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| VOL. 20 | AUGUST, 1929 | NO. 5 |
| Page | |
The Uniting Power, ’Abdu’l-Bahá | 130 |
Editorial, Stanwood Cobb | 131 |
Whence Comes the Light Chapter 1V. Who are the Prophets? Loulie A. Mathews | 133 |
The Goal of a Liberated Mind, Marzieh Nabil | 137 |
Happiness—Material and Spiritual, Shahnaz Waite | 139 |
Looking Forward, Coralie Franklin Cook | 144 |
“The Sanctuary of God”, Dr. Charles S. Frink | 147 |
The Holy Land Today, Ruth Ellis Moffett | 149 |
Fact or Fantasy? Dale S. Cole | 153 |
The Souvenir Feast at West Englewood, Hooper Harris | 157 |
World Thought and Progress | 159 |
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.
“Praise be to God that the Divine Cause in this Bahá’i dispensation is one of absolute love and of pure spirituality. It is not of this kingdom the earth, for it is not war and distress, nor the oppression of one people by another. Its army is the love of God; its victory is the ecstasy of the knowledge of God; its battle is that of Truth—the exposition of the Word; its warfare is against selfishness; its patience is its reserve; its entire meekness is its conquering power; and its love for all is a glory forevermore. In a word it is a spirit and it is love.”
“It is for us to consider how we may educate men that the darkness of ignorance and heedlessness may disappear and that the radiance of the Kingdom may encompass the world; that the nations of men may be delivered from selfish ambition and strife, and be revivified by the fragrance of God; that animosity and hatred may be dispersed and wholly disappear. While the attracting power of the love of God so completely unites the hearts of men that all hearts beat as a single heart; that the arteries of all mankind may pulsate with the love of God; that contention and war may utterly pass away, while peace and reconciliation lift their standard in the midst of the earth.”
“Bahá’u’lláh made the utmost effort to educate (His people) and incite them to morality, the acquisition of the sciences and arts of all countries, kindly dealing with all the nations of the earth, desire for the welfare of all peoples, sociability, concord, obedience, courtesy, instruction of their children, production of what is needful for the human race, and inauguration of true happiness for mankind.”
“The existent world needs a uniting power to connect nations. There are various uniting powers in the world. . . . . All these uniting powers are ineffective and perishable. The only uniting power which can connect all hearts and last forever is faith in God and love for Him. This is the only enduring power, the one that never perishes.”
“It is God’s Will that the differences between nations should disappear. Those who help the cause of unity, are doing God’s work. Unity is the Divine Bounty for this brilliant century.”
| VOL. 20 | AUGUST, 1929 | NO. 5 |
to assimilate the methods by which the means of life, of well-being, of noble-mindedness and glory are attained among the
nations and people of the world.”—’Abdu’l-Bahá.THE KINGDOM OF GOD has a duel interpretation—one outer and material, one inner and spiritual; one on the plane of the phenomenal, and one on the plane of Reality.
Phenomenally, the coming of the Kingdom of God means the establishment upon earth of a perfect and divinely ordained civilization. This has been both the message and mission of all the Prophets and Manifestations of God. Their call to righteousness, to spirituality, becoming effective individually, was to culminate in a more perfect civilization—one in which the spiritual qualities should dominate.
If the individual needs to be reborn in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, how much more, for the attainment of this great end, must humanity as a whole be reborn!
In man there are two natures struggling for predominance—the carnal and the spiritual. Not until the spiritual part of man becomes victorious and succeeds in ruling over the carnal, does man attain to the plane of the Kingdom and begin to express in his actions the divine qualities of humility, service, magnanimity, love, and unity.
And so it is with the world as a whole. Not until the spiritual components of society are numerous and powerful enough to rule over the unspiritual components, will civilization become benign rather than predatory, serviceable rather than exploitive, harmonious rather than torn with dissension, and peaceful rather than engaged in racially suicidal wars which always, in the ultimate, are the result of selfish aggression.
CERTAINLY SOCIETY needs to be reborn. Perhaps it is true, as the allegory of Adam would seem to suggest, that in some distant period of the past, the human race fell from its high estate as sons of God, degenerating into a state of Luciferan pride, of carnality, and disobedience to the Divine Commands—in which state the race has persevered until today—the animal qualities in society as a whole far outweighing the spiritual qualities.
Perhaps in other celestial bodies which are habitats of life, more perfect civilizations exist. Indeed, one would like to think that Earth-society is not the norm, and that Life
has succeeded elsewhere in expressing itself in higher terms.
Whether this be so or not, it is evidently the destiny of our as yet only partially evolved Earth-society to progress toward greater spiritual perfection, until as the well known prophecy indicates, “the knowledge (implying also obedience) of God, covers the earth as the waters cover the sea.”
It was this spiritualizing of humanity, this divine rule, which came to express itself in the visions and teachings of the Hebrew prophets as the Messianic Hope. There would come one day a divine Messenger who should establish the Kingdom of God upon earth.
Then came One Who preached the Kingdom of God upon earth, bequeathing humanity this one and only prayer-“Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth, as it is in Heaven.”
IT HAS TAKEN two thousand years of constant daily Christian prayer and aspiration since then to bring the world to a point where it really wants to stop war; wants to eliminate selfishness and suffering from the social organization; wants to establish upon earth a more perfect civilization.
There seems today to be a general and remarkable world consciousness of the need for a higher and kindlier civilization. Even those who fail to recognize this ideal civilization as part of the Divine Rule, crave it with all their hearts.
At such a propitious epoch (or as the cause of it) comes again to humanity the recurrent Messenger, this time bringing the Great Plan in accordance with which the ideal divine civilization is to be constructed.
In the teachings and laws of Bahá’u’lláh are to be found all the elements necessary for a perfect humanity. Great scholars looking open-mindedly into the noble architectural plan of Bahá’u’lláh, find nothing to be added, nothing to be omitted. Upon this Structure, humanity can indeed, if it so desires, erect the perfect civilization.
IT IS INSPIRING to realize that in the Reality of the Archetypal World this divine civilization already exists. Somewhere its golden pinnacles catch the glint of a wondrous Sun; Somewhere the perfect pattern is spread out, for human eyes possessed of mystic vision to behold and reproduce.
This pattern is not intricate, though it is supremely difficult. It is, as Christ told us, simply a matter of establishing upon earth a civilization in which, as in the divine worlds, God’s will should be done.
Nothing else but this is the aim and goal of the Bahá’ís. It is this goal which will in time unite the hearts and efforts of all the world. It is a goal worth working for and worth sacrificing for. Its establishment will mean the supreme happiness and well-being of mankind.
“Unless the moral character of a nation is educated, as well as its brains and its talents, civilization has no sure basis.”—’Abdu’l-Bahá.
WHAT IS TRUTH?
“Truth is the revealed Word of God.“—’Abdu’l-Bahá.
WHAT IS RELIGION?
“Religion is the love of God in the heart of man expressed through service.“—’Addu’l-Bahá.
Do THE FOUNDERS OF THE GREAT RELIGIONS DIFFER?
“All the great Prophets have served the selfsame foundation. They have served the same Reality. Hence, the purpose and result of all the Prophets have been one and the same. They were the advancement of the body politic. They were the cause of the honor of mankind. They were the Divine civilizations of man, whose foundation is one. For the fundamental basis of the religion of God there is no change nor variation.“—’Abdu’l-Bahá.
WHO WAS JESUS?
“Jesus was a Manifestation of God. Everything of Him pertained to God. To know Him was to know God. To love Him was to love God. To obey Him was to obey God. He was the source of all divine qualities. In this Mirror the light of the Sun of Reality was reflected to the world. Through this Mirror the Energy of God was transmitted to the world. The whole disc of the Sun of Reality was reflected in Him.”—’Abdu’l-Bahá. (From Notes taken by Mr. Mountfort Mills in Haifa.)
HOW DO THE BAHA’I REVELATORS SPEAK OF THE STATION OE BAHA’U’LLAH?
“The Beyan is today in the stage of seed, but in the day of ‘Him whom God shall manifest’ (Bahá’u’lláh) it will arrive at the degree of fruition.”–The Báb.
“Bahá’u’lláh is the promised one who has come in the Name of God. Verily, Bahá’u’lláh is the stored treasure, the hidden mystery. . . . He has opened the doors, the minds and souls through the key of His Supreme Pen.“—’Abdu’l-Bahá.
“Yes, my Lord has conferred an order upon me and made me one of His Messengers. . . . The most glorious Bell has appeared in the Temple and the fingers of the will of your Lord are ringing it from the kingdom of eternity. . . . If you turn toward creation with a spiritual ear, you will hear: ‘The Eternal has arrived in supreme glory!’ All things praise God in gratitude. God has sent One fortified by the Holy Spirit to show you the light which was shining from the horizon of the will of your Lord, the Supreme, the Glorious.” —Bahá’u’lláh.
