Vision to Victory Conferences/Messages from the Universal House of Justice
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Messages from the Universal House of Justice
In 1983 the Universal House of Justice noted: “both within and without the Cause of God, powerful forces are operating to bring to a climax the twin tendencies of this portentious century.” These “twin tendencies” are the processes of disinte- gration and integration described by Shoghi Effendi that involve the breakdown of the old world order and the building of a new one through the activities of the Baha'is.
In a series of messages the Universal House of Justice has provided the direction necessary to guide the Baha'i world to fulfill its part in God’s plan for humanity. This section includes three of these messages—from August 31, 1987, Ridvan 1988, and Ridvan 1989. The messages explain the opportunities and challenges currently facing the Baha'i world for the completion of the Arc at the World Center and in the emergence of a new
paradigm for a vast increase in the expansion of the Cause.
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SS Completing the Arc—August 31, 1987
To the Followers of Baha’u’llah throughout the world Beloved Friends,
Nigh on one hundred years ago, Baha’u’lla4h walked on God’s Holy Mountain and revealed the Tablet of Carmel, the Charter of the World Centre of His Faith, calling into being the metropolis of the Kingdom of God on Earth. Through decades of oppression and expansion, persecution and emancipation, His followers have successfully laboured to carry His message to the remotest regions of the earth, to erect the structure of His Administrative Order, and to proclaim to mankind the divinely-prescribed cure for all its ills. In the past eight years the agonies suffered by His lovers in Iran have awakened the interest of a slumbering world and have brought His Faith to the centre of human attention.
On this same Mount Carmel ‘Abdu’l-Bah4, with infinite pains, raised the Mausoleum of the Bab on the spot chosen by His Father, and laid to rest within its heart the sacred remains of the Prophet Herald of the Faith, establishing a Spiritual Centre of immeasurable signifi- cance. In accordance with the same divine command, Shoghi Effendi embellished the Shrine with an exquisite shell and then, under its protecting wing, began the construction of the Administrative Centre of the Faith, to comprise five buildings in a harmonious style of archi- tecture, standing on a far-flung Arc centering on the Monuments of the Greatest Holy Leaf, her Mother and Brother. The first of these five buildings, the International Archives, was completed in the beloved Guardian’s lifetime. The second, the Seat of the Universal House of Justice, now stands at the apex of the Arc. Plans for the remaining three were prepared in fulfilment of a goal of the Seven Year Plan, and are now being detailed.
As indicated in our letter of 30 April 1987, the way is now open for the Baha’i world to erect the remaining buildings of its Administrative Centre, and we must without delay stride forward resolutely on this path.
Five closely related projects demand our attention: the erection of the three remaining buildings on the Arc and, added now to these, the construction of the terraces of the Shrine of the Bab and the extension of the International Archives Building. A brief description of each of these will convey an impression of their significance for the Faith.
— the Terraces of the Shrine of the Bab. In His plans for the development of Mount Carmel, ‘Abdu’l-Bah4 envisaged nineteen monumental terraces from the foot of the mountain to its crest, nine leading to the terrace on which the Shrine of the Bab itself stands, and nine above it. These plans were often referred to by Shoghi Effendi, and he completed in preliminary form the nine terraces constituting the approach to the Shrine from the central avenue of the former German Templar Colony.
— The International Teaching Centre will be the seat of that institution which is specifi- cally invested with the twin functions of the protection and propagation of the Cause of God. The institution itself, referred to by the beloved Guardian in his writings, was established in June 1973, bringing to fruition the work of the Hands of the Cause of God residing in the Holy Land and providing for the extension into the future of functions with which that body had been endowed.
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— The Centre for the Study of the Texts. This building will be the seat of an institution of Baha'i scholars, the efflorescence of the present Research Department of the World Centre, which will assist the Universal House of Justice in consulting the Sacred Writings, and will prepare translations of and commentaries on the authoritative texts of the Faith.
