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| VOL. 19 | JUNE, 1928 | NO. 3 |
| Page | |
Editorial, Stanwood Cobb | 67 |
An Experience With ’Abdu’l-Bahá, Anise Rideout | 69 |
Healing—Spiritual and Material, Dr. Walter B. Guy | 70 |
Universals, Dale S. Cole | 73 |
The Social Nicodemus, Keith Ransom-Kehler | 78 |
The Bahá’í Convention at Wilmette, Ill. | 81 |
The City “Foursquare,” Allen B. McDaniel | 82 |
’Abdu’l-Bahá in America—Chapter II, “Washington, D. C.” Dr. Zia Bagdadi | 87 |
Perfection of Beauty: The Face of God (A Poem), Walter H. Bowman | 92 |
Universal Language Values, Alice V. Morris | 93 |
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.
The white marble bust of ’Abdu’l-Bahá, of which the above is reproduced from a photograph, was modeled by Anna Coleman Ladd, the Boston sculptor, for Mrs. M. R. L. Movius, of Buffalo, N. Y. It is of heroic size, and is destined by the owner for one of the Bahá’í Temples or the surrounding buildings, in the future
| VOL. 19 | JUNE, 1928 | No. 3 |
man’s radiant intelligence makes him the crowning point of creation. * * * Let your ambition be the achievement on earth of a heavenly civilization. I ask for you the supreme blessing, that you may be so filled with the vitality of the Heavenly Spirit that you may be the
cause of life to the world.”—’Abdu’l-Bahá.AN EVENT in the Bahá’í world such as the annual Convention recently held at Chicago in the sacred precincts of the Temple, clearly demonstrates the new mode of organic group functioning which will eventually characterize a complete Bahá’í world civilization. Here delegates met together with no aim except that of arriving at the wisest and best group action. In place of contentiousness there was harmony. In place of factionalism there was unity. In place of ego-motivated strivings and ambitions there was the pure motive of service animating a group, the individual members of which had sought to bring with their attendance a complete severance from self.
Such a mode of functioning is in reality an experience of rising to a new and more exalted plane of human expression and activity,-the plane, one might say, of the Kingdom. It is man functioning as spirit rather than as intellect.
HITHERTO man has functioned in the aggregate and as an organism too much on the plane of the intellect. The intellect, that glorious gift of man which has made him conqueror and ruler over animate and inanimate existence, has, it must be recognized, its distinct limitations. These limitations are not so apparent when man is functioning as an individual as
when he is trying to function organically and cooperatively in a group. In this latter instance it appears plainly that the intellect is diversive.
Analytical, freely creative in its nature, a discoverer of reality whether employed as a microscope toward the microcosm or pointed as a telescope toward the macrocosm, a powerful searchlight bringing to day the hidden secrets of nature,—this dynamic intellect of man fails of the highest achievement when it seeks to dominate and guide group action.
The reason for this is that the intellect, analytical and individualistic by nature, finds itself impossible of complete harmonization with other intellects. No two men can have the same idea about the same thing. Their opinions, no matter how honestly they are striving for unity, will be as disparate as the color of their hair and eyes, or the configurations of their countenances. This is because no two individuals are ever made alike; and functioning as a rivalry of individual intellects, group action will always be a contention of opinions, a clash of ideas, where the strongest arrive at a dominance which must ever fail fully to express right and truth.
BUT THERE IS a higher power in man than his intellect—a power which fortunately functions groupwise
in perfect unity. This is the divine spirit—which is free from the limitations of self; and which, partaking of the infinite and universal, is an absolutely unifying and harmonizing force, able to completely rise above that disparateness of detail to which man’s intellect is prone. Through the spirit man can achieve a magic plane upon which all things are seen as one.
When men in organic groups learn to function on the plane of the spirit, there is no longer opinionatedness, contentiousness, aggressive rivalry of ideas; on the contrary, a unity develops which is cosmic in its nature; not a compromise, but a new discovery of truth more full, more perfect, than human intellect can achieve.
THE SPIRIT in man, that spark of a divine afflatus, knows how to function on the plane of guidance. ’Abdu’l-Bahá, describing the difference between these two powers of man, says, “The light of the intellect gives us knowledge and enables us to understand and realize all that exists. But it is the Divine Light alone which can give insight for the invisible things and enable us to see truths that will not be visible to the world for thousands of years hence. It is this Light which we must strive to seek, for it is greater than any other.” And again, “The human intellect is a comprehensive energy and
controls the realities of things and discovers the hidden secrets in the domain of the physical world. But the divine Spirit discovereth divine realities and cosmic mysteries in the realm of the divine world. I hope thou mayest attain to the divine Spirit, and discover the mysteries of the divine world.”
MAN, functioning on this plane of the spirit, can bring to earth the truths, the realities, the divine configurations of the Heavenly Kingdom. He is promised the gift of vision, of a divine foresight which can aid in planning for the world civilization of the future. Group functioning on this plane of the spirit, which is just beginning to develop in Bahá’í organization work, cannot fail to produce extraordinary results both for the world of today, and the world of tomorrow.
As Bahá’ís we must come to realize that no group activity, no form of organization work, can succeed unless it is conducted on this plane of the Spirit and of the Kingdom. A truth equally necessary of realization is that since all of our so-called individual activities in life are in reality social and interrelated in nature, we cannot function to the highest degree even as individuals until we learn to act always on the plane of the Kingdom, as Spirit rather than as intellect.
it is the power that makes him a higher creature than the animal. For, whereas, century by century and age by age, man’s intelligence grows and becomes keener, that of the animal remains the same. They are no more intelligent today than they were a thousand years ago! Is there a greater proof than this needed to show man’s dissimilarity to the animal creation? It is surely as clear as day!
“As for the spiritual perfections, they are man’s birthright, and belong to him alone of all creation. Man is in reality a spiritual being, and only when he lives in the spirit is he truly happy.”
IT WAS my great privilege to be in New York during the last days spent by ’Abdu’l-Bahá in America. There was a question which I greatly longed to ask, but fearing the reply would be that I must talk to people, everywhere, I hesitated. Finally, on the last day, almost the last moment of my stay, it came to me that it was cowardly to hesitate. On that day, as I came into His Presence, He immediately said, “Are there any questions?” At once I asked the question, “Which is the best way to give the Bahá’í Message?”
’Abdu’l-Bahá’s Face became very serious, His Voice loud as He answered in these words:
“The first thing to do is to acquire a thirst for Spirituality, then Live the Life! Live the Life! Live the Life! The way to acquire this thirst is to meditate upon the future life. Study the Holy Words, read your Bible, read the Holy Books, especially study the Holy Utterances of Bahá’u’lláh; Prayer and Meditation, take much time for these two. Then will you know this Great Thirst, and then only can you begin to Live the Life!
“To live the Life you must be the very kindest woman, you must be the most pure, you must be absolutely truthful, and live a perfectly moral life.
“Visit your neighbors when they are sick or in trouble, offer your services to them, try to show them that you are longing to serve them.
“Feed the poor, divide what you have. Be contented to remain where God has placed you; be faithful in your care of those to whom He has trusted you, never waver in this—show by your life you have something different, so that all will see and will say, ‘What has this person that I have not?’
“Show the world that in spite of the utmost suffering, poverty, sickness, you have something which gives you comfort, strength and peace—that you are happy—serene—satisfied with all that is in your life.
“Then they, too, will want what you possess—and will need no further teaching—after you tell them what it is.”
This series of articles, of which the following is the first installment, are contributed by a physician who has studied very deeply the Bahá’í principles of personality development and healing, and presents here his philosophy of life, of health, of spiritual development. In these articles the reader will find, we are sure, inspiration, help, and understanding of himself.—Editor.
The desire for health is universal. The longing to be free from disease, pain, and premature death is found in every people and country.
It is my purpose, so far as lies in my power, to differentiate the various causes of ill health and premature death; also, to endeavor to show that man is not an entity living solely on his own plane, but on the contrary, he is exceedingly complex, and in his structure constitutes all kingdoms, including the Spiritual. I hope to show that man is vulnerable to forces which, if not controlled by intelligence and will, must inevitably bring disorder, both functional and organic disease; therefore, disfunction and early dissolution. It is my purpose to point out some methods whereby those in disharmony or disfunction may regain the desired restoration to health; also, how one may continue in that health until his allotted time has expired, and then peacefully pass into the next stage of existence ordained by Immutable Law. I hope to do this, not by any forced system of logic or cult, but rather to link simply together well-known and accepted facts of recognized science, and an orderly sequence of accepted truths of psychology with the spiritual teaching of the great religious teachers of the past and present.
THE ancient question asked by Pilate of the lowly Nazarene, “what is Truth?” may be coupled with another, “what is Life?” The answer is seemingly beyond human comprehension; yet an answer must be found even if incomplete, but capable of an eternal revision as Truth becomes more and more revealed in human consciousness.
What is Life? Is it not the result of an ever compelling, ever existing, ever urging force, which some men call God and others call Nature? In the dim past men called it by other names, such as Zeus, Isis, etc., but by whatever name it may be called by man, it is ever the same indubitable force or energy that permeates the Universe and uses it for its or His own purpose or end.
