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| VOL. 21 | OCTOBER, 1930 | NO. 7 |
| Page | |
Wings—A Poem, Genevieve L. Coy | 192 |
Editorial, Stanwood Cobb | 195 |
Divine Love and Man’s Progress, Rosa V. Winterburn | 198 |
Students of the Land of the Rising Sun, Agnes B. Alexander | 200 |
The Passing of Louis Bourgeois, S. W. | 203 |
In Memoriam, to Louis Bourgeois—Poems by Shahnaz Waite, Mona Wandanita Hille, Philip Amalfi Marangella | 205 |
Some Aspects of Modern Science. 2. The Passing of Atomic Materialism, Prof. Glenn A. Shook | 206 |
A pilgrimage Through Persia, Martha L. Root | 210 |
The New Green Acre, Louis G. Gregory | 215 |
Searching for Truth—A Spiritual Autobiography | 220 |
| Cover Design by VICTORIA BIDIKIAN | |
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 The Baha'i Magazine, 1112 Shoreham Bldg., 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--
Louis G. Bourgeois, famous architect of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár in course of construction in Wilmette, suburb of Chicago, Ill.
| VOL. 21 | OCTOBER, 1930 | NO. 7 |
the world of humanity may become assisted in new conditions of reform.”
INTUITION is a remarkable guide and counselor in thought and action. Some individuals seem to have developed this power to an extraordinary degree; it is especially characteristic of the genius, who arrives at truth through ways other than that trodden by ordinary mortals. The great leaders of humanity, as men of thought arrive at truth, or as men of action steer safely amidst great risks and dangers, by means of the guiding star of intuition.
This power is however in us all and can be cultivated. To speak in spiritual terms, we may call it the guidance of the Holy Spirit—a guidance granted even to those who know not its source. Destiny, to accomplish her ends, aids men of great capacity to achieve through this her gift of intuition.
Those who use this power may or may not recognize it as divine. Napoleon did not. Washington and Lincoln did. But whether recognized or unrecognized, this force has been the principle factor in the great ideas, the great discoveries, the great achievements of the human race.
But there comes a time in many lives when intuition fails to guide.
Those who have walked safely through risks and dangers now stumble and receive no longer the divine guidance. Of such, Napoleon is the most striking instance. He plainly from the beginning of his campaign in Russia seemed to have lost all power of guidance, and his ruin followed up on his own misjudgments and mistakes. Why this sudden curtailment in correctness of guidance? Plainly the power of intuition cannot be granted in unlimited degree to mortals who are too self-centered and exploitive in their aims. This guidance, which raises the power of the individual to the nth degree, is unsafe to put in selfish hands; and although destiny may grant it to men of great capacity in order that their peculiar gifts may reach fruition for the sake of the world, if these individuals do not come to consecrate their lives purely to service the gift of guidance finally is withdrawn. Otherwise the selfish would use this power to exploit the very universe itself.
EXACTLY the same thing is true of prayer. In small degree we are permitted to pray for material things, for definite desires—human though they be.
“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.”*
But how far can the desires of material human nature be met through prayer? It is evident that there is an almost mathematical limit to this possibility. For two reasons there cannot be unlimited fulfillment of individual desires. First because the selfish desires of individuals often conflict in such a way that if the desires of one person are granted ad infinitum it would mean a proportionate curtailment in the satisfaction of the wants of others. For instance, in a specific locality all might desire to live in the most desirable and elevated section of the locality; yet plainly all cannot do so. Therefore there is a distinct limit to the possibility of answer to prayer on the part of the individual for such a purpose.
Even more apparent is the inevitable limitation of prayer in meeting the desire of individuals to rise to the top level economically, socially or politically. The reason is apparent and is of a mathematical nature. The number of individuals at the top is always a very limited number. If we reckon it mathematically, only ten percent of the people can ever rise to the position of the first ten percent. That is a universal law which no amount of prayer can interfere with. The organization not only of human socity, but of the universe itself, depends upon gradations of rank and subordination as well as upon leadership of the few. “The degrees of society must be preserved. The farmer will continue to till the soil,
* Matthew 7:7
the artist pursue his art, the banker to finance the nation. An army has need of its general, captain, and private soldiers. The degrees varying with the pursuits are essential.”** This is a universal law not subject to the caprice of man’s desire, even if expressed in the most earnest of prayers.
But supposing one prays not for external things so much as for opportunity for the fulfillment of one's own abilities and for complete self-expression. Even here, however, there is necessarily a definite limit, if by self-expression we mean the will-to-power and the enhancement of the ego. For should prayer become a tool for extending the ego to an infinite degree of resourcefulness and power the universe would become a sorry chaos of warring titans. Plainly there is a limit to self-expression which no manner of earnest prayer can avail to overpass. The Infinite and Eternal One cannot bestow, upon the many, power to an infinite degree. In fact power is not bestowed by God upon any one. It is only loaned. The individual may become a channel for the Will of God, and as such continue to progress infinitely. There is no limit to the extent to which the individual may seek to express the Will of God; for in such an arrangement there is still the One Power—the universe is still a unity and not a chaos.
APPLYING these truths to the individual
life, it becomes apparent
that prayer is not too much to be
used toward the fulfillment of material
desires or toward self-expression,
though God in His mercy and
** Baha’i Scriptures, paragraph 572
beneficence permits prayer to be an aid even in these directions within the limits already described.* But men of faith should soon arise from the low plain of requesting God to satisfy their personal desires toward the higher planes of selflessness and service; and where prayer is used, seek for further abnegation of self, union with and attachment to God, illumination and guidance in the way of universal service.
Many earnestly religious people are dismayed at finding their most ardent prayers unanswered. Could they look within themselves they might find the reason and learn to raise their prayers to a higher level. Through earnestness of
* JustifiabIe prayers for material things are requests for the actual necessities of life. In the Lord’s prayer this need is provided for—”Give us this day our daily bread.” And one of the most helpful of the prayers given by ’Abdu’l-Baha similarly provides for the daily needs in the phrase, “Give me, in a right way, my daily living, and confer a blessing on my necessities.”
spiritual request many human material desires do find fulfillment, it is true; but when the individual becomes puzzled by the fact that there is no consistency in this procedure and that while some prayers are answered others are not, he may do well to consider the two great spiritual laws above described which make it inevitable that the further one proceeds in the direction of using prayer for egoistic desires the less in proportion is the success attained. On the other hand, there is no limit to the extent to which prayer can be used as a source of illumination, of union with God, of power for service. The best prayer we can make is—“I ask of Thee, O Thou Beloved of the hearts and the Hope of the lovers, to make us pure and without desire, following Thy command, and leaving our delights to seek Thy good pleasure.”
desire for us, and there is no answer for our prayer. His Wisdom does not sanction what we wish. We pray, ‘O God! make me wealthy!’ If this prayer were universally answered human affairs would be at a standstill. There would be none left to work in the streets, none to till the soil, none to build, none to run the trains. Therefore it is evident that it would not be well for us if all prayers were answered. The affairs of the world would be interfered with, energies crippled and progress hindered. But whatever we ask for, which is in accord with Divine Wisdom God will answer. Assuredly!
THE first need of finite man in his progress towards the Infinite is the infiltration of the Spirit of God. The Spirit is illumination, it is impulse, it is energy; and, perhaps most important of all, it is the means of steady contact with divine sources of life. It is communication opened up between man and God. It is imperative for human happiness, achievement, and success that this road be kept open; that man permit this spirit of God to grow in his heart, and that he consciously foster and encourage it. This growth depends largely upon expression. It must manifest itself in the words, the actions, the heart fibre of man, or it will wither and die. We are steadily assured in the Divine Words that the agent for this expression is love, divine love.
Love is not only the constructive energy between human beings, it serves the same purpose between man and God. So important is this command to love that it appears among the first instructions in the Hidden Words:*
“O Son of Existence! Love me, that I may love thee. If thou lovest me not, my love can never reach thee. Know this, O servant!”
That is man must open his heart by love. He must live love, or the understanding of the divine love can never penetrate into his own consciousness. The unruly, hating
* A book revealed by Baha’u’llah.
child has no conception of the meaning of a parent’s love. It is only when his own heart becomes awakened by love and he gives it expression that the father’s or mother’s love can sweep in a flood into his life and understanding. So a human being must love; must live it, must help plant it in the lives of those around him before he can even dream of the meaning of divine love. But once implanted such love becomes the agent for the expression of the divine spirit through man; and as the spirit grows stronger so also will its expression, love, become more compelling, more comforting, more constructive.
