THE
| PAGE | |
Tablets from Abdul-Baha | 3 |
Editorial—Incorporating article by Mrs. J. Stannard in the Nov. 16th issue of The Egyptian Gazette, and the editor's comment thereon, also letter from Mr. Tudor-Pole to the STAR OF THE WEST | 8 |
Oriental-Occidental Unity—By Chas. Mason Remey | 12 |
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VOL. II Chicago (December 12, 1911) Massa'ulk No. 15
TABLETS FROM ABDUL-BAHA.
Through Mirza Ahmad Sohrab to his honor, Mr. Albert Smiley, the founder of the Lake Mohonk Conference on International Arbitration. May God assist him!
HE IS GOD!
O thou great and respected personage!
The details of the Conference of Peace and Arbitration which is organized under your presidency has been read in the papers of the East and the West and the utmost joy and fragrance was produced; that, praise be to God, in the continent of America, under the presidency of a glorious personage, the Conference of International Peace is convened. Today in the world of existence there is no more important and greater cause than this for it is conducive to the promotion of happiness in the commonwealth of humanity and is the cause of tranquillity of all the nations and countries and the prosperity of the individuals of the human world. What cause is greater than this! It is evident that it has the utmost importance, nay, rather, it will be the cause of the illumination of the East and the West and the reason for the manifestation of the Countenance and the Face of God in the world of humanity and the appearance of infinite affections. Therefore, although this longing one has no acquaintance with your honor, but this great cause and this eminent effort of yours became the cause of my having infinite love for you while absent. Consequently I am engaged in writing you this epistle.
The matter of international peace was instituted by His Highness, BAHA'O'LLAH, sixty years ago in Persia in the year of 1851, A. D. From that time innumerable epistles and tablets were spread first in Persia and then in other parts of the world, until about fifty years ago He clearly stated this matter of universal peace in the Book of Akdas and has commanded all the Bahais to serve faithfully with heart and soul in this great cause, give up their possessions and wealth for it and sacrifice their lives in case of necessity. He has taught them to spread the unity of nations and religions and proclaim in all the regions of the world the oneness of the kingdom of humanity. There are different religions in Persia, such as Mohammedans, Christians, Jews, Zoroastrians, and different sects. Through the power of such affection and love is produced among these various religions that now they are associating with each other with the utmost unity and concord like unto fathers, sons, brothers, mothers and daughters. Whenever they gather in a meeting if a stranger enters in that gathering he is astonished by the love and affection that they manifest. There is not the slightest
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sign of difference and separation. Some of the tablets of BAHA'O'LLAH concerning this matter are translated in America. Seek, perchance you may find them, then you shall realize what a permanent structure BAHA'O'LLAH has raised in this world of existence, the result of which will be the oneness of all humanity. Likewise, innumerable tablets have been written with the pen of this longing one. Ask for them, too; perhaps you may find their translations in America.
To be brief, as His Highness BAHA'O'LLAH in this period of man has planted a fruitful tree in the garden of the oneness of the human race, and as your honor is engaged in reality to irrigate this garden, therefore I found it necessary to express my gratitude and happiness to you, so that your good name may be spread not only in Persia but throughout all Oriental countries and the people of the East may remember your name with great respect. I hope that the principles of international peace and universal reconciliation may be established firmly among the individual members of humanity and its fragrance may be spread throughout all the regions.
I beg of you to accept the expressions of my highest consideration.
(Signed) ABDUL-BAHA ABBAS.
Translated by Mirza Ahmad Sohrab, August 9, 1911.
Through Mirza Ahmad Sohrab, to his honor Mr. C. C. Philips, the Secretary of the Mohonk Conference on International Arbitration.
HE IS GOD!
O thou perfect man!
The Conference on International Arbitration and Peace is the greatest results of this great age. This brilliant century has no likeness and similitude in the history of man. From every standpoint it is distinguished above all other centuries. It is specialized with such excellencies that the shining star of the heavenly confirmations shall gleam from the horizon of this century upon all the future cycles and periods. One of the most extraordinary events of this time, which indeed is a miracle, is the founding of the oneness of this realm of humanity and its essential branches, such as Universal Peace and the unity of the different nations, in this arena of existence.
Persia was at one time the center of religious difference, antagonism and oppression, to such an extent that pen is unable to describe. The adherents of different nations and religions considered it their religious duty to shed the blood of their opponents; they pillaged and ransacked each others property and did not fall short of oppressing their own flesh and blood. The hatred between the various religions attained to such a height that they considered each other unclean. Should a Jew enter a Mohammedan home, he would be made to sit upon the ground; if he drank water from a cup, that cup was destroyed or washed again and again; for the Jew was considered unclean. Such was the hatred and rancor among tho different religions and nations in Persia.
