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WORLD ORDER
MARCH 1938
DIVINE CONSCIOUSNESS • HOWARD LUXMORE CARPENTER
MEXICO’S PEACE POET • • • • • BEATRICE IRWIN
THE TURNING POINT • • • ALICE SCHWARZ-SOLIVO
WAR AND HUMAN NATURE • • • • A STATEMENT
THE GOSPEL OF BEAUTY • • • • • ZOE MEYER
PRICE 20c
VIEWING THE WORLD AS AN ORGANISM
CONTENTS OF THIS ISSUE
MARCH 1938 VOLUME 3 • NUMBER 12
BEYOND THE FACT • EDITORIAL .................................... 441
DIVINE CONSCIOUSNESS • HOWARD LUXMORE CARPENTER .......... 443
THE WORLD CRISIS, II • MOUNTFORT MILLS ............................... 451
WAR AND HUMAN NATURE • SOCIETY FOR PSYCHOLOGICAL STUDY . 455
MEXICO’S PEACE POET AND KING • BEATRICE IRWIN ...... 457
THE TURNING POINT • ALICE SCHWARZ-SOLIVO ......................... 461
PHILOSOPHY AND REVELATION, III • G. A. SHOOK ................ 465
IMMORTALITY OF THE SPIRIT, I • ‘ABDU’L-BAHÁ ............................ 472
THE GOSPEL OF BEAUTY • ZOE MEYER .................................................... 474
THE CHALLENGE OF THIS CHANGING WORLD • PEARLE U. EASTERBROOK . 476
SIGNs OF THE TIMES • BERTHA HYDE KIRKPATRICK ........................... 478
INDEX ................................................................................... 480
Change of address should be reported one month in advance.
WORLD ORDER is published monthly in New York, N. Y., by the Publishing Committee of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. EDITORS: Stanwood Cobb, Marjory Morten and Horace Holley. BUSINESS MANAGER: C. R. Wood. PUBLICATION OFFICE: 135 East 50th Street, New York, N. Y. EDITORIAL OFFICE: 119 Waverly Place, New York, N. Y.
SUBSCRIPTIONS: $2.00 per year, $1.75 to Public Libraries. Rate to addresses outside the United States, $2.25, foreign Library rate, $2.00. Single copies, 20 cents. Checks and money orders should be made payable to World Order Magazine, 135 East 50th Street, New York, N. Y. Entered as second class matter, May 1, 1935, at the post office at New York, N. Y., under the Act of March 3, 1879. Contents copyrighted 1938 by BAHÁ’Í PUBLISHING COMMITTEE.
March 1938, Volume 3, Number 12
WORLD ORDER
MARCH, 1938, VOLUME THREE, NUMBER TWELVE
BEYOND THE FACT
EDITORIAL
LOOKING objectively at life about him any one of so-called civilized millions might say that we are alive to the planetary nature of our difficulties but are confounded by the very fact of our inter-relationship and by the storms of reminder that break over us. Our sleep is haunted by man’s problems: we cannot move in thought without elbowing humanity. We picture spectral thousands starving in this and that country; watch dark throngs carrying bright banners lettered with this ideology or that. Press, screen and radio bring us too much information about the relative sizes of armaments, of factions. Too many wings are counted; far too many heads are numbered. Much repetition of figures is distracting. If we tag and tally living things, we set them apart from the stream of life. Mass reckoning of human needs lifts—or lowers —us out of immediate concern.
And we are half choked with factual
knowledge about the earth and
the skies above it. Mountains of the
moon are named and the sun-spots
are measured. Budgets and balances
of nations are reported to us. Industrial
chills and fevers are charted. In
the pursuit of statistics we are robbed
of wonder. Instead of tilting our
mirrors at a new-dimensional angle to
reflect mysteries, we break through
the looking-glass and examine its
quicksilver lining. And we are not
only conscious of too many things but
our sense of proportion, of values, is
distorted by emphasis of the trivial.
[Page 442] Where great and small are freakishly
confused and things remote overshadow
the immediate, true perspective
is gone. In headlines of equal
size we read,—BABY SWALLOWS
PEARL - - - LEAGUE OF NATIONS
IN DEATH THROES. The hour
before dinner is filled with the crash
of bombs falling in Chapei. Out of
nowhere we are startled by the ventriloquism
of propaganda. And with
hardly any surprise we hear the star
Arcturus whose light is transposed into
music for us on the radio. By electrical
device faintest vibrations are
magnified, so that the worm boring
in the wood is noisy at its work.
Whichever way we listen we are lost
to all the lovely sounds just below the
level of attention, sounds that contribute
to inner harmony without demanding
any response.
IN this world riot small wonder that many men are more aware of the dangers than of the advantages of our newly-conditioned life. But their buffers and defenses are not so much set up against danger as against fear itself. Hate seems to them in a sense protection, for they find that the object of enmity loses immanence and power, turns into a symbol. So images are raised for mass hatred. To a lesser degree any hated individual is only a bogey-man, no more really frightening than the figure in the nursery tale. In the same way the timid find that race and class prejudice serve to transform vast numbers of alarming human creatures into conglomerates. No longer seen as individuals they are menacing only in imagination. Still others driven by too many demands upon their sympathy turn to isolation for escape. As this is not possible to find, they try to insulate themselves from their fellows by setting up transparent barriers that will protect their feelings and yet allow free view of what is going on. But the very nature of the non-conductor brings bewilderment. To the cool observer watching through the window-pane the dance is meaningless. He does not hear the music.
THERE seems to be no limit to man’s stratagems to ease the pressure of proximity. Failing to understand this new relationship his ingenuity has only added to his misery. Obviously proximity of itself does not lead to understanding. The group still turns mob in crisis. Humans thrown into each others arms for the most part wrestle for advantage rather than embrace. We face a threatening paradox—division in closeness. It can be resolved only by turning from the seeming darkness and confusion of the fact to the Light beyond, which reveals every atom in creation to be related in essential harmony.
DIVINE CONSCIOUSNESS
HOWARD LUXMORE CARPENTER
RANKING with Freud and Adler as one of the foremost of psychological investigators, C. G. Jung is of particular interest to Bahá’ís in regard to our belief in the future establishment of a universal spiritual civilization. Jung is especially distinguished for his avoidance of fanaticism, a quality as common among scientists as among religionists. He at all times avoids the use of rigid formulae in explaining the intricacies of the human mind, pointing out that, strictly speaking, the ramifications of the mind are as protean as the number of minds in the world. Therefore, he draws freely from other investigators without confining himself to the simple rules of any. For example, he maintains that human activity cannot be explained by any simple method learned by routine, such as the pansexualism of Freud or the impulse to self-preservation of Adler; if such formulae only were necessary, any amateur could practice psychiatry. The sensible and balanced and philosophical methods of Jung endear him to the student of human impulses. In the first part of the following paper the work of C. G. Jung[1] has been used largely, and in places his actual phrases are included.
Ella Goodall Cooper in “Psychology from the Spiritual Standpoint”[2] shows the common ground between the Bahá’í Religion and modern psychology as taught by Alfred Adler. This community of interest is especially apparent in the territory of education and psychiatry. She tells how much more effective psychological methods are when their way is illumined by the light of religion. Of particular importance is the precept so closely approaching the Bahá’í idea, voiced by Adler, regarding the social responsibility of people, the realization that life in this world is necessarily communal, and that humanity is fundamentally one. The purpose of the present paper is to trace the development of human consciousness in the individual and in the race, as outlined by Jung, and then to show, in the light of evidence tabulated by Jung, the immense importance of the Bahá’í Cause in assisting man to a station of spiritual civilization in the future, based on consciousness and insight.
Our first premise, according to
Jung, must necessarily be that the fundamental
biogenic law is equally
valid for the development of the human
mind as for that of the human
[Page 444] body; i. e. just as the embryo in its
development repeats the history of
the evolution of the species, so also
the development of a child’s mind
repeats the history of the human mind
since its beginnings. This theory is
well illustrated in Emerson’s essay on
History. “If the whole of history is
in one man, it is all to be explained
from individual experience.” Again
he says: “I can find . . . the genius and
creative principle of each and of all
eras in my own mind.” Or, “The
primeval world,—the Fore-World, as
the Germans say,—I can dive to it in
myself as well as grope for it with researching
fingers in catacombs, libraries,
and the broken reliefs and torsos
of ruined villas.”
At birth a child has the ability to distinguish light and dark; in a few hours it can hear fairly well. In a short time it has vision for form and usually in two or three months distinguishes familiar people. The infant’s mind, we may say, is unconscious, i. e. it is engaged only in reacting to a few stimuli, without thought or intent. For many months the child is a victim of its environment, and during the early years there is scarcely any consciousness. There is constant psychic activity, but these early processes are not focused in an organized ego. The child has not realized that his mind is an individual psyche; the personality has not as yet become integrated. This can be described as an animal state, a state of complete fusion with surrounding conditions. Therefore, the child identifies himself with his parents, who form the chief constituent of his environment, and does not yet conceive of his mind as different from that of his parents.
The first traces of consciousness appear when the child speaks of himself in the first person at about the third to fifth year. It is noteworthy that before that time he always speaks of himself in the third person and even continues to do that for a time after he has learned the use of “I”. From this time on the development of consciousness proceeds rapidly until psychic puberty at about 25 years (20 in the female). At the beginning there is a primitive consciousness and then civilized consciousness. It is not until after psychic puberty that the child’s mind is an independent psyche. After psychic puberty further additions to consciousness are acquired more slowly.
THE integration of consciousness is hastened and strengthened by education. Without education children would remain in an unconscious condition, that of the primitive. This would not be stupidity, but instinctive intelligence. Thus we see that culture depends upon a maximum of consciousness; the degree of civilization is equal to man’s consciousness.
In describing the difference between
consciousness and unconsciousness
Jung gives the beautiful analogy that
the unconscious is a sea and the conscious
is an island rising out of the
sea. One must bear in mind, however,
that the relationship is not stable.
The unconscious contains those psychic
factors which have a low degree of
intensity or which formerly had intensity
and for some reason have lost
it. Besides this personal unconscious
there is the great collective unconscious
[Page 445] which contains inherited instinctual
forms, and primordial forms
of apprehension, the so-called archetypes
or basic images. This is not
found in normal persons, but comes
to light as primitive mythological
thinking in various types of psychic
disorders.
Mythology is a normal expression of the activity of the collective unconscious. Emerson as well as Jung holds the interesting idea that mythology represents the first functionings of the human intellect; by mythology is meant a translation of inner experience into the language of pictures, by which translation the primitive man seeks to dominate the supernatural and free himself from primitive anxieties.
The conscious is the ideational complex content of the mind, which is directly associated with the ego. Man, of course, believes that most of his activity is consciously undertaken, but the evidence shows that a great part of his activity and mental content is activated by the unconscious. If he possessed perfect insight he would realize that his real motives are often instinctive and that he rationalizes his instincts. And Jung and others believe that the rational motivation of our actions is an explanation a posteriori rather than a true motivation. By careful training man has succeeded in replacing some instincts with volitional action, but instinct remains as the motive nucleus. This instinct to rationalize instincts serves the purpose of ordinary life. Thus in order to live satisfactorily in the present world it is necessary to have only minimal conscious or volitional activity; the greater portion of man’s activity can be carried on instinctively with constant checking back with rational explanations for the various actions.
AFTER observing the steps
in the development of a child’s mind
we may state fairly confidently that
the whole history of the human mind
has been a struggle to acquire larger
blocks of consciousness. The island
of consciousness has emerged higher
and higher from the sea of the unconscious.
This widening of the range
of consciousness has been a most painful
and laborious achievement, and
there is no reason to believe that the
final goal has been at all nearly approached.
One could say that nothing
is more hateful to man than to
give up one particle of his unconsciousness.
Man is afraid of new ideas
—they make him think, and it is much
easier to slide along in the old instinctive
grooves. To quote Emerson
again, who is an able demonstrator
of even modern psychological theories:
“Beware when the great God lets
loose a thinker on this planet. . . . It
is as when a conflagration has broken
out in a great city, and no man knows
what is safe, or where it will end.”
The world appears as a vast, unknown,
forbidding place to the child,
and often he is never able to shake off
his dependence on the home and venture
away to assume his responsibilities.
Just so man shrinks from acquiring
new ideas. They appear strange
and difficult to him, as adding problem
to a more or less unproblematical
life. He loses sight of the fact that it
is only in the problematical life, where
[Page 446] some psychological tension exists,
that man is enabled to broaden the
scope of his consciousness.
