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| VOL. 19 | JANUARY, 1929 | NO. 10 |
| Page | |
Editorial, Stanwood Cobb | 291 |
Beside The Inland Sea, Nowell Stevens | 295 |
Finding the Worth While in Religion, Lilian Rea | 299 |
Our Part in The Cycle of Life, Walter B. Guy, M. D. | 303 |
’Abdu’l-Baha in America, Dr. Zia Bagdadi | 306 |
The Intellectual Shock in China, Y. C. James Yen | 310 |
Are Machines Spiritual? Dale S. Cole | 313 |
What Kind of World Is It? Stanwood Cobb | 317 |
of 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 |
MARGARET 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--
’Abdu’l-Baha—Who encouraged the building of the Universal Baha’i Temple, now in course of construction in Wilmette, suburb of Chicago, Ill., in response to which contributions for the building fund came from Baha’is in all parts of the world who were formerly Muslims, Jews, Zoroastrians, Hindus, Buddhists or Christians. (See page 295).
| VOL. 19 | JANUARY, 1929 | NO. 10 |
another. Let your eyes be directed toward the Kingdom of Truth and not toward the world of creation. Love the creatures for the sake of God and not for themselves. You will never become angry or impatient if you love them for the sake of God. Humanity is not perfect. There are imperfections in every human being and you will always become unhappy if you look toward the people themselves. But if you look toward God you will love them and be kind to them, for the world of God is the world of perfection and complete
mercy.—’Abdu’l-Bahá.THE NEW YEAR is a time of anticipation, of hope, of vision, of determination for greater and more significant achievement. One of the chief values of time to us mortals is the fact that its divisional cycles, ever repeating themselves, initiate us little by little into the sense of eternity. There is fortunately always another year coming. No matter how bad times are with us, a fresh new cycle of Time lies ahead. Who knows what It may bring? The door is never permanently closed upon success. If we fail today, we may tomorrow be able to enter the Hall of Happiness, and attain health, achievement, prosperity.
But those who strive after more material possessions cannot all (or even in majority) attain to success, for the obvious reason that there are not enough material goods in the world to satisfy the multitudinous desires of man in the aggregate; and for the more spiritual and less appreciable reason that even if there were enough material goods to go around in full measure of desire, such an eventuality would be most fatal to man’s essential progress. Therefore a uniform, wholesale, and perfect material success is denied man by Destiny.
Nevertheless, we who long for more in life (and who does not) may console
ourselves with the realization that in the realm of the spirit there are enough good things to go around, enough to suffice everybody. Therefore if we seek to increase the amount of our spiritual qualities we shall find no barrier, as in the material world, limiting success. We shall find no obstacle, save in ourselves, to the complete satisfaction of our wants. We all may desire and attain the utmost of spiritual wealth.
There is however a law which works in the spiritual, even as in the material world, conditioning success upon concentration of effort. It does not do to desire and strive for too many spiritual qualities all at once. We must single them out and strive for them successively, concentrating now on one, and now on another, as we become conscious of our needs and possibilities.
Therefore, we may choose for the coming year one value of the spiritual life to meditate on and strive for. Of them all, what is more potent to bring rich returns to the daily life of man than harmony, that inner law to which vibrates not only the human spirit, but the entire cosmos. It is the most fundamental factor of existence. Harmony! What, in the coming year, is more worth striving for than this?
Let us then resolve and endeavor to manifest more harmony in all dealings with our fellowmen—whether in the home, the neighborhood, the office, the mart or in our social contacts.
THE MODERN HOME, so given to complexes and conflicts, is in danger of losing its quality of being a peaceful haven in which man the voyager may anchor between-times, and find repose and solace from the strains of active life. Alas, the disharmonic quality of life has all too fast invaded the home—a fact to which divorce-court records and mental hygiene cases bear too lamentable a testimony.
How has this situation come about? A variety of explanations may be given by the sociologist. But one explanation will suffice. It is this. The home has ceased to be a center of harmony because out of it has departed that power of the spirit which formerly in Christian homes prevailed over all those little disharmonies to which human nature is prone.
Harmony does not just happen. It has constantly to be created and recreated. It must be a matter of daily endeavor. Like the Manna in the Wilderness, one days supply of it cannot last over the morrow. Without conscious effort toward harmony, our daily social life will fail of continuity of adjustment. For the ego in us is greatly prone to irritation. And once having conceived a wrong, it loves to nurse it. Such also is the extraordinary evil nature of man’s lower self, that we tend to dislike those individuals whom we have intentionally or unintentionally injured. Through a process of rationalization, the ego seeks to defend its acts by viewing the injured fellow-being as contemptible, mean, unworthy of consideration.
Thus a slight and unimportant act, unintentional it may be, can start a chain of cause and effect which if left to the natural tendencies of the lower
self in man easily develops into a perpetual feud.
SPIRITUAL MAN, however, knows that it is his duty to prevent the brewing of ill-will. He may yield at times to irritation, (none of us are perfect) but he realizes that he, as a spiritual being, has no business to nurse his wrath. Paul put it very humanly—“Let not the sun go down upon your anger.” As a true psychologist, he did not forbid anger but he forbad its being kept alive and cherished into a feud.
Bahá’is—if they yield at times perforce to irritation—as befits those striving for spiritual improvement they repent this weakness, and seek to heal a possible breech by the expression of humility and love. And the offended person, for his part, seeks not to nurse and keep alive the sense of injury—but rather tries to rise above the self, and live upon that plane of love in which no animosities can thrive.
THUS THE DIFFERENCE between material man and spiritual man is not that one offends and gets angry at offence, and the other is innocent of either. Not even saints rise above all anger. But spiritual man knows how to control, or how to find through prayer the power to control, those animosities which destroy the harmony of daily living. And spiritual man realizes—as those whose eyes are veiled by matter cannot—the stupendous importance of harmony, and its revitalizing effect upon the soul and through the soul upon the health and vigor and happiness of man even on the physical plane.
More and more, as man grows spiritual, does he become sensitive to vibrations of harmony or disharmony. At first his tendency is to shrink away from scenes and atmospheres of disharmony. But such escape is not a solution of life’s problem. Nor is such attempt at escape permanently successful,
for the reason that if we flee from one inharmonious situation without having solved it, we find ourselves soon in another inharmonious situation, and then another and another. In fact, the series would be infinite, if not terminated by man’s own spiritual effort to control his environment and create or recreate it along harmonious lines. This is one of the great occult laws of life to which the consciousness of the average man has not yet awakened—yet more pregnant with destiny than any other law governing our existence,-namely, that man creates his own environment.
THE BUSINESS WORLD is becoming well aware of the need of harmony. Stability of character is getting to be the primary qualification demanded of employees. And for executive positions the ability to handle men harmoniously is the chief requisite. Magazines dedicated to “success” emphasize the necessity of harmony of temperament, and point out the frequent human wreckages due to the lack of this quality. How many a brilliant man has met with tragic failure in his career, because he could not harmonize with his employer and his fellow employees! Even owners of business, professional men, and statesmen, are not exempt from the need of winning good-will and loyalty.
He whom the world honors as the supreme statesman and ruler in history, Abraham Lincoln, stands as greatest because he had the power of riding through petty opposition and mean personal attacks with unruffled serenity of spirit, living above animosity and the tendency to retaliation.
On the other hand, we find that Joseph Lancaster of England, the virtual founder of free universal public education and thus one of the greatest benefactors of the human race, died a pauper in the gutters of Toronto,
his brilliant career ruined because he could not harmonize with his fellows. Ousted from committee control in London, he successively sought New York, Baltimore, and Toronto as more propitious fields for his activity. To each in turn he received hearty welcome because of the remarkable educational methods he had to bestow, and in each city he left a great influence for good in education; but he himself from each, in course of time, departed unwanted; his last exit, that from Toronto, being in the bitterness of a pauper's death. Alas, poor soul, he had not learned that there is no place upon the earth–no, nor in the universe itself—where one can flee from the environment one’s own self creates.
IF HARMONY is to be the goal of our desire, how can one create it? The following brief suggestions are indicated by the example and lessons of other human lives that have proved notably successful or unsuccessful in the establishment of harmony.
1. Avoid acting on the plane of the ego. Shun vanity. Be not arbitrary, but cooperative, in your dealings with other men. Be considerate. See the other person's point of view. Do not seek to impose your point of view by sheer dominance of personality (this is a sure and inevitable breeder of disharmony); but let it prevail if it may be the force of its own logic and rightful power of convincement.
2. Meet the attacks of others with patience, serenity, and if possible selflessness (one of the greatest and last attained of all the spiritual achievements). As protagonist, receive offences without the sense of personal affront; here, too, as recipients as well as achievers of words and deeds, live above the plane of the ego, as Lincoln so well knew how to do.
And more than this, send out vibrations of forgiveness and love to those who would attack your stronghold of harmony. Complete forgiveness
there must be, for our own sake as well as for that of the offender. The least cherishing of the feeling of anger or resentment is a seed—tiny it may be—but bound to develop into bitter fruit.
3. Do not rely upon your own powers only. Seek aid from the Plane of Eternity, which is powerful in its vibrations to alleviate and destroy inharmony, and to create in its place the peace which only harmony can give. Inharmony is in fact impossible in the realm of the Infinite, the very structure of which is the celestial rhythm of harmony.
Therefore turn to God in prayer. Those who have known best how to do this have been the men and women most successful in creating harmony in the midst of dificult circumstances. One can—it is conceivable—establish a segment of heaven in the circle of the mundane life, by sufficient prayer and spiritual effort.