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About sixty years ago His Highness BAHA'O'LLAH through the Heavenly Power proclaimed the oneness of the Kingdom of man in that country and addressing the concourse of humanity said: “O ye people! Ye are all the fruits of one tree and the leaves of one branch!”
About fifty years ago in the Book of Akdas, He commanded the people to establish the Universal Peace and summoned all the nations to the Divine Banquet of International Arbitration so that the questions of boundaries, of national honor and property, and of vital interests between nations might be decided by an arbitral court of justice; and that no nation would dare to refuse to abide by their decisions. If any quarrel arise between two nations it must be adjudicated by this international court and be arbitrated and decided upon like the judgment rendered by the judge between individuals. If at any time any nation dares to break such a treaty all the other nations must arise to put down this rebellion.
BAHA'O'LLAH has clearly stated that this Universal Peace is the cause of the tranquillity of the realm of creation. Now as the International Conference on Arbitration is organized in America and as this problem is a branch which will ultimately bring about the unity of the world, therefore we remember you with the utmost respect, that praise be to God you have arisen to perform such a universal service. God willing, that Conference will progress day by day and will bring about all-embracing results and will establish reconciliation and universal love between the different nations, races and peoples of this world.
I beg of you to accept the expressions of my highest consideration.
(Signed) ABDUL-BAHA ABBAS.
Translated by Mirza Ahmad Sohrab, Aug. 22, 1911.
Through his honor Mirza Ahmad and Mirza Moneer, to the maid-servant of God, Mrs. Ella Goodall Cooper.
Upon her be BAHA'O'LLAH-el-ABHA!
HE IS GOD!
O thou who art attracted to the Kingdom of God!
Thy detailed letter was received. Its perusal produced the utmost happiness, for it evidenced the fact that thou hast attained to the knowledge of the reality of tests; that tests endured in the path of God are conducive to confirmation; nay, rather, they are heavenly powers and the bounties of the Realm of Might. But to weak believers tests are trials and examination, for, on account of the weakness of their faith and assurance they fall into difficulties and vicissitudes.
However, to those souls who are firm and steadfast, tests are the greatest favors. Consider thou that at the time of an examination in sciences and arts, the dull and lazy pupil finds himself in calamity. But to the intelligent and sagacious student examination in learning produces honor and infinite
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happiness. Alloyed gold, subjected to the fire, portrays its baseness, while the intensity of the flame enhances the beauty of pure gold. Therefore, tests to the weak souls are calamity and to the veiled ones the cause of their disgrace and humiliation. The point is this, that in the path of Truth every difficulty is made plain and every trial is the matchless bounty. Therefore, the believers of God and the maid-servants of the Merciful must not relax during trial and no disaster must deter their service in the Cause of God. * * *
You have written that upon your return you have compiled whatever you saw and heard (at Acca) and you have received the invisible assistance, that the teachings, which were like invisible seeds, have sprung to life and verdancy, spreading branches and leaves and producing blossoms and fruit. Indeed what you have written is true.
His honor Mr. Chase is a blessed soul, good and pure. He is engaged in the service of the Cause and is a herald of the True One. Ere long he will be assisted with great confirmation.
You have asked regarding the influence of evil spirits. Evil spirits are deprived of Eternal Life. How, then, can they exercise any influence? But as Eternal Life is ordained for holy spirits, therefore their influence exists in all the divine worlds.
At the time you were here, this question was accordingly answered, that after the ascension of the godly souls, great influence and wide-spreading bounties are destined for them, and all encircling signs in the seen and unseen are decreed for them.
When the souls leave the bodies they do not assume elemental bodies. Whatever man thinks regarding this is but his own imagination.
When man desires help and communication from holy souls, he puts himself in a condition of self-unconsciousness and becomes submerged in a sea of meditation; then a spiritual state, which is sanctified from matter and all things, becomes visible and apparent to him. Then he thinks he beholds a form. Its appearance is like unto a vision.
Man beholds in the world of vision various images, communicates with them and receives benefits, and in that world of vision he thinks they are physical temples and material bodies, while they are purely immaterial.
Briefly, the reality of the soul is sanctified and purified above matter and material things, but, like unto the world of vision, it manifests itself in these material forms and visages. Likewise in the psychic condition, one beholds the spirits like unto the physical forms and visages.