The materialistic philosophers
teach that it is a blind force that produces and destroys; also, that it is without plan or reason, love or intelligence. They teach that this Universe and all forms of life therein, known and unknown, seen and unseen, are the result of this blind unreasoning force acting upon a primeval substance, and by the laws of its own nature, produces the phenomena which we call Life.
Theistic philosophers of the past, such as Pythagoras, Plato, Aristotle and others, taught that the creative power is not blind and without intelligence, but instead that it is an intelligent, reasoning, and constructive force, which acting upon the primeval substance, goes on producing ever more perfect forms. Theists of our present day claim that this force, we call God, is Wisdom, Love, Intelligence, Beauty, Life, and
Progress. They see in the blue sky, in the fragrant flower, and in the innocence of children, the Beauty of the Creator; and in the love of the maid and mother, His eternal Love. When the lightning flashes and thunder roars, and the waves of an angry sea dash over a rocky shore, they see in these manifestations the irresistible Power of the Almighty One; and in the beauty of the sunset, and the serenity at the closing hours of a noble life, they see the eternal Peace of the Merciful One.
We should see the Truth existing in these conflicting claims if we would even in a small measure comprehend the problem of Life.
To understand the conflicting forces of Nature, we must first of all realize this axiom, viz., that any force coming into physical manifestation, no matter whether this force be material—as, for instance, electricity—or spiritual, that force of necessity becomes polarized, and appears in the form of opposites. For instance, we speak glibly of positive or negative currents of electricity, of anodes or cathodes, heat and cold, health and disease. On the spiritual plane, we recognize love and hate, greed and generosity, virtue and vice. Throughout the gamut of existence we find these pairs of opposites, and unless we realize that back of these illusive appearances there is One, and only one immutable, dynamic Power, we are irretrievably lost in the morass of the complexities of materialistic philosophy, or in the jungle of conflicting creeds and methods of healing.
There is, I repeat, but one everlasting, immutable, dynamic, vitalizing Power. This Power, operating throughout the Universe, when in manifestation, apparently separates into two distinct principles which we may call the principle of composition and decomposition.
Some one asked this question of
’Abdu’l-Bahá: “What are the proofs through which one can establish the existence of God?” And He gave the following answer:
“Humanity is divided into two sections; one which is satisfied with the knowledge of divinity through its attributes, and the other which strives to establish the existence of divinity and be informed as to the fundamental principles of divine philosophy. I will speak to you of the scientific proofs which establish the existence of God, and I will not quote the scriptural proofs from the old and new Testaments, or the Qur’án, for you are more or less familiar with those ideas.
“Science teaches us that all forms of creation are the result of composition; for example, certain single atoms are brought together through the inherent law of affinity, and the result is the human being. A number of primordial atoms have gone into the make-up of a plan, the result of which is the flower. Again, looking into the mineral kingdom, we observe that this law of attraction is working in the same manner. Many atoms go into the composition of a piece of stone, which through purification may reach the station of a mirror.
“When the particles of a given composition are disintegrated, this may be called non-existence in that kingdom; but the original simple elements go back to their primary atoms, and are ever existent. When the body of man becomes the subject of decomposition, we call that death. The existence of phenomena depends upon composition, and mortality upon decomposition. This is a scientific principle, and there is a great difference between theories upheld by blind belief and facts sustained by science. Beliefs are the results of traditional susceptibilities of conscience, but scientific facts are the deductions of reason and inexorable logic.
“The materialists state that inasmuch as it is proved by science that the life of phenomena depends upon composition, and its destruction upon disintegration, they question the necessity of a creator, the self-subsistent Lord, for we see with our own eyes that these infinite beings go through myriads of forms of composition, and in every composition they show certain distinctive characteristics, so we are independent of any Divine Maker, argue the materialists.
“Those who are informed with divine philosophy answer thus: There are three forms of composition: First, accidental composition; second, involuntary composition; third, voluntary composition. There is no fourth. Composition is restricted to these three categories. If we declare that composition is accidental, this is logically a false theory, because then we have to believe in an effect without a cause; our reason refuses to think of an effect without a primal cause.
“The second, involuntary composition, means that each element has within it an inherent function of this power of composition-certain elements have flowed toward each other, their union being an inherent necessity of their being. But as long as we reason that it is the inherent necessity of those elements to enter into composition, there should not be any necessity for decomposition; and inasmuch as we observe that there is a process of decomposition, we conclude that the composition of the organisms of life is neither accidental nor involuntary, but the third or voluntary composition. And that means that the infinite forms of organisms are composed through the superior Will, the eternal Will, the Will of the living and self-subsistent Lord.
“This is a rational proof that the will of the Creator is effected through the process of composition. Ponder
over this and strive to comprehend its significance, that you may be able to convey it to others; the more you think it over, the greater will be your degree of comprehension. Praise be to God that He has endowed you with a power through which you can penetrate mysteries. Verily, as you reflect deeply, ponder carefully, think minutely, the doors of knowledge will be opened to you.”
And again, in Bahá’í Scriptures, page 440, paragraph 800, He says:
“Evil does not exist. Death is only the lack of life; therefore, death does not exist. Darkness is only the lack of light. Evil is only the lack of good. Ignorance is only the lack of knowledge. Poverty is the lack of wealth. Misleading is the lack of guidance. Miserliness is the lack of generosity. The non-existence of light is darkness. The lack of sight is blindness. The lack of hearing is deafness. All these things are non-existent. God did not create any evil thing. God did not create a poor man. Poverty is only the lack of wealth. Guidance is the gift of God, and if a man is deprived of it, he will be misled; but he is not misled by God—it is only the result of the lack of guidance.”
To be well, to be joyous, to attain to an ever higher state of consciousness, to an ever greater knowledge of spiritual truths to a more perfect harmony of soul and body, to a larger and more useful life, one must align one’s self with the constructive principle. To succeed in life one must work with this principle, think with this principle, and desire to embody this one principle of idealistic construction. This is to live one’s life in its fullness. It brings a peace that no experience can shatter; and when release comes at the end of this mortal existence, a birth is assured into the eternal verities of the immortal and celestial kingdom.
To align one’s self with the principle of decomposition is ever fatal. In its fell embrace are prejudices of all kinds—greed, intolerance, and hate. Diseases of body and mind are its inseparable companions. War, famine, pestilence, and death are its
horsemen. Covetousness and scandal are its acolytes. Its archangel is ever a Judas, and Satan its god.
That we may choose our way of life is the greatest gift of the Creator to man; but to fail to choose, and be ever buffeted by the varying winds of fortune and misfortune, to fall a prey to ever-present microbic agencies of decay, to be lost in the wilds and jungles of misguided intellectuality, is only too often the misfortune of common humanity.
There can be no uncertainty about the future state of those who, by inherited or acquired qualities choose Satan as their god, decomposition as their creed, and vice, greed and this mortal world as their heaven; for, chained by the result of their deeds, “bound by the cords of their sins,” living in disharmony with the Law and Plan of their Creator—chaos, suffering, and spiritual death must be their inevitable portion. But, for
those whose feet are firmly planted on the way of holiness; whose endeavors are linked with the forces of composition; whose hearts are loving and purified from desire of self, is the reward of eternal growth and life. Blessed are they who attain to the Will of their Lord. Their feet tread the paths of peace. Their bodies are clothed with the robe of virtue and their heads are crowned with the diadem of immortal life. In the words of the poet Oxenham:
- “To every man there openeth
- A Way, and Ways, and a Way,
- And the High Soul climbs the High Way,
- And the Low Soul gropes the Low,
- And in between, on the misty flats,
- The rest drift to and fro.
- But to every man there openeth
- A High Way, and a Low.
- And every man decideth
- The Way his soul shall go.”
The author, who has from time to time contributed helpfully to the pages of The Bahá’í Magazine, is an electrical engineer. His viewpoint is always practical and sane in giving the solution, and its application to the problems of modern society in its task of wresting a living from nature without disturbing or lessening spiritual values. All quotations used in the following article, not otherwise ascribed, are from the writings of ’Abdu’l-Bahá.—Editor.
MAN has ever been constrained to force his way about through the universals of time, space and the ether. His educational progress has been marked by an increasing knowledge of the bearing of these upon life.
We move through space. Time flows on regardless, and it is conceived, for scientific purposes at least, that there is an all-permeating something such as the ether of space.
When man depended on his own feet as his only means of locomotion he felt his way about, depending upon familiar scenes and landmarks. Perhaps he scratched a tree here
and there. He moved in two dimensions over the face of the earth except when ascending or descending a hill.
There came a time when he learned to sail the seemingly limitless waters. He floated on their surfaces and his navigation was again a problem of two dimensions—length and breadth.
The pages of history turn and we find man not only sailing over the waters but transporting himself through them in submarine vessels. This mode of movement requires navigation in three dimensions, for the element of depth is introduced.
Not content with these several methods of getting about at his command, he now flies through the air at tremendous speeds. Again he deals in three dimensions, for altitude is an important factor in aerial navigation.
When he struck out across the waters with no landmarks in sight he was at first forced to depend upon astronomical observations and bearings. Not content with the limitations of these, he invented imaginary lines about the earth from pole to pole in two directions, whereby his position could be charted with the aid of the compass. These lines are used by all mariners of whatever nation, of whatever kind of bark the masters, and bound for whatever destination. These imaginary lines which man has conceived for his own guidance are universal to the earth, for they are common property and generally used. Their language is known to, and understood by, all nationalities.