4. The fourth rule is so simple and so basic that it can supplant all the foregoing. It is the rule of Love. He whose heart glows with love for all mankind, is sending out continuously powerful vibrations of harmony which in themselves are sufficient protection against all forces of disharmony. Love teaches us how to avoid all offense to others, and how to forgive all offenses of others toward ourselves. Love is a constructive force, in fact the most constructive force in the universe. Its effect is more powerful than the exercise of the intellect,
or the effort of the human will. It alone can build and maintain an environment of absolute harmony.
THE PROPHETS and Revealers of religion bear in essence this one and single message—love your fellow men. And They Themselves, as is necessary for effective teaching, exemplify Their doctrine. Their own lives radiate a love that conquers all hearts. Study Their spiritual careers and you will find the secret of success on all planes of action.
One event in the life of ’Abdu’l-Bahá strikingly illustrates this power of divine love to combat disharmony, and to establish in its stead peace and order of environment. To a certain New York hotel this Master of Hearts came when it was on the verge of a strike and the atmosphere was charged with bitterness and violence. When after three days’ sojourn ’Abdu’l-Bahá was about to leave, the proprietor begged him to remain longer.
“My hotel staff was completely upset when you came,” he said, “but since you have been here things have miraculously changed. Now there is peace and unity where before there were recriminations and threats. I wish you would remain here free of all expense as our guest so long as you are able!”
This proprietor was both discriminating and wise, in seeking to retain as his guest the greatest friend in all the universe—Love.
“One must attain to that condition of inward beatitude and peace, then outward circumstances will not alter his spiritual calmness and joyousness.“—’Abdu’l-Baha
The following story referred to by the author as “a personal experience some time in the future,” was written as he envisioned the completed Baha'i Temple of Worship in Wilmette, suburb of Chicago, Ill. The Foundation Hall of the Temple—the first of its kind on this Continent—is already finished and is being used regularly every Sunday for meetings.—Editor.
A WONDERFUL experience has been mine. I have stood within a Temple “not made with hands—eternal in the heavens.” I believe I sensed a trifle of what Moses must have felt when He trembled beside the burning bush, for I too have stood on holy ground. I have felt that peace which passeth understanding steal into my being. I have experienced a sustained emotion of spiritual exaltation—a breathless period when time ceased to be and there floated on the air the sweet strains of celestial harmony.
I know a little of the mystic potency of a Shrine for I have stood within the portals of a Temple, on the shores of an inland sea, in the center of a vast continent humming with activity and yet have I known a stillness, calm and profound—the spirit of the voice which sang, “Peace—be still.”
The sun, moving relatively from east to west, bathes the splendid dome of the structure, now illuminating one of the nine surfaces and now another as the Sun of Truth shines more brightly for a time on one civilization and then another, yet immersing the whole world simultaneously in Its beneficent rays.
The mists arising from the nearby waters clothe the Temple in billowy clouds of soft greyness at times,—as the minds of humanity are veiled,—but always the pure white of the dome filters through the enveloping fogs, an instant here, an instant there, assuring the watcher that behind the clouds that Temple not built with hands is pouring out its
Divine Influence steadily and uninterruptedly.
Happy yet awed by this wonderful experience, I doubted the possibility of repetition, and so returned to the marvelous spot again and again; sometimes in the early morning alone, sometimes in the heat of an active day, sometimes in the stillness of night.
Unconsciously hesitating a moment at one of the nine doorways to divest my mind of irrelevant thoughts, seeking to enter in a humble attitude with heart turned to God (which is the only way the Temple can be entered after such a superlative introduction as was my lot). There was always that sense of treading on holy ground. Not only did I feel like removing the shoes from my feet but truly as the benign influence functions like a delightful anesthetic, the cares and worries, the earthly valuations, the human limitations drop from one’s shoulders and the sincere seeker stands without earthly vestment in “the dawning-place of the worship of God.”
Always there is a breathless divine instant, when the throat almost closes with emotion, when the heart swells, when one wants to fling wide the arms in utter surrender.
Such experiences do not come lightly and to one uninitiated and unaware of the power existing in this Temple—the experience was an astounding revelation. Thoughts flashed through the mind with astonishing rapidity.
Humanity at its best has always paused here and there at “the dawning-places
of the worship of God.” Perhaps at the bedside of a sick child, perhaps in a beautiful garden, perhaps in the midst of intensive struggle, in the solitude of a starry night when the stars seem to be flashing messages from above. These dawning-places are altars of comfort, of inspiration, of encouragement to tired minds and burdened hearts. Wherever a prayer is breathed—there is a dawning-place of the worship of God. It may be that the prayer is one of pure thanksgiving, of worship, of adoration but humanity turns most fervently to God in moments of stress, and indelibly stamped upon memory are the spots where such prayers have been uttered. They are like mile stones marking the soul’s progress amid adversity,—places where God has been approached.
However effective and necessary individual prayer may be, there is a great cumulative benefit when many seek communion with God at the same time and in the same place. Were it not so Christ would not have told us that wherever one or two are gathered together in His Name, there He is also.
A mystic environment comes into being in the Temple where many sincere prayers are offered to God. There is a significance in the atmosphere which defies description. Always has humanity sought out these places to mingle individual supplication with the many, and the more profound the sincerity, the deeper the influences.
But these halting attempts at explanation did not suffice. I knew there were cathedrals where some human beings have reported similar experiences, but surely not with such great penetration. There was, I knew, something unique and new about this Temple not made with hands beside the inland sea. Every fibre of my being insisted on this so that investigation was inevitable.
I stood with bared head outside the building to see if an externality would suggest the secret within. Slowly I realized that the architecture was entirely new. The edifice was nine sided, a departure pleasing and subtle, from the rectangular buildings of the day. Then too, there were nine approaches, nine portals equally important and favored.
I reentered from the east. The interior harmonized with the exterior, the nine sided beautifully decorated room was bordered by nine alcoves. In each there was a small altar or stand. Quietly I approached one of these. A book lay open before me. It was the New Testament. I passed on to the next alcove. There lay open the Old Testament. I passed to another and found the Qur’an. In an adjoining alcove the Zend Avesta. The next contained a sacred book of Buddha. I found words of Confucius in another. Slowly I turned. What could it mean? Was this one Temple dedicated to all these religions and their Gods—nine of them in all? Was that the symbolism of the nine sides, nine portals, the nine approaches? This alcove on my right—what could it have in store? The holy words of Bahá’u’llah–the Manifestation of God for this day. Ah, this was new!
The doctrine of the brotherhood of man and the Fatherhood of God was not unknown to me, but here was indicated a brotherhood of Religions! What a stupenduous idea—real universality!
Dazed, I glanced about me. What sort of people came to this Temple. All manners and kinds apparently for it was at twilight of a Sabbath afternoon. There was a swarthy faced man from some southern clime, there surely a Jew, and behind him a Japanese. Just beyond was a Slavic family group, the faces of the children eagerly alight. But look! there surely come two Arabs and a colored man,
behind them a well dressed American lady. A queer mixture, surely, a synthesis of nations and races.
The large room, entirely bare of any furniture was rapidly filling. I surmised that some sort of service was about to begin. By common consent there was a hush of expectancy. The people stood with bared heads. A great peace enveloped me. A voice with perfect enunciation and pleasing resonance, uttered some of the most universally acceptable words I have ever heard. I do not know how long this lasted for I was lost in meditation and turned to leave with the rest. No, I could not leave without finding out more about the astonishing place. And so I approached a gentleman in one of the alcoves. He turned with an ingratiating smile.
“I wonder,” was my query, “if you could tell me something about this—Temple?”
“I shall be happy to,” he replied.
“What is it called?”
“The Mashriqu’l-Adhkár.”
“Which means?”
“The dawning-place of the worship of God?”
“Who built it?”
“The believers.”
“Believers in ––?”
“God—and Bahá’u’llah, the Baha’is, believers in the Bahá’i Revelation.”
“It must have cost a great deal?”
“More than any of us know.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because it was built through the sacrifices of the believers.”
“Are there many of them?”
“No one knows exactly how many.”
“Perhaps the sacrifices explain—” I mused.
“Ah—you have felt—
“Everything,” I replied. “I have been stirred to the very depths of my being.”
I can look back on this experience now with some amusement. For I
have long since numbered myself as a “believer.” How little I knew in those days, of the Great Purpose as defined for this day. How eagerly I studied and how joyfully I received the flashes of enlightenment vouchsafed me. I have watched this Temple being supplemented with schools, hospices and all manner of benevolent enterprises. Surely it is a Temple not made with hands for it is an emblem of sacrifice and love—therein lies some of its power. Therein is a part of the secret of its all-emcompassing and dynamic influence.
I often stand and look upon its exterior and fancy I can see behind and above it, on the heavens like a canvas as it were, a greater and yet more wonderful temple, projected about the outlines of the physical one as a sort of aura—or crowning glory. Is this suggestive of the spiritual significance of its not being built with hands but through love and sacrifice? If so how fortunate, how utterly priceless must be the station of those who were fortunate enough to contribute what they could toward its erection.
After all I muse, beautiful as it is, in all its splendor and influence—the thing that mattered most to those deserving souls was that they made the effort, that they sacrificed! Truly the widow’s mite was just as important in its erection as was a much larger sum. It is a living symbol of the result of obedience. For God can accomplish wonders with little or no materials.
A Temple Universal—wherein the follower of every religion is welcome—wherein the universal, fundamental basic teachings of God for this day are promulgated and those alone. It is not only nonsectarian—much more, it is all-encompassing, bringing to every soul who enters or associates himself with it a deeper understanding of God, His Manifestations and Great Unending Purpose—an integrating power.
A Temple—eternal in the Heavens every atom of which is a-quiver with life in obedience to the laws of the universe as every one who enters must respond with a consciousness of Divinity and Truth—with the meaning of the Message of Bahá’u’llah for this illumined age.
