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| VOL. 23 | JUNE, 1932 | No. 3 |
THE BAHA'I TEMPLE
THE days when idle worship was deemed sufficient are ended. The time is come when naught but the purest motive, supported by deeds of stainless purity, can ascend to the throne of the Most High and be acceptable unto Him.... Beseech the Lord your God to grant that no earthly entanglements, no worldly affections, no ephemeral pursuits, may tarnish the purity, or embitter the sweetness, of that grace which flows through you. I am preparing you for the advent of a mighty Day. Exert your utmost endeavor that, in the world to come, I, who am now instructing you, may, before the mercy-seat of God, rejoice in your deeds and glory in your achievements. The secret of the Day that is to come is now concealed. It can neither be divulged nor estimated. The newly born babe of that Day excels the wisest and most venerable men of this time, and the lowliest and most unlearned of that period shall surpass in understanding the most erudite and accomplished divines of this age. Scatter throughout the length and breadth of this land, and, with steadfast feet and sanctified hearts, prepare the way for His coming. Heed not your weaknesses and frailty; fix your gaze upon the invincible power of the Lord, your God, the Almighty. Has He not, in past days, caused Abraham, in spite of His seeming helplessness, to triumph over the forces of Nimrod? Has He not enabled Moses, whose staff was His only companion, to vanquish Pharaoh and his hosts? Has He not established the ascendancy of Jesus, poor and lowly as He was in the eyes of men, over the combined forces of the Jewish people? Has He not subjected the barbarous and militant tribes of Arabia to the holy and transforming discipline of Muhammad, His Prophet? Arise in His name, put your trust wholly in Him, and be assured of ultimate victory."
The Dawn-Breakers, pp. 93-94
| VOL. 23 | JUNE, 1932 | NO. 3 |
| Page | |
Instruction of the Báb to His disciples, | Inside cover page |
The Oneness of Mankind, Utterances of Bahá’u’lláh | Frontispiece |
Editorial, Stanwood Cobb | 67 |
Religion and Social Progress, Keith Ransom-Kehler | 69 |
White Roses of Persia, Martha L. Root | 71 |
Consultation and Sacrifice, Thoughts from the 1932 Bahá’i Convention, Bertha Hyde Kirkpatrick | 75 |
Mental Health and the New World Order, Genevieve L. Coy, Ph. D. | 81 |
The American Conference on Institutions for the Establishment of International Justice, Arthur Deerin Call | 85 |
A Pilgrimage to Green Acre, Orcella Rexford, B. Sc. | 89 |
The Hour Has Struck, B. K. | 78 |
Seeking and Finding, By One Who has “Sought” and “Found” | 92 |
A Scotch Editor Appreciates the Bahá’i Magazine | 96 |
STANWOOD COBB | Editor |
MARIAM HANEY | Managing Editor |
BERTHA HYDE KIRKPATRICK | Assistant Editor |
MARGARET B. MCDANIEL | Business Manager |
For the United States and Canada
|
For Foreign Countries
MRS. ANNIE B. Romer, Great Britain MR. A. SAMIMI, Persia MISS AGNES B. ALEXANDER, Japan and China MOHAMED MUSTAFA EFFENDI, Egypt |
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.
IF thou lookest toward mercy, regard not that which benefits thee, and hold to that which will benefit the servants (mankind). If thou lookest toward justice, choose thou for others what thou choosest for thyself. Verily, through meekness man is elevated to the heaven of power; and again, pride degrades him to the lowest station of humiliation and abasement.
THE light of men is justice; quench it not with the contrary winds of oppression and tyranny. The purpose of justice is the appearance of unity among people. . . . Truly I say all that has descended from the Heaven of the Divine Will is conducive to the order of the world, and to the furtherance of unity and harmony among its people.
Turn your eyes away from foreignness and gaze unto oneness, and hold fast unto the means which conduce to the tranquility and security of the people of the whole world. This spanwide world is but one native land and one locality. Abandon that glory which is the cause of discord, and turn unto that which promotes harmony.
CONSORT with all the people with love and fragrance. Fellowship is the cause of unity, and unity is the source of order in the world. Blessed are they who are kind and serve with love.
CHILDREN OF MEN! Do ye know why We have created you from one clay? That no one should exalt himself over the other. Ponder in your hearts how ye were created. It behooveth you, since We have created you all from the same substance to be even as one soul, in such wise that ye may walk with the same feet, eat with the same month and dwell in the same land; that from your inmost being, by your deeds and actions, the signs of oneness and the essence of detachment may be made manifest.
| VOL. 23 | JUNE, 1932 | NO. 3 |
whose eye of discernment is open, who is severed from the world of nature, and has attained to spiritual power—this soul is cognizant of the divine world and the world of spirits.”
A WEEK-END in the country with a two days’ rain is apt to be depressing. Yet as one tramps through the countryside between drops of rain during a lull in the storm, the cheering thought comes that somewhere the sun is shining, somewhere skies are blue. Clouds and rain are neither the universal nor the normal type of weather upon the planet.
So in the midst of the present cataclysmic depression, worldwide though it be, there comes the thought that elsewhere in the universe there may be, in all probability are, civilizations much more perfect, more spiritual, more joyous. That this civilization of ours, as evolved up to date upon the planet Earth, may not be cosmically typical is a cheering idea. For if we can lift ourselves above the perturbations of this world and conceive vividly enough the more ideal conditions which may exist in other worlds of being, we may realize that the catastrophes, the sufferings which humanity is now undergoing here are not normal to universal life; and if not normal, they can be vastly improved by approximating the normalcy designed by Destiny for the super-life of all inhabited worlds.
WHATEVER BE the degree of perfection
to which organized life in other worlds has attained, we know that there exists in the Realm of the Spirit the perfect pattern for our life upon this planet. In the Celestial World perfection is the norm. In the phenomenal world we tend always, by involuntary evolution and by conscious effort, toward that perfect goal and pattern.
But what is this other World of which we speak? Has any living person seen it? Can anyone bring report of it to Earth?
Yes, there have been those who not only have seen, but who have even while on earth inhabited, that world of Inner Significances. The Prophets and Manifestations of God live a dual life: one amidst the perturbations and exigencies of this world; one amidst the calm rapture and perfection of that heavenly World. If they did not have access constantly to this World of the Spirit, how could they endure the crosses which they bear in the course of their missions to humanity?
When weary, they turn to this World for refreshment. When overwhelmed with the animality and laggardness of human beings, they turn their gaze to the World of the Spirit and see perfection. Thus they are able to describe in vivid and real tones the goal of perfection
toward which humanity must evolve. It is a civilization which already exists, though not yet evolved upon this planet. And since it is a part of the creative plan of God, it may be said to exist already here in embryo; it is only a matter of time and effort as regards its ultimate achievement.
If it were not for this realization of an Absolute World of perfection, the efforts of the Prophets, of the Divine Teachers of humanity, would indeed assume desperate proportions; for relatively speaking, progress here is infinitessimally slow, and humanity tragically resistant.
But the Prophets of God see the future in the present. In imperfection they see perfection. In tests and trials they see realization. And in catastrophes they see opportunity and growth.
THIS GLORIOUSLY creative vision
which the Manifestations have, they
seek to confer upon all mankind. To
those who endeavor to follow in
their footsteps, patterning their
lives after the Exemplar, is granted
more or less vividly this same realization
of the Ideal Celestial World
and of the subtle influence which
that World exerts upon the phenomenal
evolving world.
Great as is the power of the human intellect to comprehend the realities of things, to make scientific discoveries and inventions, to penetrate the hidden mysteries of nature and thus control and manipulate the physical universe for its benefit—greater still is the power of man to comprehend through the aid of the spirit the inner significances
* ‘Abdu’l-Baha, The Divine Art of Living, pp. 146, 147.
of the Cosmos. “The light of the intellect enables us to understand and realize all that exists. But it is the Divine Light alone which can give us sight for the invisible things and which enables us to see truths that will not be visible to the world for thousands of years hence. It was the Divine Light which enabled the Prophets to see two thousand years in advance what was going to take place. And today we see the realization of their vision. Thus it is the Light which we must strive to seek, for it is greater than any other.“*
HOW IMPORTANT and necessary, in this period of universal gloom, to be able to see behind the clouds! To know that the Sun of Reality is indeed shining; is calling dormant virtues to life; is resuscitating the world of humanity; is causing a new Springtime to appear which will eventuate in a wonderful fruitage.
The more the rain beats down today, the greater will be the harvest of tomorrow.
Bahá’is stand out among others today in the possession of this vivid realization. They know not despair, nor even discouragement. The greater the tribulations, the greater the opportunities for growth.
In the beginning they see the end. In a part the whole. In the wreckage of old customs and institutions, they see the rise of a new spiritual organization of humanity. To this they dedicate their efforts. For this they strive with all their being. And when weary they, too, know how to refresh themselves in the vision of perfection which serves as the archetype of human progress.
In this the second of a series of articles written for publication both in The Bahá’i Magazine and the Tokyo Nichi Nichi, the author develops the idea of the new type of politics which will prevail in the Bahá’i world of the future.
ONE of the lively sources of divergence and misunderstanding among men is religion. In the previous article a method of religious understanding has been discussed. Something which will create in men the will to harmony and friendship is basic to a solution of the world’s more material problems. Religious accord presupposes the determination to solve the world’s problems on the basis of justice and goodwill. But even with a desire for goodwill we must have some intelligent method, some sane and workable plan by which the inequalities and miseries of human life can be readjusted to safer and nobler ends. When men arise with religious fervor, determined to carry forward a great spiritual command, as in the case of the religious teachings of the past, history discloses to us with a startling rapidity old methods, standards and practices are discarded and new ones established, under religious sanction.