The history of the development of consciousness in the human mind is the history of civilization. Culture consists of the greatest degree of consciousness. Jung holds the view that the greatest changes in human history are to be traced to internal causal conditions, and that they are founded upon internal psychological necessity. External conditions furnish the occasion for the new attitude to become manifest. The process by which man frees himself from primitive anxieties consists in progressive symbol-formation which leads to culture. The true symbol is the expression of an intuitive perception which can, as yet, neither be apprehended better not expressed differently. It is an attempt to express a thing for which there exists as yet no adequate verbal concept. It is impossible to speak in definite terms of the life after death, and therefore, Christ spoke in parables of the Kingdom of Heaven. To speak of God as the Holy Father expresses an intuitive perception which cannot be brought to consciousness otherwise than as a symbol. Great art is always symbolical work and as such is more stimulating, drives more deeply into us, and, therefore, seldom permits us a purely esthetic enjoyment of it. Our whole life is interwoven with symbols which are compelled to appear by a spirit in us which refuses to accept a life consisting merely of a simple relationship of the ego and the outside world. By a multiplication of symbols the mind is allowed practically unlimited possibility of creative thought, and frees itself from the dullness which characterizes the life lived entirely from the ego.
IN recapitulating our material we find that just as the child is born in an animal-like or primitive state of unconsciousness, and acquires more or less consciousness for the first 25 years of life, so mankind has developed from a previous primitive state of unconsciousness by a gradual and laborious accession of consciousness to a state of great culture and civilization. Culture depends upon consciousness and is achieved by progressive symbol-formation. At present psychologists incline toward the belief that most of man’s activity is instinctive but that he succeeds a posteriori in rationalizing it to appear as volitional. It is not in our province here to discuss the great importance of an understanding of the conscious and unconscious portions of the mind in education or in medical psychology. What we particularly wish to know is how to increase the conscious activity of man, and thereby raise him to a new and remarkable level of civilized life. So much, then, for Jung’s valuable work on Contributions to Modern Psychology.
Let us contrast for the moment
conscious and unconscious behavior.
As an example of almost purely conscious
activity we may cite Kant writing
his Critique of Pure Reason. Here
he had to force away thoughts tinged
with any degree of emotion, curb his
instinctive impulses, reject all images
conjured up by his unconscious mind,
and bring such absolute love of logic
and truth to bear that he was enabled
[Page 447] to write down practically pure
thought, the product of conscious
reasoning.
In sharp contrast to the above example of a man fully, consciously at work let us watch a man caught in the midst of a cataclysmic event, such as a terrific earthquake. He is confronted by a situation where everything that he has always considered stable and lasting is at once convulsed and torn apart. The earth loses all its supporting qualities and prostrates him; the strongest buildings collapse; the totality of the catastrophe is to him wholly unreasonable. There is no possibility that he will be able to bring the power of pure thought and careful reason to bear. In fact, what he is compelled to do is to expel from his mind any such hindrance as conscious reasoning and draw upon every power of his unconscious mind, every instinct, every age-old image of supernatural powers and forces that have terrified mankind since the beginning of time. Every particle of psychical energy is needed to carry out his instinctive impulses. Thus it is that wherever he happens to be, he flees. If he is indoors he flees to the open; if he is outdoors, he dashes in any direction, which may or may not be indoors. Every instinct that warns him to preserve his body from these unreasoning forces of nature takes complete possession of his mind. Perhaps the only person who brings any real amount of conscious activity to bear on the situation is the seismologist who foresaw the earthquake, and is waiting to see the recordings of his instrument.
From analogy, then, we may say that man does not use his power of conscious thought on any problem which is unreasonable. The greater the portion of the situation which is not explainable to his mind, the less will be the degree of conscious treatment of the situation by his mind. If a thing has absolutely no meaning to the mind of a man he cannot treat it consciously; it is, perforce, not material for his conscious mind. He may believe that he is treating it consciously, but, in fact, he is treating it instinctively and rationalizing his instincts. In retrospect, the man who fled from the crumbling building during the earthquake believes that he ran in order to avoid being crushed to death. He loses sight of the possibility that he might have been killed outside by the falling walls. He rationalizes his instinctive behavior, which is entirely different from conscious thought. Only a hypothetical philosopher, indulging in pure thought, would sit unmoved through an earthquake, and his mental content would necessarily consist of an appreciation of the stupendousness of the calamity.
WE have shown that culture
and civilization depend upon consciousness.
Also, it is not difficult to
agree that at present, man’s unconscious
activity greatly outweighs his
conscious activity. If we take a business
man of America as a fair example
of a person well above the average
mentality and consciousness, we find
that most of his activity is anything
but what we have set down as conscious,
or the outcome of thought. He
eats and sleeps, spends eight hours a
day in following more or less of a
[Page 448] routine, and expends his surplus energy
in recreation during his spare
time. His only thought for the future
is to provide enough money for his
dependents and his old age. In psychological
terms this man is completely
fused with his environment. He is
doing what other people are doing,
and that successfully. He is adjusted;
he is normal. However, when old age
comes he is forced out of business by
young men and shut out from recreation
by failing strength. For a time
he struggles to take part as before,
and in fact we see numerous examples,
both in life and in the cinema, of
old age foolishly trying to take part
in the activities of youth. The final
result is a regression to endless reminiscence
about the days of his youth.
In other words this man has never
learned the meaning of pure thought,
of consciousness, and of insight. If
he had understood these things, he
would have prepared for and looked
forward to the years of his old age
when he would be freed from the
struggle for a livelihood and could
at last give himself up to the joys of
actual thought.
It is by no means my intention to suggest that mankind lacks culture at the present time. Only the pessimist would declare that the world is uncivilized. There has been tremendous advance in civilized life in the past few years, and the recent acquisitions of consciousness have been remarkable when measured by standards for past hundreds of years. It is my purpose to touch here upon scientific research only in so far as it is necessary to point out that great masses of material are constantly being investigated in all branches of science, and that these accumulations are of great value to the individual in his comprehension of life. By means of reasonable hypotheses and theories this material is being made accessible to the conscious mind, and its effect in increasing the range of consciousness in scientific minds is almost inestimable. This material as rapidly as possible is being made accessible through education to all thinking minds. In this way many processes that before seemed intricate and inexplicable to the mind and therefore were accessible only to unconscious or intuitively instinctive mental treatment, are now consciously seen and understood in the light of reason. The effect is still another addition to consciousness laboriously accumulated down through the ages. In such a way each new scientific discovery when viewed sociologically becomes a cultural and civilizing influence, because it adds to man’s consciousness.
THIS leads us to our real problem of materialism as opposed to spirituality in the cultural history of man. It was stated above that we particularly wish to know how to lift man to the highest possible level of civilization. The first purpose of this paper is to show that a state of spiritual consciousness per se in man would correspond and be equivalent to his capacity for culture.
It is reasonable to say that all
knowledge may be considered secondary
to the knowledge of why mankind
exists. It is rightly said that if man
understood, if he knew the meaning
and essence of so infinitesimal a structure
[Page 449] as that of the atom, he would
understand the universe. If any man
understood why man is living in the
world he would not be interested in
learning more, for he would have the
answer to every problem of mankind.
He would know all that it is theoretically
possible for him to know and
that situation would be a state of absolute
consciousness. But we are safe
in saying that no man will ever know
the full and complete answer to the
question of the meaning of creation.
In other words, man will never reach
full consciousness: such consciousness
is possessed only by the Divine Manifestations
of God. That, however, is no
reason why man should hesitate to
acquire the greatest possible degree
of consciousness. Granting this, we
may inquire whether materialism or
spirituality will add more to his conscious
mental content.
The materialist, the man who leads the normal, successful, charitable life, as well as the so-called atheist, has no explanation for existence. He understands the basic principles of physics, and so he says that from a coalescence of energy or matter the universe was set in motion. This process is taken to be sufficient explanation for the origin of life. But on close examination it is found that such an explanation really conveys no actual meaning. It would be as meaningful to say merely that the world began; the one phrase contains practically as much thought as the other. It is apparent, then, that here is no solid rock on which unlimited thought processes can be built. A mind attempting to think on the basis of materialism is like a house of numerous rooms, unconnected by passageways, and built on separate small foundations. Such a structure may be strong, useful, and even beautiful, but it can never be as large or as useful or as beautiful as the house constructed on a single, broad foundation. Such a house lacks meaning and integration.
If, then, the phenomenal world has no meaning to the materialist, he is incapable of treating it with his conscious mind. If it resembles the earthquake in that it is unreasoned and meaningless, he is compelled to treat it instinctively. It is not material for conscious volitional thought. He must, perforce, treat the world instinctively, and he may or may not rationalize his instinctive behavior. Perhaps our best example of this materialistic instinctive activity is the European War. In retrospect there are innumerable rationalizations for what happened. In reality it was almost wholly instinctual, and conscious thought had practically no part in it.
In contrast to the situation resulting from materialism, spirituality does give this broad foundation which is so necessary for integrated thinking. It is not intended here to maintain that by understanding spirituality, one may understand all the technicalities of the physical creation. Only infinite wisdom could understand the explanation of the universe, and man’s mind is characteristically finite. But a belief in Divinity gives meaning and reason to life, even though it still leaves us without a technical explanation.
If spirituality does anything toward
giving man a reason for being, then
[Page 450] he is justified in using it to the greatest
possible extent, for it provides him
with a valuable starting point for his
conscious thinking. It is the trunk
which supports and nourishes the
numerous thought-branches of his
mind. As such, then, it is an integrating
factor and of immense importance
in the development of consciousness.
In the words of Jung, man’s belief in
spiritual phenomena constantly releases
him from the fetters of pure
concretism in which his senses would
hold him. It is his defense against
mere sensationalism (desolating materialism).
ALTHOUGH our conclusion is that spirituality is the greatest civilizing influence, nevertheless the world at present is distinctly materialistic. As it was pointed out above, the materialist is well adjusted to his surroundings. This is a material civilization in which people are living fairly satisfactory lives. And from the standpoint of psychiatry that is all that is necessary to avoid psychoneurosis. To constantly compensate in relation to external conditions usually insures one against insanity. But who would favor mere adjustment when there is the possibility of unlimited progress? There can be little hope for an appreciable advance in civilization on a materialistic basis, for the psychological reasons mentioned above. Materialism and culture are not related.
The Bahá’ís find the new spiritual impetus toward a great civilization in the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh. There is now a psychological necessity for new religious symbols as avenues for man to escape from his present extraordinarily developed material environment. The old religious symbols are no longer adequate; they are outworn. Man is facing a wholly different psychological situation from that of a hundred years ago. The symbol of a limited sectarian church contains no stimulus, gives no mental enrichment, to a mind that must be socialized in regard to the whole world. Those symbols of the past have carried man to his present state, but new symbols will take him to an actual millenium. There is no reason for trying to rehabilitate the old symbols, for they were meant for only a limited period in the history of mankind. Christ said: “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 shall guide you into all the truth.”
‘Abdu’l-Bahá wrote: “Bahá’u’lláh has breathed the Holy Spirit into the dead body of the world, consequently every weak soul is strengthened by these fresh Divine out-breathings . . . every darkened soul will become illumined, every ignorant one will become wise. . . . A new era of Divine consciousness is upon us. The world of humanity is going through a process of transformation. A new race is being developed. The thoughts of human brotherhood are permeating all regions. New ideals are stirring the depths of hearts, and a new spirit of universal consciousness is being profoundly felt by all men.”[3]
THE WORLD CRISIS
MOUNTFORT MILLS
II. ITS CURE
NINETEEN years ago today[1] the Great War ended. Who that experienced it can forget the emotion of that moment when news of the Armistice came through? How as one man our hearts turned in simple gratitude to God and in wide embrace to all our fellows throughout the world who had suffered so cruelly and so long? Who can forget also, that joined with the deep sigh of ease from pain long borne that breathed forth from every land went forth, too, a great resolve that such a thing should never be again?
The irony of it!
That we, upon this very anniversary day so shortly after, should be seeking ways to stem the threat of even greater woe of the very self-same kind.
The tragedy of it!
What words can say it!
Yet what greater tribute could be paid to the memory of the millions who then gave their lives and to those countless others who must carry bruised or broken bodies to the end than devoted effort to make good that resolve of nineteen years ago, that such a thing shall never be again. May today’s remembrances spur and aid our effort now to learn the lessons that our sufferings then failed to understand!