To be brief, the holy souls have great influence and intense effect, and their influence and continuity do not depend upon physical existence and elemental composition.
Ponder ye, that during sleep the human body and the five physical senses, viz., sight, smell, taste, hearing and touch are passive, i. e., all physical forces are inactive. Notwithstanding this, human reality has spiritual life and the
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spiritual powers are penetrative, and wonderful disclosures are made in both the East and the West, and perchance one may discover some matters, which, after a long time, may become apparent in the physical world. Therefore it has become evident that the continuity and influence of the human reality does not depend upon the physical instrumentality; nay, rather, the physical body is an instrument over which the human spirit spreads a luminosity. It, is like unto the sun, which shining upon the mirror, causes its brilliancy, and when the reflection is withdrawn from the mirror, it becomes dark. Likewise, when the luminosity of the human spirt is withdrawn from the body, that instrument becomes useless.
To be brief: Humanity consists of the spiritual reality, and that reality is penetrative in all things and it is that reality which discovers the invisible mysteries, and through that reality all sciences, arts and inventions become known and manifest. Whatever thou beholdest of the works of man is but a faint ray of that reality. It encircles all things and comprehends all things.
Reflect thou, that all these existent sciences, crafts, industries and arts were at one time in the world of invisibility, unknown and unconcealed mysteries. As the spirit of man environs all things, therefore he has discovered them and brought them from the unknown world into the arena of manifestation. Therefore it is evident and established that the human spirit is the discoverer of things, the seer of things and the comprehender of things.
But regarding the progress of the spirit in the world of the Kingdom after its ascension, it is wholly beyond space and time, and developments, after leaving this body, are spiritual and not terrestrial. It is like unto the progress of the child from the world of the foetus to the world of maturity and intelligence, from the world of ignorance to the world of knowledge, from the station of imperfection to the pinnacle of perfection.
As Divine Perfections are infinite, therefore the progress of the spirit is limitless.
Whatever the European and American historians have written regarding His Highness Mohammad, the Messenger of God, most of it is falsehood.
Consider ye, is it possible for a person afflicted with epilepsy to establish such a great nation?
Therefore, this statement of the European historians, regarding that Holy Parsonage, is unqualified falsehood.
Reflect ye, that that illustrious Personage was born in the Sahara of Arabia among the ignorant tent dwellers, affiliating and associating with them until he grew to manhood and maturity, never studying the sciences and arts; nay, even he was apparently illiterate and uninstructed. Notwithstanding all this, he brought forth such a nation, established such a religion and uttered such explanations regarding scientific questions with great perspicuity, and raised such a community from the nadir of ignorance and barbarism to the zenith of civilization and prosperity! Through his influence, science, literature,
(CONTINUED ON PAGE SIXTEEN)
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STAR OF THE WEST
[Continuing the BAHAI NEWS]
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TABLET FROM ABDUL-BAHA.
O thou Star of the West! HE IS GOD!
Be thou happy! Be thou happy! Shouldst thou continue to remain firm and eternal, ere long, thou shalt become the Star of the East and shalt spread in every country and clime. Thou art the first paper of the Bahais which is organized in the country of America. Although for the present thy subscribers are limited, thy form is small and thy voice weak, yet shouldst thou stand unshakable, become the object of the attention of the friends and the center of the generosity of the leaders of the faith who are firm in the Covenant, in the future thy subscribers will become hosts after hosts like unto waves of the sea; thy volume will increase, thy arena will become vast and spacious and thy voice and fame will be raised and become world-wide—and at last thou shalt become the first paper of the world of humanity. Yet all these depend upon firmness, firmness, firmness!
(Signed) ABDUL-BAHA ABBAS.
