| ←Issue 6 | Star of the West Volume 20 - Issue 7 |
Issue 8→ |
 Proofread onceReturn to PDF view
|
We are working hard to have proofread and nicely formatted text for you to read. Here is our progress on this section:
|
| VOL. 20 | OCTOBER, 1929 | No. 7 |
| Page | |
Editorial, Stanwood Cobb | 195 |
A World Congress of Colleges Excerpt from an address of Dr. Cloyd Heck Marvin | 197 |
Whence Comes the Light Chapter 5. The Guardian and Administration, Loulie A. Mathews | 198 |
The Bahá’í Movement in German Universities, Martha, L. Root | 202 |
War Can Be Outlawed, Dale S. Cole | 209 |
Clay-Pieces, Marzieh K. Nabil | 213 |
The Fundamental Unity of Religions, Bertha Hyde Kirkpatrick and Mabel Hyde Paine | 215 |
King Amity the Third, Louis G. Gregory | 218 |
World Thought and Progress | 223 |
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.
--PHOTO--
A group of Bahá'is and their friends in attendance at the Third Annual Amity Conference, August 1929, at Green Acre, Eliot, Maine, the Bahá'i Summer Colony. (See page 218).
| VOL. 20 | OCTOBER, 1929 | NO. 7 |
live according to the requirements of this glorious age.”
DOES HUMANITY PROGRESS? In spite of pessimistic assertions to the contrary, it is evident to any careful observer that the average people of today, in the world’s most advanced countries, are more refined, more gentle, more humane, than in past epochs.
Motoring through western Massachusetts, I took occasion to stroll out from a gas station during refillment. It was a lovely Sabbath morning, and over the flowered fields peace lay like a sacrament. But from a certain quarter came harsh sounds of voices raised in quarrel—a human drama in the open air.
As I reached a rise of ground, I saw before me a small gypsy encampment almost in the midst of the suburban life of the town. Within a ring of tents, a group of gypsies were engaged in violent dispute and gesticulation. The chief actor in the scene was a young matron who was pouring forth the utmost vituperation upon an older man, and upon the group in general. He was retorting in similar style, and at times others of the group took up the quarrel.
One could not understand the words. But the spirit of the scene became indelibly fixed upon my memory. For before me, as if recreated from the dim past, was being enacted an episode from ancient
Babylon. Here was warm hatred, blood lust, a harshness unmodified by the gradual amelioration which Christianity has worked upon the morals and manners of the world.
These people, mysterious travelers from some ancient unknown bourne, still live and breathe in the atmosphere of pagan days. Their whole beings vibrate easily to notes of anger, malice, jealousy, malignancy. They thrive upon passion, enjoy the throb of violent emotions, and live their highest moments in the (to them) inspiring drama of quarrel and recriminations.
Yet meanwhile, around these remnants of an ancient pagan day, flowed the more peaceful currents of modern Christian civilization. Here, in these quiet suburban homes overlooking the gypsy encampment, were a people who in their manner of living avoided quarrels, condemned violence, and sought as far as in them lay to express in their daily lives the amenities of a civilization founded upon neighborliness, cooperation and peace. In the better class suburbs of our American cities, we find uniformly expressed the highest qualities of our present civilization. In these homes, beautiful, comfortable, set each in its own charming entourage of lawn and shrubs and flowers, we find a people far indeed removed from the crass
and brutal selfishness, the hatreds, the aggressions of ancient Babylon. Should we search to find the cause of this great progress, we would perceive it to be the light and power in the spiritual stimulus given to humanity by the words and life of the Christ. His message of love and mutual service, reverberating down through the centuries, have at last created an individual, a family, and a civic conscience which guides the best of present humanity into a graciousness of daily living far surpassing anything the world has known before.
BAHA’U’LLAH REPEATING this same message of love and unity in terms significant not only for this day and age but for the future evolution of the world, has given again to humanity a spiritual dynamic destined to raise it to still higher stages of spiritual expression in the daily life.
The purpose of the Bahá’i Revelation is nothing less than that of raising all humanity to the highest spiritual level which the race today shows itself capable of achieving. Religion is to be expressed in deeds, and not in profession of faith. “Bahá’is,” says ’Abdu’l-Bahá, “may not content themselves with the noise, the clamor, the hollowness of religious doctrine. Nay, rather, they should exemplify in every respect of their lives the attributes and virtues that are born of God. . . . They should justify their claim to be Bahá’is by deeds, not by name. . . . The essential purpose of faith and belief is to ennoble the inner being of man with the outpourings of grace from on high.”
Previous religions have sought to bring to man the realization of certain
foundation truths of the spiritual life—namely, the unity and Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man. All who accepted these doctrines became participants of the given religion; but today more is required than acceptance of a doctrine. Humanity, owing now to its already achieved illumination and universal understanding of these basic spiritual truths, is ready to undertake a further stage in its spiritual evolution. This stage is that of actually living a divinely guided life on this plane, expressing in that life the divine attributes. We have the plan in ’Abdu’l-Bahá’s instructions: “In this holy dispensation the crowning glory of bygone ages and cycles, faith, is no mere acknowledgment of the unity of God, but rather the living of a life that manifests the virtues and perfections implied in such belief.”
THUS IT IS SEEN that a supreme obligation is presented to all who would accept the Bahá’i Teachings. Participation of a real and vital nature in this Movement calls for the daily practice of the “divine art of living,” with the purpose of not only perfecting one’s self but of advancing also the progress of humanity.
“He is a true Bahá’i,” says ’Abdu’l-Bahá, “who strives by day and by night to progress and advance along the path of human endeavor, whose cherished desire is so to live and act as to enrich and illumine the world; whose source of inspiration is the Essence of Divine perfection; whose aim in life is to conduct himself so as to be the cause of infinite progress. Only when he attains unto such perfect gifts can it be said of him that he is a Bahá'i”
Dr. Cloyd Heck Marvin, President of George Washington University, in an address delivered at the opening exercises of Randolph-Macon Women’s College, advocated a world congress of colleges and universities to consider methods of training for world leadership. In the following excerpts from his address published in The Evening Star, Washington, D. C., Sept. 24, 1929, we find an appeal for cooperation which expresses the ideals of the New Age.
TRACING THE WORLD advances in confederation which created first the United States of America, and which now may form a united states of Europe, Dr. Marvin declared that the responsibility for developing the leadership which brings about world union rests upon the institutions of learning.
“The leaven that works by different processes to lead the people of the world to a realization of the common interest of all is largely a matter of education,” Dr. Marvin said. “Colleges and universities cannot set themselves apart from the leaven that is at work in the world today. We must not view our lives in a monastic sort of way, for out of colleges and universities must come the social leadership for tomorrow. To insure such leadership the curricula of the colleges must be so ordered that students will develop along lines which will give them a masterful hold upon the idea of social unity and understanding throughout the world.
“That materials for such curricula might be appropriately selected and correctly proportioned so as to portray the spirit and temper of the social backgrounds of the several nations, it would be well to call together a congress of representatives of the colleges and universities of the world to consider methods of disseminating correct and discriminating information about the several nations to the end that correct understanding of national ideals, policies, traditions and aspirations might be known, and to consider methods of closer co-operation between the instructional and research forces of the institution. Thus would be brought to bear the elements necessary to understanding in training for world leadership.”
In stressing education as a means of promoting world understanding, Dr. Marvin declared also that the United States should take more than a theoretical interest in world federation. Comparing the strengthening of federal power in the colonies, which finally resulted in the United States of America, with the movements for co-operation among the European nations which have culminated in the recent Briand proposal for a united states of Europe, the George Washington University president declared that “a process similar to our own political development has been compelling Europe and the world to a fuller understanding, a deeper appreciation and a greater union.”
Arms abandonment discussions, he said, are “well,” but, he contended, they represent a negative approach to the social problem. The real approach to world unity, he said, is education, and it was at this point in his speech that he placed the burden of promoting international understanding directly upon the colleges and universities.
This is the concluding chapter of a very instructive series of articles which began in the May number of this magazine. Mrs. Matthews has recorded the history—of course very much in brief—of those great events which should be studied as a preface to Bahá’i literature, for the student of today finds it of the utmost importance to acquaint himself from the beginning with the story of the lives of the Founders of the Bahá'i Movement and the present administration.