In the case of the serious political problems which confront the world, erupting from generation to generation in war, which not only dislocates civil and economic life but destroys valuable human life as well, it is evident, even to ignorant people, that some power higher than the state is essential to that internal regulation amongst the governments of the world that will adjudicate
national differences without resort to arms.
The participation of various states in a League of Nations and in a World Court is convincing evidence that thinking people realize that the old world in which governments and nations could live to themselves alone has given place to a new world, shrunk to such all-inclusive dimensions that today the nations of the world are, “members one of another.”
In times past war brought merely political changes but today, with an active revolutionary party in all of the great industrialized countries, war would produce changes of such profound social and economic significance as to be frought with the gravest danger to civilization.
Therefore some method must be devised whereby all the nations heartily and willingly give over political affairs of an international character to a body empowered to act. In order to draw every nation into such a scheme the group comprising this final parliament must be completely impartial, just and free from all political entanglements.
MANY or the great nations today are suffering under political schemes devised for a world which has vanished. At present most of
the problems treated through political channels, in accordance with past custom, are not in the least political in nature: reparations, unemployment, tariff, state insurance protection, all kinds of improvement of domain are not political but economic considerations, while other issues, handled through the mechanism of politics, are legal. The simple, easy, uncomplicated problems of the past could be solved by party methods, but today’s problems are different.
Government to be effective must be efficient. Those who govern must be equipped for government. Social experimentation proves that governing is very exact science that cannot be spontaneously put into practice by ignorant, uninformed men no matter how lofty and humanitarian their sentiments.
After finding men with ideals of justice and human betterment, selfless and dedicated to the common good—there are such in every country of the world—they must next possess enlightenment and information, relying in all exact matters upon expert opinion and advice. To correct the inefficiency of party politics those elected to that ultimate international office suggested in this article, would have but one
task before them; to administer public affairs not upon the basis of party patronage, political allegiance and the whim of constituencies, but upon the basis of intelligent inquiry, unbiased investigation and impartial judgment. Free and open expression of opinion is essential in such considerations, but there could be no final interest as to which opinion prevailed. Personal loyalty and adherence to preconceptions would have to be effaced. What happened to personal opinions and ideas would in such a body become a matter of indifference: for the only objective would be arrival at true, just and workable conclusions. This would constitute government consultation, which could be established in the simplest village, as well as in international affairs, thus relieving the world from the strife and inefficiency of party conflicts. Popular suffrage won at such sacrifice and expense should never be relinquished. All local governments could be directly elected; national bodies elected by delegates, democratically chosen; and the final international body could then be elected by the various national governments; this would preclude either popular favor or prejudice.
“The teachings of Bahá’u’lláh are the breaths of the Holy which create men anew.
“When you breathe forth the breath of the Holy Spirit from your hearts into the world, commerce and politics will take care of themselves in perfect harmony. All arts and sciences witl become revealed and the knowledge of God will be manifested. It is not your work but that of the Holy Spirit which you breathe forth through the Word. This is a fundamental truth.”
Here is told one of the most moving stories, tragic yet noble, among the many martyrdoms of the Bahá'is in Persia—the story of Vargha. The material for this article was gathered by the author on her recent visit to Persia. This is the first of three installments.
TIHRAN, Persia, has so many Faithful Bahá’i families that to go among them makes one think: “O Persia, your famous attar comes not alone from your roses, the perfume which diffuses itself through the lives of your believers is a fragrance still not equalled in other countries.” If there is a more sweet or tender story of devotion to ’Abdu’l-Bahá and the great Bahá’i Cause than the lives of Ali Muhammad Vargha and his little son Ruhu’lláh Vargha of Persia, I have not heard it. When I was visiting in Tihrán I used to meet Azizollah Vargha and his younger brother Valiollah Vargha, sons of Ali Muhammad Vargha, and often I used to ask them about their father and brother. All this narrative is absolutely true and in it the reader will see how God prepares souls to come into this world.
Ali Muhammad Vargha was an ardent Bahá’i of Tabriz, Persia, in the days when Bahá’u’lláh was a Prisoner in ’Akká, Palestine from 1868 until His passing in 1892. He was exiled and imprisoned because His Teachings which are now being studied by some rulers, many statesmen and millions of other people, were, like those of other World Teachers, very far ahead of His time. To begin at the beginning, Ali Muhammad Vargha had one son, Azizollah, two years old, when one day in April another little son was born in his home, and he and his wife named the child Ruhu’llah
which means “the Spirit of God”.
THERE was glad rejoicing when
Bahá’u’lláh from ’Akkà sent these
parents a Tablet (a letter) about
this new babe and in it the reader
with insight will discern the introduction
to this thrilling story which
follows. Bahá’u’lláh wrote:
“O Vargha! It is for thee to chant in both ears of this little one three times:
‘Verily, thou hast come by the Command of God! Thou hast appeared to speak of Him, and thou hast been created to serve Him Who is the Dear, the Beloved!’
“We mentioned this before when his mother implored us, and now We are mentioning it again. We are the Generous and the Giver!” (His mother sent no petition by letter, but it was perhaps when this little one was coming into this world that she cried out to Baháu’lláh.)
While Ruhu’lláh was still a little child, Bahá’u’llàh sent a second Tablet. It read:
“He is the Hearer and the Seer!
“Blessed art thou, for thou hast witnessed the grandeur and greatness of God while still a child. Blessed is the mother who nursed thee and has arisen to do what is becoming of her! We beg God to write for thee from His Supreme Pen that which is fitting to His Generosity, Bounty and Favor. Verily, He is the Generous and the Bountiful! Praise be to God, the Lord of the Worlds!”
Another Tablet to Ruhulláh from Bahà’u’lláh was:
“O thou Ruhu’lláh! Verily, the Greatest Spirit has inclined towards thee from the
Prison and is mentioning thee with such a station that its fragrance will continue as long as My Kingdom and My Grandeur endure!
“Thou, when thou findeth and knoweth (the mention) say: ‘Praise be to Thee, O Ocean of Bounty! Thanks be to Thee that Thou hast made me to appear and in my first days speak Thy mention and Thy praise. Verily, Thou art the Forgiving and the Compassionate!”
Later, another little son came to bless their home and he was called Valiollah.
“WHAT KIND of a Bahá’i father
was Ali Muhammad Vargha?” you
may ask, and “How did he train
his sons spiritually?” All fathers
who read this tale will see in the
life of this Persian the highest ideal
of fatherhood, a height not reached
in every home, and too high to be
understood by many fathers. He,
himself was a Bahá’i teacher. The
picture of the Báb is preserved to
the world today because Ali Muhammad
Vargha led a great painter
to become a believer. The narrative
of the Yazdi family so distinguished
in Egypt for their
Bahà’i services is another fruit of
the many souls to whom he first
brought the Teaching in Persia. He
was never outside his country except
to go to Palestine, yet his pupils
have served with glory in the
Near East and in Europe.
Being a wise young father, recognizing in what highest education really consists, he took his two little sons, Azizollah and Ruhu’llàh (little Valiollah at that time was too young to go, he was only a babe in arms) for a pilgrimage to Bahà’u’lláh in ’Akka. Other parents could with profit follow this same plan and today take their children to meet Shoghi Effendi, Guardian of the Bahá’i Cause in Haifa, Palestine.
If children can glimpse the highest ideals while they are still very young, these ideals may be their lofty inspiration throughout life. Certainly this story shows how one little boy developed into a teacher, a poet, a great philosopher and a world hero before he had hardly crossed the threshold of his twelfth year. Educators must see in the life of this son an astounding Power in the Teachings of Bahá’u’lláh!
MANY WERE the incidents of that
historic visit to Bahá’u’lláh but I
only tell you a few of them. Azizollah
Vargha told me that when the
maternal grandfather, the father
and Ruhu’lláh arrived in ’Akká they
went to the room of the secretary
of Bahà’u’lláh. It was furnished
with a mat and they sat down on
this, for they had been told that
Bahá’u’lláh would come to this
room to meet them. In the distance
there were steps leading to an upper
room and the father told Azizollah
to go and stay near those steps
to watch the approach of the
Blessed Beauty and then to inform
them. The child went but when he
looked and saw Bahá’u’lláh at the
head of the stairs he mounted several
steps and knelt at the feet of
His Lord. He was crying so hard
his very bones were shaking. Bahá’u’lláh
stopped and made him
happy and they came down the
stairway together, the little boy just
behind Bahà’u’lláh. It was a great
meeting, but when the visitation
was over, the father said to his
little son: “Why did you not do
what I asked you to do? Why did
you not run and tell us?” Azizollam
replied: ”I do not know. I do
not know how I mounted those steps, I was not conscious that I went up the stairs.” We know how moved Professor Edward G. Browne of Cambridge University, England, was, when he first met Bahà’u’lláh but here is an account of what it meant to a very young Persian boy.
The next day they were all invited, the grandfather, father, and two small sons to visit Bahá’u’llàh in His own room. Then when the visit was over, the two boys were invited to the room of Bahá’u’lláh’s daughter, Bahiyyih, known throughout the world as the Greatest Holy Leaf. She was then perhaps about forty-five years old. She said to her little guests: “What are you doing in Persia?” and Ruhu’lláh replied: “We are teaching the Bahà’i Cause in Persia”. “What do you say in speaking to people?”, she queried, and Ruhu’lláh answered: “I tell them God has appeared again on this earth.” The Greatest Holy Leaf smiled but said: “When you are speaking you must not say this openly.” The child replied: “I do not say it to everybody, I know to whom I must say it.” “How do you know the people to whom to speak?”, she continued, and he said: “I know people from their eyes; when I see their eyes I know.” In fun, Bahá’u’lláh’s great daughter said: “Ruhu’llah look into my eyes and see if you could speak to me?” Naively he searched her eyes and told her: “No, I cannot speak to you, because you know everything.”
