practicality of an international language in furthering the aims of the Federation.
This last recommendation, the first recognition thus far given by the Federation to the necessity of facing the question of a world speech, makes pertinent the report that, with the exception of a delegate from Quebec, who spoke in French, and also of two Germans, each first speaking in his native tongue and then immediately translating his remarks, every speaker in the general
sessions (and of such section meetings as I was able to attend) used English solely. This is not to be wondered at, for here, as in San Francisco and Edinburgh, the audiences, as well as the speakers, were overwhelmingly from Canada, the United States, and the British Isles. It must be admitted, however, that the speakers from other lands used our language with remarkable ease and precision. The Federation as an actual international organization must sooner or later meet on the continent of Europe in a polyglot atmosphere such as in many a similar gathering has tried the patience and wasted the time of the participants.
Not only will the members of the Federation then be made to realize this difficulty which lies in the path of a cooperation-minded world, but they are likely to witness, right in their midst, a demonstration, of which most of them now are not even dreaming—the actual remedy for this linguistic chaos. The participation of many Esperanto-speaking teachers in the International Peace-Through-the-Schools Congress at Prague last spring (so ably described by Miss Root in the June number of THE BAHÁ’Í MAGAZINE) opened the eyes of the other delegates who, we are told, were compelled to depend upon multiple translations. Likewise, in any gathering of the Federation on the continent of Europe there will almost certainly be present a large number of teachers using the International Language, and they can be depended upon to show that for them the language troubles of the others simply do not exist.
A world-wide fellowship indeed, devoted to the high ideals of peace, universal cooperation, and a better civilization—such is the Federation whose timely message is an inspiration and a promise to humanity.
The author has served both materially and spiritually with success in several cities of Brazil. She speaks Spanish, Portuguese, and Esperanto, as well as English, and she is therefore well equipped to lecture before the public and to understand the people of this vast country. She has also translated some of the Bahá’í literature into both Spanish and Portuguese.—Editor.
"BLESSED are the nameless and traceless poor for they are the leaders of mankind.” How many, many proofs we see constantly of the truth of these words. Truly those who are poorest in this world’s goods—poorest in worldly power, fame, and riches—seem so often richly compensated by a larger share of the wealth that endureth.
It has been my experience to work for the past three years among the poor of Brazil. In several states of that vast country, whose area slightly exceeds that of the United States, I came in contact particularly with those who are generally considered the less fortunate members of society.
Within a few months of the arrival of Miss Maud Mickle (my coworker) and myself in Bahia, Brazil, regular fortnightly Bahá’í meetings were established in the factory district, in the very humble home of one of the workers. These people were in badly ventilated textile or cigarette factories from seven in the morning till five at night, year in, year out. Some of them told us they had worked twenty, some twenty-five, others thirty years, at the same machine, and at a wage of two to three dollars a week, or even less during slack periods. Though Sunday is the only day they have in which to wash and mend their clothes and clean their houses, still they would come—walking long distances some of them—to attend our Sunday afternoon meetings. They would listen intently and
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A group gathered for a Bahá’í talk. Miss Holsapple second from right
sympathetically to the story of the sufferings of the Báb, Bahá’u’lláh, and ’Abdu’l-Bahá, of their sacrifices for the oneness of humanity. Especially eager were they to hear of ’Abdu’l-Bahá’s many acts of charity, which won for Him the title of “Father of the Poor.” Though for the most part illiterate, they seemed to catch the spirit of the Master’s Words. However little of the Teachings they could understand with their minds, with their hearts they felt and loved them.
Dona Antonia, in whose home the meetings were held during more than two years, used to go about in her spare moments inviting her friends and neighbors to come to the meetings, and distributing booklets and copies of our magazine among them. A photograph of ’Abdu’l-Bahá which we had given to her she herself had framed and hung in the room used for our meetings.
In the state of Pernambuco some among the poor were found most
receptive; and in the capital of Ceará, where I spent four months, there were still more opportunities of making contacts with the very poor.
