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| VOL. 20 | JANUARY, 1930 | NO. 10 |
| Page | |
What is Faith? ’Abdu’l-Bahá | 293 |
Editorial, Stanwood Cobb | 291 |
The Difference Between, Florence E. Pinchon | 294 |
A Great Prince Speaks of ’Abdu’l-Bahá, Martha L. Root | 301 |
Science and the Unseen World, Dale S. Cole | 306 |
Teach Us To Pray, Bertha Hyde Kirkpatrick | 314 |
World Thought and Progress | 318 |
later co-operation 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.
IF the oneness of the human world were effected all the differences which separate mankind would be eradicated. All strife and warfare would cease and the world of humanity would find repose. Universal peace would be promoted and the east and west would be conjoined in a strong bond. All men would be sheltered beneath one tabernacle. All nativities would become one. All races and religions be unified. The people of the world would live together in peace and their well-being would be assured.
| VOL. 20 | JANUARY, 1930 | NO. 10 |
nothing shall be impossible to you if you have faith . . . As ye have faith so shall your powers and blessings be.”
THERE ARE MANY formulas for success. Current literature is replete with inspiring accounts of men who have worked their way upward against obstacles to final great achievements. Among the factors which make for success in such lives we find ambition, energy, perseverance, enthusiasm, and faith. Of these faith seems by far the most important. For faith in oneself and one’s abilities is the necessary foundation upon which to build; while faith in God and His divine aid and guidance is the necessary power with which to erect the completed structure.
Faith, we are told, is the substance of things hoped for. Faith would not be needed if there were no difficulties, and the way were always clear. It is just because of obstacles that faith is necessary. Faith, says G. K. Chesterton, means continuing to believe when all logical grounds, all human reason for such belief, fail. Thus faith is seen to be the highest expression of that divinely creative power with which man, unique among earthly creatures, is endowed. For by means of faith, insuperable obstacles are surmounted, impossibilities become possible, and miracles are performed.
On the part of the individual, faith would seem merely an exercise of the constructive imagination. And so it would be, were man the highest power in the universe. But faith is more than an attitude.
It is a relationship with the Universe, and with that Universal Power which we call God. Faith, like a human radio station, both transmits the individual desire, and receives from the Unknown the answer. This answer consists of more than words. It comes in the form of guidance, and aid.
Were it not for this reciprocal action, there could be no faith. For faith—all materialistic concepts of it notwithstanding—is not merely subjective. Nor does the individual draw upon himself for those immense and astounding resources which through faith he successfully attains.
IN THE TREMENDOUSLY inspiring autobiography of Alexander Irvine now running in The Atlantic Monthly, the author tells us how, as a youth, having given himself in consecration to God, he had thereafter a naive and steadfast faith that God would aid and guide; and how on one occasion this faith was almost shattered.
Unschooled, Irvine had managed through enlistment in the marine service to acquire the ability to read, and had developed great love and desire for books and for the knowledge that comes through books. When the time came for him to be sent on a Mediterranean cruise, he prayed that he might be allotted to the flagship because it had the best library of any ship in the fleet. What was his consternation
when the sergeant, reading off the lists, assigned him to the smallest ship, which had no library at all.
So great was Irvine’s faith in God, that he insisted the sergeant had made a mistake, and that he had really been assigned to the flagship. The sergeant, irritated at Irvine, told him his name was there plainly enough—that there could be no mistake-and that if he made any further objections he would be sent to the guard-house for insubordination.
Then the whole structure of the universe seemed to fall about his head, so Irvine tells us. The God to Whom he had given over his life had apparently failed him. Yet no, he would not believe that! His faith returned. He was convinced there had been some mistake, that this would later be discovered, and that he would attain to his immensely desired goal of the fine library in the flagship. And so it proved. The next day he was called to the office and informed that there had been some mistake and that he was assigned to the flagship.
THIS IS ONE of the most magnificent episodes of human faith and its answer that I have ever come across. What a test of real faith! An ignorant youth, enlisted in His Majesty’s Marines, because of faith venturing to assert himself against the whole British government. But no, it was not self-assertion. It was confidence in and reliance upon God. What would have been the result if Irvine had not had such faith? He never would have attained to the flagship, I am convinced. Some subtle thread of causation ran, like a trail of gun-powder, from the boy’s active expression
of a dauntless faith to the final rectification of error, if there had been such, and assignment to the flagship.
Here we see faith standing out as the one essential factor of success. But this incident is unique only in the clarity with which it presents faith as the active force leading to success. In reality, faith is always an essential factor of success; and success—other things being equal-is in proportion to the amount of faith exerted.
This truth stands out strongly from both the life and teachings of Christ: that according to our faith it shall be unto us. And ’Abdu’l-Bahá assures that as is our faith, so shall our powers be. He gives us promise of help in these words: “He will send His hosts from heaven to help you, and nothing shall be impossible to you if you have faith.”
WHY CANNOT GOD guide and bless
us of His own will, regardless of
our faith in Him? Because success,
coming upon us in this way, would
surely be ascribed by us to our own
powers–than which there can be no
greater spiritual danger, no sin consequenting
in such illimitably fatal
results.
Faith is a necessary medium between man and God: a necessary link in the chain which binds man to God in love and humility, and binds God to man in Divine Love and Guidance. “To be rich in God and free from all save Him,” is possible only through faith. And as such a station of the human soul is the supreme achievement of man while on earth, it follows that the greatest success open to man is attainable only through faith.
FAITH outwardly means to believe in the Message a Manifestation brings to the world and accept the fulfillment in Him of that which the Prophets have announced. But in reality faith embodies three degrees: to confess with the tongue; to believe in the heart; to show forth in our actions. These three things are essential to true faith * * * ”
THE greater the faith of man the more illumined his life. Faith is a miracle; it has a wonder-working power. Its spiritual influence refines the character, suffers man to become humble and meek; places in his heart the fear of God; prompts him to devote his time to humanitarian deeds; spiritualizes his nature; exalts his ideals and enkindles his lamp. The greater the faith of man the more numerous will be his philanthropic actions. Faith is like unto the trees, deeds are like unto the fruits. Faith is like unto the lamp, deeds are like unto the light. * * * Faith is not so much what we believe as what we carry out.”
THERE are three kinds of faith. First that which is from tradition and birth. For example: a child is born of Muhammadan parents; he is a Muhammadan. This faith is weak, traditional faith. Second, that which comes from knowledge and is the faith of understanding. This is good. But there is a better-the faith of practice. This is the real faith.”
FAITH is not so much what we believe as what we carry out. * * * Faith is the magnet which draws the confirmation of the Merciful One. * * * We know and see the Light, we go close to it, are warmed by it, and reflect its rays on others. This is real faith, and thus we receive power to become the eternal sons of God.”
Some months ago a series of articles were begun in this magazine by Miss Pinchon dealing with the typical point of view and the chief difficulty which would naturally be felt by those belonging to certain branches of the great religions and certain other Modern Movements in their approach to, and acceptance of, Bahá’i Truths. The first article appeared in December, 1928, under the title, “The Liberation of Elizabeth,” and depicted some objections which would be raised by a sincere and typical member of the Established Church of England. The second article appeared in the June number, on “The Grail of Life’s Quest,” or the Theosophical point of view. The third appeared in September on, “Above the Mists,” and admirably treated the subject as a Spiritualist might approach it. Herein follows the fourth and last article in this series. It very sympathetically and harmoniously sets forth the point of view of a Christian Scientist. All of these very important aspects of Truth as analyzed by this gifted author, have been widely and favorably commented upon, and have proved to be of surpassing interest both to Bahá'is and non-Bahá’is.
“Where are the eyes of clear insight? A thin veil—the thinnest-prevents the eye from seeing, the ears from hearing, the heart from understanding.“—(Bahá’u’lláh)
IT was Sunday morning, and the well-dressed congregation were dispersing from an imposing Christian Science church, standing on the corner of one of New York’s finest avenues, when the Second Reader issued from the vestry door into the street. He was a man in the middle forties, with an intelligent and thoughtful face.
For several years he had occupied this position in the church, reading the selected Bible passages in his clear round voice—passages which the First Reader (at a higher salary) expounded in the light of “Science and Health, with Key to the Scriptures,” by Mary Baker Eddy. The name was always pronounced in full and with the greatest reverence.
Today Broughton seemed scarcely aware of the scenes around him, or in what direction his steps instinctively led, for in his mind he was reliving the wonderful experiences
which had been his some three years ago. He recalled that black day when the Specialist had declared that he could do nothing more for him. It was an acute form of glaucoma, and only a miracle could save him from blindness. Only a miracle! Again the sweet voice of the nurse who had attended him during those fateful hours at the hospital rang in his ears. “Do not despair. Have faith. God is merciful. Miracles can happen.” She had been too busy to say more.