Two young men sitting and doing their writing lessons in the other part of the room began to laugh over the conversation and the
Greatest Holy Leaf said: “Look into their eyes and see whether you could speak with them and convince them.” The child looked at them long and carefully, and then answered: “It is very difficult and it is of no use to try to convince them.” (These two young men were Ziaullah and Badiullah who afterwards turned against the Cause.) When this conversation was told to Bahá’u’lláh He said: “Ruhu’llàh is a Bahá’i teacher.”
THE LITTLE group stayed for several
months in ’Akkà and in Bahji.
Ruhu’lláh studied Persian writing
every day and every Friday he used
to show a copy of his writing to
’Abdu’l-Bahà Who often praised
it. Ruhu’lláh’s father was very insistent
about their lessons and very
severe when they did not study,
for he knew the importance of education.
Azizollah recounted another incident of the visit saying that when Bahá’u’llàh wished to reveal (dictate) a Tablet, he used to dismiss everybody with great haste. He, Azizollah, said:
“One day I was in Bahá’u’lláh’s Presence with the whole family and He called for the secretary to bring ink and paper quickly and in the same moment He requested us all to go. I was just a child, but seeing this haste to send every one away, I had a great longing to be present sometime when a Tablet is revealed. I had asked from one of the members of His family to ask Bahá’u’lláh if I could come, please, to see a Tablet revealed. A few weeks later in the Garden at Bahji, when I was playing with some children, the door of the home was opened and one member of the family called me and said that Bahá’u’lláh wished to see me. I ran to His room and entering I saw that He was chanting revealed Tablets and poems. So entering His room that day, I thought everything was the same as on other days, that Bahá’u’lláh was only chanting. I stood near the door which I had entered, and
was only a few moments in the room when I began trembling in my whole body. I felt I could not stand any more on my feet. His Holiness Bahá’u’lláh turning to me said ‘Good-bye’. As I lifted the curtain to go out, I fell on the threshold and was unconscious. They took me to the room of the wife of His Holiness Bahá’u’lláh where they poured rose water and cold water on my face until I revived. The members of the Family asked me what had happened and I told them about going to Bahá’u’lláh to hear the chanting. When I was relating this, the lady who had called me first, came in, and she said to me: ‘You, yourself, had asked me to permit you to be present, now that was the time when a Tablet was being revealed.’
“Then I understood why Bahá’u’lláh in haste dismissed everybody. It is because the people cannot endure it, there is such a Power in the room.”
Azizollah Vargha said that his father had a similar experience during this visit to ’Akká. His own words are: “Father had been asked by some one to implore Bahá’u’lláh’s help concerning a certain matter and to beg that a Tablet be sent. When my father presented this petition, Bahà’u’lláh called a secretary to bring ink and paper, and He also sent for His brother Mussa-Kalim and another one of the relatives. He put a hand on each one’s shoulder and began to walk up and down revealing the Tablet. Father began to tremble and he said he couldn’t say what was happening. He heard Bahá’u’lláh’s voice but He could not understand His Words. Some minutes passed and He dismissed them all. Then outside they began to discuss and none of the three had understood Him, they had only felt the Power. It is certainly interesting to hear about Bahá’u’llàh from those who saw and spoke with Him. They said they could not look upon His Face, it was so glorious, the eyes so shining. There was such a vibration that everyone began to tremble and they could not understand
His Words; there was such a Power there.”
One evening in ’Akká, Bahà’u’llah
called Ali Muhammad Vargha
alone to His Presence and said: “I
wish to speak with you alone tonight.
There is something in the
existence that in most of the Tablets
We have named the greatest
Ether. When any one is endowed
with that Ether all his deeds and
words will be effective in the
world.”
Then Bahá’u’llàh arose and walked a few steps and He continued: “Even this walking of the Manifestation is effective.” Again sitting down, He said: “Christ declared His Mission. The Jews crucified Him and they thought what they had done was a very unimportant matter, and Christ was buried; but as Christ was endowed with that Ether, that Ether did not stay under the ground; It came up and did Its great work in the world.”
Then Bahá’u’llàh turned to Ali Muhammad Vargha and said: “See ’Abdu’l-Bahá, the Master, what a wonderful effect His deeds and Words have in the world! See how kind and patiently He endures every difficulty.” The Bahá’i, Ali Muhammad Vargha felt that Bahá’u’llàh really was showing him the Station of ’Abdu’l-Bahá, that He would be the Successor spoken of as the Greatest Branch, and Ali Muhammad Vargha asked to become a martyr in the path of ’Abdu’l-Bahá. The Blessed Beauty Bahà’u’lláh, accepted this sacrifice and promised the pilgrim that he should give his life in service to ’Abdu’l-Bahá.
“The continent of America, is, in the eyes of the one true God, the land wherein the splendors of His light shall be revealed, where the mysteries of His Faith shall be unveiled, where the righteous shall abide, and the free assemble.”—‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
ON Friday, Saturday, Sunday, April 29th to May 1st, delegates and friends representing fifty-two Bahá’i communities, organized and functioning, in the United States and Canada came together under the dome of the Bahá’i Temple at Wilmette, near Chicago, Ill. The two-fold function of the convention was pointed out by the chairman: to revitalize the inner life of the delegates and friends in attendance, and to consult for the purpose of maintaining a high standard of excellence in all activities. The second of these functions is impossible without the first; the first is fruitless without the second.
Another powerful letter from Shoghi Effendi (Guardian of the Bahá’i Cause) had arrived in time to be read early at the first session. From it a mighty inspiration for renewed inner life and a tremendous incentive for excellence in all activities went forth. “The Cause associated with the name of Bahá’u’lláh feeds itself upon . . . hidden springs of celestial strength; . . . its reliance is solely upon that mystic Source with which no worldly advantage . . . can compare; it propagates itself by ways mysterious and utterly at variance with the standards accepted by the generality of mankind,” he assures us.
Again he writes, “May we not pause, pressed though we be by the daily preoccupations which the
ever-widening range of the administrative activities of His Faith must involve, to reflect upon the sanctity of the responsibilities it is our privilege to shoulder?”
THE MEETING place itself was
two-fold in its function. The simple
beauty of the foundation hall was
fraught with spiritual significance—the
exquisite Persian rugs, symbolic
of sacrifice, devotion, and perfection
in design and workmanship;
the lovely bouquets of fragrant
rosebuds gradually unfolding into
mature beauty as the convention
proceeded; the chaste model of the
completed Temple in the ante-room,
inviting the spirit of praise and
supplication; the blessed spot
where ‘Abdu’l-Bahá laid the cornerstone,
compelling suppliant tears
and quiet meditation; the Temple
itself impressive even in its incompleteness,
its dome and sides gathering
light from the Great Source
and transmitting it to the assembly
below;—all these outer factors
lifted the thoughts to the renewal
of the inner life. Inspiration, too,
was given by the communion of
spirit and unity of purpose of the
friends and delegates assembled.
On the other hand, the Temple in its very incompleteness furnished the motive for a continued effort for higher and higher standards in giving. Referring again to Shoghi Effendi’s letter we find it abundantly
generous in praise of things already accomplished by the American believers yet urging that the still unfinished Temple calls “for a more abundant measure of self-sacrifice, for a higher standard of concerted effort, for a still more compelling evidence of the reality of the faith that glows within you.”
SUNDAY morning was given over to this problem of going forward with the Temple—the covering of the dome, ribs and clerestory with the beautiful tracery which the design calls for. One hundred and fifty thousand dollars is needed and thirty thousand dollars immediately—a stupendous task for the believers in a period of great financial depression. Sacrificial giving is stressed. Are Americans capable of sacrifice,—such sacrifice as we know is practiced in the Orient? A Persian-American friend who knows so well the characteristics of both Orientals and Occidentals asks the question. He is ready to give his dearest:—two coins, one gold, one silver, both precious because handled by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. The souls are moved, the hearts are opened. With humble devotion one here, one there offers his very precious possessions:—a ring blessed by the Master; another, a watch; a necklace; money to redeem the blessed rings; more money; jewels; more ornaments,—until a sacrificial mound lies piled upon the table in front. The hearts are full, the eyes overflow, but quiet restraint prevails.
Surely on that Sunday morning consultation and the quickening of
the inner life went hand in hand.
Other consultation concerned spreading the teaching both by direct and indirect methods. The reports of the amity and the teaching committees especially gave courage to forge ahead. The “Goal of a New World Order” is still far away but the fine work that has been done by amity committees—the interracial dinners in important urban centers,—New York, Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Detroit and other places, where outstanding representatives of Negro, Caucasian, Indian and Mongolian races met in social and intellectual equality; the two interracial trips into the South; other interracial group meetings—made us realize that a firm foundation for the Oneness of Mankind is laid in many hearts. The increased activity of individuals and of assemblies in spreading the Divine Message, the large increase of avowed believers, set a new standard of excellence to attain and outdo.
IN THESE and other reports the
power of sacrifice and the confirmations
which attend it were made evident.
