'Abdul-Baha
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YOUTH'S CONFESSION OF FAITH
Kenneth Christian
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BAHA'U'LLAH, THE LAW-GIVER
Doris McKay
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LIKE THE RUSH OF MIGHTY
WATERS
Dale S. Cole
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GUIDANCE FOR THE NEW ERA
Bertha Hyde Kirkpatrick
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| VOL. 25 | FEBRUARY, 1935 | No. 11 |
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 | |
The Meaning of Freedom, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá | 329 |
Editorial, Stanwood Cobb | 323 |
Bahá’u’lláh, the Law-giver | 326 |
Youth’s Confession of Faith, Kenneth Christian | 330 |
A Bahá’i Doctor, Lotfullah S. Hakim | 332 |
A Scientist’s Vision—B. | 334 |
A Scientist Prophesies, Julian Huxley | 337 |
Portals To Freedom, Chapter 5 | 338 |
Like the Rush of Mighty Waters, Dale S. Cole | 343 |
Guidance for the New Era | 347 |
Current Thought and Progress | 351 |
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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THE Revelation proclaimed by Bahá'u'lláh, His followers believe, is divine in origin, all-embracing in scope, broad in its outlook, scientific in its method. humanitarian in its principles and dynamic in the influence it exerts on the hearts and minds of men. The mission of the Founder of their Faith, they conceive it to be to proclaim that religious truth is not absolute but relative, that Divine Revelation is continuous and progressive, that the Founders of all past religions, though different in the non-essential aspects of their teachings, "abide in the same Tabernacle, soar in the same heaven, are seated upon the same throne, utter the same speech and proclaim the same Faith." His Cause, they have already demonstrated, stands identified with, and revolves around, the principle of the organic unity of mankind as representing the consummation of the whole process of human evolution. This final stage in this stupendous evolution, they assert, is not only necessary but inevitable, that it is gradually approaching, and that nothing short of the celestial potency with which a divinely ordained Message can claim to be endowed can succeed in establishing it.
| VOL. 25 | FEBRUARY, 1935 | No. 11 |
usurpation of the rights of others, and other blameworthy attributes which are the defects of the animal world, therefore so long as the requirements of the natural world play paramount part among the children of men, success and prosperity are impossible. For the success of the human world depends upon the qualities and virtues with which the reality of humanity is adorned; while the exigencies of the natural world work against the realization of this object.”
THE WORLD has got to choose between a nationalism pregnant with dissonance and chaos, and a world unity built upon concepts of human brotherhood. There is no middle ground. Just as the dipsomaniac cannot be cured by merely moderating his consumption of poison, so rampant nationalism of today cannot be ameliorated by intelligent moderation urged upon peoples by this statesman or that.
Today nationalism means loyalty, patriotism, religion, everything that is most binding and emotionally effective in the life of the average man. Until something else can be found to supplant or sublimate this emotional warmth toward the fatherland, the world will live in the midst of wars and rumors of wars.
“Framers of plans for a stable world-order,” says Lothrop Stoddard, historian, writing for the Washington Post, “are apt to believe that these will be decided on their abstract merits; that if they are economically sound and politically sensible, their eventual acceptance is assured.
“This, however, assumes that men are at heart canny and wise, whereas history proves emphatically that they are not. By and large, mankind is basically emotional, and as such is swayed primarily by emotions
like enthusiasm, beliefs and prejudices. Unless we recognize this truth and make due allowances for it, our best-laid plans will go awry and our fondest hopes come to naught. . . .
“No scheme for world-governance will get far until it succeeds in awakening enthusiasms comparable to the loyalty and devotion now aroused by the sentiments of race and nationality. Arguments addressed to men’s minds, no matter how sound and logical, will not suffice. Men’s hearts must be touched as well. For mankind is built that way.”
THERE IS only one thing that can exercise a stronger influence over the individual than materialism, and that is the spiritual appeal of religion. This is capable of establishing broader unities and larger loyalities than any other force that operates on human nature. And we have in the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh not only the basic effective principles for a World State, but the driving force necessary to inspire individuals already loyal to their respective nations to merge that loyalty into the higher loyalty to God and to humanity.
Before the majestic principles of the Bahá’i World State can be effectively
applied, however, there must come considerable change in human hearts. Not only must whole nations be willing to accept and give allegiance to the Bahá’i World State, but the individuals composing these nations must be inspired to more unselfish, more impersonal, more spiritual concepts of living.
Man is fundamentally animalistic in his basic qualities. That is to say that normal man, without the active influence of religious ethics, expresses the basic and fairly chronic qualities of greed, jealousy, envy, aggression, passion. The man who is free, or mostly free, from these qualities is the atypical or unusual man; and in times of irreligion, as today, this unusual type—the advance guard of evolution—is not strong enough in numbers and driving force to control and direct the great mass of animalistic-charactered men.
ONE CAN clearly observe in the actions
of animals or birds those
animal qualities openly expressed
which in the activities of human
beings are camouflaged or glossed
over with a certain etiquette or subtlety.
Animals, having no shame,
do openly the things which human
beings are apt to do under cover.
The writer was watching recently some doves and sparrows feeding in a public park of Washington. A dove was peeking at a fair sized piece of bread which two sparrows were also trying to feed from. But the dove effectively discouraged the sparrows from eating any of this plentiful store (far more than was needed to suffice his own appetite) and finally drove them away. After another moment of feeding the dove
himself flew away, leaving the bread uneaten. (And so it is with human beings. They endeavor to preempt a larger store of wealth than they have any need of).
A little later on another dove arrived and began feeding. Again the sparrows came and tried to eat. This dove was exceptionally gentle and permitted the sparrows to feed; finally it flew away and left the two sparrows feeding on the crust. Now came a third dove, more aggressive than the others. For although the sparrows now had the first claim on this food, he edged in to feed and at the same time bristled up his breast feathers in a belligerent attitude preventing the sparrows from enjoying the benefits of their own property. (Here we have a typical example of man the exploiter, who is worse than the ordinary man of greed; because in exploitation, with greed is joined a cruel and cynical aggression which is willing to deprive other humans of their due rights in order to acquire more wealth and power.)
IN AN unreligious age, as has been
said, the gentle, the unselfish, the
spiritual type is not sufficiently predominant
or powerful to check the
selfishness, the aggression, the exploitation
of the prevailing type.
Yet whenever a powerful spiritual
impulse seizes masses of humanity,
this situation is reversed; the non-aggressive,
the nongreedy, the non-sensual
types are able to prevail
and to control the actions of more
animally-minded men. This is due
to the fact that religion is so specific
in its condemnation of injustice,
cruelty and sensuality that it is possible
for leaders who are deeply
spiritual to uphold strongly the banner of righteousness and receive the securing support of loyal followers.
And this is what must happen to the world today. There must be a cleansing spiritual force in the lives of men which will reverse the standards that operate in the market-place—substituting service for greed, equity for injustice, humanitarianism for exploitation.
THERE ARE always sufficient numbers
of men and women innately
noble in the human group to furnish
ample material for leadership whenever
there is any opportunity for
the qualities which they express to
command leadership. There is no occasion
for cynicism concerning human
nature. We may be fully aware
of all the faults inherent in human
nature; we may realize that a majority
of the people are weak and
easily lead; we may even perceive
that a certain minority of humans
are actually evil in their intents and
actions. There are dark periods
of human history when the evil
minority prevail and set the pace
for the great mass of their fellow
men (who are neither strongly virtuous
nor yet strongly unrighteous)
in what becomes a universal practice
of competitive unfairness and
greed. And in such periods we find
the minority that is capable of
spiritual leadership ineffective in
action, and restricted to criticism of
conditions rather than capable of
reforming them.
Yet it does not take much to reverse this situation—a situation which is never stable because it is founded on injustice and cries aloud for reform. Therefore sooner or later the opportunity comes for
righteous leadership to assert itself. Then the masses—sick unto death of exploitation, of greed of unrighteousness—join with their newfound leaders and thrust the “money-changers out of the temple.”
When there is joined with any such wave of reformation a basic change in the thoughts and habits of the masses due to spiritual awakening to the importance of ethical practice and righteous living, then we have what might otherwise be only a temporary reform stabilized into a fairly permanent situation. We then see a new civilization grow up, expressive of the more spiritual qualities of man. And as long as this religious impulse effectively operates in the collective life of the people, civilization holds a steady and progressive pace.
But again may come a decline of the spiritual impulse betrayal of the unities and equities of a beneficent and splendid civilization.
As the centuries go by, and the masses evolve to loftier higher conditions of intelligence and spiritual perception, the cycles of high civilization will grow longer and the periods of disruption will be less frequent and less cataclysmic.
TODAY humanity stands at the
parting of the ways. One way
leads to chaos, to the abyss; the
other leads upward to new heights
of human power under the spiritual
leadership of Bahá’u’lláh. Dark as
may be the outlook at the present
moment, we may know that humanity
cannot fail in its choice.
