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THE

_ BAHA1

f‘ MAGAZINE

APRIL, 1947

A Bahá’í Declaration of Human Obligations and Rights

Bahá’í Encounter in Ja an P Michael Jamir

Modern Man Is Obsolete, Book Review Maye Harvey Gift

The Bahá’í Concept of Education,

Editorial Horace Holley

The Wind of Spring

Duart Brown

The Same Sun

Lewis Zerby

Alchemy of Love, Poem

Illa Elaine James

The Mature Man, Bahá’í Words for Meditation

Who Are We?, Poem

Audrey Rnbarts

With Our Readers

Bahá’í-Gemeinde .C’I' ' ' Jugendgrv

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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 XXXVIII 01' the continuous Bahá’í

' publication.

WORLD ORDER is published monthly in Wilmette, 111., by the Publishing Committee of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís 01 the United States and Canada. EDITORS: Eleanor S. Hutchens. William Kenneth Christian. Gertrude K. Henning, Horace Holley, Bertha Hyde Kirkpatrick.

Publication Office 110 LINDEN AVENUE, WILMETTE, ILL.

C. R. Wood, Business Manager Printed in USA.

Editorial Office Mrs. Gertrude K. Henning, Secretary 69 ABBOTSFORD ROAD, 'WINmeA, ILL.

APRIL, 1947, VOLUME XIII, NUMBER 1

SUBSCRIPTIONS: $2.00 per year, for United States. its territories and possessions; for Canada, Cuba, Mexico, Central and South America. Single copies, 20c. Foreign subscriptions, $2.25. Make checks and money orders payable m W’ofld Order Magazine, 110 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, Illinois. Entered as second class matter April 1, 1940, at the post office at Wilmette. 111., under the Act of March 3, 1879. Content copyrighted 1947 by Bahá’í Publishing Committee. T1119 registered at U. 5. Patent Office.

CHANGE OF ADDRESS SHOULD BE REPORTED ONE MONTH IN ADVANCE

[Page 1]THE Bahá’í Faith arises in this troubled age like a beautiful and serene Temple enclosing a holy place undesecrated by human dissension and strife. World Order Magazine is a pathway leading from human experience to the door of a ‘new Revelation.

[Page 2]WORLD ORDER

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.‘ JHE Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh . . . does

not deal alone with pure religion. It is concerned with more than man’s soul-attitude towards God and God’s creation. It is a social, as well as a spiritual, gospel. It involves indeed a reorientation of many phases of life, and it offers counsel and direction along many lines of endeavor.

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JUSTICE, He (Bahá’u’lláh) sets forth as the great principle in the Law of God: “The best beloved of all things in My sight is J ustice.” On this is based the social order, and on it the individual, too, is to rely for real. advance in independence and wisdom.

jflE unification of mankind is accordingly the first great practical task which the High-Prophet (Bahá’u’lláh) laid upon His folloWers. Success in that task is made possible, nay insured, by the special intervention of God, but it will not come about of its own accord. Its accomplishment will need effort. If that effort be , not promptly made, unnecessary delay will cause great and increasing tribulation.

Excerpts from The Promise of All Ages by GEORGE TOWNSHEND

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The Bahá’í Magazine

VOLUME XIII

APRIL, 1947

NUMBER 1

A Bahá’í Declaration of Human Obligations and Rights

There shall be an equality of rights and prerogatives for all mankind.

I

HE source of human rights is the endowment of. qualities, Virtues and powers which God has bestowed upon mankind without discrimination of sex, race, creed or nation. To fulfill the possibilities of this divine endowment is the purpose of human. existence.

Human rights can be established in terms of social status when members of the community realize that the gift of life and conscious being obligates them to meet responsibilities owed to God, to society and to self. Mutual recognition by members of the community of the truth that their lives emanate from one and the same universal Source enables them to maintain ordered relationships in a common social

body.

Submitted to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, February, 1947, by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’í’s of the United States and Canada, Wilmette, Illinois, USA.

—‘ABDU’L-BAHA September 5, 1912

The social body does not create essential human rights. Its office is that of trustee under appointment to act for the community in the preservation of the relationships which represent the moral achievement of the members, and to cherish and protect that unity of spirit which is their highest mutual obligation.

No social body, Whatever its form, has power to maintain essential human rights for persons Who have repudiated their moral obligation and abandoned the divine endowment distinguishing man from beast. Civil definitions of political and economic status, if devoid of moral value and influence, are not equivalent to essential human rights but express the expedients of partisan policy. An ordered society can only be maintained by moral beings.

II. Man’s divine endowment binds the individual to an evolving and maturing humanity. The human

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race is subject to a principle of progressive development operating beyond human will. No age repeats the conditions of any former time.

The evolution evident in civilization results from the spiritual evolution acting through mankind. As new qualities unfold a larger area of ordered relationships can be established, requiring changes in the social structure.

The modern national state came into existence as a unifier of diverse races and peoples. It has been a social truce observed by or enforced upon communities previously separate, independent and hostile. Historically the nation represented a great moral victory, a definite and important stage in human progress. It has raised the condition of the masses of people, substituted constitutional law for the arbitrary authority of the tribe, extended education and knowledge, mitigated the efiect of sectarian disputes, and enlarged the social world of the average man. It provided conditions under which natural science could develop, inventions be put into operation, and industrialization give man mastery over nature.

The new powers and resources made possible by the nation could not be confined within the

national boundary but produced an internationalism of cause and effect in social relationships which no nation could control. The national state has reached the limits of its development as an independent, self-directed social body. A world science, a world economy and a world consciousness, riding the wave of a new and universal movement of spiritual evolution, lay the foundations of world order. Conceived of as an end in itself, the national state has come to be a denial of the oneness of mankind, the source of general disruption opposed to the true interests of its people. From the depths of man’s divine endowment stirs response to the affirmation of oneness which gives this age its central impetus and direction. Society is undergoing transformation, to effect a new order based on the wholeness of human relationships.

III.

Conceptions of elementary human rights have been adopted in the past by different peoples under varied social conditions: the right to citizenship, when the nation became the people and not the dynasty; the right to a code of law, when written constitutions replaced custom and tradition; the right to security of person and property, when the state

[Page 5]DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS 5

could enforce peace upon warring factions; the right to select occupation and residence, when the individual was no longer bound to one landed estate. A history of rights would record the most significant moral gains of the race in its incessant struggle to form a lasting society.

But a right is only valid and effective when upheld by an independent sovereignty. Our inherited scheme of rights has become jeopardized through the loss of real sovereignty by the national state. To revaluate the elementary rights of the past, and establish essential new rights in keeping with our own age, a world sovereignty is required. The whole conception of right has undergone change. A right formerly was a defense against an invasion; a right today is a sharing of social status among mankind. Moral and social law can for the first time in human experience blend and unify when humanity as a whole becomes subject to the same law. Everything universal is divine truth; everything limited and partisan is human opinion.

The obligation and right to live in a moral society has become crucial, a test of our will to survive. The modern struggle which employs nations as its instruments is not a war of peoples

nor of dynasties: it is a war of values. The dispute about values resolves itself into a struggle between those human beings who would and must unite in a common humanity and a common social body, and those who would and must remain separate, diverse and autonymous. The national state is itself torn and divided in a struggle which involves primarily the conscious attitudes of individual human beings. But to the degree that the national state can; act as a united body, it is unable to avoid participation in the decision. No person and no social body is immune from destiny.

The true destiny of the national state is to build the bridge from local autonomy to world unity. It can preserve its moral heritage and function only as it contributes to the establishment of a sovereign world. Both state and people are needed to serve as the strong pillar supporting the new institutions reflecting the full and final expression of human relationships in an ordered society. In delaying to fulfill the historic mandate given the peoples and nations of our age to unite, we give opportunity and encouragement to subversive forces whose weapon is confusion and whose aim is chaos.

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IV.

The purpose of this statement is not to catalog every desirable human right but to suggest an approach by which the nature of essential rights can be determined. As here defined, a human right is an expression of man’s divine endowment given social status by a moral and sovereign body. A right attains social status only after it has become a moral value asserted and maintained as a necessary quality of human relationships by the members of the community.

Among the essential human rights characterizing the new world era are those concerned with: (1) the individual; (2) the family; (3) race; (4) Work and wealth; (5) education; (6) worship; (7) social order.

(1) The human person is a spiritual being as well as a member of society. His spiritual nature has expression in the maintenance of moral human relationships throughout the whole range of the community, and withers in a state of retirement and isolation in self, in family, in race or in class. The duty of the individual is to serve the needs of a progressive society. Whenever the community makes demands upon the individual which contravene the prevalent

moral standard, or suflers such demands to be imposed upon him by private agencies, the community is in danger of disruption, for the moral law has application to institutions and communities large and small.

An equal standard of human rights must be upheld, and individuals given equal opportunities. Variety and not uniformity is the principle of organic society. Since lack of opportunity, repression and degrading conditions have created masses of people unable to exercise the functions of citizenship, such persons are a moral trust laid upon the conscience of the rest7 to educate the ignorant, train the immature

and heal the sick.