Hard work, long hours, raising
necessary funds for special
meetings, even neglect of one’s
means of livelihood—all these demands
and more are freely met by
those who are carrying forward the
work of the Cause of God. One
delegate said, “Certain cults offer
prosperity and health to their votaries,
what can we say the Bahá’i
Cause offers?” “Self-sacrifice, often
suffering, the joy of service and
the happiness of the rich inner
life,” was the answer. Do we find
anywhere else in recent writings, a record of such ecstatic joy as in the case of the followers of the Báb who gave unreservedly their lives, their possessions, their all, for love of Him? As we read of their heroic and utterly selfless lives in Nabil’s Narrative, The Dawn-Breakers, we feel completely unworthy. And yet Shoghi Effendi says: “In the blood of the unnumbered martyrs of Persia lay the seed of the Divinely-appointed Administration which, though transplanted from its native soil, is now budding out, under your loving care, into a new order, destined to overshadow all mankind. For great as have been the attainments and unforgetable the services of the pioneers of the heroic age of the Cause in Persia, the contribution which their spiritual descendants, the American believers, the champion builders of the organic structure of the Cause, are now making towards the fulfillment of the Plan which must usher in the golden age of the Cause is no less meritorious in this strenuous period of its history.”
Although this year the youth had no previously planned conference, as last year, yet they were present in perhaps greater numbers listening to and taking part in reports and discussions or having their own impromptu suppers and meetings. Their virility and enthusiasm seemed to add more hope and love and zeal. What has the Cause to offer youth? Boundless opportunities for initiative, force, tact, daring, devotion, steadfastness, self-sacrifice, yes, and danger of not being understood, but the joy of service and the happiness of the rich inner life. This is the age of youth,
this is the Cause of youth and theirs are the abundant opportunities. The Báb was still a young man at the time of His Martyrdom; Quddus, His most illumined follower, countless of His other followers and of the Martyrs in the Cause were young men. Shoghi Effendi, after ten years of service as Guardian, is still a young man.
THE ONLY PUBLIC meeting was
held Sunday afternoon and again
the drawing power of the Temple
was demonstrated. The Foundation
Hall was filled to overflowing
on this occasion. Daily also small
and large groups come to learn of
the significance of the unique and
impressive structure. Teaching activities
in adjacent and neighboring
communities have increased greatly
and believers multiplied. The prophetic
words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in the
epistle sent to the first Bahá’i Temple
Convention in 1909 and read
again at this convention are already
being fulfilled before our eyes.
“Among the most important affairs,”
He said, “is the founding of
the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, although
weak minds may not grasp its importance;
nay, perchance, they
imagine this (Mashriqu’l-Adhkár)
to be a temple like other temples.
They may say to themselves:
‘Every nation has a hundred thousand
gigantic temples; what result
have they yielded that now this one
Mashriqu’l-Adhkár (is said) to
cause the manifestation of signs
and prove a source of lights?’ But
they are ignorant of the fact that
the foundation of this Mashriq’l-Adhkár
is to be in the inception of
the organization of the Kingdom.
Therefore it is important and is an
expression of the raising of the Evident Standard, which is waving in the center of that continent, and the results and effects of which will become manifest in the hearts and spirits. No soul will be aware of this mature wisdom save after trial.”
Surely the utmost endeavor will be exerted to continue to carry out the desire of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, cherished by Bahá’is all over the world. And now we have the definite goal earnestly urged by Shoghi Effendi: “That by the end of the spring of
the year 1933 the multitudes who, from the remote corners of the globe, Will throng the grounds of the Great Fair to be held in the neighborhood of that sacred shrine may, as a result of your sustained spirit of self-sacrifice, be privileged to gaze on the arrayed splendor of its dome—a dome that shall stand as a flaming beacon and a symbol of hope amidst the gloom of a despairing world.”
Here is a responsibility which it is the privilege of Bahá’is to shoulder.
The first part of this article is a quotation from an article in the Federal Council Bulletin for May entitled, “First Century Christianity and Ours,” by E. G. Honrighausen, and the application to present conditions follows. The reader can make his own comparisons.
“The first age of Christianity had to meet the same typical groups and influences which we are now called upon to meet. Type for type, they were all there.
“There was a rampant nationalism which had deified the state, and with it the emperor who epitomized its glory. Citizenship and religion were identified; materialism was idolized.
“Syncretism, too, was a first-century phenomenon. Everywhere men were trying to find God by means of an eclectic process, selecting the best in all religions, in the hope that their quest would give satisfaction. Connoisseurs of all religions but actual participants in none! It was an age of cosmopolitanism,
universalism and of popularization. In the end, these always produce folks with a remarkable breadth of mind and intellectual cleverness, but lacking in depth, thoroughness and wisdom. How modern!
“In many quarters a fatal cynicism had emerged, pessimistic and gloomy, which caused many a suicide, because the older authorities of religion and morality had been rudely swept away by a changing and critical age. The age was one of brutal transition. A sense of the failure of religious and social institutions was in the air. Mingled feelings of anticipation and uncertainty, fear and hope, universalism and individualism, epicureanism and stoicism, mysticsm and realism, gripped life. A sense of
satiety and ‘fed-upness’ created a peculiar vacuum in the soul. A let-down, an exhaustion, following in the wake of fulfilled imperial expansion, demanded physical stimulation in profusion to keep up men’s spirits.
“So men ran to the philosophers. The Stoics offered some in that day what Walter Lippmann is offering some today: a dogged religion of maturity, which bravely lives on the glorious tradition of the good life. Stoicism was a noble development, and it produced lives of self-control and dignity, ruled by a strong sense of duty. It venerated the dignity of man and the staunch character. The culture of the will was stressed. But it was a stern religion, lacking passion and sympathy. Though it believed in God, it was an unsympathetic Providence, accepted largely in the spirit of agnosticism and fatalism. Stoicism’s God was distant—its life was desperate and lonely, and only the ‘tough-minded’ could follow its teachings. How modern!
“Others ran to the Epicureans, as they run to the realists today—to Joseph Wood Krutch and Bertrand Russell. Thoroughly utilitarian and naturalistic in ethics, they sought to find life in an adolescent fearlessness in the face of a hostile or neutral environment. Sin was denied and its punishment ignored. Life was found in the here and now—it had nothing to do with realities beyond the senses. The idea of a God who sympathizes and suffers with men was quite ridiculous. Naturally such teachers put much
emphasis upon human values, freedom and natural happiness. How modern!
“The social situation was as bad as, if not worse than, our own. But early Christians never sought to change the social order by artificial means. Their faith produced a leavening and germinating ethic. How fluid social life was! A spirit of uncertainty and revolution intensified the air, and the lower classes who had nothing to lose gladly lent their support in the efforts of the desperate to get what wealth and luxury those had who lived at the dizzy top. Then, as now, society was paying for its ruthless wars waged in more adolescent and foolish days. There was plenty of wealth in the upper class, but there was no distribution except the enforced method of charity. Life was cheap, cities crowded, homes went out of fashion. The slave-institution, which regarded men as things and not as persons, was a pillar of society. Lethargy, lack of initiative, and a terrible sameness were in men’s souls. Cultural tastes grew flabby, and only the spicy crudities of many a stage, amphitheatre and den of vice aroused these jaded and satiated appetites. A fast life created by a rapidly accumulated wealth of imperial expansion sapped something (as it always does) of the vitality of the older stock. How modern all this sounds!
“Of course, there was a superficial attitude of benevolence everywhere. But it lacked real sympathy. Humaneness is not love.
Slaves were better treated, as were children, women and beasts. An aging civilization gets more mellow. There were shining examples of moral life in many a home. A democracy of life was in the making that was to be a highway prepared for the coming of a greater glory.
“Into this sort of an environment of thought and life came the infant religion of Christianity and its naive adherents. They flung into the face of this tired and cynical
age the impact of a new life, a new ethic, that was rooted in the love of an objective God. Their pure lives and homes, the democracy of their simple church-fellowships, where free and slave and male and female mingled, proved a powerful leaven that worked itself out into the social world without conscious and artificial manipulation. . . . Silent but potent living for the Kingdom of God and its transcendent values gave them their irresistible and unconquerable ethic. No more humanitarianism theirs!“
IT was a newly revealed Infant religion that brought “a new life, a new ethic” to that age where so many conditions were similar to our own. If we are perfectly logical should we not look now for a revival of the spirit of early Christianity in a newly revealed religion? If we consider not only the conditions in our present life which are similar to conditions in the first century but also the great scientific discoveries and inventions which have brought such overwhelming and devastating changes to us, can we hope that anything less than Divine Revelation will lead humanity out of its plight? Do not these words of Shoghi Effendi, Guardian of the Bahá’i Cause, furnish a fitting conclusion for the above remarks?
“Who, witnessing on the one hand the stupendous advance achieved in the realm of human knowledge, of power, of skill and inventiveness, and viewing on the other the unprecedented character of the
suffering that afflict, and the dangers that beset, present-day society, can be so blind as to doubt that the hour has at last struck for the advent of a new Revelation, for a restatement of the Divine Purpose, and for the consequent revival of those spiritual forces that have, at fixed intervals, rehabilitated the fortunes of human society? Does not the very operation of the world-unifying forces that are at work in this age necessitate that He Who is the Bearer of the Message of God in this day should not only reaffirm that selfsame exalted standard of individual conduct inculcated by the Prophets gone before Him, but embody in His appeal, to all governments and peoples, the essentials of that social code, that Divine Economy, which must guide humanity’s concerted efforts in establishing that all embracing federation which is to signal the advent of the Kingdom of God on this earth?”
A very timely subject for present day conditions is that of mental health. This subject is here treated from the point of view both of psychology and of religion. “Religion and science,” says ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, “are the two wings upon which man’s intelligence can soar into the heights, with which the human soul can progress.” And even religion, powerful as it is in its beneficial effect upon mental health, can well be supplemented by scientific analysis which modern psychology has brought to bear upon mental ills. The second installment of this series will appear in the August number.
