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WORLD
ORDER
JULY, 1944
THE ARCHITECT’S DESIGN—Earl H. Reed
‘ABDU’L-BAHÁ IN AMERICA—Marzieh Gail
THE SPIRIT OF INTER-AMERICAN FELLOWSHIP—Loulie A. Mathews
A NEW HEAVEN, Editorial—Garreta Busey
SOCIAL BASIS OF WORLD UNITY—Elsie Austin
THE CARNIVAL IS OVER, Poem—Sylvia Margolis
THE ONENESS OF RELIGION—Mrs. Charles Reed Bishop
WITH OUR READERS
THE BAHÁ’Í MAGAZINE
World Order was founded March 21, 1910 as Bahá’í News, the first organ of the American Bahá’ís. In March, 1911, its title was changed to Star of the West. Beginning November, 1922 the magazine appeared under the name of The Bahá’í Magazine. The issue of April, 1935 carried the present title of World Order, combining The Bahá’í Magazine and World Unity, which had been founded October, 1927. The present number represents Volume XXXV of the continuous Bahá’í publication.
WORLD ORDER is published monthly in Wilmette, Ill., by the Publishing Committee of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. EDITORS: Garreta Busey, Alice Simmons Cox, Gertrude K. Henning, Horace Holley, Bertha Hyde Kirkpatrick.
Editorial Office
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Printed in U.S.A.
JULY, 1944, VOLUME X, NUMBER 4
SUBSCRIPTIONS: $1.50 per year, for United States, its territories and possessions;
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Order Magazine, 110 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, Illinois. Entered as second class
matter April 1, 1940, at the post office at Wilmette, Ill., under the Act of March
3, 1879. Contents copyrighted 1944 by Bahá’í Publishing Committee. Title
registered at U. S. Patent Office.
CHANGE OF ADDRESS SHOULD BE REPORTED
ONE MONTH IN ADVANCE
WORLD ORDER
The Bahá’í Magazine
VOLUME X JULY, 1944 NUMBER 4
The Architect’s Design
EARL H. REED
THE design and construction
of the Bahá’í Temple conveys
an impression of deep and
sincere religious conviction. Like
the Dome of the Rock in the
Mosque court at Jerusalem, on
the site of Abraham’s sacrifice
and the Temple of Solomon; like
the pillared holy places of Egypt,
Greece and Rome; like Amiens
and St. Peter’s and even resembling
the solidity of Moses’
mountain, it signifies the Divine
aspirations of mankind.
Here rich symbolic elements of fine and staunch material have been skillfully interwoven to form an impressive mass which unmistakably tells the Bahá’í story in terms of Architecture. Accomplishment of this end was the dominant task of Louis J. Bourgeois, the Architect. And he met it well, as one performing a prolonged act of faith.
So expressive is the structure that this observer has been largely able to derive from it his limited understanding of the philosophical and religious background from which it emerged. It affords striking example of effective cooperation of those who build with those for whom they build. Some “spell” has indeed been cast over the enterprise. A definite program, so essential in any building process, was presented, comprehended, and is in process of realization in a manner not often seen in this age of over-night construction “miracles.” The program is broad, fresh and vital—and so is its architectural answer.
But what of the needs stated in
this program? The Book of
Laws said, “Construct edifices in
the most beautiful manner possible”;
the Guardian said that
around the central edifice,
“—shall cluster—institutions of
social service”, and, “higher scientific
education”, but “the central
building will be devoted
solely—to prayer and worship”,
[Page 106]
that it, “must have nine sides,
doors, fountains, paths, gateways,
columns, and gardens”—“with
the ground floor, galleries and
domes.” And finally, “Thus
science will be the handmaid of
religion, both showering their
material and spiritual gifts on
all humanity”. Such are the bare
outlines of a noble architectural
program.
During forty years, so much of it has been accomplished in a planned and orderly fashion, as to leave little doubt but that in good time, the complete vision will be actualized. By 1944, as required, the fabric has been erected and the exterior finished as well. The manner of doing has called forth admiration on every side. Without world wide support and sacrifice this would not have been possible—many, like the humble shopman in distant India who gave his sleeping mat, have contributed in free will fashion.
Hundreds of minds and hands have been utilized in the building of the Temple—Architects’, Engineers’, Builders’, Sculptors’, skilled Craftsmen’s and Labourers’. Last but not least the members of the Faith itself, acting through their democratically constituted Executive Committee should he mentioned, numbering five thousand active workers in North America alone. Each has had a share in developing this important regional home of a universal religious concept.
By 1909 the Wilmette site had been purchased. It is admirably suited to effective carrying out of the central portion of the program. Free views are afforded of the nine sided structure from many directions and it is displayed to full advantage. Processes of architectural planning have been adequate to produce a satisfying mass and at the same time a functional result. The first floor was wisely raised high above Lake Michigan and adjoining streets so that the dome, soaring one hundred sixty one feet above it, becomes a landmark of great distinction, dominating the region. This also made possible the securing of extensive floor areas in the ground floor for auditorium, radiating alcoves and utilities, without destroying the simple and powerful effect of the domed Hall of Worship. Technological advances in ventilation, air conditioning and lighting have greatly extended the potentialities for use of this subterranean space.
This observer well remembers
first seeing, about 1920, the large
plaster model of the Temple
which had been prepared to
present the architect’s conception.
[Page 107]
Like many fellow architects
he was struck by the originality
of the design and the bold
beauty of the dome. A fine
design inevitably undergoes processes
of modification and refinement
during its developmental
stages. The Temple was no
exception. The thinning down of
its girth at the behest of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
was an act of technical
intelligence, which at one stroke
assured a soaring grace to the
structure, eliminated unneeded
space and reduced costs of construction
to a practicable basis.
The same doubts assailed this observer as many others regarding the novel axial relationship of the inviting segmented entrances with the central mass behind—for passage to the Hall of Worship is effected directly toward and through each of the nine, four pointed bases, of the superstructure supports. But rigid technical investigation and the judgment of passing time have confirmed the correctness of this disposition of the encircling entrance vestibule mass. Through it the edifice gains a most unusual quality of aliveness.
He remarked year by year, the successive steps of construction —the sinking of the caisson wells to bed rock in 1921, the completion of the fort-like lower portion containing the auditorium, and then of upper portions and the galleries. Finally the dome itself was raised and received its distinguished ornamentation. Not until recently did close examination reveal to this observer that the best known building methods and materials had been applied to assure long life and continued comeliness to this unique structure.
In common with other religious buildings, Bahá’í Temple includes in its composition many symbolisms. Intertwined curved forms signifying cosmic unity; the out-giving meanings of the many fine sculptured pierced openings; sides numbered to the greatest digit for nine world religions and eighteen encircling steps; inwrought swastika, cross, crescent and star; carved utterances such as “The earth is but one country and mankind its citizens.” Diverse motives of historic styles have been employed. High flung, above all, are the pointed segmental ribs of the dome, lending spiritual character to the whole in a fashion heretofore untried.
A beautiful design ignobly executed
would have constituted a
negation of the principles underlying
the Bahá’í Faith. But the
Temple structure, a work of the
late Major H. J. Burt, was skillfully
[Page 108]
and solidly designed in
harmony with the architect’s intent.
The Hall of Worship,
though incomplete, is already
impressive with its exposed,
rhythmical, concrete members.
Such stark structure is much admired
by moderns today. Yet the
practical policies adopted for the
Temple, require that it be clothed
in richer material to bring human
scale to its vast volume and an
atmosphere of divine worship
through subtly controlled lighting,
modulated space enclosure,
and color.
The architectural committee, of which Mr. Allen B. McDaniel has long been a member, made a most fortunate move when it chose for the exterior, the brilliant white, cast-concrete product, of the Earley Studio. How its quartz aggregate was developed and the steps of its modelling, casting and ingenious attachment to the structure were worked out form a fascinating chapter of the history of the building of the Temple. This observer is not aware of the existence of a finer example of cast-concrete application than the present one. By way of appraisal, one has only to examine the perfection of the encircling steps, each laid one-half inch from the next for drainage, and allowance for expansion, as are all other cast sections. In the dome they are ten feet square in places, carefully reinforced with steel, here as everywhere else, and they weigh up to three and one-half tons. As completion stages are entered upon, many complex problems of material selection will be encountered—may the committee be equally successful with these.