| MONTH | NAME | FIRST DAYS |
| 1st | Baha' (Splendor) | Mar. 21 |
| 2nd | Jalal (Glory) | Apr. 9 |
| 3rd | Jamal (Beauty) | Apr. 28 |
| 4th | Azamat (Grandeur) | May 17 |
| 5th | Nur (Light) | June 5 |
| 6th | Rahmat (Mercy) | June 24 |
| 7th | Kalamat (Words) | July 13 |
| 8th | Asma (Names) | Aug. 1 |
| 9th | Kamal (Perfection) | Aug. 20 |
| 10th | Eizzat (Might) | Sept. 8 |
| 11th | Masheyat (Will) | Sept. 27 |
| 12th | Elm (Knowledge) | Oct. 16 |
| 13th | Kudrat (Power) | Nov. 4 |
| 14th | Kowl (Speech) | Nov. 23 |
| 15th | Massa'ulk (Questions) | Dec. 12 |
| 16th | Sharaf (Honor) | Dec. 31 |
| 17th | Sultan (Sovereignty) | Jan. 19 |
| 18th | Mulk (Dominion) | Feb. 7 |
| Four Intercalary days. | ||
| 19th | Ola (Loftiness) | Mar. 2 |
| (Month of fasting.) | ||
| Vol. II | Chicago, (December 12, 1911) Massa'ulk | No. 15 |
An interesting article pertaining to the Bahai Movement, from the pen of Mrs. J. Stannard, appeared in The Egyptian Gazette (Alexandria), in its issue of Nov. 16th. We reprint it herewith:
THE BAHAI MOVEMENT.
To the Editor, “Egyptian Gazette.”
SIR: Having only just returned from Europe, I learn that there have been some recent allusions in the press to the above Persian religious movement and its leader, Abbas Effendi, or Abdul Bahá (“Servant of God") as he prefers to be addressed by his followers and co-workers.
His visits to Switzerland, London and Paris having evoked widespread interest and indeed enthusiasm wherever he stayed. I venture to ask permission for a little space in order to make a few observations on matters that are surely of historic importance and significance.
The world of Islam at least should open a wide door of hospitality to this great teacher with his message of peace and religious unity for through the beauty of his teachings and philosophical knowledge he has done more in Europe and America to remove obsolete intolerance against the Mohamedan Faith than any reformer of our days. We live in stirring times of change and progress and now when once again the cries of war and race prejudices are being raised it is well if public attention be turned a little towards the Bahai movement and what it
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stands for in our world today. The mere personality and influence of Abdul Baha, reveal the consistency of his message and teaching since he practises what he claims to show, and that is the brotherhood of man irrespective of colour or creed, and the inherent unity of all religions. At his house and table for many years could be met at any time pilgrims and followers adhering to almost every kind of faith and race under the sun. They met and sat together in complete harmony of thought and aim, for they were Bahais. Jews, Moslems, Christians, Parsees and Hindus—I have met all these varied types at different times in Syria round Abdul Baha, and we fraternised as though we belonged to one great family.
For forty years, nay from childhood, has Abbas Effendi suffered every kind of misery that bigotry, exile, and unjust imprisonment could inflict—a life spent in sacrifice and devotion to those high ideals of love, charity and compassion that Christians generally appropriate as their special religious prerogatives. Both Abdul Bahá and his great father Baha'ullah (the founder of the Bahai movement, and foretold by the Báb in his book, the Beyan, 1814-1852) stood true to the light within, and this raised them above the petty divisions, quarrels and barbarities which have ever been the ordinary outcome of religious prejudices and enmities. “God is One. Ye are all brothers,” said the prophet. “By what right does one man declare another unclean or claim that one race is superior and another inferior?” “All are before God as the varied flowers in the beautiful garden of the Universe.” Great leaders who found movements or pioneers of science have ever had to suffer for their just views. As Jesus was hounded to His death through political and religious fanaticism, so was the Báb martyred and the Bahai prophet tortured and imprisoned. It is claimed that great causes evoke great leaders and reveal characters that cannot be measured by puny standards. Names that have come down to us through posterity as human "lighthouses” are souls that stood faithful and unshaken to the noblest that lay within them. They did and bore because anything else was impossible. Natures that scorned compromise or weak subterfuges, they stand, the eternal “crucified” types to the lesser human standards.
Those of us capable of judging and weighing have the good fortune to recognise in one day teachers and bold thinkers of the Abbas Effendi and Tolstoyan type, and that we can recognise them is due to the persistency with which such souls live out the precepts they inculcate. It is not a matter of verbal philosophy only, but of practical daily and hourly demonstration. If the pioneer treads paths that seem too idealistic for our poor strength, if we do not feel in us that same urge to the heights of their endeavour, at least the humblest of us may refrain from casting stones in their way, we can repress the cheap criticism that may give these tireless workers needless pain or trouble. Let us show generosity and approval for good intentions even if we feel ourselves above and beyond their influence. Observations such as these spring to the mind almost inevitably when one has lived in the world some time and had the good (or bad) fortune to engage in work that makes for progress and advance in the world of humanity.