And he had not given up hope. Remembering his mother’s prayers, the healing power of Jesus and the early disciples, the authenticated “cures” of the middle ages, he turned to the Christian church beseeching its aid. But the various pastors and priests whom he visited frankly admitted their inability to offer any help to such as he. God, it seemed, had, for some inscrutable reason, permitted disease and suffering as a necessary mode of chastisement, or as a providential process whereby human beings could attain to spiritual development. “I can only pray for you, my son,” said the clergyman, in an attempt
at consolation, “that God’s will may be done.”
But was it God’s will that he should become a burden to himself and to society? he questioned. Although medical skill and the orthodox church had failed him, yet the fighting spirit within refused to accept his doom. Other agencies there were who professed the healing arts. Among these he therefore began a feverish search.
But it was not long before he realized that the time was far too short in which to effectively study and practice the teaching and methods of Psychotherapy, the Emanuel Movement, New Thought, or indeed any of the occult schools. Besides, it was evident that none of them could be quite confident of arresting the march of the cruel disease.
THEN, ONE DAY, he found himself
in the quiet room of a Christian
Science Practitioner. A woman,
with the steady eyes and manner of
a doctor, assured him that there was
nothing to fear. Impressively she
read the “Scientific statement of
being”—
“There is no life, truth, intelligence nor substance in matter. All is infinite mind and its infinite manifestations . . . Spirit is immortal Truth, matter is mortal. Spirit is God, and man is his image and likeness. Therefore man is not material: he is spiritual.”
She explained to him that Mrs. Eddy had, in 1866, revived a long-buried principle and power of Christianity; that he had but to accept these “scientific statements of truth,” and all would be well. “Since God is perfect,” she argued, “He cannot include or be responsible
for anything unlike Himself. Therefore, death, sin, and all sickness are mere illusions of mortal mind, which firmly denied, would disappear. They had no harmful power in proportion as man realizes that he is spiritual, not material. If disease cannot exist in God, it cannot afflict man, who is His reflection.”
The metaphysics were certainly difficult to follow. But the central fact that a cure was possible, that, indeed, disease had no place in the scheme of things, struck vividly home. Why try to reason too closely? Eagerly he listened to the strong affirmations which followed. “Man’s sight is not material; it is spiritual. He sees with the boundless sight of infinity, the eyes of his understanding being enlightened.”
Hope and expectation awoke within him. “After all, he thought, this idea of the illusion of matter was not really new. Plato, Kant, and other philosophers had taught something similar. But it had been given to this perhaps inspired woman to make practical application of the theory.”
Every day then found him at the Practitioner’s room. The fees, indeed, were high—but what matter, if his precious sight were saved? He was advised to refrain from visiting the oculist and all former friends, lest “mortal mind” should shake his newly-found faith. And gradually the healing became manifest. Then came the great occasion when he was permitted to present himself to the Specialist.
“Truly remarkable!“ exclaimed the Doctor, after careful examination. “All traces of glaucoma have disappeared. The eyes are a little weak, but otherwise quite normal
again.” In silence he listened to his patient’s enthusiastic explanations.
“I grant you the miracle, Mr. Broughton,” he finally observed, “but I’m afraid your metaphysics and philosophy are beyond me. How matter, which is common to us all, and can be depended upon as a medium of infinite experience, can be regarded as an ‘illusion’ beats me. Surely an ‘illusion’ is something which does not fit into the system of experience on its own plane. Faith and expectation, however, are mighty factors, the psychological value of which we medical men would do well to take more into account. You may, of course, call it what you will.”
In the waiting-room he had met the Doctor’s assistant. “It’s splendid,” she exclaimed, her dark eyes shining with sympathetic joy. “What wonderful things faith and prayer can do for us!”
“I owe everything to Christian Science,” he declared warmly.
“And to God, by means of ––” supplied the nurse softly.
That had been the beginning of a great friendship between them: a friendship that had held, in spite of the difference in their religious outlook. Yet it was just this difference that worried Broughton and had prevented him from declaring his love.
AND NOW HE suddenly awoke to
the fact that he actually stood before
the gate of the hospital, and
that he intended to ask nurse Ruth
for her company that afternoon.
It was only natural that they should discuss the beliefs that reared a thin, but inflexible barrier, between them. “My dear friend,”
protested the nurse on this occasion, “I’m afraid I quite agree with the doctor’s argument. ‘Illusion’ as you call matter is, on its own plane, just as real as spirit, since both can only exist for man in consciousness. If the objective world does not exist in its own right (so to speak), yet it possesses unquestionable validity of experience. To regard the material universe neither as a ‘fictitious product of mortal mind,’ nor as an ultimate reality, but rather as an expression of the Divine Will and Intelligence—a world not of mere illusion and nothingness—but of endless and complex phenomena, is to be in accord with true science and religion, to say nothing of common sense. Man’s physical form is a vehicle through which his soul, for a time, functions, in order that he may gain experiences essential to his spiritual unfoldment. In this light, surely one must acknowledge that man is not only spiritual, but material also.”
“You reason very cleverly, Ruth,” observed her companion, reflecting ruefully, that before her simple clear arguments his own carefully primed statements had a little way of crumbling to pieces.
“Oh, no,” she disclaimed with engaging humility, “these are not just my own ideas, but are the teachings of ’Abdu’l-Bahá, Who, as you know, interpreted for us—the great message to this new age of His Father, Bahá’u’lláh. May I read you a few of His Words on the subject?”
“Matter, reflecting the negative aspect of God is self-existent, eternal, and fills all space. It is . . . a manifestation of God which is characterized by passivity, quiescence, inactivity. In itself it is without
creative power . . . but Spirit, flowing out from God, permeates all matter. The first principle of God, Love, is the creative principle. It is an outpour from God, and is pure spirit. Love, reflecting the positive and active aspect of God, impresses its nature upon the atoms and elements. By its power they are attracted to each other under certain ordered relations, and thus uniting and continuing to unite, give birth to worlds and systems of worlds. The same laws working under developed conditions bring into existence living beings. Spirit is the life of the form, and the form is shaped by the spirit. The evolution of life and form proceeds hand in hand. The powers of spirit are evolved by the experiences of form, and the plasticity of the matter of the form is developed by the activity of the spirit.”
”Does not such an explanation appear reasonable” demanded Ruth.
“It certainly does“ admitted Broughton, but you must remember the unanswerable argument, “Whereas I was blind—now I see.”
“Of course you will always feel grateful,” responded the nurse, “but need you base the fact of your cure solely upon the metaphysics of Mrs. Eddy, or accept it as a conclusive proof of the infallibility of all her doctrines? Undoubtedly she has been a means of awakening the world to the possibilities of interaction between mind and body, and to the urgent need for adopting a new attitude towards pain and physical suffering. But is her method the one and only medium through which healing can and does take place?”
’Abdu’l-Bahá declares: “There is
but one power which heals—that is God. Even when the means of healing are material, the power that heals is Divine. Medicine is merely an outward form by which we obtain heavenly healing. All that we see around us is the world of mind. It is mind in the herb, and in the mineral that acts on the human body and changes its condition.”
“But,” urged Broughton,” since spiritual healing is the highest form of healing, we should put our trust in Spirit, and not in any medical or material means.”
“Yet, if you out your finger wouldn’t you bind it up to stop the bleeding before ‘treating?’” asked the nurse quickly.
“You see, there are so many different forms of healing, all of which are from God. But the state or condition through which the healing takes place is the confidence of the heart. “By some this state is reached through pills, powders and physicians. By others through hygiene, fasting and prayer. By others through direct perception.”
In mental healing, for instance, “the entire concentration of the mind of a strong person is made upon a sick one. The latter expects with faith that a cure will be affected. From the effect of these mental impressions an excitement of the nerves is produced . . . this becomes the cause of recovery.”
But ’Abdu’l-Bahá teaches that the most potent means of healing is the power of the Holy Spirit. “This power is exercised by the Holy Ones of God, and does not depend upon contact, nor on sight, nor upon presence. This is the true spiritual healing.”
“But you said the other day,” pursued Broughton,” that healing,
even when the patient had faith, did not always occur.”