In the not too distant future, judging from the astonishing growth rate of membership in the Faith, numerous other architectural problems of more general nature must also be met and solved. For instance that of a landscape setting in order to merge the monumental domed mass of the Temple into its small scale suburban location; the arranging of entrance approaches and most important of all, the location and disposition of social service and educational elements in completion of the ensemble. That decisions in these matters will be wisely made as to order and method, also seems certain.
No attempt has or will be
made here to attach a label of
historic style to Bahá’í Temple.
It is vital and universal in spirit,
befittingly Oriental in its intricacy
of treatment, and the
dome ornament is vigorously
modern. A modest statement by
[Page 109]
the architect contains this passage,
“those structural lines which
originated in the faith of all
religions are the same but so
covered over are they with decoration
picturing creed upon
creed and superstition after
superstition, that we must needs
lay them aside and create a new
form of ornament.” Thus did he
succeed in weaving into the
Temple a notable expression of
“unity of all religious mankind”,
creating thereby a monument to
universal peace among men.
Louis J. Bourgeois passed away just before the starting of the work on the superstructure in 1930. He had completed his design, including full-sized drawings of remarkable accuracy, we are told. Some reached a length of one hundred nine feet and involved tremendous effort. From his studio home on Lake Michigan, just east of the Temple, he had hoped to enjoy the supreme satisfaction of an architect—that of viewing day by day, the progressive realization of his architectural dreams.
French Canadian by birth and trained in Paris, he had assisted Louis H. Sullivan, the Chicago master, and other architects, erected churches in Canada, and participated in the Hague Peace Palace competition during an active professional life. He was a member of the Bahá’í Faith and the design of the Temple was his culminating work. In its interest and in order to consult with the Leader of the Faith, he made a pilgrimage to Palestine where he left some original drawings. His vivid spirit lives on within these walls which he never saw. A fellow architect feels it a privilege to pay Louis J. Bourgeois tribute on the occasion of the Centenary of the Bahá’í Faith which he served so well.
Address delivered on the program of
the Bahá’í Centenary, May 19-25, 1944.
When the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár is accomplished, when the lights are emanating therefrom, the righteous ones are presenting themselves therein, . . . . then the believers shall rejoice, the hearts shall be dilated and overflow with the love of the All-living and Self-existent God. The people shall hasten to worship in that heavenly Temple, the fragrances of God will be elevated, the divine teachings will be established in the hearts like the establishment of the Spirit in mankind; the people will then stand firm in the Cause of your Lord, the Merciful.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá in America
MARZIEH GAIL
ONE of the poems of William
Blake centers around the
legend that Jesus visited the
West. This poem has been set
to music and Paul Robeson
sings it unforgettably. Blake says
among other things: “And did
those feet in ancient time Walk
upon England’s mountain green?
. . . And did the Countenance
Divine Shine forth upon our
clouded hills?”
Almost in our time, a world faith has been born. One of the Central Figures of this faith journeyed to the West. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s western journey will mean more and more to this hemisphere and to the whole world, as the years go by.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá sailed on the Cedric from Alexandria, and He reached New York April 11, 1912. The reporters went aboard the Cedric at quarantine. The ship was held up several hours because there was smallpox and some typhoid aboard. They found the Master on the upper deck, standing where He could see the pilot; one of the interviewers, Wendell Phillips Dodge, wrote an especially fine feature article which the Associated Press later spread throughout the world.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s face, the account says, “was light itself.” He was “strongly and solidly built . . . alert and active . . . His head thrown back and splendidly poised . . . A profusion of iron grey hair bursting out at the sides of the turban and hanging long upon the neck; a . . . massive head . . . remarkably wide across the forehead and temples . . .” He was wearing a long black robe over a second robe of light tan, and His turban was pure white.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá was always at home with everyone. When the reporters approached Him He talked to them about newspapers. He said: “There are good and bad newspapers. Those which . . . hold the mirror up to truth, are like the sun: they light the world. . . .”
During the crossing, the Master
had spent much of His time
standing beside the wireless operator.
He was greatly interested
in modern inventions; He was
to say: “Science is not material;
it is Divine . . . every other
blessing is temporary. Science
[Page 111]
is a blessing which man does
not have to give up.”
The reporters were pleased when ‘Abdu’l-Bahá told them a story about a pilgrim going to Jerusalem; ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had said to the pilgrim that love for God should be to him as a telegraph wire, one end in the heavenly kingdom, the other in his heart. The pilgrim answered that his telegraph wire had broken down. The Master had replied: “Then you will have to use wireless telegraphy.”
There was a memorable moment when the Cedric passed alongside the Statue of Liberty. As you know, the Statue seems almost a living presence. There is a definite feeling of holiness about it, because it embodies the hope of so many millions of people around the planet. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, standing on the deck before it, “held His arms wide . . . in salutation and said, ‘There is the new world’s symbol of liberty and freedom. After being forty years a prisoner I can tell you that freedom is not a matter of place. It is a condition . . . When one is released from the prison of self, that is indeed a release.’”
The reporters asked Him about women’s suffrage. He told them that women should be given the same advantages as men—that if you had to choose between educating a boy and a girl, educate the girl—that even physical inequalities are due to custom and training. He added that the world of tomorrow will be much more a woman’s world than now, because “the spiritual qualities . . . are gaining ascendancy.”
All this time, and since early morning, hundreds of Bahá’ís had been waiting on the pier. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá did not wish a public welcome, and when the ship docked, He sent word that they should meet Him that afternoon at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Edward B. Kinney.
In looking over the records of that journey, we find that the American clergy, both rabbis and ministers, gave ‘Abdu’l-Bahá a special welcome and paid Him many tributes. A few sacrificed their pulpits to become declared Bahá’ís.
His first public talk in America
took place in a church. It
was the Church of the Ascension
on lower Fifth Avenue in New
York. This old church is open
day and night, and some of us
like to go there and remember
the days of the Master, because
His presence is always immediate
there. A light always
burns on the altar between two
white candles. There is a low,
[Page 112]
carved wooden pulpit. The
stained glass is aquamarine and
amber, draped Gospel figures
and sky and blossoms; much pale
gold, and an Oriental feeling;
pale gold organ pipes, like bars
of sunlight moving into the
shadows. The rector, Percy
Stickney Grant, said when he
introduced ‘Abdu’l-Bahá: “In
Him we see a master of the
things of the spirit.”
Another early talk was at the Bowery Mission in New York. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá told the poor that they were His companions. He told them that Jesus lived in the fields, exposed to rain and cold. He said happiness does not depend on wealth. At the close He shook hands with each of the three or four hundred men present and gave each some pieces of silver, so that none of them went without food and a bed that night. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá Himself was poor to the end of His life, because He gave everything away. During His last night on earth, they wanted to change His night robe to cool Him from the fever; they looked for His other robe, but He had none because He had given it away.
Soon after coming to America the Master visited Washington. He was greeted at the railway station by Persia’s envoy. Banished from His native land, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was nevertheless welcomed across the world by Persia’s representative.
In Washington many leading personalities of the day were presented to the Master at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Parsons and also at the Persian Legation. The Red Cross was having its ninth international meeting, and its Secretary, Miss Mabel Boardman, generally left her office only to consult with President Taft, but she came to the Legation to meet ‘Abdu’l-Bahá; among others present at this reception were Admiral Peary, just back from the North Pole and the celebrity of the hour, and Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone. The Master met each one and said something specially directed to each. To Admiral Peary He said, smiling: “You have been afar off, in those northern regions. What did you find there, except ice and cold? If you journey in the regions of heaven, you will find the Divine Presence.”
