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WORLD ORDER
JUNE, 1946
THE RESURRECTION OF JAPAN—‘Abdu’l-Bahá
SPIRITUAL PRINCIPLES OF BAHÁ’Í ADMINISTRATION—Alma Sothman
YOUTH AND THE MODERN WORLD II. MYSTICISM AND ITS IMPLICATIONS—G. A. Shook
ONLY THE RAMPARTS FELL, Editorial—Horace Holley
COLONEL LAWRENCE: A BAHÁ’Í MEMORY—Mrs. Jane Stannard
LIGHT—Floyd H. Munson
MY JOURNEY TO BOMBAY—Sydney Sprague
ASSURANCE, Poem—Mary Marlowe
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 XXXVI 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: Eleanor S. Hutchens, William Kenneth Christian, Gertrude K. Henning, Horace Holley, Bertha Hyde Kirkpatrick.
Editorial Office
Mrs. Gertrude K. Henning, Secretary
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Printed in U.S.A.
JUNE, 1946, VOLUME XII, NUMBER 3
SUBSCRIPTIONS: $1.50 per year, for United States, its territories and possessions; for Canada, Cuba, Mexico, Central and South America. Single copies, 15c. Foreign subscriptions, $1.75. Make checks and money orders payable to World Order Magazine, 110 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, Ill. Entered a second class matter April 1, 1940, at the post office at Wilmette, Ill., under the Act of March 3, 1879. Content copyrighted 1946 by Bahá’í Publishing Committee. Title registered at U. S. Patent Office.
CHANGE OF ABDBESS SHOULD BE REPORTED ONE MONTH IN ADVANCE.
WORLD ORDER
The Bahá’í Magazine
VOLUME XII JUNE, 1946 NUMBER 3
The Resurrection of Japan
COMPILATION FROM THE WORDS OF ‘ABDU’L-BAHÁ ABOUT THE JAPANESE PEOPLE
From a Talk
IT IS a great happiness to be here this evening, especially for the reason that the members of this Association have come from the region of the Orient. For a long time I have entertained a desire to meet some of the Japanese friends. That nation has achieved extraordinary progress in a short space of time; a progress and development that have astonished the world. Inasmuch as they have advanced in material civilization they must surely possess the capacity for spiritual development. For this reason I have an excessive longing to meet them. . . . According to report the Japanese people are not prejudiced. They investigate reality. Wherever they find truth they prove to be its lovers. They are not attached tenaciously to blind imitations of ancient beliefs and dogmas. Therefore it is my great desire to discourse with them upon a subject in order that the unity and blending together of the nations of the East and the nations of the West may be furthered and accomplished. . . .
And ye who are the people of
the Orient—the Orient which has
ever been the dawning-point of
lights—from whence the Sun of
Reality has ever shone forth casting
its effulgence upon the West
—ye therefore must become the
manifestations of lights. Ye must
become brilliant lamps. Ye must
shine as stars radiating the light
of love toward all mankind. May
you be the cause of love amongst
the nations. Thus may the world
become witness that the Orient
has ever been the dawning-point
of illumination, the source of
love and reconciliation. Make
peace with all the world. Love
everybody. Serve everybody. All
are servants of God. He provideth
for all. He is kind to all. Therefore
must we be kind to all. I am
greatly pleased with this meeting.
I am joyous and happy, for here
in these western regions I find
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Orientals seeking education, and
who are free from prejudice.
May God assist you.
(Opening and closing sentences from a talk given by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá before the Japanese Young Men’s Christian Association, at Japanese Independent Church, Oakland, California, October 7, 1912.)
From Tablets Revealed by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
The people of Japan are like unto a soil that has been deprived of rain for cycles and generations and has had no share of the outpouring of rain and even of dew. Certainly, it is quite athirst. Now thou shouldst become the divine gardener and shouldst satisfy that thirsty soil with the water of divine teachings, so that heavenly bounties may be poured out and the flowers of reality and the fragrant herbs of human perfections spring forth and that land turn into a paradise of Eden.
(December 17, 1918)
Convey on my behalf the utmost
love and longing to Mr. —
and similarly to Mr. — My hope
is that those two blessed souls
may shine like unto two heavenly
stars from the horizon of Japan
and may be the cause of its enlightenment.
That land has acquired
material civilization and
ephemeral advancement; we
hope that it may acquire heavenly
civilization.
(December 27, 1918)
Your letter of congratulation
arrived and imparted joy, because
its contents indicated that
the Sun of Reality hath begun Its
radiation upon those regions. It
is my hope that that region may
get illumination and the heavenly
dawn may break forth. This will
be attained through the power of
faith in the Covenant.
Therefore we are expecting that every one of those friends may in that country become like a brilliant and luminous candle, and so the light of guidance may emanate upon the hearts. How often hath it happened that one blessed soul hath proved to become the cause of guidance unto a continent.
(February, 1920.)
O faithful friend! The inhabitants
of that region are bright
and noble minded. Through the
great distance, however, the musky
breeze has not yet reached
their nostrils. They know not of
the rise of the Sun of Reality
upon the horizon of Persia. If
you who are there be self-sacrificing
and become enkindled with
the love of God, and like unto
stars shine from the horizon of
Truth, that country will before
long be turned into a paradise of
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comfort. Japan will become illumined,
and like unto a meadow
and a rose-garden will invigorate
the hearts of every assembly.
Do ye strive as hard as
possible in order to be attracted
to the Beauty of the Beloved of
the World, and through the fire
of His love inflame that kingdom.
(June 11, 1920)
Praise God that you have
heard the celestial call, seen the
ray of the Sun of Truth, followed
the right direction and reached
the longed-for home! . . . It is
evident that, through your efforts,
the inhabitants of those regions
are now inhaling the fragrances
of musk from the Garden
of the Kingdom. In Japan the
divine proclamation will be
heard as a formidable explosion,
so that those who are ready will
become uplifted and illumined
by the light of the Sun of Truth.
(August 19, 1920)
That which is most necessary
and is assisted by divine confirmations
is the propagation of the
heavenly call. It is this which energizes
the world of existence.
. . . Concentrate all thine energy
in this that thou mayest make
heavenly progress, . . . that thou
mayest become the cause that the
dead body of Japan may attain
to heavenly life, may be endowed
with solar illumination and like
unto the moon and star it may
shine forth! This is important!
(October 15, 1920)
Japan is like unto a farm
whose soil is untouched. Such a
soil as this has great capacity.
One seed produces a hundredfold.
Now, praise be to God, ye
have found such a farm. Ye must
develop the lands; ye must free
them from thorns and weeds; ye
should scatter the seeds of the
love of God thereupon, and irrigate
them with the rain of the
knowledge of God. Rest ye assured
that heavenly blessing will
be bestowed!
It is my hope that in that farm ye will become divine farmers. The enlightened people of Japan are tired and disgusted with the superannuated and putrified blind imitations. They are assured that these blind imitations are pure superstitions without any truth. Therefore they have the capacity to hear the call of God. The land is untouched. We will have to see what the divine farmers will do.
(Dec. 9, 1920)
From ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in Paris
LADY BLOMFIELD
The Japanese Ambassador to
a European capital (Viscount
Arawaka—Madrid) was staying
at the Hotel d’Jena. This gentleman
and his wife had been told
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of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s presence in
Paris, and the latter was anxious
to have the privilege of meeting
Him.
“I am very sad,” said Her Excellency. “I must not go out this evening as my cold is severe, and I leave early in the morning for Spain. If only there were a possibility of seeing Him.”
This was told to the Master, Who had just returned after a long, tiring day.
“Tell the lady and her husband that, as she is unable to come to me, I will call upon her.”
Accordingly, though the hour was late, through the cold and the rain He came, with His smiling courtesy, bringing joy to us all, as we awaited Him in the Tapestry Room of the Hotel d’Jena.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá talked with the Ambassador and his wife of conditions in Japan, of the great international importance of that country, of the vast service to mankind, of the work for the abolition of war, of the need for improving conditions of life for the worker, of the necessity of educating girls and boys equally.