PERSIA was interpenetrated by superstition and fanaticism at the advent of the Prophet Bahá’u’lláh. Against this background and amid the falling fortunes of family, without the education of this world, Bahá’u’lláh uttered words which renewed civilization, unfolded spiritual knowledge and raised the tattered standard of Truth. Where shall we look for the source of such inspiration save to God? Even today the principals of Bahá’u’lláh represent our most advanced ideals, as even a cursory glance will show:
Unfettered search after truth. Abandonment of superstition and prejudice.
The oneness of mankind. “All are leaves of one tree, flowers in one garden.”
Religion must be the cause of harmony and love, else it is not religion.
All religions are one in fundamental principles.
Religion must conform with science. Faith and reason must be in full accord.
Universal Peace: the establishment of a universal League of Nations, of international arbitration and an international parliament.
The adoption of an auxiliary international language, which shall be taught in every school throughout the world.
Compulsory education for all and special advantages for girls, who will become the first educators of the next generation.
Equal opportunity of development and equal rights and privileges for both sexes.
Work for all: no idle rich, no idle poor. Work in the spirit of service is worship.
Prejudice of all kinds must be forgotten.
Let us examine the outer world and observe if the light brought hither by the Prophet, has affected the physical environment of man. When Bahá’u’lláh was born we had neither a telegraph wire nor a motor car. We read by flickering candles and dim oil lamps. Groups of people lived as separate units, knowing neither steamboat nor train but communicating with each other by slow stage-coach and uncertain sailing vessels. Today through the creative power of the Prophet we live in a new era–we may say truly in a new dimension. We ride through the air and from it draw music. Sounds and colors are brought from far off lands, and knowledge of happenings at the equator and the poles seem miraculously borne into our midst. From every realm comes light flooding man’s daily life. The power of God revealed through the Prophets endows
man with the capacity to press forward to new goals and to wrest from nature secrets hitherto hidden. The means of establishing the new order is inherent in the message and presence of God’s Prophet. He becomes a channel through which dynamic power pours into the minds and hearts of men.
Bahá’u’lláh’s far flung principles are gradually being absorbed into our consciousness. The law of consultation is the crucible into which opinions and actions must be poured in order to free the gold from alloy. The condition of present evolution makes this law the touchstone of spiritual alchemy, and Bahá’u’lláh tells us the new age will rest upon the pillars of Consultation and Kindness.
In every part of the world Bahá’i groups are forming and are making practical application of this law; all matters pertaining to the Cause are referred to them for consultation and decision. As the teachings spread, countries elect a National Assembly by means of delegates chosen by the local Bahá’i assemblies. The duties of office are for the duration of one year, and the number of men and women on all Spiritual Assemblies (Committees) is nine.
’Abdu’l-Bahá appointed a Guardian for the Cause in the person of His grandson Shoghi Effendi. The world has gained in him a powerful ally on the side of justice and peace. Shoghi Effendi, still a young man, studied at Oxford and now lives in Haifa with members of ’Abdu’l-Bahá’s family. He guides the Bahá’i world not as one set above others, but as a true brother and co-worker. In every quarter of the
globe whatever concerns Bahá’is is his direct care. His function is unique. His responsibility without limit.
The Guardian evinces a wisdom and all insight that is equal to the needs of the infant Cause. While according unstinted encouragement to every sincere effort, he curbs and prunes the dangerous tendencies of the age, and steadily draws the Bahá’i world towards the true independence born of the Word of God. His letters may be read with termendous profit by all men whether they be believers in Bahá’u’lláh or another Prophet. The following are a few brief extracts:
“I need not dwell upon what I have already reiterated and emphasized that the administration is an instrument and not a substitute for the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, that it should be regarded as a channel through which His promised blessings may flow, that it should guard against such rigidity as would clog and fetter the liberating forces released by His revelation.”
“The Bahá’is must do their utmost to extend at all times the helping hand to the poor, the sick, the disabled, the orphan, the widow, irrespective of color, creed or caste. They must promote by every means in their power the material as well as the spiritual enlightenment of youth.”
“As the administrative work of the Cause steadily expands, as its various branches grow in importance and number, it is absolutely necessary that we bear in mind this fundamental fact that all administrative activities, however harmoniously and efficiently conducted, are but means to an end. * * *
Let us take heed lest in our great concern for the perfection of the administrative machinery of the Cause, we lose sight of the Divine Purpose for which it was created. Let us be on our guard lest the growing demand for specialization in the administrative functions of the Cause detain us from joining the ranks of those who in the forefront of battle are gloriously engaged in summoning the multitude to this New Day of God. This indeed should be our primary concern; this is our sacred obligation, our vital and urgent need.”
“Not by the force of numbers, not by the exposition of a set of new and noble principles, not by an organized campaign of teaching, no matter how world-wide and elaborate its character—not even by the staunchness of our faith or the exaltation of our enthusiasm, can we ultimately hope to vindicate in the eyes of a critical and sceptical age the supreme claim of the Abha Revelation. One thing, and only one thing, will unfailingly and alone secure the undoubted triumph of this sacred Cause, namely the extent to which our inner lives and private characters mirror forth in their manifold aspects the splendor of those eternal principles proclaimed by Bahá’u’lláh.“
To enter the Bahá’i Movement in its fullest concept is to abandon all exclusive ideas—an experience which at first exposes one to new trials and sufferings, as the human ego revolts against the supreme practice of universal love. Here the scientist must associate with the unlearned, the rich with the poor, the white with the colored, the mystic with the literalist and the
Christian with the followers of all religions—and on terms that remove the privileges and advantages of traditional precedents and presumptions. But for this difficult experience there are glorious compensations. Such association removes fear and constraint; the banishment of constraint liberates stifled and latent powers. Spiritual love vitalizes man, his expression becomes freer, his imagination more creative. A Bahá’i community is a gathering where the flower of unity slowly unfolds.
In the Bahá’i administration the student will observe the complete reconciliation of the opposed claims of democratic freedom and unanswerable authority as well as an entire absence of salaried clergy. Bahá’i believers having knowledge and ability may teach, but they exercise no authority over the individual conscience. All questions relative to the Cause are presented to a Spiritual Assembly. Bahá’i authority is measured by self-sacrifice and not by arbitrary power, the religious conception is one which combines mysticism—the sacred personal experience—with practical morality.
A Bahá’i community is so deeply laid and broadly extended as to include every sincere soul, it shuts the gate of fellowship on no one. The inherent necessity of bringing the administration into hands best fitted for the work will move the individual, through prayer and spiritual insight, to recognize those of vision—who in turn will defer to whosoever is capable of still greater sacrifice and inspiration. The inevitable result will be a constant improvement in the qualities placed
at the service of the Cause. Each assembly studies the teachings, assists the poor, and gives ethical and material aid in the community where it functions.
The Bahá’i groups vividly recall the early Christians, who gathered in the catacombs to ponder upon the words of Christ and to discover ways of making practical application of His principles. They were, in truth, laying the foundation of a new civilization which later crumbled the walls of the Roman Empire. The governing bodies of Rome attached no importance to these humble gatherings and even had they been in their very midst, lacking insight, and ignorant of the power of God’s Messenger, they could not have measured their far reaching importance. Bahá’i assemblies today are making the same effort, they are meeting to study the words of Bahá’u’lláh and ’Abdu’l-Bahá and to sow the seed which will eventually bring a millenium of peace and toleration—racial and religious. As no money, power or perquisites result from Bahá’i administration, the worldly and ambitious
will turn away from the steeper ascent—the sharper sacrifice—of unrewarded hours of service given in the assemblies. Yet through the power of God shall the earth bear witness to the fulfillment of this strange and cryptic saying, “And the meek shall inherit the earth.”
’Abdul-Bahá’s words illumine the spirit of consultation:
“The prime requisites for them that take counsel together are purity of motive, radiance of spirit, detachment from all else save God. . . . In this day, assemblies of consultation are of the greatest importance and a vital necessity. . . . The members thereof must take counsel together in such wise that no occasion for ill-feeling or discord may arise. This can be attained when every member expresseth with absolute freedom his own opinion and setteth forth his argument. Should any one oppose, he must on no account feel hurt for not until matters are fully discussed can the right way be revealed. The shining spark of truth cometh forth only after the clash of differing opinions.”
Humanity, torn with dissension and burning with hate, is crying at this hour for a fuller measure of that love which is born of God, that love which in the last resort will prone the one solvent of its incalculable difficulties and problems. Is it not incumbent upon us, whose hearts are aglow with love for Him, to make still greater effort to manifest that love in all its purity and power in our dealings with our fellow-men?”—Shoghi Effendi-.
