Transcript:Peter Khan/Victories and crisis
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[0:09] I want to, this evening, take some time to share with you my insights that I gained from my experience serving in the World Center about where the faith is, and where it is going, and what I see to be some of the opportunities we now face. And I begin by calling to your attention a point you may already be well aware of, which is a fact that one of the great philosophic contributions of the Baháʼí teachings is that it has brought mankind back to a realization that the material and spiritual worlds are two intertwined components of one whole, that they are not antagonists, as has become the view of so many contemporary theologies. But rather, we see human beings as dwelling at one and the same time in both the spiritual and material worlds, and that all our actions have content, materially and spiritually. Beyond that, my understanding of the Baháʼí teachings is that the material world is governed by certain laws and principles, which we uncover in physics, chemistry, biology and other sciences - that the material world is governed by certain principles which have their analog in the spiritual realm, and that we can therefore gain insight into the operation of spiritual forces by studying the analog to the material world.
[2:02] Take, for example, the principle of magnetism, which has become a familiar concept in the material world. We have some idea of what magnets are, how they work, what constitute a magnet, and what a magnet does. Lo and behold, we find that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and the Guardian, and to some extent the Universal House of Justice, in writing or speaking of spiritual concepts, use magnetism as an analogy with which to describe profound spiritual principles. Likewise, the concept of evolution, the concept of an organic unit: these concepts which arise in the study of the material world, provide useful vehicles of thought with which to examine and explore spiritual concepts. I make this point because I believe there are two quite important developments in our understanding of the material world, which provide a means for gaining further insight into the Baháʼí teachings. And I want to begin tonight by briefly discussing these two concepts and from there proceeding to seeing their application in the understanding of the Baháʼí teachings.
[3:42] The first physical concept, which I think has great bearing on our understanding of the operation of the Baháʼí faith, is what is called in the physical world, the concept of nonlinearity. What does this mean? Very simply - and physicists in the audience will cringe at this explanation - very simply, as I understand it, we think unconsciously of the world as a linear world; and a linear world is one in which a small cause produces a small effect. If you want a big effect, you need a big cause. If one person can lift 50 pounds you need 10 people to lift 500 pounds, 100 people to lift 5000 pounds, and so on. Our concept of the world and its operation and what happens in it is governed by our general perception that the world is linear. Small things produce small effects, big things produce big effects. Now it has become clear that this concept of a linear world is, in many instances, invalid. In some instances, it is a useful approximation. In other instances, not so.
[5:20] It has become quite clear over recent years to physical scientists that the world is essentially nonlinear. And what does that mean? It means that in certain instances in the physical world, a very small force will produce a vast change. Looking at it in greater detail, mathematicians find that it depends upon what they call "initial conditions". And what that means is that if you have a very, very small force subject to the right conditions, whatever they are, subject to the right conditions, you can achieve a vast transformation in effect. This has become a very fashionable and very intriguing concept recently. The most recent meeting of the American Academy for the Advancement of Science, was devoted almost entirely to this subject and to a derivative of it called chaos theory and fractal mathematics, and all kinds of other things that we need not worry about. But in the main, the understanding of the physical world, of the biological world, and now of the world of social sciences is being revolutionized by the realization that the world is basically nonlinear.
[6:57] The things which formally seemed mysterious, random, unpredictable, are in fact, due to small forces, small changes applied at the right time and under the right conditions and in the right place. And the implications on that of our understanding of the universe are far from fully explored.
[7:27] The other physical concept that I think has great relevance to our understanding of the Baháʼí Faith is again the realization in recent years that the world around us is not as it seems, that it is basically, the material world is basically energized by unseen forces operating in a way which appears to defy common sense. Physicists looking deeply into the operation of the material world have come up with a vast apparatus of concepts of forces, of weak forces and strong forces, electromagnetic forces and gravitons, and quantum mechanical concepts, and all kinds of things which at first sight don't seem to fit in with what we have learned from experience, but which generally now are accepted to be true in the light of their ability to explain and their ability to predict new phenomenon. It has become clear that our sense perception of the world around us is invalid. The deep beyond our sense perception is a world of forces operating in ways that don't fit in with our generally accepted understanding and which stretch our credulity. So the material world, the world of physics, of biology, and of the social sciences is in great flux, is subject to tremendous change and revolution under the impact of these two relatively new principles. The application of the principle of nonlinearity, that sometimes small forces at the right time in the right place produced vast effects, and the realization that the world we perceive is much more than it looks, that it is subject to mysterious forces which don't fit in with conventional views of common sense. I mention this because to me, it is an example of the way in which the world is moving in the direction of making the Baháʼí claims appear far more reasonable than they did to the casual observer even a few years ago.
