'Abdul-Baha
* *
THROUGH THE EYES OF A
GREAT SCULPTOR
Ruth J. Moffett
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THE OUTPOSTS OF A WORLD
RELIGION
Louie A. Mathews
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THE GROWING TREE
Doris Mckay
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STOCKHOLM CITY BUREAU
FOR BOYS
Martha L. Root
* *
THE CREATIVE ART OF HUMAN
RELATIONSHIPS
Charlotte M. Linfoot
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| VOL. 25 | JANUARY, 1935 | No. 10 |
1. Unfettered search after truth, and the abandonment of all superstition and prejudice.
2. The Oneness of Mankind; all are "leaves of one tree, flowers in one garden.”
3. Religion must be a cause of love and harmony, else it is no religion.
4. All religions are one in their fundamental principles.
5. Religion must go hand-in-hand with science. Faith and reason must be in full accord.
6. Universal peace: The establishment of International Arbitration and an International Parliament.
7. The adoption of an International Secondary Language which shall be taught in all the schools of the world.
8. Compulsory education—especially for girls, who will be mothers and the first educators of the next generation.
9. Equal opportunities of development and equal rights and privileges for both sexes.
10. Work for all: No idle rich and no idle poor, "work in the spirit of service is worship."
11. Abolition of extremes of poverty and wealth: Care for the needy.
12. Recognition of the Unity of God and obedience to His Commands, as revealed through His Divine Manifestations.
| CONTENTS | |
Difference in Characters, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá | 313 |
Our Responsibility, Shoghi Effendi | 299 |
Editorial, Stanwood Cobb | 291 |
The New Day, a Poem, Shahnaz Waite | 293 |
Through the Eyes of a Great Sculptor, Ruth J. Moffett | 294 |
The Outposts of a World Religion, Loulie A. Mathews | 300 |
The Growing Tree, Doris McKay | 304 |
Portals to Freedom (An Autobiographical Story) Chapter 4 | 308 |
Stockholm City Bureau for Boys, Martha L. Root | 312 |
The Creative Art of Human Relationships, Charlotte M. Linfoot | 316 |
Current Thought and Progress | 319 |
The official Bahá’í Magazine, published monthly in Washington, D.C. By the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada STANWOOD COBB, MARIAM HANEY, BERTHA HYDE KIRKPATRICK. . . . Editors
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H. R. H. Gustaf Adolph, the Crown Prince of Sweden (See page 312)
| VOL. 25 | JANUARY, 1935 | No. 10 |
ages and cycles—true Faith is no mere acknowledgment of the Unity of God, but rather the living of a life that will manifest all the
perfections and virtues implied in such belief.”—‘Abdu’l-Bahá.AS WE FACE the New Year of work and achievement, it is well to pause and consider how we may improve ourselves; for in reality all outer progress is founded upon and correlated with inner growth and achievement. Therefore the most important step toward greater achievement and happiness is an earnest effort toward self-improvement.
If we should seek to discover the greatest factor in self-improvement, we would find it to be the power of making a true analysis of our character and of recognizing our characteristic and chronic faults both of commission and omission. There can be no progress in character development without this honest facing of ourselves in a sincere effort to discover what is wrong with us.
True self-analysis is not only a necessary basis for all spiritual growth, but it is also absolutely essential to success in practical affairs and to harmony and happiness in the daily life. Those who habitually assign the causes of their troubles to factors outside of themselves are not only mistaken in their assumption but are gravely liable to a continuance of these troubles until they come to analyze the cause of them as being within themselves.
TROUBLES, trials and tests are Destiny’s way of teaching us how to discover and how to correct our faults. Most of the annoyances and tragedies of life arise from faults within ourselves. Even where they are not caused directly by our faults, they have a divine purpose toward self-development. Therefore upon every such occasion we should turn our gaze within ourselves, instead of idly complaining of our lot and of the injustice of people and events. We should face ourselves honestly, trying to discover what it is in us that is attracting these disagreeable situations and what purpose they may be serving in impelling us toward higher evolution.
The person who habitually avoids thus honestly facing himself is in grave danger. Not only does he render himself liable to constantly inharmonious situations with his fellowmen such as may wreck both his happiness and his career; but also he approaches more and more the danger line between sanity and a diseased mental condition. For the turning away from reality, the refusal to face things as they are, is the path which leads to mental ill health and aberration.
On the contrary, the habitual tendency to examine one’s self, to recognize one’s faults and shortcomings,
and to seek earnestly to overcome them—is the sure road to mental health and happiness, to harmony in all our human relations, and to career success whether great or small. “Truthfulness is the foundation of all the virtues of the world of humanity,” said ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. “Without truthfulness, progress and success in all of the worlds of God are impossible for a soul.”
As in the world of affairs, so in the world of the spirit, self-examination is absolutely essential to sound growth and successful development. Progress in all the worlds of being is based upon this. The danger of insidious attack from our lower self is ever present and imminent; we can be protected from it only by a constant awareness of our proneness to temptation and by an effective realization of the occasions when we fall from grace. Just as repentance is a requisite of reform, so self-realization is a requisite of repentance. Once these preliminary steps are taken, desire and prayer for improvement bring to bear upon our life a divine power and aid which enables us to continue our climb above the lower planes of human nature. “Bring thyself to account each day ere thou art summoned to a reckoning; for death, unheralded, shall come upon thee and thou shalt be called to give account for thy deeds.”*
AS WITH the individual—so with a city, a nation, or a world group. There come times when these social groups must examine themselves honestly and realize the shortcomings in their collective and organized life. Until such realization
* Bahá’u'lláh, v. 31, Hidden Words from the Arabic.
comes, there can be no reform. Usually a great deal of suffering and even tragedy has to occur before large groups of human beings become fully informed of the heinous defects in their collective life. Thus the “movie” had to descend to the utmost depths of degradation before sufficient public opinion could be aroused to institute a reform. Thus crime had to ripen and fructify into the major operations of gangsters, racketeers and kidnapers before the public could be aroused enough to even permit of effective organized collective action against the wholesale criminality of the age. Thus a great world-wide depression characterized by many tragedies and horrors had to occur to awaken mankind to the grave need of economic and social reform.
It has taken a brutal world war—devastating in its effect upon human lives, property and morals—to thoroughly arouse the human consciousness to the tragic cruelty and error of war as a means of solving collective human problems. Even now this public conscience against war does not seem to be as powerful as the psychological factors making for war. If such is indeed the case, the world will yet witness, and that soon, another war far surpassing, in its horror and tragedy of destruction, the previous war. When this second world war shall have achieved its destined toll of human tragedy and taught once for all its lessons, it may thus come to pass that the world conscience against war will grow to surpass in power and effectiveness the psychology of nationalistic selfishness and aggression and hatred which has perpetually led to wars.
THERE IS no better time than the beginning of this New Year of 1935 for world civilization to take stock of itself, to repent its sins, and to sincerely and earnestly seek improvement. If humanity were to successfully analyze itself for the greatest single item in the way of its shortcomings and the chief cause of its present vast collective disaster, it would become guiltily aware of a waning of spiritual consciousness the world over; of an obstinate and fatuous refusal to perceive Divine Power as effective in our human affairs; and of a consequent overpowering and unbridled sweep of the self-seeking and animalistic emotions which motivate human action when there is a lack of spiritual control.
Let the whole world then, so to speak, put on sack-cloth and ashes; mourn before its wailing-wall; vow a return to allegiance to the one “Power which animates and dominates all things;” and pray for reform
and progress up and out from the morass of suffering and tragedy in which humanity now finds itself plunged because of its sins.
THIS IS our New Year’s greeting
to the world. And in order that
such greeting may not end in
gloom, let us consider the inspiring
words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá calling us to
the realization of the glorious possibilities
that await earnest and inspired
effort toward self-improvement:
“It is possible so to adjust oneself to the practice of nobility that its atmosphere surrounds and colors every act. When actions are habitually and conscientiously adjusted to noble standards, with no thought of the words that might herald them, then nobility becomes the accent of life. At such a degree of evolution one scarcely needs try any longer to be good—all acts are become the distinctive expression of nobility.”