(2) The human person is the spiritual entity of mankind, but the family is the inviolable and divinely created social entity. The right of the individual to survive is identified with the right of the family to maintain itself under conditions favorable to body, mind and spirit. While the mature individual is the political unit, the family constitutes the economic unit, and income operates on the basis of family living and welfare.

The equality of men and women in the modern community gives the family a new and more powerful connection with the

[Page 7]DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS 7

forces making for moral evolution.

(3) The membership of the national community in many countries is composed of racial groups in different stages of development. The conditions which in the past made for exclusive racial unity and characteristics are weakening. The rights and needs of the modern community are superior to the rights of race. Exclusive race rights can only be surrendered when exchanged for race quality in participation of the superior rights and privileges possessed by a multi-racial society.

(4) The work done by the individual in trade, craft, art or profession is the core of his life and not merely the source of his living. Work performed in the spirit of service can today be accounted as an act of worship. The obligation to work is essentially a moral obligation and one not discharged by possession of wealth. The community owes nothing to those who can work but refuse to do so.

The right to a living is established by work. In addition, the worker has right to share in the profits of the enterprise.

Wealth results from the coordination of a variety of efforts directed upon the equipment and material. A sound economy deals

with the whole process in its variety of human relationships and does not seek to center the process around the point of any group advantage, whether ownership, direction, technical knowledge, manual skill or consumption. Wealth in part is the right of the individual and in part the right of the community. Under conditions of international competition desperate social emergencies arise when no just distinction between private and public wealth can be made. True justice and social philosophy await the formation of world institutions and the predominance of the world view.

The repudiation of national right and power to make war represents the first step toward mutual wealth and sound economy. Short of a world economy mankind will not achieve the fruits of civilization.

(5) The roots of education lie in man’s divine endowment, and the prophets have been the universal educators of mankind.

The purpose of education is to give the individual mastery over himself, a creative relationship with society and understanding of his place in the universe. Education deals with the whole man: his mind, his emotions and his will. Distinctions now existing between the education of cul

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8 WORLD ORDER

ture, the education of science and technic, the education of citizenship and the education of faith produce incomplete and unbalanced personalities. Miseducated individuals experience every major social crisis in terms of different aspects each justifying a partisan approach.

Education is continuous with life. Ignorance about matters confronting adults is more harmful though less perceptible than ignorance on the part of the child. The human right to education is the right to enter into the larger evolutionary processes of civilization. Systems producing rigidly molded attitudes and emotional fixations can no longer claim to be educational.

(6) The human right signified by freedom qf worship or liberty of conscience remains only a legal sanction accorded to diverse religious communities to practice and promulgate their special systems of belief until the individual is granted sufficient spiritual knowledge to arrive at his own adult and independent decision concerning the nature of faith.

Since it has been demonstrated that the instinct to worship is universal and has been associated with an infinite number of more or less temporary devotional practices, moral systems and so

cial forms, there is no inherent reason why this instinct may not be reaffirmed in terms of loyalty to mankind and devotion to the cause of world unity on all levels. The God of humanity can no longer be expressed as a racial dominance nor as a national will to survive at all costs nor as a denominational gift of personal salvation. The pure revelation of God has been given humanity from age to age through His prophets and messengers. Secondary and limited formulas of religion prolong the moral crisis which blinds individuals to the assurance of a world era.

World order is nothing else

'than the administrative aspect of

brotherhood, and man’s right to social order can not be dissoci ated from his right to a world faith.

(7) Every age has its particular mission. The formation of world order is an obligation laid upon humanity today.

World order has become legally possible, socially imperative, and divinely ordained. The principle of federation has already united previously independent communities diverse in race, language, religion and size of population. The nations can find just expression for their legitimate rights and needs through proportionate representation in a supra.

[Page 9]DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS 9

national body. Until world citizenship is guaranteed as a social status, the human rights and privileges developed in the past are undermined by the disruption of modern society.

Pending the creation of a supranational order, the existing governments have right to the loyalty and obedience of their citizens in all matters of government action and decision short of interference in the individual’s faith in God and His prophets.

The order herein affirmed im'plies the establishment of a world commonwealth uniting all nations, races, creeds and classes and safeguarding the autonomy of its state members and the personal freedom and initiative of the individuals that compose

them. The commonwealth would consist of a world legislature functioning as trustees of the whole of mankind and enacting the laws required to regulate the life, satisfy the needs and adjust the relationships of all races and peoples. Its world executive, backed by an international Force, would carry out the laws and decisions decreed by the world legislature, and safeguard the organic unity of the whole commonwealth. Its world tribunal would adjudicate and render final and compulsory verdict in any and all disputes arising between the various elements constituting the universal system.

“The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens.” Bahá’u’lláh (1869)

What else, might we not confidently afiirm, but the unreserved acceptance of the Divine Program enunciated, with such simplicity and force as far back as sixty years ago, by Bahá’u’lláh, embodying in its essentials God’s divinely appointed scheme for the unification of mankind in this age, coupled with an indomitable conviction in the unfailing efficacy of each and all of its provisions, is eventually capable of withstanding the forces of internal disintegration which, if unchecked, must needs continue to eat into the Vitals of a despairing society. It is towards this goal—the goal of a new World 0rder, Divine in origin, all-embracing in scope, equitable in principle, challenging in its features—that a harassed humanity must strive.

—SHocHI EFFENDI

[Page 10]Bahá’í Encounter in J apan MICHAEL JAMIR

IT WAS the early part of November 1945 when our hospital ship docked in the harbor in Yokohama. As part of the medical personnel I was stationed for a few weeks near Yokohama, and then transferred to a hospital in Tokyo.

Our first few months were very busy because of the rapid change in personnel. During this time I wrote to friends in the United States and asked for addresses of Japanese Bahá’ís. Of the several names that were sent by Miss Jessie Revell of Philadelphia, I was able to contact two personally. These were Mr. T.

Torii and Mr. H. S. Fujita.

In 1916, Mr. Torii, then a blind young student, wrote two supplicating letters, one in English, one in Esperanto, to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. In reply, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the son of the Prophet Bahá’u’lláh who established the Bahá’í World Faith, revealed two tablets or letters.

Better known to many people because of his wide traveling experience, is Mr. H. S. Fujita who in 1905 first came to America as a young student. Here he learned of and accepted the Bahá’í Faith, and later had the great expe rience of meeting ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, who visited this country in 1912. In 1917, Mr. Fujita accepted the invitation of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to come to Haifa, Palestine. There. for severel years he served

‘Abdu’l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Bahá’í World Faith, until in 1936, on the advice of the Guardian, he left Haifa for his native land.

Of the letters sent to Japanese Bahá’ís, my first reply came from fifty-two year old Mr. Tokujiro Torii of the city of Kyoto. Expressing his gladness on having a Bahá’í friend in the United States Army, he wrote, “After a long dark night of the war, we can take our hands in each other now. How happy it is for us! But we are very sorry that we Bahá’ís could not prevent the war. We Japanese are now in great difficulty in every way, but I still believe that God is love.” It was a heart warming letter, and I looked forward to the time when I could meet him. But that was not to be until several months 1a ter, in May 1946.

A second reply was a card sent by a friend of another Bahá’í, Mrs. Yuri Furukawa. This friend wrote that Mrs. Furukawa had

10

[Page 11]ENCOUNTER IN JAPAN 11

left Japan for Manchuria ten years ago, and that when communications improved, contact might be established. To her, when she. was a young girl in Tokyo, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had sent three inspiring tablets. The opening salutation and sentence of the first tablet points to the nature of Mrs. Furukawa’s soul when He says: “O thou beloved daughter! Thy letter was received and was perused in the utmost joy, that, praise be to God, in the land of Japan, the light of the love of God has appeared resplendently and a torch, such as thee, has been kindled, for thy heart overflows with the wine of the love of God and thy spirit is ablaze. . . .”

From Mr. Torii’s letter I made contact with Mr. K. Sawada, who before becoming blind, had traveled and studied in the United States. Because of his many meetings with Miss Agnes Alexander, a Bahá’í teacher from Honolulu, and his meeting with Miss Martha Root, internationally known American Bahá’í teacher, Mr. Sawada was acquainted with many of the Bahá’í teachings. At his home in Tokyo, we had several interesting visits, discussing our experiences.

Through the kindness of Mr. Sawada, I was able to meet Mrs. N. Naganuma (Mrs. Emma

Smith’s sister), wife of a Japanese educator in Tokyo. Having had the privilege at one time of also meeting Miss Alexander and Miss Root, she too was conversant on several Bahá’í tenets. At her home we had several interesting meetings, attended by Japanese students, Nisei girls, and an American whom Miss Alexander had met in Honolulu.

Among Mr. Naganuma’s duties as an instructor in the J apanese and English languages was the task of teaching English to Prince and Princess Takeda,—the prince being a cousin of Emperor Hirohito. Therefore, on Mr. Naganuma’s arrangement, I had the opportunity to Visit the royal couple twice at their winter home in Tokyo.