Before many decades are passed,
proof of this statement will be made
manifest in international events and
world development.
“A mere reference to the claims which, in vehement language and with compelling power, He [Bahá’u’lláh] Himself has repeatedly advanced cannot but fully demonstrate the character of the Revelation of which He was the chosen bearer."
PSYCHOLOGISTS measure man’s intelligence by his ability to adapt himself to his environment. Certainly, when the human race began its investigation of science it was demonstrating a supreme prerogative of mind. Nature, when she gave up her secrets to the curiosity of man revealed one truth predominating over all others, the presence of Law in the universe. The discovery of the laws governing nature and the application of them through invention has brought freedom and lordly powers to our generation as far as the physical is concerned. Parallel to such acquired knowledge on the part of man are the fundamental precepts of social law, in obedience to which we have adaptation to the social environment.
The principles governing human relationships remain the same as those operating in the physical universe and we find them put into words with a special terminology in the writings of the Prophets. Science teaches the cohesive principle among atoms; the Prophet teaches the cohesive principle among men calling it love, unity. The attraction of bodies to a center is called gravity by science; the attraction of the soul to the Supreme Center is called by the Prophets, “the love of God.” The scientist speaks of evolution toward perfect form; the Prophet delineates the way to the Kingdom of Heaven. It
is all one Law, a life principle, operative in all planes of existence. “Love,” says ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, “is the highest law in this great universe of God. . . Love is the law of order between simple essences whereby they are apportioned and united into compound substances in the world of matter. Love is the essential and magnetic power that organizes the planets and stars. . . . Love is the highest honor for all nations of men.” Is it not then the sign of intelligence to turn to the Prophet in the same spirit of humility and reverence that has distinguished the search of the scientists for the truths of the physical world? For the Prophets as Law-interpreters hold the key to unlock the promise of the age in which They appear and to release the special genius of the people to whom They come. Bahá’u’lláh restated the Law of Love for this cycle of human development and by His doctrine of Oneness translated to humanity the significance of its own mechanical age.
BAHA’U’LLAH first appeared in
His capacity as Law-giver in the
fourth year of the revelation of the
Báb (1848). In that year the Cause
of the Báb passed into a crescendo
movement. The Báb, from His
exile seemed actually to project a
ray of His spirit to certain of His
chosen followers. Opposition of the
superstitious and reactionary became
more fanatical. There was
the sparkle of danger and exhilaration. It was a time of the fusing of the divine and material worlds, the Divine Will leavening the heaviness and resistance of the earth consciousness. Now the Báb sent a written injunction to all true believers to “hasten to the land of Kha (Khurásán).” Among those who responded was Bahá’u’lláh, Who, although He had at that time no recognized authority, became the natural center of a conference which followed. At the hamlet of Badasht, He, with eighty-one leaders of the Báb’i Movement established a residence for twenty-two days. To quote from the narrator, Nabil*, “Each day of that memorable gathering witnessed the abrogation of a new law and the repudiation of a long-established tradition. The veils that guarded the sanctity of the ordinances of Islam were sternly rent asunder, and the idols that had so long claimed the adoration of their blind worshippers were rudely demolished. No one knew, however, the Source whence these bold and defiant innovations proceeded, no one suspected the Hand which steadily and unerringly steered their course. Few, if any, dimly surmised that Bahá’u’lláh was the Author of the far-reaching changes which were so fearlessly introduced.”
In conclusion Nabil declares: “The object of that memorable gathering had been obtained. The clarion-call of the new order had been sounded. The obsolete conventions which had fettered the consciences of men were boldly challenged and fearlessly swept away. The way was clear for
* Nabil’s narrative of the early history of the Bahá'i Cause, published under the title "The Dawn-Breakers."
the proclamation of laws and precepts that were destined to usher in the New Dispensation.” It was several years before Bahá’u’lláh was universally recognized as the Subject of the Báb’i teaching relating to “Him Whom God shall manifest.” The conference at Badasht had been an instance of the power of the Prophet active even then in Bahá’u’lláh to state and to establish the Will of God. We recall Michael Angelo’s figure of Moses with the Tables of Stone in which the reality of eternal unchanging law is clothed in the symbolic form of man. Before the solemnity and grandeur of prophetic law humanity must bow.
WHEN Bahá’u’lláh assumed the
mantle of Law-giver (in 1862) His
teachings applied to those two relationships
before referred to on
which “hang all the Law and the
Prophets,” namely, the love of God
and the love of man. With these
two ardors in balanced equilibrium
what a future for those who have
heard and answered the call! What
a destiny for an emancipated world
whose energies shall have been
freed by this Revelation!
A study of the laws of Bahá’u’lláh reveals a sublime interpretation of justice. “Justice,” said Bahá’u’lláh, “is to be loved above all.” Again, “The purpose of justice is the appearance of unity among the people.” He saw the ultimate social relationship, a world federation, freed from ignoble competition tuned to justice. Justice means freedom from racial, religious and national prejudice; justice means economic
reform; justice means a representative governing body of all the nations; justice means peace and the boom of a universal language; justice means work for all, education for all, the equality of men and women. All these are among the laws of Bahá’u’lláh.
What is the individual’s obligation to justice? For this, Bahá’u’lláh restates the Golden Rule: “If thou lookest toward justice, choose then for others what thou choosest for thyself.” A subtle problem for a generation which has been trained by a competitive economic and educational system to a desire for dominance! But individualism must capitulate to the Law of Love by merging with the whole. It finds its genius by bestowing its gifts upon the community. It discovers its power when it turns with true humility to the idea of God.
THE LAW and authority of
Bahá’u’lláh were in a measure extended
to the Bahá’i Institution. The
legislative function was decreed to
the House of Justice. In definition
of this International Tribunal,
‘Abdu’l-Bahá said: “All the civic
affairs and the legislation of the
material laws for the increasing
needs of the enlightened community
belong to the House of Justice. This . . . will be not only a body for legislation according to the spirit and requirement of the time, but a board of arbitration for the settlement of all disputes arising between peoples. The laws of Bahá’u’lláh are the unchangeable organic laws of the Universal House of Justice. They are the very foundation upon which the structure of additional legislation is built. . . . At first National Houses of Justice will be established in every country and they will elect, in turn, members to the Universal House of Justice.” This system is the very opposite of the inflexible laws attributed, by tradition, to the Medes and the Persians. For in Bahá’u’lláh’s own words: “Inasmuch as for each time and day a particular order and decree is expedient, affairs are therefore entrusted to the ministers of the House of Justice so that they can execute that which they deem advisable at the time.” Thus, the administrative body becomes the link between divine and temporal authority—obedience to it is incumbent upon all. “Blessed is he who heareth the Voice and fulfilleth that which is commanded on the part of God, the Lord of the Great Throne.”
”People have come to realize that in unity there lies strength; in concentration of purpose there is power; and in self-sacrifice there is growth and development. Just as we are often ready to sacrifice our possessions, our wealth, and our lives for the sake of truth, we must likewise be willing to sacrifice our opinions and ideas, if we know that such a thing will bring about unity and accord.”—‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
THE MEANING OF FREEDOM . . .
These are the great bestowals of God.
AMONG the people are those who glory in a desire for liberty. Know that the animal is the symbol of liberty and manifestation thereof, hence it behooveth man to put himself under laws which will protect him against the ignorance of himself and the injury of the deceitful. Liberty is confined to compliance with the Commandments of God. If ye adopt that which He hath revealed for you from the Heaven of Inspiration, ye will find yourselves in perfect and pure freedom. The liberty which profits you is that which is confined to your servitude to God, the Truth. He who tastes its sweetness will never exchange it for the possessions of the realms of the heavens and earths.”
THE real materialist is the animal. Compared to the animal, man is but a tyro and novice in materialism. The animal is a natural materialist. He does not mention God and knows nothing about the Kingdom. He depends solely upon sense perception. That which is not perceptible to the senses he rejects. From this standpoint of knowing, the greatest Plato is the cow, and the donkey is an arch philosopher. In the great university of nature where nothing beyond the pale of sensibilities is classified as knowledge, the animal is a graduate, and the human materialist, but an under-graduate.”
AMONG the teachings of His Holiness Bahá’u’lláh is man’s freedom: that through the Ideal Power he should be emancipated and free from the captivity of the world of nature; for as long as man is captive to nature he is a ferocious animal. . . .”
THE true pleasure and happiness depend upon the spiritual perception and enjoyment. The powers of mind are the bounties of God given to man to lead him toward spiritual happiness.”
