Permission Requested for Construction of Temple in America

From: Baha’i Historical Facts

Having heard enthusiastic reports of the building of the first Mashriqu’l-Adhkar [Baha’i Temple] in ‘Ishqabad, Russia, the members of the Spiritual committee (better known as the "House of Spirituality") of the Chicago Assembly were inspired to supplicate to the Center of the Covenant, ‘Abdu’l-Baha, to grant permission for the second Mashriqu’l-Adhkar to be built in America. On June 7, 1903, a tablet was revealed in Acca by ‘Abdu’l-Baha saying, "Now the day has arrived in which the edifice of God, the divine sanctuary, the Spiritual temple, shall be erected in America."

The following words from the pen of ‘Abdu’l-Baha clearly indicate the erection of a material building: "The Mashriqu’l-Adhkar, though outwardly a material foundation, is possessed of spiritual effect and causes the union of hearts and the gathering of souls. . . . Praise be to God ! The erection of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkar has a great effect in all grades (or states). It was tested in the east and so evidently and plainly was it proved good (that) even when in a village a house was called the Mashriqu’l-Adhkar, it possessed a different effect. How much more its building and organization."

(The Baha’i Year Book 1925-1926)

“..singing and music are the spiritual food of the hearts and souls.”

From: Daily Spiritual Food for Thought

This wonderful age has rent asunder the veils of superstition and has condemned the prejudice of the people of the East.

Among some of the nations of the Orient, music and harmony was not approved of, but the Manifested Light, Bahá'u'lláh, in this glorious period has revealed in Holy Tablets that singing and music are the spiritual food of the hearts and souls. In this dispensation, music is one of the arts that is highly approved and is considered to be the cause of the exaltation of sad and desponding hearts.

Therefore ... set to music the verses and the divine words so that they may be sung with soul-stirring melody in the Assemblies and gatherings, and that the hearts of the listeners may become tumultuous and rise towards the Kingdom of Abha in supplication and prayer. 

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha  (‘Bahá'í World Faith: Selected Writings of Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá'; The Compilation of Compilations, vol. II, Music)

Baha’u’llah’s Seals

From: Baha’i Sacred Relics

The Seals of Baha'u'llah displayed in an ornamental Persian design

23 December 1922: To Baha'is of Great Britain

From: Messages to the Baha’i World Community – by Shoghi Effendi

To my beloved brethren and sisters throughout Great Britain. Care of the members of the Bahá’í Council.

Dearest Friends,

I have during the last few days been waiting eagerly for the first written messages of my Western friends, sent to me since they have learned of my return to the Holy Land. How great was the joy when dear Miss Rosenberg’s letter—the very first that reached me from the West—was handed to me this evening, bearing the joyful news of the safety, the unity and the happiness of my British friends across the seas! I read it and re-read it with particular pleasure and felt a thrill of delight at the welcome news of the harmonious and efficient functioning of your Spiritual Assembly.

I very sincerely hope that now that I have fully re-entered upon my task, I may be enabled to offer my humble share of assistance and advice in the all-important work which is now before you. I fervently pray to God that the field of your activities may go on expanding, that your zeal and efforts may never diminish, and that new souls, active, able and sincere, may soon join with you in bearing aloft the Glorious Standard of the Cause in that land….

Ere long, an able and experienced teacher recently arrived from Persia will visit your shores and will, I trust, by his thorough knowledge of the Cause, his wide experience, his fluency, his ardour and his devotion, reanimate every drooping spirit and inspire the active worker to make fresh and determined efforts for the deepening as well as the spreading of the Movement in those regions. His forthcoming book, which he has patiently and laboriously written on the history of the Movement and which has been partly revised by the Pen of our Beloved Master is beyond any doubt the most graphic, the most reliable and comprehensive of its kind in all Bahá’í literature. I am sure he will considerably enrich the store of your knowledge of the various phases and stages of the Bahá’í Movement. Our beloved Dr. Esslemont will, I trust, be particularly pleased to meet him, as he is eminently qualified to offer him valuable help in connection with various aspects of his (Dr. Esslemont’s) book. I am enclosing various suggestions of Mr. Dreyfus-Barney and of Mr. Roy Wilhelm made by them at my request, during their last sojourn in the Holy Land. I submit them to Dr. Esslemont’s consideration as well as to that of the Spiritual Assembly. I very deeply regret my inability to give the attention I desire to this admirable work of his, but will assuredly do all in my power to aid him in the final stages of his work. I am certain however that the book as it now stands gives the finest and most effective presentation of the various aspects of the Cause to the mind of the Oriental as well as to that of the Westerner. May it arouse a genuine and widespread interest in the Cause throughout the world.

