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Vol. IV
Chicago, December 31, 1913
No. 16
| PAGE | |
"It is New Year"—By Abdul-Baha | 266 |
"Let the New Follow the New!"—By Charles Mason Remey | 267 |
The Mashrak-el-Azkar in America: Funds in hand to meet remaining indebtedness on site—"The Modern Social Religion" | 272 |
A Word Picture of the "Old" World—By Abdul-Baha | 273 |
Persian Section | 275-280 |
O ye children of the Kingdom!*
It is New Year; that is to say, the rounding of the cycle of the year. A year is the expression of a cycle (of the sun); but now is the beginning of a cycle of Reality, a New Cycle, a New Age, a New Century, a New Time and a New Year. Therefore, it is very blessed.
I wish this blessing to appear and become manifest in the faces and characteristics of the believers, so that they, too, may become a new people, and having found new life and been baptized with fire and spirit, may make the world a new world, to the end that the old earth may disappear and the new earth appear; old ideas depart and new thoughts come; old garments be cast aside and new garments put on; ancient politics whose foundation is war, be discarded and modem politics founded on peace, raise the standard of victory; the new star shine and gleam and the new sun illumine and radiate; new flowers bloom; the new spring become known; the new breeze blow; the new bounty descend; the New Tree give forth new fruit; the new voice become raised and this new sound reach the ears, that the new will follow the new, and all the old furnishings and adornments be cast aside and new decorations put in their places.
I desire for you all that you will have this great assistance and partake of this great bounty, and that in spirit and heart you will strive and endeavor until the world of war become the world of peace; the world of darkness the world of light; satanic conduct be turned into heavenly behavior; the ruined places become built up; the sword be turned into the olive branch; the flash of hatred become the flame of the love of God and the noise of the gun the voice of the Kingdom; the soldiers of death the soldiers of life; all the nations of the world one nation; all races as one race; all national anthems harmonized into one melody.
Then this material realm will be Paradise, the earth Heaven, and the world of satan become the world of angels.
—ABDUL BAHA ABBAS.
*Revealed for the American Bahais, who, in 62 (1906), had sent Abdul-Baha a Naurooz (New Year's) greeting.[Page 267]
"We desire but the good of the world and the happiness of the nations; that all nations shall become one in faith and all men as brothers; that the bonds of affection and unity between the sons of men shall be strengthened; that diversity of religion shall cease and differences of race be annulled. So it shall be; these fruitless strifes, these ruinous wars shall pass away, and the 'Most Great Peace' shall come."—BAHA'O'LLAH.
| Vol. IV | No. 16 |
A presentation of "The Covenant of God" as the only Source of Divine Knowledge to mankind, and the necessity of turning to the "Point" of its Manifestation in this "New Day."
By CHARLES MASON REMEY.IN CONTACTING with the Bahais in various parts of the country, one realizes that there is a point which the friends must understand thoroughly themselves before they can really teach the Cause, confirm others in the faith and bring them to the realization of the New Covenant, and its Center who is now upon earth in the person of Abdul-Baha. This point is: that the Bahai Cause is The Covenant of God, not merely one of many phases of Universal Truth (as some say), but that The Covenant of ABHA is The Truth—the only Living Truth today!
Another point is regarding the "Oneness and the Singleness" of God. For years our teachers have been proclaiming and explaining that part of the teaching concerning the Oneness of God's Revelation to mankind and with evident and good results, too, for it attracts souls and confirms them in the truth of their own past religion, whichever it may be. The truth of the Divine inspiration of each and all of the Holy Messengers, the founders of the world's religions, is most acceptable to the minds of men, for through the light of the teachings of BAHA'O'LLAH people are now seeing all of the Divine Revelations of the past to be as parts in the foundation of the one great spiritual whole, the completed structure which they now find realized in this, the latest and greatest of God's Revelations to the world—the Bahai Revelation.
When one sees the foundation of a house being laid, the functions of its various parts are not apparent; but when the superstructure is completed and one sees the entire building as designed by the architect, then he understands that each part of the foundation has a relation with every other part of the edifice, each being an organic, or necessary, part of the whole. So it is with religion. One can only understand the Revelations of the past, and their relation one with another, as he comes into the knowledge of The Bahai Revelation, for in the Bahai Cause all past religions are explained and completed. One sees that all Revelations come from one source—which is "The Word of God"; all are parts of the One Great Cause of God, established down through the ages in the hearts of men, the present-day Bahai Revelation being the completion of the plan of the Great Divine Architect, for the Spiritual Unity, quickening and solidarity of all religions—the Kingdom of God upon earth.