— The International Archives Building. We have decided to construct, westwards, an extension to the basement of the present Archives Building to provide accommoda- tion for the central office of the ever-growing Archives at the World Centre. This institution is charged with responsibility for the preservation of the Sacred Texts and Relics and the historic documents of the Cause of God.
— The International Baha’ Library. This Library is the central depository of all litera- ture published on the Faith, and is an essential source of information for the institu- tions of the World Centre on all subjects relating to the Cause of God and the condi- tions of mankind. In future decades its functions must grow, it will serve as an active centre for knowledge in all fields, and it will become the kernel of great institutions of scientific investigation and discovery.
It is impossible at this stage to give an accurate estimate of the cost of these projects. All that we can now say is that in the immediate future two objectives have to be met: to accumulate rapidly a reserve of fifty million dollars on which plans for the construction can realistically begin to be implemented, and to provide an income of between twenty and twenty-five million dollars for the Baha'i International Fund for each of the next ten years.
As the work proceeds, contracts are signed and cost can be accurately determined, further information will be announced. .
The great work of constructing the terraces, landscaping their surroundings, and erecting
the remaining buildings of the Arc will bring into being a vastly augmented World Centre
structure which will be capable of meeting the challenges of coming centuries and of the
tremendous growth of the Baha’i community which the beloved Guardian has told us to
expect. Already we see the effect of the spiritual energies which the completion of the Seat
of the Universal House of Justice has released, and the new impulse this has given to the
advancement of the Faith. Who can gauge what transformations will be effected as a result
of the completion of each successive stage of this great enterprise? The Faith advances, not
at a uniform rate of growth, but in vast surges, precipitated by the alternation of crises and
victory. In a passage written on 18 July 1953, in the early months of the Ten Year Crusade,
Shoghi Effendi, referring to the vital need to ensure through the teaching work a “steady
flow” of “fresh recruits to the slowly yet steadily advancing army of the Lord of Hosts”, stated
that this flow would “presage and hasten the advent of the day which, as prophesied by
‘Abdu’l-Bah4, will witness the entry by troops of peoples of divers nations and races into the
Baha'i world”. This day the Baha'i world has already seen in Africa, the Pacific, in Asia and
in Latin America, and this process of entry by troops must, in the present plan, be augmented
and spread to other countries for, as the Guardian stated in this same letter, it “will be the
prelude to that long-awaited hour when a mass conversion on the part of these same nations
and races, and as a direct result of a chain of events, momentous and possibly catastrophic in
nature, and which cannot as yet be even dimly visualized, will suddenly revolutionize the
fortunes of the Faith, derange the equilibrium of the world, and reinforce a thousandfold the
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numerical strength as well as the material power and the spiritual authority of the Faith of Baha’u'llah”. This is the time for which we must now prepare ourselves; this is the hour whose coming it is our task to hasten.
At this climacteric of human history, we are called upon to rise up in sacrificial endeavour, our eyes on the awe-inspiring responsibilities which such developments will place upon Bah4’i institutions and individual believers in every land, and our hearts filled with unshakeable confidence in the guiding Hand of the Founder of our Faith. That our Beloved Lord will arouse His followers in every land to a mighty united effort is our ardent prayer at the Sacred Threshold.
With loving Baha’ greetings,
The Universal House of Justice
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To the Baha'is of the World Dearly-loved Friends, At this resplendent, festive season, we greet you all in a spirit of renewed hope.
A silver lining to the dark picture which has overshadowed most of this century now brightens the horizon. It is discernible in the new tendencies impelling the social processes at work throughout the world, in the evidences of an accelerated trend towards peace. In the Faith of God, it is the growing strength of the Order of Baha’u’llah as its banner rises to more stately heights. It is a strength that attracts. The media are giving increasing attention to the Baha’i world community; authors are acknowledging its existence in a growing number of articles, books and reference works, one of the most highly respected of which recently listed the Faith as the most widely spread religion after Christianity. A remarkable display of interest in this community by governments, civil authorities, prominent personali- ties and humanitarian organizations is increasingly apparent. Not only are the community’s laws and principles, organization and way of life being investigated, but its advice and active help are also being sought for the alleviation of social problems and the carrying out of humanitarian activities.