- The day from darkness, leaps alive at dawn
- A new born thing all beautiful and fair,
- Shrouded in colors and soft tintings rare,
- It sings itself into the fire of morn.
- From out the darkness, day doth ever spring,
- A new beginning, with a page all pure;
- So with each life, darkness can not long endure,
- Let each dawn to our hearts a new day bring.
- Wipe from our minds the errors of the past,
- Let love and courage overflow our hearts,
- Be strong and true and nobly play our parts,
- So shall each day be better than the last.
“If love and agreement are manifest in a single family, that family will advance, become illumined and spiritual; but if enmity and hatred exist within it destruction and dispersion are inevitable. This is likewise true of a city. If those who dwell within it manifest a spirit of accord, love and fellowship, it will progress steadily and human conditions become brighter, whereas through enmity and strife it will be degraded and its inhabitants scattered. In the same way the people of a nation develop and advance toward civilization and enlightenment through love and accord and are disintegrated by war and strife. Finally this is true of humanity itself, in the aggregate.
“When love is realized and the ideal spiritual bonds unite the hearts of men, the whole race will be uplifted, the world will continually grow more spiritual, and the radiance and happiness and tranquility of mankind will be immeasurably increased. Warfare and strife will be uprooted, disagreement and dissension pass away and Universal Peace unite the mittens and peoples of the world.—‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
WHAT a magnificent symbol of unity, of beauty and of aspiration,” exclaimed Mr. J. Otto Schweizer after gazing in profound silence at the Bahá’i Temple in Wilmette.* “The keynote of this age is unity,” he continued. “The law of the cells of matter, the law of the farflung celestial spheres and the law of the whole human kingdom is unity. How strange that man is only now awakening to the realization that the law of unity is the very heartbeat of human progress! What a symbol of this powerful and permeating idea of unity and its relation to all human progress is this magnificent Bahá’i House of Worship!” The kindly, scholarly eyes of Mr. Schweizer glowed with light as he studied the symbols and structure of the Bahá’i Temple in detail.
The impressions of the great Universal House of Worship as seen through the eyes of this great artist were most thrilling to the writer, who had the privilege of spending a day with Mr. Schweizer and his family guiding them
* Near Chicago, Illinois.
through the Temple and discussing art and architecture in relation to the problems of the human race.
This artist is one of the torch bearers of humanity who from his early youth has realized that ultimately all of its problems, whether economic, social, political or national, are inextricably woven, and have their secret roots imbedded in the hearts and minds of man and are inherently spiritual in nature. In his art work he has tried to express the evolution of mankind to higher and greater spiritual capacity, oneness and peace.
LET US step aside a moment and
glance at some of the influences that
have come into the life of this true
artist that we may understand a little
better why this universal House
of Worship, symbolic in every
way of unity, made such an appeal
to this artist of international fame;
for he has breathed the culture of
many lands and been tested in the
school of difficulties. Mr. Schweizer
was born some seventy years ago in
the somewhat cosmopolitan city of
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Bahá’i House of Worship at Wilmette, Ill.*
Zurich, Switzerland. Even at the age of three the talent for his life work expressed itself in childish drawings and paintings which were admired by all who saw them. As he approached maturity he went to Dresden to study his art, first in the Royal Academy and then in the private studio of Dr. Johannes Schilling. After this for five years he pursued his artist’s calling in both Rome and Florence.
In 1934 circumstances brought young Otto Schweizer to America. Then began a period of twelve years of hardest and bitterest tasks and tests. As he became acquainted with the habits and thoughts of people in many lands during all these years of training and trial, his own attitude toward life broadened and deepened and he built up a sound philosophy of applied idealism which it would be well to put in the schoolbooks for the students of all races.
* This picture shows the completion of the ornamentation of the dome; work is proceeding on the clerestory section; and the same magnificent ornamentation will adorn the outside walls of the entire building.
Molded thus in the school of life as well as by technical training, he became able to give expression to his feelings, thoughts and philosophy in some outstanding statues and relief panels. His works have been exhibited in various art academies and may be seen in many of our larger cities. Only last July there was unveiled in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, his most recent work, a group in honor of “The Colored Soldiery of Pennsylvania in all Wars.” His “James J. Davis Allegorical Group” at Mooseheart, Illinois, is much admired. Milwaukee possesses his large equestrian statue of General Von Steuben, and in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, may be seen his Molly Pitcher statue. His ideal groups, panels of “The Harmonics of Evolution,” “Lions On the Way,” “Light Bearers,” particularly express the idealism of the sculptor.
Delicacy of line, perfection of
form, originality of idea, beauty of arrangement characterize his work. Profound meaning and aspiration are woven into every line. Seldom does one see such high idealism wrought in stone. He is truly an artist of the new age.
SO AS the little group stood under
the dome of the great edifice gazing
intently upward, this query was
put, “To one who can see a vision
of the far stretching path of evolution
in a block of cold marble and
patiently chisel it into our view,
what does this great temple in its
unfinished condition mean?”
“It is a divine inspiration from foundation to the crowning apex,” replied the artist with glowing eyes and radiant smile. “At the very root of this materialization of a vision lie age old symbols of truth and wisdom with new light. It is expressed in an entirely new and most beautiful conception. There is nothing like it in the world. The nine-pointed star which dictates the ground plan and is reflected throughout the building up to the highest point of the edifice is the new symbol of a new age.
“Permeating the whole structure is the spirit of the lofty principle of the unifying of the races, religions, classes and nations of mankind into a new degree of togetherness. The proportions of the construction are perfect. See those nine gracefully curved lines of the nine ribs of the dome, which, rising, touch each other as fingers of upward stretching hands meeting in prayer over the glistening whiteness of the crystal dome. The fairylike openwork ornamentation,
containing the religious symbols of the world, gives an air of ethereal refinement, aspiration and unity that harmonizes with the central thought of the whole structure.
“Even in this unfinished state,” Mr. Schweizer continued, “the interior offers to the eye of vision untold and marvelous possibilities of finishing and final expression. It can be truly said that the building has no back or front or sides. All the nine entrances lead to one center, symbolically one spiritual center, the Creator, the God of Love and Wisdom. Though as yet devoid of decoration, the structural masses leading up to the first and second balconies produce a lofty and uplifting sensation. The intense desire arises in the heart that this beautiful edifice may soon be finished, finished in the same magnificent workmanship and in harmony with the priceless original designs of its inspired architect and creator, Mr. Bourgeois.”
Mr. Schweizer showed a keen appreciation, as did his radiant wife, of the permanency of the Bahá’i Temple when he said, “The technical construction is of a quality that will endure for hundreds of years and every precaution is clearly being taken toward that end. The spot where the Temple stands was most wisely selected as through the guidance of a divine hand. I can picture the Temple of the future, standing out like a sparkling jewel mounted on the golden rim of God’s earth. I repeat, there is nothing like it in the universe. When completed it will undoubtedly be the Mecca for millions of people from all corners of the earth. It
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“Lions on the Way” one of the ideal panels by Mr. Schweizer.
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“The Harmonics of Evolution,” by Otto Schweizer. This panel, together with the panel, “Light-bearers” (see following page) marvelously expresses in sculptured form goals of spiritual evolution toward which humanity is tending.
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“Light-bearers”
will be considered as one of the great wonders of the world of architecture.”
Again Mr. Schweizer revealed the depths of the inner understanding of the meaning of the Bahá’i Temple for just as we were about to leave he said: “It has been a great and inspiring moment of our lives to visit the Temple under your loving guidance. We have learned much of the religion of Love of which this is the exquisite symbol and beloved shrine for the people of the world. We of today must
bestow the highest gratitude and credit upon those who are sacrificing so much to build this Temple. Their earnest conviction, their sincere purpose, their profound love form a piercing beacon light against the prevailing darkness and confusion of the world. They by their lives seem to be calling those souls who are ready to come forth to pray in a new spirit of freedom and unity and love. For when love is universally realized, the hearts of men will be united and the whole human race will be uplifted.
“You teachers are certainly carrying the brightly shining torches as true light bearers to the children of God, pointing the way toward the ultimate goal—the Kingdom of God. I shall never forget this great privilege. I am deeply grateful to God that the Temple of Light is being constructed to promote the unity and progress of the world today.”