Though speaking little English, our first visit was a short pleasant one which included a' view of the doll festival exhibit followed by a dinner of various Japanese rice and vegetable dishes exquisitely prepared. Before leaving, the Prince and Princess presented souvenir doll gifts to their guests. In another visit several weeks later, a Nisei friend and I were shown the Prince’s miniature horse collection. During this visit, I was able to take some photographs of the prince and his family. At this time they accepted from me a

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pamphlet of the Bahá’í principles in English and Japanese, and also the Children’s Bahá’í A.B.C.’s, which I hoped would he used especially for the four young children of the royal

couple.

My first letter to Mr. H. S. Fujita was returned to me marked “undeliverable”. Nor was I able to write at this time to another Bahá’í, Mr. Daiun Inouye, formerly a Buddhist priest now residing on the northernmost island of Japan, Hokkaido. Mr. Inouye is mentioned

in the first tablet sent to Mr. ‘

Torii hy ‘Abdu’l-Bahá who sent His love to a Mr. and to Mr. Inouye, and then further said, “My hope is that these two blessed souls may shine like unto two heavenly stars from the horizon of Japan and may be the cause of its enlightenment.”

Several weeks later, Mr. Inouye learned of my presence in Tokyo through his friend Mr. Torii. At this time he wrote a very warm and enthusiastic letter from Hokkaido, saying that he wished to come to Tokyo and teach the Bahá’í Faith. He was not able to come to Tokyo however, because of the military restrictions on people from the country coming into the larger cities where there was such an acute shortage of food and hous

%

ing. Therefore, in another letter, he said he would do the utmost he could for the Bahá’í Cause while living in Sapporo, Hokkaido, because “We Japanese must awaken to the truth which has been revealed by Bahá’u’lláh. The time when His light should cover not only Japan and the whole of Asia, but all over the world, has come”. Speaking of Miss Root and her passing he said that he remembered meeting her at a hotel in Kobe and he still recalls “her gentle and full-ofIove grace”.

Mr. Tanaka from the western part of the island of Honshu paid a visit one day to the hospital where I was stationed; however, I was away at the time. Later he wrote and explained that he had learned of my address from Mr. Torii and said that he was a Bahá’í and had wished to see me. In a second letter, Mr. Tanaka wrote this interesting observation: “I believe that present day Japan indeed should find her aspiring way in the Bahá’í Twelve Basic Principles!” He also wrote that he was employed in a raw silk mill and that he had a family of ten children. Before leaving Japan I made sure that among the Bahá’í literature I sent to him I included the Bahá’í Child’s A.B.C.

During his sojourn in the

[Page 13]ENCOUNTER IN JAPAN 13

United States, Mr. F ujita had occasion to live with Mrs. Corinne True and her family in Chicago for several years. And so it was that one day I received a letter from Mrs. True, telling me that through a discharged American soldier, she had received word that Mr. Fujita was alive in Japan. With a more complete address this time, I again wrote and this time also wired to him. In a few days, a wire reached me saying, “Received wire — many thanks —— awaiting letter —— hope you are well. Bahá’í Greetings, F ujita”.

As soon as it was verified that he was in Yanai, a town some 600 miles southwest of Tokyo, I was encouraged to try making a trip to see him. Fortunately I was able to ride on the hospital train which our hospital was running to the north and south of Japan. After an overnight trip I

arrived in Yanai on Sunday, May 19, 1946.

During the two days and night that I visited with Mr. Fujita, I found that at sixty-one he was youthful and vibrant in his work and enthusiastic in our discussions on the Bahá’í Faith. His work as interpreter at the Yanai Railroad Station, put him in contact with many American, British and New Zealand soldiers and nationals, thereby presenting op r’r

portunities to speak of the Baha 1 Principles. This, of course, is something he was not able to do during the long years of Japanese imperialism. During the war he had lived quietly, working on his brother’s farm. The town of Yanai fortunately was

unbombed.

Mr. Fujita had come to Yanai, after leaving Haifa in 1936, to find that his father had died. Feeling the urge to travel at this time, he left his native town and visited Formosa for about six months, and then China for about six months. A few years after his return to Yanai, his mother passed away.

He was very glad that the war was over and that now there was more opportunity to live and speak more freely. His wish was to go to a larger city where he could find a living and teach the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, in conformance with the instructions of

Shoghi Effendi.

We had many talks about experiences we both had had, and he was very glad to hear of the welfare of many of the American Bahá’ís, saying that he wished me to express his loving greetings to them. He brought out his address book when we were exchanging news about the friends and we went over every one of

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14 WORLD ORDER

the names to see what I could tell him about them.

It was good to learn from Mr. Fujita some of his experiences with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi, and I wished that he could have gone into many more of his interesting experiences, some of which were told during the meals we had together. On the day he did not work, he took me on the tour of the town, pointing out the places of interest; on this trip we visited his brother’s farm on which he worked and also went to the picturesque Inland Sea, where he liked to rest and fish on occasional summer evenings.

In learning of my plan to meet Mr. Torii in Kyoto, Mr. Fujita and I decided to send a wire to Mr. Fukushima, a friend of Mr. Torii. We sent this wire early one evening at a nearby postal station, saying that I would wish to meet the friends of Kyoto when I arrived there Tuesday morning. After sending this wire we walked back to Mr. Fujita’s small room on the second floor of his brother’s home. In a short while, from my position at the low Japanese table, I saw him bringing in a tray of four Japanese dishes, very colorfully prepared. The food was part of a

marriage feast which neighbors across the street were celebrat ing, and they had kindly presented this food to me. Before tasting it, I photographed the table with the tray, beside which lay a copy of the World Order magazine. At this time also I was able to get a photograph of Mr. Fujita.

Because no new Bahá’í literature or news had lately reached him Mr. Fujita was very glad to accept some World Order magazines and the Guardian’s book,

God Passes By.

On Monday night I said goodbye to Mr. Fujita’s relatives, who politely invited me to come again. Accompanied by Mr. Fujita and his niece, we then walked to the station where farewells were said as I boarded the train for Kyoto.

With a 300 mile ride overnight from Yanai, I arrived the next morning in Kyoto, which had also been spared from bombings. It was a beautiful city with temples, shrines and gardens. I I was met at the station by Mr. and Mrs. Torii, and Mr. Fukushima. They had been waiting for me not knowing what I would look like. However, I was able to recognize Mr. Torii because of his cane and dark glasses, and as I introduced myself, there was a feeling of gladness at our being able to clasp hands. Mr. Fukushima was a Catholic and Esperantist, and had been a friend of

[Page 15]ENCOUNTER IN JAPAN 15

Mr. Torii for many years; therefore he knew of the Bahá’í teachings. He showed me an Esperanto book, Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era, which he said Miss Alexander had given him years ago.

After our warm experience of meeting, we decided to Visit the Kyoto School for the Blind where Mr. Torii had been teaching for many years. (In the meantime, Mrs. Torii excused herself to return home to her duties). Before arriving at the blind school, Mr. Torii invited me to speak before one of the classes. On accepting, I was further told that it was a class in English, consisting of about fifty blind youths, ranging in age from fifteen to twenty-five years.

Arriving at the school, I was introduced to the principal and a few other instructors, after which we were served our tea and we then proceeded to the classroom. When introduced by Mr. Torii, who said I was an American soldier who would speak on the twelve Bahá’í Principles, I noticed the eager interest light the faces of the students.

Mr. Torii also acted as interpreter, and as I slowly spoke, I felt that what was not understood in English was interpreted very ably in Japanese. On our way out from the classroom at the

conclusion of the meeting, I passed a row of children who were straining with upturned faces to see who was passing. Then on Mr. Torii’s suggestion, I was glad to shake hands with some of the students whose faces glowed at this experience.

In the office we again had some tea and were then treated to Japanese music played on Japanese string instruments. At the end of a well performed concert, I shook hands with the musicians and thanked them. We know that their custom of greeting is to bow to each other a few times, but now many are again learning the western customs.

Leaving the school amid the happy goodbyes of the students, we then went to Mr. Torii’s home. There we had a dinner which Mrs. Torii had so very well prepared. On this visit I had brought food with me, some of the army “K” rations and some dehydrated soup mixture. These were offered to her with suggestions for cooking. However, we did not need the rations as I was informed that she already had made good preparations for a meal.

Although Mrs. Torii did not speak the English language, it was a pleasure to know her because she evidenced such a strong feeling of friendliness and kind [Page 16]

16 WORLD ORDER

ness. Through Mr. Torii, she told me that Miss Alexander had been a guest at their home and that they had spent many pleasant hours together.

After our dinner we were able to have some pictures taken inside and outside of their home. More pictures also were taken as Mr. Torii, Mr. F ukushima and I took a walking tour through the tree-lined avenues of temples and gardens, some of which we visited.