Thus, briefly, do we understand the Oneness of God's Truth.
Now there is the second part of the teaching in question, namely: The Singleness of God. This phase we are now realizing and understanding to a greater degree than ever before, through the spiritual awakening caused by the presence in our midst of The Center of The Covenant, Abdul-Baha, during his recent travels in America.
We understand that the Manifestation of the "Word of God" to the world (through which, and through which only, man becomes spiritually quickened and knows God) is One Spirit and is ever single in its manifestations to humanity. That is to say: That the one "Word of God"—which is not a creation of God, but an emanation from His Infinitude—manifests successively and singly through the various chosen prophets or Divine Mouthpieces sent to the people of the world.
Thus the "Word of God" in its Singleness manifested through Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Mohammed, the Bab—the "first point" of the new cycle—and BAHA'O'LLAH.
And now the fruit and the Power of the
Spirit of the Word of God, as revealed in[Page 268]
BAHA'O'LLAH is manifest to all the world
through the life of servitude to humanity of
The Center of The Covenant—he who calls
himself Abdul-Baha. Abdul-Baha is The Center
from which the spiritual effulgence (which
appeared in these "latter days" in the blessed
person of BAHA'O'LLAH) is now being reflected
to the world. Abdul-Baha's word is The
Truth; his teaching differentiates between error
and Truth. He is the Unique Center of guidance
and illumination for all mankind.*
By virtue of The Singleness of God, "the Word" is manifest through but one chosen individual at a time. As the phenomenal sun in the heavens is but one sun, though it appears each day at a different point upon the horizon, so is the Sun of Truth—which is "The Word of God"—one and the same throughout all time, notwithstanding that its points of appearance are successively many. The foundation and the Cause of God in the world today is this same Spiritual Sun shining in its Singleness, its rays going forth to the people of the whole earth from a new point, and this point is the revelation of God's New Covenant upon earth.
Although the phenomenal sun has shone throughout the ages of the past, yet in order that we may be warmed and lighted by its rays, we must turn to it in its position in the heavens of today. It shone in the past for the world of the past. It shines today for the people of today! If the people of today refuse the sun's light and energy, shutting themselves off from its light, saying that the light and energy given off from the sun in seasons past is all they desire, they would be in manifest physical loss. They would die! In like manner are those in manifest spiritual loss who cling to "the letter" and to the memories of the light of the spiritual days of the past and who refuse to recognize "The Word of God" manifest in this day; for as it was in ages past, so it is in this day, the Divine manifestation of The Day is the unique source of spiritual life in the world. Therefore, it is evident
*NOTE—It should not be construed from this paragraph and other statements in this article that Abdul-Baha is understood to be a manifestation of the Word of God, independent of the Revelation of BAHA'O'LLAH. The cycle of BAHA'O'LLAH extends for one thousand or thousands of years from 1844 A. D.; but it is unique in that the "Most Great Characteristic" of the New Covenant is the appointing of a Center, which now is in the person of Abdul-Baha, and after him shall be vested in the Universal House of Justice for a period of one thousand or thousands of years. (See page 238, issue No. 14, Vol. IV, STAR OF THE WEST.)—The Editors.
that the Manifestation of this day is the only source of spiritual life for this day and dispensation, which is that of God's Kingdom upon earth.
The physical world receives from the physical sun each day sufficient physical force and energy to sustain it until the coming of the next day, when a fresh supply is given. In like manner, the outpouring of Divine energy, force and life proceeds from the Sun of "The Word of God." With each Manifestation a supply of spiritual energy and force is given sufficient for the needs of that day, or dispensation. Then with the completion of that epoch and the advent of a new day of revelation, the former revelations are found to have become exhausted and are insufficient for the needs of the people, for if the people do not turn to the light of the new Manifestation, they find themselves in manifest loss. They become as spiritually dead souls, because the spiritual sources of the past, having fulfilled their mission, have become exhausted and are no longer sources of light for humanity;—nay rather, that same light is again manifest in the world, but now is shining from a new dawning-point, for "The Word of God" is Single and no longer shines from the dawning-points of former cycles.