Its influence is subtle and far reaching. I have seen business men dash up in expensive cars, enter during busy morning hours, stand for a few minutes of prayer and then rush away as if they had been recharged with new energy.
I have seen grief-stricken ones slowly enter the holy place and leave with new-born courage.
I have seen skeptical ones swayed as a reed in the wind.
I have seen true fraternity—the mingling of sects, races, minds and hearts in a true brotherhood of religion.
I have seen those saintly souls who possess spiritual insight drink from the fountain flowing there—as a thirsty bird from a brook.
But always my thoughts return to the symbolism of the building. Here is a Temple Universal, not built with hands, eternal in the heavens–beside the inland sea.
The Dawning-place of the Worship of God—fulfilling a universal need, standing as a monument of unity and cooperation, shedding unknown and untold influences into the lives of humanity near and far, casting forever into oblivion misunderstanding, prejudice, and superstition,—what a privilege it was to be able to contribute anything towards its completion!
I often wonder, now that it is completed, if those who struggled so bravely to erect it, realized in any degree
whatsoever their unparalleled opportunities. I who can now but assist in the supplemental activities derive joy enough from that, but to have been able to help build the Temple, even by ever so small a contribution, now seems to me, would have brought a joy similar to that should I have been asked to carry the cross for Jesus as He approached the spot where He was crucified.
I often wonder too, if in the days to come the descendants of those who by their sacrifices helped to raise this edifice will not treasure the fact beyond human power of evaluation?
Voluntary contributions, never in the history of mankind, have ever culminated in a result so frought with beneficence for humanity.
To have contributed much or little was a Divine blessing. To have sacrificed to do so was to enhance the spiritual significance of the Temple. Every sacrifice added its jot to that indescribable spirituality which permeates every particle of the structure.
The great lesson to me is that such an astounding thing could be accomplished by simple obedience—for God always assists those who obey His commands no matter how difficult or stupendous the task. The great thing was to try sincerely to carry out the commands. Therein lay success. God is able to do whatsoever He willeth. It would not have been necessary for any human effort to be required—but what a great everlasting benefit it was that through conformity to God’s will that Temple, not made with hands, eternal in the heavens, stands as a terrifically dynamic force in human affairs,—there beside the inland sea.
“Religion is the greatest instrument for the order of the world and the tranquility of all existent beings.”—Bahá’u’lláh.
To really know a country, one must journey through it—it is not enough to read about it, although books serve to point out the way. Mr. Charles Saunders, the authority on California flowers, has written a set of very interesting little books called “Finding the Worth While” in California, in the Southwest, etc.—books which designate journeys to be made to worth while places. Why should we not do the same for Religion, indicating the road to desirable stop-overs in the Country of the Spirit?
According to the mystics, the progress of the spiritual life is a journey or pilgrimage. The Sufi who sets out to seek God, calls himself a traveler, and the seven stages by which he advances are repentance, abstinence, renunciation, poverty, patience, trust in God, acquiescence in the Will of God.
In youth, one does not, as a rule, consciously undertake such a journey: rather is one bent on finding the Country of Tenderness: so, the ordinary person begins his travels on the shores of the Lake of Indifference, and there with “youth at the prow and Pleasure at the helm becomes easily absorbed in gallantry and worldly pursuits. Finally, however, Experience brings a kind of satiety of material things, and in the heart of the traveler springs up a yearning for something,—he knows not what. In indecision, he continues his way as far as the River of Inclination, which flows into the Sea of Danger. Here, beset by peril of storm and tempest, he at last awakens to the necessity for finding a
refuge or rock to which he can cling—Religion.
There are men, however, who becoming early aware of the need for spirituality in life, start out at once, consciously like Christian in Pilgrim’s Progress—on the quest for Eternal Life. Looking around for a staff that will sustain him in the dangerous places, this traveler is told that Religion is the only support in his journey toward Eternal Life—nothing else suffices. But now the question comes, what religion? Young and clear-minded, he feels he cannot accept the props of other people: he must use the staff, therefore it is his business to select his own. Acting on this idea he discards all the old weak and wobbly sticks offered him as aids-in other words, throws off old traditions and customs before even attempting the road to Reality.
And now the question occurs: What is Religion? It would seem as if the etymology of the word told a great truth: derived either from relegere—to gather together or collect, or from religare—to bind or fasten, it points to the fact that the real intention of Religion is to unite people in harmony. If, notoriously, it has seemed to have the opposite effect, this is because of ignorance and misunderstanding.
“Religion,” says Max Muller, is the perception of the Infinite under such manifestations as are able to influence the moral character of man.” Sir James Fraser, the great Ethnologist, reverts to its harmonizing effect on powers superior to man—powers
whom Primitive Man frightened by the Phenomena of nature and human life which he did not understand continually tried to propitiate. It has also been defined as “the obligation by which man is bound to an invisible God.” A modern Scientist sums it up as “The expression of man’s relation to the Universal, Ultimate, and Infinite.” And adds that, however, religions may differ, they are comprehended in this relation, and whatever seeks this expression is religion.
Religion then, should be our harmoniser, our support, and our obligation. Is it not in reality the measure of our perception of the Unseen, even as
- “The sun’s light when he unfolds it
- Depends on the organ that beholds it?”
Although the form of religious faith we adopt is often a matter of heredity or environment—a “historical accident,” Professor Santayana calls it—that is, geographical, and an accident of birth quite as much as a man’s language—the time comes when we revolt against inherited ideals, traditions and conventions—when we yearn deeply for the Truth—for more truth—for our very own truth. How do we start about to find this true pilgrim’s staff?
To those who had engaged him in a controversy on the subject as to which was best among the many different faiths, Spinoza wrote pointing out that before settling down in a presumably best faith one must examine all religions, ancient and modern—in India, in all the world over. And, “even after having duly examined all these,” he said, “it is still a question as to whether one has chosen the best.”
In truth, among so many beliefs one’s mind becomes confused, for as William James discovered, the human mind in its finiteness has little power of universal vision—it is limited
to seeing only one or two things at a time-it must therefore narrow its point of view: in other words, do as the Mystics advise and advance by slow stages to the goal of Reality. Bahá’u’llâh describes these stages as a progress through “Seven Valleys,” the first being the “Valley of Search.” At this moment in the world's history, the earth is full of pilgrims who have entered the Valley of Search; on all sides, people are saying that only through a real living religion can the world be assured of a lasting Peace and rescued from the scourge of War.
On entering the Valley of Search one’s first endeavor must be to realize complete severance from all previous experiences. When he came to the River Jordan the Pilgrim exclaimed: “I have formerly lived by Hear-say and Faith. Now I go where I shall live by sight and shall be with him in whose company I delight myself.” And Bahá’u’lláh explains that “A seeker can not obtain this (spirit of) search, except by the sacrifice of all that exists; that is, he must annihilate all that he has seen, heard or understood, with the negation ‘no,’ so that he may reach the city of the Spirit.”
After even a cursory examination of religions, Reason tells us that in their ideals all are good—all carry on the Message. That in the practice of their ideals they become corrupt, is the reason why Religion must be renewed and re-stated in each age. The poets recognized this truth. In the Ring and the Book, Robert Browning puts it very convincingly:
- “As we broke up that old faith of
- the world,
- Have we, next age, to break up this
- the new?”
One of the great scientists of this day Prof. Whitehead in his treatise
on “Cosmical Theory,” has said that Religion will never regain its old power until it can face change as does science; though its principles may be eternai, the expression of those principles require continual development. Another, Julian Huxley, lays stress on the importance of plasticity of mind and says in "Essays of a Biologist"–
"Man has attained his position of biological pre-eminence simply and solely by virtue of the plasticity of his mind, which substitutes infinitude of potentiality for the limited range of actuality given by the instinctive reactions of lower forms.”
Moreover,
“Plasticity is needed in any new religion. And plasticity means tolerance, means the reduction of fixity of ritual, of convention, of dogma, of clericalism.”
And, finally that
“Since the scientific mode of thought is of general and not merely local or temporary validity, to build a religion on its basis is to make it possible for that religion to acquire a stability, a universality, and a practical value hitherto unattained.”
Some years ago, William James prophesied that those faiths would best stand the test which adopt the hypothesis of the scientist and make them integral elements of their own, While Bertrand Russell points out that:
“Not only the aspiration, but the ideal too, must change and develop with the course of evolution: there must be no fixed goal, but a continual fashioning of fresh needs by the impulse which is life and which alone gives unity to the process. __ __ __ __
Life, in this philosophy, is a continuous stream, in which all divisions are artificial and unreal __ __ __ The beliefs of to-day may count as true to-day, if they carry us along the stream; but to-morrow they will be
false, and must be replaced by new beliefs to meet the situation.”
Lord Morley in his day declared that the next great task of science was to create a religion for humanity. With this prophecy in view, it is interesting to see the latest pronouncement of H. G. Wells—his religion, he calls it—in which he outlines his idea of a "World Commonweal” which shall be founded on the greatest scientific and humanitarian principles. Making clear the opposing ideal of ancient and modern religions, he contrasts the former (based on retirement into the religious life, or retreat from the world) with the more militant modern plan of meeting and conquering the tumult of life. In this effort, he admits that modern religion cannot lightly forego the experiments of the old religions, but points out that meetings for mutual reassurance, confession and prayer, self-dedication, sacraments and seasons of fast and meditation need to be modernized or replaced by modern equivalents. Further, that the Open Conspiracy may learn a useful lesson if it bears in mind the early phases of Christianity and Islam and guards itself against such sordid dissensions as arose and enfeebled those mighty initiatives before even the first generation of disciples had passed away.
In his book called “A League of Religions” a recent English Writer, J. Tyssul Davis, has cleverly summarized the qualities of all the religions, introducing them thus:
“The Garden of God has a variety of blossoms, and though one may prefer roses, he would be unwise to deny loveliness to the lily. The variety of blossoms testifies to the diversity of the beauty of God.”