THE old adage, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” had been quoted for many, many years before it occurred to anyone to apply this principle to people’s health. In pioneer days a man sought a doctor only if he were seriously ill; a dentist, only when an aching tooth had to be pulled. It is only in very recent times that we have learned that it is better to have the doctor give regular examinations to the healthy person, so that he can suggest ways of preventing possible illness. We have also found that occasional visits to the dentist to have a tiny cavity filled are much better use of his skill, than to wait till an aching tooth requires an extraction. The value of prevention in physical health is now recognized by all intelligent people.
Thousands of doctors had prescribed for the physical health of their patients before anyone had the idea that such a thing as mental and emotional illness caused as much misery in the world as did diseases of the body. Slowly the work of the psychiatrist became differentiated from the field of the general practictioner, and a serious effort was made to find the causes of mental and emotional abnormalities,
and to develop methods of treatment. But it is only in the past few years that attention has been turned to the prevention of mental ills, and the mental hygiene movement has fostered the ideal of keeping people in good mental health. It is with the maintenance of mental health in the average individual that the present article is concerned.
HOW MAY a person know whether
he is mentally well? What constitutes
mental health? The person
who possesses an integrated personality
is in good mental health.
A personality divided within itself
is ill. The full meaning of such division
is best realized by considering
extreme instances of mental
sickness. We have all heard of
cases of a man who is two different
people at different times. He may
call himself by two distinct names.
Often one personality has no recollection
of the acts of the other personality.
Sometimes Personality A
remembers the actions of Personality
B, but B has no recollection
of his life as A. It is evident that
such a person is disintegrated, and
is suffering from serious mental illness.
But this condition of a division
in the personality can occur in
less obvious ways. Consider the business man who is devoutly religious on Sundays, professing charity and kindness toward all men, and yet on week-days finds it possible to bribe government officials. It is easy to say that this man is a hypocrite, but this judgment may be quite unfair. He may actually possess such a double and divided mind that he does not realize the discrepancy between his life in business and his life in church.
Such inconsistencies, due to a lack of full integration of the personality, are common. Here is a person who professes to believe in the brotherhood of man, but who would be miserable if he had to eat at the same table with a Negro. There is a woman who one day says, “Mrs. Brown is so snobbish; she is so proud of her money,” and on the next declares, “I would never let my daughter marry a poor man.” A third person gives part of his energy to the worthwhile work he is doing, but perhaps a third of his life is buried under a bitter weight of jealousy. His jealous fears are continually intruding on his work, and he at last finds himself unable to concentrate on constructive activity. Instead of being an effectual, whole-souled, one pointed individual, he is split in two,—the increasingly ineffectual worker on the one hand, and the miserable jealous husband on the other.
Can you not think of many people whose lives are thus inconsistent, because some part of the personality is not fully integrated with the true core and purpose of the individual’s life? Many of them are useful and fairly happy, and yet they are falling short of the joy
that life has to give to the man who is not “divided against himself.” We need not say that such individuals are mentally ill, but it is obvious that they have not attained abounding mental health. The distribution of mental health among all people is perhaps very similar to that for physical health. Only a small percentage of mankind, on a given day, is seriously ill; only a small percentage is buoyant and radiant in perfect physical health. There is a large, average group who might say, “I am not often really ill, but I just don’t have a great deal of energy”. These are the people who often could become really healthy, if they would eat the proper food, and sleep and exercise enough. So, also, in the field of mental health, the average person can be helped out of the condition in which he ignorantly accepts slight divisions in his personality, which always interfere with happiness and efficiency. The essence of mental health is to be able to bring all one’s abilities, a completely unified and harmonious personality, to bear on any activity which one desires to undertake.
WHAT suggestions can be given
which may show the person of average
mental health the direction in
which progress is to be made? We
will first discuss certain attitudes
which must be avoided by one who
seeks a fully integrated personality.
Following that we shall suggest
lines of positve effort.
1. One of the most disintegrating of attitudes which finds some place in the lives of many individuals is that of fear. In ordinary modern life this is seldom a fear of actual
physical danger; but mental fears are perhaps more disruptive to the personality. One of the most common of such fears is that of material loss and discomfort. A man who has had a large apartment, several servants, a car and chauffeur, suffers some financial reverses, and has to sell his car and dismiss the chauffeur. Fears for the future begin to fill his mind. He spends a large part of his time worrying about the stock market. He sees himself becoming a poor man, imagines how horrible life will be if he cannot maintain his customary financial and social status, and he ignores the fact that he is in good physical health, and that he has a happy home-life. Soon his fears are the most compelling factor in his life, and his sense of perspective is lost. Such a man often ends in a sanitorium for cases of nervous breakdown, even though his income is still ten times that of the average man.
The fear of failure in one’s work destroys the mental health of many people. A woman sets herself a goal of success, as a teacher, as artist, a writer. But she is doubtful of her ability, or feels that her good work is unappreciated. Failure looms as a possibility, and her effort becomes less whole-hearted. Her fear uses energy that should go into her work, and she may actually experience the thing she has feared because of the resulting division between her activity and her negative emotions. She has failed to realize that the truly successful individual is the one who cares so fully about his work that his whole being is lost in it.
One of the most paralyzing of
fears is the fear of public opinion. Too great a respect for convention keeps many a person from realizing his true possibilities. It is doubtful whether any man can do his best work if his eyes are on the activity, while his ears are listening eagerly for the world’s praise or blame of his work. How many people do we know who are poisoned by insidious draughts from “the witch’s cauldron, conformity?” Many years ago Emerson sounded a vivid warning against the fear of public opinion. In his essay on “Self Reliance”, a reading of which is recommended to all who have entertained such fears, Emerson writes:
“What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think. This rule, equally arduous in actual and intellectual life, may serve for the whole distinction between greatness and meanness. It is the harder because you will always find those who think they know what is your duty better than you know it. . . . The objection to conforming to usages that have become dead to you, is that it scatters your force. It loses your time and blurs the impression of your character.” Later in the same essay, the writer exclaims, “Misunderstood! it is a right fool’s word. Is it so bad then to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood.”
Let each man study his own heart and try to discover all the hidden fears which are sapping his vitality. Let him realize that fear is always cowardice, an unwillingness to face life squarely. “Perfect love casteth out fear”, and each individual can find a love so great that fear is consumed in the flame of utter devotion to a worthwhile goal. Fear can be mastered.
2. A SECOND disintegrating factor which destroys mental health is the attitude of seeing oneself as the most important person in one’s environment.
This attitude is almost always due to unfortunate conditions in early childhood. A young child who is made the center of the stage comes to feel that the whole world revolves about himself. He soon expects that will defer to his wishes, will fulfil his desires. Hundreds of children carry this expectation into adulthood, and never adjust to the reality of life in the larger group. The grown person who is continually offended by real or imaginary slights, whose “feelings are always being hurt”, is one who cannot give himself wholeheartedly to the work of the world. The supersensitive individual often prides himself on his superior fineness and delicacy of feeling, and fails to realize that his deep concern about his own feelings is an indication of the withering selfcenteredness of his life.
This need to be the center of the
stage may express itself, not as supersensitiveness, but as boasting and noisy “showing off”. In that case, the individual becomes an active annoyance to his friends. His egotism is more obvious than that of the “sensitive” person. But in both instances, the root of the difficulty lies in failure to see oneself as a necessary but small part in the group life. Both of these disintegrating attitudes can be avoided by a wise training in the first four or five years of life. The grave dangers to children which come from too much unwise adult attention can scarcely be over-stated. The salvation of the mental health of the individual who has grown to manhood with either of these egocentric attitudes can lie only in losing himself wholeheartedly in a cause which is great enough to use all his energies and abilities.
“Yield not to grief and sorrow: they cause the greatest misery. Jealousy consumeth the body and anger doth burn the liver; avoid these two as you would a lion.“—Bahá’u’lláh.
“Turning the face towards God brings healing to the body, the mind and the soul.“—‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
“Verily, those whose minds are illumined by the Spirit of the Most High, have supreme consolation.”—‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
The sessions of this Conference “which concerned itself with realities,” were attended by Washington Bahá’is. The Director was invited by The Bahá'i Magazine to contribute the following report on the Conference especially written for this magazine.
THE American Conference on Institutions for the Establishment of International Justice was held in the City of Washington, under the auspices of the American Peace Society, May 2, 3, 4 and 5. As its name implies, the aim of the Conference was to enable thoughtful men and women of the United States to take stock of their duties towards institutions for the establishment of international justice, with particular reference to the elimination of international war.
One listening to those who took part in the Conference, at the General Assemblies, at the luncheon meetings, or at the sessions of the Four Commissions, came away with the feeling that there is a definite mental awakening among the thoughtful people of America. Men and women, amid all the remedies offered for the maladies that now beset them and their pocketbooks, are asking if more attention should not be paid to the fundamental things. There are uses of adversity, evidently, outside the Forest of Arden, for our very troubles are leading us once more to recall that the American Dream has had to do with principles, and that chief among these principles is that justice which Daniel Webster called, “the greatest interest of man on earth . . . the ligament which holds civilized nations together.”
The Conference clearly showed
that America is scrutinizing this justice not only with a renewed attention, but with care and ability. The lamp which the founders of this Republic, and the builders who have carried on the task, have found it vitally necessary to place before them has been the lamp of justice. This lamp, it is believed, must be kept burning, for without it our country, all countries, would be in constant danger of wreck on the rocks of wrong. Justice is our pillar of cloud by day and our pillar of fire by night. Indeed, justice is more than a pillar of cloud and a pillar of fire; it is our most substantial reality. It is the cement of every abiding human organization, especially of the State. Without it man’s best laid walls soon crumble into dust.
IN HIS message to the first General
Assembly of the Conference,
the President of the United States
expressed his gratification that the
American Peace Society had called
such a Conference, and added:
“From the beginnings of history, human beings have turned to justice as the safeguard of their inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Impartial justice has offered mankind its most certain escape from arbitrary power. . . . The only assurance of the equal protection of all in the enjoyment of their rights is justice;
and, with justice assured, nations would have little to fear for their safety or their peace.”