It was a matter for deep rejoicing to find that our Christian outlook in Europe has advanced so truly and thoroughly on lines of tolerance and philosophic understanding, that Abdul Bahá found at once the interest and sympathy in his work, which for many bitter years he has failed to find among the very people who stood to gain all in higher development and progress by listening to his wisdom. Let the Eastern world judge their leaders by the tests of life and action, not by their well sounding phrases. Ulemas who are content to role out grandiloquent Koranic expositions, or Christian priests who tell people how to live and do nothing themselves, are no longer honoured teachers in the life of today. “Some are content with words, but the truth of words is tested by deeds and dependent upon life. Deeds reveal the station of man"
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. . . “The principle of Faith is to lessen words and to increase deeds. He whose words exceed his acts knows verily that his non-being is better than his being and death better than his life." These virile words from the teachings of Baha'ullah reiterate some of the strong sentiments in the Koran and Gospel, yet the world's judgments too often incline towards the plausible theoretician or armchair philosopher whose hands are mostly idle.
Some of our most honoured names in the London religious and intellectual world have met and heard Abdul Baha. People travelled long distances in Europe to see and speak to him. He addressed two vast Sunday audiences in the City Temple and St. John's, Westminster, besides countless other public meetings. In Paris where he is now staying he is also attracting the interest and keen sympathy of thinkers in the intellectual ranks.
It remains on his return later to his native East for the friends of Islam to pay a just and generous tribute to this brave Worker in the cause of peace and unity and thus consolidate the work of true brotherhood really going on among people of different nations at the present time. Yours, etc., J. STANNARD.
An editorial of equal interest commenting upon the foregoing article appeared in the same issue. In quoting it, we italicize certain statements to which we would direct the attention of the friends of the Cause in the West:
THE RETURN OF ABBAS EFFENDI.
The letter from Mrs. J. Stannard, which we publish in another column today, recalls the fact that Abbas Effendi, the leader of the Bahai movement, is shortly expected to return to the country where he has spent such a large part of his time since the Young Turks released him from his long imprisonment at Acre. His presence here last year did not arouse the curiosity that such an interesting and commanding personality might have been expected to evoke. His venerable figure might have been observed by the initiated, a quietly amused spectator at aviation meetings and the like, or gently expounding his doctrines is a few eager disciples in the shady walks of Nouzha Gardens. But his doings attracted less public notice than those of comparatively unimportant officials and infinitely less than those of Farid Bey. Islam remained indifferent—if we disregard the early revilings of the local Moslem press—and the greater part of the Christian community, it is safe to say, was entirely ignorant of the fact that we had such a mighty teacher in our midst, a man whose followers are said to number over a million in Persia alone, and whose doctrines are spreading in America and elsewhere with astonishing rapidity. The indifference, or hostility, of Islam is the more remarkable since, as Mrs. Stannard observes, Abbas Effendi has probably “done more in Europe and America to remove obsolete intolerance against the Mohamedan faith than any reformer of our day.” Bahaism tolerates all faiths, apparently believes in all faiths up to some point never very clearly defined; and it has done Islam the service of explaining to the Far West that Mohamedans are not merely the Mormons of another hemisphere. Tolerance so sublime as Abbas Effendi's is not easy to understand, even in the Twentieth Century, and though Mrs. Stannard tells us that the followers of every known religion were to be found in the Bahai circle we cannot help doubting whether any very orthodox Mohamedans—or Christians either, for that matter—were numbered among them. As far as Egypt is concerned, at all events, the new religion has made little perceptible progress and has met with nothing but indifference or active hostility from the representatives of the older faiths. The voice of the Eastern Tolstoy, with his doctrines of peace and good will, has been drowned in the present outburst of patriotism and militant religion, just as the Western Tolstoy was shouted down in Russia, just as the Master from
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whom both derive their teaching, was shouted down by the patriot Pharisees of Jerusalem.
