April 1964: Message from the Universal House of Justice

From: Messages to the Baha'i World Community - by the Universal House of Justice
April 1964

To the Bahá'ís of the world

Dearly loved friends,

The divinely propelled process, described in such awe-inspiring words by our beloved Guardian, which began six thousand years ago at the dawn of the Adamic cycle and which is destined to culminate in "the stage at which the light of God's triumphant Faith shining in all its power and glory will have suffused and enveloped the entire planet," is now entering its tenth and last part.

The Ten Year Crusade, so recently consummated in a blaze of victory and rejoicing, constituted the entire ninth part of this process. It saw the Cause of God leap forward in one mighty decade-long effort to the point at which the foundations of its Administrative Order were laid throughout the world, thus preparing the way for that awakening of the masses which must characterize the future progress of the Faith.

From the beginning of this Dispensation the most urgent summons of the Word of God, voiced successively by the Báb and Bahá'u'lláh, has been to teach the Cause. 'Abdu'l-Bahá, in His own words, "spent His days and nights in promoting the Cause and urging the peoples to service." Shoghi Effendi, discharging the sacred mission laid upon him, raised the Administrative Order of the Faith, already enshrined within the Sacred Writings, and forged it into a teaching instrument to accomplish through a succession of plans, national, international, and global, the entire Divine Plan of 'Abdu'l-Baha, and he clearly foresaw in the "tremendously long" tenth part of the process already referred to, a series of plans to be launched by the Universal House of Justice, extending over 'successive epochs of both the Formative and Golden Ages of the Faith."
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Pocket Qur'an of the Báb

From: Baha'i Sacred Relics

Pocket Qur'an of the Báb

How to become “the favoured one at the Threshold of the Lord” in this age

From: Counsels and Explanations by 'Abdu'l-Baha - Daily Readings

In this day, the one favoured at the Threshold of the Lord is he who handeth round the cup of faithfulness; who bestoweth, even upon his enemies, the jewel of bounty, and lendeth, even to his fallen oppressor, a helping hand; it is he who will, even to the fiercest of his foes, be a loving friend. (‘Abdu'l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu'l-Baha)

Ages: Heroic, Formative, and Golden

From: Baha'i Glossary

The Baha'i Dispensation is divided into three Ages: the Heroic Age, the Formative Age, and the Golden Age-which correspond to stages in the development and growth of the Baha’i Faith. The Heroic Age or Apostolic Age began in 1844 with the Declaration of the Bab and spanned the ministries of the Bab (1844-53), Baha’u’llah (1853-92), and 'Abdu'l-Baha (1892-1321). The Formative Age began in 1921 when Shoghi Effendi became the Guardian of the Baha’i Faith. This second and current age is identified with the rise and establishment of the Baha’i Administrative Order. It is to be followed by the third and final age, the Golden Age, which is destined to witness the establishment of the Baha’i World Commonwealth.

Tablet of the Uncounfounded Reality (Lawh-i-Basit al-Haqiqa) – by Baha’u’llah

From: Baha'i Tablets -- provisional translations

--- Provisional translation by Moojan Momen
  

He is God, exalted be He in Might and Greatness!

Concerning what the questioner has asked regarding the statement of the philosophers (hukamá) that "the uncompounded reality [1] is all things", say: know that what is intended by "things" in this context (lit. station, maqám) is none other than being (wujúd) and the perfections (kamalát) of being in so far as they are existent [and not privative] [2]; and by "all" is meant the obtainer (al-wájid). [3] This "all" contains no plurality and no part of it can be compared to the whole. The meaning is that the uncompounded reality, insofar as it is uncompounded in all respects, is the obtainer and gatherer of all the infinite and endless perfections. [4] As it has been said: "His works are limitless."