A thrilling consequence of these favourably conjoined developments is the emergence of a new paradigm of opportunity for further growth and consolidation of our worldwide community. New prospects for teaching the Cause at all levels of society have unfolded. These are confirmed in the early results flowing from the new teaching initiatives being fostered in a number of places as more and more national communities witness the begin- nings of that entry by troops promised by the beloved Master and which Shoghi Effendi said would lead on to mass conversion. The immediate possibilities presented by this providen- tial situation compel us to expect that an expansion of the Community of the Most Great Name, such as has not yet been experienced, is, indeed, at hand.
The spark which ignited the mounting interest in the Cause of Baha’u’llah was the heroic fortitude and patience of the beloved friends in Iran, which moved the Baha’i world commu- nity to conduct a persistent, carefully orchestrated programme of appeal to the conscience of the world. This vast undertaking, involving the entire community acting unitedly through its Administrative Order, was accompanied by equally vigorous and visible activities of that community in other spheres which have been detailed separately.
Nonetheless, we are impelled to mention that an important outcome of this extensive exertion is our recognition of a new stage in the external affairs of the Cause, characterized by a marked maturation of National Spiritual Assemblies in their growing relations with gov- ernmental and nongovernmental organizations and with the public in general.
This recognition prompted a meeting in Germany last November of national Baha’f external affairs representatives from Europe and North America, together with senior repre- sentatives of the Offices of the Baha’i International Community, intent on effecting greater coordination of their work. This was a preliminary step towards the gathering of more and more National Spiritual Assemblies into a harmoniously functioning, international network capable of executing global undertakings in this rapidly expanding field. Related to these
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developments was the significant achievement of international recognition accorded the Faith through its formal acceptance last October into membership of the Network on Conservation and Religion of the renowned World Wide Fund for Nature.
At one of the darkest periods in the prolonged oppression of the dearly-loved, resolutely steadfast friends in Iran, Shoghi Effendi was moved to comfort them in a letter of astounding insight. “It is the shedding of the sacred blood of the martyrs in Persia” he wrote, “which, in this shining era, this resplendent, this gem-studded Baha'i age, shall change the face of the earth into high heaven and, as revealed in the Tablets, raise up the tabernacle of the oneness of mankind in the very heart of the world, reveal to men’s eyes the reality of the unity of the human race, establish the Most Great Peace, make of this lower realm a mirror for the Abha Paradise, and establish beyond any doubt before all the peoples of the world the truth of the verse: ‘.. . the day when the Earth shall be changed into another Earth.” Reflections like these, in adducing such wondrous future consequences from the horrific suffering to which our Iranian friends are subjected, illuminate the opportunity and the challenge facing us all at this crucial moment in the fortunes of the Cause.
The great projects already launched must be pursued to their completion. The Terraces below and above the Shrine of the Bab and the Arc on Mount Carmel must be completed, fulfilling the glorious vision of the efflorescence of God’s holy mountain; the second World Congress must be held in the City of the Covenant to celebrate the hundredth anniversary of the inauguration of that Covenant; the steadily advancing work on the translation and annota- tion of the Kitab-i-Aqdas, the Most Holy Book, must be brought to publication; the interest shown by the friends in the Law of Huqtqu’ll4h must be cultivated; the pioneers and trav- elling teachers must go forth; the expenses of the Cause must be met; all objectives of the Six Year Plan must be achieved.
