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| VOL. 22 | DECEMBER, 1931 | No. 9 |
THE BAHA'I TEMPLE
of the oneness of the world of humanity: This is the great principle of Bahá'u'lláh. That which will leaven the human world is a love that will insure the abandonment of pride, oppression,
and hatred."-'Abdu'l-Bahá.
LEADERS of religion, exponents of political theories, governors of human institutions, who at present are witnessing with perplexity and dismay the bankruptcy of their ideas, and the disintegration of their handiwork, would do well to turn their gaze to the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh, and to meditate upon the World Order which, lying enshrined in His teachings, is slowly and imperceptibly rising amid the welter and chaos of present-day civilization. They need have no doubt or anxiety regarding the nature, the origin or validity of the institutions which the adherents of the Faith are building up throughout the world. For these lie embedded in the teachings themselves, unadulterated and unobscured by unwarrantable inferences, or unauthorized interpretations of His Word."
| VOL. 22 | DECEMBER, 1931 | NO. 9 |
| Page | |
Christ, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá | 258 |
True Wealth, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá | 271 |
Editorial, “The Dawn-Breakers, Stanwood Cobb | 259 |
Choice of Martyrdom, Dr. Youness Afroukta | 263 |
My Visit to Temple University, Martha L. Root | 265 |
Mahatma Gandhi and Voluntary Poverty, Florence E. Pinchon | 267 |
Bahá’i Pioneers, Siyyid Mustafa Roumie | 272 |
The Blind of Japan in the New World Order, Agnes B. Alexander | 276 |
Nine Days at Louhelen Ranch, Bertha Hyde Kirkpatrick | 281 |
Esperanto—A Linguistic Bond of Humanity, Henry W. Hetzel | 284 |
STANWOOD COBB | Editor |
MARIAM HANEY | Associate Editor |
MARGARET B. MCDANIEL | Business Manager |
Great Britain, Mrs. Annie B. Romer; Persia, Mr. A. Samimi; Japan and China, Miss Agnes B. Alexander; Egypt, Mohamed Moustafa Effendi; International, Miss Martha L. Root.
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.
WHY did Christ come into this world? People think He came in order that they might believe in Him as the Word of God, or the Son of God. ‘He came,’ they say, ‘to redeem us through His blood.’
Christ was not seeking after fame. He came that He might educate the world of humanity and illumine the world of reality. He sacrificed His life for the realization of this fact. This is reality. Every fair and just man accepts this. Now is it befitting that we lay aside the refining of character and engage in war, or abandon the second birth and occupy ourselves with enmity? Christ came to release the people from the promptings of the lower nature, to make them angelic. For this thing He accepted all calamities.”
WHEN His Holiness Christ appeared in this world it was like the vernal bounty; the outpouring descended; the effulgences of the Merciful encircled all things; the human world found new life. Even the physical world partook of it. The divine perfections were upraised; souls were trained in the school of heaven so that all grades of human existence received life and light.”
CONSIDER the essential teachings of His Holiness Jesus Christ, you will see they are lights. Nobody can question them. They are the very source of life. They are the cause of happiness for the human race, but subsequently imitations appeared, which imitations becloud the Sun of Reality. That has nothing to do with the Reality of Christ.”
THE world must come to know the Word in Christ. How He was mocked, scorned and laughed at, yet His mission was to uplift the very world which refused Him. Realization of this will bring tears to the eyes of those who deny Him; cause them to grow silent and thoughtful. Christ is Always Christ.”
| VOL. 22 | DECEMBER, 1931 | NO. 9 |
to spread these principles in the world. During His Life He was imprisoned, His property was pillaged. He was separated from His friends, and twenty thousand of His followers were martyred. They sacrificed their lives in the glorious cause of doing away with imitations and limitations, to this end that Unity might be established among the children of men.”
A MOST STRIKING parallelism exists between the national and religious conditions incident to the rise of the Bahá’i Movement and those conditions which surrounded the birth of Christianity. Those who give a favorable ear to the soul-challenging claim of Bahá’u’lláh as the Messenger of God for this day and age may formulate—expressed or unexpressed—the query, “Why did this Prophet of the new age arise in Persia, one of the most insignificant and degenerate countries of the world at the time of Bahá’u’lláh’s declaration?“
“All observers agree,” says Shoghi Effendi in his introduction to The Dawn-Breakers*, “in representing Persia as a feeble and backward nation divided against itself by corrupt practices and ferocious bigotries. Inefficiency and wretchedness, the fruit of moral decay, filled the land. From the highest to the lowest there appeared neither the capacity to carry out methods of reform nor even the will seriously to institute them. National conceit preached a grandiose self-content. A pall of immobility lay over all things and a general paralysis of mind made any development impossible. To a student of history the degeneracy of a nation once so powerful and so illustrious seems pitiful in the extreme.”
WHY SHOULD the Messenger of a new day, the proclaimer of a new social, economic and political order for mankind, the Founder of a new
* The Dawn-Breakers–Nabil’s Narrative of the Early days of the Baha’i Revelation. Translated into English from the original Persian and edited by Shoghi Effendi—$7.50; Baha’i Publishing Committee, P. O. Box 348, Grand Central Station, New York City.
and ultimate civilization, appear in this isolated and backward country?
As one reads Nabil’s story of the rise of the Cause, the reasons for this paradox appear and it becomes apparent that Persia was the one country of the world in which the new dispensation could gain a foothold and mature to the point of world-wide propagation. For in Persia alone of all the countries of the world, in 1844 there permeated through all classes and sects the ideal and the expectation of the coming of the Messiah.
Here is a striking parallelism to the time of Christ. Only a country psychologically isolated as Judea was, and as Persia was in 1844, could carry in their hearts and minds with unmitigated fervor a belief in the immediate appearance of the Messiah. This expectation had a double cause: first in the prophecies of the Scriptures of these two peoples; and secondly in the realized need, a desperate need indeed, for some force to lift them out of their degradation.
In both these countries the popular concept of the Messiah and His destined achievement proved erroneous. It was confidently expected
that He would lift these peoples not only out of national degeneracy but also out of national weakness, into a position of supreme command and glory among the nations of the earth. Thus racial and national pride was a powerful factor in the vivid concepts and expectations of the Messianic hope as held in Persia in 1844; and here, as well as in ancient Palestine, the ecclesiastical hierarchy looked forward to the coming of the Messiah as eagerly as did the populace. “They confidently expected that the promised Advent would not substitute a new and richer revelation for the old but would endorse and fortify the system of which they were the functionaries. It would enhance incalculably their personal prestige, would extend their authority far and wide among the nations and would win for them the reluctant but abject homage of mankind.”*
Into such a nation and race—fanatical in the extreme, ignorant of all but the ecclesiastical learning—came the Báb in 1844 with His declaration of Prophethood and His announcement of the coming of the Messiah. What a tense and spectacular environment in which to stage such a noble drama! Nowhere else in the world could such a claim have received the attention, both favorable and unfavorable, which it received in Persia. The full intensity of the Messianic hope had prepared the mind of Persia either for the ardent acceptance of the claim of the Báb or for bitter and diabolical attacks upon the growing strength of His movement.
It was this very ardor of the Persian
* Shoghi Effendi—Introduction to “The Dawn-breakers.”
temperament which made possible the drama of the Báb. Staged elsewhere in the world, His claims would have been more tolerantly endured, but with a sophistication which would have defeated the very essence and power of His movement. The Persian psychology, with its Messianic complex set for an explosion like a gun with a hair-trigger, was the only possible locale in which the Messianic claim could be made and fulfilled.
WHAT A GREAT drama unfolds to
us from the pen of Nabil! Simply,
with no effort at rhetoric but with
the power which comes from the
sincere narration of great events,
Nabil unfolds to us the concrete
story of the missions of the Báb
and of Bahá’u’lláh. We see the
Báb in all his youthful glory and
appeal win, as if by a miracle, the
greatest of the divines to Him as
disciples, pledging heart and soul
and life to His Cause.
Here even more than in ancient Palestine the spiritual battle of reform is waged in the midst of ecclesiasticism. On the one hand are the great divines and Qur’anic scholars,—leaders of spiritual thought, and because of the power of the church leaders also in affairs—becoming flaming apostles of the gentle Báb; enduring all manner of persecutions and martyrdoms; yet spreading with the incredible rapidity of fire the conflagration which the penetrative power of His word affected. On the other hand we see powerful ecclesiastics combining with provincial and local rulers and endeavoring by every means possible to suppress this Cause which
threatened their power and glory. We see, as in the time of Christ, of what diabolical selfishness, egoism and cruelty the human soul is capable. To the illumination of the apostleship is contrasted the stygian darkness of an evil priesthood.