Alexander Graham Bell was
so impressed by the Master that
he invited Him to attend a
Wednesday night symposium at
the Bell home, where every
available scientist of note was a
frequent guest. In the course of
His talk there, the Master said
that the telephone was vitally important,
[Page 113]
but that His own work
was to teach men how to communicate
with God.
In Washington, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá also spoke to over one thousand of the faculty and students at Howard University. He always seemed happiest when both Negro and white were present, as on this occasion. The audience listened breathlessly. His talk was “followed by a positive ovation and a recall.”
‘Abdu’l-Bahá always approached the question of human varieties without sentimentality. He simply declared that all human beings are made of one substance. That day at Howard He said: “Today I am most happy . . . I see the white and colored people together. In the estimation of God there is no distinction of color; all are one in the color . . . of servitude to Him . . . I pray in your behalf that there shall be no name other than that of humanity among you.”
There was a famous children’s meeting held in Washington, typical of many that followed. (The Master had time for the children. One child printed a letter to Him, and He answered it on the back, in His own hand, and returned it to the family to keep.) He blessed and embraced the children and gave them gifts: rock candy, or perhaps an envelope full of flower petals. He taught the giving of presents. A Bahá’í who sat outside His door told me that from dawn till midnight, people would stream in with fruit or flowers, and each person would leave with some gift another had brought.
Costly gifts He would not accept. He did not permit the American Bahá’ís to pay His expenses or to give Him things. He said you should even shake the dust of a town off your shoes and not carry it away with you.
Late one afternoon in Washington
He said: “Today from
morning until this moment, I
have been speaking. From dawn
even until now.” Looking back,
we wonder how His body could
bear the load. In New York
alone, during the seventy-nine
days He was there, He made
public addresses in, or formal
visits to, fifty-five different
places. He was sixty-eight; He
had been a prisoner forty years.
Once He said to Juliet Thompson:
“I work by the confirmation
of the Holy Spirit. I do not work
by hygienic laws. If I did I
would get nothing done.” That
afternoon, He spoke of the sinking
of the Titanic; He was
grieved that some of His fellow-passengers
had transferred at
Naples, from the Cedric to the
[Page 114]
Titanic. He said: “At first it is
very difficult to welcome death.”
Then He told them: “These
things take place sometimes that
men may know that there is a
Protector, and that is God . . .
may know that He is the real
Keeper.”
In Chicago ‘Abdu’l-Bahá spoke before the Fourth Annual Convention of the National Convention for the Advancement of Colored People. He said that being made in the image and likeness of God was not meant in a physical sense, but that “the perfections of God, the divine virtues, are reflected . . . in the human reality.” He spoke at Hull House, saying “There is need of a superior power to overcome human prejudices. . .” He addressed the Federation of Women’s Clubs and the Theosophical Society.
A photograph shows ‘Abdu’l-Bahá here, on this ground, laying the cornerstone of this Temple. The Master is seated, perfectly natural and at ease, holding a wooden implement of some kind. Every one in the picture looks serious, and aware. In the corner you can see Lua, the Mother Teacher of the West. The Master broke the earth with a gold trowel; then He called for more workmanlike implements and they brought an axe and shovel. The nations whose citizens helped break the ground that day were Persia, Syria, Egypt, India, South Africa, England, France, Germany, Holland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, the Jews of the world, and the American Indians. When the Master set the stone in its place He said, “The Temple is already built.”
In the same way, we Bahá’ís know that the federated world of the future—the Most Great Peace—is already built.
Speaking at the Plaza Hotel in Chicago, the Master said this about the destiny of America: “. . . because I find the American nation so capable of achievement, and the American Government the fairest of Western Governments, its systems superior to others, My wish and hope is that the banner of peace may be raised first on this continent, that the standard of the Most Great Peace may here be unfurled. May the nation of America and its government unite in their efforts, in order that this light may dawn from this point and spread to all regions. . . .”
He loved to walk in Lincoln
Park. There is a photograph
showing the Bahá’ís seated on
park benches around Him and
listening to Him teach. One day
in the park He said: “Some of
you have observed that I have
[Page 115]
not called attention to any of
your individual shortcomings. I
would suggest to you, that if you
shall be similarly considerate in
your treatment of each other, it
will be greatly conducive to the
harmony of your association.”
Somewhere in America ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had a memorable talk with a rabbi. The rabbi finally said, “Indeed, you are one of the greatest logicians of the world. Up to this time I have been talking to you as a man; now I will address you as a rabbi.” As always with the Jewish peoples, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá explained the station of Christ and urged them to accept Him. He showed how Jesus spread the Old Testament around the world. He said that if they would declare that Christ was the Word of God their troubles would be over. Of their persecutions He once prophesied: “You must not think it is ended. The time may come when in Europe itself they will rise against the Jews.” The rabbi objected to the Christians worshipping Jesus and the Master replied: “Christ was the mirror; God was the sun.”
Among the interviewers one of my favorites is ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s talk with Hudson Maxim, the inventor. Maxim invented a high explosive called “Maximite”; he was the first in America to make smokeless gunpowder; he built a dynamite factory, and so on. The Master showed on this occasion that He could speak with humor even about the central purpose of His life—world peace; He said: “During these six thousand years there has been constant war, strife, bloodshed. We can see at a glance the results. Have we not a sufficient standard of experience in this direction? Let us now try peace for a while. If good results follow, let us adhere to it. If not let us throw it away and fight again. Nothing will be lost by the experiment.”
Maxim said, our industries kill more men than war does, through preventable accidents. The Master replied, “War is the most preventable accident.”
Maxim kept minimizing the
dangers of modern warfare. He
said, “War is no more dangerous
than automobiling.” The Master
kept insisting on the terrific
power of modern war, describing
results which have only been
realized today. He said, “ . . . in
modern times the science of war
has reached such a stage of perfection
that in twenty-four hours
one hundred thousand could be
sacrificed, great navies sent to
the bottom of the sea, great cities
destroyed . . . The possibilities
[Page 116]
are incalculable, inconceivable.
. . .” Maxim replied by
making a diagram to show one’s
relative safety when in the
neighborhood of an exploding
bomb.
One minister who came was not friendly. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá answered all his questions with reserve and patience. The minister asked by what authority Bahá’u’lláh is placed with Abraham, Moses and Jesus—and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said, “Today we believe Bahá’u’lláh to be an educator of humanity, as Abraham, Moses, and Jesus were educators. . . If He has opened the doors of human hearts to a higher consciousness, He is a heavenly educator. If He has not accomplished this we are privileged to deny His claim. . . .” Then ‘Abdu’l-Bahá gave the minister an armful of white roses.
In the pine grove at West Englewood, New Jersey, the Master founded a commemorative meeting which will last always. He said, “The very words I utter to you on this occasion shall be reiterated . . . in the ages to come.” There were Negro and white present—there were Jews, Christians, Moslems. The Master was Host. As always when He was present, there was love present.
He brought something back to the world that had died out of it. He brought love back. His stay on earth with us reminds me of something Swedenborg has written: “There was a certain hard-hearted spirit with whom an angel spoke. At length he was so affected by what was said that he shed tears, saying that he had never wept before, but he could not refrain, for it was love speaking.”
When the Master first came to America a moving picture company requested Him to pose for them. He replied “Khaylí khúb” (very good). The Bahá’ís were horrified. They told Him that His photograph would be shown in moving picture houses all over the country. He replied “Bisyár khúb” (most good). The company took a wonderfully impressive short of Him; as He was photographed, He was praying that God would bless this means of spreading the Faith.
Later the Bahá’ís requested
Him to have a longer film made
and this was done in the Howard
MacNutt home in Brooklyn.
Many of you have seen it. The
Master is all in white. He strides
up and down in the garden, reminding
one of what the ancients
said—that the gods were known
by their walk. He also shows
[Page 117]
His absolute meekness and servitude
—going here and there as
the Bahá’ís asked. You may
have noticed that in the film, a
lady kisses His hand; His
reaction is instant disapproval.