We are not left in doubt as to the nature of this love. We are warned against mistaking involved human preferences, longings, and emotions for the clear sunlight of Divine love. Such a love light makes as clear the beauties in the life of one we may have called an enemy as in the life of one we humanly love. It stimulates the growth of tolerance, justice, help towards all; it eliminates suspicion and jealousy; it is an ever-purling stream of human happiness.
This divine love in the hearts of men and its expression are imperative if the world is to be reconstructed in this new age. In fact it is the only means. World peace will never be brought about by laws and courts and conferences and parliaments,
unless these are the active agents for the organized formulation of human and divine love. Love must function through human agents because the world is human. It is not intended to function miraculously nor by direct divine intervention, because men are entrusted with the rebuilding of this world as God’s agents; and the fact that men rebuild by their own efforts is what causes the upliftment of mankind. It is said, “God does not change that which people have until they change what is within themselves.”
“The divine purpose in religion is pure love and amity” * * * “Thus will humanity be rescued from the strife and wars of six thousand years, dissensions will pass away and the illumination of unity dawn.” Consider the depth of meaning in these words and their significance to the human race. The divine purpose of religion is pure love and amity. For six thousand years, says Ábdu’l-Bahá, vicissitudes and hardships have prevailed in this world, but he continues, “Now in this radiant century let us try to carry out the good pleasure of God, that we may be rescued from these things of darkness and come forth into the boundless illumination of heaven, shunning division and welcoming the divine oneness of humanity.”
The conclusion is evident. Live, love and amity. Teach them to our children. Practice them in business. Deal with crime and evil through love, not revenge or fear. In such a life there is no place for weak yielding to evil or wrong doing; for love must be strong and
just. It must be ceaseless training for the divine perfections. “Pure love and amity” are not the mere human personal emotions. They are the universal divine principles of eternal life and growth and happiness. One of man’s greatest difficulties is to learn how to distinguish between his own personal emotions—the human—and the universal basic guides of life—the divine. Failure to so differentiate the human from the divine holds mankind back in the old six thousand year struggle.
The lesson of this “radiant century” is that humanity shall emerge from the merely human environment of materiality, emotion, and personal desires into a practical and applied understanding of the universality of the divine principles, and that he shall base upon the divine principles our treatment of crime, ignorance, poverty, unemployment, unlimited accumulation of wealth, and discords individual and national.
Slowly through the ages man has been trained to a fuller comprehension of the divine purpose. There have been glorious teachers and radiant followers, steadily lifting mankind to higher and higher levels of understanding and accomplishment. Now the day has dawned when all mankind should participate in this religion which is “pure love and amity.” “Enough of these six thousand years which have brought such vicissitudes and hardships into the world! Now in this radiant century let us try to carry out the good pleasure of God!”
“Just as the sun is the source of all lights in the solar system, so today Bahá’u’lláh is the Center of Unity of the human race and of the peace of the world.”
THESE were the words of ’Abdu’l-Bahá to the late Dr. Naruse, the founder of the Japan Woman’s University, of Tokyo in London, in 1912.
As I look from my window on the street below, there pass by young men clad in blue uniforms, or girls in blue skirts, white blouses and hate all of the same style, some with their knapsacks of books on shoulders, or school bags in their hands. These are the students of the Land of the Rising Sun, where knowledge is eagerly sought. As all wear regulation school uniforms, Tokyo would appear to be a city of students.
A study of more recent trends in Japanese school children and of schools of higher education shows a most unusual evolution from customs of previous generations to an extreme modernization both in costumes and habits of thought.
One of the fine things about these schools is their democratization expressed outwardly by uniform costumes so that all students, rich and poor, appear alike, and no one can tell whether they come from humble or wealthy homes.
Education is taken very seriously in Japan. There is greater demand for higher education than there is opportunity or accommodation for the pupils, therefore there is great competition and school life is taken very seriously.
Students in Japan have a broad outlook upon life, very cosmopolitan, and they think deeply upon some of the world’s current problems. For instance recently in a contest held between students of three universities of Tokyo, among the subjects chosen were the following: The World State; at the Pacific Era; Religion, the Primary Institution; Japan’s Civilization and World Prosperity; the Pacific Ocean in the Future; the Final Goal of the East; International Student Federation; the Coming War and Imperialism on the Pacific; Individual Consciousness and the Solution of the Economic Problem: Arbitration and World Peace.
One of the fine private Preparatory Schools for Boys in Japan is the Seikei Gakuyen, a school of about four hundred boys in the suburbs of Tokyo. I had the pleasure of attending here an Esperanto Program gotten up by a group of about forty students who are devotees of this linguistic movement. I had been invited to take part in the program and to speak in Esperanto on some subject which would interest their mothers and sisters for on this occasion they were the guests of the students.
The program began at eight-thirty a. m. and continued, with an hour-and-a-half intermission at noon, until four p. m. The first part was devoted to speeches in Japanese by ten of the students.
The Esperanto program opened with songs sung by the Esperanto group of the school followed by a
--PHOTO--
Esperanto group of Seikei School, Tokyo and their friends, June 15, 1930. Fifth from the right is Dr. Asajiro Oka and next Miss Agnes Alexander.
talk given by Dr. Asajiro Oka, a member of the Imperial Academy of Japan, the highest educational body in Japan, and an enthusiastic Esperantist. Speaking in Japanese on, “The International Age,” which he described as the age in which we are living, he called attention to the necessity at this time for an international language.
The writer spoke in Esperanto, one of the students eloquently interpreting into Japanese. The talk was entitled, “Showa,” that is, “Bright Peace” (the name given to the present era in Japan) and how to attain it in the world through the Teachings of Bahá’u’lláh.
Twelve musical numbers consisting of occidental music, piano, violin and vocal songs in English, German and Hawaiian completed the program.
In the school rooms were exhibits of history, art, geography, travel, baseball, rugby, weather reports, Esperanto and other subjects. In the center of the Esperanto exhibition room, a tree placed upon a table
with rainbow streamers extending from its top had inscribed at its foot the word, “Mondpaco,” “World Peace.” Around it and on three sides of the room Esperanto literature from all parts of the world was displayed. The conception of the Esperanto tree coincided with words which Lidja Zamenhof, the daughter of the author of Esperanto, wrote to a group of Esperantists of Tokyo: “Bahá’u’lláh, la granda Profeto de la lasta jarcento, diris antan kelkdek jaroj, ke lingvo internacio estas necesa por atingi la Ciamdauran Pacon. Tia sama estis la motivo de la Autoro de Esperanto, kaj tio estas la stelo, kiu ne nur verde, sed per ciuj koloroj de cielarko lumigas kaj briligas nian horizonton.” The translation of this is: “Bahá’u’lláh, the great Prophet of the last century said some sixty years ago that an international language was necessary in order to attain Everlasting Peace. Such also was the motive of the author of Esperanto, and that is the star which not
only in green (the Esperanto color), but with all colors of the rainbow, brightens and illumines our horizon.”
In an adjoining room, travel by means of Esperanto was represented. Here seated upon an aeroplane, “Esperanto,” suspended in the air by means of wires, was a dummy which appeared to be traveling through the universe. Across the room a paper globe represented our world, and other planets were indicated by stars.
In order to arrange the Esperanto exhibition, the students had sacrificed their nights’ sleep and worked, with only one hour’s rest, through the night.*
This school also observes a fast during the year. As most of the students come from families of the higher class and have never experienced what it is to go without sleep or food, these meetings are held to teach them (as explained in the school pamphlet) “how delicious is sleep and how much they owe to food.”
The “fast meeting”, as it is called, is not compulsory, only each student of Seikei is required to keep it once during his school days there. At the time of the fast, the boys of the lower grades abstain from eating two or three meals during one day, while those of the higher classes retire to a temple for three days and keep a fast, except for a bowl of rice water served each day at 3 o’clock in the afternoon. It is said, the first day they are
* These students are trained to sacrifice sleep through the observance once a year of a “sitting up all night meeting,” that is, during one night they assemble in the school hall and spend the night, first sitting in silence followed by talks from the teachers, moving pictures, a walk out of doors, and again silence broken after a time, until the morning.
hungry, the second day they are not so hungry, and the third day their minds are clear. During these three days they practice Japanese penmanship, and are advised to omit their physical exercises. For each time a student keeps the fast, he is given a silver medal, and if he keeps it five times, he receives a gold medal.