What an inspiration to have spread before us by the touch of Nabil’s simple art the pictured power of the Báb to melt souls at a glance, to overwhelm hearts with conviction, to reduce the proudest of scholars to tears and win them to an ardent following of His teachings. What a stir it gives to our smug complacency and our easy enjoyment of a great faith to read the tales of bitter persecution, of life blood poured out; of diabolical tortures endured by great souls in order that all the world might ultimately receive the Light which dazzled their vision and drew them to It as the moth is drawn candleward.
AS WE READ these stories of discipleship
we seem to be moving in
a spiritual domain as ancient as the
Planet itself; and to sense the epic
recurrence of the Manifestation,
staged intermittently from time
immemorial, as humanity has had
the need. Take for example the winning
to apostleship of Siyyid Yahyay-i-Darabi,
the most learned, the
most influential of His subjects who
occupied a position of such preeminence
among the leading figures
in Persia that at whatever meeting
he happened to be present, no matter
how great the number of the ecclesiastical
leaders who attended it,
he was invariably its chief speaker.
This great divine, chief ecclesiastical
figure of Persia, was sent by Muhammad
Shah to interview the Báb and to investigate His claims. On the way to Shiráz, Darabi thinks out various questions with which he would confront the Báb, and “upon the replies which the latter should give to these questions would, in his view, depend the truth and validity of His mission.” Coming into the presence of the Báb he undertook with the latter a long and abstruse discussion of the metaphysical teachings of Islam.
More and more as the Báb conversed with him and answered his queries, did the learned divine come to feel a sense of deep spiritual humility before this glorious youth. In the course of his second interview, Siyyid Yahyay discovered to his amazement that the questions which he had intended to submit to the Báb had vanished from his memory. As the interview went on he discovered again to his amazement that the Báb was answering with great lucidity and conciseness the very questions which he had momentarily forgotten. This, however, “might have been merely a coincidence,” so Siyyid Yahyay resolved in his third interview with the Báb to request Him to give a commentary on one of the most difficult chapters of the Qur’án and to base the validity of the Báb’s claim of Prophethood on His elucidation of this obscure Surih. The Báb, before His interviewer could state his question, smilingly gazed at him and said, “Were I to reveal for you the commentary on the Surih of Kawther, would you acknowledge that My Words, My claim is born of the Spirit of God?”
The Báb then requested His secretary
to bring His pen-case and paper and started to reveal His commentary on the Surih of Kawthar.
“How am I to describe this scene of inexpressible majesty? Verses streamed from His pen with a rapidity that was truly astounding. The incredible swiftness of His writing, the soft and gentle murmur of His voice, and the stupendous force of His style, amazed and bewildered me. He continued in this manner until the approach of sunset. He did not pause until the entire commentary of the Surih was completed. He then laid down His pen and asked for tea. Soon after, He began to read it aloud in my presence. My heart leaped madly as I heard Him pour out, in accents of unutterable sweetness, those treasures enshrined in that sublime commentary. I was so entranced by its beauty that three times over I was on the verge of fainting. He sought to revive my failing strength with a few drops of rosewater which He caused to be sprinkled on my face. This restored my vigor and enabled me to follow His reading to the end. . . . We later verified all the traditions in the text and found them to be entirely accurate. Such was the state of certitude to which I then attained that if all the powers of the earth were to be leagued against me they would be powerless to shake my confidence in the greatness of His Cause.”
It was by such a majestic spiritual power as this that the Báb drew to Him the greatest minds of Persia, and the most sincere hearts. Like a fairy tale, this story reads. But it is no myth or legend. It is an accurate first-hand account of scenes witnessed by Nabil, or of scenes witnessed by friends who themselves narrated these events to Nabil.
The author was thirteen years old when the Báb declared Himself, and was throughout his life closely associated with the leaders of the Cause. For many years he was a close companion of the Bab’s secretary, Mirza Ahmad. “He entered the presence of Bahá’u’lláh in Kirmansháh and Tihrán before the date of the exile to Iráq, and afterwards
was in attendance upon Him in Baghdad and Adrianople as well as in the prison-city of ’Akká. He was sent more than once on missions to Persia to promote the Cause and to encourage the scattered and persecuted believers, and he was living in ‘Akká when Bahá’u’lláh passed away in 1892. . . . . . . His chronicle was begun in 1888 when he had the personal assistance of Mirza Musa the brother of Bahá’u’lláh. It was finished in about a year and a half, and parts of the manuscript were reviewed and approved, some by Bahá’u’lláh, and others by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. The complete work carries the history of the Movement up to the death of Bahá’u’lláh in 1892.
The Dawn-Breakers, it is clear,
will become to the Bahá’is a second
Book of Acts of the Apostles; its
power of inspiration equals that of
the Cause itself as a stirrer of
man’s heart and conscience. In the
secular world, this unique volume
will take its place as the greatest
source-book on the early days of the
Bábist and Bahá’i Movements.
This is a book which every Bahá’i family should own and study deeply, in order that through it they might live again in these stirring days of the early Cause. The book gains tremendously in its appeal to Bahá’i readers from the fact of its having been translated and edited by Shoghi Effendi. And it gains also added importance in the eyes of the world of scholarship from this authentication by the present leader of the Bahá’i Movement, the great-grandson of its Founder.
The author, a distinguished Persian Bahá'i who was with ‘Abdu'l-Bahá in ‘Akká for nine years (from 1900 to 1909), told the following story to at group of friends on his recent visit to Germany. It has been recorded at their request, and is here published for its great spiritual value and historic interest.
SOME thirty years ago when ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was surrounded by His bitter enemies; when they were instigating the Turkish Government to illtreat Him; when in His confined place of ‘Akká He had a very small group of true and faithful Bahá’is, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá always expressed great joy and happiness at the thought of being martyred like unto Jesus Christ and His disciples, and like unto thousands of faithful followers of the blessed Báb and Bahá’u’lláh.
In those days the doors were opened wide for the Oriental friends to enter heaven.* All the true believers prayed to God and yearned to be accepted for martyrdom. One day one of the pilgrims and I were discussing the best way of being admitted to sacrifice. My friend, M. Fazlullah, said that he preferred to be killed by Shamajeen like Suleiman Khan, who danced with joy during that terrible torture. (Shamajeen means decorated, grafted with candles.)
This is the way that Suleiman Khan was martyred. His body was cut through in several places and burning candles were planted in the wounds. In such a horrible state he was driven for several hours throughout the city to show the people the fate of a distinguished and honorable man converted to the
* So violent were the persecutions that thousands were being put to death at this time.
new Faith. This was the way that the government, instigated by the clergy, punished the believers, in order to terrify those who desired to know about the new religion.
Now my friend, M. Fazlullah, preferred this way of being sacrificed in the Path of Bahá’u’lláh. But I did not choose this way. I preferred to be put to death by cannon shot, for that was the best way of propagating throughout the world the call to steadfastness. Several prominent people have been martyred in that way. This was the way that I had chosen, and I implored God to help me to attain to it. But I could not convince my friend that mine was the best way. He stuck obstinately to his own way. The discussion lasted a long time without being able to convince each other.
At last we left the pilgrims’ room and went to the room of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. In His simple courtyard room, we found Him standing among a dozen of the faithful ones who were from the different oriental countries. They had surrounded Him like unto a number of butterflies of various colors gathered around a lighted candle. He was full of joy, uttering heavenly words, giving divine exhortation. And the first words we heard Him say, as we arrived, in continuation
of His speech was: “In the Path of Bahá’u’lláh, the faithful Bahá’i must become Shamajeen.”
On hearing this my friend looked at me severely. I understood what he meant by that look.
But lo! What heard we after that? ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, without paying any attention to our arrival, said: “Yes, the true believer is he who wishes to be sacrificed with cannon shot for the sake of the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh!”
Hearing this, I did not fail to look at once at my friend, and
* In lecturing on the Bahai Cause in Mecklenburg, Germany.
could not help smiling. I am sure he understood what I meant to say.
This was the end of our discussion. None of us has ever proved worthy to attain to the zenith of such a desire. But the rememberance of the heavenly power of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to know our mind and to conciliate the different thoughts of His disciples gives me such an eternal joy and spiritual happiness that I mentioned this event once in Europe* and am repeating it now in order to sanctify His Name for ever and ever.
IN the nineteenth century, strife and hostility prevailed among the people of the Orient. Apathy and ignorance characterized the nations. They were indeed gloomy and dark, negligent of God and under the subjection of the baser instincts and passions of mankind. The struggle for existence was intense and universal. At such a time as this, His Holiness Baha’u’llah appeared among them like a luminary in the heavens. He flooded the east with light. He proclaimed new principles and teachings. He laid a basis for new institutions which are the very spirit of modernism, the light of the world, the development of the body-politic and eternal honor. The souls who hearkened to these teachings among the various oriental nations immediately renounced the spirit of strife and hostility and began to associate in good-will and fellowship. From extremes of animosity they attained the acme of love and brotherhood. They had been warring and quarreling; now they became loving and lived together in complete unity and agreement. Among them today you will find no religious, political or patriotic prejudice; they are friendly, loving and associate in the greatest happiness. They have no part in the war and strife which take place in the east; their attitude toward all men is that of good-will and loving-kindness. A standard of Universal Peace has been unfurled among them. The light of guidance has flooded their souls. It is light upon light, love upon love. This is the education and training of His Holiness Bahá’u’lláh. He has led these souls to this standard and given them teachings which insure eternal illumination. Anyone who becomes well versed in His teachings will say, “Verily, I declare that these words constitute the illumination of humanity; that this is the honor ever-lasting; that these are heavenly precepts and the cause of never-ending life among men.”
