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"O Breakwell! My beloved!"
DO NOT lament over the departure of my dearly beloved Breakwell. For verily, he has ascended to the luminous Rose-Garden in the Abha Kingdom, near the mercy of his Lord, the Almighty, and is crying out with the loudest voice, "O that my people knew how my Lord hath forgiven me, and made me one of those who have attained to the meeting of God!" . . . .
- O my dear! O Breakwell! Verily thou hast abandoned
this transitory world, and soared upward to the Kingdom, hast attained to the Grace of the Invisible Realm, and sacrificed thyself to the Threshold of the Lord of Might!
- O my adored one! O Breakwell! Verily thou hast left
behind this physical lamp, this human glass, these earthly elements, and this worldly enjoyment.
- O my adored one! O Breakwell! Then thou hast ignited
a light in the Glass of the Supreme Concourse, hast entered in the Paradise of Abha; art protected under the shade of the Blessed Tree, and hast attained to the meeting (of the True One) in the abode of Paradise.
—ABDUL-BAHA ABBAS
Extract from Tablet—See page 296
--PHOTO--
VASE FOR THE HOLY TOMB
In commemoration of the visit of Abdul-Baha to America, this bronze vase is to be placed in the Holy Tomb of BAHA'O'LLAH. It is the gift of the American Bahais. It was made at the Tiffany Studios, New York City, and copyrighted June 13, 1914, by L. Bourgeois, designer.
STAR OF THE WEST
"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. V Ola 1, 70 (March 2, 1915) No. 19
PROOFS OF THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL
Talk given by Abdul-Baha at the home of Mrs. Parsons, Washington, D. C., Saturday, November 9, 1912
From stenographic notes by Mr. Joseph H. Hannen
FOR composed objects, there is necessarily a destruction or disintegration. For instance, there is decomposition for the flower; it is composed of various elements. When this composed form undergoes decomposition—in other words, when these elements separate and disintegrate—that is what we call death. That is the meaning of death as applied to the flower. For inasmuch as it is composed of single elements, multitudinous cellular atoms, it is subject to disintegration—that is the mortality of the flower. Similarly the body of man is composed of various elements. This composition of the elements has been given life. When these elements are subject to disintegration, life disappears, and that is death. Existence on a certain plane is expressive of composition, and non-existence or mortality means decomposition.
But the reality of man is not composed of elements and cannot be decomposed. It is not an elemental composition. Every object which is composed of elements is subject to disintegration, and that disintegration means death. But any reality which is not the resultant of the composition of elements is not subject to death. This is a philosophical statement but true, that the element itself never dies. There is no destruction possible for it. Why? Because it is single and not composed; it is not a composition subject to that decomposition which is synonymous to death. Hence we will learn that composition spells life, decomposition spells death.
Inasmuch as the human body is composed of elements, it becomes mortal or dies, because its component substances separate or disintegrate. But the reality of man not being composed of elements is not subject to decomposition, evanescence or mortality.
A third evidence or proof is that there are definite psychological changes in the human organism. At one time the body is normal. At another time it is abnormal. Now it is weak, and anon it is strong. Now it is injured; one hand might be amputated, a limb broken, an eye destroyed, an ear deafened, or some defect might attack a certain organ. But these changes, remember, do not affect the human spirit or soul of man. Be the body stout or thin, the spirit of man does not become corpulent or lean. If the body of man is weak or decrepit, the spirit or soul appears to be unaffected thereby. If a part of the human organism be destroyed, as, for instance, if the two hands were to be cut off, or the two lower limbs, or the two eyes, even the two ears, the human soul functions just the same, showing that no changes of the body affect the operation of the soul. We have learned that mortality means simply change and transformation; and therefore because we do not find any change and transformation in the soul as the result of the changes in the body, we, therefore, prove it to be immortal. Anything changeable is accidental, evanescent.
Fourthly: This immortal human soul is possessed of two forms of control—two perceptions as it were. One is affected through instrumentality, the other independently. For instance, the human soul sees through the instrumentality of the eye; with the ear it hears; with the nostrils it senses odors; with the hand it grasps objects. These are the actions or operations of the soul through instruments. But in the world of dreams, the soul sees when the eyes are closed. The man is seemingly dead—lies there as dead—the ears do not hear; yet he hears. The body lies there, but he—that is, the soul—travels, sees, observes. All the instruments of the body are inactive; all the functions seemingly useless. Notwithstanding this, there is an immediate perception by the soul. Exhilaration is experienced. The soul journeys, perceives, senses. It often happens that man in a state of wakefulness has not been able to accomplish the solution of a problem, and when he goes to sleep, he will
solve that problem in a dream. How often it has occurred that he has dreamed, even as the prophets have dreamed, of the future, and events which have thus been foreshadowed have come to pass literally.