He did not wish such demonstrations,
because He said we are all
servants. In one shot He is
almost completely hidden—by
hats—ladies’ hats. A long line
of people pass before Him, many
of them women, each one supporting
a 1912 hat. (I privately
call that scene the Clouds which
obscure the Sun of Truth.) A
recording was later made of His
voice, speaking the same words
as in the film, but everyone
agrees that it does not affect one
as did His living voice.
At first it seemed as if the Master did not plan to visit California. He said that He had already worked very hard in the United States. He said He had “breathed on the souls . . . of all the Bahá’ís in such a way that had it been upon bone, it would have taken on flesh . . .” One day in Dublin, New Hampshire, He told how the California Bahá’ís were urging Him to visit the West Coast. He loved Dublin; He said in English: “Good mountains, good green, good meadow, good plain, good view. . . .” He always responded to green trees. Once on the train, going past trees, He turned to a fellow-passenger and said, “The green—the green!” The prison land around ‘Akká had been very barren.
Somebody in Dublin wanted to know: “What shall we say when they ask, ‘Of what use are the flies and mosquitoes?’” ‘Abdu’l-Bahá told him to answer: “Of what use are you? What benefit have you given to the world? The same benefit that you have given to the world, the mosquito has. You say that the mosquito . . . sucks human blood; but you kill animals and eat them . . . Therefore you are more harmful than the mosquito.”
And ‘Abdu’l-Bahá went to California and other western states. America’s first Bahá’í, Thornton Chase, died in Los Angeles before the Master reached there. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá went to the graveside and scattered flowers over it—took the flowers and scattered them. It was like Shakespeare’s word “to strew” (“Sweets to the sweet . . . I thought thy bride-bed to have deck’d . . . And not have strewed thy grave”). Even from Beirut, Syria, people wrote to America about this episode. The Master said that the Bahá’í should visit the grave of Thornton Chase every year on His behalf and take flowers there.
[Page 118]
There were many unforgettable
days in California. In Sacramento,
the capital, the Master said:
“May the first flag of International
Peace be upraised in this
state.”
In Oakland He spoke before the Japanese Y.M.C.A. A Japanese poet, Mr. Kanno, read a poem composed in His honor. The Master’s talk was translated from Persian to English to Japanese. There were many scholars present. Mothers held out their babies to Him and He smiled and blessed them and said: “Good baby, Japanese baby.”
He addressed nearly two thousand of the students and faculty at Standford University, being introduced by the president, David Starr Jordan. As at Howard University, they gave Him an ovation.
The November 1st, 1912, issue of the Palo Altan is entirely devoted to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s visit and His California addresses. The editorial is titled: “The New Evangel.”
People will always remember the day He spoke in Temple Emmanu-El, the great synagogue in San Francisco. He stood in the pulpit, between pillars of palms, and the sunlight filtered down through colored windows. As ever, He urged the Jewish people to believe in Christ, and gave them logical reasons for so believing. In the same way, He always urged the Christians to believe in the Prophet Muḥammad. He did not always tell people what they wanted to hear— He told them what they had to hear—and made them like it.
In San Francisco He spoke to the blind. He said “sight is only for a time, but insight sees the beauty of God. May you not see the dust. . . .” He showed special favor to East Indian university students who visited Him. He loved Golden Gate Park, and used to walk along the shore of a little lake there.
And there was the great Feast in Oakland, at the home of Mrs. Goodall. The rooms were decorated with yellow chrysanthemums and pyramids of fruit. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá walked about, speaking to the Bahá’ís as they sat at the table and ate.
Here in California too, as in
New York, He affirmed His function
as the Center of the Covenant.
He showed how every
Prophet entered into a Covenant
with His people: promised a
future Prophet. Abraham promised
Moses; Moses promised
Jesus; Jesus, Muḥammad;
Muḥammad, the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh.
But Bahá’u’lláh’s Covenant
is unique in human history,
[Page 119]
because it is two-fold: He tells
of a Promised One who will not
appear before a full thousand
years; but He also appoints
in writing the Interpreter of
His Faith, the Center of His
Covenant, His Son ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
Today we know what they
did not know in 1912—that
‘Abdu’l-Bahá in His turn appointed
a Center, around which the
Bahá’í Faith revolves: His grandson,
Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian
of the Cause.
New York is called the City of the Covenant, because in New York ‘Abdu’l-Bahá climaxed His life work by establishing for all time the character and implications of Bahá’u’lláh’s Covenant. This fact of the Covenant protects the Bahá’í Faith from schism, all over the world.
In Boston, exactly thirty-two years ago tonight, the Master spent His Birthday at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Francis W. Breed. Mrs. Breed baked the birthday cake herself, and she planted tiny flags all over it, representing as many nations as she could find. . . .
The main lesson He taught, I think, was love. You could say He was all mind, all magic and sensitivity and laughter, but still the main thing was love. Everyone understood it. A nun going by on the street looked tenderly at Him; He spoke to one of the Bahá’ís in His party and said, “Tell her who I am.” In California He gave a talk and as always He stopped every few moments for the interpreter to put the words into English. There was an American in the audience, a poor man, an uneducated man; he hated the interpreter; he said: “Why does that fellow interrupt the Master all the time?”
On the Celtic, that last day, when ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was to sail away, He told His followers that they must love all mankind. He said, “Beware lest ye offend any heart, lest ye speak against anyone in his absence, lest ye estrange yourselves from the beloved of God . . . You must even treat your evil-wishers as your well-wishers . . . Those who are not agreeable toward you must be regarded as those who are congenial and pleasant. . . .”
This western hemisphere will always carry the mark of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s footsteps; always remember His coming out of prison, in His old age, to sow the seeds of peace in the West. Because it is as one of the poets has written—“The years are very long, but love is longer.”
Address delivered on the program of the Bahá’í Centenary, Wilmette, Illinois, May 19-25, 1944.
The Spirit of Inter-American Fellowship
LOULIE A. MATHEWS
HUMAN progress is not
achieved by the rotation of
days, but is motivated by events.
Minor events change man a little;
great events often revolutionize
man’s whole being. When the
Word of God is spoken and man
listens, the Word causes faith to
replace fear, fellowship to become
real and natural, and a
crystal clear happiness that nothing
can disturb enfolds man.
From the creative word of this day flow two mighty streams of consciousness; an awakening to spiritual values and an all-embracing fellowship.
How often while travelling in the Americas was I reminded of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s interpretation given to Daniel Sutton of the cryptic utterance of Jesus “For many are called but few are chosen”. The many, referred to in the gospel, are those who have no objective knowledge of the Prophet, yet at the center of their being they know him, while the few refers to those chosen souls who surround the Manifestation of God during His early pilgrimage.
I had an example of what
‘Abdu’l-Bahá meant during a
journey through the wild lake
region of Chile. We had reached
an island so remote as to suggest
the end of the world. Only two
people were there, Sr. de Bermuilt
and his wife. She was
curious to know what had brought
us to this desolate spot and I explained
that all peoples must be
made aware of the advent of
Bahá’u’lláh and of the principles
which he brought. After we had
talked for some time she said,
“Surely so vast a movement must
have a head, a guiding spirit.”
“Oh yes,” I replied, “we have a
Guardian, one who makes practical
the precepts of Bahá’u’lláh
and directs our steps into all
countries.” The Senora called to
her husband who was reading
near a kerosene lamp. “Listen,
Gustave, this little lady says there
has been a prophet on earth and
that his commands are being carried
forward by a Guardian of his
cause. What do you think of this
plan? Do you believe a spiritual
leader could direct the world?”
Gustave took this question into
his logical mind and for a few
moments there was silence. Presently
his face lighted and his
words were full of eagerness.
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“Yes, I think I could believe that!
The solutions provided by statesmen
and thinkers seem futile;
But under the leadership of one
divorced from politics and world
power, under a Guardian with a
definite and spiritual plan, in
this I see a solution, one in which
I can believe.” In a flash of insight,
through grasping the idea
of the guardianship, he saw the
revelation and accepted it. Within
three months he had translated
and copied long hand “The Goal
of the New World Order” both
into Spanish and German, thus
making one of the earliest contributions
to Bahá’í Latin-American literature.