“Yes,” returned his companion, “for the Master taught that our physical health is so linked up with our mental, moral and spiritual health, and also with the individual and social well-being of our fellow-men, nay, even with the life of plants and animals, that each of these is affected by the others to a far greater extent than is usually realized. Physical health, therefore, depends upon many factors, some of which are outside both the control of the patient, and of those who are seeking to heal him. In a large number of cases, however, a right spiritual attitude, one of hope and courage, is sufficient to banish the ill-health.
“Yet spiritual health being so much more important than physical health, sometimes it may happen that if healing were granted to one who is sick, it would only be the cause of other, and worse, ills.” Using every means at our disposal, whether material or mental, we should pray to God and have full confidence in His Wisdom that, if healing is best for us, it will be granted. And the promise has been given, that when the material and spiritual worlds have become harmoniously attuned and co-related “when hearts become heavenly and aspirations pure, perfect connection between soul and body can take place . . . physical and spiritual diseases will then receive absolute healing.” For the whole tree of humanity is sick and every leaf on the tree shares in the general sickness. “That is why successive Manifestations of God have been sent to the world, in order that They might act as Divine Physicians
to both the souls and bodies of men.”
“You said—pray to God, Ruth; but when ill I always seek the help of my Practitioner,” observed Broughton.
“In the circumstances, I can understand you like to do so,” was the sympathetic answer, “but we should not forget that prayer is a wonderful power we can all use, provided our hearts are sincere. It is not really necessary to depend upon either a priest or a practitioner to exercise the faith we ourselves should possess. I could give you some beautiful Bahá’i prayers for help and healing,” she ended wistfully.
On another evening they fell to discussing the problem of evil.
“If God is perfect, the production of His creative thought must be the same,” argued Broughton. It is, therefore, a contradiction to believe in a perfect Creator and an imperfect material creation.“
“It does seem so,” admitted Ruth, “but don’t you think the solution of the problem lies in the fact that man is a thinking being, that he lives in a thought-world, and is free to exercise this faculty as he chooses? He may, in thought, abstract his world from the Divine Intelligence, and disown his spiritual inheritance, or he may seek to realize perfection for himself through obedience to Divine commands, and an understanding of God’s purposes for him.
“Everything that God has created is, in its own place and cycle, perfect—from a plant to a planet. But physical and moral ills are the product of perverted thought, of disobedience, ignorance, and lack of understanding.“
“In Reality there is no evil” declared Broughton.
“Agreed!” cried Ruth happily. “there is no positive evil. It is a negative state or condition, and is the result of the absence of good, as darkness is the result of the absence of light. But to deny the darkness is illogical and a waste of time. Rather let us seek to turn on the light both for ourselves and others. This is not done by denying that evil exists in an individual or society, but by recognizing, and trying to help others to recognize, that the sovereign remedy for all evil and suffering lies in following the guidance and obeying the commands of the Prophet sent by God. Evil is such a relative thing, isn’t it? What would not be wrong to a savage, might, in a highly developed man, be a sin.”
As they parted that night, Ruth’s
dark eyes looked with frank challenge into those of her companion’s.
“Clifford,” she said in low, searching tones, “supposing Christian Science did not hold out to you any material gain or reward, or promise you health and prosperity as a consequence of believing its tenets—would it still claim your allegiance? Supposing, instead, it said to you as did One of old: Don’t seek to escape from trouble. ‘Take up thy cross and follow.’ Or, as ’Abdu’l-Bahá advises: ‘When the fire of trials is lighted, celebrate ye in joy. To the sincere ones tests—afflictions and calamities—are a gift from God. They remove the dust of egotism from the heart, the veil of self-seeking from the spiritual sight’. . . .”
And there, in the starlight, she left him—”supposing.”
“All healing is spiritual healing in reality, no matter whether medicine or affirmation or supplication are used. Any method which establishes the confidence of the heart, is approved—only that when it is done without the medium of drugs or food, no money should be accepted for it.”
Asked which is the true attitude of prayer—affirmation or supplication—’Abdu’l-Bahá emphatically replied: “Supplication—because at the door of God’s bounty all are humble suppliants and needy.
“Those who say they are healing through the Power of God, should accept no pay, for they are the dispensers of God’s bounty, channels of His grace. They should be like the disciples of Christ, who, after the crucifixion, assembled together for the purpose of discussing matters pertaining to their mission. They regarded the Life of Jesus and His Teachings. ‘Freely ye have received, now freely ye must give.’”
--PHOTO--
His Royal Highness Mohamed Ali Pacha of Egypt—a Prince of the wonderful land of the Pharaohs and the Khedives. (See opposite page.)
The following interview with a Muhammadan notable of Egypt has great human interest in revealing intimately not only the personality of a distinguished Oriental, but even more especially in showing the breadth of thought of a modern Muhammadan. In the Islamic world, as well as in Christendom, intelligent and cultured people are much broader in their religious attitudes than a generation ago.
IT was in Cairo, Egypt, on November 14, 1929, that one of the greatest Princes of this wonderful land of the Pharaohs and the Khedives, His Royal Highness Prince Mohamed Ali Pacha, so charming, so cultured, so far-seeing a philosopher, spoke to the writer about his meeting with ’Abdu’l-Bahá. His secretary had called at my hotel three days before, and the invitation had been given for Thursday afternoon at three o’clock. Motoring out through the colorful Cairo thoroughfares toward Manial Palace, the home of the Prince, the writer realized that nowhere in Egypt is the aggressive modernism of the nineteenth century more in evidence than in Cairo. It is just this combination of the old and the new that gives the city its enchantment. Some of the streets with their mosques and bazaars and coffee houses were medieval just like those in the Arabian Nights, others so spacious with squares and parks and hotels, opera houses, theatres and shops, that one feels London could boast no better. But suddenly the chauffeur crosses a fine bridge called Prince Mohamed Ali bridge, and turns the car to the driveway beside the sinuous silvery Nile. Everywhere are to be seen villas and splendid mansions, silhouetted against tall, stately sensitive palms, and the driver halts the
motor car before the most imposing of all the palaces.
The pleasant, fine secretary received me, took me into a richly carpeted and tapestried entrance salon where I wrote my name in the Guest Book. “Surely this Prince must be a great sportsman,” I thought, “for these walls are covered with pictures of races and racers.” Then we stepped out again into the porte-cochere and walked into an Egyptian garden, the most beautiful tropic paradise I have ever looked upon! Only a great artist could have created such a poem of palms; such a symphony of colors! And in the very centre of the immense grounds was a great Banyan tree—the raison d’etre for all the other magnificent trees—and the palace and the remarkable little mosque all in Moorish architecture and the tower of classic beauty and finally the gates wondrously carved all in black ebony. “Oh, I must have been mistaken!” my mind said, “His Royal Highness the Prince, could not have been a sportsman, he is surely a famous architect, artist and genius!”
One may read all one’s life about the charm of Egypt, and see the show places which millions of tourists have visited, but walking in this garden of palms, perfect palms representative of every species in every land, one wonders if heaven
is more lovely, and if in the Kingdom Beyond there are trees like this Banyan tree which is a living tent without poles and cords, extending its welcome shade to all who come under it.
I was glad that no Pharaoh’s daughter or no Cleopatra of the Ptolemies came walking down those palace steps in the distance, instead it was infinitely more interesting to see His Royal Highness Prince Mohamed Ali Pacha, brother of the former Khedive of Egypt and nephew of His Majesty the present King Fuad, this gracious host who had met ’Abdu’l-Bahá, come around one of the curving roadways of the garden to meet me. He came quickly, swinging his cane, a handsome man with most sincere, frank, humanity-trusting eyes. His very soul salutes one through his penetrating brown eyes. He was dressed in a modish suit of grey; he wore the distinguished red fez, and on his little finger was a wrought gold ring set with a large and very unusal emerald.
His delightful Highness the Prince shook hands with me and invited me to sit down in one of the comfortable rustic chairs at a little table under the Banyan tree. You will sit with us, O reader, for you too, are in this enchanted garden to hear what a Prince, who is a savant and a philosopher, has to say about ’Abdu’l-Bahá. Only the Prince called him, ’Abbas Babá’ which in Arabic means Abbas Father or Father Abbas.
“Yes, I knew Abbas Babá,” commenced the Prince, “He was a great friend of my brother, Abbas Hilmi II, the late Khedive.* Also, Osman Mourtada the Grand Master of Ceremonies of my brother had a
great friendship with Abbas Babá. I met your loved Teacher first early in 1912 on my way to Paris. Then when I was in New York in 1912, ’Abdu’l-Bahá was living in a house near Central Park, a home which his friends, (or do you call them his followers?), had prepared for him. I was living in the Belmont Hotel in Fifth Avenue, and Abbas Babá was kind enough to come and visit me there. I deeply appreciated this kind visit.”