Thus we learn that the immortality of the soul or spirit is not contingent or dependent upon the so-called immortality of the body, because the body in the quiescent state, in the time of sleep, may be as dead, unconscious, senseless; but the soul or spirit is possessed of perceptions, sensations, motion and discovery. Even inspiration and revelation are obtained by it. How many were the prophets who have had marvelous visions of the future in that state! We therefore learn that the spirit of the human soul is the rider and the body is only the steed. If anything affects the steed, the rider is not affected by it. The spirit may be likened to the light within the lantern. The body is simply the outer lantern. If the lantern should break, the light is ever the same. Why? Because the light could shine even without the lantern. The spirit can conduct its affairs without the body. In the world of dreams it is precisely as this light without the chimney-glass. It can shine without it. The human soul by means of this body can perform its operations, and without the body it can likewise have its control. Therefore if the body be subject to disintegration, remember that the spirit is not affected by these changes or transformations.
Sixthly: It is an evident fact that the body does not conduct the process of intellection or radiation. It is only the medium of the grossest sensations. This human body is purely animal in type and, like the animal, it is subject only to the grosser sensibilities. It is utterly bereft of ideation or intellection, utterly uninformed of the processes of reason. The animal perceives what its eye sees and judges what the ear hears. It perceives according to its animal senses, the scent of the nostril, the taste of the tongue. It comprehends not beyond its sense perceptions. The animal is confined to its feelings and sensibilities, a prisoner of the senses. Beyond these, in the finer higher processes of reasoning, the animal cannot go. For instance, the animal cannot conceive of the earth whereon it stands as a spherical object. Why? Because the spherical shape of the earth is a matter of conscious reasoning. It is not a matter of sense perception. An animal in Europe could not foresee and plan the discovery of America as Columbus did. It could not take the globe of the earth and scan the various continents, saying "This is the eastern hemisphere; where is the other, the western hemisphere?" No animal could know these things. Why? Because they are referable to intellection. The animal cannot become aware of the fact that the earth is revolving and the sun stationary. Only processes of reasoning can come to this conclusion. But the outward eye sees the sun as revolving. It mistakes the stars and the planets as revolving about the earth. But reason decides their orbit, knows that the earth is moving and the other worlds fixed. The sun is the solar center and ever occupies the same place. It is the earth which revolves around it. Such conclusions are entirely intellectual; not according to the senses.
Hence we learn that in the human organism there is a center of intellection, a power of intellectual operation which is the discoverer of the realities of things. This power can unravel the mysteries of phenomena. It can comprehend that which is knowable; not alone the sensible. All the inventions are its products. For all of these have been the mysteries of nature. There was a time when the energy of electricity was a mystery of nature, but that collective reality which is manifest in man discovered this mystery of nature, this latent force. Having discovered it, man brought it forth onto the plane of activity. All the sciences which we now enjoy are the products of that wondrous reality. But the animal is deprived of the operations of it. All the arts which we now enjoy are the expressions of that marvelous reality. The animal is bereft of them, because these realities are peculiar to the human spirit. All the traces are the results of the perfections which comprehend realities. The animal is bereft of these.
These evidences prove conclusively that man is possessed of two realities, as it were—a reality connected with the senses and which is shared in common with the animal—and another reality which is ideal in character. This latter is the collective reality and the discoverer of mysteries. Such a reality which discovers the realities of things undoubtedly is not of the elemental objects. It is distinct from them. For mortality and disintegration are the properties inherent in compositions and are referable to things which are subject to some perceptions, but the collective reality in man not being so subject is the discoverer of things. Therefore it is real, eternal, and does not have to undergo changes and transformations.
