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WORLD ORDER
SEPTEMBER, 1946
HOW THE BAHÁ’Í HAS DISCOVERED TRUE FAITH—Edna M. True
RELIGION, TOO, EVOLVES—Louise A. Groger
THE PARABLE OF THE NINE SPRINGS—Duart Brown
BAHÁ’ÍS STAND FIRM IN THEIR FAITH, Editorial—Gertrude K. Henning
YOUTH AND THE MODERN WORLD V A DIVINE ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER—G. A. Shook
RANGOON—Sydney Sprague
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 XXXVII 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.
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SEPTEMBER, 1946, VOLUME XII, NUMBER 6
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WORLD ORDER
The Bahá’í Magazine
VOLUME XII SEPTEMBER, 1946 NUMBER 6
How the Bahá’í Has Discovered True Faith
EDNA M. TRUE
‘ABDU’L-BAHÁ once said: “While a man is happy he may forget his God; but when grief comes and sorrows overwhelm him, then will he remember his Father Who is in Heaven, and Who is able to deliver him from his humiliations.” It is an essential quality of faith that it grows and becomes strengthened only through conscious exercise, and that in times of sorrow and stress and not of ease and tranquility, it is tested and weighed in the balance. In moments of extreme danger, anxiety, and affliction we come to distinguish real faith from mere belief, to ponder things deeply which we had formerly taken for granted, and to sift the true from the false. As the child growing up and facing the realities of his little world discards his belief in Santa Claus and fairies, so the individual, maturing spiritually, casts off old doctrines and ideas which no longer prove to have meaning and which have lost their power to bring him comfort, strength, and guidance in his hour of need.
Certainly, at no time in history, has mankind undergone greater suffering, more soul-stirring trials than during these recent decades, and, in consequence, never before has his faith been so thoroughly tested —his faith in God, in his fellowmen, and in the principles and institutions of government and society as he has known them. These widespread and basic upheavals have left people bewildered, confused, and disillusioned. Old doctrines and creeds, long-cherished ideals in which they had hitherto found comfort and guidance, no longer seem adequate. Established institutions and ways of life have suddenly been so completely upset; and the helplessness, fears, and miseries of humanity are of such unprecedented scope and character that we cannot doubt that we are living in one of the most critical hours in the entire history of civilization.
[Page 162]
During this period of supreme
tests and trials, skepticism and
unbelief have robbed many men
entirely of their former faith,
causing them to question even
the wisdom and justice of God.
Uncertainty, perplexities, and
frustration have assailed countless
others who have retained
their basic faith, but who, admittedly,
do not see how the bright
new world they hope for, is to be
brought about. Against this background
of doubt and even despair,
there is a growing and encouraging
evidence of a nucleus
of people who have somehow
sensed a new spirit, the promise
of a new age. They are groping
toward this glimmer of light,
still undefinable to them, longing,
yearning for a truth that
will meet the challenge and
needs of today, for a faith which
will once more bring solace, assurance,
and strength to the
heart, purpose and direction to
life. They seek a living, conscious,
working faith—faith in
God and His infinite wisdom,
power, and justice; faith in their
fellow beings; and faith in themselves.
The rebirth of such faith
throughout the world is, I believe
we would all agree, the
greatest need of our day. For
have we not all come to understand
that public morality is directly
dependent upon the spiritual
development of the individuals
who comprise that public,
and that our trust and faith in
our fellow-creatures is definitely
conditioned by our own faith in
God?
Most thinking people concur
with the statement made recently
by a prominent American that
there is no phase of the world’s
present problems which could
not be solved if approached in
the true spirit of the Sermon on
the Mount. The implications of
this proposed solution are self-evident,
but the great and vital
problem still remains of how to
awaken this spirit in the hearts
of men so that they will practice,
in their everyday relations with
each other, the fundamental
principles of justice, truthfulness,
honesty, trustworthiness,
kindness, and cooperation. If
such a living and active faith
could be born in the hearts of
the people, the world over, the
complex and superhuman task
of safeguarding a universal and
lasting peace by a firmly established
world organization would
resolve itself into merely a problem
for the experts to work out
in detail. It is the “how” of
bringing about this spiritual
change that still remains unsolved
and presents the greatest
challenge to a bewildered humanity.
“You cannot change human
nature” has become a belief as
well as a cliché, and so the world
[Page 163]
goes on trying to change everything
but man himself, foolishly
seeking reform from without
rather than rebirth from within.
Among those who see the root cause of our present ills as the lack of faith and its practice, and who are convinced that the cure for those ills is spiritual, is the eminent novelist Bruce Marshall who has given us one of the most thoughtful books of today, The World, The Flesh, and Father Smith.[1] One senses the depth, beauty, and strength of Mr. Marshall’s own faith in that professed and lived by his principle character, Father Smith; and one finds in the pages of this book not only a clear analysis of the causes of the world’s woes but a thoughtful propounding of a way to alleviate them. Father Smith attributes the present miseries of humanity to the spiritual apathy and appalling lack of faith in the world; to the theory that the sole purpose of education is to teach men how to earn their living when its real purpose should be to teach them to love God and humanity; to the general conviction that disinterested service to humanity and high purposefulness no longer exist and that everybody has a special axe to grind. Faith has become apathetic and ineffective, he felt, because wisdom had been learned by rote instead of being hammered in with sharp words like new nails. Sadly he thought of all the children to whom the church had taught their catechism and yet how much wickedness there was still in the world, because the children did not understand the meaning of the words they were repeating any more than the nun’s old parrot when he said “Dominus Vobiscum”. Believing with all his soul that faith is a belief in revelation on the authority of God, Himself, Father Smith felt convinced that if the way of life counseled by Jesus could only be set forth by a holder preaching of Christianity, faith would once again be born in the heart of man and his life would be spiritualized.
I have dwelt rather at length
on this challenging book by Mr.
Marshall not only because I consider
it merits our earnest consideration,
but because I feel
that it reflects, in a large measure,
the popular conviction of many
people today that the spiritual
change is the paramount need of
our times. “Granted”, they say,
“that the faith of man must be
re-awakened before we can hope
to solve our present grave difficulties,
but why cannot this be
done through the Christian
church?” This raises the question
of which Christian church—
[Page 164]
the Catholic or one of the hundred
odd denominations of the
Protestant church—the Episcopalian,
Methodist, Christian
Science, Lutheran, Baptist,
or which? And if Mr. Marshall
had written from a Buddhist or
Muḥammadan, rather than a
Christian background, can we
not believe that he would have
expressed the same conviction
that the way back to true faith
lies in the teachings of Buddha
or Muḥammad? For it is a matter
of established record that all
of the prophets have revealed the
same realities, laid down laws
and moral principles, preached
the Golden Rule, regenerated
the spirit of man, and brought
peace and tranquility to the
harrassed people of their time.
And if each of these Divine Messengers,
Zoroaster, Buddha,
Moses, and Muḥammad, as well
as Christ, through the revelation
He brought and the spiritual
power He manifested, established
order out of chaos, gave
assurance and renewed faith to
His followers and was the inspiration
and propelling force of
the great civilization which followed
His mission, are not the
adherents of these various faiths
today as justified as Christians in
feeling that within their respective
religious institutions lies the
power to restore true faith to the
world?
To a Bahá’í, however, the way to discover true faith is never “back” but always “forward,” forward to a new revelation which has always been sent to man when he needs it most, to a fresh spiritual outpouring which, free from restrictive, man-made dogmas and creeds, reaffirms the old truths with a new potency and regenerating force, with the power to revitalize the spirit of man, to awaken in him new and greater capacities, and to enable him to build a nobler and better way of life.
Jesus explained this Divine
Law very simply to his disciples,
in these familiar parables: “No
man seweth also a piece of new
cloth upon an old garment, else
the new piece that filled it up,
agreeth not with the old; it taketh
away from the old and the
rent is made worse.” “And no
man putteth new wine into old
bottles; else the old bottles will
be marred; the new wine will
burst the bottles and be spilled
and the bottles shall perish. But
new wine must be put into new
bottles and both are preserved.”