But first it should be recorded that
in the light of the Bahá’í teachings the
sacrifice of those millions was not in
vain. In the talk yesterday upon the
cause of the crisis that confronts the
world it appeared that, underlying all
other influences that contribute to it,
was man’s failure to understand that
unity is the fundamental law of the
universe, governing all life. From the
altar upon which those millions laid
their priceless treasure the flame of
that unity did rise and for a while
burn brilliantly. The great institution
at Geneva is the proof. Noble in conception
and marking the most advanced
forward movement of all time
in the life of collective groups, the
League of Nations did raise to a far
higher level the conduct of international
affairs. In its early days, while
its members were still under the spell
of the spirit of unity which their joint
sufferings had released, it broke down
the rigid formalism of dealings at
arms length between nations and set
up the practice of gathering together
face to face in open discussion of their
problems, a technique of infinitely
greater flexibility and opportunity for
[Page 452] mutual understanding and cooperation;
one that went far toward the
true unity that would have achieved,
according to these teachings, its high
purpose of ending war.
In that it has not met the hopes of its founders. But through it the germ of united cooperation that, rightly understood, will ultimately achieve that end was released into the world of human consciousness. Even the great price paid for this may prove not to have been too high.
For, as was foreshadowed yesterday, it is in that germ of unity that lies hidden the cure of the dangers that now threaten mankind. The failure of the League of Nations to put an end to war is an excellent illustration of the futility of measures of the kind, however well intentioned and conceived, that are not based upon that fact. Bahá’u’lláh, the Author of the Bahá’í teachings, states in one of His writings:
“My object is none other than the betterment of the world and the tranquility of its peoples. The well being of mankind, its peace and security are unattainable unless and until its unity is firmly established. . . . O ye children of men, the fundamental purpose animating the Faith of God and His Religion is to safeguard the interests and promote the unity of the human race. . . . This is the straight path, the fixed and immovable foundation. Whatsoever is raised on this foundation the changes and chances of the world can never impair its strength nor will the revolution of countless centuries undermine its structure.”
But, it may well be asked, what hope, if the agonies of the Great War did not teach the lesson, and the mighty effort of the nations through Geneva has well nigh come to naught, with the whole world once more frantically arming against its neighbor on a scale of destruction and at a cost that makes the arms of the Great War seem almost playthings; what hope is there that this unity can be realized? War appears inevitable in human relations. Human nature does not change. We must accept conditions as they are and adjust our lives accordingly.
To this the Bahá’í teachings reply that if the establishment of unity depended upon man’s unaided effort then the outlook for security and peace would, indeed, be hopeless. But Bahá’u’lláh assures us that help, not for many long years within his reach and never before in such effectiveness, is today but awaiting his call to come to his aid in every difficulty that lies in his path.
“A new life,” He writes, “is in this age stirring within all the peoples of the earth, and yet none hath discovered its cause or perceived its motive.”
As was pointed out in yesterday’s
talk, there is but one source of power
in the universe, creative force itself,
governed by the law of unity and unceasingly
at work in both the visible
and the invisible worlds. How little
the nature of this force is understood
is tragically shown by man’s bungling
course these past nineteen years.
What a perfect parallel that course
has been with that of the child spoken
of yesterday who persisted in thrusting
his tiny hand into the fire and,
despite his sufferings, to do so again
and again in defiance of the laws of
[Page 453] combustion. So we, despite the agony
that our challenge of this law of unity
brought upon us, have failed to learn
from that terrible experience. In
childish wilfulness we persist in ordering
our international life in the
same old ways of separation and self-seeking,
the ways that brought the
pain upon us. Again we have thrust
our hand into the flame and already
the first throbs of the same anguish as
before are being felt in the world.
We no longer have the justification for this of childhood, of innocent ignorance.
THESE teachings lay unmistakably clear before our eyes the nature and method of the power that we are defying. As the law of its expression is the same in the visible as in the invisible world the limited capacity which we have shown can probably best observe it where it can be most clearly seen,—in the world of nature. That we can measurably understand.
There we find that progress is attained
by movement in cycles, through
the annual revolution of the four
seasons, during which latent life
which has lain dormant through the
hard frozen period of winter is quickened
into new activity and pressed
forward in added growth and expansion
to ultimate fruition and harvest.
Then there is rest from this
stress of gestation and birth and again
the intervening period of quiescence,
winter, before the next cycle is begun.
So, too, in the invisible world, in the
areas of consciousness where lie the
understanding and directing powers
that control human relationships.
Here, too, progress is attained in
rhythmic cycles, though of vastly greater
length than the yearly term in the
physical world. But in precise analogy
to that world there is in the higher
realms of consciousness a springtime,
summer, autumn and winter; a time
when there is a quickening of latent
powers, of coming into awareness of
new sensibilities, new sympathies and
deeper and wider understanding. This
is the period when new inventions are
brought to light, when there is a fuller
understanding of economic laws and
a broader grasp of social philosophy
and the right adjustment of human
relations. And, invariably, flooding
this new understanding, comes increased
spiritual perception and illumination.
Developing these new
powers to the extent of his capacity,
under the impulse of this quickening
force man advances in the new cycle
to the high point of its full fruition
and harvest. That point appears to
the world as the establishment and
enjoyment of a new civilization, with
all its material and cultural advance
above the point at which it stood
when this quickening impulse of spiritual
springtime was first felt. Then
here, likewise, the strength and vigor
that has produced so much relaxes for
a time. In form these civilizations begin
to yield, to recede from the high
standards of their full fruition and
gradually to sink back into the hard
contracted materialism that is their
destruction,—their winter time. This
is the record of all the great civilizations
of history,—Persian, Hebrew,
Greek, Roman, Arabian. And the
transcendent power that was silently
at work behind each of these mighty
[Page 454] movements is still at work. The
rhythmic pulsations in evolution that
these civilizations represent are still
beating in the heart of the universe.
And we are actors in this cosmic
drama.
ONE other figure in this drama must be told of—the central one of all. Just as it is the mounting power of the physical sun that creates and impels the new life of springtime in the world of nature, so it is the rising power of the Sun of the Spirit that quickens life in the higher realms of the soul, symbolized in loving mercy to man’s limited vision by the embodiment of this Sun in human form. This is the supreme role played by all of the giant spiritual teachers of the past,— the prophets. This is the role which Bahá’u’lláh fills today, no greater, no different from the parts taken by his predecessors. It is the same. As the physical sun of next spring will be the same as the sun of this year, so the Light that has illumined each of these towering figures in history is one and the same. It shines upon the world through Bahá’u’lláh today.
From that station, to cheer and encourage the journey that lies before us and that seems so dark today and filled with danger, He tells us that this new life that “is stirring within all peoples” at this time is the force of creative power itself, bursting forth once again, obedient to its law, in all the radiance and quickening joy of a new spiritual springtime; that within the flow of this mighty stream we lie. It follows the law of unity. Until now we have set ourselves against its might. Henceforth, with this new understanding, we can if we but will lay our courses with its current, strike out boldly and be carried forward by its irresistible sweep into that land of security and peace for which those millions we bow before in reverent memory today made the ultimate sacrifice.
This way lies the cure of the world crisis.
- ↑ Armistice Day, 1937. The second of three addresses given over Station WQXR, New York, on November 10, 11 and 12, 1937.
FROM SA’DÍ’S ROSE-GARDEN
In fulfillment of his vow, a king gave a purse of dirhems to his slave, and bade him divide the sum amongst all the holy men. . . . Each day the slave would set out with the purse, each night he would return and kiss the purse and lay it (still full of gold) before his master; then he would say: “No matter where I sought, I found no holy men.” At last the king said: “How can such a thing be? To my knowledge there are four hundred holy men in this city.” The slave replied: “O Lord of the world, those who are holy will not take the dirhems, and those who will take them are not holy.”
WAR AND HUMAN NATURE
A STATEMENT
THE celebration of this Armistice Day, 1937, should not be allowed to pass without a serious consideration by all Americans of the dangers of another war. Of course everybody is opposed to war! But undeclared “wars” are now raging in Europe and in Asia, and no one can deny that we are in a situation which threatens war.
Faced with this grave set of circumstances, many people will say, “war is inevitable; it is part of human nature to have wars.”
We,[1] as psychologists, protest most emphatically against the common belief that wars are necessary results of “human nature.” This opinion is without scientific foundation. There is no evidence to justify it. In a recent poll of several hundred American psychologists, all of whom have studied the instinct question thoroughly, over 90 per cent denied that any proof existed for the view that man’s instincts lead to war.
Not only is the inevitability of war unsound psychology; it is also a handicap to peace efforts. A person who accepts this belief will ignore practical avenues for the peaceful settlement of international disputes.
To those who believe that man’s “aggressive instincts” cause a war, let us ask this question: Whose aggressive instincts? Those of the men who fight the war, or those whose acts lead into the war? There is a confusion of thinking here for many people. Only superficially is a war like two men fighting. When two men get into a personal fight, each knows why he is fighting and has the alternative of not fighting if the stakes are not worth his efforts. In case of war, on the other hand, the psychologist sees people fighting who are (for the most part) prevented from knowing the real reasons for the war, and are instead artificially motivated by propaganda composed (as we know now) in many cases of utter falsehoods.
Even if wars were like individual
conflicts, the psychologist might still
ask the question: Does society tolerate
the settling of individual disputes by
fighting? It does not. Human beings
have accepted courts of law in place
of the primitive “eye for an eye.” No
one frets because his impulses to
fight over property, differences of
opinion, and such matters, are suppressed.
Nor is any harm done to individuals
by this interference. Then
why should we say that because of
human nature nations must fight?
Psychologists see the possibilities of
adequate techniques which can and
[Page 456] should be established to keep the
world at peace.
From any viewpoint, the damages of war are tremendous. We, as psychologists, note particularly the great increase in numbers of mental breakdowns, the ruin of many personalities through shocks and strains, the irremediable harm done to those who are mangled and disfigured, the devastation of economic depressions which follow war—these alone are sufficient, we think, to overbalance any conceivable benefits from war.
But we must add to these the great losses of human values, the destruction of our moral standards, which are an inevitable part of war. We spend years teaching our children the sanctity of human life, the rights of other people to freedom of action, possession of property, etc. We punish violators severely. But, as soon as war is declared, we tell young men to kill, maim and hurt other men; to destroy homes and lay waste cities; to bomb and gas women and children. Such actions inevitably leave their marks upon the characters of these men. Indeed, we know from the postwar years that such damage to personalities was done, and that it can never be completely undone.
War is not inevitable, psychologically. It is not part of “human nature.” It is fought by men who often do not know why they are fighting, doing things which are repulsive to them but which they have been told they must do. It can be prevented. If we learn how to discount the propaganda of war-makers, and how to insist upon the peaceable adjustment of international conflicts, (as we have upon the peaceable adjustment of individual conflicts), there is no psychological reason for wars to continue.
- ↑ Statement issued by Council of Directors of Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues.
MEXICO’S PEACE-POET AND KING
BEATRICE IRWIN
AMONG the great names on Mexico’s scroll of fame, none stands higher than that of Netzahualcoyotl, King of the flourishing realm of Texcoco and a contemporary of Montezuma. Though his achievements are not featured so much in histories or guide books as those of the great Aztec King, still such data as we have of his record, fires the imagination, because it was in advance of his times, and is in many respects as great an inspiration to the present as it was to the past.
Netzahualcoyotl was a philosopher of beauty and of peace, he abhored war and forbade human sacrifice, encouraging arts and crafts as a path to the peace and prosperity for which his kingdom eventually became famous.
As a child he was hidden in a tree by his father Ixtlixochitl, before a great battle, in which he saw his father killed before his eyes by Tezozomoc, the terrible Chief of Atzcapotzalco.
For a considerable period he was obliged to live a fugitive life hiding in the mountains, and he was captured several times, but ransomed by the women of Texcoco who offered their jewels for his return to the kingdom.
Texcoco is now a small mountain town, twenty-six miles east of Mexico City, and only a faint echo of its former splendor remains.
But still the weavers of Texcoco are considered among the most skillful, because they have protected the taste and purity of their colors and designs against the vulgarity of manufacturing trends and the ornamental exaggerations demanded by tourists.
And so we find the influence of a master mind still making itself felt in this small community which is perched on an eminence overlooking the glorious sweep of the valley of Mexico!
And what a valley it is! Girt with endless tides of mountains that rise and fall and rise again to melt into the stars.
Shining lakes spot the purple hollows of distance, and relieve the eye as it copes with the level immensity of fertile plains rippling away into many colored soils.