“The religious ideal is the soul of all plans for the good of mankind. Religion must never be used as a tool by party politicians. God’s politics are mighty, man’s politics are feeble.”
Speaking of religion and science, the two great wings with which the bird of humankind is able to soar, He said: “Scientific discoveries have increased material civilization. There is in existence a stupendous force, as yet, happily, undiscovered by man. Let us supplicate God, the Beloved, that this force be not discovered by science until spiritual civilization shall dominate the human mind. In the hands of men of lower material nature, this power would be able to destroy the whole earth.”
‘Abdu’l-Bahá talked of these and of many other supremely important matters for more than an hour. The friends, wondering, said: “How is it possible that, having spent all His life imprisoned in an Eastern fortress, He should so well understand world problems and possess the wisdom to solve them so simply?”
Truly we were beginning to understand that the majesty of greatness, whether mental or spiritual, is always simple.
(1911)
The betterment of the world can be accomplished through pure and excellent deeds and well-approved and agreeable conduct. The helper of the Cause is deeds and its assistant is good character.
—BAHÁ’U’LLÁH
Spiritual Principles of Bahá’í Administration
ALMA SOTHMAN
BAHÁ’Í administration is not simply an inflexible set of rules nor yet a mere practical outline of procedure to which Bahá’ís may turn in emergencies to solve problems or to carry out some plan of action. There can be no separation between spiritual principles and qualities, and administrative efficiency and order. Both are essential, and the Guardian states clearly that “to attempt to dissociate one from the other, is to deaden the body of the Cause.” Though administrative routine should not stifle the spirit which is “its propelling force and the motivating power of its very life,” many problems may be solved and the spiritual development both of the individual and of the Bahá’í community may be hastened by the understanding and the application of Bahá’í procedure.
The future world order will be based upon the divine principles and laws laid down by Bahá’u’lláh and interpreted by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, not upon the imperfect leadership or ideas of men. The minds and hearts of men must become illumined and purified by the teachings of the Divine Physician, and so become an instrument for the fulfillment of a divine plan.
In contrast with the old order, so often basing its activities upon the opinions or influence of one personality, Bahá’ís are exhorted to subordinate personalities to principles. The Guardian states that he “whole-heartedly and unreservedly upholds the principle that personalities should not be made centers around which the community may revolve, but that they should be subordinate under all conditions, however great their merits, to the properly constituted Assemblies.”
Present day Assemblies will
become the future Houses of Justice,
functioning according to divine
laws, and that of course,
makes personalities subordinate
to the Assemblies. The Guardian
states that Bahá’ís can “never
over-estimate or over-emphasize
this cardinal principle of Bahá’í
administration”. “No believer
has been given a spiritual status
which makes him immune to any
action by a Bahá’í administrative
body.” Spiritual devotion and
capacity may be proven by obedience
to this authority not by
claiming exemption from it.
There can be no privileged class
or individual in the Bahá’í Faith,
and the true believer accepts administrative
authority as a part
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of a divine plan for a world order.
A careful study of the statements of the Guardian on personality reveals a constant emphasis upon spiritual principles in all Bahá’í activities and attitudes and the obligation to recognize Bahá’í institutions and the authority given them by the founders of the Faith. In the Hidden Words it is written, “See with thine own eyes, and not with the eyes of another.” In Bahá’í elections, Bahá’ís should become acquainted with each other and discuss the requirements for an office without reference to particular individuals. We should learn from direct personal experience the fitness of another Bahá’í for membership on an Assembly, or as a representative of Bahá’ís in some other manner. This protects the right of an individual to use his own judgment without pressure from another to influence his vote. At the same time, obedience to this rule of action prevents discussion of personalities as well as undue influence of one individual. With complete freedom of choice in casting his vote, a believer must accept this training as part of his spiritual development to choose with wisdom and justice those who are best fitted to serve in administrative positions in the Cause.
The principle that Bahá’ís should seek to apply the “collective wisdom” of a group as expressed in consultation maintains the integrity of the individual and recognizes the innate capacity of every believer to serve the Cause by offering his ideas in consultation “with courage and conviction.” Having fulfilled this obligation, it then becomes his duty to accept the decision of the majority, if a unanimous decision has not been reached. That mankind has not yet touched the power that lies in “collective wisdom” is evident from the chaotic conditions of the world and the search of men for leaders who shall bring them into some promised land without undue effort on their part. It is both the privilege and the duty of Bahá’ís to demonstrate the wisdom and the power that lies in consultation.
Among the divine commandments
is, “Breathe not the sins of
others, so long as thou art thyself
a sinner.” Again it is written,
“Backbiting quencheth the
light of the heart and extinguisheth
the life of the soul.” In fulfillment
of this teaching, the National
Spiritual Assembly has
laid down a specific rule of action
for the guidance of Bahá’ís.
Any mention of personal delinquencies,
alleged or actual, is
forbidden, and the friends should
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not permit believers to speak to
them of such matters. If a complaint
is justified, because the
acts or words of a member threaten
the integrity of the Cause itself,
or undermine the good
name and reputation of a believer,
the Assembly should “entertain
or listen to only such evidence
as the complainant or witness
knows to be true of his or
her own knowledge.”
This rule of action applies to all believers within a community and also to complaints or criticisms made to traveling Bahá’ís visiting in a community, or to criticisms passed on to members of other Bahá’í communities in some other way. Traveling believers or teachers should refuse to listen to complaints. They have no right to assume the responsibility of the local Spiritual Assembly in the settlement of grievances or to attempt to make decisions or to offer advice, other than to refer the matter to the local Spiritual Assembly.
Upon the local Spiritual Assembly, as the future House of Justice, rests the responsibility of extending justice and love toward the members of their community. The first or highest duty of an individual or traveling teacher, as well as a member of a community, is: “Teach thyself. Whoso ariseth among you to teach the Cause of his Lord, let him before all else, teach his own self, that his speech may attract the hearts of them that hear him.”
If the local Spiritual Assembly is unable, after a grievance is stated, to stop the circulation of rumors and criticisms and to restore harmony, the matter should be reported to the National Spiritual Assembly immediately. After investigation, the National Spiritual Assembly will seek to render full justice to the individual believer or believers concerned.
Bahá’í procedure directs constructive action and the application of spiritual principles so that individuals may not suffer from injustice and injury. Continued whispering and backbiting is “evidence of the will to harm and to alienate friends,” and it will eventually destroy the solidarity of the Bahá’í community. The world order of Bahá’u’lláh must fulfill the commands of Bahá’u’lláh for justice and love between friends, and so the administration must become an instrument for the application of spiritual principles to fulfill the laws of love and justice between men.
In The Dispensation of Bahá’u’lláh,
Shoghi Effendi says that
the “administrative order may be
considered as the framework of
the Will itself”, and “the very
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pattern of the New World Order
destined to embrace in the fulness
of time the whole of mankind.”
In The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, the Guardian again reminds believers, “How pressing and sacred the responsibility that now weighs upon those Who are already acquainted with these teachings! How glorious the task of those who are called upon to vindicate their truth, and demonstrate their practicality to an unbelieving world! Nothing short of an immovable conviction in their divine origin, and their uniqueness in the annals of religion; nothing short of an unwavering purpose to execute and apply them to the administrative machinery of the Cause, can be sufficient to establish their reality, and insure their success.”
Some sort of administrative machinery is a necessity to insure the unity of the Faith, and its evolution from an embryonic state to a World Order embracing all of mankind. Bahá’ís have been given the priceless heritage to maintain the equal balance of spirit and form of the teachings and to make the administration of the Cause an instrument, and “not a substitute for the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh.” It is the “channel through which His promised blessings may flow”, a channel which should remain unobstructed “by partiality, ambition, or worldliness that might tend in the course of time to becloud the radiance, stain the purity and impair the effectiveness of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh.”
“Ours is the duty to ponder these things in our heart, to strive to widen our vision, and to deepen our comprehension of this Cause, and to arise, resolutely and unreservedly, to play our part, however small, in this greatest drama of the world’s spiritual history.”