(St. Matthew IX, 16-17). This
does not mean that Jesus discredited,
by one jot or one tittle,
the original revelation of Moses,
with which His own fundamental
teachings were in perfect accord.
On the contrary, He sternly
rebuked the Jews for having
[Page 165]
forgotten the laws and commandments
of Moses and for
worshipping instead their own
man-made, hollow traditions,
rites, and ceremonies. “If ye believe
not his writings, how shall
ye believe my words?” (St. John
V, 47) He proclaimed, meaning
that the same spirit of God
spoke through them both.
Bahá’u’lláh, the Founder of the Bahá’í Faith, said in this connection that He did not come as a new and different Prophet. The inner being and essence of all the Prophets is the same. If you have reverence for the founder of any previous revelation, whether Moses, or Jesus, or Buddha, or Zoroaster, or Muḥammad, you must have equal reverance for all other Prophets; if you deny one, you deny the reality of all. You cannot accept one divine Law-Giver unless you accept them all as Messengers from the same God. Throughout time, every one of the Prophets has confirmed the One who preceeded Him and foretold the One Who would follow. Christ, you will remember, said to the Jews, “For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed Me: for He wrote of Me”. (St. John V, 46) And to His disciples He clearly foretold His “return”. “I go away and come again unto you.” (St. John XIV, 28) “I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again.” (St. John XIV, 2, 3) “I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit, when He, the Spirit of Truth, is come, He will guide you into all Truth.” (St. John XVI, 12, 13). Thus, if we will observe with open and unbiased minds and with a sincere desire to understand, we cannot help but discern God’s perfect plan for the periodic regeneration of His creatures in this pattern, corroborated by history, of the unbroken succession of His chosen Messengers, each being the bearer of a specific revelation, particularly suited to His day, and each releasing in the world a new and potent spiritual power which has alone been able to bring about the rebirth of man. This divine pattern makes it clear that what the world has regarded as individual beliefs are not separate religions. Instead they are successive stages in the constantly evolving one religion of God, constituting the vehicle for His continued and progressive revelation to man, though given at different times, to different people, through different recognized Prophets of God.
Let us ponder a moment this
remark of Jesus to the Jews:
“Your Father Abraham rejoiced
to see My Day and He saw it,
[Page 166]
and was glad.” (St. John VIII,
56). And the Jews, not understanding
His meaning, taunted
Him thus: “Thou are not yet fifty
years old, and hast Thou seen
Abraham?” (St. John VIII, 57).
To which Christ replied with this
very profound statement: “Before
Abraham was, I am.” (St.
John VIII, 58). And at another
time Christ proclaimed: “Think
not that I am come to destroy the
law, or the prophets: I am not
come to destroy, but to fulfill.
For verily I say unto you, Till
heaven and earth pass, one jot or
one tittle shall in no wise pass
from the law, till all be fulfilled”.
(St. Matthew V, 17, 18). And
long before Christ, Krishna said
in confirmation of this: “Whenever
there is a decay of righteousness
I Myself come forth for the
protection of the good, for the
destruction of evil-doers, for the
sake of firmly established righteousness,
I am born from age to
age”. One can find in all of the
sacred writings, the Bibles of
the great religions, the same confirmations
of the return of God’s
Holy Prophets.
To the Bahá’ís, all of the signs of the time point convincingly to the fact that we are not experiencing just another reconversion period from just another war, but that we are living in one of those fateful moments which, like milestones, have marked the progress of mankind from time immemorial! The end of a passing civilization and the beginning of a new era. More than eighty years ago, Bahá’u’lláh, addressing a world that seemed firmly secure and destined to continue on its accustomed way, wholly unaware of the impending chaos and catastrophe, wrote: “The vitality of men’s belief in God is dying out in every land . . . The corrosion of ungodliness is eating into the vitals of human society”. “Soon will the present-day order be rolled up, and a new one spread out in its stead”. And long before the so-called first world war, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, His Son, made this statement: “Today the world of humanity is walking in darkness because it is out of touch with the world of God. That is why we do not see the signs of God in the hearts of men. The power of the Holy Spirit has no influence”.
Our hope now, as it has always
been in similar previous stages
of man’s development, lies in a
fresh new revelation from God,
endowed with the spiritual power
to first regenerate the individual,
then to unite the hearts of all in
common loyalty and obedience
to the universal law. Bahá’u’lláh
wrote of these times, saying that
the affairs of mankind are so inconceivably
complex that the intellect
of man is incapable of
[Page 167]
solving them and that only the
Divine Physician can prescribe
the remedy for the ills of the
world.
The Bahá’í message of the world is that this new revelation has been given to mankind, through Bahá’u’lláh, Who fulfilled the prophecies of all the past sacred writings. He is the bearer of a broad, universal message, the sole purpose of which is to rekindle a living faith in God, to restore peace, tranquility, and assurance to the whole world, to cement the hearts and minds of all different peoples through the conviction of the unshatterable unity of the nations and races of the earth—a unity in faith and not in creeds.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, speaking about the Bahá’í Faith, said: “The Bahá’í message is not a call to a new religion, not a new path to immortality, God forbid! It is the ancient path cleared of the debris of the imaginations and superstitions of men, of the debris of strife and misunderstanding, and is again made a clear path to the sincere seeker that he may enter therein in assurance and find that the word of God is one word, though the speakers be many.”
You will recall that Christ, when speaking with His disciples alone, was asked: “Why speakest Thou unto them in parables?” (St. Matthew XIII, 10). To which He replied: “Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them (the people); it is not given.” (St. Matthew XIII, 11). Thus did Christ clearly indicate the limited capacity of the people of His time to comprehend His message, and He also indicated the necessity of His having to teach them like children. The world today, however, is a vastly different world, and society, in general, is far more complex and enlightened. In comparison, it is as though mankind has progressed from the kindergarten age of stories to that of maturity, when man is not only able to understand but actually requires a far greater degree of truth than has ever been revealed. Christ, in His omniscience, undoubtedly foresaw this day, for He also said to His disciples, during His last hours with them: “These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs: but the time cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall shew you plainly of the Father.” (St. John XVI, 25).
Every age requires a fresh
measure of the light of God, and
in the Bahá’í writings we find
this statement which further
clarifies this principle: “Every
Divine Revelation hath been sent
[Page 168]
down in a manner that befitted
the circumstances of the age in
which it hath appeared.” This is
very important for us to understand
—that all revelation is
given according to the capacity
of the people of that time to comprehend
it.
Therefore, in keeping with the capacities and needs of this enlightened age, the revelation of Bahá’u’lláh, God’s specific message for today, not only reaffirms the eternal verities underlying all previous revelations but unfolds new and far greater truths than have ever before been given to man. In clear and unambiguous language Bahá’u’lláh has revealed to mankind hitherto uncomprehended knowledge about man himself, the nobility of his true nature, the purpose of his creation, the relation and means of approach to his Creator. Because it has become imperative for us to learn to live in peace and unity with all peoples, in a world which has been shrunken into a neighborhood, Bahá’u’lláh has given irrefutable proofs, wholly consistent with science, of the oneness of mankind and of the underlying unity of all religions, thus shattering completely any tenable belief in the deeply entrenched racial and religious prejudices. In the very text of His authentic teachings, He has given to a distracted and bewildered humanity a definite and practical plan for a new world order, and endowed it with the spiritual power which can alone make it work. To a generation aware through the discoveries of science of the infallible operation of basic physical laws, Bahá’u’lláh demonstrates, beyond questioning, the same unerring operation of certain universal spiritual laws, proving by the yardstick of history that as long as man has followed the divine commands, revealed periodically for his sole benefit and advancement, he has progressed and prospered, not only spiritually but materially, and by like token, whenever he has gone contrary to these laws and has followed instead the dictates of his lower, materialistic nature, he has brought down dire suffering and calamities upon himself and his generation. These divine spiritual laws are just as unfailing in their operation as are the laws of gravity or of centrifugal force.
Jesus, counseling His Disciples,
said: “If ye love Me,
keep my commandments.” (St.