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Man is Not a Captive of Nature

From: Gems of Insight from ‘Abdu’l-Baha

... he [man] is the ruler and commander of nature. Man has intelligence; nature has not. Man has volition; nature has none. Man has memory; nature is without it. Man has the reasoning faculty; nature is deprived. Man has the perceptive faculty; nature cannot perceive. It is therefore proved and evident that man is nobler than nature.

If we accept the supposition that man is but a part of nature, we are confronted by an illogical statement, for this is equivalent to claiming that a part may be endowed with qualities which are absent in the whole. For man who is a part of nature has perception, intelligence, memory, conscious reflection and susceptibility, while nature itself is quite bereft of them. How is it possible for the part to be possessed of qualities or faculties which are absent in the whole? The truth is that God has given to man certain powers which are supernatural. How then can man be considered a captive of nature?

(‘Abdu’l-Baha, from a talk, ‘The Promulgation of Universal Peace’)

Lawh-i-Maryam (Tablet to Maryam) - by Bahá’u’lláh

From: Baha’i Tablets – provisional translations

-- provisional translation by Julio Savi and Faezeh Mardani Mazzoli

He is sorrowful in My sorrow.

O Maryam! The wrongs which I suffer have blotted out the wrongs suffered by My First Name (the Báb) from the Tablet of creation [2] and the showers of affliction rained at all times upon this veilless Beauty from the clouds of God’s decree.

My expulsion from My country was for no other reason except My love for the Beloved, and my removal from My land was for no other motive but My willing submission to the Goal of all desire (ridáy-i-maqsúd).

In the summons of God’s decree I was even as a kindled and shining lamp and in the time of heavenly trials I was as steadfast (thábit) [3] as a mountain.

In the revelations of grace I was even as a raining cloud and in restraining the enemies of the King of Oneness like a blazing fire.

The tokens of My might have become a cause of the envy of My enemies and the effulgences of My wisdom have turned into instruments of the perfidy of the malicious.

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Two accounts of the Bab’s childhood days at school

From: Baha’i Stories

There are some accounts left for posterity concerning the time that the Bab attended school in Shiraz, Persia. Such accounts are priceless because they help us understand how each Manifestation of God exhibits very special God given qualities even in their childhood.

First Account:

A fellow student who was then twelve years old related the following account many years later concerning the Bab’s first day at school.

“The Báb had taken a seat, with great courtesy, in between this boy and another pupil who was also much older than Himself. His head was bowed over the primer put in front of Him, the first lines of which He had been taught to repeat. But He would not utter a word. When asked why He did not read aloud as other boys were doing He made no reply. Just then two boys, sitting near them, were heard to recite a couplet from Hafiz (a well known Persian poet), which runs thus:

From the pinnacles of Heaven they call out unto thee;

I know not what hath thee here entrapped.

'That is your answer,' said the Báb, turning to …” the older boy who recalled this incident.

('The Bab – The Herald of the Day of Days', by Hand of the Cause Balyuzi)

The thing remarkable about this account is that not only the Bab who was then only about five years old understood fully the meaning of this couplet, but that he equated himself with the phrase “thee”. To posses such keen understanding of such issues at such a young age is another proof of His innate and God given knowledge.
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The Trust of God

From: Portraits of ‘Abdu’l-Baha

"He is the Trust of God amongst you, His charge within you, His manifestation unto you and His appearance among His favoured servants ..." (Baha'u'llah, quoted by Shoghi Effendi in the World Order of Baha'u'llah)

Photograph taken in 1912 during 'Abdu'l-Baha's visit to the United States

No one should exalt himself over the other

From: Teachings of the Baha’i faith

O Children of Men! Know ye not why We created you all from the same dust? That no one should exalt himself over the other. Ponder at all times in your hearts how ye were created. Since We have created you all from one same substance it is incumbent on you to be even as one soul, to walk with the same feet, eat with the same mouth and dwell in the same land, that from your inmost being, by your deeds and actions, the signs of oneness and the essence of detachment may be made manifest. Such is My counsel to you, O concourse of light! Heed ye this counsel that ye may obtain the fruit of holiness from the tree of wondrous glory. 