If one of the believers be kind to one of the negligent ones and with perfect love should gradually make him understand the reality of the Cause of God in such a way that the latter should know in what manner the Religion of God hath been founded and what its object is, doubtless he will become changed; excepting abnormal souls who are reduced to the state of ashes and whose hearts are like stones, yea, even harder.
—‘ABDU’L-BAHÁ
Youth and the Modern World
II. MYSTICISM AND ITS IMPLICATIONS
G. A. SHOOK
WHEN the social order begins to break up, highly gifted people turn to mysticism. Life must have meaning. The old established religious systems offer little consolation, philosophy and science still less, but the seeker for ultimate reality may always turn inward. Through the emotions, the heart (so the mystic believes), the true knowledge of God may be obtained. Man may experience the absolute directly.
Contemporary mysticism has little in common with the cold absolute or extreme mysticism of Plotinus or Eckhart or even the modified mediaeval mysticism of Augustine and Francis; nevertheless since it is an inheritance from the past, we should examine briefly the presuppositions of this older extreme mysticism.
The extreme mystic believes that through asceticism, detachment and meditation one may attain the Divine Presence and become one with the Divine Essence. That is, man may enter the presence of the infinite God and become absorbed in the infinite unity of the Godhead. No logical thinker would admit that finite man could ever become one with the Infinite and so it was necessary to assume that man is something more than finite. The doctrine of incarnation was therefore introduced. This doctrine assumes that a particle of the Divine Essence exists in man.
If a spark of the Divine exists in man, or if you prefer to put it less crudely, if man’s reality is essentially divine, it follows that he must be absolutely detached from his ephemeral self and from all interests in the material world. He must also be freed from the intellect which comprehends only the material world. But incarnation implies pre-existence. Man’s spirit existed in undifferentiated form with God. The divine life-process then follows logically enough—man came from God and he must return to God.
For the mystic there are two and only two realms of being, the infinite God and finite man. These assumptions lead to two logical contradictions.
1. To explain how finite man
can understand the Infinite, the
mystic assumes that the Infinite
is divided into parts and that
mortal man possesses one of
these parts. He tacitly avoids the
[Page 74]
term God in this connection.
While the unity of the Infinite is
hereby destroyed, apparently this
did not trouble the mystics of the
past, probably because they were
familiar with contradictions of
this sort.
We recall that Parmenides (fifth century B. C.) in his endeavor to prove that there is one primary substance, denies the reality of the world of the senses, denies the possibility of motion and change. The famous paradox of Achilles and the tortoise was devised by Zeno to prove that motion is an illusion. A little later the atomic theory of Leucippus reconciled the reality of the senses with the “Parmenidean One” by making the One an aggregation of particles (atoms) all alike in substance but changeless and indestructible. Different arrangements of the particles produce the change which is perceptible to our eyes.
2. The two world doctrine leads to a dualistic aspect of being. Man is a part of God and yet must strive to become one with God. The doctrine removes the dilemma but leaves no room for the existent unity of the mystic. The unity it establishes, the kind the modern world can accept, is moral conformity with the precepts of the prophets, but that is not the goal of the mystic.
We must not overlook this important point. No mystic who assumes that a particle of the Divine Essence exists in him can escape this dualism. He may fall back upon experience, as some moderns do, and maintain that it is through the heart and not the intellect that man knows God. This sounds plausible but the thoroughgoing mystic has always realized that the immediate knowledge of the presence of God cannot rest upon experience alone. There must be some metaphysical reasons for identifying experience with the Divine Presence.
In the three world doctrine, implicit in all prophetic religions and explicit in the Bahá’í Faith, the world of the Prophets stands between the Infinite God and finite man. While we cannot comprehend fully this intermediary world, we can understand something of the life of the Prophet. We can love Him, we can meditate upon the attributes of God reflected in Him, and we can strive to follow His example. Moreover we are familiar with the creative genius, who is an intermediary between us and the unseen world of music and art. We can expand our vision and comprehend to some degree the Prophet.
On the other hand, we cannot,
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as thinking people, imagine ourselves
as one with God and at
the same time separate from God,
reaching out to Him. In considering
contemporary mysticism we
must remember that if we assume
that a spark of the Divine exists
in us, we must also accept this essential
dualism which is incomprehensible
to the scientific mind.
CONTEMPORARY MYSTICISM
Modern youth cannot accept the presuppositions of extreme or radical mysticism and would not be attracted to it, but modern youth must take cognizance of two types of contemporary mysticism.
For the student of science and art there is what might be called logical mysticism, which is upheld by the mystical philosopher, the spiritually minded scientist and to some degree the creative genius. The first step in the path of this mystical philosophy, is the belief that there is a kind of wisdom, call it insight or intuition if you wish, which is superior to empirical knowledge. It comes to the creative worker through meditation. It is the creative force which reveals new concepts and new relationships. By means of insight and reason man makes discoveries in the world of value and the world of science. Both are essential but their functions are complementary. Intuition discovers what is new; reason organizes. This type of mysticism is not new; it goes back to the days of Heraclitus and Parmenides but it is more universal today than in the past. No assumption is made about God or the Divine Spark. The logical mystic may assume he can get in direct communication with a higher intelligence or he may not. For him there is another world more real than the phenomenal world, and his first concern is to learn how to live and work in this world. Although he may not believe in a superrational or supernatural being, we cannot assume that what he receives, in moments of illumination, comes solely from his ego.
There is also the religious type
of mysticism which we see in
many popular movements of the
day. This type is concerned primarily
with experience; nevertheless
experience is interpreted
pretty much as in the past. The
contemporary religious mystic is
a pragmatist. If in moments of
illumination he experiences
something which raises him
above the normal level of existence
and which helps him in his
individual development, he assumes
he has been in the presence
of God. Now since he can
gain this immediate knowledge
of the Divine, he assumes, with
the older mystics, there must be
[Page 76]
a little of the Divine within him.
Naturally this belief gives him
hope and courage in times of
stress.
These fundamental assumptions have been refuted over and over again in the Bahá’í writings and need not concern us here. However there is one phase of contemporary mysticism which we must not overlook.
MYSTICISM AND SCIENCE
Philosophy has always shown interest in mysticism but quite recently mysticism has received some support from science as well as philosophy and we should examine rather carefully the nature of this support.
The mystical philosopher says (in substance): we must be fair; let the mystic report what he experiences.
To this the materialistic scientist replies that the mystic has no immediate knowledge of the Divine Presence. He can only report that he has had a psychic experience. His metaphysical doctrine, the scientist explains, is simply the product of emotion and while this emotion may be the cause of noble aspirations, we cannot infer from this that the mystic has become one with the Infinite.
This argument, the mystical scientist (if we may use the term) refutes on the ground that spiritual experience is intimate knowledge. The world of value, he maintains, is just as much a part of our consciousness as is the world of sense impressions. The spiritual world is just as real, nay more real, than the symbolic world of science. May we not assume, he concludes, that man can make discoveries in the world of the spirit?
Now to much of this we can agree but we cannot agree that man’s spiritual knowledge comes only from within. How far would we advance in music if we should rely solely upon our own inclinations and ignore completely the guidance of the revealers of music?
Of course, if we exclude revelation from our thesis and assume that the heart is an organ for investigating the spiritual world, as the mind is an organ for investigating the material world, then God becomes merely the speculative interpretation of the ecstatic experience.
Now we must admit that man
has been very successful in the
world of science. Here the intellect
functions in an exemplary
manner. But we must also admit
that through the heart, in the
world of the spirit, man has not
been so successful. Speaking of
inspiration, as a criterion of
truth, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá says, “What
[Page 77]
is inspiration? It is the influx of
the human heart. But what are
satanic promptings which afflict
mankind? They are the influx of
the heart also.” Finally Bahá’u’lláh
warns us that man’s qualities
are potential. Without a divine
educator man would become
a savage, not a saint.