Then His Royal Highness the Prince explained how proud he was to see a great Oriental moulding the spiritual thought of America. My host continued: “Although we are sorry to see Orientals so backward in sciences, still we must not forget that some great generals, great leaders of thought and all religions have been born in the Orient. Abbas Babá has proved to Europeans and to the entire West that great generals of the Spirit are still born in the East! As I love the Orient and am an Oriental, I was very proud of Abdu’l-Bahá’s high station and prestige in the United States. Yours is a country of such stupendous wonder, such marked inventions, such marvelous strides in progress, and you saw the greatness of ’Abdu’l-Bahá.“
This earnest Prince spoke with such sincerity, his words were: “I loved Abbas Babá and admired Him, and I felt He loved me and was a good friend to me.”
“After this visit in New York,” the Prince recounted,” I met Abbas Babá again in Paris. He told me of His great conference in Oxford University, He told me too, of His friends in Germany. Later on, we traveled together on the same ship
* Khedive means Ruler.
coming back to Egypt. For four days we were always together. I was very sad when I heard of His passing, for I considered Him the most important man in our century. A man like Abbas Babá cannot be replaced, that is my opinion. He had such a great spirit, such a powerful brain and such a grasp of realities!”
Here the conversation changed, for just in this moment a lovely young svelte Egyptian boy dressed in cream robes all embroidered in red silk and with a red cap on his head, came bearing a golden tray with cups of mocha coffee. It was real mocha too, direct from the planter to the Prince, and its delicious flavor I can best describe to you as “cup selections only!” Over the coffee cups the writer asked His Royal Highness the Prince; “Are you a sportsman? I saw all those racing pictures. Or are you an artist? Is it you who have created this garden which is so beautiful that I shall carry it away with me in my memory as a dream garden of palms where Muhammad and Christ and Bahá’u’lláh would choose to walk and talk together? Or could you be the architect who designed this rare little mosque and tower and palace? Or Your Royal Highness, are you a musician?”
He laughed and replied: “Well, I’ve always been a keen sportsman. Yes, I paint, I love nature, I am a musician and an artist, so I didn’t need any architect for this place.” The Prince said that the garden was his creation and that he had gathered the palms from all parts of the world. He elevated the whole grounds two metres from the Nile sands, twenty years ago, and had the trees planted, except the huge
Banyan tree in the centre which is one hundred years old.
“I bought the property solely for the big tree,” the Prince Mohamed Ali Pacha said,” this tree so fascinated me, it was the tree that made me choose this place for my home. This Banyan tree was planted for my grand ancestor a century ago, planted by a Dutchman.”
The Royal host said that many American statesmen had visited him and admired his garden, but that Colonel House when his guest paid him the compliment to say that it was the prettiest garden he had ever seen. Speaking of Americans, the Prince said: “We used to have a charming American Minister here, Dr. Merton Howell. Dr. Howell was a straight-forward, good American. One day sitting out here under this Banyan tree, he said to me: Prince I thought Honolulu was a paradise, but since I have seen your garden, I know that not only in Honolulu but here in Cairo is a little spot that is just the same—it, too, is paradise!’”
The Banyan tree and all the palms, this afternoon that I was at Manial Palace, were so clean-looking, every leaf and every trunk shone as if they had been given a “tub bath” every morning (but of course only the hose or the heavens could give them that!) and the shining green grass rippled in the sunshine as if it had just sprung up from a shower spray. It was the grouping of the grand palms, too, which was so elusive, yet so satisfying. One does not see everything at once in this garden, it has many vistas. Mrs. Butts’ flowering Vines from India rose in sprays here and there like crimson rambler roses; purple Bougenvillias massed the
entrance wall, while little meadows of red geraniums threw forth their vivid beauty, and all the wide garden paths were covered with a most attractive red sand which was very pleasing.
After our coffee, sitting under this wonderful Banyan tree, the conversation turned to life and philosophy. The Prince said: “I am in good relations with all people. Since I was six years old I have traveled over the world, and I have learned that some things cannot be changed, they must run their course, so one must be a little philosophical and accept what comes.”
His Royal Highness asked about my visit to Egypt and what I wished most to do. He also spoke of my coming visit to Haifa, and then he alluded again to the Bahá’i Movement saying: “You all have accomplished a great task in the United States. It was very interesting to see the large number of Baháis in America and to read of the splendid progress of the work.”
He later spoke about Burma, and said it would be very good if these Bahá’i Teachings were promoted there-I quote his words: “Though I respect all religions, I think if Abbas Babá’s talks and counsels could be spoken of in Burma it would be very good. There are such numbers of people there who would be uplifted and educated; certainly religion is a very good thing. My situation is this: being a good Muhammadan and with my position in the Muhammadan world, it would not be correct for me to be Bahá’i, but always I have been a good friend of Abbas Babá. I remember in talking with Him, how very fascinating He always was!
Dressed all in white and with those two very bright eyes gazing into mine, I used to say to Him sometimes in fun, ‘O Abbas Babá, do not look too much into my eyes!’ He was such a strong character, such a profound man, and He never did anything to hurt my feelings, He always showed me how much the Bahá’i Teachings are near to the Muhammadan religion.“
The dear Prince continued: “In your Bahá’i ideas, all the Prophets are good, all men are brothers, all live together in love and admit that all the Prophets are from God. The Bahá’i Cause is a very conciliatory religion because it brings all people together.”
He said that much in the Bahá’i Teachings would appeal to the United States because there they are working so hard for peace and to do away with fighting. He added that many people in America would like the Bahá’i instructions which are not to abuse with drinking, namely, not to use intoxicating liquors that cloud and take away the mind. ’Abdu’l-Bahá often spoke and showed how much the renouncing of tobacco, wine and opium gives health, strength and intellectual enjoyment, penetration of judgment and physical vigor. “All the principles of Bahá’u’lláh,” said this Prince, “would be appreciated by Americans.”
The writer told him that President Herbert Hoover is a Quaker, and he was very interested to hear about Quakerism and its progress.
His Royal Higness Prince Mohamed Ali Pacha said, among other things: “Life is very difficult today. There are so many millions of people, so many ways of looking at things, how can all peoples be
made broad-minded and just? In a family of ten members, to get all to be good is a task, how then can nations accomplish it? I am very sorry that all religions in these days, seem to be backward. Only people who feel they need help turn to religion now. So many of those who have money for all their pleasures, do not think about God or religion. Only today I was reading one of our Prophet’s Words, ‘You will see in the mosques, some day, only the people who need something from God.’ Religion has not been looked upon lately, as proper and necessary to educate the family. This isn’t that religion is bad, but it is because some of the followers of religion are intriguers.”
For example, he stated that in Mexico, it wasn’t that the Roman Catholic religion was not good, but the government did not wish the priests to have the ruling of the country. The Prince’s words were: “If the church people would only be wise enough not to interfere in governmental matters, but would confine their attention to teaching the ignorant and doing good to everybody, no government would ever fight them.”
These are just a few of the thoughts of this great Prince of Egypt Mohamed Ali Pacha, who so graciously received me this afternoon.
Each time that he spoke of ’Abdu’l-Bahá, his eyes and the tones of his voice, as well as his words spoke the eloquence of his love for Abbas Babá, Abbas Father.
No matter by what name this Prince calls himself spiritually, his life is a rare garden of good deeds to all humanity. He may truly be said to be a Buddhist, a Jew, a Christian, a Muhammadan and a. Bahá’i! I am sure that he was happy to know that through the visit of ’Abdu’l-Bahá to the United States and Europe, many thousands of Christians began to study the good in all religions and learned to know and to love the inner essence of the Teachings of Muhammad.*
* Readers may care to know that the day before I left Cairo, speaking with Mr. A. Moukhtar, the Secretary to His Royal Highness the Prince, I asked him: “Mr. Moukhtar, please tell me what you, as a true Muhammadan think about Jesus Christ.” He replied: “We Muhammadans believe that the Christian religion is sent by the Powerful God through His beloved Prophet the Christ. We have great respect and belief in Jesus Christ. At the same time we are told in the Koran that Christians have exaggerated the belief and respect concerning Christ and taken Him as a God or the Son of the God which we never admitted. As a result, we believe in the Christian religion and in Christ as a Prophet, but the Christians deny our religion as a religion from God and they deny the Mission of Muhammad as the Prophet sent from God. They cannot say that we deny the Christ, nor that we do not respect the Teachings of Christ and believe in Him as a sacred Prophet.”