[10:14] In the coming of Bahá’u’lláh, we see the principle of nonlinearity operating par excellence. The appearance of His revelation at the right time, in the right place, under the right conditions in an obscure part of the world, buried in the 19th century, is now transforming the affairs of mankind, creating great institutions, changing the world of today and even more the world of tomorrow. What greater example could there be of nonlinearity than the dynamics of the operation and growth of the Baháʼí community?
[11:03] Likewise, our concept of the world, of the spiritual world is analogous to the concept of the physical world. We see in the spiritual world, the world beyond that of matter, the operation of forces which have been released in the world which are changing it, and the understanding of those forces is essential to a satisfying and comprehensive view of where we are, where we are going, and what life is all about. So in this way, we see the world changing before our eyes in ways which bring it closer and closer to the concept embedded in the Baháʼí teachings. Some, I think almost two years ago, a leading social scientist visited the World Center and he met with a number of Baháʼís that were appointed to talk to him by the House of Justice. And when they discussed some of these scientific concepts, at one time, he set back and put his pen on the table and said Bahá’u’lláh was the forerunner of all system science, the leading system scientist. But we of course would never chosen to categorized Bahá’u’lláh in that way, but nonetheless it was an indication to me of how these Baháʼí concepts are becoming more acceptable to society with the growth and the evolution of understanding of sciences.
[12:46] I mentioned all of these things because my view is that we Baháʼís are today at a very critical and very important time in the development of the faith, and that the activities we will carry out within the next few years will have a far-reaching effect on the faith which may determine its condition, perhaps for a century ahead. And I want to explore this theme with you this evening.
[13:23] From my perspective in serving at the Holy Land, its become apparent to me that while every time in mankind is a time of great change, the changes that are occurring before our eyes over the past two or three years are far more fundamental, far more far-reaching than at any time previously in contemporary history. The political changes, the realignment of powers, the changes in ideology, the disillusionment of people with what they regarded as certainties, foundations for their intellectual and political and social life is profound and pervasive in all continents of the world at the present time. The economic and social changes are without precedent. Solutions, which worked quite well for decades, are now found not to work. People who were sure of themselves as government leaders, as leaders of thought, as statesmen, as philosophers, thinkers of various kinds now are admitting that they are bewildered and unable to comprehend what are the solutions that mankind needs. This lack of confidence is without precedent. Until the last two or three years, it seems to me, there were in abundance of people writing books, giving speeches, giving talks in various parts of the world, offering their solutions with confidence to what they perceived to be the problems of mankind; that confidence is largely lost.
[15:22] I often think of a passage of the Guardian in the latter part of the Advent of Divine Justice, which in paraphrase in referring to the United States of America, says that the American government and people are being moved by forces they can neither comprehend nor control. And I think this model of forces moving a nation, moving a people, moving through a society, as a result of the coming of Bahá’u’lláh is applicable not only to America but to all parts of the world. And the record of world events over the last year, two years, three years is a dramatic example of these forces at work in the world, changing it before our eyes.