But the paramount purpose of all Baha'i activity is teaching. All that has been done or will be done revolve around this central activity, the “head cornerstone of the foundation itself,” to which all progress in the Cause is due. The present challenge calls for teaching on a scale and of a quality, a variety, and intensity outstripping all current efforts. The time is now, iest opportunity be lost in the swiftly changing moods of a frenetic world. Let it not be imagined that expedience is the essential motive arousing this sense of urgency. There is an overarching reason: it is the pitiful plight of masses of humanity, suffering and in turmoil, hungering after righteousness, but “bereft of discernment to see God with their own eyes, or hear His Melody with their own ears.” They must be fed. Vision must be restored where hope is lost, confidence built where doubt and confusion are rife. In these and other re- spects, “The Promise of World Peace” is designed to open the way. Its delivery to national governmental leaders having been virtually completed, its contents must now be conveyed, by all possible means, to peoples everywhere from all walks of life. This is a necessary part of the teaching work in our time and must be pursued with unabated vigour.
Teaching is the food of the spirit; it brings life to unawakened souls and raises the new heaven and the new earth; it uplifts the banner of a unified world; it ensures the victory of the Covenant and brings those who give their lives to it the supernal happiness of attainment to the good pleasure of their Lord.
Every individual believer man, woman, youth and child is summoned to this field of
action; for it is on the initiative, the resolute will of the individual to teach and to serve, that
the success of the entire community depends. Well-grounded in the mighty Covenant of
Baha’u'llah, sustained by daily prayer and reading of the Holy Word, strengthened by a
continual striving to obtain a deeper understanding of the divine Teachings, illumined by a
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constant endeavour to relate these Teachings to current issues, nourished by observance of the laws and principles of His wondrous World Order, every individual can attain increasing measures of success in teaching. In sum, the ultimate triumph of the Cause is assured by that “one thing and only one thing” so poignantly emphasized by Shoghi Effendi, namely, “the extent to which our own inner life and private character mirror forth in their manifold aspects the splendour of those eternal principles proclaimed by Baha’u’llah.”
Beloved Friends—you who are addressed by the Best Beloved, the Blessed Beauty, as “the solace of the eye of creation”, as “the soft-flowing waters upon which must depend the very life of all men’—we urge you, with all earnestness from the utter depths of our convic- tion as to the ripeness of the time, to lay aside your every minor concern and direct your energies to teaching His Cause—to proclaiming, expanding and consolidating it. You can approach your task in full confidence that this clear field of progress outstretched before you derives from the operation of that “God-born Force” which “vibrates within the innermost being of all created things” and which, “acting even as a two-edged sword, is, under our very eyes, sundering, on the one hand, the age-old ties which for centuries have held together the fabric of civilized society, and is unloosing, on the other, the bonds that still fetter the infant and as yet unemancipated Faith of Baha’u'llah.
Have no fear or doubts. The power of the Covenant will assist you and invigorate you and remove every obstacle from your path. “He, verily, will aid everyone that aideth Him, and will remember everyone that remembereth Him.”
You have our abiding assurance of ardent and constant prayers for you all.
The Universal House of Justice
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To the Baha'is of the World Dearly loved Friends,
The spiritual current which exerted such galvanic effects at the International Baha’i Con- vention last Ridvan has swept through the entire world community, arousing its members in both the East and the West to feats of activity and achievement in teaching never before ex- perienced in any one year. The high level of enrollments alone bears this out, as nearly half a million new believers have already been reported. The names of such far-flung places as India and Liberia, Bolivia and Bangladesh, Taiwan and Peru, the Philippines and Haiti leap to the fore as we contemplate the accumulating evidences of the entry by troops called for in our message of a year ago. These evidences are hopeful signs of the greater acceleration yet to come and in which all national communities, whatever the current status of their teaching effort, will ultimately be involved.