But to Christians, at all events, and English Christians in particular, Abbas Effendi's return on the present occasion should arouse a real interest. He returns from a remarkable visit to London and Paris, from conferences with the leaders of religious thought in England and France, from addressing vast audiences at the City Temple and elsewhere, on all of which occasions his personal triumph has been striking and complete. No one who has had the privilege of meeting and conversing with the Bahai leader can be surprised at this, and it needs but little imagination to be impressed by the dramatic picture of this venerable Oriental in his white robes speaking to crowded congregations of London “City men,” expounding in the Persian language those “high ideals of love, charity and compassion,” which, as Mrs. Stannard remarks, Western Christians have been too apt to regard as their own special prerogatives. Such scenes were reported at length by our London contemporaries and reproduced from time to time in these columns during last summer. Yet we must frankly admit that to us this is the least attractive side of the Bahai movement. If Bahaism has found favour in the United States it cannot be forgotten that countless other “religions” have become popular there which would not have been taken seriously in any other country in the world. About the London meetings, also, there was a certain air of gush and self-advertisement—not on the part of Abbas but on the part of his enlightened friends—which was quite patent to all who are familiar with that kind of religion which will listen to anything so long as it is unorthodox, new, sensational. We cannot help regretting the “lionizing” of Abbas Effendi. In the East his religion will find its true home and exercise its beneficent influence upon nations newly awakening to a sense of their unity and power. We can, then, the more heartily welcome him back to Egypt, fresh from achievements in the Western capitals which have afforded yet another proof of his remarkable personal and intellectual powers.
The criticism of the "lionizing” of Abdul-Baha should be received in the same kindly spirit in which it is made. In justice, however, to the friends in England, we quote the following extracts from a letter written by Mr. Tudor-Pole, of Bristol, to the STAR OF THE WEST:
Since Abdul-Baha arrived in England and especially since he was my guest here, I have had some special opportunities for communion which have proved of immense service to me and to others. There are one or two points of considerable moment that have been borne in upon me as a result and in communicating them to you it should be understood that I do so on my own initiative and that the suggestions I make are not at the direct suggestion of Abdul-Baha himself. He is a most remarkable figure in history and his love and wisdom are boundless, yet of course he is simply the servant of his Father who was undoubtedly a great Messenger of God, and Abdul-Baha claims no other distinction. * * * There seems a tendency in America and elsewhere to focus too great attention on Abdul-Baha rather than upon the Manifestation Itself. * * * Abdul-Baha, I can see, does not wish for references to himself save as the servant of God, the inspired exponent of his Father’s great message. To idolise Abdul-Baha in exaggerated terms or forms is to delay the spread of the Bahai spirit of Unity. * * * We are wonderfully blessed to have him among us, but imagination, exaggerated emphasis must not be laid upon his personality or the whole movement will suffer. This is a matter of supreme import.
In our opinion, this “lionizing” and “idolizing” of great souls is most natural. Hero worship and adoration of personalities seemed necessary and
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inevitable during the childhood and youthful epochs of humanity just closing—for we are now entering upon the epoch of maturity for the race, “Following the Letter (a synonym for personality) rather than the Spirit,” has been recognized by mature souls of the past, as a weakness of humanity. Even today many sincere Christians fail to distinguish between Jesus (the man) and the Christ (Spirit) manifest in Him. To those who do understand this distinction, idolizing is as intolerable as it is to the one being idolized—for every Servant of God admonishes the attracted ones and followers to abstain therefrom. Repeatedly, Abdul-Baha firmly but kindly, manifests this quality of greatness.
We should not go to the other extreme, however, and recognize only the Spirit, ignoring the personality. To deny the personality, is to deny the purpose of creation and a reason for our existence in the image of God—the human form. Consider the Hidden Word: “O Son of Man! In My Ancient Entity and in My Eternal Being was I hidden. I knew My Love in thee, therefore I created thee; upon thee I laid My Image, and to thee revealed My Beauty.”
The Bahai Revelation clearly teaches the Oneness and Singleness of God, i. e., the Manifested and the Secluded, the Personal and the Impersonal phases should be considered of equal importance—holding both before the inner sight in perfect balance. Equilibrium is a characteristic of maturity. Abdul-Baha, has stated, that if it be the Will of God, he will visit America during the coming year. Let us begin now to “prepare the way” and help to make his “path straight” by becoming spiritually poised.
ORIENTAL-OCCIDENTAL UNITY.
BY CHARLES MASON REMEY.
The Orient can truly be said to be the Mother of the human race. From her heart went forth those great racial wave movements which have peopled the earth. In her mountain fastnesses the prophets communed with God and received His life-giving truth, which has been the inspiration of all mankind, and in her valleys and upon her plains civilization had its dawn.
The Occident can equally truly be said to be the son, or man-child of the Mother Orient. Both materially and spiritually the Occident has received its physical life and its religious inspiration from the Orient, the fruit of which is the present Occidental civilization.
During many centuries the peoples of the East and those of the West have been separated by barriers, racial, religious, geographic and political. So complete has been this segregation that these two halves of humanity have developed along different lines of thought, manners, and customs, until the very natures and characteristics of these peoples have become, in general, distinct and foreign one to the other.