ARE THE PROPHETS IDENTICAL wITH THE CREATOR?
No. “God singly and alone abideth in His Own Place, which is holy above space and time, mention and utterance, sign, description and definition, height and
depth, and, none know Him save whosoever hath knowledge of His Book” (meaning the Prophets and their teaching).—Bahá’u’lláh.
DOES REASON SUSTAIN THE BELIEF THAT THE CREATOR DESCENDS TO EARTH?
No. The Creator may not become the created; the Infinite, finite, nor the greater ever be contained in the lesser. Bahá’u’lláh says: “He is purified from being comprehended by men of comprehension and is exalted above the knowing of men of knowledge. The road is barred, and search thereof is rejected.” Our only connection with the Infinite Deity is through the Prophets Whose souls are sufficiently pure to reflect Truth and transmit it according to our capacity and understanding.
DO THE PROPHETS DIFFER PHYSICALLY FROM OTHER MEN?
Yes. A Prophet’s entity is in complete harmony. Through the law of evolution, the highest and purest elements are drawn together in the body of man. Bahá’u’lláh poetically refers to the substance of their being as “the diamond, the rose and the nightingale.”
WHAT DISTINGUISHES A PROPHET FROM A WISE AND HOLY MAN?
The knowledge of a Prophet is innate—He teaches man, is not taught by him. The Prophet appears at a time prophesied by previous Messengers and His coming fulfills the promises of all religions. He is announced by a Herald and followed by an Interpreter. Though of ancient and even royal
lineage He never occupies an exalted station nor exercises worldly power. The Messengers of God suffer persecution, imprisonment and even death. The Prophet’s tongue is the sword with which He proclaims truth and separates good from evil, bringing to earth a creative power which awakens a new consciousness. In the day of a Prophet the old order crumbles, resulting in great confusion, while following His appearance on earth dawns a new civilization.
WHEN DOES A PROPHET COME?
A Prophet appears about once in a thousand years. He becomes the pivotal point of the spiritual seasons. The advent of a Prophet is the springtime; His teaching, the summer; when the divine precepts penetrate the hearts of His followers, the harvest; at length comes the winter when religion is handed down and accepted without question and without ecstacy.
Mental concepts obscure the love of God. Minds of limitation construct dogma; forms and ceremonies creep in and become overweeningly important. Belief is no longer fluid, spontaneous—it becomes inflexible like the ice of winter. The cold winds of dispute blow over the land and the true seeker knows not where to turn for guidance.
In such a dark hour comes the Illumined One; born under the laws of nature; arising from a despised people of the remote East. He walks among men bringing the springtime and where He steps the earth blossoms. The Word is made flesh and dwells amongst us. The New Light creating a higher vibration crumbles barriers and traditions.
But seeing eyes glimpse the vision of a new day.
“At this time, the Morn of Knowledge hath dawned, and the lamps of traveling and wayfaring are put out.”—The Seven Valleys:—Bahá’u’lláh.
IS THE STATION OF THE PROPHET A SINGLE ONE?
No. “There are two stations for the Suns rising from the Dayspring of Divinity.” (Bahá’u’lláh). In one station the Prophet speaks or writes as a man charged by God with a message, in the other, as giving the direct Divine utterance. His human personality has been chosen by God. It is not of His own will that He assumes hardship and difficulties. As Jesus said, “Father, if it be possible let this cup pass from me”—so Bahá’u’lláh said, “Had another been found, we would not have made ourself an object of censure, derision and calumnies on the part of the people.” But the divine call is clear and imperative and God’s will is substituted for the human will. The Messenger accepts it with radiant acquiescence.
The distinguishing characteristic of the human personality of a Prophet is utter humility and lowly service to mankind, evinced by Jesus in washing the feet of His disciples, and by Bahá’u’lláh in becoming a servant to His servants, dividing among them His portion of bread and taking for Himself “divine nourishment“—hunger.
When speaking as a divine being the Prophet turns the mirror of His mind to God and reflects God’s will. Speaking from this station, when asked whether He was Christ,
the Son of God, Jesus answered, “Thou hast said.” And Bahá’u’lláh writes: “Naught is seen in my temple but the Temple of God, in my beauty but His Beauty, in my being but His Being, and in myself but Himself.”
WHAT IN THE PHYSICAL WORLD SYMBOLIZES THE SUCCESSION OF GOD’s MESSENGERS?
The Sun. “For if the sun of today says, “I am the sun of yesterday,” it is true; and yet if, according to daily sequence, it says, “I am other than the sun of yesterday,” this is also true. Likewise the days: If it be said that all the days are the same, it is true; and if it be said that according to name and designation they differ from one another, this is true as thou seest. For though they are the same, yet in each there is a name, quality and designation which is different from the other.” —“Iqán:” Bahá’u’lláh.
ARE MIRACLES A PROOF OF PROPHETHOOD?
Miracles are convincing only to the followers of a Prophet. The Buddhists are not convinced by the miracles of Moses, nor the Muhammadans by the miracles of Jesus. Christ, speaking of miracles with His disciples said: “Greater things shall ye do,” showing that the higher spiritual laws could be brought into action by men of faith.
IS ONE PROPHET GREATER THAN ANOTHER?
“All the Prophets are Lights, they only differ in degree; they shine like brilliant heavenly bodies,
each has his appointed place and time of ascension. Some are like lamps, some like the moon, some like distant stars, and a few are like the sun, shining from one end of the earth to the other. Religions are like the branches of one Tree. One branch is high, one is low and one in the centre, yet all draw their life from one stem.”—’Abdu’l-Bahá.
ARE MESSENGERS OF GOD STILL NEEDED?
“The Jews in the days of Jesus thought Abraham and Moses were sufficient for them and turned away from Christ, regarding His teaching as dangerous. Should Christians follow their example? If God in His Infinite Bounty sends a new message of loving counsel and instruction, are we to shut the door in the Messenger’s face saying: “We have no need of a new message from God; we received all the teachings we need nineteen centuries ago?” Assuredly not.
Christ gave no intimation that when His earthly mission and that of His immediate followers was accomplished, the Book of Revelation would be closed. On the contrary, when His sojourn among men was drawing to its end, He said: “I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth.” Here is surely a clear promise that revelation will continue until “all truth” has been revealed.
Jesus said to His disciples: “He that receiveth a Prophet in the name of a Prophet shall receive a Prophet’s reward.” Would Christ
have uttered these words had He believed that the day of Prophets was ended, that after He had founded His church there would be “no need” of further Prophets?”—Esselmont.
WHY DO THE MESSENGERS SPEAK IN PARABLES?
The revelations of the Prophets can never be adequately translated, owing to the poverty and imperfections of our language. Their thought is so lofty that human minds do not grasp it–hence the use of allegories. Parables make men ponder and pray for enlightenment that they may understand the hidden meaning. Search for truth deepens man’s capacity, clarifies his vision without engendering intellectual pride. Objective statements are marked by their epoch while truth clothed in symbol is ever the same.
The station of the Messenger is described by Jesus in His saying: “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. He who believeth in Me believeth in My Father who sent Me.”
’Abdu’l-Bahá gives this picture of the Messenger of God: “The Manifestation is the Perfect Man, the great Exemplar for Mankind, the First Fruit of the tree of humanity. Until we know Him we do not know the latent possibilities within ourselves. . . . By loving the Manifestation of God and following His teachings we are enabled, little by little to realize the potential perfections within ourselves; then, and not until then, does the meaning and purpose of life and of the universe become apparent.”
A brilliant scion of Persian-American parentage now a senior at Leland Stanford University, describes the Search for Truth—a perennial quest.
WHAT is Truth,’ said jesting Pilate, and would not stay for an answer.” Pilate, it would seem, was much given to washing his hands of things. Truth, if it existed at all, was something which other people could take care of-just so long, of course, as it did not interrupt his meals or his business. And so, he would not stay for an answer.
The world has always been full of Pilates—of people who wash their hands of truth. Our present day problems are their legacy. They are those who live along comfortably, safe in their ruts, careful to use as few of their faculties as possible. And when they die, they sleep beneath complacent epitaphs—unless of course they are fashionable, in which case they are reduced to ashes and repose sedately in marble bureau drawers. And alas, they are not remembered. To be remembered, a man must have had a tussle with truth. He must have sat under the Bo tree with Guatama, or gone up to Mount Sinai, or dreamed over the crucibles in Leonardo’s laboratory. He must have investigated truth for himself, refused to conform to his surroundings, dared to do his own thinking. “I think, therefore I am.” It is equally true that if I do not think, I am not. And to think means independently to investigate truth.