In the Persian language, it may be said that what the philosopher means by the word "things" in the afore-mentioned expression is the perfections of being in so far as these are existent [and not privative]; and by the word "all", is meant possession (dárá'í) that is to say obtaining -- the gathering together of all of the limitless perfections, in an uncompounded manner. They have mentioned similar things throughout their discourse on the Divine unity (tawhíd), power (quwwat), and intensity (shiddat) of existence.

The meaning of the philosopher was not that the Necessarily Existent [God] has become dispersed among (resolved into, lit. dissolved into, munhal) the innumerable existent things. No! Praised be He! Exalted is He above that! Even as the philosophers themselves have stated: "The uncompounded reality is all things, but is not any one thing." (Baha'u'llah)

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The Center of the Covenant

From: Portraits of 'Abdu'l-Baha

"When the ocean of My presence hath ebbed and the Book of My Revelation is ended, turn your faces toward Him Whom God hath purposed, Who hath branched from this Ancient Root." (Baha'u'llah, The Kitab-i-Aqdas)

'Abdu'l-Baha

Talks of 'Abdu'l-Baha: Love is the First Principle of Divine Teaching

From: Talks of 'Abdu'l-Baha

12 April 1912 

Talk at Studio of Miss Phillips

39 West Sixty-seventh Street, New York
(Notes by John G. Grundy)

I give you greeting in love and unity. The affairs of this world are to be accounted as nothing compared to the joy and heavenly happiness of meeting the friends of God. It is to experience this great joy and blessing that I have come here although weary from my long voyage upon the sea. Tonight I am in the greatest happiness, looking upon this concourse of God. Your meeting here is surely an evidence that you are upholding the Cause of God, that you are aiding and assisting in establishing the Kingdom of God. Therefore, the culmination of my happiness is to look upon your faces and realize that you have been brought together by the power of the Blessed Perfection, Bahá'u'lláh. In this meeting you are upholding His standard and assisting His Cause. Therefore, I behold in you the making of a goodly tree upon which divine fruits will appear to give sustenance to the world of humanity. (‘Abdu’l-Baha, ‘The Promulgation of Universal Peace’)

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Every natural thing we see should remind us of God’s “signs, … tokens, and …testimonies.”

From: Daily Verses of God

… whatever I behold I readily discover that it maketh Thee known unto me, and it remindeth me of Thy signs, and of Thy tokens, and of Thy testimonies. By Thy glory! Every time I lift up mine eyes unto Thy heaven, I call to mind Thy highness and Thy loftiness, and Thine incomparable glory and greatness; and every time I turn my gaze to Thine earth, I am made to recognize the evidences of Thy power and the tokens of Thy bounty. And when I behold the sea, I find that it speaketh to me of Thy majesty, and of the potency of Thy might, and of Thy sovereignty and Thy grandeur. And at whatever time I contemplate the mountains, I am led to discover the ensigns of Thy victory and the standards of Thine omnipotence. (Baha’u’llah, ‘Prayers and Meditations by Baha’u’llah’; The Compilation of Compilations vol. I, Conservation of Earth’s Resources)

Hand of the Cause: Mullá ‘Alí-Akbar-i-Shahmirzadi, known as Haji Akhund (1842-1910)

From: Baha'is to Remember...

Yet another Hand of the Cause was the revered Mullá ‘Alí-Akbar, upon him be the glory of God, the All-Glorious. Early in life, this illustrious man attended institutions of higher learning and labored diligently, by day and night, until he became thoroughly conversant with the learning of the day, with secular studies, philosophy, and religious jurisprudence. He frequented the gatherings of philosophers, mystics, and Shaykhís, thoughtfully traversing those areas of knowledge, intuitive wisdom, and illumination; but he thirsted after the wellspring of truth, and hungered for the bread that comes down from Heaven. No matter how he strove to perfect himself in those regions of the mind, he was never satisfied; he never reached the goal of his desires; his lips stayed parched; he was confused, perplexed, and felt that he had wandered from his path. The reason was that in all those circles he had found no passion; no joy, no ecstasy; no faintest scent of love. And as he went deeper into the core of those manifold beliefs, he discovered that from the day of the Prophet Muhammad’s advent until our own times, innumerable sects have arisen: creeds differing among themselves; disparate opinions, divergent goals, uncounted roads and ways. And he found each one, under some plea or other, claiming to reveal spiritual truth; each one believing that it alone followed the true path—this although the Muhammedic sea could rise in one great tide, and carry all those sects away to the ocean floor. “No cry shalt thou hear from them, nor a whisper even.” [Qur’án 19:98] (‘Abdu’l-Baha, ‘Memorials of the Faithful’)