It is not surprising to find that this vantage point of natural beauty was selected as a dwelling place, and immortalized in poetry, by Netzahualcoyotl.
We can feel grateful that any of his
poems have come down to us, since
the missionary zeal of the Spaniards
caused them to destroy the famous
[Page 458] library of Texcoco with its picture
chronicles and wisdom literature.
I VISITED Texcoco on a breezy June morning, and some impressions of this expedition may be of interest to those who like to leave the beaten track.
Our car hummed along between meadows bright with spring crops and for some distance under avenues of poplar and ash, which are both trees of abundant planting in this country.
The approach was more engaging than the destination, for the present townlet of Texcoco, at first glance, has little architectural or picturesque appeal.
There are neither striking buildings nor glowing markets and the famous weavers have to be hunted for in homely places.
But we were bent on exploring the country of Netzahualcoyotl, not on acquiring possessions, so this fact did not disturb us.
As we slowed down into the narrow street, an Indian youth alighted bird-like on our running board.
The perfection of physical poise that an Indian can maintain at any angle is quite miraculous!
He was ready, and as we found out later, very competent to steer our course without inflicting the wearisome tirades of the professional guide.
We were anxious to see the mountain home of this poet philosopher, and so on we bumped and crawled for about three miles, over uncharted tracks, till we reached Tecotzingo, the former capital of the State.
Now, it is an oasis of market gardens, landscaped horizontally like outstretched arms, on each side of a very wide and partially grass-grown stairway, whose shallow steps have scarcely more than the elevation of a ripple. This is the original stair built by Netzahualcoyotl up the side of the mountain.
A profusion of margarites, blue Egyptian lilies, clove carnations, roses, and aromatic camomile, mingled their red, white and blue in a bright mosaic beneath the dancing shadows of peach, plum and fig trees! This rural and rather unkempt nursery garden sends its produce into the markets of Texcoco and Mexico.
Halfway up the hill we surprised a calm-eyed Indian girl of about fifteen, performing her ablutions at a small spring, with the aid of a polished stone, which seemed to serve a dual purpose of soap and scrub brush. She made no gesture of confusion, only paused and looked at us for a moment quietly, much as a bird or animal does when surprised in some sequestered spot.
Our young guide, Ignacio, walked ahead without glancing to right or left. The naturalness and dignity of these Indians is often a rebuke to our self-conscious civilization.
SOON we began to lose the
gracious stairway and gardens, and
the hillside became rugged and stony,
dramatic rocks of crimson and violet
Tezontle, (which is a kind of lava
product abundant in Mexico) challenged
our endurance, but as Ignacio
promised us shrines and ceremonial
baths, higher up the mountain, we
plodded on companioned by masses of
[Page 459] wild flowers and an endless variety of
delicate ferns and lime green lichens,
which made ghostly silhouettes upon
the great rocks. At last, we reached a
wide path encircling the mountain at
about a quarter of a mile from its
summit, and found ourselves facing a
small temple or shrine cut out of the
crimson rock. It presented a central
elevation which may possibly have
served as an altar, but not for human
sacrifice, because this custom was forbidden
by Netzahualcoyotl, a fact
which alone raises his name high
above the age in which he lived. From
this shrine, again, the valley of Mexico
stretched away as far as eye could
see in a sublime ease of blue and
green and gold.
Perhaps from this eminence the poet philosopher meditated on the majesty of earth’s response to those unseen forces which are the basis of the fertility cults and rituals of the Indian races? It is certain at least that this royal dreamer realized many of his visions in works, for in addition to his literary output, he advised and designed the building of a great dike, ten miles long, to protect the city from flood, and divided the lake of Texcoco into two sections. This historic dike is still standing.
He also founded the first academy of music, letters, and art in Texcoco. He was neither politician nor warrior, but a builder of beauty, and he improved the laws of his people to such an extent, that his code for Texcoco was used as a pattern by the surrounding states. In the Indian fashion, all the fine arts flourished in his kingdom, and Texcoco became a great culture center.
Doctor Edgar Hewett in his recent book “Ancient Life In Mexico And Central America” has produced for us some beautiful translations of the poems of this king. The following quotations are taken from his book:
- Take the delicious baths of the
- flowered lakes
- With willowed shores of the
- Mountains of Atloyan.
- Whence are loosed the mists which
- are scattered above us.
- And gather in your hands the precious
- flowers which are found
- there in continuous bud.
- On passing by it sounds to me as if
- even the rocks were replying
- to the sweet songs of the
- flowers.
- The clear and murmuring waters
- respond:
- The azure fountain sings, dashes
- itself to pieces and sings
- again.
- The Cenzontle answers, the coyoltototl
- is want to accompany
- them.
- Many musical birds scatter their
- trills as one melody.
- They exalt the earth making their
- sweet voices heard.
These pastoral outpourings of a sensitive and profound soul have a certain kinship with the Psalms of David and even with the Chants of Akhnaton the heretic King of Egypt (1300 B.C.).
Proceeding from the shrine where
perhaps these very songs were once
chanted, we shortly reached two circular
baths, also cut out of solid rock
of the mountain, we were amazed at
their perfect geometric precision, and
by their unusual position on jutting
[Page 460] spurs of the hill. Water was evidently
conducted into them by the
natural drainage of the rain flow
through cleverly angled incisions
made in the overhanging rock. This
skillful device and the few steps
leading down into these small circular
baths make them models of engineering
admiration, mysteriously achieved
by primitive resource and skill. Who
shall say what was the original purpose
of these baths so dramatically
situated in the stately path that encircles
the hilltop? But ablutions have
always been associated with ceremonial
rites, so perhaps, they were the
necessary outposts of the temple
shrine and used as fonts of symbolic
purification?
It is certain that great pageantries of ritual dance and song were held on this mountain, in honor of Sun and Earth.
There is joy in picturing Netzahualcoyotl as a virile bronze garlanded with the flowers which he loved so well, roaming on this billside of Tecotzingo with an eye and ear open to all the mysteries of nature, and seeking in this royal solitude the inspirations which he translated into works of wonder and service for his fellow-men.
Still in the valley of Texcoco the Indian mothers croon his songs to their babes, and the hillside blooms with the same wildflowers that he loved— crimson, purple, azure, white, and gold, a royal spectrum of undying song:—
- Dawn fills the valley with a golden
- wine,
- And all the stars are reaped into
- the night.
- In this hushed hour brown Earth
- becomes divine
- Unfolding flowers swing censers
- to the Light.
THE TURNING POINT
ALICE SCHWARZ-SOLIVO
LOOKING back over the past thousands of years, examining the course of humanity’s evolution, we contemplate a constant play of composition and decomposition, the only constancy being this eternal change.
Empires arose and vanished, dynasties came into power and to their extinction. The world as a whole is in permanent process of development, nature suffers eternally changing seasons, the stars move for ever in cosmically conditioned paths toward spheres of immeasurable distance, obeying everlasting laws. Upon this law rests the universe and evolution of man.
We can but surmise the origin of all existence. This spirit, never to be comprehended, this divine wisdom which at no time can be fathomed, this creative power never to be understood, is apparent to us only in the abundance of an immense wealth, in thousandfold formations. In all creation we find the expression of lawfulness; in the macrocosm as well as in the microcosm; in the vast universe even as in the smallest germ cell invisible to the naked eye. Even though the knowledge of science is able to conceive matter and mind, yet it is beyond all comprehension to answer the question of the origin of life and spirit. How much less are we able to solve the question of the wellspring of eternal essence,—God Himself. For man can never attain unto the realm of the All-Comprising.
To make Himself known to mankind and give cognizance of His eternal being God appoints His messengers, who inform us of His word and will.
A new cycle began with the advent of each of these messengers. With their teachings, guided by God given enlightenment, a new spiritual ascent began, followed by a time of high perfection, a golden age of spiritual expression, and then again a gradual descent set in. Spiritual laws sank ever more into oblivion, leaving behind mere petrified cult of dogmas, or slavish servitude to religious customs. The sacred teachings became devoid of the spirit, the fragrance departed, an estrangement occurred, a God-remoteness, which proved fatal to mankind.
Again such a cycle of culture is
closing, the Christian era is coming
to completion. Let us look back and
view the age of its greatest cultural
perfection. Towards the close of the
Middle Ages, predominantly in the
fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, it
was the Christian religion which inspired
[Page 462] immortal works of art, especially
the sculptors and painters, who
chose the subjects of their work most
frequently from the Bible. At that
time art stood at its height as bearer
of civilization, extraordinarily so in
Italy, to mention only Leonardo da
Vinci, Michel Angelo, Raphael and
Dante with his Divine Comedy.
The height of spiritual expression in the production of religious works of art was obtained in Germany by painters like Grünewald, Altdorfer, Dürer, and by sculptors and woodcarvers like Tilman Riemenschneider. Churches and Cathedrals of Roman and Gothic style also convey to us a deep religious feeling in the pure lines of their architecture. In much later years the same sincere devotion is expressed in the compositions of Johann Sebastian Bach’s music.
Such expression of religious devotion is not to be found in the creations of today. It almost seems as if deep religious feeling, that power of devout absorption in the eternal, had vanished completely.
In Germany literary art attained to great perfection in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, demonstrated by geniuses like Schiller, Goethe, Kant, Fichte and Hegel. The authors of today start from an entirely different point of view which is so evident in modern poetry and philosophy. Today the greatest emphasis is centered on initiative in technology and natural science; never before have inventions and perfections in the field of industry and technics been so stressed and developed.
To the man of today there no longer remains time nor leisure to draw into close communion with the eternal, to place his own reality consciously into connection with daily life, and to harmonize his words with his deeds. How different our deeds may appear before God’s face, how far removed from our own self righteous judgment.
Many a new trend of thought is trying to find a way out of this state of spiritual impoverishment; currents of imminent value spring up which earnestly strive to bring about that connection between God and our daily life. All these are paths leading towards God.
All those souls which hunger, all those who sincerely struggle to attain to truth must recognize the redeeming message of the advent of Bahá’u’lláh, they must realize that their longing is appeased, their hearts are made radiant for He establishes the Kingdom of God on earth. In His revelation the urge to find and experience God is satisfied.
A new guidance has been given to us by divine decree, a new path has been shown to us leading upward, again the Almighty Lord speaks to His creatures through the message of a Chosen One, chosen for our era.
The appearance of every divine
messenger signifies a turning point in
spiritual comprehension, a broader
perception of the universe, a deepening
of religion, a closer bond between
the creator and all visible and invisible,
in other words—an approach to
eternal truth. Everything we see
blossoming forth, everything growing
up before our eyes and all that
which, though invisible to us, enfolds
itself, flowers and ripens, is
[Page 463] truth out of His hands. And truth is
fulfillment of life; our hands shall
stretch out to grasp this truth because
a new spiritual world is before
us,—is waiting for us because we
need it!
The sun does not need us in order to shine, but we need the sun.
Such a sun is Bahá’u’lláh, the herald of the Bahá’í Faith, who, upon God’s command, has sent forth the enkindling rays to enlighten the world and illumine our future.
In recognition of God’s boundless grace we celebrate today, with overflowing hearts, the feast of his birthday.[1]
The word of the Prophets of old will be fulfilled under Bahá’u’lláh’s sacred guidance. This prophecy promises us that all the religions of this world, which are now fighting each other with devastating fanaticism, will come to a deeper understanding of the belief in God, a belief free from creeds and confessions, disengaged of any priesthood, a faith which will gather all together into one. Bahá’u’lláh’s fundamental law is the spiritual oneness of mankind, in spite of the manifold material forms, and the oneness of religion. One God, one humanity, one spiritual command! Justice, truthfulness and trustworthiness: these are the pillars upon which Bahá’u’lláh builds the new world,—His kingdom. He establishes the house of justice, a court of arbitration, which recognizes as superior only the power of God. Through it, in years to come, the nations shall receive protection from all adversity in an honest, unselfish endeavor, according to God’s command. In order to obtain a true and permanent world peace He demands friendly discussions among the nations. His advent signifies the remedy for all the religious misery of our times.
The Teachings of Bahá’u’lláh are essentially religious and spiritual laws so all-comprising that people of all religious faiths can find in them a way to higher development. They enkindle love and adoration for God, and awaken in every soul the desire to prove this devotion by active and sincere neighborly love. Bahá’u’lláh brings to mankind a practical basis on which to build up union standing in direct relation to the imminent need of the present time, and paving the way to a great, all-inclusive civilization of the future. Half buried Christian ideals are being revivified, inspired with a new reality,—for Bahá’u’lláh teaches us self-denial in the interest of others and knowledge of self, to be pure and true, reverent and helpful, grateful and faithful!