Egypt, the present great stronghold of Islam has more than once given new orientation to religion and world culture. She stood high in her glory long ago when Europe was entirely unenlightened. May she go forward now to a new, still higher spiritual civilization and progress in this universal epoch just dawning! May His Royal Highness Prince Mohamed Ali Pacha plant a universal spiritual tree in the Nile garden of Egypt that may be for the Healing of all peoples who visit and revisit this fine land! He is called to a high station and he was deeply loved by ’Abdu’l-Baha!
“The inquiry of truth, which is the love making or wooing of it; the knowledge of truth, which is the praise of it; and the belief of truth, which is the enjoying of it, is the sovereign good of human nature.“—Francis Bacon.
IN the beginning “there was darkness upon the face of the deep” and the earth “was without form and void” for there was no light.
In the Edison Jubilee Year, marking the fiftieth anniversary of the construction of the first successful incandescent electric lamp, we are blessed With an abundance of “artificial” light. Scientifically more progress has been made in these last fifty years than in centuries and centuries preceding. Our homes glow pleasantly and effectively, streets are ablaze and buildings brilliant. Physical darkness has, in a sense, receded, for man has conquered that elemental environmental condition and can flood almost any desired spot with light of noon-day intensity.
But the very importance of the achievement and the artificial light itself emphasizes more clearly that the unseen world, lying behind or beyond or above this phenomenal world is still behind the veil.
Just as many of the best qualified agencies in existence today are endeavoring to solve the problem of flying through fog, so are we, students of the Revelations of God, trying to understand the unseen world and to chart our course through the fog which apparently obscures it.
In the words of the publishers “every religiously minded reader of the last four chapters of ‘The Nature of the Physical Universe,‘*
* By Arthur Stanley Eddington.
will be eager to lay hold of these additional observations of the foremost living exponent of the seen in regard to the unseen world;” these observations which are so delightfully and interestingly brought out by this Mystic Friend in his new little book, “Science and the Unseen World“*
Starting with him, at first there was only vastness, solitude, and darkness. Millions of years passed until “centers of condensation,” island universes destined to be systems of millions of stars came into existence. Then these were subdivided into star clusters-then further divided into stars. “And with the stars came light, born of the fiercer turmoil which ensued when the electrical particles were drawn from their solitude into close throngs.”
The second day brought exceptions to general tendencies. The “rare accident” of a journeying star approaching the sun and raising on it a tidal wave. “Jets of matter spurted out of the sun and condensed into planets.”
Evolution seems to have first decreed that matter should ordinarily be very, very hot. “The provision of certain cool planetary globes was the second impulse of evolution.” The third impulse arises from the potentiality of carbon to form elaborate structures. From the interplay of these impulses the earth has evolved as the home of nature’s greatest achievement—Man.
As it is possible to think of man
in relation to his historical and present environments, so is it possible for the scientifically minded to consider him in relation to the unseen world.
Gleams of truth impell further striving. “In science as in religion the truth shines ahead as a beacon showing us the path; we do not ask to attain it (i. e., the ultimate truth) it is better far that we be permitted to seek.”
How harmoniously this reflects Bahá’u’lláh’s admonition to search independently and unceasingly for the Truth! We progress in this world by our own volition and effort; in the worlds to come through the Bounty of God. There is ever more and more to learn, a great wisdom to attain, a broad Knowledge of God to achieve—the path is ever upward toward a more complete Knowledge of God.
We will always be seekers-the lure of adventuring further and further along the pathway of Truth is the spiritual romance of today and tomorrow. No glittering tale of derring—do, however cleverly conceived and beautifully executed, can hold one iota of the possibilities in store for the hardy souls who have the courage and stamina to seek whole-heartedly for the blessings to be garnered along the pathway to Truth.
“Wind, earthquakes, fire, meteorology, seismology, physics—pass in review as we have been reviewing the natural forces of evolution; the Lord was not in them. Afterwards, a stirring, an awakening in the organ of the brain, a voice which asks, ‘What doest thou here?’”
In the past the dualism of spirit and matter was a philosophical problem. But Mr, Eddington reminds
us that, “on the one side there is consciousness stirring with activity of thought and sensation; on the other side there is a material brain, a maelstrom of scurrying atoms and electric charges.” How clearly this portrays the two sides of mental activity. One is a subject of physical explanation and the other lies in the unseen world.
Science is no longer satisfied with mechanical models. They have proven to be hindrances to the apprehension of truth behind phenomena. Science points now to symbols and equations which they satisfy. Science has no method of probing beneath the symbolism. We can manipulate the equations but know not the nature of that for which the symbols stand.
We are not so prone now-a-days to belittle the spiritual aspects of things as illusory. A lump of matter is now known to be more or less of a delusion—known only through our senses-the final explanation of matter being a group of symbols.
“In comparing the certainty of things spiritual and things temporal, let us not forget this: Mind is the first and most direct thing in our experience; all else is remote inference.”
Let us turn for a moment to ’Abdu’l-Bahá’s explanation of mind:
“The human spirit which distinguishes man from the animal is the rational soul; and these two names—the human spirit and the rational soul—designate one thing. This spirit, which in the terminology of the philosophers is the rational soul, embraces all beings, and as far as human ability permits discovers the realities of things and becomes cognizant of their peculiarities
and effects, and of the qualities and properties of beings. But the human spirit, unless assisted by the spirit of faith, does not become acquainted with the divine secrets and the heavenly realities. It is like a mirror which, although clear, polished and brilliant, is still in need of light. Until a ray of the sun reflects upon it, it cannot discover the heavenly secrets.
“But the mind is the power of the human spirit. Spirit is the tree, and the Mind is the fruit. Mind is the perfection of the spirit, and is its essential quality, as the sun’s rays are the essential necessity of the sun.”
Francis Bacon’s attitude towards the mind of man is also quite arresting. “My praise shall be dedicated to the mind itself. The mind is the man, and knowledge mind; a man is but what he knoweth. . . . Are not the pleasures of the intellect greater than the pleasures of the affections?”
This, in a measure, suggests Eddington’s approach to answering the problem which is contemplated in a discussion of the possible conflict between the scientific and religious viewpoints. He believes it is a problem of experience. If science is a guide to life it has to do with experience. Religion must also deal with experience if it is to be effective and not merely a creed. Science can answer those questions which have to deal with the interaction of ourselves and our environment as known through the senses. But experience is broader than this.
Aspiring, yearning, doubting and originating are parts of consciousness. Questions dealing with these phases of life must be broader than the sense acquired answers of science. Both scientistic and mystic
follow the light. We must orient ourselves properly towards our environment and decide what is illusion and what not.
“. . . there is another outlook than the scientific one, because in practice a more transcendental outlook is almost universally admitted.” Sometimes “the veil between the things that are seen and the things that are unseen becomes so thin as to interpose scarcely any barrier at all between the eternal beauty and truth and the soul which would comprehend them.”
Science no longer endeavors to identify reality with concreteness. It does not try to reduce everything to energy and matter. For in this, the last moments of literal materialism, the attempt is to reduce things to natural law and its operation. Natural law of this kind ends ultimately in mathematical symbols. And—”natural law is not applicable to the unseen world behind the symbols.”
He states that “there is a kind of unity between the material and spiritual worlds,” that is, between the symbols and their background. But natural law will not supply the cement to perfect the union.
“Truth and untruth belong to the realm of significances and values . . . Unless we pay attention to significances as well as to physical entities, we may miss the essential part of experience.”
In expressing the feeling of yearning present in so many today, that drive to get at the bottom of things, to have a workable and comforting philosophy and religion, he believes that “we want an assurance that the soul in reaching out to the unseen world is not following an illusion.”
“The crucial point for us is not a
conviction of the existence of a supreme God but a conviction of the Revelation of a supreme God.”
Science by investigating the physical world leads through natural law to symbols, beyond which it has no means or method of penetrating.
We are forced, in our search, to turn to human consciousness where we find other stirrings and revelations. Are not these significant? “The mystic accepts as significant the vista of a world outside time and space.” “Wherever a way opens we are impelled to seek by the only methods that can be devised for that particular opening . . . conscious that in this activity of the mind we are obeying that light that is in our nature.”
“To the man who has received the revelation of sight, the significant fact is not so much the truth about wave length as the amazing transformation into the world of color under the vivifying power of the mind.”
He points out that if this is so—what will be the effect on humanity when the eye of the soul is opened to the wonders of the unseen world?
But in the search he admonishes us that “you will understand the true spirit of neither science nor religion unless seeking is placed in the forefront.”