WHEN men are developed spiritually they obey God. . . The true believer is the one who follows the Manifestation of God in all things. . . . The Manifestation of God is a perfect example of real obedience. Like Him we must sacrifice everything, every plan, every longing and ideal must be given up completely to the Will of God. We must look to God for all we desire, all we attain. Real obedience and real sacrifice are identical—absolute readiness to follow and perform whatever you are called upon to do in the Cause of God. When you really love God you will be willing to sacrifice everything and submit yourself entirely to His Will. His Will is everything; His service paramount. . . . If each human creature had his own will and way, spiritual development would be impossible.”
Verily, the gift of guidance during this great century and this Age of Lights is greater than reigning over the earth and all that is therein."
STANWOOD COBB in his recent book, Security For A Failing World, devotes a chapter1 to the problems of modern youth in relation to the appeal of universal religion. In the midst of widespread moral collapse youth is turning to the security and hope extended by the Bahá’i Faith. Mr. Cobb writes:
“Into this great world-wide movement the youth of many countries, of many races, of many hereditary religions are throwing themselves with deep sincerity and with earnest endeavor. Here youth are finding again a solid foundation for life activity, a sure guide to conduct and to expression. Here they find motives higher than those of mere expediency The eternal quest of the soul for beauty, guidance, and truth again finds assurance in the spiritual principles of revealed religion.”2
WITH THIS particular statement
in mind, I recently approached eight
Bahá’i youths in an eastern city and
put to them the question—“Why
are you a Bahá’i? What is there in
the Bahá’i Faith that commands
your loyalty?” From each of the
eight I received a written reply.
These young people are not alike in temperament or interests. Three of them are high school students: one interested in art, a second interested in music, the third occupying the highest position of leadership
1 Chapter XV "Youth and the Modern World.” 2 "Security For a Failing World," p. 120. 3 Bahá’i Scriptures. page 300. 4 Ibid, p. 171. 5 Ibid p. 159.
in his school. One is a young man just starting in business. Three of them are college students, one holding several positions of honor in an eastern professional school. And the one college graduate of this number approached the Bahá’i Movement as an avowed agnostic.
These are modern youth—doing things, enjoying life, living creatively. What has the Bahá’i Faith done for them? Here is the answer:
“THE power of the Creative Word made me a Bahá’i and keeps me one. God And The Universe3 in the Baha’i Scriptures is the most wonderful explanation of life I have ever read. I could base my belief on that alone, but add also the Hidden Words4 and The Seven Valleys5 and it is overwhelming proof.”
“IT (the Bahá’i Revelation) teaches the abolition of all prejudices, and I feel that this accomplishment will help to bring about universal peace and understanding. Secondly, I believe that the economic laws brought forth by Bahá’u’lláh form the logical solution for the present-day economic situation.”
“I ACCEPTED the Bahá’i Faith because the books I read and the talks I heard convinced me that Bahá’u’lláh was a Manifestation of God.”
“MY BELIEF in the Bahá’i Cause has come about through the practicalness
which it teaches. The proof of its teachings by the use of science is, I believe, a drawing-card to many practical-minded persons. . . . Religions . . . must have proof of their ideas, in this era, in order to arouse and stimulate.”
“IT WASN’T the proofs and the prophecies that attracted me but the fact that it was permeated with truth and hope and good. It reached out and absorbed me.”
“IN THE Bahá’i Faith I found the reality and fulfillment of Christ’s mission. At one of the first meetings I attended I sensed very clearly the joy the disciples felt at that time in the upper room when ‘tongues of fire’ sat on their heads. All the romance, glory, chivalry that I ever dreamed of I have found permeating the Bahá’i Teachings. It [the Bahá’i religion] is the Light of the world.”
. . a peace of mind—a continual unfolding, like a flower. It grows richer and sweeter as a rose does the nearer you get to its heart. It is getting close to the heart of God. . . . A person becomes more sensitive of the spirit because it is a way of seeing the practical realization of truth.”
“WHEN I first heard of the Bahá’i Cause, I did not like it. It seemed to me that it was not right
and made many false claims. However, through close contact with the people who did believe in it, I grew to accept it. This much has been very gradual because I realized, after a while, that I knew it to be the truth and had no more doubt. NOW I am a believer because it has stood all tests and gives a deeper meaning to the religious and social aspects of life. I like the feeling that there is a new awakening which we are witnessing and that the causes for barriers between the peoples of the earth are dissolving for they never had real foundations.”
In such manner youth sets forth its confession of faith in Baha’u’lláh.
Here is our demonstration of the diversity of appeal in the Bahá’i Movement. Like a skillfully-cut gem, it has its social, economic, and spiritual facets. Being multi-sided itself, the Bahá’i Faith summons to its standard cosmopolitan people.
In future centuries, when the great structure of World Order has been established and developed, the genius-youth of a great world culture will hail the Bahá’i Youth of today as the forerunners of a spiritual race. In the adversity of world collapse the sinews of a new species of men and women are being formed. In the death-throes of man, the animal of greed and corruption—is born Man, the son of God.
“Contrast the dreadful convulsions, the internecine conflicts, the petty disputes, the outworn controversies, the interminable revolutions that agitate the masses, with the calm new light of Peace and Truth which envelops, guides and sustains those valiant inheritors of the law and love of Bahá’u’lláh.”
“Souls have appeared in the world who were pure and undefiled, who have directed their attention toward God, seeking the reward of God, attaining nearness to the Threshold of God, acceptable in the good pleasure of God. They have been the lights of guidance and stars of the Supreme Concourse. Consider these souls, shining like stars in the horizon of sanctity forevermore.”—‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
THERE has recently passed from this world in Tihrán, Persia, a man whose noble life and ancestral history give us occasion to pause and reflect upon the influence and widespread importance of the Bahá’i Cause in Persia and upon the many ties which bind Persia with America.
Dr. Arastu Khán Hakim belonged to the third generation of Bahá’is. His grandfather, Hakim Masih was court doctor to Muhammad Shah and the first Jewish Bahá’i. Hakim Masih’s life takes us back to the very early history of the Cause for he had learned something of the new faith when he was in Bagdad through Táhirih* herself, during the early davs of the Báb’s manifestation. From that time on he had searched for the source of her power. Later in Tihrán, when Moslem doctors refused, he had offered to visit the prison and treat a Bahá’i child. The father of the child was the famous Ismu’lláhu’l-Asdaq and in the course of these visits Hakim Masih became a Bahá’i and later achieved much fame in the Cause.
Dr. Arastu’s father Hakim Sulayman was likewise a Bahá’i and Dr. Arastu himself gradually increased his services in the Cause as he grew to manhood. Meanwhile he was carrying on the family tradition, as are his sons today, of practicing medicine. About 1897 he graduated from the American
* Well known in Bahá'i history by the name Qurratu’l-‘Ayn.
School in Tihrán and was working in the American hospital, where he already showed signs of that healing personality which later made him one of the foremost doctors in the capital. At this period knowledge of Bahá’u’lláh’s Cause often ended in a martyr’s death, and so we find him studying the Bahá’i teachings unobtrusively in out of the way houses in the back streets of Tihrán. Soon he began to teach on his own account.
Dr. Arastu’s brother, Aflatun, was also an ardent Bahá’i, much loved by ’Abdu’l-Bahá, Who wrote him many tablets. In 1900 Aflatun died and shorthly after this Arastu Khán went to Akká, where it was his privilege to remain with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá for one year. During the first days of his visit ‘Abdu’l-Bahá continually addressed him as “Aflatun”. This puzzled him considerably, until one night when he and Dr. Yunis Khan Afrukhtih were following ‘Abdn’l-Baha through the narrow crooked streets of the prison city, when ‘Abdu’l-Bahá again addressed him as “Aflatun” and said, “Do you know why I call you Aflatun? It is because I desire his truth and spirituality to reappear in you.”
DR. ARASTU developed rapidly in
Akká studying ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s way.
He worked With Dr. Yunis Khán
translating letters from the American
and other Western Bahá’is.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá had hoped to send him to America, but family concerns necessitated his return to Persia. Here he worked devotedly for the Cause, founding a weekly teaching meeting which continued till his death, and which according to his will is to be perpetuated. He received his medical diploma and became known throughout the capital as a physician most generous to the poor and as one gentle and considerate toward all.
During the very last year of his life his activities were linked with America again through his work of advising and assisting Mrs. Keith Ransom-Kehler1 who was at that time laboring devotedly to bring before the Persian government petitions to insure justice in every way to Bahá’is, especially in the matter of free circulation of Bahá’i literature. Right here in connection with Mrs. Ranson-Kehler’s association with Dr. Arastu we find a bit of romance mingling itself with the more serious duties of her service, for it was she who arranged for the betrothal of Dr. Arastu’s son, Dr. Qulam Husayn Khan and the sister-in-law of Rahmat Alá’i and officiated at the wedding which will long be remembered in Tihrán.
DR. ARASTU’s death made a deep
impression in Tihrán where he was
mourned alike by Bahá’is and non-Bahá’is.