John XIV, 15). And then He unfolded
for them the very essence
of faith in this beautiful parable:
“Therefore whosoever
heareth these sayings of mine,
and doeth them, I will liken him
unto a wise man, which built his
[Page 169]
house upon a rock: And the rain
descended, and the floods came,
and the winds blew, and beat
upon that house; and it fell not:
for it was founded upon a rock.
And every one that heareth these
sayings of mine, and doeth them
not, shall be likened unto a foolish
man, which built his house
upon the sand: And the rain
descended, and the floods came,
and the winds blew, and beat
upon that house; and it fell: and
great was the fall of it.” (St.
Matthew VII, 24, 25, 26, 27).
Bahá’u’lláh, speaking to a more mature humanity, states man’s own individual responsibilities even more forcibly and unequivocably, showing that because man has been endowed by God with free will, faith is not what so many consider it—something about which we can do nothing—that we are either born with it or without it, but that its attainment is squarely up to each and every one of us. “Love Me that I may love thee”, He warns. “If thou lovest Me not, My love can in nowise reach thee. Know this, O servant.” “He hath endowed every soul with the capacity to recognize the signs of God”, He proclaims. “The faith of no man can be conditioned by any one except himself.” Emphasizing again our individual responsibilities, He wrote: “A twofold obligation resteth upon him who hath recognized the Day Spring of the Unity of God, and acknowledged the truth of Him Who is the Manifestation of His oneness. The first is steadfastness in His love, such steadfastness that neither the clamor of the enemy nor the claims of the idle pretender can deter him from cleaving unto Him Who is the Eternal Truth . . . The second is strict observance of the laws He hath prescribed—laws which He hath always ordained, and will continue to ordain, unto men, and through which the truth may be distinguished and separated from falsehood”. “The essence of faith is fewness of words and abundance of deeds . . .” First must we believe; then must we live that faith.
Thus to be a Bahá’í the way to the discovery of true faith is definite and clear. First must we, through our individual investigation with dedicated and open minds, seek earnestly to recognize the authentic, divine voice of God for this day; then, having found reality, must we of our own volition, turn completely to that spiritual authority for our knowledge, guidance, and spiritual sustenance.
Through this means will a
true and living faith be once
more awakened in all mankind,
bringing comfort, strength, and
assurance to the hearts; purpose
[Page 170]
and direction to life; the certain
knowledge that God’s perfect
plan for the advancement of His
creatures is still operating and
that it has within it the means
and power of bringing unity,
peace, and harmony to all peoples;
security and hope to all humanity.
“The Hand of Omnipotence hath established His Revelation upon an unassailable, an enduring foundation. Storms of human strife are powerless to undermine its basis, nor will man’s fanciful theories succeed in damaging its structure.”
“Build ye for yourselves such houses as the rain and floods can never destroy, which shall protect you from the changes and chances of this life.”
- ↑ Houghton Mifflin Co., 1945.
The internecine struggle, now engulfing the generality of mankind, is increasingly assuming, in its range and ferocity, the proportions of the titanic upheaval foreshadowed as far back as seventy years ago by Bahá’u’lláh. It can be viewed in no other light except as a direct interposition by Him Who is the Ordainer of the Universe, the Judge of all men and the Deliverer of the nations. It is the rod of both the anger of God and of His correction. The fierceness of its devastating power chastens the children of men for their refusal to acclaim the century-old Message of their promised, their Heaven-sent Redeemer. The fury of its flames, on the other hand, purges away the dross, and welds the limbs of humanity into one single organism, indivisible, purified, God-conscious and divinely directed. . . .
Its menace is overleaping the limits of the Old World and is plunging into consternation the Great Republic of the West, as well as the peoples of Central and South America. The New World as well as the Old is experiencing the terrific impact of this disruptive force. Even the peoples of the Antipodes are trembling before the approaching tempest that threatens to burst on their heads;
The races of the world, Nordic, Slavonic, Mongolian, Arab and African, are alike subjected to its consuming violence. The world’s religious systems are no less affected by the universal paralysis which is creeping over the minds and souls of men. The persecution of world Jewry, the rapid deterioration of Christian institutions, the intestine division and disorders of Islám, are but manifestations of the fear and trembling that has seized humanity in its hour of unprecedented turmoil and peril. On the high seas, in the air, on land, in the forefront of battle, in the palaces of kings and the cottages of peasants, in the most hallowed sanctuaries, whether secular or religious, the evidences of God’s retributive act and mysterious discipline are manifest. Its heavy toll is steadily mounting—a holocaust sparing neither prince nor peasant, neither man nor woman, neither young nor old. . . .
—SHOGHI EFFENDI
Religion, Too, Evolves
LOUISE A. GROGER
In the past century we have heard a great deal about evolution. We have learned that all physical forms evolve. History shows that civilizations also conform to this law of evolution, that they have an organic life span of birth, growth, and decay and are succeeded by greater civilizations.
Another truth which recent scientific discoveries prove is that the growth of any organism is dependent upon that spark of life which no scientist has been able to produce in a laboratory. God alone gives life to His creation, whether material or spiritual. And in the darkest hour of disbelief God restores the vitality of religion by a new revelation, through His chosen instrument, the Prophet.
These founders of religion have been the unique men of history. They have called themselves Men of God, Messengers of God, Prophets, Manifestations. So superior has been Their quality that in every age millions of followers have accepted Their claims. Each had such vision of the future, such understanding of the human heart, that He was able to instill a faith in God that inspired His followers for a thousand years or more.
Bahá’ís believe that from the beginning of man’s development God has sent these Teachers to assure the progress of humanity through each step of its evolution. For having created man, it is only reasonable that God has never left His creatures without guidance, and never will.
Indeed, one of the results of
the study of comparative religion
has been the discovery that in essence
the founders of all the great
living faiths have taught the same
spiritual Truth. For instance,
take the Golden Rule; Christians
have looked upon it as peculiar
to their faith, the basic teaching
of Christ in regard to personal
conduct. But if we investigate we
find that this same rule has been
taught with slight difference in
every religion of the world. The
Hindu, whose religion is probably
4,000 or more years old,
was taught, “The true rule is to
guard the possessions of others as
you do your own.” And the
Buddhist, whose prophet appeared
600 years before Christ,
was told “One should seek for
others the happiness one desires
for oneself.” Muḥammad taught,
“Let none of you treat your
[Page 172]
brother in a way he himself
would dislike to be treated.” And
Bahá’u’lláh, Founder of the
Bahá’í Faith, has said, “Wert
thou to observe mercy, thou
wouldst not regard thine own interest
but the interest of mankind.
Wert thou to observe justice
choose thou for others what thou
choosest for thyself.”
We find also that each religion has taught the worship of God, by whatever name He may have been called, Alláh, Jehovah or Brahma. All have also taught the spiritual nature of the reality of man and the necessity for acquiring the virtues of the spirit. For the essential reality of religion is the same in every age. It is the expression of the love of God, the knowledge of God; and its purpose is to “liberate the children of men from the darkness of ignorance, and guide them to the light of true understanding.”
To be sure there has been a difference of emphasis in each of the great faiths. In itself this is evidence of the evolutionary process in religion. Each Teacher has found it wise to emphasize one spiritual quality above all the others, for man, who is potentially made in the image of God, only develops those potential qualities through ages of arduous effort. So the Hindu concentrated upon “Spirit”, the Zoroastrian upon “Spiritual Warfare” or the constant conflict between good and evil. The Hebrew was taught to revere and pursue “Righteousness” above all things, the Buddhist to achieve the goal of complete “Renunciation” of self. We know well that the great teaching of Christ was “Love.” It has guided us for nearly 2,000 years. That of Muḥammad, 600 years later, was “Submission” to the Will of God.
Today the need and the emphasis is on “Unity”. All the writing, all the teaching, the whole life of Bahá’u’lláh was devoted to the promotion of the unity of mankind.