This seeking must not accept any creed as a goal and the rejection of creed “is not inconsistent with being possessed by a living belief.” “Religion for the conscientious seeker is not all a matter of doubt and self-questionings. There is a kind of sureness which is very different from cocksureness.“
This hasty and brief sketch of this very interesting and comforting argument as presented in
“Science and the Unseen World,” does scant justice to either the text, thought or beauty of expression.
This book is one of those little volumes which should find a place of ready reference, where in moments of confusion in this scientific age, it can be consulted easily.
Eddington, the Mystic Friend, thinks deeply and clearly. By his touch many troublesome conceptions of intricate science are illuminated and placed in their true perspective. He synchronizes those great fundamental teachings of Quakerism which have stood and will stand the test of time, with the experience of today.
In so doing he is surely doing much to prove to grateful thousands that there is no ground for conflict between science and religion. His method is to show that they belong to different “frames of space” as it were. To each a peculiar technique of truth seeking must be applied.
Of course no one can say how far human knowledge may progress. Someday we may know what the mathematical symbols infer as to the spiritual world. Today, however, ignorance of the ultimate meaning of the symbols does not prevent us from using the equations in the scientific world. The fact that we do not know what they mean may spur us to seek in the realm of consciousness where natural law does not hold sway but where the forces of the unseen world act.
If this inadequate discussion causes you to study “Science and the Unseen World,” it will have fulfilled its purpose. You will probably turn to the wonderful words of ’Abdu’l-Bahá many times for confirmation and further illumination.
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The following report of the Third Biennial Conference of The Institute of Pacific Relations was sent us by our correspondent in Japan, Miss Alexander, the well known Bahá’i teacher, who attended the sessions of the Conference. It is interesting to realize the great possiiblities of this Institute in the furthering of harmony between the East and the West. It has from the beginning made a strong appeal to the great educator who was the first President of the Institute and is now Secretary of the Interior, Dr. Ray Lyman Wilbur.
FOUR HUNDRED years ago Balboa first sighted the Pacific Ocean. Today under the shadow of the gate of Chion-in, a Buddhist temple dating from 1630 A. D., in Kyoto, Japan there were gathered people representing nine Pacific countries (see illustration). These were the delegates, members of their families and secretaries of the Third Conference of the Institute of Pacific Relations.
Kyoto, the most beautiful city of Japan, was founded 1130 years ago by Emperor Kamu who gave it the name, “Heian,” or ”City of Peace,” by which it was known in ancient times. For over a thousand years it was the capital of Japan. Situated amidst green hills at the foot of Mount Heian, or “Peace,” it is the center of all the old arts and culture which have been handed down from the past. In the city and surrounding hills there were once 10,000 Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines, Shinto being the earlier native religion of Japan. Of these 1,000 remain today. Thus this old capital with its ancient and modern culture was an ideal place for the Third Conference of the Institute of Pacific Relations, Oct. 28 to Nov. 4, 1929.
Delegates from lands bordering the Pacific Ocean, Japan, China, Korea, America, Canada., Philippine
Islands, New Zealand, Australia and England, also observers from France, Netherlands, Russia, and Mexico, numbering one hundred and eighty, gathered here to discuss problems pertaining to the peace of the Pacific, that is the peace of the world, for today Pacific problems involve all the nations of the world.
Dr. Inazo Nitobe, Chairman of the Japanese Council of the Institute, who for seven years served in the Secretariat of the League of Nations, delivered the opening address in which he said, “The Pacific lands are to be the stage where shall meet all the races and cultures of the world. We are highly resolved that they shall meet in union and harmony. Occidental civilization, beginning with the Hellenic took a westward course, while Oriental culture, starting somewhere in Akkadia, or Sumeria, advanced eastward, and reaching our shores, has waited for this day to meet the West and make complete the circuit of human progress. . . . Thus the East and the West are coming together after a long separation. It is an opportune meeting this, for it seems that the fulness of time has arrived for us whose task is to find a common ground for the old and the new races to join hands. We meet, as we do now, for inquiry and
study, for the enlargement of our vision, for the elevation of our spirit, for a feast of souls, the fellowship of kindred minds. We meet here, not in the spirit of conflict, nor of competition, but with a will to understand and to peace. The old notion of nations as fighting units, or commercial rivals is being discarded. There can be emulation without fighting, commerce without competition, patriotism without jingoism. We can love our fatherland without hating that of others; we can trade with foreigners without ruining their profit. We can run in the same race without undermining their strength. Mankind is one in its ultimate end and aim and our effort should be exerted toward the unity without which we shall never be able to enjoy perpetual peace, happiness or prosperity. If we are still far from this desired goal, the signs of the age point out that we are not mistaken in our ideal. The nations of the earth are looking to the realization of a corporate body in one form or other, not perhaps one unified state, but a loose union, a sort of federation of the world with a parliament of man.”
Lord Hailsham, Chairman of the British group, was chosen Chairman of the Conference. In his opening remarks he said that study and not decision was what the conference called for and expected. “In concert decisions could be handed out which separately could not be reached. . . . We have to see ourselves in the light of which other peoples see us. . . . We fit ourselves to go back to our own people as interpreters. . . . Such then is the nature of the result which these conferences have produced in the
past and which we look for in the future.” These were among his remarks which he concluded by quoting from Emperor Meiji’s edict to his people to seek knowledge as far as possible from other lands.
Mr. Merle Davis, General Secretary of the Institute, spoke of the Conference as part of a developing process. The first meeting held in Honolulu in 1925, he said, was an experiment in human relations, the second meeting built upon that experiment and the present Conference was widening still farther. He said, “The Institute is a product of a new age.”
At the opening banquet Dr. Inazo Nitobe told of the growth of international conferences. Eighty years ago, he said, there was not a single international cooperation, that since 1840 they began to appear in the world and from then until 1849 there were held nine international meetings. During the next ten years, 1850-59, twenty conferences were held, averaging two a year, and in the following decade there were seventy. In the next decade the number doubled, and so it went on until 1896-1897 there were held 362 world conferences averaging one a day.
Hon. Newton W. Rowell, Chairman of the Canadian group, alluded to the coincidence of the formation of the Canadian Federation and the beginning of modern Japan, both occuring in October, 1867. Also to the fact that this Conference was held the year in which the two countries, Japan and Canada had exchanged Ministers, and the holding of it in the fourth year of “Showa,” “enlightened peace,” in the Far East marked for the whole world a new era in the Pacific.
Among notable addresses was that of Dr. James T. Shotwell, of Columbia University, who spoke on, “The Machine and its Place in the Problems of our Era.” He said that the introduction of science was the beginning of civilization. In answering his own question, “Has art a great past?” he said in the past most people were held to an iron routine and there was no democracy of culture. Invention came in to change a world. Art he described as two kinds,—one the monumental kind in line or color, and the other that which moves in change and not in form, which he called the adjusting lever in the world of mankind, putting in place of repetition, intelligence. “We meet on the urge of this new power,” he said.
Another speaker, Prof. A. J. Toynbee, of London University, in an address on, “Where we stand in International Relations,” pointed out “that in its economic life the whole living generation of mankind and the whole habitable and irrigable surface of the earth have drawn into a single system of relations.”
Those attending the Conference were not only given many opportunities to visit beautiful Japanese gardens and temples, but were shown the old arts; painting, sand pictures, flower decoration, the dressing and symbols in the dress of the Japanese bride, as well as Japanese dances. Lawrence Binyon, author and curator of the Oriental Department of the British Museum, in his recent visit to Japan said of this art: “I think what does impress me most about Japan is the way in which art in a wide sense
the love of beauty, of good work, pervade the whole people, to an extent that does not seem to me to be paralleled anywhere or perhaps at any time in history. If I were to try to describe what seems to be the secret of this love of art and love of beauty which I find in Japan, I might describe it as a kind of courtesy not only by human beings to each other but a kind of courtesy to nature, so to speak, as if the blossoms when they come out would feel hurt if we did not come out too to enjoy and admire them. There seems to be a respect for the beauty of growing things. You see it in the way flowers are arranged, and in the gardens. That, I think, is the most wonderful thing I find in Japan.”
One afternoon a group of ten including some professors of sociology attending the Conference, visited Mr. Tenko Nishida, the exponent of simple living and service given without seeking reward, at his place called, “Ittoen,” or “Garden of One Light.” Mr. Nishida, his wife and those who live with them have proved that a life given to service without seeking recompense does not lead to starvation. In the faces of some twenty persons who live at “Ittoen” was the same expression which might be described as selflessness.
The great accomplishment of the Institute of Pacific Relations was the better understanding brought about between individuals representing different Pacific races. Those who at first held controversial opinions ended in better understanding. It was decided to hold the next conference in China in 1931.