“Newspapers are as a mirror which is endowed with hearing, sight and speech; they are a wonderful phenomenon and a great matter. But it behooveth the writers thereof to be sacnctified from the prejudice of egotism and desire and to be adorned with the ornament of equity and justice; they must inquire into matters as much as possible, in order that they may be informed of the real facts and commit the same to writing.”—Bahá’u’lláh.
TEMPLE UNIVERSITY in Philadelphia, Pa., a University for the people, was founded by Dr. Russell H. Conwell, one of America’s most celebrated preachers, lecturers and educators. Two hundred students from three international relations groups, came together on October 28, to hear a talk on Bahá’u’lláh’s peace principles, Professor Graves, in his talk afterwards, expressed thanks for the intimate glimpse of the lives of peoples in other countries that the students otherwise would not have had the opportunity to see. He expressed appreciation, also, for the glimpse of the world of peace that might be realized through these Universal Principles.
The writer told of her interview a few years ago with Dr. Conwell, concerning the Bahá’i Movement. He had said to her for publication: “The Bahá’i Movement is the biggest Movement in the world today for world-wide Christianity, and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá is the Peace Prophet of this age. I know because I spent seven months in the orient and I saw that millions of Muhammadans, Buddhists, Jews and other orientals have come up beautifully into Christianity through becoming Bahá’is. I cabled to Egypt, asking ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to speak in my church (Baptist Temple)—and when He came to this country He did speak there on June 9, 1912.”
It may be interesting to know that Dr. Conwell, in introducing ‘Abdu’l-Bahá on that occasion in the Baptist Temple said: “Our own people know well the history of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, visitors are here who already know Him, hence there is no necessity of any further introduction. We wish to hear of the efforts of those who have gone before Him and of His own splendid efforts in bringing about the unity of all mankind. I therefore give the time entirely to our friend and the friend of humanity everywhere, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá Abbas of Persia, more recently of Palestine.”
Miss Root’s lecture in Temple University was on these peace principles of Bahá’u’lláh. After the lecture, several of the students of the school of journalism asked questions and the speaker told them what ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had said about newspapers when He had visited Philadelphia. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s own words were:
“Newspapers are the mirrors that reflect the progression or the retrogression of the community. We may ascertain the progress or the retrogression of a nation by its journalism. If journalists should abide by their duties, they would be the promoters of many virtues among the community. Truth and the virtues would be fostered. This would be so if they carried out the duties incumbent upon them.
Journalists must serve truth. Newspapers must investigate the means for the progress of humanity, and publish them. Journalists must write significant articles, articles that shall foster the public welfare. If they do so they will be the highest promoters for the development of the community.”*
Miss Root’s lecture had been announced in the Temple University News Wednesday, October 28, 1931 as “a representative of the Bahá’i Movement, an organization designed to promote ideals of peace.” As she was shown through the university of the temple afterward, a number of questions were asked about the Bahá’i teachings. She commented that Dr. Conwell’s great project was somewhat like the plan for the Mashriq’ul Adhkár of
* This was published in the Philadelphia Ledger June 10, 1912.
the Bahá’is in the fact that it was not only an institution of theory but an institution of practice. In the center is the Church (the Temple) and connected with it is the great people’s university where several thousand students are enrolled in the year 1931, and connected with Temple Church three great hospitals have been built, and Dr. Conwell also has done much work for children.
The words of Dr. Conwell about ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and the Bahá’i teachings are significant because he was one of the very greatest humanitarians of America, and though his last days were spent while theological controversy was rife, he never descended to it. He did not attempt to define Christ but to live like Him.
clear as the sun at midday from the books and tablets of His Holiness Bahá’u’lláh. The object of the Bahá’i Cause is identical with the object of the Bible and the Gospel. The Bahá’is must be informed as to the contents of the Old and New Testaments. Concerning the faith of the Bahá’is as to the Station
of His Holiness Christ, they believe He is the Word of God.”
“To be poor in all same God is a great blessing; make it not small, for in the end it will make thee rich in God.”
BROWN, emaciated, clad in white scanty garments—a strange enough figure—he stood before the crowded audience gathered in the Guildhouse, Eccleston Square, London. Gathered, in this famous modern church of Dr. Maude Royden, to see and to hear the greatest living exponent of voluntary poverty—the Mahatma Gandhi.
Voluntary poverty! The bare idea made us shiver a little in the chilly autumn evening. But then, as we were to discover later, we had not realized the spiritual glow and blessedness enfolded in that pregnant word “voluntary.”
Quietly the keen, luminous eyes behind their large spectacles scanned the rows of well-dressed people. And one could imagine that he clearly enough perceived the conflicting opinions, ideas and curiosity that filled our minds concerning him—our genuine friendliness but bewilderment.
For here was a man, known to every newsboy as “the Naked Fakir,” who, by some magic of personality, had become the most powerful leader of his country’s destinies. A man who, to our amazement, considered his seven o’clock hour of prayer of more importance than a meeting of statesmen; who preferred a cell-like room in an East end settlement to a palatial hotel; who shunned social functions, and made friends with costers
and mischievous street urchins; who had even won the hearts of the Lancashire cotton spinners by humbly confessing how it had distressed him to have to injure them in the course of his duty to India’s starving millions. A man who had defied the law and suffered imprisonments, yet whom archbishops delighted to entertain; who was absorbed in affairs of high import yet loved to sit on the floor and talk with outcasts; who was gentle as a lamb and as unyielding as iron; who could command almost any position he wished, but deliberately chose the lowest station of poverty.
Conscious of our wonder, very simply and naturally he began:
“You will be astonished to hear from me, that though, to all appearances my mission is political . . . its roots are spiritual. I claim that at least my politics are not divorced from morality, from spirituality, from religion. . . . A man who is trying to discover and follow the will of God cannot possibly leave a single field of life untouched. . . . I found that the politics of the day are no longer a concern of kings, that they affect the lowest strata of society . . . and that if I wanted to do social service, I could not possibly leave politics alone.”
Here then was a sincere worker for humanity who had realized that, ultimately, all its problems, whether economic, social, political
or national, were inextricably interwoven, and having their secret roots embedded in the hearts and minds of men, were profoundly spiritual in nature.
To a Bahá’i these expressions of personal conviction held a peculiar significance, coming like an echo from that autumn–just twenty years ago—when in other famous London churches, that great Visitor from the Orient, the Master ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, taught to the Western world the interdependence of all things, and offered for its enlightenment those truths that He, in His own life exemplified.
THE PROCESS OF DISPOSSESSION.
But soon Gandhi realized that to
carry his fight for his destitute
countrymen into the political arena
and remain unsoiled by its untruth,
immorality, and what is known as
“political gain” was impossible.
And so, after much anxious consideration,
he came to the conclusion
that there was only one way in
which he could continue to remain
“in the world, but not of it”—the
way of utter renunciation. And
that if he would effectively aid
those of whose sufferings he was
a daily witness, he must be prepared
to share their afflictions.
Not only must he discard all personal
ambitions, all earthly desires,
all monetary gain, but also all ease
and comfort and every material
possession possible.
The process of dispossession was slow and painful. It was such a complete reversal of the ordinary impulse of human nature. Not how much could be won, used and accumulated–but how much discarded? With how little was it possible
to keep alive and efficient? A tremendous experiment in living!
There were naturally struggles too, with his wife and children.
And one recalls how the members of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s household protested when the Master, Who happened at the time to actually possess two abas (coats), would insist on giving one of them away.
The pathway was beset with many temptations. It was so easy to say: “In spirit and intention I have given up all these things, although externally I am still possessing them.” But this, for Gandhi, was not enough. He was resolved to press on towards the valley of absolute poverty in God, to attain that station where, at last, poverty may be, and is, transfigured into a glory.
That such a state of extreme asceticism is not possible for all, this modern Diogenes frankly admitted, strongly as he would like to recommend his tub! He was, he said, only trying to explain his own interpretation of complete non-attachment, an ideal that he felt far from having realized in its fulness. If one must have possessions, then he considered that the only true consistency was to hold them at the disposal of those who needed them more; for the service of one’s fellowmen, in a spirit of surrender to God. Even the body was only a temporary possession given us by His bounty. But in the opinion of the Mahatma, the vow of voluntary poverty was indispensable for those who would wholly dedicate their lives to spiritual service.