Thus, Moses in His age, was the only source of guidance to the people, but with the coming of Jesus the Christ, a new day dawned; for when God manifested through Jesus, the day of Moses ended. Those who loved the Divine Light of the teachings of Moses were attracted to Jesus and believed in Him for in Him they found the same Divine Light of God which formerly had existed in Moses. Upon the other hand, those in whom the spirit of Moses had not penetrated, those who saw only "the letter" or the external side of His teachings, those who refused to look toward the new point of Revelation which was in Jesus—were entirely cut off from the source of Divine Light. They cut themselves off from the Christ and became spiritually dead because they refused the living Truth, "The Word of God," the Christ as manifested in Jesus, and they were in darkness.
In like manner, in this day there are those
who say, "What need have we for The New
Covenant of ABHA? Have we not Jesus? We
want no other!" Indeed these people are in
great loss, for they cling to "the letter" of the
teachings of the Christian dispensation and not
to the Divine Light which emanated from
Christ's Holy Person.[Page 269]
In this, the day of The New Covenant, the real Christians are those who have within their souls the love and the light of Christ, and when they hear the Bahai Message, they respond to the Call of the New Covenant, for they see and recognize the New Covenant to be the return of the same Christ, "The Word of God," which has ever been the One Light of the world throughout all ages. Those in whose souls the love of God does not exist are as spiritually dead, they being Christians in name only. Christ said: "My sheep shall know my voice." Those who really are of Him in spirit know and recognize His voice, for in them is living the Truth of Christ. The people who cling to the outer forms of the dispensation of Jesus, and who refuse the Light of God in its new point of manifestation, these, like the Jews of old who rejected Christ, are in great loss.
The Revelation of Jesus was for His own dispensation—that of "The Son." But now the apostolic age is finished and completed, and a new Revelation has appeared. Now, the Revelation of Jesus is no longer the Point of guidance to the world as it was in the past, for now the same Christ, which was in Jesus, is again manifest in the Bahai Revelation, and those who desire the light, must now turn to God in His New Manifestation. Christ said, "I have many things to tell you, but ye cannot bear them now." This is the time for us to know those things. Now we are in the Day of "The Word" manifesting as THE FATHER, The Father of whom "The Son" and all the Prophets testified, and promised. If we refuse the Father, we also refuse the Son, and all of the prophets. We are then in total darkness, for we are refusing the Revelation of the present day and dispensation, which is the end of the Revelations of the past and the beginning of a new order of things upon earth.
In the parable of "The Lord of the Vineyard" (Matt, XXI: 33) Christ spoke of the prophets of God who were rejected by the world. He spoke of the coming of "The Son" who would be rejected and slain. (Here Jesus was prophesying of His own rejection by the world and of His crucifixion.) Then Jesus speaks of this "Latter day" coming, saying: "When the Lord, therefore, of the vineyard cometh, what will He do unto those husbandmen?" "They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men and will let out His vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render Him the fruit in their seasons." This is one of the holy prophecies wherein is promised the coming of the Mighty Manifestation of God to the Earth, and the establishment of His Kingdom triumphant upon earth.
The physical seasons of the year are symbolic or typical of the seasons or phases of a dispensation of "The Word of God."
In the springtime, physical life is poured out upon the earth, and all things in which there is life awake to a greater and more active physical life, while new plants and shrubs spring up upon all sides out from the hitherto sterile and lifeless earth. Shortly comes the time of fruition, and summer is at hand; then the decline of the physical forces as autumn arrives. With the winter coldness comes a cessation of physical activities and much disintegration and death in the vegetable world, while those trees, shrubs, etc., in which life remains are not productive of fruits as they were in the springtime and summer. Then again comes the springtime and with the coming of the warm sun and rain those trees and plants in which physical life exists, manifest new life—stretching out their branches and putting forth new leaves to receive the life-giving rays of light proceeding from the sun, now returned with all of its former life-giving power and strength.
Upon the other hand, those dead trees and shrubs, in which life has become extinct, and which but a short time before, outwardly appeared to be as perfect as those in which there was life, under these new conditions of springtime, disintegrate and decay with great rapidity.
Thus the dead and the living trees and shrubs stand side by side throughout the winter, and the casual observer sees them as being equal until the coming of springtime and then the outward differentiation takes place.