Our visit together had to be cut short that summer afternoon for it was necessary for me to meet the army hospital train. As we walked to the station together, I remarked to Mr. Torii how

much I liked his wife. This he

translated to her, and as she understood, she smiled and put her arm about me. This gesture in public by a Japanese woman would not have been committed before the occupation because of the stern Japanese ethics. Arriving at the station we said our goodbyes, hoping that we would soon meet again for a longer visit.

Back in Tokyo, it seemed as if it was only a short time before I found myself leaving Japan. Before sailing for America, I sent my farewell letters to the friends, expressing my regret that another meeting had not taken place, but also my delight that we had been able to see and talk with each other.

May your eyes be opened to see the signs of the Kingdom of God, and

may your ears be unstopped so that you may hear with a perfect understanding the Heavenly Proclamation sounding in your midst.

May your souls receive help and comfort, and, being so strengthened, may they be enabled to live in accordance with the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh.

I pray for each and all that you may be as flames of love in the world, and that the brightness of your light and the warmth'of your affection may reach the heart of every sad and sorrowing child of God. I

May you be as shining stars, bright and luminous for ever in the King dom.

I counsel you that you study earnestly the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh, so that, God helping you, you may in deed and truth become Bahá’ís.

—‘ABDU’L-BAHA

[Page 17]MODERN MAN IS OBSOLETE

Book Review MAYE HARVEY GIFT

N AUGUST 1945 Norman Cousins

wrote an editorial1 for the Saturday Review of Literature which created such widespread enthusiasm that it has since been issued in expanded form by the Viking Press under the same title, Modern Man Is 0bsolete2. It was written in the white heat of inspiration and urgency, with great clarity of thought, upon the subject of vital import to every human being—the implications of the atom bomb.

He tells us, “The beginning of the Atomic Age has brought less hope than fear. It is a primitive fear, the fear of the unknown, the fear of forces man can neither channel nor comprehend . . . It has burst out of the subconscious and into the conscious, filling the mind with primordial apprehensions. It is thus that man stumbles fitfully into a new era of atomic energy for which he is as ill equipped to accept its potential blessings as he is to control its present dangers. While the dust is still settling over Hiroshima, he is asking himself questions and finding no answers. . . . Even assuming that he could hold destructive science in check, what changes would the new age bring or demand . . . in his culture, his education, his philosophy, his religion, his relationships with other human beings?”

1Saturday Review of Literature, New York, N. Y., August, 1945.

2Modern. Man Is Obsolete by Norman feassins, Viking Press, New York, N. Y., 94 .

The author brings encouraging answers to many of these queries. At the end he leaves the reader with still more vital and challenging questions ——questions to which the Bahá’í Faith in its all-embracing peace program offers adequate and convincing answers.

The book indicates tw0 means of survival man may consider at this crucial moment. First, he may seek to discover wherein he is clinging to an outmoded order and, by sheer force of will, make every possible adjustment to the unprecedented demands of his own environment without delay. And to this course the main body of the argument is committed. Or, he may turn his back upon the modern world and revert to the tribalism of 10,000 E. C. “Thus emancipated from science, from progress, from government, from knowledge, from thought, he can be reasonably sure of prolonging his existence on this planet.” Fantastic and impossible, but what other alterna‘ tives? For “when on that day a parachute containing a small object floated to earth over Japan, it marked the violent death of one stage of man’s history and the beginning of another . . . creating a blanket of obsolescence not only over the methods and products of man, but over man himsel .”

Modern man is obsolete because he has “leaped centuries ahead in inventing a new world to live in . . . but has confounded himself with gaps . . . between revolutionary technology and evolutionary man, between cos 17

[Page 18]'1 l t l ‘

18 WORLD ORDER

mic gadgets and human wisdom, between intellect and conscience.” How apt are the Bahá’í Teachings both in recognizing this problem and indicating its solution: “The civilization so often vaunted by the learned exponents of arts and sciences will, if allowed to overlap the bounds of moderation, bring great evil upon men . . . The day is approaching when its flame will devour the cities. . . .” “There are two kinds of civilization,——material civilization which serves the physical world and divine civilization which renders service to the World of morality. The founders of the material and practical civilization are the celestial universal teachers . . . Material civilization is like unto the body; divine civilization is like unto the spirit.” “Only when material and spiritual civilization are linked and coordinated will happiness be assured.”

Mr. Cousins agrees with Julian Huxley that man is not instinctively warlike, but that he will continue so to act “if the same conditions are continued that have provoked warlike expressions in him in the past.” He also agrees that man is gregarious rather than individualistic by instinct. Therefore he can be re-educated along such lines of activity for the general welfare as the conquest of disease.

Re-education is necessitated by changed economic conditions. Man is faced with new problems arising from abundance of material resources and power, and from a greater leisure which should not be frittered away on commercialized amusements. He now has the responsibility of preparing himself for the business of living. Of this Bahá’u’lláh

writes: “All men have been created to carry forward an ever-advancing civilization . . . To act like the beasts of the field is unworthy of man. Those virtues which befit his dignity are forbearance, mercy, compassion and loving-kindness towards all the peoples and kindreds of the eart .” “Be anxiously concerned with the needs of the age ye live in, and center your deliberations in its exigencies and requirements.”

Re-education must be directed to inter-dependent living. Man has been forced to become a world warrior; he must now become a world citizen. “The greatest obsolescence of all in the Atomic Age is national sovereignty.” “Any nation, however small, with atomic energy, is potentially as powerful as any other nation, however large.” There is no longer a security of size or might. This means that henceforth “the only really effective influence between peoples is such influence as they are able to exert morally, politically, ideologically upon each other.”

Unwillingness to grant authority to a world government, the author contends, is due partly to lack of clear distinction between world sovereignty and state jurisdiction. “A common world sovereignty would mean that no state could act unilaterally in its foreign affairs. It would mean that no state could have the instruments of power to aggress against other states. It would mean that no state could withdraw from the central authority as a means of achieving its aims. But it would not mean that the individual state Would lose its jurisdiction over its internal affairs. It would not mean the arbitrary establishment of a uniform

[Page 19]MODERN MAN 19

ideology all over the world. It would not mean the forcible imposition of non-democratic systems on democratic states any more than it would mean the imposition of democratic systems on non-democratic states.” Shoghi Effendi explains the Bahá’í ideal of unity in diversity: “It (the Bahá’í Faith) can conflict with no legitimate allegiances, nor can it undermine essential loyalties. Its purpose is neither to stifle the flame of a sane and intelligent patriotism in men’s hearts, nor to abolish the system of national autonomy so essential if the evils of excessive centralization are to be avoided. It does not ignore, nor does it attempt to suppress, the diversity of ethical origins, of climate, of history, of language and tradition, of thought and habit, that differentiate the peoples and nations of the world. It calls for a Wider loyalty, for a larger aspiration than any that has animated the human race.” “It instills a love which, in view of its scope, must include and not exclude the love of one’s own country. It lays, through this loyalty which it inspires . . . the only foundation on which the concept of world citizenship can thrive, and the structure of world unification can rest. It does insist, however, on the subordination of national considerations and particularistic interests to the imperative and paramount claims of humanity as a whole, inas. much as in a world of interdependent nations and peoples the advantage of the part is best to be reached by the advantage of the whole.”

Mr. Cousins says that the failure of early Greece to attain unity among its contending states was followed by decadence, while the success of the

liberated colonies in forming 3 federation made of the United States an outstanding world power: “The United States were created largely through their differences, differences so intense that only a common sovereignty could prevent international anarchy within the American group.

. . . The American experiment proved that diverse people did not have to be subjugated to be brought together, but that they could achieve common government through common consent.” The Bahá’í Teachings also shed illumination upon this point: “Should any one object that since the communities and nations . . . have different formalities, customs, tastes, temperaments, morals, varied thoughts, minds and opinions, it is therefore impossible for ideal unity . . . we say that differences are of two kinds: One leads to destruction, and that is like the difierence between warring peoples and competing nations who destroy one another . . . But the other difference consists in variation . . . Consider the flowers of the rose garden. Although they are of different kinds, various colors and diverse forms and appearance, yet as they drink from one water, are swayed by one breeze and grow by the light and warmth of one sun, this variation and this difference cause each to enhance the beauty and splendor of the others. The difierenoe in manners, in thoughts, in opinions and in temperaments is the cause of the adornment of the world of humanity.”

Regarding the suggestions short of world federation advanced for controlling the atomic menace the book states: “They all rest on naked chance. The chance that a counter

[Page 20]

20 WORLD ORDER

weapon may be developed. The chance that war will be self-liquidating because it has become so horrible. The chance that no other nation is smart enough to develop its own atomic weapons without our help. The chance that an inspection can work with nothing behind it. In a time of dimensionless peril, we are asked to build on random chance.”

Consider the author’s evaluation of the United Nations Charter, which in June 1945 bought together delegates from forty-four nations, reflecting the determination of peoples in all parts of the globe to plan for peace as earnestly as they had planned for war: “It is no reflection on . . . the men who joined in its making, to say that it has become a feeble and antiquated instrument for dealing with the problems of an Atomic Age . . . A thousand years of the world’s history were compressed in that brief fraction of a second during which Hiroshima was leveled. The world which the San Francisco Conference met to consider no longer exists . . .”