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Paragraph 1.1 of the Surih of Temple

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

“Glorified is He Who hath revealed His verses to those who understand. Glorified is He Who sendeth down His verses to those who perceive. Glorified is He Who guideth whomsoever He pleaseth unto His path. Say: I, verily, am the Path of God unto all who are in the heavens and all who are on the earth; well is it with them that hasten thereunto!”

Comments:

This paragraph reminds us of some fundamental spiritual principles:

• It’s God/His Manifestation Who “sendeth” “His verses” – the Word of God – to “those” who can “perceive” – to see and apprehend spiritually, intuitively, mentally.
• It’s God/His Manifestation Who “guideth” to “His path” those whom He is pleased to guide.
• Manifestation of God is truly the “Path of God” for all of us who are “on earth” – that includes all of us – and all “who are in the heavens”!

So, with reference to this paragraph, we should pray to God to “guide” us to those that He wants us to teach – who at times might be different than the ones we may have in mind!

Question: What do you think is intended by the word “heavens” in the above paragraph? Is it a reference to all the celestial planets in the universe or is it a reference to the next world?

How a meeting can attract divine bounties

From: Gems of insight from 'Abdu'l-Baha

… the affinity and love manifest in this meeting, the divine susceptibilities witnessed here are not of this world but of the world of the Kingdom. When the souls become separated and selfish, the divine bounties do not descend, and the lights of the Supreme Concourse are no longer reflected even though the bodies meet together. A mirror with its back turned to the sun has no power to reflect the sun's effulgence. (‘Abdu’l-Baha, ‘The Promulgation of Universal Peace’)

'Abdu'l-Baha in Washington DC, 1912

From: 'Abdu'l-Baha Visits the West

 

'Abdu'l-Baha standing before Agnes Parson's house in Washington DC

The reason number nine is considered by the Bahá'ís as being sacred

From: Daily Spiritual Food for Thought

The number nine, which in itself is the number of perfection, is considered by the Bahá'ís as sacred because it is symbolic of the perfection of the Bahá'í Revelation, which constitutes the ninth in the line of existing religions, the latest and fullest Revelation which mankind has ever known. The eighth is the Religion of the Báb, and the remaining seven are: Hinduism, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam and the religion of the Sabaeans. These religions are not the only true religions that have appeared in the world, but are the only ones which are still existing. There have always been divine prophets and messengers, to many of whom the Qur'án refers. But the only ones existing are those mentioned above. (From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, dated 28 July 1936; The Compilation of Compilations, vol. I, Extracts from the Baha’i Writings on Buddha, Krishna, Zoroaster, and related subjects)

December 15, 1922: To Baha’is of Japan

From: Messages to the Baha'i World Community - by Shoghi Effendi

To the believers in Japan care Agnes Alexander.

Refreshed and reassured I now stretch to you across the distant seas my hand of brotherly cooperation in the Cause of Baha.