There are many other proofs concerning this marvelous subject, but I must not fatigue you. I shall conclude with the words of His Holiness Jesus Christ: "That which is born of the Spirit is Spirit" and is acceptable in the Kingdom of God. What does that mean? It means that just as in the first birth the foetus comes forth from the matrix of the mother into the conditions of the human kingdom, even so the spirit of man must be born out of the matrix of naturalism, out of the baser nature, in order that he may comprehend the great things of the Kingdom of God. He must be born of Mother Earth to find the Life Everlasting. Thus this collective reality or spirit of man, being born out of the world of nature, possessing the attributes of God, will continue to live forever in the Eternal Realm.
THE PASSING OF DANIEL JENKYN
To the Editors of the STAR OF THE WEST:
74 Sinclair Road, Kensington, London, W., England, Jan., 1915.
Dear sister in the Faith, Miss Buikema:
It is with sincere grief I have to tell you of the "passing on" of our dear brother, Mr. Daniel Jenkyn, of St. Ives, in Cornwall. He died from the effects of a prolonged and serious attack of influenza. I had occasion to visit St. Ives during the month of November and I saw him during the latter part of the month. He was then better and we all hoped for a speedy restoration to health; but a short while afterwards he had a serious relapse from which he never recovered, and he passed away on December 31st.
He was a most spiritually minded young man, a very sincere, ardent Bahai and a most hard worker for the blessed Cause. Not long since he visited Holland for the purpose of meeting some of those attracted to the Movement and confirming their faith. He joined the Christian Commonwealth Fellowship and found that association brought him into contact with numbers of earnest seekers for the truth and reality of the Bahai teachings. He undertook a vast correspondence in connection with the Faith and by this means did a great amount of teaching.
We all most deeply deplore his loss, which will be much felt in all the English groups. I have asked Mirza Lotfullah Hakim, who was his close personal friend, to enclose a copy of the last letter he received from Mr. Daniel Jenkyn, for it breathes a most ardent and uplifting spirit of devotion which will prove an inspiration to us all. If you can find space in the STAR OF THE WEST for this short account of him, we shall greatly appreciate it.
Believe me,
Yours, in the Center of the Covenant,
ETHEL J. ROSENBERG,
Honorable Secretary of the
Bahai Society in London.
LETTER FROM LOTFULLAH S. HAKIM
13 Wood Lane, Shepherd's Bush, London W., England, Jan., 1915.
ALLAH'O'ABHA!
My dear spiritual sister, Miss Buikema:
I am enclosing Miss Rosenberg's letter about our dear brother, Mr. Daniel Jenkyn, who has passed into the wider and more peaceful life.
Am sending you, also, a copy of the last letter which I had from him, which he wrote me during his illness. His letter will show what a wonderful spirit he had and how firm and steadfast he was in our beloved Abdul-Baha, the Center of the Covenant. Abdul-Baha, in a Tablet to me, which was received in 1912, wrote: "Convey to Mr. Daniel Jenkyn the utmost greeting of ABHA. I ask God that he may become subject of great grace. Continue correspondence with him." He and I had corresponded with each other since 1911. In another Tablet to me, which was received in 1913, Abdul-Baha wrote: "Also write to Mr. Daniel Jenkyn that, 'Always I am expecting, from the confirmation of the Kingdom, holy breaths and the attraction of ecstacy, that thou mayest become so joyful and happy that thou mayest raise the heavenly song'."
Enclosed you will also find a copy of two Tablets which he received from Abdul-Baha.
I enclose a photograph of Mr. Jenkyn and me together, which was taken about two years ago.
Truly he was my closest friend and our loss is his gain.
I will close now with the deepest grief and sorrow and no doubt all the friends will be sincerely mournful because of his departure.
With best Bahai love and greetings to you and all the friends there,
Yours very sincerely in the service of the Prince of Peace, the Center of the Covenant,
(Signed) LOTFULLAH S. HAKIM.
DANIEL JENKYN'S LETTER
3 Bowling Green, St. Ives, Cornwall, England, Nov. 22, 1914.
ALLAH'O'ABHA!
My dear Lotfullah:
I feel sure you have excused me for delay in answering your kind letter of the 10th. I have had an attack of influenza from which I am quickly getting better and looking forward soon to be in much better working order than I have been of late.
Thanks for news of Remey and Latimer and am delighted to hear of their mission in America. How one longs to have been in Acca during the two weeks they were there. Would it not build one up to be strong against the war forces that impregnate the atmosphere of Europe! "The wrong side of human character is up." "The world is topsy turvy!" as Abdul-Baha says.