[16:16] As you know, one of the exciting events foreshadowed in the Baháʼí writings is the coming of the Lesser Peace. We have statements of the Guardian which tell us that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá anticipated the coming of the Lesser Peace by the end of this secular century, and that time is approaching rapidly, 11 years remain. I believe this is the appropriate perspective with which to view the fundamental transformations in politics, in social thought, in economic conditions in the world occurring before our eyes. The forces released by the coming of Bahá’u’lláh are working through human society, are breaking down barriers which previously were regarded as impregnable, part of the hastening process leading mankind to the condition of the Lesser Peace in the very, very short time remaining. Our role as Baháʼís is crucial in this process. Let me recall to your attention the words of the Universal House of Justice written some 20 years ago, and in the book Wellspring of Guidance, where the House of Justice referred to the coming of the Lesser Peace, and said at that time mankind would be like a unified body. And in that message, the House of Justice went on to point out that the role of the Baháʼís in the spread of the Baháʼí teachings, and the growth of the Baháʼí community, the role of the Baháʼís is to breathe spirit into the unified body of mankind. And if we fail in this process, that body, although unified, will be inert. It is in that sense that our role accelerates as a process of change accelerates with the rapid approach of the end of the 20th century, bringing in its train the coming of the Lesser Peace. Our role is crucial. Our role is to act as agents of the Divine Will, to breathe spirit into this unified body of mankind, which is being born before our eyes in present day political events and the events which are to occur in the next 11 years. It is in that sense that I see the role of the believers as vital in the years between now and the end of the century. As I think I may have said before on another occasion in speaking in this hall, it's the story of Genesis repeated, the symbolic story in Genesis, of God taking clay and from it molding a human form breathing spirit into it, and it came to life. Well we don't take this literally, we take it symbolically, and that symbolism is applicable today. The clay of mankind is being molded into a unified body, which will come into being with the coming of the Lesser Peace. And our role is to be the agents of the Divine Will, to breathe spirit as occurred in the symbolism of Genesis, to breathe spirit into that unified body. It is in this sense that I see our role as vital.
[20:05] Some years ago, the Guardian writing to the Baháʼís in the West and specifically to the Baháʼís in North America, referred to the onset of a period of testing and opposition in the faith. And he said quite categorically that this would occur in the Western world, as in the Eastern world. And we are well aware of this now for two reasons. One is the resurgence of persecution in the past decade in a physical form in the cradle of the faith, Iran. And secondly, the fact that the House of Justice has told us in recent years that the faith on a global scale has emerged from obscurity. And we all know from the seven stages of the growth of the faith described by the Guardian in Advent of Divine Justice and in God Passes By that it goes through the stages: the first of which is obscurity, the second of which is persecution and repression. So for these and other reasons, we might well anticipate that the Baháʼí community in the West, as well as in the East, must prepare itself for a period of testing. It is my considered view that that period of testing, of persecution, is not in the future in the West, but it's here now. I say this because I read in the writings of the Guardian and his quoting of the statements of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the references to the fact that in the Western world, this testing, this opposition if you will, to the spread of the faith will be primarily mental rather than physical. And the one point I want to make to you tonight, the one point I hope to leave you with, is my belief, my conviction if you will, that that period of mental testing is not some abstract, nebulous thing in the future which will one day descend upon us in the Western world; but it is something that quietly, unexpectedly, and unobtrusively has come upon us now and that we are now in the midst of this period of testing of which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá spoke and which the Guardian foreshadowed.
[23:01] Why do I say this? I say this because my perception of Western society is that it has changed dramatically in recent years. The idealism of the 1960s and early '70s is absent. Remember the turbulence of the American scene of those years? The protest, the civil rights marches, the movement for the equality of the sexes, the anti-Vietnam protest, the ecology passions, all of those things: where are they now? That idealism, sometimes misguided, sometimes destructive, sometimes self-defeating, that idealism has gone and the Western world has settled into a complacency, a self-centeredness, a self-absorption an apathy about the condition of the larger society and the future of mankind and an overall sense of shortsightedness about the direction of the future of the individual and of society. The Western world has changed, and my fear is that we are subject to a great and crucial period of testing at the present time, because we face the real danger of becoming infected with these attitudes which have become accepted throughout the West. That period of idealism of the '60s, with all its turmoil, with all its passion, with all its turbulence was a period in which the Baháʼí community was also distinguished by its idealism, by its energy, by its passion, and indeed its turbulence. Now in the late 1980s, when the society is distinguished by apathy, self-centeredness and short sightedness, now is not the time for the Baháʼís to become infected with those attitudes. If we do, we will have failed the test, the mental test of which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá spoke and which the Guardian foreshadowed.
[25:40] I remember several years ago participating in a Baháʼí discussion in which the believers present generally agreed that the mental tests were in many ways more dangerous than physical tests, because with the physical test you would know immediately who was doing it and what he or she was doing to you. With the mental tests, you won't know until perhaps it was too late. And I remind you of this principle at this time because I fear that the Baháʼí communities in the West, as well as in other parts of the world, are facing the challenge of these mental tests creeping up on them, sapping their energy, innovating them, rendering them apathetic, self-centered, and shortsighted without their realizing it until it is too late. And it is for this reason that I lay emphasis upon this point, that I want as much as possible to ask that you remember this point, if you forget the rest of what I say, that you think about it, that you meditate on this, that you look in the Writings to find either support or disproof of what I say, and that if you find it acceptable, you take whatever steps you feel appropriate to protect yourself against what I see to be a very virulent, very subtle, and very dangerous mental test.