Air pilots finding the world thus conveniently charted avail themselves of this device, but they must also consider another—altitude. As yet we have not conceived of up-and-down lines from the surface of the earth, but it is common practice to reckon altitude in known units.
Thus though man is traversing unmarked trails on water, under water and through the air, he has constructed for himself workable conceptions which are of inestimable value in his journeys. In a degree he has mastered the problems of space.
As life becomes more complex, man places more value on time as a life factor. Time, the mystical fourth dimension, he cannot control. By it, however, he measures his life, ever seeking if he be heeding, of its purpose. Are there any universal guidances of which he may avail himself in charting his life course?
Many have been the attempts to write codes of laws for human guidance through life and many have been the Prophets who have brought such laws. Always the true Prophets stated laws and ordinances in accordance with the needs of the time in which they spoke and in accordance with the capacity of the people to whom they spoke. Always they taught two phases of law: those ordinances which have to do with conduct on earth, which change as conditions change; and those universal, fundamental, unchangeable spiritual laws which apply to all peoples in all times and places.
“Know thou, therefore, that in every age and dispensation all Divine Ordinances are changed and transformed according to the requirements of the time, except the law of love, which, like unto a fountain, flows always and is never overtaken by change. This is of the wonderful mysteries which God has mentioned for His servants! Verily, He is the merciful, the compassionate!”
But these teachings of the Prophets have been rather ruthlessly dealt with until in many instances it is difficult to recognize the fundamental truths originally taught—the universality.
Today we find the world, as we know it, in a state of confusion. We wonder about many things: the purpose of life, how to fulfill that purpose, if we know it, what is really the truth of this thing called life and whither does it lead, what is the universal law of life.
In earlier times it seemed much easier to band together and follow the dictates of some teacher. Life then was quite strenuous enough in the matter of insuring mere existence to leave little time or inclination for endeavoring to penetrate the mysteries. However, here and there
a great mind did seek to find the truth, and such minds have left the tablets of the past strewn with inspiring endeavors.
But one of the effects of civilization is to make man more independent in the mere matter of living. Food is more plentiful and much easier to get. He has learned to protect himself against many encroaching dangers, and in short civilization has tended, in many respects, to make of him more of an individual. Frequently we see signs which indicate that men are not so content as they used to be in following the group mind, especially when its conclusions are in accordance with the dictates of some closely drawn creed.
As man’s physical condition improved he became more and more of a thinker—his intellectual powers developed until now he understands such conceptions as time, space and the ether, at least workably, and is beginning to turn his attention to the great universals of life—those of spiritual import—for he sees that there is much beyond and above the realm of the senses and the world of human reason. Again he seems to be journeying amid confusion and conflict of sailing directions, just as he did in the early days of navigation by superstition. What instructions shall he follow? Are there universal helps just as the conception of latitude and longitude are universal to earth dwellers?
New values are creeping into life, or at least there is a growing appreciation of them. They are fostered by more leisure, which man can utilize for study and meditation. One writer has suggested that there is a spiritual margin of value in many things which has not been recognized. As an example, the
apple blossom is more beautiful than it need be to fulfill the purpose of fruition. This additional factor of beauty over and above mere utility is a new spiritual value and man is beginning to believe that there is in life some similar consideration; that after all is done in the way of a good day’s work there is over and above something to strive for which may satisfy a mystical yearning not yet fully met.
Such new values concerning life must be universal; they are not limited by locality or nationality or condition of life, and as universal they must be reached and attained through an understanding of some universal law.
In his book, “About Ourselves,” H. A. Overstreet says: “There are two kinds of universality which every individual must achieve if he is to be greatly human—the universality of thought and the universality of emotion. Let us consider the second. When one feels only a specific emotion in a specific situation, one is like the person who can see only the particular chairs and tables and lamps and automobiles and can detect no great law of nature running through them all. Newton declared the law of gravitation, and in so doing raised his power of thought—ours with it—above mere multitudinousness and opacity of separate things.
“The same in like manner—although this is little understood—may occur in the emotional life. I have my own particular sorrows, loves, delights; and you have yours. But sorrow, gladness, yearning, hope, love, belong to all of us, in all times and places. Music is the only means whereby we feel these emotions in their universality.
“Music, in this respect is sister to science. It has the same universalizing effect which the scientific idea
has. But it does more: it is a universalizer of emotional life. It expands the emotional life of each of us beyond the particularity of specific situations. Because science cannot do this, science, great as it is, is never all-sufficient.”
He goes on to say that we find—
“The greatness of music lay in its power to liberate us, to sweep us free from the specific, the concrete, and attune us to a kind of universality. The same is true of the pictures that stay with us, those to which we return, those that set something going and keep something going within us.”
If music which we receive through the sense of hearing has such power to move us, how much more potent may be that spiritual music which is the Bounty of God!
Universality of thought and emotion may make us greatly human, but, worthy as this characteristic may be, it is not the ultimate. To be greatly human is not enough, for when we become greatly human, we also have an insatiable desire to know God or of God, for we see His Manifestations in every phase of human life.
An appreciation of art and music, the ability to assimilate them, may induce universality of emotion, but emotion itself borders on the spiritual. Therein may lie one of the greatest values of universality of emotion. If we can think and feel as others do, not only our near neighbors, but those in far distant lands, certainly we will appreciate their problems and feelings with greater insight. If all could achieve universality of thought and emotion, doubtless life on this plane would be more harmonious.
Such considerations tend to make us more rational in our thinking, at
least about those material considerations which form such a large portion of life, but we have great handicaps of tradition, prejudice and superstition to overcome.
H. A. Overstreet quotes Trotter as saying: “If rationality were once to become really respectable, if we feared the entertaining of an unverifiable opinion with the warmth with which we fear using the wrong implement at the dinner table, if the thought of holding a prejudice disgusted us as does a foul disease, then the dangers of man’s suggestibility would be turned into an advantage.”
We all profess to be seekers after truth, and aspects of it are found on every hand. The artist seeks to express truth as he sees it in a beautiful picture; the musician in a symphony; the builder in a building. But more and more we are learning that basic truth is spiritual. Scientists have done wonderful work in exploring the atom, in formulating conceptions of its structure, but when it is reduced to the minimum of components, they are at a loss to explain the causes of their actions. There was a time when the general public believed that all great scientists were doubters in all that pertained to a Supreme Power. The indications are today that more and more of them are being forced to a faith in the Supreme Power by their own researches.
Truth is all-important. Knowledge of truth is cumulative and has a profound and far-reaching result on the lives of peoples and their progress. Half truths no longer serve.
“Who would exchange the widening of mental horizons and the growth in intellectual stature,” says Darrow in his “Story of Chemistry,” “resulting from the new knowledge of the atom and all that it implies,
for any conceivable quantity of material wealth? From this continual discovery of fundamental truth issues the perennial springs of spiritual enlightenment as well as the resources of material progress.” Spiritual enlightenment, he states, may spring from the discoveries of science. This is a happy and comforting thought, but the Manifestations of God bring spiritual quickening to the world periodically in a most powerful manner.
In the Bahá’í Revelation are found the great universals of guidance for these times and for years to come. There is one great universal. It is love.
To those paramountly interested in the physical sciences and their effects on life, the message is:
“Love is the greatest law in the vast universe of God.
“Love is the one law which causes and controls order among the existing atoms.
“Love is the universal magnetic power between the planets and the stars shining in the lofty firmament.”
“We declare that love is the cause of existence of all phenomena and that the absence of love is the cause of disintegration and non-existence. Love is the conscious bestowal of God—the bond of affiliation in all phenomena.”
To those primarily interested in intellectual aspects the message is that “Love is the cause of unfoldment, to a searching mind, of the secrets deposited in the universe by the Infinite. The cause of the civilization of the nations is love. It is the highest honor to every righteous nation; and it is the spirit of life in the bountiful body of the world.” It is also “the necessary tie proceeding from the realities of things through divine creation.” It is “the
cause of development to every enlightened man.”
Spiritually, the message is that “love is spiritual fulfillment.” It is “the cause of the Manifestation of the Truth in this phenomenal world.” It is “the means of the most great happiness in both the material and spiritual worlds.” It is “the light of guidance in the dark night.” It is “the bond between the Creator and the creatures in the inner world.” It is “the mystery of divine revelation.”
Surely, the seeking mind will find in love the great universal. It is said by ’Abdu’l-Bahá that when the aerial mariner soars upward he soon reaches an altitude when the inharmonies and incongruities of the world of matter are lost to sight. He then sees beneath him a map of God’s creation. If we attain to the summit of divine love, this universal will be a solvent for all differences of whatever nature.
If the law of love is to be applied among human beings, it cannot be circumscribed as in the past within a circle of believing friends. Today, we are taught, the laws of God are not limited in application to any people or community. We are commanded “to show love, friendship, amity, and kindness to all the people of the world”—to apply the universal universally.
“The love which is from God is the fundamental. This love is the object of all human attainment, the radiance of heaven, the light of man.” It is the universal. It is essentially spiritual but with far-reaching physical effects. It can be attained only through the Spirit of Faith. “This Spirit of Faith is the flame of reality, the life of humanity and the cause of eternal illumination. It inspires man to attain the virtues and perfections of the divine world.”