To understand this Bahá’í concept, of the evolution in religion, suppose we take the comparison of the child in school. In each new grade he receives instruction from a new teacher. He acquires new information and new ways of accomplishment. Yet he does not discard what he learned in the first grade when he enters the second. He increases his knowledge in each year of school. The numerals he was taught in the first grade he uses in all the forms of higher mathematics. The alphabet is applied in every course of study.
In exactly the same way each faith has added to the treasury of man’s knowledge an understanding of God, and of his own place and purpose in God’s Creation.
[Page 173]
We can carry the simile further.
The first grade teacher is
qualified for the more advanced
subjects of the sixth or eighth
grade. Yet he limits himself to
the capacity of his pupils and
what they can understand.
In the same way, although any Messenger sent by God has knowledge and understanding equal to that of the Prophets to come after Him, He limits His teachings to the capacity and condition of mankind in His day.
For the Bahá’í then, development of religion depends upon the progress of man and at the same time is the cause of his evolution. In the words of Bahá’u’lláh, “Every Prophet whom the Almighty and Peerless Creator hath purposed to send to the peoples of the earth hath been entrusted with a Message, and charged to act in a manner that would best meet the requirements of the age in which He appeared.”
We have been speaking up to now of the spiritual truths of revelation, the great, eternal, and relatively unchanging Truths. Bahá’ís call these essentials the primary aspects of religion. They form the solid basis for religious unity.
Bahá’u’lláh has said, “Know thou that in every age and dispensation all divine ordinances are changed and transformed according to the requirement of the time, except the law of Love, which, like a fountain, always flows and is never overtaken by change.”
Here, in these words, is a statement of a basic and universal law for the evolution of society, a principle as basic as the fundamental laws of physical evolution. For the fact is that throughout human history the Prophets of God have appeared to fulfill the particular needs of men in every age. Bahá’u’lláh called this law “Progressive Revelation”.
These particular needs form
the second part of every faith,
and are subject to complete
change and transformation.
These are the social principles
which must be adapted to the
state and condition of the people
to whom the Prophet comes.
Moses, for instance led a people
in a wilderness, without homes,
without organization, unused to
self-discipline. He taught that
justice demanded an eye for an
eye, a tooth for a tooth. Under
His law ten crimes called for
capital punishment. But by the
time of the appearance of Christ,
His people had a highly developed
civilization. The lessons of
Moses on the importance of law,
and order, had been well learned.
So Christ taught that Justice
should be tempered with mercy,
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that law was made for the peace,
comfort, and the well-being of
men; not men for the law.
On the other hand, Muḥammad came to a savage, wild, and lawless people. To a people who buried their girl children alive, He brought laws concerning the treatment of women and slaves which gave them respect and consideration unheard of before His time. He prohibited the use of intoxicating liquors and He insisted on the humane treatment of animals. In a ministry of thirty years He gave them a social organization, spiritual ideals, and the stimulus for a civilization which was carried to India, around the Mediterranean, and to the borders of France.
In the past the secondary or social teachings of the founders of religion have been limited by the time, the people, and the portion of the world to which they are given. But today those limitations are no longer effective. This is a day in which the world has grown so small, that, in the words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, to divide it is like dividing “a room into the eastern and western corners”. Our need is not alone for a renewal of the spirit of faith. Over and above this our world requires new social laws which will solve the problems of close human relationships. For it is obvious that periodic attempts to exterminate those who oppose our desires is not the solution. Unless we depopulate the earth, man will still know how to build airplanes, radios, and all the other appurtenances of this civilization which make the world one neighborhood. From now on we are faced with the need to get along with our fellows all over this shrinking planet.
It was to give us the firm foundation for a solution of these problems that Bahá’u’lláh promulgated His principles for a world civilization. And it is in the application of these principles to achieve the harmonious association of individuals and of nations, that the Bahá’ís see the promise of the next step in the evolution of religion and of civilization.
What then are some of these social teachings which the world requires today? Bahá’u’lláh says that the first and basic principle is unity. His own words are, “Ye are the fruits of one tree, and the leaves of one branch. Deal ye one with another with the utmost love and harmony, with friendliness and fellowship . . . So powerful is the light of unity that it can illumine the whole earth.”
In proclaiming that the foundation
of all religions is one and
that religion is constantly progressing,
Bahá’u’lláh has removed
a major source of contention
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between peoples. Indeed He
goes so far as to say that if Religion
is a source of disunity it
were better to have no religion.
Moreover religion must be reasonable. It must agree with science as both are aspects of the same reality. It has been the dogmas, the creeds, the rituals added by man to each Faith, which have made it impossible to reconcile with scientific knowledge some of the things taught as religion.
All the Prophets of God have come to unite the children of men and not to disperse them, to put into action the law of love and not of enmity. Consequently we must throw aside all prejudices: racial, patriotic, religious, and intellectual; investigate the foundations of religion, find that essential basis of Truth, and establish ourselves securely on the eternal reality which alone can unite mankind.
In the words of Bahá’u’lláh, “As the body of man needeth a garment to clothe it, so the body of mankind must needs be adorned with the mantle of justice and wisdom. Its robe is the Revelation vouchsafed unto it by God. Whenever this robe hath fulfilled its purpose the Almighty will assuredly renew it. For every age requireth a fresh measure of the light of God. Every Divine Revelation hath been sent down in a manner that befitted the circumstances of the age in which it hath appeared.”
In this Day that Revelation has come to mankind through Bahá’u’lláh.
Talk on Radio Station KYA, April 9, 1944.
And among the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh is, that religious, racial, political, economic and patriotic prejudices destroy the edifice of humanity. As long as these prejudices prevail, the world of humanity will not have rest. For a period of 6000 years history informs us about the world of humanity. During these 6000 years the world of humanity has not been free from war, strife, murder and bloodthirstiness. In every period war has been waged in one country or another and that was due to either religious prejudice, racial prejudice, political prejudice or patriotic prejudice. . . . As long as these prejudices persist, the struggle for existence must remain dominant, and bloodthirstiness and rapacity continue. Therefore the world of humanity cannot be saved from the darkness of nature and cannot attain illumination except through the abandonment of prejudices and the acquisitions of the morals of the Kingdom.
—‘ABDU’L-BAHÁ
The Parable of the Nine Springs
DUART BROWN
A land of high hills was given over to the raising of sheep and in these hills dwelt a number of shepherds. In spite of the fact that there was always plenty of grass and that the herds were not too big, there was constant argument and strife between these shepherds. The warfare, strangely enough, however, arose not over the use of the grazing lands, but over the merits of the nine springs from which the sheep obtained their water in the hills. From each of the springs rose pure and limpid water since all came from the same underground water source, but some of the springs were newer than the others and gave water with greater force and vigor.
The quarreling arose chiefly because most of the shepherds claimed that the majority of the springs were poisonous, and only one or two were good for the sheep to drink.
Thus one shepherd would say: “My father has told me that only springs number four and six are good springs, while all the rest are injurious to the sheep. Therefore, you foolish men, leave the other springs alone!”
But another shepherd would think four and six no good and would put forth his claim for three. Then hot words would leap up to be followed by the swift fierce blows of sticks.
The whole situation was very hard on the poor sheep, particularly when long grazing led them to a part of the pastureland near a forbidden spring. Then, when they went quite naturally to get a drink, their master would rush upon them yelling savagely and drive them away so that they had to go a long distance to get water. He too would suffer the pangs of thirst, but would never doubt that he was saving both himself and his sheep from evil.
Only one of the shepherds
would touch the latest spring that
had come gushing from a rock,
and yet this spring was larger
and flowed more bountifully than
any of the others. None of their
fathers had told them about this
new spring, said the rest, so
therefore it could not possibly be
good. But to their amazement the
shepherd who led his sheep to
this spring, also took the same
sheep to water at all the other
springs, proclaiming that the
water of all of them was good
and healthy since it came from
the same source. Instead of arguing
with a man who stated
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that his particular spring was the
only good one, the strange shepherd
would smilingly agree with
him that it was wonderful and
lead his sheep to drink from the
crystal clear waters. Consequently
his sheep were never so tired
and dusty as the others but grew
amazingly strong and healthy.