Now in these latter days through the breaking down of the hitherto
existing material barriers, the Oriental and the Occidental peoples are being forced one upon the other. Through international relations, the increase of foreign commerce, and the travel and mingling of people, the Oriental and Occidental peoples are daily coming into closer relations upon the material plain of life. As yet this is but a superficial mingling, void of any basic unity.
Without any mutual trust, confidence, nor affinity for one another, the Oriental and Occidental peoples are at variance in almost every way. That which will solve this mighty problem is the spiritual confidence, trust, and mutual affinity, which the Bahai Faith is creating between Oriental and Occidental. Through the establishment of such practical institutions of service as will demonstrate this Spiritual unity, the greatest material and spiritual benefit to all humanity will be forthcoming, for springing from the spiritual stem will be all of those religious, political, social, and financial activities for which the Bahai Cause stands, and which will eventually unite in one people all the peoples of the world.
The Bahai Cause stands for spiritual unity manifested in every phase and activity of life. The Bab, BAHA'O'LLAH and Abdul-Baha stand pre-eminent as lovers and servants of humanity. Their mission was that of spiritual uniting and life giving, therefore their teachings have bearing and influence upon every phase and detail of life. With the fruition of this Cause the great Orient-Occident problem will be solved. Through this Bahai spiritual unity encompassing all peoples, Oriental and Occidental characteristics will so blend that a new and a world type of men will be evolved. One who will have within him not only the present existing virtues of both the East and the West, but also the highest possibilities of humanity which can only come to light as people unite and live according to the Divine Law applying in every phase of life.
The stages of development through which collective man passes are parallel and analagous to those through which he passes as an individual. Until the state of maturity is reached, individual man and woman are content to live apart one from the other. Each is developing his or her own mental and physical characteristics, and in general two different and distinct types, masculine and feminine are the result.
When maturity is reached the reason for the difference in the characteristics of man and woman becomes apparent. Affinity and union takes place between these differing natures through which a great change is produced in each. One supplies what the other lacks and two rounded out and more perfect lives is the result. More too, through this love union of man and woman the way is made for the birth of other human beings. When two parents are united by the bonds of an all around love it is a well known fact that their children come into this world under the highest possible auspices for both bodily and soul development, and in their natures are found the combined virtues of both parents magnified.
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In this day the human race is reaching a stage of maturity. The Orient along her own characteristic lines, and the Occident along his own characteristic lines. Now their continued future development depends upon their uniting, not only physically but in every sense from the spiritual to the physical. These two halves of humanity, the Eastern one and the Western one, must unite and become as one in every respect, spiritual and material, in order that each may find its highest development. From this union will be forthcoming the future universal world type of man in whom will be combined all the human virtues and possibilities.
Such a union between the Eastern and Western peoples can never be accomplished upon any foundation other than a spiritual one. When the Occident and Orient meet on a common spiritual ground an intellectual and social unity in all of its forms and with all of its institutions will result.
By brute force, a man can dominate a woman, yet the while both are suffering although neither may be aware of this condition. In the perfect marriage neither the man nor the woman dominates the other. Through love they become as one soul in two bodies. So it must be between the Occident and the Orient. Many Oriental countries have been held by Occidental nations through force. This has not been conducive in any sense toward solving this World problem. Under such a regime both peoples, the dominant and the dominated, suffer from lack of unity one with the other. Each remains with its life force and possibilities undeveloped, pent up and suffering, for the lack of that expression which only the freedom of harmony can give.
In the coming epoch, of religious, racial and national unity, for which the Bahai Cause is paving the Way, there will be no question of the “supremacy” of one people over the other. All peoples will be as members of one harmonious family, each working to protect and help the others, Under this order, which is the order of God's Kingdom, the highest civic and national institutions will be evolved, and under these auspices the masses of the people will attain to a very high state of spiritual, moral and physical development. Under such conditions humanity will attain to a state of civilization and advancement the greatness of which no one can now form any conception.
I would like to testify to some of the fruits of the Bahai Cause along the line of Oriental-Occidental Brotherhood which it has been my privilege to find in distant lands among foreign peoples.
Between the Bahais of the East and those of the West exists the strongest tie. Since it was through the suffering, pain and trials of the Bahais of the Orient that this faith had its growth and was brought to the West, the Western Bahais look toward their Eastern brothers and sisters with the deepest feeling of love and gratitude. The Western Bahais have in their souls a strong love for the Eastern Bahais and a burning desire to go to them, sharing with them all the so-called practical things of Western civilization.