[27:28] What can we do in the face of this test of a subtlety, the like of which the faith has never before faced in its 145 years of history? How can we defend ourselves? How can we protect ourselves against such an insidious mental test? I believe we must begin by reaffirming and re-emphasizing as never before the spiritual basis of our religion, by returning to those spiritual disciplines which throughout recorded history have been the foundation of religion. The concept of prayer, transforming it far beyond the mere recitation of words: fervid, devoted, yearning, besieging, supplicating prayer.
[28:38] The refreshment and nourishment that we gain from the period of fasting each year. The sense of discipline required to read and meditate upon a portion of the creative word every day, day in, day out, week after week, month after month, year after year. The bringing of the human soul in contact with the creative word of the Manifestation of God for this age. The concept of the spiritual element of sacrificial contribution to the fund. The vast effort and discipline, the pain and suffering inherent in character development. In reviving the moral, the ethical, the principles which underlie good character, and the refinement of human conduct.
[29:51] I believe that in the face of this mental test, which is pervading us like a cloud, we must stand strong and make an even greater effort than ever before to cling even more deeply to these spiritual virtues, these spiritual disciplines and practices which are the foundation of religion. Be it the Christian religion, the Jewish religion, the Muslim, the Bábí, the Baháʼí religion. We must become and see ourselves not simply as people of a new social order, not simply as people aiming to bring about the oneness of the races and the equality of the sexes and the harmony of religion and science, we must see ourselves and nurture ourselves as Baháʼís who are people of religion. People of religion who are primarily concerned with spiritual values, spiritual virtues, spiritual development, spiritual practices. I see this as a foundation of our traversing this very dangerous period in the evolution of the faith when our communities, and particularly that in this country which is so much the engine of the Baháʼí world, that traverse this period of dangerous and insidious mental tests.
[31:39] I recall, as many of you no doubt do, a story attributed to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá of an occasion when an early pilgrim called Anise Rideout came to the presence of the Master and asked him what was the best way to develop oneself spiritually. And as I recall the answer provided by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, it included some of the things I mentioned: prayer, meditation on the Holy Word, fasting, and the like, has included one more thing, which I initially found very surprising and indeed somewhat repellent. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, if my memory serves me right, said to Anise Rideout that she should pray and meditate and read the Holy Writings. In addition, he said to her, if I recall, that it was important to meditate on the afterlife. And that was the part I found repellent. I said to myself, this is not like one of those religions which sort of gives you a spiritual bribery and says do all these things so you'll be very comfortable after that, after you die. This is a religion which is concerned with creating the ever-advancing civilization, solving the social ills of mankind, creating a better world, not giving people spiritual bribes so they'll be nice and quiet and obedient, and they'll have a good time in the next world. Now that's hopefully somewhat matured, at least got older, maybe matured, I see a new dimension to what ‘Abdu’l-Bahá has said in response to the question from this pilgrim, because I see meditation on the afterlife not as something intrinsically morbid or depressing or negative, but rather as something positive and constructive and developmental. Not as something which would restrict the creativity and diversity of behavior, but as something which would enhance it. It is in this sense that I call your attention to what I understand to have been the admonition of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá that as an important element of our personal spiritual lives, we should meditate on the afterlife. And what do I understand from this? I understand that we should remain conscious as much as possible that we are in many ways living in the transit lounge. We are on route from one place to another, and the place we're going to is, we are told, a world with the potential for glory without end, for a degree of happiness and fulfillment far beyond our comprehension, and we, as believers if we fixed our goal on the fact that we are in transit, that we are pilgrims on our way to a distant horizon beyond the dimensions of the physical life, that we will steer our life aright. We will determine the appropriate priorities, we will avoid that horror one sometimes encounters of an elderly person in the evening of his or her life, who feels a sense of emptiness, a sense of frustration, of disappointment and loss. And even worse, does not know what it is they lost, what it is they did not achieve, what it is they did not find. It is in this sense that I see vast wisdom and vast practical guidance in the admonition of the Master that a part of our spiritual practice should be this wholesome, constructive, and developmental meditation on the afterlife.