BAHA’U’LLAH HAS commanded His followers to do their own thinking, and to “look into all things with a searching eye.” He says in the Words of Wisdom, “The essence of all that we have revealed for thee is justice, is for man to free himself from idle fancy and imitation . . .” It is, then, through justice—best beloved of virtues—that we are to know things by our own understanding and see them with our own eyes. But the question arises, how are we to achieve this justice, how are we to recognize the truth once we have started on our search. To this, ’Abdu’l-Bahá answers that there are four standards of judgment, four ways of proving a thing true. The first is sense perception, the second is the intellect, the third is traditional authority, and the fourth is inspiration. When applied individually, these tests are obviously inadequate, for the senses are frequently unreliable, even the greatest intellectuals are often at variance, traditional authority is easily misunderstood, and the “still small voice” may at times be quite other than divine. But when all four tests are brought to bear and result in a convergence of evidence, we have satisfactorily proved a truth.
Bahá’ís, then, are commanded to seek independently for Reality, and are told how to recognize it.
They are forbidden to take anything for granted. Even a child born into a Bahá’í family must begin, so to speak, from the bottom and work up. He cannot be fed truth with his cereal, and must prove to his own satisfaction the reality of what he is taught. But it is obvious that a search started in an atmosphere of faith is more readily successful, because “faith seeking understanding” will achieve, where unbelief seeking understanding must fall by the wayside.
And now, what is Reality? “Why, Reality is water,” says Thales. “Reality is a sphere packed solid,” insists Parmenides. “Reality is convergence of evidence,” drones the psychology professor. Some of our moderns deliver beautifully patronizing definitions of Reality, as if they had it at home in a test tube. Others stutter when confronted with the unwelcome question.
The Bahá’í view of Reality presents the only one that is impregnable and withstands the test by the four standards of judgment.
Bahá’u’lláh proclaims that Reality is the Word of God. The significance of this statement is recalled by the opening lines of the Gospel of John: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” This Word is revealed to humanity by a Divine Manifestation—by one of those All-illuminating Beings whom ’Abdu’l-Bahá refers to as “Suns of Reality”—a Buddha, a Christ, Moses, Muhammad. Reality, then, constitutes the teachings of the Divine Manifestations,—and
Reality in this day consists of the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh.
Having found Reality, realities are not far away. The true in art, in science, in every phase of human activity, is that which is in accordance with the Word of God, and that which is like God. Therefore, a study of the Word of God, and a knowledge of God Himself as revealed through His Manifestations, are infallible determinants of Truth. And as learning is nothing more or less than discovering and applying the truth of phenomena, it is absolutely essential—if we wish to be learned—that we should attain to the knowledge of God—that we should investigate Reality. Bahá’u’lláh says “The source of all learning is the knowledge of God,” and ’Abdu’l-Bahá tells us that the origin of all learning can be traced to religion.
The failure to seek for Truth results in lasting and increasing peril to the human race. “The greatest cause of bereavement and disheartening in the world of humanity is ignorance based upon blind imitation . . . From this cause hatred and animosity arise continually among mankind. Through failure to investigate Reality, the Jews rejected His Holiness Jesus Christ.”
That no one is exempt from the search for Reality is proved by the further words of ’Abdu’l-Bahá; after saying that each human being is equipped for the investigation of Reality, He continues, “each has individual endowment, power and responsibility. . . . Therefore depend upon your own reason and judgment and adhere to the outcome of your own investigation.
. . . Turn to God, supplicate humbly at His Threshold . . . that God may rend asunder the veils that obscure your vision.” Henceforward no one is allowed to expose himself and humanity to the dangers of ignorance.
Originality is one of the thousand refreshing outcomes of the independent investigation of Truth, for the simple reason that if we look at anything, we look at it in a way peculiar to ourself. We have to. We will all see the same Reality,
but at different angles. A change from the past, when originality has been so rare as to be a matter of comment, and we have praised people as “original thinkers.” And with so many such thinkers in circulation, the impetus to all the graces of civilization is self-evident. Besides which, when each of us has to discover life for himself, each will be as exultant as Columbus when his first redskin glittered through the shrubbery.
THOMAS EDISON, when celebrating his eighty-second birthday, was asked to give his formula for a happy life. He replied—“I am not acquainted with anyone who is happy.” He could not give a recipe for happiness, he who had given to mankind so much that had brought comfort and enlightenment the world over, because, as he stated he knew no one who was happy. His statement was unqualified, he made no exceptions.
On the other hand there are countless cults whose leaders make a specialty of “formulas for happiness.” They promise perfect “health, wealth, love, and happiness” to all who will pay the price for the formula with instructions as to how to apply it; but it does not seem to work out well or more of their followers would demonstrate the promised results.
The extreme scarcity of happiness goes to show that there is
something else to be sought for upon which happiness depends, or else that one is searching in the wrong direction.
There are as many human opinions as to how happiness may be obtained as there are various conceptions as to what constitutes that blissful state. That which ranks first among these may be classified under sense-gratification. By the pleasure seeker it is confused with the sought-for prize. Yet we know that sense-gratification is not happiness neither is asceticism practiced to win this sacred gift.
It has been said that “happiness ever flees the ardent seeker,” that it “comes unbidden when it comes at all.” Conditions must be right, for it enters the human heart. It cannot dwell with discord or inharmony. It is never found where evil impulses, greed and selfishness dwell.
Neither does marked culture,
education, talents or fame encage it. Palatial environments, wealth and social position seem more often to frighten it away; and sordid conditions offer no inducement for its abiding place. Material grandeur, pomp and glory hold nothing that attracts its divine nature.
In Mythology even the “Gods of Olympus” were not said to be happy, and human history reveals very little happiness in its record of the ages.
Why then does this quest for happiness go on so frantically, continuously, and apparently is so futile? Has its evasiveness no spiritual meaning for us? Are we as humans really ready for happiness?
To entertain so divine a guest, one must have a still chamber in the heart, a place of absolute purity, beauty and harmony. The flitting fantasies which men experience, dependent upon the senses, which enter their lives from time to time, cannot enter that sacred chamber. One may think he is happy for a while, but later awakens from the dream only to find it an illusion, and not reality.
Many of the religions do not promise happiness during one’s human pilgrimage. Jesus held up the immortal life, life in the hereafter, as the goal of attainment. Human life implies growth, and growth is ever accompanied by pain. While there is any undeveloped side to man’s soul, any imperfect faculty, there must be struggle and strife. Hence happiness complete and soul-satisfying cannot be of human origin, or known by the lower consciousness of man.
Mr. Edison has been more than frank. He has plainly and bluntly
stated a fact which most seek to hide even from themselves. He is “acquainted with no one who is happy.” Yet Mr. Edison is eminently successful. Those who so lightly unite “success with happiness” as twins, might note this fact. It would seem these twain are not interdependent or in any way correlated.
What then is happiness, that it is so elusive, and comparatively non-existent? Who can describe it? It seems to mortal sense an intangible, ethereal essence which steals into hearts like a breath from heaven. It may linger but a moment, or it may shed its benediction over a shadowed life, for shadows are not imcompatible with it, though earthly splendor may be.
Having seen its rare radiance shining forth now and then through the human face of some great soul, we know it is not a myth, therefore its general absence from the world of humanity seems to prove that conditions for its abode are not right in human hearts.
Is selfishness the unsurmountable barrier to happiness? When we rise in consciousness above the petty, little center and circumference of self with its material interests, its insatiable clamorings for pleasure, for entertainment, for earthly possessions, and so-called joy, we find that the human heart has not been seeking for real happiness, but only forgetfulness of self, forgetfulness of some misery, some disappointment, some jealous thought, some envious desire, some unfulfilled ambition. To forget self is the motive of this urge.
Between those who only seek to forget, and those who are taught to “visualize a positive, radiant
supreme state of happiness, created through the power of thought, and will force, yet which ever eludes the seeker, there is a wide division—the two extremes of the pole and neither attaining the coveted goal.
Even in our cherished arts and sciences, our aesthetic culture and “inspiring avocations” there may be a subtle and deep-rooted selfishness, then we wonder why we are not happy.
The great mystics tell us that we “gain by losing, we receive by giving, and all things become ours through renunciation.” May this not be the sign-post which points to the road leading to happiness?
Many centuries ago St. Augustine said—“Thou hast made the heart for Thyself and it is ever restless until it finds its rest in Thee.” Even in those far off days human hearts were searching vainly for happiness.
All things considered, what is the answer to this insistent question-“Where can happiness be found?” How may we find it and having found it keep it? Who can point to us the way?
’Abdu’l-Bahá, who was—“A joy-bringer, and a Herald of the Kingdom of Happiness”—has placed in our hand the Golden Key which will unlock the door to the Kingdom where happiness alone abides. Let us meditate upon these His words:—“Know thou that there are two kinds of happiness, spiritual and material. As to material happiness it never exists; nay, is but imagination, an image reflected in mirrors, a specter and shadow. Consider the nature of material happiness. It is something which but slightly removes one’s afflictions; yet the
people imagine it to be joy, delight, exultation and blessing. All the material blessings including food, drink, etc. tend only to allay thirst, hunger, and fatigue. They bestow no delights on the mind or pleasure on the soul; nay, they furnish only the bodily wants. So this kind of happiness has no real existence.