We have had vividly portrayed to us the extreme poverty and desolation witnessed in cities of India, China, and other parts of the Orient, but few, perhaps, have pictured anything similar in connection with any part of our Western Hemisphere. Some may think of Brazil as still a great jungle, where a living may be had for the taking. It is true that some parts of it still are. Others who have been so fortunate as to take the trip down to Rio de Janeiro on one of our up-to-date English or American boats, may have been agreeably surprised to find the Brazilian capital a very modern as well as very beautiful city, in which practically all the luxuries of home can be enjoyed at a moderate cost. Comparatively few, however, visit central or northern Brazil, so as to be able to form a true idea of the life of a large portion of the people. Picture, for example, Fortaleza, capital of the state of Ceará, but a short distance south of the equator, its rows upon rows of low houses joined together, with scarcely a square foot of garden or a tree to relieve the glare of the tropical sun or the burning of the sand beneath your feet; and the dirt! and the flies! If we are told that there is a street-cleaning department, we shall have to accept it on faith. Some of the inhabitants have themselves named their city “Sujopolis” (the dirty city). A sewerage system is only now being put in. The water is impure; yet one is thankful to have any at all in Ceará, for it is in a region subject to long droughts which have caused the death of thousands in the past. But that which most impresses one in the streets of Ceará is the multitude of beggars, decrepit old men and
women, blind, diseased; hundreds of lepers; and the many other apparently desperately poor and wretched, but perhaps too proud to beg; and the naked children wallowing in the sand.
--PHOTO--
A native cottage
Thanks to the good work of our Rockefeller Foundation, no case of yellow fever has been reported in the capital for the past four years; but there are still malaria, cholera, and typhoid. Serious epidemics of the two latter broke out during my stay there, and I was able to offer my services in carrying medicine, food, and clothing to many of the sick. It was a thrilling experience to visit them in their homes—in their little huts of palm leaves. twisted and tied together, with no floor but mother earth, with a wooden bench, perhaps a rude table, a hammock or two to sleep in, and a crucifix or picture of some saint in this which they call at home, and to try to prove to them by deeds the Bahá’í’s faith in the oneness of humanity. There were black and white among them, and all the intervening shades, and many who showed clearly the mixture of Indian blood with the Negro or Portuguese. But all were poor, suffering, in need of human help, and all were grateful to have it given, freely, for the love of humanity.
To some, as they became well,
there was opportunity of speaking of ’Abdu’l-Bahá, and booklets were given to the two or three who were found who could read. On one occasion a group of children who sometimes followed me around from house to house as I made my visits, stood in the doorway of one house in which I was showing a picture of ’Abdu’l-Bahá. Each one wished to come in and look, and on being told whose picture it was, slowly pronounced His Name. One woman, to show her gratitude, sent her little girl of six or seven a distance of more than two miles to my home on the day of my departure to bring me a gift. The child arrived at about seven o’clock in the morning, and handed me an old handkerchief in which were tied four very small eggs, each carefully wrapped in a bit of newspaper! Another woman wished to give me her thirteen-year-old daughter. Their families are often so much larger than they are able to take care of, they are glad to give one or more to some trustworthy person to bring up for them, even though they are as a rule quite affectionate and devoted to their children.
We have felt that a valuable service might be rendered by taking several children—orphans or others whose parents were too poor to give them any education, or even food and clothing—and they might later perhaps go back and give the Bahá’í message to their own people. For about two years we have had in our home in Bahia a little orphan girl to whom we have been giving the Bahá’í Teachings.
In Ceará not only were the poor themselves receptive, but the work with them helped to pave the way for some of the rich to receive the message, for when the opportunity came to give a Bahá’í lecture in the most fashionable club of the city,
undoubtedly a number attended whose interest had been roused through hearing of my services as “Nurse of the Poor,” as I was called.
Permission was also obtained to address all the prisoners in the Ceará State Prison on Easter Sunday afternoon. Here again a contact was made with society’s unfortunates. The hearts of some of them, at least, would seem to have been softened by suffering and made receptive. One made a speech of thanks; another wrote a letter of appreciation. All seemed eager to receive at the close of the meeting booklets and typed copies of prayers that had been translated into Portuguese.
Of course some of the wealthy and educated classes in Brazil also have attended the meetings and expressed their sympathy with the Principles, but they are so prone to weigh everything with their intellects merely. Generally speaking, it seems more difficult for them to feel the love, that great spiritual dynamic which is surging, emanating, from the Word of God in this New Day.