“How can this be?” the other shepherds asked protestingly. “This man breaks all the rules of our fathers about these springs, and yet he is the happiest of all of us and seems to have no quarrel with any of us.”
“I can tell you why,” replied the strange shepherd. “It is because as each spring rose out of the earth, some men tasted it and found it so good that they thought it and it alone was the only true quencher of thirst; so they forbade their children to try others. But I who have also tasted all the others and know that they all come from the same source, so that, if you followed them down, you would find the same great reservoir of pure and delightful liquid within the earth. Why then should we quarrel over which is the only good spring when all are exactly the same. Let us join together and drink from all of them and then we shall realize how foolish our fighting has been!”
There is not one soul whose conscience does not testify that in this day there is no more important matter in the world than that of Universal Peace. . . . But the wise souls who are aware of the essential relationships emanating from the realities of things consider that one single matter cannot, by itself, influence the human reality as it ought and should, for until the minds of men become united, no important matter can be accomplished. At present universal peace is a matter of great importance, but unity of conscience is essential, so that the foundation of this matter may become secure, its establishment firm and its edifice strong. . . .
Among these teachings (Bahá’u’lláh’s) was the independent investigation of reality so that the world of humanity may be saved from the darkness of imitation and attain to the truth; may tear off and cast away this ragged and outworn garment of 1000 years ago and may put on the robe woven in the utmost purity and holiness in the loom of reality. As reality is one and cannot admit of multiplicity, therefore different opinions must ultimately be fused into one.
—‘ABDU’L-BAHÁ
Editorial
Bahá’ís Stand Firm in Their Faith
TO declare oneself a Bahá’í entails no elaborate or even simple ceremony, no promise to be loyal to a certain group of individuals who adhere to a formula of religious belief limited to its own opinions; rather it is a declaration of faith in the oneness of religion, in the oneness of the world of humanity, and in the conviction that a Manifestation of God has spoken again to mankind in this enlightened yet tragically chaotic time. Such a declaration of faith made from the heart of the believer is not bound by manmade creed or dogma; it is a promise to oneself that through love, humility, obedience to the Laws of Bahá’u’lláh, and cooperation with the Bahá’í administrative institutions throughout the world he will conduct himself as a true Bahá’í.
The decision to become a Bahá’í is arrived at when the seeker recognizes the stations of the Báb, Bahá’u’lláh, and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá; when he submits to what has been revealed by Their Pens; when he agrees to be true and steadfast to the clauses of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Will and Testament. A period of search and study lasting weeks, months, or sometimes years often must precede such a declaration.
In the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá the believer is told that he must “stand fast in the Covenant” and that the first guardian of the “Cause of God” is to be Shoghi Effendi of the lineage of Bahá’u’lláh. The Guardian and the Universal House of Justice (which will be universally elected and established when the Guardian deems fit), shall be the administrators of the Laws revealed by Bahá’u’lláh. “Whatsoever they decide is of God.” The acceptance and practice of this administration is the lifeline of the Cause, and through it the teachings of this Revelation will be kept pure and unadulterated.
The Covenant is the promise
from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, (the One
whose service to the Faith is a
perfect example of what a Bahá’í
should be), that the Cause of God
shall be guided and guarded by
divine guidance, by laws, and by
His Will and Testament. These
safe-guards will prevent the
Faith from falling into schisms.
In becoming a Bahá’í, the believer
has accepted the Will and
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Testament and it is his obligation
to stand firm in the Covenant. He
must be obedient to what is contained
in the Will, and that
means obedience to the Guardian,
the Universal House of Justice,
his National Spiritual Assembly
and Local Spiritual Assembly.
Obedience to the last mentioned
is the believer’s first step in practicing
the Bahá’í Administration.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá willed that the guardianship is to remain in the holy family. In speaking of Shoghi Effendi He says: “He is the expounder of the words of God and after him will succeed the first-born of his lineal descendants.” However, if the first-born child of a Guardian does not meet the standards of guardianship, the Guardian shall appoint in his life-time his successor from the nearest branch of the lineal descendancy. Such a procedure forestalls any difficulties which might arise from differences of opinion the believers might have over the succession of guardianship after the passing of a guardian. Such a system of succession safeguards the Cause of God so that it will never be without its spiritual and administrative head.
What a bounty the Bahá’ís have in their sacred writings preserved in the original texts, and available in more than thirty languages by translation from the Arabic and Persian; in their Administrative Order instituted by Bahá’u’lláh Himself; in their Exemplar ‘Abdu’l-Bahá whose life has set the model for Bahá’ís; and in their Guardian who is a direct descendant of the Manifestation of God.
The teachings of Bahá’u’lláh are many; the central theme of His Revelation is “the consciousness of the oneness of mankind”. Such a consciousness resulting in the realization of love for one another has united the hearts of the Bahá’ís in love and service in His Cause, the cause of God.
All over the world Bahá’í Assemblies are firmly building the beginnings of universal peace, a peace free from religious, racial, patriotic or political prejudice and a civilization based on the laws and teachings of Bahá’u’lláh.
That which the Lord hath ordained as the sovereign remedy and mightiest instrument for the healing of all the world is the union of all its peoples in one universal Cause, one common Faith.
—BAHÁ’U’LLÁH
Youth and the Modern World
V. A DIVINE ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER
G. A. SHOOK
THIS EVOLVING WORLD
All the extant religions were born into a static world, a world which had no concept whatever of the doctrine of evolution.
It is only natural therefore that the staunch adherents of these older religions should look upon their own faith as the last word for mankind. To a lesser degree perhaps the same may be said about the faithful supporters of political institutions.
The reason for this is obvious. For thousands of years man observed small-scale or short-duration evolution in plants and animals but failed entirely to see the organic evolution of mankind from family to tribe, to city-state, to nation-state, or the evolution of religion which stands reflected in the successive dispensations of the past, like Judaism, Christianity, and Islám.
For the conservative followers of these older faiths, these extant religions, there can never be a renewal of revealed truth. Outside the pale of religion and to a considerable degree within it, there is also an aversion to revealed truth.
This is, of course, a necessary concomitant of modern materialism but modern materialism is, after all, merely a stage in our evolution and not the end. Humanity has passed through this stage several times in recorded history. The sensate culture of Ionia, for example, was followed by the spiritual culture of Athens, and the sensate culture of Alexandria by the spiritual culture of Christianity. Again from our study of the decline of mechanism, it is reasonable to assume that the future will not be dominated, as in the past, by empirical science.
On the other hand, the decadence of religion and its complete failure to eliminate such impediments to world peace as racial prejudice and nationalistic antagonisms, make it rather difficult for thinking youth to take much interest in revealed truth. We cannot discard science, however, merely because it has been exploited for the destruction of mankind. That would be unscientific. Likewise we cannot discard revealed truth merely because defective religious institutions have failed to see its real value. That would also be unscientific.
DEFECTS OF THEOCRATIC ADMINISTRATIONS
We moderns have a decided antipathy, and with some justification, for an administrative order that resembles in any way the theocracies with which we are familiar. We still remember the long warfare between church and state and we do not want to return to anything like the divine right of the church. Ostensibly the complete separation of church and state was a real advance in the evolution of our collective life, but we should not forget that both church and state suffered from the separation. For one thing, science became the ally of the state, and, instead of confining its activities to enlightenment and human welfare, the state misused it. After all the separation of church and state is merely a phase of our sensate culture and will go when the sensate culture goes, but let us see why the theocratic form of government failed in the past.
In theory a theocracy is the government of a state by the immediate direction of God, but the kind we are familiar with in Christianity is a state which is controlled by the vicegerents of Christ, the successors of the apostles. The authority for apostolic succession moreover does not rest upon unequivocal words of Christ. As we know there are no irrefutable utterances of Christ regarding the law of succession and certainly no specific utterances regarding the nature of the authority of His Successors. Christ did not specifically invest anyone “with sufficient authority to either interpret His Word or to add to what He had not specifically enjoined.” The same must he said for Islám.