Zoroastrianism he calls the religion of purity; Brahminism, that of Justice; Buddhism, of Compassion; Judaism, of Holiness; Confucianism, that of the Golden Rule; Muhammadanism,
the Religion of Submission; Sikhism, the Religion of Courage; Christianity, the Religion of Service; Baháism, the Religion of Reconciliation.
Why is the Bahá’i Faith a religion of reconciliation? The answer must be because its whole aim is to carry out the actual meaning of the word itself—that of binding all faiths together and fusing them into one great Unity. If this be so, it must also fulfill the conditions for our Pilgrim’s Staff, and become our harmonizer, our support, and our attempt toward fulfilling our “obligation toward an invisible God.” It is our harmonizer in that it desires to bind together all nations, all races, all beliefs; our support, because it affords concrete solving of world problems; our obligation-fulfiller, because it shows us how to lead the life, and insists on the importance of deeds in this day. It is, moreover no mere “domestic religion,” neither is it “an ornament for a Sunday Pew”–rather would it claim to be a spiritual clearing-house for all the great ideals of the world—ideals which philosophers like Viscount Haldane, J. Harvey Robinson, William James and even Bertrand Russell—which scientists like J. S. Haldane, Julian Huxley and Dr. Millikan—to select a few—believe will help man on in the future toward the true betterment of the world and Peace among men.
If, however, the Bahá’i religion is to justify its claim to the title of “Religion of Reconciliation,” it must needs reconcile not only the old religions of the world, but all these modern doubts and aspirations as well. The tumult of life must be met and conquered, first in a practical way by advancing with the times and putting forward solutions for present and pressing world problems, and then by
keeping ever in mind the ideal of the religious life. Such an effort can not be successful if the Spirit is allowed to crystallize. God’s mercy never crystallizes; nor is its flood subject to the ebb and flow of human affairs.
But the important thing and one most vital to progress, is of course in all ages, but especially now that Religion and Science are to be in accord, the deepening of the religious life of the Spirit. The journey toward Eternal Life is not an easy road to follow, as on the Mystic Way, the traveler must advance through all the stages to the goal, this life being but the beginning. On starting out the true pilgrim will feel with George Iddings Bell* that:
“There is a Being behind and within and beyond the little that we see and feel. . .. He alone can satisfy a man’s hungry heart. He it is who is Truth. He is the center of all spiritual reality. To find Him is enough. To have all else and to miss Him is to find all else but dust and ashes. The search for Him is what life is for. To know God who passes knowledge, that is to find one’s self.”
Now God can be known, Bahá’u’llâh tells us, only through His Manifestations. It is thus plainly man’s duty in each age to know the Messenger of God, and the first step in the “Valley of Search” is to seek God through His Manifestation. It is with Him that the Pilgrim must walk through the other six of the “Seven Valleys—the Valley of Love, of Divine Knowledge, of Unity, of Contentment, of Astonishment, and of Absolute Poverty and Annihilation.” Is this not indeed the true secret of the journey of life—to follow Guidance? Guidance being found in the laws of religion and the teachings of the Manifestation. If the traveler does this, the little book, for his comfort,
* Atlantic for March, 1926. Religion and Civilization.
promises a shortening of the journey:
“Although these journeys have no visible termination in the world of time, yet, if the Invisible Assistance vouchsafe a devoted traveler (lit. one severed from all else save God) and if the Guardian of the Command (i. e.
the Manifestation of God) help him, he will traverse these seven stages in only seven steps, nay, in seven breaths, nay, even in one breath (or moment) if God will or desire. This is through His Bounty to whomsoever He willeth.”
With this article the illumined serial on “Healing-Spiritual and Material,” begun in the June number, is brought to a conclusion. We feel certain that readers of these articles have gained a greater vision of the possibilities of the spirit working upon matter, and a clearer realization of the dignity, beauty and power of the human soul when expressed on the higher level of the spirit. These are truths that we cannot too often grasp and practice in our daily living.—Editor.
“This world resembles the human body, and the Kingdom of God is like the spirit of life. Think how narrow and dark is the material world of man, how afflicted with disease and maladies; but how bright and spacious is his Spiritual World!“—’Abdu’l-Bahá.
THIS treatise must be brought to a close. Step by step I have pointed out the evolution of human life; how from the mineral, through the vegetable and animal kingdoms to the human, the upward urging life principle has passed on its way to its appointed end. I have also mentioned the recognized biological law that function precedes formation of organs is of necessity the fundamental law that governs evolution.
It necessarily follows that evolution primarily is an evolution of consciousness, and that, as this consciousness grows, better organs are ever required to allow of its increased demands.
In this statement all scientific research workers are agreed. They say that the demand for vision caused the eye to form, for hearing the ear, and so forth. Can we not go still further
and see how the growth of the soul qualities, such as love, the desire to understand the laws of nature, or love for art, or music, or science, must by this recognized law create ever greater and better functioning vehicles in the unseen world, and a more complex and evolved nervous mechanism in the human brain.
Some will say, what proof is there of an inner vehicle or soul? Can a material brain—(which, by the way, does not create thought as the liver creates bile, as some materialists claim, but on the contrary is but the organ to make abstract thought concrete, and to serve also, as the connecting link between the outer organs and the inner reality)—contain within itself love, hate, wisdom, or the creative principle, or arts and sciences?
When we think of another person as loving, kind, pure and chaste, or as a fount of wisdom and knowledge, think you that those abstract qualities are contained only in the cerebral nerve cells, or that when physical death comes these qualities are destroyed?
Such a conception is but childish imagination, and all evolution points out that its object is to evolve to larger and larger consciousness, and to give in nature an even greater expression of the divine qualities and attributes.
No one today will admit that humanity is perfect, or that man has reached the summit of attainment. On the contrary, we see possibilities of greater heights, greater expression of music and art, greater and better architecture, better mechanics and a larger mastery of the air, and of the invisible ether; likewise, in the invisible world, the soul of humanity is ever capable of purer and nobler emotions, more altruistic qualities, and an ever greater harmony with the evolutionary forces of nature.
Scientific men are seeking by night and by day to master the laws of life and disease, to control disintegration, decay and death in all the kingdoms of nature.
To preserve, for instance, against decay, the structures of steel and iron in the mineral world, to protect against disease the fruit and vegetable life, and master through vaccines and serums and preventive quarantines, the invasion of animal diseases, and too, in the world of man, a constant warfare is being waged to combat the powers of decomposition, seen everywhere as disease, epidemics and in superstitions and prejudiced ignorance.
It then follows, that as the law for the mass is the same for the individual, we as integral parts of the whole, have our own part to live and strive for.
Are we working on that side of humanity that makes for good, for true construction, or are we on the side of evil and destruction? Is the life we live making for better conditions for mankind or are we but
parasites or worse still, striving for dissolution and decomposition?
A tree is known by its fruits; life is known by its attributes and qualities. Are the qualities we manifest making for greater harmony or otherwise?
This question has much to do with our own part in the cycle of life, and how we answer this query by our lives, desires and acts, determines to a great extent, our health, our growth, and future happiness. In other words, are we in harmony with the creative urge or evolution, or are we not?
The former chapters in this book stress the need for harmony, for contentment, for radiant joy in all the kingdoms, if health is to be attained and secured. Ignorance or contempt for the inner life is fatal, just as ignorance or contempt for laws of hygiene or dietetics in the outer world brings into manifestation its dire results. “Ignorance is no excuse in the eye of the law.”
That man should be happy, joyous, healthy, and chaste, is the purpose of creation; that he, too, should grow into the qualities and likeness of pure Divinity, is ever the mission of the Prophets.
To this purpose this book is dedicated, to this purpose the reader is called.
The army of medical, scientific, religious, and philosophical leaders of the world, down through the pages of the past, is noble and glorious. To join that noble company is our privilege, if we would. The door to its halls is open to the pure and unselfish men and women who would serve. No fee is required, no oaths of initiation are taken, but none save those with pure hearts can ever enter, for its door is closed to the unclean and selfish sons of humanity.
In this army there is sacrifice of self, but a greater self is discovered. There are greater laws to be obeyed, but in obedience is found perfect liberty. Selfish desire is crucified, but a heavenly contentment and joy instead, envelop the true servant, and in place of mortal fame, comes life everlasting.
In conclusion I wish to say, that in so far as these pages bring to the reader new hope, truth and faith, they have been a success. Much that might have been written has been omitted for fear of clouding the reader’s mind and possibly setting up a disharmony or disagreement.
Nothing in material expression can be complete or perfect, yet must man ever seek and strive for perfect expression and completeness, even if perfection and eternal Truth must of necessity elude his grasp. The following words are from the teachings of ’Abdu’l-Bahá and completes the subject most beautifully:
“In the beginning of his human life, man was embryonic in the world of the matrix. There he received capacity and endowment for the reality of human existence. The forces and powers necessary for this world were bestowed upon him in that limited condition. In this world he needed eyes he received them potentially in the other. He needed ears; he obtained them there in readiness and preparation for his new existence. The powers requisite in this world were conferred upon him in the world of the matrix, so that when he entered this realm of real existence, he not only possessed all necessary functions and powers, but found provision for his material sustenance awaiting him.
“Therefore, in this world he must prepare himself for the life beyond. That which he needs in the world of
the Kingdom must be obtained here. Just as he prepared himself in the world of the matrix by acquiring forces necessary in this sphere of existence, so, likewise, the indispensable forces of the divine existence must be potentially attained in this world.