THERE is an arrogance about the human mind that makes us skeptical of professed humility. No sooner have we asserted that we are seeking the Truth and long to embrace it, than we close our minds like a trap to anything that does not fit into our preconceptions of Truth. What we usually mean when we announce that we are entertaining that most “distinguished passion”—a desire for Truth—is that we want to find some ingenious way of making what we already believe, work, even after it has failed and proven its uselessness. Mr. Chesterton once wittily expressed this idea in commenting on George Bernard Shaw: He said that Mr. Shaw’s attitude toward humanity was like that of a nurse, who, when finding that a certain medicine prescribed for a baby was producing no result, wanted to solve the difficulty by throwing the baby out of the window and producing an entirely different child.
And so we read with a certain degree of incredulity in the literature of the day, statements of writers who profess themselves willing to embrace any program that will lead humanity out of its present impasse, and produce in men’s hearts that romantic radicalism of ardor, sacrifice and dedication that characterized the early Christians.
Viewing the costly wrangles in the primitive church with Marcion and Origen, for example, and the appalling effects of the heresies of Arrius or Manu; the abysmal cleft riven in the structure of Christendom when the Latin and Greek churches parted in the eleventh century; and finally the stupendous upheaval of Protestantism that like a mighty centrifugal force has flung the church not only away from a common center,
but has broken it into three hundred and fifty-two fragments: in face of this evidence that every effort of Christianity to reform itself pushes it further and further from that common unity and fundamental interdependence that is the real basis of every constructive accomplishment in the world—religious or otherwise—how can we hope that an attempt at reform in this late day would fare more successfully than the stupendous efforts that have preceded it and failed?
Indeed even to the person of average equipment it is becoming more and more apparent that the inexorable logic of history is irreversible. “The moving finger writes and having writ, moves on.” These same optimistic writers are asking of society what Nicodemus imagined to be the requirement for a second birth. They are asking us to go back into the matrix of outworn social conditions and discarded standards and recreate for ourselves a life compatible with a time gone by.
The Christian world today is searching, like Mary Magdalene at the tomb, “They have taken away my Lord and I know not where they have laid Him,” while, as then, He stands beside us irradiating us with His eternal glory.
But though history is telling us its depressing and negative story on the one hand: that life once lived cannot be recaptured—that spring once passed cannot return without an intervening winter-Bahá’u’lláh, on the other hand, has formulated for us a New Philosophy of History which assures us that the rapture and miracle of Spring will be ever recurrent in the life of man as it is in the life of nature, for, to paraphrase the figure of ’Abdu’l-Bahá, just as the phenomenal
sun returns from spring to spring to resuscitate and revivify the dead physical life of the world, so from age to age a great Sun of Truth and Righteousness returns to resuscitate and revivify the dead spiritual life of the world.
Following the analogy still further, only a certain limited degree of advancement is possible in any one year. This world is so ordered that its development is through growth and process. To expect the spiritual spring of yesterday to revive the spiritual life of man today would be like expecting this year’s crops to mature because the sun was shining last year.
Now, as Bahá’u’lláh points out, it is legitimate to say that last year’s sun and this year’s sun are identical, but it is also proper to say that last year’s sun differs from this year’s. Thus with the mighty Prophets of God as They appear from age to age—although they are identical in essence, each has His own peculiar quickening power.
The Message of Jesus was a perfect revelation of divine truth. The effort of all the Prophets Who ever preceded Him, or ever will succeed Him will be directed to no other end than to establish the pure essence of His Word; just as His effort was to establish the pure essence of the Word of every Prophet Who ever preceded Him or ever will succeed Him.
The analogy to this day may be seen in the attitude of the Jews when they rejected the Messiahship of Jesus because they had “Moses and the prophets.” Jesus was in perfect accord with them that they needed nothing beyond the fundamental spiritual teaching of Moses for He referred them again and again to the characteristic teaching of their Prophet to love the Lord their God with all their strength and their neighbor as themselves. But the Voice that had quickened them out of ignorance and slavery had lost its
vivifying power and the sound of another Divine Trumpet was needed to raise them from the dead.
Developing ’Abdu’l-Bahá’s figure of speech still further—God planted the seed of the Tree of Life and the Sun of His first Prophet rose and shone upon it. It attained to a normal degree of growth and then the winter of dogmatism stiffened it into formalistic rigidity. If the Sun of God’s Messenger had never returned to shine upon it, it would never have attained to any further growth, any more than a physical plant could grow if the sun never again crossed the vernal equinox.
But each succeeding Sun enabled the Tree to attain to a new altitude of growth. The benignant Sun of our Lord Jesus prepared the great Tree of Life for its final fruitage, the fruitage of a new social consciousness that will at last unite leaf and twig and branch in the common trunk of mutual support and interdependence embedded through the mighty roots of the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh in the very soil of heaven.
Already the Sun of a New Springtime has arisen to allure the verdure of fresh hopes and joyous aspirations. Bahá’u’lláh has revealed a magnificent program for the solution of our most harassing problems and for the fulfillment of our most ardent longings.
Not by attempting to turn back the pages of history and to reestablish an era through which man has already lived, but by rising up with heart and soul to establish the order that is the next step in human development, as outlined by Bahá’u’lláh in His Great Message, can the final efflorescence of the Tree of Life into unity, mutuality and good-will efface the grave dissentions, difficulties and threatened disasters that confront mankind and liberate “that spirit which was in Christ Jesus” into this sorely tried and deeply agitated world.
Delegates and visiting Bahá’ís in attendance at the Twentieth Annual Convention of the Bahá'ís of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada, Foundation Hall of Temple at Wilmette, Ill.
A UNIQUE interest and a remarkable spiritual charm surrounded the Twentieth Annual Conference of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada which convened April 26-30, 1928. The sessions were held for the first time in the Foundation Hall of the Bahá’í Temple at Wilmette (suburb of Chicago) Illinois. It was not only a great bounty to meet in this heavenly edifice, which when completed will be “an expression of the elevation of the Word of God,” but it was in the outer sense a refreshing experience to gather in a place so removed from the activities and confusion of a large city. There was both the material and spiritual atmospheres conducive to happiness and success.
The Temple site is “magnificent for situation.” It is in truth considered a sacred spot by every true Bahá’í, for when ’Abdu’l-Bahá was in this country in 1912, He visited this place, dedicated the grounds, and a meeting was held at which He addressed the assembled friends, saying among other things, “The power which has gathered you here is truly a colossal power. It is a divine power which gathered you here. It is the divine favor of Bahá’u’lláh which gathered you together.” He emphasized again and again the importance of the Temple, then only existing in the realm of possibilities.
For some years the Bahá’ís contributed to the fund for the purchase of this immense circular piece of ground comprising many city lots, all of which had to be fully paid for and free from any and all incumbrances before the actual construction of the Temple could be started. The design of the Temple was chosen at the 1920 Bahá’í Convention; building operations were actually started the following year, continuing intermittently ever since.
Thus the Bahá’í Convention held in the Foundation Hall of this divine edifice was an epochal event and will never be forgotten by the delegates and friends gathered from far and near, almost every section of the country being represented. The first fruit of the meetings was a foretaste of the unity which will be experienced in the future as the Oneness of God, oneness of religion and oneness of mankind are more truly understood and realized, fully expressed and lived; and great emphasis is placed upon the living, for ’Abdu’l-Bahá said, “Religion is an attitude toward God reflected in life.”
The initial meeting, which is always in the nature of an official welcome, is usually devoted entirely to a spiritual program, and this year’s opening was a real inspiration.
It was marked with a particular significance, for the beautiful rug used by ’Abdu’l-Bahá at prayer time in the Holy Land, and later hung in His Shrine on Mt. Carmel, had been entrusted by Shoghi Effendi, Guardian of the Bahá’í Cause, to Dr. and Mrs. William F. Slater, of Chicago, when they visited him in Haifa, Palestine, a few months ago, with the request that they carry it with them to Chicago and have it hung in the Temple. (This rug is the long one in the center as shown in the above picture. The two smaller rugs on either side of it were given by Shoghi Efiendi to Mrs. Siegfried Schopflocher to bring to this country, with the instruction that they also be hung in the Temple.
Of unique importance also was the attendance of Ruhi Effendi Afnan (grandson of ’Abdu’l-Bahá) of Haifa, Palestine, who participated vitally in all the proceedings.
The business sessions of the Convention extended over a period of four days. Annual reports were read from the National Spiritual Assembly, the highest administrative body of the Bahá’ís in this country, and from all Committees appointed by them. These were very illuminating and encouraging, and the free and frank discussion upon them as well as all other matters was carried on in the utmost harmony and great earnestness. Those present were enabled to deepen their understanding of Bahá’í activities and to function more successfully as a consultative body not only at the Convention but will continue to do so throughout the year. True consultation, sincere cooperation, the utmost consideration, patience, courtesy and good will characterized all deliberations. The intelligence of this group and the effect of the divine education of the Bahá’í teachings in their hearts and minds was a great demonstration of the Power of the Holy Spirit, and the results an outstanding achievement in the history of the Bahá’í Cause in America.