Morning devotional service is observed in this school by the students assembling in the main hall and sitting there in silence for fifteen minutes with hands folded in front, but during the fast they remain in silence for thirty minutes.
The eager, earnest students of Japan are found everywhere. A group which I have been privileged to meet are the students studying English in the new Tokyo Y. M. C. A., a six-storied building which was opened December 29, 1929. Here three hundred and fifty young men, most of whom work during the day, attend the night school which is held five evenings in the week. I had the pleasure of teaching here as a substitute for a friend several weeks. On three especially arranged occasions the opportunity was given me to speak of the Bahá’i Movement, one of these times to the English Speaking Club when about one hundred assembled.
To share in any way in assisting these bright, eager minds to find true knowledge is indeed a joy and a privilege.
In a Tablet from Ábdu’l-Bahá to the late Dr. George J. Augur, of Honolulu, are these words:
“Japan has great capacity, but there must needs be a teacher who will speak by the confirmations of the Holy Spirit.”
THE architect of the first Bahá’i Temple of Worship in America, and in fact on this continent, passed to the life eternal on August 19, 1930. The Bahá’i world has thus lost one of its most distinguished citizens.
Probably in every country of the world Mr. Bourgeois was known, at least in architectural circles, for his now famous design of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkar which is now in course of construction on the shores of Lake Michigan in Wilmettte (suburb of Chicago, Ill.). Of this magnificent design Mr. Bourgeois himself wrote in a letter to a friend in these somewhat mystical terms:
“I cannot write on the Temple. This belongs to some one else to do. It is what others see in this Temple, not what I may say. It is too sacred to me to try to utter words about it. It would be like a mother praising her child, besides it is not my child but God’s child. Very few will see its reality in this age. I cannot see the end yet regarding; the Temple, but I leave it all to the Blessed Beauty and to the Greatest Branch who shall ‘build the Temple of the Lord.’ My share in it is so small, it is not worth mentioning.
--PHOTO--
It reminds me of the Moving Picture called D’Israeli. When this mighty Jew accomplished the impossible, all his friends came to congratulate him because of his wonderful power. His answer was, ‘I have no power, but they do not know it.’ Most people who appreciate this ‘new art’ look to me as the creator of it, but the One Who did it, they do not know—that One was the Blessed Perfection, Bahá’u’lláh.”
Many times we have heard it said by returned Bahá’i pilgrims from the Holy Land that Ábdul-Bahá had said that the design was given to
the World by Bahá’u’lláh, that it was Bahá’u’lláh’s Temple.
Mr. Bourgeois submitted his model at the Convention of Bahá’is held in New York City in April, ]920, at which time his design was chosen. The Temple as now being constructed under the direction of The Research Service, Inc., Managing and Supervising Engineers of Washington, D. C., is somewhat reduced in size, the design having been made smaller by Mr. Bourgeois himself in accordance with the instructions of Ábdu’l-Bahá.
This Temple is dedicated to the Oneness of God and the oneness of mankind. Its reality both materially and spiritually will not be fully understood, as Mr. Bourgeois intimated, for some time to come. It is a Temple of Light, “the first thing new in architecture since the thirteenth century,” according to Mr. H. VanBuren Magonigle, past president of the American Federation of Arts.
But to the minds of many one of the most remarkable things about this unique and magnificent edifice is the fact that funds for its erection have come from many parts of the world and only from Bahá’is. In the Words of Ábdu’l-Bahá,” . . . from every country in the world according to their various means, contributions are continually being sent toward the fund of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkar in America. . . . From the day of Adam until now such an event has never been witnessed by man that, from the farthermost country of Asia contributions were forwarded to America. This is through the Power of the Covenant of God.”
Probably no modern architectural creation of any kind has attracted such widespread interest as Mr. Louis Gr. Bourgeois’ design of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkar, descriptions of which have appeared in newspapers and magazines around the world.
“Nothing short of direct and constant interaction between the spiritual forces emanating from this House of Worship centering in the heart of the Mashrigu’l-Adhkár, and the energies consciously displayed by those who administer its affairs in their service to humanity can possibly provide the necessary agency capable of removing the ills that have so long and so grievously afflicted humanity. For it is assuredly upon the consciousness of the efficacy of the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh, reinforced on one hand by spiritual communion with His Spirit, and on the other by the intelligent application and the faithful execution of the principles and laws He revealed, that the salvation of a world in travail must ultimately depend. And of all the institutions that stand associated with His Holy Name, surely none save the institution of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár can most adequately provide the essentials of Bahá’i worship and service, both so vital to the regeneration of the world. Therein lies the secret of the loftiness, of the potency, of the unique position of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár as one of the outstanding institutions conceived by Bahá’u’lláh.”
- O thou who caught the vision crystal clear
- And brought it forth to man in outer form,
- A thing so mystical, so wondrous fair,
- That those who stand before it, bow their heads
- As if before a shrine and say, “Behold!
- This is the work of God, and not of man!
- A Temple whose design was drawn above,
- And given to humanity through thee.”
- How pure a mirror must have been thy heart,
- That it could draw from realms invisible
- This radiant ray of truth, and it reflect
- In all its splendor to a waiting world.
- This is the Temple of the Living God,
- A House of Worship, Unity and Love;
- Where all who enter in are one in Him,
- And in that oneness ever will abide.
- Its form divine is like a mighty chord
- Of sweet celestial music—spreading peace
- And harmony throughout the world. It is
- The “Lost Chord” found again, the chord of love,
- That shall retune each heart with Power Divine
- Until the whole world joins in one great song,
- That Song of Life—the Song of the Redeemed.
- Blessed thou art, thrice blessed thou indeed,
- Whom God didst choose to be a channel pure,
- To give this Glorious Temple to the world.
- Thou art not dead, but risen to higher realms,
- Thy work not finished; thou shalt still work on
- And guide the hands of those who daily build,
- Until completion crowns the Temple’s brow;
- Then with the “Choir Invisible” thou wilt join
- In songs of praise, while from the temple’s doors
- The songs of little children, sweet and pure,
- Will float out far upon etheric waves,
- Encircling all the earth with Peace and Love.
- In fondest memory thou wilt still live on,
- And ever will the Temple speak of thee;
- For God through thee didst give it unto man
- A Monument of sacrifice and love
- To shed its glorious light of knowledge true;
- And in that light shall men see face to face,
- And East and West forevermore be one.
Hollywood, Calif.,
September, 1930.
- A candle-once you said—if it would give light
- Must give its life to the dark night,
- Drop by drop. So when the feeble flame
- Had flickered out I saw your name
- In silver signature blaze across the darkened sky.
- Then I knew why.
- The frail, clear crystal bowl
- That held your soul
- Had shattered.
- For, after all, what mattered
- To you was Light!
- And that there might
- Be yet more light you gave yourself in rapt caress
- To loveliness
- That an all-too-poignant beauty might raise
- Itself in temple-towers for the future days.
- Clear-etched against the lake
- It towered in your vision. You knew not it would
- break
- Your heart with beauty—
- This sweetly dim altar to an unseen Deity.
- You smiled—and slept—a slow, white slumber.
- But do you know the number
- Of lights you lit with your candle, as it dripped
- Its life on those who dipped
- Into your soul? “You know!” you said, in accents
- slow.
- Ah, yes. We know. . . .
Wilmot Road, Deerfield, Illinois, August 19, 1930.
- Build him no monuments of stone,
- O faithful followers of Abha Light!
- Unfurl no banners by the zephyrs blown,
- Ring bells no more, chain every song in flight!
- Give God the praise. He gave, and taketh all;
- Each soul must answer to his Master’s call.
- Ours be the loss, but his reward shall he
- Imperishable; immortality.
- Sculptor of Shrines for all Humanity!
Green Acre,
September 18, 1930.
THE early doctrine of physical science was rightly called Atomic Materialism. It accounted for all physical phenomena by means of the motions, impacts, etc., of some sort of atom model, but made no claim to account for the mental and spiritual aspects of our lives. As the triumphs in the physical world increased, however, the atomic world became more and more real, while the mental and spiritual was regarded as more or less shadowy. By the end of the nineteenth century this type of materialism was generally accepted among scientific men and it would have claimed all educated men had it not been for the failure of the classical physics to solve all our modern problems. The radical change to which the atom was subjected every few years did much to disturb the confidence of scientific men so we are not far from the truth when we say that mechanical materialism was finally destroyed by the very progress of physical science.