“What is he in need of in the Kingdom which transcends the life and limitation of this mortal sphere? That world beyond is a world of sanctity and radiance therefore, it is necessary that in this world, he should acquire these divine attributes. In that world there is need of spirituality, faith, assurance, the knowledge and love of God. These he must attain in this world, so that after his ascension from the earthly to the heavenly Kingdom, he shall find all that is needful in that life eternal ready for him.
“That divine world is manifestly a world of lights; therefore, man has need of illumination here. That is a world of love; the love of God is essential. It is a world of perfections; virtues or perfections must be acquired. That world is vivified by the breaths of the Holy Spirit; in this world we must seek them. That is the Kingdom of Life everlasting; it must be attained during this vanishing existence.
“By what means can man acquire these things? How shall he obtain these merciful gifts and powers? First, through the knowledge of God. Second, through the love of God. Third, through faith. Fourth, through philanthropic deeds. Fifth, through self-sacrifice. Sixth, through severance from this world. Seventh, through sanctity and holiness. Unless he acquires these forces, and attains to these requirements, he will surely be deprived of the life that is eternal. But if he possesses the knowledge of God, becomes ignited through the fire of the love of God, witnesses the great and
mighty signs of the Kingdom, becomes the cause of love among mankind, and lives in the utmost state of sanctity and holiness, he shall surely attain to second birth, be baptized by the Holy Spirit and enjoy everlasting existence.”
“Is it not astonishing that although man has been created for the knowledge and love of God, for the virtues of the human world, for spirituality, heavenly illumination and life eternal, nevertheless, he continues ignorant and negligent of all this. Consider how he seeks knowledge of everything except knowledge of God. For instance, his utmost desire is to penetrate the mysteries of the lowest strata of the earth. Day by day he strives to know what can be found ten metres below the surface, what he can discover within the stone, what he can learn by archaeological research in the dust. He puts forth arduous labors to fathom terrestrial mysteries, but is not at all concerned about knowing the mysteries of the Kingdom, traversing the illimitable fields of the eternal world, becoming informed of the divine realities, discovering the secrets of God, attaining
the knowledge of God, witnessing the splendors of the Sun of Truth, and realizing the glories of everlasting life. He is unmindful and thoughtless of these. How much he is attracted to the mysteries of matter, and how completely unaware he is of the mysteries of divinity! Nay, he is utterly negligent and oblivious of the secrets of divinity. How great is his ignorance! How conducive to his degradation! It is as if a kind and loving father had provided a library of wonderful books for his son in order that he might be informed of the mysteries of creation; at the same time surrounding him with every means of comfort and enjoyment; but the son amuses himself with pebbles and playthings, neglectful of all his father’s gifts and provision. How ignorant and heedless is man! The Father has willed for him glory eternal, and he is content with blindness and deprivation. The Father has built for him a royal palace, but he is playing with the dust; prepared for him garments of silk, but he prefers to remain unclothed; prepared for him delicious foods and fruits, while he seeks sustenance in the grasses of the field.”
From the account of ’Abdu’l-Baha’s daily activities and words while in America, furnished as by Dr. Zia Bagdadi, we have here taken some of the most significant passages, for the most part never before published. Noteworthy in this number is a teaching on the Immortality of the Soul.—Editor.
IMMORTALITY—A large and very important meeting was held at the home of Mrs. Agnes S. Parsons, in Dublin, N. H., on August 7, 1912, to which all Bahá’is and members of the summer colony, many statesmen and their families were invited. He who is eager to learn the truth
about the immortality of the soul and is interested in the future life, let him study carefully and meditate thoughtfully on the following address that was given by ’Abdu’l-Bahá at that meeting:
“1. First, we must prove that there is no death for the world of
existence, or existing bodies, because death means separation of the elements of a compound—the body. For example, all these contingent beings or created things which we can see are composed of elements; that is, simple, single elements were composed or combined together, formed infinite forms and, from every composition, a certain creature or object was created. Thus from the composition of certain elements, this flower was created. As to the term, death, it means the decomposition or separation of the simple, single elements and atoms, not their destruction, for these elements are everlasting, indestructible and can never be lost. When we say this flower is dead or destroyed, we mean that its composition has been followed by decomposition—only the order of its composition has been upset—but its original elements are eternal. In the same way, man was created from simple, single elements. Therefore, his death means separation of these elements, but they are everlasting and can never be lost. Thus the term life means composition, and, death means decomposition, or separation and transformation of the elements from one form into another. Just as the transformation of the vegetable kingdom into the animal kingdom means death of the vegetable, in like manner, the transformation of man from the physical world and the separation of the elements (of his body) means the death of man. Then know, that there is no death in the world of existence, at most, there is transformation from one condition to another. But the human spirit is not a composition or combination of elements that must be followed by decomposition. If it were a composition, then we might say it would die, but because it is not a composition, therefore, it does not decompose or die. This is
also evident even in the simple elements and their parts (atoms, ions and electrons), where there is neither composition, nor decomposition. And there is no question about that.
“2. While the body changes from one condition to another, there is no change or transformation for the soul. For example, the youthful form of the human body will become old, but the soul, remains the same; the body becomes weak, but the soul does not become weak; the body becomes defective or paralyzed, but for the soul, there is no change. How often a member may be amputated from a body, but the soul remains the same, and never changes. Therefore, while the body undergoes changes, the soul does not change. And because the soul does not change, it is immortal. For the pivot or the main thing in mortality is change and transformation.
“3. In the world of dreams, the human body lays helpless; its powers lacking; the eyes do not see; the ears do not hear, and the body does not move. But the soul sees, hears, travels and solves problems. Therefore, it becomes evident, that by the death of the body, the soul does not die; in the passing away of the body, the soul does not perish; when the body sleeps, the soul does not sleep, nay, rather, it comprehends and discovers things; it flys and travels.
“4. The body may be here, but the soul can be present in the east or west. While in the west, it manages the affairs of the east, and, in the east, it discovers the things of the west. It organizes and runs the vital affairs of nations. While the body is in one place, the soul travels in different countries and continents. In Spain, yet, it discovers America. Thus, the power and influence, which belong to the soul, are lacking in the body. The body does not see, but the soul sees and explores. Therefore, its
life does not depend upon the body.
“5. There can be no effect without a cause. It is impossible for the cause (for example, the sun) to perish, and its rays and light continue to exist; the fire to be extinguished, and its heat still to be felt; the light to be blown out, and the lamp continue to shine; the mind to be gone, and the intellectual faculties remain. In brief: there is no effect without a cause, and as long as the effect exists, or inasmuch as the effect exists, the cause must also exist. Thus, though His Holiness Christ appeared nineteen hundred and twelve years ago, His work has lasted until this very day; His kingdom is evident; His influence is wonderful. Is it possible for that Spirit of God (Christ) to be of the mortal and such great work of His should stay immortal? Then it is evident that He, that Source of eternal light and everlasting outpourings (Christ), is the cause of the existing signs of His work.
“6. Every created thing has a definite form or shape at a time. It may be a triangle, or square or pentagon (a figure of 5 sides and 5 angles). It is impossible for an object to take on different forms at one time. For example, this rug is an oblong-square. Is it possible for it to become circular? It is impossible unless its shape is changed into a round form. Thus while it is impossible for any of the created bodies to appear in different forms at a time, the human soul possesses all forms and shapes at a time. The soul then does not need to be changed and transformed from form to form and cast out one shape to take on another shape and figure. And because the soul is independent of change and form, therefore, it is not matter and is immortal.
“7. When man looks at creation, he finds two things—the tangible and the intangible. The tangible things
are such as the mineral, vegetable, and animal kingdoms. Whatever can be perceived by the senses, namely, that which is visible to the eye, heard by the ear, detected by the nose, felt by the tench or hand, and tasted by the month, all these are subject to charge. But the intangible cannot be perceived by these physical senses. Like the mind and knowledge or science, these, are intangible realities (realities that must be reasoned out) and are not subject to change and transformation. The eyes do not see them, and the ears hear them not. It is impossible for knowledge, which is an intangible reality to be transformed into ignorance. In like manner, the soul belongs to the intangible realities, therefore, it neither changes nor perishes. However, he who has insight, spiritual, and merciful, will find that the human soul was never and will never be of the perishable. He perceives that all things have been always with him and are under his shadows. He finds himself eternal, everlasting, ever-living, immortal and submerged in the lights of the Exalted Lord. For he has spiritual perception and susceptible conscience and is not limited by the rules of mind and human senses. But he who is lacking in insight and a pure conscience, always finds himself desperate, and of the dead. Whenever he thinks of death, he becomes alarmed and believes himself to be of the perishable. But the blessed souls are not like that. They know that they are immortal, full of light, and will never die—like unto the disciples of His Holiness Christ. That is why at the time of martyrdom and death, the Bahá’is are in the utmost happiness, because they know that there is no death or annihilation; at most, it is this: that the body vanishes but the soul is eternal and immortal in the divine realm.”
A lady asked, “Why is it that all the Divine Manifestations have always appeared in the form of man and not woman?” ’Abdu’l-Bahá explained that the greatest work of women is to be the mother of the Divine Manifestation. Then He laughed heartily, and said, “Though women are equal to men as far as capacity and faculties are concerned, yet, no doubt men are stronger. Even among the animals, such as pigeons, sparrows, peacocks, etc., a distinction (between male and female) is evident.”
On His return to His apartment in New York on July 16, ’Abdu’l-Bahá was met by a number of friends and inquirers. A lady physician asked an interesting question, “Why should we have so many disasters and catastrophies in the world?”
’Abdu’l-Bahá, “There are two kinds of disasters. (1) Those that are caused by immoral deeds and vice, such as, untruthfulness, hypocrisy, dishonesty, injustice, etc. Undoubtedly, bad deeds have evil results. (2) Those that happen because of the essential requirements of the world of creation; the universal divine law, and the universal relations that are inevitable—such as the law of change and transformation, death and life. Thus, it is impossible for a tree not to dry up, and life not to end in death.”