[36:28] I want to take a few minutes before I conclude and address any questions you may wish to pose to touch upon one more element of my theme, and that is some of the more specific needs and the opportunities that the Baháʼí community faces at the present time. As I have said, I believe that we are at this very crucial time in history when we're called upon to be the agent whereby spirit is to be breathed into the clay body of mankind, be unified before our eyes in the turbulent events leading to the Lesser Peace. In that sense there will never be a time like this. In the next century it won't be like this. The Lesser Peace will have come into being, the body will have been born, spirit will be flowing within it. Great tasks will remain, the development of mankind, it's further spiritualization, the raising of great institutions, the construction of the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, the Most Great Peace, the raising of the world civilization and so on. But there will never be a time like this when we stand at the hinge of history, called upon to take responsibility to breathe spirit into this unified body being called into being in front of us.
[38:07] I think we can best perceive the significance of the period in which we live by examining the lessons of history, by looking to the early Christians as they contemplated the spiritual conquest of Rome and Asia minor and North Africa and further regions. Did they realize that they were laying the foundation for 2,000 years of civilization? The early followers of Muhammed, when they came down from Medina to Mecca and made a pact and invited Muhammed to transfer his residence to Medina, did they realize the significance of what they were doing? That from that favorable environment in Medina, the Muslim faith would take root, would flourish, would grow, would ultimately conquer Mecca and the Arabian subcontinent, and then the whole of the Mediterranean and Middle Eastern world? Were they aware of that? I think not. And so it is not simply in religious history, but in secular history. When the barons gathered around King John at Runnymede in 1215 and extracted from him the Magna Carta, did they realize the foundations of what they were laying for the future of civilized life for centuries to come? Did the formulators of the Declaration of Independence, and the constructors of the Constitution of the United States, did they realize what future effect they would have not only on this nation but on the concept of democracy throughout the world? I think not.
[39:59] And so it is today, do we of this generation realize the significance of what we will do in the next 11 years for the whole course of the Lesser Peace? For the timetable by which the Most Great Peace will ultimately come and the world civilization come into being? We do not. We do not know what is the significance and the effect of what is before us. All we can do is to strive inadequately, but with a much devotion and energy as possible, to see what is before us, to summon up our energies, to overcome the innovation of the environment around us, and to commit ourselves with faith to these pursuits, confident that they will yield a remarkable fruit far beyond our comprehension.
[40:55] At this time I see the Baháʼí world as engaged in three kinds of activities which are interdependent and all of which are of historic significance. And let me mention them briefly before I conclude. The first of these three activities is centered at the Baháʼí World Center and is, as you might well imagine, revolving around what we call the Arc project. And what is this project? What is it all about? Is it simply our self-aggrandizement by constructing beautiful buildings in a Greek form with marble and timber and the like? Is it more than that? Obviously it is. How can we appreciate the significance of the Arc project? While I, of course as the rest of us, find the messages of the House of Justice inspiring and educational, I think the real significance of the Arc project to me is not found in the messages of the House of Justice or indeed, in any of the Baháʼí writings. I see the real significance of the Arc project in the Book of Isaiah because it is there that I read of the Mountain of the Lord, and of God coming and administering justice on His mountain and the river of laws flowing out and the transformation of society. I see the Arc project in the Book of Revelations, where St. John has a vision of God descending from heaven and wiping away the tears of the faithful and dwelling with them and being their God forevermore. I see the Arc project in the Qur'an where God speaking through the revelation of Muhammed refers to the believers, the faithful, each sitting upon a throne of justice in that day. It is in these sacred books of ancient prophecy that I see the Arc project because I see in the Arc project the fulfillment of those promises of the establishment of the presence of God and the operation of the Divine Will on the mountain of the Lord. And this, I think, is the real significance of what we are going to accomplish in the next few years.
[43:36] We are doing much more than building a set of buildings. We are establishing the seat of the world administrative order, evolving into the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, the Promised One of all ages, the inaugurator of the day that will not be followed by night, inaugurator of a world civilization that will flourish for 500,000 years. This is what we are doing in these few years. We are the generation to do it, not the generation to come after us, it will be too late. It's to be done by the end of this century. The Guardian said certain processes must synchronize, and that the establishment of the Administrative Order on Mount Carmel would synchronize with the coming of the Lesser Peace. This is the time, there is no escape, there is no postponement possible. Prophecies of thousands of years going back to Isaiah and even earlier are now, before our eyes, in this decade and beyond, being fulfilled. And in that sense, the Arc project stands before us as something the generations for thousands upon thousands of years in the future will contemplate with awe and wonder at what was accomplished by so few believers scattered over the surface of the Earth at this period.