The public at large, however, lags a good many years behind the foremost minds so that we still see some eighteenth century materialism even today, although it is hardly considered respectable!
Now this change called for a truce between science and religion so that the old time conflict is no longer in evidence; nevertheless there is a kind of materialism which
is just as dangerous, if not more so, to real spiritual and moral progress.
When the physical sciences discarded their crude atomic models, because they were inadequate for their researches, these models were taken over by the newer biological sciences where they still occupy an important place. Now it is important to remember that while the physical sciences no longer hold to the old views of matter they are nevertheless “mechanistic.“ They operate exclusively in a “mechanical” world (using the term in a broad sense), a world in which there is no urge or desire to attain a definite goal?1
If a ball is released from the hand it will fall to the ground but the ground is not a goal for the ball, that is it has no urge to reach the ground. If an obstacle is placed in the path of the ball, say a table, it will fall upon the table and it will make no effort to reach the ground. It may, to be sure, roll over the edge of the table and thus reach the ground but no one would interpret that as an urge. Again when the ball is released we know with certainty what will happen to it. Now when a flower turns toward the light it shows a purposive action and if an obstacle is placed
1 McDougall, Modern Materialism and Emergent Evolution, page 124.
in its way it will endeavor to get around the obstacle but the ball never exhibits any such purposive action and it is with this kind of world and with this kind only that the physical sciences are concerned.
Moreover any science, biology or psychology let us say, which bases a theory upon a physical science necessarily mechanistic. Incidentally, as McDougall points out, the sciences find some difficulty in keeping up with the rapid changes of the latter and as a result very many of them are still thinking in terms of atomic materialism. If the simple atom of Democritus cannot solve the problems of physical science it seems highly improbable that it can solve even the simplest mental process. We need not dwell for a moment upon the obvious fact that as a machine the mind is incomparably more complex than the most baffling physical problem.
The object of the present article is to indicate some of the conclusions of a mechanistic theory and to explain, briefly, to be sure, the grounds upon which such a theory is based. Modern Materialism, then, as differentiated from the Atomic Materialism of the past, is essentially a mechanistic theory.
Let us examine some of the consequences of Modern Materialism to see if our views of the origin, purpose, and destiny of man is thereby effected, for if there are no serious implications in the mechanistic science we shall not be particularly alarmed concerning it.
To quote from McDougall’s recent book2 “If the mechanistic assumption is valid, we cannot validly
2 McDougall, Modern Materialism and Emergent Evolution, page 9.
postulate any, even the slightest, degree of freedom of choice, any effectiveness of our ideals and our aspirations for their fulfillment; we cannot believe in the reality of moral effect or of creative activity of any kind; our belief that we can by our efforts contribute in some degree of the realization of our ideals; our belief that by taking thought we may refine our ideals, or give preference to the better over the less good; our belief that by self-discipline and culture we may raise ourselves in some degree in the scale of personal value and contribute however little towards the conservation of values—all such beliefs are illusory.” He has probably not overstated the case against Modern Materialism and indeed We are tempted to go one step further. If all creative activity is an illusion why not throw out the mechanistic assumption? There is some slight evidence that the whole theory might fall of its own weight, but we should not take that passive attitude toward any vital question.
Revealed religion in the light of such a theory would be pure superstition and herein lies its greatest danger. The only religion possible under such a system would be Pantheism for Deism is ruled out.
When we consider the circumstances it is not surprising that some sort of scientific attack should be made upon the mental process. At the same time when a concrete mechanical model was considered a sufficient explanation for physical phenomena the scientific method appeared to be the only ideal one and quite naturally if this is the most perfect example of the way in which God works it would certainly
be consistent to apply this simple and orderly procedure to the mind. Moreover, about the time Modern Materialism was taking shape, the physical world was considered the real world and it is but natural that certain types of materialistic philosophers should look upon the mind only in the light of a ready-made mechanical model.
On the other hand, before a complete physical explanation of all mental and spiritual aspects was established, certainly before the great mass of educated men realized the consequences of the mechanistic assumption, the physicist had ceased to look upon a model of any kind as ultimate reality.
Physicists today realize that they cannot get very far behind the symbols they use in equations. As we have shown before a thing is no longer considered real merely because it is concrete. As Eddington points out “. . . time might be taken as typical of the kind of stuff of which we imagine the physical world to be built.” This suggestion is very helpful, for time is real to all of us but it is certainly not con- crete, and to most of us energy is also real but hardly more concrete. Now if we could extend the same idea to mass and to space as the physicist is able to do, we should realize that the physical world is symbolic.
We may now summarize the salient points;
1. The mechanistic theory is not based upon the most modern and consequently the only adequate concepts of the atom. To quote Eddington; “Physics today is not likely to be attracted by a type of explanation of the mind which it
would scornfully reject for its own ether.”
2. From the time of Newton to the present physicists have made no claim to account for mind or spirit and it is reasonable to assume that they are in a position to realize the limitations of physical science.
3. No philosophy or science should claim the support of the physical sciences upon matters which the physical sciences repudiate. Eddington’s reaction to this point is very illuminating; “Penetrating as deeply as we can by the methods of physical investigation into the nature of a human being we reach only symbolic description. Far from attempting to dogmatise as to the nature of the reality thus symbolized, physics most strongly insists that its methods do not penetrate behind the symbolism.”
The efforts of psychology along this line must be regarded in the light of an explanation rather than a series of significant discoveries. The physicist drops a theory or explanation when he finds that it fails to explain the observed facts. It may happen, as in the case of the wave theory of light, that he retains a theory provisionally if it seems to explain some of the facts, but under this condition the retained theory is certainly not regarded as satisfactory. We do not maintain today that we have a satisfactory theory of light but on the contrary we are inclined to regard the situation as a dilemma.
Such things as intuition, spiritual guidance, creative impulses, etc. are as real to a highly developed people as fear, anger, and the desire for physical necessities are to the general run of mankind, and
they must be reckoned with by any theory that claims to explain mental and spiritual effects. To maintain that spiritual experiences are an illusion is comparable to saying that all of the modern discoveries in light are false merely because they cannot be explained upon the old wave theory.
A hundred blind men may testify that the sun does not exist but if a few should receive sight they would immediately discredit the testimony of the rest. Again a community may consist for the most part of ignorant people but that would not disprove the existence of wisdom, for a few wise men might so demonstrate the value of wisdom that the ignorant would desire to attain it.
The only position then, that psychologists can take (upon spiritual matters) is the position that the modern physicist takes with reference to the wave theory or any similar half truth; that is they must admit that they are in a dilemma for the reason that the mechanistic theory will not explain all the facts.
Shall we ask psychology, then, to explain our spiritual experiences, putting them aside as illusory if they are not thus justified? No, we must reject psychology for the larger experience just as we reject an atom model as an explanation of the ultimate reality of some physical law.
It is sometimes claimed that when sufficient data are collected psychology can explain mental and spiritual operations with the same accuracy that the physicists can explain a physical phenomenon. Even if true such a pronouncement is far from satisfactory, for if man, to illustrate the point, has no
greater evidence for the future life than the physicist has for the existence of the ether, he would certainly be justified in turning materialist. The whole difficulty is, as we have tried to indicate, these two ideas are not comparable.
Finally we must remember that any theory or hypothesis which is proposed as an explanation of some effect cannot be attended with a large number of exceptions. If the mind is a machine, then it should behave like a machine most of the time. To assume that it is a machine but on account of an infinity of unknown factors it practically never functions as a machine can hardly be taken as good ground for a theory that rejects the most obvious and direct experiences of life. Again we can do no better than to quote Eddington, “In comparing things spiritual and things temporal, let us not forget this—Mind is the first and most direct thing in our experience; all else is remote inference. . . . Surely then that mental and spiritual nature of ourselves, known in our minds by an intimate contact transcending the methods of physics supplies just that interpretation of the symbols which science is admittedly unable to give.”
We must always be ready to follow truth wherever it leads, but in rejecting the mechanistic assumption we are rejecting a theory that is built upon an unstable foundation and that does not take into account all of the facts of our mental experience.
In the last article we shall approach the problem from the spiritual rather than the rational stand-point.