A long procession of several
hundred people followed his
coffin up one of the main thoroughfares
of the capital mourning their
loss and honoring his life of loving
service and sacrifice. Engraved on
the stone which marks the resting
place of his body are the well chosen
1 An American Bahá'i who carried the Bahá’i Message throughout the world and labored extensively in Persia where she sacrificed her life.
--PHOTO--
Dr. Arastu Hakim
words from the Qur’an: “O well assured spirit, willing and blessed go thou back to thy Lord.”
PERSIA is full of such glorious
souls as this man who are professionally
and practically successful
in their careers yet deeply spiritual
and mystical in their complete devotion
to the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh,
willing to sacrifice everything, not
only career, but life itself in order
that world brotherhood should be
carried forward. All the rest of the
world of Bahá’i brotherhood know
that it is due to the faith and self-sacrificing
devotion of such Persians
that the Cause of Baha’u’lláh
grew to the point where it could become
a world message and a world
movement.
An article by Dr. George H. Ashley entitled, “Reclaiming the American Dream,” published in “The Torch" magazine for October 1934, seemed to the editors of the Bahá’i Magazine such an unusually discriminating treatment of the subject that, with the kind permission of the author of the article and of the editor of “The Torch”, we are presenting here a summary and discussion of this theme.
THE slow recovery from the depression in America and the long continued demands for relief are causing thoughtful people to analyze American life and culture in the search for deeper seated causes than banking and credit maladjustments or social and economic injustices commonly held responsible for periodic financial depressions. These people are realizing that our present plight is much more serious than an ordinary depression and that drastic efforts must be made for rescue.
So we find Dr. George H. Ashley in a recent article carefully scrutinizing American life and culture as it is today, pointing out its needs, lacks and mistakes and suggesting remedies. He sees America confused, not knowing which way to go because she has lost the dream of her forefathers, the dream which envisioned a country where justice, happiness, liberty and peace should reign. With the sage of old Dr. Ashley would warn us that “where there is no vision, the people perish”. In some ways America has been successful beyond any vision of her founders. She has grown rich and powerful, has abolished slavery, established free schools. But Dr. Ashley reminds us that we have not provided equal justice for all, nor equal opportunity, nor have we “prevented the unhealthy segregation of wealth and power”. “Many thoughful people”, he writes, “think we are drifting the
way of Egypt, Crete, Assyria, or ancient Greece and Rome—once glorious, now mouldering ruins. They point to the low moral tone of many high in business, banks, and government; of our art, literature and parts of society; to our highly organized and armed gangs of outlaws.”
WHEREIN lies the trouble, Dr.
Ashley asks. In answer he points
to the failure of those charged with
moral guidance to keep pace with
science, or in his own words,
“Science, creative power has outrun
culture, which gives control.”
Defining culture as a triangle of
knowledge, art and morals he accuses
those responsible for morals
as trying to fit an ethical code suitable
to the customs and achievements
of 2000 years ago into an age
dominated by entirely different theories
in our thinking and entirely
different tools and mechanisms in
our everyday life. Briefly the theory
that explains our universe is
evolution, and our aids in daily living
are machines and devices for
saving labor and giving speed undreamed
of 2000 years ago. Plain1y
a restatement of our ethical code
is necessary. In regard to this very
matter ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in an address
before an American audience in
1912 spoke these illuminating
words:
“From every standpoint the world of humanity is undergoing a re-formation. The laws of former
governments and civilizations are in the process of revision, scientific ideas and theories are developing and advancing to meet a new range of phenomena, invention and discovery are penetrating hitherto unknown fields revealing new wonders and hidden secrets of the material universe; industries have vastly wider scope and production; everywhere the world of mankind is in the throes of evolutionary activity indicating the passing of the old conditions and advent of the new age of re-formation. Old trees yield no fruitage; old ideas and methods are obsolete and worthless now. Old standards of ethics, moral codes and methods of living in the past will not suffice for the present age of advancement and progress.”
The question arises, does man of himself possess the vision to restate our ethical codes and the power to incorporate them into our community and family lives? Always in the past our ethical codes have grown out of our religious beliefs and our religious beliefs have centered in the teachings of a great Prophet or Revealer such as Christ. When a very great crisis in the world’s history takes place a new Revealer appears restating the great basic religious truths and adapting them to the needs of the times. This is what Bahá’u’lláh has already done for this time of need. His plan for a new World Order is gradually penetrating our western world. Those who make a careful study of Bahá’u’lláh’s plan find that it satisfies the scientific mind and the needs of a scientific age.
RETURNING to Dr. Ashley’s article
we find him stating his concept of man and his destiny in part as follows: “God is creating a universe by a process called evolution. . . . Man is a stage in the process, probably near the end. His part in the process is to respond to the urge of the God within him and to advance as far as he can toward realizing God through the discovery of truth, the recognition of beauty or perfection, and the use of truth to create or acquire beauty.”
Developing his thoughts still further Dr. Ashley says, “After all, this most modern idea of Man’s nature and destiny is only a restatement in modern language of the fundamental teachings of Jesus.” And then he suggests that the line of Hebrew prophets have been the growing point which, culminating in Jesus would bring forth a new race. “That race,” he writes, “which He (Jesus) called the Kingdom of God is not Christianity; though it has survived within Christianity . . .”
But along with this belief in the gradual spiritual evolution of man Dr. Ashley suggests some very practical steps which man may take toward the realization of the American dream, “to make a visible, real, enjoyable heaven, here and now.” He would have profit sharing in industry; a minimum and a maximum wage; a planned economy instead of the philosophy of laissez-faire; the recognition of labor as well as capital in the management of industry; the proper use of wealth to create “beauty or perfection of body and mind, of house and home, of our surroundings, of the world in general; an honest recognition of the fact that men differ in capacity and that while all should have an opportunity
to develop to their utmost yet that we should choose our best and wisest men to make our laws and rule over us. These are only a part of his suggestions.
BUT WHAT is the source, one almost involuntarily asks, of the inspiration necessary to develop the new race and to bring about the changes which will fulfill the American dream? How shall the divine urge in man be roused to action? How shall that lower selfish nature which seeks only his own material prosperity be replaced by the higher nature which seeks the prosperity and comfort of all? How shall all be made to believe that the standard of a truly successful life is “to leave the world a little more God-like than when he came into it”? It is evident that a higher power than dwells in unregenerate man is needed for this. In his closing paragraph Dr. Ashley expresses his hope and his faith that this higher power will not fail us. He says, “Evolution has been in progress a long time. It may be a long time
before our dreams of today come true. But surely, He that created the Milky Way, who has patiently guided life up the geologic ages, has the patience and power to complete the job. Some day our dream will come true.”
And surely no one who contemplates the unfolding of God’s marvellous plan through past ages will fail to agree with this statement. But do we need to stop here? Can we not have a more definite understanding of where we are in the evolutionary process and an assurance of a plan for a new social order so wise that all will be inspired to work for it?
In the Bahá’i teachings thousands have already found a divine plan for building not only a new America but a new World Order. More than that, they have complete assurance and abundant evidence that “He who has patiently guided life up through the geologic ages” is guiding us now; that there “is a formula for life” that conforms to scientific knowledge.
“This Bahá’i Cause is great and it was at great cost that Bahá’u’lláh strove to spread these principles in the world. During His life He was imprisoned, His property was pillaged. He was separated from His friends, and twenty thousand of His followers were martyred. They sacrificed their lives in the glorious cause of doing away with imitations and limitations, to this end—that unity might be established among the children of men.”
TO achieve some real understanding and control of the forces and processes operating in human societies is the next great task for science; and the applications of scientific discovery in this field will have as their goal what we may call the Socialized State. The religious impulse, itself one of the social forces to be more fully comprehended and controlled, will increasingly find its outlet in the promotion of the ideals of the Socialized State.
Exactly how all this will happen no one can say—whether the religious impulse will again crystallize into a definite religious system with its own organization, or will find its outlets within the bounds of other organizations. . . .
We can, however, on the basis of the past history of religion, make a further prophecy. We can be reasonably sure that the inner momentum of logic and moral feelings, combined with the outer momentum derived from increasing comprehension and control, will lead to an improvement in the expression of this socialized religion comparable to the progress of theistic religion from its crude beginnings to developed monotheism.
We can prophesy that in the long run the nationalistic element in socialized religion will be subordinated or adjusted to the internationalist: that the persecution of minorities will give place to toleration; that the subtler intellectual and moral virtues will find a place and will gradually oust the cruder from their present preeminence in the religiously-conceived social organism.
We can also assert with fair assurance that this process of improvement will be a slow one, and accompanied by much violence and suffering.
In the near future, the religious impulse will find its main effort in relation to the internal environment of the human species—social, economic, and psychological—for it is the forces of this internal environment that are now causing distress and bewilderment and are being felt as Destiny to be propitiated. Meanwhile science will find its main scope for new endeavor in this same field, since it is here that our ignorance and our lack of control are now most glaring.