The entire further evolution of the nations is founded upon divine ordinance, therefore the peace and safety of all countries rests upon the laws of God’s messengers.
Bahá’u’lláh shows us the way to solve the grave economic and judicial problems, to wit: the working together of all for the good of all. Laws have to be drawn up—so He says— which will make it possible to provide harmony, happiness and complete sufficiency for each and everyone through special adaptation to the political and economic relations between individuals and the nations.
He speaks to us of a new law concerning
inheritance, of education and
[Page 464] of self-education. He addresses an
urgent admonition to the press which
should stand as a mirror of truth and
sincerity, and should not influence
people arbitrarily.
We are told that all departments of art, science, industry and commerce, in short all professions are to be understood as service to God. The profession should be to us not support of life but purport of life.
Prayer shall be to us an indispensable duty because it is our expression of love to God!
Bahá’u’lláh commands every Bahá’í to be a loyal, obedient and reliable subject to all authority and never to interfere with politics.
He predicts freedom of the seas and a general uniform currency. At His instigation the first mention was made of one auxiliary language for intercourse all over the world.
Through wise explanations He shows us the complete accord of religion with science, there can be no contradiction as soon as the true principles of religion are understood. He speaks the following words to His disciples: “O ye people of Bahá: Every one of the revealed commands is a strong fortress for the protection of the world. Verily, I desire naught else but your safety and your progress!”
New prospects are opening up for us in all provinces encompassing our earthly existence, and also in those touching on our spiritual life and our immortality. And yet it is no new religion which is brought to us by Bahá’u’lláh, it is the religion that leads to a higher state of spirituality at every advent of a God-Chosen-one, but does not prejudice against the full value of former revelations. The time has come in which Christ has promised His return, meaning that His teachings will come to their full appreciation and to completion in the realm of Bahá’u’lláh. As Christ possessed power over the hearts and minds of men and could change conditions on earth, so has the Almighty Father bestowed upon Bahá’u’lláh the Word to re-vivify humanity with a new spirit. Yea, God bestowed upon him power over all religions, therewith making His word law and his command irresistibly compelling.
Joy shall be ours in the midst of life’s unrest, its want of union and its misery, for we have found our center of gravity in the assurance of divine help, in the security of His mercy. Now the time has come when the starving soul finds abundance in the message of Bahá’u’lláh. At such an important turning point have we at rived today, by the boundless grace of God.
- ↑ An address delivered November 12, 1935. Translated by Olga K. Mills.
PHILOSOPHY AND REVELATION
G. A. SHOOK
III. SCIENCE AND RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE
IN this day when inherited religions have failed to supply that spiritual knowledge and certainty demanded both by the generality of mankind and the intelligentsia, we are surrounded on all sides by cults and philosophies which attempt to succeed where religious institutions have apparently failed. These movements are to be commended in that they are breaking away from the past and endeavoring to solve some of our most urgent problems. “The deepest drive of human life,” says Wieman, “is to render itself more abundant. To become more abundant means to have access to wider ranges of experience for use and enjoyment. The one supreme and indispensable means to this increase of life is meaning.”[1]
But philosophy in the past has failed in its attempt to give meaning to life and it is well to examine its claims today. Its leaning, in some quarters, towards mysticism is surely a long stride away from materialism, but as Greek philosophy degenerated into a closed system which failed to disclose the higher values, although it was elevated above materialism, so may our modern philosophy repeat the same error. If philosophy bases its new claims upon some latent power which is to be realized by combining philosophy and mysticism we should also examine the claims of mysticism. We need not be surprised to find many thoughtful people outside the pale of religion who are mystically inclined.
To begin with, all creative work requires
some kind of meditation. One
must not only concentrate, bringing
to bear all his mental faculties, but all
extraneous thoughts must be excluded.
The whole personality must be involved.
A broad comprehensive view
of the problem is absolutely necessary
if new relations are to be discovered.
In this moment of abstraction, “consciousness
as bare event,” Dewey calls
it, one seems to consult with his own
inner reality, rational soul, or spirit.
The greatest work of the world requires
this kind of reflection. It is
superior to ordinary thinking in that
it utilizes powers that come from a
more universal outlook; something
that is not a product of mere training.
Without this faculty, moreover, man
is not superior to the animal. It is
very like the mystical experience in
that the mind is not active (in the
usual sense) in these moments of reflection;
[Page 466] for following the period of
concentration there comes a moment
of mental relaxation. In this state one
is able to obtain a more comprehensive
view of any problem, moral or
ethical. The mind has a better chance
to function as it invariably does after
one has had a restful sleep. It makes
fewer “false” guesses. To most humans
this state is as rare as it is valuable
and we are apt to read into it
more than we should. Leuba has
shown by statistics that a solution of
an intricate problem often comes to
an inventor or scientist after he has
dismissed it from his mind. He may
not be in a state of abstraction or meditation,
he may be just recreating or
apparently doing nothing that requires
any concentration.
THE positive results that are derived from mental relaxation (letting go) are familiar to all original thinkers. Leuba has pointed out the value of meditation in religion and creative work; but there are three things about meditation that must not be overlooked.
1. In meditation the mind is associated with, or turned toward, some object and that object determines the quality of the meditation. It is true there may be moments when there is very little intellectual activity but it is the direction of the mind, prior to this state, that determines the value of meditation. If the thoughts are upon a high ideal the results will be spiritual, moral or ethical but if they are turned to commonplace objects the results will be commonplace. The mere act of diminishing mental activity does not of itself yield anything profitable. “As a rule, mystical states merely add a supersensuous meaning to the ordinary outward data of consciousness.”[2] The thoughts that come to us in meditation are not necessarily valuable; they may be useless or even destructive.
2. In the mystic’s moment of meditation he may reach a state where thinking is a minimum and at this point through some extraordinary illumination he may experience a feeling of ecstasy and peace that would not come to him in more reflective moments. Such an “immediate experience,” however, though valuable is not knowledge nor would it be mistaken for knowledge even by those philosophers who favor mystical practice.[3]
3. Finally, for the religious mystic the history of religious experience shows that these moments of low mental activity may be positively harmful especially to those who are emotionally unstable; in this condition one is susceptible to suggestions of all kinds. The religious background invariably asserts itself, when mental activity is replaced by mere feeling, directing and interpreting the emotional state.
In the case of a creative thinker this crucial moment, the moment of letting go, may yield results that would not have been obtained had he persisted in concentrating upon his problem. But let us observe that even here the immediate experience, novel perhaps because there is little reflection, is necessary but not sufficient to originality. We must not forget the preliminary training and work of the thinker.
[Page 467]
That is, meditation, contemplation,
or what may be called the mystical
experience, may help the scientist or
inventor to organize his talents and
to make the most of his thinking but
it cannot make a creative genius out
of one who is devoid of originality.
Under the popular definition of mysticism, any one who meditates might be called a mystic but the claims of such “mystics” are too general for analysis and we turn therefore to the older use of the term in order to examine the claims. By mysticism, as already explained, is meant that endeavor to find some subjective method by which the individual soul can transcend its true station and identify itself directly with God. Some authorities use the terms “radical mysticism” or “extreme mysticism” when referring to that philosophy which maintains that the soul may become one with the Absolute, Infinite, or God.
The Christian mystic distinguished between meditation and contemplation. “The function of this first stage, Meditation, is to limit the activity of the mind. The second stage, Contemplation, involves a greater mental simplification and a cessation of all effort, i.e., complete passivity.”[4]
THERE are many modifications of this “extreme” or “radical” mysticism but they all agree that the Infinite, Highest Good, or Ultimate Reality is obtained through the heart unimpaired by the mind. To the mystic, the mind functions in the world of sense and it can never discover the Absolute, or, in the terminology of religion, God. Although the mystic denies that the intellect can assist the soul to attain the presence of the Infinite, nevertheless as a class mystics realize that there must be some metaphysical basis for their belief. “They that are the worshipers of the idol which their imaginations have carved, and who call it Inner Reality such men are in truth accounted among the heathen.”[5]
There is, of course, another type which cannot be overlooked; the aesthetic. Here the subject becomes absorbed in the contemplation of the beauty of the world; God is to be seen and experienced everywhere in nature, that is, He is immanent. While the ecstatic enjoyment of this type is closely related to a genuine mystical experience since the subject becomes one with the Infinite, the object of contemplation or adoration is a pantheistic God who reveals Himself in the beautiful. He is not the God of prophetic religion who manifests His attributes in a prophet. “Consider the relation between the craftsman and his handiwork, between the painter and his painting. Can it ever be maintained that the work their hands have produced is the same as themselves? By Him Who is the Lord of the Throne above and of earth below! They can be regarded in no other light except as evidences that proclaim the excellence and perfection of their author.”[6]
The claims of the religious mystic rest upon “experience” and logical doctrines.
Let us observe first the claims for
experience. A few philosophers[7]
maintain that the testimony of the
mystic, concerning what he sees and
[Page 468] feels in his moments of illumination,
should outweigh the arguments of the
critics who have never had such experiences.
But Leuba has pointed out
that many of the things that are supposed
to be peculiar to mystical experience
such as rapture, unexpectedness,
sudden break in the train of
thought and feelings, illumination
and ineffability are not peculiar to
ecstasy with a religious background.[8]
Again he warns us that we must distinguish
between experience and any
inference referred to the experience.[9]
We must not confuse sensations, emotions
and thoughts with casual explanations.
If we have experienced
ecstasy no one can doubt the validity
of our experience. Our testimony is
quite sufficient. When, however, we
maintain that we were in the presence
of God and that our ecstasy proves it,
this is manifestly only an inference.
Naturally many mystics take refuge
in ineffability but this might lead to
absurd conclusions.
Leuba recalls the familiar argument which runs like this; if one has seen light, let us say the light of the sun, no one could convince him that he had not seen it. True, but the mystic is not trying to prove that he has had an experience; we accept his own testimony on this. What he is trying to tell us is that he has been in the presence of God, but the only evidence that he can adduce is his experience (ecstasy, rapture) so that in reality what he is trying to convey to us is that his experience proves that he was in the presence of God. The analogy does not hold, however, because the man who has seen the light is not trying to tell us what caused the light. If he should maintain, “I have seen the light and therefore the sun must be shining,” then he would be in the position of the mystic. This is an inference about the light which he has seen.
A little reflection, therefore, will show that the experience is not “immediate,” that is, the mystic does not “experience” the Infinite, the Absolute or the Divine Essence immediately. His immediate experience is of rapture, ecstasy and his union with the Absolute or Divine Essence is an inference.
The question then arises: if the revelations of the heart are not the result of being in the presence of God, what causes these revelations and how do we account for the fact that they are so effective? Space does not permit even a cursory explanation; the reader is referred to works on the psychology of religious mysticism, especially that of Leuba. Briefly, most of these psychological experiences which are interpreted as Divine Revelations are the results of abnormal suggestability. Leuba shows that this plays an important part in ritualistic, revivalistic, and non-religious types of experiences. Moreover some explanation may be advanced for the effectiveness of these experiences. Briefly, valuable ideas may come to one in a partial trance, state of relaxation.
Leuba also observes that mere experience without meaning, without an object, is inadequate; with the relaxation there must be associated a high ideal.
As we have said, with reference to meditation, the object determines the quality.
[Page 469]
TURNING to the philosophical
basis: to begin with, the mystic admits
that not all mystical experiences
are valid. Says Underhill, “The perceptive
power and creative genius of
the mystics as of other artists, sometimes
goes astray.”[10] And then she
suggests that some test be made. But
we cannot claim that through asceticism,
detachment, and mortification
we may become one with the Absolute
and then apply some test to determine
the validity of our experience. To
what higher court do we turn to test
the experience? Is it higher than our
experience? Is it infallible?
The mystic assumes, as a fundamental doctrine, that there are two realms of being; God the Infinite or the Absolute and Man. To explain how man may become part of the infinite God, it is necessary to assume that a particle of the Divine Essence exists in man. “What is not in man he cannot know” is an axiom of the Sufis, therefore there must be an infinitesimal part of the Divine in each of us. In the “Words of Paradise” Bahá’u’lláh says, “Those souls (mystic Sufis) have affirmed concerning the stages of ‘Divine Unity’ that which is the greatest cause of addicting people to idleness and superstition. They have, indeed, removed the distinction and have imagined themselves to be God.” To explain man’s present position (something inherently different from God and yet containing a part of God) it is also assumed that man preexisted, that is, man’s soul or spirit existed in undifferentiated form with God. There is, of course, a dualism here that was never explained satisfactorily. God is supposed to be transcendent and immanent at the same time. He must be beyond us otherwise we would not strive to reach Him and yet to become one with Him we must be a part of Him.