“In all the worlds of existence there is nothing more important than prayer.”
“Know thou that prayer is indispensable and obligatory and man under no pretext whatever is excused therefrom unless he be mentally unsound or an insurmountable obstacle prevent him.”
WE recognize that the perfect prayer arises spontaneously from a heart full of love for God. Yet some of us who are beginners in seeking the spiritual life find that even this most important matter must be learned and that that love for God whose germ is planted in every human heart must be cultivated to be brought to perfection. So with Christ’s disciples of old we petition, “Lord, teach us to pray.” Searching the divine words we find that ’Abdu’l-Bahá not only makes clear to us the wisdom, importance and necessity of prayer, but knowing that most of us are only children in following the shining pathway graciously gives us many lessons to help us develop toward the attainment of perfect prayer.
Where else shall we find such tender, simple, inspiring words as these of ’Abdu’l-Bahá, surely a first lesson in prayer for those of us who are groping and seeking:
“If one friend feels love for another he will wish to say so. Though he knows that the friend is aware that he loves him, he will still wish to say so. If there is anyone you love do you not seek an opportunity to speak with him, to
speak lovingly with him, to bring him gifts, to write him letters? If you do not feel such a desire it would be that you do not love your friend. God knows the wishes of all hearts. But the impulse to pray is a natural one springing from man’s love to God. If there be no pleasure or spiritual enjoyment in prayer, do not pray. Prayer should spring from love, from the desire of the person to commune with God. Just as the lover never ceases from wishing to communicate with the beloved so does the lover of God always wish for constant communication with the Deity. Prayer need not be in words, but in thought and attitude. But if this love and this desire are lacking it is useless to try to force them. Words without love mean nothing. If a person talks to you as an unpleasant duty with no love or pleasure in his meeting with you, do you wish to converse with him? Efforts should first be made to make attachment to God.”
And ’Abdu’l-Bahá explains briefly how this attachement is to be made:
“Knowledge is love. Study, listen to exhortations, think, try to understand the wisdom and greatness of God. The soil must be fertilized before the seed can be sown.”
Our very first step then is to learn about God, his “wisdom and greatness.” And where shall we learn about God except through the
divine teachers who have lived on earth for this very purpose—the perfect educators, the holy Manifestations of God—Christ, Muhammad, Bahá’ulláh? “The source of all learning is the knowledge of God and this cannot be attained save through the knowledge of His Divine Manifestation.” (Bahá’u’lláh).
Today, through the Bounty of God, the people of the world have opportunity as never before to study the authentic words, the daily lives, deeds and actions of the Great Teacher for this age, Bahá’u’lláh. We have not only His revealed word, but His word as interpreted by His appointed Interpreter, ’Abdu’l-Bahá.
Surely intimacy with these lives, overflowing with wisdom and love will lead us toward our goal of the perfect prayer which ’Abdu’l-Bahá thus sets before us:
“In the highest prayer men pray only for the love of God, not because they fear him or hell or hope for bounty or heaven. Thus the souls in whose hearts the fire of love is enkindled are attracted by supplication. True supplication to God must therefore be actuated by love to God only.”
This is the kind of love of which ’Abdu’l-Bahá says, “The lover of God desires and adores Him because He is perfection and because of His perfections. Love should be the very essence of love, and not dependent on outward manifestations. The lover of God loves Him for Himself, not for his own sake.”
So the perfect love is the secret of the perfect prayer. Whichever We seek we shall find both when we attain either. The prayer itself will lead us to a knowledge and
love of God and a knowledge and love of God will lead us to perfect prayer. ’Abdu’l-Bahá tells us how bountifully we may receive these and other blessings: “Beg everything thou desirest from Bahá’u’lláh. If thou art asking faith, ask of Him. If thou art yearning after knowledge, ask of Him, He will grant it unto thee. If thou art longing for the love of God, He will bestow it upon thee. He will descend upon thee all His blessings.”
Gratitude, joy, happiness are bound to accompany our growing love for God, becoming a necessary part of the prayerful spirit. “Therefore, in the utmost joy, gladness, rejoicing and endless happiness thou must open thy tongue in thanksgiving and glorifying the Lord of mercy, and become the cause of enlightenment,” wrote ’Abdu’l-Bahá to an earnest seeker. This kingdom of joy is opened to us by the following prayer revealed by Bahá’u’lláh: “O Thou by whose Name the sea of joys moveth and the fragrances of happiness waft: I beg of Thee to show me from the wonders of Thy Favor that which shall brighten my eyes and gladden my heart.”
We need not feel dismayed or ashamed that we are beginners and have not yet attained. ’Abdu’l-Bahá in His merciful understanding recognizes that we are seekers and learners else He would not so patiently have given us many lessons and instructions. If we fall short of attainment He urges us to persevere. “Draw nigh unto God,” He says, “and persevere in communion with the Lord so that the fire of God’s love may glow more luminously in the heart, its heat grow stronger and give warmth to
that region and its sound reach the Supreme Concourse.”
At one time ’Abdu’l-Bahá gave these very clear instructions for obtaining the prayerful attitude:
“The prayerful attitude is attained by two means. Just as a man who is going to deliver a lecture prepares therefor and his preparation consists of certain meditations and notations, so the preparation for the prayerful attitude is detaching one’s mind from all other thoughts save the thought of God at the time of prayer and then praying when the prayerful attitude shall be attained.”
At another time ’Abdu’l-Bahá explained even more fully how to attain the spirit of detachment: “We must strive to attain to that [spiritual] condition by being separated from all things and from the people of the world and by turning to God alone. It will take some effort on the part of man to attain to that condition but he must work for it, strive for it. We can attain to it by thinking less and caring less for material things and more for the spiritual. The further we go from one, the nearer we are to the other—the choice is ours! Our spiritual perception, our inward sight must be opened so that we can see the signs and traces of God’s spirit in everything. Everything can reflect to us the light of the spirit.”
Searching further we find ’Abdu’l-Bahá adding other instructions for obtaining the detached spirit which goes to make the efficacious prayer.
“Prayer is communion with God. . . . Its efficacy is conditioned upon the freedom of the heart from extraneous suggestions and mundane
thoughts. The worshipper must pray with a detached spirit, unconditional surrender of the will, concentrated attention, and a magnetic spiritual passion. His innermost being must be stirred with the ethereal breeze of holiness. If the mirror of his life is polished from the dross of all desires the heavenly pictures and star-like images of the Kingdom of God will become fully reflected therein. Then he will be given power to translate these celestial forms into his own daily life and the life of many thousands.”
’Abdu’l-Bahá gives us these additional words as to the importance of concentration in prayer:
“Prayer is conversation with God. While man prays he sees himself in the presence of God. If he concentrate his attention he will surely at the time of prayer realize that he is conversing with God.”
In the Hidden Words Bahá’u’lláh says, “O son of Man! Forget all else but me and commune with my Spirit. This is the essence of My Command, turn unto it.” In this connection ’Abdu’l-Bahá gives an illuminating answer to a question which puzzles many, “Why should one pray through Christ as the Christians do, or through another Manifestation of God and why should we not pray to God direct?”
“If we wish to pray, we must have some object upon which to concentrate. If we turn to God we must direct our hearts to a certain center. If a man worships God otherwise than through His Manifestation he must first form a conception of God and that conception is created by his own mind. As the finite cannot comprehend the Infinite
so God is not to be comprehended in this fashion. That which man conceives with his own mind he comprehends. That which he can comprehend is not God. That conception of God which a man has is but a phantasm, an image, an imagination, an illusion. There is no connection between such a conception and the Supreme Being.”
There are also minor and external aids to prayer which sometimes fit our needs. To some and at some times the use of the voice helps in gaining concentration. “Why should it be necessary for him to repeat prayers aloud and with the tongue?” Asks ’Abdu’l-Bahá. “Our reason for this is that if the heart alone is speaking, the mind can be more easily disturbed. But repeating the words so that the tongue and heart act together, enables the mind to become concentrated. Then the whole man is surrounded by the spirit of prayer and the act is more perfect.”
We may note here that although prayer and meditation are closely related there is a distinction between them. Prayer may be aloud or silent. Meditation, ’Abdu’l-Bahá tells us is necessarily silent: Bahá’u’lláh says there is a sign from God for every phenomenon. The sign of the intellect is contemplation, and the sign of contemplation is silence because it is impossible for man to do two things at once—he cannot both speak and meditate. . . . This faculty of meditation frees man from the animal nature, discerns the reality of things, puts man in touch with God. This faculty brings forth the sciences and arts from the invisible plane. Through the meditative faculty inventions are made possible,
collosal undertakings are carried out. Through it governments can run smoothly. Through this faculty man enters into the very Kingdom of God. Nevertheless some thoughts are useless to man: they are like waves moving in the sea without result. But if the faculty of meditation is bathed in the inner light and characterized with divine attributes, the results will be confirmed.”