In the graphic words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá: “We must die to ourselves and to the world.” “In a state of
complete renunciation call the people to the Kingdom of God.”
Do any of us understand the full implications of such an injunction? What it must involve in the actual daily living out?
Yet it is not unlikely that Gandhi would have endorsed the wisdom of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá when the latter explained that for a rich man to denude himself of all his possessions, would not help to solve economic inequalities. Rather must he hold them in the spirit and practice enjoined by Bahá’u’lláh.
“O ye who are wealthy on earth! The poor among ye are My trust. Therefore guard My trust, and be not wholly occupied with your own ease.”
“. . . Know ye that wealth is a strong barrier between the seeker and the Desired One. . . . Never shall the rich arrive at the abode of nearness, nor enter into the city of contentment and resignation, save only a few. Then good is the state of that wealthy one whose wealth preventeth him not from the everlasting Kingdom, and depriveth him not of the Eternal possessions.”
COMPENSATING RICHES. But it
was when the Mahatma began to
speak of his compensating riches
that a thrill passed through the audience.
For, at length, a point was
reached in his experience when it
became a positive joy to give things
up. When the possession of anything
became a burden.
“And then, one after another, by almost geometric progression, things slipped away from me . . . a great burden fell off my shoulders, and I felt that I could now
walk with ease, and also do my work in the service of my fellow-men with great comfort and still greater joy. I tell you that it is beyond description, the happiness, the bliss, and the ability that this voluntary poverty gives one. I can only say to you, try it, test it for yourselves.”
He could go among the outcasts now without fear of robbery, and as a friend could make suggestions and bring some ray of hope and comfort to their hearts. There was no need then to preach or argue. They would say—“He is happy, although he possesses nothing, how is this?” And they would fall to making enquiry.
The basis of culture for civilization, continued the Speaker, is understood to be the multiplication of all our wants. The more you possess, the better culture you represent, so to speak. He had found on the contrary that the less you possess and the less you want, the better you are. Better for what? For the enjoyment of personal service to one’s fellows.
Then in tones of deep conviction, he went on to explain how, when a soul had reached that blessed state of utter dispossession in God, he would find that having nothing he yet possessed all things. That is, anything that he really needed for service was then at his disposal. He could command all the resources of the world—but he could do so only for service—and to the extent of his ability to serve.
He, personally, could not recall a single instance when, at the eleventh hour, God had forsaken him. Christian men and women would say that they knew something of this experience as an answer to
prayer. “But,” declared Gandhi, “it is not only an answer to prayer; it is a scientific result of this vow of non-possession.”
In the Bahá’i scriptures, speaking of this condition where the soul has abandoned all mortal attachments, we are told—
“When thou reachest this station, there shall remain no obstacle . . . and all that is thy highest wish shall he realized.” “The victory of the Supreme Concourse is the associate of every one who is pure in heart.”
VOLUNTARY SHARING. It was interesting
to find that this great
Soul advocated the fundamental
Bahá’i principle of voluntary
sharing of wealth, rather than a
grudging acquiescence in measures
of taxation. Legislation alone cannot
solve social injustices and
economic distress. A revision of
values, a far higher degree of unselfishness
is needed to-day among
all men.
To the myriads of the depressed classes for whom Gandhi thus strives “that they might have life, and have it more abundantly”—and to those who know and love him throughout the world, small wonder is it that he is “Mahatma”—one who has become spiritually illumined and attained to the station of cosmic consciousness.
ATTAINMENT. And those of us upon whom, in these distressful
days, poverty has fallen as an avalanche, or stolen, as a thief in the night, shall we not try to accept the experience in this spirit of voluntariness, thereby making it a supreme opportunity for spiritual attainment? Consider, for instance, the high level of resourcefulness that is required in order to maintain health and self-respect on the borderland of destitution. What inventiveness necessity can awaken! What firm faith in God and mental courage must be exercised if we are to avoid sinking into depression and perhaps despair! Even the sweetness and humility that is called for when one has to stand aside from the particular form of service that one loves.
May we not then draw strength and comfort from the realization that, over this rough pathway, we are making swift journey to that bright Treasure-house of incorruptible riches, those fine qualities of heart and mind, of which we can never again be deprived? That to us the Masters are extending, even as They would have done if on earth, a peculiar care and tenderness. Therefore, “let us not be grieved at the hardships of these numbered days,” for more and more shall we feel within our souls the fulfilment of the gracious promise that “every destruction is followed by a construction, and a paradise of rest is concealed in every hardship.“
“If wealth was a necessitiy, Christ would have wished it for Himself. He lived a simple life, and one of the titles of Bahá’u’lláh was ‘the poor one.’ In Persian His title was ‘darvish’, and that means one who has not a slave. All the Prophets of God were poor. His Holiness Moses was a mere shepherd. This will show yon that in the estimation of God poverty is greater than the accumulation of wealth—that the poor are more acceptable than the lazy rich. A rich man who spends his wealth for the poor is praiseworthy.”
IT is clear that the honor and exaltation of man must be something more than material riches; material comforts are only a branch, but the root of the exaltation of man is the good attributes and virtues which are the adornments of his reality. These are the divine appearances, the heavenly bounties, the sublime emotions, the love and knowledge of God; universal wisdom, intellectual perception, scientific discoveries, justice, equity, truthfulness, benevolence, natural courage, and innate fortitude; the respect for rights and the keeping of agreements and covenants; rectitude in all circumstances; serving the truth under all conditions; the sacrifice of one’s life for the good of all people; kindness and esteem for all nations; obedience to the teachings of God; service in the Divine Kingdom; the guidance of the people, and the education of the nations and races. This is the prosperity of the human world! This is the exaltation of man in the world! This is eternal life and heavenly honor!
“These virtues do not appear from the reality of man except through the power of God and the divine teachings, for they need supernatural power for their manifestation. It may be that in the world of nature a trace of these perfections may appear; but they are not established and lasting; they are like the rays of the sun upon the wall.
“As the compassionate God has placed such a wonderful crown upon the head of man, man should strive that its brilliant jewels may become visible in the world.”
(The reader is referred to the chapter on “True Wealth in “Answered Questions, p. 89.)
Jamal Effendi, accompanied by the author, Mr. Roumie, during two years of pioneer missionary work in India, found no difficulty in obtaining access to the leading people of many important Indian states including high government officials and rulers themselves. Everywhere Jamal received a warm reception and his message was listened to courteously.
In 1878 they left Calcutta for Rangoon. Here their mission was highly successful, and in a short time the Bahá’i Cause was widely promulgated in spite of some instances of attempted persecution.
After establishing the Cause in Rangoon the missionaries went, early in 1879, to Mandalay. Here they met with some persecution. Their teaching had to be quiet and unobtrusive. Fortunately they were befriended by a wealthy merchant of great influence who built them a small hall in which to carry on their work, and put them under his personal protection. Feeling that they had given a good foundation to the Cause in Mandalay, they now return to Rangoon.
OUR safe arrival back at Rangoon delighted the hearts of the friends and uplifted their spirits. We found awaiting us there many holy Tablets revealed by His Holiness Bahá’u’lláh for the friends in India and Burma as well as for ourselves.
As we planned to stay for a while in Burma, it was thought best to undertake some kind of business in order that, like the apostle Paul, we might earn our own living and pay our own way as we went about our missionary work. It was finally decided to open a pony market, also have a line of hackney carriages, and a shop for the sale of provender. This business in due time proved quite successful and profitable.
The Cause of Bahá’u’lláh, meanwhile,
was gradually progressing; but although we had a goodly number of followers, they were, as a rule, of our own race, and we felt it very necessary that the Cause should reach out among the natives. Otherwise the foundations of the Bahá’i Movement in Burma would not be strong enough to withstand the changes that time brings about among a foreign population who are constantly on the move, going here and there in search of business. The result would be that unless the Cause was spread among the native population, it would gradually die away again.
By this time we counted among our followers only two native families in Rangoon: that of Jenabi Agha Haji Sayed Mehdi Shirazi from amongst the Shiites; and secondly that of Molvi Abdus-Subhan Korishee. Even these, however, were not actually natives of Burma, although they had become naturalized citizens: the former family being from Persia, and the latter from India.
We did our very best to remedy this defect in the establishment of the Cause in Burma, and exerted our utmost to attract the natives to the Kingdom. But our endeavors at this time were not effectual.
After the lapse of one year we took a second trip to Mandalay to see the friends, upon their invitation and continual requests, so that we could nourish them with new
and higher teachings. A member of the Shiite Persian community of Mandalay who was very hostile to the Bahá’i Movement engineered a piece of chicanery which proved quite fatal to our work at Mandalay at this time.
He instigated a professional cook, who had been with us at Hyderabad while we were sojourneying in that city, to start, falsely, a civil suit against us for one hundred and seventy-six thousand five hundred and nine rubies, stating that he had sold goods to us in Hyderabad for which he had not been paid.