The friends of God have not lived and worked in vain all these years; and all that has been heartfelt, all the peace and love and harmony which has been in the hearts of many hundreds of loyal servers has been constantly radiating and reaching out to other hearts; thus doth the leaven work.
This Assemblage was peerless among the many types of assemblages in the world, for the real purpose of all the work and service of the Bahá’ís is the unity of mankind.
IN THE Book of Revelation of our Christian Bible we have loved to read of the New Jerusalem, the Golden City. Poets and musicians have sung for ages the praises of the “city foursquare”: the deathless, eternal city, where there shall be neither sorrow nor crying, but everlasting joy and gladness. This has been the city of our fondest hopes and dreams. Undoubtedly, “a dwelling place not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” This lovely imaginative conception has in past generations inspired thousands of Christian people, who have been earnestly looking forward to the time of the end—the millenium.
Margareta and I had been looking forward for many years to a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. At last the way opened and it became possible to undertake this trip. After a stormy trip of ten days on the Atlantic, a week in Europe, and another sea voyage down the Adriatic and across the Mediterranean, one day, just as the sun dropped below the distant rim of the sea, we came in view of the shore line of Egypt and realized that we were approaching the Orient—the beginning of the end of our journey.
The following day we watched the typical delta landscape from the window of the rear compartment of our coach as the train rushed us on to Cairo. Mile after mile we followed along one of the large canals which carry water from the Nile to irrigate thousands of broad acres which seemed to stretch out before us endlessly, like a mammoth green carpet. Along the road on the far bank of the canal passed a ceaseless procession of people; some chugging along in flivvers of ancient vintage, others walking, or riding the ever present camel or donkey, while in the fields, the fellaheen
were performing their varied tasks as tillers of the soil; plowing with the same type of wooden plow drawn by water bullock or camel that was used by their forbears in the days of Joseph, cutting the alfalfa and broad bean to feed their cattle, or diverting the water raised by the sakieh into the channels to irrigate the fields.
The journey was finished and we were soon driving along one of the principal bazaar streets of the ancient city of Cairo—a street about as wide and straight as a down-town alley of Boston, on either side of which were the small shops or bazaars, where all the various activities were going on amid a seemingly incessant stream of people on foot or in carriage or on donkey. The throng about us was so dense that it did not seem possible for our carriage to move ahead without running over people at every turn of the wheels, but as our driver called out his monotonous chant of “O! yeh,” the stream of humanity parted and flowed on, about and beyond us like water around a rock in the bed of a stream. Such a kaleidoscopic picture of oriental life; Bedouin jostling Arab, Egyptian in modern costume bargaining with the black-veiled and dressed Moslem woman; the vendor with his panier of oranges or vegetables balanced on his head, swinging along and calling out his wares, and the almost stealthy passage of the camel train headed by the patient little donkey.
A new moon was shedding its pale rays upon the hushed life of the city as we alighted from a taxi and ascended the steps of a typical Cairo residence. We were ushered into a room, around the four sides of which were seated men in the various attitudes
and dress of the Near East. They arose as we entered and bowed silently as we took seats near the center of the far wall.
As we looked about us we noted the handsome face of a young shiek, the bright, alert bearing of several young Egyptians in European clothes, some dark-skinned Persians, somber in their black fezzes, two Bedouins with their picturesque turbans, a young German, and our host, an elderly local merchant, his noble face crowned with a mass of snow white hair and turban.
With a few words of greeting, our venerable host welcomed us to this gathering of his friends, and indeed our friends. “For,” he said, “here in this assemblage of Cossack, Egyptian, Bedouin, Arab, Persian, Armenian and German—the followers alike of the teachings of the Christ, of Muhammad, of Zoroaster, of the Buddha and of Moses—you from the distant Occident have but entered into the midst of one family of brothers who loved us as they loved one another, for has not our Master, ’Abdu’l-Bahá, taught, ‘ye are all the leaves of one tree, the drops of one sea.’?”
A musical voice began a chant, which with its plaintive note seemed to sway the gathering. One of the Bedouins spoke, and the young interpreter at our side informed us that he was expressing his joy at this meeting of the East and the West. “It was good,” he continued, “for with such meetings, racial differences disappear, prejudices are removed, and friendship established, for the Divine Servant of God, ’Abdu’l-Bahá, said, ‘Beware of prejudice! Light is good in whatever lamp it is burning. A rose is beautiful in whatsoever garden it may bloom. A star has the same radiance whether it shines from the east or from the west.’”
A wonderful sense of peace and
calm pervaded the gathering, and for several minutes there was no sound to break the stillness. As Margareta and I looked about the room we wondered at the joy and serenity that seemed to mark alike the face of Jew and Gentile, Moslem and Zoroastrian. Was not the word of our Holy Scriptures fulfilled, “the lion and lamb shall lie down together,” when fierce Bedouin chief and persecuted Armenian were here sitting side by side as loving brothers?
In parting, each man shook us both by the hand, and although no word passed, our hearts were deeply touched by the love that radiated from their faces and seemed to flow into our very beings.
“May His Spirit cheer and guide you in your travels,” spoke our host as we departed. And with face aglow and his tall, commanding figure vibrating with earnestness and sincerity he added: “Be ever mindful of the words of Him who came in this day to renew and confirm the teachings of the Christ: ‘Close your eyes to racial differences and welcome all with the light of oneness. Be the cause of comfort and promotion of humanity. Live among the people a life that will manifest signs of God. This handful of dust, the world, is one home: let it be in unity. Forsake pride—it is a cause of discord. Follow that which tends toward harmony.’”
A night’s journey by train northward over the sandy wastes of the Lybian desert and a morning run through prosperous Jewish colonies brought us to our destination—the Palestine city of Haifa.
“Please feel that this is your home, that we are here to serve and make you happy, and while here you are the guests of Shoghi Effendi.” Such were the kindly words that greeted us on our arrival at the Bahá'í Pilgrim House. “And you perhaps
know that this building was designed by one American Bahá’í and built through the generosity of other American Bahá’ís.” After several weeks of continual journeying over sea and land, with its exactions and annoyances of drafty cabins, cold, cheerless hotel rooms, bills, tips, and fees, this home seemed a sanctuary of rest.
“Shoghi Effendi will be glad to see you,” said Fugeta, as he stood at the entrance to the library, where we were reading and resting after our arrival. We followed our little, active Japanese friend across the street, through a lovely garden and into the great living-room of a large house. As we entered, a youngish appearing man, wearing the Persian black fez and a long, dark coat, came forward with outstretched hands, and in a tone vibrating with sincerity greeted us.
“Welcome, welcome! We have been awaiting your arrival and we are happy that you have come at last. It is our hope that you can remain with us for a long time. Please consider this your home.”
We expressed our pleasure at reaching the destination of our pilgrimage and extended the greetings and best wishes of our mutual friends in America. In his quiet, gentle way, our host soon put us completely at ease, and told us many things about the life and teachings of ’Abdu’l-Bahá, in Whose former home we were conversing; and as we listened we seemed to see moving about the spacious sunlit rooms and the winding paths of the garden, a tall, majestic, noble-visaged figure dressed in a white robe and turban. As He came to a group of people, He stopped and greeted them, to each in his native tongue: “Welcome, welcome! I hope that you are well and happy.” With an unfailing, radiant spirit He had a hearty handshake, a loving smile, a word of cheer or a piece of money for
each and every one, depending on their condition and need.
“From every quarter of the globe came the pilgrims to see ’Abdu’l-Bahá,” said our host. “Around His table sat, without fear of prejudice, the Christian and Moslem, the Jew and colored man, the rich American merchant and the poor Bedouin of the desert. As the gathering partook of the bounteous repast of pilau and fruit, the Master gave them spiritual food as well.” Again we saw that noble, radiant figure standing at the head of the table, or going about serving the pilgrims and uttering these prophetic words:
“It is the New Year; therefore it is very blessed. I wish this blessing to appear and become manifest to the end that the old earth may disappear and the new earth appear; the new star shine and gleam, new flowers bloom; the new spring become known; the new breeze blow. I desire for you all that you partake of this great bounty, and that in spirit and heart you will strive and endeavor until the world of war becomes the world of peace, the world of darkness the world of light; the ruined places become built up; the sword be turned into the olive branch; the flash of hatred become the flame of the love of God; and the noise of the gun, the voice of the Kingdom; the soldiers of death, the
Looking up Carmel Ave., Haifa, toward the Shrines of the Báb cmd ’Abdu’l-Bahá
soldiers of life; all the nations of the world one nation; all races one race; and all the national anthems harmonized into one melody.”
As the rosy glow of the setting sun gradually faded out of the eastern sky, Margareta and I stood on the terrace in front of the beautiful tomb where lie the mortal remains of ’Abdu’l-Bahá. From this high elevation on the slope of Mt. Carmel we had been quietly viewing the panorama of land and sea stretched out at our
The Shrines of the Báb and ’Abdu’l-Bahá on Mt. Carmel and a part of the beautiful terraced gardens
feet. At our left we saw the end of the mountain with its Franciscan monastery and the cave where dwelt the prophet Elijah. Our gaze swept over the city of Haifa and across the bay at our right to a group of lights glimmering in the distant background, where lay the old fortified city of ’Akká.