Although we cannot explain why the Gospel or the Qur’án did not confer sufficient authority upon Peter or ‘Alí to prevent schisms, the fact is that neither did; and we know the difficulties Peter and ‘Alí had in supporting the primacy with which each had been invested. There is no objection whatever to the law of succession, but in the past the followers of these two religions could not point to explicit utterances that would have silenced all dissensions.
This lack of sanction might not, in itself, prove a serious obstacle to success, but there is always a grave danger with self-appointed authority; it may and usually does, assume powers and privileges incompatible with the revelation which it claims to represent. All the Imáms were faithful to their mission but the same cannot be said of the apostolic succession in Christianity.
SACERDOTALISM AND EPISCOPAL AUTHORITY
There is another element in the dispensations of the past that is repugnant to rational minds, namely sacerdotalism, the emphasis on the sacred character of the religious leader. But first let us see how it originated.
In the childhood of the race man was very objective, very materialistic, and it is only natural that sacraments, like baptism, should play an important part in all primitive religions. Even today we see evidences of this primitive practice. Strange as it seems to us such practices are still effective, not because of inherent worth, far from it, but primarily because they are hallowed by time.
The greatest harm however, does not come from a belief in the efficacy of sacraments but rather from the belief that the official who administers the sacraments is different from the rest of mankind and that he possesses rights and prerogatives which are withheld from all other men. This is logical, for if the sacraments have supernatural power, they must be administered by one who has superhuman authority, namely a priest. Moreover this authority must be transmitted from generation to generation. In Christendom the priest is ordained by a bishop who in turn is ordained by another bishop and so on back to the Apostolate. That is, the authority of the bishop is transmitted through a material line of descent. This is the basis of episcopal authority.
There are two serious objections to this form of absolutistic ecclesiastical system.
In the first place, as indicated above, we are not sure of the divine authority of the apostolic succession.
In the second place we do not like to believe that an ordination service, no matter how elaborate and impressive, or how long it has been in use, can make a man different in kind, something apart, spiritually superior to his fellows, and endowed with divine authority.
The vast majority of thinking people just refuse to subscribe to a faith which maintains that sacraments are indispensable to right living in this life or to life eternal. Such a doctrine is not only contrary to reason but it does not rest upon incontrovertible passages in the Gospel. The authority of Christ over the hearts of men however belongs to quite another category and the same may be said of the ordinances in the Qur’án which have remained intact for thirteen hundred years.
Episcopal authority recognizes
no superior power and
[Page 183]
when it is in a position to exercise
its divine prerogative, it is supreme,
sovereign. Moreover history
shows, plainly enough, that
episcopal authority may lead to
corruption. An absolute monarch
is in reality never absolute. He
must consider public opinion to
some extent and if, as is usually
the case, he is associated with a
church state, he must consider
the wishes of the church. We
have known many examples of
this in Europe during the middle
ages and in the Orient in recent
times.
GUIDANCE, FREEDOM, AND UNITY
When we examine the Bahá’í administration we observe there are no sacraments and there is no reason whatever to suppose there ever will be any. Every believer, regardless of his religious training, understands this perfectly and is entirely in sympathy with it. The background of the early church was somewhat different. Contrary to popular opinion, Christianity did not start as an ethical society or spiritual brotherhood. To the early Christians baptism and communion were essential.
Since there are no sacraments there is no reason for a professional priesthood. We must never lose sight of this important point.
In the Faith every believer knows that the elected officials of the administrative order are not different in kind. As an individual, no member of a spiritual assembly has any rights or privileges not enjoyed by every member of the community. Sovereignty resides only in the nine assembled. Under these conditions “episcopal authority with its attendant privileges, corruptions and bureaucratic tendencies” is out of the question.
So much for the total absence of those elements which, in all the religious hierarchies of the past, have been the cause of dissensions and schisms and which moreover have no place in an age of enlightenment. Sacerdotalism is gone; there is nothing in the experience of the modern thinker that corresponds to it. It is quite foreign to him.
Revealed truth however is quite another matter. All new knowledge comes to us through some kind of revelation. Today many object to divine revelation. That is true, but this is due, in no small measure, to the unwarranted practices associated with the sacraments.
Succession is in the same category.
Without some kind of succession
no organization or society,
for the enlightenment of
humanity, would be stable nor
could it expand. A man works all
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his life to establish, let us say, a
new type of educational institution;
but no matter how carefully
he plans, he knows that the institution
cannot run by itself. He
is aware that ultimately he must
appoint others to carry on his labors.
Now he is faced with two
major problems.
How can his ideals be safeguarded and perpetuated?
How can his institution adapt itself to the needs of a rapidly evolving world?
In practice he appoints successors, a board of overseers or trustees, and this board endeavors to carry out his theories. He might, of course, leave a book of instructions but that would not be enough; he cannot plan for every exigency. This is the work of his successors; they are his vicegerents.
In the realm of revealed truth we are confronted with similar problems. How can we preserve the goals of the faith? How can we guard the laws and precepts? Finally, how can we add laws, ordinances and regulations to meet existing conditions? These problems have confronted the church from its beginning.
There is a modern revolt against revelation with which we can have at least a little sympathy. The critics say in substance, a prophet comes with a complete set of laws but he cannot provide for every future emergency. Sooner or later mortal man must make the necessary additions, history shows this. Now why should he not continue making additions according to the demand of the times?
To those who are aware of the potency of the Bahá’í Revelation there is, of course, a very definite answer. Today, the day of humanity’s coming of age, we have a divinely-appointed administrative order that is entirely free from those elements which in the past have been the cause of endless controversies and corruptions. This administrative order provides, moreover, for a perpetual source of divine guidance and inspiration.
The Bahá’í Administrative Order is a creation and not a fortuitous composition. It is unique and it is just this uniqueness which distinguishes it from all former systems of governments.
In those systems which claim
apostolic sanction there is no freedom
in the matter of doctrine and
inspiration. In liberal churches
there is plenty of freedom but no
divine guidance through a material
line of descent, through apostolic
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succession. Ostensibly there
is some intermediate position, but
man has never discovered it. Unaided
by some superhuman
power he has never been able to
establish guidance, freedom, and
unity.
At long last, however, man’s highest aspirations have been fulfilled.
Through succession, that is, the administrative order (House of Justice and Guardianship), we now have divine guidance.
Through the total absence of episcopal authority and a professional priesthood we have freedom.
Finally, through the law of oneness we have an abiding unity.
This is the last of five articles in a series, “Youth and the Modern World”.
The affairs of the people are placed in charge of the men of the House of Justice of God. They are the trustees of God among His servants and the day springs of command in His countries.
O people of God! The trainer of the world is justice, for it consists of two pillars: Reward and retribution. These two pillars are two fountains for the life of the people of the world. Inasmuch as for each time and day a particular decree and order is expedient, affairs are therefore entrusted to the ministers of the House of Justice, so that they may execute that which they deem advisable at the time. Those souls who arise to serve the Cause sincerely to please God will be inspired by the divine, invisible inspirations. It is incumbent upon all to obey.
Administrative affairs are all in charge of the House of Justice; but acts of worship must be observed according as they are revealed in the Book. . . .
The men of the House of Justice of God must, night and day, gaze toward that which hath been revealed from the horizon of the heaven of the Supreme Pen for the training of the servants, for the upbuilding of countries, for the protection of men and for the preservation of human honor.
—BAHÁ’U’LLÁH
Rangoon
SYDNEY SPRAGUE
Before entering Rangoon we were subjected to a strict inspection according to the plague regulations, for the dreaded plague so rampant in India had not yet made its appearance in Burma. But two days after our arrival the plague broke out in Rangoon and numbers of deaths were recorded daily.
The city of Rangoon is one of the most cosmopolitan in the world. Though in reality a Burmese city, the number of Burmese inhabitants are less than the combined number of Chinese, Muḥammadan and Hindu inhabitants. Every religion under the sun is represented there, and, as a rule, in large numbers.