“As to Spiritual Happiness, this is the true basis of the life of man, because Life—(the Spiritual) is created for happiness, not for sorrow, for pleasure, not for grief. Happiness is life; sorrow is death; Spiritual Happiness is Life Eternal. This is light which is not followed by darkness. This is honor which is not followed by shame. This is existence which is not followed by annihilation. This great blessing and precious gift is obtained by man only through the Guidance of God. This happiness is the fundamental basis from which man is created, worlds are originated, the contingent beings have existence and the world of God appears like unto the appearance of the sun at mid-day. This happiness is but the Love of God.”
“The world needs more happiness and illumination. The star of happiness is in every heart; we must remove the clouds so that it may twinkle radiantly. Happiness is an internal condition. When it is once established man will ascend to the supreme heights of bliss. A truly happy man will not be subject to the shifting eventualities of time. Like unto an eternal king he will sit upon the throne of fixed realities. He will be impervious to outward changing circumstances and through his deeds and actions he will impart happiness to others. A
Bahá’i must be happy, for the blessings of God are bestowed upon him.”
It is evident from these inspiring words of ’Abdu’l-Bahá, that real happiness is purely a spiritual condition, and the reward of victory over the carnal self, and this mastery He has said is gained through loving service to others through self-forgetfulness, not by external means, but through losing the thought of self in thinking of others. He has said—“The Key to self-mastery is self-forgetting.” Thus self-forgetting is the magnet which draws the spirit of happiness into our hearts. It has been said–“Happiness is a perfume which we cannot pour upon others without spilling some of it upon ourselves.” Thus in giving, we receive.
’Abdu’l-Bahá has further said upon this most vital question—“Afflictions and troubles are due to a state of not being content with what God has ordained for you. If one submits himself to God he is happy.
“A man asked another—‘In what station are you?’ He answered ‘in the utmost happiness.’ ‘Where does this happiness come from?’ He answered; ‘because all existing things move according to my wish; therefore I do not find anything contrary to my desire; thus I have no sorrow. There is no doubt that all beings move by the Will of God, and I have given up my own will, desiring the Will of God. Thus my will becomes the Will of God, for there is nothing to myself. All are moving by His Will, yet they are moving by mine, in this case I am very happy.’ When man surrenders himself everything will
move according to his wish.”
“Concentrate the soul upon God so that it may become as a fountain pouring out the Water of Life to a thirsty world. Live up to the principles of sacrifice. The world will then become as nothing, and be without power to attract you away from God. Sacrifice your will to the Will of God. The Kingdom is attained by the one who forgets self. Everything becomes yours by renunciation of everything.”
“Love is the means of the most great happiness in both the material and spiritual worlds.”
“Man must live in contentment with the conditions of his time. He must not make himself the slave of any habit. Contentment is real wealth. If one develop within himself the quality of contentment he will become independent. Contentment is the creator of happiness. When one is contented he does not care for either riches or poverty. He lives above the influence of them.”
“Wealth has a tempting and drawing quality. It bewilders the sight of its charmed victim with showy appearances and draws them on and on to the edge of a yawning chasm. It makes a person self-centered, self-occupied, forgetful of God and holy things. On the other hand there are souls who are the essence of existence; in their estimation wealth offers no attraction. . . . Their intense passion for God will wax greater each day. Such rich men are in reality the light-bringing stars of the heaven of mankind, because they have been tried and tested and have come out of the crucible as pure gold . . . unalloyed and unadulterated. With
all the wealth of the world at their feet they are yet mindful of God and humanity, they spend their acquired riches for the dispelling of the darkness of ignorance and employ their treasures for the alleviation of the misery of the children of God. The light of such rich men will never grow dim and the tree of their generosity will grow in size and stature, producing fruits in all seasons. Their every deed will be as an example for succeeding generations.“
“Strive day and night and do whatever is possible that perchance you may wake the heedless, give sight to the blind, bring life to the dead, refresh the weary, and bring those in despair and darkness to light and splendor. If the hope of man be limited to the material world what ultimate result is he working for? A man with even a little understanding must realize that he should live differently from the worms who hold to the earth in which they are finally buried. How can he find happiness there? My hope is that you may become freed from the material world and strive to understand the meaning of the heavenly world, the world of lasting qualities, the world of truth, the world of eternal kingliness so that your life may not be barren of results, for the life of the material man has no fruit of Reality. But
lasting results are produced by the heavenly existence. If a man becomes touched with the divine spark even though he be an outcast and oppressed he will be happy, and his happiness cannot die.”
These Divine Words are a formula for that Reality of happiness which all the world is seeking. Blessed are they who apply them and find thereby within their own hearts the Kingdom of Happiness.
In conclusion let me leave with you this beautiful prayer revealed by ’Abdu’l-Bahá, which breathes the very spirit of happiness into one’s soul.
“O Thou Kind God! To me thou art kinder than myself and Thy Love is more abundant and more ancient. Whenever I am reminded of Thy Bestowals I am made happy and hopeful. If I have been agitated I obtain ease of heart and soul. If I am sick, I gain eternal health. If I am disloyal, I become loyal. If I have been hopeless, I become hopeful. O Thou Lord of the Kingdom! Cause Thou the rejoicing of my heart; empower my weak spirit and strengthen my exhausted nerves. Illumine thou my eyes; suffer my ears to become hearing, so that I may hearken to the Music of the Kingdom and attain to the joy and happiness Ever-lasting. Verily Thou art the Generous, the Giver, the Kind!”
THE City of Washington, D. C., is noted for its many buildings, important in themselves, or as having figured in some historic event, or as the one-time home of this or that distinguished personage. The great white dome of the Capitol, the increasing number of imposing government buildings, occupying sites approved by the Fine Arts Commission-art galleries, churches, and handsome residences galore—this house where a martyed President died, another where some beautiful woman stamped her influence upon social and political life—all invite and capture one’s interest.
Attending one afternoon the Belasco Theatre listening to the Recital of Roland Hayes, the tenor, I thought of these things and mentally enrolled the “Belasco” in that long list of piles of brick and stone destined to be pointed out as having a significance all its own. And why? Because greater than any recorded drama ancient or modern is the play of events which we have seen enacted here before our very eyes.
Within the writer’s ken here have assembled three gatherings which have foreshadowed world events of no little significance.
The first was the occasion of the Celebration of the eightieth birthday of Susan B. Anthony, a never-to-be-forgotten scene by those privileged to witness it. Every available seat was occupied and standing-room at premium. On the platform the white-haired pioneer suffragist
sat, the center of a group of women and men, selected from the world-at-large, to present gifts and gracious words of greeting. Much that the octogenarian had striven for was as yet unrealized but in what had actually been accomplished there was the harbinger of what today has taken place;—the woman power that manifested in our last presidential election, in woman’s occupation of undreamed of places in industry and the professions, her presence in the “seats of the mighty” among all civilized peoples.
It was the stalwart Susan herself who, perhaps for the first time in all her varied career, spoke falteringly, as she contrasted that brilliant ovation with occasions when she had met badly scented eggs, vituperation, ridicule and abuse! Not even the most optimistic on that day realized that so soon after her active brain had ceased to function, would come the day of woman’s emancipation, and that in accord with the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh woman would not only not be shorn of her natural rights, but would be permitted opportunity to plan and live her life in accord with her own ideals and principles. Among the many teachings of ’Abdu’l-Bahá on the subject of the equality of men and women, we find these words:
“Man and woman are equally the recipients of powers and endowments from God the Creator. God has not ordained distinction between them in His consummate purpose . . . In no movement will they (women) be left behind. Their rights
with men are equal in degree. They will enter all the administrative branches of politics. They will attain in all a degree which will be considered the very highest station of the world of humanity and will take part in all the affairs. Rest ye assured. Do ye not look upon the present conditions; in the not far distant future the world of women will become all-refulgent and all-glorious. For His Holiness Bahá’u’lláh hath willed it so. At the time of elections, the right to vote is the inalienable right of women, and the entrance of women in all the human departments is an irrefutable and incontrovertible question. No soul can retard or prevent it.”
There was no masculine superiority hinted at on the occasion of this Susan B. Anthony celebration. Maybe it was not even thought about, but it doubtless dawned upon the consciousness of some that handicap, suppression and repression as so long forced upon one-half of humanity, had at last come to be regarded not only an unjust but a foolish thing. So on that day was registered inside the walls of “Belasco” a forecast of today and tomorrow in the life of woman.
THE SECOND OF the group of three gatherings in this notable theatre, which seems to have foreshadowed world events, was when the Dramatic Club of Howard University staged Eugene O’Neill’s play, “The Emperor Jones.” From New York City where he had played for weeks on Broadway, came Charles Gilpin, the colored actor, who had brought to the play a distinction scarcely second to that which the profound psychology of the playwright himself had earned for it.