Those words of President Hoover were a fitting text to the work of the Conference. That note was not lacking in any of the sessions of the Conference; from the address of the Assistant Secretary of War at the opening session, May 2, to the addresses at the final banquet, May 5. It was sounded in the oration by Honorable Sol Bloom at the tomb of George Washington; in the papers of those who addressed themselves to business aspects of international justice, Ira A. Campbell, Magnus W. Alexander, W. W. Husband; in the addresses by Representative Linthicum and Senator Robinson; in the plea, indeed, for an international force by Oscar T. Crosby. Of course it was there in the argument for the Permanent Court of International Justice, by Professor Philip C. Jessup. It cropped up in the papers by William R. Castle, Under Secretary of State; by Professor Edwin M. Borchard, of Yale University Law School; by Reverend Edmund A. Walsh, S. J., Regent, School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University; by John J. Esch, President of the American Peace Society; by James Brown Scott, President of the American Society of International Law. Edwin C. Wynne, Assistant Chief of the Historical Division of the Department of State; William P. MacCracken, Jr., Secretary, American Bar Association; Harlod G. Moulton, President Brookings Institution; Leo S. Rowe, Director-General Pan-American Union; William John Cooper, United States Commissioner of Education;
Stephen P. Duggan, Director of the Institute of International Education; Representative James M. Beck; Representative Ruth Bryan Owen, Elon H. Hooker, and the Secretary of Labor, William Nuckles Doak, in their differing ways, all turned to it.
And they turned to it in a spirit of getting something done.
THE CONFERENCE concerned itself with realities. After days of carefullest consideration, for example, the First Commission called for the appointment of a Commission whose duty it should be, after consultation with foreign governments, to report upon possible methods of securing settlement of all threatening international disputes by amicable and pacific means and without the use of competitive armaments. It recommended the careful consideration of the possibilities of an International Court of Claims, accessible to persons as well as to States, to pass on claims in tort or contract against governments of States recognized as members of the family of nations. It urged international conferences of a periodic nature for the progressive oodfication of international law. This Commission went further and submitted a draft convention looking toward the establishment of Commissions of Inquiry, supplementary to the Bryan Treaties, for the ascertainment of the law to be applied in the settlement of controversies. Since the existing Commissions of Inquiry are limited to the ascertainment of the facts only, the need in certain controversies for reports also upon the laws involved is apparent.
The Second Commission began its work by accepting four basic principles as follows: (1) Equality of opportunity for all nations; (2) National economic policies so shaped and directed as to promote the needs and growth of a harmonious world economy; (3) Joint responsibility of all nations for world recovery; (4) World recovery and further economic advance based upon efforts to maintain and improve standards of living with a view to minimizing as far as possible existing inequalities among nations.
This Second Commission urged continued cooperation with other nations through the International Labor Organization, the Economic and Financial Organization of the League of Nations, the Union for the Publication of Custom Tariffs, the International Bureau of Commercial Statistics. It recommended that our government accede to the international convention for the simplification of customs’ formalities, and participate in the effort to bring about unification of commercial practices.
The Third Commission worked upon the relations of the social sciences as taught in the schools and colleges to the ideals of justice among nations.
The Fourth Commission showed clearly the international character of social work, particularly in cases of divided families and of the application of immigration and deportation laws. It examined defects in the laws regulating probate courts, in courts with jurisdiction over juvenile and child guardianship, and in the manner of obtaining competent evidence affecting naturalization. It made specific recommendations
relative to these matters.
OF COURSE there will be other
Conferences of a like nature. Interest
in justice is not a new thing.
It is as old as the ages. The Greeks
thought of Themis, their Goddess of
Justice, as sitting beside Jove, chief
among his counselors, holding aloft
her balanced scales in which she
evenly weighs opposing claims. Indeed,
so highly did the Greeks revere
this their fair Goddess of Justice,
they made her the mother of
Astraea, pure and innocent, Virgin
among the stars. Because interest
in justice continues, frequent conferences,
such as the one just held
in Washington, are inevitable.
To define anything is not easy. Frequently throughout the Conference the speakers found themselves differing over the meaning of justice. It was generally accepted, however, that there is an essence of order, of well-being, of application of truth to the affairs of men, all of which are contained in the word justice. It was either Alexander Hamilton or James Madison, none knows which, who wrote in the Federalist these convincing words: “Justice is the end of Government. It is the end of Civil society. It ever has been and ever will be pursued, until it is attained, or until liberty be lost in the pursuit.”
Persons who attended the Conference were for the most part scholars. They came to the Conference familiar with the fact that our United States was the direct result of a consuming thirst for justice. In 1783, after the Victory of Yorktown, George Washington, then Commander-in-Chief of the American Armies, wrote a circular letter to the Governors of the States in which he emphasized four things as essential to the existence of the United States, the first of which following the necessity of an indissoluble Union, was: “a sacred regard to public justice.” In 1785, he wrote to James Warren, saying that the greatness of this country could be assured: “If we would but pursue a wise, just and liberal policy toward one another and keep good faith with the rest of the world.” The first familiar words of the Preamble to our Constitution are: “We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice.”
IN THE morass of the present, the Conference thought it proper to examine our case from every side, and did so examine it from many sides. Its major task, however, was to look at it from the angle of justice. That was an intelligent course, for, as Emerson remarked in his discussion of “Perpetual Forces”: “All our political disasters grow as logically out of attempts in the past to do without justice, as the sinking of some part of your house comes of defect in the foundation.” In his last public address, delivered in the Old South Church, Boston, March 30, 1878, this very wise man of Concord referred again to justice, and “justice alone,” as that which “satisfies everybody. . . . It is our part to carry out to the last the ends of liberty and justice.” Jonathan Edwards’ God was not a Trinity but an Quaternity, the fourth person of which was Justice. Speaking before the New York State Bar Association in 1912, Mr. Elihu Root placed justice above majorities, above officials, above government itself, resting “on the basis not of any popular vote but of the eternal laws of God.”
When we think of what is lawful, rightful, equitable; when we seek for fairness, for due process of law, for the establishment of what ought to be; when our quest is for liberty and equality, for the happy balance between rights and duties, we are being led by the hand of justice. In the sixth century language of Justinian, justice is: “The persistent and unchanging will that gives to everyone his due.” That, of course, is the stuff that peace is made of.
ON THIS the two-hundredth anniversary of the birth of George
Washington, the Conference began fittingly with acknowledgements of his contributions to our foreign policy. Evidently men need to recall that our foreign policies were largely set by the Father of our Country, and that in the main those policies have been beneficent. Of course, no one quotation can be said fully to represent the views of George Washington; but the following, from his Farewell Address, comes nearest, perhaps, to expressing him, the man who so spent himself to advance the cause of good government and peace in our modern world; it certainly reveals the eternal substance of his greatness:
“Observe good faith and justice toward all nations. Cultivate peace and harmony with all. Religion and morality enjoin this conduct; and can it be that good policy does not equally enjoin it? It will be worthy of a free, enlightened, and at no distant date, a great nation, to give to mankind the magnanimous and too novel example of a people always guided by an exalted justice and benevolence.”
But participants in the Conference were following no mere authority, however acknowledged and acclaimed. They were trying to face the world’s growing debacle and to discover as far as possible available remedies. They were aware that democracy and constitutional government are being attacked with unusual force not only abroad, but in America; that the laws and the courts must not fail to meet the demands of justice; that this is true not only for issues between persons, but also for those more complicated matters affecting the relations of states. As intelligent and patriotic Americans, they were concerned to foresee and to forefend, as best they could, dangers likely to be disclosed by an unfolding tomorrow.
“I was delighted to hear of the progressive activities of that dearly beloved spot, Green Acre, upon which the Master has bestowed His tender care and loving kindness, and of which we are all hopeful that it may become, whilst the work of the Mashriq’ul-Adhkár is in progress, the Focal Center of the devotional, humanitarian, social and spiritual activities of the Cause.”—Shoghi Effendi.
- Through the harsh voices of our day
- A low, sweet prelude finds its way;
- Through clouds of doubt, and creeds of fear,
- A light is breaking, calm and clear;
- That song of love now low and far,
- Ere long shall swell from star to star!
- That light the breaking day, which tips
- The golden spired apocalypse.
GREEN ACRE a year ago, at the time of the Bahá’i Convention in Chicago, was but a name to me. Today it is the Green Akka of America for there, as at the Temple,* I found something of the same indefinable, spiritual essence that one experiences in Akka and Haifa in Palestine.
The impelling motive of my first pilgrimage to Green Acre,** was the announcement at the Convention of last year that Miss Martha Root, as well as many other teachers of note, were to give a series of talks there, and that one “could drive there in two days and a half” from Chicago.
Thus in modern pilgrimage fashion, with car and trailer attached, my husband (Dr. G. V. Gregory), a friend and myself, set forth for Eliot, Maine, from Indianapolis, where I had just concluded my season’s lectures with the establishment
* Baha’i Temple at Wilmette, Ill.
** Baha’i Summer Colony, Eliot, Maine.
of a Bahá’i study class.
Upon inquiry, we found the fastest way to make the trip was from Detroit through Canada to Buffalo, thence to Troy, N. Y., across northern Massachusetts, by the Mohawk Trail to Portsmouth, N. H., and across the bridge into Eliot, Me., where is located Green Acre.
When we sighted the bronze tablet at the entrance to the grounds we were all excitement. Here indeed was a new adventure different from any other kind for it was spiritual in nature; a communion of souls for a common purpose of spreading the spirit of love and unity in a world of darkness.