We look back with feelings of humble gratitude and heightened expectations at the stu- pendous developments which have taken place in so brief a period. One such development has been the adoption of the architectural design conceived by Mr. Fariburz Sahb4 for the Terraces of the Shrine of the Bab, which launches a new stage towards the realization of the Master’s and the Guardian’s vision for the path along which the kings and rulers will ascend the slopes of Mount Carmel to pay homage at the resting place of Baha’u'llah’s Martyr-Herald. Other developments include: the approval by the central authorities in Moscow of the application submitted by a number of Bahda’is in ‘Ishqab4d to restore the Local Spiritual Assembly of that city; the initiation of steps to open a Baha'i Information Centre in Budapest, the first such agency of the Faith in the Eastern Bloc; the establishment of a branch of the Baha’i International Community's Office of Public Information in Hong Kong in anticipation of the time when the Faith can be proclaimed on the mainland of China.
Also outstanding among these developments have been the successful co-sponsorship by the Baha’i International Community of the “Arts for Nature” programme in London held to benefit the work of the World Wide Fund for Nature; the signing of an agreement in Geneva establishing formal working relations between the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Baha'i International Community; the official approval of a Baha'i curriculum for public schools in New South Wales, Australia; the immense stream of visitors to the Temple in New Delhi, swelling to some four million since that edifice’s inauguration in December 1986, and including an unusual number of high government officials and other prominent persons from many lands, among them China, the Soviet Union and countries of the Eastern Bloc. These, added to numerous other highlights of this single year, merge with the overall record of accomplishments thus far in the Six Year Plan, presenting a dynamic picture of accelerated activity throughout the Baha’i world.
No reference to such marvelous progress could fail to acknowledge the spiritual and social impact effected by the decade-long episode of persecution inflicted with such cruel excesses on our Iranian fellow-believers. Only in the future will the full consequence of their sacrifice be known, but we can clearly recognize its influence on the extraordinary success in proclaiming the Faith and in establishing good relations with governmental authorities and
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major non-governmental organizations around the world. It is therefore with profound thanksgiving and joy that we announce the release of the vast majority of Baha'i prisoners in Iran. Even as we rejoice we cannot forget that there remain to be realized the full emancipa- tion of the Iranian Baha’i community and the assurance of the human rights of its members in all respects.
In the gladness of the moment, we extend a warm welcome to the two National Spiritual Assemblies being formed this Ridvan: one in Macau in Southeast Asia, the other in Guinea- Bissau in West Africa.
Through the shadow of confusion deranging present-day society, there is a far glimmer, yet so faint but discernible, of an approach, slow but definite, towards the culmination of the three collateral processes envisaged by the beloved Guardian, namely: the emergence of the Lesser Peace, the construction of the buildings on the Arc on Mount Carmel and the evolu- tion of National and Local Spiritual Assemblies. Indeed, throughout the Six Year Plan, during this fourth epoch of the Formative Age, and particularly during the year just ended, this glimmer, still so distant, has drawn closer. For who could have imagined, even at the begin- ning of this Plan, the sudden changes of attitude moving political leaders in some of the most troubled spots on the planet to break away from seemingly intractable positions—changes which in recent months have prompted editorial writers to ask: “Is peace breaking out?” To any observer conscious of the divine Source of such occurrences, this development must certainly be encouraging, although the precise circumstances attending the establishment of the Lesser Peace are not known to us; even its exact timing is concealed in the Major Plan of God.
The two other processes, however, are directly influenced by the degree to which the followers of Baha’u’llah fulfill their clearly delineated tasks. There is good reason to take heart. For have not the architectural concepts for the remaining buildings on the Arc been adopted and the detailed specifications which will effect their realization as splendid monu- mental structures been undertaken? Have we not witnessed the increasing strength of Na- tional and Local Spiritual Assemblies in their ability to conceive and execute plans, in their capacity to deal with governmental authorities and social organizations, to respond to public calls upon their services and to collaborate with others in projects of social and economic development? Are these Assemblies not reinforced by the alert, loving support of the Conti- nental Counsellors, the Auxiliary Board members and their assistants, all of whose burgeon- ing energies are being skillfully coordinated by the International Teaching Centre—an institu- tion whose augmented membership has already displayed a verve, a vision and a versatility evocative of warm admiration?