We thought of the time, still fresh in the memory of man, when within the prison walls of the old city lived a Teacher. From distant lands came many pilgrims just to catch a glimpse
of Bahá’u’lláh (Glory of God), Who, in spite of years of exile, wandering, and incarceration by the Persian and Turkish Governments, had been sending forth throughout the world a universal message. This great Teacher with prophetic utterance had called all peoples to unite under the banner of the Oneness of Mankind and of Universal Peace.
As we descended from the terrace down the moonlit path toward our Pilgrim House, a new sense of faith
and hope came to us. We seemed to feel that out of the present turmoil, unrest and travail in the world, here was a spiritual ideal and power that would unite men’s hearts to bring about the promised coming of God’s Kingdom on earth, for had we not seen, in our travels and life in this place, the power of this Movement to change men’s hearts and lives, to remove old racial, social, political and religious prejudices and make it possible for them to live in loving unity? Had we not experienced
the great unselfish love and service of a community of people of many races, religions, and classes? Had we not been a small part of a demonstration of a new civilization in which love replaced hate, service took the place of selfish ambition and greed, and cooperation existed instead of competition?
Margareta and I sat for a long time that evening after dinner in the quiet of the library. Finally, she put down the book she was reading and looking over at me with a dreamy expression said: “Do you remember that in the 14th chapter of John, the Christ is reported to have told His disciples that He would go and come again, and that the Comforter would come?” “Yes,” I replied, “and the Christians have been looking for the Second Coming for centuries. Similarly, the Jews have been awaiting their Messiah, the Buddhists anticipating the Fifth Buddha and the Moslems the fulfillment of the prophecy of their Prophet, Muhammad, that a great universal Teacher would come to the world in the latter days.”
“And like a thief in the night He has come,” continued Margareta. “Right here, in this very country of the prophets of old, and where Jesus the Christ gave His message of love to the world, a new and greater Message of the unity of mankind through love has been given to this world, again athirst for the spiritual water of life. As ’Abdu’l-Bahá said, this teaching is the same temple, the same foundation, but set forth to meet the complex needs and problems of this day.”
“How true this is,” I interrupted, “for even here in this small library we have before us, in printed form, the utterances of Bahá’u’lláh and the further teachings of ’Abdu’l-Bahá that cover every phase of human interest and endeavor today. You will recall that there are statements which
in detail give solutions for the economic and social problems.”
“Quite so,” Margareta burst in, “and do you not recall reading to me that wonderful statement on the nature and handling of strikes? The world today, especially those enlightened and progressive parts, such as our home country, are adopting and putting into practice those wonderful principles and ideals given to the world by Bahá’u’lláh about seventy years ago.”
For several minutes the evening silence was broken only by the gentle ticks of the little French clock on the bookcase. Then Margareta turned over the leaves of a small book which had been lying on the table between us and read:
“Now is the time! Now is the accepted time!”
“Look ye at the time of Christ; had the people realized that the Holy Spirit of God was speaking to them through His divine mouth they would not have waited three centuries befor accepting Him. And now is it meet for you that ye are sleeping upon the bed of idleness and neglect, while the Father foretold by Christ has come amongst us and opened the greatest door of bounteous gifts and divine favors? Let us not be like those in past centuries who were deaf to His call and blind to His beauty; but let us try and open our eyes that we may see Him, and open our ears that we may hear Him, and cleanse our hearts that He may come and abide in our temples.”
As we drove away the following morning, at the end of our pilgrimage, our hearts were singing with peace and joy, and there in the spacious blue sky above the top of Mt. Carmel, we seemed to see the Golden City, the city foursquare, and we knew that the vision of Him who had taught the simple folk of this land nearly two thousand years ago had been fulfilled.
This story of ’Abdu’l-Bahá’s visit in America is based on material and notes corrected by ’Abdu’l-Bahá Himself, and which He had turned over to Dr Bagdadi at the time He was leaving this country. The twofold purpose of this series, which will continue for serveral months, is, in the words of the author, “First to bring back to the memory of the believers the time of the incomparable days of ’Abdu’l-Bahá’s visit to them and to remind them of His words, His instructions and His admonitions; and, secondly, to give a picture of His visit so that later believers who did not have the blessing of seeing Him, may benefit by reading a brief history.”—Editor.
ABDU’L-BAHÁ reached the city of Washington on April 20, 1912, accompanied only by an interpreter. He went to the home of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Jeffrey Parsons. In the evening He addressed the second annual conference of the Persian-American Educational Society. The meeting was held in the Lecture Hall of the Public Library, and every seat and all available standing room was occupied by an audience eager to hear Him.
When He entered the hall, ’Abdu’l-Bahá was greeted by the audience—all Bahá’ís and their friends and guests rising. “It is an evident fact,” said He in His address, “that for Persia there is no better government to use as a model than that of America. Persia offers virgin soil for American commerce. In Persia all the mineral resources, and indeed all of the material resources, are latent—in the soil and in the people. Perfect amity should be established between Persia and America, whether it be in material bonds or in spiritual bonds.”
After He had spoken, and when He was seated on the platform, hundreds pressed around Him, seeking to grasp His hand.
In an interview after His address, some one announced the sad news of the sinking of the Titanic. ’Abdu’l-Bahá declared that the disaster to the White Star liner Titanic, much as He deplored it, was only an outward expression of the too rapid development
of the age. Progress is too fast. Both Americans and Europeans seem to be possessed of the mania for speed. He said: “It is true in this country in particular growth in all directions has progressed too rapidly. Moderation should be practiced in all things. Be temperate, even in the size of the ships you build and in their speed; in your railroads and the schedules you expect your trains to maintain. It was a pitiful waste of life that came because of the effort to save a few hours in time—rushing a great vessel at top speed when it was known there was danger from icebergs.”
On the following day, April 21, 1912, ’Abdu’l-Bahá spoke at the Universalist Church. The text of His address in part is as follows:
“Whatever the minister has said (in his introductory remarks) is an evidence of high morals and service to the world of humanity, truly commendable and worthy of praise, for it is opposed to natural prejudices which for six thousand years have made unstable the world of humanity. How many wars were fought, how much discord has occurred, how much hatred has appeared amongst mankind. But inasmuch as this age is the age of the revelation of reality, praise be to God! the thoughts are being directed toward reality and the souls are ready for the oneness of the world of humanity. The ocean of truth is surging and the mirage of imitations is day by day passing
away. The foundation of the existing religions is one foundation, and that foundation is reality and the cause of unity and love of humanity and the means of the progress of mankind. But after every one of the Divine Manifestations, that light of reality became obscured. The darkness of superstitions and imitations crept in. Darkness befell the world of humanity. Day by day bitterness increased to such a degree that nations became antagonistic, and to
With ’Abdu’l-Bahá are (left to right) Lorraine Hopper, Laila Bowman and Mary Aldrich
such an extent that were it not for political hindrances they would have crushed and annihilated each other.
“Now it is enough! We must investigate reality. We must put away these superstitions. Praise be to God! We all are the servants of one God. We are all under the shade of His bounty. We are recipients of His bestowals. God is kind to all, why should we be unkind? God is at peace with all, why should we be at war? At most some are ignorant; they must be trained. Some are sick and ailing; they must be healed. The sick must not be despised. The child must not be insulted. Efforts must be made to secure a remedy and healing.
All the prophets have come to educate and develop the immature souls into maturity; to establish unity and love amongst mankind, not bitterness and hatred, for God has wished all good for His servants, not evil. He
who wishes evil for His servants is against God and is not following the example of God, nay rather, he is following the example of Satan. For the attribute of God is mercy, and the attribute of Satan is hate. He who is kind to the servants is following the example of God, and he who is unkind to the servants is against God. For God is absolute mercy, perfect love; and Satan is absolute hate and utter bitterness.
Therefore know that in every meeting where there is love, that meeting is the meeting of the Merciful One; and wherever there is hatred, that is satanic suggestion. The Divine Prophets appeared that the souls may become manifestations of the Merciful One, and to establish love and affection in the hearts. * * *
“Man has two aspects or natures—merciful or divine and an animal aspect. The merciful aspect is peace, happiness, love and faithfulness. But the animal aspect is strife, discord, war and battle. If the animal aspect dominates in man, he becomes lower than an animal. If the divine aspect dominates, he becomes an angel of the Lord. The teachings of the Prophets were for this: that the animal aspect may be conquered, so that the souls that are captives of nature may be saved and the heavenly aspect may dominate. That divine aspect consists of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. It consists of ‘the second
birth.’ He who possesses that aspect is a well-wisher of all; he is kind to all the creatures; he has no bitterness toward any creed, and he shuns no religion.
“For the foundation of the divine religions is one. If we investigate that foundation, we become united; but if we follow imitations, we disagree because imitations are different. The foundation of the divine religions is conducive to unity and fellowship. His Holiness Christ said, ‘I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit, when he, the Spirit of Truth, is come, he shall guide you into all truth.’ This is the century when that Spirit of God has spoken and revealed all the truth; He has explained the validity of the religion of Christ, and delivered the people from superstitions. So that the basis of ignorance and bitterness may vanish, and the foundation of love may be established. We must strive with soul and heart that this bitterness and hatred may disappear and this discord and strife may entirely pass away.”