Again in Buenos Aires I met the Countess Del Aquiera. She related to me the great dramatic experience of her life. “My husband and I came from Spain,” she said, “where our families were prominent Catholics. Arriving in Argentina, we helped build the beautiful cathedral you see in the square. We reared our children under the shadow of the church and consulted the Archbishop on all important matters. Thus the years passed until a mortal illness overtook my husband. As I sat by his bedside during those last hours, he took my hand and said: ‘Marie, can you hear me?’ ‘Yes,’ I replied. ‘I am leaving you and I want to tell you that there is something wonderful on earth that we know nothing about, it is called Bahá’í; when I am gone, do you search until you find and embrace it fearlessly.’” And afterwards she sought over a period of years and when, at last she had found it, she embraced it with all her heart.
A new degree of fellowship is growing up in the Americas. The fences are coming down so we are better able to see one another. We catch a glimpse of the meaning of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s statement: “The gift of God to this enlightened age is the knowledge of the oneness of mankind.”
Science and religion are united
by the principles of Bahá’u’lláh
and science is a bulwark of racial
unity. The scientists agree that
no master race is permanent, no
nation’s feet are riveted to the
crest of civilization. Their premise
is that individuals differ but
that biological differences are
small. Ability and talent are universal
qualities from which all
may partake. The noted scientist,
Dr. Carver, was asked how he
happened to turn his attention to
the peanut. “Every morning,” replied
Dr. Carver, “I rose at four
o’clock to pray and ask God to
direct me, thus I received the answer
to begin to study the common
unnoticed objects around
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me. I was not to be satisfied with
the surface of things but to look
inside; to find the inner
core, for all things have
gifts to give man.” Underneath
his doorstep he found in the soil
colors that resemble the lost
paints of antiquity, among the
weeds sustenance and in the peanut
thirty-three useful ingredients.
He called our attention to
the fact that the Creator had
given man the mineral, vegetable
and animal kingdoms but in this
wonderful day He had added
another—the synthetic, with
which man will rebuild the
world.
Throughout the ages the Prophets have repeated the Golden Rule, but in this radiant age, fellowship is greatly accelerated, because it not only relates one man to another, but relates each man to the whole human family. Love, the touchstone of the heart, has for a long time lain like pressed flowers between the leaves of our prayerbooks. Brotherly love has been left behind us in our church pews. But today we must carry it with us wherever we go, for the essence of religion does not change from age to age. Bahá’u’lláh counsels us: “Consort with all the people with joy and fragrance for fellowship is the cause of unity and unity is the source of order in the world.”
The Americas, like a sensitized plate exposed to the light, are having Bahá’u’lláh’s precepts etched upon them.
Two thousand years ago the utterances of Jesus levelled the walls of Rome and today the impact of Bahá’u’lláh’s message is shaking the pillars of the world. The faith brought us by the founders of the Bahá’í Religion is spreading from one country to another, from one continent to another, until at the appointed time, the kingdom of God promised man from the beginning shall flower in our midst.
Address delivered on the program of the Bahá’í Centenary, May 19-25, 1944.
May America become the distributing center of spiritual enlightenment and all the world receive this heavenly blessing. . . . The American continent gives signs and evidences of very great advancement. . . . Its future is even more promising, for its influence and illumination are far-reaching. It will lead all nations spiritually. —‘ABDU’L-BAHÁ
Editorial
A NEW HEAVEN
ONE of the most dramatic
experiences in the life of an
individual is that of “conversion.”
In a miraculous way he
is overnight transformed. He
has been stale; he is refreshed.
He has been sad; he becomes
joyful. He has been futile; he
achieves purpose. Lonely, he is
companioned; dead, he receives
life. Such an experience brings
harmony to the person who
undergoes it. He perceives with
sudden lucidity the relations of
things, and he is able to see the
confused elements of his self in
a just proportion. God has been
made a point of reference in his
life: all things fall into their
proper place in relation to Him.
This is a kind of heaven—a plane of consciousness on which the individual soul feels its relation to God.
Almost at once the newly converted one finds himself drawn into companionship with others who have the same experience. The love of God forms between them a bond, and religious communities, more or less closely knit, are the result. The experience of the individual in all religions has been, therefore, partly personal, partly communal.
So it is with the Bahá’í. He too feels at the beginning of his religious life that joyful sense of reunion with God; he too is assured that as an individual he is important and that his rewards will be in accordance to his own merit. But the communal life of the Bahá’í is different from all others, for the moment he becomes a part of the Bahá’í Community he enters upon a process of education which, building upon the foundations laid by the older religions, develops in him a new kind of consciousness, hitherto unknown— the awareness of being a part, in a new way, of one humanity.
This consciousness, which is
more than the mere intellectual
recognition of a fact but is rather
the knowledge of truth felt and
experienced, has been attained
gradually by the Bahá’ís of
America. Exhilarated by the
new outpouring of spiritual power
in this age, they tended at first
to emphasize personal inspiration,
individual guidance. Devoted
to the Manifestation for
this day, prayerful, radiant, they
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were yet like the saints of the
older dispensations, without that
mature conception of unity which
is the heart of the new revelation.
In the home of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
many of them were given
the first glimpse of it, for there
the peoples of all nations, races,
religions were fused in a whole
which transcended limitations.
But only hard work and bitter experience
could make that reality
visible throughout the world. After
the passing of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
the Bahá’í Administrative Order,
the divinely appointed instrument
for the development of
unity, came into being. Many
were the heart-aches, difficult the
struggles before it could so unite
the Bahá’í Community that the
flow of its inspiration—from the
Word of God, through the
Guardian, through the National
and local Assemblies—was felt
to be one force. It was only
when that unity was established
that the gigantic task could be
undertaken of carrying to every
part of the western hemisphere
the vision of mankind as one
organism, united in obedience to
a new Manifestation of God’s
purpose. On the 23rd of May
of this year, one hundred years
after the inception of the Faith,
the first part of that task was
accomplished.
The Community had worked with increasing intensity for seven years to prepare its House of Worship and to complete the teaching work undertaken for that time. It had been promised a spiritual reward. The House of Worship in which they gathered had been built by the sacrifice of believers (and of believers alone) the world over. It stood white and shining in a kind of celestial beauty, and as one approached it one felt at once the joy of the meeting of all peoples. For there were among those who came together there Bahá’ís from many lands, the ofispring of many races and many religions, consorting together with “joy and fragrance.”
As the last minutes of the century drained away, the people quietly assembled. Under the great universal dome they heard the Word of God as it has reverberated down the ages, as it has been pronounced anew, clearly and compellingly in our time, and the consciousness of the unity of God and of all men, felt and experienced, made them at that moment one self. Lifted to a new level of understanding capable of bringing the warring elements of human society into harmony and proportion, they entered a new heaven, which will create a new earth.
Social Basis of World Unity
ELSIE AUSTIN
TODAY, people who seek to
stress the spiritual basis of
peace and justice among men,
or who dare to accent the necessity
for the regeneration of human
hearts and characters as the
first step to needed social change,
are usually rebuffed by those
who immediately cry out, “Oh,
you must be practical and
realistic.”
This is because so many folk think that the only practical approach to human problems is one which deals immediately with outward evidences of what is desirable. They do not see human needs beyond the specific projects devised for education and security. Outwardly these matters do represent the things which separate the “Haves” from the “Have Nots” in human society, and if you look at them in this light, they may seem to be the sole issues which have all along produced restlessness, division and strife among men.
However, any social program which is to operate for true world betterment must of necessity go beyond outward evidences, if it is to be really practical. The best plans for social cooperation and peace are always limited by the kind of human beings who must use and apply them. There is no more realistic force in the world today than the Bahá’í Faith. In its teachings and its social program there are profoundly realistic approaches to the fundamental social changes which must be the basis of any real and lasting unity for mankind.