It is cheering to know that the friends in Persia are progressing well arm that they are thinking and praying for us here in Europe. Oh! if the Bahais were more in number and more powerful in spirit so that they could have prevented this carnage! We are not yet a great influence in the world, as the beloved Abdul-Baha wants to see, and yet he says: "A weak man can, through assistance, become a strong man, a drop can become a sea . . . . through the assistance of God any one of us can perform wonders."
Are not the words very fine in the Tablet to Mr. Joseph H. Hannen: "The members of the Bahai Assemblies must be infinitely kind towards each other and all their deliberations must be concerning the Kingdom of ABHA. . . . . The candles of all the meetings must be the mention of God, the propagation of the Cause of God, the exposition of Divine Proofs and the elucidation of the principles of His Holiness BAHA'O'LLAH." I thank you very much for sending me this further installment of the Diary which contains so many things to encourage and inspire us to work and to follow the example of the beloved Abdul-Baha who labors night and day for the cause of Peace and Unity.
I have a postal card from the Rev. Wormhout, saying that he is in America.
Dr. Cheyne's book is very interesting and I am in the course of reading it. Am delighted to read his mention of you on page 164. I enjoyed his reference to BAHA'O'LLAH on page 5, "a true image of God and a true lover of
--PHOTO-- Lotfullah S. Hakim Daniel Jenkyn
man." I will write other points that strike me, another time.
But I must refer to Abdul-Baha's words in the Diary, for they are very beautiful: "In prayer one must turn his face towards the sanctified Reality of His Holiness BAHA'O'LLAH—that Reality which surrounds all the phenomena. During the time of prayer His Holiness, BAHA'O'LLAH, must be singly and alone the center towards whom all the faces are turned."
As you no doubt know, Miss Rosenberg is here in St. Ives, but I have not been able to see her yet. I hope to tomorrow or Tuesday, if she can then call. Am also expecting a visit from Mr. Wright tomorrow.
We join in love to you and to all and may the Feast of the Appointment of the Center of the Covenant, on the 26th, be a blessed one for all the friends. May we all on that day resolve to follow him more closely and lovingly!
Sincerely your brother in His service,
(Signed) DANIEL JENKYN.
TABLETS TO DANIEL JENKYN
Through his honor Mirza Ali Akbar Rafsanjani, to his honor Mr. Daniel Jenkyn.
Upon him be BAHA'O'LLAH-EL-ABHA!
HE IS GOD!
O thou who art confirmed by the Divine Spirit!
A thousand times bravo because thou didst forego the physical comfort and rest in order to proclaim the glad-tidings of the heavenly illumination. Thou didst gird up the loins of service and traveled to Holland to diffuse the Fragrances of God. Shouldst thou realize how blessed is this trip, unquestionably thou wouldst not rest for one moment, and uninterruptedly thou wouldst engage in the promotion of the Cause of the Almighty. Thou didst well to hasten from London to Holland.
With his heart and spirit Abdul-Baha was thy guide and companion. Although in body he was far, yet in spirit he was near. I hope from the bestowals of the Lord of Hosts, His Holiness the Promised One, that this voyage may assume the importance of the voyage of Peter and Paul when the latter went to Antioch. Consider what important results that voyage had. Now the results of thy journey will be greater than that. Know thou this of a certainty.
Upon thee be Baha-el-ABHA!
(Signed) ABDUL-BAHA ABBAS.
Translated by Mirza Ahmad Sohrab, Nov. 19, 1913, Ramleh, Egypt.
Through Aga Mirza Lotfullah Hakim, London, to Mr. Daniel Jenkyn.
Upon him be BAHA'O'LLAH-EL-ABHA!
HE IS GOD!
O thou who art attracted to the Truth!
Many of the philosophers of the world and the great men of different nations wished to attain the Truth, but they were deprived. Then praise thou God that thou hast reached to the essence of the Truth and thou hast heard the proclamation of the Kingdom and the teachings of the Lord of Hosts. Through this great favor thou hast prospered and become victorious.
I pray, on thy behalf, that thou mayest become the proclaimer of God in that city, that thou mayest awake the sleepers and warn the negligent; that thou mayest become lighted like a torch and bestow the light of guidance.
Upon thee be Baha-el-ABHA!
(Signed) ABDUL-BAHA ABBAS.