This is the second and concluding article by Miss Root on her experience among some of the leading universities of Germany. The first article appeared last month and covered the story of her visits to Leipzic, Frankfurt-Am-Main and Berlin Universities.
MUNICH UNIVERSITY is the second largest university in Germany with about eight thousand students. Dr. F. R. Merkel, Professor of Comparative History of Religions, was arranging a course of lectures on modern religious movements and he graciously planned that one of these could be a Bahá'i lecture. Mrs. Consul Schwarz of Stuttgart was in Munich on that date, December 12, and she spoke brilliantly and with deep love and insight on the history and principles of the Bahá’i Cause, and the writer spoke on the progress of the Bahá’i Movement in the five continents. Mrs. Schwarz is Editor of the German Bahá’i Magazine the “Sonne der Warheit” and she and her husband Kommerzienrat Consul Schwarz knew ’Abdu’l-Bahá; they had visited Him in Paris in May 1913, and entertained Him in Stuttgart. And they have visited Shoghi Effendi, Guardian of the Bahá’i Cause, in Haifa. Mrs. Schwarz knows the Teachings well. There was much enthusiasm at the Munich lecture; by invitation and “foot-stamping“ applause, it was decided to continue the lecture and discussion for a second hour. In this second hour the Professor also spoke, and many questions were asked and answered. The next morning a few students deeply interested came to the hotel where conversation was continued for
three hours. Mrs. Schwarz also came and the students were so happy to speak with her again.
Certain questions have been brought up in the discussions in nearly all the universities, namely more details about how many Bahá’is are there in the world to-day? What are the scientific Bahá’i Teachings on the life after death? What is the Bahá’i organization? And what is the relation of Bahá’ism to Bábism, Muhammadanism, Christianity and Judaism?
BRESLAU UNIVERSITY situated in the extreme east of Germany, the gateway from Poland, Russia and the east, is also one of the large and very interesting universities of Germany, enrolling about five thousand students. Professor Carl Brockelmann arranged the lecture there in the Hall of the Oriental Seminary. He too spoke eloquently about the Cause. Among those present were Professors of Arabic, Persian, Turkish Languages, Professors of Theology, Professors of German, and students from the East, the Near East, and the United States, as well as the German students. In almost all universities the audiences have been more or less cosmopolitan, for to the German universities come students and Professors, too, from many lands. The writer observed that some of the very advanced German students working
--PHOTO--
Professor Carl Brockelmann of Breslaw University
for a special degree had studied for a term or two in Oxford or Cambridge Universities. Students with scholarships from the United States were represented in nearly every German University which the writer visited.
GOTTINGEN UNIVERSITY interested me because in Gottingen lives Professor Dr. Friedrich Karl Andreas, a Persian scholar, Professor Emeritus, now a man over eighty years of age, who formerly had resided for seven years in Persia and had written a little book about the Bábis. He was very kind and pleasant, and he said he would be glad to translate some book from Bahá’ulláh into the German language; he also said he would tell his pupils. The well-known Professor of Semitic languages, Professor Mark Lidzbarski, had recently passed on and his successor had not yet arrived, therefore
a public lecture was not arranged in June.
Americans may be interested to know that it was to Gottingen University that Benjamin Franklin came as early as 1766 to investigate the equipment of different schools with the intention to use this information in the founding of the University of Pennsylvania. George Bancroft, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, John Lathrop Motley, B. L. Gildersleeve, Albert Harkness, J. Pierpont Morgan, are only a few of the distinguished men in the United States who studied in this beautiful university right in the heart of the Harz and Weser Mountains and the Thuringen Forest region. It was here, too, that Bismarck received his university training, and here that Wilhelm Weber with Gauss invented the electric telegraph. The university library with
--PHOTO--
Professor Emeritus, Dr. Friedrich Karl Andreas of Gottingen
its 700,000 volumes contains a few of the best known Bahá’i books. Every library in Germany has Bahá’i volumes and university circles have been enthusiastic over the “Bahá’i World,” a book out this year which gives the progress of the Bahá’i Movement throughout the world in the last two years.
PROFESSOR JACOB WILHELM HAUER of Tubingen University said that his attention was called to the Bahá’i Movement when a friend of his wrote a book somewhat against it. In 1912-13 Professor Hauer studied in Oxford University and a friend there was a Bahá’i from Hamadan Persia. “He was one of the finest men I have ever met in my life,” said this Tubingen Professor. “Then the war came and he went to Europe and I was imprisoned in England. I began to read about the Bahá’i Teachings and in that time Professor Edward G. Browne was our great authority.” Professor Hauer later went to Egypt, Palestine and Syria, and he said he was very attracted to a young man in Beirut College who was a Bahá’i. Coming down from Palestine to Syria, Professor Hauer went by way of ’Akká and saw the Tomb of Bahá’u’lláh. In Egypt and Syria he searched and gathered a fine collection of Bahá'u’lláh’s books and manuscripts in Persian and Arabic, which he says is the finest collection in Germany today. Professor Hauer is a great spiritual force and practical adviser and helper in the German Youth Movement. Last year he met a number of Bahá’is in Geneva and since then he has read several books about the Bahá’i history and Teachings.
Now Professor Hauer is collecting as many Bahá’i books and manuscripts as possible for the Oriental Seminary of Tubingen University which he founded in 1922. He is professor of Indology and Comparative History of Religions. In this Seminary he and his students work together and it is possible that they may translate directly from their original sources some of Bahá’u’lláh’s great works. The writer admired his fire and enthusiasm when he said: “We wish to get a big collection of all sorts. We desire to get the sources of all religions collected in this seminary. I wish to study the Bahá’i Movement not second or third hand, but from its fountain-head, from its source, the writings of the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh and ’Abdu’l-Bahá.”
It seems important to explain in this article that a German University is not quite the same as an American University or as a French one. The Professors (and they are appointed by the government, but recommended by the university) announce their lectures for the year and decide the time and place. Each student selects those which he wishes and communicates his choice to the registrar of the university and pays to the latter the necessary fee. The lectures, excepting those on science, are all held in the public halls of the university, but these lectures are only the introduction to the study carried on in seminars. (Seminars are institutions of research.) For example, Professor Hauer lectures in the great aula perhaps to two hundred students who hail his entrance with tremendous “stamping applause!” At least it was like that the day the writer
--PHOTO--
Bonn University with an attendance of seven thousand students
visited his lecture. But in llis seminar, twelve or fifteen students come and they work together translating, discussing.
The main stress in a German University is the ability to do independent work. A German University is essentially a place where a student may find the highest specialists engaged in research in their particular fields and interested in making men and women capable of independent work in chosen fields, such as law, theology, professorship and others.
THE CELEBRATED BONN UNIVERSITY with its seven thousand students is the institution where the former Kaiser, the Crown Prince and many other members of Royalty have studied. It is famous for its law and medicine and oriental departments. This beautiful city of Bonn, birthplace of Beethoven, is so picturesque, and its wide Poppelsdorfer Allee lined with immense
shade trees each a specimen of perfection, makes it one of the lovely thoroughfares of Europe.
Professor Paul Kahle, Professor of Arabic and Turkish and a renowned Hebrew scholar arranged the writer’s lecture on the Bahá’i Movement. Her exhibition of Bahá’i books was arranged in the Oriental Library of the university earlier in the day so that students could look it over before the lecture. With this collection were also shown the Bahá’i books belonging to the Bonn University Oriental Library.
Professor Kahle, who had been a friend of Professor Edward G. Browne of Cambridge University, presented the lecturer that night and in his introduction gave an account of the meeting of Professor Browne with Bahá’u’lláh and Bahá’u’lláh’s Words to this occidental scholar; he also read a Tablet of ’Abdu’l-Bahá to a German pastor; it had been published in a German magazine. After the
speech and discussion, a group of twenty-five Professors and their wives and a few students working for special degrees, went to a restaurant nearby where our conversation was continued until midnight. As we rose to leave, the Professor of Comparative Religions put his arm cordially on the shoulder of his companion beside him, a great Professor of Islamic Literature, a Muhammadan from India, and said smilingly: You are a Muhammadan and I am Christian. I have such a feeling of love for you, a feeling you are in truth my brother! Therefore, we are both Bahá’is. For Bahá’u’lláh taught this! And we all laughed. Underneath the charm and joy of that happy evening, their “deeds” proclaimed them all “Bahá’is” (Light-bearers). Another Professor gave the writer his card and said: “Send me some of Bahá’u’lláh’s books in Arabic, I shall translate them into German.” Then these twenty-five friends all walked with the lecturer back to her Hospice.