This is the fourth installment of the serial story by Miss Root describing her experiences in Persia. The articles have been appearing monthly beginning with the July Bahá'i Magazine.
O Bahá’i Persia! You have borne the martyrdoms, the exiles, the loss of all your worldly possessions, you have suffered and yet worked on continuously, day and night, taking no rest nor composure. You have established the Bahá’i Cause on a firm foundation. You have looked to the western friends to come. I give you the glad tidings that they will come, and soon. The rest of the world can never thank you enough that you have stood in your place and done your part to establish and promote the Teachings of Bahá’u’lláh.
How many of the stories of the martyrs come to my mind! Suleimnan Khan, a young man still in the thirties, soil of a statesman, when the executioners had cut holes in his body and after placing lighted candles in the wounds paraded him through the streets of Tihrán in derision because he was a Bahá’i, he said to the chief: “Would you please move this one candle that is burning my hair and put it in some other place?” Angrily asked why, he answered very softly: “Because Bahá’u’lláh’s hand has touched my hair!”
The little boy of twelve years, Rouhullah Vargha, who so courageously gave his life rather than deny his Lord, I have written as a story apart from this, it is one of the most touching spiritual tales in all
history. The child, after seeing his father cut to pieces for being a Bahá’i, the Chief of the Court who could not persuade the boy to say that he was not a Bahá’i, whispered orders to strangle the lad a little just to frighten him and then he would ask the boy again. This little boy strangled with the rope around his neck did regain consciousness. The Chief of the Court coaxed him to give up his religion. Rouhullah Vargha said: “No, I saw Bahá’u’lláh, I can never deny Him. I will go as my father went.” Dropping on his knees, as the Persians pray, this little boy began to chant. The Chief of the Court was so overcome he called out to the executioner to kill the child quickly, and he himself ran out of the room through the corridor past the other Bahá’i prisoners standing to await execution, and no more of those prisoners were put to death that day. None of these people had done anything. It is written on their prisoner photographs taken before their execution, that they had become Babis (Bahá’is) which was against religion.
No city, no province escaped, all had their martyrs’ graves. This religion was accepted by many mullahs, Seyids and statesmen as well as by lay Muhammadans. Indeed, four hundred distinguished mullahs accepted the teachings of the
--PHOTO--
Martha L. Root, as a pilgrim, taken at the House of the Báb in Shiraz, Persia, on May 4, 1930. This is the room where the Báb first declared His mission. Later He declared it at Mecca.
Báb and Bahá’u’lláh and openly declared their faith. They too, were martyred.
TODAY THE VISITOR to Persia sees
that some of the most responsible
positions of the whole Empire are
entrusted to Bahá’is, and no Bahá’i
has ever betrayed the confidence reposed
in him. They are most loyal,
trustworthy citizens who work for
the Government with all their
brains and all their heart. A great
new spiritual culture is arising in
Persia. When you read the account
of the various Bahá’i committees
in my next article
you will see the training that is
transforming the believers into efficient
workers. They are broadened
and evolved through the
Teachings of Bahá’u’lláh. Every Bahá’i too without exception educates his sons and daughters, and when he cannot do it the National Spiritual Bahá’i Assembly helps him.
One man who knows all Persia very well said that some of the young people educated in Europe lose the spirit and strict observance of their ancestral Muhammadan religion. They cease to believe in their Prophet and are really agnostic. Before they went abroad, their religion was the foundation of their purity and character. Losing their religion, they lose their highest ideals. Then when they come back sometimes they are not sincere with themselves or with others. Their ancestors, although
they had not been trained in education as we know it today–still they were moral, pure and sincere. The great service which the Bahá’i Cause is giving to the present generation is the morality, the pure life, the sincerity of their forefathers plus the new sciences and modern education. This is helping to build the new Persia.
The great masses of the Bahá’i students who, because of the financial condition of the country, cannot afford to study in Europe and in the United States, still are getting education in the Bahá’i schools and in other schools of the nation; in their studies of the Teachings of Bahá’u’lláh they catch the illumination and they evolve to a high spiritual culture which combines religion and the sciences.
Even the humblest Bahá’i in the smallest village—and there are five hundred villages in Persia where there are Bahá’is—has become tolerant, kind and really internationally-minded. Foreigners going into Persia are astonished to find that these poor peasants in the cradle of Central Asia are liberal-minded toward people of all other religions. Men sometimes study forty years to become mullahs, but their learning belongs to the past; when speaking with a Bahá’i peasant they cannot always answer his arguments.
Another man whom I met in Persia, this one a Bahá’i, told me that there are many laws passed in Parliament about elections. Some of the laws preclude Bahá’is. If one is known to be a Bahá’i, according to the laws he cannot become a parliamelitarian. One day this Bahá’í, when speaking to a well-known member of Parliament, said to him:
“You have among your Parliament members Zoroastrians, Jews, Christians who really do not believe in Muhammad. Why do you exclude Bahá’is who believe in Muhammad and know His Station as the Messenger of God? He replied: “Those Zoroastrians, Jews and Christians have no influence over us, while you Bahá’is, although you are a minority, you are uprooting us, you are taking great numbers of our members. This is why we do not wish you to have more power. I shall tell you the truth, we do not wish you to increase in influence in Persia.”
However, the Bahá’i Cause is progressing steadily. During these five weeks of the writer’s stay, a Persian Almanac was being published. It had a large paid advertisement against the Bahá’i movement inserted by enemies. Although the book was in the press and four hundred copies had been finished, when the National Spiritual Assembly took this matter up with government officials the advertisement was ordered out of the book. The four hundred copies were ordered to be sent to the Police Department where this page was cut out from every one of the four hundred copies.
THE WRITER was present at an
amateur theatrical performance
given by Bahá’i young men before
seven hundred men and women in
the Grand Hotel theatre to raise
money for the Bahá’i Library. It
was interesting to see that (just as
at the cinemas now) the men and
women attended, the ladies sitting
in one half of the theatre and the
men in the other part. Many government
--PHOTO--
Photo by Dr. Lotfullah
When Bahá'is of Tihrán hold their Feasts they fill large gardens to overflowing, and even at that only a portion of the Tihrán Bahá’is can attend any one Feast.
people were present, captains, policemen, at least a third of the audience was non-Bahá’i. A fine orchestra was playing and every musician was a Bahá’i. The actors, and they were all Bahá’is, performed with the capacity and ease of professionals, and received the deserved applause due to true artists. The drama had to do with education, the calamity of the rich father who refused to give his son an education and the blessing to the poor man who struggled that his boy might be trained in the sciences. On a blackboard in the last act were the Words of ’Abdu’l-Bahá on the necessity of education. Also a chorus of Bahá’i children chanted one of the Bahá’i poems.
The Tarbiat Bahá’i School for Boys and the School for Girls will be written about in a separate
article. However, Persians told me that many great families send their children to these schools because of the high moral character of the training. For fifteen years they were the highest institutions of their kind in Persia, excepting one government school which was known as the University. Now the government has established excellent schools. The children of His Imperial Majesty Pahlevi Shahanshah attended the Tarbiat Schools before he was Shah, and afterwards a teacher from Tarbiat Schools has been one of the teachers in the Royal Palace; for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince Muhammad Reza Pahlevi and the Shah’s daughters now have private tutors. So many children from the provinces have asked to come and study in the Tarbiat Schools, but it is not
possible until a dormitory can be built for them. I asked how much such a dormitory would cost and the National Spiritual Assembly said it would require thirty-five thousand dollars. It would be very beautiful if the west could do this for the country boys and girls of Persia. Any service which is rendered for education to this nation which is making such a stupendous effort, is a good relationship which would never be forgotten. Eighteen dollars a year pays the tuition for a pupil in either school. Miss Adelaide Sharp of San Francisco who has been the Director of the Girls’ School since 1929 received a letter of appreciation from the Persian Board of Education for her modern scientific methods. Dr. Susan I. Moody of Chicago who has worked in Tihrán for years has done much to help these schools.
NO ACCOUNT of the new civilization
in Persia would be just without
a full description of the wonderful
work of His Imperial Majesty Pahlevi
Shahanshah. But I hope my
articles about him may appear simultaneously
with this narrative.