Just one striking exception, however. The mayor of a small town in the State of Bahia, noted for its fanaticism, gave us the use of the city hall for a lecture, at which he himself introduced the speaker, and for which, more than that, he had had handbills announcing it printed and distributed throughout the town. He seemed very sincere in his interest, and when we went to pay our hotel bill, we found that his courtesy had extended so far as to make us his guests.
Indeed, “Blessed are the nameless and traceless poor”; though blessed, too, ’Abdu’l-Bahá has told us, are the few who have not been withheld by riches or prestige from “turning toward the Lights of His Face.”
The following remarkable extracts from a recent speech by President Coolidge at the Lincoln Memorial Library, State College, South Dakota, show in the heart of our President a penetrating vision and insight into the true needs of education. Were these the words of an educator, a scholar, a thinker, they would be most impressive, but coming as they do from the ruler of this great land they have a still deeper significance.—Editor.
“We have been excessively busy seeking for information that could be turned to practical advantage in the matter of dollars and cents, rather than for that wisdom which would guide us through eternity. Our higher educational institutions have turned their thoughts especially to the sciences, and our secondary schools to vocational training. How important these are in my estimation will appear from what I have already said. How poor and weak and generally ineffective we should be without these advantages can be at once seen by the most casual observation of those nations among which they have been neglected.
“This is by no means all that is to be expected from American education and American institutions. I cannot conceive that the object of Abraham Lincoln was merely to instruct men how to raise more corn, to feed more hogs, to get more money, to buy more land, and so on in the expanding circle as the story goes. Of course, he wanted to teach men to raise more corn, but his main object must have been to raise better men. We come back to the query that is contained in the concentrated wisdom of the ages, ‘What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?’ All of our science and all of our arts will never be the means for the true advancement of our nation, will never remove us from the sphere of the superficial and the cynical, will never give us a civilization and a culture of any worthy and lasting importance unless we are able to see in them the outward manifestation of a spiritual reality. Unless our halls of
learning are real temples which are to be approached by our youth in an attitude of reverence, consecrated by worship of the truth, they will all end in a delusion. The information that is acquired in them will simply provide a greater capacity for evil. Our institutions of learning must be dedicated to a higher purpose. The life of our Nation must rise to a higher realm.
“There is something more in learning and something more in life than a mere knowledge of science, a mere acquisition of wealth, a mere striving for place and power. Our colleges will fail in their duty to their students unless they are able to inspire them with a broader understanding of the spiritual meaning of science, of literature and of the arts. Their graduates will go out into life poorly equipped to meet the problems of existence, to fall an easy prey to dissatisfaction and despair. Many of our older universities were founded by pious hands at great sacrifice for the express purpose of training men for the ministry to carry light to the people on the problems of life. Unless our college graduates are inspired with these ideals, our colleges have failed in their most important function and our people will be lacking in true culture. Abraham Lincoln, who was the most spiritual of our Presidents, had a true appreciation of this principle.
“In closing the address to which I have referred he expressed his belief that, * * * by the best cultivation of the physical world beneath
and around us and the intellectual and moral world within us, we shall secure an individual social and political prosperity and happiness whose course shall be onward and upward, and which, while the earth endures, shall not pass away.
“While he did not fail to place a proper emphasis on the cultivation of the physical world around us, he thoroughly understood that this must be supplemented by a cultivation of the intellectual and moral world within us. The human soul will always rebel at any attempt to confine it to the physical world. Its dwelling
place is in the intellectual and moral world. It is into that realm that all true education should lead. Unless our scholarship, however brilliant, is to be barren and sterile, leading toward pessimism, more emphasis must be given to the development of our moral power. Our colleges must teach not only science but character. We must maintain a stronger, firmer grasp on the principle declared in the Psalms of David and reechoed in the Proverbs of his son Solomon, that ‘The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.’”—(“Evening Star,” Washington, D. C.)
powers and intellectual attainments; nay, rather, the Holy Spirit is essential. The Divine Father must assist the human world to attain maturity. The body of man is in need of physical and mental energy, but his spirit requires the life and fortification of the Holy Spirit. Without its protection and quickening the human world would be extinguished. His Holiness Jesus Christ declared, ‘Let the dead bury the dead.' He also said, ‘That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit.’ It is evident therefore according to His Holiness that the human spirit which is not fortified by the presence of the Holy Spirit is dead and in need of resurrection by that divine power; otherwise though materially advanced to high degrees man cannot attain full and complete progress.”