The Syrians of Boston invited ’Abdu’l-Bahá to their club on July 24, 1912, and anxious to know if the Arabic language would in time be the international language. ’Abdu’l-Bahá said: “No!” “Then, how about the Esperanto language?” some one asked. “A few weeks ago,” ’Abdu’l-Bahá replied, “I sent a letter from New York to one of the Esperanto leaders. I wrote that if they
hold a conference for representatives from different races and rulers of different countries to consult about this language and promote it then it will become universal.”
Question. “Does not the Essence of Divinity—God Himself—appear in the flesh?”
’Abdu’l-Bahá: “The Essence of Divinity—God—is sanctified above ascent, descent, and appearance. The lights of His qualities are manifest or reflected in the mirrors of the hearts of His Holy Manifestations.” Question: “What is the meaning of ‘Everything is in everything’?”
’Abdu’l-Baha: “It means the transference or transformation of created bodies into infinite forms of creation. Every indivisible electron is transformed into all the forms of creatures and everything travels or moves in everything.”
On July 30, 1912, Mirza Ali Akbar Nakh-Javani, who came to this country in those days and served faithfully as one of the Persian party in the service of ’Abdu’l-Bahá, said, “How powerful and effective your words are!” ’Abdu’l-Bahá: “This is not my power, nay, rather, it is the power of My Father. This work, is His work.” Then turning to the friends assembled, He continued: “Confirmation is something different than capacity, knowledge and mind. How many unimportant souls have discovered important matters. How many souls have endured hardships for years to explore the North Pole, yet, Admiral Peary reached it. But the real point must be explored. Because he was confirmed, Columbus, with just a trifle of trouble, discovered America. The disciples of His Holiness Christ, though outwardly considered degraded, have accomplished
that which Napoleon could not accomplish. They transformed the very nature of the world. From this it becomes evident that affairs are carried out through confirmation.”
’Abdu’l-Bahá on July 31, 1912, visited the Henderson Summer School about twenty-five miles
from Dublin, N. H. “Twenty years ago,” said Dr. Henderson, “not a single summer school could be found anywhere, but now, there are hundreds of them in this country.”
’Abdu’l-Bahá: “Every praiseworthy thing spreads rapidly. But the children must first be taught about religion, that they may become faithful and honest.”
“A previous article in this magazine by Mr. Yen, who is General Director of the Mass Education Movement in China, described the beginnings of this remarkable Movement.
“The world is one home” as taught by Baha’u’llah, and one of the principles also revealed by Him over sixty years ago is that of “Universal Education” therefore Baha'is as well as non-Baha’is will find the following pregnant thoughts very informing. They carry the implication that this Movement records the type of civilization which the New China will develop and the progress that four hundred million people are making towards it, closing with the thought that the proper education should bring a realization to the modern Chinese of the ancient precept of Confucius that, “Under heaven there is but one family.” We wish to cooperate with a people who are seeking to achieve such universal ideals. The future destiny of China indeed seems to be great. Of this people ’Abdu’l-Baha said, “China is the country of the future.”-Editor.
IN the fall of 1923 a national convention on mass education was called in China which was attended by over six hundred representatives, representing over twenty-one provinces and special districts of China, which was an unprecedented record in attendance. They organized this Chinese National Association of the Mass Education Movement, with which I have had the privilege of being identified ever since.
Since the inauguration of this Chinese National Association of Mass Education Movement we have established branches in all parts of the country until we had mass education organized in the western front of China, near Tibet, and we had mass education associations in the chilly plains of Manchuria. We have today in China about five million students in the rural districts, the urban districts and in the armies of China,
these students ranging all the way from about twelve to fifty years of age, although the great majority of them are of the adolescent age.
Now, that is the particular group we want to put our biggest emphasis on. Those adolescent youths that are in school and being educated are the most strategic group of our population—almost eighty million of our four hundred and fifty million people. Now, it is in their hands that the destiny of China lies. They are young, idealistic, promising, eager to learn, and they have a great future before them. If we could give those adolescent youths of China an opportunity for education and citizenship training, within the next decade you would see a different China.
I have been asked many a time, how is it in all these years of wars, revolutions, counter revolutions and famine, that the mass education
movement has been able to accomplish as much as it has. If it had not been for two main reasons, it would not have been possible; and, first, it is the tremendous eagerness on the part of China, the Chinese common people, the rank and file, to get an education. There is the traditional respect in China for learning and education, but hitherto, education, in the Chinese sense, put emphasis a great deal on the study of the old classics, which was beyond the reach of the common people. Education in China was made possible to all. It was open to all, from the Prince to the coolie. There was no caste of any kind in China, but it was not possible for all.
We have now adopted the new language, we have simplified it and worked out a scientific system of teaching and administration. We have put it within the reach of the common people so they come to our schools. There is as yet no government compulsion in China. They can come and go as they please. Furthermore, they that have already passed the Government school age, do not have to come to school, and yet they pour into our schools. There is this tremendous struggle for existence which absorbs all the time there is for a man, and yet wherever these men, women, boys and girls can afford the time to come, they just pour into our schools; so much so, that we do not have the means to house them, we do not have enough teachers to reach them. There is that yearning, that thirst for education and learning in China today.
The other reason is the nation-wide awakening on the part of the educated men and women of China today. On account of the internal corruption and external aggression, these Chinese educated men and women have come to realize that if this so-called Chinese democracy is going to be a
reality, a living force—not a farce—if China is to take her rightful place in the family of nations, if China is going to realize social stability, political unity, if China is going to put a stop to all exploitations and corruptions of her masses, her common people, the backbone of the Chinese nation must be given a chance for education and citizenship training. So these educated men and women of China volunteer by the thousands to teach, until we have today in China over one hundred thousand teachers, men and women, every one of them a voluntary teacher without pay.
That seems to me to be far more significant, far more fundamental for the future not only of China, but of the world. That certainly is much more important than the number of things that we read every day in the papers, in red letters, the big headlines, about China. An entire nation is receiving an intellectual shock. That seems to me to be the beginning of a true renaissance of not only a few old intellectuals but of the great mass of the common people. It is the beginning of a new life for China’s common people. It is the dawn of a new civilization in the East.
After we studied the whole question of mass education, made some experiments and promoted it all over China, the movement has finally succeeded in a certain measure, perhaps in a large measure, in creating a national consciousness of the importance of mass education, and also in evolving a system of mass education which is capable of being used to weed out illiteracy from China.
There is another phase of the subject in this whole big question of citizenship education. China has had a political history and a background of about four thousand years. She
has had her own political ideas and ideals, political institutions and practices. All right. What are some of the elements in our old Chinese civilization that are valuable, that we should preserve and further develop? And what are some of the undesirable elements in our civilization that we should cast aside, and put in their places some of the fine and noble elements that we could beneficially introduce from the west? It is a gigantic problem.
We have, therefore, a number of problems facing us today. So you can understand that unless we have men of very high calibre and consecration serving our movement, we cannot begin to tackle these problems. I am happy and proud to say that this movement is already drawing to it men of high calibre, prestige, and experience.
In conclusion, what has all this movement to do with you or the rest of the world? The world is shrinking, growing smaller and smaller each day. Space does not count as it once did. As I often say, maybe in the not distant future some of you ladies and gentlemen present tonight will be sailing in your own private airplane to my country, to Peking, to see all these wonderful sights of the Imperial Palaces and the Jade Fountain, and what not, for about one week s vacation. It is not impossible. The peoples of the world are thrown together more and more, whether we like it or not. But that is not the question. The point is that we are thrown together more and more.
Therefore, what that one-fourth of the whole human race is going to do in the next forty or fifty years is bound to effect the other three-quarters of the human family. Whether they are going to be for war or for peace, for democracy or for autocracy is not only a matter of grave concern
to China but to the rest of the world. You will remember the words uttered by your great President Roosevelt. He said, “The Mediterranean Era died with the discovery of America. The Atlantic Era is at the height of its development and must soon exhaust the resources at its command. The Pacific Era destined to be the greatest of all is just at its door.”
Or the words of John Hay—who, in China is held to be the greatest statesman your country has ever produced, “The center of world politics is shifting from the west to China. Whoever understands that people intellectually, economically, politically and socially, has the key to world politics during the next five centuries.”
Those words were uttered a number of years ago, when China was supposed to be stagnant, static, presented, as it were to the world as the sleeping giant. I think all of you will agree with me in saying that China of today is anything but stagnant or static.
For the first time in China’s history, China is in a state of flux. China is plastic, and forces of amazing power, both for good and for evil, for peace and for war, are struggling over there for supremacy.
Remember, when Europe and other nations are beginning to exhaust their resources, China has not yet begun to tap hers. On account of the external aggression that has been imposed upon China during the last century and is being imposed upon China there is an increasingly large number of educated men and women of China today who advocate that China should develop herself to be a great fighting machine, a militaristic nation, if she is going to take her rightful place among the family of nations,
because they say the only language that the West and other powers understand is force.
Now, those of you who are at all acquainted with the humiliations and injustices that China has suffered and is suffering today, will certainly have sympathy with those Chinese men and women who hold that view and who advocate that militaristic policy.
Friends, it will be a crime, nothing short of a crime, a crime that our posterity will neither forgive nor forget, if those four hundred million of peace-loving Chinese should be forced and driven to militarism in order to defend their rights as a sovereign and independent people.
The Chinese are not militaristic by nature or by tradition or by philosophy. The Chinese people never exalted brute force, never worshipped an immoral God. There is no military caste in China as there is in other nations. The heroes of the Chinese people are not warriors, but sages, philosophers and preachers of peace and righteousness.