There will again be a race between the effects of ignorance and those of knowledge; but with several new features. For one thing the growth of science in the new field will this time not lag by many centuries behind that of the new modes of religious expression; and for another, the facts concerning the religious impulse and its expression will themselves fall within the scope of the new scientific drive. The probable result will be that in the socialized state the relation between religion and science will gradually cease to be one of conflict and will become one of cooperation. Science will be called on to advise what expressions of the religious impulse are intellectually permissible and socially desirable, if that impulse is to be properly integrated with other human activities and harnessed to take its share in pulling the chariot of man’s destiny along the path of progress—Julian Huxley, Eminent British Scientist. The Modern Thinker.
Happy is he who penetrates the mysteries and who takes his share from the world of Light. The sun could shine a hundred thousand years and shower its heat upon a stone or hard piece of earth—they will not become luminous gems, a ruby or a pearl.”‘—Abdu’l-Bahá.
THE home to which I have before referred, where ‘Abdu’l-Bahá spent most of His time during His stay in New York, was the rendevous of all the friends, and at all times, day or night, there they could be found clustering like bees around the celestial flower garden. One beautiful spring day I dropped in there drawn by the same attraction. One cannot help making the attempt toward analyzing the reason for this attraction, futile though it may be. Would it be possible for the moth to determine why it hovers around the candle, even though its wings be singed? Or to determine why the cold earth of spring responds with beauty and abundance to the bounty of the sun? To man, however, is given intelligence denied to bee and soil. The minor knows why he toils for gold or precious stones. The diver knows why he braves the depths to seek the pearl. They bear in their minds the vision of the good things of life represented by the treasure they seek. The imagination of the lonely prospector is stirred by the dream of the vast fortune which his probing pick may at any moment uncover. The wealth of sea and mine and market-place represent to men power, leisure, freedom; and these they ardently desire. Yet here in this Man I saw personified such power, such leisure, such freedom as no material wealth ever confers upon its possessor. None of the
outward appurtenances of material wealth did He possess. All His life had been spent in prison and exile. He bore still upon His body the marks of man’s cruelty, yet He bore no signs of ever having been other than free, and evidently it was a freedom which no earthly wealth ever bestows. And He seemed never to be hurried. Amidst the rushing turmoil of New York He walked as calmly as if on a lofty plateau, far removed from the tumult and the shouting. Yet He never stood aloof. Always His interest in people and events was keen, especially in people. Souls was the term He always used. He was ever at the service of any or all who needed Him. From five o’clock in the morning frequently until long after midnight He was actively engaged in service, yet no evidence of haste or stress ever could be seen in Him. “Nothing is too much trouble when one loves,” He had been heard to say, “and there is always time.”
Is it any wonder that we were attracted? But for me the attraction was not enough. I was like the prospector drawn by visions of wealth to seek its fabulous source. Just a sip of that celestial wine had caused to spring up in my heart a passionate desire to seek the Holy Grail.
IT WAS mid-afternoon when I arrived
at the house, for I had purposely
timed my arrival so that it should not be at the luncheon hour, for hospitable as were the souls of these dedicated ones, and however flexible their dining table, I knew the size of their household and the great number of probably uninvited, but always welcome, guests. There were many bees. But I had not counted on the irregularity of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s meal times and now, at half-past three or four o’clock in the afternoon I heard, as I softly ascended the stairway, the unmistakable sounds of a large group busy in the dining room. The last thing I desired was to walk in upon such a gathering unexpectedly, so I very quietly crept through the upper hall and through the drawing room into a little alcove as far from the dining room as I could get. I am very sure that no one saw me. But I had no sooner picked up a magazine and settled myself to wait patiently until the meal should be over, than ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s ringing, challenging voice pealed like a bell through the large rooms. He called my name: “Mr. ———, Mr. ———. Kam, Kam.”* There could be no hesitation when He summoned, but as I rose and walked slowly back into the long dining room set T-shape to the drawing room, I was amazed, wondering how He could have known so surely and so quickly that I was there. There had been no opportunity for Him to have been told, and, anyhow I had let myself in at the unlocked door and, as I have said, no one had seen me ascend the stairs. Yet here I was evidently an expected, if not an invited guest. Even a place was there for me, at any rate I have no remembrance of
* Persian for come, come.
any of the usual fuss of “setting a place.” ‘Abdu’l-Bahá embraced me and set me at His right hand.
It is most difficult to describe at all adequately such an experience in such a Presence without becoming rhapsodical. There were perhaps thirty people at the table and such joyous exultation was on every face that the whole room seemed strangely vibrant. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá served me with His own hands most bountifully, urging: “Eat, eat, be happy.” He himself did not eat but paced regally around the table talking, smiling, serving. He told stories of the East, His hands gesturing with that graceful, rhythmic, upward inflection so characteristic and so indescribable. I had no desire for food, at least not for the food on my plate, but ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was insistent: “You must eat. Good food, good food.” And His laughter seemed to add a divine significance to the words. A phrase I had read somewhere in the writings came into my mind: “The cup of significances passed by the Hand of the Divine Servant.” What was this food served at the table of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá? Of course I must eat. And I did.
IT WAS not many days after that
that there occurred one of the most
poignantly remembered incidents.
Ever since I had first read a sentence
in the prayer for Inspiration
it had rung in my mind with insistent
questioning. “Prevent me
not from turning to the Horizon of
renunciation.” What has renunciation
to do with inspiration? I
wondered. Why should I pray for
the gift of renunciation? Renounce
the world? That was an ascetic
concept. It smacked of papacy and the monkish cell. What had this modern world to do with renunciation? Yet across the ages came a Voice. “If a man love father or mother, wife or child more than Me he is not worthy of Me.” My mind rebelled but my heart responded. I thank God for that. I resolved that I must know more of this matter.
So one cold spring day, a strong east wind blowing, I made a special journey to ask ‘Abdu’l-Bahá about renunciation. I found the house at Ninety-sixth street almost deserted. It seemed that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was spending a day or two at the home of one of the friends on Seventy-eighth street and so I walked there and found Him just on the point of returning to the home I had just left. But I was too intent on my mission to allow difficulties to interfere. I sought one of the Persian friends and, pointing to the passage in the little volume I carried in my pocket, I asked him if he would request ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to speak to me for a few moments on this subject, and I read it to him so that there should be no mistake: “Prevent me not from turning to the Horizon of renunciation.”
Returning, he handed me the book saying that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá requested that I walk with Him back to Ninety-sixth street and He would talk with me on the way.
I remember there was quite a little procession of us, a dozen or so, mostly composed of the Persian friends but a few others; Lua Getsinger was one, I remember. The east wind was penetrating and I buttoned my coat closely with a little
shiver. But ‘Abdu’l-Bahá strode along with his aba (coat) floating in the wind. He looked at me as we walked together at the head of the little group, a slightly quisical glance: “Mr. ——— is cold,” He said, and I unaccountably felt a little disturbed. Why should I not feel cold? Could one be expected to live even above the weather? But this slight remark was indicative. Always His slightest word affected me as a summons. “Come up higher,” He seemed to say.
As we walked a few paces ahead of the others He talked at length about Horizons. Of how the Sun of Reality, like the physical sun, rose at different points, the Sun of Moses at one point, the Sun of Jesus at another, the Sun of Muhammad, the Sun of Bahá’u’lláh at still others. But always the same Sun though the rising points varied greatly. Always we must look for the light of the Sun, He said, and not keep our eyes so firmly fixed on its last point of rising that we fail to see its glory when it rises in the spiritual spring-time. Once or twice He stopped and, with His stick, drew on the sidewalk an imaginary horizon and indicated the rising points of the sun.
I WAS greatly disappointed. I
had heard Him speak on this subject
and had read about it in
“Some Answered Questions.” It
was not of horizons I wanted to
hear, but of renunciation. And I
was depressed also because I felt
that He should have known my desire
for light on this subject, and
responded to my longing even if I
had not been so explicit in my request;
but I had been most explicit. As we approached our destination He became silent. My disappointment had long since merged into a great content. Was it not enough to be with Him? What, after all, could He tell me about renunciation that was not already in my own heart? Perhaps the way to learn about it was by doing, and I might begin by giving up the longing to have Him talk to me about it. Truly, as the outer silence deepened my heart burned within me as He talked with me on the way.
We came at last to the steps leading up to the entrance door. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá paused with one foot resting on the lower step while the little group slowly passed Him and entered the house. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá made as if to follow, but instead He turned and, looking down at me from the little elevation of the step He said, with that subtle meaning in eyes and voice which seemed to accompany His slightest word, and which to me was always so unfathomable and so alluring: “Mr. ———, always remember that this is a day of great things, very great things.”