I FEEL the urge to remind you one and all of the necessity of keeping ever in mind this fundamental verity that the efficacy of the spiritual forces centering in, and radiating from, the first Mashriqu’l-Adhkár (Bahá’i House of Worship) in the West will in a great measure depend upon the extent to which we, the pioneer workers in that land will, with clear vision, unquenchable faith, and inflexible determination, resolve to voluntarily abnegate temporal advantages in our support of so meritorious an endeavor.
“The higher the degree of our renunciation and self-sacrifice, the wider the range of the contributing believers, the more apparent will become the vitalizing forces that are to emanate from this unique and sacred edifice; and the greater, in consequence, the stimulating effect it will exert upon the propagation of the Faith in the days to come.
“Not by the abundance of our donations, not even by the spontaneity of our efforts, but rather by the degree of self-abnegation which our contributions will entail, can we effectively promote the speedy realization of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s cherished desire. How great our responsibility, how immense our task, how priceless the advantages that we can reap!”—Excerpt from a letter of Shoghi Effendi, Guardian of the Bahá’i Cause, to American Bahá’is.
This is the first of a series of spiritual travel articles by the author who is making official teaching tours in the Pacific area in behalf of the New World Order of Bahá’u’lláh.
IN every Bahá’i community, unity is a coveted quality. It is one of the pillars of the New World Order of Bahá’u’lláh. It is the amalgamating force in groups of people working for a common end. Unity, like a golden chain that threads a string of pearls, holds each in place, yet is itself unseen. The pages of history reveal man’s struggle for power, without recognizing in unity a force more compelling than violence.
Only when a divine teacher walks among men do we catch the meaning of this shining quality.
We were approaching New Zealand and it was a comfort to know that the “Franconia” would come to anchor at the wharf, instead of out in midstream as so often had happened in cruising among the South Sea Islands. For here, with rare exceptions, there are no harbors and passengers must be carried ashore in small motor boats that thread their way between dangerous coral reefs over which breaks eternally the surf.
New Zealand is really two separate islands divided by a channel. The north island holds the cities of Auckland and Wellington, while on the south island is the city of Christ Church. One can grasp something of its remoteness when you remember that it is from here that the expeditions for the South Pole set out; it is the last land sighted before
reaching the Pole. We were now more than ten thousand miles from the Atlantic seaboard. Some of these facts drifted through my mind as I laid out the name and address of the secretary of the Auckland Bahá’i Assembly to whom I had written some months back, telling her that I hoped to be on the S. S. Franconia when she put into port and that I should find my way to her house without delay. How little did I dream that here I was to see a demonstration of the power of unity from which I should gain fresh insight into the workings of this most baffling force.
EARLY IN the morning of March
3rd we docked. The stewardess
knocked, usually so calm she seemed
all in a flurry. “Hurry,” she cried,
“there are lots of people here asking
for you.” “For me?” I queried,
incredulous. “Yes, truly, the
corridor is filled with people asking
for your cabin.”
I flew into my clothes and flung open the door. There in the early morning was the whole Auckland Assembly. One after another they repeated the Bahá’i greeting, their hands full of flowers and small baskets of fruit—tokens of welcome. My letter had told them my name. They knew nothing more. I was a Bahá’i; that was enough. One of their number was waiting on the wharf, a recent stroke having
robbed her of speech, but she had come nevertheless. Breakfast had been prepared uptown so we walked together through the clear sunshine, for it was already autumn in New Zealand and the air was light and slightly chill, as it would be with us in October.
A photograph of Mrs. Keith Ransom-Kehler taken with the Assembly, the friends had brought to show me; many remembered Martha Root’s visit and spoke of the wonderful addresses she had given during her visit to Auckland. We were welded together by our admiration for these two standard bearers of the Cause—two pioneers who had blessed New Zealand by their presence.
As I had errands to do, we parted. I promised to return at noon for we were to lunch together and afterward I was to speak at the Woman’s Club.
THE FRIENDS had secured a surprising
number of opportunities for
me to speak during our short stay.
No one asked me if I was accustomed
to speak in public—it was
taken for granted that whatever
furthered the Cause I would do.
Their sublime confidence in my
abilities was contagious, and silenced
the excuses that naturally
rose to my lips. I asked for suggestions
and advice as to topics.
They replied that they felt confident
that I would know exactly what to
say when the time came. They did
not wish to confuse me with words.
The routine of their own lives they
would drop in order to be with me,
and to pray for the success of the
undertaking. The result, they felt,
would be remarkable. And so it proved to be without a single exception.
Whatever I mentioned pertaining to myself was received with the greatest interest, but no personal questions were asked me. I could not help thinking of Emerson’s definition of culture, “The measure of things taken for granted.” I was experiencing what that definition implied.
Soon I was to learn that the friends had been just as active in publicity work as they had been in welcoming me. As I stood that first morning before a window displaying shoes for every sport under the sun I was reminded that I needed shoe laces. I stepped inside and a man advanced briskly, words already forming on his lips, but he uttered no sound. Instead he stood stock-still and stared as though I were a ghost out of Macbeth; then darting behind the counter he emerged, holding up the “Morning News.”
“You are a passenger on the cruise boat that came in this morning—there’s your picture right enough.” He broke off and began reading the caption beneath: “The Bahá’i Movement, a world religion that will bring about international peace, inter-racial harmony.” “Why,” he continued, “when I read about this in the morning paper, I said to my wife, ‘I should like to know something more about that religion’ and then you walk right into the store.”
“Well, if you are in no hurry we might sit down and talk about it,” said I.
“Yes, indeed, but wait, wait.
Next door is a factory that lets out at noon today. I’ll call the men—they are badly in need of cheer, they have no heart in them.”
FROM THE rear of the store he
shouted to the foreman and presently
the buzz of the machinery
slowed and then died away. Into
the shop the men came in little
bunches—many had leather aprons
on, some were in jumpers, all were
grimy from machine oil. My friend
of the “Morning News” elected
himself chairman. He made the
men sit down on the floor and then
proceeded with a formal speech of
welcome as a member of the great
Bahá’i Movement. He gave a
graphic reproduction of the words
printed in the morning paper.
While this introductory measure
was in progress two women looked
in at the door, curious to know
what was in the wind. Some one
beckoned and in they came and
seated themselves on the bench as
though by appointment. Then we
spoke together of The Greatest
Thing in the World, the Prophet of
this age; of the changes He had
wrought in the structure of human
society; of the profit sharing program
that under the new economic
plan labor would be entitled to; and
of how Bahá’u’lláh had placed
labor, if carried out with nobility
of purpose, as an act of worship.
The unwelcome noon-day chimes
rang out, no one moved, but it was
the hour of my promised return.
We shook hands warmly. I told the
men how interested the Bahá’is in
America would be to hear about
our impromptu and magic meeting
and of how staunchly I should deny
that the English were either cold or conventional. As for the parting between the chairman and myself, it was as though lifelong friends separated for the first time.
Who shall say one thing is important and another insignificant when from a shoe string had been built a bridge—a veritable Jacob’s ladder that had spanned the distance between earth and heaven!
THE DAYS sped by. Each in turn
brought fresh opportunities to present
the Bahá’i Cause. The evenings
were devoted to public meetings.
Only occasionally we allowed
ourselves the privilege of a meeting
reserved for ourselves, so that
we might talk over the thrilling
event about to take place—the
forming of a new National Spiritual
Assembly for Australia and
New Zealand. Then again and
again must I describe the beauties
of the Temple at Wilmette, and
read aloud the letters of Shoghi
Effendi.
At last the time came when we had only one day left. In order to prolong it my husband went to the purser and asked permission to hold a reception on board the Franconia. The suggestion met with an unexpected response. The purser beamed and said he would give us what he called “a spread.” The management made only one condition—that no one should be a guest without a personal invitation.