It is true that by turning inward, men (a very few men) have been able to improve their individual behavior but it is equally true that mysticism has no solution for our baffling social problems. The mystic realizes this but still feels that if the individual attains some degree of perfection, our social problems will disappear. As we have said before society is a living organism and not a mere aggregation of individuals. The individual can and should show love, mercy and forgiveness but he cannot establish social justice. This requires a collective conscience. “The canopy of existence,” ‘Abdu’l-Bahá tells us, “resteth upon the pole of justice, and not of forgiveness, and the life of mankind dependeth on justice and not on forgiveness.”
The attitude of certain scholars toward contemporary mysticism is ostensibly very fair and apparently it exhibits disinterested intellectual curiosity, but when we consider the attitude of these same scholars toward revealed truth, we are prone to discredit their judgment.
For such scholars the voluminous writings of Bahá’u’lláh, incomparable in scope and magnitude, unsurpassed by anything in the field of religion, past or present, are as nothing compared to the testimony of the average mystic who reveals for us no social laws, no precepts or principles for establishing that oneness which has been the central theme of mystical philosophers ever since the days of Parmenides. How diligently these scholars have gleaned the writings of ancient philosophers like Parmenides and Heraclitus, for a mere handful of phrases such as, “good and ill are one,” “reality is one and indivisible.” Clearly these are they who are “content with that which is like the vapor in a plain.”
There are undoubtedly many reasons why some scholars ignore revealed truth and uphold mysticism, but the exclusiveness of mysticism probably accounts for its popularity. The mystical path is only for the few. Prophetic religion on the other hand always tends to eliminate class distinctions.
The follower of the Prophet
is a realist. For him sin is a revolt
against the God-ordained
moral order and not a mere wandering
from the mystic path, or a
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desire for the world. For him
moral action has intrinsic value;
it is something more than a preliminary
stage in the preparation
for ecstatic union with God. Finally
since God reveals Himself
directly to the mystic, he is exalted
above religious authority.
There is a certain passive tolerance and flexibility about mysticism which naturally appeals to those who have a strong individualistic bias. Here is an esoteric religion which not only guarantees peace and serenity but one which admits us into the very presence of God. Moreover it frees man from most of the undesirable realities of life.
So far as individual spiritual development goes, mysticism and prophetic religion have many things in common. Both have faith in supreme Being and both strive for perfection. We should have the highest regard for mystics like Jalaluddin Rumi, Augustine and Francis but their day is gone. With our scientific background and our sense of social iustice we cannot believe as they believed nor can we experience what they experienced.
In the light of the revelation of Bahá’u’lláh the goal of the mystic is imaginary and the Divine Presence which he attains is but a creation of his own mind and emotions. In the words of Bahá’u’lláh, “All that the sages and mystics have said or written have never exceeded, nor can they ever hope to exceed, the limitations to which man’s finite mind hath been strictly subjected.” And again, “The door of the knowledge of the Ancient Being hath ever been, and will continue forever to be, closed in the face of men. No man’s understanding shall ever gain access unto His holy court.”
This is the second of five articles in a series, “Youth and the Modern World.”
The prophets of God are the first educators. They bestow universal education upon man and cause him to rise from lowest levels of savagery to the highest pinnacles of spiritual development. The philosophers too are educators along lines of intellectual training. At most they have only been able to educate themselves and a limited number about them, to improve their own morals and, so to speak, civilize themselves; but they have been incapable of universal education. They have failed to cause an advancement for any given nation from savagery to civilization.
—‘ABDU’L-BAHÁ
Editorial
Only the Ramparts Fell
WITH truly incredible courage, determination and unified effort, the greatest union of nations ever achieved waged war for many years to make impotent a militant force aiming to transform the human race into an agency of an all-exploiting state. What that type of state conspired to accomplish was plainly revealed in its earliest years, when in order to become powerful it had first to dominate its own people. Their condition depicted the program in its entirety; all that remained was the schedule by which successive victories might create the same condition in other lands.
Resistance to the aim was refusal of the human condition with which it had become identified. In that particular form, the aim has been frustrated and its force crushed to earth.
But only the outer ramparts of man’s evil have been overthrown. The capacity for dehumanizing frenzy and schemes for world conquest remains intact. The ramparts were its product and invention, but their destruction has brought the end of a battle and not the end of the war. Behind the outer works of that one historic episode there are citadels of defense and offense far out of the gun range of any military or material onslaught.
Evil in social institutions emanates from the attitudes of those who create and maintain them. When one bastion falls, the evil retires to a new line, finds new leaders, assumes new names, forges new weapons. The fate of many a conqueror has been to become the host of the very tyrannies he has bled to lay low.
It is a difficult and a slow process for the mass of people to trace the transformations by which the enemies of spirit conceal their intentions until they are powerful enough to attack. We identify our enemy with, say, a red uniform, and we therefore ignore him when he reappears in blue. Or we conceive of tyranny in terms of poison gas and submarines, and fail to recognize it when tyranny concentrates on matters of price, cost and property as expressions of a new social philosophy.
Just as the individual conscious
man may, by reflection
and meditation, penetrate
through layer after layer of his
own being, and learn how to discern
[Page 80]
distinctions between passions,
desires, will, determination,
knowledge, truth and sacrifice;
so may the conscious society
begin to realize how collective
affairs are but the organization
of these permanent modes of
self. If there is a spiritual
beginning in man, there is a spiritual
beginning in society—that is, a
point where responsibility must
be assumed for everything done
after that point is reached.
It is impossible to discriminate between good and evil in man or in society until a standard of reality is recognized and accepted. Neither reason nor conscience so-called can save man from being engulfed in his own abyss, nor can a society by its own power produce leaders or institutions enough to preserve it when the true standard has been denied.
The messenger of God brings to us and to our civilization the intervention of a higher power. He is the spiritual beginning of the individual and the dawn of a new era for the race. Every prophet has overthrown evil in its central citadel—decadent religion. It is superstition which secretly arms every social tyranny, and the modern world will not be secure until it abandons sectarian, denominational, racial and ecclesiastical religions and adheres to the one true and universal faith which God has ordained for mankind. —H. H.
In this present age the world of humanity is afflicted with severe sicknesses and grave disorders which threaten death. Therefore His Holiness Bahá’u’lláh has appeared. He is the real Physician bringing divine remedy and healing to the world of man. He has brought teachings for all ailments: the Hidden Words, Ishráqát, Tarazat, Tajallíát, Words of Paradise, Glad-Tidings, etc. These holy words and teachings are the remedy for the body politic, the divine prescription and real cure for the disorders which afflict the world. Therefore we must accept and partake of this healing remedy in order that complete recovery may be assured. Every soul who lives according to the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh is free from the ailments and indispositions which prevail throughout the world of humanity; otherwise selfish disorders, intellectual maladies, spiritual sicknesses, imperfections and vices will surround him and he will not receive the life-giving bounties of God.
—‘ABDU’L-BAHÁ
Colonel Lawrence: A Bahá’í Memory
MRS. JANE STANNARD
I WONDER if any man of his age with a career so brief and meteoric has ever received, after his sudden death, such world-wide obituary notices! In every country and in every kind of publication appeared usually good, and sometimes even profound, articles and commentaries regarding one who, because of his achievements in the East during the great war, had become an almost legendary figure.
Certainly Napoleon in his time became a world-wide figure who long after his death attracted countless speculative opinions, writings and biographies, evoked by his extraordinary life and indomitable will and genius. And like Napoleon, T. E. Lawrence was physically small, but his short body carried a great head enclosing a highly-developed cranium.
It is a noteworthy fact that the passing of this young man whose personality revealed so many eccentric elements should have inspired some of the greatest writers and thinkers of the day to graphic descriptions and keen analysis of his character in many languages. The psychological problems of his marked individuality drew from his literary friends and others observations which threw a revealing light not only upon Lawrence, but often also upon themselves. Pnssiblv one reason for this outpouring of thought and emotion lies in that secret longing for the ideal or the romantic which those feel who can never hope to attain the necessary freedom and opportunity to experience it in their own lives. To the literary, poetic, and hero-worshipping instinct Lawrence became an interesting and challenging personality. There was so much to be discovered in a mind which could attain great literary heights and, on the other hand, exhibit capacity for ruthless practical action. The passive genius of Lawrence had, at first, only the outlet of scholarly expression. But as a consequence of his desire for archeological research, the other side of his personality with all its latent possibilities awoke, and a new life of unexpected adventures began.