(Baha’u’llah, ‘The Hidden Words of Bahá’u’lláh’)

1909 - The Chicago Baha'i Temple Committee

From: Worldwide Community of Baha’u’llah

August 1, 1909 - The committee of fifteen reviewing architects' plans for the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar. Standing left to right: Mr. Windust, Mr. Remey, Mrs. True, Mr. Lesch. Mrs Brush, Mr. Hall, Mr. Brush, Mr. Chase, Mr. Jacobsen, Mr. Currier. Seated, let to right: Mr. Scheffler, Mr. struven, Mr. Agnew, Mr. Woodworth, Mr. Fuller.

We can’t be too exemplary

From: Baha’i Points of Interest

The eyes of the people of the world are beginning to be focused on us; and, as humanity's plight goes from bad to worse, we will be watched ever more intently by non-Baha'is, to see whether we do uphold our own institutions whole-heartedly; whether we are the people of the new creation or not; whether we live up to our beliefs, principles and laws in deed as well as word. We cannot be too careful. We cannot be too exemplary. 

(From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi, ‘Unfolding Destiny’)

One's vision

From: Memorizing Baha’i Writings

O Man of Two Visions! Close one eye and open the other. Close one to the world and all that is therein, and open the other to the hallowed beauty of the Beloved.

(Baha'u'llah, ‘The Hidden Words of Baha’u’llah’; included in Ruhi Book 2)

What it means to be a real Christian

From: Christian themes in Baha’i Literature

Therefore, to be a Christian is not merely to bear the name of Christ and say, "I belong to a Christian government." To be a real Christian is to be a servant in His Cause and Kingdom, to go forth under His banner of peace and love toward all mankind, to be self-sacrificing and obedient, to become quickened by the breaths of the Holy Spirit, to be mirrors reflecting the radiance of the divinity of Christ, to be fruitful trees in the garden of His planting, to refresh the world by the water of life of His teachings -- in all things to be like Him and filled with the spirit of His love. 

('Abdu'l-Baha, from a talk; ‘The Promulgation of Universal Peace’)

Followers’ Expectations of Fulfillment of Prophecies

From: Baha’i Scriptures concerning Jesus and Christianity

As the adherents of Jesus have never understood the hidden meaning of these words, and as the signs which they and the leaders of their Faith have expected have failed to appear, they therefore refused to acknowledge, even until now, the truth of those Manifestations of Holiness that have since the days of Jesus been made manifest. They have thus deprived themselves of the outpourings of God’s holy grace, and of the wonders of His divine utterance. Such is their low estate in this, the Day of Resurrection! They have even failed to perceive that were the signs of the Manifestation of God in every age to appear in the visible realm in accordance with the text of established traditions, none could possibly deny or turn away, nor would the blessed be distinguished from the miserable, and the transgressor from the God-fearing. Judge fairly: Were the prophecies recorded in the Gospel to be literally fulfilled; were Jesus, Son of Mary, accompanied by angels, to descend from the visible heaven upon the clouds; who would dare to disbelieve, who would dare to reject the truth, and wax disdainful? Nay, such consternation would immediately seize all the dwellers of the earth that no soul would feel able to utter a word, much less to reject or accept the truth. 

(Baha’u’llah, ‘The Book of Certitude’)

1922: Baha’is of Britain formed a National Council [1] – the Guardian delineates its duties

From: Insights from Messages to the Baha’i World Community – by Shoghi Effendi

I need hardly tell you how grateful and gratified I felt when I heard the news of the actual formation of a National Council whose main object is to guide, co-ordinate and harmonise the various activities of the friends, and when I learned of its satisfactory composition, its harmonious procedure and the splendid work it is achieving.

My earnest prayer is that the blessing of the Almighty may rest upon all its deliberations, that it may be divinely guided, inspired in its work, may smooth speedily and definitely all differences that may arise, may promote the all-important work of Teaching, may widen the sphere of its correspondence and exchange of news with the distant parts of the Bahá'í world, may secure through its publications a dignified and proper presentation of the Cause to the enlightened public, and may in every other respect prove itself capable of distinct and worthy achievements. 