The courts in Mandalay, we were informed, were entirely lawless and unjust at this time and well known for their bribe-taking. Many bonafide claims had been dismissed by them as false, and many false claims had been decided in the affirmative. Many defendants, and some of the plaintiffs even, had been sent to jail and violently tortured preliminary to the first court hearing.
Fortunately some of our influential Bahá’i friends managed to secure all of the details of this claim and a copy of the complaint from the Court. We also had an interview with the Prime Minister Kewun Mingyi through the kind intervention of our Bahá’i friend Mulla Ismail, the Chief Commissioner of Customs. After listening to our story, he promised to give us justice upon the following day when the case was called. He was as good as his word, and the case against us was dismissed on the ground that it was not a case for the judiciary of the Burmese Court, but should be presented at the
Court where the business transaction had taken place. The Judge stated in his judicial opinion that the case seemed to be nothing but a piece of religious antagonism and hatred toward the revered personage of the defense.
Although thereafter we found ourselves free from this danger, the Bahá’is of Mandalay had no peace of mind even after the decision of the case in our favor, for they well knew the lawlessness of their courts. Anybody might bring an action, civil or criminal, against any person without much trouble or expense. Therefore it was deemed too risky for us to stay longer in this city, and after a few months we departed for Rangoon although it was a great disappointment to our friends. This was the decision of the Mandalay believers, although it was a bitter disappointment and sorrow to them.
We came back to Rangoon distressed and heartbroken over the results of our trip to Mandalay, but we could not sit down and lament in idleness. We had to earn our living. So the writer was sent with some ponies and some jewelry to Calcutta, from which trip he returned with great profits. He was then sent on another trip of the same kind with livestock and gems to Penang in the Malay peninsula. This was an entirely new part of the world to him, but I managed to find lodgings, upon my arrival, in the house of a well-known leader of mysticism, Omar Khalidi, a man of Malay descent. He was about sixty years of age with half a dozen grown up sons and daughters, most of whom were able to speak in Arabic. Thus I was able to converse
with them and got along very well. Because this island was quite small, I became within a week a conspicuous figure everywhere, and although I had not yet found educated and interesting souls, yet I continued to deliver the message of Bahá’u’lláh to all receptive and intelligent people. Finally after disposing of all my ponies and gems favorably, I returned safely to Rangoon.
After a couple of months I was sent on a similar errand to Calcutta. Now it was decided that Jamal Effendi and the writer should go on a long trip through India, and if possible around the Malay peninsula and to the Java Islands. The friends in Rangoon unanimously agreed to this proposition. Therefore leaving our business in charge of some of the friends, we took the first boat to Calcutta. Here we found that most of the Bahá’i friends had either moved or died, therefore we did not stay long here, but left for Dacca, an important city of Bengal. Here we met with some interesting and important people. From there we went to Bombay where we stayed about three weeks. Bombay at this time was an important center of the Bahá’i Movement in India.
We next went to Madras where the Cause had a large number of followers, about four hundred in all. The number of believers was considerably increased after our arrival in Madras, and the writer was kept busy delivering public lectures every night in various parts of the town. He was delighted to be again with his aged Father, Sayed Muhammad
* The Muhammadan year, being lunar, is shorter than our solar year, so that the age of one hundred and fourteen in Muhammadan reckoning would correspond to the age of about one hundred and five years in our reckoning.
Roumie, then in his one hundred and fourteenth year.*
During our stay in Madras many eminent persons joined the Bahá’i religion, among them: Nawab Ferooz Hossein Khan, Nawab Mahmood Miyan, Sayed Kazim Ali, Osman Khan Subadar, Major Bahadur, Sayed Dawood, and one mullah, Muhammad Ali Rampuree, a very learned sage, also his nephew, Morad Ali, a merchant.
Our next stop was Singapore, where we were the guests of the Turkish Vice-Consul, a well known Arab merchant. From here we sailed for Batavia, the chief seaport of Java. We had great difficulty in getting a passport for traveling in Java, but finally secured one from the British passport office. This allowed us, however, to travel only in seaport towns and for only six months.
During all our travels in Java, we were closely watched by detectives and spied upon everywhere, as the Dutch government was exceedingly afraid of religious propaganda in Java. We were also hampered here by lack of facility in the Javanese language, which Jamal Effendi did not understand.
From Batavia we went to Sarabaya where we sojourned for a couple of months, leaving there finally for the island of Bali Lombac. The inhabitants of this island had originally been Hindus and Buddhists, but their religion now had become somewhat corrupted; the king of this province could hardly be said to practice any religion except perhaps a corrupted form of Buddhism. His queen had
been a Muhammadan by birth. This queen was keenly desirous of seeing Jamal Effendi. She sent some high officials to fetch us to the palace, bringing two beautiful ponies for us to ride on as there was not any kind of a vehicle. Accompanied by the palace escort, and by our friend the Chief Commissioner of Customs who served as interpreter for us, we reached the palace and were cordially welcomed. For hours the king and queen questioned us earnestly about spiritual subjects. It was a most interesting conversation. Finally, after partaking of coffee and some sweets, we received permission to retire.
After a couple of days, we sailed for the Celebes islands, the chief seaport of which is Macassar, now the seat of the Dutch Governor. We landed here safely and the police instructed the porters to take us with our luggage to the Arab quarters, where we were to be put under the guardianship of the Chief of this quarter.*
We were greeted cordially by this Arab Chief, who had been born and brought up here. A very large brick building with an iron gate was given us to live in, of which we occupied only two rooms on the top floor, one for Jamal Effendi, and one for our luggage, occupied by the writer.
As experienced travelers, it occurred to us to inspect carefully the whole building. We closed the doors of all vacant rooms, especially we took particular pains to close the huge gate opening on the public road. The wisdom of this
* Throughout the Dutch East Indies it was then the custom for travelers of various foreign races to be segregated, each in its own district. and under the rule of a chief of that race.
precaution will soon be seen. The building, owned by a rich Chinese merchant, seemed to have been abandoned for many years. It took hours to lock the gate with the utmost difficulty. Meanwhile news of our arrival and of the location of our lodgings was being spread over the whole town.
In the morning, to our amazement, when we looked out we saw a throng of citizens outside the building. They asked us with great astonishment how it was that our lives had been spared that night. Had no ghost, demon, or evil spirit disturbed us? How was it that we had been safe from harm? Had we overcome the Monstrous Devil? It had always been the case previously that those who spent the night in this great edifice, were found dead in the morning, and from no known cause. So terrible had been the reputation of this residence that the surviving heirs of the Chinese owner of the building dared not live in it.
We told them that we had driven out the evil spirits, ghosts, demons and devils from the house and made it habitable, thus wiping out the superstitious ideas that the Chinese and natives had had about this house for years.
Knowing that the Chinese have many superstitions and a great fear of demons, we concluded that, owing to some deaths in this household, they had abandoned the place because of the belief that it was haunted. But to our amazement we subsequently learned that their fears were by no means groundless. The Chief of this Arab quarter who
was in charge of the residence, had been in the habit, it seems, of bestowing it as a shelter upon inexperienced and unknown fellow counrtymen traveling to that city, if he considered them to be rich. They would retire for the night assured of the careful protection of this Arab Chief and would go to sleep without taking any precaution. Once they were sound asleep, some of the Chief’s men would creep in, dressed up to resemble demons, and choke the sleeping men until they were dead. The next morning they would be buried by the Chief and their belongings would be taken away by the said Chief for safe custody!
But in our case the evil designs
of the Chief were thwarted by our precaution. His men did come to the big gate, it seems, and tried hard to force it open. Jamal had been awakened by the noise and shouted loudly in Arabic, “Who is there?” and looking out he saw men running away from the gate.
In spite of this knowledge which we had acquired of the evil designs of our native Chief, we dared not disclose to him our awareness of his villany, for we needed his help in all of our movements. So instead of confronting him with his crimes, we deemed it best to present him with a gem worth twenty dollars and thanked him for his kind protection.
“Effort must be exerted that the East and West may be reconciled, that the darkness of bigotry may vanish, that the unity of mankind may be made manifest and that East and West, like unto two longing souls may embrace each other in the utmost of love. For all are the sheep of God and God is the Real Shepherd and is kind to every one.”—‘Abdu’l-Bahá in a Tablet to an American Bahá'i teacher in Japan.
IN the New World Order which is slowly and imperceptibly ushering a dispensation of spiritual Light into the world, the blind of Japan have a unique place. The limitless love of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá poured out during His lifetime on all mankind, irrespective of race or class, was especially bestowed on the Japanese blind. That among nineteen Tablets revealed by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to Japanese living in Japan, five should have been addressed to blind young men is significant of the part which seems destined for the blind of this land in
the New World Order of Bahá’u’lláh.