The war, affecting the Arab
and the Turk, caught him as on
the crest of a wave in the troubled
ocean; he was swept along by
the mighty currents of world
powers, and his dormant faculties
immediately responded to
[Page 82]
the call for a wider vision and a
more forceful life. Before this
“second birth”, he possessed a
most demure and unobtrusive
presence. In those pre-war days,
when presumedly searching for
Hittite scarabs, he was often regarded
by the Arab villagers as
—to use an English expression—
“a little balmy”. Looking like a
little tired bagman he wandered
about Asia, seeking in mysterious
fashion for ancient stones
and landmarks. It was at this
juncture, before one knew him
as a public figure that I had the
curious experience of crossing
his path.
Traveling in the East alone, I had left Baalbek and Damascus in order to fulfill a keen and long-felt desire to visit Aleppo. I do not know why I had been so keen to do so. What are these ideas that lie dormant in the mind? Was it a resurgence of pre-existent memory? Or some childish association which linked the place with some glamorous tale of the Arabian Nights? I only know that the word “Aleppo” held for me some romantic appeal, and that my satisfaction was complete as I was carried across the desolate-looking desert which surrounds this quaint little town. But in those days every aspect of the East pleased me and I experienced to the full the joy and freedom of the wandering life.
Aleppo amused and interested me. Its long, narrow, roofed-in bazaars, with the light filtering in through circular apertures, were smaller, I noticed, than those of Damascus, but were gay with color and full of arresting displays. How well I remember the bazaar where they made the beautiful saddlery and horse accoutrements —the red leather, the fine decorative handwork on bridles and long-fringed saddlebags! Yes, my journey had been well repaid, for I realized that this was the chief center of Arabian art for the adornment of their loved horses.
I stayed at the only hotel—
half caravansari—that one
could expect in a Syrio-Turkish
town and off the beaten track.
In these days no luxuries were
provided. On the evening of my
arrival I descended to inspect
the dining room, when I became
aware of a small shabby-looking
young man who was seated
alone in a dim corner of the long
room. Wisps of straw-colored
hair fell over a face of considerable
severity. He evidently
wished to remain unobserved. I
remember feeling a vague surprise
and pity for this queer,
shy individual who seemed ill at
ease. When people assembled
and dinner was served, he did
not join us at the long table, but
[Page 83]
remained in his corner, probably
enjoying in his own way the motley
crowd and animated talk. Being
the only lady present, and
English, I was naturally accepted
as some misguided tourist; while
Lawrence—for he it was—
they regarded as just an enigma.
At that time, I was certainly as
much a free-lance vagabond as
he was, but reacted differently to
my strange environment. We
were a very merry dinner party.
As I had been placed at the end of the long narrow table I could see and talk to all, or none, as I chose. At the opposite end I noticed an elderly man, evidently a European, since although bearded he was without the tarboosh which all Syrians or Turks then wore. He seemed at home among them. Presently one of the Turks, after some discussion with the others arose, and bowing asked, “Madame, parlez-vous l’Allemand?”
“Mais oui, Monsieur,” I replied gaily; then, after some further discussion I was politely requested to speak to the elderly gentleman who turned out to be a German doctor. French and German, I may add, were in those days the only languages in use (apart from the English or American mission stations) when travelling in the East.
One of the Turks then waved his hand towards the German and exclaimed: “Madame, he pines to hear the accents of his native land once again. He is a doctor who has lived among us for a long time, and, poor man, no one can speak his language.”
Entering into the fun I addressed him in my best German. “Guten Abend, Herr Doctor, wie gehts ihn?” and expressed my pleasure in meeting a “Deutscher” in this far country. My speech was followed by a roar of laughter and applause, while the doctor bowed in embarrassed gratitude.
Meanwhile the little ghostly
figure behind us sat on in silence,
forgotten by all. However, after
the diners had gone Lawrence
chirped up a bit and we began to
exchange a few traveling experiences.
I listened with surprise
and interest to his quaint descriptions,
and secretly marveled at
the courage, audacity, and reason
for it all. His actions were
not without danger. For instance,
he thought nothing of asking for
a night’s lodging in some verminous
Arab village or nomad’s tent.
On one occasion when alone in
the desert, he suddenly descried,
at a little distance, a mounted
Arab, who was evidently inspecting
him as a possible prey. But
Lawrence boldly fired into the
air with his pistol by way of
warning; and Lawrence chuckled
as he related how the Arab, taking
[Page 84]
fright, promptly departed.
One day he met a mounted nomad who significantly tapping the gun which Lawrence had slung across his back observed: “We guess why you are here. Tell your King we shall be ready when the time comes, and he makes war against the Turk.”
Still I only believed my new acquaintance to be one of those insatiable seekers, so numerous in Egypt, who live in the hope of finding some wonderful scarab or amulet of the gods. He obtained permission from the authorities to inspect a citadel fortress which occupied a hill in the center of the town and invited me to accompany him. The reason for his great interest in these fortifications only became clear to me in the light of subsequent events.
He had arranged to travel on the following day to see some excavations at Urfa, in a native covered cart in which a mattress could be spread and suggested that I should join him. But I had other plans. So I saw him off on his adventure and started myself on a journey over Lebanon to Beyrout.
Some time before, when in England, I had heard of the Bahá’í Faith, and had become interested in the spiritual work which centered round the Master ‘Abbás Effendi (‘Abdu’l-Bahá), and the Persian colony of exiles at Haifa,—work which was then struggling under great difficulties imposed both by the Turkish Government and by many hidden enemies. I desired to be present at a certain festival which was held there every year to commemorate the Prophet Bahá’u’lláh’s declaration of his mission known as the Feast of Riḍván.
So, absorbed in other matters I forgot my little desert acquaintance. But we were to meet again.
It was during the winter of 1914. I was in India when war was declared and when the news reached us up in the Himalayas, it only seemed like some incomprehensible rumor. However, on returning to the plains and to Calcutta I began to feel anxious as I saw civilians drilling on the maidan (market-place). So I decided to return to Egypt where I had previously resided, hoping, if necessary, to be of some assistance to my Bahá’í friends at Haifa. But when the Turks entered the war all idea of getting to Palestine had to be abandoned so I went to stay at the Continental Hotel in Cairo where I had friends.
One day, I noticed a small figure
in khaki sitting at a table in
the lounge and talking earnestly
with two officers over some maps.
[Page 85]
Now and then he would creep
quietly away and return with
various documents. Where had I
seen that big head with its wisps
of hair falling over a grim face?
Suddenly the Aleppo incident
flashed to mind and I began to
understand that Lawrence was
making himself useful to the authorities
in just the same shy and
unobtrusive way. His two companions
were officers of keen intelligence
and well-known figures
in the East, one being Woolly,
the archeologist. So now Lawrence
Number Two had started
on the great adventures of his
life. Abandoning his academic
researches, he stood on the
threshold of a career which for
audacity and enterprise has not
been surpassed and certainly unequalled
by any man of his size
and temperament.
Separated by the gulf of absorbing events Lawrence and I seldom met. But on one or two occasions he quietly rendered assistance. For instance, when any news came through from Palestine to the Secret Service I would hear, through him that the Master, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, was well, and that though the privations were terrible as everywhere in Syria bare necessities were still available. People died there of starvation, but the Bahá’í Persian community and the Jewish colony were saved by the skill and industry of their leaders. These were days of suffering heroically borne, but their faith in Divine protection never wavered. Indeed, an instance of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s foresight was shown in that, previous to the outbreak of war, he had organized extensive agricultural operations near Tiberias, thus securing a supply of wheat by means of which famine was averted for hundreds in the districts around Haifa. After the British occupation the noble work of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in mitigating suffering and in the interests of conciliation were acknowledged by the British Empire in April, 1920, in the conferring upon him of a knighthood.