The Bahá’í Faith is first of all a Faith which harmonizes the inward incentives and outward procedures to unity. Outward procedures give the means for unity and inward incentives give the heart for unity. There is great difference between folk who have the means for unity and the folk who have the heart for unity.
Legislation and the interplay
of conflicting social interests may
furnish a kind of means for
unity, and even a certain state of
outward compliance. However,
legislation and the pressures of
expediency have never been able
to get at the inward fears, jealousies,
greeds and animosities of
men. And it is these which furnish
the vicious inner motives
[Page 126]
which can browbeat the intelligence
of men and make mockery
of outward social compliance.
Nearly everyday we see tragic
instances of failure where social
change depends upon means
alone. Instances where people
nullify and obstruct legislation,
where they sabotage social effort
or fail to produce and support
the kind of courageous policies
and action needed for the patterns
and standards consistent
with just and enlightened ideals.
The means for unity is there, but
legislation is killed or evaded;
communities lose their moral
integrity in compromise with
policies of hatred and division,
and people excuse themselves
from honest upright action by
saying, “Law is not the way to
do this.” “The time is not ripe”
or “This is the right policy, but
we must work up to it gradually.”
Now, all such people are really
saying is, “I have not the heart
to do this thing” or “The people
whose opinion I fear have not the
heart for forthright action about
this, and I do not know how to
reach them.”
The religion of Bahá’u’lláh, founder of The Bahá’í Faith, begins with that essential spiritual regeneration of the human being which creates a heart for brotherhood and impells action for the unity of mankind. Bahá’u’lláh has made it very plain that the test of Faith is its social force. Principal and social planning are useless until they are rendered dynamic by the stamina and will of men to enforce and apply spiritual ethics to human affairs.
The second great realism of the Bahá’í faith is that it provides new patterns for the application of spiritual principle to the social problems of humanity.
When Bahá’u’lláh first proclaimed some eighty years ago, “This is the hour of the coming together of all the races and nations and classes. This is the hour of unity among the sons of men,” the prophecy was a far fetched ideal to the world of jealous politics and cultural isolation which received it. But the unity of mankind today is no mere social ideal. Human strife has made it a social necessity.
It is not surprising then to see
that human unity is an increasingly
popular subject for liberal
thought and action. Nor is it
surprising that programs to foster
unity are being launched on
every hand. Yet so many of the
bona fide efforts for unity are
being fatally compromised because
they must be launched
through the established social
patterns which preserve old disunities.
Do people learn brotherhood
and the spiritual attitudes
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and social cooperation which
brotherhood involves by lectures
or hesitant compromising ventures,
which leave untouched and
unchanged the separate education,
separate worship, separate
security, separate social planning
which shape every phase of their
community living—embittering
separations made in terms of
differences of race, creed, culture
and nationality? Any social pattern
which elaborately preserves
and accents these outward differences
and their resultant inward
animosities must of necessity
crucify the objective of social
unity.
The Bahá’í Teachings not only destroy without equivocation the fallacies which have nourished social strife and disunity, but they provide new patterns of social living and development through which men learn brotherhood by performance.
And what realistic way is there, you may ask, to deal with the ancient bitter diversities of race, religion and culture? What can be done with the changing pressures of unstable economics and the conflicting education of the world’s peoples?
The Bahá’í Faith provides for the diversities of religion, that long needed center of reconciliation, which can produce harmonious understanding of its varying prophets and systems. Bahá’u’lláh has shown us in the Bahá’í Revelation that the great revealed religions of the world are like lamps which carry the pure light of Divine Truth providing social teaching and discipline for humanity. But as that lamp is borne by human hands, there are periods when conflicting interpretations of the Divine Word, dogmas and superstitions, alienate and divide men. Periods when the temptations of material power pervert religion into an instrument for the exploitation and suppression of human development. It is because of this that new lamps have always come and will always come. Each of the great lamps tests the social force of the others. In this men should find source for progress, not reason for strife. God in His mercy has provided in the Divine Faiths a continuous and successive renewal of Universal Spiritual Truth.
The Bahá’í learns the relation
and ordered unfoldment of Truth
in all Divine Religions. Thus
Spiritual Faith is lifted above the
period differences of its various
names and systems. Is it unrealistic
that in a world so in need
of spiritual regeneration, Jews,
Christians, Moslems, and Believers
of all Divine Faiths
[Page 128]
should be given that which will
relate their spiritual purposes
and development and thus
enable them to travel harmoniously
a wide free path to greater
social demonstration and understanding
of the Truth? Is this not
a more effective way to create
the heart for unity than the elaborate
separations and the jealous
fencing off of Religious
paths? Today men so preserve
and concentrate upon their symbolic
differences that the common
goal is lost in confusion and
animosity.
There are really no diversities of race to those who truly accept the fact that all mankind is God’s creation. Yet the outward differences of color, physiognomy and culture have annoyed and divided us. When members of the human family meet each other who have striking differences in appearance and manners, they resort very naturally to reactions of fear, distaste and derision, which grow out of the human complex for conformity and the fear of strangeness. Unity of mankind is not only a basic principle in the Bahá’í Faith, but it is also the basis of a new social pattern in terms of which Bahá’ís worship, work, educate themselves and contribute their capacities to civilization. Living in a Bahá’í community is a matter of learning differences, appreciating them and achieving with them great loyalties to human welfare, which are above the narrow confinements of race, creed and class, color and temperament. The most practical knowledge in the world is the knowledge that the world can never become what so many people like to believe; a world in which we make other people look, act, and understand in terms of that with which we are familiar. That kind of world is neither possible nor desirable. What we really want is a world of harmonized differences, where a man can make his contribution with other men for the good of all mankind. This is the world of the Bahá’í Community, a community covering seventy-eight national backgrounds and thirty-one racial origins and Heaven knows how many temperaments and cultural backgrounds in this first one hundred years. A growing Community which operates with every possible human difference to take into consideration, yet its members through practicing and perfecting their practice of the Bahá’í Teachings, have achieved a unity of objectives through which entirely new social patterns, standards and virtues are being evolved.
People do not like to mention
[Page 129]
religion and economics in the
same breath. The problem is that
of the economically disinherited
who in bitter restless upsurge
change periodically the pressures
and controls of this world’s unstable
economics. It is practical
to talk of trade policies, of commerce
regulations and spheres of
influence, now. However, the
world must soon face the fact
that economic instability and the
bitter struggle and suffering
which go on because of it,
have a question of human motives,
human development, behind
them. Motives behind the
failure to use opportunity, or the
use of it to selfishly acquire and
control wealth, goods, and services,
constitute the real factors
causing the unhealthy inequalities,
the exploitation and suppression
in human society. Bahá’u’lláh
stressed the need of a
spiritual basis as the first step
in the development of stable
world economics. The extremes
of poverty and vast wealth are
not only matters of material opportunity
and education, they are
also matters of greed and slothfulness
in human characters.
Material education and spiritual enlightenment must be applied to bring the kind of economic adjustments which will make possible responsible efforts for all people and insure a just distribution of wealth, goods and services for all people.
Until then, we are all, regardless of our skins, creeds and countries, caught economically between the evil extremes which are produced by the Jeeter Lesters and those masters of selfish financial genius, who like a cancerous growth, feed upon and weaken the earth’s human and material resources.
Nothing but the wholesome regeneration of human hearts and establishment of new social objectives for the efforts and acquisitions of men, will in the final analysis remedy these ills.
The great realisms of the Bahá’í Faith lie in its new spiritual teachings and in the new social patterns which they provide for needed development of mankind; a development which will turn men from the beliefs and superstitions which are destructive to human solidarity and create in them the heart to initiate and perfect new standards, new morals and new undertakings for a great new era of civilization.