Mr. Tokujire Torii was the first one of these friends to hear of the Bahá’i Message. Through the New Light which he found he wrote, “Every prejudice in my heart is forgotten. Truly, there is no country, no nation, no race in my heart,—everything is equal in the presence of the Almighty, indeed, ‘the heart is the real country.’”
Already an ardent Esperantist at the time, Mr. Torii’s first supplication to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was written in Esperanto. In reply ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
addressed him in part: “O thou possessor of a seeing heart! Although, materially speaking, thou art destitute of physical sight, yet, praise be to God, spiritual insight is thy possession. Thy heart seeth and thy spirit heareth. Bodily sight is subject to a thousand maladies and ultimately and assuredly will be obscured. Thus no importance may be attached to it. But the sight of the heart is illumined, it discerns and discovers the Divine Kingdom and is everlasting and eternal. Praise be to God, therefore, that the sight of thy heart is illumined, and the hearing of thy thought responsive.”
In the Japanese place of honor in Mr. Torii’s home is a small bronze relief copy of a picture of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá under which, carved from wood, is the Greatest Name in Persian characters. Here these spiritual treasures are touched by the fingers of those deprived of material sight.
The library of this home contains many braille volumes of the writings of Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá transcribed from the English editions. It was Mr. Torii’s devoted wife, who, spelling the words of these books, one by one to him, as she did not know English, helped to accomplish this great task of transcribing into braille.
From these Writings in 1917, Mr. Torii succeeded in translating into Japanese a braille book for the blind of Japan entitled, “A Message of Light.” This book, which
was sent by Mr. Torii to a Japanese woman who had lost both her sight and hearing, became the means of her awakening. Reading with her finger tips its pages, she came into the joy of the knowledge of the Bahá’i Revelation and in a dream had the blessing of a visit from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Of this experience she wrote to me, “Even though one has eyes and ears he cannot see ‘Abdn’l-Bahá because He is far away, but I could meet Him. With sightless eyes and deaf ears I saw
--PHOTO--
From left: Yoshio Tanaka, Tokujiro Torii, blind Bahá’i brother, Agnes B. Alexander, Bahá'i teacher and lecturer, Mrs. Torii.
and heard Him in a dream and this is the utmost happiness in the world. This bounty came from God and I thank ‘Abdu’l-Bahá heartedly.” (Translated from Japanese braille.)
Mr. Torii’s prayer is to be able to translate the Bahá’i Teachings into Japanese and to help the blind of his land. In a second Tablet from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá he was given permission to visit the Holy Land whenever the means of travel were secured. As the Internationl Association of the Blind will meet in
Geneva in the summer of 1933, it is his hope to be able to attend it and to visit Haifa on his way.
The words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to another blind young Japanese who had sent Him a supplication were: “Praise be to God, the sight of thy mind has been opened and thou hast acquired the power of spiritual healing. Thou hast sought and found the Truth and hast been aware of Heavenly Mysteries. The teachings of His Holiness Bahá’u’lláh, like unto the rays of the sun illumine the East as well as the West, vivify the dead and unite the various religions. They prove the Oneness of God, for they gather all communities of the world under the pavilion of the Oneness of the world of mankind. Consider how stirred the world is and in what a commotion are the people of the world. Heavenly power is needed to do away with this stir and agitation. Otherwise, this great Cause will not be realized through human power. Human power, no matter how strong it may be, it illumines like unto an ignited lamp a limited space and trains a small number of souls. It is the sun which illumines all regions, and it is the Heavenly Power which gathers around a single spot all the sects and communities. Strive therefore, that hou mayset serve this remarkable Power and attain unto profitable and far reaching results.”
The receiver of this message afterwards wrote to his friends, “‘Abdu’l-Bahá declares Himself a Servant of God and proclaims His life-giving Message to the whole world, yet He receives such unworthy
letters as mine and answers their questions so clearly and kindly. What great generosity, what limitless mercy He has for us! At first I couldn’t realize His great love, but now I acknowledge His limitless love for mankind.”
To a third blind young man ‘Abdu’l-Bahá wrote in part: “Verily, verily hast thou suffered much in thy life time. Do not thou be grieved because of the loss of thy sight. Praise be unto God, that thy insight is keen. Do thou not lament over thy poverty, for the Treasury of the Kingdom is thine. Do thou not worry that thou couldst not study in the material schools, because thou hast received lessons in the Verses of the Oneness of God in the Divine University.”
About fifteen years ago the study of Esperanto began among the blind of Japan and now is quite widely spread among them. It was my privilege to take part in the Nineteenth Congress of Japanese Esperantists which was held in Kyoto, October 16 to 18, and speak of the Bahá’í Revelation in the sectional meeting of the Association of the Blind Esperantists of Japan. The general sessions of the Congress were attended by more than 300 Esperantists who gathered from all parts of Japan. Although I was the only foreigner present, I felt as though among brothers and sisters.
In recent years the blind Esperantists in a school of Tokyo published the small compilation of the Bahá’i teachings known as, No. 9, in Esperanto braille. In 1916, at the request of one of the blind friends, I wrote a letter telling of
the Bahá’i Message and addressed to the blind women of Japan which was published in Japanese braille. Another recent Japanese braille publication is the booklet, “What is the Bahá’i Movement?”
To our late Bahá’i brother, Dr. George J. Augur, when he was serving the Bahá’i Cause in Tokyo in 1916, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá revealed the following words: “A thousand times bravo to thy high magnanimity and exalted aim! Trusting God and while turning thy face toward the Kingdom of Abha, unfurl thou the Divine Flag in Tokyo and cry at the top of thy voice:–O people! The Sun of Reality hath appeared and flooded all the regions with its glorious light. It has upraised the standard of the Oneness of the world of humanity and summoned all mankind to the refulgent Truth. The cloud of mercy is pouring; the Zephyr of Providence is wafting and the world of humanity is being stirred and moved. The Divine Spirit is conferring eternal Life; the heavenly lights are illumining the hearts; the table of Sustenance of the Kingdom is spread and is adorned with all kinds of
foods and victuals. O ye concourse of men! Awake! Awake! Become mindful! Become mindful! Open ye the seeing eye! Unstop the hearing ear! Heark! Heark! The soft tones of the Heavenly Music are streaming down, ravishing the ears of the people of spiritual discernment. Ere long this transcendent Light will wholly enlighten the East and the West!”
After the return of Dr. and Mrs. Augur to Honolulu from Japan in 1919, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in addressing them wrote: “You two have fulfilled your roles and have striven within the limits of your capacity. At present ye must rest for a time; the turn of others has arrived, that they may similarly travel to Japan, may water the seeds that have been sown and may serve and take care of the tender shrubs. The days of life are swiftly going by and eventually man will be confined into subterrean regions and his name shall perish except those souls who become divine gardeners and who sow seeds in the soil of hearts. These shall eternally remain shining and glittering like unto stars from the horizon of truth.”
“Know thou verily, insight seeth that which sight seeth not and apprehendeth that which the body perceiveth not, inasmach as the sight seeth the mirage as water, the images pictured in the mirror as a reality and genuine, and it seeth the earth as stationary, and the great stars as though they were small. But the insight correcteth the mistake of the sight and apprehendeth the reality and seeth that the mirage is not water, that the images pictured in mirrors are naught else save reflections, that the earth is moving and the distant stars are large. Consequently the truth of insight, its effectiveness and power, is proven, as well as the weakness of sight, its inefficiency and defects.”
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The buildings and grounds at Louhelen Ranch, Davison, Michigan, and a group of Bahá’i friends who participated in the fruitful and happy beginning of the Bahá’i Summer School at this beautiful place. (See opposite page.)
FOR many years Bahá’is and other forward looking people have assembled during the summer months at Green Acre, Maine for the purpose of promoting interest in the universal principles of Baha’u’lláh; and for the past several summers the friends in the Pacific States have gathered at a camp near Geyserville, California for a short time in order to study and promulgate these principles which are the basis of universal peace and world unity.
This last summer (1931) a new and similar venture was carried out for the Central States at Louhelen Ranch, Davison, Michigan. This beautiful farm is most strategically located for such purposes, being twelve miles from Flint and only fifty from Detroit. Indeed, situated as it is, on a state highway, we may say, in these days when distance is almost no barrier, that it is easily accessible from all parts of the Middle West. Here in a beautiful ravine, a half mile back from the road, a group of earnest friends gathered daily to listen to talks on subjects of vital importance to mankind.
Individuals and groups all over the country and throughout the world are asking the same questions as were asked here: Why this stagnation in business? Why starvation and inadequate clothing when enormous crops of wheat and cotton lie unused in storehouses? Why must the willing worker sit
abjectly and hopelessly idle at home or homeless wander the streets? Why continued war and fighting when all agree that prosperity cannot come without peace?