I was speechless. It was not for me to answer. I did not have the faintest inkling of what lay behind the words, the resonant voice, that penetrating glance. Then He turned and again made as if to ascend but again He paused and turned His new luminous face towards me. My foot was raised to follow but as He turned I, of course, paused also and hung uncertainly between rest and motion.
“Mr. ———,” he said, so impressively, so earnestly, “Never forget this that I say to you. This is a day for very great things.”
* Head covering.
What could He mean? What deep significance lay behind these simple words? Why should He speak so to me? Had it anything to do with that still alluring thought of renunciation?
Again ‘Abdu’l-Bahá turned to ascend and I made to follow; but for the third time He paused and, turning, as it seemed to me, the full light of His spirit upon me, He said again, but this time in what seemed like a voice of thunder, with literally flashing eyes and emphatically raised hand:
“Mr. ———, remember what I say. This is a Day for very great things—very great things.” These last three words rang out like a trumpet call. The long, deserted city block seemed to echo them. I was overwhelmed. I. seemed to dwindle, almost to shrivel where I stood, as that beautifully dominant figure, that commanding and appealing voice, surrounded me like a sea, and blotted out for the moment, at least, all the petty world and my petty self with it. Who and what was I to be summoned to accomplish great things, very great things? I did not even know what things were great in this world awry with misbegotten emphases.
After what seemed a very long moment, in which His burning eyes probed my soul, He gently smiled. The great moment had passed. He was again the courteous, kindly, humble host, the Father whom I thought I knew. He touched His tarboosh* so that it stood at what I called the humorous angle, and a slightly quizzical smile was around His mouth as He rapidly ascended the steps and entered the open door.
I followed closely. We passed through the few steps of the hall to the stairs. I remember the wondering, slightly envious glances that followed me as I followed ‘Abdu’l-Bahá up the stairs. The upper hall was empty and ‘Abdu’l-Baha swept through and up another flight to His room, a large front room on the fourth floor. And still I followed. I have often marvelled since at my temerity. Had I known more or felt less I never should have dared. But how glad I am that I did dare. It is said that fools rush in where angels fear to tread. Perhaps that is the way that fools are cured of their folly.
We came to the door of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s room. He had not invited me there nor had He looked once behind Him to see that I was following, and it was with much inward trepidation that I paused at the threshold as He entered the room. Would He be displeased? Had I overstepped the bounds of the respect due ‘Abdu’l-Bahá? Had I been lacking in due humility? But that my heart was humility itself—He must know that. He swung the door wide and turning beckoned me in. “Kam,” He said.
AGAIN I was alone with Abdu’l-Bahá.
There was the bed in
which He slept, the chair in which
He sat. The late afternoon sunlight
lay palely across the floor, but
I saw nothing. I was conscious
only of Him and that I was alone
with Him. The room was very
still. No sound came from the
street nor from the lower rooms,
and the silence deepened as He regarded
me with that loving, all-embracing,
all-understanding look
which always melted my heart. A deep content and happiness flooded my being. A little flame seemed lit within my breast. And then ‘Abdu’l-Bahá spoke:
“Are you interested in renunciation?”
Nothing could have been more unexpected. I had entirely forgotten the question which had so engrossed my thoughts an hour since. Or was it that in that hour during which the word renunciation had not been mentioned, all that I wished or needed to know about it had been vouchsafed me? I had no words to answer His question. Was I interested? I could not say I was and I would not say I wasn’t. I stood before Him silent while His whole Being seemed to reach out to embrace me. Then His arms were around me and He led me to the door. I left His Presence with my soul treading the heights. I felt as though I had been admitted, for the moment at least, into the ranks of the martyrs. And it was a goodly fellowship indeed. During all the long years of renunciation that followed, the memory of that walk with Him; my disappointment that He had not understood; His ringing challenge: “This is a Day for very great things;” my following Him up those long stairs without even knowing whether He wished me to or not, and then the question wrapped in that sublime love: “Are you interested in renunciation?” has risen before me, a comforting and inspiring challenge. Indeed I was interested and my interest has never flagged from that day to this. But I never dreamed that renunciation could be so glorious.
“By the Power of the Holy Spirit alone is man able to progress, for the power of man is limited, and Divine Power is boundless. The reading of history brings us to the conclusion that all truly great men, the benefactors of the human race, those who have moved men to love the right and hate the wrong and who have caused real progress,—all these have been inspired by the force of the Holy Spirit. . . . We understand that the Holy Spirit is the energizing factor in the life of man.”
THE trend of human comprehension might be likened to a muddy, turbulent river flowing from its source in the uplands of antiquity to the fertile plains of our time. For various distances it moves swiftly and unimpeded. It clashes itself against obstructing rocks in midstream and again spreads out into the complacency of pools through which the motion is slow and leisurely.
Upon closer inspection of these murky waters there might be traced a rivulet within the turgid mother stream, a little ribbon of clear water, which for some reason, like the Gulf Stream, retains its clearness and identity, separate and aloof, winding in and out in unbroken continuity as a white thread in an otherwise dark fabric.
This clear rivulet might be likened to human appreciation of some basic, fundamental phase of truth, some profound and significant fact—which from the time of its discovery or recognition impresses its validity on human consciousness with a dynamic potency, eventually causing discerning ones to incorporate its benevolent influences into the pattern of life.
IN THE light of Shoghi Effendi’s*
many recent references to energy
and forces and the possibilities of
their effective release in the spheres
of human endeavor, the subject of
* Guardian of the Bahá'i Cause.
the Power of the Holy Spirit is of intense interest to every sincere individual at all concerned with today’s events and the future welfare of mankind.
Several hundred years before the beginning of the Christian era, thoughts were contributed to a clear little rivulet of ideas concerning spiritual forces. For example—
“The power of spiritual forces in the Universe—how active it is everywhere. Invisible to the eves and impalpable to the sense it is inherent in all things, and nothing can escape its operation. Like the rush of mighty waters, the presence of the unseen powers is felt, sometimes above us, sometimes around us.” (Confucius)
Many, many years later, from a land far distant from China, from a man not so much concerned with philosophy and ethics as with the dawning of scientific knowledge, from one of the early laboratories another representative thought comes echoing down the canyons of time.
“I do not know what I may appear to the world: but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy, playing on the seashore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.”
And then the resounding utterance
of Bahá’u’lláh, the Manifestation of God for this age:
“Oneness, in its true significance, means that God alone should be realized as the one power which animates and dominates all things, which are but manifestations of it’s energy.” (Words of Wisdom.)
SINCE EVEN before the time when
the ethical-philosopher saw the
“power of spiritual forces” “like
the rush of mighty waters” until
the present, has not humanity been
diverting itself “in now and then
finding a smoother pebble or a prettier
shell than ordinary, whilst the
great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered . . . ?”
Sometimes these pebbles and shells have been political expedients; sometimes they have been social reforms; again they have been scientific discoveries or cultural advantages. Sometimes they have been masterpieces of art or craftsmanship, or they have been commercial accomplishments. Infrequently and rarely have they been the unfoldment of spiritual verities into kinetic, spiritual energy resulting in effective universal action.
These pebbles and shells which were found, beautiful and useful though they may have been, were limited in their effect because of the relative isolation and mutual inaccessibility of peoples and nations. NOW, however, facile interchange of thought and experience can be a matter of minutes over wide areas. They also may have lacked the power of the direct creative Words of God and were relatively impotent in causing universal progress in the appreciation of the Power of the Holy Spirit.
Is it not time that the significance of the “one Power” and the tremendous possibilities of making it effective in life be realized more fully?
Think for a moment of a mighty mass of water, impounded behind a huge dam. It has potential energy—energy by virtue of its position. But the mass of water does not do any useful work for man until it is caused to flow—to move. (Except as it evaporates in the great thermodynamic cyclic engine of nature.) Then it may turn great turbines transforming its potential energy into the kinetic energy of motion and finally into electricity.
Our intellectual conception of physical energy is “the capacity to do work”—presupposing motion for work is “force times distance.”
There is a great “ocean of truth”, a great reservoir of spiritual energy in the universe but as far as man is concerned it is potential in a sense, like the water behind the dam. When man provides channels through which this spiritual energy may flow it becomes effective in the human realms—but man must elect to provide these channels. He has been given that choice which involves duty, responsibility and obligation.
IN NATURE God has provided ways
for the spiritual powers to function—growth—life,
the wonderful manifestations
of heat, light, electricity
and that mysterious chlorophyl.
Man has learned how to control physical energy so that it serves him well. It obeys certain laws in which exact mathematical relationships occur. However these no longer trouble him in the constant
and continued use of energy in all its many forms and applications, Mathematical permissions and prohibitions are taken as matters of course, as a part of the method and technique.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá once said that “spiritual laws are as exact as those of mathematics.”* This is a profound statement—one which merits the closest attention.
Perhaps the failure to make the Power of the Holy Spirit more effective in life can be attributed, among other things, to at least three omissions.