However, what I did not state and
what will interest Bahá’is, is that
His Imperial Majesty Pahlevi Shahanshah
was born in the same Province,
Mazandaran, near the village
of Nur where the family of Bahá’u’lláh
lived. As Bahá’u’lláh’s
father was a Minister, the family
was much in Tihrán and Bahá’u’lláh
Himself was born in the capital,
but ’Abdu’l-Bahá was born in
Nur. During my stay in Tihrán, I
heard that His Imperial Majesty
telegraphed to the Persian Ministers
in Moscow and Askabad, and
Persian subjects Bahá’is imprisoned in those cities were freed and allowed to return to Persia. His Imperial Majesty is very just and very neutral. He probably would have done the same if the Persian subjects had been Muhammadans or Christians. This was only one of several Bahá’i incidents which showed that he is fair to all his subjects and tolerant. There has been very little Bahá’i persecution since civil laws were introduced in Persia, during his reign.
Just about two years ago the Persian Government introduced the civil code which thus did away with the old religious courts. Where the Muhammadan religion has heretofore played a leading role sometimes running counter to the government, now the power of the mullahs is much less. When the Persian government began the universal military service, conscription, the Muhammadan religious authorities definitely opposed it, but the government decided that the religious elements must not oppose the laws of the land. Certainly the power of the mullahs is much less under the new regime.
Something else in Persia has helped indirectly towards tolerance. One year ago the government ordered that the kulah (the black Persian hat for men, really a kind of fez) should be changed to the Pahlevi hat, which is a cap, for it is the kulah with a little brim in front. When the Muhammadans touch their foreheads to the floor in prayer they must turn this cap, even though it is very awkward to do this, with the peak to the back, for it is not the custom to take the hat
off. Small as this departure of the kulah may seem to the western world, still it is an orientation towards change in thought. It is an interesting fact that when ’Abdu’l-Bahá was in New York City in 1912, He said to His Persian secretary, Mr. Valiollah Vargha, "who had come from Tihrán: “The kulah is a very good hat, but it ought to have a little brim to protect the eyes.” Mr. Vargha bought a French hat and from it fashioned a kulah with a brim or peak to it and used it sometimes, in the United States. ’Abdu’l-Bahá said to him: “That is very good.” Then when the Persian government first introduced the Pahlevi hat and the soldiers were wearing them even though the law had not been passed making this compulsory, Mr. Vargha wore the Pahlevi hat. His employer, an ambassador, said: “You will be insulted and persecuted in the street,” but Mr. Vargha replied: “I am going to wear it anyway because
’Abdu’l-Bahá approved this very kind of hat.”
Then too the government passed a law two years ago that the overcoat must replace the abá. This was another help to bring tolerance. Only legitimate mullahs who could come forward and pass a rigid examination that they possessed the high qualifications to be spiritual teachers of Islám could wear the turbans and the abás. Before that time thousands under the guise of turbans and abás could commit deeds that no country that is an honored member of the League of Nations, which Persia is, could allow.
His Imperial Majesty Shahanshah Pahlevi is one of the most creative rulers Persia has had since the founding of the Persian Empire by Cyrus. He is working not only for Persia but that Irán may cooperate with all the other great countries for the welfare of humanity.
GREEN ACRE has long been known to readers of the Bahá’i Magazine. It has lived a generation; yet it is now new. The reference is not to physical changes but rather to the new spirit which swept over its activities during the past season and aroused general testimony to something new born. For a year or more, perhaps during many years, this community struggled in the pursuit of ideals which
* The Baha’i Summer Colony in Eliot, Maine.
now seem measurably attained. The aim is concentration upon that which is real both in the single and the mass life of mankind. Here idealists meet and strive to combine recreation with knowledge, rest with service, change with system, freedom with devotion, activity with service. The fame of this spot has spread around the world. Men and women of genius have here shared their gifts with others. Literature, art, science, statecraft, education,
commerce and religion have been its patrons. But its greatest treasure is the hearts of those who have humbly served, making others happy through their warmth and glow. Green Acre has its shining river, golden sunsets, fragrant flowers, wooded acres, mysterious pines, attractive buildings and sacred hill. It is inwardly equipped through the harmony of its friends to create joy in human hearts and to attract souls to the supreme knowledge of God. This is the fountain which is perennially new.
People came from New England, New York, the middle West and the sunny South. They appeared in divers shades of thought and color, of varying social ranks, some mild and contemplative, others strenuous or executive in type, yet all illumined by the same sun, drawing life from one soil and sustained by the breezes of the same Heaven. Each found a broader horizon and received a spiritual boon in mingling kindly with his fellow beings. Green Acre has a message for those who seek the treasures of God concealed in man.
THE PAST SEASON was preeminently
a workers’ convention. Those
who are striving in various ways to
uplift and guide humanity conferred
and gained inspiration. Speech
is golden when it reflects action.
Perpared addresses showed a
wealth of information produced by
labor as well as inspiration. Many
impromptu talks seemed coined into
expression by the powers of the
heart.
The sacred anniversary which
marks the martyrdom of the glorious
Báb inaugurated the season. A flood of light was shed upon this wonderful character by selected readings, prayers and addresses. One might well feel himself amid those times that tried the souls of men and marked the birth-cries of the New Age. The deeply mystical and spiritual were vividly set forth. It revealed an influence of marvelous power in its first contact with the appalling glooms and shadows of a waiting world, a power that spreads increasing circles of light.
Special occasions were those commemorating the life of Miss Sarah J. Farmer, the founder of Green Acre, the anniversary of the visit of ’Abdu’l-Bahá to Whom its workers turned for guidance; and Eliot and Portsmouth days. The village of Eliot in which Green Acre nestles is a stronghold of orthodoxy. It yet takes pride in its somewhat wayward offspring and those occasions are always notable which bring the two communities, typifying the fundamentalist and modernist in religion, into cooperation, mutual understanding and the exchange of friendly sentiments. Each finds in the other that which is worthy of cultivation.
Portsmouth day was the means of assembling a brilliant company with an orchestra of a dozen pieces, with its officials and workers to voice its traditions of freedom, interracial justice and its humane attitude to all who labor for the good of humanity. Portsmouth and Green Acre have so much in common that although one is a city and the other the country and they are separated by a river and the boundary between states, yet in reality they seem like one community as
each in its own way applies the ideals of the New Age to the service of all mankind.
Parents sometimes lend their children to Green Acre, this for various reasons. A group of those of very tender years lived on a farm not far away. When it was mentioned to them that they had better attend a class at Fellowship House they all went on a strike. Was this not vacation time? Must they spend all their time at prayer? Truly does the modern revolt against custom, affect all humanity! Yet these dear children yielded to a mild persuasion which prompted a trial for just once.
After getting started, they loved the stories so much that when those who had charge of them wished to discipline them, they were not allowed to attend the classes. What happiness in journeying over the mountain-tops, to the moon, in the wilds of adventure through the forests, and to share in the deeds of heroic lives and to gain knowledge from the Manifestations of God! These dear children showed a joy that was unmistakable. They displayed precocity. The heaven that is near them in their innocence cheered their hearts. A touching incident was that near the close of the season a child’s love for God was the cause of the assembling of a number of mature people together to hear the message of the Kingdom.
With what joy did we hail the youth, those whose lives are just budding into maturity! Should they be expected to abandon their playfulness? Why should they? Is not youth the time to be frolicsome? Yet these were Bahá’i youth indeed
in that they gravitated to the universal, showing no sense of separation from the elders, pursuing their pleasures with moderation and delving earnestly into the divine teachings so as to fortify their young lives for the trials and struggles as well as the successes and victories that must come to those who are faithful. These young people went in for intensive study, absorbing the Brilliant Proof and the Hidden Words and being able to state their ideas in a way to command admiration. With a sense of gratitude and confidence do we lean upon those who are young and strong and who as future guides will direct the destinies of mankind.
Those who sought a broader horizon with superstitions dispelled could listen to a brilliant series of lectures on the beginning of one of the world’s great civilizations, this being a study of what Muhammad brought to mankind. This is one of the necessary elements in the study of comparative religions, the object being to establish the validity of all religions by discovering the unity upon the plane of reality. How men of genius such as Carlyle and other thinkers have reacted to the Prophet of Islam, the motif and genius of the Prophet Himself, the reverence He inspired by His luminous teachings, the lustre that He shed upon men, the awakening of culture, diffusion of knowledge, the saintly lives and the men of genius that flowered forth as a result of the mystical power that He wielded and His prophetic vision of the Supreme Light appearing in this marvelous age. Such were thoughts that awaken impulses of nobility.