In like manner is the coming of the springtime of the dispensation of God's Truth upon earth. Through the shining forth of the Spiritual Sun of Truth—which is "The Word of God" manifested in The Temple of Chosen Man—the people of the world, as they turn to the point of Revelation, are quickened with Divine Life and bring forth in their lives the fruits of God's Kingdom; then in turn those souls sow the spiritual seeds in the hearts of others, quickening the souls of spiritually dead humanity with a new spiritual life.
Then, as time goes on, creed, form and
dogma dominate and the spirit of the religion[Page 270]
becomes exhausted, the people grow cold in
faith; religion becomes material instead of
spiritual in proportion as the temporal power
of its institution increases. This is the winter
season of a religious dispensation; a time
of spiritual famine in the land! Then arrives
another Springtime of Spirituality. The Sun
of Truth again appears in its Singleness from
another dawning-point upon the spiritual horizon,
and a new Divine day, or dispensation, is
assured in the One, same, Single and Eternal
Word of God again going forth to humanity
from a new point of Divine Manifestation.
God's Message in its Oneness and Singleness is
again given to all peoples great and small. His
Word creates Divine susceptibilities and quickens
souls hitherto dead, while those in whom
the love of God exists, spring into new life,
for they are those who are of Him, and in
whose hearts abides His love; while other
souls apparently as good, and often from the
world's standpoint apparently better, do not
respond. Those who do not respond, have no
life in them; they remain in a condition of
spiritual death which is one of Divine darkness
or winter, and even the revealed Truth of the
past avails them nothing. The world soon
sees such souls in manifest loss, for even in
this world are the spiritually alive and the
spiritually dead souls differentiated one from
another. There is but One Source of Divine
Light. It is a single source.
Humanity has no choice of dawning-points. There is but One in each age. God appoints and prescribes the way. Man can accept and he may reject or refuse and thus cut himself off! Sacred history proves this point. For example: when God's Word was manifested in Jesus the Christ, it was the best of the people, from the world's standpoint, who refused Him; while those who were of no worldly account accepted Him and became the pillars of His cause. Theirs was the Divine blessing, and we find mention made of them down through the ages, while the worldly great of those days are in disfavor or entirely forgotten, because they preferred the former to those present-day Revelations, and thus became entirely deprived of the Truth.
Another important point is that in springtime the dead trees and plants in which there is no life are cleared away and consigned to the fire. So is the coming of a new day of Revelation: the people who are spiritually alive, are given more life, while all of the dead religions and philosophies, like dead wood, must be discarded. If this is not done, the past teachings will become a hindrance and a stumbling block to the growth of the New Cause, for were this year's tree held within the confines of the dimensions of its growth of last year, it could not expand nor grow. It must be free to develop the life within it to manifest without restriction.
So it is with the newly quickened souls in each Divine dispensation. They must detach themselves absolutely from all the philosophies, creeds and theologies of the past, so that the Spirit of God working and developing in their souls may grow according to the wisdom and laws of God, and not fear the scars and wounds of the stifling effects of human limitations.
There are two aspects to every Divine Revelation: (1) The purely spiritual Light or Divine teaching. This is ever one and the same, eternal and unchangeable. (2) The commands, laws and ordinances laid upon the people by the Manifestation. These are unchangeable during each dispensation, but end with the close of the dispensation and the beginning of a new dispensation.
Each Manifestation has manifested the one eternal and single Truth, and each has applied that Truth to the world according to commands, laws and ordinances always commensurate with the conditions of humanity to which He ministered. The spiritual welfare of the people in each age has depended upon their discarding all past ordinances, and teachings of former dispensations (save those which may have been required or reiterated by the Manifestation of the day), and by adhering only and wholly to His commands.
The seed takes root in the earth which is disintegrated from the hard, stony substances of the earth's surface. A seed will not grow when embedded in a perfect and beautiful stone. The stone must first sacrifice its condition of hardness and mineral perfection and become as dust before the seed will grow therein.
So it is with the seed of the Word of God.
When this seed is offered to one of a hard
heart, it does not take root—no, like the seed
of the plant it grows only in prepared soil.
This soil it finds in the souls of those who
through sorrow and tribulation have been
crushed and broken and who, like soft, rich
earth, are penetrable and can absorb the water
of the spiritual life which is The Love of
God. There are those who have forsaken
human aspirations and desire God, and are[Page 271]
glad to free themselves from the hard and
cold condition of humanity. These seek only
the life-giving teachings of the living Truth.
Stones offer no sustenance to growing plants—rather,
in a stony garden only weeds will
grow.