1. Not having realized that the Power exists.
2. Not having provided requisite channels for its functioning through man.
3. Not having been sufficiently exact in either the method or technique of using it, or rather of permitting it to use us.
As to the first point, all of the great Teachers and religions bear adequate witness to its existence and to its unlimited possibilities, not only by spoken and written words but by the confirmation of deeds and actions. Man has but to seek sincerely to acquire knowledge of this. It has left its imprint on life for all to read.
As to the second omission, all of the great revelations past have given implicit instructions as to how men may become the necessary channels—in the aggregate one of great volume. The import of these directions may be realized but realization must result in action—in action according to the exact spiritual laws in order that positive results may accrue.
* Table Talks of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 1906.
Is it not, however, the third omission which is most in need of rectification now? Is it not a matter of “instant, exact, and complete obedience?” If we wish to solve a methematical problem we obey absolutely certain admonitions and injunctions. Transgress these and the answer cannot be trusted. When we use physical energy we apply known laws of procedure to the letter. Transgress these and either no result or a troublesome one ensues.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá said—“This is a new cycle in human power.” Human power is but a derivation of the Power of the Holy Spirit and is dependent upon it. Are we making the most of this great bounty of God?
There are many evidences of the extension of human control over physical energy—of pushing the frontiers of knowledge to greater astronomical areas and to smaller and smaller atomic ones.
There is no more important task before us today than that of making ourselves channels for the Power of the Holy Spirit. It is basic, fundamental—imperative. Especially imperative is it to youth, which faces a future either dark or luminous depending upon whether we voluntarily become effective instruments of the “one Power.”
THERE IS a very important difference
between trying to use the
spiritual power for our own ends
and in voluntarily surrendering to
the great sweep of this power, and
letting it use us. It is the difference
between acquisition and giving,
though we will be acquiring
the greatest of blessings. It is the
difference between a life of service to others and a life dedicated to trying to obtain and hold temporal advantages.
The conquest of the control of physical energy has been dramatic and romantic. The conquest of the control of self as a channel for spiritual energy must be glorious and inspiring.
There are whole libraries of instructions as to how to achieve this in the Teachings of Bahá’u’lláh and explanations of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Perhaps it is not such an intricate procedure as might be imagined. “Thou art but one step away from the glorious heights above and from the celestial tree of love. Take thou one pace and with the next advance into the immortal realm and enter the pavilion of eternity. Give ear then to that which hath been revealed by the pen of glory.”*
When man started to investigate the power of physical forces he had little if any previous knowledge to guide him. So while the task relative to the Power of the Holy Spirit may be exceedingly more difficult, guidance has been vouchsafed through the Bounty of God. Knowledge of former dispensations and experience plus the living, effective, dynamic urge and confirmation of the words from the Supreme Pen are ours today.
Are we not here for the purpose of being willing instruments of the Holy Spirit in the transcendently glorious work of carrying out God’s Divine Plan for this day and age?
It is at once a great obligation and privilege to become a channel according to capacity. To do this is but to apply the given spiritual laws—exactly and exactingly.
* Bahá’u'lláh, Hidden Words (from the Persian) verse 7.
The laws have been formulated and disclosed in so far as we are capable of comprehending them, which is sufficient for great progress. The method and technique of applying them to life has been not only explained but demonstrated in the life of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
It remains for individuals to apply them to life. The effect will then work outwardly from the hearts to the world of human relationships and affairs.
TO THE pragmatic question—“but
will it work?” the answer is—it is
of the very nature of energy “to
work.” If this be true of what we
know as physical energy how much
more is it true of spiritual energy?
We see manifestations of energy working on every hand in the world of nature—spiritual energy. We cannot actually see it working for it is invisible and intangible just as is the physical energy we use in so many ways without thinking it unduly strange.
That energy will work, once the proper channel is provided, is assured. There is “one power” which “animates and dominates all things”—that also is assured.
There is no more crying need in the world today than for the relief of insistent yearning in human hearts to be effective, to be able to cope with contingencies, to be happy, to hope, to be assured, to be really spiritual.
When man cries out for assistance and guidance with an intensity of the order of that which would be voiced when physically drowning—man will approach the requisite sincerity, severance and faith. But it is not sufficient to
make one impulsive clutch for assistance. The effort must be sustained and continuous if results are likewise to be sustained and continuous.
We must strive with “ceaseless, tireless energy” for the reward is priceless beyond compare and merits as well as requires the greatest effort ever put forth.
- “Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,
- And the man that getteth understanding.
- For the gaining of it is better than the
- gaining of silver,
- And the profit thereof than fine gold.
- She is more precious than rubies,
- And none of the things thou canst desire
- are to be compared unto her.” Proverbs
- 3-13.
CONSIDER a length of pipe. If placed across a flowing stream it acts but as an obstruction while if it be placed with the stream the water flows freely through it—the amount depending upon the size of the pipe. Is there not a worthy
* Divine Philosophy. p. 122 old edition.
suggestion in this simple, homely example?
A flute is mute until some player uses it as a channel to form musical tones.
The diversion of finding extraordinarily pretty shells and smoother pebbles is an entirely inadequate gesture commendable though it be.
“Instant, exact and complete obedience” to the spiritual laws as given by Bahá’u’lláh, here and now, will bring that necessary consciousness of “the one power which animates and dominates all things”—it will bring it “like the rush of mighty waters”—an ever present, potent, dynamic event which renders life effective.
May ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s desire for us be quickly realized, for He said:
“I desire for you that ideal power, so that you may come into the stream of uninterrupted motion and never cease progressing.”*
IT IS not with a spirit of great hope that one lays down Professor Reinhold Niebuhr’s recent book, Reflections on the End of an Era* We believe, however, that the author is not an undue pessimist, but rather that he himself is facing facts and that he would stir others to the same duty. In his own words, he hopes that his book will “help a little to shake the easy
* Siribners New York.
faith by which modern liberalism lives and through which the actual and tragic facts of contemporary history are obscured.”
The aim of the present writer is not to give a critical review of the book but to gather up some of the most obvious of its arguments and conclusions and to add to these certain further reflections which come naturally to one who has made a
study of the Bahá’i writings and of the remedy which Bahá’u’lláh offers for the sick world.
IT IS the era of capitalism which
Professor Niebuhr sees now drawing
to a close. Already after a
short but very virile life, he states,
it is in its senility and past revival.
The problem which the author
would force upon his readers is the
need of definitely working to build
the new social order and of finding
adequate guidance for this great
task. Catastrophic events are already
overwhelming the world and
he foresees decades of bitter class
struggle and national warfare unless
social justice is speedily established.
The theories upon which the industrial age was built insured from its beginning, Dr. Niebuhr points out, a short life and tragic death, for in it there is the lack of any organic relation between the classes. In the much longer era of feudalism, for example, however gross its injustices, there was a personal relation between master and serf, a “sense of noblesse oblige on the one side and loyalty and obedience on the other” wholly lacking in the industrial era. The modern captain of industry, except in a few enlightened cases, feels no responsibility for the welfare and protection of the worker nor does the worker feel any loyalty towards his employers. Hence, “industrial society had the seed of its destruction, class antagonism, in it from the very beginning.”
THE PICTURE of a sick world
which the author draws is not reassuring.
The nature of the sickness
is such that a violent death seems inevitable. Civilizations “must die a sanguinary death.” Every social system is “bound to make one final and ruthless effort” to live by an attempt to destroy all opposition. “The sickness from which our modern civilization suffers is organic and constitutional,” he declares, “due to the very character of the social system.” Our social system is like a “man of robust frame who ignores the disease from which he suffers for months before he finally admits its existence.” Even then he is unwilling to submit to the treatment of competent physicians. In the fascism which, Professor Niebuhr believes, threatens most capitalistic nations, he sees the wild delirium which precedes death, a “desperate venture of power” before the final collapse. And furthermore the “net effect of fascism” is to “guarantee that the end of capitalism will be bloody rather than peaceful.”
It is the easy-going culture of the nineteenth century which has allowed disease to creep upon society unawares. This culture, based on rationalism and liberalism, optimistically believed that somehow the life relations between classes and between nations would easily adjust themselves. Even the academic wise men failed to see until too late that the need for raw materials, for example, and larger and larger markets would force industrial nations into demands for imperialistic control of new lands with the resulting conflicts of nations; or that the struggle between classes instead of being easily adjusted because of mutuality of interests would become more and
more intense. Misguided self-interest and fear of loss of power has prevented those in power from even seeing that there is a mutuality of interest. In fact the weakness of liberalism is its “erroneous estimate of human nature.”
So the author sees this industrial age, “an age of liberalism, rationalism and optimism . . . ushered to its close by a world war more terrible than any previous conflict.” Moreover he sees “another world war practically inevitable.” “But it is not at all certain when it will come.” The class struggle may go on for decades, especially in America. In the end, however, the workers must prevail, he believes.