IN MEMORIUM
MRS. EVA WEBSTER RUSSELL, of Chicago, died July 11, 1914, at Fernandina, Florida. The nurse who attended her at the last wrote as follows: "I learned to love her more and more for her fortitude and firm belief in the teachings of BAHA'O'LLAH. No murmur of regret passed her lips and her constant prayer was for release. As the last hours drew near, she called on the Greatest Name, a heavenly smile came over her face and lingered there. Her resting place is in a little cemetery, the first of its kind in the United States."
MRS. CLARA HALL—Died at Boston, Massachusetts, August, 1914.
MARY HELEN HOPPER—"This is to let you know of the passing of our dear sister in the Faith—Mary Helen Hopper, the wife of George S. Hopper and the mother of Guy and Elizabeth Hopper, all Bahais, formerly of Ithaca, New York. Many will remember her dear face with the light of another world upon it through all those wonderful days of the last Mashrak-el-Azkar Convention. By prayer and spiritually guided nursing this firm soul has been kept with us until Wednesday, September 23rd, and tomorrow there will be a Bahai service in Washington, before the earthly tabernacle of her faithful spirit is laid to rest near her childhood's home at Fillmore, N. Y.
"Through all the long months of wearing illness her heart turned to the Center of the Covenant with radiant faith, and it seems especially significant that the last work of her life was that of delegate to the Mashrak-el-Azkar Convention, that work His Holiness Abdul-Baha has said is the most important work in America today—the beginning of the foundation of the Cause she loved with all her heart. Allah'o'Abha!
CLAUDIA STUART COLEs."
Washington, D. C., September 24, 1914.
SEYED SADIK—Died at Teheran, Perisa, in December, 1914 (see illustration in Persian section). Seyed Sadik, husband of Faieza Khanom, the famous woman teacher of Persia, was the man who sent a blank sheet of paper to Abdul-Baha on which was supposed to be written certain questions. In reality, it was a test. Complete answers were given by Abdul-Baha, and Seyed Sadik became a Bahai. Both he and his wife gave all they had to Abdul-Baha, who in turn presented it for the building of the Mashrak-el-Azkar in Ashkabad, Russia.
HARRIET MAGEE—Died January 16, 1915, at Green Acre, Eliot, Maine. She was an active worker in the Cause and for some time was Secretary of the Woman's Unity meeting in New York City. She was especially interested in the education of a little Persian girl through the Woman's Unity, which Abdul-Baha
(Continued on page 298)
STAR OF THE WEST
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: $1.50 per year; 15 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.
TABLET FROM ABDUL-BAHA.
HE IS GOD!
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. V
No. 19
"CONCERNING THE QUESTION WHETHER ALL SOULS ENJOY ETERNAL LIFE"
TABLET FROM ABDUL-BAHA
To his honor Mr. Remey—Upon him be BAHA'O'LLAH-EL-ABHA!
HE IS GOD!
O thou who art rejoiced by the Divine Glad-tidings!
Verily I have received thy last letter, and thanked God that thou didst reach Paris protected and guarded by Him. Thank thou God that He assisted thee to behold the brilliant faces of the believers of God, and favored thee to meet them in American countries; for verily, beholding those shining countenances is a divine gift. By it, the hearts are dilated, the souls are rejoiced, and the spirits are attracted toward the Supreme Concourse.
Do not lament over the departure of my dearly-beloved Breakwell. For verily, he has ascended to the luminous Rose-Garden in the ABHA Kingdom, near the mercy of his Lord, the Almighty, and is crying out with the loudest voice, "O that my people knew how my Lord hath forgiven me, and made me one of those who have attained to the meeting of God!"
O Breakwell! my beloved! Where is thy beautiful countenance, and where is thy eloquent tongue? Where is thy radiant brow, and where is thy brilliant face?
O Breakwell! my beloved! Where is thy enkindlement with the fire of the Love of God, and where is thy attraction to the Fragrances of God? Where is thy utterance for the glorification of God, and where is thy rising in the service of God?
O my dear! O Breakwell! Where are thy bright eyes, and where are thy smiling lips? Where are thy gentle cheeks, and where is thy graceful stature?
O my dear! O Breakwell! Verily thou hast abandoned this transitory world, and soared upward to the Kingdom, hast attained to the Grace of the Invisible Realm, and sacrificed thyself to the Threshold of the Lord of Might!