Maybe through the last forty centuries China must have matured her thought and learned many lessons in the art of living. Maybe China has
something to contribute. Surely there must be a better way, a more humane way of settling international disputes than just by cutting each other’s throats. Surely, with China’s four hundred million people, four thousand years of culture and vast resources, she must have something to contribute to the peace and progress of mankind.
So those of us who are engaged in this Mass Education Movement are resolved to evolve a system which will on the one hand make possible an educated and modern citizenry, and on the other bring out and develop the true genius of the Chinese people. I refer to the peace lovingness of the Chinese people, their upholding and striving to achieve that great Confucian idea of the world, which is so beautifully expressed by our sage-“Under Heaven there is but one family.”
In undertaking this gigantic task of creating a new nation out of a four-thousand-year-old Empire, in order that she may make her contributions both material and cultural to mankind, China must have the close cooperation and active assistance of a great and friendly people, the people of the United States of America.
THE accelerating popularity of such symposiums as “Whither Mankind” is indeed an encouraging sign, for it is concrete evidence that a number of people are thinking about the future of civilization, of culture and the spiritual values pertaining to life.
“Whither Mankind” is essentially an endeavor to evaluate certain phases of human progress and to ascertain the possible effects of trends. When any attempt is made to arrive
at a value—fundamentals are approached. More and more are such evaluations taking into cognizance those things which are characterized as spiritual.
Does it matter so much that there is some disagreement or confusion as to what may be classified as spiritual and what may not, as long as there is a concerted effort to recognize and weigh all those things which cannot be characterized as anything else? For in such an attempt vision may be
clarified and understanding quickened to the end that misunderstanding and confusion be dissipated.
When a group of eminently qualified men write on the future of mankind, from different viewpoints and approaches, many worth while ideas and conceptions are made available to further comparison, contrast and synthesis of thought. What is striking in this excellent group of essays on this interesting subject is that apparently most of them are earnestly trying to justify our present civilization and its future on spiritual grounds.
It seems to the writer that we are trying to place spiritual values in bold relief where they may be easily recognized and appreciated, and in so doing to free such conceptions from the limitations of dogma and creed, in other words, to emphasize the universality of spiritual worth.
There is running through such discussions an attempt to show that while present civilization is not ideal, it is the result of progress and that however material some may term it, that even such so-called materialism has within itself the germs of spiritual significances and effects.
While spiritual worth is basic, while it lies at the roots of things, while it is essentially fundamental, it would seem that some of its manifestations are not so difficult to discover.
It is the function, nay more, the cause of the arts and poetry, to discover and transmit spiritual significances. Does not the artist feel a dynamic urge to portray and emphasize spiritual values in painting or sculpture? Has not the poet from time immemorial been trying to make us see and appreciate many, many of the spiritual attributes which are on every hand?
But to the present day advocate and beneficiary of mass production,
poetry and the arts are consigned to leisure hours and are not closely associated with the distribution of huge volumes of goods. Such things are all well enough for our dream-hours and may perhaps stir something latent within us. Spiritual values are still set apart in the minds of many as remote and difficult to attain, having little connection with life in a scientific age. So prevalent is this attitude that ofttimes it does not occur to us that beauty may be seen where least expected.
It seems to the writer that spiritual “halos” attach to almost every conceivable thing. Sometimes they lie close to the surface and sometimes they are concealed.
For instance, in order that the apple-blossom be able to perform its function in assisting fruition, it is endowed with beauty and with fragrance. Are not the beauty and fragrance of these blossoms a sort of spiritual manifestation—an extra value which a kind Providence has supplied for the delight and quickening of mankind?
Are there not many instances of this over-abundance of value, of things being better or more beautiful or more pleasant than their actual utility demands? Are not many of these characteristics those which we pass over lightly or fail to recognize in this day of the machine?
Whiting Williams has spoken of the “spiritual fringe” which clings about every job to which man applies his hands or his thought. Is there not a “spiritual corona” about many of the common-place objects and acts of life, which is not difficult to sense and which can thrill us to the very center of our beings if we but become receptive? Close the eyes to the world and gently inhale the fragrance of a rose. Is there not a very pleasant intoxication which for the moment
opens to us a lovely garden and all that a garden implies?
And the machine itself—is it entirely cold steel and directed application of energy? About any simple or complicated mechanism there clings the purpose of the designer, built into it, the result of thought and planning. The machine has some personality and is an exemplification of the endeavor to perform some task more simply or more easily-to lighten the burden of work placed on mankind. The machine has a double spiritual significance—that of manifesting the inventive capacity of the designer in itself a spiritual quality, and that of performing certain useful functions.
It is not entirely cold steel—it is a thing alive, the result of thought and the cause of useful work. However noisy it may be in operation, there is a beauty in the rhythm with which it functions. Many who have been closely associated with machines feel an actual love for them which they take not the trouble to analyze. Others look upon them as the destroyers of craftsmanship—but what infinitely higher craftsmanship is involved in the construction of the machine itself! What a triumph of God-given powers is manifested in the production machinery of the present day, and while machinery may have made it unnecessary for certain things to be made by hand it is freeing untold thousands from burdens of labor and giving them more time for other pursuits in life. It is not the intention to discuss the effect of machinery on civilization but merely to suggest that there are several kinds of spiritual value or worth which cling as closely to the machine as the smell of lubricating oil.
The automobile has been discussed as one cause of all of our industrial prosperity and difficulties. Aside from the beauty of a well designed machine in motion—the effect of
facile transportation on life has been too frequently studied to need repetition. Greater mobility of the family has had and will continue to have a beneficial broadening result which can be characterized only as a spiritual gain.
The motor car has almost made of us a nation of mechanics. We know in general a great deal about the operation and construction of motor cars. An understanding of mechanics is but one step removed from an intense interest in science. One of the by-products of our motor cars may be an increasing desire to know more about the “foundation stones” of the universe—and knowledge is a spiritual characteristic.
Thus it would seem that about every useful and worth while product of this machine age there can be sensed spiritual significances which contribute to the improvement of the condition of man; and if civilization is defined as the achievement of adjusting oneself to one’s environment, certainly the products of laboratory and shop are continually assisting man in many ways.
Of course it may be argued that a multiplicity of devices for the use of mankind may complicate his desires, make life more complex, but by the same token it is drawing him ever more intimately into contact with scientific truth and scientific applications, an experience which is in itself an inspiration and which fosters the thirst for knowledge.
In all this, however, there is an obligation, which is to use the time and energy saved by machine production for good works. The machine is the slave of mankind, not his master, and in so far as man realizes this will he fortify himself against materialism and its deadening effects.
Whether we think of the great achievements toward bettering the health of mankind, of education, of science, the arts, of commerce or industry,
of mental hygiene or adult education, is there not a multitude of phases and characteristics, of effects and benefits that deserve to be listed with those spiritual blessings which mitigate the lot of humanity and spur it on to even greater accomplishments?
In this light, the machine age is a logical step in working out the great universal plan of God for the progress of mankind, and materialism is a term applied to an intermittent stage of the journey, where for the moment the spiritual significances of human endeavor may be obscured by the immediate physical and economic emphasis placed on them. Underlying the drive for greater production still lies the age-old yearning for happiness, for faith, and the comfort of knowing that one’s path leads upward and onward.
Beyond the necessity of working that we may live is the joy of doing something more than this. A building may be constructed for the most commercial of purposes; but if it is a beautiful building, do all those who had a hand in its erection think only of the business conducted therein? No, they will stand and look at it with a thrill in their being for the beauty of line and form, for the grandeur of its dimensions, for the permanency suggested by its solidarity.
So it is with all work. However necessary or however disagreeable it may be, there is a modicum of compensation in every task if the deer can but realize that he is contributing to the well being and advancement of mankind. This is a personal compensation—the “spiritual corona” which tempers his travail.
WE think usually in words. If our vocabulary is limited, we are handicapped in mentally sensing some of these phenomena. Perhaps that is one reason why spiritual attributes in every day life are not more generally
recognized and enjoyed. We have a business vocabulary at our tongue’s end. Spiritual words belong to another world, or at least, so we seem to believe. They constitute a foreign language, one in which only the poets and prophets think with facility. And yet this is not entirely true, for we know that there are many subtle experiences of consciousness which cannot be clothed in words. We feel. Our emotions are dynamic. ‘Ne have intuition and imagination. In short, we have a whole tool chest full of susceptibilities and potentialities which enable us to become receptive to spiritual values. We have but to seek for them and recognize them on every hand.
And so through the welter of pessimistic opinions which are being expressed as to the future of mankind on this earth there is the light of hope for those who wish to see. No matter how material a certain phase of life may for the time seem, there is about it some essential spiritual quality or qualities which characterize it as part of the Divine Scheme of Things.
This dynamic force is recognize: in the teachings of the Bahá’i Movement as God's Will and those benefits which bless mankind are but Manifestations of His Love.
”Oneness in its true significance” said Bahá’u’lláh “means that God alone should be realized as the One Power which animates and dominates all things, which are but manifestations of Its energy. * * *
“Knowledge is one of the greatest benefits of God. To acquire knowledge is incumbent on all. These visible arts and present implements are from the results of His Knowledge and Wisdom which have been revealed from the Supreme Pen. In this day the mysteries of this earth are unfolded and have become visible before the eyes.”
edited by Charles A. Beard. New York: Longmans, Green & Co., $3.00. A review
of one of the most outstanding books of the year.NOW and then there appears a book of epochal importance, one that throws real light on the progress of humanity. Of such nature is the remarkable book “Whither Mankind”—a symposium, edited by Charles A. Beard, on the trend of modern civilization. In this book nearly a score of famous world thinkers analyze and endeavor to appraise the twentieth century machine-civilization which we are living in. Is it crassly material or is it admirable in its adaptation to man’s comfort, and to his progress in culture and things of the spirit?