BAHA'O'LLAH wrote: "In this day he who seeks the Light of the Sun of Truth must free his mind from the tales of the past, must adorn his head with the Crown of Severance, and his Temple with the robe of virtue. Then shall he arrive at the ocean of Oneness and enter the presence of Singleness. The heart must become free from the fire of superstitions, that it may receive the light of Assurance, and that it may perceive the Glory of God."
Bahais must carry out this command implicitly and be severed from all and everything of the past—things both good and bad—everything. The established forms of the past, though good and profitable in their own days, are in this day detrimental to spiritual growth; unless these be ordered by the New Covenant, the ordinances of the New Covenant being perfectly adapted to the conditions of this new age.
When a community is fed upon foods which do not contain the living nourishment necessary to sustain life, or when the community is given impure water to drink—sickness and disease break out. In like manner, when in a spiritual assembly of friends, teachings other than those of the New Covenant are taught, a spiritual sickness falls upon that assemblage, and the people fail to attain to divine confirmation, and cease to attract people to the Kingdom.
We must all understand that with the coming of the New Covenant all teachings of the past ARE PAST, and that in this new Day of God only that which is revealed by the Supreme Pen BAHA'O'LLAH, and that which issues from The Center of The Covenant, Abdul-Baha, is spiritual food for the people and is to be taught.
The teachings and institutions of the past Revelations were necessary in their days, and in those days were spiritual food for the people; but now all is changed. A new age has come and with it new and living spiritual food in great abundance. The Center of The Covenant is now supplying all the world with the living food and drink of the Kingdom of God.
In the strata of the earth we find the fossil remains of the vegetation of past ages. These were once luscious and afforded good food for animals and man, but now who of us would eat these stony remains?
If we would thus differentiate between living and dead physical foods which have to do with the nourishment and life of the physical body, how much more careful ought we to be in choosing for our souls the living spiritual food of Divine Revelation of the New Covenant, pure and free from the dead teachings of the past, from which (like the fossils in the crust of the earth) the spirit of life has departed, leaving only the outer form or shell.
The coming of spring does not put life into the dead fossils, neither does the Manifestation of God have to do with the theologies and creeds of the past. Like the vegetable fossils, the religious forms of the past must be discarded.
I recall, some years ago, attending a free religious session at which a young Bahai teacher just returned home to America from India, had been asked to proclaim the Bahai Message. A large number of people were gathered together and our young friend gave a most beautiful address, explaining the Holy Cause successively from the view-points of each of the great religions of the past, and explaining how, in this day, the same "Word of God" which had created the religions of the past, each in its own day, was again manifest in the world creating the great universal religion which is God's Kingdom upon earth. He gave a comprehensive talk. It contained food for spiritual thought, and it gladdened and attracted the hearts of the people. Whereupon as soon as he had finished speaking the person presiding over the meeting, in a very delightful, pleasant and friendly manner, called the attention of the audience to the fact that the platform of those meetings stood for all teachings past as well as present, and thereupon she asked one who was present, to speak, a teacher of the most ancient of this world's philosophical systems.
This person arose and in a manner, which apparently seemed in sympathy with the Bahai address, quietly and persistently loaded the minds of the audience with so much of his ancient theology, that the effect of the Bahai address was quite counteracted, and the audience left the place in a confused state of mind.
Although at various times Bahai teachers spoke from that platform, there were few results
PUBLISHED NINETEEN TIMES A YEAR
By the BAHAI NEWS SERVICE, 515 South Dearborn Street, Chicago, Ill., U. S. A.
Entered as second-class matter April 9, 1911, at the post office at Chicago, Illinois, under the Act of March 3, 1879.
Editorial Staff: ALBERT R. WINDUST — GERTRUDE BUIKEMA — DR. ZIA M. BAGDADI
Honorary Member: MIRZA AHMAD SOHRAB
Terms: $1.00 per year; 10 cents per copy.
Note—Until further notice, distribution in the Orient is through Agents.
Make Money Orders payable to BAHAI NEWS SERVICE, P. O. Box 283, Chicago, Ill., U. S. A.
To personal checks please add sufficient to cover the bank exchange.
Address all communications to BAHAI NEWS SERVICE, P. O. Box 283, Chicago, Ill., U.S.A.
O thou Star of the West!