While the truly prayerful attitude is an attitude of the spirit yet a reverent posture doubtless helps most of us to attain the prayerful spirit. ’Abdu’l-Bahá once said, “In the darkness of night I get up and pray.” He himself when praying in public often held his hands outstretched with palms upward. “Then with His head upturned and the palms of His hands upturned together, as if to receive in them the pouring down of the Holy Spirit, He chanted a prayer and blessing.” Thus was ’Abdu’l-Bahá described by one who was with Him in Paris. With some of the prayers revealed by Bahá’ulláh He describes different postures which we may assume: standing, kneeling, sitting. Someone has beautifully said that when we finish the longer daily prayer, with its different postures, we feel that we have prayed all over, that body and soul together are purified to be devoted to God’s service.
We may sometimes, too, pray with others in groups if we would add efficacy to our prayers, “for where many are gathered together this force is greater. Separate soldiers, fighting alone and individually have not the force of a united army. If all the soldiers in this spiritual war gather together then
their united spiritual feelings help each other and their prayers become more acceptable.”
When shall we pray? Although ’Abdu’l-Bahá says, “Man must live in a state of prayer,” yet we know He took special times for prayer and His instructions, too, show us that certain definite times are helpful. “Supplication to God at morn and eve is conducive to the joy of hearts. Neglect not praying and communing in the gloomy midnights and morn and eve and offer glory unto thy Lord the Supreme.”
“At dawn he [the seeker] should be engaged in communications, seeking for that Beloved One with the utmost earnestness and power; consuming heedlessness with the fire of love and praise; passing over all save God with the swiftness of lightning.“ (Bahá’u’lláh).
For what shall we pray? Shall we pray for health, for our daily necessities, for our material prosperity? Surely for every desire is a prayer, “uttered or unexpressed.” But in asking for material blessings must we not especially remember the “unconditional surrender of the will” that “He doeth whatever He wisheth” and that Christ said “not my will, but thine be done.” One of the greatest bounties to us in this day is that
Bahá’u’lláh and ’Abdu’l-Bahá have revealed prayers by means of which we may draw near and commune with God. If we notice we shall see that while prayers have been revealed for all material necessities and bounties they are far outnumbered by the prayers for the spiritual bounties, for love, guidance, steadfastness, reverence, faith, spiritual insight. We cannot be in doubt as to which are the eternally important blessings. Indeed ’Abdu’l-Bahá tells us that physical hardships and deprivations, even poor health, may be real spiritual bounties. “Strengthen us, enrich us, and uplift us above all earthly conditions.”
All these revealed words of prayer are affirmative and constructive, yes, creative and truly lift us into the presence of God if we will. “The prayers of Bahá’u’lláh and ’Abdu’l-Bahá help to put the heart in tune,” says the Bahá’i teacher, Jinab-i-Fadil. And another has said, “The great manifestations of God reveal prayers which are ablaze with divine love, which melt the heart and usher one into the court of the Eternal presence.” With such bounties so close at hand let us not neglect this very important matter but humbly ask: “Lord, teach us to pray.”
“MEN OF GOOD will throughout the world are working earnestly and honestly to perfect the equipment and preparedness for peace. But there is something high above and infinitely more powerful than the work of all ambassadors and ministers, something far more powerful
than treaties and the machinery of arbitration and conciliation and judicial decisions, something more vital than even our covenants to abolish war, something more mighty than armies and navies in defense.
“That is to build the spirit of
good will and friendliness, to create respect and confidence, to stimulate esteem between peoples—this is the far greatest guaranty of peace. In that atmosphere all controversies become but passing incidents of the day. Nor does this friendliness, respect and esteem come to nations who behave weakly or supinely. It comes to those who are strong, but who use their strength not in arrogance or injustice. It is through these means that we establish the sincerity, the justice and the dignity of a great people. That is a new vision of diplomacy that is dawning in the world.”—President Hoover in his address to Congress.
IN A LETTER TO The London Times, Professor G. Elliott Smith, distingushed author of “The Evolution of Man,” says that until a year ago, when President Coolidge, in his Armistice address, referred to peace as “coming to be more and more realized as the natural state of mankind,” no statement since the eighteenth century had admitted man’s innate peacefulness as a principle which should inspire international cooperation. “The Spanish Ambassador,” writes Professor Smith, “the Marques Merry Del Val, at a recent Guildhall banquet expressed a conviction which is now widespread. He said that there were moments when a wave of feeling seemed to sweep over the soul of mankind from one end of the earth to the other, rising from hidden depths at the behest of unseen forces.
“Today,“ added the Ambassador, “the surge has carried them on its crest toward the restoration of the natural and proper state of man, universal peace. Welling up from
the human heart after unending years of repression, it is general in its extent, and in its strength is irresistible.“—New York Times.
“THE PRESS OF a day or two ago contained an account of a wonderful new invention which enables an airplane to maintain its flight under automatic control for hundreds of miles, undeflected from the direction upon which it was set. So with as sure an accuracy is the progress toward peace of the enlightened modern statesman of the civilized nations.
“The eyes of these pilots are fixed upon the dawn of a new era; the determinations of their governments and of the peoples have set their courses. Woe to those who would stay their flight or deflect them from their destination.”—George W. Wickersham, Chairman of the Hoover Commission on Law Enforcement, New York Times.
“THERE IS ONE real obstacle which prevents the attainment of at least as much common-sense cooperation among mankind as is common among our humble cousins the beavers or among our rivals, and perhaps our superiors, the ants. That obstacle is misunderstanding rooted in differences of speech. * * * “Man’s mechanism for world-wide speech is still, it must be confessed, more a prophecy than a fact. Not much was to be hoped for or is now hopeful, in my opinion, from conscious efforts toward an international language. Latin was that once; French for a time approached it. International misunderstandings were no less. What is needed, any psychological behaviorist. will tell you, is actually to hear and
share samples of other people’s daily lives. In a few years that will be possible by aid of what it is not too much to call the newest Peace Angel, the international telephone. * * *
“There are said to be some 600 different languages, each of them now spoken by at least a modicum of people somewhere on earth. A few of these may linger on for generations, as isolated denizens of Tennessee mountains still cling to English idioms the ancestry of which goes back to Chaucer. But most of the world’s 600 languages are doomed. Philologists must hasten their map-making tasks, for many kinds of present speech will be as dead in a century or two as is now the speech of the vanished Sumerians.
“Which language will survive this linguistic debacle to become the world-wide speech of man is an interesting speculation, but one for which there are few facts.”—E. E. Free in the New York Times.
SEARS, ROEBUCK & Co., Chicago mail order house, Tuesday announced that, effective January 1, it would put its business on the 13-month calendar plan. The company is believed to be the first of the large firms to adopt the plan for which a campaign has been conducted for several years by the United States Chamber of Commerce.
The company’s sales and earnings will be computed on the 13-month basis and salaries of the 40,000 employees will be adjusted to meet the new system.—Star, Washington, D. C.
“I’VE LOST ANY feeling of racial prejudice I might have had before last summer. All summer long I
was associated with students from all parts of the world.
“I danced with a Japanese; went swimming with a Hebrew from Palestine; I boated on Lake Geneva with a Hindu, and always there were the boys from Oxford awfully nice boys.”
At the pension where Miss Milligan lived were quartered a Japanese man, a German-Swiss girl, an Italian countess, an English girl and three American girls beside the pension keeper and her husband.
They spoke French all the time. It was the only language which everyone could understand. Even then, when teas were given at the Union building, many foreign students wandered in who lacked even a knowledge of that.
“I would start talking to them in English,” Miss Milligan said. “If they didn’t seem to understand that I tried French. If that failed I looked around for someone who could speak German.”
“Association acquaints you with their attitude on questions. Their ideas and ours were fundamentally the same, we found. Only the background was different, and that was easily adjusted.”
Twice a week the group met in seminar. One of the students read a paper which was discussed at a round table session. Salvatore de Maderiago, former head of the disarmament section of the League of Nations, was one of their teachers. Lectures each night and receptions every few days by authorities on world affairs filled out, the program.”—Excerpts from an interview with Miss Martha Milligan Senior at Elmira College, N. Y., who was chosen to represent her college at the Student International Union Conference at Geneva.–Binghamton, N. Y Daily.