These achievements are possible when man is afforded that perfect combination of Human and Spiritual Unity. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the great expounder Of the Bahá’í Teachings, has described it in these words:
[Page 130]
“Human Unity or solidarity
may be likened to the body,
whereas unity from the breaths
of the Holy Spirit is the spirit
animating the body. This is a
perfect unity. It creates such a
condition in mankind that each
one will make sacrifices for the
other and the utmost desire will
be to forfeit life and all that pertains
to it in behalf of another’s
good. It is the unity which
through the influence of the Divine
Spirit is permeating the
Bahá’ís, so that each offers his
life for the other and strives with
all sincerity to attain His good
pleasure. This is the unity that
caused twenty thousand people
in Írán to give their lives in love
and devotion to it. It made the
Báb the target of a thousand
arrows and caused Bahá’u’lláh
to suffer exile and imprisonment
for forty years. This unity is
the very spirit of the body of the
world.”
From Centenary Program, May 19-25, 1944.
THE CARNIVAL IS OVER
SYLVIA MARGOLIS
- Behold! the carnival is over!
- The revelling and feasting’s done!
- The vineyards burned, the fleshpots empty,
- The Age is wasted like a sun!
- Beneath the gaunt and gaping roofs
- Its multi-colored gauds of lust
- Like bits of stained confetti, lie
- Dispersed and scattered in the dust!
- The empty couches, jeweled thrones,
- The palaces and perilous dreams—
- All, all have been laid waste forever
- Beneath the Day’s uprooted beams!
- The captains of command are vanquished,
- Dust are the hands of tyranny;
- And kings and princes flee and vanish
- Like chaff before the Lord’s decree!
- Ye poor and needy of all nations,
- Ye tricked and taunted of the earth,
- See ye not your suff’rance is accomplished,
- Another Era comes to birth?
- Behold! beyond the ruthless carnage,
- Beyond the spoil and the rage,
- Your blood has stormed the gates of Heaven
- And brings to birth the Promised Age!
The Oneness of Religion
MRS. CHARLES REED BISHOP
INDISSEVERABLY linked to
the oneness of mankind is
the Bahá’í view of the oneness
of religion. By this we affirm
that the religions founded by the
Holy Prophets are all from God;
their inner core is one spiritual
reality and is unfolded to mankind
from age to age by the
process of divine Revelation. The
Scriptures preserved by each of
the communities of believers
are the testimony given by the
Prophet-Founders of faith in
God.
Unless this audience can admit the possibility of God speaking again today and giving to mankind new and greater knowledge of Himself through His Prophet, it is not possible to grasp the Bahá’í faith in one world, one humanity, one religion—and one God. Such limitations of outlook and orthodoxy, I, among others would lament because it is plain to me that so long as our knowledge is confined to the past it is spiritual ignorance; more definitely, only through the new knowledge of God transmitted by the Prophet activating our time and guiding our future can faith be alive today.
It is heartening to hear that every Bahá’í pioneer from Alaska to the Straits of Magellan is proving in these days the widespread decline of fanaticism and even of sectarianism. One of our teachers in an alien land met the wife of a brigadier general who asked to know of the Faith. When she learned that it claimed humanity to be one spiritual creation and religions one Truth she gave her heart—and her home for a meeting. Her invitation cards, bidding the officers of the post and their families to tea and a talk, skipped by the formal titles academicians would approve and announced forthrightly the speaker on “The Bahá’í Faith Embracing All Religions.”
During the weekend of the Bahá’í traveller’s visit to the new friend of the Cause, the household was busied with no small preparations for the announced meeting. Impressed by this collaboration from those whom the world would have designated as “strangers”, the visiting speaker begged to know from her hostess: “What makes you undertake all of this so casually?”
[Page 132]
To which the lady replied,
“When I went out to India to
join my husband nineteen years
ago, a very different world
opened to me. On one occasion,
in the north, we came upon a
city that had been conquered
and destroyed and built again
many times. When the Moguls
(the Muslim conquerors) seized
it, they built it again and perhaps
better than before. Leading
into the citadel they made a gate
inscribed with an Arabic verse
over the entrance. I asked an
aide-de-camp to interpret for me,
and heard from him the following:
‘Said Jesus upon Whom be
praise! This world is a bridge;
pass over it but build no house
thereon. He who can hope for an
hour can hope for eternity. This
life is but an hour. Spend it in
devotion. The rest is unseen.’”
And she continued with the explanation, “From this I knew that the Muslim conquerors were believers in Christ and in Muḥammad, too—finding nothing incompatible in their acceptance of two Prophets instead of one. From it I glimpsed a possible unity or oneness of religion and resolved that if I came upon a fuller view of this truth I would serve it.”
Many others are searching for this same truth beyond the contradiction of appearances, and coming to it—although by less enchanting adventures. From the heart of the common man, too, is coming the increasing demand for clarity of insight. Last month a popular magazine printed a photograph of the small treasures left by a lad who fought in New Zealand and is among the missing. Found among some coins, pictures of two dear persons, and a few bars of soap was a diary with the following entry made in a somewhat illiterate hand: “People don’t think much about religion nowadays. But we need a voice from on High, brother, and I don’t mean maybe. This thing has got out of human ability to run. I’m no religious fanatic. But we are in a situation where something better than human brains has got to give us advice.” (Life, April 17, 1944)
I submit that the Revelation towards
which humanity is groping
is the one which God has sent
for this mature Age. The Prophet
Bahá’u’lláh brings to us the
whole or full view of oneness.
“This century is as the eye to
all past centuries.” By His summons
to awaken, the eye of
humanity is opened to the light
of this Day; it looks backward
and sees the divided peoples, the
local cultures and separate cycles
of religion, but that same eye is
able to look forward to the oneness
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of the world of humanity
and of faith.
Importantly, all the religions established throughout past cycles by the Manifestations of God are true—but they are prophetic only: each renewed from age to age the divine promises of the Kingdom that would come. The people of faith have lived by hope and the renewal of hopes, but now is the cycle of realization. Therefore, the Message of Bahá’u’lláh brings not one more promise of the Kingdom of God on earth, but the Kingdom itself and with it the fulfillment of all prophecy and aspiration. In each past cycle a particular Name of God was given; today Bahá’u’lláh is the Bearer of the whole Name, “The Greatest Name” for this—the blooming Age. The long-awaited Day of God for this planet.
In school I was handed the advice of the philosopher Hegel: “The historian brings his categories with him, for he who has nothing to contribute will find but little to perceive.” So, if you will, contemplate with me—and with “the eye of this century”— the Tree of Religion now standing in full view?
Although the Tree has but one Root—the very Source of its being—it bears two mighty branches, the Aryan and the Semitic. By these we designate not racial but language groups inasmuch as the Word of God is the common denominator of all human societies. And it is from among the peoples who spoke in the Indo-Iranian or the Semitic languages that God chose His Mouthpieces at intervals marking the beginning of a cycle. The Words of power that were uttered are the Revelations designated variously—Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity, Islám. Their Truth is One.
Viewing more closely the Aryan branch of the Tree of Religion, we observe that the folkways, laws and institutions of the lesser branches named Brahmanism, Buddhism and Zoroastrianism differ vastly. Nonetheless, that which they have in common is more important and far more permanent: this is the accent they all place upon the spiritual awakening of man.
As for the Semitic branch of the Tree, proceeding from it we discern the branches of Judaism, Christianity and Islám. These Revelations brought the knowledge of God through the medium of Hebrew and Arabic. (Syriac also has been a tongue of Revelation in seasons now forgotten except in the Bahá’í Writings.)
Again the essential truth is not
the diversity of social laws and
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institutions which each maintains,
but, rather, their common
accent falling upon the Logos—
the Revelation of the Names and
Attributes of God.
It was astonishing to me, at the world Congress of Faiths in London some years ago, to hear a few exponents of the Indo-Iranian religions claim universal values based upon the antiquity of their Teachings. As a Bahá’í I held the contrary view: all religions are one in their Divine Source and Essence, but their social laws are progressively given in order to meet the changing needs of mankind; therefore, it is the youngest and newest Revelation from God that is intended for universality. It is the renewed Tree that bears the fruit seasonably.