On April 22, 1912, a reception was held in honor of ’Abdu’l-Bahá at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Jeffrey Parsons to which the Bahá’ís and their friends were invited. “Consider what the confirmations of Bahá’u’lláh have done,” said ’Abdu’l-Bahá, “for they brought us to the home of one who with such love has prepared a feast in my name. How the power and influence of Bahá’u’lláh has linked the East and the West, the divine outpouring is available and the merciful favors are complete.”
On April 23, 1912, ’Abdu’l-Bahá spoke at Howard University, and from there He went to the home of Mirza Ali Kuli Khan for luncheon. Here He said: “Thanks must be offered to Bahá’u’lláh because it is His confirmations that stir the souls. It
is the blessings of the Abha Beauty that change the hearts. It is the reenforcement of the Kingdom of Abha that makes the mosquito an eagle, the ant a Solomon, the degraded, the center of honor.”
In the evening He spoke at the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church, and that was a real Inter-racial Amity Meeting.
On April 24, 1912, it was the privilege of the Bahá’í children of Washington to have ’Abdu’l-Bahá at their meeting. He gave them the most helpful message, sweetened their little mouths with candy and blessed them with these words: “Praise be to God! These children are like a bouquet of roses in their utmost beauty, delicacy and sweetness.”
In the evening, ’Abdu’l-Bahá addressed the white and colored believers and their friends at the home of Mrs. Dyer, a member of the colored race, and after the meeting He remarked, “Before entering the meeting I did not feel as if I would like to speak. But as soon as I saw the unity and attraction of the colored and white believers, I became interested and anxious and with perfect sincere love I spoke. I have compared the harmony of the different colors to that of a pearl and ruby necklace.”
Later, while riding in a carriage on His way to the home of Mr. Alexander Graham Bell, the famous telephone inventor, ’Abdu’l-Bahá very sweetly and softly chanted in Persian, “O Bahá’u’lláh what hast Thou done? O Bahá’u’lláh may my life be a sacrifice to Thee. Through what sufferings and hardships Thou hast passed Thy days. What calamities Thou didst endure. But in the end, what a formidable foundation Thou hast laid. What an evident banner Thou hast raised.”
When Mr. Bell finished telling his own story—namely, it was his love for his wife, who was totally deaf,
that inspired him to invent an instrument that might help her hearing—and while striving in that line, the instrument developed into the telephone—’Abdu’l-Bahá said, “Most of the great inventions were discovered in this way (by accident). The search for Alchemy (occult chemistry) was the cause of the appearance of thousands of useful remedies, and by traveling from Europe to India in a straight line, the American Continent was discovered, etc.”
On April 25, 1912, ’Abdu’l-Bahá spoke to the Theosophical Society, and then He sent a message to the Esperantists. Later, in a humorous mood, He said to Mrs. Parsons, “It is very difficult to have one like me as a guest. Every guest and traveler has a limited number of friends with whom he makes special dates for visits, but you are forced all day long to be the entertainer of all.”
In the evening, addressing a large number of statesmen and Government officials at a banquet held in His honor at the home of Zia Pasha, the Ambassador of Turkey, ’Abdu’l-Bahá said, “Tonight is a blessed night, worthy of rejoicing and thanksgiving for several reasons. First, thanks be to God, we are in a country that is most prosperous and free. Second, at a home which is related to the sublime Turkish Empire. Third, we are the guests of His Excellency, the Ambassador, who is in
’Abdu’l-Bahá and (left to right) Marzieh, Hamedeh and Rahim Khan
the realm of morals shining like the sun. Fourth, this meeting portrays the unity and harmony of the East and the West in a real figure, for His Excellency, the Ambassador of Turkey, is from the people of the East, his honored son is here, and his revered wife is an American. Likewise, the representative of Persia (Mirza Ali Kuli Khan), is from the nobles of the East and his revered wife is also an American. This is an evidence that the East and the West can be united and harmonized. Undoubtedly the utmost desire of the people of power and affluence, the possessors of broad ideas and sound minds, is love amongst human beings;
their highest hope: is for unity and harmony amongst mankind. In ages past this truth was not clear, but since this is the age of light and the century of science and progress of the world of humanity—through divine help and favor—this matter has attracted universal attention. The members of the human family are in reality one; all are from one family, of one country and of one globe. This is the age of the oneness of mankind and the passing away of superstitions of past centuries. Every thoughtful person feels that this is the century of oneness and unity, and the imaginary prejudices are vanishing. Therefore, we are hopeful that the misunderstandings amongst the nations may disappear, so that all may know that the first foundation of the Merciful One is the oneness of the world of humanity and the original aim of the Divine Manifestations is the training of mankind. The divine religions are not the cause of discord, nor are they the means of hatred and animosity. For the foundation of all religions is reality, and reality is one and cannot be multiplied. These differences are caused by imitations. For imitations differ; therefore, they become the cause of differences and quarrels. This darkness of imitations has beclouded the Sun of Reality. Now, thanks be to God, day by day, this darkness is vanishing; this separation shall soon disappear altogether; the Sun of Reality shall rise and shine; the banner of the oneness of the world of humanity and the tent of universal peace shall rise, and the world shall become a different world.
“I am thankful and grateful for the kindness of His Excellency the Ambassador, because he was the cause of gathering and uniting different people in this meeting. Undoubtedly such meetings are worthy of thanks and praise.”
At the close of this meeting former
President, Mr. Theodore Roosevelt, called and had a wonderful visit with ’Abdu’l-Bahá.
On the following morning, April 26, 1912, ’Abdu’l-Bahá spoke at All Souls Church, and in the evening He addressed a woman’s Suffragist meeting. “One of the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh,” He declared, “is equal rights for men and women. When Bahá’u’lláh uttered this principle, the people were stunned.”
On April 27, 1912, Mrs. Arthur Jeffrey Parsons wished to offer a sum of money; but with infinite gentleness ’Abdu’l-Bahá advised her to “distribute the money amongst the poor.”
At the luncheon hour, a most wonderful reception was held in honor of ’Abdu’l-Bahá at the home of Mrs. Parsons, to which some three hundred statesmen, Senators, and scholars, including a judge of the Supreme Court, were invited. It was a peerless reception. When dinner and refreshments had been served and after every one in the audience had received ’Abdu’l-Bahá’s answers to all important questions, there came a few moments of silence and quietness. All the distinguished visitors seemed to be in a state of deep meditation, and the sign of their appreciation was clearly manifest by their extreme admiration for and highest reverence toward ’Abdu’l-Bahá, the “Master” and the “Great Teacher,” as they called Him. Then ’Abdu’l-Bahá broke the silence by saying to the judge of the Supreme Court, “Just as there is unity amongst the United States, in like manner it is possible to have unity amongst the nations of the world.”
To a doctor He said, “I am hopeful that you will raise the banner of universal peace.”
To a master mechanic and engineer He said, “Just as at one school you are teaching engineering to different students. I hope that you may enlighten different people at the divine
school by the truth of the foundation of divine religions.”
To Admiral Peary, discoverer of the North Pole, He said, “I hope that you may discover the unknown of the world of the Kingdom.”
To the Archbishop he said, “My hope is that these harmful imitations may be put away and you may promote the foundation of the teachings of Christ and banish the ceremonies which are opposed to science and contrary to the Truth.”
To the Ambassador of Switzerland He spoke of the importance of “Divine Civilization.”
To a Senator He said, “Just as you are striving for the welfare of America, you must also be the well-wisher of all the countries and nations of the world.”
Finally, turning to the Judge, ’Abdu’l-Bahá asked what the verdict was. “It is all right,” the Judge said, and ’Abdu’l-Bahá smiled.
April 28, 1912, was farewell day, and before leaving the city of Washington, ’Abdu’l-Bahá spoke first to Mrs. Parsons, then to all the friends who gathered around Him. He said: “It is springtime and we have had
good meetings at your home. I shall never forget. I shall always ask divine confirmations for you, that in every way you may be confirmed both in material and spiritual things. The physical world has an outer and an inner plane, for all existing things like a chain are linked together until the spiritual is attained, and finally become abstract realities. We are hopeful these spiritual links may day by day become stronger and this heart communication, which is termed as inspiration, may become permanent. When this connection is established, then physical separation will have no effect, and this station is holy and sanctified above words.”
To the friends he said, “I hope that our meetings shall give everlasting results. The oneness of the world of humanity and universal peace are the greatest blessings.”
While crossing the Potomac River, ’Abdu’l-Bahá said, “Whenever I see such views, I become saddened as I recall how much Bahá’u’lláh loved the beautiful green fields, of which a cruel imprisonment deprived Him for so many years.”
- Sometimes one seems to see Thy very Soul,
- The veiling clay in the Flame of Love refined;
- And Beauty blooms—astonishes the mind
- And overbrims with bliss the golden bowl.
- Instead of separateness we sense a Whole,
- A Oneness leaving winged words behind,
- A Love Supreme, in which is found aligned
- All loves, all tending toward the self-same Goal.
- Thy Face unveiled that searching souls may see—
- That Life symphonic notes of Love may sound
- From hearts attuned to Love’s Infinity.
- In awe, earth is no longer common ground:
- We take shoes from our feet and bend the knee:
- The Goal of Love—The Face of God—is found.