The night was clear, a forest of masts stretched across the bay, each with its twinkling lantern, while beyond were the lights that crowned the little hills dotting the entrance to the harbor. When we
were all gathered in the tea-garden there were nearly a hundred people. Ministers had come and radicals, too, teachers and members of the varied organizations before which I had spoken. There were chance acquaintances and my chairman of the shoe shop. The Maori’s came, their dark eyes and hair set off by shawls of bright colors; they had brought a noted singer so that we might hear the legends and stories of their race—the ancient lays of a most ancient people. The singer, young and fair, sang in the soft accents of the Maori tongue, a language fast becoming obsolete. In song she used the “poi balls” made of delicately tinted straw, attached to the wrist. As the chorus proceeds the ball describes graceful circles over the head and shoulders; when the theme is sad, the motion almost ceases and the ball ripples back and forth, but when the measure is bright and tripping the ball flies about like a humming bird.
The words of Bahá’u’lláh and His message outlined supplied the spiritual part of the feast, that the light He brought was for all mankind and how we had but to open the doors of our hearts to receive our portion.
Men arose from among the
audience and gave thanks for this message, which many were hearing for the first time. Sincerity shone in their faces as they repeated what they had heard and each spoke from a full heart. It was one of those hours when everything but the spiritual realities faded away.
WHAT HAD brought these days to
so high a fulfillment? The answer
is to be found in that little word,
unity. The Bahá’is united in a
given program; everything that
contributed to that program was
fostered, everything not relative to
the activities of the Cause was banished.
Night and day a strong resolve
found us advancing without a
moment of retreat.
It was as though a magician had spread a magic carpet that rose above the city of familiar things and carried men into a purer atmosphere, giving them a wider view, a broader horizon. This journey can only be accomplished when everything material is sifted out so that pure spirit remains. Then fellowship becomes a reality. And Bahá’u’lláh in the Hidden Words tells us that “Fellowship is the cause of unity and unity is the source of order in the world.”
“Discover for yourselves the reality of things, and strive to assimilate the methods by which the means of life, of well-being, of noble-mindedness and glory are attained among the nations and people of the world.”—‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
“Through the power of the Divine springtime, the downpour of the celestial clouds and the heat of the Sun of Reality, the Tree of Life is just beginning to grow. Before long it will produce buds, bring forth leaves and fruits and cast its shade over the East and the West.”—‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
THE word Bahá’i is filtering into the consciousness of those progressives who are helping to construct a new world of thought. One hears the echo of it in Esperanto congresses and educational forums, in inter-religious conferences, interracial and international groups; in peace meetings and economic round-tables, there it is again—Bahá’i, spirit of reconciliation and unity.
With the word comes the demand for a definition. Many people are asking, “What is a Bahá’i?” The answer would have been different eighty years ago or twenty or even five years ago because the Bahá’i of today is a composite of all the stages that have preceded him. That which is today known as the Bahá’i Faith enshrines a life inspiring and creative Principle; in the intellectual comprehension of this principle, changes not fundamental but evolutionary have occurred. It has sprung from the revealed Word of Bahá’u’lláh like a young tree from its first roots. Branches have spanned the countries of the world and leaves have multiplied. In this present period we have the promise of efflorescence which, in turn, shall bring forth the fruit of the tree. That destined fruit, the world federation, will thus appear as the product of all previous growth. The cells which have constituted that organism
* Inaugurated in 1844.
which we compare to a tree are the Bahá’is. Potentially it has ever been one tree, the Bahá’is of any period have been one people—the “people of Bahá” (Glory). Therefore in order to understand the meaning of Bahá’i today we must reconstruct a background by assembling the influences and characteristics which are the Bahá’i heritage.
A BAHA’I in 1863, at the inception
of the Bahá’i Faith, was one who
had touched the personality of the
recurrent and eternal Chirst. Most
of the early Bahá’is had had special
preparation and discipline as followers
of the Báb, that radiant
young Prophet who had met His
death by execution nineteen years
before. The subsoil of the Bahá’i
Movement was in the Bábi Movement*
which had attracted from out
all Persia the pure and courageous
spirits. Its challenge, the reform
of Muhammadanism and belief in
the imminent appearance of “Him
whom God shall manifest” was the
rallying bugle for all in whom the
flame of true religion had not been
stifled by decadent religious practices.
The nucleus of existing
Bábis had truly survived an ordeal
by fire, had weathered long years of
unspeakable deprivation and suffering
inflicted by a combination of
church and state. At the hour of
the Bahá’i Revelation, Bahá’u’lláh,
the one great Bábi leader who had escaped death, was facing removal to a more remote exile than Baghdad. The Báb years before had announced to an assemblage of His interrogators “I am, I am, I am the Promised One.” Now Bahá’u’lláh made a declaration which was the equal in import to that dynamic statement by His own Precursor for He made public a secret knowledge of His mission which had been His for ten years, since the days of His imprisonment in Persia. The turbaned and abba’d listeners in the garden called “Ridván” in Baghdad heard from the lips of the great Prophet of all our modern era the statement that He was destined to be the Revealer of the divine Word. The lamp of “divine and indivisible” religion had again been elevated to its niche for here indeed was a Man among men Who manifested the authority and power of a Moses, Zoroaster, Buddha, a Muhammad or—a Christ. The forefathers of our present generation of Bahá’is, entranced, were swept into the acceptance of a disturbing new doctrine upon which all the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh were threaded as pearls upon a cord—that of the principle of Oneness.
NOW BEGAN an actual transformation
in the conduct and standards
of these disciples because their
faith required an immediate change
in their attitude to the people of
the diverse religions which composed
the smoldering creedal background
of the Orient. They were
translated into that consciousness
we call Universal—the distinguishing
mark of the Bahá’i of any Age—by simple, unquestioning obedience to laws which they knew to be the authoritative Will of the Almighty. No matter how circumscribed the past, prejudice melted before the penetrating rays of intelligence and love which were in these words. They were a people changed in themselves by the spaciousness of the Splendor of God. among them, even as the associates of those earlier appearances of the divine Reality had cast aside their dead selves. Not a philosophy-pure religion was what they had, ardor of spiritual passion, sweetness in the cup of martyrdom, freedom from hatred.
The creative period, that of direct revelation, terminated in the passing of Bahá’u’lláh in 1892. For nearly thirty years He had been engaged in building a new culture, an elaboration of the concept of Oneness, destined to influence civilization’s trend for thousands of years. Now when the Supreme Pen was no longer moving over the pages, the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh passed into its Heroic or Apostolic Age, that in which the tree was to extend its shade to forty of the countries of the eastern and western hemispheres.
TO THE people of Bahá the Prophet
left a covenant, with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
His son, as its Centre,
Exemplar and Interpeter. This
son, referred to by Bahá’u’lláh as
the “Mystery of God” in His
unique station blended the human
qualities with “super-human knowledge
and perfection.” A certain
definite spirit to be characterized
again as Bahá’i, breathed from the teachings and deeds of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. He called this Servitude. The Bahá’i Principles, relating broadly to the establishment of Oneness, concerned social and economic reform, the establishment of internationalism and peace, the reconciliation of science and religion—all, foundations of a new world order. These were to be infused into a self-absorbed and materialistic world by the simple efficacy of love expressed through deeds. The Most Great Peace of Bahá’u’lláh was to become a contagion—or a fire spreading from heart to heart fanned by the loving personal counsel and touching example of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
Released at length in the latter years of His life from the confinement which had begun in His youth, He made the journey to Europe and America in 1912. His personality broke down inhibitions and dissolved barriers because it was incarnate Love with the miracle-working “power of the Holy Spirit.” A distinctive, magnetic figure, He was recognized as the very spirit of mercy and forbearance. Those who accepted His teaching and walked in the Path He traced led charmed lives; they caught His fire, reflected in a measure His winning grace. The way to attainment was through profundity of the inner experience. Meditation and prayer were to become the nourishment upon which the social energies were to be generated. The sense of wonder so lost to our times was to pervade strongholds of western materialism like a fragrance borne on a spring
wind. Apostles of unity traveled from the Orient to the Occident and teachers arose from the west to journey to new regions bearing the Bahá’i Message.