Delights, adornments and capacities
are served in the quest for God. Perhaps some found the True One in the classes for meditation and prayer that swung, like a pendulum between the Fellowship House and the Pines. Others might perceive the light of guidance in the Hidden Words or Seven Valleys, or in the group studies of divine sociology and following guidance.
THE NEED FOR order, which of old
was called heaven’s first law and
the evolution of an administration
which binds the strongest to the
weakest by the bonds of divine wisdom
and love, were set forth by a
man of affairs with large experience,
and thence came a wealth of
illustration drawn from actual
knowledge. That which lends itself
harmoniously to the rapid changes
of the world, which is firm yet not
harsh, gentle yet strong, mighty
yet simple, will survive the wreck
of material things and the crash of
conflicting theories and doubts.
Bahá’i administration attaining its
ideal in action will increasingly
serve men of all religions through
the years.
There came from another man of affairs a resume of the world’s treasures in architecture. It was a liberal education and a broadening of culture to trace the graceful flowering forth of constructive genius as expressed in the building of temples of worship in all the ages and cycles. Shown a people’s monuments, we can easily read their civilization. As we followed the words of the speaker, as well as the beautiful portraits shown upon the screen, through the Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Moorish, Byzantine,
Rennaissance and modern, we were prepared for what was the fitting climax: the structural and architectural beauty of the great universal Temple of today, the temple of light, which like the horizon will cover all men. Here indeed is overshadowed “the glory that was Greece and the grandeur that was Rome” even in their most halcyon days, this through the Glory of the Highest. Bahá’u’lláh declares: “This is a great and magnificent century and that which is hidden and concealed in man shall be revealed in this day.” How marvelous is man when he becomes divinely conscious!
Opportunities were also afforded to absorb views in practical education, several professional educators bringing to bear their experiences and range of knowledge. They developed the trend in modern education to get beyond set forms, ancient dogmas and lifeless platitudes. Bahá’u’lláh was quoted as commending studies but of those sciences which “do not begin and end in mere words.”
Another course of lectures reviewed the latest book of Prof. Eddington, the noted British scientist and made it apparent how the present scientific mind is striving to explore the universe and discover the cause of causes. In what was developed the absolute need of the Manifestation became apparent. For whether the effort be to trace “natural laws in the spiritual world” or spiritual laws in the world of nature, men can apprehend the unseen reality only in the way He makes clear. The scientific mind is increasingly awe-struck at the phenomena of the universe.
Men make ideal progress when they seek to know the Creator along with His creation. The mind is brightened by the evolution of science; but out of the depth of the heart comes the longing to know!
A FLOOD OF new ideas and the descent
of heavenly bounties marked
the holding of the regional convention.
It was a meeting of teaching
and one of the noblest training
classes for teachers. Teachers
came in greater numbers and with
an enthusiasm rarely seen during
many years. Their eloquence
soared to the highest plane as they
consulted about the joys of teaching,
the technique of approach, the
plan to open new cities, the way to
invoke the spiritual power which
is the means of attraction, the confirmation
which comes to traveling
teachers, the severance and sacrifice
needed, the need of firmness in the
Covenant and loyalty to the Center
of life and the apprehension of
those Holy Breezes which waft from
the Paradise of Abha. These meetings
continued beyond the appointed
time and perhaps reached their
climax in the one held on Mount
Salvat, where a recent pilgrim to
Haifa brought back a wealth of wisdom
and a spiritual heat which
seemed to set hearts aflame. Rarely
if ever has a greater number of
teachers been heard and those who
taught as a rule showed humility
rather than self-sufficiency.
The conference for interracial amity and the teaching convention, although separated from each other by a week seemed to be one continuous meeting in all of which the gems of reality continued to flash forth and to dazzle by their splendor. People forgot their human
limitations and differences in the flow of the divine. Although the holding of so many meetings imposed a great physical strain, all sessions were crowded and people seemed to forget all save their love for reality and their wish to know more of divine love. The oneness of the human family; the removal of the blight of human prejudices; the scientific and spiritual light of unity and freedom; the overpowering joy that appears in true brotherhood; the progress of those who seek to build rather than destroy; a just appraisement of spiritual values and a willingness to recognize merit though concealed by worldly station; courage, faith, vision, self-sacrifice; pursuit of the ideal and upholding the principles that are sublime and eternal: These are a few of the lights which attracted souls to the perfect way.
THE PAST SEASON was a demonstration
of the power of unity which
reached so high an efficiency that
inquirers found the atmosphere
Pentecostal and so declared it.
Some who came as agnostics found
their doubts resolved into certainty
and are now seeking to spread the
teachings in their respective environments
that humanity may grow.
Thus may hearts discover the mysteries
of the new creation! Thus
may injustice end and oppression
give way to freedom of the realm of
day! Thus may patience with clay,
a trait of great souls, keep love upon
the plane of permanency which is
divine! Thus may minor notes become
majors and celestial songs be
heard that mark the change of error’s
night into endless day! Thus
may the Spirit of God envelop the
world and all humanity within its
radiant form!
In this, the third and concluding installment, the writer describes how he was led both through logical concepts and through spiritual intuition to a remarkable realization of the Bahá’i Teachings. The pattern of this quest for Truth will undoubtedly suggest to many readers similar experiences of their own for it may be said that the world today is universally seeking.
THE two years that I spent at the Harvard Divinity School proved one of the most thrilling intellectual and spiritual episodes of my life. Here I found the privilege of contact with great professorial intellects, a training in exact scientific approach to knowledge even in the field of religion, a fellowship of earnest sincere students, and an opportunity to browse ad libitum in the magnificent library of religious literature.
One of the three most formative intellectual influences of my life was George Foote Moore, professor of history of religions, perhaps the greatest thinker in that field in the world; a tremendous intellect at whom the very professional lights of Harvard marveled and called the “Encyclopedia of Harvard.” His erudition was both vast and exact in many fields. I took all the courses offered by him in the history of religions, and when I had finished had a marvelous birdseye view of the great religious movements throughout the world’s history.
Strangely enough the effect of these courses at the Divinity School with the treatment of religion used by these great scholars was to minimize rather than to magnify religious faith and enthusiasm. The mystical was rather scoffed at and derided. Religion came to appear
the expression of man’s ideas of the universe rather than any distinct revelation from God. It was rather interesting to note the reaction to all this on the part of the more evangelical type of students enrolled. In order to keep their ardent faith in Christianity, these students zealously refrained from any thought or discussion concerning that critical approach to the Bible and to religion which was current at Harvard.
I have found from other sources that the Harvard Divinity School is not unique in this peculiar and paradoxical effect of tending to destroy the religious faith of those receiving its training for the ministry. (Even Divinity Schools cannot withstand the Spirit of the Age.) A gradual transition had been taking place for some decades as regards curriculum; now no longer did Divinity students find it necessary to study Hebrew or Greek in order to read the Bible in the original. The courses most popular with the students Were history of religions, philosophy, and sociology–courses which helped to bring the students into rapport with the intellectual life of the contemporary world rather than courses which dealt with the Bible as a unique source of truth.
PERSONALLY I found, however, an absorption in certain directions in
the more direct spiritual life, most notably in the course on mysticism given by "William W. Fenn (later Dean of the Divinity School)—who handled the subject of the history of mysticism in a more devout and sympathetic way than it was being handled in other modernistic theological seminaries–a truly remarkable man who was able to appreciate the most delicate mystical thoughts of the great spiritual writers of the past and to place them in their proper relationship to Truth as a whole.
Of even greater value to me than this course was my own deep reading in the sacred books of the great world religions, of which I found an immense amount of material in the library of the school—material hard to find elsewhere. Here I found my real spiritual education rather than in the courses given by professors. In reading these writings of the great mystics of all religions I discovered two striking facts: first that they all approached truth from such similar viewpoints that many times one could not tell from the context whether one was reading the rapt utterances of a Christian, a Hindu, a Buddhist, a Muhammadan, or a Chinese mystic. The reason for this spiritual consanguinity is apparent. Mysticism being in reality the flowering of religion and its highest expression, these great souls who had made the most complete contact with the Divine Being were all relating in their writings the same experience. When they sang of the love of God and of the joy of union with Him, they were all writing of an experience which is as universally catholic to the human soul as is the experience
of human love. Here on this altitude there was no difference or opposition of thought.