Be thou happy! Be thou happy! Shouldst thou continue to remain firm and eternal, ere long, thou shalt become the Star of the East and shalt spread in every country and clime. Thou art the first paper of the Bahais which is organized in the country of America. Although for the present thy subscribers are limited, thy form is small and thy voice weak, yet shouldst thou stand unshakable, become the object of the attention of the friends and the center of the generosity of the leaders of the faith who are firm in the Covenant, in the future thy subscribers will become hosts after hosts like unto the waves of the sea; thy volume will increase, thy arena will become vast and spacious and thy voice and fame will be raised and become world-wide—and at last thou shalt become the first paper of the world of humanity. Yet all these depend upon firmness, firmness, firmness!
(Signed) ABDUL-BAHA ABBAS.
| Vol. IV | No. 16 |
"The Mashrak-el-Azkar at Chicago is of the greatest importance. This is a Bahai Temple, a supreme House of Worship, a place of spiritual gathering and of the manifestation of Divine Mysteries. The friends of God must endeavor with all their hearts and souls that this Structure may be raised and completed."—Abdul-Baha.
IT SHOULD be a matter of great happiness to all Bahais that the funds to meet the remaining indebtedness on the site for the first Mashrak-el-Azkar in the Western world, are in hand.
The significance of this event cannot be realized at this time.
This site includes not only the large tact but also the strip of land on the lake shore, which gives to the whole a fine perspective from the lake as well as the desired outlook from the land.
The total expenditure for this site has been:
Main tract | $34,500 |
Lake shore tract | 17,000 |
Total | $51,500 |
There is remaining in the treasury after the last payment and interest, $978.70 toward the building fund.
Abdul-Baha says (see page 208, issue No. 12, Vol. IV, STAR OF THE WEST) that the sum of two or three hundred thousand dollars should be raised in order to begin building operations.
What a priceless piece of ground is this site, dedicated by the hands of "The Orb of The Covenant," and blessed by his holy feet! This is a blessing whose worth will unfold more and more, as the world comes into the knowledge of the station of Abdul-Baha.
- BAHAI TEMPLE UNITY,
- Corinne True, Financial-Secretary.
MR. Horace Holley, a Bahai now located at Paris, has written and recently published a book pertaining to the Bahai Movement, entitled The Modern Social Religion. Mr. Holley will be remembered by the Bahais as the author of the pamphlet, With Abdul-Baha in Thonon—a delightful contribution to the ever increasing Bahai literature printed in English.
The publishers—Messrs. Sidgwick & Jackson, Ltd., 3 Adam Street, Adelphi, London, W. C.—say that Mr. Holley shows it fills
LOOK thou with seeing eyes at the world about thee and at the inhabitants thereof. Upon the stage of this immense theatre, most spectacular plays are being enacted. On one side thereof thou wilt see the victorious and the vanquished legions of profit and loss. On the other side thou wilt observe the waves of the sea of folly rising and falling. Cries are being raised on every side and the agonies of revolution, revolt and unrest reach unto the ears of progressive men. There is a tremendous strike and clash between capital and labor, and the war between the aristocrats and democrats is carried on relentlessly with bow and arrow, sword and javelin. The phalanxes of a great army are drawn in battle array, each division taking its position. Armed troops and artillery are to be found in every part of the field. The flash o the swords of enmity blind the eyes from even the most remote distance, the lightning effect of breast-plate and lance and the sparkle of the bucklers of hatred light up the night and bewilder the sight. In short: strife, battle, slaughter and war are prepared in organized perfection.
On the other hand thou wilt hear that from every house strains of music are raised, and confusing melodies of harp, lyre, cymbal and flute are heard, and mad revellers are dancing to the tunes, while they are inebriated with the wine of vanishing pleasures. In one place thou wilt behold the wanton and soiled decorations, and in another the flimsy shows of the gilded class of creatures. On the one hand is to be seen the embellishment and luxury made possible through illicit wealth, and on the other hand, the ravishing of this mortal world of its beautiful appearance.
From different parts are to be heard sighs of anguish, lamentations of poverty, cries of agony and misery,—and the calls for succor have reached to the gate of heaven. One hears the weeping of the hopeless, the appeals of the oppressed, the trembling murmurs of the helpless and the harrowing wails of the ship-wrecked in the sea of persecution. The heat of the conflagration of separation spreads on all sides, the fire of longing is raging with great intensity and the tongues of the flames of calamity leap forth in every direction. Here one sees the oppression of kings and the thoughtlessness of cabinet ministers; there one sees conflict on the battle field of thoughts and ideals by ambitious generals, statesmen and administrators of the nations and countries. They consult, scheme, plot and exchange views; they organize falacious and superfluous companies and make false the established values; and thus do they lay and destroy the foundation of their political careers.