PROFFESSOR DR. H. BAUER in Halle University is one of Germany’s great Arabic scholars. Before the lecture he took the writer to see the great Oriental Library of Germany which was founded in 1845. He showed her a most interesting periodical, “Deutschen Morgenl Gesellschaft” (“The German Society For Eastern Countries”)—which contains the oldest report of the Báb that is known in Germany; the magazine is dated 1851. He graciously offered to have a translation of this article made into English and send it to the writer.
PROFESSOR H. GRIMME, Professor of Semitic Languages in Munster University is one of the noted men in the study of old Sinaitic inscriptions. He has studied the old Sinaitic letters from the originals in Mt. Sinai and he has proved dates in the Old Testament from the dates registered there. For example, the date of the exodus. He said to the writer: “If the Bible says truth, I prove it truth by these fixed dates. I am not a believer because the Bible says so, but am a believer because I am historical. I like not legends or fables, but strong history.” This careful scholar once was asked and did write a short account of the Bahá’i Movement for an encyclopaedia.
Among the German Professors who have been spending some time in Egypt lecturing is Professor Littmann, Editor of the remarkable magazine, “Journal for Semitic Languages and Other Oriental Languages.”
THE WRITER HAS EXPECTED to lecture in Heidelberg at the home of one of the professors. A large event had been arranged, but owing to his illness it had to be postponed. However, she spent a day there meeting professors. Professor Richard Hartmann, Professor of Arabic Language knows the Bahá’i Cause and has lectured about it. He was in Turkey at the moment, so the writer wrote to Bahá’is in Constantinople hoping they could meet him. Heidelberg claims that its university is the oldest in Germany, it was founded in 1386, and certainly this famous old university city on the slopes of the Odenwald
has a character all its own. No wonder poets have been inspired by its spirit of romanticism. Perhaps the thousands of fashionable tourists who flock to catch their first glimpse of Heidelberg might never hear what the German Professor’s wife told the writer as she walked with her to show the way back to the railway station. She said the people of Heidelberg give the food to prepare a hot dinner each day for the many students whose means are very limited. Everywhere in Germany I have seen more done to help the students than I have seen in any other country of the World.
KIEL UNIVERSITY can boast a glorious
campus fronting the sea. The
Professors there had read Mr.
Dreyfus’ books, some of them have
lectured on the Bahá’i Teachings.
After the lecture in the university
in June, Professor Mandel Professor
of History of Religions and
Professor Schrader Professor of
Indology who has spent several
years in India–these two with their
wives entertained the writer at one
of the restaurants. Professor
Jacob, Professor of Semitic Philology,
could not come but he had been
very gracious. Oh, the charm and
the close intimate talks about inner
religion and world conditions and
the hopes of humanity, and much
about the Bahá’i Movement which
we have had in those after—lecture
conversations in all the German
University cities! The going to the
restaurant for a cup of tea or an
ice came to be a part of every university
lecture visit. And to know
the heart, the soul, the cultural
ideals of the German people makes
one wonder if out of this commonwealth
of Germany may not come those who will yet lead the world to a new humanitarianism!
THE LECTURE IN ROSTOCK UNIVERSITY was not actually given in the university. It was arranged by Dr. Frederic Witte, President of the Peace Society in a hall near the university. A number of professors and students were present. Professor Arnold Pobel, Professor of Assyrian and Arabic and the great Sumerian scholar who was leaving the next week to teach in Chicago University during the summer term, said he would go out to see the Bahá’i Temple at Wilmette, (a suburb of Chicago). Another Rostock University Professor is teaching during the summer in Maine not far from Green Acre, where the Bahá’is have a summer colony. Dr. Witte gave out nearly fifty very fine German Bahá’i books that night, and he and Mrs. Witte gave a reception to which they invited professors and pastors, Quakers, rabbis, and other peace workers.
GREIFSWALD UNIVERSITY is one of the smaller delightful universities in the north. The morning of the lecture we took a long walk out along the charming canal to the shore of the majestic Baltic Sea where the students come for water sports. The writer had dinner with the young Professor of Semitic Languages Professor Erich Braunlich, and tea with the Professor of English Professor Liljegren who is from Sweden and taught formerly in Lund University. Professor Braunlich introduced the speaker that evening with a graphic account of Persia just before the coming of
the Báb when the seers were expecting the Twelfth Imam, expecting a Prophet, and like a meteor in the spiritual sky arose the Báb. After the lecture the Professors of Arabic, Law, English, German, Russian Languages and their friends came down to the hotel for a long talk.
GIESSEN UNIVERSITY is another of those smaller splendid universities and this is situated in Hesse. The time the writer was there only a Lowell could have described the loveliness of that memorable June day. The lecture there was given in the Arts’ Hall of the university and it was well attended. It was arranged by Professor Fischer Professor of English, who has taken one of his degrees in the University of Pennsylvania.
THE WRITER DID NOT give a public
lecture in Marburg University
though she visited some of the professors.
Mr. Mountfort Mills an
international Bahá’i of New York
and Paris who has been made chairman
of the Program Committee of
the World Religious Congress,
which is scheduled for 1930 will visit
Marburg. He and Professor Otto
Professor of Comparative History
of Religions, are on the same committee
and one meeting will take
place in Marburg. Several German University Professors hope to meet Mr. Mills when he visits western Germany.
THESE ARE NOT ALL, but only the majority of the universities in Germany. Also, this brief account does not include the magazine and newspaper articles and later visits which formed the aftermath. And from now on, certainly news of the Bahá’i Cause, new books about the movement, new translations in all tongues will be communicated to these German universities. A Bahá’i Persian young man in New York City, even while trying hard to make his own living, saw an item in the newspaper about these lectures in Germany. He had never seen the lecturer, never met a German Professor, never been to Germany, but he sent ten dollars to the Bahá’i Publishing Company in his city and asked that a few Bahá’i books be put into German University libraries. Some women read and said: “Let us send the ‘Bahá’i Magazine Star of the West,’ each send to one university!” Bahá’is in the Orient will send some new books. People who really understand this great nation make no mistake when they believe that in German university soil, “where the acorn fell, the oak tree grows.”
“Bahá’u’lláh has announced that inasmuch as ignorance and lack of education are barriers of separation among mankind, all must receive training and instruction. Through this provision the lack cf mutual understanding will be remedied and the unity of mankind furthered and advanced. Universal education is a universal law.”
AT this time when the reduction of naval armaments is so prominent in the day’s news would it not be appropriate for each individual to ascertain what his relationship is to such a great question? In discovering the possibilities of existing attitudes he is quite certain to discover obligations. No question which touches the welfare of Nations is devoid of interest to the individual; for however wide its scope, it must be remembered that nations are collections of individuals merely bound together by ties of some sort.
Progress in social practices is largely a matter of education. The more widespread the instruction the more rapid the progress. Humanity as a whole is endeavoring to educate itself in many ways. Learning is no longer restricted to school years. Evidences of this are witnessed in every direction.
Every individual likes to be allied with progress. We take pride in being up to the minute in so far as our capacities permit. Many of the fads of today are practices tomorrow.
Just now President Hoover and Premier MacDonald are directing the thought of the world towards constructive measures which tend to insure world peace. No intelligent individual can gainsay the import of this endeavor.
Little waves of individual thought ripple along the surface, but the great body of the sea is unmoved by surface disturbances. The drive must strike deeper until huge waves arise with power behind them. The
huge waves are merely aggregates of small particles in motion—in more or less concerted motion, that is, acting together.
If the world is to be freed from the scourge of war—every individual must do his part. He must not only educate himself as to the situation and its potentialities but he must do his share in educating others. However, before one can teach successfully he must know whereof he speaks.
Leadership has been assumed. It is for others to follow, lending whatever aid they may be able to until the sea of world thought is set in positive motion against war and all that it entails.
WHEN SUCH QUESTIONS are discussed in trade journals, it is surely a sign that the question is a vital one. Commerce and industry are not as far removed from human progress as formerly. It is being recognized that great questions are intimately associated with our business and economic lives both as nations and as individuals.
The leading editorial in, “The General Electric Review” for September, is entitled “Peace.” The Review is a highly specialized technical publication. Not only is it interesting and encouraging to find space devoted to such a humane subject as peace but the editorial itself is laden with timely and constructive suggestions.
“To us it seems to be an extraordinarily fortunate coincidence that the great privilege of proclaiming to the world at large that
the very basis of international law had been revolutionized, by the voluntary action of some forty nations, should have fallen to the lot of the first engineer President of the United States.