The author of this article, who is Honorary President of the International Auxiliary Language Association of New York City, is an indefatigable and influential worker for the spread and adoption of the auxiliary language. Herein she briefly describes some of the progress that has been made in this country in the way of teaching Esperanto in the schools. It is interesting in this connection to know that ’Abdu’l-Bahá stated that in order to establish the auxiliary language, it would only be necessary for the governments of the world to decide on such a language and have it introduced into all the schools. Then in a short space of time the whole world would be employing it in addition to the native language in each country. Therefore, the schools are the real focal point for the development of this important matter.-Editor.
MY INTEREST in the idea of a universal auxiliary language was first aroused by Dr. F. G. Cottrell, whose fame as a creative chemist is widespread in America and Europe. He showed the need among scientific workers, and the difficulties on account of national jealousies. He told of a dramatic incident at the meeting of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry at Brussels in August, 1919, when there was an animated discussion on the need for an international chemical journal of abstracts. The chemists grew enthusiastic at the idea of establishing such a journal. Then the discussion centered on the choice of the language in which the magazine should be printed. It was pointed out that the necessary economies for maximum service could not be effected unless only one language were used. English and French had the greatest number of supporters, but no agreement could be reached. Recalculation showed that perhaps by strict economy and by keeping its scope down to a minimum, the magazine could still be made to pay if printed in two languages—English and French. But no sooner was this suggestion given serious consideration than the Italians argued that if the original idea of using only one language were abandoned, then of course Italian must be given a place. There was no possibility of a paying magazine in three languages, and the dream
was shattered like a house of cards.
Since hearing Dr. Cottrell’s story my interest has steadily grown more serious. But before talking too seriously, let me tell you another story. An English woman in a Spanish restaurant tried to order her favorite meal of mushrooms and milk. After many unsuccessful attempts to make the waiter understand, she took his pencil and drew pictures of a mushroom and a cow. With a smile of comprehension he left her expectant of final success, and in a quarter of an hour returned with a still broader smile of triumph, bringing her an umbrella and two tickets for a bull fight.
Now to be serious again. My interest has deepened especially along the lines of evolution and education.
Considered in the light of evolution, the development of a systematically constructed language composed chiefly from elements of other languages, may be regarded as one of the latest entrants into the arena of conscious control of life. The biologist now adds to his observation of nature’s slow and unconscious development of species, constructive methods of cooperating with nature so as consciously and comparatively swiftly to develop new species or modifications. The chemist complements analysis by synthesis, so that one can now speak of “creative chemistry.” The psychologist no longer ends his labors by studying how the mind works, but goes on to
the training ground of how to work the mind. As man is entering more and more into copartnership with nature in physical and mental realms, why should he not do so also in that great realm of the spirit, language?
Considered in the light of problems of education, I believe in the ideal that in schools throughout the world there be taught the mother tongue multiform—characteristic of individual race and national tradition; and alongside of it, one simply constructed auxiliary language, the same everywhere, characteristic of the brotherhood of races and of international intercourse. But school curricula are overcrowded. The introduction of a new subject will become world-wide only if the subject have notable educational value in fitting the learner to meet life more adequately and happily than he could otherwise. This is just what I believe would be accomplished by the universal teaching of Esperanto or some similar language developed from a simplified synthesis of European languages. Experiments made already during more than fifteen years in schools in many countries in Europe have convinced educators such as Professor Pierre Bovet, of the University of Geneva, and Professor J. J. Findlay, of Manchester University, England, author of “Foundations of Education,” that the teaching of Esperanto has the following educational values:
1. Help in the study and use of the mother tongue.
2. Help in the study of other foreign languages.
3. Constructive outlet for creative instinct.
Recent reports from schools in England and Germany, in which Esperanto has been taught for periods ranging from five to fifteen
years, confirm such claims. The headmaster of the Trade and Grammar School, Keighley, England, writes:
“We teach Esperanto at this school as our first foreign language. The boys have two years’ study and commence French at about the age of 12 years.
“We have found much value in the subsequent study of French by this first study of a foreign language with no exceptions in its grammar.”
The claim that Esperanto in schools is a help to a wider outlook is of special interest in the world of today. Esperanto, in most schools where it is taught, is used as a medium of correspondence between school children of different countries. This is an aid toward a better appreciation of geography and history and toward a greater and more sympathetic interest in the customs, literature and art of foreign peoples.
In the pioneer school in our own country to introduce Esperanto into the curriculum, the Montezuma Mountain School for Boys in California, correspondence with people in other countries has been carried on by the school boys during about four years. In April, 1925, the headmaster wrote to me as follows:
“Our whole school is not only eager to assure other schools that an auxiliary language is a pressing need, but that Esperanto already has opened up to us various world interests.
“We require Esperanto in the Grammar School and have found the boys eager and deeply interested in it. Their grasp of the English grammar has been materially bettered. As the boys put it, ‘It is easy to recognize a noun in the subjective case as well as in the objective case, and the other parts of
speech have definite form and can be found easier than in English.’ Consequently we have increased our interest in the English grammar. Secondly, the Latin teacher in the High School finds his pupils better prepared with a large number of forms already learned, and case and tense understood.
“We offer a second-year course of Esperanto in High School, giving full college credit for it. Fortunately Stanford has been broad enough to recognize this credit.
“A short time ago when the earthquake struck Japan our boys wished to test out the practical use of Esperanto, and they raised a sum of money, corresponded in Esperanto with an Esperanto delegate in Japan, and sent him the money to be distributed for them. He not only distributed the money carefully, but wrote us full details as to the effect upon the people. They were overwhelmed with gratitude, but more than surprised to receive the money and the warm words of cheer from California boys. Inasmuch as California had so lately expressed many unkindly sentiments, the gratitude of the mayor of the town was expressed to us in Japan’s most charming manner. Our boys were greatly moved by it.”
I believe these same results would be obtained from teaching any auxiliary language as simply and logically constructed as Esperanto—for example, Ido, Nov-Esperanto, Occidental—and I believe that a study of these slightly different systems, as well as of Latin without flexions, would be valuable for adults. But I think it the part of wisdom to use Esperanto in school work, because it
is the only auxiliary language so far in which there is a good supply of printed matter and which has a sufficiently large number of adepts scattered throughout all continents to make possible world-wide correspondence among young people.
The mention of several auxiliary languages leads to a question constantly asked by teachers and parents who are considering the advisability of introducing Esperanto into school curricula. Even though assured of its educational value, they ask: Is there assurance of its practical value as a means of communication not only at present, but in the future? An answer to this question is indicated by the historical development of the auxiliary language movement since the meteoric rise of Volapuk in 1880 and its replacement a few years later by Esperanto.
Two facts stand out significantly. First, a type of auxiliary language has been established which has proved to be a practical and enjoyable means of communication, namely, a type of language whose roots are embedded in European tongues and whose grammatical structure is exceedingly simple. Second, it is easy for anyone who has mastered one system of such a “synthetic” type of language to learn and understand another system. The hours of study required seem to vary in accordance with the student’s aptitude and background of ethnic languages, from about twenty down to two or three.
It does not seem unreasonable to regard the results which already obtain from these facts as prophetic of future developments. At present, persons who are expert in any one of the few systems which are used and who are somewhat familiar with the other systems are able to converse and correspond freely with each other, each using his own system. I
have myself taken part in such conversations between adepts in the five systems mentioned. It may be inferred from such experiences that people who now learn any system will naturally fall into two groups after the official recommendation of a definite form of auxiliary language by some future authoritative international commission. Both groups will of course quickly learn to understand the officially recommended form. One group will consist of persons who will continue to use their old familiar systems until they gradually become so imbued with hearing and reading the official form that they almost unconsciously begin to use it themselves. The other group will promptly make the additional effort needed to master the use of the new form, an effort which naturally will be greater than the almost negligible amount needed to learn to understand it.
Columbia University has conducted a successful summer session course in Esperanto. Cleveland College has made Esperanto an official part of its curricula; also there is at widespread interest throughout college institutions in Texas due to the great success of Prof. Kenngott’s Esperanto classes in Texas University, where over two hundred students have been enrolled.
The International Auxiliary Language Association, 525 West 120th Street, New York City, offers a home-study course for teachers or other adults.
This Association offers an outline course, especially but not exclusively for teachers, each autumn in New York City. The course is generally composed of ten lessons of an hour each over a period of ten weeks. A
similar course, but composed of five lessons of two hours each over a period of five weeks, may be given in Washington during the early part of 1928.
The Association also has in mimeographed form a General Language Course with the text in Esperanto.
Further information regarding the above-mentioned courses can be had by writing to the Association Headquarters.
It is hoped that all who have real enthusiasm for the spread of a universal auxiliary language will undertake to discuss it seriously with teachers, boards of education and educators in general, bringing to their attention the need and requirement of the time.
In conclusion let us sum up the advantages of Esperanto:
Firstly: Esperanto has important educational value as a help to other language study, especially English grammar, French, German, and Latin. It shortens the time needed for these other studies, and makes them more enjoyable. Therefore it can be introduced into a school curriculum not as an additional time-consumer, but as part of a coordinated program of language study.
Secondly: Esperanto may be made an important channel toward a broader outlook. Get the children of the world corresponding with each other directly, without the delay and slackening of interest that come from intermediary translation. Will not these same children grow up into men and women whose awakened imagination will become dynamic in shaping the policies of a new world in which a sense of fellowship results in practical cooperation?