Since the black tragedian, Ira Aldridge, took the part of Othello with the great Siddons carrying the role of Desdemona, no person of color had been tolerated upon the stage save as a buffoon, a dolt, a
shuffling, subservient fool or knave. Now, at last, he was admitted to legitimate drama and in masterly fashion portrayed the terrible consequences of fear—fear as it reacts upon character and conduct whether its victim be white or black. The theme was old, the interpreter and the interpretation startlingly new to the theatre-going public.
If the unthinking looked on and saw only a misguided, vain-glorious black man, reduced from hastily achieved exaltation and power to abject fear and cowardice, the thoughtful lost sight of the mere incident of color and beheld the strange metamorphosis wrought by sudden rise to position and authority and the equally sudden and far more tragic change that gripped and destroyed the poor wretch who became the victim of century-old superstition and fear.
Little by little since that event the theatrical world has grown kinder to these darker people until now it is generally admitted that out of their unique emotional and dramatic gifts they are destined to make some great contribution to Dramatic Art as people of discernment and taste demand it should be presented.
AND NOW THE third epochal event
in the house of “Belasco!” Again
the place has been “sold out”-orchestra,
boxes, the mezzanine,
balcony, gallery! Nowhere is there
a seat left vacant.
The program reads, “Recital by Roland Hayes, Tenor. Benefit for Gerald Tyler.” It matters not that the singer was once a poor boy toiling in the “black belt” of the South, that he had to work his way
through school and college, battling all the while for bread. It matters not that his mother had been a slave. It does not even matter that he is black.
The vast audience ceases to talk, to whisper, as Roland Hayes comes briskly on the stage followed by his skilled accompanist. He stands there so still, so modest, yet commanding. The expectant audience waits. Then, as if some far away signal had fallen upon his ear alone, he begins to sing.
It is simply impossible to describe the work of this singer. The critics of Germany, Russia, Italy and Holland have heaped encomiums upon him. He never disappoints the most cultured audience.
“His tone,” says the Amsterdam Telegraaf, “comes out of the void, alive and soft, clear and supple and it radiates. It has no weak points, it is like a beautiful fruit, tender and sound . . . It grows as love can grow.”
In the “Evening Kiev” of Russia we find this:
“The singing of most singers may be compared to a monologue, but Hayes is speaking to the souls of the audience.”
It may well be said by those who know Roland Hayes, who have known him since the time when he himself was unknown, poor and obscure, that this latter critic has sensed the innermost spirit of the great singer. Greater even than his gift of song is the spiritual endowment of this dark-browed man. Born in the United States and listening from boyhood to some inward
prompting that called him to the heights of life, one must realize that he has refused to be handicapped by color, has lifted that sensitive dark face steadily away from prejudice and injustice. With a philosophy all his own, he has concluded that prejudice is the result of lack of understanding. When he sings, he sings neither to black nor white, but to the world. When complimented upon his marvelous will power, so exhibited through all his career, he smiles serenely and questions, “Do you not think will power is as much a spiritual gift as voice?”
Roland Hayes never dissipates. Mind, body, spirit, are consecrated to his art. He likes to spend hours alone, and may often be found contemplatively reading some biography which he prefers to poetry or drama.
He broods tenderly over his struggling racial group, and is founding a school for colored youth in the State and on the farm where his adored mother toiled through all her weary years.
This Washington Recital was given for a fellow-musician who has suffered pain and loss, and whose marvelous skill in bringing thunderous tones, with his one hand, from the grand piano, was second only to the work of Hayes himself.
Oh, house of “Belasco”—for the third time you have foreshadowed world events,—even the day when the “Brotherhood of Man” shall be established, when there shall be neither classes nor creeds, and in the hearts of men Love shall rule triumphant!
“The soul is the Sanctuary of God; Reason is His Throne.”—’Abdu’l-Bahá.
THE more we may ponder over the spiritual meaning of these few words, the more we are impressed with their wisdom. Let us consider that ancient word “soul.” How often in our lifetime have we spoken, written, read and heard the word “soul” and how many of us are prepared, if suddenly confronted with the necessity, to give a clear, comprehensive explanation of the relative functions of the soul in its expression of the attributes of mind and spirit? Would it not be a test of our understanding of the detailed and luminous definitions and explanations in the Bahá’í teachings upon this vital subject?
To study the “numerous realities” of “soul” is to know something of the universal expression of life as a whole. Such study should help us to realize that “soul” is the active expression of a pressing need in all the kingdoms of the universe, that is—“In the mineral kingdom, soul is called ‘latent force’;” “in the vegetable. kingdom it is called ‘virtue augmentative’ or the power of growth;” “in the animal kingdom it is called ‘sense perception’ or instinct;” “in the human world, soul signifies the ‘rational being,’ or mind.”
There are some people who are inclined to associate the word soul with human beings only. This is perfectly natural to those who are not informed of the fact that the attributes of the animal soul, as well as those of the mineral and
vegetable kingdoms, are also inherent qualities in man. There are other people who imagine that the soul of the animal is, like that of the human, perpetuated in the “after life.” Since “soul” is common to both the animal and the human kingdoms wherein lies the difference? ’Abdu’l-Bahá explains—“This term soul as applied to the animal kingdom, is also a natural (not spiritual) quality resulting from the mixture of elements, and it appears from their mingling and combination, for it is a quality which results from the composition of bodies (organisms), and is dispersed at their decomposition. From this we are to understand that the animal soul is not endowed with the capacity of attaining immortality, as the life force is dispersed at the decomposition of the animal tissues.” From this we will conclude that physical death of the animal ends all in so far as the individual is concerned. Briefly, the difference between the soul of the animal and that of the human is that the animal lacks the inherent capacity for development higher than that of an animal. Not so with the human or “rational being” for we read—“In the human world, soul signifies the ‘rational being’ or mind. This has a potential existence before its appearance in the human life.” Again, “Because of its attachment to matter and the physical functions of the body it is called the human soul. When it
manifests itself as the thinker, the comprehender, it is called the mind. And when it soars into the atmosphere of God, and travels in the spiritual world, it is designated as spirit.”
“THE SOUL IS the Sanctuary of
God.” We can now realize how the
entire universe constitutes His
“Sanctuary.” “Spirit, flowing out
from God, permeates all matter.
This spirit Love, reflecting the positive
and active aspect of God, impresses
its nature upon the atoms
and elements.”
Man being finite and limited, can only express his understanding of God “in terms” such as “Love,” “Truth,” “Life,” etc. The intelligent materialist or unbeliever who senses that, “The Divine Reality is far removed from man” and that “Its essence” is “beyond human comprehension” must, to account for that which he cannot understand (the Cause of life), give it a name, so he calls It “natural forces” and thus avoids the use of the name of God, the infinite, unknowable essence.
We have been told to love God with all our hearts. Since the Divine Reality or the essence of God is beyond human comprehension, how then are we able to love a God so entirely remote from us? We are also enjoined to “love all humanity alike.” “How call we love another whose personality is unpleasant?”
We know that man has a personality. Some personalities we love easily, others we may hate just as readily. A personal love may become so intense as to make us miserable, likewise a personal dislike
may make us equally unhappy. If these two extremes of personal like and dislike cause such unhappiness, then there must be a love that overlooks personalities, otherwise, the command to “love all humanity alike” would be a human impossibility.
Let us suppose that we exercise our “free human will” in an effort to try to love some one whose personality offends us. Will not the first faculty to come into play be that of reason? “Reason is His Throne.” Is not this peculiar reasoning faculty of ours that which distinguishes us from the animal, that which transcends “sense perception” or “instinct?” Is not the faculty of reason a gift to man alone and a means by which he may rise from the mortal state of unreasoning, instinctive animalism to a place near “His Throne?”
The faculty of reason pre-supposes mind or intellect. “Growth is from the mental station to the spiritual; something like the development from soldier to Commander.”
It is difficult to conceive of some one trying to “love all humanity alike” without first having well developed reasoning faculties. Rationality, it appears, in so far as the average soul is concerned, is but a relative term. There is every evidence that the truly rational soul is one whose mind is illumined in the sunlight of its being—the Holy Spirit. ’Abdu’l-Bahá says, “Mind is the action of the soul’s powers.”
It is true that an intellect may be powerful along certain specialized lines-even to a point of genius or madness. Mental mountains, let us say, whose rocky peaks are few as
compared to the deep shadows in the spacious valleys below. History is full of such.
There is no dogmatic formula by which we may attain this impersonal, selfless spiritual love, so it seems. “Souls differ in their capacity to receive and manifest the Light of the Spirit. Bahá’u’lláh said, There are as many ways to God as the breaths of His human creatures.” Each soul must develop according to its individual capacity. The fruits of this development, “thought, memory, reason and the emotional capacities” may be enjoyed by all who are spiritualized or humanized into the
dignity and freedom of “rational beings.”