The Cause of Bahá’u’lláh is the same as the Cause of Christ . . . Both of these are spiritual springtimes and seasons of the soul-refreshing awakening and the cause of the renovation of the life of mankind. The spring of this year is the same as the spring of last year. . . . The sun of today is the sun of yesterday.
—‘ABDU’L-BAHÁ
Light
FLOYD H. MUNSON
IN looking at this troubled world today we need stout hearts and a firm faith to view it with anything but despair. There is continued strife in China that has known no peace for many years, turbulence in Java, unrest in Indo-China and among the Indonese, rioting and pogroms in Egypt; and in the Holy Land the cauldron pot begins to bubble, distilling the poison of racial hate. Over Europe is the smell of death, and before these dead are buried, those nations who found it expedient to collaborate for victory, exhibit distrust and deep-rooted differences. Once again are alliances, power politics and obsolescent nationalism reasserting their evil sway. Dismal indeed this picture; and strangely enough we entitle it “peace”.
From the beginning of man’s spiritual evolution in ages past he has had to contend with evil. Its presence has been with him in every stage of this creational process, a condition resulting from spiritual weakness and imperfection. Of evil, some would say it doesn’t exist, though how we can reconcile its evident effects with such a promise is difficult to understand.
It is true that evil lacks the substantiality of good, that its existence is only relative and in regard to Divine Reality it has no substance. If we liken evil to a shadow, we realize the lack of substance. A shadow or darkness can be seen, present for a moment and then gone, depending for its appearance upon the absence of light, and paradoxically, depending for its appearance, likewise, upon the presence of light. Darkness can never wage war with the Light, and a shadow can never challenge the sun. The glory of the Kingdom is never sullied by the gloom of hell. One knight errant of pure array can overcome the world.
Consider this from the viewpoint of an artist painting a landscape, who thinks in terms of light. He sees a phenomenal object, a tree, perhaps, or a house. The sun is shining brightly and the object casts a shadow. He notices that, under ordinary conditions, the brighter the light, the deeper the shadow. Obviously shadows exist in the presence of light but only because something obstructs the passage of its effulgence.
Let me carry this analogy to
the year 1844 when the Báb
shone like a great sun on darkened
[Page 87]
Persia. His Light shone on
all, and where souls turned to
that Light, their hearts, like pure
mirrors, reflected its attributes.
This caused a release of such
power and beauty, such heroism
and love, as had never been displayed
by man. Joyously, by
thousands, they took to the plain
of martyrdom and with an unearthly
exaltation that was born
of the Holy Spirit gave their lives
to beasts schooled in torture that
the Cause of God might live.
In contrast to this we have the opposite effect of this intense Light. Those souls who, in their shortcomings, obstructed this great radiance and turned away, walked in their own shadow, in the darkness of their own making. This darkness, this evil, was so deep, so virulent in its opposition that, previous to this Day, history has never recorded such a violent and sadistic exhibition of inhumanity. Those who have read The Dawn-Breakers know well the horror to which I allude.
Now, to the painter, there is what is referred to as “saturated light”. This light can be intense but not in the sense of being a focus. It bathes the world before his eyes, caressing all creation with the glory of its particular quality. There are no shadows in the even distribution of this unifying light.
When man, by submission, permits the passage of the Light of Truth, when he turns the mirror of his heart, every facet of his being reflects that Light, then the shadows are gone and evil shall be no more.
Evil has ever been a part of the divine scheme of things. In the spiritual weakness of man, along the path of spiritual growth from infancy to maturity, the natural corollary, evil, has been present as a contrast, to give him the experience which he needs. The postponement of the triumph of virtue, the day of saturated light, is not a sign that God lacks power, rather do we see it as a bounty on His part and an act of great wisdom.
So, today, as we view the screen of history in the making, as we see the red glow of incipient revolution and the third phase of travail in humanity’s second birth, we must be mindful that God has in store a happy ending. It has been His promise from the beginning that the Day of God’s Self-Revelation would come. We know that we live in this Great Day and that the New Jerusalem, the city of Peace, is here taking form. As this all-possessing Light moves in, saturating our beings, bathing the children of God in its unifying radiation, the darkness will soon be gone and “the former shall not be remembered, nor come to mind”.
My Journey to Bombay
SYDNEY SPRAGUE
ON OUR arrival in Port Said we were met by Bahá’í friends who had secured a passage for us on one of the English merchant vessels. We were the only passengers on the boat, and the deck and a few cabins were placed at our disposal. The Persians transformed the deck in a very short time into quite a luxurious abode; rugs and carpets were spread, divans and beds arranged, the tea-service set out, and we had all that constitutes comfort in the Orient. The Red Sea and the Indian Ocean have a temperature warm enough even in the middle of November to make sleeping out of doors thoroughly agreeable, so that I enjoyed going to bed by moonlight and being awakened very early in the morning by the warm rays of the sun.
The steamer was heavily laden, and seemed to crawl along, so that the voyage took about nineteen days. The weather and the sea were perfect all the way and my fellow voyagers excellent company. Our party consisted of Jenah Adib, a well-known Persian philosopher; Mírzá Mahram, a Bahá’í teacher who has been chiefly responsible for the growth of the Bahá’í Movement in India; Mírzá Isaac, a merchant of Bombay, and Mushkin Kalam, the famous writer who, together with his son and family, was going to India for the first time. Counting myself and the four Zoroastrians, we were sixteen altogether.
A splendid opportunity was
afforded me during this long trip
to learn Persian. I had already
studied this language in Paris,
but my knowledge of it was
slight and I had had little opportunity
of hearing it spoken, but
now I set to work with a will, and
my friends were all most kind in
helping me, so that before the end
of the voyage, I could follow a
conversation and express myself
fairly well. The cooking was
mostly done by two of the Zoroastrians.
We would sit in a circle
on the deck around the samovar,
Muḥammadan, Christian, Zoroastrian,
cheek by jowl, and, while
the tea was being drunk, different
experiences were related by each
one and sometimes animated discussions
took place. There would
be sad and stirring tales of the
Bahá’í martyrs of Persia, perhaps
that of a relative of one of
those present; there would be
anecdotes told of the Báb, Bahá’u’lláh
and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá; there
[Page 89]
would he discussions on theological
and philosophical subjects.
Then the conversation might
take a lighter vein; Mushkin
Kalam, though the oldest of the
party (I think he was nearly
ninety years old), seemed always
brimming over with fun
and good spirits, and told many
amusing stories which convulsed
everyone with laughter.
There is one thing I have always remarked about the Persian Bahá’ís that, notwithstanding the earnestness of their faith, their truly deep spiritual natures, their readiness to become martyrs for the Cause, they always seem happy and enjoy a good hearty laugh; they do not take their religion, as did our ancestors, the Puritans, with long faces and acid countenances. Religion is a thing of joy to them, and they rejoice in the spirit and are glad.
On the first day of December in the morning we arrived at Bombay and found some of the Bahá’ís waiting to greet us on our landing. I was welcomed most cordially as though I were an old and dear friend.
The news that we had arrived spread quickly through the city, and soon large numbers of Bahá’ís, chiefly Zoroastrians, were crowding the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár to see their new brother from the Occident. The Mashriqu’l-Adhkár is a large hall which they have rented for their meetings, and in a room off this I lived. There are three meetings a week held in Bombay, on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday evenings at six o’clock. The Tuesday meeting is reserved for the House of Justice, composed of nineteen members. I will speak of this later. The other two meetings are general, and there are, as a rule, eighty to a hundred men present. This does not constitute the numerical strength of the Bahá’ís in Bombay, for many have shops which they are unable to leave more than once a week, on which occasion another Bahá’í friend takes charge of the shop for them. The women have a separate meeting and there is a school for the children.