“We refer to an act, without parallel in history, which occured at 1.22 o’clock on the afternoon of July the 24th, 1929, in the White House at Washington, when President Hoover announced that the Briand-Kellogg Pact—renouncing war as a national policy, and pledging the settlement of disputes by peaceful means—was in force.”
Perhaps we, who are living now, are too close to the event to appreciate its value, but as the editorial points out there is a personal obligation which cannot be escaped.
“The first requisite to make this great international pact—that the most powerful civilizations of the world have signed and sealed–bear the desired fruit, is strong understanding, and able leadership in showing the intelligent people in every land that the thing undertaken is both possible and practical.
“Whether the work on hand is a success or a failure depends upon whether the intelligent people of the world take a positive or a negative view of the matter. The task is to make them take a positive view.”
Here then is a double responsibility—to take a positive view one’s self and to see that others also take a positive view.
“This task can best be achieved by making the people realize that new conditions are constantly being created, and that the past shall not always govern the present and the future, and that we are living in a new world.”
“The scientists and engineers
have made a hell on earth of war, they have destroyed the chivalry, stolen the glory and killed the romance, and we feel now that the time has arrived for them to use their highly developed brains in taking the lead in teaching the world that war can be outlawed.”
Thus is the issue laid squarely at the doors of our scientists and engineers to assume the obligation of teaching the general public that war can be outlawed.
“The scientist and the engineer . . . have made a new world out of the old world and they have done it by everlastingly finding and using new means of converting the natural products of the earth into serviceable commodities.”
This new world suggested is a physical one—but who now can say where the physical stops and the spiritual begins? Certainly many of the inventions have changed modes of living materially and these cannot be without some spiritual influence.
If the scientist and engineer have been successful in making a new physical world replace the older one, we who believe in the supreme power of the spirit, will not despair of finding ways and means of making a new world of thought out of the older one. And while the editorial referred to and quoted, addresses responsibility for educating the people to the scientist and engineer first, we must all assume these titles in the task of convincing the world that war can be outlawed.
“It is because we believe so strongly in the increase of wisdom, and in the evolution of human intelligence, that we also believe the constructive brains of today have
arrived at the stage where they can teach the world that war can be outlawed. . . .”
“We believe that there are sufficient intelligence, wisdom, and common sense in the world today that with able leadership, the entire world can be brought to see that war is useless. . . .”
“It is too costly. . . .”
“All the real property in the United States from the Canadian border to the boundaries of Mexico, and from the Atlantic to the shores of the Pacific Ocean, are worth considerably less than the cost of the World War.”
This is a physical, dollars and cents valuation, but who can measure the emotional, mental and spiritual levies assessed?
It is pointed out that the causes of past wars may be listed as two: Religious prejudices and conquest of territory. “The chief cause for strife in the future, however well the facts may be disguised, is likely to be for the markets of the world. Today these problems can be better and more economically settled around the conference table than on the battlefield. Fear, suspicion, and ambition—the breeders of war—can best be subjected to the rule of wisdom and reason by a common-sense honest-to-all limitation of armaments.”
Three factors it is pointed out will play a large part in this. They are the evolution of intelligence, and the powers of education and work.
“What man has done in the past is as nothing to what he can, and will, do in the future. If he spends all his energies in peaceful pursuits the wonders of the new world that he is building will eclipse the wildest
dreams of the most fantastic fairy stories.”
”In the future we can have either peace or war. It depends upon what the peoples believe. Some one must lead in educating them.”
Here is a challenge to the Bahá’i World from the pages of industry and commerce.
What more dynamic opportunity has ever presented itself to the world, and more especially to those familiar with the Bahá’i Revelation than this? Here is a great movement to outlaw war lead by competent leaders at home and abroad. Here is the question in the bold relief of the widest publicity. Here is an opportunity to prove the evolution of intelligence by work and education. Here is the dual responsibility of believing that war can be outlawed and in transmitting this conviction to others,—that the “Most Great Peace” may come quickly.
But there is an even more powerful ally than that of great and good contemporary leadership—it is the Power of the Spirit.
’Abdu’l-Bahá gave definite instructions in one of His talks in Paris:
“I charge you all that each one of you concentrate all the thoughts of his heart on love and unity. When a thought of war comes, oppose it with a stronger thought of peace. A thought of hatred must be destroyed by a more powerful thought of love. When soldiers of the world draw their swords to kill, soldiers of God clasp each other’s hands. So may all the savagery of men disappear by the mercy of God, working through the pure in heart and sincere of soul. Do not think the peace of the world an ideal impossible
to attain. Nothing is impossible to the divine benevolence of God. If you desire with all your heart friendship with every race on earth—your thought, spiritual and positive, will spread; it will become the desire of others, growing stronger until it reaches the minds of all men.”
How aptly this answers the editorial referred to—answered it many years before it was written.
The plea was for a positive attitude towards peace not a negative one. ’Abdu’l-Bahá says that a thought, germinated in the desire with all one’s heart, is positive and will spread. Purity of heart and sincerity of soul will attract the Mercies of God. These are the steps in the technique which must be followed if all the world is to be educated to believe, firmly believe that war can be outlawed, as we surely know it can for “nothing is impossible to the divine benevolence of God.”
Thus is the need stated, the conditions apparent, the remedy named and instructions given. What a wonderful opportunity for each individual to cooperate in this great movement.
The responsibility and obligation are clear. Perhaps they rest as heavily on the Bahá’i world as the author of the editorial believed them to rest upon the scientists and engineers.
Universal peace is one of the cardinal principles enunciated by Bahá’u’lláh. The present effort at limitations of armaments lead by a Friend, the first engineer President of the United States, is a positive constructive step. It not only merits support but places the responsibility of educating this world of individuals to believe that it can be accomplished.
It is not only a call to action but an exemplification that the principles of the Bahá’i Revelation are dynamic and that the divine benevolence of God will assist.
If war is to be outlawed it first must be banned in the hearts of the people. Once it is blotted out there by thoughts of love and unity, sincere, strong, positive thoughts, the great ocean of world thought will move in unison with an irresistible power to usher in the “Most Great Peace.”
Perhaps this is but the visible beginning, the stirring of a great latent force but if we move with it slowly at the beginning our speed will accelerate and a great final velocity be attained—a velocity of effectiveness which will enable us to carry out the purpose.
Now is the time to educate one’s self and one’s friends to hold that positive attitude which will mould world opinion.
“Human nature in this phenomenal world is fashioned with the poison of war and strife. We need a Powerful Force beyond and above this world of nature, so that this condition may be effaced from the surface of the world. * * *
“The principles of His Holiness Bahá’u’lláh are numerous. One of these principles is the question of Universal Peace. Save through this divine power, or in other words, religious power, the matter of Universal Peace will not be established on an firm and lasting foundation.”—’Abdu’l-Bahá.
SOMETIMES a stray word over a bridge table definitely proves that bridge has its uses. On a recent occasion the talk across a game of bridge veered suddenly from the weather conditions up and down the Pacific Coast to the Bahá’i Teachings.
For a moment the players forgot that spades were trumps, while an older woman voiced the remark that Persia, a backward country, was perhaps in need of the Bahá’i Cause, and that she wondered why the Bahá’is didn’t keep it there. The writer replied that members of the colored race were perhaps at that very moment being lynched in our own Southern States; and the game went on.
The woman in question was not a religious fanatic or at all narrow-minded or vindictive; she was merely comfortable, agreeably belligerent and altogether too good a bridge player to be tolerant of very much else. She belonged to the great and undoubtedly charming class of people who shake off cataclysms and warm the atmosphere with rationalizations.
The reluctance of human beings to grasp facts is not so much disheartening as it is productive of impatience. No one can deny that, in spite of the astounding developments of science, the spread of education, the betterment of living conditions, and all the similar phases of our modern civilization, the world is in greater danger than ever before. Centuries of misliving are now bearing fruit. Inherited
hatreds are thriving under present day more favorable conditions. Humanity is speeding toward the maelstrom, and is too busy playing bridge to care.