Tempting as it may be to dwell upon the positive features of our progress, better that we should be spurred on by them than that we should rest on our achievements. Let us con- tinue, therefore, undeflected and confident, to seize the magnificent possibilities which the mix and blend of these ongoing processes and events allow for actualizing the immediate interests of our sacred Cause. These interests, to be sure, are identified in the major objec- tives of the Six Year Plan, on the second half of which we are now embarked, fully con- scious of the not-too-distant approach of the Holy Year, 1992-1993, and its significant com- memorations.
In conjunction with the ever-widening thrust of teaching, we must proceed by every
possible means with projects of the most critical importance. Work is continuing on the
preparation for publication in English of the Kitaéb-i-Aqdas, the Mother Book of the Baha’i
Revelation. Arrangements must now be made for a befitting commemoration in the Holy
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Land of the Centenary of the Ascension of Baha’u'llah. The plans for the World Congress in 1992 in New York must continue to advance on schedule. Moreover, further systematic attention needs to be given to the eventual elimination of illiteracy from the Baha’i commu- nity, an accomplishment which would, beyond anything else, make the Holy Word accessible to all the friends and thus reinforce their efforts to live the Bahda’i life. Similarly, assisting in endeavors to conserve the environment in ways which blend with the rhythm of life of our community must assume more importance in Baha’ activities.
Regarding the projects on Mount Carmel, the Office of the Project Manager has been established, and a technical staff is being assembled. Geological testing at the sites of the designated buildings on the Arc is about to begin—a step preliminary to the ground breaking anticipated by the entire Baha’i world. Hence, we seize this opportunity to apprise you of the urgency for the required funds both to initiate construction and to sustain this work once it has begun.
All these requirements must and will surely be met through reconsecrated service on the part of every conscientious member of the Community of Baha, and particularly through personal commitment to the teaching work. So fundamentally important is this work to ensuring the foundation for success in all Baha’i undertakings and to furthering the process of entry by troops that we are moved to add a word of emphasis for your consideration. It is not enough to proclaim the Baha'i message, essential as that is. It is not enough to expand the rolls of Baha’i membership, vital as that is. Souls must be transformed, communities thereby consolidated, new models of life thus attained. Transformation is the essential purpose of the Cause of Baha’u’llah, but it lies in the will and effort of the individual to achieve it in obedience to the Covenant. Necessary to the progress of this life-fulfilling transformation is knowledge of the will and purpose of God through regular reading and study of the Holy Word.
Beloved Friends: The momentum generated by this past year’s achievements is reflected not only in the opportunities for marked expansion of the Cause but also in a broad range of challenges—momentous, insistent and varied—which have combined in ways that place demands beyond any previous measure upon our spiritual and material resources. We must be prepared to meet them. At this mid-point of the Six Year Plan, we have reached a historic moment pregnant with hopes and possibilities—a moment at which significant trends in the world are becoming more closely aligned with principles and objectives of the Cause of God. The urgency upon our community to press onward in fulfillment of its world-embracing mission is therefore tremendous.
Our primary response must be to teach—to teach ourselves and to teach others—at all levels of society, by all possible means, and without further delay. The beloved Master, in an exhortation on teaching, said it is “not until the candle is lit that it can shed the brightness of its flame; not until the light shineth forth that its brilliance can dispel the surrounding gloom”. Go forth, then, and be the “lighters of the unlit candles”.
Our abiding love, unabating encouragement, constant, fervent prayers accompany you wherever you may go, whatever you may do in service to our beloved Lord.
The Universal House of Justice
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co Questions to Consider
Consider the following questions to review your understanding of the ideas presented in this section. You can use the space provided to answer the questions.
1. What are the key challenges presented in the three messages of the Universal House of Justice?
2. What is the significance of building the Arc? What will construction of the Arc mean to the Baha’i community and to the world?
3. What, specifically, did the Supreme Body ask of individuals? Of Baha'i communities?