Victory has brought neither peace nor a respite, only a different emergency of wartime intensity. The atom bomb has snatched from us the leisure gradually to perfect peace machinery. World government must be achieved quickly; it becomes more difficult by the minute. Hence Mr. Cousins’ urgent plea for a World Constitutional Convention. Should apparently insuperable o b s ta c le 5 arise, consider the calamitous finality of failure. This should spur men to such superhuman efforts as they have not hitherto believed achieveable. We cannot afford to be without world government. Although it will not solve all post-war problems, it

will afford time in which to formulate an enduring peace based upon representative government, not upon world dictatorship.

This has long been a Bahá’í objective. In 1875 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá wrote in The Divine Secret of Civilization, His outstanding work on world reorganization, that the sovereigns “must make the Cause of Peace the object of general consultation, and seek by every means in their power to establish a Union of the nations of the world. They must conclude a binding treaty and establish a covenant, the provisions of which shall be sound, inviolable and definite. They must proclaim it to all the world and obtain for it the sanction of all the human race . . . All the forces of humanity must be mobilized to ensure the stability and permanence of this Most Great Covenant. In this allembracing Pact the limits and frontiers of each and every nation should be clearly fixed, the principles underlying the relations of governments towards one another definitely laid down, and all international agreements and obligations ascertained. In like manner, the size of the armaments of every government should be strictly limited. . . . The fundamental principle underlying this solemn Pact should be so fixed that if any government later violate any one of its provisions, all the governments on earth should arise to reduce it to utter submission . . . Should this greatest of all remedies he applied to the sick body of the world, it will assuredly recover . . . and will remain eternally safe and secure.” Then ‘Abdu’l-Bahá assures a skeptical world that such an undertaking is not impractical nor impos [Page 21]MODERN MAN 21

sible, but that it will require ceaseless endeavor and indomitable determination reinforced by divine assistance.

Mr. Cousins concludes that the approaching and inevitable crisis endangering all human life is “created not only by the explosive atom, but by inadequate means of controlling international lawlessness. That control is inoperative without power, that power is dangerous without law, and that law is impossible without government.” “This is the multiple challenge to modern man—to bring about world government and keep it pure, to keep his social, economic and political institutions apace with his scientific achievements; to make whatever adjustments are needed in his own make-up, conditioning and outlook on life in order to exist in an Atomic Age.”

We close the book, asking how is man to bring about this sweeping reorientation, this reversal of the disintegrating trends in civilization. Some new and powerful factor must intervene. History shows that the new factor in ancient Egypt which initiated the world-famed Jewish civilization was Moses. The new factor that revitalized the world when Judaism decayed was Jesus, the result, the Christian civilization. The vitalizing force in the Far East several centuries earlier is acknowledged by his torians to have been Buddha. The impetus which lifted Europe out of the Dark Ages, developing modern science and stimulating a great age of exploration is conceded to have been Islamic, stemming from Muhammad. Today the one figure comparable to these unique Personages is Bahá’u’lláh, Originator of the Bahá’í Faith. He has revealed a comprehensive, all-embracing pattern for a new age of human maturity. He has endowed His followers with a resistless spiritual power to surmount all obstacles, even to sacrifice their lives in so glorious a Cause. He has founded a world-wide Community which is, day by day, applying His Laws and developing His institutions —the basis of that Federation of which the world stands in such dire need. “A world federal system, ruling the whole earth and exercising unchallengeable authority over its unimaginably vast resources, blending and embodying the ideals of both the East and the West, liberated from the curse of war . . . and bent on the exploitation of all available sources of energy on the surface of the planet, a System in which Force is made the servant of Justice, whose life is sustained by its universal recognition of one God and by its allegiance to one common Revelation —-such is the goal towards which humanity, impelled by the unifying forces of life is moving.”

Until all nations and peoples become united by the bonds of the Holy

Spirit in this real fraternity, until national and international prejudices are

effaced in the reality of this spiritual brotherhood, true progress, prosperity and lasting happiness will not be attained by man. This is the century of

new and universal nationhood.

-—‘ABnU’L-BAHA

l

[Page 22]

,,,,, e The Bahá’í Concept of Education

+€clitor£aZ

EMBERS of the Bahá’í

Faith note with profound interest the restless stirrings which betoken the rise of new concepts in public and also in religious education. Particular attention is directed on efforts being made to supplement public education with religious classes conducted by various churches. It is clear that the older religions have not yet realized the need to follow ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s advice as given in a Unitarian Church of New York during His visit in 1912. To the minister and the congregation gathered to hear Him, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said that when the religions came together to investigate the realities of faith they would find agreement.

The concept of education expressed directly in the Bahá’í teachings, and therefore applicable to members of the Bahá’í community itself, rests upon a few very impressive principles.

First, that education and training are mandatory and not voluntary. This principle goes beyond the attitude of the modern state in making school attendance compulsory for children up to a certain age, for it lays upon

22

the individual himself the command to regard the acquirement of knowledge as a moral obligation. This obligation for Bahá’ís is continuous through life. The Bahá’í is a student to the end of his days.

We find in the Bahá’í teachings likewise the principle that knowledge must serve humanity and not include sciences and philosophies which begin and end in mere words.

A third and Vital statement about knowledge is that the root of all knowledge is the knowledge of God, which cannot be attained other than through His Manifestation. This establishes a criterion determining not only that which is true but also that Which is actually knowahle. With such a criterion, existing in its perfect fulfillment in the works of Bahá’u’lláh, human beings can attain true wisdom, which is to know the difference between truth and error and between their knowledge and their ignorance.

The fourth principle to consider is that education and training in the Bahá’í community are inseparable; that knowledge and character are interdependent, be [Page 23]EDUCATION 23

cause it is the whole person who must be educated and not merely the emotional ego or memory processes of the mind. The whole person includes in education the relationship of the individual to society in addition to his relationship to his art, trade or profession. Moreover, learning and teaching are conjoined in the Bahá’í concept. The Bahá’í is adjured not only to be a student but also to share his knowledge with others, thus bestowing upon the individual a creative relationship to his fellowmen, and vitalizing the stream of his consciousness by giving it a continuous flow.

Since education begins with the child, it is important to note that the Bahá’í concept aims to make child education develop a future world citizen. The child is not to be conditioned by any special g r 0 u p indoctrination, whether of religious, economic or political philosophy. The child must acquire the foundation of character and right habit, and knowledge oflered his awakening intelligence in terms of what the child can actually experienCe in action, feeling or thought. Spiritual maturity is fixed at the age of fifteen, after which the youth can decide for

himself in many matters, including religion.

Finally, the Bahá’í concept of education, eventuating in the development and training of world citizens, effects a true marriage between mental and moral elements of personality. A world citizen has his own useful trade, art or profession to make himself self-sustaining, but his work fits into the pattern of an evolving society whose goal is order, justice and peace. The world citizen is one Who grows into this larger pattern of duty and responsibility, unlike the seIf-centered man whose work aims to bring him security or wealth in spite of the general anarchy in which he is forced to live. The world citizen is one Who accepts the divine affirmation of the oneness of man kind.

The concept of education reflecting these principles is truly noble and ennobling. Moreover, it offers every Bahá’í group, small or large, the vitalizing effect of participation in the study and discussion of a body of spiritual truth Which releases the creative power bestowed by God Himself upon a needy, an abject, an ignorant world. Bahá’í education brings regeneration of spirit as well as illumination of mind.

——H. H.

[Page 24]

The Wind of Spring

DUART BROWN

DOWN on the bay the clouds

chase their shadows over the waves, for the wind of spring has come. The blazing sun sends gleaming swords among the whitecaps, and the air has that fine high quality that makes you stare at a leaping fish in wonder for each silvery scale seems to stand out as distinct as a picture cut in metal. In the live oak the bush tits are building their nest, and what a wonderfully intricate structure it is for such small creatures to construct, an aerial castle woven from love! You hear a vireo toss its liquid song Skyward, then call with comic pathos three tiny silvery notes that sound like “Jimmy did it!, J immy did it!”

Jimmy didn’t do it, of course, but somebody did. Somebody changed the world overnight from a place still lingering in the somber sadness of winter to a realm where delight plays music up and down one’s backbone. A man or woman worth his salt catches the wine of spring in his blood; feels from heel to head like limber steel; would leap, run, sing, if he weren’t held down under several layers of so-called civilization, a veneer that is too deep at times for our good.