The rational faculties of the Bahá’í student will surely become symmetrically developed by basking in the rays from the ancient “Sun of Truth” as manifested in the capacious “Lamp” of the modern world—Bahá’u’lláh. Then, will the sincere student experience the thrilling movement of “growth” from the “mental station to the spiritual.” Then will he happily appreciate the wisdom involved in the words, “The Soul is the Sanctuary of God; Reason is His Throne.” (All quotations in this article are from the Bahá’í Teachings.)
A visit to the Holy Land, where every stone, every corner and every path speaks with historic memories and palpitates with stories of the Old Testament Prophets, and the life of Jesus the Christ, requires deep preliminary study and careful preparation. One needs especially a spiritual preparation to penetrate the profound mysticism which surrounds and illuminates the countryside of Galilee, Samaria and the hills of Judea, and then they might be able to picture just a little of the lives of those simple but great characters of the past as they lived and suffered and prayed.
The history of the Holy Land loses itself in the dim mists of the
ages. There is an ancient legend that ’Akká was the home of Adam. Here legend and history weave a fairy-like pattern of the past.
Picture for yourself a narrow strip of rough, rocky, mountainous land between two great reservoirs of pure air—the Mediterranean Sea and the Great Desert. The atmosphere has a singular purity and translucent quality, so that the colors must be mixed on the palette of the imagination with the most mellow and delicate tints.
Next sketch rapidly, many rocky, barren, mountain ranges, several large sandy plains, a few small valleys capable of being cultivated. Paint in vivid colors a heterogeneous mass of all kinds of people, with
differing customs, costumes, standards of living, and grades of development. These, all unamalgamated and warring with each other until England reaches out a rescuing hand, restraining and bringing a semblence of order out of chaos.
We find in this little strip of land, no longer than from Albany to New York City, the Bridge of Sighs of history. It is the bridge between the north and the south, the connecting link between the east and west. It is the footstool of kings, the keynote of empires, the battlefield whose soil is stained with the blood of wars innumerable, and it is the home of outlaws, the shrine of martyrs, saints and Prophets by the score.
In Palestine there are Christians, Moslems, Jews, Samaritans, Germans, Indians, Russians, Persians, Armenians and Syrians—all hating and mutually suspicious of each other.
In 721 B. C. Israel’s glory departed and these people had no part in the affairs of Palestine for over 2,000 years. Palestine was successively ruled by Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece, Syria, Rome and last by the Turks for 700 years. These changes have had a very disastrous effect upon the political, economic and religious life of the country.
But already, in the short time since England has taken Palestine as a mandate, there is marked improvement in sanitation, good roads, substantial buildings with red tiled roofs, the absence of beggars and lepers and general signs of progress in all phases of life.
It seems the weakest spot in the progressive program which England
has been carrying out so far, is in the field of education. This is for several reasons, first, financial, for not enough money has been available; second, because the Jews are taking care of their own people by establishing an excellent school system. The Christians are also doing fairly well with their own, leaving the difficult problem, however, of the big mass of Moslem people for England to care for; in the third place, seven-eighths of the Moslems are totally illiterate and resent being educated. So there is, a great need for sympathetic teachers.
The Jewish University, founded by Einstein is most interesting and is already becoming the University of Universities taking up advanced work where other Universities discontinue. There are modern labratories in biology and colloidal chemistry, theology, history, literature, law and philosophy of the Jew. They have England to thank again for this great educational opportunity.
The English soldier boys are doing their bit, with great courtesy and tact. Bruce Barton says that if the Jews attempt to set up a government of their own, there will be a great revolt which will wipe out the Jews entirely. This illustrates how strong the feeling is against the Jews. The hope of harmony and peace and cooperation, however, lies with the children, as they become educated and enlightened.
It is plain to anyone that the problems of the Holy Land are to-day, complicated and of a most delicate character.
There are inconsiderable groups of every religion in the world, each
with some kind of a center in the Holy Land. The same ill feeling and lack of understanding constantly seen between the racial groups exists between the various religious camps.
There are shrines of many of these religious groups, ancient and modern, all over this fascinating land. One little known but most interesting is the Shrine of the Samaritans, at Nablus. The Samaritans are a dwindling remnant of Babylonian colonists. In the 7th century B. C., the Assyrian conquerors had planted them to replace the Israelite population of Samaria, who were deported fifty years before, to countries east of the Euphrates. On the return of the Jews from exile in 536 B. C., the Samaritans were not allowed to take part in the building of the Temple at Jerusalem, so they built one of their own on Mt. Gerizim and thereby sterotyped the race and worship so sharply that there is no association with the Jews, even to this day.
All the various religions of the world seem to be divided between those that are most conservative and those that are progressive in their ideals. This is very apparent among the Jews and we are surprised to learn that it is becoming more evident today among the Muhammadans.
The President of the Constantinople Woman’s College told me of the reformation of Turkey which seems to be a harbinger of conditions evolving in the Muhammadan world. She said that in Turkey, Muhammadanism is dead. A wind revives it for a time, but its revival does not last long. There is nothing they have yet found to
take it’s place. They are through with dogmas. They are willing to accept new ideas and are trying to take the best of the old and the new for the good of the people.
But it is rather disconcerting the way they look up to the people of the United States with trust and a belief that all Americans are honest. They are now religiously tolerant, but are rabid against proselyting. They quickly close the schools of those who teach religion of any kind. She said “If we Americans are welcomed to their country and shown every courtesy and hospitality and they demand that we teach no religion, we should keep faith with them until the doors shall open wider.”
“Everything that was before 1923” she said, “does not exist to-day. The young Turks are trying to put the best foot forward, and are grateful to the United States for all we are doing to help her save her self respect. But we must be more patient and sympathetic and co-operative. We must get a new set of religious principles over to the Turkish young women.” It seems to be the tendency of the young Muhammadan in the Holy Land today to rebuild the best from old Turkey, and add the new from the western world. Of all the natural shrines in Palestine today none are more enduring, symbolic and free from the man-wrought web of superstitions than are the beautiful Sea of Galilee and majestic, old, Mt. Carmel. The Sea nestles in calm, mirror-like blueness, 700 feet below the level of the sea. It is surrounded by softly curving hills and bordered with a strip of golden sand. It is thirteen
miles from north to south, and six miles from east to west. This beautiful spot where Jesus the Christ told the story of the good Samaritan, and then said, “Ye shall be my witnesses, both in Jerusalem and Judea and in Samaria and unto the uttermost parts of the earth.” And where He said to the fishermen, “Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men,” is surely one of the most truly impressive natural shrines of Christianity: This is doubly so because of the more recent presence of the Master ’Abdu’l-Bahá, Who also taught the people beside the tideless sea.
When bathed in sunshine and inhaling the freedom of the pure open spaces, and with face turned heavenward, one instinctively replies, “Yes, Lord, I will follow Thee too.”
To appreciate Mt. Carmel, The Mountain of God, we must turn back the pages of history for a moment. During the Greco-Roman days before Christ this famous mountain was covered with groves and terraces and many towns nestled at its feet. The Old Testament Prophets lived and taught upon it’s sloping sides. Jesus the Christ and His disciples often escaped from the crowds and from persecution in its friendly caves.
In the 7th century A. D. Chrosroes, the Persian Conqueror came, followed by the host of Khalif Omar. The four centuries of Moslem rule (637 to 1098) were most destructive. The Christian Crusades (1098 to 1187) added to the devastation. Each destroying the monuments of the one preceding. The Saracen invasion in the 13th
century drove both the Crusaders and the Carmelites away.
In 1631 Father Prosper again established the Carmelite Order on Mt. Carmel, over the cave of Elijah. In 1761 the Turks again became victorious, destroying the monastery and many of the villages of the Druses. In 1799 Napoleon entered upon the scene. For three months, March, April and May, he made unsuccessful siege on ’Akká. Finally being forced to abandon it, saying that if he could take that speck of dust, he could change the map of the world.
The next scene is of the wounded soldiers of the French being cared for on Mt. Carmel.
The scene changes. The Turks became enraged again, destroying everything on the historic old mountain. In 1827 Monk John the Baptist rebuilt the monastery, naming it Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. In 1914 at the beginning of the world war, the Turks tried again to destroy it.
From the earliest founding of this old monastery, the Carmelite monks have preserved a legend that the Christ would again appear upon the Mountain of God. They have a special room in which they expect Him to appear. They keep candles burning in this room, and a monk is in constant attendance. It is reported that in 1887 or ’88, Bahá’u’lláh, the Manifestation of the Christ Spirit for this day, did appear in that monastary and signed His Name to the guest register. But the Carmelites were asleep and have not yet awakened.
It is recorded Bahá’u’lláh, the Promised One, sat neath the clump of cedars on the mountain side,
praying perhaps for the peace and quickening of the world.
Near it stands the simple, impressive Shrine of the Báb, the Herald of the Bahá’í Revelation to mankind, and the Shrine of Abdu’l-Bahá, the servant of God.