The Bahá’í Faith is the renewal of the Tree of Religion. Its Co-Founders bring the Aryan and Semitic branches to fruition today. For the Báb, Prophet and Martyr—whom we commemorate in this Centenary—comes out of the lineage of Abraham through the Prophet Muḥammad. (In keeping with the Covenant with Abraham, Muḥammad was a remote son of Ishmael.) Furthermore, Bahá’u’lláh was descended from the Zoroastrian kings. Even the geneological and historical promises are complete. Heretofore, the Aryan and Semitic religions were separately viewed and hence irreconcilable, but with “the eye of this century” they are seen in relation to the whole Tree. By the Manifestations of the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh, God the Creator has caused the Tree of Religion to flourish again—laden with fruit for all mankind.
My spiritual friends, do not hesitate to take advantage of this matchless instrument. Seize the Word uttered by the Prophet in this Day and transmit it! Cherish your minorities; bind man to man and nation to nation. Allow the religions to realize their oneness. Achieve the undivided consciousness of one God, one humanity, one universal faith—and one Order of Prophethood: upon this you are building the World Community. And a grateful posterity will bless you!
From Centenary Program, May 19-25, 1944.
The potentialities inherent in the station of man, the full measure of his destiny on earth, the innate excellence of his reality, must all be manifested in this promised Day of God.
WITH OUR READERS
SINCE our June issue, which, as
proposed, was entirely devoted to
addresses delivered at the great
Bahá’í centenary celebration, was
quite inadequate in space to record
the talks we hoped to print and since
many were not available at the time
of printing, we are making this July
number a supplement to the June
souvenir edition. Those who attended
the centenary and convention will be
glad to have this permanent record
of the talks which presented so many
phases both of the Bahá’í teachings
and of the development of the Cause
over its first century for themselves
and for teaching aids. Those who
were not fortunate enough to attend
can through these printed pages
share, in part at least, in the great
experience. We hope to print, from
time to time, other of the available
talks.
“The Architect’s Design” was the address given by our honored guest speaker Earl H. Reed On the first evening of the centenary celebration, May 19, when the program commemorated the completion of the Temple edifice and its outer ornamentation. Mr. Reed is a well known architect of Chicago, past president of the architectural society, and at present member of the faculty of Northwestern University. His appreciative talk shows with what interest and questioning he watched the building of the Temple from its inception.
Sunday afternoon, May 21, the public meeting was devoted to the general theme, “The Bahá’í World Faith” and the two addresses dealt with the two fundamental principles of our Faith—“The Oneness of Humanity” and the “Oneness of Religion”. In this issue we print the address on the latter subject by Helen Bishop of Pasadena, California. Mrs. Bishop has served the Cause as a teacher and traveler in European countries, in Mexico and this country and for some time was Bahá’í representative at Geneva, Switzerland. At present she is continuing her activities in the United States. Our readers will remember her, too, as contributor to these pages.
The program Tuesday evening, May 23, centered around the history and development of the Bahá’í Faith in America. Although impossible to crowd ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s all-important visit to North America into twenty minutes or a few pages, yet Mrs. Gail’s talk is a happy and impelling reminder of the deep incentive His visit gave to personal devotion, to teaching the Faith, to unity in the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh. Mrs. Gail is known to our readers through her many contributions to these pages. For some time her home has been in New York but, we understand, in the near future it will be in San Francisco.
One of the several speakers on
Wednesday evening, the 24th, was
Loulie A. Mathews whose outstanding
work in the Bahá’í international field
gave her a fitting place on the program
which that evening was devoted
to “The Meeting of the Americas”.
Her talk, “The Spirit of Inter-American
Fellowship” impressed us again
with the knowledge that wherever a
Bahá’í may go are to be found souls
spiritually prepared for the message
of Bahá’u’lláh. Mrs. Mathews lives at
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Temerity Ranch, Colorado Springs,
where is held each year the Bahá’í
International School.
The gathering which brought to a happy close the week of celebration was the banquet at the Stevens Hotel, Chicago, commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of the beginning, in Chicago, of the Bahá’í Faith in North America. The large attendance and rich program contributed by friends of the Faith and by Bahá’ís from different countries and races testify to the strong growth of the Cause in these fifty years. We select for this issue the talk by Elsie Austin entitled “The Social Basis of Unity of Mankind,” an important phase of the Bahá’í teaching and one often overlooked by other groups which stress world unity. Miss Austin is legal adviser in one of the government departments in Washington, D. C., and a devoted worker in the Bahá’í community in that city.
Miss Busey’s editorial pointing out, as it does, the step which the Bahá’í Revelation takes beyond that of any previous Revelation, reminds us that the centenary celebration marking the end of one century is but the beginning of another which calls for deeper devotion and more strenuous effort to bring about a new earth.
* * *
One of our Canadian believers writes feelingly of her new experience in friendship when the friendship is between Bahá’ís. “I can’t explain it,” she says, “but since being a Bahá’í I meet people with a definite expectancy of liking them, and on meeting a young woman who had come from the other side of the border to help our young assembly, I had the instant feeling that I knew her though I had not seen her before. The feeling was that we should get away by ourselves and talk about a lot of things that just couldn’t wait because we had been waiting a long time as it was to say them. . . . Yes, Bahá’í friendships are different. They look to the inside before the out.”
* * *
Our business manager gives us a most encouraging report of the increasing circulation of World Order. The report says: “During the past year more than 400 new subscribers have been added to our lists and a duplication of this accomplishment during the coming year will insure that the magazine will become self-sustaining in its manufacture. The enrolled subscribers now exceed 2,000 and we do hope that with the continued efforts of assemblies, groups, teachers and individual Bahá’ís that the enrollment will have attained at least a 500 increase during the coming year.”
This would seem to be a goal not too difficult to attain and certainly worthy of effort in the first year of our second century. Many local assemblies do good work in promoting the magazine through their library committees; others have special World Order committees. The business manager has receipt books containing receipts for 25 subscriptions which will be sent to the librarian or World Order committee upon request. Extra copies of the May and June issues are available upon request at 10 cents a copy in quantities of ten or more. This includes mailing to one or different addresses. The price for less than ten remains at 15 cents a copy. Remittance should accompany order.
Bahá’í World Faith
This book contains a representative selection of the Writings of
Bahá’u’lláh and of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and is the largest collection of Bahá’í
literature in English translation now available in one volume.
A detailed Table of Contents and an Index make the Bahá’í teachings readily accessible for study as well as reading and meditation.
The plan of the book arranges the contents in nine chapters, as follows:—
- Part One—Writings of Bahá’u’lláh
- Chapter One—The Great Announcement
- Chapter Two—The Promised One
- Chapter Three—The Life of the Soul
- Chapter Four—Laws of the New Age
- Chapter Five—The Mystery of God
- Part Two—Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
- Chapter Six—The Faith of Bahá’u’lláh
- Chapter Seven—Soul, Mind and Spirit
- Chapter Eight—The Loom of Reality
- Chapter Nine—The Divine Plan
Each of these chapters has been treated as a unit of significance, and the sequence of the nine chapters conveys a sense of the unfoldment of the Bahá’í Dispensation in the Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh, His Will and Testament, the Tablets and Addresses of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and in His Testament and Plan for the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh.
The passages selected have been taken from fifteen different publications as well as from the National Archives.
Printed on thin light paper and bound in green fabrikoid. 465 pages. Per copy, $1.50.
BAHÁ’Í PUBLISHING COMMITTEE
110 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, Illinois
TRUTHS FOR A NEW DAY
Promulgated by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
Throughout North America in 1912
* * *
These teachings were given by Bahá’u’lláh
over seventy years ago and are to be
found in His published
writings of that time.
The oneness of mankind.
Independent investigation of truth.
The foundation of all religions is one.
Religion must be the cause of unity.
Religion must be in accord with science and reason.
Equality between men and women.
Prejudice of all kinds must be forgotten.
Universal peace.
Universal education.
Spiritual solution of the economic problem.
A universal language.
An international tribunal.