[45:06] Together with the World Center, development is one of the three elements of Baháʼí activity at the present time. There is the administrative development which I find equally exciting and equally as significant. And what do I mean by the administrative development? What I mean is this, our emphasis has been on the formation of the basic structure of the administrative order, more Local Assemblies, eventually getting some National Assemblies, ultimately the election and re-election of the Universal House of Justice. Hands of the Cause, Auxiliary Board members, then in the absence of appointment of further Hands of the Cause, members of Continental Boards of Counselors, assistants to the Auxiliary Board members, and then ultimately the International Teaching Center. That basic structure is now complete. There will of course be further developments. They'll be a lot more Local Assemblies in the world. There will be some more National Assemblies, not a whole lot more because we're running out of countries, but certainly some more. There'll presumably be more Counselors and more Auxiliary Board members and probably a whole lot more assistants, but the structure is basically complete. Our administrative development at the present time is focused principally, it seems, upon interrelationships of these elements. It's a bit like embryology. First comes a basic form of the skeleton of what is to become the the newborn being. Then when that basic form is in place, although it continues to expand, the emphasis seems to shift to the interrelationship between the elements of that form, and it's really a turning point in the development of the embryo when that occurs.
[47:17] This seems to be the point we're at now. The shape of the future World Order of Bahá’u’lláh is in place, although it will continue to expand, and the emphasis now in our administrative development seems to be on interrelationships. The relationship, the closer cooperation between the two arms of the administrative order, the overcoming of all the natural concerns and suspicions and wariness and territoriality and the like, the development of cooperation between National Spiritual Assemblies to a greater extent than before. And here we are being propelled forward by the continent of Europe, because in the continent of Europe we have 21 National Spiritual Assemblies living literally within a stone's throw of each other. And in a continent which is itself moving towards greater interdependence with 1992 and the breakdown of barriers in the European economic community, all of that is providing an appropriate crucible in which to develop new forms of inter-NSA cooperation and coordination which will be a model for other continents where the nations are geographically more spread, as in the Americas and Asia and Africa and Australasia. The expansion of the International Teaching Center will, I think, be seen as something that had a new phase in this year of 1988 just past when the membership of the Teaching Center was increased to include nine counselors. This will I think be seen as a milestone because the International Teaching Center is developing by leaps and bounds, the members of the House of Justice look upon the Teaching Center as a loving parent would look upon their favorite child. We look at the Teaching Center and we say, with what I hope is not a spiritually destructive pride, "This is ours. We brought this into being. Look at its creativity. Look at its innovation. Look at the new initiatives it's proposing. Look at its ideas. Look at the measures its taken to stimulate the quality of Baháʼí life and the quality of Baháʼí teaching activity." The Teaching Center is taking an enormous amount of new initiatives, most of which have had no effect whatsoever at the present time because it's too soon.
[49:59] Give it one or two more years and you'll realize what I'm saying now because in one or two years time these new initiatives will have matured, will have been perfected and developed appropriately by the Teaching Center, and then will be offered through the Counselors to the Baha'i world and then you'll look back, you'll say, "Ah! Now I understand what Peter was talking about that night, now I see these wonderful things the Teaching Center is doing."
[50:26] Another important element of administrative development that I see occurring at the present time is the labor being expended at the World Center in the translation of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas and the provisions of a copious number of annotations to that Most Holy Book. I classify this not simply as a development in the quality of Baháʼí life, but in the quality of Baháʼí administration. Because when the Kitáb-i-Aqdas is released to the Baháʼí world, although it is to the discretion of the House of Justice to decide when and at what time the laws of the Aqdas are to be applied, it won't necessarily be with the release of the book, that's something for the House to decide. Nevertheless, I think with the release of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, translated and suitably annotated to the Baháʼí world by the end of the Six Year Plan in 1992, the spiritual significance of that event cannot be comprehended. Perhaps it will mark a new stage in the rule of law in human affairs, in the regulation of human behavior by the precepts of law and in this case, spiritual law. We can only speculate. What we can say is that the fiber of our administrative order, of our Baháʼí community governed by its administrative institutions, that fiber, the quality of the Baháʼí community will it seems to me, begin a new and accelerated phase in its strengthening and development as a result of the spiritual impact of the release of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas now being worked on in the Holy Land.