The welcome at the Inn from the Bahá’i friends made us feel as children must who come back to the old homestead for a family reunion. We had come “home,” for here was our real family, the Bahá’i friends. Though many of the people were hitherto unknown to us, yet because of the at-one-ment of spirit manifested and the light that shone from their faces, we immediately felt no strangeness but a great peace and happiness at being with our loved ones in the Bahá’i community. The thought came to me of how the ideas of the New Day change us. Here I was visiting the land of my forefathers; for almost directly opposite the Green Acre Inn one of my ancestors had had his home, yet I was detached completely from
“family ties” on my first visit to this land.
GREEN ACRE is an epitome of New
England beauty with its sweeping
meadows sloping down to the shining
“river of light”—the Piscataqua.
We admired the stately elms
with drooping limbs of peaceful
dignity, affording shade to earnest
groups of students discussing the
weighty problems of life; the winding
highway, passing by colonial
doorways of pristine whiteness and
leading to the Fellowship House
where the meetings are held; the
pines with cathedral spires, jealously
guarding the hallowed memories
of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s visit to the
sun-streaked aisles. Here in their
hushed midst where ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
used to talk to the friends, those
who did not share the blessed privilege
of meeting Him, seem to
“tune-in” on His thought waves
lingering there, under the Great
Pine, and to go away conscious of
having been in the Master’s Presence.
It is not the physical place that makes Green Acre. To the critical eye it might be just another summer resort with an inn, one of such places as abound throughout New England; but to the searcher for truth, it is an enchanted land of spiritual refreshment. Here, where He spent much time on His visit to America in 1912, one senses the actual presence of the living ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. One could visualize Him in His flowing robes of the East, His white turban crowning silvery locks, a Prophet in a young world, pacing up and down the paths, walking over the grassy slopes, beholding the glorious sunsets, entering the
Inn, everywhere impregnating the very atmosphere and soil with His spirit. What wisdom He displayed in setting aside this spot as a spiritual birthplace for the believers to congregate in during their leisure months! He urged us to gather here, for He knew that we needed the help we could get from this hallowed place and from each other, that we might develop those most essential of all qualities, love and unity.
Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Bahá’i Cause, continually emphasizes the importance of going to Green Acre. In conversations with us at Haifa he stressed the importance of the friends and new believers getting acquainted with one another, that they might better work together in love and understanding. Surely no greater opportunity for consultation regarding our spiritual welfare could be afforded than by a visit to Green Acre. In this divine atmosphere, hallowed by the memories of the Master’s visit, we can relax from the strain and stress of a sick and unhappy world and pause for refreshment of the spirit. Here is found the leisure to develop close associations with our fellow workers, to exchange spiritual ideas and study those methods by which we can advance the Cause of God.
GREEN ACRE is not a place. It is
a series of episodes in spiritual unfoldment.
It “does something” to
the soul of one who comes not in
the spirit of criticism, of “getting”
or having an enjoyable vacation,
but of giving, first of all one’s love
to others, of speaking constructively
and of giving one’s self and
time to make others happy. it is a “tuning-up” place for the slack strings of the spirit, which the discords of a jangling world have made flabby. It is the water of life which quenches the parched spirit in the desert of search. It is a confirmation of the state of mind which one brings with him and a test to those who need to have the dross of self burned away. To each visitor is vouchsafed a different experience, “for unto him that hath shall be given”; what is born within depends upon whether one sees with the eyes of the flesh or of the soul.
Green Acre affords an opportunity to study in a restful environment, to train ourselves for the stupendous task that lies ahead of each Bahá'i to teach this Cause in the days to come when thousands will demand of us “what we know”. These days are close upon us, and while there is yet time, let us not be found unprepared!
Let me share with you some jottings from my note book heard at the meetings during my memorable visit.
“Green Acre is a universal spot. There are two power centers in the Cause, the Temple and Green Acre.”
“Let our greatest prayer be for an increase of our capacity.”
“One pearl is worth a wilderness of sand. If a pearl associates with a pebble it can turn it into a pearl, Only people can transmit love into the world.”
“To become informed Bahá'is, we should set aside an hour a day to read the teachings. The balance of the time we should teach, rest or listen.”
“There is no power in one’s
words unless there is spiritual power behind them.”
WHAT DOES one receive at Green
Acre? The inspired and life-giving
words of Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
read in the meetings and the
instructions of the Guardian of the
Bahá’i Cause, Shoghi Effendi; the
close moments of prayer and meditation
with an earnest believer in a
wayside cottage; the sharing of
blessed memories of the early days
of the Cause and of the Master’s
visit to America; a thrilling narrative
of a visit to Akka when ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
was still a prisoner, told
by one of the early believers; the
copying of precious Bahá'i tablets;
the social hours at the homes of
friends in the village; the dances
at the Inn; the corn roasts on the
Beach at Ogunquit at sunset; the
pearls of wisdom that fall from the
lips of the Bahá’i speakers and
teachers, which can be captured and
held for those moments when they
can be passed on to a dying world;
yes, these and more that the tongue
cannot utter, are part of the delightful
memories which one takes away
from Green Acre. Memories which
cause the heart to quicken with the
spirit of love in the days when we
are apart. Such glorious moments
that give us inspiration and food
to pass on to others who catch our
spirit and glow with love and unity,
too! Here at Green Acre we can
be still and know God. Here where
God is light, the darkness takes its
flight.
”The peace and beauty of Green Acre,” says a believer, “can never be conveyed until one realizes that its ministry is not only to the body but to the soul, that its very foundation
rests upon that unique element in life called vision, which is nothing less than the voice of God in the human heart.”
‘Abdu’l-Bahá in tablets to Miss Farmer, who founded Green Acre, and in tablets to other friends, gave many instructions about the development of this center, among them the following which has had and will continue to have a creative effect:
“If one looks for praiseworthy results and wishes to produce eternal effects, let him make an exceeding effort that Green Acre may become an assemblage of the Word of God, and a gathering place for the spiritual ones of the heavenly world. . . . Every year a number of the beloved ones and maidservants of the Merciful must go to Green Acre and raise the divine call there—the more who go the better.”
Thank God that thou has stepped into the arena of existence in such a blessed age, and hast opened ears and eyes in such a day of promise.
THIS chapter will contain further impressions, memories and brief stories that are possibly not recorded elsewhere, of those priceless days during the sojourn of ’Abdu’l-Bahá in the western world. My desire is to share at least a breath of the joy, fragrance, and thankfulness that filled the hearts of those privileged to observe at close range the workings of Divine Love and servitude.
The perfect balance of the life of ’Abdu’l-Bahá between the esoteric and the exoteric expression, the inner union with the Creator and its outer manifestation in human contacts, was a continual revelation to the onlooker. When beholding that shining Exemplar one was constantly aware of the inadequacies, the limitations and defects of one’s own life (not that He for an instant referred to personal
weaknesses or limitations; on the contrary if we did make such applications He instantly lifted them from us.) His method was always that of attraction, illumination, and inspiration; never criticism or denunciation. Great was the spirtual freedom given to every soul in His home.
The following personal experience has proved of infinite value. As I had approached that Universal Sun I was as one wearing ‘blinkers’ which limited my spiritual vision. Without doubt I had habitually, but unconsciously, vibrated between certain degrees in the circle of life, knowing little else or being little conscious of the remainder of the three hundred and sixty degrees. But ’Abdu’l-Bahá by His utterances and His life in an indirect way was continually expanding my horizon. At first, this was decidedly
disquieting, and a temporary confusion and uncertainty resulted. Then I would just begin to reach a certain new equilibrium of thought and concept when again like the needle of a compass I was vibrating between two other unfamiliar points. This process continued for some time and grew more and more bewildering until one early morning in meditation its purpose became quite clear.
Abdu’l-Bahá was desiring that every one of His followers be possessed of the sight of the mind and the sight of the heart and have them both at all times atuned and active in every one of the three hundred and sixty degrees of existence; for nothing short of that outlook will bring the universal peace and brotherhood so long expected, upon the earth.
One morning there came from His lips a statement that made all hearts extremely sad and troubled, for we were all such children that never before had He so spoken to us. This was His challenging utterance, “The Cause of Bahá’u’lláh has not yet appeared in America.” I will leave you, Reader, to deduce for yourself what that proclamation did to the heart of everyone who heard it!
WHEN OCCASION arose one day to
make a decision of importance I
asked one of the interpreters to inquire
of ’Abdu’l-Bahá what I
should do. His reply was, “Your
desire is My desire, your happiness
is My happiness and you must decide.”
Sometimes when I would ask Him if we were going to such and such
a place tomorrow or next week, He would say, “It is not yet known.” So completely was He in the clutch of God that at all times it was apparent that He sought not His own will, but was as “A leaf in the wind of the Spirit,” and at every instant He was moved by the breezes of God. Then again He would send for me and say, “How soon can you be ready to go to Boston,” (or Montclair, or some other place which He soon intended to visit). He would then send me on ahead to prepare for His arrival.
During those months I had the distinct feeling of being in a matrix world, in which, under His guidance and protection I was, like an infant being taught to take the first steps into God’s kingdom. Also often I would feel like a mechanic turning the wheels in a light-house tower. From His room at the top of the house on West 78th Street, New York City, I would pray for the different countries, races and religions. It was as though from that room ’Abdu’l-Bahá was continually sending forth into the darkness of human civilization great beams of celestial illuminaton, thereby guiding humanity on its way through the travail of this dark night which is preceding the promised dawn proclaimed by the Prophets and Manifestations of all time. This was one of my greatest joys. Sometimes ’Abdu’l-Bahá would find me there and He would say, “Are you happy? If you are not happy who can be happy?” What Words!