Truly this is the Mountain of God—a bit of heaven brought to earth.
As one stands on the Path of Contemplation at sunset, overlooking the sea and the valley filled with history and legends shrouded in the mysteries of the past, the brain becomes deeply impressed with the pure brilliance of color, the delicacy of tint and the purity of air and the vista of inexpressible peace which prevails.
The soul responds spontaneously to the words, “Blessed are the peace-makers for they shall be called the children of God.” Here in the soft, mellow, gold tinted afterglow, all the mystic past, all the inharmonious creeds, all the discordant races, seem to merge into one. There were no creeds, no divergent races, no varying Holy Places—all were Holy, all were one,
and God stood revealed in the midst.
The Holy Land today is like a mighty river, gathering many brooks and streams into the unity of its on-flowing current in its progress toward the sea, and we see in vision the prophecy of the Master ’Abdu’l-Bahá, “All Must Become United and Agreed: All are Drops of One River, The Waters Of One Sea, The Breezes Of One Garden, The Streams Flowing From One Fountain, The Birds Soaring From One Apex, The Hyacinths Adorning One Park—Intoxicated With One Wine, And Their Hearts Ravished By One Melody.”
And so we will close with this thought of the Holy Land Today, singing in our hearts-“The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for Them; and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing; the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the Lord and the excellency of our God.” (Isaiah 35:1-2.)
THOSE of us who are neither too old nor too young can easily remember the days when science was looked upon as an obscure pastime of a few academic persons, working in seclusion and perhaps guarding their findings in jealous secrecy. Science was far removed from everyday life.
How different the conditions to-day! Dr. Austin H. Clark of the
National Museum believes that “we in the United States are now definitely embarked on what in the years to come will be regarded as a type of culture new in the history of man, a culture chiefly characterized by the increasingly broad application of the correlated facts of science to our daily lives.”
Such a revolution of environment cannot take place without its
problems. Many feel that one cannot be a devotee of science and retain any religious faith. There has consequently arisen in the minds of many, a conflict between science and religion. Our periodicals accord columns of space to those who seek to throw this conflict into bold relief, and are just as hospitable to those who seek to show that there cannot possibly be any such conflict.
The result is confusion. Authorities of equal standing and integrity speak on both sides of the question so that one who is seeking a pathway out of the dilemma is forced to fall back on his own judgment, to formulate a sort of philosophy of his own, or adopt whole cloth the theory of another.
Either of these courses may be individually satisfactory, but is there not the possibility that a question of values is concerned? Perhaps it is neither the scientific method of which we have heard so much, nor the actual application of science to everyday life, which represents the ultimate value to humanity. Perhaps it is something behind or beyond either of these which should be considered as the pearl of greatest price. If such be the case there is no need to argue about the conflict between science and religion—but to seek for that something behind or beyond the laws of science which is akin to the religious experience.
ONE OF THE MOST stimulating, helpful and encouraging attitudes yet made known is that of Professor A. S. Eddington of Cambridge University in his book “The Nature of the Physical Universe.”
In the most delightful and interesting
manner he leads us through the downfall of classical physics, relativity, time, the running-down of the universe, “becoming,” gravitation, man’s place in the universe, the quantum theory, the new quantum theory, world building, pointer readings and a discussion of reality and causation. Lastly he touches on science and mysticism.
In a recent address at Friends’ House in London he devoted himself to these last two subjects.
The possible conflict between science and religion he believes, is a problem of experience,—“The problem of proper orientation of our minds toward different elements of our experience.” Science is supposed to deal with experience or a part of it. Religion is an attitude toward experience. “The interaction of ourselves with our evironment is what makes up experience.”
We are dependent upon sensations from our sense organs in many interactions, “but surely experience is broader than this, and the problem of experience is not limited to the interpretation of sense impressions.”
“The desire for truth so prominent in the quest of science, a reaching out of the spirit from its isolation to something beyond, a response to beauty in nature and art, an inner light of conviction and guidance—are these as much a part of our being as our sensitivity to sense impressions?”
Clearly there is a similarity in the strivings of both science and religion—“a reaching out of the spirit” for that mystic something known to us as truth. How surely this accords with the teaching of ’Abdu’l-Bahá when He tells us that
science and religion are two wings by which we soar into the atmosphere of the knowledge of God.
Prof. Eddington believes that materialism in its literal sense is long since dead. “The tendency today is not to reduce everything to manifestations of matter—since matter now has only a minor place in the physical world—but to reduce it to manifestations of the operation of natural law.”
He believes that the harmony and simplicity of natural law illustrate one kind of perfection which might be associated with the mind of God.
“Natural law is not applicable to the unseen world behind the symbols, because it is unadapted to anything except symbols, and its perfection is a perfection of symbolic linkage. You cannot apply such a scheme to the parts of our personality which are not measurable by symbols any more than you can extract the square root of a sonnet. There is a kind of unity between the material and spiritual worlds, between the symbols and their background, but it is not the scheme of natural law which will provide the cement.”
The more one studies Eddington the more is one impressed with the simplicity and forcefulness of his utterances. They are not easily condensed because of their terse force and correctness. Perhaps the best way to give an idea of his refreshing attitude is by short quotations. They impress the writer as flashes of light on the affairs of men, on life, which illuminate and clarify. His phrases can scarce be improved upon.
“When we assert that God is real, we are not restricted to a comparison
with the reality of atoms and electrons. If God is as real as the shadow of the World War on Armistic Day need we seek further reason for making a place for God in our thoughts and lives?
“We want an assurance that the soul in reaching out to the unseen world is not following an illusion. We want security and faith, and worship and above all love. . . . It is not sufficient to be told that it is good for us to believe this, that it will make better men and women of us. We do not want a religion that deceives us for our own good.
“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.
“We have learnt that the exploration of the external world by the methods of physical science leads not to a concrete reality but to a shadow world of symbols, beneath which those methods are unadapted for penetrating. Feeling that there must be more behind, we return to our starting point in human consciousness. . . . There we find other stirrings, and other revelations (true or false) than those conditioned by the world of symbols. Are not these, too, of significance?
“Obviously we cannot trust every whim and fancy of the mind as though it were indisputable revelation; we can and must believe that we have an inner sense of values which guides us as to what is to be heeded, otherwise we cannot start on our survey of even the physical world.
“Consciousness alone can determine the validity of its convictions. ‘There shines no light save its own light to show itself unto itself.’
“Religious creeds are a great obstacle to any full sympathy between the outlook of the scientist and the outlook which religion is so often supposed to require.
“Rejection of creed is not inconsistent with being possessed by a living belief.
“If our so called facts are changing shadows, they are shadows cast by the light of constant truth.
“Religion for the conscientious seeker is not a matter of doubt and self-questionings. There is a kind of sureness which is very different from cocksureness.”
WITH THESE SENTIMENTS ringing in our ears let us turn for a moment to the Bahá’í Teachings: “Your faith comes like rain; the first drops are far between, but soon it will pour in torrents. Your faith is also like a seed that will bear its fruit. In a tree we judge of its life and vigor by the way it grows; so it is with man. The knowledge of God rises in the heart like the sun; it mounts, mounts, always casting an immortal light.
“The Spirit resembles a rivulet when the earth fills the soul. Put away the terrestrial and the mighty torrent of living water will rush through your freed body.”
Turning now to the chapter on Science and Mysticism in The Nature of the Physical Universe wherein Prof. Eddington draws some general conclusions:
“Life would be stunted and narrow if we could feel no significance in the world around us beyond that which can be weighed and measured with the tools of the physicist or described by the metrical symbols of the mathematician.
“We have torn away the mental
fancies to get at the reality beneath, only to find that the reality of that which is beneath is bound up with its potentiality of awakening these fancies. It is because the mind, the weaver of illusion, is also the only guarantor of reality that reality is always to be sought at the base of illusion. Illusion is to reality as the smoke to the fire. . . . But it is reasonable to inquire whether in the mystical illusions of man there is not a reflection of an underlying reality.
“If I were to try to put into words the essential truth revealed in the mystic experience, it would be that our minds are not apart from the world; and the feelings that we have of gladness and melancholy and our yet deeper feelings are not of ourselves alone, but are glimpses of a reality transcending the narrow limits of our particular consciousness—that the harmony and beauty of the face of Nature is at root one with the gladness that transfigures the face of man.
“By introspection we drag out the truth for external survey; but in the mystical feeling the truth is apprehended from within and is, as it should be, a part of ourselves.
“We may try to analyze the experience as we analyze humor, and construct a theology, or it may be an atheistic philosophy, which will put into scientific form what is to be inferred about it. But let us not forget that the theology is symbolic knowledge whereas the experience is intimate knowledge.
“Feelings, purposes, values, make up our consciousness as much as sense-impressions.
“Because we are unable to render exact account of our environment
it does not follow that it would be better to pretend that we live in a vacuum.