If we assume that God works and thinks as We do then we might show that we existed in God’s mind before we were created and that therefore we preexisted with God since God’s knowledge preexists. But such postulates have no place in modern scientific thinking. If man cannot fathom the reality of the material World, surely he cannot make any assumption as to the way the creator of the world works.
NONE of these doctrines of mysticism rest upon grounds that modern science could defend since they involve assumptions regarding the nature of the Divine Essence which no modern science would venture to make.
These remarks refer to extreme mysticism which is not prevalent today, but some of the doctrines, like the indwelling of the Divine Spark, appear in many types of modern mysticism. We should also note in passing that the tendency of most mystics, ancient and modern, is away from prophetic religion, revelation.
Although prophetic piety and mysticism, i.e., the effort to become identical with God, strive for the same goal, namely a pure life, they are sharply contrasted. “Mysticism and the religion of revelation are the two opposite tendencies of the higher piety which in history ever repel, yet ever attract each other.”[11]
[Page 470]
Mysticism is usually a reaction
against the superficiality of a decadent
civilization. It often reaches its highest
point when prophetic religion is
at its lowest and consequently it appears
superior by comparison. Persons
with a strong desire for things spiritual
are naturally attracted toward a
philosophy of escape, when civilization
seems on the verge of collapse
and are also repelled by the incrustations
of institutional religion.
While mysticism has preserved for us the best in prophetic piety, the contrasts cannot be overlooked. Heiler points out the difference in a few but significant phrases. Prophetic religion is personality-affirming while mysticism is personality-denying. One flees from the world, denies the natural life and ignores history; the other believes in life, values history and endeavors to realize ideals and aims. Of course, pure or absolute mysticism has always been modified by prophetic religion; consequently the type most familiar to the western world possesses warmth and fervor foreign to the east.
The concept of God in either form, however, differs radically from the prophetic ideal. To the mystic the concept of God must be based upon his experience of ecstasy. He may be non-personal, beyond all values, super-good or a loving, personal God, but He is always static and outside of history. To quote Heiler, “The idea of God in the extreme mysticism of the Absolute is merely the speculative interpretation, the metaphysical projection of the experience of ecstasy.”[12] The difficulty, of course, lies in the interpretation of the ecstatic experience, and experience in which there is a cessation of normal consciousness. Parenthetically, this ecstatic experience is not to be confused with the normal experience of religious values as in prophetic religion. As Heiler, shows, the God of mysticism is not a revelation in history; God reveals Himself to every man who is prepared to apprehend Him. The birth of Christ, His suffering, His death, indeed the whole history of redemption, is valuable to the mystic only in so far as it prepares him for the mystical experience. A divinely appointed mediator, then, becomes merely a symbol of an infinite Deity. The mystic is, therefore, led to concepts of God which are not only opposed to prophetic religion but to history.
Heiler points out the limitations of mysticism in other fields.[13] Since God reveals Himself directly to the mystic, he is exalted above religious authority. He maintains a similar attitude toward ethics; to the mystic, moral action is not a thing good in itself. Little consideration is given to the social order since mysticism is an esoteric religion designed for a few gifted persons. Neither is mysticism concerned with world civilization, for pure mysticism is hostile to all civilization. In the concept of immortality we see the same non-social, static ideal. Immortality is merely the ecstatic vision of, and union with God.
IN conclusion, meditation
(or contemplation) is necessary to
our spiritual life and to all creative
work. Even the mystical experience,
the state just beyond the point of meditation
where the mind almost ceases
to reflect, may assist us in developing
[Page 471] new ideas or in deriving new relations
between old ones.
The value of such an experience, however, depends upon the subject on which the mind reflects and not upon the physical experience. “Mystical states indeed wield no authority due simply to their being mystical states.”[14]
The impressions received when the mental activity is a minimum must be judged by the mind in order to be of use and hence cannot be regarded as something that transcends the mind and certainly not as divine revelation.
Again, the psychic experience is not knowledge, although it may be valuable to knowledge.
Insight, intuition, or spiritual perception are not methods of knowledge that are independent of or superior to the mind.
“The conceptions of the devoutest of mystics, the attainments of the most accomplished amongst men, the highest praise which human tongue or pen can render are all the product of man’s finite mind and are conditioned by its limitations.”[15]
- ↑ Wieman: Religious Experience and Scientific Method, p. 339.
- ↑ James: Varieties of Religious Experience, p. 427.
- ↑ Wieman: op. cit., p. 24.
- ↑ Leuba: God or Man?, p. 239.
- ↑ Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 338.
- ↑ Idem., p. 337.
- ↑ Hocking: The Meaning of God in Human Experience, p. 389. James: op. cit., p. 422.
- ↑ Leuba: op. cit., p. 217.
- ↑ Ibid., p. 242.
- ↑ Ruhi Afnán: Mysticism and the Bahá’í Revelation, p. 53.
- ↑ Heiler, op. cit., p. 171.
- ↑ Ibid., p. 146.
- ↑ Ibid., Chap. VI.
- ↑ James: op. cit., p. 428.
- ↑ Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 62.
I beg of Thee, O my God, by Thy power, and Thy might, and Thy sovereignty, which have embraced all who are in Thy heaven and on Thy earth, to make known unto Thy servants this luminous Way and this straight Path, that they may acknowledge Thy unity and Thy oneness, with a certainty which the imaginations of the doubters will not impair, nor the idle fancies of the wayward obscure. Illumine, O my Lord, the eyes of Thy servants, and brighten their hearts with the splendors of the light of Thy knowledge, that they may apprehend the greatness of this most sublime station, and recognize this most luminous Horizon, that haply the clamor of men may fail to deter them from turning their gaze towards the effulgent light of Thy unity, and to hinder them from setting their faces toward the Horizon of detachment.— BAHÁ’U’LLÁH.
THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SPIRIT
‘ABDU’L-BAHÁ
THE immortality of the spirit is mentioned in the Holy Books; it is the fundamental basis of the divine religions. Now punishments and rewards are said to be of two kinds. Firstly, the rewards and punishments of this life; secondly, those of the other world. But the paradise and hell of existence are found in all the worlds of God, whether in this world or in the spiritual heavenly worlds. Gaining these rewards is the gaining of eternal life. That is why Christ said, “Act in such a way that you may find eternal life, and that you may be born of water and the spirit, so that you may enter into the Kingdom.”
The rewards of this life are the
virtues and perfections which adorn
the reality of man. For example, he
was dark and becomes luminous, he
was ignorant and becomes wise, he
was neglectful and becomes vigilant,
he was asleep and becomes awakened,
he was dead and becomes living, he
was blind and becomes a seer, he was
deaf and becomes a hearer, he was
earthly and becomes heavenly, he was
material and becomes spiritual.
Through these rewards he gains spiritual
birth, and becomes a new creature.
He becomes the manifestation
of the verse in the Gospel where it is
said of the disciples that they were
born not of blood, nor of the will of
the flesh, nor of the will of man, but
of God; that is to say, they were delivered
from the animal characteristics
and qualities which are the characteristics
of human nature, and they became
qualified with the divine characteristics,
which are the bounty of
God; this is the meaning of the second
birth. For such people there is no
greater torture than being veiled from
God, and no more severe punishment
than sensual vices, dark qualities, lowness
of nature, engrossment in carnal
desires. When they are delivered
through the light of faith from the
darkness of these vices, and become
illuminated with the radiance of the
sun of reality, and ennobled with all
the virtues, they esteem this the
greatest reward, and they know it to
be the true paradise. In the same way
they consider that the spiritual punishment,
that is to say the torture and
punishment of existence, is to be subjected
to the world of nature, to be
veiled from God, to be brutal and ignorant,
to fall into carnal lusts, to be
absorbed in animal frailties; to be
characterized with dark qualities, such
as falsehood, tyranny, cruelty, attachment
to the affairs of the world, and
being immersed in satanic ideas; for
them, these are the greatest punishments
[Page 473] and tortures.
Likewise the rewards of the other world are the eternal life which is clearly mentioned in all the Holy Books, the divine perfections, the eternal bounties, and everlasting felicity. The rewards of the other world are the perfections and the peace obtained in the spiritual worlds after leaving this world; whilst the rewards of this life are the real luminous perfections which are realized in this world, and which are the cause of eternal life, for they are the very progress of existence. It is like the man who passes from the embryonic world to the state of maturity, and becomes the manifestation of these words: “Blessed be God, the best of Creators.” The rewards of the other world are peace, the spiritual graces, the various spiritual gifts in the Kingdom of God, the gaining of the desires of the heart and the soul, and the meeting of God in the world of eternity. In the same way the punishments of the other world, that is to say, the torments of the other world, consist in being deprived of the special divine blessings and the absolute bounties, and falling into the lowest degrees of existence. He who is deprived of these divine favors, although he continues after death, is considered as dead by the people of truth.
THE logical proof of the immortality of the spirit is this, that no sign can come from a non-existing thing; that is to say, it is impossible that from absolute non-existence signs should appear, for the signs are the consequence of an existence, and the consequence depends upon the existence of the principle. So, from a non-existing sun no light can radiate, from a non-existing sea no waves appear, from a non-existing cloud no rain falls; a non-existing tree yields no fruit;. a non-existing man neither manifests nor produces anything. Therefore as long as signs of existence appear, they are a proof that the possessor of the sign is existent.
Consider that today the Kingdom of Christ exists: from a non-existing king how could such a great kingdom be manifested? How, from a non-existing sea, can the waves mount so high? From a non-existing garden, how can such fragrant breezes be wafted? Reflect that no effect, no trace, no influence remains of any being after its members are dispersed and its elements are decomposed, whether it be a mineral, a vegetable, or an animal. There is only the human reality and the spirit of man which, after the disintegration of the members, dispersing of the particles, and the destruction of the composition, persists and continues to act and to have power.
This question is extremely subtle: consider it attentively. This is a rational proof which We are giving, so that the wise may weigh it in the balance of reason and justice. But if the human spirit will rejoice and be attracted to the Kingdom of God, if the inner sight becomes opened, and the spiritual hearing strengthened, and the spiritual feelings predominant, he will see the immortality of the spirit as clearly as he sees the sun, and the glad tidings and signs of God will encompass him.
(To be concluded)
THE GOSPEL OF BEAUTY
ZOE MEYER
OF all the names by which Bahá’u’lláh is designated in the sacred Literature, The Blessed Beauty or The Most Great Beauty is possibly the most unusual to our western minds. Yet it is the key to the secret of the “abundant life” spoken of by Jesus, the life which bears witness to the truth and efficacy of deeds, rather than words. If mankind would forget all else save the coming of the Most Great Beauty and the significance of His Name, the Golden Age would be assured, now.
Beauty means perfection, balance. To the artist with crayon or paint box it means perfection of line or color, and a balanced composition. To the musician it means perfect harmony. To the artist with words it means a balanced plot or outline; the well-turned word or phrase; the beauty of description or character portrayal which gives life to words.
There is, perhaps, nothing which more quickly brings the nature lover into the Presence of God than the beauty in the world which He imaged and caused to come into being. Who does not experience an uplift at sight of the exquisite tracery of bare twigs against a gray winter sky; of dark branches across a full moon; of a flaming sunset or a blue, blue river? The observer for the time being steps out of self and becomes one with Beauty. And because of the experience he will never again be exactly the same individual.
In Wilmette, clothed in stone, steel and cement stands the tangible beauty of an Idea. Could greater physical perfection be imagined than that lace-like dome against a deep blue summer sky, with swallows darting in and out of the openings where hands seem to clasp at the apex? Yet all this loveliness is but a shadow of the beauty of the Idea, of which the building itself is a symbol—the symbol of that Most Great Beauty and His Message to mankind.
The man, woman or child who lives faithfully the Gospel of Beauty need have no fear of not living the Bahá’í life. Suppose we analyze briefly this so-called Gospel of Beauty.
Beauty is Order, one of the fundamental requisites of successful and satisfactory living. Without it there can be no lasting accomplishment. Keeping a house or a mind in order is living Beauty. Scrubbing a floor or making a bed may be creating Beauty just as surely as is the painting of a picture. Thus is work ennobled and made worship.