24

It is time to let the wind of spring into our souls as well as into our nostrils. There is a clean scent of young growing things and it calls to us to build and do in a world where nature is busy replacing the worn-out things of winter. The young green is pushing up through the dead stalks of last year, and we see the first butterfly glistening its new wings in the sunlight, so fresh out of the Chrysalis it seems unbelieveable that such perfect beauty could also have life. Yes, there is change and newness in the air. The great pulsing breath of the new born earth is also in the wind, for down in the soil the earth worms are busy at work turning over and over the dark humus and thoroughly mixing it up so that nothing can be quite the same as ever before. The world has been washed, spanked for good luck, and set forth on a new year of life to see what it can do. The past is forgotten, the glorious future lies ahead. “Good,” says the new born world, “it is time to build.”

We can learn from the earth, we humans; learn also from the wind, the new strong sunlight, the bird singing by its nest, the whole panorama of a wonderful spring

[Page 25]WIND 0F SPRING 25

day with all its stories of new beginnings. We can learn faith, for has not God shown us again that spring always comes after winter just as day comes after every night? We can learn strength, for has not the earth lost everything in the cold of the snow months, and is it not starting now from its beginnings with never a whimper or whine? We can learn to grow, for is not spring a time of growth and change just as true education is a continual growing up into ever finer skill at the game of living? We can learn love, for even the wild beasts are ruled by love in springtime, and the heart of the mother fox flutters for her cubs as surely as does the heart of the human mother over her baby.

It is a time to seek new horizons; to break forth from old fetters and free the mind to think as God desired us. The world is moving too fast for winter thinking, for conservative ostrich practices with the head and eyes. A complacent man is as good as dead in this world of change. Youth feels this change and so constantly seeks to break loose from stale fetters and find the freedom that it knows is to be had. But youth is not an age in years; it is a state of mind, and the oldest among us can be young if he only wills it so. What then

is the young state of mind? It is flexible, is it not? It is a readiness to adapt, to give and take, and to spring back after being shoved away, to be as resilient as a green withe of willow or the bounding ball that is a running wild cat. Man’s supreme adaptability combined with his superior intelligence has helped him master the world. But it is always when he is flexible, when he has stayed young, that he has advanced. A people grow old and careworn when they cling to the past. Tyre, Niniveh, Rome, Athens, the peoples of all these great cities lost their glory when they lost touch with the future.

So the spring calls to man each year and cries: “Awake! Be on with you! There is work to do; building to be accomplished. But be young while you are about it. Be young and enjoy yourself”

Now this spring of 1947 has a special significance for us all. It is the first real spring after a war, a great world embracing, world shaking war. Last spring we were still too numb from that war and its after effects to really enjoy the new birth of the world. But the true significance of the spring of 1947 is that it gives us a time to take a deep breath, several deep breaths of the wind of spring, and start in on what must be done. We must cut the Gordian

[Page 26]

26 WORLD ORDER

knot of the modern world. Its problem is on all men’s lips and all men’s minds. Its question is written across the face of the earth in capital letters: What Shall We Do T o Prevent A New Earth-Destroying W ar?

The answer lies, as so many answers lie, in the hearts of all of us. It lies in the way we respond to the world about us; Whether We accept its evils with a shrug of the shoulder and a bitter word, the old, old fruitless way of man when faced with a difficulty he considers overwhelming. The new world upsurge of faith in God that is the Bahá’í Faith is not that kind of answer. Instead the Bahá’í Faith partakes of the vigorous, tireless nature of spring itself, the endless flexible energy that causes a tiny plant to push up between huge stones and burst them apart. Bahá’ís everywhere know that they are a part of the new spring of religion that has come to renew and increase the old, to transform it to a higher plane to meet the problems of

modern man. The old world of war and prejudice and hate between men must go and be replaced by a new and glorious world of cooperation and peace. In this spring of 1947 the task before us is stringent and awesome for the seeds of trouble and suspicion are thick among men and the drums of war rumble ominously on the horizon. Yet it is the nature of a man’s heart when it is filled with buoyancy of spring and youth that it does not doubt, nor hesitate, but, above all, has faith, faith in God and in itself. The Bahá’ís become like the green grass and the young leaves that spread everywhere across the land because the world is ready for them, and the sun has come to warm and protect them. They become a part of the pulsing heart of the new world to come, ready with their examples of kindness, courage, integrity and cooperation among men to lead the way out of the wintry fastnesses of the sad past into the sunny valleys of spring.

This is the Day, 0" my Lord, which Thou didst announce unto all mankind as the Day whereon Thou wouldsn reveal Thy Self, and shed Thy radiance, and shine brightly over all Thy creatures.

—Bahá’u’lláh

[Page 27]The Same Sun

A Review of The Bahá’í World—Vol. IX LEWIS ZERBY

HE title, The Bahá’í World,

should be the occasion for sustained meditation on the part of those who follow the Bahá’í Faith. In the first place they should think of a world which is indeed a Bahá’í world; they should contrast it in almost every detail with the present secular world. The unity and universality of the Bahá’í world stands in vivid disparity to the warring plurality and particularity of the secular world; the use of atomic energy for creating the havoc of Hiroshima is a far cry from the religious use of the same energy for building a cultural and spiritual society founded on the moral principles revealed by the Prophets of God. The present world with its worship of instrumentalities, its impersonal selfishness, its lack of sensitivity to human suffering, is sadly in need of some directive ideal which can give the term “progress” a meaning, and which can serve as a goal toward which progress can be made. The idea of a Bahá’í World made actual is such a directive ideal, toward the realizing of which Bahá’ís throughout the world work.

Secondly, the phrase, Bahá’í world, should cause a believer to think of the actuality of the Bahá’í community in the world today; for there is a Bahá’í community which is more and more completely encompassing

The Bahá’í World—Vol. IX, 1940-1944, a Biennial International Record. Bahá’í

Publishing Committee, Wilmette, Illinois, 1945.

27

the world. This actuality is the subject and substance of The Bahá’í W orld.

Volume Nine of the Bahá’í International Record is particularly important because it describes the activities of Bahá’ís during the war years from 1940 to 1944, A. D., or 97 to 100 of the Bahá’í Era. And reading this record one realizes that these four years were years of a constructive program which will be of far greater ultimate significance than the war’s appalling destructiveness. Throughout this record’s thousand and three pages one feels the breath of a new life, a new hope for this world sick of secularness and profanity, weary of wars and suffering.

The editors of The Bahá’í World, Volume Nine, have done a masterful job of combining the intellectual, the spiritual, the geographical, and the aesthetic aspects of Bahá’í progress. The many articles by Bahá’ís attest to the intellectual vigor of the followers of the Faith. Mr. Kenneth Christian has pointed out in his exemplary article, “Our Heritage from Bahá’u’lláh”, that the Bahá’í Faith provides the “basis for true education”. He contrasts “modern emphasis on materialism” and our increased specialization which substitutes a narrow “training” for education with the basic and spiritual education promulgated by the Prophet of God. This real Educator “trains the character and spirit; and this

! F

[Page 28]23 WORLD ORDER

training results in the courtesy, the ethics, the social idealism, the arts and sciences, which have been the intellectual and spiritual glory of every culture and civilization.” The com temporary educators Who recognize the need for basic colleges, for corecourses, and for general education, but who have no philosophy for formulating such colleges and cores,

would do well to read the Bahá’í writings on basic education.

Other articles also show that Bahá’ís are aware of and awake to contemporary intellectual problems. “The Bahá’í Principle of Civilization” by Horace Holley points out that: “The Bahá’í D‘ispensation combines and coordinates what in the world has been hopelessly separate and divided: divine truth and social authority; spiritual law and legislation; devotion to God and justice to man; the rights of the individual and the paramount responsibility of the social body.”

Alain Locke in writing about "Lessons in World Crisis” notes that “in the field of education, we seem to be on the verge of realizing that international-mindedness can only be created through some definite collective effort at mutual understanding and by developing a sense of common

purpose among educators throughout the world.”

Other articles which demonstrate the intellectual vitality of present-day Bahá’ís are: “The Concept and Goals of Human Progress” by Stanwood Cobb, “Ways to Wholeness” by Raymond Frank Piper, “Science and the Open Mind” by Glenn A. Shook, and “Islém and the Scientific Spirit” by Robert L. Gulick, Jr. Bahá’ís who

want convincing arguments to use in

correcting those people who see nothing good in the Muhammadan Faith will find this last article of great importance.

The many non-Bahá’í references to the Bahá’í Faith included in the present volume, provide proof of the impact which this world religion has made on the modern mind. Among the authors cited in this section are: Leo Tolstoy, Helen Keller, former President Masaryk of Czechoslovakia, late President David Starr Jordan of Leland Stanford University, Luther

Burbank, and President Eduard Benes of Czechoslovakia.

More important than its intellectual force is the spiritual influence which the Bahá’í Faith has brought into the world. The selections from Bahá’í Sacred Writings provide the spiritual core of this volume. Included are excerpts from the words of both Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. There are also a number of articles written by Bahá’ís showing the spiritual progress of the Bahá’í world order.