Secondly, I discovered that the styles of writers of spiritual subjects differed in proportion to the power and sincerity of their inspiration. It would almost seem as if their words became impregnated with a certain vibration or rhythm. I became finally so sensitive to this rhythm of style that I could tell immediately the degree of sincerity and the spiritual height of the soul of the writer, regardless of the sentiments expressed. Let me make this clear. A book may contain most lofty sentiments and yet be the expression of an insincere soul. How can one discover this discrepancy? By sensitiveness to the spiritual vibration of the written or spoken word one can learn to discriminate and distinguish the sincere from the insincere. This power of quick analysis has proved very valuable to me in all my spiritual reading, has guided me to only the purest and best spiritual thought and expression, and became as a touchstone which finally led me to the full appreciation of the spiritual utterances of Bahá’u’lláh under an experience which I will presently narrate.
During my first year at the Divinity School I experimented with a vegetarian diet with two results: First, that in the lack of proper substitutes—eating as I did at the university commons—I came to suffer from lack of sufficient protein and found myself nervous and run-down; secondly, I became exceedingly sensitive, and this sensitiveness, while a deterrent in the ordinary transactions of life, proved
an advantage as regards spiritual intuition which I found quite increased in the course of the year. I discontinued the experiment and have since followed a normal diet*
THE events which immediately led up to my contact with the Bahá’i Movement and my acceptance of it, I will now briefly narrate.
In the course of my first year at Harvard, meditating over a book I was reviewing for the Boston Transcript which dealt critically with the values of present day society and presented an ideal organization for humanity, I came to a conclusion which both then and now seems logical and sound. “This is a splendid picture of the ideal humanity which the author is painting,” I thought to myself as I walked for exercise and meditation on a beautiful spring morning past the sparkling water of the Brookline reservoir, “but who is able to put it across? Can the author persuade humanity to adopt this splendid type of civilization, or can I myself with the utmost of enthusiasm and spiritual power which I might hope to develop in the course of my ministry bring the whole world to this foundation?” The ludicrousness of this caused me to smile. Plainly such a thing was unthinkable that any human being could bring all humanity to one thought, one opinion, and one mode of action-no matter how gloriously appealing on the plain of the ideal.
But the more I reflected upon the imperative need of humanity
* That vegetarianism or fasting are not in the present age essential steps to spiritual development is definitely stated in the Baha’i Teachings.
for the adoption of such a perfect pattern of life, the more I felt the inevitableness of a cultural revolution. On these two premises my conclusion was therefore drawn, that the time was ripe when, since no one of human power could accomplish this need for humanity, we should again have upon earth a Being of more than human spiritual dynamics, both to reveal and to put into effect this Ideal Civilization.
A FEW months after this experience,
while being at York Beach,
Maine, during my summer vacation,
I gravitated to Green Acre as a
natural result of my general policy
of seeking out any new thing. I
had read in the Boston papers frequently
of the discussions of universal
religion at Green Acre and
my interest had been aroused. Finding
myself now in close proximity
to this unique center of thought I
dropped in one Sunday afternoon
just in time to hear a lecture on
sculpture by a New York artist. It
was a glorious August afternoon,
of a quality of summer weather
which only Maine can give, and the
lecture was held under a tent the
sides of which were up enabling
a view of the beautiful sunlit waters
of the Piscataqua rightly
called by the Indians “River of
Light.”
However, as so frequently happens in life, it was not the lecture on sculpture which I was led there to receive. At the close of this somewhat pompous and egotistical talk, I went up to the platform to greet, not the lecturer, but the presiding officer and director of Green Acre, Miss Sarah J. Farmer,
whom I had personally met at Mrs. Ole Bull’s home in Cambridge; and whose sweet smiling face upon the platform had inspired me more than the words of the lecturer.
As I recalled myself to her acquaintance she took and held my hand for some time and looking intently at me she said: “Have you heard of the Persian Revelation? I know by your eyes that you are ready for it. (A remarkable discernment, as the reader will presently see; for within half an hour from that moment I was to become an assured Bahá’i.) Go to that lady with the gray veil. She will tell you about it.”
The lady with the gray veil (Mrs. Mary Lucas, soprano soloist, who had just returned from a visit to Ábdu’l-Bahá in His Prison at Ákká) drew me under the shade of an apple tree and in that simple natural spot unfolded to me the story of a new spiritual revelation for humanity and assured me that our spiritual Lord was in very fact upon the earth.
So prepared had been my intellect for this very fact by my meditation, previously described, upon the need of a universal revelation and Revelator, that I accepted without further query or any obstacle of scepticism this great Truth and have held to it ever since. What doubts I had were to come later as the critical intellect put into play its effect. But the inspiration of these early days in the Cause were to me like the fresh and joyous hours of dawn, when the birds sing of the glories of God as expressed throughout His firmament and the flowers sparkle with transcendent
beauty in a fresh morning dew undissipated by the heat of life.
THERE was then hardly any literature
upon the subject and the teachings
of this Movement had to be
acquired through direct contact
with individuals. Therefore I decided
to come and spend a few
weeks at Green Acre in order to
absorb more knowledge of this
Movement which had so gripped
my spirit. As soon as my
business permitted I carried out
this purpose, and spent three glorious
weeks at Green Acre—weeks
transcendent in sweet human fellowship
and in glorious inspiration
and guidance. Here I found others,
both mature men and women
and inspired youths, traveling the
road which I had but shortly taken.
In this spiritual fellowship were
two young college graduates, now
well known throughout the Bahá’i
world, who became wonderful spiritual
comrades to me—Harlan F.
Ober and Alfred E. Lunt.
All that Brook Farm aimed to be—a lofty and divine fellowship of kindred minds—Green Acre has proved to be; and this has been possible in practical working out for the reason that here the impossible feat was not attempted of earning a living at the same time as holding spiritual concourse.
My most impressive contact with the Bahá’i literature was the actual Words of Bahá’u’lláh as published in a tiny pamphlet where some of the so-called ”Hidden Words” were gathered together. This booklet I would take from my vest pocket as I walked the fields, and the vibration of these holy words were as fire to my spirit. I literally seemed
to walk on air, to be lifted up above the ground.
Now all of the sensitiveness gained by my vegetarian diet and all of the power of diagnosis as applied to spiritual writings became effective, in enabling me to perceive the transcendent power of the Bahá’i Word. No spiritual writing in all my reading through the sacred books from the dawn of civilization up to now had the dynamic spiritual creative power which these words of Bahá’u’lláh had. Thus the spiritual impression of His utterance corroborated the logical approach to the Movement which had been working out in my intellect and which had enabled me to immediately accept the astounding fact of a Divine Revelator actually being upon earth.*
From this moment on my thought, my life, my efforts have been thrown into this great universal Movement for humanity which I found to contain all the ideals that have been conceived for humanity, and which also, viewed however critically contained nothing that should be omitted from a perfect pattern. All the truths which I had sought and previously found in other movements reached their apotheosis for me in the Bahá’i Truth.
As was natural, my relatives and friends took rather lightly my new religious faith, and predicted that it would soon yield ground to some other novelty. But their predictions
* Many who have become Baha’is have been led to the acceptance of the Revelation by the more mystical process of meeting in vision and being taught by ’Abdu’l-Baha before they came in contact outwardly with the Baha’i Movement. Some of these experiences we hope to publish at a future date in The Bahá’i Magazine.
have proved false. What had appeared to be fickleness in previous years was in reality a search for truth which would accept nothing short of perfection. The giving up of the semi-perfect had been no betrayal of loyalty to Truth. For how could one attain to pure gold if one remained content with baser metals?
The whole world is today searching indifferently or earnestly, as the case may be, for truth and is rapidly discarding the old forms. This is because a new epoch is at hand, and the old traditions do not avail for the life of today. This search for a new religious pattern is as wide as the human race itself, and is going on among the youth of Islam, of Hinduism, of Confucianism, of Judaism, even as it is among the youth of Christendom.
I present this brief tale of my own spiritual life that it may possibly inspire and encourage those who are still on the road of search. In the Words of Bahá’u’lláh: “The steed upon which to journey through this valley (the valley of search) is patience. In this journey the traveler will reach no destination without patience. . . . ‘Those who strive strenuously for us, we will assuredly direct them into our ways.’”
Let us all be assured that there is Truth; that the universe does not mock us with a spiritual vacuum; and that this Truth, gradually realized by humans, is one and the same Truth which the Light of God recurrently reveals not only here but throughout all the worlds of being. “Peace be unto those who follow guidance.“