No organization or no force in sight is adequate to guide struggling humanity to a better social order is Dr. Niebuhr’s opinion. Rationalism cannot be depended upon, for reason is helpless to restrain impulse, especially the impulse of the group. Communism, while demanding justice for one class, reeks vengeance on another and takes too little account of the individual. And “the creed of individualism may lead to the enslavement of the individual . . . because it discourages adequate social checks” and so cannot be depended upon for deep-seated reform.
WHERE THEN does Dr. Niebuhr
look with any hope for a way out?
Both an adequate political program
and the impelling, balancing and
sustaining force of high religion
are necessary. The political program
which he believes modern
society is moving towards is collectivistic
but “this does not mean
that all property will be as rigorously
collectivized as in Russia, nor that socialization will solve all political and social problems.” A radical spirit is necessary to bring about political reform, “yet the radical cannot build society unaided.” The liberal spirit is also a “needed resource in building and preserving a community.” Its contributions are “tolerance, goodwill and rational sympathy,” things always needed both in building and preserving harmony between social groups. But however necessary the liberal spirit, it too proves insufficient. “Liberalism can tame life only if it is fairly tame to begin with.” “The liberal soul produces neither warriors nor saints, heroes nor rebels, and it is ill at ease when confronted with their fury and their passion. To meet such situations religion must come to the aid. “An adequate view of human nature which does justice both to the heights and depths of human life and which sees the moral ideal in purest terms and judges historic realities in the light of the ideal is possible only to religion.”
Neither in orthodox religion as practiced today nor in liberal theology does Professor Niebuhr find the impelling religious force necessary to meet impending and present crises. His hope is that the human spirit will in time find its way back to the profound religious convictions that in time past have Furnished guidance.
IT IS just here that the point of
divergence comes between those
who are following paths of orthodox
or liberal religion or of political
radicalism or both and those
who have been fortunate enough to
come into full knowledge of Bahá’u’lláh and the guidance He has provided for building the new world order. There is no doubt that we are at the end of an era, that the present social order is in a state of disruption and that inspired guidance is needed to establish a new social order. It was over sixty years ago that Bahá’u’lláh wrote His Letters to the Kings. He saw even then that this was a sick world and that only a fundamental unity such as would wipe out all prejudice and dissension between races, nations, religions and classes could bring about peace and economic justice and s0 happiness for all the people. The message of Bahá’u’lláh is indeed to all the world. He established a world religion based on the solid foundation of the Unity of God and the Oneness of Mankind. The Bahá’i Faith cannot be dismissed as a cult or a reform movement within a single religion. A few outstanding facts will aid in understanding this.
A large view of history enables us to see that the great civilizations of the world have arisen after the advent of a great prophet or teacher so divinely inspired as to be able to found a living, dynamic, spreading religion. For example, the civilization of the western world followed the spread of Christianity and the glorious but more short-lived Arabian civilization followed in the wake of Muhammad’s teaching. The student of recent Persian history is familiar with the heart-stirring and tragic yet glorious story of the Báb, the inaugurator
1 Quoted in “Bahá’i Word”. Vol. IV, p. 222. 2 Shoghi Effendi, “The Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh", p. 52. 3 Words of the Báb, Ibid, p. 54.
of the Bahá’i Cause, and many have asked with Dr. Carpenter, “has Persia, in the midst of her miseries, given birth to a religion which will go round the world?”1 Subsequent events answer “yes” and give abundant evidence that a world religion has been established and the foundation of a new civilization laid.
IT IS now ninety years since the
Báb—radiant, inspired youth—declared
His mission and the New
Age. In these ninety years uncounted
heroes have given their
lives for the love of God and to
establish His message of hope for
the world today, while others have
traveled far and wide to spread it.
The heroic period has come to a
close. The message of Bahá’u’lláh
has been carried to every continent
and firmly established in many
countries.
The religion which Bahá’u’lláh established is founded on the eternal law of love and fully meets the needs of the world today. In His world order, sane and practical, provision is made for the establishment of the international machinery to insure world peace and for the enactment of such economic and social regulations as will provide justice and comfort for all.
In the Bahá’i Administrative Order which is slowly evolving in these countries is found the “very pattern of the New World Order destined to embrace in the fullness of time the whole of mankind.”2 “Well is it with him who fixeth his gaze upon the Order of Bahá’u’lláh and rendereth thanks unto his Lord!”3
well. The people of America are turning as never before to those permanent values that are not limited to the physical objectives of life. There are growing signs of this on every hand.”
“ONLY by cooperation and conciliation on the basis of justice and right to all, only by the rule of reason and never by the arbitrament of force, can the peace of the Pacific be successfully preserved.” —Dr. V. K. Wellington Koo, Chinese Minister to France, at the Celebration of Balboa Day. The Shanghai Times.
“RELIGION is concerned with the meaning of life. It is also concerned with the development of life, its upliftment and enrichment. Indisputably one of the great services of religion is to help men see with the eyes of God, to see, that is, what really matters, has enduring worth, is able to provide enduring satisfactions. . . . A British observer has remarked, whereas in England a man goes to the university to develop himself, in America he goes to distinguish himself. Yes, but seeking to distinguish himself he may fail to develop himself; and if he fails to develop himself he will achieve no permanent distinction. . . . In depriving yourself of the disciplines of religion, its moral and spiritual insights, its noble inspirations and restraints you are gravely imperiling whatever chance you may have for real and enduring distinction in years to come.”—Dr. Ernest Fremont Tittle. Northwestern University Alumni News.
OFTEN, on a winter’s night, when the sky is sparkling, I have gone out and looked hour after hour at the great double stars, blue and yellow, orange and purple; the clustering brilliant constellations, blazing like a crown of diamonds in the sky.—and have at last felt almost as if I had left this little planet and was roaming through the infinite universe of God.
But what are all these compared to the soul of man?—to the majestic intellect which can mete out the heavens with a span, and comprehend the dust of the earth in a measure, and weigh the mountains in scales.
What is the glory of the midnight heavens to that of a spirit which rises to achieve truth?—James Freeman Clarke.
“MAYBE in some mountain chalet, sitting about a roaring fire of nine logs, brown, yellow and white women will meet in friendly gathering for an international conference (in Canada). . . . Without will brood the deep quiet of mountain vastnesses. Within a peace of spirit—one built upon international understanding and the deep conviction that there can be no world prosperity or happiness until there is a lasting friendship between all countries and all peoples.”—Mrs. E. Bailey Price, a Canadian delegate to the Pan Pacific Women’s
Conference in Honolulu. Mid-Pacific Magazine.
SCIENTIFIC conquests are only a part of knowledge and growth, helping man to control the forces he used to think were pressing him down and making him a fatalist.
We cannot overdo the development of the understanding of nature and how she works. Beliefs will continue shifting, but religion is not merely that. It is a big force in human society, working to diminish human grief. It is the expression of ideals and desires that develop people.
There is no such thing as “The Supernatural,” for we have been calling everything which we did not understand “The Supernatural.” This universe is not of our making. The development of science shows a universe of orderliness, not a chance thing. Who did it? That question inspires our reverence. You can use the word “God” if you want to describe what is behind it. You do not have to mean an anthropomorphic individual, or a capricious, manlike person.—Robert Millikan, Nobel Prize Winner for Science.
“WE MUST insist on teachers who are more interested in refining the minds and souls of their students than in turning out hordes of graduates with minds filled but not trained to think. Yes, it is equally important to teach people how to live as it is to teach them how to make a living. We need people of the best personalities and highest ideals in our school rooms, persons as much interested in instilling sacred principles as they are in filling minds with current events.”—Daniel
C. Roper, Secretary of Commerce in an address broadcast from Washington, D. C.
“THE GROUPINGS of mankind—whether in nations, states, cities, communities or families—are today interrelated and interwoven in a complex pattern that would have seemed incredible a hundred years ago. This is what our machine civilization has done to us. It has reached out with gigantic hands to compress time and space within a small compass, and the process has brought into existence new procedures and institutions and a new principle of human integration.
“For better or for worse here we are—with our machines piled high about us, our airplanes, telegraphs, automobiles, railroads and high-speed productive processes. These new tools involve a new method of living. They have introduced us to our neighbors with whom we must live as best we can. They have broadened our contacts so that our interest and curiosity now range far beyond the parochial limitations of our forefathers. Not only in relation to our physical needs but in relation to our mental needs does this new interrelated civilization play a vital part. Spiritually we cannot go back to the water-tight divisions, to the narrow loyalties, to the little sectarianisms that characterized the old way of life. A new and wider trail has been blazed; and while there will undoubtedly be an occasional loss of direction, as there is at the present moment, the trend toward a world economy and a planetary consciousness is too definitely under way to be permanently reversed.”-Raymond B. Fosdick, 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.
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[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."