THE PASSING in 1921 of the saintly Exemplar of the Bahá’i Faith (‘Abdu’l-Bahá) revealed a Will and Testament which put a practical and concrete emphasis upon the intended world application of those principles of heavenly living. The import of the document was of startling significance. Through it ‘Abdu’l-Bahá welded the link between the Apostolic era over which He had held benign sway and the sterner more strenuous Formative Period which lay in store. The Bahá’is, stunned by the removal of their beloved Master and Friend received as His final bestowal a scroll—the Will and Testament—with instructions for their future building. The Cause, they learned, was not to be set adrift by any severing of communication with the direct channel of divine intention; it was to have a leader in the person of the first Guardian of the Bahá’i Faith, grandson of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Under the leadership of Shoghi Effendi the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh has reached another definition.
“The Divine Courser moves swiftly on,” their beloved Master had once said. The Bahá’is were now to have actual experience of the rapidity of growth. Here was a challenge to a new transformation of themselves in order to qualify for functioning in a period of their faith which may be termed administrative and intellectual. The energy of goodwill whose redeeming
forces they had tested must now be definitely ordered toward its preconceived purpose of a New World Order. The idea of Oneness was to transcend the province of emotion and become incorporated in an institution, the embryonic germ of a World State. The divine protoplasm replete with creational vitality was visibly taking shape. There was a rhythmic movement of the Tree, a synchronizing of the flow of its life currents. Through the ordered establishment of Bahá’i groups every single constituent was knit into an organic whole through which an interpretative authority vested in the Guardian combined with the legislative prerogatives of the national and local governing bodies.
THE SPIRIT of Faith, born in the
earlier period of the Cause and the
spirit of Love manifesting itself in
the day of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá now
seemed to unite to call forth nothing
short of a new mental conditioning.
Perfect steadfastness in the essential Teaching and complete flexibility in meeting evolutionary trends must merge in the New Bahá’i. As a sacrifice to the Administration all remaining sense of personality must become submerged, somewhat as in the philosophy of Plato the individual was to give himself, his talents, his energies to the idea of the State. That the consummation of the future State does not as yet exist in no measure diminishes the zeal of the individual for he labors now in his own section or group of the Bahá’i organism where the perfect model for all futurity is being created.
What is a Bahá’i? Still, a person whom the recurrent Christ has touched; still, a “wanderer in the wilderness of love,” and now, as well, a citizen of a World Order divine in origin, that overshadows all this last troubled valley through which mankind will pass on the way to its Golden Age. Then shall the Growing Tree bring forth its fruit.
“The face of nature is illumined—the grass, the stones, the hills and valleys shine; but they shine not of themselves, but because they reflect the rays of the sun. It is the sun which shines. In the same way, our minds reflect God. Those who live thinking good thoughts, doing good deeds, and with love in their hearts—the minds of these become ever clearer, reflecting more and more prefectly the love of God, while the minds of those who live in ignorance and desire are clouded and obscured and give forth His light but meagrely. . . . When in the course of evolution the stage of thought and reason has been reached, the human mind acts as a mirror reflecting the glory of God. . . . Life is eternal, but the individual human consciousness is not inherently so. It can only gain immortality by uniting with the pure Divine Essence. This union man may reach by a pure life and love for God and his fellow men.”
“. . . Nothing will produce results save intense sincerity. Nothing will be productive of fruit save complete advancement toward God!"—‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
I ASKED ‘Abdu’l-Bahá one day: “Why should I believe in Bahá’u’lláh?”
He looked long and searchingly as it seemed into my very soul. The silence deepened. He did not answer. In that silence I had time to consider why I had asked the question, and dimly I began to see that only I myself could supply the reason. After all, why should I believe in anyone or anything except as a means, an incentive, a dynamic for the securing of a fuller, deeper, more perfect life? Does the cabinet-maker’s apprentice ask himself why he should believe in the master wood-worker? He wants to know how to make these raw materials into things of beauty and usefulness. He must believe in anyone who can show him how to do that, providing he first has faith in his own capacity. I had the stuff of life. Was Bahá’u’lláh the Master Workman? If He were I knew that I would follow, though through blood and tears. But how could I know?
I wondered why ‘Abdu’l’Bahá kept silence so long, yet was it silence? That stillness held more than words. At last He spoke.
“The work of a Christian minister is most important. When you preach, or pray or teach your people your heart must be filled with love for them and love for God. And you must be sincere—very sincere.”
He spoke in Persian, the interpreter translating fluently and beautifully. But no one could interpret that Divine Voice. He
spoke, indeed, as never mere man spake. One listened entranced and understood inwardly even before the interpreter opened his mouth. It was as though the English skimmed the surface: the voice, the eyes, the smile of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá taught the heart to probe the depths. He continued:
“And you can never be sincere enough until your heart is entirely severed from attachment to the things of this world. Do not preach love and have a loveless heart. Do not preach purity and harbor impure thoughts. Do not preach peace and be at inward strife.”
He paused and added with a sort of humorous sadness: “I have known ministers who did this.” My guilty conscience acquiesced. So had I.
It was not until many months later that I realized He had answered my question. Certainly I was brought nearer to faith in Bahá’ulláh as Life’s Master Workman. Surely this was a glorious hint as to how the stuff of life could be made into things of beauty and worth. Just for an instant I touched the Garment of His Majesty. But only for an instant. The doors swung quickly to again and left me out. These days and weeks of alternating light and darkness, hope and despair were black indeed. Yet, strange to say, I gloried in the depths. They were at least real. For the first time I realized the value, the imperative need, of spiritual suffering. The throes of parturition must always precede birth.
I REMEMBER as though it were yesterday another illustration of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s divine technique. I was not at all well that summer. A relapse was threatening a return of a condition which had necessitated a major operation the year before. My nervous condition made me consider breaking the habit of smoking which had been with me all my adult life. I had always prided myself on the ability to break the habit at any time. In fact I had several times out off the use of tobacco for a period of many months. But this time to my surprise and chagrin I found my nerves and will in such a condition that after two or three days the craving became too much for me.
Finally it occurred to me to ask the assistance of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. I had read His beautiful Tablet beginning: “O ye pure friends of God!” in which He glorified personal cleanliness and urged the avoidance of anything tending towards habits of self indulgence. “Surely,” I said to myself, “He will tell me how to overcome this habit.”
So, when I next saw Him I told Him all about it. It was like a child confessing to His mother, and my voice trailed away to embarrassed silence after only the fewest of words. But He understood, indeed much better than I did. Again I was conscious of an embracing, understanding love as He regarded me. After a moment He asked quietly:
“How much do you smoke?” I told him.
“Oh,” He said, “I do not think that will hurt you. The men in the Orient smoke all the time. Their hair and beards and clothing become
saturated. It is often very offensive. But you do not do this, and at your age and having been accustomed to it for so many years, I do not think that you should. let it trouble you at all.” His gentle eyes and smile seemed to hold a twinkle that recalled my impression of His enjoyment of a divine joke.
I was somewhat overwhelmed. Not a dissertation on the evils of habit; not an explanation of the bad effects on health; not a summoning of my will power to overcome desire, rather a Charter of Freedom did He present to me. I did not understand but it was a great relief for somehow I knew that this was wise advice. So immediately that inner conflict was stilled and I enjoyed my smoke with no smitings of conscience. But two days after this conversation I found the desire for tobacco had entirely left me and I did not smoke again for seven years.
LOVE IS the Portal to Freedom.
This great truth began to dawn
upon me. Not only freedom to the
one who loves but freedom also to
the one upon whom this divine love
is bestowed. I have mentioned
several times the impression He always
made upon me of an all-embracing
love. How rarely we receive
such an impression from
those around us, even our nearest
and dearest, we all know. All our
human love seems based on self,
and even its highest expression is
limited to one or to very few. Not
so was the love which radiated from
‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Like the sun it
poured upon all alike and, like it,
also warmed and gave new life to
all it touched.
In my experience in the Christian ministry I had been accustomed often to speak of the Love of God. All through my life since, as a boy of fifteen I had experienced the thrilling gift of “conversion,” so-called, in which, literally, the heavens had opened, a great light shone and a Voice from the world unseen called me to renunciation and the life of the spirit, I had heard and spoken much of the Love of God. I now realized that I had never before even known what the words meant.