O my adored one! O Breakwelll Verily thou hast left behind this physical lamp, this human glass, these earthly elements, and this worldly enjoyment.
O my adored one! Breakwell! Then thou hast ignited a light in the Glass of the Supreme Concourse, hast entered in the Paradise of ABHA; art protected under the shade of the Blessed Tree, and hast attained to the meeting (of the True One) in the abode of Paradise.
O my dearly-beloved! O Breakwell! Thou hast been a divine bird, and forsaking thy earthly nest, thou hast soared toward the Holy Rose-gardens of the Divine kingdom and obtained a Luminous Station, there! there!!
O my dearly-beloved! O Breakwell! Verily thou art like unto the birds chanting the verses of thy Lord, the Forgiving, for thou wert a thankful servant; therefore thou hast entered (in the Realm Beyond) with joy and happiness!
O my beloved! O Breakwelll Verily thy Lord has chosen thee for His Love, guided thee to the Court of His Holiness; caused thee to enter into the Rizwan of His Association, and granted thee to behold His Beauty!
O my beloved! O Breakwell! Verily thou hast attained to the Eternal Life, never-ending bounty, beatific bliss and immeasurable Providence!
O my beloved! O Breakwell! Thou hast become a star in the Most Exalted Horizon, a lamp among the angels of heaven, a living spirit in the Supreme World, and art established upon the throne of immortality!
O my adored one! O my Breakwell! I supplicate God to increase thy nearness and communication, to make thee enjoy thy prosperity and union (with Him), to add to thy light and beauty and to bestow upon thee Glory and Majesty.
O my adored one! O my Breakwell! I mention thy name continually, I never forget thee, I pray for thee day and night, and I see thee clearly and manifestly—O my adored one! O Breakwell!
Convey my greeting to the attracted maid-servant of God, Mrs. Jackson and announce to her the bounty of God and tell her: "Do not haste, neither be thou restless. Soon, verily, all the problems shall be solved (literally: every knot shall be untied,) and God shall unfold a spacious door, and the purpose shall be attained."
Concerning thy question whether all the souls enjoy Eternal Life: Know thou, those souls partake of the Eternal Life in whom the Spirit of Life is breathed from the Presence of God; and all beside them are dead, without life—Christ has explained (this matter) in the texts of the Gospel. Any person whose insight is opened by God, sees the souls in their stations after the disintegration of the bodies—Verily, they are living and are subsisting before their Lord!—and sees also the dead souls submerged in the gulfs of mortality. Then know thou, verily, all the souls are created according to the nature of God, and all are in the state of (unconscious) purity at the time of their birth. But afterward they differ from one another in so far as they acquire excellencies or defects. Nevertheless, the creatures have different degrees in existence in so far as the creation goes; for capacities are many, but all of them are good and pure (in their essence); then afterward they are polluted and defiled. Although there are different states of creation, yet all of them are beneficial. Glance thou over the temple of man, its members and its parts: Among them is the eye, the ear, smelling and taste, hands and fingers. Notwithstanding the differences between these organs, all of them are useful in their proper sphere. But if one of them is out of order, there is need of a remedy, and if the medicine does not heal, then the amputation of that member becomes necessary.
Verily, I beseech God to make thee confirmed under all circumstances. Do not become despondent, neither be thou sad. Ere long, thy Lord shall make thee a sign of guidance among mankind.
Upon thee be greeting and praise!
(Signed) ABDUL-BAHA ABBAS.
Translated by Mirza Ahmad Sohrab, May 3, 1906, Washington, D. C.
LETTER FROM MRS. MAY MAXWELL TO MR. CHARLES MASON REMEY
Montreal, Canada, Dec. 3, 1913.
Dear Bahai brother:
. . . Regarding Thomas Breakwell, you will remember the year and the month that he came to me in Paris. when I was staying with Mrs. Jackson. I do not remember the date but I remember all the facts. Early in the spring my mother had written to Abdul-Baha asking permission for me to leave when she and my brother would be leaving to spend the summer in Brittany. A Tablet had come in reply in which this permission was refused and Abdul-Baha said as far as it was possible, not to absent myself
from Paris at all. Then Mirza-Abul-Fazl wrote explaining the circumstances to him and asking for permission for me to leave. But the time came for my mother and brother to leave the city and the permission had not yet come. They closed the apartment and I went to stay with Mrs. Jackson.