It is true that we have our idealists who know that something is wrong and stumble bleeding through life, each with his cross. But they can never make their dreams live. The trouble is too fundamental, and their proposed remedies would often prove worse than the disease. Because these idealists, though undoubtedly sincere and impassioned, confine their efforts either to some local disorder which they imagine to be the cause of world conditions, and which they emphasize ad absurdum, or else each is bent on establishing his own Utopia. The first of these must naturally fail even if he succeeds—we remember the old Persian verse about painting the eyebrows of the blind. As for the second, it is a strange thing about man-made Utopias, but they are always impracticable; worse, they are disagreeable places to live in. Take Plato’s or More’s, or Rousseau’s, and try to enjoy an hour in any of them. The reason is that no human being can understand human nature in more than a limited degree—he cannot always understand himself, much less the million elusive twists and turns of other minds; therefore the Utopias are cut and dried regions built for some arbitrary conception of a pseudo-humanity which can never really exist. These dream worlds
are crossed and recrossed with barbed wire rules entirely unsuited to the fascinating capriciousness of real human beings. To take just one example—every one in More’s Utopia has to sleep a fixed number of hours. What would become of our geniuses who cannot think except by moonlight! Rousseau’s model people, in for instance, his Nouvelle Heloise are “like nothing human”-and the same applies to Plato’s rulers who are so refined by education that they eventually become capable of intimacy with those divine archetypes of which the things of this world are but copies. The point is that the highest a man can imagine is in the last analysis valueless as a permanent remedy for world afflictions.
We are, therefore, forced to search further for a solution and to observe those beings who really did achieve world betterment. Among them there is Moses and the Decalogue. There is Christ Who said, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” There is Muhammad, who wrote as Gabriel dictated. These three Founders of powerful civilizations, these three Who are all-important for the lasting impetus they gave humanity, are unanimous in delivering their message not as Their own, but “His that sent me.” It would, therefore, seem even after a brief survey and certainly after study has increased confirmation, that God, and not man, has the key to human affairs.
’Abdu’l-Bahá, explaining this in “Some Answered Questions,” tells us that “we need an educator who will be at the same time a material, human and spiritual educator and
whose authority will be effective in all conditions . . . This educator must be unquestionably and indubitably perfect in all respects . . . . It is clear that human power is not able to fill such a great office.”
It is only fair that in our striving toward world betterment we give more credit to one of these Divine Educators Whose ideas were successful than to a philosopher whose theories, however beautiful, are more suited to our mental development than they are an effective spur to action. Was ever a hospital built in Plato’s name? If we sincerely desire a happier future for humanity, should we not choose the most efficient means of accomplishing it?
Bahá’u’lláh has come with the solution of every world problem. Surely the most prejudiced antagonist must agree that if the Bahá’i Cause were not suited to world conditions it could not succeed. It could not have united East and West—destroyed race prejudice, and even the feeling of race—induced the wealthy to willingly share with the poor, and the poor to take heart–it could not have brought into being millions of people all over the world who are working with perfect affection and cooperation to accomplish the fruition of every human virtue.
No one interested in living is justified in not investigating the various world religions, and no intelligent person can study the Bahá’i Teachings without becoming convinced of their truth, or of the fact that a Divine Power, entirely independent of material aid, is at their source. Because the truth of a thing is not enough to make it effective.
Anyone can gather together a collection of truths. There is a great difference between a man who collects an anthology and one who writes a poem.
A Bahá’i asks only one thing of his fellowmen—that they investigate, and decide. Certainly we derive no material gain or loss from their accepting or rejecting the Bahá’i Teachings. We are working for just one thing—their happiness. I think it was Aristotle
who said that happiness consists in the fulfilling of one’s function; the highest function of a human being is undoubtedly to serve humanity. And the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh have proved, during nearly a century, the most fundamentally effective means of so doing.
Meanwhile humanity grumbles, plays bridge, and does not know what it wants. And God, Who created us, is alone capable of setting our house in order.
“Tongues of Fire,” by Grace H. Turnbull. New York: The Macmillan Co., $3.50. Miss Turnbull has called many beautiful and noble passages from some of the Scriptures of the world and compiled them under the title, “Tongues of Fire.” The authors of the following review of the book are of the opinion that this usable collection is a fresh reminder of one of the great principles in the Bahá’i Teachings, namely, that the foundation of all religions is one.
GLANCING at the title page of Miss Turnbull’s book “Tongues of Fire,” we are startled, almost shocked, to read the subtitle, “A Bible of Sacred Scriptures of the Pagan World.” Can anthing sacred come out of the pagan world?–we ask ourselves. And as we finger through the introductory pages of this truly scholarly and usable collection, we suspect that Miss Turnbull has meant to startle us just a bit for our eye falls on these words: “By the unfamiliar then he [the worshipper] may be shocked once more to life.”
Miss Turnbull has done a real service in gathering together extracts from these “Sacred Scriptures,”
making it possible for each to answer this question for himself. As we look even cursorily through the book we are not long in doubt as to the answer. We are thrilled, too, with a consciousness of ourselves as units of the whole human race. Yes, humanity is one, one in its highest aspirations and utterances and alas we know, too, one in its abasements and sins. Christians then are not unique. The modern soul in its exalted moments responds with reverence and awe to such words as these from an ancient Egyptian inscription, “The concealed spirit, a mystery for him whom He hath created, is Amon, the ancient of days, who is from
the beginning the creator of Heaven, the earth, the depths and the mountains.”
Does all our modern learning and science bring the created any nearer to a comprehension of his Creator? Bahá’u’lláh states the eternal mystery in this wise: “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 because humanity is one, religion also is one in its essence. Of this, too, these “Pagan Scriptures” offer us evidence. Differences there are, but they have to do with rituals, creed, man-made dogmas, and this book helps us to forget these, rather than to emphasize them.
Occasional illumined and scholarly souls have recognized this oneness of humanity in its search for the Eternal and hence the oneness of religion in its highest and purest sense. We find Henri Amiel saying in his Journal, “All [nations] have some religion, some ideal end for life; all aim at raising man above the sorrows and smallnesses of the present, and of the individual existence; all have faith in something greater than themselves; all pray, all bow, all adore; all see beyond nature, Spirit, and beyond evil, Good. All bear witness to the invisible. Here we have the link which binds all people together.” Such as this has been the knowledge of a few great souls in all the ages, but to the masses, even to the average man, those outside their own religion are beyond the pale, pagan and heathen. This book of Miss Turnbull’s brings within easy reach of anyone so inclined the
means to become familiar with other sacred Scriptures and compare them with his own. And “why” she asks, “should we deny ourself this delight? For it is a great pleasure to commune with the great ones of heaven and earth.”
Indulging ourselves for a few moments in this delight, we find fresh reminders of the Bahá’i teaching that the foundation of all religions is one. For example, in many of these ancient scriptures we find the thought that through purifying our hearts, thoughts and lives we may come to know God. On the doors of an ancient temple this inscription was found: “God findeth His satisfaction in truth, and He findeth His pleasure in the most perfect purity. God holdeth purity dearer than millions of gold and silver offerings.” In the Upanishad we read: “God is not apprehended by the senses, nor by austerity nor by good works. When a man’s nature is purified, then doth he behold Him who is without parts.” We find too, in these records of man’s search for the true way of life, spontaneous outpourings of love for God’s beauty: “Thy love is in the south, Thy grace is in the north, Thy beauty taketh possession of all hearts.”
Now and then shines out the peace ideal. In the following prayer peace is envisioned as a bright gift sometimes sent by a loving and powerful God. Seldom, if ever, appears the idea of universal peace. That has been reserved, perhaps, for our day and age. This is the prayer, written by the Greek poet Aristophanes:—
“O Thou that makest wars to cease in all the world, in accordance
with Thine ancient name we beseech Thee, make war and tumult now to cease.
“From the murmur and subtlety of suspicion with which we vex one another, give us rest. Make a new beginning, and mingle again the kindred of the nations in the alchemy of Love, and with some finer essence of forbearance and forgiveness temper our minds.”
What better ideal of human relationships could be thought or expressed? It is on the same plane with the thirteenth chapter of First Corinthians: “Love suffereth long and is kind; love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, . . . rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth. Beareth all things believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.”
A little pamphlet published several years ago by one deeply interested in the Bahá’i teachings gathers together the various forms in which the Golden Rule has appeared in the different sacred writings of the world. These are some of the most striking versions of that fundamental teaching. In a manuscript written in Egypt 5,550 years ago is found: “If thou be among people, make for thyself love the beginning and end of thy heart.” In the Mosaic law it is written, ”Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” At the first Buddhistic Council, held in 477 B. C., this same ideal was phrased as, “One should seek for others the same happiness one desires for oneself.” A century and a half before Christ the law of Rome once more repeated
the theme: “The law imprinted on the hearts of all men is to love the members of society as themselves.” Muhammad gave another expression to it in the Qur’án, “Let none of you treat his brother in a way he himself would dislike to be treated.” And in our own day Bahá’u’lláh has said, “O Son of Man, Wert thou to observe justice, choose thou for others what thou chooseth for thyself.”