An orderly mind accompanied by
[Page 475] a wide tolerance and understanding
leads to serenity and poise, and so to
beauty of character. A face may lack
regularity of line but, illumined with
love, it becomes beautiful. For true
Beauty shines from within.
Anger, jealousy, procrastination, backbiting, are ugliness, for they manifest the lack of Beauty. So, also, do unkindness, carelessness, thoughtlessness, weakness, dishonesty and all their train of ills. There can be no place for their dark shadows in the life of the follower of the Most Great Beauty. Always He is the Standard.
Justice is a foundation stone in the life of Spirit, or the life of Beauty. Wherever there is injustice, there is ugliness of the worst kind. Only a mind fixed on self is capable of it. Bahá’u’lláh says: “Set before thine eye God’s unerring balance and as one standing in His Presence, weigh in that balance thine actions, every day, every moment of thy life.”[1]
Is it not apparent why the Golden Rule was given as the measuring rod for the activities of man? When he breaks it, he incurs a debt, which must at some time be paid, for eventually the balance will be restored. It is a universal law. Bahá’u’lláh writes: “There is no force on earth that can equal in its conquering power the force of justice and wisdom.” And in another place: “Be fair to yourselves and to others, that the evidences of justice may be revealed through your deeds, among Our faithful servants.”
Beauty is moderation in all things. Lack of moderation in the indulgence of the appetite brings physical pain and the grossness which marks the death of Beauty. On the other hand, what is lovelier than the radiant health induced by clean, moderate living and conforming to physical laws?
Bahá’u’lláh gives us the vision of the Beauty of a government wherein moderation shall reign, in the following instructions to a certain ruler: “Overstep not the bonds of moderation, and deal justly with them that serve thee. . . . . Deal with them with undeviating justice, so that none among them may either suffer want, or be pampered with luxuries. This is but manifest justice.”[2]
In the economic world debt is ugliness or lack of balance. When we contract a debt, we receive something for which we make no return. Only by making a return is the balance regained and Beauty re-established in the life of the individual.
Life seems at times hopelessly involved. To be a Bahá’í and “live the life” appears an impossible task; yet in reality it may be sifted down to a very simple formula: Create Beauty. The person who forgets all else, but retains an open mind and lives each moment the Gospel of Beauty need have no fear for his “immortal soul,” or fear that he will not fulfill his destiny.
Keeping this formula in mind, his every day tasks will take on new meaning and cease to be drudgery. Life will become an adventure. Peace and joy will take the place of worry and sorrow, for he will see his experiences, large and small, in their proper perspective. Then each moment he will walk in the Presence of the Most Great Beauty and be the recipient of His unerring Guidance.
THE CHALLENGE OF THIS CHANGING WORLD
PEARLE U. EASTERBROOK
BEFORE the year 1844 mountain, valley, sea and distance divided man from his kind. Since 1844, due to some mysterious regenerating power, man has rapidly hewn down these barriers and all unknowingly made the world one country and one humanity. Herein lies a great challenge. This challenge is comparable to a diamond with many facets. Man must now exchange ideas, learn to discuss, think, and talk with his kind. His problems have become world problems though we can but wonder how many realize this. If world problems be solved by world citizens, there must be evolved a world language. Thus the need of a universal language is one challenge of this changing world.
From time immemorial religion has been the cause, not only of separation and hatred, but of bloodshed. If men would begin to live together as neighbors upon this wee planet, they must have a religion that interprets God, and the approach to God, in universal terms. It is conceded that we have entered a new era in which science must hold sway. We are rapidly becoming a civilization scientifically motivated. Then of necessity, religion and science must agree. This slowly evolving world state must be trained and informed as to its source, its creation, its goal and its reason for existing. Ignorance must be replaced with knowledge. Through the transmutation of living knowingly, knowledge must become wisdom. All this might be termed the science of living.
God did not create a universe to walk away and leave it. “Creation is one,” says Bahá’u’lláh, the Voice of God for this new age. Ponder that. “Creation is one.” If this be true, what a world of scientific evolution opens before our wondering gaze! With what awe we reverently look about us!
“Creation is one.” If this be true, what about man, his origin, his goal? ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the exemplar and interpreter of Bahá’u’lláh, says, “Man was always a distinct species.” God, in His great wisdom, knowing man is now ready to comprehend the science of his being, in order that man might truly become man, sent Bahá’u’lláh to all the worlds of creation to reveal the knowledge for which man is clamoring. What are his questions? What are Bahá’u’lláh’s answers?
Man is asking: what is God? What is meant by the Day of Judgment? What of the Resurrection? Where must man turn for authentic knowledge of God, of self, of this baffling world in which man finds himself?
[Page 477]
Bahá’u’lláh answers, “God is immeasurably
exalted above the strivings
of human mind to grasp His Essence,
or of human tongue to describe
His Mystery. No tie of direct intercourse
can ever bind him to the things
He hath created, nor can the most
abstruse and most remote allusions of
His creatures do justice to His Being.”[1]
The coming of the Manifestation of Bahá’u’lláh is the great Day of Judgment. Resurrection is the birth of the individual to spiritual life through the gift of the Holy Spirit, bestowed through the Manifestation of God. This challenge of man’s need God has met through the universal religion revealed by Bahá’u’lláh.
WHAT are the tenets of a universal religion? Bahá’ís believe they are the principles which Bahá’u’lláh revealed to a world, long before that world had become conscious of these needs. These principles reiterate the necessity of individual search for truth. Truth, a term rather loosely used by our contemporaneous life, needs redefining. Truth, in the sense used by Bahá’u’lláh, encompasses the fundamental facts of existence that were true centuries ago and shall be true throughout eternity. A universal religion must have as its primary aim the training, development and culture of the human spirit. A universal religion must redefine terms of the spirit, freeing them of human error and religious creeds. Bahá’u’lláh’s Revelation defines faith as, “First, conscious knowledge, second, the practise of good deeds.” He defines soul as a term applied to “numerous realities according to different conditions wherein it becomes manifest, because of its attachment to matter and the phenomenal world. When it governs the physical functions of the body, it is called the human soul. When it manifests itself as the thinker, the comprehender, it is called the mind. When it soars into the atmosphere of God and travels in the spiritual world, it becomes designated as spirit.” The soul then is one power, one force, with three distinct functions.
Bahá’u’lláh defines the Holy Spirit as “the bounty of God and the luminous rays which emanate from the Manifestations.” The Manifestations are the Holy Prophets such as Adam, Melchizadek, Moses, Buddha, Jesus and Bahá’u’lláh. “By the power of the Holy Spirit alone is man able to progress, for the power of man is limited and the Divine Power is boundless.” There is but one way for the human race to progress, according to all divine Educators—that is, by man directing his attention and will to the Manifestation of God appointed for his day.
A universal religion must open the gates of a spiritual world to a world of humanity. A universal religion must teach a technique of cultivating the spiritual life, possible of expression, for every child of God, be he yellow, black or red. A universal religion must bring upon this earth a universal brotherhood of men dedicated to the service and reflection of a universal Father, call Him God, Essence, Divine Source, or Brahma, as you will.
- ↑ Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh.
SIGNS OF THE TIMES
Edited by BERTHA HYDE KIRKPATRICK
How can the church call men to the worship of one God, if it calls them to rival shrines? How can it claim to bridge the divisions in human society —divisions between Greek and barbarian, bond and free, between black and white, Aryan and non-Aryan, employer and non-employed—if, when men are drawn into it, they find another division has been added to the old ones— . . . ?—THE ARCHBISHOP OF YORK. (Quoted in The Christian Century.)
The first form of dissension among
mankind arises from religious differences.
His holiness Bahá’u’lláh has
given full teachings to the world
which are conducive to fellowship and
unity in religion.—‘ABDU’L-BAHÁ.
From somewhere in the world there
must come, if mankind is to be saved,
a call which will be heard by all the
governments of the world, demanding
that before it is too late and the end
has been reached, representatives of
the nations shall gather together and
make a supreme effort to prevent the
appalling disaster which threatens to
overwhelm us all.—GEORGE LANSBURY, M. P.
By a general agreement all the nations
of the world must disarm simultaneously. . . .
The nations of the
world must concur with each other
concerning this supremely important
subject, thus they may abandon together
the deadly weapons of human
slaughter.—‘ABDU’L-BAHÁ.
The supreme care of the statesman
should be the well-being of the
people.—CORDELL HULL.
Yet do we see your kings and rulers
lavishing their treasures more freely
on means of destruction of the human
race than on that which conduces to
the happiness of mankind.—BAHÁ’U’LLÁH.
No greater thing could come to our
land today than a revival of the spirit
of religion—a revival that would
sweep through the homes of the nation
and stir the hearts of men and
women of all faiths to a reassertion of
their belief in God and a dedication
to his will for themselves and for their
world. I doubt if there is any problem
—social, political or economic—that
would not melt away before the fire
of such a spiritual awakening.—
FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT.
The vitality of men’s belief in God is dying out in every land; nothing short of His wholesome medicine can ever restore it. The corrosion of ungodliness is eating into the vitals of human society; what else but the Elixir of His potent Revelation can cleanse and revive it?—BAHÁ’U’LLÁH.
Wars and rumors of wars, hunger,
discouragement, unhappiness and bewilderment
seem to be accepted by
many as the inevitable lot of man.
Disillusionment is giving rise to
cynicism, which, in turn, is creating
selfishness. So widespread is the crisis
that there is no possibility of recovery
except by return to the elemental facts
of life and religion. . . . Thoughtful
leaders are beginning to feel that
something is needed to persuade men
to believe that this is God’s world and
that He is in it.—PASTORAL LETTER
OF THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL
CHURCH.
And there shall be signs in the sun,
and in the moon, and in the stars; and
upon the earth distress of nations,
with perplexity; the sea and waves
roaring; men’s hearts failing them for
fear, and for looking after those
things which are coming on the earth:
for the powers of heaven shall be
shaken. And then shall they see the
Son of man coming in a cloud with
power and great glory. And when
these things begin to come to pass,
then look up and lift up your heads;
for your redemption draweth nigh.—
GOSPEL OF LUKE 21; 25-28.
. . . Neither hath the world been
tranquilized, nor have the hearts of
its people been at rest. . . . Its sickness
is approaching the stage of utter hopelessness,
inasmuch as the true physician
is debarred from administering
the remedy, whilst unskilled practitioners
are regarded with favor, and
are accorded full freedom to act. The
dust of sedition hath clouded the
hearts of men, and blinded their eyes.
Ere long they will perceive the consequences
of what their hand hath
wrought in the Day of God.—BAHÁ’U’LLÁH.
For Bahá’u’lláh . . . has not only imbued mankind with a new and regenerating Spirit. He has not merely enunciated certain universal principles, or propounded a particular philosophy, however potent, sound and universal these may be. In addition to these He as well as ‘Abdu’l-Bahá after Him, have, unlike the Dispensations of the past, clearly and specifically laid down a set of Laws, established definite institutions, and provided for the essentials of a Divine Economy. These are destined to be a pattern for future society, a supreme instrument for the establishment of the Most Great Peace, and the one agency for the unification of the world, and the proclamation of the reign of righteousness and justice upon the earth.—SHOGHI EFFENDI.