How does the present civilization compare with civilizations of the past and with other world civilizations of the present, notably those of Asia? Will this machine-using, highly technical civilization be permanent, indestructible; or does it contain within itself the seeds of decay and dissolution? is there danger of its being destroyed from without? Is it devoid of beauty? Or is it capable of satisfying the aesthetic and spiritual needs of man, as well as bestowing happiness and contentment? What are the faults of this machine-age and how can we improve on them?
Such are the weighty questions asked and answered by world thinkers, each an authority in his own line, and the general consensus of opinion is optimistic.
“All over the world, the thinkers and searchers who scan the horizon of the future are attempting to assess the values of civilization and speculating about its destiny,” says Charles A. Beard, by way of introduction.
He goes on to describe the essential western or modern civilization as distinguished from the civilization of the Orient or medieval times. The western civilization of today is one that rests upon machinery and science. It is in reality a technological civilization. It is only about two hundred years old and is steadily extending its area in every direction.
Technological civilization, instead of showing signs of contraction, threatens to overcome and transform the whole globe.
Science is the servant and upholder of this system. Continuous research in the natural sciences is the foundation of all industrial progress of today. And vast populations with greater purchasing power than ever before in the worlds history, are waiting to absorb goods produced by mass production made possible by modern science and modern methods of marketing.
There is no reason to expect, according to Mr. Beard, that this scientific civilization of today will decline as previous civilizations have done. Past civilizations have been destroyed by conquests of more barbarous peoples, but appreciation of modern industrial methods and of value of modern science is so universal in the world, that one can hardly conceive of any war or series of wars annihilating this scientific civilization. Even if Europe and America were absolutely devastated, Japan with her present equipment in libraries, laboratories, and technology could restore the vacant areas. It is evident that the machine age will be ever with us. It is unreasonable to expect any future age to be free from
the characteristics of power production and technical science research which characterizes civilization of today.
“Such appears to be the promise of the long future,” says Mr. Beard, “if not the grand destiny of what we call modern civilization—the flexible frame-work in which the human spirit must operate during the coming centuries.”
Nor need we lament the perpetuity of the machine order. In spite of its faults, it is more humane, more conducive to high standards of living, and higher than any previous civilization no matter by what measure of human values it is rated.
“Under the machine and science, the love of beauty, the sense of mystery, and the motive of compassion—sources of aesthetics, religion and humanism—are not destroyed. They remain essential parts of our nature. But the conditions under which they must operate, the channels they must take, the potentialities of their action are all changed. These ancient forces will become powerful in the modern age just in the proportion that men and women accept the inevitability of science and the machine, understand the nature of the civilization in which they must work, and turn their faces resolutely to the future.”
BOASTFUL as Americans are accustomed to being, we are apt to be apologetic concerning the crudity of our civilization. We see in it many faults. We realize the danger of materialism. We look across the world and tend to idealize the gentle slumbering life of Asia as being more spiritual than our own. It is therefore well that we leave it to a Chinese scholar to defend our Western civilization and to claim for it a spiritual quality superior to that of Asia.
“Do we really believe,” asks Hu-Shih, in the chapter, “The Civilizations
of the East and West,” “that the life of a ‘ricksha coolie’ is more spiritual or more moral than that of the American workman who rides to and from his work in his own motor-car, who takes his whole family outing and picnicking on Sundays in distant parks and woods, who listens to the best music of the land on the radio almost for no cost, and whose children are educated in schools equipped with the most modern library and laboratory facilities?”
The writer has often asked himself the same question, seeing in another part of the Orient the hamals of Constantinople straining under loads of several hundred pounds supported on their shoulders and held in place by a band around their forehead, “on their back the burden of the world; stolid and stunned, a brother to the ox.” I have watched their faces, sought to analyze their psychology, and felt certain that their mentality was little higher than that of the animals as they plied their arduous trade How, indeed, can such men condemned to a labor which racks the body of every ounce of vital energy be in a more favorable condition as regards spirituality than one who tends a machine?
“Herein, therefore, lies the real spirituality of the material civilization, of mechanical progress per se,” says Hu-Shih. “Mechanical progress means the use of human intelligence to devise tools and machines to multiply the working ability and productivity of man so that he may be relieved from the fate of toiling incessantly with his unaided hands, feet, and back without being able to earn a bare subsistence, and so that he may have enough time and energy left to seek and enjoy the higher values which civilization can offer him. Where man has to sweat blood in order to earn the lowest kind of livelihood, there is little life left, letting alone civilization.”
He praises also the religion of democracy which not only guarantees liberty and endeavors to make it possible for every man and woman to live a full life, but which also seeks through organization and legislation to extend the gifts of life to the greatest number. This is the greatest spiritual heritage of western civilization. “Is it necessary for me to remind my readers that neither the emancipation of women, nor democratic government, nor universal education, have come from the so-called spiritual civilizations of the East?”
In his attitude towards science and the comforts which science brings to alleviate life, Hu-Shih accords admirably with the basic teachings of Bahá’u’lláh and ’Abdu’l-Bahá who praise science and its achievements for mankind, asking only that with it be coordinated the spiritual science of living. Science and religion are the two wings, says ’Abdu’l-Bahá, by which humanity flies. The Bahá’i Movement does not condemn but rather praises and exalts all material progress, provided it is the foundation of living and not the usurpation of all the powers of man.
The concluding paragraphs of Hu-Shih are so masterful that they deserve quoting in full:
“The term ‘materialistic civilization,’ which has often been applied to stigmatize the modern civilization of the West, seems to me to be a more appropriate word for the characterization of the backward civilizations of the East. For to me that civilization is materialistic which is limited by matter and incapable of transcending it; which feels itself powerless against its material environment and fails to make the full use of human intelligence for the conquest of nature and for the improvement of the conditions of man.
“On the other hand, that civilization which makes the fullest possible use of human ingenuity and intelligence
in search of truth in order to control nature and transform matter for the service of mankind, to liberate the human spirit from ignorance, superstition, and slavery to the forces of nature, and to reform social and political institutions for the benefit of the greatest number—such a civilization is highly idealistic and spiritual.”
IN the very important chapter. “Race and Civilization,” George A. Dorsey says that civilization is not a matter of race, but rather a matter of environment. It is, he says, a garment we learn to wear, and depends on physical and social environment: time, place, parents, teachers, society.
“As the behavior of an individual depends, certainly in some measure, upon the training he receives at the hands of parents, playmates, teachers and social environment in general, so the cultural behavior of families, groups, tribes and nations,” says Dorsey, “is dependent upon historic and psychological factors never in any way proved to be heritable traits. * * * What any individual, family or physical type could or would do under different geographic and social environmental conditions is something which no one at present is warranted in asserting dogmatically.”
How hazardous it is then to pass judgment as to the relative inferiority or superiority of different races, especially as it is well established by anthropology that there is no such thing as a pure race in the world. That which gives the greatest check to vanity of race, however, as regards achievement of a superior civilization, is the reminder that the van of progress is constantly being assumed, now by one people, now by another. Thus the lead in civilization has been held by Greece, Rome, Byzantine, Bulgaria, the Moors, Portugal, Spain, France and Holland, to go no further.
“Applying this argument to human history, we are justified in concluding that, considering the vast age of the human species, a difference of a few centuries in becoming what we call “civilized” is to be accounted for on purely historical grounds, and not on any real or fancied innate capacity.
“Our problems then, “concludes the writer of this brilliant attack on race prejudice, “are not those of race and civilization, but of too little understanding and too much prejudice * * * less race prejuidice, more intelligent understanding of the nature of civilization. Like human behavior, civilization is made and not born. Like life itself, it must be nourished day by day, ceaselessly, with new energy and new materials, or it sickens and dies.”
JOHN DEWEY, the pragmatic philosopher, is not terrified by that upstart, industrialism; he does not seek cloistered halls from which he can shut out the light of the modern age. He is brave, resolute and keen in his analysis of life. He presents a philosophy suitable to the scientific industrial age in which we live. “liidustrial civilization,” he says, “has brought with it the perception of the possibility of a free life upon a higher level for all mankind. The machine age has resulted in a transference of the locus of the ideal of a larger and more evenly distributed happiness and leisure from heaven to earth.”
AND with this happy thought, we will terminate our article on this noteworthy book. The modern age, material though it may seem, has within it the power of bestowing a larger and more evenly distributed happiness and leisure; thus in a way it may be said that science is at least aiding in bringing the Kingdom of
Heaven to earth. The other factor must be of course found within man’s own spirit, must be found in his attitude toward the world and the universe in the realm of what we call religion.
“There is no contradiction,“ says ’Abdu’l-Bahá in an address before the Theosophical Society of Paris in 1911, “between true religion and science. When a religion allows itself to be opposed to science, it becomes mere superstition. It is impossible for religion to be contrary to science even though some intelligences are too weak or too immature to understand truth. God made religion and sicence to be the measure as it were of our understanding. Take heed that you neglect not such a wondeful power. Weigh all things in this balance. Put all your beliefs into harmony with science, there can be no opposition for Truth is One. When religion, shorn of its superstitions traditions, and unintelligent dogmas, shows its conformity with science, then will there be a great unifying, cleansing force in the world, which will sweep before it all wars, disagreements, discords and struggles—and then will mankind be united in the power of the Love of God.”
The whole tenor of this remarkable volume, “Whither Mankind,” so keenly analyzing the quality of our present day civilization and realizing its practical benefits, is to the Bahá’is not at all antipathetic to religion as they conceive it. The book has a real inspiration for all who love humanity, who are happy to see it achieve the remarkable comforts and pleasures which modern science and industry have put within its reach, and who yet would hope to see that added touch of the spirit which would give completeness, stability, and the perfect quality of joy to the twentieth century civilization.