During that month I spent in Paris we had wonderful meetings, Mons. Dreyfus and others received the teachings at that time. I had known, the previous winter, a Mrs. Milner who was a friend of Lillian James. She had gone to America and returned and on the steamer coming back she had met Thomas Breakwell. She had told him nothing of the teachings, but had spoken of me as a special friend in Paris, whom she wished to have him meet, and the day after they arrived in Paris, she brought him to my little apartment at Mrs. Jackson's. I shall never forget opening the door and seeing him standing there. It was like looking at a veiled light. I saw at once his pure heart, his burning spirit, his thirsty soul, and over all was cast the veil which is over every soul until it is rent asunder by the power of God in this day. As I opened the door, Mrs. Milner said "he was a stranger and she took him in," then when we were seated she told me that he was a young Englishman who had been living in the southern states of America and that he was a Theosophist. He stayed a short time. As he was leaving, he said that Mrs. Milner had told him that I had received some teachings which had had a great effect on my life and although he was only going to be in Paris a few days, he would like to call to see me and hear what I could tell him. We made an appointment for the following morning and then he left. At the appointed hour next day he arrived, his eyes shining, his face illumined, his voice vibrating under the stress of great emotion. He looked at me very intently and then said: "I have come to you to help me. Yesterday after I left you, I walked alone down the boulevard and suddenly some great force nearly swept me off my feet. I stood still as though awaiting something and a voice announced to me distinctly 'Christ has come!'" Then he said, "What do you think this means?" Then I gave him the Message and teachings from the beginning and the veil that I had seen over him disappeared. He was like a blazing light. Such was his capacity, that he received the Message in all its fulness and all its strength and beauty within three days and on the third day he wrote his supplication to Abdul-Baha which in its force and simplicity I have never seen equalled: "My Lord! I believe; forgive me. Thy servant, Thos. Breakwell."
That evening I went to the rue du Bac to get my mail and found a cablegram which had just arrived, saying, "You may leave Paris" Signed "Abbas." When, the next day, my heart filled with gratitude, I joined my mother and brother beside the sea and told my mother all that had happened, she burst into tears and said, "You have a wonderful Master."
I could write you pages about the beloved Thomas Breakwell; of the fire of love burning in his heart when he returned from Acca, of his penetrating spiritual power in our midst, of the light of servitude and sacrifice which burned so brilliantly in his soul; but you know all this even better than I. I only want to add that his kindness and love to my mother during those days in Paris produced a great effect on her and that he was always a joy and a consolation to her during that period of her life before she understood the glory of this Cause. I have always felt that Thomas Breakwell was the first of the Paris believers to receive the confirmation of the Holy Spirit and the fire of the Love of God.
I am yours in servitude to the Center of the Covenant!
MAY MAXWELL.
IN MEMORIUM
(Continued from page 295)
had said to her should continue in that good work. The "Diary of Mirza Ahmad Sohrab," which has now become so well known to all the Bahais of the West, was started by his writing wonderfully descriptive letters to her of the daily life and events surrounding Abdul-Baha.
REV. THOMAS KELLY CHEYNE, a noted authority on scriptural writings, died February 16, 1915. in London. He was born in 1841 and was for many years professor of interpretation of scripture at Oxford. He was canon of Rochester from 1885 to 1908. He was the grandson of the Rev. T. H. Horne, author of the once popular theological text book on the "introduction to the holy scriptures." He was a member of the Old Testament Revision Company in 1884 and was the author of many theological works. The Bahais will recall the beautiful letter he wrote to Abdul-Baha, and Abdul-Baha's reply to it, published in the STAR OF THE WEST, No. 17, Vol. IV.
[Note the reference made by Daniel Jenkyn to his latest book on page 294 of this issue.]
OUR PERSIAN SECTION this issue contains: (1) News from the Holy Land—continued from last issue; (2) Progress of girls in Persia—Tablet to Dr. Moody; (3) "Faith is the cause of the glory of woman"—extract from a Tablet; (4) Tablet to one of the American Bahais who complained of being lonesome; (5) Biographical sketch of the late Seyed Sadik, illustrated; (6) Announcement of publication in Persian of book by Mirza Mahmood covering Abdul-Baha's journey and addresses in the western world; (7) the vase for the Holy Tomb in commemoration of Abdul-Baha's visit to America; (8) Announcement to subscribers of the STAR OF THE WEST.
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