INDEX
WORLD ORDER
Volume III, April, 1937—March, 1938
Titles
AQUIESCENCE, Poem, by Garreta Busey, 67
ADMONISHMENT, Poem, by Francis A. Kelsey, 269
’ALI, by Marzieh Carpenter, 389
ARC OF ASCENT, THE, by Horace Holley, 361
BAHÁ’U’LLÁH, THE HIDDEN WORDS OF, by G. Townshend, 210
BAHÁ’U’LLÁH, THE SEVEN VALLEYS BY, by G. Towmshend, 341
BEAUTY, THE GOSPEL OF, by Zoe Meyer, 474
BEYOND THE FACT, EDITORIAL, by Marjory Morten, 441
BROTHERHOOD, POEM, by Costes Palamas, 407
CHANGING WORLD, THE CHALLENGE TO THIS, by Pearle U. Easterbrook, 476
CHARACTER, THE TYPES OF, by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 303
CHRISTENDOM, THE UNITY OF, by Shoghi Effendi, 197
CHRISTIAN EUROPEAN CYCE, BOOK REVIEW, by Helen Inderlied, 274
CHURCH AND THE WORLD, THE, by Hussein Rabbani, 415
CHURCH ORGANIZATION, by G. A. Shook, 29, 62, 103
CIVILIZATION, THE SEED OF, BOOK REVIEW, by Helen Inderlied, 316
CITIZEN OF THE WORLD, by Ruby Lorraine Radford, 243
CITIZENS OF THE WORLD, by Marion Holley, 167
CONSCIOUSNESS, by Dale S. Cole, 87
CONSTITUTIONAL AND CULTURAL FOUNDATIONS OF WORLD ORDER, by Carl A. Ross, 83
CREATIONAL BOOK, THE, POEM, by Howard Colby Ives, 157
CREATIVE ART, DIVINE ORIGIN OF, by H. Ranzenhofer, 114
DIVINE CONSCIOUSNESS, by Howard Luxmore Carpenter, 443
DIVINE PHYSICIAN, THE, by Mamie L. Seto, 134
DIVINE TRUST, THE, EDITORIAL, by Horace Holley, 1
EAST AND WEST, by Agnes Alexander, 345
EAST, THE CULTURAL UNITY OF THE, by V. B. Metta, 299
ECONOMICS AS SOCIAL CREATION, by Horace Holley, 258
EDUCATION FOR A NEW WORID ORDER, by Genevieve L. Coy, 225
EDUCATION GOES AHEAD, EDITORIAL, by Stanwood Cobb, 281
ERA, A MOST EXCITING, EDITORIAL, by Stanwood Cobb, 41
EXPANDING OUR HORIZONS, EDITORIAL, by Stanwood Cobb 121
GENIUS AND THE SPIRIT, by I. Ircadia, 145
GIVE AWAY, THE, by Willard W. Beatty, 434
ILLUSTRATION, Dr. Herbert A. Miller, 38; Dr. Inazo Nitobe, 346
IMMORTALITY OF THE SPIRIT, by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 461
IN THE SHADOW OF TOMORROW, BOOK REVIEW, by Helen Campbell, 194
IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN WRITTEN TODAY, by Esther Matson, 109
I WILL COME AGAIN, by Ella C. Quant, 178
LAND OF FOUR FAITHS, THE, by Ruhiyyih Khanum, 43
LANGUAGE AND WORLD UNITY, by Raymond F. Piper, 53, 94
LEARNING To LIVE TOGETHER, INTERVIEW, by Martha L. Root, 37
LET ME KNOW LOVE, POEM, by Norman F. MacGregor, Jr., 98
LIFE, THE LABORATORY OF, by Louise D. Boyle, 283
LIVING IN A SOCIAL WORLD, THE ART OF, by Kirtley F. Mather, 403
LOVE IS CREATIVE, EDITORIAL, by Horace Holley, 81
MANIFESTATION, THE, by Albert B. Entzminger, 8
MANKIND THE PRODIGAL, by Alfred E. Lunt, 71
MAN’s KNOWLEDGE OF GOD, by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 425
MASTER’S PRESENCE, IN THE, by Inez Greeven, 270
MEXICO’S PEACE POET, by Beatrice Irwin, 457
MIRROR AND THE BLACK STONE, THE, EDITORIAL, by Horace Holley, 241
MORAL EDUCATION, by H. L. Latham, 50
NEW CREATION, THE, by Alice Simmons Cox, 129, 171, 214, 252, 292, 334, 391, 436
NEW LIFE FROM WITHIN, by Mme. Chiang Kai-Shek, 347
NEW SOCIAL PATTERNS, EDITORIAL, by Stanwood Cobb, 401
NEW VIRTUE, A, EDITORIAL, by Marjory Morten, 321
[Page 481]
NEXT THIRTY YEARS, THE, by Emeric
Sala, 381
PALESTINE, MODERN MIRACLES OF, by Beatrice Irwin, 141
PART AND COUNTERPART, by Dale S. Cole, 323, 386
PEACE REALISTS, by Kenneth Christian, 249
PEOPLE’S CONFERENCE, THE, by Frances Benedict Stewart, 126
PHILOSOPHY AND REVELATION, by G. A. Shook, 372, 427, 465
PRAYER, A, POEM, by Michael D’Andrea, 333
PRECEPT AND PRACTISE, by Dale S. Cole, 189
PROPHETS, SUCCESSION OF THE, by Orcella Rexford, 147
RACE RELATIONS, CHANGING, by Maxwell Miller, 111
RACE, THE HOPE OF THE, by Jose Carlos DeMacedo Soares, 123
RADIANT ACQUIESCENCE, by Orcella Rexford, 220
RELIGION, THE WAY OF, BOOK REVIEW, by Ernest Pye, 235
REVELATION, by Bertha Hyde Kirkpatrick, 314
SA’DI’s ROSE-GARDEN, FROM, translated by Marzieh Carpenter, 433, 454
SCIENCE TO BLAME, IS? by Edward B. Meservey, 3
SHRI KRISHNA, THE FLUTE PLAYED BY, by H. M. Manji, 245
SIGNS OF THE TIMES, ed. by Bertha Hyde Kirkpatrick, 78, 118, 160, 198, 278, 319, 478
SOUL, MIND AND SPIRIT, by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 354
SOUL, MIND AND SPIRIT, by Elsa Russell Blakely, 151
STAR GAZERS, POEM, by Stanton A. Coblentz, 40
SWIFTEST CENTURY, THE, by Garreta Busey, 363
THROUGH A GLASS DARKLY, EDITORIAL, by Horace Holley, 161
THY LAW IS MY DELIGHT, COMPILATION, by Maye Harvey Gift, 138
TILL DEATH DO US PART, by Marzieh Carpenter, 327
TODAY’S SUPREME GIFT, POEM, by Harold Hunt, 326
TO HIM THAT KNOCKETH, COMPILATION, by Maye Harvey Gift, 267
TRANQUILLITY, THE ART OF, by Orcella Rexford, 413
TRUTH AND PROGRESS, by Horace Holley, 99
TRUTH AND THE HOLY SPIRIT, by Horace Holley, 231
TURNING POINT, THE, by Alice Schwarz-Solivo, 461
TWO HOLY SEPULCHERS, by Adelbert Mühlschlegel, 35
UNITY, by Benjamin Schreibman, 163
UNITY OF NATIONS, by Stanwood Cobb, 20
WAR AND HUMAN NATURE, by Directors of Psychological Study of Social Issues, 455
WAR IS ALWAYS WITH US, THE, by David Hofman, 207
WORLD CIVILIZATION, THE NEW FRONTIER OF, by Ralph Tyler Flewelling, 306
WORLD CONCEPTION, A NEW, by Paul Peroff, 203
WORLD CRISIS, THE, by Mountfort Mills, 408, 451
WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ’U’LLÁH, by Mary Collison, 26, 68, 91
WORLD VIEWS, CONFLICTING, by Horace Holley, 356
YEARS OF MY LIFE, THE, by Mary S. Hammond and Harry E. Ford, 185
YOUTH AND CHARACTER, EDITORIAL, by Stanwood Cobb, 201
YOUTH HAS NEW DOCTRINES, by Helen Hardy, 17
Authors
‘ABDU’L-BAHÁ, The Types of Character, 303; Soul, Mind and Spirit, 354; Man’s Knowledge of God, 425; Immortality of the Spirit, 472
ALEXANDER, AGNES, East and West, 345
BEATTY, WILLARD W., The Give Away, 434
BLAKELY, ELSA RUSSELL, Soul, Mind and Spirit, 151
BOYLE, LOUISE D., The Laboratory of Life, 283
BUSEY, GARRETA, Acquiescence, 67; The Swiftest Century, 363
CAMPBELL, HELEN, In the Shadow of Tomorrow, 194
CARPENTER, HOWARD LUXMORE, Divine Consciousness, 443
CARPENTER, MARZIEH, Till Death Do Us Part, 327; ‘Ali, 389; From Sa’di’s Rose-Garden, 433, 454
CHIANG KAI-SHEK, MME., New Life From Within, 347
CHRISTIAN, KENNETH, Peace Realists, 249
COBB, STANWOOD, Unity of Nations, 20; A Most Exciting Era, 41; Expanding Our Horizons, 121; Youth and Character, 201; Education Goes Ahead, 281; New Social Patterns, 401
COBLENTZ, STANTON A., Star Gazers, 40
COLE, DALE S., Consciousness, 87; Precept
[Page 482] and Practise, 189; Part and Counterpart,
323, 386
COLLISON, MARY, World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, 26, 68, 91
COY, GENEVIEVE L., Education for a New World Order, 225
COX, ALICE SIMMONS, The New Creation, 129, 171, 214, 252, 292, 334, 391, 436
D’ANDREA, MICHAEL, A Prayer, 333
EASTERBROOK, PEARLE U., The Challenge of This Changing World, 476
ENTZMINGER, ALBERT B., The Manifestation, 8
FLEWELLING, RALPH TYLER, The New Frontier of World Civilization, 306
FORD, HARRY E., The Years of My Life, 185
GIFT, MAYE HARVEY, Thy Law Is My Delight, 138; To Him That Knocketh, 267
GREEVEN, INEZ, In the Master’s Presence, 270
HAMMOND, MARY S., The Years of My Life, 185
HARDY, HELEN, Youth Has New Doctrines, 17
HOFMAN, DAVID, War Is Always With Us, 207
HOLLEY, HORACE, The Divine Trust, 1; Love Is Creative, 81; Truth and Progress, 99; Through a Glass Darkly, 161; Truth and the Holy Spirit, 231; The Mirror and the Black Stone, 241; Economics As Social Creation, 258; Conflicting World Views, 356; The Arc of Ascent, 361
HOLLEY, MARION, Citizens of the World, 167
HUNT, HAROLD, Today’s Supreme Gift, 326
INDERLIED, HELEN, Christian European Cycle, 274; The Seed of Civilization, 316
IRCADIA, I., Genius and the Spirit, 145
IRWIN, BEATRICE, Modern Miracles of Palestine, 141; Mexico’s Peace Poet, 457
IVES, HOWARD COLBY, The Creational Book, 157
KELSEY, FRANCIS A., Admonishment, 269
KIRKPATRICK, BERTHA HYDE, Signs of the Times, 78, 118, 160, 198, 278, 319, 399, 478; Revelation, 314
LATHAM, H. L., Moral Education, 50
LUNT, ALFRED E., Mankind the Prodigal, 71
MACGREGOR, NORMAN F., JR., Let Me Know Love, 98
MANJI, H. J., The Flute Played by Shri Krishna, 245
MATHER, KIRTLEY F., The Art of Living in a Social World, 403
MATSON, ESTHER, It Might Have Been Written Today, 109
MESERVEY, EDWARD B., Is Science to Blame?, 3
METTA, V. B., The Cultural Unity of the East, 299
MEYER, ZOE, The Gospel of Beauty, 474
MILLER, MAXWELL, Changing Race Relations, 111
MILLS, MOUNTFORT, The World Crisis, 408, 451
MORTEN, MARJORY, A New Virtue, 321; Beyond the Fact, 441
MÜHLSCHLEGEL, ALBERT, Two Holy Sepulchers, 35
PALMAS, COSTES, Brotherhood, 407
PEROFF, PAUL, A New World Conception, 203
PIPER, RAYMOND F., Language and World Unity, 53, 94
PYE, ERNEST, The Way of Religion, 235
QUANT, ELLA C., I Will Come Again, 178
RABBANI, HUSSEIN, The Church and the World, 415
RADFORD, LORRAINE, Citizen of the World, 243
RANZENHOFER, H., Divine Origin of Creative Art, 114
REXFORD, ORCELLA, Succession of the Prophets, 147; Radiant Acquiescence, 220; The Art of Tranquillity, 413
ROOT, MARTHA, L., Learning to Live Together, 37
ROSS, CARL A., Constitutional and Cultural Foundations of World Order, 83
RUHIYYIH KHANUM, The Land of Four Faiths, 43
SALA, EMERIC, The Next Thirty Years, 381
SCHREIBMAN, BENJAMIN, Unity, 163
SCHWARZ-SOLIVO, ALICE, The Turning Point, 461
SETO, MAMIE L., The Divine Physician, 134
SHOGHI EFFENDI, The Unity of Christendom, 197
SHOOK, G. A., Church Organization, 29, 62, 103; Philosophy and Revelation, 372, 427, 465
SOARES, JOSE CARLOS DEMACEDO, The Hope of the Race, 123
STEWART, FRANCES BENEDICT, The People’s Conference, 126
TOWNSHEND, G., The Hidden Words of Bahá’u’lláh, 210; The Seven Valleys By Bahá’u’lláh, 341
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TOWARDS THE GOAL OF A NEW WORLD ORDER, DIVINE IN ORIGIN, ALL- EMBRACING IN SCOPE, HUMANITY MUST STRIVE