Thus, as students explore the field of recorded religion, more and more is borne in on the thoughtful mind the truth of one of the basic Bahá’i teachings: “The foundation of all religions is one.”
“The foundation underlying all the divine precepts”, says ’Abdu’l-Bahá, is one reality. It must needs be reality, and reality is one, not multiple . . . . . . But we can see that certain forms have come in, certain imitations of forms and ceremonials have crept in. They are heretical, they are accidental, because they differ: hence they cause differences among religions. But if we set aside these imitations and seek the reality of the foundation we shall all agree, because religion is one and not multiple.”
Those who are spiritually sensitive are surely receiving light and inspiration in this New Age from the Divine Source of Light, to labor for the enlightenment of mankind; some, like the gifted compiler of this book, to work for “a deeper understanding of the alien races who have sought and are seeking still, the one true God.” We join with her in the hope that the book may “bring about a greater sympathy and charity between all countries, sects and times and creeds.”
AT GREEN ACRE, in Maine, where the Bahá’is have their summer colony, King Amity the Third reigned in August. D‘o you know this monarch? Have you ever attended his court? A kindly despot is he, genial and wise. His courage is high. His borders ever widen. His wit scintilates; his humor flows; his joyousness is radiant. His knowledge illumines the minds. His spiritual wine exhilarates the hearts. His courtiers are picturesque, and vary from the love-lit faces of childhood to the frost of honored age and include all races. He imposes upon them the obligation of true knighthood. Each and all from the good they say and do, appear to adopt as an emblem that fine old motto, noblesse oblige. Perhaps some day Dame Ether, from whom naught is hid, will surrender the full life story of this sovereign and thus reveal a most fascinating book. An influence so potent and subtle, ever invading new fields, always calling into being that which is fine and rare, summons the noblest treasures of minds and hearts. Hearts and minds are oft surprised by their own responses! The sorrowing forget their woes; the proud become humble; the estranged are again friendly. Superstitions flee; prejudices melt; that which is selfish seems to vanish! On the other hand, principles loom, ideals are realized and noble deeds are done under the mystic sway of this king of service. The rain of bounty and
the sunshine of love meet in this court; for amity between races is one of the names and attributes of the eternal King. Happy are those who meet and greet Him!
Those who met ’Abdu’l-Bahá during the years of His service recall what joy He gave to those about Him. Amity is His creation and one of His marvellous signs in the world. Herein lies the mystery of life, light and power to those who reflect. It is through the universal spirit of service that the earth is illumined by the knowledge of God. Existence smiles as the Light of God, Bahá’u’lláh, is manifest in the world.
The truth that makes men free was freely spoken at the third Amity Conferences at Green Acre. Miss Mary Maxwell, the chairman, opened the first session by reading the address of ’Abdu’l-Bahá on the points of unity between the races in America, delivered at Hull House, Chicago, in 1912. The points mentioned include their common material origin, the powers of the senses and of intelligence. Besides these he included patriotism, a common language and civilization as well as religion. The one point of difference is color which is thus far-outweighed by the points of unity. The chairman referred to the tragic results of prejudice and misunderstandings and with simplicity and directness pointed the better way.
Letters of regret from Rev. Dr. Samuel McComb, one of the founders
of the Emanuel Movement in Boston, and Mr. George DeForest Brush, the noted artist, were read. Each expressed warm appreciation and hearty accord with the spirit and purposes of the conferences.
DR. LESLIE PINCKNEY HILL, poet, educator and chairman of the Interracial Peace Committee of Philadelphia, opened his masterly address with a warm tribute to the workers of Green Acre, those of the past whose hands are now still, those of the present who still valiantly struggle. He drew an impressive picture of world depression due to class tyranny and prejudice, but turned soon to the bright side as he traced the recent trend toward interracial understanding. Perhaps, commented the speaker, these new signs may be but straws in the wind, yet they indicate a power that increases in volume and effectiveness. He appraised highly the gift of tact in handling difficult situations and felt that all who would share the good things of life must possess this treasure. The removal of difficulties between the races is not impossible today. It becomes in fact only an incident to those who think in cosmic terms. Sensitized natures are turning more and more away from the blight of prejudice and in agony of soul are asking how long must it last.
As signs of progress Dr. Hill noted the increase of books on race relations and also the number of organizations that create favorable publicity. He praised the interracial work in the Southern states so gallantly led by Dr. James H. Dillard, who reflects, with his associates in the former slave states,
the increase in the number of those who reason together. The concessions of the white world to the black world are amazing to those who have been long used to oppression. This is leading to a new attitude on the part of black men shown by many spiritual signs. The absence of reds and violent agitators among the colored race and the ability of blacks to smile were among the chief assets of their collective life. Another asset is the enlarging contribution of the Negro race to the nation’s literature and art. The universities of the South are now studying race relations sympathetically and constructively. Yale University, one of the great institutions of the North, has recently established a course in human relations. In conclusion he exhorted patience, suggesting that black men should use oppression as wings to fly heavenward.
Mr. Allen B. McDaniel, chairman of the Bahá’i National Spiritual Assembly, was the second speaker. He declared such conferences as this to be a source of real inspiration and help. He defined a human engineer as one capable of getting results from intricate and dangerous situations in human relationships and discovered him here. He deplored any lack of full justice for any human being, but felt that the time is not distant that will bring the full measure of justice to all. This will mean free and equal opportunity to develop the God-given powers with which every person is endowed. The literature, art and music of the colored race indicate progress. All human beings must have equality of opportunity. All are children of the same parents,
all signs of the same love. We must show mercy and kindness to all our fellow beings. Infinite patience is needed; but we must also have faith in the Day of God when the decree is peace and harmony among all the peoples of the world without distinction of race, class, color or creed. He told of the happiness of ’Abdu’l-Bahá in seeing in each face the face of His Father.
DR. GLENN A. SHOOK of the department
of physics, Wheaton College,
presided at the forum on race
relations. The Community Four of
Boston, Dorothy Richardson, contralto,
Eleanor Wallace, reader,
Dorothy Wood, accompanist and
Inez Braithwaite, violinist, supplied
the music for all sessions with fine
artistic skill.
Mrs. Agnes S. Parsons, organizer of the first Amity Congress under the instructions of ’Abdu’l-Bahá and held at the nation’s capital, in May 1921, for the first time publicly told the story, one replete with human and divine interest. Difficulties were very great at the time of this pioneer service. Many of her most influential friends were heedless and indifferent. But trials were overcome when an effort was made and worker after worker became attracted to the cause. One of these was the Honorable Moses E. Clapp, a former United States Senator, a life long friend of the Negro, who counselled her to enlist the aid of conservative people, as the radicals were already won. Lift it up into the spiritual realm, he advised, and work for high ideals and wider sympathies on a plane above mere political agitation. On the recommendation of California friends,
Senator Samuel E. Shortridge, who took the same view, was obtained as a helper. Mrs. Parsons concluded her interesting narrative, which told of success through sage advice and spiritual guidance, by reciting a poem written by Countee Cullen.
Mr. M. C. Oglesby quoted Shoghi Effendi as saying that so difficult a problem could be settled only by concessions on both sides. The speaker felt that the gravity of the problem was increased by the disparity of numbers of the two races. Because of this he thought it wise for the colored people, who are numerically at a disadvantage, to move with such wisdom as to win over at least half of the whites.
Mr. Robert W. Bagnall spoke of the desirability of the two races mingling for cultural and spiritual reasons. Once during a pastorate which he held in Detroit, the pastor of the great cathedral requested him to invite two of the former’s members who had long been parishoners but were colored, to abandon their membership in the cathedral for the colored church. Mr. Bagnall replied that they were more needed as members where they were. But why, questioned the rector, seeing that they are poor people, while my membership is wealthy and yours poor; would they not feel more at home among their own people? Not so, replied Mr. Bagnall, for as members of the cathedral they give your membership a wonderful opportunity to practice the all-embracing law of love which they profess. He expressed regret that prejudiced people are so often vociferous with their viewpoints, while those who are personally free from prejudice
are yet either passive or even acquiescent with the prejudices of others.
Prof. Stanwood Cobb seconded this regret, which he illustrated by the story of how a worthy colored man was once debarred from membership in an alumni association in deference to a minority of prejudiced folk, although the majority, free from prejudice, favored his admission.