At the meetings tablets are chanted (there was one young Zoroastrian boy who chanted especially well). Talks were given by different men. I spoke through an interpreter, and on Sunday evenings there were always strangers present, and their questions were asked and answered.
The Bahá’í community enjoys
an excellent reputation for honesty,
sobriety, politeness and just
dealing with their fellow-men. By
these qualities they attract others
to investigate their religion.
Drunkenness has unfortunately
[Page 90]
become a vice among the Zoroastrians
of Bombay, so when a
Zoroastrian is seen never to touch
liquor it is at once said he must
be a Bahá’í. It is needless to say
that these new converts to the
Bahá’í Faith are obliged to stand
a good deal of opposition, and
even more persecution from the
orthodox Zoroastrian. I knew a
school teacher who used to come
to the meetings, though he had
not openly proclaimed himself a
Bahá’í. The Zoroastrian parents
of his pupils suspected him, however,
of a change in his faith,
and so took their children out of
his school, which left him penniless.
My experiences in other Oriental cities made me realize that it is no easy thing to become a Bahá’í in India. It often means a great sacrifice on the part of the believer; a loss of friends, money and position. There is great solidarity, however, among the Indian Bahá’ís, and this is always most wonderful to see when we think that these groups are composed of men of different castes and creeds who were but yesterday strangers, if not actual enemies—such, for instance, as the Zoroastrians and Muḥammadans.
There has certainly been much reason in the past for followers of these two religions to have little love for one another. Now a seeming miracle has occurred, and we see Zoroastrian and Muḥammadan working together in perfect unity and harmony for the common good of the community. I am referring especially to the council of nineteen, two-thirds of which are Zoroastrians, the remaining third Muḥammadan. I attended some of the meetings of this body and wish to cite one or two incidents to show how affairs are managed by the House of Justice. A Zoroastrian Bahá’í shopkeeper came one evening and told the council that affairs had been going very badly with him and that he was on the point of failure. The council deliberated and decided that different members should give a part of their time each day to helping him in his shop, lay in a new stock of goods to attract customers, and give pecuniary help if necessary. This was done, and soon the man was on his feet again.
On another evening, a Muḥammadan
Bahá’í arrived in a
state of much perplexity. He had
just received from a Muḥammadan
friend a hundred lottery
tickets to dispose of, the lottery
being for some Muḥammadan
charity. “I do not know what to
do with them,” the man said: “in
the Kitáb-i-Aqdas (book of laws)
Bahá’u’lláh has strongly forbidden
[Page 91]
gambling, but I am not sure
whether a lottery would come
under the head of gambling or
not. If I accept and distribute
these lottery tickets I may be
breaking one of the laws; on the
other hand, if I refuse them I will
probably make this friend of
mine, who is an influential Muḥammadan,
my bitter enemy.”
The nineteen members of the
House of Justice consulted together
as to what should be
done. Finally a Zoroastrian
member saw a way out of the
difficulty, and he proposed that
each one of the Bahá’ís should
take a ticket and then return
them together with the hundred
rupees, writing that they did not
care to take a chance in the lottery,
but they were very glad to
help a Muḥammadan charity. I
wonder if all who read these lines
will appreciate the beauty and
the greatness of this act. It impressed
me perhaps more than
anything else that I saw in India.
It showed forth two great results
of Bahá’í teaching; first, that the
Oriental Bahá’ís look upon gambling,
one of the most prevalent
vices of the Orient, with aversion;
secondly, that the feeling of
animosity and hatred of Zoroastrians
for Muḥammadans which
has endured for centuries, has
become so modified that they are
glad to help a Muḥammadan
charity. Truly this is no small
fruit from the Bahá’í tree.
I left Bombay at the beginning of the year 1905. My stay had been so pleasant there, my friends so kind, that I said goodbye to them with real regret. I think everyone had shown me some kind act of attention; some would send me fruit, others sweetmeats and cakes, others flowers. As I spent Christmas Day in Bombay, some sent me gifts, knowing that was a Western custom.
On the day of my departure the great railway terminus of Bombay presented a very animated picture, for all who could get away from their work had come to bid me farewell. The sight of so many persons dressed in different robes and turbans, representing different races, saying such enthusiastic goodbyes to a Western gentleman in a straw hat, attracted a good deal of attention and apparent curiosity from the other passengers.
A very unusual thing as well
was my traveling with an Oriental
dressed in the robes of a
Muḥammadan Mullá, for my
traveling companion was Hírzá
Mahram, who had been with me
ever since we left Port Said; he
was a very congenial fellow traveler
and kindly helped me much
with my Persian, also giving me
[Page 92]
valuable explanations of the
Bible, Qur’án, Zend Avesta, and
other holy books. The journey
from Bombay to Calcutta was a
very pleasant one, the railway
carriages on the Indian lines are
very spacious and comfortable,
and the meals served at different
stations very palatable; everything
was new and strange to me,
so the long journey of two days
did not seem at all monotonous
or tiring.
We stopped a short time in Calcutta,* and I was glad to meet again Jenab Adib, who was now teaching there. From Calcutta we took a steamer for Rangoon, the voyage taking about four days, at the end of which we found our Bahá’í friends of Burma awaiting us at the pier.
* At the time of my visit, there were only a few Bahá’ís in Calcutta, but now there is quite a large assembly.
This article is the second in a series relating to the author’s early Bahá’í journey to India.
ASSURANCE
MARY MARLOWE
- Every whispering of the grass heareth He.
- Every gleam of jewel or glass
- His eye perceiveth.
- Every surge of life in every living form
- Is alive by His breath.
- What would become of the dust
- Should He cease to breathe within it?
- And you are so dearly loved by Him;
- So much more loved than dust
- Or glass or leaves
- Open your heart then to your God;
- He is so close, so prepared with an answer.
- He is not at all far;
- Only doubt is a mountain made of stone
- Placing God on the other farthest side.
- But it is known! It is known!
- Assurance is a shaft of light
- That penetrates stone.
WITH OUR READERS
THE words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá about Japan which take the leading place in this issue of World Order are selected from the booklet compiled by Agnes Alexander containing all the tablets by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá addressed to Japanese individuals or groups. In her foreword to this booklet Miss Alexander, the pioneer who took the Bahá’í message to Japan, writes: “The following are the tablets which were revealed by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to friends residing in Japan and Korea. There are nineteen tablets revealed between the years 1916 and His passing in 1921. Eighteen of these tablets were addressed to Japanese and one to Korean friends. Seven of those to Japanese were to school girls in Tokyo, the others, with two exceptions, were to young men, and five of these were addressed to blind young men, three of whom found the true Light of this New Day.”
A few sentences from the letter which one of these Japanese youth wrote to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá indicate the sincerity and depth of feeling with which he received the Bahá’í message. He wrote: “Accept, O Master, my deep thankfulness from the bottom of the heart. I am very sorry though, when I think of our fellowmen who take no thought of real happiness and do not rely upon the warm hand of Thy love. . . . Forgive my sins and allow me to awaken my fellowmen.”
The signifiicant incident of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s talk with the Japanese ambassador to Spain and his wife took place in the fall of 1911 during ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s stay in Paris and this account is taken from The Chosen Highway. We know little in regard to the Bahá’í Faith in Japan at present but we understand that Fugeta, the Japanese believer who served so long and faithfully in the household of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in Haifa, is now in Japan following instructions of Shoghi Effendi. These letters whose contents have been carefully preserved by Miss Alexander, assure us that the seed-sowing of Bahá’u’lláh’s World Order began in Japan some thirty years ago, and we know that such seeds inevitably bear fruit.
• • •
Many find it difficult to dissociate
“administration” whether Bahá’í administration
or business or government
administration from purely
mechanical processes designed to get
things done. In her article “Spiritual
Principles of Bahá’í Administration”
Alma Sothman makes it clear that
Bahá’í efforts yield little fruit in any
line without the understanding and
application of spiritual laws. While
this article is written especially with
Bahá’ís in mind the question comes
to the fore, would not the administration
of all and any affairs profit by
the understanding and use of the
spiritual principles set forth by Miss
Sothman? This article will thus be
of interest to Bahá’ís and non-Bahá’ís
alike. In our August, 1941,
issue is a previous contribution by
Miss Sothman entitled “The Divine
Way of Consultation.” Her home is
in Omaha where she was one of the
[Page 94]
first believers and where she helped
to establish and spread the Bahá’í
Faith.