In short: when thou observest these things with the eye of reality, thou wilt see that the outcome, result and fruit of all these theatrical performances are mirages and their sweetness is bitter poison. A few days the earth shall roll on its axis, and these fleeting visions will be completely forgotten.
When thou shuttest thine eyes to this dark world and lookest upward and heavenward, thou wilt see light upon light stretching from eternity to eternity. The reality of the mysteries will be revealed. Happy is the pure soul who does not attach himself to the transient conditions and comforts, but rather seeks to attach himself to the purity, nobility and splendor of the world which endures.
—ABDUL-BAHA ABBAS.
From Tablet revealed at Ramleh, Egypt, September, 1913.[Page 274]
of a lasting nature, and all because those who upheld the platform insisted always in mixing with the Truth of The New Covenant the old forms and teachings of the past.
Abdul-Baha commands that nothing but reality be taught. There is but one reality in the world today and that is the New Covenant. As one travels through the various Bahai Assemblies it is clear to see that in those centers where the people have clung exclusively to the teachings of BAHA'O'LLAH, shutting out from the meetings the very mention of all else, in those places there has been growth and fruition, fragrance and spirituality, because the people have been nourished upon the pure life-giving spiritual food of "The Word of God," and consequently have grown in the grace of the Kingdom.
The Center of The Covenant is the Divine physician to the world besides whom there is none other. That which proceeds from him is the Word of God, and is to be obeyed. If it is not obeyed souls suffer; they deprive themselves of the bounty and blessings of God.
Every command of The Center of The Covenant is to be obeyed implicitly. If anyone fails to follow, he deprives himself and is in manifest spiritual loss.
Now, in this day, it has been revealed by The Center of The Covenant that the Message of the New Covenant is to be proclaimed and taught to the world. Of late this command has flowed frequently from the pen of Abdul-Baha.
All true Bahais must now arise to obey this call. Those who arise have the promise of the confirmations of heaven. If they do not arise, the blessings will pass from them to others whom God will raise up to do His work.
Abdul-Baha assures us that this is the day for sowing the spiritual seed of God's Word in the hearts of the people, so let us all arise to do the bidding of The Center of God's Covenant, to spread the glad-tidings of the coming of the Messiah and the establishment of His Kingdom among men.
Humbly yours in the service of The Center of The Covenant.
a great want that the world has half unconsciously begun to feel; that in words adapted from Tolstoy—himself an interested student of the Movement—it "will substitute for corrupted religion and the system of domination which proceeds therefrom, the true Religion, the basis of equality between men and of the true liberty." The price is five shillings net.
Regarding this publication, Abdul-Baha, says:
To Mr. Horace Holley, author of the Bahai work, The Modern Social Religion.
O thou son of the Kingdom!
A copy of the book written by thee and forwarded to this spot was received. The friends are engaged in reading it. They praise and commend your book most highly and appreciatively, God willing, it will be translated and I will likewise read it. Thank thou God that thou art confirmed and assisted; thy aim is to render service to the Kinbdom of ABHA, and thy object is the promotion of the Teachings of BAHA'O'LLAH. Although the glory and greatness of this service is not known for the present, but in future ages it shall assume most great importance and will attract the attention of the most great scholars. Therefore, strive more and more as much as thou canst in this service, so that it may become the cause of thy everlasting glory and in the Kingdom of ABHA thou mayst shine like unto a star.
Upon thee be Baha-El-ABHA!
- (Signed) ABDUL-BAHA ABBAS.
OUR PERSIAN SECTION this issue contains:
(1) Tablet from Abdul-Baha to the
Secretary of the Sixth Congress of International
Freedom of Religions; (2) talk by Abdul-Baha
on the proofs of the existence of
Divinity, given at Paris, France; (3) supplication
of T. K. Cheyne, M.A., D.D., of Oxford,
England, to Abdul-Baha; (4) article by
Mirza Enayet'Ullah Sohrab on the "Struggle
of Existence and the Bahai Cause."[Page 275]
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Address: Najme Bakhtar, P. O. Box 283, Chicago, Ill., U. S. A.
PAGE 1. VOL. IV. No 16.
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