The Buddhists have many splendid golden pagodas; the Muḥammadans have fine mosques; the Hindus their strange looking temples; the Chinese, many Joss houses; the Zoroastrians and Jews, their well-built fire temples and synagogues; the Christians of every sect, their various churches and meeting places. I should imagine there was no place in the world where one could study the customs and rules of different religions so well as in Rangoon.
Each day in the week seemed to be a feast or fast day of one or the other of the religions. I saw the festivities of four different New Year Days. The Buddhists celebrated this day very much as the Carnival is held in France and Italy—but instead of throwing confetti, they pour water on each other. No one is respected on that day, not even the highest dignity of the land, and the only way to escape a ducking is to shut oneself in the house.
The Hindus have even a more disagreeable way of celebrating their festal day, for they throw a red fluid on each other which remains on their clothes for some time to come.
The Muḥammadans celebrate the day in a more dignified manner, and instead of trying to ruin their neighbor’s clothes, they try to outshine him in the gorgeousness of their raiment. They don their very best robes and fezzes embroidered in gold, and pay each other visits and pass the day in merrymaking.
The Chinese New Year reminds one of the American Fourth of July, for crackers and fireworks form the leading feature.
It would fill a book were I to
[Page 187]
describe all the remarkable religious
customs that I saw in
Rangoon, and as my desire is to
confine myself as closely as possible
to the narrative of my experiences
among the Indian
Bahá’ís, I will return to my
friends whom I have left welcoming
me on the pier.
I stayed in Rangoon at the house of Syed Ismael Shirází and his father, Syed Mehdi, Persians, formerly of Shíráz. Their house is a very large and handsome one, and here the meetings were held on the same evenings as those in Bombay.
I should like to speak here of the great hospitality and kindness that was shown to me during my three months’ stay in Rangoon by the two noble gentlemen whose guest I was. It was largely through their earnest solicitations that I made my stay much longer than I had intended, and they did everything in their power to make my visit a pleasant one.
Here the Bahá’í movement has achieved perhaps its greatest triumph, for in this most cosmopolitan of cities one is able to see representatives of six great religions sitting side by side at a common religious meeting and united in a true spirit of love and brotherhood.
The meetings, as I have stated, are usually held three times a week, but during the whole of my visit we had meetings every evening, and there was scarcely a time when the room was not well filled often to overflowing so that many had to sit in the garden. It was a wonderful and inspiring sight to see the room filled with Buddhists, Muḥammadans, Hindus, Christians, Jews, Zoroastrians, and even an occasional Chinese. Strangers came to make inquiries not only at the evening meetings, but also at all hours of the day; eight o’clock in the morning not being thought too early in the Orient to seek for spiritual knowledge. Large numbers of Christians, both native and English, came to see me; most of them came, I am afraid if not to scoff, at least to criticize, but some remained to pray. There were both Roman Catholics and Protestants who became Bahá’ís during my visit, and one of them was a missionary. Who, possessed of an open and unprejudiced mind, could help but be impressed at seeing that marvelous example of Bahá’í unity so strikingly shown forth every evening?
“I can not believe,” said a missionary to me one night, “that all these men are really Bahá’ís.”
“It is easy enough to find out,”
I replied, “you have but to ask
them.” The answer he received
left no doubt on that score. The
[Page 188]
Bahá’í is never a lukewarm believer:
he has good reasons for
his faith and he knows how to express
them.
There was, naturally, some opposition to my presence in Rangoon. The Roman Catholic priests forbade their flocks to come to the meetings, the Protestant ministers spoke against us. A Muḥammadan Mullá preached openly in a city square, warning the Muḥammadans to keep away from the Bahá’ís who possessed a power able to turn them away from the true faith. One ardent Buddhist used to come to the meetings with the sole purpose of drawing away the Buddhists; a Hindu came regularly to interrupt and argue against us. Perhaps one of the most remarkable cases of opposition was that concerning a young Jewish soldier of the British Army. He had dropped into one of our meetings, and becoming interested, had returned again and again, and finally announced that he had become a Bahá’í. He was a very ardent one for he used to talk to his fellow Christian soldiers, and soon our meetings were made more interesting. Certainly a new touch of picturesqueness was added by having several young soldiers in their white and gold uniforms. Some sailors from the many foreign ships lying in the harbor also attended.
But to return to our young Jewish friend. It seems that great efforts had been made by army missionaries to convert him to Christianity, but without success. He had always remained true to the faith of his fathers. When, therefore, it became known that our young Jew had become converted to something that was not called Christianity, and was actually preaching it and converting others, great consternation and indignation were aroused.
One night our meeting was interrupted by three or four young soldiers entering, one of whom was an Evangelist who held revival services in the Army. He began in an excited manner to preach against the error into which his friends had been drawn. He challenged me to answer him, and when I tried to do so in a quiet way he would not listen, but continued his invectives, finally surprising everyone by falling on his knees and bursting forth into emotional and impassioned prayer, calling upon Heaven for some miracle to turn his friends away from what he deemed error. I felt very sorry for him, for he was evidently in earnest. I felt sorry, too, that there still exist in the world such narrow and bigoted spirits who have distorted the broad charitable spirit of Christ’s teachings into something so different.
[Page 189]
When the Evangelist had finished
his prayer he called upon
the three Bahá’í soldiers to leave
their evil surroundings and return
with him to the barracks.
They remained fixed in their
seats, and the poor man was
obliged to confess himself defeated
and to go away. “I wonder,”
said the Jewish soldier to
me afterwards, “Why this man
who has tried so hard to make
me believe in Christ, is so angry
now that I do believe in Him.”
Alas, it is too often the Christ of
the creeds that one is asked to
believe in, and not the Christ of
humanity.
There were many interesting incidents which occurred during my long stay in Rangoon but were I to speak of them all, there would be little space left to recount my experiences in other Indian cities. I will mention but one or two others.
One day, soon after my arrival, an Englishman called to see me and questioned me minutely about my object in coming to Rangoon, and what the teachings of the Bahá’í Faith were. He seemed interested in my replies and came again and again, finally saying that he believed all I told him was the highest and most beautiful Truth, and he could accept it all and call himself a Bahá’í.
Then he went on to say: “I must now inform you who I really am. I am a member of the Rangoon secret police, and it was my duty to find out about you, to see if your mission in India was a peaceable one, and one that would not lead to a native uprising. I little thought that my investigation would lead to my ultimate conversion.” Mr. R. proved himself to be a kind friend and a devoted Bahá’í during the rest of my stay.
The friendly protection of the Bahá’ís by the police in India is not a thing to be despised, for on one occasion it has been shown that, though India is governed by such a progressive and enlightened country as Great Britain, persecutions for religious beliefs are possible. I shall have occasion to speak later of a Bahá’í who narrowly escaped a martyr’s death in the city of Mandalay.
How easy it is to excite the
fanaticism of a crowd. I remember
the anxiety of my friends one
night while we were holding a
meeting. Diagonally across the
street from us was a Muḥammadan
mosque, and on that evening
a large meeting was being held in
front of it in the open air, the
Imám preaching from the porch
and the hundreds of Muḥammadans
standing or squatting in the
road. The preacher’s voice was
so loud and clear that we could
hear it across the road, and my
[Page 190]
friend told me he was preaching
against the Bahá’í movement. I
looked across and saw by the
flaring light, the excited face of
the Mullá waving his arms about,
the swaying forms of the white-robed
figures on the ground, and
I heard the pious ejaculations
with which the speaker was occasionally
interrupted. Ah, I
thought, it needs but one word
from that man to bring about a
Bahá’í massacre. Even the fear
of the English police would not
restrain that crowd, now worked
up to the white heat of hatred
and fanaticism.
In violent contrast to this fanatical spirit existing in all the religions in India, is the spirit of liberality, charity, and broad-mindedness among the Bahá’ís. Not once have I come across the least tinge of bigotry and narrowness and this is the more wonderful when one considers that most of its adherents have been brought up in the strongest atmosphere of fanaticism.