About this time I first heard the now familiar story of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s answer to one who asked Him why it was that those who came from His presence possessed a shining face. “Is it so,” He said, with that sublime smile and humble gesture of the hands which once seen may never be forgotten, “Is it so? It must be because I see in every face the Face of my Heavenly Father.”
Ponder this answer. Deeply search the depths of these simple words, for here may be discerned the meaning of the “Love of God” and the source of Its transforming power. One may readily understand why the lover’s face should glow with heavenly radiance. Surely one’s whole being would be transformed once the Lamp of Cosmic Love were ignited in the heart. But why should It cause the face of the seeker, the estranged, the sinful, upon whom that Love is turned, also to become radiant?
We find the answer in another of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s comprehensive, authoritative sayings: “Dost thou desire to love God? Love thy fellow men, for in them ye see the image and likeness of God.” But it requires
the penetrating eye of a more than personal, individual, limited love to see God’s Face in the face of saint and sinner alike. Must it not require, to some degree at least, that all-embracing love which Christ showered upon all alike, to enable us to see the Face of our Heavenly Father reflected in the faces of our brother men? This must be what our Lord meant when He said: “A new commandment I give unto you that ye love one another as I have loved you.” A new commandment indeed, and how basely neglected let the condition of one pseudo-Christian civilization bear witness.
ABOUT THIS time I was present
at an interview sought by a unitarian
clergyman, who was preparing
an article on the Bahá’i Movement
for the North American Review.
Here again I saw this universal,
cosmic love illustrated. This
minister was quite advanced in age.
He has since passed from this world
and now, we hope, has a clearer
vision of the Reality of Love and
Truth than he seemed to have discovered
here. It was incredible to
me, even then, that any soul could
be so filled with human ego as to
be impervious to the influence emanating
from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. He
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá) sat quite silent
throughout the interview, listening
with unwearied attention to the
long hypothetical questions of the
reverend doctor. They related entirely
to the history of the Bahá’i
Cause; its early dissensions; its
relation to the Muhammadan
priesthood and teachings. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
answered mainly in mono-syllables.
He never flagged in interest
but it seemed to be more an
interest in the questioner than in his questions. He sat perfectly relaxed, His hands in His lap with palms upward as was characteristic of Him. He looked at the interviewer with that indescribable expression of understanding love which never failed. His face was radiant with an inner flame.
The doctor talked on and on. I grew more and more impatient. I was ashamed of and for him. Why did not ‘Abdu’l-Bahá recognize the superficial nature underlying all these questions? Could He not see that their object was only to gain substantiation for a critically adverse magazine article for the writing of which a substantial check might be anticipated? Why was not the interview cut short and the talker dismissed? But if others in the group grew impatient ‘Abdu’l-Bahá did not. He encouraged the doctor to express himself fully. If the speaker flagged for a moment ‘Abdu’l-Bahá spoke briefly in reply to a question and then waited courteously for him to continue.
At last the reverend doctor paused. There was silence for a moment and then that softly resonant voice filled the room. Sentence by sentence the interpreter translated. He spoke of “His Holiness Christ;” of His love for all men, strong even unto the Cross; of the high station of the Christian ministry “to which you, my dear son, have been called;” of the need that men called to this station should “characterize themselves with the characteristics of God” in order that their people should be attracted to the divine life, for none can resist the expression
in your life of the attributes of God. It is a key which unlocks every heart.” He spoke, too, of the coming Kingdom of God on earth which Christ had told us to pray for and which, in accordance with His promise, Bahá’u’lláh had come to this world to establish.
Within five minutes His questioner had become humble, for the moment at least a disciple at His feet. He seemed to have been transported to another world, as indeed we all were. His face shone faintly as though he had received an inner illumination. Then ‘Abdu’l-Bahá rose. We all rose with Him in body as we had risen with Him in spirit. He lovingly embraced the doctor and led him towards the door. At the threshhold He paused. His eyes had lighted upon a large bunch of American Beauty roses which one of the friends had brought to Him that morning. There were at least two dozen of them, perhaps three. There were so many and their stems so long that they had been placed in an earthenware umbrella stand. We all had noticed their beauty and fragrance.
No sooner had ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s eyes lighted upon them than He laughed aloud; His boyish hearty laughter rang through the room. He stooped, gathered the whole bunch in His arms, straightened and placed them all in the arms of His Visitor. Never shall I forget that round, bespectacled, grey head above that immense bunch of lovely flowers. So surprised, so radiant, so humble, so transformed. Ah! ‘Abdu’l-Bahá knew how to teach the Love of God!
”There are two pathways which have been pointed out by the Heavenly Educators. The first is divine guidance and reliance upon the Manifestations of God. The other is the road to materialism and reliance upon the senses. These roads lead in opposite directions. The first leads to the world of the Kingdom; the other ends in the world of human vices and is contrary to the cause of divine guidance. . . . Upon the children of today, whether boys or girls, depends the moulding of the civilization of tomorrow.”
IT IS impossible to overestimate the importance of the right training and guidance of young people. Everywhere people are becoming more and more conscious of the necessity of universal education. Besides this, people in the more enlightened countries have become aroused during the last twenty-five years to the need of special provision for unfortunate, neglected and delinquent youth and we find various organizations, public and private, especially in large cities, for meeting this need. At the present time a vast army of vagrant youth induced by unemployment has made the problem of providing means for their livelihood and training extremely acute. The story then of how one city successfully meets its boy problem becomes of universal interest. While in Stockholm the writer has been privileged to observe at first hand the characteristically thorough-going and efficient way in which the city of Stockholm is caring for its boys; if other cities in the world have more high and practical plans for this work she does not know of them.
Let us look briefly at some of the services the Stockholm City Bureau for Boys renders. All boys who wish advice about what to study for their life work can come and consult this bureau. They can
find out what kind of work they are best fitted to do, can find out how long it will take to train for this work, how much it will cost, what are the possibilities of getting financial assistance from the state—for the Swedish government helps in the education of its youth—and how to make application to enter different schools. The boys can receive medical examination to determine whether they are physically fit for their work; often parents come with their sons to this Bureau to make these inquiries. Each year many hundreds of boys come for advice.
The Bureau also serves unemployed boys who come to ask where they can get training or for something; to keep them busy until they can find work. The city gives two and a half kronins (about sixty-seven cents) a day to the very poor boys between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five years who have no means of employment. This is given only after careful investigation has been made to know that these boys actually need the help. All such boys must have at least twenty hours of school work each week. The majority of them desire to study such things as woodworking, mathematics and the Swedish language. Means for this is provided in the Bureau. They receive the materials free for their wood-work
and may keep articles which they construct; some take the articles home, some sell them. They learn to make simple but artistic and practical furniture. Many of these unemployed boys who are interested in higher studies through the Bureau are placed in excellent schools. Thus this Bureau is like a port through which progressive boys may walk into a new life.
A THIRD group aided consists of
boys and parents who have great
conflicts in their homes. Both parents
and sons may consult the Bureau
which thus becomes the unofficial
lawyer who tries in a fair,
just way to bring them together
again, or failing in that, to find
another way of solving their difficulties.
A careful diagnosis of
each case is made, even including
the boys’ companions and their
workshops, for sometimes the
trouble comes not from the homes
but from the workshops. Every
one of all the thousands of boys
who pass through the Bureau is
carefully studied socially and pedagogically.
The results show many
remarkable circumstances which
very often are a reason for their
handicaps in trying to get employment.
This expert advice which
the Bureau is able to render thus
proves invaluable.
Boys who have been in Homes of Detention make up another group helped by the Bureau. When the boys leave these places, the Bureau often has orders from the City of Stockholm to look after them and help them get positions, or to help them continue their education. All such boys are expected to come to the Bureau once a week or in some
--PHOTO--
Mr. Harry Ohlin, Director of Stockholm City Bureau for Boys.
cases once a month to report how they are getting along.
Another service which this Bureau renders is to look after the very young boys who are working in the streets to sell something or engaged, perhaps, in some work in amusement parks. In these cases the home situation is looked into and the Bureau decides whether the boys should be working or whether Stockholm City should provide for them until they are old enough to work. Then, too, there are the boys over sixteen who often come to Stockholm from the country and must live in poor hotels. Often it is possible to send them back to their homes in the country. Perhaps the boys have no home outside of Stockholm. In such case the Bureau finds a better place for
them to live. It is always very insistent that these boys do not stay in lower class men’s hotels.