These questions, asked so often as to seem almost trite in spite of their tremendous importance, were asked again here. And we believe the true answer was given. The cause of the world maladjustment is deep seated and the remedy must go to the roots of human nature and come from spiritual sources. Nineteen years ago and more ‘Abdu’l-Bahá traveled from coast to coast of the United States explaining the cause of the world sickness and telling the remedy. More than this He carried with Him and radiated wherever He went the boundless, tender, universal love which, He said, is the remedy and which must come into human hearts to heal the ailing world. These are the penetrating and loving words He spoke on that trip to a group in New York City:
“Love and unity are the needs of the body-politic today. Without these there can be no progress or prosperity attained. Therefore the friends of God must adhere to the power which will create this love and unity in the hearts of the sons of men. Science cannot cure the illness of the body-politic. Science cannot create amity and fellowship in human hearts. Neither can patriotism nor racial allegiance effect a remedy. It must be accomplished
solely through the divine bounties and spiritual bestowals which have descended from God in this day for this purpose. This is an exigency of the times and the divine remedy has been provided. The spiritual teachings of the religion of God can alone create this love, unity and accord in human hearts.”
The group of friends assembled at Louhelen Ranch last summer believed these words and were acting on them. They believed that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had understood and stated the true cause of the world misery and disintergration. Yet at the time these Words were spoken the World War had not occurred and few realized how sick the world was. They belived too that these “spiritual teachings of the religion of God” which “can alone create this love, unity and accord in human hearts” are found in the written teachings of Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, that these Creative Teachers have brought again to the earth the Christ love that the sick world so much needs today. Those who know the teachings and follow them will grow in love, unity and accord. It is even as Christ said, “If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love.”
The aim of the school was to study these teachings of Bahá’u’lláh and spread them abroad. Those who were well informed in the teachings through long study and experience and those who were eager beginners were happily brought together. People in neighboring communities heard the Bahá’i message for the first time. A spirit of unity and cooperation
was established, spiritual forces were loosed, confirmations descended.
Two series of fine lectures formed the nucleus of the nine day’s program. One series was on “The New Economics.” These talks were designed to make the listeners intelligent in regard to the established economic order, giving a bird’s-eye-view of the economic development of society as civilization has advanced, and to set forth the New World Order. The speaker traced briefly this development from the nomadic and barter stage of society down through the emergence of our present day metropolitan industrial system, showing how this system coupled with man’s greed and selfishness has plunged the world into its present plight. Then he pointed out how perfectly Bahá’u’lláh’s teachings give us the perfect remedy for this sick world, and finally set out vividly the need of a Bahá’i community as a working plan of the New World Order.
The other series dove-tailed into the first, furnishing as it did both practical suggestions and spiritual inspiration for the boundless, selfless love and infinite wisdom which are needed to raise the call and summon others to aid in establishing the New World Order.
A daily class in public speaking unfolded latent talent, developed the immature, furnished a real basis for cooperation and frendship, for all, younger and older, were learners together. Vivid and meaningful reminiscences of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, experiences of those who are devoting their lives to the spread of Bahá’u’lláh’s Message, a carefully developed and practical outline for
the “Education of Children for the New Day,” talks on “Radiant Acquiescence,” “Russia Today,” “The Hidden Words,”—all these varied themes make it apparent that this group realized the need for and the interdependence of both the practical and spiritual. Nor were the social and physical needs ignored. The opportunity for swimming and horse-back riding was made good use of; the lawn and other quiet places were used for group conversations, intimate talks and rest. The evening campfires and outdoor suppers were particularly conducive to friendship and unity.
The physical setting of this school must not be overlooked for the natural beauty of the place did its part in adding the quiet inspiration and peace which comes with close contact with nature. The traveler speeding along M 15 would not realize that. he was passing any but an ordinary Michigan farmstead unless the modest sign “Bahá’i Summer School” caught his eye. He who stopped to investigate found a real welcome, an atmosphere of hospitality and rest which invited one to linger. He sensed a feeling not of an impersonal school but of a home. Outside again he found the road which led between the farm buildings and past the corn fields to the wide ravine, through whose grassy valley a silvery stream wound. Halfway down the valley side a log cabin had been built overlooking the valley. “Ridvan Garden” was the name given to this lovely, peaceful valley. It was here, out in the open
or on the cabin porch, that most of the meetings were held. A miniature dam held back the waters of the stream thus forming a pool where the children delighted to play. Across the stream the wooded banks invited both children and elders to explore the hidden beauties above and beyond them. Even so the beauties of the Divine Word that were unfolded at the meetings invited the seeker to explore its hidden meaning.
But although we may enumerate the varied activities and dwell on the beauty of the natural environment, these do not hold the secret of the bountiful blessings gathered into these nine days or of the spirit of attraction which urged friends from a distance to come day after day, or the spirit of love and unity which caused those who came for the purpose of finding fault to go away in thoughtful silence, or the spirit of power which awakened sleeping souls and sent them forth to bear to others Bahá’u’lláh’s Message. This spirit of love, attraction, and power can be explained in no other way than as the “animating, unifying presence of the Holy Spirit” radiated from the hearts of those present.
Those who experienced some of the bounties of this summer school are tempted to paint its future in glowing terms but it is the part of wisdom not to make predictions. It may be allowable however to suggest that observers keep watch for future activities and developments at Louhelen Ranch where in the summer of 1931 such a happy and fruitful beginning was made.
Few men are as well qualified to write on Esperanto and its progress over the world as the author of this article. He has attended world conferences of Esperanto, and the impressions of these conferences as regards their feeling of unity and brotherhood, he admirably describes. Through his instrumentality a resolution was presented and passed at the Conference of the “World Federation of Education Associations” in Denver last summer, recommending the appointment of a commission formally to look into the matter of the international language question specifically with regard to Esperanto and to report at the next conference in 1933.
IT is evident to thinking people that the peace of the world, if it is ever to be realized, must be established by means of and maintained by the greatest possible degree of mutual understanding and cooperation. To a large extent this necessity is already being met (but without any conscious idea to insure peace) by an enormous, even a feverish, urge to shorten the distance and time between ourselves and our neighbors. However, irrespective of our preferences in the matter, and whether the immediate result be a quickening of moral progress or not, we all realize that the peoples of the world are being brought together in contacts increasingly numerous and intimate. Big movements of all kinds are becoming as much at home in one country as another. Problems of statecraft, education, science and industry are arising which only the united intelligence of mankind can solve. Acknowledging the nature-ordained fact of their interdependence, the peoples of the earth must seek the fulfilment of their highest ideals thru world-wide cooperation.
Yet in the very tool of communication and cooperation, language,
* Baha’u’llah founded the universal Baha’i religion, and one of its great principles is a universal auxiliary language. Miss Martha L. Root, a prominent Baha’i lecturer and traveler, who has attended all of the world Conferences of Esperanto in recent years, is now making a tour of this country and has given frequent lectures as well as broadcasting on the subject of Esperanto in nearly every city she has visited.
there have always been and are potentialities for keeping alive the spirit of suspicion and aloofness. National tongues are not only distressingly numerous, exceedingly cumbrous, illogical and difficult to master, but each is notoriously tinctured with the characteristics, psychology and even prejudices of the country where it is native. The admitted truth whose significance time certainly intensifies, that the diversity of tongues is a serious barrier to world progress and that eventually civilization must adopt a common speech for all peoples. is thus qualified by the further thought that no national tongue can serve the purpose; the “world democracy,” heralded on all sides by far-seeing statesmen and enlightened thinkers, demands neutrality even in its choice and use of a vehicle of thought. The universal adoption of any national language would confer such diplomatic, commercial, political and cultural advantages on one certain group of nations as to make such a proposition absolutely intolerable to all others.
The world has been, and still is, suffering from an over-emphasis
on mere nationality. A national consciousness is, of course, not to be deplored,—at least as a step from a narrow tribal isolation toward a wider solidarity. But today, mountains and deserts, rivers and oceans have lost their power to divide mankind; the chief barriers are linguistic ones, which determining as they do, in large measure, the confines of nationality, tend to fix even the economic frontiers. When, with an increasing knowledge of other countries and their inhabitants, man comes to realize his essential oneness in thought and feeling, in hopes and in aspirations, with his fellow on the other side of the ocean or mountain chain, these barriers of language stand out glaringly as monstrous anachronisms and tragic absurdities.
Mankind has long ago gotten used to certain codes for the universal communication of ideas. For instance, there is nothing strange to us in the internationality of the Arabic numerals, musical notation, the metric system, the graphic arts, the chemical symbols and signaling at sea, and yet in the matter of mere speech we have been well-nigh helpless. A mariner by means of signals raised aloft may convey some crude idea to a passing ship of another nationality, but should he step upon its deck he and its commander would find an ordinary conversation impossible.