(Shoghi Effendi, excerpt from a letter dated 16 December 1922 to Baha’is in Great Britain; 'The Unfolding Destiny of the British Baha’i Community')

[1 Dr. Esselmont and E. T. Hall were "chosen" to represent Bournemouth and Manchester respectively and they met with seven others representing "The London Groups" to form the first "All-England Bahá'í Council" which met at the London home of Mrs. Thornburgh-Cropper 6 June, 1922. Mr. G. P. Simpson was elected Chairman.]

Quiz 11

From: Baha’i Knowledge Hunt

• What are some “divine susceptibilities” that according to the Master we need to “awaken and develop” in others?   Answer 

• How does the Bab explain the relation between the Manifestations of God and the “Primal Will of God”?    Answer
• Knowing that “archetype” is defined in the dictionary as “ a model, or original pattern from which all other things of the same kind are made, a prototype”, who does the Guardian identify as the “archetype of the people of Baha”?    Answer 
• The observance of the Day of the Covenant on November 26th of each year was the result of what request to ‘Abdu’l-Baha from the believers in the West?    Answer
• Which city was designated by Baha’u’llah as the “remote prison” and how long did He stay there?    Answer
• The Baha’i Dispensation is divided into three Ages. Can you name them and identify their corresponding dates?   Answer
• Is it true that according to Baha’i scriptures Jesus’ crucifixion should be viewed as a “ransom” for the “sins and iniquities” of “all the people of the earth”? Should the Bab’s martyrdom be viewed similarly?    Answer 

Resurrection of Jesus Christ

From: Baha’i Pilgrim Notes

'Abdu'l-Baha said:

Jesus Christ had two bodies -- one spiritual and one material.

The material body is of no importance; it changes and changes and changes always. An old person's body is not the same, as that of the same individual when young.

The visible world does nothing but change, and change leads to annihilation.

We must be sure that when the soul of man leaves his body, it never returns to that body again.

In the Gospel record, when Jesus Christ was crucified and ascended, Mary Magdalene and the other disciples had fallen into such a state of excitement and agitation, that during three days the cause of God was annihilated for them. After three days their agitation having abated, they realised that the cause of Jesus Christ, and His teaching was everlasting in the world. The disciples would not at first write to the other believers openly that Jesus was crucified till Mary Magdalene said to them what does it matter; His soul is with us. When Jesus was crucified, some said ‘His religion is annihilated and gone.’ Mary Magdalene said ‘Matter is gone, and flesh -- but the soul of the religion is forever.’

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Paragraph 1.7 of Surih of Temple in 'The Summons of the Lord of Hosts'

From: Reflecting on Baha’i Writings: The Summons of the Lord of Hosts

"O people of the Bayan! If ye aid Him not, God will assuredly assist Him with the powers of earth and heaven, and sustain Him with the hosts of the unseen through His command "Be", and it is! The day is approaching when God will have, by an act of His Will, raised up a race of men the nature of which is inscrutable to all save God, the All-Powerful, the Self-Subsisting. He shall purify them from the defilement of idle fancies and corrupt desires, shall lift them up to the heights of holiness, and shall cause them to manifest the signs of His sovereignty and might upon earth. Thus hath it been ordained by God, the All-Glorious, the All-Loving."

Comments:

· As we know, the “people of Bayan” is a reference to the followers of the Bab. It’s very sad that most of Baha’u’llah’s sufferings were caused by those followers of the Bab, albeit a very small group, that didn’t recognize Him as the Promised One of the Bab and did their best to discredit and harm Him. For example this reference from the beloved Master:

“…the people of Bayan who broke the Covenant of His Holiness, the Báb, and from six directions shot arrows of reproach and calumny at Thy Blessed Body.” (‘Abdu’l-Baha, Baha'i World Faith, p. 433)

· This paragraph also reminds us that the Manifestation of God has the full support of God and that God will “assist Him with the powers of earth and heaven, and sustain Him with the hosts of the unseen …” We may wonder, isn’t this obvious, since after all He is trying to do God’s Will. Maybe part of the wisdom of us being reminded of this point is to have absolute faith and confidence in the ability of the Manifestation of God to “assist” and “sustain” us when we are in need, since He has the full support of God.

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Dispensation

From: Baha’i Glossary

The period of time during which the laws and teachings of a Prophet or Manifestation of God have spiritual authority. A dispensation begins with the Manifestation's declaration of His mission and ends with the advent of the next Manifestation of God.