In its May issue World Order published the first of a series of five articles by Glenn Shook entitled “Youth and the Modern World” in which he shows how the Bahá’í teachings clarify some of the problems which puzzle thoughtful young people. These articles are addressed not simply to youth but to all who wish to understand more fully Bahá’í teachings on certain perplexing questions and especially to those who are guiding youth. The first article showed that the mechanistic view of the universe is declining among scientists. In this second article Professor Shook deals with mysticism, a term much misunderstood and most important for students of religion to understand. Professor Shook teaches physics at Wheaton College, Norton, Massachusetts.
Horace Holley contributes the editorial “Only the Ramparts Fell” this month. He is well known as the author of articles in previous issues of the magazine for many years, and the compiler of several Bahá’í anthologies.
Although the events recorded in Mrs. Stannard’s recollections of Colonel T. E. Lawrence occurred during the first world war and were written down some ten years ago they refer to a problem which still seems far from solution and with a few changes the following words of Mrs. Stannard which accompanied these recollections might have been written today: “These far-off days of poignant anxiety are over, but fresh clouds of dark significance again gather over the stricken land of Palestine. Writing these lines during the summer of 1936, we see England again forced to send troops in order to restore peace in the pitiless war between Jews and Arabs. Events now in progress have been fairly accurately foretold, or rather forecast, in various publications—some appearing over thirty years ago—that dealt with Old Testament prophecies concerning Israel. The years 1936-1937 are marked as bringing great and crucial events which will change the fate of nations, and denote the opening of another epoch in the making of history. How can one predict a peaceful future for the world when man’s inhumanity to man still exists?”
• • •
Mrs. Jane Stannard was an early English believer whose services to the Bahá’í Faith were of great value and interest. She traveled widely especially in the Orient and spent much time in her beautiful apartment in Cairo. India, too, was a country familiar to her. There she promoted the Bahá’í Faith for she knew how to meet Orientals and understood the Oriental mind. She was a woman of scholarly attainments and familiar with the Persian and French languages. One of her most important services was the establishments of the International Bahá’í Bureau at Geneva, Switzerland; for later Martha Root was sent to Geneva to continue building up the Bureau and to learn Esperanto so that she could speak on the Bahá’í Faith to the Esperanto Congress at Geneva.
Mrs. Stannard visited ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
in Haifa after the first world
war and our readers will remember
that in our September, 1945, issue
we printed in this department Mrs.
[Page 95]
Stannard’s report of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s
answer to her question about the
state of the souls of those who sacrificed
their lives in war. Mrs. Stannard
passed away in Paris.
Floyd H. Munson who contributes the article entitled “Light” is an artist whose home is in Great Neck, New York. The portrait which he painted Of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá has received much praise. In connection with this Mrs. Munson has written: “Perhaps our greatest opportunity (of spreading the Bahá’í message) has come in connection with my husband’s first exhibition of paintings held in New York. . . . When we were planning the exhibition we wondered if it were quite the thing to put the photograph of the Master on the face of the catalogue, but we are now quite sure it was, for it has given us a marvelous opportunity to tell of the Faith. There were two thousand of these catalogues printed and every person who sees one wants to know who the Master is! Our two best art magazines, the Art Digest and Art News, with wide circulation mentioned the painting specifically.”
“My Journey to ‘Akká” by Sydney Sprague was published in our May issue but mention of it and the author was crowded out of this column for lack of space. Sydney Sprague was one of the early American believers and one of the first of these to travel and teach in other countries. His experiences during his teaching trip in India and Burma were told in a littlebook published in London in 1908. “My Journey to ‘Akká” was the first chapter in the book and we now publish the second chapter, “My Journey to Bombay.” Other chapters will follow. In the July, 1943, number of World Order is a poem by Mr. Sprague, “O Blessed Door” published not many months before his passing at his California home.
The following poem by Nell Griffith Wilson which was printed with comments in Eleanor Roosevelt’s column “My Day” carries the spirit of universal love and sacrifice which we must not let die simply because heavy fighting has stopped. Mrs. Wilson’s poem “Song of Tomorrow” was printed in our January number. She is a member of the Writers’ Guild and lives in Kenwood, California.
A BLOOD DONOR’S PRAYER
- Grant me no lesser favor, God, than this
- That by my giving
- Some war-spent but courageous eager son
- May keep on living.
- Grant that the faithful rhythm of my veins
- And my heart’s singing
- May bring an urgent quickening, and stay
- His soul’s far winging.
- Because I have no stalwart lad by birth
- To call me mother,
- I ask this small maternal share in one,
- Dear to another,
- Then I shall walk a quiet but exalted way
- Glad in the knowing
- I fed the flame—and for some unknown son
- Life is still glowing.
• • •
The following verse is sent to us
by one of our readers in Seguin,
[Page 96]
Texas, a reminder of our own influence
which we too often forget:
- “What is the Bible the world is reading?
- Your daily life and mine.
- What are the sermons the world is heeding?
- Your daily life and mine.
- What is the creed the world is needing?
- True lives, yours and mine.”
The same friend enclosed a reprint, “Will World Peace Ever Come?” from which we quote briefly since it expresses a typical attitude of many people who have lost most of their faith in the Church, who still have faith and hope in the promises in the Bible and yet are heedless and unaware that God is already working through another channel and in new institutions.
“But I cannot muster any great hope,” the writer says, “that world peace will come through the Church. . . . If not through the Church will world peace ever come? Yes, it will. The Christian faith has not the slightest doubt but that the angel’s song will some day find literal fulfillment: ‘Peace on earth, among men of good will.’ But how? It will come about only by God’s power. And when? In His own appointed time. ‘In the fullness of time, God sent His Son.’ In His appointed time He will send world peace. . . . No, world peace will not come by any agency of man. It will not be the product of man’s enterprise. It will be a gift of God. Science, civilization, statesmanship and the Church, all can and must make their contribution. . . .”
Bahá’ís call upon such people as the above represents to awaken from their sleep and become aware that the “fullness of time” is here, that prophecies are already fulfilled, that the foundations upon which world peace must be built are already laid, that God speaks today through Bahá’u’lláh just as truly as He spoke before through Christ and has answered the question as to how peace, the “gift of God” will come. His plan for peace is being gradually carried out by the followers of Bahá’u’lláh all over the world. This magazine is devoted to carrying out His instructions and spreading the Message of Bahá’u’lláh and on the inside of the back cover is a list of books which give the Bahá’í teachings for the Most Great Peace in their fullness. Those asking how and when world peace will come should surely carefully study Bahá’u’lláh’s teachings and His life. And then we think they will wish to arise and help, for men certainly have a part in bringing this “gift of God.”
• • •
CORRECTION
We regret that the opening sentence of Marzieh Gail’s article “Bahá’u’lláh’s Epistle to the Son of the Wolf” in our May issue was incorrectly printed. It should read: “This is the last major Tablet of Bahá’u’lláh.”
—THE EDITORS
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
THE BAHÁ’Í FAITH
- Recognizes the unity of God and His Prophets,
- Upholds the principle of an unfettered search after truth,
- Condemns all forms of superstition and prejudice,
- Teaches that the fundamental purpose of religion is to promote concord and harmony, that it must go hand in hand with science, and that it constitutes the sole and ultimate basis of a peaceful, an ordered and progressive society, . . .
- Inculcates the principle of equal opportunity, rights and privileges for both sexes,
- Advocates compulsory education,
- Abolishes extremes of poverty and wealth,
- Exalts work performed in the spirit of service to the rank of worship,
- Recommends the adoption of an auxiliary international language, . . .
- Provides the necessary agencies for the establishment and safeguarding of a permanent and universal peace.
—SHOGHI EFFENDI