The maps which graphically show the spread of the Bahá’í Faith over the globe and the articles and accounts of Bahá’í activity throughout the world show impressively the progress the forces of God have made during these four years of world conflict. Seeing this evidence one is reminded of Shoghi Effendi’s words:

“From Iceland to Tasmania, from Vancouver to the China Seas spreads the radiance and extend the ramifications of this world-enfolding System, this many-hued and firmly knit Fraternity, infusing into every man and woman it has won to its cause a faith, a hope and a vigor that a wayward generation has long lost, and

[Page 29]THE SAME SUN 29

is powerless to recover. They who preside over the immediate destinies of this troubld world, they who are responsible for its chaotic state, its fears, its doubts, its miseries, will do well, in their bewilderment, to fix their gaze and ponder in their hearts upon the evidences of the saving grace of the Almighty that lies within their reach—a grace that can ease their burdens, resolve their perplexities, and illuminate their path.”

The fact that the Bahá’í religion is an aesthetic as well as an intellectual force is demonstrated by the verse and music which is included in this volume. Of particular beauty and spiritual profundity is the poem by Ruhaniyyih Ruth Mofiett entitled “To Pi'ay”:

“0‘ Mount Carmel, chiseled of dark turquoise, Holding a sacred portal to the sun, Oft up thy lovely terraced garden path Climb many pilgrim feet when day is done

To Pray.

“They kneel, they how in reverence in that Shrine, Lovingly the sacred threshold kiss. Lo! There shines the spirit of the Master, blest, With hope, compassion, bliss for those who go

To Pray.

“Like foggy day their troubles disappear, And sorrow fades as mist before the sun. Their hearts gain peace and radiance divine

When souls unite in meeting That One

To Pray.

“The world now eateth lotus leaves and sleepeth, The Golden Dawn is here! 0 we beseech The pilgrims who in prayer have met our Lord To rise, to wake the world and then to teach

Others to Pray.”

It is to be hoped that future volumes of The Ba "i World will see more and more poets and musicians turning to the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh for the inspiration and beauty it can so splendidly provide.

A review of this volume would be woefully incomplete if it did not include mention of the excellent illustrations which accompany the text. The color pictures of the design for the completion of the sepulcher of the Báb at Haifa and of the first Mashriqu’l-Adhkár of the West at Wilmette set the tone and spirit for the entire rich and beautiful volume.

However, this addition to the Bahá’í World should not be the occasion on the part of Bahá’ís for any smug contentment, for any enervating self-satisfaction. Much progress, spiritual, intellectual, aesthetic, and geographical has been made, and those who have assisted in making this progress possible deserve much praise. But there is more, much more, to be done. We are yet pioneers as the map of Bahá’í centers attests.

The article, “By the Mouth of His Prophets” which was written by Maye Harvey Gift contains two passages which summarize the theme of

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30

this war age edition of The Bahá’í World: “The sacred Books describe this particular era in seemingly contradictory terms. . . . They depict a twofold process, one integrating, the other disruptive. The former represents the birth of the ideals and in stitutions worthy of the Day of God; the latter is indicative of a ‘civilization that has refused to answer to the expectations of a new age, and is con WORLD ORDER

sequently falling into chaos and decline.’ In reality, these both result from a new infusion of divine energy throughout the world. ‘The same sun that make the flowers to spring and the trees to bud, causes also the dev cay and disintegration of what is dead and useless; it loosens the ice and melts the snow of winter, and sets free the flood and the storm that purify the earth.’ ”

ALCHEMY OF LOVE

IDA ELAINE JAMES

Then will the dawning rays of a glorious age Kindle the driving power of dreams,

Freshening breezes turn a glamorous page Where beauty is as beauty seems.

Then will unfit endings melt away, Lost in the light of ideality,

Love and loveliness outlive the day And flower on through immortality.

When love achieves its alchemy with all, When ignorance and hate are banned! ..... That day is drawing near, though shades appall, As love reveals the Promised Land.

[Page 31]The Mature Man

’9,

BAHA I WORDS FOR MEDITATION

Let your vision be world-embracing, rather than confined to your own self. (10-94)

All men have been created to carry forward an ever-advancing civilization. (p. 215)

That one indeed is a man who, today, dedicateth himself to the service of the entire human race. (p. 250)

Bend your energies to whatever may foster the education of men. (p. 9)

Worship none but God, and, with radiant hearts, lift up your faces unto your Lord, the Lord of all names. (p. 210)

Consort with all men, O people of Bahá, in a spirit of friendliness and fellowship. (p. 289)

Lay not upon any soul a load which ye would not wish to be laid upon you,

and desire not for anyone the things which ye would not desire for yourselves. (p. 128)

Look not upon the creatures of God except with the eye of kindliness and of mercy, for Our loving providence hath pervaded all created things, and Our grace encompassed the earth and the heavens. (p. 33)

The Word of God may be likened unto a sapling, whose roots have been implanted in the hearts of men. (p. 97)

Blessed is the man that hath acknowledged his belief in God and in His signs . . . (p. 86)

Be not careless Of the virtues with which ye have been endowed, neither be neglectful of your high destiny. (p. 196)

Amity and rectitude of conduct . . . are the marks of true faith. (p. 205)

Be anxiously concerned with the needs of the age ye live in, and center your deliberations in its exigencies and requirements. (p. 213)

To act like the beasts of the field is unworthy of man. Those virtues that

These selections are from Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh

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32 WORLD ORDER

befit his dignity are forbearance, mercy, compassion and loving-kindness towards all the peoples and kindreds of the earth. (p. 215)

The fundamental purpose animating the Faith of God and His Religion is to safeguard the interests and promote the unity of the human race, and to foster the spirit of love and fellowship amongst men. (p. 215 )

The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens. (p. 250)

It is incumbent upon every man of insight and understanding to translate that which hath been written into reality and action. (p. 250)

They who are the people of God have no ambition except to revive the world, to ennohle its life, and regenerate its peoples. (p. 270)

Take heed, O people, lest ye be of them that give good counsel to others but forget to follow it themselves. (p. 277)

Be not grieved if thou performest it thyself alone. Let God be all-sufficient for thee. (p. 280)

Ye are the fruits of one tree, and the leaves of one branch. (p. 288) A kindly tongue is the lodestone of the hearts of men. (p. 289)

Beautify your tongues, O people, with truthfulness, and adorn your souls with the ornament of honesty. (p. 297)

Be ye the trustees of God amongst His creatures, and the emblems of His generosity amidst His people. (297)

Observe equity in your judgment, ye men of understanding heart! He that is unjust in his judgment is destitute of the characteristics that distinguish man’s station. (p. 204)

Be generous in prosperity, and thankful in adversity. Be worthy of the

trust of thy neighbor, and look upon him with a bright and friendly face. (p. 285)

He hath chosen out of the whole world the hearts of His servants, and made them each a seat for the revelation of His glory. (p. 297)

Let truthfulness and courtesy be your adorning. (p. 305)

It is through your deeds that ye can distinguish yourselves from others. (p. 305)

This is a Revelation which iniuseth strength into the feeble, and crowneth with wealth the destitute. (p. 184)

[Page 33]WHO ARE WE? AUDREY ROBARTS

We are readers of the news

Of strife and destruction,

A shaking earth and lives taken,

But not ours.

We are listeners to the call

Of narrow loyalties, and cautiousness Which insulates us from our fellows. Exclusiveness is theirs, we say,

Not ours.

We are onlookers of abuses

Toward our undiscovered friends; Silent sitters along the boulevards of crime. The defects we see are another’s, Rarely ours.

This is our self Earthbound like a grounded plane.

We can be happy gardeners

Who see, as spring’s first crocuses, Fellowship and peace spring up

In the bare brown garden of the world. This hope is ours Or stonecutters preparing to build

Of thoughts and actions smoothed to fit A building the like of which

No eye has ever seen.

This privilege is ours.

Man, on this tiny earth,

Alone of all creation has seen a vision

Of what all working together can create.

This j oyous efl'ort could be ours.

But who are we when part within us wills to sit While another part strives to fly?

Who do we think we are, we people of two worlds? Let us rise like a plane in the morning mist,

From the earth of our idle fancies,

To the timeless, spaceless world of the spirit of faith. Then bringing back to earth again

The glorious vision, strive to make

A new world for a new mankind.

33

[Page 34]

WITH OUR READERS

OUR leading article “A Bahá’í Dec laration of Human Obligations and Rights” makes clear the fundamental Bahá’í teaching that the basis and permanence of human rights is dependent on world government which in turn is founded on a worldwide Faith. The National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and Canada has submitted this statement to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. It makes a fitting opening article for volume XIII of World Order, and calls for deep study and pondering by all who are laboring for justice for all mankind.

Michael Jamir who contributes “Bahá’í Encounter in Japan” is now out of military service and is living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This account of his experience in Japan well illustrates how widespread is the Bahá’í Faith and how eagerly a Bahá’í in a new country seeks for fellow believers.

A review of the book Modern Man. is Obsolete is contributed by Maye Harvey Gift of Peoria, Illinois. Our readers will remember her article, “Two Facets of One Gem” in our January issue and many know her as one who, with Alice Cox, produced the fine compilation entitled Race and Man. Those attending Louhelen Bahá’í School remember several courses which she has given there.