IT IS interesting to know that H. R. H. the Crown Prince of Sweden, Gustaf Adolf, from the very beginning has been following this Bureau work and has given most generously to help its promotion. His interest has been not only to give the money but also to know how the young boys can have the best help for their future.
This Bureau was started in 1928 with a committee of four members only, whose aim was to find out new ways to advise and help boys and to furnish a complement to the schools and employment bureaus. They began with five rooms in the old part of Stockholm City and today, in 1934, six years later, they have become a part of Stockholm City. Now they have a twenty-six room building in the modern district where they have their office, large assembly hall, writing room,
class rooms, and many club rooms. In fact, they cannot accommodate all the clubs that wish to meet there, and the standard of clubs that can meet in that building must be morally very high.
Mr. Harry Ohlin, the fine young director, who has by the way twice visited the United States in order to study in Columbia University and who has as well studied the youth problem in the leading centers of Europe, is not at all satisfied. He says that the Stockholm City Bureau for Boys is only beginning its great work; he is planning how to have a simple but high class hotel for boys where they will have not only rooms in which to sleep but have an attractive dining room, a big swimming pool, a gymnasium, an outdoor place for sport training, and last but most important of all, he says there must be the spirit of young enthusiasm, interest, plain living but high thinking, high vision!
“In the tenderest years of their youth the pure hearts of boys and girls must be illumined with the light of the love of God. Then when they grow up most astonishing results will be produced because the maps of their whole lives will be drawn with the hand of the Spiritual Educator. . . . The lower appetites of nature are like kings over men,—one must defeat their forces, otherwise he will be defeated by them.”
DIFFERENCE IN CHARACTERS . . . .
have more or less wealth for riches will never guide any man in the
right way.”—‘Abdu’l-Bahá.QUESTION. How many kinds of character has man? and what is the cause of the differences and varieties in men?
Answer. He has the innate character, the inherited character, and the acquired character which is gained by education.
With regard to the innate character, although the divine creation is purely good, yet the varieties of natural qualities in man come from the differences of degree; all are excellent, but they are more or less so according to degree. So all mankind possess intelligence and capacities, but the intelligence, the capacity, and the worthness of men differ. This is evident.
For example, take a number of children of one family, of one place, of one school, instructed by one teacher, reared on the same food, in the same climate, with the same clothing, and studying the same lessons—it is certain that among these children some will be clever in the sciences, some will be of average ability, and some dull. Hence it is clear that in the original nature there exists a difference of degree, and varieties of worthiness and capacity. This difference does not imply good or evil, but is simply a difference of degree. One has the highest degree, another the medium degree, and another the lowest degree. So man exists, the animal, the plant, and the mineral exist also but the degrees of these four existences vary. What a difference between the existence of man and of the animal! Yet both are existences. It is evident that in existence there are differences of degrees.
THE fathers and especially the mothers, must always think how they can best educate their children; not how to fondle and embrace them and thus spoil them. By every means at their disposal they must inculcate into their growing bodies, souls, mind, and spirits, the principles of sincerity, love, trustfulness, obedience, true democracy, and kindness toward all races; thus hereafter the world of civilization may flow in one mighty current and the children of the next generation may make secure the foundations of human solidarity and goodwill. From the tenderest childhood the children must be taught by their mothers the love of God and the love of humanity not the love of the humanity of Asia, or the humanity of Europe, or the humanity of America, but the humanity of humankind.
THROUGH education the ignorant become learned, the cowardly become valiant, through cultivation the crooked branch becomes straight—the acid bitter fruit of the mountains and woods becomes sweet and delicious, and the five-petalled flower becomes hundred petalled. Through education savage nations become civilized, and even the animals become domesticated. Education must be considered as most important. Education has a universal influence, and the differences caused by it are very great.”
IN his book, “The Enlargement of Personality,”* Mr. J. H. Denison tells of an ancient tale of a land where all the people were exceedingly ugly of countenance, with thick, protruding lips, brutal lines about the mouth, crafty wrinkles about the eyes, and so on. The King of this land was a man keenly sensitive to beauty and the ugliness of his subjects brought agony to his soul. One day he conceived a plan by which he believed he could completely transform the features of his people. Accordingly, he ordered a mold to be made from the face of a beautiful youth whose features were serene and perfect, with clear-cut nostrils, firm chin and delicately chiseled lips. From this mold an iron mask was formed and this mask he ordered to be placed upon the face of every new-born babe in the land so that as the child grew the soft, unformed features would take on the form of the mask and so become beautiful according to the king’s conception
Mr. Denison makes the observation that to a large degree this same mask method is that usually employed in forming the character of the mass of people in any land. The school, the social set, national and racial traditions and the church, he says, each forces its pattern upon the young and thus characters and conduct become the result, not of some deep underlying emotion, but of some preconceived and superimposed idea of perfection. He points
* Published by Charles Scribner. 597 Fifth Ave., New York City.
out that it is a relatively simple matter for each of us to discover to what extent we are the products of artificial masks of habit, custom and modern practices, and how constantly we are aware of their pressure upon our individuality.
PROCEEDING further, Mr. Denison
states that this same method has
also produced a society so accustomed
to certain habits of thinking
and acting that it looks with disfavor
and suspicion upon any new
ideas which do not accord with the
accepted standards and order of the
day. He goes on to show that the
only thing that has saved the human
race from becoming wholly unthinking
creatures of changeless
habits has been the appearance
from time to time of great souls
who have dared to throw off the
mask and give expression to the
spiritual urges within them. By so
doing, they have been able to create
within men such an exalted consciousness
of the purpose of life that
not only have their characters miraculously
changed, but they have acquired
the courage to break away
from standardized social patterns
and establish a civilization reflecting
their new attitudes and aspirations.
This method of transforming
character Mr. Denison defines
as the method of inspiration. Those
who have been the source of this
new impulse, he points out, have so
startled those among whom they
have walked that they have been regarded
as “tainted” selves. When
a man breaks a taboo in order to do a good deed, he says, he becomes bad by doing good and as a result he is crushed by the persecution of the good (?) men of his day, or else he starts a new religion, or both. As an illustration, Mr. Denison cites the story of Jesus Who not only plucked corn for His hungry disciples on the Sabbath Day, thereby breaking a strict Jewish law against working on holy days, but at the same time broke an equally strict law by permitting them to eat it without ceremonial washing.
The above are only two of several methods of character formation described by Mr. Denison. As one reflects upon his statements one comes to the conclusion that much of the confusion in the world at the present time is due largely to the unwillingness of mankind to relinquish long established habits of thought and living and to establish a line of action more nearly suited to the new human relationships which are the result of the age of maturity in which we are living.
IT WOULD seem that the great
need of men today is a new spiritual
impulse, a new principle of action,
an ideal so lofty and so absorbing
that all will be possessed of an all-consuming
desire to give expression
to it in their daily lives. Just
as His Holiness Jesus, the Christ,
was the inspiration of a new civilization
which aspired to give expression
to His Teachings, so today
Bahá’u’lláh, the Founder of the
Bahá’i Faith, is the Source of a new
World Order that is slowly but
surely taking shape amid the chaos
and distress of the present day.
“Here,” says ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, “are
teachings applicable to the advancement of human conditions, the realization of every desire and aspiration, the cause of the happiness of the world of humanity, the stimulus and illumination of mentality, the impluse for advancement and uplift, the basis of unity for all nations, the fountain source of love amongst mankind, the center of agreement, the means of peace and harmony, the one bond which will unite the divergent elements of all civilization.”
An open-minded investigation of the history, spiritual truths and social program of the Bahá’i Faith inspires new ideals in the honest seeker and creates within his heart a passionate desire to cooperate in the shaping of a civilization wherein his lofty ideals and ambitions may attain their fullest expression. In the Book of Certitude, Bahá’u’lláh reveals these words:
“Is not the object of every Revelation to effect a transformation in the whole character of mankind, a transformation that shall manifest itself, both outwardly and inwardly, that shall affect both its inner life and external conditions? For if the character of mankind be not changed the futility of God’s universal Manifestation would be apparent.”