“The challenge now comes not from the scientific materialism which professes to seek a natural explanation of spiritual power, but from the deadlier moral materialism which despises it.
“In the mystic sense of the creation around us, in the expression of art, in the yearning towards God, the soul grows upward and finds the fulfillment of something implanted in its nature. The sanction for this development is within us, a striving born with our consciousness or an Inner Light proceeding from a greater power than ours.
“The physical no less than the mystical significance of the scene is not there; it is here—in the mind.
“It has been the task of science to discover that things are very different from what they seem. But we do not pluck out our eyes because they persist in deluding us with fanciful colorings instead of giving us the plain truth about wave-length.
“We trust to some inward sense of fitness when we orient the physical world with the future on top, and likewise we must trust to some inner monitor when we orient the spiritual world with the good on top.
“But in each revolution of scientific thought new worlds are set to old music, and that which has gone before is not destroyed but refocused. Amid all our faulty attempts at expression the kernel of scientific truth steadily grows; and of this truth it may be said—the more it changes, the more it remains the same thing.”
And so on-I could go on selecting such interesting bits almost without limit, but I am sure that your interest has been so aroused that you will want to read and re-read this truly wonderful book by a fearless, conscientious scientist, one who can delve as deeply as instruments allow and still find an abiding faith in the Glory of God.
Surely such books are written in the shadow of the the Guidance of Bahá’u’lláh.
ON a memorable day (Saturday June 29, 1912)—’Abdu’l-Bahá gave a Unity Feast at West Englewood, N. J. Every year since, on the last Saturday in June, there has been a commemoration of the event. Year by year these anniversaries have grown in size and importance until they have now become international in character.
As June 29th this year also fell on a Saturday, the occasion was an
exact anniversary, and so it was most fitting that the invitation issued this year by the West Englewood Assembly was specially characterized by its broadness and universality. It was an “Invitation to a friendly gathering of open-minded people, called together in the interest of inter-racial and inter-religious accord.”
In response to this invitation, which was sent far and wide, over
three hundred people assembled at West Englewood during the afternoon and evening, among them many from great distances, and representing different races and religions. Even yet letters of regret at their inability to attend are being received from Australia and other distant countries.
As stated in a local paper, there was no set program, and the “speakers were such only by inspiration.” Mr. James Morton, Curator of the Museum of Natural History at Paterson, N. J., was the principal speaker of the afternoon. He delivered a brilliant address on the Oneness of Science and Religion, giving many illustrations of how these two erstwhile enemies are now close friends and walking hand in hand together toward a common goal. He accentuated the fact that this happy condition has been realized since the advent of Bahá’u’lláh, and was being made more and more possible by the steady and triumphant advance of the Bahá’i teachings and principles.
Dr. Henry Hughes Proctor, Pastor of the Nazarene Congregational Church of Brooklyn, spoke of the present great need of racial justice, and said that he was speaking to the Bahá’ís because he felt sure that due to their broad views and the universality of the principles for which they stood, his people could rely upon their sympathy and aid in working to bring about a better understanding between the races and laying a foundation for effective co-operation. He stressed the importance of learning how to get along with one another.
The evening was largely devoted to sociability. Short talks were given by members of the West Englewood Assembly, and Mr.
Hooper Harris, of New York, in a short address endeavored to show that one of the greatest values of the Bahá’í Faith was its unreserved acceptance of the underlying truth of all the great religious systems and its sympathetic understanding of their Scriptures and Founders. Through this acceptance and understanding it was not only the friend and brother of all of them, but their ally and champion, since through its comprehensive knowledge of their spiritual unity and the inner significances of their Holy Books, it had the power to irrefutably prove their truth and the validity of their Prophets.
One especially interesting feature of the occasion was the truly wonderful singing of Mrs. Dorothy Richardson of Boston, whose rendition of the music of her race (the spirituals)—as well as of classical music, has been enjoyed and appreciated in both this country and abroad.
Another notable feature was the presence of Mr. Hamlin Garland, whose play, “Appearances,” inspired, as he said, by the Bahá’í Teachings—has had such a splendid reception in many of the principal cities of this country. He presented several members of his company to the audience, and gave a graphic description of his experiences in writing and successfully presenting his play, giving most of the credit to others, and especially to his “Manager.” Apart from his genius as a playwright and producer, Mr. Garland has a peculiarly pleasing personality.
Taken all in all, the “Souvenir” this year at West Englewood was, as ’Abdu’l-Bahá most certainly wished it—unique.
IT SEEMS, AT first sight, a daring and Utopian theme which the German Ambassador to the United States, Dr. Von Prittwitz, chose for his commencement address at the University of Syracuse. What he did was to trace in outline the dream of a common or international citizenship. Whether under the form of a universal law of nations, or citizens in a “City of God,” or allegiance to a Holy Alliance, the idea of a citizenship open to everybody and enjoyed by all has never succeeded in taking a concrete or lasting embodiment.
Loyalty to one country need not mean hatred of another. Citizens of different lands may feel that in many essentials they stand on a perfect equality. In particular has the great recent movement against war—especially against war as an instrument of international policy brought nearer the time when, as the German Ambassador said, men will think that a man across the sea is as truly his neighbor as the man across the street, and when national frontiers shall be thought of not as barriers but as bridges. The international citizenship thus to be attained is not one of outward or legal form but of the moral and spiritual kind which in the end must prevail over all others.—New York Times.
SIR OLIVER LODGE, the eminent British scientist, discussed the other day modern progress in the realm of science and remarked that what he felt more than anything else was “the extraordinary limitation of all knowledge compared
with what is.” He expressed the opinion that if we could realize how the world and its people were all built out of two electrical units we should be astonished.
“There is no warfare in science,” said Sir Oliver; “there is universal friendliness and an interchange of discoveries. Whatever is done in one nation is public property to all the nations of the world. There is a great feeling of amity—a renewed feeling of amity now. I hope for many good results from international friendship.
“It is now nearly ten years since the war ceased. Let us try and think of international amity and friendship in the same way as we cultivate it in the realm of science.
There are in the universe any number of things that we do not know of. We only want to have receptivity, the right instrument, the right organ, the right perception. ‘Open his eyes that he may see. Open our ears that we may hear.’ There are a multitude of things all about us that we do not know. The world is much more wonderful than those who are grubbing about in it are ready to admit.
“WHAT I feel more than anything else is the extraordinary limitation of all our knowledge compared with what is. The progress of physics at the present time is breathtaking. It is not ready for popular exposition yet—it is too complicated, too difficult. I can hardly keep up with it. Young men—and they are brilliant fellows—in all the countries of the
world—in Holland, in Denmark, in Germany, in France, in America and in England—are going ahead at a terrific speed; so much so that if one speaks of a discovery a year old it is antiquated.
“That does not mean that it has not contributed something, but it has been partly superseded by a new discovery.
“The prospect for humanity is great. We are recent comers to the planet; no wonder we make mistakes, no wonder we are only half civilized. There is plenty of advance to be made; meanwhile, we can enjoy both the grandeur and the simplicity, but I do feel that if we realized how things were constituted, how all the things we see—landscapes, buildings, houses, people, bodies, every thing—are all built out of groupings of two little electrical units, the proton and the electron, we should be astonished.” –New York Times.
THE WORLD NEEDS—seriously needs-an international ”second” language, and for the credit of our country I should rejoice to see President Hoover call an international conference to decide what that language shall be.
The problem is daily solving itself, to be sure, but in a haphazard and relatively ineffective way. The thing to do is to replace this by substituting systematic procedure and thus give to the world what it needs more quickly and more easily. The cost would be negligible.
The world is getting to be a very small place. Yet see what is the condition of things. You or I may know French and German, but suppose we go to Norway, or Sweden, or Denmark, or Spain, or Portugal,
or Italy, or Greece—to say nothing of Russia or the Far East or the South American countries. Or suppose we want to do business with firms or individuals in those parts of the world. We are pretty helpless, unless we are able to get in touch by good fortune with some one who knows one of the three languages that I am supposing we ourselves know.
I have had experience abroad and have seen the great need for a language known to all foreigners, and in which I could talk with them or write to them with ease and accuracy of understanding.
For the good of mankind I’d like to see it put through, and for the credit of my country I’d be glad to see it lead the way.—Arthur Elliot Sproul, in the Washington Post.
PRAGUE (AP).—Teaching of English will be compulsory in all Czechoslovak schools after September 1. The only language which students hitherto have been required to learn was German, one-third of Czechoslovak’s population being of Saxon origin.
In order that adults may also acquire some knowledge of English, evening courses will be given in club houses and schools and English lessons are broadcast over the state radios three times a week. The state and public libraries lend books in English at a nominal fee of a few cents a month.
An English weekly magazine is published in Prague and a newspaper will soon be started for the benefit of thousands of English and American tourists who visit Czechoslovakia’s spas.—Washington, D. C. ”Star.”