The editorial by Horace Holley “The Bahá’í Concept of Education”

will help to clarify the confused ideas as to the meaning and basis of true education. The material on Bahá’í education presented in this editorial was outlined by Mr. Holley in a presentation of the subject to a sophomore class in the School of Education, Northwestern University, during January, 1947.

Duart Brown’s contribution “Wind of Spring” fits well into this first issue of volume XIII of our magazine. Our readers will remember Mr. Brown’s “Chasing a Hobgoblin” in our February issue and in this department of that issue was an account of Mr. Brown’s busy life in studying and writing.

Under the title “The Same Sun”, Lewis Zerby contributes a review of volume IX of The Bahá’í W orld as a number in our Bahá’í Literature Series. In this series during the last two years we have published reviews of the most outstanding Bahá’í publications. The last previous one in the series was a review of Bahá’í Administration by Horace Holley in the February issue. Dr. Zerby received his doctorate from the University of Illinois and now teaches in the Basic College of Michigan State College, East Lansing. His “Modes of Living, Spiritual and Modern” appeared in our April, 1939, issue.

A new department which the editors hope will continue monthly

through the year we are calling “Bahá’í Words for Meditation”. We

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[Page 35]WITH OUR READERS 35

shall be glad to hear from our readers as to whether these selections from Bahá’í writings meet a need and make the magazine a mere valuable teacher.

The poem entitled “Who Are We?” is Audrey Robarts first contribution to World Order. Mrs. Robarts home is in Toronto, Canada, where she and Mr. Ro'barts are very active in the Faith.

We are happy to print in this issue a poem entitled “Alchemy of Love” from the pen of Ida Elaine James. This is Mrs. James’ first contribution to the magazine although her poems have been published many times in printed works. Her home is in Chevy Chase, Maryland, and she participates in the Bahá’í activities in the area of our national capital,

Washington, D. C.

i i D

This April issue begins Volume XIII of World Order and with it comes a change in the outer appearance of the magazine. Another new feature is a picture on page one with a fitting Bahá’í caption. Page two has a quotation from a Bahá’í author. This will be changed each month and we hope it will enlighten the stranger as to the meaning and scope of the Bahá’í teachings.

We hope, too, that our readers will like these changes and that the new make-up will attract new readers, both Bahá’í and non-Bahá’í. The contents of the magazine are, of course, the most important, and our gratitude goes out continually to those who generously contribute, both often and occasionally, to make

the contents valuable. In order to carry out the Guardian’s injunction that our teaching appeal to the “leaders” and the “masses” we can use a wide variety of types of articles and poems. We ask for your continued cooperation.

. . C

Parts of a letter from Rúḥíyyih Iganam to a friend have been quite widely circulated, with her permission, by the National Teaching Committee, but there must still be many who have not had an opportunity to read these excerpts and to feel the sympathy and understanding and wisdom in this warm and loving letter written by one who knows a woman’s life in the West and in the East and new shares the life and cares of the Guardian. Although written July 31, 1943, the following words do not sound outdated:

“I am so rushed these days I never have time to collect my thoughts. I keep wondering about this tremendous pressure we are all living under and I come to the conclusion always that just these days are very special days, unlike any other ones in our lives or other generations’ lives. They are, I always visualize them so, anyway, days of mad sifting. All the world—and we Bahá’ís too—is being sifted to the last ounce. Will we be chaff or prove wheat? That seems to me to be the whole point. And I would not care, if I were you, if the house died of dust: of course I do not mean you should throw up cleanliness and what not. I just mean I would get it in perspective as much as possible. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá used to always say we must give up the unimportant things for the most important ones. Each one

[Page 36]36 . , ‘ WORLD ORDER

has t6 judge for himself how to do that.

“The whole world needs a new life, including most (If us, and the life we will have to find is inside ourselves. I am groping for words, but I believe very strongly that the Bahá’ís must learn to live the life inside their own selves. That is what the great Bahá’ís like Martha Root and mother and many others learned to do. They fixed their inner compass; the rest was easy once they had done that. Mother used to always tell me that the Báb told Qurratu’l‘Ayn to attain to the invariability of the inner state.

“I don’t think that mind, in the sense of a load of well-ordered facts, is as important as spirit. No matter how much any Bahá’í studies, he is never going to know it all—the Cause is too great for that, its implications too vast. But if each one of us could only learn how to be Bahá’ís in relation to Bahá’u’lláh, how to become changed through the power of His Faith—that .is to me what we need most.

“Anether of my thoughts these days is that we cannot possibly imagine the atmosphere in which we are living, and the tremendous pres sure it exerts on us without our knowing it. The whole world is a veritable cesspool of evil and corruption, that is why it is suffering so, and it seems to me sheer sentimentality to go around pretending people are good but conditions are bad. People are mostly bad and have produced in consequence bad conditions and this is the day of winnowing, all are being flayed and have to be sifted, Wt. Bahá’ís along with the rest, but we ha‘. ‘19 “'°‘eless advantage

of understanding the why and wherefore and being able to cling to the truth. If we could see with the eyes of truth we would probably be astonished to see what we Bahá’ís represent in this darkness. The fact that we are firm, clinging to our Faith and serving it is a vast spiritual victory. So I don’t think we should be discouraged by either our personal condition or community condition. The weight we carry is heavier than we realize.

“I have come to the conclusion that amongst the Bahá’ís there are not many who are in a condition to give out, they need to receive. They are not yet self-supporting spiritually and I think that consequently all those who can should try to strengthen themselves so as to be able to give out to their fellow Bahá’ís. So often one sees inharmony in a community caused by the weak ness and immaturity of some members, and it could be removed in a moment by a believer of large spirit, one who would be able to quietly draw from the friends their higher reactions, recall them to both themselves and the Teachings. It seems to me this is the most precious gift and the greatest need at the moment. I am simply astounded sometimes when I see the finest Bahá’í teachers, devoted, sacrificing everything, but without power of either creating or maintaining unity.

“The Guardian himself is so busy he is almost unable to keep abreast with his work. These are crisis years. If we all stand firm and see them through we will witness better days. Sooner or later they must eome for the whole werld.”

——THE EDITORS.

[Page 37]Bahá’í Sacred Writings Works of Bahá’u’lláh

Distributed by Bahá’í Publishing Committee 110 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, Illinois

KITABJ-IQAN (Book of Certitude)

In this work, Bahá’u’lláh reveals} the oneness of religion, traces its continuity and evolution through the successive Manifestations of God, and correlates revelation with the major movements of history. Translated by

Shoghi Effendi. HIDDEN WORDS

The essence of all revealed truth, expressed in brief meditations impregnated with spiritual power. Translated by Shoghi Effendi.

THE SEVEN VALLEYS, THE FOUR VALLEYS

Treatises on the progress of the soul and the action of spirit on human being, revealed to disclose the diflerence between religion and philosophy.

Translated by ‘Ali-Kuli K_hén.

EPISTLE TO THE SON OF THE WOLF

The force and significance of divine Revelation opposed by the ruthless deniers in church and state. One Of Bahá’u’lláh’s 1351 works, it cites from and recapitulates the meaning of many other Tablets.

TABLETS OIF Bahá’u’lláh

The Tablet 0" Tarézét, Tablet of the: World, Words of Paradise, Tablet of Tajalliyét, Glad Tidings and Tablet Of IslIráqét, containing social prineiples and: laws, are found in Chapter Four of Bahá’í World Faith. The Tablet of the Branch and Kitéh-i-‘Ahd, setting forth the station of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, are found in Chapter Five of the same work. Bahá’u’lláh’s Tablets t0 the Kings form part of Chapter One of that work.

CLEANINGS FROM. THE WRITINGS OF Bahá’u’lláh

These excerpts were selected and translated by Shoghi Effendi, and offer a representative compilation of words of Bahá’u’lláh: the Bahá’í teachings

on the nature of religion, the regeneration of the soul and the transformation of human society.

PRAYERS AND MEDITATIONS BY BAHA7U’LLAH

In these passages9 selected and translated by Shoghi Effendi. (he re lationship of man tO God attained by prayer and medita".M ?w- ' teen {Ermly established above and beyond the influence of 551 and imagination.

[Page 38]Words of Bahá’u’lláh

Inscribed Over the Nine Entrances 0] the House of Worship, Wilmette, Illinois

1. The earth is but one country; and mankind its citizens.

2. The best beloved of all things in My sight

is Justice; turn not away therefrom if thou desirest Me.

3. My love is My stronghold; he that entereth therein is safe and secure.

4. Breathe not the sins of others so long as thou art thyself a sinner.

5. Thy heart is My home; sanctify it for My descent.

(L I have made death a messenger of joy to thee; wherefore dost thou grieve?

7. Make mention of Me on My earth that in My heaven I may remember thee.

8.. 0 rich ones on earth! The poor in your midst are My trust; guard ye My trust.

9. The source of all learnings is the knowledge of God, exalted be His glory.