Dr. Shook mentioned the good will sincerely extended the colored people by the best families of the South.
Dr. Edna M. Tibbetts illustrated the ties which bind all men together by the analogy of the atoms and their interdependence. Human interdependence is not a mere sentiment, it is a scientific and spiritual law. It is inescapable. We best commune with God when we love our fellow beings.
MR. F. ST. GEORGE SPENDLOVE
presided at the closing session. He
set forth the need of building civilization
upon a solid foundation.
Nothing can be stable if so great a
problem as that of harmony between
the races be neglected.
Reading from the London City
Temple address of ’Abdu’l-Bahá,
he hailed the day when all men
should live as brothers. ’Abdu’l-Bahá
with clear vision saw the need
and prescribed the remedy. This is
indeed the most important thing,
for which even important things
should be neglected. Prophets appear
to tell people the simple
things, not the things they can
know for themselves. The right
treatment of our fellow beings belongs
to this category. When we
are able to put our principles into practice the Divine Cause makes progress. The race question is a vital issue on this continent. We must make our ideals and principles apply to it in every way.
MR. ROBERT W. BAGNALL, Director of Branches, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, took for his subject, “Race Prejudice and Civilization,” and gave his hearers many a thrill. In beginning he related the well known parable of the several blind men who went to see an elephant, each being deluded by his partial conception as to the reality of the whole. H. G. Wells was quoted as saying that the worst of human ills is prejudice as it causes more war and distress than any other. Although it has caused great suffering here in America, it must be conceded that conditions here are not so terrible as in other countries.
Many people think that prejudice is innate, but this is untrue and only a misconception. So-called races are only the result of temporary and geographic conditions. A race integrity bill introduced into the legislature of Virginia, recently developed some startling disclosures when it was found that many persons who were proud of their admixture of Indian blood had also Negro blood, this through the admixture of the blood of the said two races which has gone on for centuries. The questions arise, What is a Negro? What is a white man? Every definition of race breaks down. All people have pigment and are therefore more or less colored. In the mingling of races the light people are growing darker
and the dark people lighter. This causes many amusing incidents, as when people traditionally of one race are mistaken for those of another. The millions and billions of ancestors which each person can claim proves mathematically that in the past all races have mingled their blood. The delusion that one race is inferior to another vanishes in the light of scientific inquiry. This is well, for as long as one race feels that another is inferior it is impossible to be just. Racial purity is pure fiction. The human race is tending more and more toward unity and an olive complexion. Interracial conferences are now multiplied. Organizations galore are now working to bring about happier conditions. People of the same attainments, regardless of color, work side by side. By all means get such groups enlarged. Always be ready to acknowledge that the other fellow is also a human being. Rebuke those who fall away from truth and always be assured of victory in a noble cause.
In conclusion the speaker paid a glowing tribute to the Bahá’is, many of whose spiritual centers he has visited in his extensive travels. As the Bahá’is, despite the exaltation of their aims and ideals are
misunderstood by people, doubtless they can understand the difficulties and adversities of other groups that struggle to abolish prejudices in the world.
MR. ALBERT VAIL, the last speaker said in part: A few friends are with us. Surrounding us are many foes. It is much like the problem of war. Great is the danger! Colossal perils need colossal remedies. Five hours a day of study have made Mr. Bagnall the walking encyclopedia that he is. He is a combination of work and love. As a Christian minister he embodies these ideals.
Christ has educated America in tolerance and freedom of speech. Where is now the power that can remove prejudices of all kinds. Turning to the past we find that the gentle Buddha brought India a thousand years of unity and peace. Such was the power of a real educator. Muhammad likewise destroyed the caste system over a large part of India and also united the Arabian nation. The old religions have all become stratified today. Yet there is a mighty Force at work. This is the Creative Power of Divine Love which is descending to the world in this, the Day of God.
“The Bahá'i Movement imparts life. It is the cause of love and amity amongst mankind. It establishes communication between the various nations and religions. It removes all antagonisms. * * * The Bahá'i Movement bestows upon man a new spirit, a new light, and a new motion. It enlarges the sphere of thought. It illumines the horizon of the intellect. It expands the arena of comprehension.”
“NATIONS have always sought to embody great undertakings in harmonious architectural form. Over the whole earth and at all periods they have raised the pillars of their temples and public buildings and reared to the skies the minarets or towers of their mosques and churches like an act of hope and faith carved in stone. All the great ideas of all civilizations have their imperishable monuments which are eternal reminders of the conquests made by the human mind. * * *
“Inevitably my thoughts turn to my own country, where monuments of the past recall the long history of several great civilizations, all of which do honor to each other and influenced each other from far distant times when the confines of Asia were the cradle of our modern civilization.
“When we read the lessons embodied in these stones it seems to me we feel with increased force the tragedy of the factitious differences between us. Our eye takes in one wide sweep the magnificent common patrimony of mankind. From whatever country we come all the great names which have been familiar to us from childhood, names of famous buildings or magical towns, appear to belong to us as our own and inspire us all with the same pride.
“But now for the first time a building is about to be erected which will be the common property of the peoples united in the same sentiments of confidence and brotherhood. On this solemn day
on which we have the honor to see this foundation stone laid we pray it may truly be the symbol of a new age.” Prince Foroughi of Persia, President of the Assembly, at the laying of the corner stone of the new home of the League of Nations in Geneva.
“WE BELIEVE that the nature of Reality is love and that the establishment of the kingdom on earth is its sacred task. As the children of this Reality, we are the partakers in this great and holy task.
“Though our avenues of approach to this ideal may differ, and the terminology may differ, we believe that the ultimate truth is one and we all are one.
“It matters little what we may call the various avenues of approach toward the realization of the kingdom on earth. One may call it Buddhism, another may call it Christianity, or the Bahá’i movement; the essential is to bring about a state of mind and condition in which the fatherhood for all mankind is established, above sectarian and denominational interests.
“We all differ in degrees in our expressions, and in our beliefs, but we are one in the Reality and its branches. I am convinced that the more this idea of the unity of mankind is advocated and believed by us, the more we will find tolerance, friendliness and international peace.“–Archbishop Nisshu Noguchi of Tokyo, in an address at a Bahá'i meeting in Honolulu.
“THE FLOURISHING ‘Universidad Nacional,’–[Mexico] has more than 10,000 students, a good part of which are women. The practice of interchange of teachers and students has been carried out for several years with the United States, France and Germany, rendering satisfying results. Mexican students, as a general rule, score high in the American universities, and American teachers who were teaching in Government schools at the time, have told the writer that the average Mexican school child is quicker and more intelligent than the average American.
“The most interesting experiment is, though, the establishment of the rural schools, which are the apple of the eye of the Federal Education authorities. Professor Dewey considers them one of the most important social experiments of the world, of interest, not only to Mexico alone, but to all nations, because they are an effort to incorporate the Indians (80% of the population), into the social group. In spite of the difficulties of obtaining teachers, 2,649 of these rural schools, 1,000 of which were opened last year, already are working. During this year, 2,000 more were to have been established, and not only that, but the number of teachers in each was to be increased.
“This educational revolution is then, not only an effort to educate the 80% of Mexicans that were despised and left uneducated before, but it is also an indispensable way towards the political integration of the country.
“Much more interesting than the number of these rural schools is
their spirit and tendencies. Mr. Saenz, Subsecretary for Public Instruction, who has been a teacher of the Lincoln School in New York, says in a lecture given at Chicago University that nowhere has he seen better examples of socialized schools than in some of these rural schools in Mexico. Professor Dewey goes further and says that there is nowhere in the world an educational movement that presents a more intimate spirit of union between school and social activities, as in these schools. . . . And so Mexico, now passing through the throes of adolescence as a nation, may yet develop a much finer type of civilization than we have in many of the older countries of the World.”—Conseuelo Reinert Viuda de Aldag, before Pan-Pacific Women's Association, Honolulu. Pan-Pacific Union Bulletin.
UPWARD or 200 prominent Chinese sailed August 24 on the President Cleveland for all extended tour of the United States in the interests of Sino-American friendship and trade. The project is being promoted by the Friendship Tour Co.“—Washington “Post.“
“JAPANESE, CHINESE, Filipinos, Koreans, Negroes and Indians are among the student body, but they are a foreign colony, herding to themselves. How can we expect these representatives of other races to judge us fairly if we as hosts do not honestly make effective attempts to become their intimate friends.“—The Oregon Emerald, student daily of the University of Oregon.