To the obvious thought of the reader at this point that an international language would be a blessing to humanity there is only one objection; the verb should be is. The International Language brought forth in 1887 has had a breadth of application and a success
which rightly claim the attention of humanitarians and thoughtful people everywhere. The world will some day give high honor to Dr. Ludwig Lazarus Zamenhof of Warsaw (died 1917) whose genius and whose devotion to the idea of a world of brothers united by the bond of a common speech has made him one more genius with which the Jewish race has blessed mankind. His project, Esperanto, though not the first that has been devised to meet the growing world need, immediately attracted an attention that was more than academic, and in a few years it had far outdistanced its competitors, both as to the extent of its literature and the number of its adherents. Its root-words, prefixes and suffixes were selected on the basis of “maximum internationality” and so easy and logical is the formation of derivatives that only a few hundred primary words need be learned. An Esperantist actually coins words as he goes along, and, even by a person who may never have heard such words before, he is instantly and precisely understood. The spelling is phonetic, the tonic accent is always on the penultimate syllable, and the whole grammar is stated in sixteen simple rules (without an exception) which many people have actually learned in a couple of hours! A translation will hardly be needed for the following specimen:
“Simpla, fleksebla, belsona, vere internacia en siaj elementoj, la lingvo Esperanto prezentas al la mondo civilizita la sole veran solvon de lingvo internacia; char tre facila por homoj nemulte intruitaj, Esperanto estas komprenata sen peno de la personoj bone edukitaj. Mil faktoj atestas la meriton praktikan de la nomita lingvo.”
Far from being a “universal” language in the sense of attempting to displace existing national tongues for home use, Esperanto has a record of accomplishment as an auxiliary language that has long ago lifted it above the level of a mere project. It has become, say its advocates, an everyday, practical means of communication between thousands of people in all parts of the world. Correspondence in it is a commonplace, all the way from stamp collecting and the mere exchange of picture post cards up to high brow discussions of philosophy, scientific matters and world politics, as may easily be seen by anyone who cares to glance through the correspondence columns of the journals (now about 125 of them) regularly published in the language in all parts of the world. Text books for instruction have appeared in about fifty languages including such little known ones as Catalonian, Finnish, Japanese, Croatian, Arabic, Icelandic and Welsh. Limitations of space prevent all but a reference to the literature of Esperanto. That it is rapidly growing and already extensive, both in translated works and originals, in prose and poetry, covering practically every use of the printed word, is a statement that can easily be verified.
Quite in line with one of its objectives, Esperanto is of considerable help to the tourist. Thousands have visited foreign shores and journeyed through distant countries where, by the aid of the International Language and the “Universala Esperanto-Asocio” whose nearly two thousand delegates or consuls are practically everywhere,
they have had their travels made more pleasant and profitable than could otherwise have been. This statement will not seem significant to the person who can “get along in Europe on English alone.” He can “get along,” but the traveler who can do merely this must limit his conversation to the “business English” of waiters, ticket sellers and porters. To the Esperantist alone belongs the joy of meeting foreigners, well-educated and intelligent, as many as one has time to see in any journey or in any visited city, and of conversing with a freedom and on a linguistic equality that is never experienced when a national tongue is the medium. In at least thirty cities of Europe there are Esperantist policemen specially trained (in the case of several, specially compensated) to be of service to the visiting foreigner who has already taken the little trouble to meet the world on the linguistic middle ground. Thanks to the system in use among Esperantists the visitor is assured of a hearty welcome and friendly guidance which no mere tourist agency can supply. The testimony is unanimous that the fine spirit of helpfulness thus displayed is due to a bond of union stronger than the mere possession of a language in common; it is a fine faith in the possibility of a better world through complete mutual understanding.
In addition to its abundantly demonstrated utility for general commercial purposes, Esperanto has a special field for advertising the expositions and fairs which, in spite of the war and the blunders of diplomats, are doing a great
service in bringing together the business men of Europe. At least a dozen of such annual fairs are regularly using Esperanto,—but that is a story in itself. That other international institution, the world congress of the usual kind, whether for professional, religious, commercial or scientific aims, not only has felt the diversity of tongues to be a serious handicap, but it has never been able to forget the nationalistic differences among its members. Compared to this kind of a gathering with its inevitable division into mutually uncomprehending groups, its restriction to two or three “official languages” and the waste of time spent in translations, a congress of Esperantists stands out in refreshing contrast. There have been twenty-three of these since 1905, attended by as high as five thousand delegates from forty-three different countries and representing nearly as many national tongues.
Here, not only in the general business sessions, where the formal speeches, the unprepared discussion and even the chance remarks are all in the International Language, but in a dozen or more “side congresses” it is the sole medium heard. Teachers, editors, Red Cross nurses, physicians, railway and postal employees, vegetarians, Socialists, Roman Catholics, theosophists and spiritualists,—to name only part of the list—form groups each having its own meetings.
Notable among these are the groups of Bahá’is—at the Bahá’i Congresses—many of whom are very zealous in the study of Esperanto. The Bahá’i religion—the universal religion of this mature
age—was founded by Bahá’u’lláh, and one of its great principles is a universal auxiliary language.
Here the delegates “talk shop” with no uncomprehending auditor, with perfect geysers of technical terms, too, and with a vigor and a naturalness that are only parallelled where everyone speaks the same mother tongue. There is usually a play and a musical evening, a travel-talk and a scientific lecture or two, an opera and perhaps even a vaudeville show,—to say nothing of several excursions and many informal social gatherings; and not a word of any national tongue is heard the whole week through. As an indication of the fact that congresses wherein Esperanto is used are not limited solely to propagandists of the language, let us take the Commercial Congress which met in Venice in April, 1923. Here were over two hundred official delegates from twenty-three different countries, representing eighty-nine Chambers of Commerce, thirty tourists’ associations, twenty-one international fairs, and over sixty industrial federations, (business men, and not long-haired idealists merely) conducting its three days’ program entirely in Esperanto. As an indication of the ease with which the language may be acquired, it is significant that a number of participants, even speech-makers, actually learned all they needed of Esperanto on their way to the Congress.
In all these gatherings, and in truth, upon every occasion when the International Language is used orally, one striking fact makes itself evident,—the absolute uniformity of pronunciation. As far as
speech is any indication, you cannot tell the Spaniard from the Bulgarian or either from the Swede, and the laughable mistakes that are made in such guesses at one another’s nationality are among the commonplaces of Esperanto world-gatherings. The significant fact is impressed upon all, visitors as well as participants, that the sense of nationality is completely lost in such an atmosphere and is all but forgotten!
The idealistic side of an Esperanto congress finds its climax and appropriate symbol in the religious service, always a feature of such a gathering. Here you are in a big church filled with worshipers from at least twenty different countries and you hear, in a language perfectly understood by all, the priest, pastor or rabbi, as the case may be, preach the brotherhood of man, now being realized through a neutral medium when heart speaks to heart across the boundary line. Here, when you see every head bowed in reverence before the same and all important verities and realize
that before you is actually assembled a cross-section of the world, you will concede the claim that something big has come to pass in the affairs of men; here, at least, is one new thing under the sun! And however unimaginative you may be, does not the sight before you hold a promise of tremendous significance for civilization and the spiritual welfare of the race?
That there are untold possibilities for good in such an instrument of civilization is now being realized, particularly in Babel-cursed Europe. In many a place in England and on the Continent Esperanto is a regular, even an obligatory, part of the course of study. School children broaden their knowledge of foreign peoples and their human sympathies by letter and post card correspondence with students in other lands. Here is a practical and at once usable means for applied idealism which, as a substantial contribution to a new and better world-order, will not be overlooked by forward-looking educators and leaders of men.
IN talking with a distinguished aviator I was impressed anew with the need of a universal auxiliary language. From his wide experience he painfully felt the need of a common tongue.
“Is it not most unreasonable that in an age when man can provide himself with “the wings of the morning,“ and the human feet are more truly than ever shod "with the preparation of the gospel of peace.”—in an age when physical means are invented for the free and swift movement of the human body, is it not more unreasonable that man should feel his smallest “member” tied in bondage? . . .
“Every step in the improvement of the means of communication and transportation, is a new argument for the adoption of a world language.”
THE PROMULGATION OF UNIVERSAL PEACE, being The Addresses of 'Abdu'l-Bahá in America, in two volumes. Price, each, $2.50.
BAHÁ’U’LLÁH AND THE NEW ERA, by Dr. J. E. Esslemont, a gifted scientific scholar of England. This is the most comprehensive summary and explanation of the Bahá’í Teachings as yet given in a single volume. Price, $1.00; paper cover, 50 cents.
THE WISDOM TALKS OF 'ABDU'L-BAHÁ in Paris. This series of talks covers a wide range of subjects, and is perhaps the best single volume at a low price in which 'Abdu'l-Bahá explains in His own words the Bahá’í Teaching. Price, paper, 50 cents; cloth, $1.00.
BAHÁ'Í SCRIPTURES. This book, compiled by Horace Holley, is a remarkable compendium of the Teachings of Bahá’u’lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá. It contains a vast amount of material and is indexed. This Paper Edition (only ¾-inch thick) Price, $2.50.
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