To us, brought up in the broad spirit of Western thought this should be a constant lesson if we are ever tempted to show an intolerant spirit to any who do not think as we do. Consider how difficult it must be for a Muḥammadan to acknowledge that there could be anything of truth in religions such as Brahamanism or Buddhism, which he has always regarded with abhorrence as rank idolatry.
“Think of it,” once said a Persian Bahá’í to me, “I once thought I was polluted if I was obliged to shake hands with a Christian—now I am glad to shake hands with all the world.”
What a great and noble work are these pioneers of the Bahá’í religion doing! They are laying the foundation of a mighty edifice which shall endure throughout all ages. The stones of love and harmony and unity and brotherhood which they are laying shall never be swept away, but the human race shall rise upon them to higher things—to its true destiny.
I left Rangoon in a rather exhausted condition; for the strain of talking to people day and night and of spending three months in extremely hot weather was very great. It often happened that our meetings would last until one o’clock in the morning, and our meals were held at most irregular hours whenever the coast was clear, and there were no visitors.
This article is the third in a series relating to the author’s early Bahá’í journey to India.
WITH OUR READERS
EDNA TRUE, who contributes the leading article, “How the Bahá’í Has Discovered True Faith”, was recently elected to the Bahá’í National Spiritual Assembly and for a number of years was secretary of the Bahá’í Inter-America Committee. She now has been appointed chairman of the Bahá’í European Teaching Committee whose responsibility it is to establish the Bahá’í Faith in ten countries in western Europe. We understand that Miss True is about to leave for Europe and that one of the many objects of her trip will be to strengthen European headquarters of the Bahá’í European Committee at Geneva, Switzerland. For many years there has been a Bahá’í International Bureau at Geneva directed by Mrs. Anne Lynch and others who preceded her. The European Teaching Committee will work in cooperation with the International Bureau. This is Miss True’s first contribution to World Order magazine and was presented as a talk at one of the public meetings held at Bahá’í headquarters in Wilmette last winter.
Louise Groger is a new contributor
to World Order. “Religion, Too,
Evolves” was first given to the public
as a radio address. When we asked
Mrs. Groger to tell us something
about herself she generously shared
her experience in learning about the
Bahá’í Faith. She writes: “The fact
about me that would probably most
interest the majority of your readers
is that I am a Bahá’í as the direct result
of a visit to the Temple.
“In 1935 my daughter and I were visiting her grandparents in Chicago. They had been residents there only a short time themselves and in their explorations of the region had discovered the Bahá’í House of Worship. It intrigued and attracted my mother very much, though, being a devout Catholic, she has never been interested in investigating the Faith. But while my parents lived in Chicago they made a point of taking their house guests to see the Temple. So Theresa and I were taken to Wilmette.
“At the time the building impressed me only as a promise of great beauty and a point of sightseeing interest. The guide’s discussion of fulfillment of prophecy, etc., seemed very Protestant to my Catholic mind. But the principles he spoke of, of racial and religious equality and the promise of world peace, were completely in accord with my own thoughts on these subjects.
“After we left the Temple I found myself in a fever of desire to return to it, to know more about this Faith it represented. The guide had said only Bahá’ís were allowed to assist in financing the building. I found I wanted very much to help finish that one quickly and hoped some day to see one erected in San Francisco. Revisiting Wilmette before we would leave for home would be difficult so I wrote, inquiring about the possible existence of Bahá’ís in San Francisco and asking for further information about the Faith.
“When we arrived home the answer
I had been anticipating was not
here. In a few weeks I wrote again.
[Page 192]
After what seemed a very long time
a letter came from the secretary of
the San Francisco Assembly giving
the time and place of Bahá’í public
meetings here.
“At the end of somewhat more than a year of listening, reading, and praying for guidance I decided to chance being able some day to measure up to Bahá’í standards and asked to be accepted as a member of the San Francisco Bahá’í community. Since then five other members of my family have become Bahá’ís and two small nieces are studying in the children’s class here.
“If such instances are at all numerous among the many people who visit the Temple each year, the day will surely come when the Bahá’í community will be an evidence that, as ‘Abdu’l-Bahá promised, “the Temple will be the greatest teacher.”
This month’s editorial, “Bahá’ís
Stand Firm in Their Faith” by Gertrude
K. Henning seems a natural
supplement to Mrs. Groger’s letter
though the two compositions were
written quite independently of each
other.
In his “Parable of the Nine
Springs” Duart Brown has chosen an
age old devise for pointing out one
of the basic truths of the Bahá’í
Faith. Our readers will remember
two recent contributions by Mr.
Brown—“Deep Shadows in the
Orient” and “From One Service Man
to Another”. Previously he had contributed
a poem, “Light of Life”.
Mr. Brown’s present address is Redwood
City, California.
“A Divine Administrative Order”
is the fifth and last in Glenn Shook’s
“Youth and the Modern World” series.
Each article in this series is complete
in itself and all discuss problems
which thoughtful youth, and
many older people, find puzzling.
The titles previously printed are:
“The Decline of Mechanism”, “Mysticism
and its Implications”, “Meditation
and the Modern Mind”, “Elements
of a World Community”. Professor
Shook’s home is in Norton,
Massachusetts where he teaches physics
in Wheaton College.
“Rangoon” is another chapter
from Sydney Sprague’s book (long
out of print) about his experiences
as a Bahá’í pioneer in India and
Burma some forty years ago. In the
preface of this book Mr. Sprague
wrote: “It is chiefly at the request of
certain of my friends that I have
written this account of my experiences
in India during the year 1905.
I have confined myself, as much as
possible, to relating my intercourse
with the Bahá’ís and what the Bahá’í
Cause is doing in India and Burma.
. . . I feel sure that what the Bahá’í
Movement is doing in India to promote
the Cause of unity and friendship
among people will interest all
thoughtful people. Everyone who has
looked into the matter at all, must
acknowledge that the Bahá’í Movement
is enlightening and educating
people in a very wonderful manner.
. . .”
In the forty years since this was written the Bahá’í Faith has made great growth in India as in other countries. The Centenary survey made in 1944 listed twenty-seven localities in India where there are local Spiritual Assemblies and three in Burma, and many other places where there are small groups of believers.
—THE EDITORS
Bahá’í Literature
Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, selected and translated by Shoghi Effendi. The Bahá’í teachings on the nature of religion, the soul, the basis of civilization and the oneness of mankind. Bound in fabrikoid. 360 pages. $2.00.
The Kitáb-i-Íqán, translated by Shoghi Effendi. This work (The Book of Certitude) unifies and coordinates the revealed Religions of the past, demonstrating their oneness in fulfillment of the purposes of Revelation. Bound in cloth. 262 pages. $2.50.
Prayers and Meditations by Bahá’u’lláh, selected and translated by Shoghi Effendi. The supreme expression of devotion to God; a spiritual flame which enkindles the heart and illumines the mind. 348 pages. Bound in fabrikoid. $2.00.
Bahá’í Prayers, a selection of Prayers revealed by Bahá’u’lláh, the Báb and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, each Prayer translated by Shoghi Effendi. 72 pages. Bound in fabrikoid, $0.75. Paper cover, $0.35.
Some Answered Questions. ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s explanation of questions concerning the relation of man to God, the nature of the Manifestation, human capacities, fulfillment of prophecy, etc. Bound in cloth. 350 pages. $1.50.
The Promulgation of Universal Peace. In this collection of His American talks, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá laid the basis for a firm understanding of the attitudes, principles and spiritual laws which enter into the establishment of true Peace. 492 pages. Bound in cloth. $2.50.
The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, by Shoghi Effendi. On the nature of the new social pattern revealed by Bahá’u’lláh for the attainment of divine justice in civilization. Bound 1n fabrikoid. 234 pages. $1.50.
God Passes By, by Shoghi Effendi. The authoritative documented historical survey of the Bahá’í Faith through the four periods of its first century: The Ministry of the Báb, the Ministry of Bahá’u’lláh, the Ministry of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and the Inception of the Formative Age (1921-1944). In these pages the world’s supreme spiritual drama unfolds. xxiii plus 412 pages; Bound in fabrikoid. $2.50.
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