The first step, therefore, in the re-creation of civilization is the acquisition of divine characteristics on the part of individuals. In the Tablet of Tarazat, Bahá’u’lláh says:
“Man should know his own self and those things which lead to loftiness or to baseness, to shame or to honor, to affluence or to poverty.” In the same Tablet He points out that good character is the best mantle for men on the part of God and that good character is the means for guiding men to the right path. “We hope,” He says, “that by the providence of the Wise Physician man may discover that for which he has been created.”
Having looked first to his own
character, the individual is instructed to so live that he may be the means of elevating the society in which he lives. For example, Bahá’u’lláh admonishes His followers to practice such qualities as forbearance and benevolence. “These are the two lights for the darkness of the world and as two teachers to lead nations to knowledge.” He calls the people to “consort with all people with joy and fragrance; for association is conducive to union and harmony, and union and harmony are the cause of order of the world and the life of nations.” Above all, they are expected “to show forth good deeds, and to render justice in affairs.”
Arthur Twining Hadley, in one of his sermons at Yale University, entitled, “The Moral Basis of Democracy,” says:
“We are so accustomed to think of religion as an affair of the heart that we overlook the fact that its application to the practical conduct of life requires the use of the head. There is no field in which it is so necessary to combine intelligence with faith as with our idea of God. In former days men were bound by creeds which described in detail God’s attributes and God’s wishes. You accepted Him as He was pictured in those creeds or you rejected Him altogether. Today we try to judge for ourselves. Of
all the responsibilities which go with the exercise of private judgment this is the greatest. You call your God the God of Justice; see to it that your faith takes such shape that you can worship Him only by doing justice. You call your God the God of Love; see to it that your faith is so shaped as to make you give love instead of merely trying to receive it.”
In His book, “The Divine Forces of Civilization,” ‘Abdu’l-Bahá writes:
“Can any higher career be imagined than this, that a man should devote himself to the cause of education, progress, glory and prosperity for the servants of God? No, in God’s Name! It is the greatest of pious deeds that the blessed souls should take hold of them that are powerless by the hands, deliver them from ignorance, degradation and poverty, and filled with sincere purpose for the sake of God, should gird up the loins of their ambition in the service of all people, forgetting their own worldly advantage and striving for the common good.”
Such is the challenge of the Bahá’i Faith. Such is the eternal ideal seeking expression in the lives of human beings. He is a real artist who is able so to translate these great principles into his own life that his efforts will find such response in the heart of another that they will join hands in a new spirit of mutual love and understanding and go forth together in a new spirit of service. This is the creative art of human relationships.
“Free thyself from the fetters of this world, and escape from the prison of self. Appreciate the value of the time, for thou shalt never see it again, nor shalt thou find a like opportunity.”
is expressed in social relationships.”
“SCIENCE PRESENTS a new outlook over the universe, with a clearer vision of man’s place in the scheme of things, a better opportunity of appreciation of what life represents and a changed attitude toward its problems. Seen in this light, it should aid in the forming of basic beliefs. Philosophy and even religion may use it as the material with which to build. It finds need for common ground with philosophy, art and religion in the work of developing a clear, broader and deeper vision of the world and things about us. . . . With the advances made by modern science, the so-called material universe does not grow more definitely material. At least, one may say, it is still beyond our full understanding. For these reasons we need a close relation among the various points of view we must take. The interests of science, art, philosophy and religion must be joined if their human value is to be most fully realized. Each may stand alone as an abstract or non-human value, but when human interests are touched, they must come into intimate, mutually supporting relationship.”—Dr. John C. Merriam, President of the Carnegie Institution. Washington Evening Star.
NEITHER SOCIALISM nor communism meets the realities of human
nature as I sense them. Both of them have an emotional dryness, a dogmatic thinness which repels me. They deal in the dry bones of the “economic man” and I crave in addition the flesh and blood and spirit of the religious and the artistic man.
I want to see whole realms of being kept out of the sphere of economics and business. The economic and business machines should be subjected more and more to the religious, the artistic, and the deeper scientific needs of man. . . .
We are approaching in the world today one of the most dramatic moments in history. Will we allow catastrophe to overtake us, and as a result force us to retire to a more simple, peasant-like form of existence, or will we meet the challenge and expand our hearts, so that we are fitted to wield with safety the power which is ours almost for the asking?—Honorable Henry A. Wallace, U. S. Secretary of Agriculture. New Tracts for New Times.
“THE GOLDEN age is coming along the economic highway.”
“In all these spheres—the economic, the racial, the international, which in many places overlap—there are signs that the golden age is dawning. It will not come automatically. It will come as reforms have always come, because some heroic souls count not their lives
dear in order that they may translate from the ideal to the actual those truths by which Jesus Christ lived and for which He died.”—Dr. G. W. Stafford of University Temple, Seattle, at the Institute of World Affairs, Riverside, Calif.
“ORGANIZATION is to society what the skeleton is to the body, at once the framework which supports it and the kinematic mechanism which shapes it to its immediate environment and which moves it. Organization must, therefore, possess sufficient flexibility to adapt society to its immediate environment and sufficient strength to move it.”—George H. Shepard, Professor of Industrial Engineering and Management, Purdue University. Sigma XI Quarterly.
NEW YORK papers report that Beverly Nichols’ “Cry Havoc” has been made compulsory reading in the Canadian schools. Too good to be true!—Women’s International League—News Letter.
AS A MANUAL of practical Christian dynamics, this book, The Power of Non-Violence, by Richard B. Gregg, should have definite therapeutical value. That there is need for therapy, can be doubted by no one who has sensed the sinister division in modern Christian attitude toward social problems: on the one side deepening conviction that the New Testament is something more than the literature of a post-terrestrial, individual mystery of escape; on the other, bewildered cynicism about the actual possibility of bringing it to bear upon corporate society. Subconsciously at
least, millions of modern Christians languish under that melancholia which results from a deepest divorce between belief and practice. We are flirting with wholesale neurosis.—Frank C. Bancroft, The Christian Century.
“IS IT not better to press on in our efforts to secure more wealth and leisure and dignity of life for our own future generations, even though we risk a glorious failure, rather than accept inglorious failure by perpetuating our present conditions, in which these advantages are the exception rather than the rule?
“Shall we not risk the fate of that overambitious scientist, Icarus, rather than resign ourselves without an effort to the fate which has befallen the bees and ants? Such are the questions I would put to those who maintain that science is harmful to the race.”—Sir James Jeans in his address before the British Association for the Advancement of Science.
“THE ONE hundred thousand scientists of the world are its best minds. In their thoughts and attitudes they are far in advance of the rest of the population. Among themselves these men, regardless of the accident of nationality, form a brotherhood which is essentially international; more accurately, non-national. Science ignores political boundaries. In the spirit of their commingling and cooperation scientists thus furnish the closest existing approach to practicing internationalism which the world can show today.”—Editorial, Scientific American.
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, 1000 Chandler Bldg., Washington, D. C.
The Herald of the South, G. P. O. Box 447 D, Adelaide, Australia.
Kawkab-i-Hind (Published in Urdu), Karol Bagh, Delhi, India.
La Nova Tago (Published in Esperanto), Friedrich Voglerstrasse 4, Weinheim, Baden, Germany.
Sonne der Wahrheit (Published in German), Stuttgart, Germany.
[Page iv]
LEADERS OF RELIGION, exponents of political
theories, governors of human institutions, who
at present are witnessing with perplexity and
dismay the bankruptcy of their ideas, and the disintegration
of their handiwork, would do well to turn
their gaze to the Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh and to
meditate upon the World Order which, lying enshrined
in His teachings, is slowly and imperceptibly
rising amid the welter and chaos of present-day civilization.
They need have no doubt or anxiety regarding
the nature, the origin or validity of the institutions
which the adherents of the Faith are building
up throughout the world. For these lie embedded
in the teachings themselves, unadulterated and unobscured
by unwarrantable inferences, or unauthorized
interpretations of His Word."