Shoghi
(cable dated December 15, 1922)
(Shoghi Effendi, ‘Japan Will Turn Ablaze’, p. 59)

Opposition from the Learned and Divines of Jesus’ Generation

From: Baha'i Scriptures concerning Jesus and Christianity

… call thou to mind the one who sentenced Jesus to death. He was the most learned of his age in his own country, whilst he who was only a fisherman believed in Him. Take good heed and be of them that observe the warning.  (Baha’u’llah, Tablets of Baha’u’llah Revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdas)

… in the days of Jesus, it was those who were distinguished for their learning, the men of letters and religion, who denied Him, whilst humble fishermen made haste to gain admittance into the Kingdom. (Baha’u’llah, quoted in Notes section of Kitab-i-Aqdas)

Consider the Dispensation of Jesus Christ. Behold, how all the learned men of that generation, though eagerly anticipating the coming of the Promised One, have nevertheless denied Him. Both Annas, the most learned among the divines of His day, and Caiaphas, the high priest, denounced Him and pronounced the sentence of His death.  (Baha’u’llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah)

A book: The Báb -- by Hand of the Cause H.M. Balyuzi

From: Introduction to Baha'i Books
Here is a fascinating record of the life of the Bab, Whom Baha’u’llah refers to as “the King of the Messengers”. In the inside cover of the book we read:

"In the middle of the nineteenth century Iran, then remote from the West, was roused and convulsed by the appearance of the Marty-Prophet, the Bab, Whose brief Ministry of six years (1844-50) ended in His own martyrdom and that of thousands of His followers. The Bab was a youthful merchant Who fulfilled wide expectation in The East and West by His declaration that ‘He Whom God shall manifest” would soon arise to guide mankind into a new epoch of spiritual civilization.

The Bab and His religion were observed at first hand by Western diplomats – British, Russian, French, and Austrian, in particular – whose official reports and accounts in books provide unparalleled data for the study of the birth and rise of a faith which, in the words of a Cambridge scholar, Edward Grandville Brown, 'may not impossibly win a place amidst the great religions of the world'.

Mr. Balyuzi has made use of many official documents from governmental records, and also cites material gathered from family archives, accessible to him as a relative of the Bab. His illustrations include several items from these archives."

In the forward section of the book, Hand of the Cause of God Mr. Baluzi indicates that:
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“The personality and activity of the body are due to the individuality of the soul.”

From: Human Soul and Its Eternal Journey
The personality and activity of the body are due to the individuality of the soul. Thus the soul is the cause of the life of the body, and the body, with all its organs, is but the vehicle of its expression. (‘Abdu’l-Baha, from a talk,  quoted by Lua Getsinger in her talk in San Francisco on December 17, 1911)(To see the transcript of the entire talk please visit Baha’i Talks, Messages and Articles)

Agnes Alexander - First Baha’i to set foot on Hawaiian soil; first Baha’i to settle in Japan, and first Baha’i to teach the Faith in Korea

From: We are Baha'is

Agnes Alexander

The path to follow by each believer when encountering situations in a locality that could potentially be detrimental to the interests of the Faith

From: Insights from Messages to the Baha'i World Community - by Shoghi Effendi

Does not 'Abdu'l-Bahá wish us, as He looks down upon us with loving expectation from His glorious Station, to obliterate as much as possible all traces of censure, of conflicting discussions, of cooling remarks, of petty unnecessary observations that impede the onward march of the Cause, that damp the zeal of the firm believer and detract from the sublimity of the Bahá'í Cause in the eyes of the inquirer? In order, however, to insure fair and quick and vigorous action whenever such an evil activity is revealed and has been carefully ascertained, the best and only means would appear to be, for the careful observer, once he is assured of such an evil action, and has grown hopeless of the attitude of kindness and forbearance, to report it quietly to the Spiritual Assembly representative of the friends in that locality and submit the case to their earnest and full consideration. Should the majority of the members of that Assembly be conscientiously convinced of the case -- and this being a national issue affecting the body of the friends in America -- it should, only through the intermediary of that Assembly, be cautiously communicated to that greater body representing all the Assemblies in America, which will in its turn obtain all the available data from the local Assembly in question, study carefully the situation and reserve for itself the ultimate decision. It may, if it decides so, refer to the Holy Land for further consideration and consultation. (Extract from a letter by Shoghi Effendi, dated March 5, 1922; ‘Baha'i Administration’) (To read the entire message please visit Messages to the Baha'i World)