Upon the other hand, in the growth of the Bahai Cause here in the West, the Oriental Bahais see the result of their labors for the believers here are their spiritual offspring. They see the fruit of their bloody persecution and great sufferings, and with open and joyful hearts they are anxious to receive into their very lives their Western brothers and sisters, learning from them, and in turn pouring out upon them all of that wealth of devotion, love and spiritual assurance which these people of the East have and which the people of the West need.
Among the Bahais, there is a practical demonstration of a combined religious and secular unity. Good works are not done under the name of “charity” nor “philanthropy.” Rather it is “reciprocation” and “inter-dependence.” Each gives what he has to give, and through the spirit of giving, and doing in loving service, his own nature unfolds and he receives himself, abundantly.
Particularly in the Orient the contrast between the Bahais and other people is very striking. There, the average Oriental and Occidental mingle without contacting, each remaining foreign to the other, but the opposite is the case with these very same people when they become touched by the Bahai spirit. Then we see them mingling and associating with one another as members of one family, having the same interests and desires, and united in the same works.
Among the Oriental Bahais I saw a love and a devotion to this Cause and its principles impossible to describe. It was beyond my comprehension to understand, yet I recognized it. In many countries and among people of every race and of every religion I found such a warm welcome and had such a spirit of friendship and devotion poured out upon me, simply because I was a Bahai, that I felt and saw the blending process at work, uniting the East and the West.
This is a force working independently of material conditions. I saw it working under all conditions and amid all surroundings from those of the half naked, uneducated man living in his hut, to those of the cultured man of wealth living in his palace. This spiritual love, which is of God, is the strongest power in the creation. Through its uniting force the fundamental foundation of accord and harmony is established in the world, upon which the Orient and the Occident are meeting. From this movement will appear as fruits, all of those social institutions, between the East and the West, which will materially demonstrate those truths which the Bahais now see and witness as spiritual realities.
The foundation of the Universal Civilization, the Millenium, the Golden Age, God's Kingdom upon earth, is now an accomplished fact. It rests upon God's Word revealed to man in these Latter-Days through the Bab, BAHA'O'LLAH and Abdul-Baha. It is a growing foundation which is absorbing and refashioning, after the divine order, the individual souls who are attracted and who are arising to serve God and mankind in this the greatest of all Causes.
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TABLETS FROM ABDUL-BAHA.
(CONTINUED FROM PAGE SEVEN)
philosophy, crafts and trades made wonderful progress during the medieval ages in Andalusia and Bagdad.
Now is it possible that such an illustrious Personage be afflicted with epilepsy?
Relative to the Paradise explained by Mohammed in the Koran, such utterances are spiritual and are cast into the mould of Words and figures of speech, for at that time people did not possess the capacity of comprehending spiritual significances. It is similar to that reference to His Highness Christ who, addressing His disciples said, “I shall not partake of the fruit of the vine any more until I reach the Kingdom of My Father.” Now it is evident His Highness Christ did not mean material grapes, but it was a spiritual condition and a heavenly state which He interpreted as this fruit.
Now whatever is revealed in the Koran has the same import.
Regarding the Most Great Name, its influence, both in physical and spiritual affairs, is indisputable and certain.
In the last Tablet (to the Board of Council of New York), in which I have stated, “I am not Christ and am not eternal,” the meaning is this, that I am not Christ and not the Eternal Lord! But I am Abdul-Baha. This is its real purport. Undoubtedly those souls who are under the shadow of the Blessed Cause, believing and assured, firm and steadfast, and living in accord with the Divine exhortations and advices, all of them are confirmed in the Everlasting Life.
Regarding the materializing of spirits through mediums: A person finding himself in a state of trance, or unconsciousness, is like one who sleeps; whatever he feels and sees he imagines to be matter and of material things, but in reality they are wholly immaterial. * * *
O thou maid-servant of God! Arouse ye the people and make them cheerful through the glad-tidings of God, and quicken them through the spirit of gladness and heavenly rejoicing. The essence and foundation of all is to advance toward the Kingdom of ABHA and to be attracted by the Beauty of God. Whatever produces any influence in the world of existence is on account of the Love of God, which is the Spirit of Life and the cause of salvation.
Convey on behalf of Abdul-Baha wonderful ABHA greetings to the believers and the maid-servants of the Merciful.
Upon thee be Baha-el-ABHA! (Signed) Abdul-Baha Abbas.
Translated by Mirza Ahmad Sohrab, Sept. 29, 1908.
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