[52:24] The third and final element I want to mention as far as the activities of the faith, concerns teaching. As you know, the House of Justice in its Riḍván message referred to new opportunities for teaching the faith, a new paradigm, new prospects for the development and expansion of the Baháʼí community. And as I have thought about this in the months ahead and observed the reports we received at the World Center of the growth of the Baháʼí community, I might tell you that the World Center is at the present time a very exciting place. It's very exciting because of the information we receive from the believers about the growth of the faith. That being said, I want to also caution you that to us, big numbers are not as important as big effort. The one occasion I can recall when the World Center as a whole seemed to celebrate and almost literally dance with joy was a report from Iceland of ten new believers over a period of several weeks. Now in terms of numbers and the quarter million who have joined since Riḍván or whatever, ten is minuscule. Why did that cause such unbridled joy? Because we knew how difficult it is and has been to teach the faith in Iceland. And we knew that ten new believers in Iceland was little short of a miracle of heroic effort, and it was for that that we celebrated. And it wasn't the celebration of a patronizing attitude, you know oh those poor silly Icelanders they happen to enroll somebody. It was rather the celebration that something very wonderful had occurred. That believers in as remote an area as Iceland had summoned up their resources to make the Herculean effort required to bring ten new believers into the cause. So when I tell you that the World Center is at the present time in a very exciting period of the victories of teaching the faith, you should also remember that we are celebrating these victories with as much insight as we can into the effort that goes into them rather than into the numerical achievements.
[55:11] It seems to me that with the movement of mankind towards the end of the century and the coming of the Lesser Peace, with the strength of the Baháʼí community, with the spiritual forces released because of the heroism of the Baháʼís in Iran and their resolute steadfastness, with all of the things going on, deep spiritual forces are at work in the world, mysterious forces that we cannot comprehend are moving in the hearts of mankind. There is a receptivity out there such as we have never seen. People who you might otherwise dismiss as being unreceptive, uninterested in something as outlandish as a religion that you can't even spell its name, all these kinds of things, such people are finding their hearts stirred deeply by the spiritual content of the Baháʼí religion and are moving towards it. Something very strange is going on. And I say this not idly. Something very mysterious is happening in the world and I think it only started to happen very recently. I don't know when but I think it was no more than two or three years ago, something started to occur in the world. some spiritual forces were released by the Will of Bahá’u’lláh, and mankind is being changed to a greater condition of receptivity such as we have never seen before. One of the things that brings me great joy as a member of the House of Justice, one of the new members, is to see the excitement of those valiant souls who have served on the House of Justice since 1963. And to hear them say again and again, that in all their years on the House of Justice since 1963, they have never known a period like this, when the spirit of teaching was so alive throughout the length and breadth of the Baháʼí world. There were times before of great excitement, the large scale enrollments in India, the work in Bolivia, the Mentawai islands in Peru and in other areas, in Uganda and Kenya and so on. But there never before, I am told by my most senior colleagues, there never before was a time when the spirit of teaching was alive universally throughout the Baháʼí community. Our challenge in the face of this unprecedented opportunity to teach the faith, our challenge is to have faith.
[58:12] Our challenge is to have faith in the process of change. Because with the large receptivity to the faith, as these friends enter the Baháʼí community, the Baháʼí community will change. There'll be a whole lot [of] people around who we didn't know before. It may not feel as comfortable, it may not feel as familiar, they may be very different people from different social groups and classes and backgrounds and so on. Our challenge in teaching the faith, in taking advantage of the receptivity is to have faith, to have faith in the process of change. That this change in the Baháʼí community which will come about with the large scale enrollments that lie ahead of us, that this change will be a good thing for us individually as well as for the Baháʼí community. That we as individuals will feel even more fulfilled, even more happy, even more comfortable, even more at home and at ease as this large number of people enter our Baháʼí community. So that is why I say that I believe that one of the great challenges before us in rising to the opportunity to enroll people who are receptive into the Baháʼí faith, one of the great challenges is to have faith in the process of change to which the head of the faith is now calling us.