How well we recall it all, and when we contact with the friends we met under His roof, instantly we are there again and the fire of love
that welded the hearts is instantly fanned into flame!
Recently it was my privilege to see at the Convention a faithful believer, devoted to the cause of service and love, who had one day (in 1912) come early in the morning to see ’Abdu’l-Bahá at the hotel in Chicago. He was out for a walk in the park. I asked her if she would like to make up ’Abdu’l-Bahá’s bed, to which she joyously responded, thankful beyond words for the privilege of rendering Him any service. At the Convention we saw one another across the auditorium. When eye met eye we were instantly at that bedside as if it had been but yesterday and though no word was possible, it was not necessary. In reflection His Presence and His Gifts returned and the heart lept anew with joy and thankfulness. That was to me one of the great moments during my recent stay in Chicago.
ANOTHER MORNING, in 1912, a
small group of us, including Orientals
and Occidentals were talking
and laughing together and
’Abdu’l-Bahà entered the room.
With a radiant smile He expressed
His happiness at our happiness and
laughter, saying that these gatherings
were very blessed, and that
the Orient had much to give to the
West, also in turn the Occident had
much to contribute to the East, and
when true unity and understanding
were achieved between these two
groups the whole world would attain
great progress.
On several occasions He brought to me great happiness as well as a real challenge when He said these words, “It was ordained by God that you should be rendering this
service.“ How well I realized, that of myself, I could do nothing, hnt thru His pure Mercy and Bounty I had been permitted so great an opportunity, and the words returned with which we are all so familiar, “To whom much is given, of him much shall be required.“
Whatever the need of the individual who came to Him, that need was met. The disturbed mind was set at rest through a quickening power that renewed the understanding. The one whose body was carrying the weight of disorder or disease was brought into greater harmony, and those whose spirits were depressed, to them was the life-giving elixir of a lofty inner flight.
The heart of ’Abdu’l-Bahá was like a pure and perfect mirror that reflected the heart and life of each one who stood before Him, and after gazing into that mirror the diagnosis was complete, and steps were instantly taken towards the true and lasting healing.
A believer one day brought a friend who knew very little of ’Abdu'l-Bahá and His teachings. The friend was not well but had told no one of her sufferings and difficulties. She came, expecting to be merely an onlooker with no thought of anything but a hand shake or a greeting. After the believer had expressed her appreciation of the interview and had told 'Abdu'l-Bahá of some people to whom she was giving the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh, 'Abdu'l-Bahá arose, crossed the room and stooped down and removed the shoe off one of the feet of her friend, and held that foot between both His hands in silence for several moments. The pain that had caused her untold suffering
for months instantly left her and did not return.
The believer who brought her was planning to undergo a serious operation for the removal of a growth, but in a short period of time after that visit, the growth passed from her body without the operation. While one felt that His emphasis was upon the health of the spirit there were times when through His understanding and control of the higher laws governing all of life ’Abdu’l-Bahá restored complete harmony of body, of mind or spirit, which ever was the particular need at the moment. Never did He mention these healings nor did others. They were just an incident in His full days of limitless service and one recalled the old familiar words, “Go, and tell no man.”
THE FOLLOWING incident is but one more evidence of the innate knowledge of the Universal Educator and His unique service to the scientific investigator as well as to that of the layman. Appointment had been previously made by phone for a scientist to call upon ’Abdu’l-Bahá. Before entering His room he assured me that he had come out of curiosity and had no real interest in the interview, but that it was to please a friend of his.
Full of skepticism he entered that room, and as he did so ’Abdu’l-Bahá arose, came forward, greeting him with the utmost pleasure and courtesy. Instantly he was at ease and seemed to quite forget himself as ’Abdu’l-Bahá began to talk of South Africa and the Boer War. No mention had been made previously or at the time that this guest had ever been in South Africa.
To this man’s utter surprise ’Abdu’l-Bahá went into detail about certain happenings that took place at that time that were of a private nature and had never even appeared in print. He grew aghast but in spite of himself became visibly interested, and joined in the conversation with the utmost naturalness. during the entire interview.
After having established a firm foundation of fellowship and nearness ’Abdu’l-Bahá turned the conversation into the channels of light, color and form. These were the special line of study and discovery in which he was most engrossed. Everyone present was intensely interested in all the detailed scientific information that ’Abdu’l-Bahá brought forth.
At the close of the interview this alert man came again to me and said with the utmost eagerness, “Will you please tell me how this man knows all about these scientific subjects when they tell me that he has never been to school in his life?” I smiled, and in reply said, “Do you not think that is an interesting and worth-while question for you to be able to answer for yourself?” He went forth thoughtful and somewhat perplexed but filled with a great interest as he said these words, “’Abdu'l-Bahá has confirmed me in all of my experiments, but more than that he has given me a key by which I feel sure that I am giong to be able to make further and more fundamental discoveries.”
Again we bore witness to the going-forth ”With Gladsome Heart”!
SINCE we last referred in this column to the Bahá’i Movement, several issues of the Bahá'i Magazine have reached our desk. The numbers for January, February and March are now before us, and all of them contain articles and notes high in tone and of fine literary quality, but by no means beyond the capacity of the average reader. Baháism emphasises the unity of the human race and the basic similarity of all religions. It is really a message to the present age as to how Christianity can be practically applied and its principles are such as appeal to the people of all nations, creeds and tongues. The Magazine therefore contains each month contributions and comments unique and interesting and such as are rarely to be met with in any other periodical publication. Taking up the latest issue before us (March) we find a combination of most helpful and uplifting reading matter. In the editorial notes we have these words: “There is only one thing that can master man’s emotions and dedicate them to a noble and permanent structure of civilization. That power is religion. It has proved its ability to do this in the past. It will prove its ability to do so again in the future.” And concerning the Bahá’i Movement it is remarked that in gradually permeating the world “it is bringing together men and women of diverse races and religions and unifying them in a deep and fervent bond of love and unity.” This surely is the note which above all others should be struck in the present distracted state of affairs among the nations. The articles, “Watchman, What of the Night?” “Independent Investigation of Truth,” “Preparedness,” and others, are all rich in high suggestion and inspiring thought, and the full volume of twelve parts (a complete index of which is given) contains papers and notes on the Bahá’i world order so varied, instructive and authoritative as to surpass anything which we know of in periodical literature. They show a clear path for the world’s feet amid the preplexities and welter of present-day civilization. The Bahá’i Magazine is published monthly (25 cents a copy) at 1112 Shoreham Building, Washington, D. C., U. S. A.
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.
THE BAHÁ'Í WORLD, a Biennial International Record (formerly Bahá'í Year Book). Prepared under the auspices of the Bahá'í National Assembly of America with the approval of Shoghi Effendi. Price, cloth, $2.50.
All books may be secured from The Bahá'í Publishing Committee, Post office Box 348, Grand Central Station, New York City.
FIVE MONTHS' subscription to a new subscriber, $1.00; yearly subscription, $3.00. Two subscriptions to one address, $5.00. Three subscriptions to one address, $7.50. Ten new subscriptions to one address, $25.00 (in United States and Canada). If requested, the subscriber may receive one or more copies and have the remaining copies sent to other addresses.
Two subscriptions, one to come each month, and one to be sent in a volume bound in half-leather, at the end of the year, $5.75 of the two subscriptions; postage for bound volume additional.
Single copies, 25 cents each; ten copies to one address, $2.00. Address The Bahá'í Magazine, 1112 Shoreham Bldg., Washington, D. C.
Bound volumes Nos. 15 and 16, covering the years 1924 to 1925 and 1925 to 1926, contain many of the most valuable and instructive Bahá'í teachings compiled from the writings of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, on such subjects as Education, Peace, The Solution of the Economic Problem, Cooperation and Unity, Proof of the Existence of God, and others equally as important. They also contain articles on various phases of the Bahá'i Cause and its teachings contributed by Bahá'í writers and presented with clearness and accuracy, reports of conferences and conventions, Bahá'í News and Travel Notes and other interesting information. Volumes 17, 18 and 19 contain valuable material and information for students of religion, sociology, science, etc., both Bahá'ís and non-Bahá'ís.
All volumes carry illustrations of great historical value.
Bound in half leather, each volume $3.50; if two volumes are bound together, for $6.00; postage additional.
All of the bound volumes of earlier years are filled with such remarkable spiritual teachings of the New Age that they constitute a priceless library. Volumes 2, 3, 4 and 5 contain many sublime records of 'Abdu'l-Bahá's teachings, addresses and interviews in Europe and America. (Volumes 2 and 3 are now exhausted and Volume 4 cannot be supplied in a complete form as several numbers of this volume are exhausted.)
Volumes 7 and 8, which are, also, often bound together, contain the wonderful compilations on the Divine Art of Living and the New Covenant.
Volume 9 contains varied records from the Holy Land and 'Abdu'l-Bahá's words on the material, intellectual and spiritual education of children; and both volumes 9 and 10 filled with Tablets of 'Abdu'l-Bahá written after the Great War.
Volumes 11 and 12 contain many Tablets and pictures and inspiring accounts of visits with 'Abdu'l-Bahá at Haifa, where members of all religions and races gathered in unity at the table of the Master. Volume 12 also gives the immortal narrative of His last days on earth and His ascension into the Kingdom.
Volume 13 contains priceless letters of Shoghi Effendi, Guardian of the Bahá'i Cause, articles of universal interest and other valuable material.
Volume 14 contains letters of Shoghi Effendi, also his translations of the divine writings of Bahá'ulláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá as well as a brilliant series of articles and historical accounts.
Bound in half leather, single volumes $3.50; if two volumes are bound together, for $6.00. Postage additional.
